These photos illustrate Annslee's attitude toward Mama holding someone else. Zara wanted me to hold her and as soon as Annslee spotted this she ran over, wanted me to pick her up and then proceeded to try and push Zara out of my arms saying "off" over and over. Hmmm, Malia may be in trouble....or should I say, we are all in trouble. ha ha
This lovely photo of my daughter's meltdown was provided by Josie's mama. Annslee does not like having anything on her feet..shoes, socks , footie pjs..you name it. So, having her in tights was a gamble and we won most of the day. However, when she noticed Seely was bare legged and footed all bets were off. She threw a huge fit until we took them off. Seely and Josie are looking at her like she is crazy!
Once she got them off she was a happy camper!! 
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
And a few more...
As promised, here are some more pictures from our China travel group get together. The girls all had such a good time (oh, and our one little 9 month old boy..in a few years he will love coming to these things) We had a cookie cake with all their names on it and the weather cooperated enough so we could go outside for a while.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Just a few photos
A group of us who travelled together to China met up for some fun this past Saturday. We had a great time with the other families who were able to make it. It really is such a special bond we all share and hopefully our girls will remain close. My camera was acting up but here are a couple of photos. I will post more later!
Thursday, January 25, 2007
All done...
Yep, I am officially finished with my dossier. At least I have done all I can do. I have gathered all the necessary documents, had them notarized, had them county and state certified..and now, I will send them to my agency. They will send the originals to the Vietnamese Embassy in DC and a copy on to Vietnam to start being translated. Yes, officially they will soon be out of my hands! We are one step closer to Malia!
When I had completed Annslee's dossier I took photos of it with one of our books on China so of course the tradition had to continue! Oh..and I will give a plug here to my agency coordinator, Therese Bartlett. She is the author of When You Were Born in Vietnam. It is a beautifully written book and the photos are incredible. As some of you know books on Vietnam adoption/children are a lot harder to find than ones on China (our bookshelves can attest to that!) so go get this one if you haven't already.
For those of you who don't remember here is the picture I took of Annslee's. Interestingly enough this was taken on January 22, 2005.
When I had completed Annslee's dossier I took photos of it with one of our books on China so of course the tradition had to continue! Oh..and I will give a plug here to my agency coordinator, Therese Bartlett. She is the author of When You Were Born in Vietnam. It is a beautifully written book and the photos are incredible. As some of you know books on Vietnam adoption/children are a lot harder to find than ones on China (our bookshelves can attest to that!) so go get this one if you haven't already.
For those of you who don't remember here is the picture I took of Annslee's. Interestingly enough this was taken on January 22, 2005.
Monday, January 22, 2007
My favorite part of the day
You guessed it...coming home! Usually Dada picks her up at school and when I get home I can hear them "hiding" from me. Hiding is one of Annslee's favorite things..followed of course by jumping out and scaring you. Anyway, they hide, they scare and then the cries of "Mama, my Mama" start along with some great big hugs and kisses. I can honestly say, being someone's Mama is the best thing in the world to be. For all my adoption buddies who are still waiting for that to happen for you..it will happen and it will be worth the wait.
If it is cold outside (which it hasn't been often this year) she will then insist on wearing my coat : )
I took this last night...her feeding her cow milk..just thought it was funny.
If it is cold outside (which it hasn't been often this year) she will then insist on wearing my coat : )
I took this last night...her feeding her cow milk..just thought it was funny.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Simple Pleasures
Sometimes it is the simple things that make us the happiest. If you don't believe me, spend some time with a two year old. This morning while we were getting ready Annslee was hanging out on our bed reading. Gabby decided to join her and the fun began. She really wanted Gabby to read her own book but alas her paws couldn't hold onto it so Annslee decided it was best to read to her. They had a great time and I think they would have stayed there for hours but Gabby had to go outside and Annslee had to go to school.
One of her new favorite things for dinner is tomato soup. She will not eat the Dora or the Goldfish kind because she is not interested in the pasta and insists on soup only please. As we know tomato soup will really stain a shirt so we went without. She refuses the booster seat anymore but luckily she is good with a spoon so she ate more than she wore.
I was looking for something in my photo album and so here is a blast from the past. I think they speak to the title of this post and besides I just think they are really cute.
