Frostography

Christmas 2008

2009-02-12T11:13:00.000-08:00

Christmas was a lot of fun this year. We had our church family Christmas dinner at the beginning of the month:

I can't figure out how to turn these pictures. I've never has this problem before.

Claire made these pails for her friends with snowball soap,a washcloth and treats. I didn't get any pictures making the soap. It was kind of messy, but a really fun project.

Ella with Mr. Rick and Miss Kim (aka Missu Week an Miss Tim)

Ella loved the doctor kit she received at the gift exchange and couldn't wait to show Santa.Here she is enjoying her doctor's kit. She has a very unique bedside manner!Claire asked me on the way home who was dressed up like Santa. When I asked how she knew it was someone dressed up she said "Cause his beard was moving all over his face and Santa's doesn't do that. He also gave us chocolate and Santa gives us toys!" Sorry Gary the gig is up!
We had a little early Christmas celebration at home before going to NC. It started with our family tradition of fondue for dinner and then a few gifts to open.

Claire received a Nintendo DS which she has not stopped playing since.
Next it was off to North Carolin a to spend Christmas with family. The cousins all together.

Reading the Gingerbread Baby

Love this picture of Harper and her "Muncle Egg"!

Aunt Da's Christmas pancakes

Miscellaneous pics from the zoo. We've been enjoying our zoo passes this year.

The girls love the white tiger and think it's neat that it is found in Asia.

Fallin' into Fun

2008-11-01T14:00:00.000-07:00

THE END!

Floridians + Fall Mountain Leaves= Lots of Pictures

2008-10-25T13:08:00.000-07:00

We took an unexpected trip to Franklin, North Carolina this month. Ed's parents usually spend the month of October in the mountains at their cabin. While they were there, Ed's dad became very sick and we drove up to help them drive back home. He's doing much better now. While we were there, we were able to see the leaves changing colors and do a few fall activities that we don't normally get to do in Florida.

Ella got some more pumpkin lovin'. She did this last year too, I don't know why but when she sees a "pukin" she's just gotta love on it!
I sure wish she'd do this on our potty at home!We found a beautiful park on the lake.... ...and Claire discovered static electricity!!

If you're throwing rocks in the lake and one doesn't go as far as you want it to then.... just walk right out, pick it up, and try again!!
Colored leaves were a huge fascination. and so was a dirt hill with no ants..(mommy had to just look away)

Milestones

2008-10-22T20:23:00.000-07:00

We've had a few firsts around here. Which is always a reminder that the girls are growing up way too quickly.

Claire lost her first tooth...

Here's the old smile

Here's the new smile

Ella has moved out of her crib into a big girl bed...

Here's why she is no longer in her crib

Here's her first night in her new bed

The girls now share a room so we finally have a guest bedroom again!

There's never enough hours in the day...

2008-10-22T20:01:00.000-07:00

...for a two year old to run out of things to do!
Like figuring out how to open the baby powder...
feeding a stuffed friend--what else?-more stuffing!.... ...swingin....

shopping with two purses.... stealing Mommy's milkshake....a little horsebackriding (emphasis on little)....
and catching some z..z..z's!

One Last Big Hurrah

2008-09-22T19:26:00.000-07:00

Our season passes at Disney were expiring so we decided to take one last trip. We got a great deal and stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Our room overlooked the Sahara, so we were able to see the animals from our balcony which was way cool! We spent the mornings at the pool and went to the parks after nap time and stayed until closing. We had a great time. Goodbye sweet Disney getaways you will be missed.

Ella is crazy about Minnie Mouse. We waited in line to meet her and Mickey but it was so worth it to see her so star struck!

Claire's First Day of Kindergarten

2008-08-18T20:32:00.000-07:00

Claire is now a schoolgirl!! She was so excited about starting Kindergarten and could not wait to get to school. She loves her teacher and had a great day and mommy only got a little choked up once! We had a "First Day of School" celebration after dinner tonight and surprised Claire. Unfortunately, school has been cancelled tomorrow because of Tropical Storm, "Fay", so it's back to staying home tomorrow. Hopefully, Wednesday we will be back to our new routine.

Our "First Day of School" cake from SuperWalMart...
Ella reaping the benefits of her sister's hard work...

Family Vacation - Oxymoron?

2008-08-01T10:47:00.000-07:00

So, Ed says that the term Family vacation is actually an oxymoron. A vacation is when you go away somewhere and rest while being waited on hand and foot. You then, return home relaxed and fully rejuvenated, ready to take on reality. You put the word family in front of it, however, and it suddenly becomes a time when you pack up most of your house and jam it, and your family, into the car to head somewhere that is much farther away than it seemed. Once there, you work yourself silly trying to keep your little ones entertained and happy while they wander around napless and hyped up on sugary snacks you use to pacify them while getting from one place to another. Somewhere in there are moments when you realize your having fun and your kids are having fun at the same time and you take pictures of those moments and suddenly it all becomes worth it. Here are some pictures of our "moments"

Breakfast in bed at the hotel

Dollywood

Somewhere in the Smokies...Mining for jewels was a favorite for Claire and Nana....
Picking blackberries with Bapa.....

Sliding Rock.....

Goofing off!! Cherokee.....

Black Light Putt -Putt

Happy 4th!!

