Flying Kites and Stats Update

Last weekend, between windstorms, we went out to the local elementary school and tried out Gracie's new kite. She loved it for about 5 minutes then wanted to play on the playground, so off we went. Gracie is 23 pounds now, and I believe she has grown 4.25 inches since last March, based on the markings we are making on the back of the bathroom door each month. She is in 2T size, which are too big around the waist and just starting to get a little short on her. But summer is coming, so that won't matter. She is almost a size 6 shoe. She eats everything, favoring mostly plain pasta, cheese and chicken, but she also loves olives and radishes, and of course, fruit. She has Cherrios or Rice Krispies each morning. She has a great imagination, always re-creating episodes of Ni-Hao -Ka Lan, looking for imaginary lady bugs or having a lantern festival. She also likes to "fix" things and just got out of a phase where she would build a car of pillows and have to stop to fix the wheels. She love motorcycles and loves to point them out when we are in a car. "Look Mom a MOTORCYCLE!" She is very "in" to Thomas the Tank Engine and knows all the characters. She can count to twenty, knows her alphabet, likes to draw, paint and climb. Today, she had her "ballerina shoes" inherited from her cousin Shaylin and was going through all the "Ballerina Girl" moves. She sleeps through the night, mostly, in her little toddler bed. Her "must have at all times" items are "Purse" (a feather purse that we got from Target - this is #2, and I bought #3 and #4 just this weekend) and "Pandy" - who was a stuffed bear who was also a backpack, before it had a "strap-ectamy" to remove his harness, now he's just a panda with a zipper. She'll not be happy with this report when she is a teenager, but she still has small bottle of milk in the rocking chair before she sleeps, where I do have to read about 5 books, usually concluding with "Whistle for Willie", which I have now memorized, which comes in handy since at this point I do shut the light off, although Gracie insists I show her the pictures. Potty Training, is still somewhat away, although we have had some successes. She knows exactly what to do it and why, but it doesn't matter to her, she is too busy.

Beach Trip Number 4 since June

We have been to the beach 4 times since June - we went in July, January and again in March. No, we don't live at the beach, we have to drive a few hundred miles, but I think its worth it. This photo is from January, and not to rub it in, but it was 80 degrees down in Southern California. No swimming of course, but we did get our feet wet and play in the sand. We watched the inauguration (everyone was freezing in DC) and put on our shorts to play in sand before getting on the freeway. We went again last week, this time for several days, and did nothing except eat, go for walks and play. It wasn't 80 degrees but still nice enough to play in the sand.

Gracie talks up a storm, and now entertains us with a strange bit of language here and there, which may be chinese, more likely picked up from Ni-Hao Ki-Lan, than anything she remembers, I suspect. She talks quite a bit, loves to use big words, (Mom, this is delicious!), so she can share her strong opinions with us, including her one on using a potty. (but Mom, I don't have to use the potty, I use diapers!) We are a long way from that toddler milestone.

Birthday Cake

Making Birthday Cakes is so much fun, but darn it, you can't eat them NOW!

The Best Part About Christmas

The food was great, and the company divine, and wow, that's a bunch of presents...but nothing beats jumping on Poppa and Gramma's bed with cousin Josh while the party goes on in the next room.

Christmas 2008

At Play - November 2008

Lian had her birthday party and Gracie was way interested in the play house -- not interested in the "bouncy house". She also ate cake, and played Twister, by jumping on the colors when they were called out. She loves "big sister" Lian, and Lian likes to play Tea Party and has been giving Gracie a few pointers. A few days ago, we caught Gracie having a full blown tea party with her doll--please note absence of her stuffed posse: "Bear" "Bunny" and "Slipper" .

CHINA - FLASHBACK

It's been a year.

We have our Gracie, she is so wonderful. This blog is dedicated to her and our experience becoming adopted parents and that's it. But I do want to mention although this has been a wonderful year, its been sad too. David lost his dear sweet sister Louise. Unexpectedly. She died of an infection after her operation for cancer during the Spring. And just last month, the lovely Rose Ann, my wonderful mother-in-law suddenly died of the cancer she had been fighting for two years. She was at home, suddenly didn't feel well, and passed away after they got her to the hospital. We got the word at the airport, headed to our flight to Oklahoma, for a planned visit. Thank you dear friends and family for all your love and support.

So, a year ago tonight, we were headed to the airport on our way to China to get our little girl. We talk about our trip to China alot, and so I decided I would write down some things that were not in the blog, so I don't forget them. Jan and Pat drove us to the airport, and we were so excited. We used the International terminal and we were helped a great deal by one particular lady at the Korean Airlines counter, who was there when we returned. (And who also we ran into 3 months later while traveling back to Oklahoma--she was so thrilled to see Gracie!)
While we were waiting I purchased some cosmetics at the duty free shop, to have a gift on hand for whoever in China, and so
I can see sort of how the duty free purchases went. When we boarded our Korean Airlines flight, the whole crew was lined up on each side on the entry way, in a welcoming sort of way, and as we we stepped out the door of the airport, the nice lady from the duty free shop was there to hand us our purchases. Then as we turned our way back toward the door of the plane, the nice folks from U.S, homeland security swooped in around the guy ahead of me and hearded him off to the side and began to ask him lots of questions. Never did find out of he made it to the plane. The cosmetics made it to China, but got lifted out of my suitcase between Beijing and Nanchang.