We had a reunion in July with our Hubei families and Mark was already in Chicago so we girls were coming up on our own to meet up with the group. I won't go into all the details of our airport nightmares (you can go to the post in July to see that) but suffice it to say we were in airports for some long hours waiting for our flight. So, I had to occupy a then 21 month old. Hey, how about the moving walkways...she had a blast!
One of her new favorite things for dinner is tomato soup. She will not eat the Dora or the Goldfish kind because she is not interested in the pasta and insists on soup only please. As we know tomato soup will really stain a shirt so we went without. She refuses the booster seat anymore but luckily she is good with a spoon so she ate more than she wore.
I was looking for something in my photo album and so here is a blast from the past. I think they speak to the title of this post and besides I just think they are really cute.
We had a reunion in July with our Hubei families and Mark was already in Chicago so we girls were coming up on our own to meet up with the group. I won't go into all the details of our airport nightmares (you can go to the post in July to see that) but suffice it to say we were in airports for some long hours waiting for our flight. So, I had to occupy a then 21 month old. Hey, how about the moving walkways...she had a blast!
Thursday, January 18, 2007
A good read by a 14 year old
I saw this on Sheri's blog and it is a really good read. This is an essay written by a 14 year old Chinese girl adopted at 3 months old. It won second prize in their Celebrate Diversity! Essay Contest. It really gives some insight to the feelings a teenager might have given her special circumstances of being born in China and now living with her parents in NY. Those of us with toddlers can take a look ahead to what isn't too far down the road. Below is an excerpt..for the complete essay go to NY Center's Site
When I was two and a half years old, I looked at my Mom's eyes, which are brown, and then my eyes which are black. I was very upset. I told my Mom I didn't like looking different than she did. 'When am I gonna get brown eyes? I don't wanna be Chinese!" My mother pointed out that my Dad has blue eyes and my brother has green eyes. Even though we all look different, we are one family. This was just the beginning of my noticing racial differences and wondering who I was.
When I was two and a half years old, I looked at my Mom's eyes, which are brown, and then my eyes which are black. I was very upset. I told my Mom I didn't like looking different than she did. 'When am I gonna get brown eyes? I don't wanna be Chinese!" My mother pointed out that my Dad has blue eyes and my brother has green eyes. Even though we all look different, we are one family. This was just the beginning of my noticing racial differences and wondering who I was.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Joining in...
Over on Donna's blog she has a Family FotoFun Friday Challenge and this is the 14th one and I decided this one I could do. She wanted to see some Elmo photos. I am using photos you've all seen before but I still think they are too cute. In case you've forgotten these are from our Forever Family Day back on November 14th. We went to see Elmo at the Bounce Factory!
Thursday, January 11, 2007
New Year's Eve?
Guess what Annslee found?? Yep, all the NYE party stuff. Of course she needed to celebrate again! She wasn't really dressed for a party but she didn't care.
Lucky Dada..he got to get in on the action too.
Lucky Dada..he got to get in on the action too.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Not that I needed another reason to dislike them..
Now we find out that BRATZ dolls are made in a Chinese sweatshop. That and the fact that some of them wear thong underwear and for various other reasons, Annslee will not be having them. I know I may have said the same thing about Barney years ago but the Purple Dinosaur is not in the same "class" as these Prosti Tots (wish I'd made up the name but I didn't , a friend did)
NEW YORK, Dec. 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/
-- Noted labor rights watchdog Charles Kernaghan of the National Labor Committee has released a report today documenting sweatshop conditions at a Chinese factory where Bratz dolls are made for California-based MGA Entertainment for sale at stores in the U.S. including Wal-Mart and Toys 'R Us.
The men and women who make the dolls, which now make up forty percent of the U.S. fashion doll market, well ahead of Barbie dolls this season, are paid 17 cents for each doll they assemble. The dolls typically sell in the U.S. for at least $15.89. The women are forced to work seven-day weeks of up to ninety- four hours.
Approximately 4,000 workers at the Hua Tai 4K Factory in Guangdong Province are part of the Hong Kong based Hua Cheng Group.
