Crazy Busy!!

Hi all. I just wanted to do a quick post about my lack of involvement with many of my cherished blog friends. I have been going crazy with work and then today I met my adoption pals at Disney (had a great time -- totally my therapy time- post to come soon) the drove over an hour and a half on the 91 freeway in Friday afternoon traffic to get to Laila's for Ava's birthday (which was also totally fun- another post coming soon). I just got home from Lai's and realized our new little mini computer arrived from Dell (tiny little 9 inch screen- Kev's laptop crashed this week and it was old so we decided just to get one of these little mini computers--love it so far) so I had to run the initial set up (which I just finished doing but had to check my blog before bed). Tomorrow I have a baby shower an hour away at 1pm and then friends invited us to a fabulous dinner at Ruth Chris Steak House in Pasadena and we are doing early drinks and appetisers at their house at 5:30. Sunday is church and then Sunday night we are having Kevin's side of the family over for dinner. Needless to say, I wont have much time to post until Monday but I will promise a good post then. So, all of you have a great weekend and I will post ASAP!!

Please Pray!!

I need to post this as I just saw it on another blog. A dear family who has adopted many children and just recently returned from Uganda adopting 2 children (they currently have 9 children) had a house fire yesterday and they pretty much lost everything. This is a wonderfully dear family that needs our prayer right now. You can read about the fire and a call to pray at the families blog A Place Called Simplicity. I just read Linn's (the mom) post reflecting on the fire and detaining the events and God's clear warning signs and it was phenomenally moving. Please read her post and comment to let her know you are praying for them.

Wrong-- Wrong I tell you!!!!

Just a quick post before I go lay my aching head down on my pillow hoping my head will not explode while I sleep! What is wrong you ask-- the stinking weather here in Southern California~! It has been in the low to mid 80's for the past week. With the odd record high temps comes what we here in Southern California affectionately refer to as "the Santa Ana Winds". It sounds like a nice condition-- but it is NOT!! It SUCKS!! The winds are blowing and the weather is totally warm and consequently, people who do not have allergies are showing up with all kinds of symptoms. I do not have allergies - Kevin is the only one in our family that does but I have quite literally had a headache for the past 4 days. I hate taking medication but I have totally had to medicate myself (motrin- tylenol) just so my head does not feel like my brain is going to blow up. The second the meds wear off, the headache is back. Since a headache for me is rare I actually called my mom today (she is the nurse to our doctor) to ask if it was normal to have a 4 day headache. She said everyone is coming in for the same symptoms and it is pretty much due to the weather-- UGGGGG!!!!

I just had to bit*h a little because right now the meds are wearing off and the headache is coming back-- uggg please go away!!! Anyway, I just checked the weather and there is no end in sight to the warm weather or the winds so I guess this headache will be with me for a while-- I'm going to take a motrin and go to bed :)

A look back at China

I got a little reminiscent today and wanted to look back at some of our China pictures. While looking at them tonight I decided to do a little post on Mia's days in China. This is just a short little pictorial review but it blows me away at how much she has changed and grown in every way!

China day 1-- GOTCHA evening-- Changsha Hunan- May 21, 2007 - Mia was 6 months old

She bonded with daddy immediately. She loved his goatee!

One of the few bottles Mia actually drank. Come to find out, she was not really given bottles in her foster home and was given table food from day 1.

Day 2:


Smiles!!



Our precious little girl! I never thought she was reserved with us but looking back I realize how much she came out of her shell by the end of the trip pointing to the fact that she was reserved from the beginning.





Day 3:


Funny story. Mia would not take bottles and she was not really eating much. We were sitting at our favorite restaurant at the Dolton Hotel in Changsha Hunan-- Food Street-- and I held up chopsticks to take a bite and she opened her mouth wide. This is her eating Cheerios with chopsticks. From that day on she ate congee and other table foods-- very little formula.

Such a pretty little thing.

Day 4: our visit to Mia's area-- Yueyang County Hunan (northern tip of Hunan)

Long drive-- 2+ hours.

She was always so easily entertained and was always such a joyful little one.



Day 5:

Mia loves her daddy!!

Day 6: our plane ride to Guangzhou-- White Swan

Our bathing beauty

In the airport-- wow did we get some crazy looks!




Day 7:

As the days went by she just warmed up so much!

When an adoptive parent checks into the White Swan they give you a Barbie Doll with a caucasian mom holding a Chinese baby-- this is our rendition of the doll.

All smiles at this point!



Day 8:

Hanging out with daddy while making a phone call home on Skype.

We had Mia's medical exam this day and she passed with flying colors. This is a picture of her taking her passport picture. Everyone just thought she was perfect-- we agreed!!

Mia loved baths-- especially in the sink!



Day 9: Starbucks Baby!!

Mia loved her some good Starbucks!!

Day 10:

Just opening up like crazy!! We were eating at our favorite Thai place on the Island.

Yes, she is doing what you think she is doing-- I have always thought this picture is hilarious!!



Day 11: The Red Couch at the White Swan

Holy cow was she tiny!! Look at how big Kevin's hands are in comparison to her-- wow!!!

My favorite red couch pic-- I loved this face-- she made it all the time in China!

