Family Photo Time

We had our family photos on Wednesday and got the proofs back today! WOW! They are super! Our little Vietnamese angel is so beautiful! Below are just a sample of the ones we have to choose from! Today is Sophie's party so we will have a house full of kids and adults! It is Hank's last days as he goes back to work on Monday and Tricia heads to Tulsa with Sophie to meet more family.

We HAD to do the box thing

Wow! I love the US!!!

Surprise!!!!

So precious!

Ao Dai and all......

Poppa's girls!

Here Mommy you try it on!

Who could resist this look!

Those DARK DEEP HUGE EYES!!

The Belz family.......

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOPHIE LEE!

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY DEAR SOPHIE LEE-NGUYEN BELZ! WE LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!

I'M 2 TODAY!

Folks...we now have a butterfly!

Yes, the cocoon has opened and we have a beautiful butterfly. Sophie has really came out of her shell. The laid back quite gal we all knew and loved a week ago has broke through the shell. She is very much 2. She wants to grab everything she sees (including the computer I'm using right now). She has little tantrums and gets very upset when she does not get what she wants. She is very much testing us right now... and I tell her "Sister, I'm pretty good at tests so you ain't gettin that cookie, or that pretty vase or crystal frame or....." you get my point.
However, she is such a ham and LOVES to show off. We sing "Wheels on the bus" a million times a day and each time she gets more and more dramatic with it. We even have our own verse (contact us for the video). It is so funny.

But the biggest milestone is ..... SHES USES THE POTTY!!! I was not planning on starting potty training this soon (I mean heck she doesn't even understand the word potty), but she decided she wanted to use the potty (by the way before I became a Mother--I hated the word potty). Every time I take her in the bathroom for her nightly bath she always points to the "potty". She tries to lift the lid and wants to flush the "potty". So Saturday before bath, I was feeling kinda of wild, and thought I would sit her on the potty and see what she does. So I did, and much to my surprise she went to the bathroom! So..... I was so excited! I thought well I guess we can try this potty training thing out. All day yesterday she went to the potty, she did not go in her diaper all night (well at least until 6:00 a.m.) And she has continued to use the potty this morning. So hopefully this will continue.
We will head back down to Cardinal Glennon today to drop off the yummy stool samples. I'm sure Sophie will scream her head off the minute she she's the place, I just might! Then it's off to lunch, nap and finally Toys R Us! Her birthday is Thursday and we have to get ready for the party, so I'm hoping Toys R Us will have Hello Kitty things. She loves Hello Kitty!
Enjoy video and some pics. of last week. Hope all is well with everyone!

Happy girl.. loves to eat!

Where's Sophie? Poppa showed her this..
Say Cheese!

Celebrating 5 years...now full circle. The worst day of my life now became the best!

Poppa and Sophie!

Sophie wanted to give BFF Olivia some cheerios!

Docs & Holt Visits

Yesterday we visited the doctor. There is a special department at Cardinal Glennon Children's hospital here called FACES and they only deal with Internationally adopted children. We saw Dr. Ladage who is the best in the business and everything is going well with our girl. She is above her age in social skills and on track with everything else, except language for obvious reasons. She is learning though and seems to understand things that we say. Her vocab now includes, Mom, Poppa, dog, meow, please, and she tries her hardest to say all the words we are teaching her. Little known to Sophie she would be a pin cushion as well with 5 shots and blood work. She screamed bloody murder but slept soundly last night! We go back in a month for a follow-up.
Today we had our 1 month visit from our Holt social worker. She was very happy to see Sophie for the first time and that things are going well. Sophie is getting better with Poppa. Each day we are seeing more interaction. She will laugh and play with him when they are alone especially when they eat or just hang out.
Our eternal weekend is slowly winding down though. Hank goes back to work on the 19th and Tricia phases back on the 26th, She will be back full-time at the end of February. A wonderful school is lined up for Sophie and we will begin introducing her there next week.
We are really loving this parenting thing and the joy this little angel has brought.
Today, we have had Sophie for 1 month. Today 1/9 also marks another milestone in our family life. It was five years ago today that Tricia was diagnosed with cancer, and God has blessed her with good health ever since!

Smiles at the doctor's office..........

Snack Nap

Snack time turned into a little cat nap time. Trish was upstairs getting ready, I was reading Holt blogs, looked over and she was zonked out! :-)