2008-08-01T10:37:00.000-07:00

This year we decided to load the girls up in the wagon and take them to the Lutz July 4th parade. It was very hot, but it was fun and afterwards we went to a friend house for a picnic. The girls were pretty worn out after that, so we decided to stay home and watch the fireworks from home. We live near a lake and the neighborhood put on a pretty impressive show.

Ella's Birthday Party

2008-07-03T18:55:00.000-07:00

We had a small party for Ella on a Friday afternoon while Nana and BaPa were here. The boys enjoyed the sandbox.

and the punch balls were a hit with the little ones.
Broden enjoying his cookie.

Frozen Banana Pops!
Big Sister
A new tricycle!!

Trying out her new ironing board!

Ella turns 2!

2008-07-03T18:37:00.000-07:00

On Ella's actual birthday, we had a special day out. We ate lunch at McDonalds and Ella's happy meal toy was holding up two fingers.
Then we went to Kidz Club, and indoor playground.

Call me!

We finished up the day at Boston Market for dinner. Ella loves their mashed potatoes and their sweet potatoes and yes, she had both! It was her birthday!!
And a little chocolate cake!

Keeping Cool in the Pool

2008-07-03T18:20:00.000-07:00

It's way too hot here, so we decided to buy a pool. We lovingly refer to it as the "vinyl pond".
It's definately not pretty but it keeps us cool and the girls are having a blast! Claire has learned how to swim underwater and is very proud of herself.
Ella keeping cool... Do these goggles make my cheeks look fat?
Mermaid

Yes, we will definately be using this one for leverage in the future!

A little pool gymnastics

Claire's K-4 Graduation

2008-07-03T18:07:00.000-07:00

The Graduate

Claire chose McDonald's aka "Bada bapa" for her graduation dinner.

Grandma and Papa
Owen and "Jo Jo"

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-14T11:55:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day was a lot of fun. Claire's class at school had a picnic for all the mothers. They had been working on projects all week for their mothers. Here's a few pics:
All the moms had crowns and pins to wear
below are the projects Claire made me. Notice the mom's portrait, apparently I have gray hair and look alot like Mama from Mamas family!!

The children filled out a paper with information about their mom. Here's what it says:

My mommy has gray hair and blue eyes.

I think that my mommy is 14yrs old.

Her favorite color is purple and her favorite tv show is American Idol.

My mommy likes to eat chicken and drink coke.

My mommy likes to buy food when she goes to the store.

My mommy looks very pretty when she comes to pick me up from school.

I love it when my mommy buys me toys.

When I'm at school, my mommy is working.

For mother's day I'd like to buy her a necklace.

I love my mommy because she buys me toys.

priceless......

Sunday we had a busy day at church and then Claire and I headed off to the pool while Ella and Daddy took a nap. Here are a few pics taken after church:

Happy Easter!

2008-04-05T09:29:00.000-07:00

The girls in their Easter dresses Sunday morning

Ella's first egghunt was alot of fun. The girls often go outside and collect acorns in a basket. This was just like collecting acorns but they were a lot bigger and prettier...

Oh my what beautiful acorns!!
and so many!!!
Better get to work.... My basket is full....

let me help you fill yours!!Claire was in the "big kid" egg hunt this year. She started going to Children's Church in January (Ages 5-11). She loves it! This also means that she sits in "big church" through song service and through the whole service once a month. It has been interesting to watch her experience and see what Mommy and Daddy do at church. The other day she was sitting at her little piano 'leading praise and worship' like Mommy!!

February Snapshots

2008-02-28T20:11:00.000-08:00

Cousins

2008-02-28T19:52:00.000-08:00

Claire and Ella were so excited to have their cousins Max and Harper down for a visit this week.

Here's some pictures from their visit.

Ella and Harper catching up on the latest news

Max and Claire
Best Buds
Ella entertaining our guest with her charming dinner conversation
Slumber party!!

Claire turns 5!

2008-02-28T19:30:00.000-08:00

Claire celebrated her 5th birthday with a Chinese New Year Mulan Party. She had such a great night. We ate Chicken Fried Rice and Eggrolls, gad a Mushu cake and we ended the night with fireworks. Mommy was too busy to take many pictures but we managed to get a few mostly before the party.

Christmas Day

2008-01-06T21:55:00.001-08:00

Time for presents......

Watching the Disney parade and eating Cinniman Rolls for Breakfast Trying out the big girl swing!

Christmas Eve

2008-01-06T21:24:00.000-08:00

We spent Christmas Eve day running a few last minute errands and getting ready for the big event. After the girls took a nap we decided to give them their "big" present early because it was forcasted to rain on Christmas Day.

Here's the first few moments or should I say hours we spent on the new swingset!

After playing on the new swingset, we had fondue for dinner. This year, the menu consisted of cheese fondue with hotdogs, pretzels, apples, and bread for dipping. We will hopefully upgrade our menu as the girls get older!

Here's Ella doing a few leg lifts before bed

and some nightly wrestling with Claire -- Yes, they are such little ladies!!

one last check on the gift tally

a picture for mommy

and a sprinkling of reindeer food and glitter to help Santa know where to land.

then it was off to bed!!

Merry Christmas from the Frost Family

2007-12-22T20:27:00.000-08:00

We like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

May your holiday be filled joy and peace from the One whose birth we celebrate. See you next year!!