Mommy and Mia


I don't have the pics but the next day we packed up and headed home. The homecoming was amazing and the boys just loved their sister from the first moment they saw her. I will do a post on that sometime soon. It is a lot of fun looking back. I actually do it often. I also find Kevin on the computer looking through our China pics. If you have not received your referral or have not traveled, your China time will be precious. Document it as much as you can. It is just a treat to be able to go back and look at our trip and to watch your child's growth-- DOCUMENT!!!

Chopsticks??

I found more pictures on my little camera that I had forgot about. I have a group of girlfriends that I have had since Elementary school. We try to get together every month or so and really enjoy our time together. The last few times we have been together we have gone up to my parents cabin for an overnight stay. We all have kids (except Jenn and Cass) so it is nice to get away.

This picture is of all of us at my parents cabin wearing the scarves and hats that Jennifer made. From right front-- Kim, Jennifer, Cass-- back-- Heather and me (no makeup by the way).

This is how Kevin and I chose to spend our Saturday night -- at a movie and dinner with 6 kids and us-- crazy I know!!

So here are all the kids coming out of the movie- we saw Bedtime Stories-- cute!

Mia loves her cousins Kylee and Kaitlyn so much.

Mia made her own chopsticks with a straw and was actually eating with them-- really well. Her fine motor is a complete joke! I have never seen a 2 year old with the fine motor control she has-- it is really amazing!!

Shoving carrots in the straw chopsticks is cool! Mia loves rice with egg flower soup and vegys mixed in. Our favorite Chinese restaurant knows what Mia likes and brings it for her without us even having to ask-- totally cool!!

Attractive!

Random Fun!

Hay all. I wanted to mention that my favorite clippy site on the Internet is having a major sale and most of her clippies are about $1 each. Most of the clips Mia wears are from Heather at Love2Sparke and they are totally adorable and amazing quality. They stay in thin hair and are very well made. Check her out at www.love2sparkle.etsy.com and www.love2sparkle.com. If you order from her, you will not be disappointed. The clips are amazing and tons of people that read my blog have bought clips from her and are always soooo happy with the finished product!!

I finally pulled the pictures off my little camera and forgot all about many pictures I had taken. The following pictures were taken during Christmas Vacation. We have a brand new skate park by our house that is really cool. It is a $15 membership fee for the whole year so we bought the boys each a membership. They are actually getting really good and it scares the heck out of me to watch them so I head next door to the park with Mia and let her play while the boys skate with their friends.

Mia jumping off anything and everything-- she has amazing gross motor skills!!

The park next door is totally new and cool as well. It has all kinds of play areas depending on the kids age and developmental level. There is also a dog park--score-- and a huge rink that they do inside things during winter (roller hockey, soccer etc.) and a huge water park full of water slides and fun water features. The whole community center is such an asset to our community and the kids just love it-- me too!!

After playing for a while Mia decided to pull things out of my purse-- one of her favorite things to do- not my favorite--uggg!! She got my check book and refused to give it back so I just let her play for a while.

This trip was just Owen and his friends Kacy and Kas at the skate park (cant remember where Ethan was). Like I mentioned, they are getting really good and can now "drop" into the bowls (that part freaks me out hence me having to go elsewhere).

Have a great week!!!!

Disneyland with our adoption friends!!!

Well, I figured out what was happening with my SD chip and YAAAAAAAA I was able to finally download the pictures. So, here they are!!!

We had such a great time at Disneyland and we already scheduled a return visit next Friday! This is just a really fun group and I enjoy each mom and kid tremendously!

The clan-- Mia, Becky (mom is Karen- Becky has been home for 7 months and she is 21 months old), Kailee (our 3 year birthday girl-- mom is also Karen), Gracie (same age as Mia-- just days apart and her mom is Tanya), and Ryan (he has been home for 10 months and his mom is Michelle). This is just a really fun group!!!!

And here we all are! Don't you love the matching vests Karen and Becky are wearing-- too cute!!

My little peanut!!


Becky and Mia waiting for the next ride sitting on the little step.

Beautiful Becky!

She is just so precious and has such a sweet personality!

Michelle and Ryan. Ryan is such a cutie and is as smart as a whip. He is 2 and a half and what this kid knows is crazy-- he is really bright!! Michelle is just a wonderful person and we totally get along great!! We met at Kailee's party the day before and immediately hit it off. I am soooo happy we connected. Next up is a Chinese New Year party at Michelle's house-- I love this group!!!

Tanya and Gracie-- Gracie is just the sweetest little thing and totally a social butterfly!! She and Mia are only a week or two apart in age.

Karen and Becky

Karen and Becky flying on the Dumbo ride!

Mia flying on the Dumbo ride!

Tanya and Gracie flying on the Dumbo Ride!!!

Becky on the carousel

Ryan on his horseeeee

Michelle got the kids each a sucker-- little mickey ones-- and they loved them. This was Becky's first sucker ever and she loved it!!

Kailee- our Birthday girl- chilling eating her sucker!

Becky and Mia waiting for the tea cups

Too cute!!

Michelle and Ryan on the tea cups-- Ryan still has his sucker-- he loved it!!!

Karen, Kailee, Gracie and Tanya on the tea cups-- with their suckers too!!

Becky and Karen on the tea cups!

Mia loves the tea cups and actually has figured out how to spin them-- smarty!!

Watching what was going on!

Overall, we had an amazing day. What is funny is each mom commented that this day and this group was exactly what they needed. I echo those sentiments!! This group is perfect and I just cant wait to visit with them again on Friday!!

Have a great weekend!!!