Seriously, is it fall yet??

It was a beautiful day so we headed to the Botanical Gardens to stroll around. They had a scarecrow exhibit going on (most of the heads were pumpkins) and they were pretty neat looking. The biggest problem getting into the fall spirit....it was 91 degrees!!

They had an art project that the kids could do. We read online that it was a fish painting....hmmmm, didn't realize they meant that literally : P

I thought the fish was stinky and gross but Annslee didn't mind a bit. She painted it and then daddy pressed it on a piece of paper to make her artwork complete.

I wanted to dress her in some cute fall outfit for the day but it was just too hot. Hey, Winnie is always a good pick I guess. After painting we walked around and she needed a snack break with daddy : )

The scarecrows were great and different organizations had made them for display. This one was called "hen pecked" LOL I was thrilled that Annslee stood close to it for a photo. Last year she loved all the scary stuff but this year she hasn't so I wasn't sure how she would react but she seemed to like the scarecrows.

There was a lot of walking and she really enjoyed all the ponds and the bamboo.

One path we were on had a sprinkler set up to water the plants. Miss Thing thought it was set up just for her to play in!

Here is her artwork!



Oh, and Happy Birthday JiaLi!!! Head on over and leave our sweet travelmate a note : )

First Birthday wishes and gift arrive

Well, we are 16 days from Miss Annslee's birthday and today's mail marked the beginning of the celebration! I got the mail while she was napping but Daddy wisely suggested leaving her goodies in the mailbox for her to find. I did some video but here are a couple of snapshots : )

First opened was a card from Lauren. She loved the Hello Kitty stickers and of course the dog card...thanks guys!! I told her it was from Lauren so she is holding up her L



Next she opened her much awaited movie from GiGi. I was videoing that so here she is showing off her treasures. This face cracks me up!



Yes, she is still in her Ariel nightgown...some days there is no need to get dressed LOL

A playdate that was years in the making!

Tanya and I worked together for a long time and one of our constant talks was our dream of being stay at home moms. She has five boys so her task would be more difficult than mine but only her youngest isn't in school yet. We talked of getting our little ones together to play and how much fun daytime playdates would be with them. I got to quit work in February and she was thrilled for me. However, her longing was still there. Thanks to a promotion for her hubby she finally got to 'clock out' for the last time a couple of weeks ago. Today our dreamed about playdate finally happened. Annslee and Cameron had a blast running and playing and we got the joy of watching!

What cuties they are!!

Here Annslee is playing "Wonder NaNa" ... her version of being a Wonder Pet and "saving" Cameron as he is climbing on the boat...not sure he really wanted to be saved LOL

Of course they wanted to drive the car. Try getting them both to look....

Miss Thing had to play astronaut before we left

Weekend Recap

a few days late. On Saturday we went to a make up class for gymnastics and it was great because Daddy got to come along! I don't have a picture of it (or video) but her new skill is being able to jump on the trampoline, land on her booty then bounce back up to her feet without falling. She does it over and over...I will have to get it on video. The other funny thing she does is when she jumps to the floor from any apparatus she throws her hands up in the air like she just "stuck the landing"

Here she is swinging on the flying trapeze

She threw balls, played with the punching bags, and really enjoyed indoor swinging!

On Sunday I helped host a baby shower and Miss Annslee went along..hey, she loves a party! Luckily there were a lot of other little ones there too. The girls found a bug crawling behind a door and that occupied them for a while. I don't remember what was going on in the bottom left pic but I think Lacey was chasing her and she was pretending to be scared...just another crazy Annslee expression

She insisted on being in the picture with us : )

She of course had to help Jana open up the gifts. She did like a blanket baby Tyler got and I had to insist she give it back to Tyler's Mama

When we got home from the baby shower our "napless" girl decided napping on Daddy was a great idea

*Ok Tracy...here are your requested pictures : )

This just in....

Well, it isn't in my hands yet but it was released today. Gigi has ordered it and it is being delivered to our house for Annslee's birthday. Anytime she sees the previews for it she cheers and shouts "Eeee Eeee"

She is really into Dis*ney these days and so are we since we booked our trip!! Yep, we are headed the the "happiest place on Earth" the week after Thanksgiving : )

Starting today

* We can say Annslee will be 3 THIS month. I can't believe my baby is turning 3 but she is so excited about her birthday. She is having an Ar*iel swim party and is so ready to blow out candles (we will hold her hair back this time) She is going to be so much fun this year because she 'gets it' and enjoys having her friends with her and celebrating anything!

