Two Year Old Cuteness

OK - I just had to show off little man's haircut, plus his singing skills!!! Please forgive the food on his face - the only time I can get him to sit still long enough to video is on his high chair!! Oh - and DO ignore the dishes in my sink, too. Should've zoomed in more!

Birthday Celebration

What an incredible privilege to get to share in Abby's very FIRST birthday celebration!! Yes, even though she turned nine years old today, this was her first ever birthday cake, her first birthday party, and of course her first year with a family to call her own. I had a conversation with Abby last week about birthdays, with a bit of help from Google Translate. She has already been asked in China by some of the shopkeepers when her birthday was and had no idea, so I had to start by telling her that much. Then I asked if she'd ever had a birthday cake. She indicated that some of her friends at the orphanage had a cake, but she never did. (When kids at the orphanage have been matched to their forever families and have a birthday while their family is waiting to travel for them, the family will usually have a cake sent to their waiting child at the orphanage. We were matched with Abby in May of 2009, so she did not have a birthday while we were waiting for Travel Approval). Anyways, I let her know that here she would have a cake - EVERY YEAR (and hey, this might be the excuse I always wanted to start celebrating half birthdays, too). She smiled from ear to ear and hugged me saying "thank you, mama, thank you." Totally sappy, I know, but that's how it went down. After much deliberation as to how exactly to celebrate her special day, I decided to bring in a cake to her co-op class on Friday.








We also bought a second "mini" cake to get a chance to sing Happy Birthday with Daddy and the little man, who had missed out on the first cake.











And then today, we continued the celebration by going to the Chinese buffet - and she literally jumped for joy when she saw the bounty layed out before her. I am still in complete shock that such a tiny little body can hold so much food - and I won't be surprised if she doesn't eat for a week. Her favorite were the crab legs - much to Daddy's delight. Finally, someone else who shares his taste for the truly fine food!!




And I couldn't help adding this cute picture:


I wish I had also taken pictures of her opening the presents from my sister. She hit some huge sale and sent two boxes of clothes for the girls, plus a Barbie, Barbie clothes, and hair clips, headbands, and all kinds of girlie-girl stuff. There IS an advantage to having the only little girls in the family - all these moms of boys just have to cave in at some point and buy the girlie stuff. So I explained to Abby that these presents were from my sister before we opened the boxes, and as she started seeing thing after thing come out of that box, she kept saying "I LOVE Mama's sister". It was too cute!!


And then, when she thought it was all done, a box arrived from Grandma with two BEAUTIFUL dresses inside - and I had to convince her that NO they could not be worn right then to go play out back on the trampoline!!! And today, because Grandma always manages to find the cutest things on the planet and I don't know how - or where - she finds these things, but Abby received a birthday in a box. She opened this tiny little box that was in the mailbox, and inside was a Happy Birthday banner, birthday candle, confetti, one of those blower things (what on earth do you call that???) and a tiny birthday hat. How fun would it be to be turning 9 and get that in the mail???


Abby also LOVED all the phone calls she got from family. She smiled so big knowing that people were calling FOR HER!! I am very appreciative of all the attention everyone gave her the last two days - she really felt so loved, even from those people she hasn't met yet. And it's helping her feel like this is HER family! I even forgive my good ol' dad for calling our house at 7:20 this morning and waking up the entire house on our one morning we get to sleep in all week. But he DID win the "first person ever to actually call Abby to wish her a happy birthday" award. We love you, Papa!

Speechless

OH.
MY.
That is all I could say after breakfast this morning. Because once again, my new best friend Pioneer Woman left me speechless. Jake had done extra school work yesterday to get ahead on today - just because that's who he is. So he had a VERY short day of school ahead of him. I took advantage of that fact and enlisted his help in making an extra special weekday breakfast. You know, a little bit more than the usual dry cereal. Because I figured if I had help, that was the time to go the extra mile.
We made Cinnamon Roll Pancakes. To satisfy our cinnamon roll addiciton. Thing is, these were almost as good as my cinnamon rolls. I just didn't have to start making them the night before. Please, click HERE and make your family a batch. They will love you so much they might even volunteer to do the dishes.

Royalty for Dinner

I just had to share this. This is how the girls have been showing up for meals lately. And, Abby loves all princesses, but her absolute favorite is definitely Snow White.

And, I don't post much about school, because frankly, we don't do much that I find post - worthy. It's been so cold outside, though, we've been getting a bit creative. Today we made Australia out of cookie dough. This is one of THREE. And we've consumed almost ALL of them. Yeah, educational AND tasty. OK, we seriously need spring to get here. SOON.

For the Record

I just wanted to clarify something. I posted recently about Abby's fears when riding in the car. Well, I misunderstood her possible fears. Abby has certainly been told (by the orphanage staff, by our guides and translators in China, as well as by us here) that she is here FOREVER. She is not afraid because she hasn't been told this. I think being told and believing it are two completely different things. For an adopted child, whose entire world has just been turned upside down (even if for the better) establishing TRUST takes time. Abby is doing just fine now, by the way. The idea has sunk in that we WILL in fact come back here. After all, we pretty much live in the car, so I knew it wouldn't take long. But I just wanted it for the record that it is not always about TELLING them, but about giving the TIME to develop that trust.

Valentine's Party

Abby had her very fist Valentine's Party today at co-op. She thoroughly enjoyed herself, and even sampled all of the treats. She also joined in all the games and tried to sing along with the songs. It was great to watch the fun she was having!! I, of course, forgot my camera. Thank goodness for cell phones.

Helping Haiti's Orphans

I have for months now admired the work that Wild Olive Tees does to raise money for orphans. Not only do they make awesome t-shirts, but I'm kind of a sucker for the cause, too. Well, I was super excited to find out that they've come out with a shirt to raise funds for the people of Haiti affected by the recent earthquake. 100% of the proceeds from the t-shirt will go to help Haiti, through Eyes Open Wide International. As soon as I saw the shirt, and where the money went, I knew I'd be ordering one. Then I got DOUBLE excited when I found out they're also doing a giveaway. So even if you don't have the money to spend, go check it out and find out how you could WIN a shirt. (just click on the company's name above).

And when you're done there, if you want to read some really touching stories, go over to the No Hands But Ours Blog and read the adoptive stories of some amazing families. Have some tissues handy. And by the way, Stefanie, the woman behind these two inspiring websites, is a mother of nine, FIVE of her kids being adopted from China (and about 5 of them are 6 or under). How she manages to do ANYTHING else I don't quite get. But it makes my day at home teaching my 5 kids seem like a cakewalk. Anyhow, go check it all out and get inspired to sport a new t-shirt, or donate some money, or HEY, maybe even adopt a little one yourself : )