Happy Halloween!!

Annslee really enjoyed her first Halloween. I realize this is actually her third but Halloween isn't celebrated in China so it is safe to assume this is her first! I had a good friend make Minnie ears for her because they were sold out at the Disney store. I literally spent hours figuring out how to get the ears and getting the right material. Annslee was not impressed with my efforts and refused to wear them. After all the work that had gone into them they were going to be worn..so I wore them most of the night. (as always..you can click on any photo to enlarge it)

We started out going to a celebration in a park mainly for the pony rides. I was determined to get pictures of her on a pony. She wasn't really that excited about riding them at first but laughed and smiled once we got started. We stayed long enough for two pony rides and a train ride then it was back to the house for some Trick-or-Treating!

I wasn't sure if she would enjoy trick-or-treating but she really got the hang of it fast. She would go up, ring the doorbell then hold out her cat basket. While the homeowner admired her cuteness and put candy in her basket she reached in with the other hand and grabbed more of their candy for herself. We came home with a ton of candy! She also enjoyed handing out candy to our guests (I think we counted over 70 kids)

Pumpkin Time

While Dada carved the pumpkin Annslee painted hers and yes she was still wearing the cat shirt! Notice we have a little lefty on our hands : )

Here is the finished masterpiece. Annslee's is hard to see in the dark.

A busy weekend and a sad photographer

We had a very busy weekend! On Friday night we went to Anna Marie's birthday party. She turned five and had a circus themed party. It was a lot of fun and the kids all played games to win prizes. On Saturday morning our social worker came and we had our 12 month post placement. This means that our reports and photos will be sent to China and our case is officially closed! It really is a formality I guess because she has been ours since November of last year..well, really since we first saw her photo the September before. After Carole left we decided to go to the park for Bark in the Park. I thought it was too close to nap time but I couldn't imagine knowing a Dog Day at the park was going on and her not going. I think she petted and kissed on every dog there! She didn't even want to jump in the bouncy things because it took her away from the dogs. After nap we met up with Trisha and family at a Fall Festival. If you remember on the 4th of July she was interested in the ponies but would NOT ride them. This time was a different story. She ran for them when we first arrived and rode them twice. I think she would have done more but the line was really long. On Sunday we got up and headed to the Pumpkin Patch to pick out a pumpkin. She was very thoughtful as she went pumpkin to pumpkin to find the perfect one. At this point I must tell you about the sad photographer part...as I was taking photos of her at the pumpkin patch..it happened.. I erased EVERYTHING on my memory card...yes, the pony ride pictures too. If we hadn't been in a public place I would have sat down and cried right there. Besides the pony photos there were also some great ones of her with the dogs, playing in the cabinets, eating an eggroll...yes, I have gone through them all in my mind and can vividly see them. Anyway, since we were still at the pumpkins Mark said to go back and "redo" those so I did. Then that night we went to the Zoo and I got a few photos there. She loved the treat stations and she very bravely went through the haunted house.
So here are the photos I still have. I know I will have plenty more photos of her..but never have her first pony ride again. Oh well, it will teach me to be more careful in the future.

As you all know, Annslee loves playing in the cabinets!!

These are the "do over" pictures at the pumpkin patch!

Poor Gabby had to have the cat ears put on her over and over!

We went to the Zoo and she loved it..in a couple of years she will really have a great time!



You may notice that she had the same orange t-shirt with a cat on it in all these pictures. However, they were not all taken on the same day. Tara sent us a box full of clothes from Hannah and Abby and there were two Halloween shirts in there. Well, Annslee picked the one with the cat on it to wear on Sunday..then she slept in it Sunday night. I tried to get it off on Monday morning but it wasn't worth the screaming so she wore it to school. On Monday night we carved and painted pumpkins so it had to be washed. I took it off, she cried then kept taking me to the washing machine to watch it go round and round. Yes, she went straight to the dryer Tuesday morning and took it out to wear to school! I have to choose my battles and this wasn't worth it.

2 Year Checkup

Annslee had her 2 year checkup and she is doing great! She had to have three shots and so that part wasn't good but the doctor let her sit in her lap playing with the computer during the entire physical so she was pretty happy about that. I have to say, we LOVE our pediatrician. She always takes her time and tries really hard to make us all comfortable. The part Annslee dislikes the most is being weighed and measured. Hey, she is a girl afterall..who wants to be weighed. Here are her stats: Weight- 27 lbs, 12 oz (60th percentile) Height- 32.5 in (20th percentile) and Head Circumference (50th percentile) She is happy, healthy and so much fun!!

Then and Now

Last year on Annslee's birthday we were anxiously awaiting travel. We knew we would be holding her in three weeks but it was so hard missing her first birthday. We had already missed so many "firsts" and this one was particularly difficult. My friends at work had a birthday party for her (shower) and so she had her first birthday cake but Mama had to blow out the candles. Of course as you saw from the earlier post this year she had that thrill herself! We also went to dinner that night with Mia's Mom and Dad to help us celebrate. They fully understood the pain of waiting as they were two weeks from going to China to meet their daughter. Dada and I had a birthday cake there for her as well and made our wishes for her. Of course it was obvious what we were wishing for.

We decided to continue the tradition of dinner on Annslee's birthday but this year the girls were there with us. It was definitely louder but also much more fun!

Please no comments on how much more run down we look after a year of chasing a toddler!!

The Third Saturday in October

When you utter those words in the South it only means one thing..Tennessee/Alabama weekend..well, that was until our beautiful daughter came along and her birthday fell on October 21..which more often than not will mean her birthday party will be the third Saturday in October. Dada did not go to Knoxville this year, instead he was cutting birthday cake and running the video camera..and I think loving every minute of it!!

