Some Cute Mia Video & She has 4 teeth now!!!

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Mia was just being totally cute and I had to document it. I love when she laughs and giggles!!!

Anyway, to add to the cute video, we have good news about our little girl. She now has 4 teeth!!!! We just noticed this morning that her top 2 teeth finally cut. That explains why she was a bit fussy the last few days as well as the runny nose and the horrible night last night. I cant wait till they grow in fully so I can see her adorable new smile. She is just soooo cute I cant handle it!!!!!

Mia Pulls Up-- kind of???

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This is a video I took a week or so ago of Mia pulling up in her little bath tub. Now, a week later, she is pulling up on a lot of things. It is so cute and just so you know, Mia does not fall out at the end of the video. Enjoy!!!!

Owen's 7th Birthday!!

Love the Daisy Red Rider BBgun!!

Owen's 7th birthday was actually Wednesday so we decided to celebrate on his actual birthday. Owen had a ton of friends over for a BBQ/ swim/ jump house party. It was a lot of fun and all the kids (and adults) enjoyed themselves. Owen got a lot of great loot from his friends and really enjoyed having everyone over.

So, as I look back at the last 7 years with our little Owen, Here is a top 10 of things I love about my boy!!

1. Owen started out as the most difficult baby in the world and has remained our challenge but within that challenge lies the most generous, loving, kind, motivated, driven little mechanic that will, without a doubt, go VERY far in life.

2. Owen is exceptionally athletic (check out his 6 pack in the pic above) and does well at any sport he tries.

3. Owen is generous and open to anyone. Owen will play with anyone and makes friends very easily. He also is very giving and always gives to other kids.

4. Owen loves his little sister and is the best babysitter in the world. He has even put Mia to sleep in the ERGO-- Way to go Owen!!!

5. Owen has the silliest grin in the world and you will never find a picture where he is just smiling-- annoying but so Owen, therefore I have to love it :)

6. Owen loves to cuddle with mom and dad and is a night person (like mom and dad). Gotta love that-- mornings are another story!

7. Owen is totally independent and is a leader. He does not just go with the others because they are cool or whatever. He is totally unique and his own person. That part of him cracks me up as he will often surprise you with what he does. One morning when he was only 4 or 5 I walked down stairs and he was making eggs on the stove. My initial reaction was shock and was going to get upset with him but then I sat back and watched him and he knew exactly what he was doing and did it well. I told him to make sure he tells me when he wants to make eggs so I know he is on the stove and that is it. He was really good at making eggs and did it well, so there you go. Another thing I love about my boy!!

8. Owen loves school (not the academic part-- the play part) and tries hard when motivated to do so (again, like his mom)

9. Owen LOVES to build!! To date, he has built a boat (you can do anything with 2x4's), a go cart, a tree house and many many many other things. He loves to build anything (this time like daddy) and will work with Kevin in the yard for hours. I love that he will start a project and work on it till the end. Owen is truly mechanically inclined and for sure will end up owning his own construction company or doing something in construction. He is really gifted in this area. I love that about him.

10. Finally, the last thing I love about Owen is that he loves Jesus. He has a deep love for Jesus and that is a big part of his life!!

WE LOVE YOU LITTLE MAN!!!!

Swimming with daddy. Owen is on Kevin's back

Steven, Ethan, Carson and Josh

All our camping Girlfriends.

Laila and Ava. I love this picture. It is totally cute!!!

The Bock Clan. Greg and Lynsee (Kevin's brother and sister in law) and Don and Mary (Kevin's mom and dad).

Cute Dress at Church

I just had to post this little dress Mia wore to church this morning. It was a great find at Strasbourg's (sp?) and I just love Mia in yellow. Anyway, I thought it was adorable so I grabbed my camera out of my purse and snapped a few after Sunday School this morning.