* All restaurants in the state are smoke free! I am thrilled to no longer be asked "smoking or non" I can't believe it has taken this long to get this passed but I am happy it finally is. This doesn't apply to 'over 21' establishments but hey, we don't frequent those anymore anyway LOL

* All US citizens need a passport to travel outside the US. Well, we all have one and even paid the expedite fee to get Annslee's just in case we got the call to come to Vietnam. Ha, guess we didn't need that extra fee but I am still glad we have hers. Hey, you never know when we might just hop a plane to Rome ha ha

* We can decorate our house for Hallo*ween with reckless abandon. Annslee can put on her costume and practice saying 'Trick or Treat' and we can go to every pumpkin patch we can find. I love this time of year and am so excited to watch the Holiday Season through the eyes of a 3 year old.

Speaking of Hallo*ween, we went to try on costumes and she went for Ar*iel first. Well, Mermaid costumes are made for tall/skinny girls and my girl just isn't built like that : ) So she wanted to try on a Cat costume and I was cracking up as she did her cat impression for me with claws and meowing. Finally she tried on Tink and I think the wings sold her. Now we have the costume with of course the shoes, crown and wand. Yes, I know Tink doesn't wear a crown or carry a wand...but isn't it more fun that way?

Here are a couple of trying on pics...she couldn't stay in the mermaid costume long enough for a pic!

Wow, thanks SB

We got an awesome package in the mail from our Secret Buddy. In it was two books about Vietnam! Unlike China adoption/culture books, ones on Vietnam are harder to come by. I have now read both of these and love them. Annslee will love them too and I can't wait to share them with Malia.

Annslee also got some princess jewelry in the package but didn't stand still long enough for a picture of that!!

Thanks again Secret Buddy!

Happy Birthday Daddy!! *Updated

As promised..here are the birthday pics from today : ) If you didn't see it already, scroll down for the video. The first pic is the first time daddy held Annslee on Nov.14, 2005 and I love it!

Here is Annslee last year on Daddy's birthday (9/28/06)

And here she is this year...she doesn' t look like a baby anymore : (


In the bottom two pics she is letting me know how old Daddy is 3-7

She loved blowing out the candles over and over. Seriously, check out those lips! The cake was actually tiramisu..yummm. The banner on the window is from her party last year : )



I think we lit them one too many times..this is Daddy checking out her singed hair!! Luckily, no permanent damage (notice she is still interested in blowing out the candles...)

Later she watched 'Dragon Tales' and read 'Goodnight Moon' with her cool shades. The episode she was watching had Max using some 3-D glasses and she wanted some (this was the closest I had..)








When Daddy gets home from work we will give gifts, have dinner and Annslee has already decided she in charge of blowing out the candles...

I see the Moon & the Moon sees ME

Sure it is a nice full moon but sitting here Mama, it is only a little dot in the sky : )

I told her to point to the moon for me and she thought it was really funny to try and reach up and touch it. Now don't get confused..there is only one moon in our sky..the lower big dot is a streetlight LOL

Cats don't really listen and Charlie did not listen when she was telling him to look at the moon. He was even so obstinate ~ he looked the other way!

* The doctor thinks it is my Rotator Cuff but we shall see. They did Xrays and I will do the physical therapy to see if that is what it is. I hope he is right and PT will alleviate it.

Moon Festival & Fun in the Mail!

Happy Mid Autumn Moon Festival!! I love this holiday because it means fall is in the air and marks the beginning of the "holiday" season. We have been reading 'I See the Moon' by Carrie A. Kitze and of course 'Goodnight Moon' each night. Tonight we will go outside, look at the moon and think of family. I try to send happy messages to Annslee's birth family and think of my own mom and dad who are now gone. In years to come as Annslee gets older we will do a more "organized" tribute to her ancestry and heritage on this day.

I got a handmade Moon Festival card from my friend Michelle and a wonderfully cute reminder from Connie about breast cancer awareness month. Thanks girls!!

I know the poem is hard to read in the pic...here it is..too cute and funny not to share!

In honor of breast cancer awareness, Mama Duck says:

"Attend to your mams,

Get your exams.

Keep an eye on those jugs,

So you'll have many years of hugs.

