Cute as a Button

Alea is growing and changing so much. Faster than we would like at times! We cannot believe she will be a year old next week. It seems like yesterday that we brought her home. She is so cute, we cannot resist snapping pictures all the time of her sweet little face. I love the zoomed in picture of her!! Wait until you see the GREAT photos we had taken at Kimberly's! I am biased, but the girls are soooo darn cute!!

Man at Work

This is how you will find Brad most evenings anymore! He has been busy, busy, busy getting the yard, deck and pool ready for summer swim parties and more! We had forgotten how hard it is to work with a baby! Usually we both get down and dirty and get the job done pretty quickly, but with a baby, one has to attend children all the time. But, it is getting done and looking very nice if I can say so myself!

Our Little Artist

Isn't Crayola great? Braylen is painting with their sidewalk paint kit. She had so much fun. She used almost 2 whole jars of paint--yikes! I am going to water it down next time. This was a great Saturday activity to keep her busy while mommy and daddy worked and Alea napped!

Alea's First Tooth

Can you see it? It has finally popped through!! She has been working on this tooth over 2 months now. We have seen it below the surface, but it has finally popped through. She is chewing away right now working on more to come soon!! We were beginning to wonder if she'd have a tooth for her first birthday--just made it in the nick of time.

I've Been Interviewed!!

Interview Me! MOM2_4 has interviewed me with the following questions, so here goes! If you would like to be interviewed, just read the information that follows.

1. What is your best childhood memory?
My best childhood memory is spending lazy summer days at Lake Webster. My grandma had a lake cottage and there were times we would spend all week there and dad would ride his motorcycle back and forth to work (yes, before $3.50/gal gas!!) I learned to water ski, tube and swim on that lake. I did nothing to prevent myself from skin cancer as I was blistered burned each evening, but it was fun!!

2. What's one thing you would like to learn?
There are two things I would love to learn to do: pottery and advanced cake decorating
3. Where did you find your daughter's names?
Braylen Irina-Rene Fleck is my oldest and she was adopted from Kazakhstan. Irina was her birthname, Rene is my middle name and my mom's middle name and Braylen came from the letters in Bradley's name (my husband). Alea Tyan-ling Grace Fleck is my youngest and she was adopted from Taiwan. Tyan-ling was her birthname, Grace because I prayed for a baby girl from an Asian country since I was 15 years old and by God's Grace my prayers were answered!! And Alea is the name of a little girl I met in Myrtle Beach swimming in the pool and I loved the name and wanted it for my next baby girl!!!
4. Why international adoption?
As I said earlier, I had prayed for an Asian baby girl since I was 15 years old. When Brad and I met I told him I wanted to adopt from an Asian country someday. He agreed that we would after we had a few biological children. God had other plans, we found out it was nearly impossible for me to carry a baby full term, so we decided to adopt. We felt that God was calling us internationally because there are so many children needing homes in underpriveleged orphanages world wide. There are long waiting lists for children in the States and we were willing to go overseas, so we decided to do that. We felt safe in the decision being final as well. We found out that I had to be 30 to adopt from China and we researched other countries and never got a peace about them. I tried so hard to make them work, but God led us to Kazakhstan, a country we had never heard of and once we had we said we would never go there due to expense!! He worked it all out and we have a beautiful little girl. Our lives were changed the day we walked into Braylen's orphanage. We came home with a mission to help the least of these and to promote adoption and orphan care as commanded in James 1:27. We knew we wanted to adopt again, but had no clue where the financing would come for it again. God led us to missionaries in Taiwan and Alea is the miracle behind that process!!

5. Are you planning to adopt any more children?
We are often asked that question. We never know where God will lead, but Brad and I are very happy as a family of four. However, we still have a passion for adoption and orphan care. Honestly, I'd love to devote my life to finding forever families for children worldwide. I would love to put that passion into others adopting and in a sense changing more lives, but God may have another little one out there for us as well. Are we pursuing another adoption at this time? No. Are we open to another little one? Probably yes. Are we open to an older child adoption or foster care in the future? Very much so!!

Now its your turn to play if you wish! Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me." I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions, and I will message or comment you with them and these directions. Just update your blog with the answers to the questions and include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Dance Recital

Tonight was Braylen's first dance recital. She was awesome!! We were so proud of her. We really were too far away to get good pictures, but here is what we captured!! She told us she wants to be in dance again next year (secretly I have been hoping she wouldn't want to--dance class is on Fridays at 4:30.) She only has one more year of Creative Dance and then she can start Ballet and that is on Tuesday evenings. She also watched tap tonight and informed us she wants to take tap dance as well, but she cannot start that until she is 8.

Ballet Dress Rehearsal

Last night was the first dress rehearsal for Braylen's ballet performance. She will be performing with the Wabash Valley Dance Theater in the production of Peter Pan. I was really impressed with how well the kids did!! This ballet has performers ranging from 4 years old up to 18. I am excited to watch her perform on Friday night.

We are all doing well. I am finally feeling like my normal self! I have been busy potting flowers and landscaping. It feels good to be doing what I enjoy again. Brad has been busy doing yard work and odds and ends that need attention around the house. Braylen is wrapping up her schedule for the year as preschool and awana have officially ended and ballet will end on Friday. Alea is getting everywhere and into everything! She still has not discovered the stairs yet, but can get to the bathroom and laundry room and behind chairs/couches, but cannot figure out how to get out! The cutest thing she does right now is flirt and wave at anyone who walks by her in a restaurant. She loves to wave and get attention. She says Hi all the time and occassionaly says I love you!! That is her first phrase and we love hearing it!

Brad and I are gearing up for a vacation to Florida in a few weeks. We are excited to get away for our 6th year anniversary. We are going to the Liki Tiki Resort and just relaxing, resting and enjoying each other's company. We cannot wait to sleep in and stay up late and do everything we have not been able to do since having children. We love our girls, but are really looking forward to a vacation away!!!

We are Family...

Just some snapshots of tonight.

Play time

After Cebolla's we took mom over to Dar's Porch and Patio to show her this Noah's Ark play area. We are both dreaming of this at our church's for the preschoolers to play on! I couldn't find mom, and I looked and there she was playing away!!!