These Toes Were Made For Walking .....

Alyana discovered a little over two weeks ago the art of balancing on her own two feet and been praticing ever since.

Here is a quick video of her perfomance. She looks quite comfy really, however, when she realizes that Mommy is a little farther away than she should be ...... down she goes on her bottom.

I'm really not sure why we are encouraging her to walk.

We did that for Ben and he went from crawling, to standing to CLIMBING everything and never looked back ...

Gluttons for punishment I guess ... :)

She sure is a cutie though .....

I'm kinda diggin' this maternity leave.

I've been off from work for almost two months and I can't believe how quickly it's slipping by. I LOVE being home with this little girl. She is the funniest little person ( although, so was Ben at this age). She is curious, busy and loves to hear her voice ...:).

She continues to EAT, EAT and EAT and has managed to gain 3 pounds and will be walking in a matter of weeks ( days, hours etc).

Yes, life as we know it is about to get MUCH busier !


Here are a few pics from the week!

Here is Bugsy teaching Aly all about his robot.

She looks really interested !

Multi-tasking little lady

Winter Fun

Come On Mommy-Put Down That Camera And Take Me for a Ride !

Sweet Dreams !!

A Few More Pics of Our Little Beauty ...

Alyana's Christening

Alyana was christened last evening.

She handled the evening well and certainaly made her presence known to the entire church.

I guess she was winding up before she crashed for the night. By the time we got in the car and headed back home ( an hour drive away) our two angels were already in dreamland.

Here are a few pics.

By the way, thanks Aunt Gail and Uncle George for agreeing to be Miss Aly's God parents. It's going to take a village to raise this "live wire" ! Good thing that you are just up the hill ! ;)

Aunt Gail and Uncle George ( Alyana's Godparents)

Handsome Fella

They slipped into dreamland within 2 minutes !

A Special Dinner Date

I had a dinner date with a much younger man last night.

He was handsome, funny and yes ..... I'm in love :)

We sipped on tasty yogurt smoothies , ate some yummy food and he even let me have a taste of his ice cream sundae. Yup, this guy is a keeper !

He preferred his crayons over any discussion re. politics or religion but he did draw me a picture of a parrot.

I took some pics ! See for yourself .....

Pretty handsome, huh ?









Ben and I haven't had much "Mommy and Ben"lately so we decided that we needed to get out of the house and go out on a "date". He picked the activity and last night he chose a restaurant ( I think it has something to do with the fact that at the end of the meal you get a special prize).

We had lots of fun and decided on the way home that each month we will set aside time to get together , just the two of us. After all, he's my babe too !

As for Miss Aly, she did GREAT with her Daddy and I was home in time to cuddle her and rock her to sleep ( two nights in a row !! ..yeah !).

A "Hodge Podge" of Pics :

The Dog Really Loves Aly ......hmmm ......I wonder why ??

These animals have such a tough life .....

A Beauty Baby ......

Aly on a "shopping mission"

This picture makes me smile :)

Quiet Moments From a Nursery .....

Alyana and Ben are both tucked away so Mommy has some time to blog.

For the first time tonight Alyana allowed Mommy to rock her to sleep and for that I am grateful !!

This is a big deal for me because since she has been home Alyana prefers to play in her crib until she falls asleep and has resisted any attempts to be cuddled at bedtime. Tonight in the quiet of her nursery, I held her and rocked her for a long time after she had actually fallen asleep and just simply looked at her. There is no doubt in my mind that this was the very first time someone has actually rocked my little girl to sleep and the very thought of this gives me pangs of sadness.

Gosh,I cannot believe that she is here with us. She is so beautiful and we are so happy to finally have her home from China. The 17 months of waiting is now thankfully over.

For those waiting families, I wish to say this:

I know how tough it is to wait but please know that your wait time will pass and just like me, you too will have a "nursery moment" in the not too distant future.
You will hold your baby in your arms and watch them gently slip into dreamland.
It will be then, at that exact moment ,that you will feel the memory of this awful wait begin to fade with each passing second and the place in your heart that you have been saving for that special little person will be filled.

Happy Chinese New Year

We had a quiet family celebration this weekend to ring in the Chinese New Year.