We're ready for Christmas!

2007-12-22T20:07:00.000-08:00

Christmas activities begin this weekend. Friday night we will celebrate with Ed's family at our house. The menu will consist of a typical "Tampa" meal of Spanish Bean soup, deviled crab and Cuban Sandwiches--YUM! On Sunday, we will have our regular Sunday morning service as well as a candlelight service that evening. On Christmas day, we will celebrate at home and our good friends Owen and Joanne will join us. The day after Christmas mom and dad will arrive and we will celebrate with them. The shopping is done and we are sitting back and enjoying all the festivities! Claire and I try to make Christmas cookies every year. This year we found these Reindeer cookies in a magazine. We had so much fun making them.

The girls have one big present waiting for them out in the yard. Can you guess what it is?

Here's our house decorated for Christmas. Daddy and Claire put lights up outside this year. This is actually the back of our house but, we decorated this side because, it is the side that shows from the road and the church. Most people enter our house from these doors. I know it's kind of strange, but that's life in the parsonage!!

Our stockings are hung by the TV with care.

You know your a parent when you decorate your tree just so only to place a tacky contraption around the bottom of it just to please the young'ns! Our tacky contraptions of choice this year is a Mickey's Ski Slope.

A glimpse into the 4yr old mind

2007-12-13T18:25:00.000-08:00

Ella and Claire taking a Sick Day

The girls have both been very sick this week. Saturday night I finished the last Christmas Cantata performance and came home around 9:30pm to find Claire with a 104 degree temp and Ella with a 101 degree temp. After some failed attempts to reduce Claire's fever , I ended up taking her to the ER. We were there until 3:30am. They gave her some medicine, took x-rays of her chest, and gave her a breathing treatment. She took all of this in stride, but then they walked in with a "Looney Toons" hospital gown and asked her to remove her "Belle" nightgown and put on the hospital nightgown. This was too much to ask. You can do whatever medical treatments necessary but you don't mess with fashion!! Needless to say she could not wait to get back into her own nightgown and she also made sure she put a nice smile on for her x-ray "picture" despite feeling so badly. I honestly don't know where she gets this from!!! Anyway, it turns out both girls have a pretty good case of bronchitis, so we've been staying in and taking some time to recover. Yesterday, we finally ventured back out to Target get a few Christmas errands done. As we were leaving to go back to our car, Claire noticed an SUV parked next to us. She said "Mommy what's this car doing here, when we got here there was a blue "lowercase" car parked here?" I guess Pre-K is paying off!!

What to do when you're tired of riding in the stroller

2007-12-13T18:16:00.000-08:00

Are you watching?? Okay, "Where's El--la??"
There she is!!!!

Catching Up

2007-12-06T19:34:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy few weeks but here's some pictures to catch you up on what's been going on in the Frost household.

Ella has said goodbye to the BaBa. Hello sippy cup. Ella took this in stride and never looked back. Mommy was glad to never wash another bottle, but somehow reluctant and a little sad to see them in the trash can.

Ella learns how to multi-task. Napping and lunch can all be accomplished in one place. Claire dons her Pocahontas dress to camp out with Daddy in the garage. One must always have the appropriate attire for any occasion.Shades in the day
Shades at nightHer Majesty, Queen of Clean, for the moment.

In the beginning of November, Kristy directed the church choir as they sang in the pre-show for Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede in Orlando. You can see pics here http://www.dwellingplacemusic.blogspot.com/
The Florida Fall weather is our favorite time of year and the girls have been enjoying playing outside.

Ella had popcorn for the first time. Actually mommy bought it for her to" help" us get the grocery shopping done. She loved it so much that she insisted on holding the bag all day and wouldn't let anyone take it from her. We don't have any sidewalks near the house so the girls have really enjoyed driving their princess car around the yard. Claire is the driver and Ella operates the radio and dances. For Thanksgiving, we met mom and dad in Savannah. We had a nice relaxing visit.

We had Thanksgiving dinner at the Hyatt. It was delicious. Ella really enjoyed her first Thanksgiving dinner. It turns out, she's a southern girl at heart. She loves collard greens, sweet potatoes, and biscuit and gravy!

After dinner we took a short walk on the waterfront.

Here's Nana and the girls riding the Christmas train at the mall on Black Friday.

On our last night in Savannah, we ate at Bubba's Oyster House (Brother of Paula Dean). We ended up waiting two hours to be seated (not fun with a hungry four year old and 16 month old). This happy picture was obviously taken at the beginning of the wait.

And these were taken after the wait. Ella was very hungry.

Happy Costume Day

2007-11-04T19:21:00.000-08:00

Our Halloween started out with a costume parade at Claire's school.

That evening we went to the "Fall into Fun" festival at church. The girls had so much fun.

Little Ladybug

Princess Jasmine

The obstacle course was definately a fav!

And so was the cotton candy!!

Farmer Claire

2007-11-04T19:14:00.000-08:00

Claire had a pumpkin hunt and hayride at school. All the kids had to dress like farmers. She was not excited about this until grandma brought over her straw hat with a bow on it. We called it the "princess farmer hat". Then she decided that being a princess farmer was so bad.

Who's that Spartan in my TeePee?

2007-11-04T19:03:00.000-08:00

It's Me, It's Me!!

