We Dreamed of You, Ellie!

On September 21, 2010 it became official - Eileen Mack Harding - Wheeler is legally ours - FOREVER! We didn't need a judge to tell us that Ellie belonged with us but it is always nice to have the official court stamp on everything.

I'm not sure if you can see it but this is the legal document that makes Ellie a member of the Harding - Wheeler family forever!

Molly was the MOST excited of all of the kids about the adoption ceremony! She is so much like me in that way - she loves the pomp and circumstance of everything!

Auntie Eileen took beautiful pictures of the day for us so that Ellie would know all of the people that came ot celebrate her big day !

Uncle Pat giving Ellie some love!

Grammy and Lizzie loved the bread and oil!

Meg brought Ellie a balloon and a tigger doll that Lizzie has claimed as her own!

Reillyn also came to celebrate with us. Ellie and he played the whole day!

Papa and his girls!

The big sister was so excited to be the one to carry Ellie into court.

This is judge Randolf and our social worker, Michael Walsh. When you hear all of those awful things about DCF it is easy to forget the people like Mike that work tirelessly for kids in need of homes. He is bright, energetic, loving and passionate about what he does. Michael is a huge reason that Ellie's placement with us and adoption were so seamless and just like the social worker that helped us with Peter's adoption, Mary, we will always be grateful to Mike for his dedication to finding the best place for Ellie.

We all met at Bertucci's after the ceremony for dinner - they took special care of us because it was such a special occasion.

Ellie got an early morning phone call from her godmother to celebrate her special day. We had tried to schedule the adoption for when Auntie was home in August but the court could not accomodate us. Good thing Ellie's godfather was there to carry the team! Auntie Beth was there in spirit and we took lots of pictures so she could relive everything!

Ellie and Michael, the social worker that made it all possible!

Pete and 2 of his favorite people in the world - Auntie Eileen and Uncle Jeff.

KK getting a smooch from her godson!KK got out of school early to be with us and it was hard for all of us not to remember Peter's adoption ceremony because it happened in the same courthouse, same room and everything!

The proud grandparents!

The three little girls all dressed up for court! Someone asked why we did not dress Ellie in something different since it was her big day but for some reason I thought it was appropriate for her to be dressed like her three big sisters - to symbolize the untiy of the siblings - if you notice even Pete matched the girls with his handsome white shirt!

Our family of 7!

I wonder if my parents knew that someday they would be covered in grandchildren who can't get enough of them! They are certainly perfect for the role!

Uncle Colin and his godson!

Auntie Jane with Ellie and Reillyn celebrating Ellie!

Auntie Kate and Ellie - the girl of the hour was getting really tired but she had a great day!

Kk and Ellie - they have always had a special bond!

Baby Brendan - Meg brought the twins to court and they were little angels - as usual!

Lila Danielle - looking gorgeous, as usual!

Our Ellie Bean - I sometimes get a pang when I realize how little I know of Ellie and Peter's life before they were with us. It was a short time but I miss knowing every detail of their births and the first few days, or weeks in Ellie's case, of their lives. And then I remember the gift of their entire life stretched out before us - the wonderful memories that we will make as a family and the blessing of having them here and now with us - FOREVER! Who could ask for more?

Sisters - FOREVER!

You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.

~~ Desmond Tutu

We are so grateful that God chose us for each of our beautiful, wonderful, loving children!

GNM - ILY!

There is alot of wonderful stuff going on in our house these days. The big kids are doing great in school - adjusting to all of the new rules of each of their grades and finding their way through the maze of testing, making friends and figuring everything out. Noah Webster remains a constant amazement to me. Molly has her same wonderful teacher from last year - Miss Kelly. She is bright, energetic, loving, brilliant and - Oh, yeah, single! The kids are desperate for her to marry Uncle B or Uncle Ed so she can be Auntie Jen and be in our family forever. I get the distinct impression that she is such a staple in our lives we may just claim her anyways! Peter has Ms. Frazer and I have to admit - we had some concerns in the beginning that he would have difficulty. Instead he is happy, adjusting well and seems to fit well with Ms. Frazer. She is defintely in tune to Peter's particular brand of quirkiness and is proving to be incredibly engaging and nurturing! Once again - God has provided for our family in amazing ways. The kids get on the bus at 7:30 every morning and get to school with 10 minutes to spare before school starts at 8:10. In the afternoon school ends at 2:50 and they are home and doing homework at the kitchen table by 3:30.

These are just some cute pictures of the three big kids - because technically Annie is a big kid!

Molly had a hat on from grammy and so she had to go in and grab one for Annie - she always wants to be like her big sister!