We had to light the candle three times and I think she would have kept blowing it out all day..she kept doing the "more" sign!



Cake, ice cream and juice..what more can a girl hope for??

There were 14 kids here and 12 adults and still we (adults) seemed terribly outnumbered!

Opening gifts was kind of fun but she really seemed to enjoy just playing with the tissue paper. She also had a blast playing "pin the bone on the doggy" and I think it may be hanging in our living room for a while.

I think she really just enjoyed having all the kids here. She did spend a lot of time outside showing everyone Sasha and Gabby (the inspiration for the party). She also received a delivery during the party.. a balloon bouquet from Lily and she really thought she was something when the delivery man handed it to her.

It really is amazing the difference a year makes. This time last year we were spending her birthday just wishing she was with us. We were a full three weeks away from holding her and it seemed like an eternity. Today we had her with us and were so happy to hear her squealing as she ran through the house.

A Good Idea??

When given the choice of what kind of birthday party she wanted she went right past Barney and Elmo in the Party City aisles and headed straight for the dog party stuff. It really wasn't a big surprise that she wanted a dog party since dogs are one of her favorite things so our sweet little 2 year old is having a dog themed party. Anyway, Dada went out on a search for a cute doggy cake and none really seemed to be right. So we thought we would take a photo of her with the dogs and have that put on the cake. She has these dog ears she wears and likes to pretend she is a dog so we thought we'd put those on her and take a photo of the three puppies together. Hmm...what do they say about the best laid plans?? As you can see she did NOT think it was a good idea!!
This is the photo that is on the cake!!

She was happy again to go upstairs and be a good helper feeding the dogs.

The Name Game

"A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches." Proverbs 22:1


As some of you know Annslee is named after both of her grandmothers (my mom's middle name was Ann and my mother-in-law's middle name is Lee) so it has special meaning for us. Well, now it is time to name her baby sister and we are all out of family names and ideas. We have been thinking of names lately but haven't decided on one yet. We thought of Melinda (my middle name) but I wasn't really thrilled with that so I looked for variations on that and came up with Lindsay and Malia. My hubby brought Courtney to the table one night (not literally, just the name) and Makenna has always kind of been in the running (actually MaKenzie was). Addison is just a name we both heard and liked. As to Ashlyn, well it is kind of a variation of Ashley. When I was little I wanted my name to be Ashley. I remember asking my mother repeatedly (I'm sure she loved that) why she didn't name me Ashley. Well, I am named after both my grandmothers and neither of them were named Ashley, so the answer was simple enough.

So I thought it would be fun to let our readers have a say, however I won't promise you that we will go with the winner from this poll. Vote below and if none of them really strike you then give your own suggestions in the comment field!

What name do you like best for Annslee's little sister?
	Maleah/Malia
	Lindsay
	Courtney
	Addison
	Makenna
	Ashlyn
Free polls from Pollhost.com

The Zoo!!

I think it is safe to say that one of Annslee's favorite things in the world is animals (swimming and music are right up there) and she loves the Zoo. Today we went with Jenny and Mia and the girls had a great time! It is fun to see them notice things and get so excited.

Annslee had a blast trying on masks and "popping up" in the Meerkat exhibit.


Sometimes for the sake of a great photo, you just have to not worry about how many people have touched the glass on the fish tank and let your kids kiss it!

For some reason Annslee has never like the carousel..as you can see she is holding on to Mia for dear life!

The bamboo is really tall!!

Waiting

For anyone who has gone through an international adoption you know how much waiting in involved. Throughout the process you are constantly in a state of waiting..or so it seems. You first wait for answers on different agencies and programs so that you can make an informed decision about the route you need to take. Then you wait for various government agencies, doctors, employers, etc.. to sign off on everything so that your paperwork can be completed. After all that is done you wait for a social worker to let you know your home study is complete and you are approved to be a mommy and daddy. Finally you have everything together and you wait to be fingerprinted then wait on your I-171H (notice of favorable determination) from the Dept. of Homeland Security. With all of this in hand you get it county, then state certified and ship it off to the Consulate to have them sign and attach seals. Of course at this point the real waiting begins as your paperwork is translated and then sent to the country you are adopting from. Now you get to wait by the phone for that all important call informing you that you have a child.
Currently we are waiting for our I-171H. I remember vividly waiting for it the last time. I literally stalked the mailbox and finally assumed something had to be wrong because it was taking so long and thought I may never get it and therefore never get my daughter. It finally came on January 6, 2005. Five days later our daughter was found on the steps of the orphanage and her wait was just beginning.


The SWI (orphanage) in Qichun , Hubei

Annslee on her "finding spot" when we were visiting (11/16/05). I still get emotional when I see this photo and it is amazing to think that she had only known us for two days at this time.

Honeysuckle Farms

Today we went to Honeysuckle Farms with the cousins. We had a great time and the weather was beautiful. They had all sorts of animals to pet and feed, a hayride, cornmaze and a huge slide. We didn't go last year as we were still waiting on our travel approval to go bring Annslee home. What a difference a year makes. This year we were chasing after her as she excitedly ran from one thing to another. It is still so hard to believe there was actually a time when we didn't have her in our lives.

I rode on Dada's shoulders through part of the corn maze..but then I had to get down and walk to figure it out myself.

The goats loved being fed and I loved feeding them!

Riding the barrel train was lots of fun..squeals of delight could be heard each turn.

It was a great day and we can't wait to do it again next year. Of course we may be taking two kids by then!