The couples group at church had a famous couples costume party. We were the SNL Spartan cheerleaders. We had a blast!

Pumpkin Kisses and Hay Fights

2007-11-03T14:53:00.000-07:00

We took two trips to the pumpkin patch. One was with Claire's friend Erin after their lunch playdate and the other one was so that Mommy could get the real pumpkin patch pictures! Ella is discovering so many new things and when she sees something new that she likes she must kiss it. Apparently she was quite taken with the pumpkins because that's exactly what she did when she saw them. Funny girl!!

Make a slide show, scrapbook or ecard

Claire's First Date

2007-11-03T14:46:00.000-07:00

Claire had her first date this week. She took the day off from school and Papa came and picked her up. He took her to see the new "Ten Commandments" movie. When he arrived he brought her flowers and candy. She was very impressed! Thank you Papa for the best first date!!

Celebrating Gotcha Day

2007-10-19T11:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we celebrated Claire's Gotcha Day. It's actually the 26th, but the next couple weekends are so busy and Claire has been out of school Thursday and Friday, so it just made since to take advantage of that free time. It's so amazing to think how much life has changed in these past four years. I can't imagine life without Claire. She's an amazing little girl and we are so blessed to have her in our family. I'm not sure she completely understood what Gotcha Day meant even though we tried our best to explain it to her, but she was thrilled that the day was all about her and that was reason enough to celebrate in her mind! Here's how the day went:
First, a Surprise Breakfast Party,

Sleepy, Surprised Gotcha Day Girl

Breakfast of bacon, eggs, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Pancakes--YUM!!

Present from Mommy and Daddy

Ella loves the pancakes!
After breakfast, we got dressed and headed to Disney:

Ready to take on Disney

A Rare Family Photo

Ella's bored

3D Eyes!!

Don't worry Ella some day your nose will be big enough to hold up your glasses!

Video of Ella and the ice cube

2007-09-30T21:26:00.001-07:00

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Disney Getaway

2007-09-30T20:24:00.000-07:00

Last week we went to Disney for a few days to relax. We had so much fun. We ate in the Land. The food was excellent and Ella loved having all the characters visit our table. Claire and Daddy rented a Mickey motorboat and went for a cruise. We spent most of the days relaxing at the hotel nd went into the parks around dinnertime. We stayed at the Port Orleans Riverside in the Magnolia section which kind of looks like southern plantation style rooms. The weather was sunny and breezy, in the 80's, which is a dream compared to the humid upper 90's we've endured all summer. We spent a few hours at the pool and Ella had her first experience in the "big" pool with a lifejacket which she saw as pure freedom compared to sitting in her baby ring.
Here's a few pictures of our trip.

2007-09-13T09:29:00.001-07:00

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

2007-09-12T13:59:00.002-07:00

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

2007-09-12T13:59:00.001-07:00

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Going Digital

2007-07-30T21:49:00.000-07:00

In the hopes of actually scrapbooking my girl's pictures instead of just buying cute paper and staring at in the closet, I've decided to try digital scrapbooking. I think I'm hooked. There's no mess and it's much faster and easier once you learn the program. Here are some pages of the girls:

Ella has been pulling up now for a few weeks. She has started standing on her own. Everytime she stands up, she claps for herself because she's so proud! Today she started walking behind her little pushcart all over the place. It won't be long before Claire will get a "run for her money"!!
She is also becoming quite a little clown and will do anything repeatedly for a laugh. Her newest favorite crowd pleaser is to put her face down in the bath water, and come up with a soap bubble beard. The funny part is the look on her face waiting very still, eyes smiling, hoping to get a laugh!

Claire is growing up so quickly. She will be starting Pre-K August 20th. She will go to school 5 days a week from 8am -1pm. She is very excited and can't wait to go. She is quite a social butterfly and it is so funny to see our little girl start having a social life that doesn't involve us altogether! Mommy and Ella will be a little sad to see her start school because we will miss her, but it will give our ears a rest as Claire is a constant talker!
She also has a new hobby. Daddy has started teaching her how to play golf. She is really enjoying it and told me that she is a much better putter than daddy so he has to practice. She has also started taking Chinese language classes with mommy and is picking it up pretty quickly.

One is Fun!!

2007-07-19T13:37:00.000-07:00

We've had a busy summer and haven't posted much, but here are few pics from Ella's birthday party luau. As you can see both girls enjoyed themselves.

Ella's cousin Broden is 15 months older and wanted to go down the "Big Boy" slide. Here are the results:

Ella was dedicated on the same day as her party. Our friend, Gary Miller, who is also the Chi Alpha Pastor at USF performed the dedication for us. Thank You Gary!!

We Have Teeth!!

2007-05-14T07:55:00.000-07:00

Ella finally got her first tooth this week and the second one looks like it will be coming up soon. Of course this opens up a whole new world of possibilities like cheerios!!
Here are a few other "firsts" this week:

Our first Mother's Day all together. I'm so thankful this Mother's Day to have both of my girls home. I love being their mom. My favorite thing about being their mom is watching them together. They have such a special bond and I can't wait to see how their relationship grows as they get older.

First Swing. We bought Ella a baby swing so she could swing beside her big sister. As you can see she loves it!

