Thank you's, Answers (part I) and a Giveaway!

Saying thank you is more than good manners. It is good spirituality.

~Alfred Painter

This is a very long post (even for me) so I apologize in advance.

Thank you Michele for giving me the idea to add a memorable quote to my Thankful Thursdays.

Thank you to Lisa! Lisa is a Mom in Colorado who used to have a blog (and I was lucky enough to find her way back then). She adopted her daughter from China about 2 months before we adopted Kate. Kate and Lily are from the same town so I followed their journey very closely. Lily has a big brother, Jack who is about Harry's age. Lisa and I have struck up a wonderful e-mail friendship and I simply adore her! Lisa sent us a beautiful quilt square (which I have not had time to photograph yet). She also sent this adorable Corolle doll that looks like Kate. Lisa remembered the boys too and sent them a very cool popping gadget that they LOVE. Thank you friend! Someday we will meet!

(Doesn't this little doll look like Kate?)


Melanie, is Leslie's sister and she sent me an amazing quilt square and wish too. She also sent me the most beautiful and creative photo album in a decorated tin. I cannot describe it and the photos do not do it justice but it is BEAUTIFUL. Melanie is a gifted and creative woman. Thank you so much.

Now onto the queations people have asked... I will answer some now and some in the next few days...
Anonymous asked:
Where do you buy most of Kate's clothes?
I am an eclectic shopper. I buy her clothes in small boutiques, Nordstrom's, at-home trunk shows (Just Ducky, Orient Expressed and Matilda Jane are my favorites), on-line (Etsy is a great source but can be very addicting), Janie and Jack, the Gap, Strasburg, Old Navy, and Target. Last summer, I found some great things at TJ Maxx and Marshall's but I have not found anything cute there this year. I try not to buy anything unless I love it! I figure I only have a few years to dress her the way I want.

We live in a very small town, so I buy a lot on-line. Here are some cute clothing sites I have bought from
Dilly Bop Designs (Great clothes, well made and the owner is delightfully easy to work with--Tell her I sent you)

Evy Bleu Designs (and Etsy shop--adorable skirts)

Robin's Egg Pink (another Etsy shop)

Lollipops and Gumdrops (great monogrammed dresses)

Bows and Bugs (monogrammed clothes too)

Dimples and Dandelions

Everything but the Princess

Hugs and Hissyfits

Luna Belle Boutique (adorable)

Forget me not Kids

Abbe Designs

Princess Linens

Spoil the Baby

Adorables

Julianne Originals (CUTE custom bibs and other clothes and gifts--she is great to work with)

Best Dressed Child

Hamptons Child (love this site)

Lynn said:

Okay, I want to know about the doll! The adorable doll is Lili from the Poupette Collection of Corolle dolls. As I mentioned above, it was a very generous gift. I think she the most authentic looking Asian doll I have seen (even more than the other Corolle dolls we have).
Anonymous also asked this:
And, from what I can tell, you have excellent taste in interior design. Is that natural for you? Aww, thank you. I am blushing. If you can believe it...my Dad was actually in the business growing up. So, we always had beautiful custom window treatments and bedding etc. when I was a child. However, our styles were completely different. I was never interested in my Dad's business at all but once I had a home of my own, I fell in love with decorating. My husband and I love art and antiques and we used to enjoy shopping for them (before kids). I really enjoyed designing our house and decorating it but there is still a lot I would like to do.



Claire asked:
~Will you share a list of where you get Kate's clothing? I am "next" and can't wait to start shopping! Congratulations on being "next." That is very exciting!! See above.

~What led you to adopt? Oh this is a good one. There is a long story and a short one, I'll give the medium version. I was told that I had MS when my oldest son was 2. Then, I had Harry and had a bad episode of MS symptoms right after he was born so I was advised not to have any more children. We accepted that for a little while but then I suddenly had a very strong desire to have a third child. We looked into many options (including simply ignoring the doctor's advice) but I was completely led to adoption. I always knew I would adopt...always. I just had to convince my husband. God planted the seed for adoption in my heart. There is no doubt about that. Oh, and I do not have MS!

~What kind of car do you drive (I want good "mommy car" suggestions!)
We traded in my SUV for a white Honda Odyssey mini-van right before Kate came home. I did NOT want a mini-van but I LOVE it! My last 3 cars have been white (Acura MDX, Mercedes SUV). I love a white car. Oh and my Odyssey has a cute little monogram on the back window.