It's the Year of the Pig. The Year of the Pig is supposed to bring good luck and prosperity. But this time it is a golden pig year, which happens once in six decades. So, I think that this means that this year will especially be lucky !

Our year has aleady begun with happiness and luck and we are so thankful. We hope your year is filled with good things to come as well !!

What a Difference A Year Makes .....

I took the first picture of Ben a year ago and today, he was in the same pose.

It begged another snapshot.

Gosh, my babe is growing up .....not to mention the cat.

Scenes From a Kitchen Sink ......

View Show Create Your Own

Aly's First Valentine's Day

........ and she loved her card !

Happy Valentine's Day !

Toys .....Who Needs Em' ?

I bet you didn't know just HOW much fun one sock could actually be .

Just check out this video of Alyana with her "cool" sock.

Who needs toys with a sock as great as this one ! ( Batteries sold separately) :)

Our China Beauty

| ViewShow | Create Your Own

Sliding and Slumber

We had a great weekend and spent it hanging out with our friend Mr. Jack Frost.

Fredericton celebrated Winterfest on Saturday and Sunday and we decided to bundle up and take in the festivities. It was loads of fun.

Ben met up with a good pal and together they conquered snowbanks, winded their way through snowy mazes and even played a quick game of snow curling.

Miss Aly came too, however, not long into the adventure, she decided that enough was enough and drifted into dreamland.

WinterFest 2007

Alyana in Her Snow Sled

Ben and His Pal Hitting the Sliding Hills

Alyana Woke Up When It Was Time To Leave

Mommy and Ben After a Cold Day Outside

Daddy and Alyana

( this is her favorite past time)

Eating !!!

A Visit From The Woods

Just uploading some pics to the pc and thought I'd add to the blog.

Here are a few pics of the kids and one very special visitor to the backyard this AM. Hope she hides during JP's favorite season ( hunting season).

Prior to the snapshot of Bambi, Fletcher was lying on his back having a snooze near the fire. He awoke from his peaceful slumber when he heard me taking pics. Needless to say, he just about had a stroke when he noticed this fury creature!

Yup, he's a watch dog alright!!

He'd still be snoozing if I hadn't mistakenly awoken him from his " vision of dog bones dancing in his head" sleep.

Aly Cat

Bugs

Bambi

and one VERY vicious attack dog

Our China Slide Show

Hi Everyone,

I have been working on this slide show for a few days however, Photoshow has not been very cooperative.I think I have finally managed to get some clips together.

A month ago today we met Alyana for the first time. She was a scared, tearful, hot and undernourised little girl. In one month she has managed to gain 2 pounds and has moved from not being able to sit up on her own to almost standing by herself.

Amazing really!

We can't imagine a day without both of our children. Aly and Ben bring so much happiness into our lives.

We are very lucky.

Hope you all enjoy the photoshow.

View full size

Happy Birthday Grammy !

While Miss Aly entertains herself, I think I'll take a moment to jump online and post a few pics.

We have had a busy weekend. We celebrated Grammy's 70th birthday yesterday with 30 or so family members. Miss Aly took it all in stride and handled all of the noise and commotion very very well. In fact, we think that she loved it!

Good thing .... because QUIET is not a word used to describe this family. : )

Check out the video.

We are all doing well.

Alyana gets stronger and more vocal everyday. She can stand by herself ( but is a bit nervous doing so) and can walk holding on to one of Mommy's hand. She continues to eat us out of house and home and actually gets mad when she drinks the last gulp from her bottle. She has had a few night terrors and we are hoping that soon they will fade. Poor little girl.

Ben is doing well also. He is great with his little sister although, I can't seem to talk him into changing her diaper. He says he prefers to be on "poop patrol "and will alert his mother ( the designated diaper changer of the house) when the need arises. Tsk ..Tsk ....

I see referral have once again landed out there in cyberspace.

Congrats to all the families that will see their child's face soon. It's the best feeling in the world ( well, second best to actually holding that little one in your arms).

Time to tend to Miss Aly and give Ben a kiss goodnight!

The Birthday Girl

Aly helping Mommy decorate

An aspiring piano player

Aly meeting her cousin

The Two Best Kids in the World !

( I know, I'm bias)

Ben's "Colgate Smile"