ALEXA TURNS FOUR!!!!!!!!!

Oh wow!  What a year!  How can my Alexa be 4 already?!?!  I will never forget the day she was born, or any second after that!  She has brought us so much joy and happiness!  We love her unconditionally.

This year has been filled with love, laughter and tons of growth.  I cannot believe how much she has grown!!  She is 4, but the size of a 5 year old!!  HAHA!  I knew the second she was born she was going to be tall!!!   I’m wondering when she is older what sports she will play, but for now she seems interested in baseball and soccer.  She is a girl who loves to be outside, loves to play sports, but also loves to play dress up and house.  She is the mix of tomboy and girly girl!  She LOVES to learn and really wants to spend time with me 1:1 doing just that.  She loves when I am ‘teacher’ to her as well!  I am so proud of her!!!  I cannot believe she will be going to preschool in the fall.  Lexa is quite shy when you first get to know her -but is a complete bubble after you know her!  She takes after both her parents that way, ahhaha!!!

This past year Alexa moved rooms (is now upstairs); has become completely potty trained; became a sister; learned the majority of her letters; how to write her name; how to identify who she is (first and last name) and reading some words, like dog and cat.  She is working on counting and so much more!!  As I said, this year was a year filled with lots off learning- and big monumental changes!!!!!!!!

She LOVES some of her all time favorites, like Berenstein bears, Caillou, and Disney Movies, but also loves new movies (SUPERHERO MOVIES, Octonox- thanks daddy, for that haha)!  She LOVES hot dogs, chicken, mashed potatoes and FRUIT!!  She does NOT like peas or carrots (thanks auntie carrie, haha) or most red meats.  

We spend most of our time in the summer swimming, or at the village.  I cannot wait to spend my summer with her and her sister.  This past year we went to Frankenmuth multiple times :)  We plan on doing that a lot this year as well, a long with a family trip to a lake :)

Alexa has grown a lot in a year, and is quite a beauty.  We couldn’t imagine our life without her, and thank God every day for her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Enjoy some extra pictures!!

Our trip and life today!

WOW!  I just realized I haven't had a chance to update my blog since my FIRST trip!  CRAZY!!!  I am going to try to do my best to retell our second trip and give you some insight on what life is like for us now!

The second trip!!!

Our second trip to Aliyah was full of EVERY kind of emotion known!  I will never forget getting to our hotel and awaiting the news of GOING TO JANES HOUSE to pick up our little girl forever!  This time around we were able to get a little nap in.  We got our call around 2 pm their time telling us that we would be picked up soon to go get ALIYAH!  It was a quick drive to the orphanage and they held us a beautiful coffee ceremony.

We didn't stay very long, but in the time we stayed there were MANY tears by MANY of the nannies there!!   Aliyah was pretty congested and had all of us worried (including our travel friends).  After getting her back to the hotel we did what we could to help her congestion, and got her to realize we were her mommy and daddy.  We played, cuddled, snuggled, and walked around the hotel and town.  We went to the Cupcake Delight restaurant several times to get treats.  We definitely bonded.  We made lifelong friends with our travel companions.  They brought home a baby girl the same age as ours!  We laughed, had dinner together and to this day I cherish that they were with us!!!

THE FLIGHT! HAHA!  

Having a congested baby without the bassinet seat was INTERESTING, to say the least.  Anytime Aliyah would fall asleep we had to buckle up for some reason, which awoke her - which lead to TEARS.  I felt bad for the people around us, but no one complained!  Brandon was the worlds best dad!  He got up with her and walked, and walked, and walked with her  - up and down the airplane (over, and over and over).  I believe that was definitely a bonding experience!!!

After a LONG 18 hours we arrived to Washington.  We were exhausted, but realizing we were SO close to being home as a family and seeing our daughter we missed terribly got us SO excited!  The last flight was a breeze - an hour later and we were there!  When we walked out the first person we saw was George (Brandons dad)  who was waiting for us.  Then we went down the esculator to find tons of family and friends waiting to meet Aliyah.  It was such an amazing moment!!!

When we got home, we were SO tired, but SO happy to be home!  Alexa really seemed to like her sister, and things were going well... .UNTIL ..... the congestion just wouldn't get any better.

What happened?  WELL, a chest x-ray revealing a pretty decent sized bird charm stuck in her esophagus.  This lead to a visit (and stay) at MOTTS hospital, a surgery (which was scary because of the scar tissue in her esophagus and how pointy the object was), and a pretty big healing process.  My dad came up to stay with us during the surgery which I was so thankful for - it helped keep me calm.  Aliyah was a TROOPER and did amazing before and after surgery.  She had to go HOURS and HOURS without eating (poor kid and parents haha).

 Then after the surgery, the doctor showed us some pretty scary pictures, of her throat - and how if it would have been in there a week or so longer she likely would have died!  It made our hearts SINK.  Thank  GOD she came home when she did, thank GOD she was going to be ok.  To this day we have to monitor her for signs of swelling in the throat - but so far she is doing excellent!!!

there is the culprit....


Where are we now?
We are SO happy.  We have a life we always dreamed of.  We have two beautiful girls who are sisters in every way (they go from loving each other to getting on each others nerves, ahahha).  I love the moments when they cuddle together!  It is amazing seeing them and knowing that FOREVER they will have each other!  It makes my heart smile.

There were times during the adoption when we had no idea what would happen - the fear of the unknown can be scary.  Fast forward a year, and we have the life we always dreamed of!

Thanks for following us on our journey, and I hope to be better at updating this blog!!

Kristen & Brandon