Gung Hay Fat Choy

Happy New Year !!!!!!!

The Present



For me?



I am pretty sure it is the kitten I ordered on Kitty.com.









White foam peanuts? You shouldn't have!!

 





Bitty Baby paraphernalia!!!!!



Cannot stop playing with peanuts! They are addicting! What a great toy!

 


 



Lot's of pieces, let me call my handyman...



So far this present is confusing..what is it?

Seems to be taking a while, what am I paying him hourly???



Maybe I should just do it myself....



Is that a diaper bag, with cute little diapers and a bitty changing pad! For my bitty baby??

Handyman still working, I'll take a nap.

Finally, my Bitty Baby Crib, I love it!!!!! How can I get in there too?

She is sooo tired. BTW, see me rocking my first Mickey tattoo.

Perhaps you'd like a refreshment before your nap.

Shhhh!! (If only it was easy putting Charlotte in for a nap)

Charlotte's Godmother, Aunt Eileen, sent her a wonderful present in the mail yesterday. Charlotte loved opening it and has been playing with it ever since.































Bye Bye Baby

Charlotte is officially two. There is nothing terrible about her. She is our sweet, adorable little girl who when she toddles into the the room just shines. Her smile just makes me smile and boy does she have a great mischievous grin.

I have learned so much since Charlotte has been home with us. I remember when we decided to adopt from China, one of the key reasons was it would be a closed adoption. Almost all babies in China that are adopted are abandoned for a myriad of reasons, economic, cultural, political. During the 5 year wait for our referral, I have to say I put the birth mother in the way back of my mind. It was a lot about me and my feelings and my new baby. How I would react and how our new baby can attach and grow in our family and be happy.
Today, like many days,  all I can think about is her birth mother. It is funny to me how that has changed. I think about this day two years ago and what the circumstances of the day entailed. Where were they, what time of day. So many questions that I don't know if we will ever know the answers too. I am at a different place now that Charlotte is my daughter. I just want her to be happy. If that means searching for her birth mother when she is ready to make that decision, I will do whatever we have to do to make that happen. I don't know if this is the right or wrong decision. Time will  tell based on what Charlotte feels is right for her. We may never find her, but we will certainly use every tool available to us to try. I say that now with confidence that the love I have now for Charlotte is so maternal, that it is not scary to me. I hope with all my heart that should we find her birth mother, it is a meaningful and happy reunion for all of us. I don't really know how this would all happen right now, but for today, I hope and wish that her birth mother is aware how much Charlotte is loved and so thankful to her that she is here with us today.

Anyhoo, we had lunch at Cheesecake Factory today and Connor, yes, I said, Connor made his sister brownies for dessert tonight. Yum!! We will be having one more cake on Saturday with Peter's family. With the amount of birthday wishes she has recieved today, Charlotte would have more friends than me on Facebook. If she was allowed on FB, which she isn't until she is 30. 28 more years...

This is my desk calendar page today. How pefect!!

Birthday Party

Our little girl will be turning two on Thursday, but we started celebrating a little early this past weekend. An added bonus, the Giants won!!! We had Minnie Mouse everything, and her favorite, balloons. Needless to say with a 7 year old older brother, balloons became soccer balls and footballs as we watched the playoffs. Charlotte was thrilled and just enjoyed all the attention. A few posts back I mentioned she didn't say the word "No". Guess what? She is saying it. A lot. But still cute. She rarely says it once, it is like a singing, no, no, no. But let's just say it's her new favorite word!

The Two's Are Approaching..

Practicing with some photoshopping. I really liked this picture of Charlotte, but wanted to edit out my car. I tried one version where you have to use your mouse to erase the background, but I keep erasing parts of Charlotte with it. I think I need a little more practice.

Charlotte's birthday is in two weeks. Two years old. We all know about the terrible twos and I can't help using that as an explanation for some not too nice hitting she has been doing. If we tell her no, if we take away something she wants to hold (i.e., black marker, scissor, i-phones) she hits you or throws it. What to do, what to do. So far all we come up with is a one minute respite in her crib. It takes her out of the situation at least, but she really hasn't stopped hitting. She knows it is wrong because she says back to us, no, no, no. Explaining it to her big brother is another thing. Ma, she is hitting me, is a constant around here now. If anyone has any anti-hitting solutions, feel free to let me know.

I was holding Charlotte's hand last week at the mall, just window shopping. She stopped short in front of Abercrombie and Fitch and danced and danced. The store is like a dance club and she danced like she was out on a Saturday night. People stopped and watched her dance. It was really cute, but when I told her we had to go, she was not too happy. Who am I kidding, I let her dance there for a good twenty minutes. She passed out on the way home and a good two hours after that.  Shouldn't there be dance clubs for toddlers, open during the day of course.

Here's Looking At You

I think we are still recovering from the holidays. Putting away decorations, decluttering the house, cleaning out closets. Connor is back to school, and I just signed Charlotte up for some of the library programs. The title of the class is Toddler Tango. Sounds like she is going to love it, dance, dance, dance. If Charlotte does well attending the class, I think we will be ready for a toddler gymnastic program. Really it is just so cold here today, I am just thinking of ways to get out of the house.

Starting the new year it is has been nice to feel a little bit settled. There are no big plans for 2012. I just want to enjoy the feeling knowing that our family is complete and enjoy the milestones. In fact, we will be celebrating a special 2 year old birthday in two weeks!   Happy New Year!!