"Pink-Tails"

Over the weekend, Sydney had two major firsts. When Sydney woke up on Saturday morning, her hair was CrAzY! Which really is not anything new but I decided to get it out of her face. Ashlyn has been wanting me to pull Sydney's hair up into pink-tails (the rest of the world knows them as pig-tails or dog-ears!). So, I did! And Sydney looked so cute. I think that is the first time she has had them because she did not like me messing with her hair. Lets hope that changes! This is a stay-at-home hairdo til her hair grows out on top & in the back (someone in China shaved the back of her head like underneath her hair?) Doesn't she look so cute!

Second first was going into her classroom at church. We figured she would need PJ to stay with her for the first couple of visits. But nope! Sydney has super sweet teachers and they said she did great! It was so nice to sit in church with my hubby listening to the music & the sermon.

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Celebrating St Patrick's Day in Pictures! (aka Lazy Post)

Actual St Patrick's Day!
Philly just hanging out at Granny's house.

Sydney playing with the art stuff. She fits right in! Acts like she has been here since birth!

Chillin' with my girls!
Sydney hanging out with her new favorite person--Cole! And his phone!!

Spring Break Starts

We started off Spring Break with heading to my parents ranch house in Clarendon for the weekend. This was the first road trip for Sydney (about an hour) and first night away from our house. I think she adjusted great to her new surroundings. Sydney was a little concerned about all of the dead animals hanging on the walls! She loved being outside & riding the mule. She is afraid of horses though. I'm sure that will change with time. All of us had a great time this weekend!
A year ago last Friday (12th) we officially accepted Sydney's referral! Crazy how our life has changed in a year. Love this little girl that has blessed our life. I'm amazed daily at how a little girl that came from thousands of miles away can fit perfectly in our family. God is Awesome!

The hog that PJ, Philip & Sydney found & then shot. Hogs DESTROY land.
Ashlyn playing a serious game of ladder ball.

Philip shooting his .22 semi automatic rifle. He said it was fun! I shot it too. And it was fun!

That is me shooting my Dad's AR-15. It was really loud!

Sydney in her camo & bow.

Ashlyn turns 7

Ashlyn turned 7 over the weekend. Hard to believe she is 7! She started celebrating on Friday at school and finished Sunday night with dinner at my parents house. Ashlyn is beautiful inside & out! Love you Ashers!

Resting after A LOT of jumping at the birthday party!
Ashlyn's loves her cake (just like her mommy!)

Ashlyn & Lainie (her new American Girl doll)

Cute birthday outfit! Thanks Carson Family!

Wo Ai Ni Mommy Trailer

Wo Ai Ni Mommy Trailer

I just wanted to bring attention to this adoption documentary. The film basically explores what happens to an older child that is adopted into an American family. And guess what? The little girl is from Sydney's orphanage! The lady that brings this little girl to the Civil Affairs office is the same lady that brought Sydney. I'm excited to see the whole movie. Check it out. They also have a fan page on Facebook and website if you are interested.
You tube or blogger is not cooperating with me. So sorry if the posts are not together! Pause my playlist before watching the video.

1st time swimming & Cousins

Just a quick post with some pictures. All of us have been sick one way or another with allergies, sinus stuff and congestion. Hoping that ends soon. Springtime please come visit early!!

We took Sydney swimming for the first time last weekend. She loved it! We were really nervous about a freak-out or something. Excited about summer and pool time. PJ's sister and her three girls came down for a visit this past week. The kids enjoyed hanging out with them. Wish they lived closer. Hope all of you had a great February!

Can't get enough of her smile!
Philip & Kaitlyn

Meagan & Ashlyn

Everyone exept Tristan (PJ was probably holding her!)

Ashlyn holding Tristan

(stole this from my SIL's FB page--hope she doesn't mind!)
PJ holding Tristan. He loves babies!

Kaitlyn & Sydney

Happy Chinese New Year!

Not a lot happening at the Vinyard house. Which is a good thing! The boys can not shake their coughs & the girls have started also. Hoping they stop it! Sydney is talking in English sentences. This was the first week we had no Cantonese conversations. Even in the bathroom at physical therapy (which brought on really fast Cantonese sentences??), we had nothing. Just "I need to potty." Makes us sad because we were hoping to keep both but I don't think it is possible at this point. But her sentences have 3 to 5 English words and we can understand them. We have had a change in favorites. Sydney still loves her Philip but Ashlyn is really cool. Especially with all of the American Girl stuff! I love seeing how much Sydney has changed since Gotcha Day. God is just awesome!