Mia was not feeling very well today. In fact, if I would have known that she was in fact sick, I would not have taken her to church but she seemed fine when we left the house. Anyway, again, she was a trooper-- even when sick :)

BASS PRO SHOP IN RANCHO CUCAMONGA GRAND OPENING!!!!!

Bass Pro Shop is an outdoor wonderland and it is HUGE!!! There are not many around the country but they really are picky where they place them. Well, we in RANCHO CUCAMONGA were lucky enough to be the city they chose, out of all of southern California, to receive the new BASS PRO SHOP!!! Went on the day it opened and it was a madhouse!! They estimated 17,000 people were going to be there that night and I heard people talking about how it was much bigger than they expected. It is just an amazing place with everything outdoors that you would ever want to do. They even have a great restaurant that we ate at and really enjoyed. We had a great time and literally closed the place down. I want to say we left around 11:30pm (I know that is bad with Mia but she was a trooper and we don't do that very often). This store will really be an asset to Rancho Cucamonga.

This was just a really cute picture of Mia so I had to start off with this one :)

At the entrance there is a big elk or whatever so we decided to pose on the animal since we had to wait in line just to walk in the place for 30 minutes!!

Mia and Owen driving a little race car!

My three kids in a tent in the camping section. This was late at night hence the paci and the hair bow gone :)

There was a rock climbing wall they were letting people climb for free. It was huge and I was so proud of my boys. They just jumped on it and made their way to the top. There were a ton of kid who were trying to climb it but I only remember seeing 2 other kids that made it to the top. All that time mommy forces the boys to play outside and not watch TV has paid off. This picture is of Ethan suiting up.

Ethan working his way up the wall--- it was a big wall!!!

Ethan almost to the top--- WOW!!!! Plus, they make the wall for adults so the hand holds were really far apart and at times both the boys were hanging sideways and even upside down but they made it work and made it to the top.

Owen on his way up!

Playing in the gun area. My boys favorite thing to do :)

Yes, my men are shooters

Ethan shooting

Owen shooting

Our Little Angel

After seeing professional pictures being posted on a ton of blogs, I started to feel like a bad mom for not getting any professional pictures done of Mia yet. So, I got the bug to get it done today. Never mind that Mia seemed to be getting sick or never mind that she was fussy-- I wanted to get the pictures done today and I was going to do so. Well, that didn't work out too well. Out of a slew of pictures taken, this and a few others were the only ones that were even slightly OK. In fact, we did not get one smile out of her and she is normally totally a smiley baby. Anyway, here is the best of the best. I made another appointment to take her back in late next week when hopefully she is feeling better and is back to her old self. I do however think this is a cute picture. She is about a day from crawling so I thought it appropriate to choose a picture in her "ready to go" stance.

So, here is our little angel. She is 8 months old, has been home from China for almost 2 months, has 2 teeth and is the cutest thing you have ever seen. She, as mentioned, is almost crawling and has totally mastered the pincer grip and often times refuses to let us feed her and instead prefers only finger foods. She still does not like formula and may drink 6 to 8 ounces a day but eats a ton of table food. I'm not sure how much she weighs but last time we checked she was 15.5 pounds and 27 inches. She is very inquisitive and studies everything to learn what is going on. She mimics me and smacks her lips like I do. She has clapped her hands before and is starting to pull up on everything. She naps easily two times a day for about an hour each time and goes to bed relatively easily but often wakes up and needs her paci reinserted. She is easy going, adapts to just about anything we can throw at her and easy to smile and laugh. She loves her brothers dearly and will always smile if they come near. She is totally attached to Kevin and I but goes to other people pretty OK now. She still prefers mom or dad but will allow others to hold her. She is happy and as you can see, the cutest little girl in the world. We are head over heels in love with our little beauty and cannot imagine our lives without her.

