Snazzy New Hat!

Yes, the "fur" is fake. =)

Looking forward to Spring

Miss E received the cutest onesie with her birthday month (December) on it from my Aunt Janet at the babyshower back in November. Now the same company has the cutest bunny bling shirt that I had to share. Good to put on during the running around once the Easter dress and bonnet get in the way of the fun. Ellie is not into frills! By the way, I am soooo ready for Easter vacation...



Oh and PIPO should be getting her little Claire tonight while we're all asleep. Seems like so recently and yet so long ago we were in China getting Ellie. What an adventure!
At the Rel@y for Life sock hop the other night, I took Ellie into my classroom to change her and realized that back on October 10th 2008 I first saw her picture right there in that room, perused her picture and documents at that table. Now she's been home just over two months. Wow.

Looks like 2 Days

2 days worth of referrals again? Really? UGH. Looks like March 6th is the cut-off (includes weekend). Ridiculous.
BUT that means Lisa and Sea Star and going with the two day allotment again, how about Ava's Family and Pugmama's little girl are NEXT!!!!!!!!!

Trying to figure out how to video and load the walking. Will try this weekend.
Last night Matt and Ellie helped me chaperone the 3rd-5th grade Rel@y for Life dance at school (Thank you!). There was a cake walk (haven't seen one of those in awhile!) and Michelle of the Panda Mural fame made a FABULOUS cake that was the first to go! People were drooling at the sight of it! AND it had candy on the top! A dream come true for those kids! Thank you for such an amazing creation, Michelle!







Thanks to those who answered the question in the post below regarding being contacted to advertise (even good things) on the blog.

New Question: How are you doing with those Girl ScOut COOkies?! Insert Evil Laugh! =)

Question

Have any of you bloggers ever been approached (several times by email) to advertise for a charity/organization? Even one that after doing a tiny bit of research sounds very up and up and all for the children? How did/do you feel about that?

Short Notes
Looking for that stork with you, March 06-ers!
PIPO is in China!
Ellie is really starting to take off on her walking. E and I are going to boogie down and chaperone at the Intermediate school Rel@y for Life dance tonight. A cakewalk is planned as well! (Flashback!)

You Might Be Adopting from China If....

....you know that I-600 & I-171 aren't highways.

....you've been expecting a baby for over 3 years.

....you understand that it's 2006 in some parts of the world.

....you've "paid for" 3 immigration approvals, but never brought anyone into the U.S.

.....you know that waiting for China has nothing to do with Dillards or dishes.

....your homestudy is followed by a number (i.e. #3 or #4).

....you never know how many days next month will have.

....you know that babies come in batches.

....you've been fingerprinted four times, but never committed a crime.

....you automatically assume everyone who is expecting is having a girl.

....you own new clothing in 3 little sizes for all 4 seasons (because you don't know when or how big).

....you look twice when you see a ladybug.

....you're more interested in what will happen in March 2006 than in March 2009.

....you know people who understand when you talk about 2 day months & 5 day months.

....your due date hasn't changed by days, but by years.

..you know who the Rumor Queen is.....AND

.... you don't know who she is.

....you know that forecast doesn't have anything to do with the weather.

....you've waited so long, they re-checked your fingerprints to see if they changed.

....trying to understand why they're printing you again, you study your own fingerprints and wonder if fingerprints grow wrinkles.

....when you speak of "that time of month" you're talking about CCAA updates & referrals.

You might be adopting from China if you love someone you've never met with all your heart.


Borrowed this from Ava's Family who borrowed it from...
C'mon March 2006 Referrals!!

Showered Post Continued

My school held an amazing baby shower for E 'n' me last week. She received so many wonderful gifts and I was truly honored by the turn out as I'm new to the school this year. Ellie had a great time roaming the media center and teasing people and scooting back to mommy!
Ooooh! Ballooooons!!
Before the influx of people!

So many yummy treats!
"Yeah, these are for me. Just the right size, too!"
Prayer infused crocheted blanket from one of my colleagues. Beautiful and snuggly.
"Playing with one of my new rolly toys on the media center table. Oh, but the schoolkids would be so jealous!"

Peek-a-boo!

I just LOVE my little girl's smile-runny nose and all!
Can't seem to figure out why this one flipped. Oh well!
So many cute summer outfits! Bring on the warm weather!
My Ellie.

Any moment now...

Wanda & Geoff are in China waiting to hold their Lexi Jayne today! PIPO is leaving on a jet plane in two days for her little PIPA. Lisa is waiting to see if her long awaited referral for Tate is in this next group arriving any day as is Sea Star. I can't wait to find out her little one's name finally! =) Ahhh, the excitement of adopting a child from China continues for all my bloggy friends!

Showered!

My school is giving Ellie and me a small babyshower tomorrow after school. It's really thoughtful of them as I just switched schools this year and have been gone a whole month of it! Ellie is invited and I hate to imagine what the media center will look like after she gets through with it! Just think...she'll be able to hang onto the bookshelves and walk the whole way around the room! Plus the books she can de-shelve! Oh the media center specialists are gonna love us on Thursday morning! =)
Hope to have some pictures to share.
Looking for the rumors to go well into March. I know Lisa needs to see her Tate bad, SeaStar and family have been counting the days to their little girl and Ava's family is ready for their new addition as well! C'mon CC@@!

