Summer is BUSY!

I have so many pics and just can't keep up : )

The other day we were walking into Kro*ger and a local radio station was set up and she saw this movie on the table (I have no idea what it was for) and Annslee announced "I love dat movie" even though she has never seen it. One of the DJs stood up and handed it to her and she cheered!! We then walked in where she got a balloon and a cookie...we are told "how can you say no to that face" ha ha..we do it all the time! Oh, yeah, almost forgot that she announced "I LOVE PIZZA" to a family at our community pool and they gave her two pieces from the one they had delivered!! What can we get her to ask for next???




Mia came over (with her mommy and daddy) to play and Annslee ran outside to greet her while Coby waited inside.



Our two Princesses!!



Then it was time to play in the sprinkler



Our neighborhood block party was lots of fun...not many pics b/c chasing Coby always takes up our time : )Annslee did play with Wendi and helped Coby see the firetruck.



Miss A loved the scooter she "borrowed"



We had a playdate with Tyler and loved playing in the pool together.




Annslee did the classic Prin*gles duck face for us : )



Coby tried to break into the ladies room



In case you didn't know...a paintbrush can provide lots of entertainment at the pool



OK...almost caught up...playdate with Aiden on Monday and today's with Amelia and Jack to go...oh, and we have one in the morning....

Random Catch Up !

Here are some random catch up pics~ I still have Mia and Tyler playdate pics and some from today when we met up with a bloggy friend...

Annslee is from Hubei and the capital city, Wuhan is known for bells. While there we purchased these and she loves to "play" them when she gets a chance : )




After playing the bells she found Coby lovin on Baby Annslee ~ sometimes Uncle Coby (as Annslee calls him when he has her baby) does a good job babysitting and sometimes he doesn't LOL




She found these rollers and wanted her hair curled. Once I had them all in she wanted them out almost immediately...she didn't like the way they felt and so we didn't leave them in long



They were in long enough to give her a little curl. I think it is cute but much prefer her beautiful straight hair



She was pretty pleased with the outcome : )



I did tell her that swimming would take the curl back out but my mermaid didn't mind~ she can't stay away from the water!!

My Water Babies!

Yesterday I cleaned up the water table that had been under the house for two summers and Coby was thrilled. He really was happy to discover the water hose and now I think that is his favorite water toy : )





Annslee woke up from her nap and joined in the fun!





*thank you everyone for your sweet comments on my earlier post*

Incident at the International Market

This morning Coby and I were on the other side of town and I thought it would be fun to go past the house I lived in from birth to 7 years old. I drove that way and went past what I used to think was a huge house but now has somehow shrunk LOL Anyway, this part of town is full of Vietnamese and Korean restaurants and stores. I stopped at the international market to grab a Chinese tea that I love. I also wanted to get the rice cakes Annslee used to love.

As we strolled through I noticed Coby was smiling and playing peekaboo with someone. I looked behind me and it was a lovely lady around 55 or so. She asked me where he was from and when I said Vietnam she said "oh, MY country" with a huge smile. She continued to play with him and talk to him as she told me which restaurants she liked best and warned me not to go on a Saturday night b/c they are really busy and water down the Pho : ) Anyway, Coby loved her and was busy laughing and "flirting" away with her. She said "can I speak Vietnamese to him?" and I said of course. The minute she did he immediately started to cry as he reached for me saying "mama, mama" over and over. She then talked to him in English again and he calmed down laughing with her. She tried the Vietnamese again and the reaction was the same.

I know a lot of families who have adopted from Coby's orphanage rave about how nice, clean, etc.. it is. I read on the Ya*hoo group how pleased they were with it. I sometimes wonder if we were at the same place? Yeah, there are much worse ones and yes, Annslee was in foster care so I have nothing to relate it to. Yes, I know that it is "one of the nicest ones in Vietnam" I know all that but the fact remains that my son spent the first 11 months of his life sitting in a crib for hours upon hours all day long. I also know that the day we met him and the next day when we went back he acted like he didn't know them at all and they acted the same way. I also know he had a death grip on Daddy's tie minutes after we received him and the next day was the same. I hear how they do the best they can with the number of babies they have and I truly believe that is true. I also believe it still stinks that children are not held, loved on and talked to in those early formative months.

I know that Coby's reaction today was a raw emotional moment where he needed to be assured that he was not going anywhere except home with me. Of course that reasurance was gladly given : )

Yep, this boy..the one who somehow manages to climb into a doll stroller and get stuck...he is the one who then yells "MAMA" and now is confident that I am running to his rescue.



*I want to clarify that although I have no idea what she was saying by her tone and demeanor I do NOT think it was anything that would be upsetting in and of itself*

Own By Myself !!

