A year of "firsts"

Memorial Day was Abigail's first time at Krispy Kreme Donuts. Yum, yum! The girls each got a hat and a free donut. America.... what a great place!

Franny's annual piano recital

It's that time of year again... Frances' piano teacher had her annual benefit concert. Frances played two pieces in the concert, and this was her first year playing with the orchestra. For those of you who haven't heard me speak about the annual recital, it is in the piano teacher's backyard. Her eight grand pianos are arranged around the pool, and are amplified. There are two youth orchestras to accompany the piano students, and the orchestras also perform several pieces without the piano students. As many as 8 students play piano together at once. The children must dress in formal attire. A professional videographer films the evening's performance, and DVDs are available for purchase. It's a lot of drama, but we do it each year. This piano teacher is really good, and Frances is learning so much from her. Frances did a great job, and looked beautiful.

Abigail turns two!

Abigail wore her "Birthday Princess" crown all day on her birthday, as well as during most of her party!




Abby's birthday was on a Tuesday, so my parents came to visit, and took us all out to dinner at Mexicasa (see previous posts for more info on our favorite restaurant). The waitresses brought a small dish of ice cream with a candle, and we all sang to Abigail. She looked confused, even though Frances and I had been practicing with her at home... Franny had to blow out the candle, because Abby would not do it. That Saturday, we went to another two-year-old's party (close friends of ours) and I told Abigail to watch her friend Karley, so that Abby would know what to do with her own birthday cupcake the following day. It must have worked, because at her party, Abigail kept trying to blow out the candle before we finished singing!


Abigail received an Asian baby doll from her friend Phoebe (adopted from Kyrgyzstan). I can almost hear her thinking, "Cute doll, but why does she have more hair than I do?"


We also had a bounce house... Of course, it says right on the bounce house "no flips." Well, Frances is in gymnastics... so of course she was doing flips!

Mother's Day 2009

Frances sometimes asks me, "What did you want to be, when you were growing up?" and I always tell her, truthfully, "All I ever wanted to be was a mom." God has granted my childhood wish; I am so blessed.

And no, that is not our dog. "Lady" belongs to Grandma and Grandpa Hunter; it made both girls happy to have the dog in the picture!

Mmm... Mexicasa!

On a Saturday night, you can often find us at our favorite Mexican restaurant, Mexicasa. Any of you long-time Anaheim residents will be familiar with this local blue-collar establishment. It is very affordable, has no "atmosphere," and is a great place to practice your child's "restaurant behavior." This is the place where Frances learned about remaining in her high chair until we were all ready to leave the table. It is also where my mom fed Frances mild salsa on a spoon! To this day, Mexicasa's salsa is one of her favorite things. Our friends Dana and Haley often drive up from Huntington Beach to join us there!

On our last visit, we were a little out of control...
Abigail has become interested in dipping her food, with things like ketchup. She watched us eating chips & salsa, and started asking, "Dip? Dip?" I gave her a little bowl of salsa (no one wanted to share with her, since she double-dips). Pretty soon, she was just lifting up the tiny bowl and drinking the salsa! I suppose it's like gazpacho...

The rest of us were being silly also, drinking a toast to everything and nothing, feeding each other bites of dinner, singing worship songs...

and the total bill for four people came to a whopping $21.64. That's our highest tab yet, I think!

Time flies...

On Good Friday, we had our six-month post-placement visit with a social worker from the home study agency. Wow. Can you believe that we've been home for six months already? It seems like we've only been home about a month, but it also seems as if our trip to China was years ago. Last night we saw a family whose log-in-date (the date their dossier reached China) was similar to ours. They are going through the traditional program, and still have several years to wait for a referral. Anyway, they met Abigail about two weeks after we came home from China, and hadn't seen us since then. They were astonished with how much Abigail has grown and changed in five months. As for our little family, Frances is learning to interact more calmly (and successfully) with Abigail, and is starting to laugh at Abby's antics, instead of getting jealous. Abigail, of course, still adores Frances. The first thing Abby says in the morning when I lift her from the crib is "JieJie?" She wants to see her big sister as soon as she wakes up!

Abigail is finally starting to really play with toys. She has always loved shoes (just like Frances) but didn't seem to understand what to do with toys. She sometimes carried them around, but was never interested in them for more than a moment or two. Now, she is doing all kinds of pretending with dolls, feeding them, putting them to bed, pushing them in a shopping cart. She is suddenly infatuated with Elmo (although "Elmo" means anything associated with Sesame Street), and she is playing with stacking rings, with the Little People van, with the shape sorter. We had to make a quick run to the gas station this afternoon, and she brought along a small talking Cookie Monster (a.k.a. Elmo) and played with it the entire time. She "talks" on her toy phones, and loves to dance. She even bops around and "rocks out" to the soothing tunes of her Glow Worm in her crib! She dances better while sitting down, as she is still learning the finer point of balance and stability. When she stands up and dances, she falls over! Abigail is walking well, climbing, trying to run, and starting to jump/bounce.

My girls bring me so much joy! I am so thankful that God has blessed me with them, and so grateful to their birthmothers for making a very difficult choice. I can hardly wait to see what God has planned for their lives... they are very special children!

A sunny Sunday afternoon

Although rain was predicted for this weekend, it never materialized. Today was bright and sunny, and Frances asked if she could play in the sprinkler.

I knew from past experience that Abigail would whine and complain and have a miserable time unless she was wearing shoes, because she still does not like the feel of grass. Luckily, she has a pair of crocs, so she wore those and had a great time playing in the water with her JieJie.

They played in the water for about thirty minutes, and had a really good time. Abigail was trying to copy everything that Frances did, including putting her head in the sprinkler! Abby looks very cute with her "Shrek-baby" ponytails. As soon as there was enough hair to scrape into ponytails, you can bet that I was putting them in her hair. I was tired of everyone thinking she is a boy! She calls them "hats," like everything that can go on your head (hoods, hats, sunglasses, scrunchies, etc.) and is very proud of them.

While the girls played in the water, I pulled weeds. Lucky me! The weeds that create burrs (those tiny, prickly velcro-like balls that adhere to your clothing) are overtaking the sideyard, but I am determined to keep the main front yard safe for my girls' tender feet! So I was sitting out on the grass, pulling weeds with my gloveless fingers. I felt like my dad! I have childhood memories of watching my dad as he sat on the grass, pulling weeds. My hands are a little itchy and raw from pulling out all of those burr plants by their roots, but it'll be worth it the next time we play in the sprinklers! And I'm certain there will be more of them by then...


Today, Abigail discovered her reflection in the side of the car! We got out of the car, and Abby started waving and saying "hi" to the baby. Then, when I told her that it was her, she started figuring it out, moving her body and arms, and watching her reflection very carefully.
Today, she came out with her first two-word sentence: "Moh meewk." (More milk.)

We got together last night with two other families who used/are using the same adoption agency. One family adopted their daughter from China eight years ago, and the other family is in the waiting process (their dossier went into China the same month/year as mine, but because I went through the waiting child program, Abigail is already home). Of course, Abigail charmed the socks off of everyone! The mom with the nine-year-old told me that Abigail is like the poster child for happy endings!