新年快樂!

Just a few pics from our area's Chinese Association's New Year party. So glad that our friends, another Taiwan adoptive family, could join us! Hannah had a cold and was a grump because of a sore runny nose, so we left early and didn't stay for all of the entertainment and red envelopes at the end.

After leaving the party, Hannah perked up and had lots of things to tell us. We were having a conversation in the car about going to The Fresh Market. Hannah pipes in, "Daddy, we can buy more of your favorite cookies because Mommy ate them all gone." Who taught that kid to tattle already?

Happy Lunar New Year! Wishing you all a happy, healthy, and prosperous year of the dragon!

our princess turns four

Phrases that we've heard a lot of this past week:
"I'm so excited for my birthday!"
"Can I help make the cupcakes?"
"What shoes should I wear with my party dress?"
"I wanna help!"
"Right now I'm three, but on my birthday I'll be four."
"How many sleeps until my birthday?"

This mama is very tired of cleaning, worrying how all of these people are going to fit in my little house, making 5 batches of cupcakes between 11-3am and waking up at 8:15am to a little voice asking "Can I put on my party dress yet?" I decided it was all worth it when I watched Hannah running around the house laughing and holding hands with BOTH Allie and Gabriella. Daddy agrees, that was his favorite moment of the day.

I don't have many photos of the day as I was busy with FORTY PEOPLE in my little house. We invited everyone that Hannah asked to invite, and all came! Hopefully our family and friends that took photos will email some to me. Hint hint. Nudge nudge.

Hannah's favorite present: a hula hoop.

Mama and Daddy gave Hannah a gold Belle dress and crown, with a promise let her wear the dress when we take her to see Beauty and the Beast 3D in the movie theater. She's planning the popcorn and candy purchases already!

The hair clip that she's wearing today was a gift that Hannah received on the first day we met her. I can't remember who the clip is from, but knowing that it is from a birth family member or a nanny at the baby house makes the clip an extra special accessory on a very special day.

not your ordinary white woman from Farmville, IN

I had a really enjoyable work experience this week with a Vietnamese American in her early 20s that I'd never met before. After work we talked for about twenty minutes having fun comparing and contrasting what Vietnamese and Chinese to do celebrate the lunar new year. I like spring rolls way better than egg rolls. We both agree that moon cakes with egg in the middle are really gross, but she suggested I try ones with mung bean. She told me that she'd like to open a restaurant some day. I voiced that our area really needed someplace that sold boba tea. Her eyes widened and she got so excited, and shared that's exactly the kind of shop she'd like to open! We have the same favorite place for boba tea, the Joy Yee shop in Chinatown Chicago. I was told that I'm the only white person that she's ever met that knew about and was into this kind of stuff. I replied that I hope she'd get to know some local adoptive families, especially Vietnam adoptive families. I'm an adoptive parent that's totally into my kid, and I'm looking for inclusion for us into your word, too.

National De-lurking Day

I've read that today is de-lurking day. Readers, I'd appreciate it if you could take a moment to tell me who you are, how long you've followed this blog, and why you follow it. Let me know what your favorite kids of posts you are so I can get a feel for what'd you'd like to write more about. Thank you! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Reserve your room for Taiwan R.O.C.ks 2012

Taiwan R.O.C.ks Reunion for Taiwan Adoptive Familes will be at the Embassy Suites in Downtown Chicago, less than two blocks from Millennium Park and short walk to Navy Pier and the Lake Michigan beachfront. Check out the reunion blog for a link to make hotel reservations with the group's reduced rate. We made our hotel reservations tonight for a party of (prayerfully) four!

will smile for candy necklaces

Wanted to share a few funnies from today.

Offer Hannah a candy necklace and she's ready to pose!



Nana emailed me this morning about having Hannah over last night: "Funny at dinner. Nana said if you eat all your broccoli tops, do you want ice cream with sprinkles? Hannah chomped into the broccoli. Papa said, guess you need the right carrot? Hannah said, these aren't carrots!"



A phrase we hear a lot in the evening is "I'm not tired. I'm not tired!"
Tonight, I think she was tired!
I can't believe that she slept sitting up through an entire 45 minute Target trip.
She usually RUNS down the isles laughing and can't wait to see the toys.

Hudson's room has been painted and wood laminate flooring was installed yesterday. We moved all of Hannah's baby furnishings into Hudson's room today, cleaned them up, and changed the toddler bed back into a crib. We still have some some work with to do with accessorizing the walls and such, but it's really starting to look like a little dude sleeps there! I'll share photos when we're all done. Obviously, I have loved putting together special rooms for our children. Hannah's room was inspired by the mural of a plum blossom tree with everything pink and brown. Hudson's is a space theme with rockets, stars, planets in blue, green, and brown encouraging him to "dream, explore, and grow."

monkey bars mishap

Kevin and Hannah brought me lunch at work yesterday after preschool. Hannah excitedly said, "I want to talk to Mama. Mama!!! Someone went pee pee on the monkey bars today!"

Great.

Film: "The Sage Hunter" (2005)

Last night we watched "The Sage Hunter." I purchased it from Amazon because I wanted to see any film with subtitles that depicted indigenous Taiwanese people. It was pretty good, and I appreciated the importance that the characters placed on nature, spirituality, and family. I'd certainly recommend this film to other adoptive families with children from indigenous Taiwanese backgrounds. It had just a little violence in a war scene, and one scene where a father struck his son after he did something bad and dishonored the family. Those images were ones that I could explain to Hannah while we were watching the film so they weren't so scary and she could understand what was happening.

getting Hudson's room together

Hudson's wood laminate flooring has been ordered and will be installed in two weeks. Bring on the paint! The paint color selection story is fun. :) I searched online one night at different paint manufacturer web sites for a light/medium blue color that would go with Hudson's space themed bedding. It didn't have to color match, but I wanted it to be something that was clean and bright and could serve for something other than a child's bed room. I found a free color capture iPhone app at the Benjamin Moore web site that is really cool. It allows me to take a picture of something, like Hudson's bedding, with my phone and then suggests paint colors for me. I found a blue that looked just right, tapped on the color to see a larger image of it, and gasped at the color's name. YIN YANG!



Okay, gotta get off my rear and finish emptying Hudson's room of things that were once our home office. The painting starts today!