First time in the baby pool. It's been hot and humid this week so it's time to hit the water. We started out by getting the little baby pool out. The girls had a blast and didn't want to get out. Unfortunately, a couple hours even in the shade is about all we can take.

First trip to the beach. On Wednesday, mommy got brave and decided to take a trip to the beach. Claire loves the beach and so does mommy. Ella seemed to enjoy herself, but the water was still too cold for her, so she was happy to sit and play in her cabana!

First time in the big pool. Sunday we went to a friends house for lunch and then the girls went swimmimng in the "big: pool. Claire is becoming quite a little fish and we hope to start her in swimming lessons this year. Ella loved her floatie and became so relaxed, she almost fell asleep.

What a Week

2007-05-08T19:49:00.000-07:00

We've had a rough week this week. The week started with a trip to the chiropractor because I pulled a muscle in my back. On Ed woke up with gout in his left ankle. He's experienced this before and although it's painful, he knows that he has to stay off it, ice it, and give it time to heal. This means mommy was on her own. That evening the pediatrician called and said that Ella's lab work had come back and she had parasites. This just requires a ten day course of antibiotics--no big deal except that the medicine tends to cause stomach cramps. Friday, I took Ella to her well baby exam. She is doing really well. She is in the 25Th percentile for head circumference and weight (17lbs,she has not gained any weight due to the parasites) and 50Th percentile for height (27 inches). She will be starting physical therapy soon to give her a little boost with her mobility as she is nowhere near crawling yet. Other than that she was doing so great that they gave her five immunizations to start catching her up.(This will never happen again). I returned home to find Ed in excruciating pain. It appeared that he had gout in his right knee now as well. He could not even walk. We went straight to the emergency room and were there until 9:30pm. He was given two shots and some pain medication that caused some severe flu-like side effect for two days afterwards. When we arrived home poor Ella was running a fever and miserable. She was up all night not sleeping more than twenty minutes at a time. It took us all weekend to recover but we are finally on the mend. Here are a few pictures from the first part of the week.

Getting Adjusted

2007-04-29T19:41:00.000-07:00

This has been quite a week. We cannot believe how far Ella has progressed in such a short time. This little girl who could barely hold her head up three weeks ago is now rolling across the floor, grabbing everything in sight, and almost sitting up by herself. The exersaucer has become a favorite activity.

She also began eating solid foods this week which was a big milestone to cross. Until this week she would only take formula with a little cereal mixed in her bottle. We kept offering her baby food, but she would press her lips together so tight and shake her head. One day she was at the table watching Claire eat her soup and she seemed interested so we gave her a spoon and dipped it in Claire's bowl. That was all it took. We began feeding her applesauce and pretending like it came from Claire's bowl. Once she discovered that she liked it, we haven't been able to fill her up. She even licks her bib clean afterwards!!

Ella loves her big sister and they have a great time playing together.

There's No Place Like Home!!

2007-04-17T13:37:00.000-07:00

We are so glad to be home and recovering from our trip. The girls were troopers on the flight home. They both slept about 11 hours of the 13 hour flight. The other flights were a little difficult for Ella because she had an ear infection and the pressure in the smaller planes was painful but they were both only about two hours each. The trip was very exhausting and we are so glad to be back home in our own beds. There were a lot of things going on in Guanzhou so we were not able to post as much as we wanted to. Ella became very ill with a fever and it turned out that she had an ear infection and tonsilitis. She is doing much better now. We think she is cutting her first teeth but we have learned a few home remedies that seem to be really helping. Since we didn't get to post in Guanzhou, I posted a few pictures from our trip.
Here is one of the biggest reasons we are glad to be home. Living in a hotel for two weeks is not easy. Our bottles had to be made with bottled water and sterilized in an electric water boiler. Ella likes her bottles hot so everyday we would fill a thermos with boiling water and mix it with room temp bottled water to adjust the temperature for her bottle while we were on our outings

We could have laundry done fairly cheap but we washed our smaller items in the sink to save some money.

Here the sisters on Easter Sunday

Heres Ella at her medical exam required for all adoptees

There's nothing like a little Starbucks to make you feel at home. Here's Claire and Ella enjoying her first Frappacinno

Big Trouble in Little China

2007-04-08T06:25:00.000-07:00

Sorry we havent posted lately, for some reason we cant pull up our blog site from our current hotel.
We are all tired and ready to come home. Claire said yesterday "I like my house alot more than this hotel".
Ella had an ear infection and was visibly sick about te second day with us; we had brought some infant antibiotics with us and after a couple of doses she is doing much much better.
Now we need to get some antibiotics for Ed, he's been sick for the last couple of days, but he will be fine he gets sick every time we come to China.
We leave for Guangzhou in the morning, which is much more westernized, and the last leg of our trip.

2007-04-08T06:23:00.000-07:00

Whoever smelt it dealt it.

2007-04-08T06:22:00.000-07:00

Sisters.

2007-04-08T06:21:00.000-07:00

Really? You think this angle makes my head look big?

2007-04-08T06:18:00.000-07:00

Pooped at Walmart...No, literally pooped at Chinese Walmart

2007-04-08T06:14:00.000-07:00

Claire at the Tea House

Gotcha Day!!!