Wow - it doesn't seem possible that she is three already!

Molly is so much fun to have as a daughter! We all know she loves fashion but she is also just a spunky little girl who has fun with everything - even posing for pictures for mommy!

Last Friday Auntie Kate, Grammy, Papa, the three big kids and Mommy all headed off to see the US National Women's Basketball team play at the XL center. My parents decided to come at the last minute and ended up sitting a few rows away so you can guess where Annie ended up - right where she always wants to be - on Grammy or Papa's lap! She looks like she was lacking in attention - doesn't she? When I was putting her to bed that night I asked her what the best part was and she said "Grammy found old treats in her purse for me!" It reminds me of when my grandmother used to drag out her purse and find a 2 year old Hershey kiss in the bottom of her purse for me when I was young - they were the very best tasting kisses ever because they came from my Gram.

Auntie Kate brought the kids some chocolate covered pretzels - I do believe that she thought she might share them with the kids but when she turned around they had eaten them all. She totally underestimated their affinity for snacking! Peter loved the game - his favorite player, in case you didn't know is Maya Moore.

After half time Auntie Kate and Molly snuck down to the reserved seats to get a closer look. They were so cute - they thought they were such rebels!

This is Molly thinking I'm blowing their cover and going to get them kicked out of the VIP seats!

The game was followed by a late night visit from our two favorite little monkeys - Lila and Brendan. Meg is so incredibly good about bring the babies to our house and letting the kids really know and love their cousins. It was always my theory when our babies were born that we needed to let them have some real time with the babies - holding them, loving them and feeling responsible for them. Meg has given them that same gift with their cousins and I am amazed at how close they feel to the twins. Molly loves holding either baby and even took Lila from Papa - yikes - that is one brave little cookie!

Brendan was so darn cute! He was wide awake and entertaining us all with his coos and big toothless grins!

This is just a series of pictures of Molly with Brendan taking care of him at Meg's house one Saturday morning. I love that she refuses to give him up even when he gets fussy. She is such a natural with the babies - kissing and loving them until they calm down.

This was Molly's - "See Mama, I told you I could get him calmed down!" face!

Molly Girl started soccer last week and she loves it. It is so gratifying to watch the kids get involved in something and really get joy from it. Molly makes the weekly 2 hour practices and Saturday games so much fun to watch!

Bob is Molly's coach and is predictably complimentary of her soccer skills. I love watching Bob in this role because it reminds me of why I love him so much. There is not a day when Bob is not exhausted from all of his duties around the house, with the kids and at work and he is so loving and patient with the kids. He beams when Molly begs him to go out in the yard and kick the ball around. For her part Molly loves having her Daddy as her coach. The first day when I asked how he was doing she responded with, "He only embarrassed me once the whole practice!" I guess that's high praise from a 7 year old!

We have the added bonus of having Tyler on our team. That means that when we go to the games we get to watch both of the kids play and Uncle Bob gets to spend a little time with tyler during the week - a real treat during the school year!

Taking a well deserved break!

Pete watching his sister and cousin kick some butt!

Could Katie get any cuter? I don't think so!

My talented nephew! So cute!

The coach with his 2 star players - Molly and Tyler! I think Bob feels some pressure coaching Tyler since Karla is a true soccer star but she lets him do his thing and stays on the side cheering!

High five for the coach!

My handsome nephew takes a break from the field!

Uncle Ed happened to come over on his birthday after the 1st UConn game so we threw together a quick birthday party. It was treat to be with my brother on his birthday and celebrate the day that he came into the world. The kids just love hanging out with their Uncle and all of the other people who came to celebrate him.

Annie loves any excuse to be with her godfather!

Notice how I picked up the house in honor of the party!

Tea party - the only takers Annie could get were her sisters, Uncle Ed and Auntie Eileen.

Katie picked out this big monkey for Uncle Ed.

Happy Birthday to Uncle Ed.

My girls love their cake!

Annie helping Uncle Ed open his gifts!

What a lucky girl Annie is to have Uncle Ed for her godfather. He showers her in love and attention and she loves to be right next to him - or better yet, on his lap!

Lizzie looks so old lately.

Believe it or not - I still have about 30 pictures but this seems like a nice place to stop. Every time I blog I am struck by how blessed our family is - from parties, to soccer games to regular every day things my kids are surrounded by people who love them and give up their time and energy to be with them. Every single day my kids have amazing examples of God's love in their lives. We are so blessed! Last night when we were saying grace Peter had had a particularly good day and when we asked him to thank God for something I loved his response. "Mom, sometimes all you can say to God is just a really big, really loud, Thank You and that's it!" I kind of agree with him! GNM - ILY!