Grandma's 90th Birthday Party

Yesterday was my Grandma Owen's 90th birthday. So, after the Vegas trip and the delay on the drive home and the dinner Friday night in Pasadena, we jumped in the car at 9am to head to the party 3 hours away. LOTS OF DRIVING!!!! Grandma and my dads side of the family all live in the Central Valley of California (about a 3 hour drive from our house) and people from all over came to celebrate my Grandma's 90 years. My grandpa Owen passed away almost 9 years ago (when Ethan was just a 2 month old baby) so Grandma has done exceptionally well on her own. She is surrounded by family who loves her and good friends who support her. She is as sharp as a whip and has many many years to go!!
These pictures are of all of Grandma's GREAT GRAND CHILDREN AND GREAT GREAT GRANDCHILDREN!!! These photos do NOT include just grandchildren like me. It is crazy how many Great grandchildren Grandma has. She even has one GREAT GREAT grandchild-- Wyatt. This party was an amazing testament to the legacy my grandparents created with their lives. Our family is very close and are very supportive of each other. It was just amazing seeing how many people were there to celebrate my grandmother. It was very special!!

Grandma and Mia (Mia's Great Grandma)

Owen decided he wanted to carry Mia in the Ergo. It actually got small enough to fit Owen and Mia actually liked it. Owen is such a great big brother and loves Mia dearly. And look! HE actually put her to sleep!!-- YAAAAA!!!!

VEGAS BABY!!!!

We decided at the very last minute to head to Las Vegas to relax for a few days (it is about a 3 hour drive from our house). We took off on Wednesday after Owen's tutoring and we stayed at our time share place. We didn't do much more than relax by the pool and eat nice dinners. We went with our friends Chuck, Susan, Carson and Hannah. The kids had a great time! Mia did amazingly well. She just adjusts to anything we throw at her. She is soooooo flexible and I love that about her.
On the drive home there was a rollover about 1/4 mile ahead of us and we were stuck in a complete shut down on the 15 Fwy for almost 2 hours. It was miserable because it was 109 degrees and our air conditioner was having trouble keeping up. People were walking all over the freeway trying to figure out what was going on. We got out of the car and found some shade. Mia, again, did great and the boys were horribly bored. Finally after almost 2 hours they let one lane through. Our 3 hour drive home had turned into 5 hours- UGGGG!!! Anyway, we made it home safe and sound but then had to turn around and go to Pasadena to meet our cousins for dinner. We had a great time with them but it was a lot of driving in one day!

Loving those french fries!!

Looking pretty hot in mommies sunglasses!!

Carson was so tired after dinner that he borrowed Mia's stroller to sleep. Hannah thought it was totally funny that her brother was in the pretty pink stroller :)

This was a roller coaster simulator that literally went up side down and jerked around. The kids loved it. This was before.

This was after!

Ethan looking a little bit nervous!!! This is before.

This is after! Not so bad Ethan!!

Disney Again!!!

We went to Disneyland again with Auntie Laila, her daughter Ava and her son Tyler. Auntie Cassie and Carson and Hanna (oh and my kids too). These pictures were of us waiting for the fireworks show. Mia and Ava, as pointed out before, are going to be best friends in the future so we decided to try out their friendship with Mia sitting in Ava's lap. It was sooooo cute. Ava was fascinated with Mia and they just starred at each other. Ava would take Mia's paci out and then put it back in. Mia totally loved it. Then Mia tried to give Ava a kiss. It was just adorable. Then all of a sudden Ava was done and started screaming so we ended the bonding session :)

Mia did really well on this trip to Disneyland. She just in snot phased by anything. She loved the rides (we went on all the little fantasyland rides and toon town and Small World) and was not scared by anything. I remember reading on another adoptive mothers blog that her daughter was not phased by anything and that was one of the things she loved about her daughter. I echo those sentiments as Mia is not scared of anything and I just love that about her. She just takes everything in stride and rolls with whatever is happening. I just love that about her! Anyway, we all had a blast. I think Mia's favorite ride was Small World. She just was wide eyed the whole time. This was a really fun trip to Disneyland and we cant wait to go back soon.

Christy :)