2007-04-03T08:09:00.001-07:00

On April 2 we arrived in Chongqing around 3PM, our guide came to our room around 5PM to inform us that the children were in the hotel and we would be receiving them at 8:30PM. What a shock, it was very unexpected to be so sudden.
We picked Ella out of the group before we received her, when they called our name and the Hallmark moment was ready to begin. Stop! The Hallmark moment, Ella had a BM and they didn't want to give her to us with a dirty diaper, so in front of everyone Ella's diaper was changed and the Hallmark moment could resume.
So far the experience is complete opposite of Claire. Ella went to bed last night at 11PM and slept in her crib until 8AM. She loves her crib and is a good sleeper. Ella is tiny but a chunk, she loves her feet (so much she uses them to scratch her head), music and stuffed animals. From what we can tell Ella is the second youngest in the group and the smallest. She didn't smile or cry the first night, but today all that has changed. She let's us know when she is unhappy, she does cry, and has cackled out loud all night. Ella is already attached to her big sister, when Claire is in the room she can't keep her eyes off her. Claire has been great helping feed Ella and she loves taking pictures of her with her camera.

Claire at the Great Wall
While in Beijing we visited the Great Wall, it's an amazing site to see in person. On your way down from the Wall you walk down a path with vendors on both sides, the path is probably a 10th of a mile long. Every person you walk by is aggressively trying to sell you something. Now to us it was pretty annoying but to Claire, she thought it was great; at one point she said to us "all these people want to give me something". As we made our way down I would had the "no not interested" with the hand wave saying leave me alone. Claire's comment on the other hand was "no thank you, but I'll come back tomorrow and buy something".
And now the adventure continues!

Finally in Beijing

2007-03-31T08:19:00.000-07:00

We finally made it to Beijing.
Our flight out of Tampa was delayed, causing us to miss our flight to Beijing. United put us up in the airport Hyatt in D.C. w/ dinner and bfast vouchers, it was nice, but we had to arrive in Beijing a day later. Right now the jet lag is definitely present
We will do some sightseeing/shopping tomorrow and a night tour that includes "The Peking Duck" (famous Chinese restaurant) and Chinese acrobat show.
Our room in Beijing is very nice, having Kristy's mother Jeanette w/ us, every time we tried to book a room we had to rent two rooms (due to the bed situation in China; either two twins or one king) We found the Marriott Executive Apartments thru Expedia, it's a 1800 sf lavishly furnished apartment w/ 2 master bedrooms, and it cost less than renting two rooms at the other hotels. It even has it's own washer and dryer so we can wash our traveling clothes from the flight, and Claire and I can swim and dry our suits before putting them back in the suitcase.
I have to conclude with how well Claire did on the 14 hour flight. Of course she was the only one who could comfortably stretch out, but she did great; no complaints the entire flight. Except when we landed and Ella wasn't there, she couldn't comprehend "we are in China, but Ella's not here".

Leaving for China!!

2007-03-28T15:23:00.000-07:00

We're all packed!! We have manged to stay within the China weight limit of 44lbs per ticketed person. Our plane leaves tomorrow at 9am. We should arrive in Beijiing at 1:30am our time. It will actually be 1:30pm on Friday in China. We will do some sightseeing in Beijiing and leave for Chongqing (Ella's province) on Monday.
We will probably meet Ella on Tuesday and then leave Chongqing sometime that weekend and fly to Guanzhou to complete our paperwork. We should leave on the 13th to come home. We're hoping to be able to blog while we are there, so we will try to post pictures here as soon as possible. We're coming Ella!!!

We Received our Travel Approval!!!

2007-03-14T19:55:00.000-07:00

Last week we went to visit Josh and Amanda, and see Max and his new sister, Harper. Claire and Max has such a great time together.

Buddies!

Sweet little Harper

We returned on Saturday and our church family threw us a big baby shower. We are so thankful for our church family who have prayed for us and supported us through Ella's adoption. We received everything we registered for and more.
A big thank you to our friends, Rick, Kim, Holly, and Diana who did such a great job putting the shower together. We love you guys!

Ella has everything she needs

Claire racked up with the "Big Sister gifts" too!!

Claire tuckered out in her new booster seat after a day of shopping for the trip.

On Monday, we spent the day putting away shower gifts and making our final purchases at Babies R Us. Finally, at about 10:30 pm, Ed sat down to check our e-mail and low and behold there was an e-mail from our agency saying we had travel approval. We were so excited!!
Today our consulate appointment was confirmed so we are ready to go!! We made our flight arrangements and it looks like we will be leaving on March 29th (Ed's birthday) . That's less than 2 weeks away--I can hardly stand it!! Now we have a lot to get packing!!

Our New Neice!

2007-02-10T07:59:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, my brother and sister-in-law, Josh and Amanda, welcomed their newest arrival. Harper Evelyn Deal. She was 6lbs 13oz and she is beautiful. Babies seem to always come in twos in our family. Their son, Max and Claire are 15 months apart. Harper and Ella will be about 7 months apart. I'm sure they will be buddies. Here's a pic of Harper. There are more posted on their blog under our links section. Congratulations Josh, Amanda, and Big Brother Max!

We Received Our Referral Packet

2007-02-08T12:00:00.000-08:00

The packet came yesterday. It was delivered to the church and I had just called Rick and asked him to call if they came before I got there so I could run over and get a picture. As soon as we hung up. He called me back and said the DHL man was there. So I ran over and got a few pics. The DHL man was a good sport about it!

