Happy Thanksgiving

This year Riz and I have so much to be thankful for. We have a great circle of friends, a wonderful family and most of all we finally have our daughter here with us to celebrate the Holidays. Sophia has done so much for us, besides making us first time parents she has added to our life, our family, our marriage. I love watching Riz be a Baba (Daddy) to her. He is a great daddy, not only pitching in to do things around the house, but also in the fact that he loves her beyond measure, we have that in common. I always knew that I would love Sophia to the deepest part of my soul, but I never knew just how deep that would be,I still don't. Each passing day I feel more and more love for this little child. She has enriched me, us both, in ways we never dreamed of. We love being with her seeing her grow, laugh, learn, play,sleep, we love just watching her be...When we are away from her we think about her and wish we were there to see all the little things she does during the day. We never take for grated for one second that Sophia is our daughter that we have been blessed to be her parents. We are so thankful to China for allowing us to adopt one of their children. We are grateful to Sophia's foster family, I know that giving her up must not have been easy for them. Sophia is 19 months old and has been with us a mere 5 months. She had an other life before us, 14 months of an other life. We are thankful to her foster family for loving her and providing for her care and well being during that life. Our daughter is happy, healthy and adjusting very well, that is because of her foster family. I think about how much Sophia's life has changed in 5 months and I wonder what she must think. She is adjusting to her new life with us very well but, at night when her conscious mind is relaxed and she is asleep the anxiety of the change shows the most. We are grateful that things have started to improve in her sleep and that she is finding peace with us as her parents. She now runs to us when we come home, cries when we leave and gives the best kisses any parent could want. We are thankful for that...

So besides all the normal things to be Thankful for this year..

our health
our family
our friends
our jobs
our home
each other

we are most Thankful to God for watching over Sophia until we became a family.

An amazing family

We are very lucky to have a supportive FCC family in our area. We may not see each other often enough, but when the time comes when we need each other we are always there. Please read below and contribute if you can.

Melissa is a very talented artiest and mother in our group. She has an open house every year at her Studio. This year it is extra special because of the Harris family and what they are going through. The Harris family also belong to our FCC group. We ask you all to keep the Harris family in your prayers this year...


Studio Open House and Sale


It is that time of year again....

Studio Open House and Sale


This years sale will help to benefit the Harris family. They are a local adoptive family whose daughter was diagnosed with cancer in August. They now have a new battle to fight because Lisa, Anna's Mom, was just diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Please keep them in your prayers and I know they will win this battle. If you are in Central Florida and would like to join us just let me know.



Ocean and Moon Studio
Friday Dec. 5th 4-8pm
Come enjoy good company, a glass of wine and do a little Christmas shopping.
Lots of unique handmade items all priced below retail for this once a year sale.
Items starting at $3.
20% of ALL sales to benefit the Harris family. Raffle with all proceeds
benefiting the Harris family.To learn more about the Harris family please visit...http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/annaharris

Thanks and I hope to see you there:)
Mel
http://jettyandellasmama.blogspot.com/

SEMI-Handmade Christmas

Our goal for this coming year is to pay off the adoption and save enough to start again. We both want to give Sophia a Mei Mei(little Sister) so we are going to work hard at this goal. Saving where we can and reducing coast wherever possible. I am working on a project that will help reduce our grocery budget. There are other things rattling around in my head but i have to work on one project at a time or I will become overwhelmed and thus unsuccessful.

I have decided that this year I want to spend enjoying Sophia and taking her to sit on Santa's lap and to the Christmas tree farm to pick out a tree. Maybe to the petting farm to see the animals. I want to let her draw (scribble really) Christmas Cards for her grandparents and play in the fake snow that falls on Main Street in Celebration.I want to start a tradition that every year we make a Christmas Ornament to give to friends and family.I want to bake Christmas cookies with her and share with our neighbors. I want to start teaching her that it is as much fun to give as it is to get. I want to sit on our couch cuddled under a blanket with her and watch all the Christmas specials and movies. Don't get me wrong I enjoy shopping especially Christmas shopping and I am sure we will do a bit of that too. I love to be in the mall and feel the excitement, hear the Christmas music and see the kids all lined up to sit on the jolly mans knee.This year I have decided that the majority of the gifts we give will be homemade..Not necessarily by me mind you although some of them will be. .My new favorite Shopping site is ESTY.... if you have not heard of them you must check them out. I do a lot of shopping there (that is going to have to stop until we meet our goal). Why homemade?, you ask.. Well, for a lot of reasons. One I love the look of things that someone took the time to make with their own hands. I love to support people who are trying to run a small business. I love to give unique or unexpected gifts. I love the adventure to search out the perfect handmade gift for that special person. Of course there are other reasons buying home made is a step in the right direction to being "Green". The quality is many times better then mass produced products we would buy in a big box store. I get to avoid the Big Box store :). I can stay home and be curative with my family rather then fight for that last parking spot. Our first Christmas as a family of 3 will be a Semi-Handmade Christmas, maybe this will be a Christmas tradition as well.....

