Oh My! My Baby India Is 20!

Happy 20th Birthday India!!

Yes! 

She is 20 years old! 

And this is the bike she bought with her 

Birthday money.

Pretty sweet ride, eh?

So in honor of her birthday,

I thought I would show some fun photos of my

first baby.

I took this photo on her last day at work

as a "bookie" on the 

Storybook Land Canal Boats

at Disneyland. 

Ahnalin and I were riding Casey Jr. and 

as the track runs all around Storybook land,

our train happened to be directly overhead

as India's boat was going under the bridge.

 And here she is right 

before midnight on her final night of work

as she was graduating from the Disney College Program.

Ahnalin and I, 

along with some of her DCP buddies,

were honored to ride her final boat.

This was, without a doubt,

her very favorite job ever!

A week after we brought her home from the

Disney College Program,

my parents came for the weekend

and we drove over to Bodega Bay for a visit.

As usual, India chose to make goofy faces

in nearly every shot!

I love this picture. 

I actually took it in May when

I got to visit her all by myself

in Anaheim. 

This picture is a few years old but I love it.

India is holding my darling niece Cherish

and I think they both look beautiful.

This was taken a few years ago when

India, Ahnalin and I went to a friend's wedding.

This was taken when she was not yet 4

and we were moving away from her favorite

cousin, and best friend Tyler. 

This is one of my favorite pictures of these two.

India loved eating at the American Girl Cafe

in Chicago when we lived there.

This visit was when she was 7 years old.

This was taken at India's third birthday.

She LOVED this dress!

Blue gingham and the apron

was white with pink birthday cakes.

I even made a matching outfit for her Ginny doll!

And here she is just a few years ago in 

her Alice costume.

I stole this picture off of her Facebook page.

A friend took it when she was a freshman

standing outside the drama room at school.

Her shirt and her expression are pure India.

Here she was singing at a local restaurant

while her Daddy (aka Hot Rockin' Hubby)

accompanied her.

This is my all time favorite picture of my India.

She was 3 and

attending Healdsburg Preschool Co-op. 

She is just so yummy in this photo!!

I love my India so much.

She was my first baby.

She is the one who had to 

bear the brunt of all my first-time-mama parenting,

yet, somehow, she has managed 

to grow into a brilliant,

talented, 

beautiful,

funny,

amazing,

loving,

generous,

spontaneous,

gifted,

happy,

faithful,

imaginative,

committed,

and miraculous 

WOMAN!

I can't even begin to say how very proud I am of her.

As she enters this stage of her life,

her "20s",

I pray that the Lord will

bless her with wisdom,

joy,

courage,

faith,

health,

peace,

love,

relationships,

success,

miracles,

imagination,

and 

yes, I pray that she be blessed

with her heart's desires.

Jeremiah 29:11 is India's favorite verse.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord,

"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, 

plans to give you a hope and a future."

She is a lovely woman

but she will always be my baby.

India, mama loves you forever.

What I Have Been Up To

Oh My Oh My! 

Where do I start?

Yes, Princess Pei Pei lost another tooth.

But her permanent teeth are growing 

behind the baby teeth.

So you can't see much of a space.

We visited Discovery Kingdom

to celebrate Ahnalin's Chinaversary

and had a yummy, and super bad-for-us funnel cake sundae.

We went to our church retreat

at Westminster Woods

and this is the only picture I got!

Ahnalin loved playing all the fun games

and got soaking wet!

Our speakers were amazing

and I had so much fun being on the 

drama team and singing all weekend.

Sadly, India had to stay home because of her

rehearsals.

Oh!

I probably forgot to tell you!

Now that India is all graduated from the 

Disney College Program,

she is in college full time here in Santa Rosa.

AND......

She is in the musical, 

"My Fair Lady"!!

As we have walked to school each morning,

we are often greeted by the sight of 

hot air balloons that have landed in the school yard.

I had never seen one being deflated before,

so this was fascinating!

Ahnalin asked Daddy to take

the training wheels off her bike,

and in about 2 seconds flat, 

she rode away!

As to sewing,

well, between being "Taxi Mama" 

and doing alterations for a gajillion people,

I have not been super creative with fun sewing.

I am not complaining about the alterations jobs,

as they provide much needed "extra" (not really) income.

But I did manage to make a valance for my dining room.

This is some much loved fabric from my stash.

I don't have a lot of each fabric,

and I believe the floral is out of print.

So I am having to be fairly creative 

in order to get 2 more valances out of it!

And as usual, there is no pattern for this.....

just math. 

I have lots of Fall clothes cut out for Ahnalin

and need to get busy sewing them! 

It has been very hot here,

so she has been happy still wearing

summer clothes. 

But I need to get busy!

But I would be so grateful if you have any 

extra prayers to spare,

if you would send them my way.

I have been struggling with 

some pretty extreme pain and

swelling in my left hand.

Thankfully, we now have medical insurance,

so I was able to schedule a doctor appointment!

I get to see my new doc in just over a week

and I am praying for some answers regarding my hand.

But in the meantime, 

I have decided to try 

the anti-inflammatory diet.

It can't hurt me any more than 

my hand hurts already.

And I am wayyyyyyyyyyyy too young 

to feel this rotten. 

I mean, I have sewing to do!

I hope to have some fun things

to show soon.

Happy Sewing!

Happy 6th Chinaversary To Our Family!

We are a family.

And 6 years ago today

our precious Ahnalin was placed in our arms.

This is not the prettiest picture of me,

but we both had been crying.

God has brought us a long, long way.

We struggled with Reactive Attachment Disorder,

PTSD and Sensory Processing Disorder.

She didn't sleep at night

for a long, long time.

But God has healed her and now

she is a wonderful sleeper.

She was terrified of Daddy for a long time

but they are so tight now!

Ahnalin and India are REAL sisters in every sense of the word.

They fight (like crazy!) 

but love each other more than life.

We are so blessed to have each other.

We are a family.

Thank you Lord.