Principal findings for the study include the following conditions: * Routine 13 1/2 to 15 1/2-hour shifts, seven days a week. * Workers at the factory 94 1/2 hours a week. * Paid just 51 1/2 cents an hour and $4.03 a day. * Workers denied work injury and health insurance, in direct violation of China's law. * Taking a sick day results in loss of three days' wages. * Workers failing to meet their production goals must remain working -- unpaid -- until the target is met. * Workers are not allowed paid days off to get married. * Ten workers share a small dorm room, sleeping on metal bunk beds. There is no shower or TV. * If a worker breaks a doll, she is docked five hours' wages. * Before the gullible Wal-Mart auditors arrive, the workers are provided Cheat Sheets with a list of the "correct" answers, which they must memorize. * Now the factory wants to fire every worker and then bring them back as temporary workers with contracts limited to just one to eight months -- which will strip them of any legal rights they have. The workers are planning to strike in January 2007. * The workers are paid just 17 cents for each Bratz doll they assemble. * The total cost of production for a Bratz doll made in China is $3.01. When the doll enters the U.S., the companies mark up the cost by another 428 percent, adding $12.88, for a retail price of $15.89.
"Many parents are already concerned about the big doe-eyed, super-sized lipped, scantily-clad, high-heeled and anorexic Bratz dolls being marketed to their very young children. Now we learn that they're made under sweatshop conditions in China. Once again we find that there's a very dark underside to Wal-Mart's "everyday low prices," said Kernaghan.
Full Report Available at http://www.nlcnet.org/live/article.php?id=197
National Labor Committee
CONTACT: Charles Kernaghan or Barbara Briggs of the National Labor
Committee, +1-212-242-3002
Web site: http://www.nlcnet.org/live/article.php?id=197
NEW YORK, Dec. 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/
-- Noted labor rights watchdog Charles Kernaghan of the National Labor Committee has released a report today documenting sweatshop conditions at a Chinese factory where Bratz dolls are made for California-based MGA Entertainment for sale at stores in the U.S. including Wal-Mart and Toys 'R Us.
The men and women who make the dolls, which now make up forty percent of the U.S. fashion doll market, well ahead of Barbie dolls this season, are paid 17 cents for each doll they assemble. The dolls typically sell in the U.S. for at least $15.89. The women are forced to work seven-day weeks of up to ninety- four hours.
Approximately 4,000 workers at the Hua Tai 4K Factory in Guangdong Province are part of the Hong Kong based Hua Cheng Group.
Principal findings for the study include the following conditions: * Routine 13 1/2 to 15 1/2-hour shifts, seven days a week. * Workers at the factory 94 1/2 hours a week. * Paid just 51 1/2 cents an hour and $4.03 a day. * Workers denied work injury and health insurance, in direct violation of China's law. * Taking a sick day results in loss of three days' wages. * Workers failing to meet their production goals must remain working -- unpaid -- until the target is met. * Workers are not allowed paid days off to get married. * Ten workers share a small dorm room, sleeping on metal bunk beds. There is no shower or TV. * If a worker breaks a doll, she is docked five hours' wages. * Before the gullible Wal-Mart auditors arrive, the workers are provided Cheat Sheets with a list of the "correct" answers, which they must memorize. * Now the factory wants to fire every worker and then bring them back as temporary workers with contracts limited to just one to eight months -- which will strip them of any legal rights they have. The workers are planning to strike in January 2007. * The workers are paid just 17 cents for each Bratz doll they assemble. * The total cost of production for a Bratz doll made in China is $3.01. When the doll enters the U.S., the companies mark up the cost by another 428 percent, adding $12.88, for a retail price of $15.89.
"Many parents are already concerned about the big doe-eyed, super-sized lipped, scantily-clad, high-heeled and anorexic Bratz dolls being marketed to their very young children. Now we learn that they're made under sweatshop conditions in China. Once again we find that there's a very dark underside to Wal-Mart's "everyday low prices," said Kernaghan.
Full Report Available at http://www.nlcnet.org/live/article.php?id=197
National Labor Committee
CONTACT: Charles Kernaghan or Barbara Briggs of the National Labor
Committee, +1-212-242-3002
Web site: http://www.nlcnet.org/live/article.php?id=197
Monday, January 01, 2007
Ringing in 2007!
Happy New Year everyone!! We had a great weekend to ring in 2007. Our friends and travelmates came all the way from Boston to see us. It was wonderful seeing everyone again (we hadn't seen them since July at our Hubei reunion) I will warn you now that there are a lot of photos so click on the collages to make them bigger so you can see.
The weather was a balmy 65 the day they arrived so we got some good ole' southern BBQ and went to the park to enjoy the afternoon. The older kids had a game of tag and poor Joe got stuck taking the two youngest down the slide over and over!