Vacation Day

We have President's Day off so we spent the morning at the pediatrician's for Ellie's next well baby. She isn't a total well baby as she has a sinus infection. She's been coughing so badly that her last meal comes up. Poor baby. The rest of her seems to be doing fine. She's only gained 2 ounces in the last month but grown almost an inch. Her receptive language is coming along nicely for just hearing English for two months and being almost 14 months old (wow!)...and I say that as speech-language therapist and not just a doting mom! Yup, Valentine's day was the two month marker for having Ellie with me. I love her to pieces. It seems like she's been around much longer. I am sooo looking forward to summer when I can spend more time with her. I feel like I'm missing out on things she's learning but then again, she's probably learning them because she's hanging out with my mom!!
We're starting to get into a routine with me back at work but I still preferred the one we had when I was on leave! Who wouldn't?
Speaking of work, the school is throwing me a baby shower Wednesday which is very, very kind of them. This is my first year at this school (switched after 5 years at my last) and I've already been gone just over a month due to China/maternity leave. It should be lots of fun and my mom is dropping off Ellie to "show off." We feel Ellie is pretty firmly attached at this point but will keep an eye out for any out of the ordinary behaviors.
The area finally got a sprinkling of snow today and if it's not gonna snow enough for a day off we should just march right on into spring/summer! Let's get a move on with nice weather, vacation time and more referrals! =)
In the meantime I wanted to share a link to a very mellow and cool band. I went to college (drama degree) with the lead singer. She's got an amazing voice. Enjoy!

Love Bug

These cute ladybug pajamas were sent by Robyn. Thank you! I tried to get a good picture of the footies-too sweet! I just love Ellie's grin. She is SOOO mischievous!

Updates and CNY Celebration 2009

Ellie and I are doing very well. Getting into the swing of things with work is taking me some time, but luckily Ellie stays with my mom (THANK YOU, MOM!) and Ellie adores her. Ellie is still working on those 3-5 steps that the referral papers noted she was doing at 7 1/2 months! Haha. She gets pretty excited about walking or loses her balance and whoops! On the floor. She is still getting over a cold and is sloooowly getting her second bottom tooth so she's been a bit cranky. Or maybe that's me being a bit cranky due to staying up late trying to get my schoolwork completed. =) She loves to dance and will stand up, hold on to something and sway. Lately she's been even swaying while on the rocking caterpillar. Hard to sway left and right when you're going back and forth! Too funny! She understands quite a few phrases and names and is signing more and drink. Only really says "bye" although possibly some other word approximations. She is into EVERYTHING! She constantly shows me how not baby-proofed my house is and that, much to my dismay, the soap isn't as out of reach as I think it is. Hey, what's a little nibble? Groan.
The last weekend gave us beautiful weather and we got to go for walks in the stroller which is the only time she likes being "locked in." Bernie and Gracie (our dogs) are doing well with her and Gracie is Ellie's new BFF. Gracie LOVES that Ellie is so messy with her food! Ellie really wants to feed herself. She wants to do everything herself, when she wants to, how she wants to... My mom says it's payback. Wonder what that's all about?!
We finally got to go to the local F@milies with Child.ren from China Chinese New Ye@r party with Ellie! I've been taking my niece, K with me for a few years and last year I just couldn't bear to go. This year K., Matthew, Ellie and I were celebs! Except for a few bio babies, Ellie was the newest kid on the block! Front table and lots of people wanting to squeeze Ellie's cheeks! I wanted to give a shout out to Delaine and family who are still (not so) patiently waiting for their daughter with an LID of 3/15. We are praying to see you at the Moon Festival with your little one. C. looked beautiful and did a lovely job singing.
Can't leave off without sending you over to Ozimum's site as she travels for Tari Mei!!! Her extended family just miraculously made it through the horrible fires in Victoria and now she is headed to bring her little one home.
Gotta do some more work and here's what you're looking for anyway...without further ado...more pictures of my beautiful Ellie.
My niece K, me and Elllie ready to join the festivities!
Ellie looking at the ribbon stick K. made.
All dressed up!
K. dancing with the ribbon stick.

Zodiac sign. Right next to it was a map of China and the list of each girl from each province. Ellie was finally on it! We took a picture of it but obviously can't put it on here.
This photo was taken by a family that surprisingly lives in the next neighborhood over.
The entertainment was excellent. This was a really cool dragon dance. Ellie and K. really enjoyed the drumming beat. Both girls LOVE to shake their groove thang.
Year of the Ox.
YAY!!!
Cool lion costume with bliking eyes to "eat" the red envelopes.
What? Another picture of moi?!
Ellie feeding red envelopes/money to the lions. They scared away the evil spirits.
K. giving her offering to the lions.
The goddess feeding the lion vegetables in thanks. Guess even lions look for a balanced diet.
Lovely Spring Dance with parasols.

The Best Birthday

It was February 1, 2007 and I felt something was in the air. I was glued to my computer that night (ok, like many other nights!) and all the suddden the CC@@ box changed to indicate that February 2006 submitted dossiers were out of review!!! WOW! The excitement across my group of blogger friends was almost palpable. Oh and yeah, the CC@@ used to have an info box available to the general public back in the old days! Well, I thought that was the best birthday gift ever! Having Ellie home couldn't be too far off in the future, I thought.

"Several months" later and Ellie and I are finally a family. The love and pride I feel on this day for her is tremendous. This is truly the best birthday gift one could ask for. Happy birthday to me! =)

Seems the rest of the U.S. will be having their own celebrations in my honor today, maybe a little chip and dip, a beverage or two, perhaps a little TV watching. Enjoy the day! =)