Loving the Fall!

Attempting to get a Christmas pic, the background is "for real"...so are the cute kids ;)

Picking apples

Guess who found her brothers' bath, notice the pants hanging on the faucet that she had just thrown in...she LOVES water!

Picture in her hat...glad we caught her dimple!

Feeding the ducks at the Cider Mill...I had never heard of a Cider Mill before I moved here. The Cider & Cider Doughnuts are so yummy!

When we say we live in Michigan, lots of people groan & say "its too cold or it has too much snow"...we actually love the snow & we love the beautiful fall...especially these warm, sunny days! All 3 kids are outside every chance they get, for as long as possible!

Our life...

Well, I decided this one was worth a post of its own...BJ started 1st grade...and it basically "rocked" our world! New baby, no big deal, she goes with the flow. BJ gone all day to school...huge adjustments for the whole family. I can't quite identify what was the big deal, and everyone said it would sort out by the end of September...which it did. He loves his teacher, school...but there has been this big transition of moving a very "night owl" family into an "early bird" one...so that maybe was it. Who knows but we thank God for how much BJ loves school & that things seem to be looking less daunting around the Blume household these days! :)

And enjoy the "rest" of our life in the post below!

Our Life now...

Zach started preschool too, 3 mornings a week. It is going well & thankfully he LOVES to play with Ellyana...as the 2 of them are spending lots of time together! They have really formed a cute friendship!

If you ran into us in town, this is the sight you would see. Ellyana tucked in with her bottle, shuttling around (sometimes you would barely see us...we run so fast to not be late picking up our boys ;)

At home this is what you would see (maybe not all the frills), but Ellyana is loving to pull herself to stand, anywhere...no matter how unstable it may be ;)

In the cupboards, she is just like her brothers & loves to pull things out & explore everywhere (including the toliet...yuck!)

And the most amazing part of our new very busy life, is how happy this little girl is. She sneaks a nap anywhere & anytime & even when she gets woke up...she wakes up like this!

We call her our little "joy-bell" and we think she is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the out! We have so much to be thankful, we praise the Lord for His incredible goodness! And thank Him for His faithfulness in this transition time!

Similar girls..

The girls share their 10 month birthday & remind me lots of each other. I had even taken this picture last night to surprise Daddy...look familiar to their recent post...same Target jammies package & a bow way too big ;)? Thankful for the excitement for adoption that they share! http://weloveourlucy.blogspot.com/

A day to celebrate...

"Self-timer" family picture

Digging into the frosting before we were ready, didn't her brothers do a great job decorating the cake!?!

Enjoying her special day!!!

Happy 1 month "Forever Family" Day at the Blume's... August 14...we were all home together...and now 1 month later we get to celebrate the goodness of God of blessing our family with our precious Ellyana, we love her so very, very much!!!!

Lots of firsts

So many firsts, Ellyana got her 1st 2 teeth, learned to crawl, went on her 1st big road trip, got to meet her Blume grandparents last weekend, lots of Knobloch-side relatives this weekend, went to the pool & "our" beach (and ate lots of sand there ;) And Ellyana was so happy to get to see precious Jada Rinkenberger here in the States, they have been roomates for a long time, so happy they can both be home with their families, lots of prayers answered!

Tomorrow is the 1st day of 1st grade for BJ, Brian & Zach start back to school this week too!

Thankful for God's faithful hand in our family!

Our precious girl...

After 1st Sunday at Church

Loves to go "bye-bye" & her bottle!

Jumping like crazy!

Little Sister loves to be in the middle of it all!

Trying to get some baby food in her mouth, we figured out she likes "big people" food better!

Our little over a week here has went so fast & has been so fun...I'll try to answer our most frequent questions...

How is she doing? GREAT!!!! She is amazingly sweet, good, precious, loving (and on & on ;)

How are the boys doing? So good! They love her & she loves them right back. The adjustment has went really well for the whole family...it just feels like this is just how its to be & we thank the Lord for that!

How is she sleeping? Well, she is adjusting to a total time zone change...last night we slept 5 hours in a row...its a record!

What is she like? She LOVES to smile & scrunch her nose & laugh. She loves to bounce in her Exersaucer (just like her brothers did). She likes to eat Cheerios & be outside. But mostly she loves her bottle & to be held all the time!

We've had wonderful meals from our church family, a visit from Grandma K & more family to come & visit soon! School doesn't start for a few weeks so we are thankful for this time! I hope to get started on a little "trip recap" soon! Much love & thanks to each of you for your prayers! It is just amazing to hold her in our arms, just a 16 lb bundle of answered prayers! She got amazing care in Ethiopia, you can tell by the way she interacts, she's healthy & has adjusted so well to our family! Praise be to our glorious God!