So here is what we've learned about Ella:

At 4 months, she weighed 13 pounds and was 22 inches long. (2lbs and 2 inches smaller than Claire was at the same age). We've been told the Xiu babies are a little more on the petite side. She is described as a moderate sleeper, laughs out loud, and is active (oh boy!). Several people have been asking us how to pronounce her Chinese Name. We think we have figured it out:

Xui - is pronounced "shoe", (I love shoes!!) and it means beautiful and elegant

Fu - is pronounced "foo", and it means double happiness or double blessing

Xing - is pronounced "sheeng", and it means star

Her American name will be Ella Xui Frost. This is kind of neat because we've had the name Ella chosen since we started our paperwork. Ella and Xui both mean beautiful. The same thing happened with Claire. Claire and Hui both mean clear and bright. God's ways are so much higher and greater than ours!

Claire is so excited about Ella. It took a few days to sink in that this really was a picture of her sister because we've been talking about it for so long. She carries her picture folded in her pocket with her everywhere and shows it to everyone. She also has one taped to her bunk bed. I just hope she feels the same way about the real Ella as she does about the picture.

We are now waiting on Travel Approval and a Consulate Appointment. Unfortunately Chinese New Year is approaching and that could delay our travel approval. We hope to know an approximate date in the next two weeks . But it will probably be mid to late March. Please pray that we can travel quickly. Of course we want to go now, but also for us, being in ministry, one of the busiest times of year is Easter and the weeks leading up to Easter. We would like to be home and settled in by then. I know a lot of you reading this have been praying for us through this whole process and we want to thank each of you. It has meant so much to us.

WE GOT THE CALL!!!

2007-02-01T13:07:00.000-08:00

We got the call at 3:00pm. Here is what we know so far:

Chinese Name: XIU FU XING

Birthdate: June 26th, 2006 (7 1/2 months old)

Province: Chongquing (the same as Claire)

Orphanage: Xiushan SWI

Okay now for the good stuff, here she is:

Claire is 4!

2007-01-30T21:26:00.000-08:00

I can't believe our baby girl is four years old!! We celebrated Claire's birthday at Pump it Up with all her friends. It was a blast and Claire really enjoyed being the Birthday girl.

Blowing out her candles

The Birthday Girl on her throne!

Having fun!!

Some Highlights from the past few months

2007-01-30T17:48:00.000-08:00

September - Our First Cruise

October - Claire "Lucy from Narnia" Fall Festival

November - Claire's first Preschool Picture

December - Family Christmas Picture

2007-01-24T12:50:00.000-08:00

Gettting Closer

2007-01-24T12:03:00.000-08:00

Okay, so we haven't kept up with our blog like we planned to, but there really hasn't been much news to share on the adoption front. Things have stayed at a very slow pace for some time now and there is no speed up in sight. The good news is we have to be getting close now. In fact we might eek in on the next batch of referrals! Our log in date (Date registered in China) is 10/10/05. Currently China is working on those logged in after 9/28/05 and the first week of October was closed so there were no log in dates until the 7th. So as you can see we are very close. Referrals are expected to come out sometime in the next 2 weeks. Needless to say not knowing if we will make into this batch or the next and yet being so close has made us quite anxious, okay well, it has made me quite anxious. Ed has his usual take-it-as-it-comes attitude which is a quality that I don't think I will ever aquire. I will continue to keep the antacid companies in business while I deal with my "paper pregnancy" pre-term labor symptoms.

I think it is safe to finally share our nursery pics with you. Ella's room of course has been done now for the past 10 months because I, being the over anxious planner, wanted to make sure we were prepared and ready. It has been slowly added too and the furniture has even been rearranged once already but it is done and I have no plans to do anything else to it unless of course we end up waiting another 16 months then I might just paint over it and start over!

Where Have We Been?

2006-05-23T12:09:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been three months since we've updated this site.
Needless to say we've been very busy and yet there is no news to report on the adoption homefront. Time has basically stood still in that department. It seems about the time we started our wait which was supposed to be 6-7 months. China began to slow down the process and basically began referring days worth of referrals instead of a month's worth each month. We had hoped they would catch back up and even begin to double up on months but unfortunately the trend has continued and there is any hint that it will speed up anytime soon. I knew 6-7 months was just to good to be true! After waiting 14 months for Claire, 7 months seemed like a dream and I guess it was! So we are trying to be patient and enjoy our last months together as a family of three. We have realized that we will never have this time back again and we want to enjoy it. Claire is having a bit of hard time understanding what is taking so long and she asks about her baby sister daily. So here it is, our latest referral time prediction Scenarios (I can dream about #1, can handle #2 but just don't let myself think about #3 yet. ):
1.The "Best Case Miraculous" Scenario: Referral in August travel in October ( Just like we did with Claire)(Not likely to happen unless we see double months next month)
2.The "Most Realistically Hopeful" Scenario: Referral in October travel in December (Christmas in China?...Hmmm.....)
3.The "Keeping with the Current Trend in Timeframes" Scenario: Sometime in 2007 (Don't even want to go there yet)

Meanwhile here are the last three months in pictures:
On Mondays (Ed's day off) we are either at Disney or the beach if it's too hot. Claire is definately a beach lover and she has no fear of the water which gives daddy something to do while mommy gets some sun!

