It's Adoption Day!!

Adoption Day is finally here!  After 21 months of referring to our sweet baby girl as “Baby A”, I can finally show her off to the whole world.

I’d like you to officially meet Aubree Makenna Garnett. 

 

When the nurse handed me a tiny little baby girl who was barely 48 hours old in October 2011, I thought we would only have her for a short time.  The nurse snapped a picture of me holding her and I had actually forgotten about it until I started gathering pictures for this blog post.  I never imagined that she had captured the moment that I held my DAUGHTER for the first time, but I will forever treasure this image.

 

I brought her home to our crazy, chaotic life and thought she'd adjust fine to whatever we threw at her.  I mean, she was a BABY.  It wasn't like she made the rules.  Uh, wrong.  This little chick took it easy on us for the first couple of months...you know, sucked us in good... and then the real Aubree emerged.  This child... THIS one... is the one that will always keep us on our toes.  She knows what she wants, how she wants it, and who she wants to give it to her.  She doesn't talk, but expresses her wishes quite clearly.  When we were talking about what we wanted to change her name to, Yuri suggested "Squealy Butt" and I have to say it would have fit her perfectly.  She's rotten.  She's got us all so wrapped that she rarely receives any disicipline because there's always somebody there to "save" her.  She has the complete and undivided attention of entire family pretty much all the time, and that's exactly how she wants it.  She has captured a piece of our hearts that we didn't even know existed, and every member of our family - HER family - would fight to the death for her. 

Okay, no mushy stuff, I have waited forever to share pictures of her. It's like the big reveal!  Some of your see her all the time, but some of you have never seen her at all.  Enjoy!

Here she is the day she came home from the hospital -

This! This is why I can't shake baby fever.  Could you not just die?!?

You know how Haley Rae and Karlie felt about a new baby in the house...

It's funny because Haley Rae takes a billion pictures of herself with the little ones.  Yuri and Gigi always cheesed it up right along with her, but Aubree has always been like GET OFF ME.

And not much has changed....

 

 Unlike a lot of adoptive families, especially those who adopt through foster care, we were able to witness all of Aubree's "firsts". 

Her first Halloween...

Her first Christmas...

 

 

Her first Easter...

Her first family vacation...

I just want to smooch those chubby cheeks!


Aubree isn't a very outgoing child.  She doesn't like new things or to get out of her comfort zone.  Yuri and Gigi have never met a stranger, and don't have a shy or introverted bone in their body, but Aubree isn't that way.  She has to get to know someone well before her personality comes through.  I love these pictures because you can see her happy side. 

 

Someone is constantly snapping a picture at our house.  It's usually a selfie with an iPhone, but there are a lot of pictures of the littles ones too.  Ever since Aubree was tiny, Haley Rae and Karlie will start to take her picture and tell her to "say cheese...smile...".  She tries.... really, she does...but she hasn't quite mastered it.

 

When Aubree loves something, she REALLY loves it. Like obsessively.  Which is why I need a nerve pill this week - I'm her addiction this week.  She has been physically glued to me 24/7.

 

She also loves her daddy.  If he leaves before she gets up in the mornings, she looks all over the house for him.

 

A prerequisite to being my kid is that you must love water.  I was really getting worried about Aubree.  Her first few trips to the beach were not pleasant but she suddenly loves everything water-related. Whew.  Glad she came around!

 

 

YAY for ADOPTION DAY!!!

 

 

 

 

If that dress looks familiar to some of you, it's because it is the dress Yuri or Gigi wore on their adoption day.

 

Here's the whole family - along with Judge Cain.  There were 20 family members in court to witness our special day.  You can't see it in this picture, but Yuri and Gigi's shirts say "BIG SISTER".