Catching Up

We've had a lot going on so I am behind in posting. We had a belated birthday party for Coby and had lots of kids there. It was loud, wild and crazy! Here is a shot of all the kidlets on the steps.



Annslee was very interested in his cake~ apparently Mia joined in too : )



He was fine the morning of the party but by the time the party started it was obvious he wasn't feeling well. Poor baby has been sick all week.



The few smiles I got out of him was when his cousin Shelby was helping him walk around : )



This week we also did a Lunar New Year presentation at Annslee's school. She made cookies shaped like China!



No surprise~ she used pink and purple icing



Coby was definitely ready to go to Annslee's school to celebrate



We read a story, did a craft and of course ate the cookies! Annslee wanted to sit in my lap and Miss Lee gladly held Coby.



My crazy girl in her dress after school~ remember all the surfing pictures from this summer, well, she is a surfer girl again apparently LOL

Sometimes you just get lucky!

Obviously we got lucky when we received our handsome boy. Today I got lucky taking pics of him. I bundled him up to go out the door to pick up Annslee at school. I just thought he looked so cute in his furry hood so I grabbed the camera. He has been sick so I wasn't sure if he would cooperate but he was in a really good mood : )






Poor baby~ you can see he has a cold by the look in his eyes and his little red nose and cheeks but seriously, what a cutie!





I decided to try turning this one into b&w and it definitely helped with those poor chapped cheeks.



I still can't believe we have a SON!

My BIG 43!!

As promised, here is the cake Annslee thought I should have. I actually just bought a frosted brownie and put all the Pony goodies on myself and she was satisfied. I didn't have 43 candles and didn't want to set off the smoke detector anyway : )



Me and my sweeties



I got a camera for the computer so we can see people we are talking to ~ any of you out there want to play along!



Apparently we were all very interested in what Daddy wrote



After I opened gifts Annslee told me "close eyes I surprise you" and ran upstairs. I love how she is looking through the rails to make sure I'm not peeking. She then handed me Pin*ky Pie to match the one on my cake. She cracks me up!



I of course got help blowing out the candles. Annslee was worried the whole time that Coby would grab a candle



For fun, here is a picture from last year. My lap is fuller this year and I love it!



On a funny note~ when our pizza was delivered Annslee ran to the door and said "Hey pizza man, what your name?"

A Snowy Birthday!!

It hasn't snowed on my birthday in a long time and I had hopes that we would actually get some this year. They were calling for 2 inches~ yay, perfect! Annslee talks of building a snowman and doing snow angels. She brings home snowman crafts from school~ personally I think it is cruel to do that to children who live where the reality of a snowman likely won't happen LOL but.. this morning it was snowing hard and so we were excited!!

Well,as you can see we got about what we usually get. Come on strain your eyes~ can't you see that white stuff?? She didn't care that it was merely a dusting, so we headed out while Coby napped : )



Ok...make your snow angel!! We did it on the deck so she wouldn't get muddy on the ground that wasn't even covered : (



I think it turned out great..oh, and check out her snowman!!!



She is still at our neighbor's house playing on their back deck and having hot chocolate. Coby woke up so I came home. I love FOUR...what a fun age. She is totally satisfied with the fun she is having in the "snow"

Stay tuned for the birthday cake Annslee chose for me : )

Xin Nian Kuai Le & Chuc Mung Tan Nien & Happy New Year!!

We celebrated the Lunar New Year Saturday night and had a great time!



My attempt at getting a pic of them together : )



My beautiful Hubei girl with a drum...yes, she did beat on it too : )



Missy took this one of Coby being held by Mia's mommy Jenny. I know I am biased but he takes my breath away *just like his sister does*



We saw lots of friends!



We didn't know how he would react to the drums and the lion dance...it was loud but he seemed to be ok with it... my little party animal!



On the way there Annslee kept saying she didn't want to see the Lion Dance. I reminded her that she saw it this summer at the park but she still wasn't sure. I love how intense her face is as she thinks about giving it the red envelope



YAY Mommy...I did it...did you see me!! She then did it again as Coby really only wanted to chew on his : )




The girls wanted a front row seat to watch the dancers



A slide show was made for us all to watch. It had referral pictures and current pictures of all the kids. Annslee was very excited to see hers and Coby's pictures then kept watching for Mia's.



Coby was a total chick magnet all night!!! The bottom picture cracks me up~ yes, I rescued him but got the pic first LOL (notice in the collage above he is being grabbed too...someday he will love these parties!)