Here is our attempt at a group photo...ha ha
Danny was very nice to read Blue's Clues a few times to the girls
We did manage a picture of the four youngest..and usually least cooperative
On Saturday we headed to the Science Center and it was a great time. There was something for everyone and so the kids ran wild. It was fun watching them enjoy everything. We all stuck together for a while then Michelle and I took the girls down to the toddler area so they could play together. Actually, they chose to mainly ignore one another or Annslee would try to aggravate poor JiaLi.
One of the exhibits they had up was all about ice and snow. That gave the kids the chance to throw "snow" at one another. Poor Annslee was at a disadvantage..hey, they actually get snow where they live. I think they all got plenty on them and we will be cleaning it out of our cars for a while
Annslee stood still for a brief second so I could snap a picture
We came home, ate and rested then headed back out to do some rock climbing and to see Elvis. Annslee and JiaLi watched all the big kids (including Joe) climb the wall. Of course once Edward was done he was Annslee's buddy again. Then we walked around and ran into Elvis!!! I think Jenise did a great impression of him. Maybe she needs to move here and become a STAR!
On Sunday it was time for the big game. Unfortunately the weather did NOT cooperate so I didn't get a lot of photos. The Titans needed a lot to happen to get in the playoffs and it all did..except one :( Good for our friends from Boston..bad for us..but we love them anyway (the Maddens that is)
Finally it was time to ring in the new year. We did some fireworks in the cul de sac and the kids had a blast (ha ha...no pun intended) We would shoot off a bottle rocket and then a few houses over would trump us with a real ligth show but our kids liked ours best..so ha ha on them!
We interupt this sweet family weekend for a tacky photo. Here are the "spoils" of our fireworks show...hey, we didn't have a coke bottle..but it worked just as well. Of course Joe helped me "stage" it in our trashcan and get the lighting just right. We really are easily amused I guess ; )
Once we were back in the house it was time to dress up for our parade. I have this on video and will download that later.
To say we had a great time would be a huge understatement. It was so much fun having 6 kids running around and Annslee adored it. I really think she would like a big brother over a little sister. I forgot how much we LOVE our China buddies and we can't wait to see them again soon.
The weather was a balmy 65 the day they arrived so we got some good ole' southern BBQ and went to the park to enjoy the afternoon. The older kids had a game of tag and poor Joe got stuck taking the two youngest down the slide over and over!
Here is our attempt at a group photo...ha ha
Danny was very nice to read Blue's Clues a few times to the girls
We did manage a picture of the four youngest..and usually least cooperative
On Saturday we headed to the Science Center and it was a great time. There was something for everyone and so the kids ran wild. It was fun watching them enjoy everything. We all stuck together for a while then Michelle and I took the girls down to the toddler area so they could play together. Actually, they chose to mainly ignore one another or Annslee would try to aggravate poor JiaLi.
One of the exhibits they had up was all about ice and snow. That gave the kids the chance to throw "snow" at one another. Poor Annslee was at a disadvantage..hey, they actually get snow where they live. I think they all got plenty on them and we will be cleaning it out of our cars for a while
Annslee stood still for a brief second so I could snap a picture
We came home, ate and rested then headed back out to do some rock climbing and to see Elvis. Annslee and JiaLi watched all the big kids (including Joe) climb the wall. Of course once Edward was done he was Annslee's buddy again. Then we walked around and ran into Elvis!!! I think Jenise did a great impression of him. Maybe she needs to move here and become a STAR!
On Sunday it was time for the big game. Unfortunately the weather did NOT cooperate so I didn't get a lot of photos. The Titans needed a lot to happen to get in the playoffs and it all did..except one :( Good for our friends from Boston..bad for us..but we love them anyway (the Maddens that is)
Finally it was time to ring in the new year. We did some fireworks in the cul de sac and the kids had a blast (ha ha...no pun intended) We would shoot off a bottle rocket and then a few houses over would trump us with a real ligth show but our kids liked ours best..so ha ha on them!
We interupt this sweet family weekend for a tacky photo. Here are the "spoils" of our fireworks show...hey, we didn't have a coke bottle..but it worked just as well. Of course Joe helped me "stage" it in our trashcan and get the lighting just right. We really are easily amused I guess ; )
Once we were back in the house it was time to dress up for our parade. I have this on video and will download that later.
To say we had a great time would be a huge understatement. It was so much fun having 6 kids running around and Annslee adored it. I really think she would like a big brother over a little sister. I forgot how much we LOVE our China buddies and we can't wait to see them again soon.
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