This was our first year celebrating Chinese New Year. We were invited to a Chinese celebration during the week with other adoptive families. We had so much fun! The food and company were wonderful. We were supposed to go to another one today, but the girls were coughing too much. Sorry guys. I figured you would want us to keep our germs! So I had to cook Chinese food. I know Yikes! It was really not that bad. I put out all of the stuff we bought in China plus lanterns & made chicken & rice with water chestnuts, dumplings (ok I did not make those), green beans (Sydney's favorite veggie)and Jasmine tea. Guess who would not eat???? Yes Sydney Hope! Next year, we are fixing fajitas, chips, queso, beans & Mexican rice!! Happy Chinese New Year & Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

Not sure what is up with this picture? That is not even the eye that had the injury. Lets just say she is winking?
I have seen this "face" with Philip & Ashlyn. Neat how God works like that. Sydney looks a lot older here. Stop that!

Love this picture! All ready for Chinese New Year dinner/celebration.

At our Chinese New Year Celebration. I did not take enough pictures. I wish Louisa was facing the camera. Because she is a little cutie! Please pray for my friend Lesley (pictured with the girls)--she is in Kazakhstan right now picking up her Lucy! Louisa will be a wonderful big sister!

Wearing Philip's old costume!

Playing outside even though we still have snow on the ground. Amarillo is crazy like that!

My beautiful girls! Thank you Jamie & Peggy for the outfits. Adorable!

The Awesome Name Pictures

Several of you sent us emails or comments about our picture that was behind us in the previous post. I went ahead & just took pictures so you guys could see them. We LOVE them. Our friend, Jason Boyett, did both of them. So sweet of him to do another one since Sydney joined our family!

Ignore the candle in front. Sorry!

Two Months with Sydney

Tomorrow marks two months with Sydney Hope. Crazy to think about how much Sydney has changed in those two months. I love being a mom to three wonderful & beautiful kids. When the kids are wrestling on the floor or being silly in their rooms, PJ & I look at each other in this disbelief look--our life is just awesome and how did we get so lucky to be their parents! Don't get me wrong. This adjustment has been DIFFICULT for all of us. Way more work and attention than we expected. But totally worth it! Every week seems to be easier. But Wow. The laundry is never ending!!
On Monday, Sydney went to the dentist for the first time. She tagged along with Ashlyn a couple of weeks ago. And I think that really helped. Sydney went right back to the room, climbed up in the chair & opened her mouth really wide. Really cute! Sydney does have two cavities in her back teeth so those will need to be fixed sometime soon. Sydney went back for a checkup on Thursday with our pedi. Sydney thinks she is a Rock Star there! All of the ladies just tell her how cute she is & her clothes are so cute, etc. We did have to start on the immunization schedule--4 shots this time. Sad. The nurse teared up, Sydney screamed really loud & I just prayed for it to end. Amazing how fast a sucker can dry up your tears!
Sydney's blood work is still not "normal". Sydney's results could just be the change in her diet. Or some other things. Since we have no medical history before December 7th, we have no idea what Sydney's normal blood results look like! We repeated blood work (& stool sample) for the third time. It was not a pleasant experience and we will repeat in 6 months regardless of these results. Hoping Sydney forgets that memory soon. Sydney is a super strong three year old. She has some sort of crazy strength! PJ thinks she needs to start martial arts with them ASAP!!
My sweet girlfriends threw a Welcome Home shower for Sydney today. The shower was wonderful. We all had a great time. I have the sweetest girlfriends! Sydney received the cutest outfits and shoes. I need to go buy a few things for myself so my kids are not embarrassed to be with me! Thank you for everyone that came this morning. Loved seeing all of you!

Love this picture. Sydney has the sweetest expressions.
Cheese face! She asked for me to take her picture here.

My girls & myself before the shower. You can't see it but I actually did NOT have on jeans. I know--big shocker!

Peggy, Aunt Val & Sydney at the shower.

Sweet Sydney Hope.

How Great is Our God!