That is how Miss Annslee can tie a shoe now! She has asked for weeks to be taught and Daddy did it after only showing her about 5 times!! I admit that I kept saying "you'll learn that in Kindergarten" Hey, she doesn't go until 2010 and she just couldn't wait that long!



Here it is step by step~ Daddy does it the two bunny ear way which I think is harder but Annslee got it easily : )



If you wonder why she isn't looking at the camera it is b/c she is looking at Coby who is clapping for her



See Coby I did it!!



Yep, she is that proud of herself (and so are we)



Today she announced " I need to learn how to snap my fingers " LOL

Golfing

After church today we decided to go to the golf course so Annslee could WHACK the ball as she likes to say : )





Coby basically just wanted to whack us : )



This is the "it didn't go far enough when I whacked it" face LOL



It was sunny and 85 and halfway through we took a picnic break and Annslee enjoyed the breeze!



Once he got Annslee's real club he wanted nothing to do with the plastic ones again (and this one hurts worse when I get hit in the knees!)



Coby had fun and Annslee actually has some skill b/c she has great eye/hand coordination. I think we will be back a lot!

6 months ago today

we walked into a very hot room in an orphanage on the other side of the world and met our son!! He was being bathed by one of the nannies in preparation of our arrival and he met us with a big grin. I also remember Annslee screaming "my baby brother" over and over as she was soooo excited too.






Finally a family of four! Please excuse how we look..after 30+ hours of flying and airports we literally brushed our teeth, changed clothes and went straight to the orphanage.







She couldn't take her eyes or hands off of him. We loved seeing our two kids together at last.







About 3 hours after arriving in Sai*gon we were at our G&R~ I wonder in this pic if he is looking at the Minister of Justice thinking "are you sending me home with these crazy people??" LOL Oh, and of course Annslee had to sign "paperwork" too : )







Our family with the orphanage director






Annslee took to the big sister role immediately and with joy!







Our sweet sweet baby~ I sometimes forget how tiny he was! What a blessing he has been for all of us!







Now, six months later he is a sweet, loving, happy and WILD boy who we can't imagine our lives without! He can say "Mama, Dada, NaNa (Annslee's nickname), bye bye, light, touchdown (with his arms raised of course), uh oh (he drops stuff a lot), and other things I am sure I am forgetting. He is super smart and will repeat and mimic anything we do~ he currently is trying to snap his fingers, whistle and wink ; ) He loves giving and receiving kisses and eats anything we put in front of him. We can't believe how much he has changed in 6 short months.

We are BLESSED to have him in our family~ we hear all the time how lucky he and Annslee are but we know that we are definitely the lucky ones!

Dreaming...

The other day Annslee woke up from her nap and said "I had a dream I was a Princess with beautiful dress and tiara" ummmm...was it really a dream or just the outfit you chose after nap?? Either way, she is a Princess and after she came down in this attire she grabbed me and said "Mommy, my picture please!!"



Over the weekend we headed to Kentucky for a company picnic and went to a fun water park then on the way home stopped for ice cream and they had a great play area out back. Yes, my kids are in their PJs b/c it was late and I hoped they'd sleep in the car but alas, they didn't : )

He wasn't thrilled with the swing but the tractor was a hit!



Annslee loved all of it!! I will say that silk PJs made climbing a little harder but the slide much faster : )





We also got some special mail from Annslee's SWI in China. I had seen on the ya*hoo group and on Jia's site that children were receiving cards and hoped Annslee would. She was THRILLED when I told her what it was and I wish I had on tape how delighted she was and how special it made her feel. Of course when the letter invited her to come visit she wanted to know when we could go!





Any other of our Qichun friends getting invites? Maybe we could all go together : )

My smart girl : )

She will never find anything in any store with her name on it spelled correctly. Yep, those little personalized goodies on the junk aisle..not for Annslee.* The letters on our fridge have always posed a problem too as she has "repeaters" in her name~ well, she figured it out!



* I realize we can order anything online though

Coby the Climber!

As always when Coby woke up from his nap Annslee ran up the stairs to get to him first. She opened the door then yelled "Mommy, look at YOUR son!!" I grabbed my camera, ran upstairs and THIS is what I saw~





Oh he thought it was hillarious that he was about to break free from the crib and Annslee was laughing too. I was NOT that amused by the whole thing.... he is only 16 months old!!





He even felt the need to cheer for himself : )



He thought it was so funny he literally laughed then fell back in the crib giggling!!



Good thing he is so stinking cute~ the crib will be moved to the lowest setting tonight!! Come on...he is Year of the Pig...Annslee is the Monkey and she never even thought of doing this!