Happy Birthday America!

We spent the second 4th of July in a row at the beach with our dear friends, the Brophys. It was wonderful! We traveled with them to Ethiopia in March 2007 to get our kiddos from the Gladney transitional home. Lilly is almost exactly a month older than Ashenafi and we are excited that they can be forever friends and have this incredible connection. Last year the Brophys were hosting Eyerus through Bright Future's Camp and now she is their daughter! Her English has come SO FAR in the 7 short months that she has lived in the US. She is such a doll. We love her. Reese and Lilly ADORE her. She is a special little lady, for sure.

These kids are excited to be US Citizens this year! Eyerus says that she is grateful to be a US "Diziden." Too cute.

My girls are 100% Daddy's girls:

Lilly relaxing on the beach:

The proud daddies:

Lilly and Ash watchin' a little video together: "VV" (TV) in Ash language and "DDD" (DVD) in Lilly language

Eyerus did Lilly's hair (as seen above) in some cute little braids. Eyerus is MAGIC with children. Sarah Marie says that she is like the Pied Piper of Kids and it is so true. She managed to get Lilly to hold still while braiding her hair and she can also make any kid stop crying almost instantly!

Hair Styles and Potty Training...

I have only about 3 or 4 hair-dos for Lilly --pony tail, pig tails, some small loose braids, front up & back down/out, or barrette/head band. Nothing elaborate...I am learning. Pig tails are my fav:

I like a side part in the front and then middle part in the back. Like so:

Again, nothing fancy yet, I know. I have a lot left to learn.

The biggest challenge with Lilly and doing her hair has nothing to do with my skills or her hair---it's her absolute hatred of the process! She screams when I come around the corner with a brush or comb in hand. If I say, "Lilly, mama is going to do your hair now." She says very emphatically "MO!" That's NO in Lilly-speak. I am gentle, I swear. I work on one chunk at a time and I carefully de-tangle. I give her snacks, put her in front of a show, Reese sings to her, we have tried it all. No matter what - she screams and squirms and the process is completely exhausting to me. I am hoping that this will get better over time. Maybe Eyerus can do something cute with her hair this weekend when we go see the Brophys for the 4th of July. :)

I absolutely love Lilly's beautiful spiral curls and how it looks when just natural and down.

I think that her hair grows by the minute! It is SO long and thick. A picture does not seem to adequately show how thick and long Lilly's hair truly is because it quickly coils up and looks shorter. I like leaving it out/down; but de-tangling it at the end of a day of it being out is really tough and I do believe hurts her quite a bit then. So, I keep it up in pig tails most days. Here are a few pics with her hair down.

"Peak a boo"

You just want to eat her up, right?

Potty training:

We have begun some potty training (mostly her initiative) and over the past 4 months Lilly has used the potty for #1 and #2 many times now! It is exciting (the prospect of not having to change stinky diapers, that is). She still has quite a ways to go. She was excited at first, and now has entered the phase of complete terror when something actually happens once she sits on the potty. Reese went through the same phases. This round of potty training, we are glad to have a helper who is coaching Lilly step by step: