Happy Birthday Mia! You're 2 Years Old!!!

Today Mia turned 2 years old!!! She is getting so big and growing up in every way. We did not do too much tonight because it was a school night and I work on Wednesdays and Thursdays but we did manage to sing Happy Birthday about 50 times and to have a little cake for her. She just loved the cake and the singing. I have video of her singing-- it is way cute!! Her official birthday party is on November 8 since we have my grandparents 70th anniversary at our house this Saturday-- so we will be a bit late on her official celebration but I am sure she wont notice.

As promised, here are the pictures from the photo shoot yesterday. As I mentioned, Mia woke up sick (so did I-- still sick- ugg)and was not in the mood to take pictures but we did manage to get a few cute ones. I have not had the chance to to scan them into my computer yet so I actually took pictures of pictures so they really are bad quality but you get the idea. When I finally scan them in I will post the clear pics.

This was the only one that Mia was looking at (or towards) the camera and smiling.


I had to choose this one because it so is Mia's personality at this age. Totally funny and all her own person. She is so independent and this picture seemed to typify those qualities-- balancing precariously on a little stool-- totally Mia!!

I thought this was cute.

They did a different finish on this one-- it is called Retro. I liked it and I thought it was cute with her little foot sticking out.




Another totally Mia picture. This is just so her at this age.

So those are the pictures I got. They are fine for the official picture but I think I may still try a photo shoot in the backyard one more time-- maybe when she is feeling better.

And now for Mia singing Happy Birthday:


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books


So, what is Mia doing on her 2nd birthday. As I mentioned, she has grown in every way but she has made some huge strides in the last couple months.

1. Mia talks constantly!!! She names just about everything and if she doesn't know what it is she will say "whats that" and when you tell her she remembers the name. She puts 3 to 4 word sentences together all the time and you can understand about 50 to 60% of what she says-- that is getting better each day. She knows some shapes and some colors and that too is getting better each day.

2. Mia is very physical. She runs, jumps, and climbs just about everything. Many parents at the park often comment on how physically adept she is. She has great gross motor skills. She is also aggressive and wont let other kids push her around. Just the other day at the park a little boy was attempting to go up the slide while Mia was trying to go down. She yelled to the boy "go away- move" but he didn't so she tromped down the stairs and actually physically pulled him off the slide. I was a bit embarrassed but she can defiantly hold her own-- too funny!!

3. Mia has amazing and I mean amazing fine motor skills. It may be because I had boys before her and they had-- oh lets say-- less than amazing fine motor abilities-- and still do have less than amazing fine motor abilities :) Mia holds a pencil, pen, fork, spoon or whatever correctly. She crosses mid line (an advanced skill) and draws "snakes" (squiggly lines), circles and "tables" (straight lines with legs). She really is adept in this area and I cant wait to see if she will do something in the art field.

4. We have Mia's doctor appointment on Friday but at last visit a month or so ago she weighed almost 21 pounds and was 32.5 inches tall. She is tiny but more petite than tiny. She still wears a size 5 shoe and can still wear all her 6-12 month clothes.

5. Mia is fiercely independent-- in a good way. She loves us to be with her but everything is "no me do". She wants to do things on her own and will defiantly throw a fit if you try to do it for her. And that brings us to the tantrums. Mia began tantrums about 2 to 3 months ago and wow is she an expert at them!! Kevin and I ignore her while she is tantruming-- even in the stores-- and it has actually worked really well. I would say her tantrums are down significantly. She still throws them daily, but they are shorter and less frequent then before.

Other than that, our sweet little girl is perfect in every way. She is just an amazing joy and I know people will hem haw about the whole idea of babies from China being meant for your family, but we genuinely believe Mia was hand picked by God for our family!! She is a perfect fit for our family!! She is loved beyond compare by everyone who knows her and she is an amazing Gift from God!!!

Happy Birthday Mia JunFei!!! We Love You SOOOOOOOO Much!!!

Picture Attempts

Mia turns 2 years old tomorrow-- can you believe it??? I cant believe how fast the time has gone since we held our little 6 month old daughter in our arms in Changsha Hunan China. It is just crazy!! Anyway, I went to have her official 2 year old pictures taken today at our local outdoor mall (yes it was like 90 degrees today) but sadly, Mia woke up not feeling very good with a runny nose and a bit of a fever. I decided to still try to get the pics since my portrait club membership ends tomorrow and I work tomorrow so I wont be able to use all my benefits-- so we decided to attempt the shoot.

Mia did not cooperate very well during the shoot but we did get a few cute ones (I will post them tomorrow). While we were waiting to view the pictures we went out into the courtyard and took a few candid shots. None really turned out but here they are anyway.

Playing with her feet

Watching the other kids play in the fountain

The dress and bow is from Strausberg Children and Laila bought it for Ava 2 years ago. I have been waiting for Mia to use it becuase I loved it so much. It is so big on Mia that she probably can wear it again next year-- yaaaa!!!

Mia played in the water a bit-- but I did not let her dress get too wet.

Just chillin

Kind of cute!



So tomorrow I will post the pictures we got from the professional shoot. We don't have anything planned for tomorrow night but will probably do a cake and just hang out as a family for her birthday. Since we have my grandparents 70th wedding anniversary on Saturday at our house, Mia's birthday party was bumped to the following Saturday so we will be celebrating her birthday a few weeks late-- not like she would know or care. Anyway, more pictures to come tomorrow :)

Guess what we did this weekend??

PARTY!!!! Yes we went to the Halloween party our friends up the street throw each year. It is truly an amazing party and they go all out! We met up at Chuck and Susan's house before and then walked across the street to the party. It was such a good time-- we look forward to it each year.

And now for the embarrassing pics:

Yes, I am aware I am in a psychedelic halter unitard. I had no choice. It's what happens when you wait till the day of the party to get your costume. It was a fun costume and Kevin and I had a blast with the wigs. When we walked downstairs after getting dressed Mia looked at us and smiled and then took a double take and then was not sure about us. IT was really funny and once she got use to the look, she started laughing.

Chuck and Susan always get the best costumes. They both looked sooooo great!!

Susan and Amber (Ethan's teacher-- I think many boys would love to have a teacher who looks like Amber).

Having a blast at the party!!!

We really had a great time!! Thanks Joe and Kelly for the great time!!!

The Yard and Crying Tutu Mia~!~

Kevin has been working diligently on the front yard to try to get it ready for the big party my parents and aunts and uncles are throwing at our house for my grandparents 70th anniversary next weekend. If you recall, when we built the basketball court on the side of our house we had to rip out the front yard and re rout all the sprinklers. Basically, the whole front yard was totally ripped out and Kevin had to start over (he likes doing it). We removed all the concrete and had new concrete poured a couple weeks ago-- it looks beautiful! In a month we will stain the concrete a cool color. Anyway, Kevin has been working on the sprinklers for the planter area and for the grass. He had 10 yards of top soil delivered yesterday and today we had 1700 square feet of sod delivered. Today was spent putting down the sod and planting the plants. It looks totally amazing!! He still has a few more things to plant and we have to get the fountain that is going on the patio area in the front but it is looking really good. Tomorrow during the day I will get some pics of the finished product.

Mia and I ran errands and tried to help Kevin as much as possible. I tried to flip Mia's hair and it turned out cute. Anyway, She was in a good mood but came outside and dropped her ice cube she had been sucking on and freaked out. Here is what transpired next:

Here is the flop on the ground part.

Then I finally got her up and set her down and here is the ball my eyes out part.

And then the scream at the top of my lungs part.

And then more of the scream and cry my eyes out in a pathetic attempt to get mom or dad to actually do something-- it didn't work.

Finally, she calmed down a bit and I was able to actually get a picture or two.

OK, maybe I will try to smile for the camera-- maybe...

Oh, now I have daddies big drink that has ice in it-- now I will smile :)

Oh, I missed this crying picture-- should have been above but don't feel like moving it :)

So here is the yard while in Kevin was laying sod.

The planter in the front is the only thing that is left from the original landscaping. Kevin actually put the front planter in when we first moved in because I was scared the boys would run into the street. We love the planter!

The sod and part done yard.

Kevin hard at work.

Cute drink pictures-- happy girl now :)

-Too cute- she was happy the rest of the day :)

Thumbs up-- I like the crystal light :)

Contemplating the meaning of life

Yum yum good!!

Fall Fun

** Another update-- we are all fine. The fires are out-- they lasted till late last night but we were not in any real danger. I even went to work half day yesterday. Anyway we are all fine. Thanks for all the comments. I will post pics tonight :)

** New News-- we are all on fire!!!! There is a big fire burning in the hills directly above our house. If you hear it on the news they are describing it as burning on the boarder of Fontana and Rancho Cucamonga (we live in Rancho Cucamonga) but they say it is burning in the San Sevaine Wash and that is big open land area behind our house. We actually live ON San Sevaine Road. Not sure what is going on right now. They are talking about evacuations but nothing at this point. We just got word that the boys school- Etiwanda Colony Elementary- is cancelled for the day. This sucks!! Anyway, if you see the news it is called the Foxburrow fire and if you see the large open land area, our house backs up to that wash (that is where the horse trail we walk on runs along) along the west side of the wash. I will keep you updated.

First off I want to thank all of you for your amazing support over the last couple days. Sometimes we get really down on ourselves and yesterday was one of those for me. I was overwhelmed by the personal emails and all the comments I received from all of you. You guys really got me through a bump and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your compassion and caring. It is all of you that keeps me blogging-- I love you all dearly and thank you for your blogging friendship :)

Yesterday Mia was looking so cute in her little outfit that I took her out in our backyard and took a few cute pictures of her.

I was so sad there were shadows on her face because this is such a cute picture of her. I turned it into sepia to try to minimize the contrast.

A chopstick holder is very interesting to Mia.

Do you recognize the dress/ shirt she is wearing?? That is the dress she wore in our Christmas pictures last year when we took fall pictures at Oak Glen.

Last year a dress, this year a shirt-- I love to get 2 seasons out of clothes :)

Funny story. Mia always puts on my bracelets and necklaces and I always have to take them from her or she will lose them. This day she wanted to wear a bracelet and I took it from her and she was really upset and then i remembered months ago that I had found this little bracelet in the laundry and I never found the owner therefore it has just sat in my laundry room. Anyway, I remembered I had it so I put it on Mia and cut some of the extra length off and it looks adorable!! She loves her little bracelet!

I'm number one!!!!!

Mia could swing all day if I let her and she likes to go "high mommy high mommy!"

After the photos in the backyard we went to Victoria Gardens and I let Mia play at the play area.

She loves the slide and is so brave. All the other moms were shocked she went down things on her own-- sorry I should have put a helmet on her (just kidding-- thought I would make a lame joke)

Dakota- A friend Mia made at the play area.

Today Mia got another hair cut. Finally, after 5 cuts, her hair is all one length-- actually her bangs are a tiny bit longer than the rest of the hair-- love it!!!!!

They could not believe how good she was during the hair cut. I told them she loves girly things.

The after picture. Her cut is so cute and I love that it is finally all one length. It is a really cute little bob!!

After Mia's cut we met Laila and Ava for lunch at Claim Jumper-- our once a week favorite!!

The girls looking at the desserts-- they are huge and the desserts are something Claim Jumper is known for.

The girls posing in front of the desserts

The girls are just so cute together!! They play beautifully together-- too cute!!

My little model-- she looked so cute in her tutu from Target (on sale for 6.99 at target right now-- they are sooo cute)