We also gave Claire's room a makeover. She has been asking for a princess room and really had outgrown her toddler bed. So we found a great deal on a castle bunk bed on ebay and daddy took a road trip to Louisiana to pick it up. Mommy painted the room and the new bed and Clair "supervised". She was very happy with the way it turned out and she loves her new bed. She tells me often "Mommy I luv my woom!"

Easter was very busy for us but we managed to get in an Easter Egg hunt, decorate eggs, and get our annual Easter Sunday picture taken. We sent Claire on a scavenger hunt to find her Easter basket that came a day early due to the craziness of Sundays at our house!

Claire has also started Gymnastic lessons. She loves the parrellel bars and is very brave on them. She has just learned to do a tumble and is very proud of herself. She has to show everyone that comes to visit what she can do and then she stands and proudly says "See dat's my new twick"! We'll post some gymnastics pitures soon.
We are thrilled that Kristy's cousin, Kara and her husband, Ben, have received a referral for a baby boy in Guatemala. Baby Broden is now 4 months old (his birthday is one day before Claire's) and we cannot wait to meet him. Claire is so excited that Aunt Kara is going to be "a big sister like me"! She hasn't quite figured it all out yet but she's excited nonetheless.

Nana came to stay with Claire a few days while mommy and daddy went to a "boring place for meetings" (District Council). Claire had a great time and tried to convince Nana to stay and move in with us but Bapa wouldn't let her! Before she left we all went to Disney together.

Well that's about it for now. We'll leave you with one more. If you haven't figured it out yet, this is who hold the pants in the family!

2006-02-03T18:03:00.000-08:00

*****************RED THREAD NEWS********************

There's still no change in the time frame for Ella's referral. Looks like summer at the earliest, but we're hanging in there!

*********************************************************

Claire turns 3!

2006-02-03T17:25:00.000-08:00

Claire turned three on the 29th of Janurary.
Her are some pics from her Cinderella party.

Merry Christmas

2006-01-02T16:00:00.000-08:00

Christmas has flown by this year! We've been kept very busy this season with church activities and family get togethers:

Ed reading a Christmas story at The Dwelling Place Family Christmas Banquet.
Kristy directing our very first Christmas Cantata at The Dwelling Place.

Ed dressed as Santa Claus at our Frost family get together. Claire didn't have a clue that he was really her daddy.

Claire and her cousin, Max, enjoy a Christmas gift from Nana and Bapa by singing a duet entitled, "Microphones sure taste good!".

We hope you had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Happy Thanksgiving

2005-11-30T15:49:00.000-08:00

We had a great time in the NC Mountains.

Forget the Turkey. Claire hams it up at Thanksgiving dinner.

Claire prayed for snow every night for three months before we left and guess what?

We got about 6 inches!!

We stopped at the Cabbage patch kid hospital in Cleveland, Georgia. Claire adopted a cabbage patch baby that she affectionately named "Ella".

****************************Red Thread News*****************************
Although we haven't started on Ella's room, we thought we'd post some pictures of her crib bedding. We can't wait to get started on the nursery. We'll probably start working on it around March.

Happy Halloween!

2005-11-03T14:39:00.000-08:00

Po-Claire-hontas!

Thank you for making my costume Nana. I love it!

**********************************Red Thread News************************************
It took longer than we thought, but we have now been officially "logged in" in China as of October 10th. This pushes our date up to a possible May referral as the wait time is rumored to be moving up to seven months now. However, timelines are pretty unpredictable and only the Lord knows when Ella will be ready for us. I guess we'll just have to wait.

******************************************************************************************************

At the Pumpkin Patch

2005-10-20T17:37:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pics from our visit to the pumpkin patch.

Paperchasing for Ella

2005-10-06T20:15:00.000-07:00

Sealed with a kiss

Claire mailing our paperwork for Ella

Well the paperwork is finally done and we have now begun the waiting game. Our paperwork (dossier) has been sent to China and as it looks right now, we should be matched with a baby and receive a referral (picture) around March or April. Of course, we know from past experience that this could change at anytime, but we have also learned that His timing is perfect. We have chosen the name Ella.

Claire cannot wait to be a big sister! We've been talking a lot with Claire about how she and Ella were both born in China and how Mommy and Daddy went to China to adopt Claire just like we will go to get Ella. The other day after explaining all this, Ed asked Claire "Now where were you born?" Claire looked up at him and pointed to his chest and said "In your heart." I guess she has it all figured out!!

Summer Highlights

2005-10-06T19:23:00.000-07:00

We had a very busy summer and traveled quite a bit.
Here's a few of the highlights of our travels:

Horse-Drawn Carriage Ride, Indiana, Frost Family Reunion

Conner's Prairie, Denver,Colorado

The Grand Canyon, Arizona

Some people just have to try it.

Grand Canyon also referred to by Claire as "The B--i--g H--o---le"

Las Vegas, Nevada

Yes, this was about as exciting as it got.

It's okay Claire, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!

Introduction

2005-10-06T18:53:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our little corner of the Web.
The Frost Family will soon be adding a new addition.
We are adopting a baby sister from China!
We've created this site to keep our friends and family up-to-date with the process.
Thanks for stopping by.