The Big announcement

Ever since we came home with Sophia I have wanted to change my blog to reflect more of Sophia's personality. I wanted some place to blog about her life and our life post adoption. For several weeks now I have been working on a new blog with the help of some really great friends. Donna even helped me name the new blog. I was looking for something short and simple, two words that captured my daughter. The new blog name is "SIMPLY SOPHIA,it's he life". Please take a moment to go check it out. I plan to blog here on "Sunflowers and Ladybugs" from time to time about things that are happening in our lives and fun things like the "TAGS" leaving "SIMPLY SOPHIA,it's her life" solely for post about Sophia. I will post pictures and if I ever learn how to do it video's of her as she grows. Thank you to each and every person that took the time to read and cared enough to post comments her on "Sunflowers and Ladybugs" we will forever be grateful for those of you who felt our lives were interesting enough to follow along our journey to become a family of 3. We hope that you will continue to follow us as we grow as a family, who knows what is to come maybe an other big announcement........

Do something, do anything

November is National Adoption Awareness month. Riz and I have been blessed beyond measure with a beautiful daughter. Sophia is our dream come true. One night while visiting our best friends, Lisa's mom, Bonnie was looking at Sophia and said to us This is what an answered prayer looks like. That touched me and I will always remember her saying that, it is so true. Our prayers were answered in a big way. Three years ago when we started the adoption Riz and I felt the need to do something to help the orphans that were in China, some of which may never be adopted. We decided to sponsor a child through Half The Sky. We have done this for 3 years now and have been happy to do it. For the price of a dinner out we are able to provide the loving arms of a foster mother to a child in China. We provide the loving touch of a trained nanny.It is worth eating at home a few nights to provide this care to children who need it so desperately. We have seen the benefits of these programs in children that we know. We have seen first hand the impact that these programs have on children. We ask you to do something, do anything you can to help the orphans of China.

Below are links to some of the many charitable organizations that provide a wide array of services to the orphans of China. The video was posted to our local FCC group by a mother who traveled with the women in the green when she adopted her daughter.

Warning you will need tissues....







Half The Sky

Love Without Boundries

Starfish Foster Home

Our Chinese Daughters Foundation

Shaohannah's Hope

A Mothers Love for china

Altrusa International Foundation


We want to announce to all of our readers that the blog is in for some changes. Please stay tuned.... We want you all to follow along and hopefully we wont loose anyone in the process. If by some chance you know of someone who reads our blog please pass it along that there are changes coming very soon that they will need to be around for...and NO we are not adopting again....at least not yet!

Election Day

Today we decide on who will lead our country for the next 4 years. How lucky we are to have that choice, that right, that privilege. There are a lot of things you can argue about this election. Know matter who you support this election is certainly a historic election no one can argue that. We stand on the brink of having our first women Vice President or first African American president. That is overwhelming to me, that in my life time history will be made. Being the mother of a Girl adopted from China it makes me emotional. The possibilities that lie in front of her now that she is an American citizen are endless. We voted early on Sat. and as we sat there amongst a cross section of our community I could not help but get emotional about the process and my daughter. Her life is so different now then it would have been had she remained in China. We love China and it's people don't get me wrong but the view of women in that part of the world is a slow changing thing, It is changing but slowly. I realized as we sat there waiting for our turn to cast our votes that Sophia now has the right to make her voice heard to participate in the process by casting her own vote. We sat there and talked about her future and what is in front of her and realized that because she was born in China she might never have the opportunity to be President (something most parents say in jest "Oh he/she is going to be president one day"). Maybe just maybe her voice will help change that one day.

If you have not voted please get out today and cast your vote....

GROSGRAIN MINI STORE OPENING NOVEMBER 6!!!! AND BIG PREVIEW GIVEAWAY!!!!

GROSGRAIN MINI STORE OPENING NOVEMBER 6!!!! AND BIG PREVIEW GIVEAWAY!!!!



Ivy thanks for the tip I love these clothes I see some in Sophia's future :)

I have been Tagged Again...LOL

During our wait for Sophia I had the opportunity to meet a wonderful women. She is a fellow adoptive mom and a good friend of my friend and travel mate Susan. Marcia and her husband Derek have two beautiful boys and a gorgeous daughter. Check out there blog
Waiting for a Graceful Morning

So I have already been tagged with this but in the spirit of friendship I will do it again. Riz helped me with some of my secret quirks..Enjoy...

1. I can not and I never do sleep in the car when we travel unless I am sick which has happened several times...

2. I hate yellow mustard but love Spicy brown mustard..

3. Bridges make me really nervous. Funny because I grew up on an island....

4. I am the youngest of 4 kids and the only girl.

5. When I was young I took Gymnastic and Figure Skating..YES I am serious you would never know it by looking at me now....They are still my favorites during the Olympics...

6. When I was in Middle School I was a Police Explorer.

7. I once met Dan Marino of the Miami Dolphins and several other Pro football players during a Charity golf tournament. Funny thing is I don't golf and I hate football...LOL (well hate is a strong word maybe I don't care for football is a better way to say it or I don't understand football is really more like it)...


Now I am supposed to tag 7 more people but I am not sure I can do that since everyone has already been tagged...So I will just tag one..

Gigi and her husband Mark Traveled with me and Riz and Susan and Johnathan to China when we adopted our daughters. Their daughter Stephanie is simply adorable....