Pink (and White) Christmas

Well, I think we are ready! I guess we better be since Christmas is here! The ground is still covered with snow and the house is filled with wrapped presents and a full fridge to great the family arriving tonight. The plans are all laid out for our travel on Christmas day and the last gift was bought last night. The hubby and I teamed up yesterday to give the house a good once over, while alternating - watching Ruby in between. She was so funny and wanted to help with everything- which, as you can imagine, was cute but not that helpful! She loves the swifter and would not give it back until we gave her her own feather duster to "clean" with. God bless her, she loves to clean! Well, at least pretend that is!

Although she still has a cold, she was in pretty good spirits last night. We nursed our sweet girl as best we can and hope she is feeling a bit better in the morning. Still has a nasty cough! The doc said to use Little Noses saline in her nose, give her honey 4 times a day (which she loved) and rub Little Colds on her chest. We got a humidifier in her room and also rubbed Vics on her feet (Jeff read this on the net so we gave it a try). We also got Pedialite pops to help her get enough fluids. She smiled the entire 20 minutes it took her to eat it!

We watched "The Little Drummer Boy" last night. I was so excited to finally see a video that showed the true meaning of Christmas...until we watched it. The end is sweet, but this is NOT a show for an adopted child to watch. There is a scene near the beginning where the boy's parents and home are burned down and they call him a "poor orphan". Luckily, Ruby is only 2 and we sort-of saw it coming and distracted her until that part was over. No more 1968 movies for us! And none without pre-screening! Ah well, the rest of it was really sweet and Ruby watched with much interest at the baby Jesus at the end. Just glad we caught that part in the beginning!

We took her to church for the first time 2 weeks ago. (This week we were snowed in). She did real well and we found a sweet little church down the road for our house with a super nice pastor and some real sweet people. Everyone came up to say hi to Ruby and they were really nice to us there. Taking the whole family there tonight for Christmas eve service. 

I got a little pink tree for her room a couple weeks ago with all princess-y, bears, and girlie type ornaments. Even found a tiara at Target! So cute! And Miss Kitty. Loves Miss Kitty and takes them off to play and says MEOW and then puts them back. I have two Disney princess ornaments that will magically appear Christmas morning. I also have some special things for her bedroom stocking hidden in her room so I can quickly pull them out after she's asleep. So excited! Jeff & I are going to have a few presents (all pink and girlie stuff) in her stocking and by her little tree to open in the morning with just the 3 of us. There are pink beads, a pink purse, a doll baby, and bag of pink baby care accessories. Also pink sparkley slippers! Since we have my mom, brother, uncle, and his girlfriend all staying, we wanted to have a few minutes or more to ourselves just with Ruby. Some special family time on our first Christmas. Then we will head down and join everyone for more fun, presents, and a big breakfast. Here is Ruby's tree...

And a close up of the ornaments.

Yes, we love pink around here. But more than just the cute decorations and fun gifts, we have that "pink" feeling on the inside. All warm and fuzzy just knowing that our baby girl is home and happy and with us this Christmas. We are a family. And it is amazing! Words can not describe how wonderful these last few months have been. For those still waiting, it is worth every single second of the agonizing wait. Every single second. We have been blessed and are immensely grateful.

It's an exciting time right now to witness so many kids coming home the last few months! A special welcome home to Nancy & John, Terri & Chris, and Nadine & Conn. And a BIG congrats to Emily and family, Jessica & Matt and Rosemary and Brian who are getting ready to travel early in the new year!

Wishing you all love, happiness, and peace during this Christmas, Hannakah, and very special season. 

With much love and pink-ness,

Jen, Jeff, and Ruby Kate