I know what you are thinking....

Post some pic's of Miss Abbey, right? All we've managed to do this week is work, eat, bathe and sleep. Maybe with a 3 day weekend I will be able to break out the camera again. For those of you have asked, here are the answers to a few questions I've received.
1. How do Abbey's hair bows stay in? I put them back on over and over if she pulls them out and then she gets tired and gives up. They don't bother her, it's just a game to see who will win. I think she actually likes to see herself with them on. They are alligator clips and if you google bows with alligator clips you will find that there are a lot of great bows on line. I got all mine at a boutique and they were expensive but I got some in every color and just decided that we'll be using them for years and it's worth it to get good ones. Other clips would never work and would slide right out. I think this is a case of you get what you pay for. Ebay has tons of bows.

bowbaby calls them "clippies" as does osewpretty
abunchofbows calls them "clippys"
also check out thebowlady

2. Where did Abbey get her sailor dress? Mine was a shower gift and I think it was bought back east. Gymboree just came out with an adorable new sailor dress and I think you all should get one! Check it out here. Click on baby girls and then on the "Wish You Were Here" collection.

3. How did I transition Abbey to childcare? Finding the right childcare was my number one priority since I started the adoption process. Getting her used to it was easier than I think it normally would be because God helped me find the perfect place for her. I cried and cried after visiting many childcare centers over the last two years. I knew about her current daycare all along, but at the time there were no spots and I just kept praying that there would be. When there finally was one our caregiver was kind enough to "hold" it for her as the many months dragged on waiting for my referral. It's ideal because her caregiver is a Christian and knowing that her love, character, and values will be transmitted to my daughter is extremely important to me. I think the ages ot birth to 6 years are the foundational and I wanted the person responsible for her to be someone that my daughter could grow to reflect. At her family daycare there are only 4 other children, all between 1-4 yrs. It's enough for her to socialize with but still get lots of individual attention. I get notes about all the details of her day every day when I pick her up. They take field trips (this week to the pet store and dinosaur park), use sign language (which I am thrilled with), eat healthy meals and snacks (a special government reimbursement program to promote nutrition), and have a virtual preschool full of things to do. I took her once and played for her for about an hour and a half and planned on doing that several times, but she was so comfortable that the next time I left her there for a whole day. For the next two weeks I took her two days and then we started full-time. I had also left her in the church nursery several times, so she knew what it was like for me to leave and come back.
1st time 1 & 1/2 hrs with me
Next time dropped off for a full day
The next week, two full days
The next week, two full days
This week fulltime
She has been very clinging with me this week and I basically can't set her down after I get her. Usually I wouldn't go for this, but because of all the transitions I think she really needs me right now when she does have me, so I am trying to meet that need. I know she won't always want me to hold her all the time. I was really glad that we had the transitional days as she needed to learn to take a nap without me putting her down, and learn to take a bottle from someone else. I needed to learn how to time our day with the drive and get over my emotions with leaving her. It would have been really hard if we had waited and done all that this first week back. As it was it went very smoothly. Hope this helps someone.