Karen asked:
As a mother of three what advice to you have for first-time parents. I certainly am not a perfect Mom but I try so diligently to be a good one. I feel as though it is the most important thing I will do here on earth. My advice is "Start as you mean to go!" For example, we have never cooked our kids "kiddie" food for dinner, so they eat all kinds of food. If you don't want children sleeping in your bed, never let them in (although I do think lil adopted sweeties are an exception until they attach). I have taught my kids please and thank you from day one. We are very consistent and always follow through with our rewards and punishments --ALWAYS. And while our children are not perfect, they are very well behaved and those who know us would vouch for this! But the biggest thing I try to do every single day is connect with each one of my children individually.

I think that children NEED routine and discipline and consistency and I think that is is easier to not have those things in a house in the short run. Sometimes, I want to ignore rude behavior instead of put Kate in time out or remove a privlege from the boys but I know that they will learn that the behavior is acceptable and it will be worse down the road. I plan to post about my favorite parenting books very soon here.

You might think we are mean but once when Will was really young (I was pregnant with Harry), we told him that we were going out for ice cream after dinner but he had to eat his dinner or he would not get any. He was 3 and he refused to eat dinner, so we went to Haggen Daaz and Dave and I got our ice cream (I needed it--I was pregnant;) and Will sat there watching. He did not cry or fuss or complain. He learned that we will always follow through. He learned that he can make choices about his own behavior.

One of the best things I learned when I was training in family counseling is "children behave badly when they feel badly." I think it is our job as parents to figure out what is not feeling quite right when our kids are misbehaving. So when my kids are not behaving well (as one is right now), I ask myself....Does he feel well physically? Is he tired, sick, hungry? Is he okay emotionally? Is he scared? lonely? embarrassed? feeling left out? Is he okay spiritually? I think many parents miss this and to me it is KEY!

The WORST that any of my children has ever behaved is when one of them was very, very sick and we did not know it.

Do you have a decorator or does it come naturally? I have never used a decorator. I love shelter magazines and decorating. We did hire an ASID designer when we built this house to oversee our builder but she did not design or decorate anything. We were building long distance (very long distance) so we hired her to make sure that everything we chose was actually what was done. She caught several near mistakes but I chose and designed everything. In fact, she raised her eyebrows at some of my choices along the way but when our house was completed, she told me that she was very impressed with my choices and asked for many of my sources.

Jodee asked:
My question is -- where did you find Kate's bracelet? Kate has several bracelets. I got a favorite one

here. E-mail me if there is a specific one you were curious about. I recently got her an adorable one at TJ Maxx.

Daleea asked:
How do you get your photos so vivid? I cannot take credit for this. I am shooting in Aperture Priority and I am constantly fiddling with the f stop and ISO. Many,many of my photos are out of focus these days and it is bumming me out. I have a very shaky hand. I think the Nikon's are vivid. I do very little editing these days because I don't have time (a little Picassa cropping and lightening). Sometimes I will hit saturate color if it looks very washed out. But it can make people look orange so be careful.

What speed do you have your camera on? I never keep it set on anything for very long unless I am taking photos of quilt squares--then it is on Auto! I have been doing some on-line photography tutorials and I will look for the links to send to you!

When are you coming to see me???????? Soon, my friend, soon!

Steffie asked:

How on earth do you find the time to do all of this? Play group, shop, blog, have a give a way....what's your secret? ;)
Oh Steffie! You know I don't have time for it all. I have no clue. I seem to always be falling way behind on my "to do" list. I will admit that although I clean a lot myself, we do have a once a week housekeeper to do the heavy cleaning (changing sheets, scrubbing bathrooms etc). And that helps a lot. Also, my husband (who I affectionately refer to here as "houseboy") is extremely hands on. He cooks, he folds laundry, he puts the kids to bed every night and bathes Kate. We are truly partners in parenting. I am very lucky.

Erin asked
Where DID you get those pearls??? The pearls (the big ones with the silver monogrammed clip that I wear a lot) came from a shop in Houston and they do not sell them anymore. BUT because SO many people ask me, I found a place that sells the silver clip and they are making a blog reader pearls like mine for her sterling clip. You can contact Wanda Webb Designs for something very similar. Also, I did recently see the pendant in the Room Service Home catalog.

There are many more questions and I will answer more tomorrow....

Now, for the giveaway (if you're still reading this). I noticed this week that my hit counter has surpassed the 200,000 mark and in light of all of the incredible blessings I have received from this blog, I wanted to give something away. I wish it were more interesting and exciting but I have decided to give a subscription to Cottage Living magazine. I love it and I hope you will too. Leave a comment and I'll enter you in the drawing. I will have one of the peanuts draw a winner Sunday night. So, enter by 5 p.m. Sunday. Best wishes!