Anyway, we loved Korean Airlines. I loved the big plane that didn't feel like we were taking off when we did. I loved the fact that there was only one non-Asian on the plane beside us. I thought it was so cool the Japanese man in the seat next to David said he loved coming to Las Vegas, because it was cheap and they could eat lots of steak. He was really interested in what we where trying to tell him, and he said he could read a little Chinese, so I handed him the card I had put together, which had an explanation in Chinese of what were were doing, and Gracie's picture on the other (These came in really handy during the trip, by the way). I thought the food was great, we had the famous Bibipmap noodles (which came with an instruction sheet and your own mini-tube of hot sauce) but I did get a bit of heartburn afterward and I was glad I brought peppermint tea. I packed 'way too much on the flight there, but I could say I was prepared. The travel blanket I threw in at the last minute turned out to be very handy in China and at airports, we never used it on the airplane, which was warm, even more than warm, but I liked it. I had heard the Asian carriers keep the planes warm, and they were right, and it is way better than the freezing. I still wonder why they made everyone keep the shades on the windows pulled down. I tried not to think how close we were flying to Russia as we made our way across the Alaska.

The Seoul airport was really neat, and we were very hungry and not sleepy because we were so jazzed to be there. We looked at all five places named "Welly" at the airport, and tired to narrow our choices a bit, as all she selections were very Korean and it took a while to figure out something to eat, which turned out to be a sandwich with egg and all sorts of stuff on it, like bean sprouts. The young girl at the cashier booth (you ordered at the cashier and paid there) had an electronic board with current currency rates, and the job probably paid minimium wage, but she had to have some proficiency in like six languages, English, Japanese, Russian, you name it. It was around 6am when we were there, and the staff who worked at the restuarant was also eating, several in a booth, joking and eating noodles. I wonder if I could ever eat noodles so well with chopsticks.

Halloween - Sneak Preview

Last Halloween, we were in China and we had Gracie for 2 days. During the day, we went to Wal-mart and Gracie had on her "boo" T-shirt and her pumpkin socks. To celebrate, we ate pizza on cardboard boxes in the foyer of the hotel with our group while the kids played. One year later, for this Halloween, Dad will take the day off. We are planning to whoop it up for Halloween with Gracie who will wear this adorable Minnie Mouse Costume we bought at Disneyland. Too cute.

Happy Birthday Gracie !

This was our "first" birthday with Gracie. She is two! We had a big party on Saturday with lots of relatives and friends in attendance. We had balloons, sandwiches, Mickey Mouse Cake and ice cream. We tried to keep with the number one rule of 2 year old parties: keep it short. We got done in 2 hours and 22 minutes, brief enough so everyone, especially the parents, left happy. Gracie got tons of fabulous gifts. Mom got a nap! Thank you everyone!

One Year Ago -- Referral Date

Happy Anniversary! A year ago was our referral date, and we were sent this photo of our little Gong Ya Qi. Our lives changed forever. She is approximately 9 months old in this photo. Our lives haven't been the same since!

SUMMER 2008

Early this month, we made another trip to California to visit family. Gracie enjoyed playing with her cousins, who love reading as much as she does. They also played on the swing and jumped on the bed. Gracie, as usual, made off with a motherlode of clothes and toys. She also discovered "Multigrain" Cherrios from Aunt Carol. These are her new favorites and eats a few bowls of these every morning. No wonder she is now over 20 lbs. She also had her first Carousel ride with "Poppa" in the Mall-- riding on a Dragon.

Gracie loves her pool, and anything having to do with water. She is also sleeping entirely through the night, except for an occassional "whahh" that is the cue for her parents to change her wet diaper, and is back to sleep in moments. She is almost two and not quite terrible, with "no" being a favorite word, but this morning, for about 4 hours, everything was "Yes, Mommy". She's was probably trying to warm Mommy up to the idea of giving her a popsicle at 9am. She talks all the time, loves the movie "Singing in the Rain" and gets up and dances and sings along with Gene Kelly. She can count to 10, knows some letters ("W" is a favorite) and sometimes recognizes colors.

Vacations are FUN!

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Originally uploaded by mc10672

OK, this wasn't a set up. We were packing to leave and I turned around and Gracie had tucked herself in my suitcase, along with her tea set. We snapped off a few pictures. Then she wouldn't get out.

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Originally uploaded by mc10672

Before I became a parent, I thought this was stupid. Now I think its the greatest invention in the world. Gracie calls it her "Monkey On the Back". It's a backpack for the kid, and a leash (that's the tail) for Mom. Like I said, the worlds greatest invention.

