Leeza's first Halloween-pink poodle perfection!

Leeza had a blast on her first Halloween. People thought that she was a real dog-I said, she is!!! She really looked pretty darn adorable and she LOVED it. She wasn't scared of any of the scary kids dressed up, or even some of the scary houses either. She was adorable, I have to say!!





Sean was Bob Marley and he looked pretty cool and had a good time too. His cousins came over with a golf cart, so he got to ride around with all his cousins.








Halloween is a huge deal in our neighborhood. Everyone sits outside, and kids come from all over. We went thru 6 bags of candy. It's always so much fun. The cousins come over, and Nana and Papa too (Joe's parents). Gigi (Jillian) came home too!
When Sean was a lil one, he could not say "Jillian" but he called her "Gigi" so "Gigi" is working on Leeza's second word to be GIGI . :)










Leeza would not keep her socks on. Some of the neighbors said, "Oh, isn't she cold" I felt like I was back at the baby house with the "Holdna Holdana comment" LOL
No, she is NOT COLD! She likes to feel the wind in her tootsies! She is celebrating not wearing 3 layers and not wearing 5 pairs of socks! YAY FOR LEEZA!







Her Daddy was making her laugh...







I think Leeza thought her first Halloween was super cool!!! We sure thought it was cool having her join the party!!! I did not let her eat any candy,but a nice neighbor gave her a pack of Lorna Doone cookies, which she devoured, and she got a cute lil ghost Beanie baby, but she dropped it somewhere so we don't have it anymore. :(

A real gift of Love

Do you see anything different about Leeza?
She got her ears pierced yesterday! She wanted to be like her Taraz buddy, Alexa!




As expected, my family and friends love Leeza as much as we do, and she is thriving with all the love and attention. Her hair is growing so fast too! She is learning so much and I am proud to tell you she has her first word down pat..and, it's

MAMA!!!




It's a very clear Mama and I think she is also saying Bye Bye, but it's not super clear like the Mama is. :) She is a very chatty kiddo and I have a friend, Melinda, who is a speech pathologist who came over and told me Leeza is "right on" developmentally for her age. It's hard to fathom this is the child that we were not sure spoke at all that first day we met her....Love is so very very powerful!

Two of my best friends came over last night to give Leeza the most wonderful gift. Virginia is one of those "can do anything" kind of women and I met her when our boys were in preschool-when they were both 3 years old. She has the biggest heart and is one of those talented "scrapbook" kind of people. :) Her, and Jill, who I met when our boys were in kindergarten and she watched Miles when we were gone. I was so touched when they brought over this incredible gift. Can you guess what it is?




They are pretty thick scrapbooks, aren't they?
The blue one (Kaz colors) is every entry and picture in my blog before we left for Kaz, the last post being our last one at home with our luggage.


The pink scrapbook is every post and most of the pictures (until I got DSL and posted too many..LOL) once we got to Kaz and met our daughter.



I cannot even begin to imagine how much time and effort this project took-and they did comment that I WROTE A LOT! Virginia said Leeza can read that in her room when she's 13 and grounded and mad at us for something and perhaps it will remind her how very much she is wanted and loved. :)

Here are just a few pages that she did-it's phenemonal. She even found Kaz scrapbook thingies-the first 2 the store ever sold! I have not even had time to read thru all of it yet-but I will cherish this gift and I hope Leeza will too.









THANK YOU SO MUCH JILL AND VIRGINIA! You are the best!!!!!


Leeza at Sean's school after the Halloween carnival today. She loved it and was eatin up all the attention she got! All the kids in Sean's class are so cute with her-boys and girls alike! It was so cute to see Leeza with the 4 boys in carpool the other day. She was lovin it and they were awfully cute with her!!

Pretty in Pink!

I do think pink may be her "signature color"

Leeza lookin like a lil lady in her new dress from her Aunt Heather, Uncle Dan, and cousins Joeli and Henri. She looked so cute we had to go show the neighbors. :)

Her halloween costume from Mimi (my mom!) She is a pretty cute pink poodle! She kinda looks like Miles, don't ya think? (Miles is our dog!)





Going for a walk in the hood-check out her cool new shades...(Sean says I make her look like a geek with the sunglasses, but she needs them cuz her future's so bright...she's gotta wear shades....









We had a fun photo session on the park today-can't wait to see the results!
This is Leeza sayin-Over and OUT!

Leeza comes home-THE VIDEO!

I am blessed to be good friends with a very talented photographer...Ms. Karen Harrison-wife to Mike Harrison, mom to Ryan Harrison-who actually "broke in" my ergo and "Baby Kaz's" crib before we ever went to Kazakhstan. Ryan actually looks a lot like Leeza too.


I was so impressed by what she put together, I just had to share it. I have watched it several times and cried each time. Sean is giving me the big eye roll.

Please click on the link below! (you have to enter it in your browser cuz I am too dumb to figure out how to make it a link..it won't work)

www.karenharrisonphotography.com/Shows/Leeza


If you live in the Tampa Bay area and need a photographer, Karen is the woman. She has a real talent and a great eye! We have a photoshoot tomorrow with Leeza for our adoption announcements. I can't wait to see the pics-she does an incredible job-I just hope Ms. Leeza cooperates. :)