Take care of your girls,

I consider my friends precious pearls"

Huge thanks to all of my wonderful friends for your sweet words and prayers about our day today. Annslee's speech eval was fine...she is obviously very behind and I know she will finally be getting the help she deserves. They did a receptive test on her and finally quit testing when she was doing "4 year old" questions. Hopefully, this will put to rest the "first year of hearing Mandarin" stuff since she clearly understands everything in ENGLISH : )

Gotta run to my doctor's appointment so I will keep you posted on that. Oh, and the cookies....I looked at the instructions again and realized I am not a baker so I will be enlisting help with this : ) Tracy...got plans later???

I could use your good thoughts

We have a pretty big day tomorrow (besides it being the Moon Festival) In the morning Annslee will have her speech evaluation for the school system. I don't think it is any secret how angry, upset and utterly frustrated I have been for the past year with the lack of help she has received. She did not qualify for speech therapy with Early Childhood Intervention in our state because her receptive skills were so good. She also was in the top 10% for social and adaptive so that "counted against her" as well. She is at least a year behind in her expressive language and now that she is turning 3 the school system is responsible for servicing her. The biggest concern I have is that they have already mentioned her "being from China, hearing Mandarin the first year" etc... I am hoping and praying they do not try to use that as a reason for her delay and therefore want to delay services. She has been home almost two years so I am not taking that for an answer. I hope it doesn't come up because then Mama Bear will have to come out and it won't be pretty : )

I also have a doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon to get checked out. My shoulder has been hurting for almost 3 months..yes, I know I should have gone in sooner. Now my arm and chest have joined in so I can't take it anymore. You would have to know me and my family history to understand the thoughts going through my mind right now. Please pray that it is nothing serious.

We are attempting some Rabbit-in-the-Moon cookies tomorrow and I "may" post those. It depends on how they turn out LOL

FCC Moon Festival Celebration

We went to our local Moon Festival party tonight and it was a lot of fun. There were around 70 people there although I know you can't tell since it looks like only Annslee and Mia attended : ) It was held at a local restaurant and people were kind of coming and going. There was an area in the back for crafts so the girls ate then made their way back there (after Annslee tackled Mia of course!)

It is so funny to watch them do their artwork because they are so serious about it LOL

Here is the proud artisan displaying her necklace, Chinese lantern and rabbit in the moon plate

She had a great time with all the crafts (no surprise) and then decided she needed some ice cream before we left.

Tracy and Amelia showed up just as we were leaving so I didn't get any cute pics of them together. It was sweet because when Annslee spotted Amelia coming in she held up two fingers and did the sign for 'friend' letting us know that she now had two friends there ~

Our afternoon

I found her using her binoculars to look out the window to see if Daddy was coming home soon : )

We went to a safety fair and she got two balloons! Actually she ended up getting two more since these two ended up being "shared with the clouds"

She did enjoy driving the fire truck...notice one of her balloons flew away during this but the fireman went to get her another one

She is watching Dora "from afar" and honestly, after seeing her I don't blame her for not wanting to get too close

See what I mean??
She only took a 45 min nap today and fell asleep on the way home from the event...guess that explains why she was kind of grumpy while we were there....

Go to Chili's and help St. Jude

Follow this link to find out all about eating out and supporting St. Jude. All you have to do is eat dinner and children with cancer reap the benefits : )

Please continue lifting Miranda and her family up in prayer! Her counts are up and she has a little more energy so I know our prayers and good thoughts are working. The bottom line ~ children should not have to deal with cancer!

What you get when you find a disposable camera!

The other day I found a disposable camera with one picture left on it. I took a pic of my crazy girl and then went to get it developed. This is what I found~I put them in chronological order since it goes back to early this summer : )

My little ladybug by the pool



Doing one of her favorite things....crafts!!



Hmmm...is that how you are suppose to play with the water table?!



She is showing me how Ariel's dad looks when he is angry LOL


Now she is letting the dogs know Ariel is NOT something for them to play with (mind you they never touch her stuff...but just in case I guess)

Gabby is asking us to get her a pony for her birthday....

My little climber at gymnastics

Here is the picture I took last night when she was quietly drawing. Does this even look comfortable?

Prayers needed

These are four beautiful sisters who are the daughters of Tiffany...a woman I used to work with at a telecommunications company and am now lucky enough to know again through Mary Kay. On September 6th Miranda, their youngest daughter, was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma. She is now undergoing treatment and they are faced with the task of controlling her pain with morphine and explaining to her about her hair loss as best they can to a three year old.

Please go to Miranda's site to read her story and sign the guestbook. Most of all please PRAY for this family as they are facing this scary time.