July 2008

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Originally uploaded by mc10672

Disneyland? Newport Beach? Barstow? Yep, we did it all, all because Mommy had to go to convention in Anaheim. We took an impromptu trip to Newport Beach, where we caught the late afternoon sun, and ate Italian on the beach. Wonderful. We also visited Disneyland--the real one. Some observations after being to Newport Beach and Disneyland for the first time in 25 years. Beach: There's less beach. And for us desert rats--cool but wonderful. (Note we are the only ones bundled up in the photo--it was in the the 70's--burr!) Disneyland--still wonderful, still spankin' clean, and Space Mountain was just as fun as when I was 25 years old. We think Gracie had fun too--she got to go on Pirates, Safari Adventure, Peter Pan ride, those cute floating boats near the tea cups, and the carousel. Service, food, rooms--everything was great. Mostly because we brought along our own Gracie support team--"Tasha" the Au Pair for a weekend, Mary, the back up Mom, Godmother Jan, and Dad (who flew in Sunday) and drove back with us on Tuesday. The convention was fine too. No complaints really, except I'd recommend that the music blaring in Downtown Disney be turned down a bit, and make sure that the salesclerks remove the security dye thing before leaving the Disney store and the state of California.

Happy Fathers Day!

Happy Fathers Day! Gracie, Daddy and Gramy, just last week, in Oklahoma.

Visit to Oklahoma - June 08

We went back to Oklahoma and visited with Grammy, Aunt Felicia & Uncle John, Aunt Clare, Aunt Liz, Aunt Emily, Uncle Paul, Uncle Michael, Uncle Vincent, Uncle Peter, Cousin Chad, Cousin Gaby, Cousin Asa, Cousin Vinnie, Cousin Carmine, Cousin Anna, Cousin Cosmo, Cousin Kristen, Cousin Allison, Cousin Justin and wife Jerri, and darling little Abby -- friends Frannie, Matthew, Jason and Levi-- Gracie loved visiting Grammy, eating pasta, running going back into the kitchen at the restuarant to "supervise" everyone. Then we had a nice visit from Natalie, Jubal and Stephanie, who drove all the way to Krebs to visit us! Nat and Grace are from the same orphanage. Stephanie put together this cute collage, in fact it is so cute, that I'm posting it on my blog as well. Thanks Steph! More photos to follow...

MAY 2008

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Originally uploaded by mc10672

It was 107 degrees last week, today, its in the cool 70's. And a smattering of rain. The last gasp of free a/c before summer kicks in. Behind Gracie are the tomato plants we planted in March. Gracie is now saying sentences, such as "He's sleeping" "I climbing" (Yikes!) "I strong!. She loves singing, counting everything, and of course, the garden hose, with running water. Top stuffed animals (in order) 1. Tiger 2. Fat Cat 3. Bunny (not the same bunny in China) 4. Stripes (small, portable tiger). She's not thrilled to take a nap, has started to "negotiate" a bit before sleep time --- like, its better to sleep on the floor in front of the TV. Just trying to keep Daddy from crumbling under the pressure.
Favorite books are still "Good night Moon", "Hop on Pop" and "One fish two fish" but also likes "Caps for Sale", "Big Red Barn" , but lately "Mr. Brown can Moo!" is a really big hit, and she can do all the noises.

Our goal to keep TV away from Gracie until she was 30 has gone away, and she loves "Jacks Big Music Show", "Between the Lions" and "Oswald". She catches "Ni-Hao, Kai-Lan" when she is at Gramma's and Poppas. For a while there, I thought she was associating the Chinese word "Ye-Ye" (Grampa) which is used alot in the show, with her "Poppa" but that was dashed when leaving Poppa and Gramma's house one day, I told her to kiss "Ye-Ye" good-bye and she went right past "Poppa" to the TV and gave it a big kiss. Yep, it was lame of me to think my kid could learn Chinese just by watching cartoon show. Chinese school, here we come.

Thank you Uncle Paul for my outfit

Thank you Uncle Paul for my outfit
Originally uploaded by mc10672

The fabulous pick outfit, so Parisian, so Jackie O, sent by Uncle Paul around Christmas finally got a proper outing on Easter. Most of it got worn when we went to see the judge in January, but it was so cold that we skipped the matching dress and just wore the jacket and black pants. This time we got the whole thing, including elegant matching dress. (Click on the photo to get to more flickr photos). There is a smart chapeau, but it won't stay put. It's so beautiful. Thank you Uncle Paul.

After a delicious dinner at Godparent's house, (three kinds of perogi!) Gracie changed into casual wear of jeans and shirt, ran around the backyard to look for "air panes" (or was it?) then hung out on the porch in the new Gracie-sized chair her Godparents purchased just for her, and then we went back inside so Gracie could dig into a bag of goldfish and watched highlights of the "Sound of Music" Gracie likes "Do, Ray, Mi", the puppet show with the goat herd song and of course, "Farewell, So Long...." and loves to watch it over and over, but we might have overdone it because Mommy cannot get "the Little Goat Herd Song" (Yodel lady Oh) out her of her mind....

Gracie or Emily?

Back in September, when we got our referral for Gracie, David's sister Emily said, "She Looks Like ME!!" Darned if she wasn't right. Check out the photos of Gracie, and Emily, above.

Gardening

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Originally uploaded by mc10672

Gracie has been helping in the garden. Growing tomatoes in Vegas is not for rookies, and we are indeed vegetable garden rookies. Wish as luck!