Grace was in the orphanage for 307 days... which means

As of February 2nd Grace had been in our loving care longer than she was in the orphanage... HEY!!!!

One of our travel mates wrote a wonderful note about this very subject it got me thinking; what was Grace's day??? So I calculated the day Grace was born on May 29, 2007 and was placed in our loving arms on March 31st which is 307 days or 10 months 2 days. I then put in March 31, 2007 and added 307 days which was February 1st so as of the 2nd she has been with us longer than she was in the orphanage.

As you can see from the previous pictures she is doing wonderfully well... THANK GOD!!!!!!!!

OMG They still fit... With the exception of the length...

The night we arrived home in Atlanta, April 12, 2008




This is a very loose outfit to begin with but she might be able to wear it this summer as shorts.



Our little sweet heart on April 1st 2008

Recently I gave a dear friend alot of Grace's hand me down...

But I kept back two outfits that Scott and I love... For Scott it's the purple overalls which was the outfit she wore on our second day as a family. For me its the denim one piece outfit with the dog, this was the outfit Grace wore when we landed in Atlanta.

Unbelievable that they still fit with the exception of the length.

By the way the little slippers are the next size they are not the same slippers.

Two dozen roses.... 

Happy Valentines Day 2009

LOVE Daddy

Pink for daddy's little girl (her first) and RED for mommy...

Grace was not wanting to get her picture made by the flowers...

Grace's card read:
Happy Valentine's Day 

to the girl who melts my heart with every laugh!!!

 Grace was more interested in Mommies chocolates...

This is so sweet since the two previous years flowers where ordered but never arrived....

"PURPLE"

&

she was so proud of herself.

The words are coming fast and furious... Today it was door and "PURPLE"

Nana for bananna, spoon (but only once), more, bath, bite (very similar), Bye bye (but after we have left or the phone has been hung up), bird, boo (we've had this one for a while - cute story), Tech, ni (nice), nih nih (night night), juic (juice and she made up her own sign), mine (I think), OT (hot)

and our chinese words are La for pull - she learned from watching Ni Hao Kai-lan (http://www.nickjr.com/shows/ni-hao-kai-lan/index.jhtml). Kai-lan asks the audience to repeat after her and one day Grace did... This is also where she learned ni (nice) - ni is not chinese for nice but Kai-lan repeated it three times and thus Grace said it.


For all my sorority sisters I wish I could say that I taught her purple but it was Dad.

January photo at the Palace Deli

Mom's shoes... the photo I've been waiting for.

One of my favorite childhood photo's is of me wearing my Dad's boots.

Gymboree - I've moved up to level four.

Grace's Big Day...January 12th

New Shoes - Old shoes one size to small

Turned Car Seat - (the video is outstanding...)

New Sign - French Fry (Holding one finger up and if she's really hungry she held up both hands)

New Word - Ni for Nice

Looking forward to 2009 but we will always LOVE 2008 for bringing us GRACE...

Happy New Year
&
I hope fond memories of a wonderful Christmas.

Dad and I are looking forward to 2009 but we will always love 2008 which brought us Grace…

Grace is 19 months old as of the 29th of this month. As of 01/01 she weights in at just over 20 lbs which means we can turn her car seat around… Not that she complains about being backward in the car seat…

Grace is walking very well and is on the verge of running. She is also trying to talk and per her doctor I am supposed to give her credit if she get a few of the syllables right. Words which she has said are nana for banana, spoon, per my sister - bird (my sister has a parakeet) Osc for Oscar (L and B’s older dog), bath, bye when hanging up her play phone, and more....

December 20th what a long day....

Our favorite Saturday morning routine... Gymboree
Good Friends sharing a wonderful holiday dinner...

December 20th arrived and we had a very full day. Our morning was spent at Gymboree then lunch at the Palace Deli...Then while Grace napped I did a little shopping. Then we were going to meet our friends for our annual Christmas Dinner in the evening at 6:30 (we are all mostly parents), & we were all meeting at the Melting Pot (a neat fondue restaurant). My sister was babysitting for Grace but she needed us to bring Grace up to her house. After a lot of running around, getting ready, packing up Grace’s stuff, wrapping presents in the car, and dropping Grace off. We arrived at the restaurant on time and I relaxed and had a wonderful evening.

It was now 10:30 ( I never dreamed that we would be that late) and long past Grace’s bedtime and my sister (K) did not have a pack and play or crib for Grace. So we got in our car and started up to K's. About 5 minutes into the drive K called. “Where were we???” “We’re on our way I am really sorry that it’s late.” “"Mom" get here as fast as you can Grace has been bitten by Gizmo (her 12 year old dachshund) in the face.” To be quite honest the very logical side of me kicked in and I call the pediatrician’s office. Since it was so late the call was directed to the local children’s hospital after hour’s line. So we left a message for a nurse to call us back. And Dad did his best to get to K’s in one piece and without a speeding ticket. (Looking back I never did look at speedometer.)

When we got there Grace looked bad but not to bad, most of the scratches where superficial with just a few little puncture wounds. K told us that Grace had been walking (she gets a little punchy when she’s sleepy) in the kitchen when she tripped and landed on Gizmo, who had been sleeping. Thus this was a TRUE accident. As we where leaving Grace blew K a kiss and my sister lost it…

So we rushed her out to the car and off we went to Eggleston (the most wonderful Children’s Hospital on the planet).

Unwrapping presents on Christmas Eve...

18 month Update....

I can not believe that Grace has been home 7 months and 25 days, 34 weeks, or 238 days (rough guess)....

Halloween Day... in my cute t-shirt...

Visiting with Uncle BoBo and Aunt Carrie

Grace had her 18 month appointment this past Monday... She is 19lbs 7oz (still less than 5% on the CDC charts & just at 25% on the Chinese charts) and 33 inches (just under the 90th% on the CDC charts & right on the 97% on the Chinse charts).

This is Grace on April 18th at her first Dr's Appointment... 14lbs 15ozs & 29.25 inches

I will post the most recent Dr's appointment photo once I figure out how to get it off my phone....

(What a time for my camera to be at the shop)

She has been walking (by herself - no help from Mom or Dad) for a month... She has actually started trying to run with encouragement & holding on to our hands.

And in the last week she has really started jabbering away... She really likes to join Mom & Dads discussions... To cute... Ball is one of her newest words as well as Up...

More to come....

Update...

Grace is currently getting her confidence by standing and clapping. No real steps yet. Scott put her walker/baby stroller together three weeks ago. She can walk from one side of the room to the other pushing the walker but is still cautious. She has been in Gymboree since June and we just this past week moved up to the walking class even though she is not walking to give her more time with children closer to her own age.

At her 15 month appointment Grace was 18.4 lbs (< 5% on the American charts but 25% on the Southern Chinese charts) and 31 inches (75% on the American charts) and very healthy. The doctor seems to think that she might be cutting her first molar. Her gums are swollen but still no molar.

I think that I am going to look into a music class since Grace really seems to like music.

Six Month Update....

Wow... I can not believe that it has been six months since Grace was placed in our arms for the first time...

She has really changes allot over the last six months.