Dance Recital

Today was Lauren's dance recital. This was Lauren's second year of dance lessons. She was like an old pro at the recital this year. She really likes the dance outfits and being on stage. She was in three dances, ballet, jazz and tap. Her favorite this year was the ballet dance and outfit.

It was a fun afternoon and it was made even more fun because her aunt Janine, cousin Elaine, aunt Diane and cousin Sammie came to watch her dances.

Lauren wants to take a break from dancing so we are not going to dance next year. She will still be doing cheerleading so she will still get to be on stage and perform. It will be nice to have our Saturdays back. It will the first time since she was two that we will not have some type of lesson on Saturday.

Lauren's Ballet outfit.

Jazz outfit.

Tap outfit.

5 years ago.

Five years ago today I received word that I was the mother of a little girl named, Qing Rong. That day changed my life and I am so happy that I am Qing Rong's mother. What a wonderful 5 years it has been.

During the wait for my referral I wondered what Lauren would look like. I never thought that I would have a little girl as beautiful as Lauren. I know that I am one very lucky mother.

This is the picture that I saw 5 years ago. I still can't believe that it has been 5 years.

New Member of our Family

Introducing, Princess Crystal.

Welcome to our family, Princess Crystal.

Today we got a new little kitty. Lauren named her Princess Crystal. She seems like a very sweet little girl. Lauren is so happy to have a new kitty.

Tigger, our old cat, ran away last week. I promised Lauren we would get a new one if he did not come home. I will confess that I am not sad that Tigger ran away. He was a very mean cat and if that behavior kept up I would have had to get rid of him. My siblings all said that I should get rid of him. He would attack us all the time. He would jump on us and bite us. There were a number of times that he jumped up on my little niece's head and bit her. He would hiss at us and when people came over we had to keep him away from them because he would hiss and attack. I kept thinking he would grow out of it but it got worse and worse. I had reached the point where I was going to take him to the pound. But he ran away. It is interesting but as mean as he was and as much as he bit and attacked Lauren she was so sad that he ran away. I thought he might come back but it has been about a week and he has not come back. I felt it was safe to get a new little kitten.

Princess Crystal is about 8 weeks old and so small. She is an interesting color. Lauren picked her out and did not want to look at any of the other ones. I kept telling Lauren to look at the other ones but she had made up her mine. Princess Crystal seems nice I hope she continues to be that way.

Hair Update #5

18 weeks after the accident

13 weeks after the accident

9 weeks after the accident.

6 weeks after the accident

3 weeks after the accident.

3 days after the accident

I think that we made some huge progress this past few weeks. The bald spot is now covered. It is still pretty thin but it is covered which makes things a bit easier. Now when I part it and the hair moves a little you can't see any of the scalp below. I think we are about half way to having it nice and thick once again. We are years from having it all once length and nice and long but we will get there.

It amazes me but it does not bother Lauren at all. We do ponytails, braids, pigtails and we try other things. She knows we have to do the side part but then we try other things. She is a good sport and she has been such a trooper through this whole thing. I keep thinking that when she is in junior high or high school she won't remember this at all. I will have to reminder her by showing her pictures. At the present time we are dealing with it and we doing a great job at it.

Birthday Party for Friends

Lauren's birthday is in June and so most of her school friends are gone for the summer. For the past few years we have had her party for her friends in late May. This year it only worked out to have the party after school got out. There were a few of her friends that had already left for the summer but there was still a enough to have a good time.

Last year Lauren had her party at Pump it Up and so I was surprised that she wanted to have it there once again. They all seemed to have a good time. Lauren loved it. We will celebrate her real birthday with family in June. I am just glad it is over for the year.

Last Day of School

These pictures were taken on August 11, 2008, Lauren's first day of kindergarten.

These pictures were taken this morning, Lauren's last day of kindergarten.

Lauren's school had a moving up celebration this morning. All the kids were outside on the basketball court and they had a small ceremony and moved the classes up to the next grade. It was really cute and about made me cry.

I can't believe that my little girl is now a 1st grader. She has grown up so much since the beginning of the school year. Right now she is excited that school is over and she is ready for summer. It should be a fun summer.

Memorial Day Weekend

Lauren and I had a great weekend. My brother, Brian and his wife, Diane and Sammie and Jacob spent Saturday and Sunday at our house. One of their air conditioners went out and so they came up and spent time here. Lauren loved having her cousin at her house and I enjoyed it also. Monday we all went over to my sister's house for a cookout and for a nice swim. It was a nice way to start summer.

After spending the whole weekend with family it makes the e-mail I got from Lauren's teacher even more funny. On Friday night I received an e-mail from Lauren's teacher explaining that they were making Father's Day's cards. She asked Lauren if she had anyone she wanted to make one for like an uncle or someone else. Lauren said she has an uncle but she does not know his name and she has not seen him for a long time. This just made me laugh. She goes to one of her uncle's home everyday after school. One of her other uncles she sees almost every week. When I asked her about this she said she just forgot about Uncle Brian or Uncle Don . She decided to just make me a card instead!!