The centerpieces were goldfish and much to the joy of all the kids they got to bring one home. Swimmy (nice name huh?) is still alive and swimming : )

Walking and Swinging

I realized after my last post that I forgot one of his "firsts" He took his first shower and LOVED it!! Daddy was in the shower and so I tossed him in with him to see how he would like it. Just as Annslee did as a baby he loved it and kept trying to catch water in his mouth. I definitely think showering when they are this little helps later in swimming as they are so used to water in their face. Annslee woke up from nap and jumped in too ~ a shower party!! Sorry, no pictures of the shower party as Daddy flatly refused LOL

Finally, some pictures of our walking boy~disregard how bad I look and how the bonus room looks : ) Here he is walking to Big Sister Annslee!

I have to crack up at how serious Daddy and I both look. Annslee of course is ready with her outstretched arms!

Ok..had to laugh that her eyes are closed...I think it is b/c when he gets to her he basically falls into her so she is prepping herself : )

Any of you who have read my blog for a while know how long Annslee has wanted to be a big sister. She would play with "tend Malia" all the time and then it became "tend Coby" I am so happy that she is finally getting the chance to live her dream of being a big sister~ I have to say, she is the BEST at it too!

Here she is last summer holding "Coby" He isn't quite small enough for her to really do this now LOL

You will also know that pushing "tend Malia and tend Coby" on swings has been going on for over a year. Anytime we go to the swings that would happen. It was really sweet but sad too as we waited and waited and then wondered if it would really ever happen with Vietnam shutting down.

No worries~ that dream came true too!!! It was 60 degrees today so she had her chance! I didn't realize until I saw her doing it how sweet I would think it was too : )

Awwww.....yep, Mama has waited for this one!

I think he enjoyed his first ride on the swing

His beautiful big sister had fun too

She cracks me up taking a pic of me taking a pic of them!

Seeing my two sweet kids together is all I thought it would be and more. I have many friends currently waiting for another child to come home. I know all too well how bittersweet posts like this can be to read~ know that you are in my thoughts and prayers and I hope all of your children are home soon! The good news is that it is all in His timing and His timing is always right : )

Coby

Coby has been home a little over a month now so I thought I'd share some of his firsts : ) Colleen, this will either be more or less than you wanted to know but thanks for prompting me to get it down "on paper"

I will start out with the BIG one that happened tonight ~ he took his first real steps!! He has done the one foot then fall before but we got three in a row tonight. I thought Annslee would go nuts, she kept saying "see I teach him upstairs and he good listen" ha ha Now we are in BIG trouble as he is already into everything without the ability to walk! People warned us about the difference between boys and girls...they were right!


He mastered the sippy cup on the first try with Big Sister cheering him on. She does this for every accomplishment~ she will say "good job Coby" *for those of you who are wondering this pic was taken on Jan 7th so before his first bday but we will continue to also give him a bottle for another month or so just for bonding *




On that same day he had his first mohawk (and from the looks of it likely his last) He just can't pull it off like the other Kobi can ; )

He went to his first annual check up and did great. All of his tests are normal and he actually made the US growth chart for weight ~ 18 lb, 2.5 oz (2nd percentile), height~ 28 in (8th percentile) and head circumference ~ 18 in (30th percentile)

He learned how to feed himself with a fork. Actually, we weren't trying to teach this but he insists on his food being served pronto so he just grabbed it : )



He unfortunately mastered the step stool but it worked out for the cheerios he wanted

He enjoyed his first "tickle fest" courtesy of Daddy ! I think this may be one of the only pics I have where you can see his two top teeth.

Now you Northerners can start laughing but he experienced his first snowfall (well, a dusting really) He didn't seem to care at all but Annslee begged to go out so we did.

He is doing great really for the most part. Once we got past that first two weeks with little sleep he has slept through the night regularly. He is still a terrible napper and that is hard to get used to b/c Annslee will still nap. He also will not let me out of his sight which is sweet but it is difficult to do much with a baby holding onto your leg crying. I hope he gets secure enough that I can be in the same room and not be holding him and he will be happy. I guess when you go 11 long months without being held you have a lot of time to make up for. I love it when Annslee gets home from school b/c she will sit and play with him and he is happier then. He definitely knows who his family is and will let others hold him as long as he can't see one of us. My favorite thing is when we go pick Annslee up at school and as she is getting in the car he will squeal with delight and then they hold hands all the way home : )

He also is sooooo verbal! I didn't realize how non verbal A really was until now. He can say Mama, Dada, NaNa (Annslee's nickname) and bye bye clearly. He also says a lot more but we don't understand it yet LOL

He loves to dance and will really shake it when he hears music. We now have four people for the dance parties at our house.

He is a great eater and will eat anything you put in front of him. He likes chicken, turkey, mac and cheese (A has never liked that) , all fruits and all veggies. He loves his milk and water too.

He is a happy baby with a ready smile. He is going to be soooo much fun to photograph : )