The best Christmas EVER!!!

I have waited my whole life for this morning. I think we had a wonderful day together, we were missing Taylor and our crew in California. But maybe next year!! I am certain that I received the best present of all. I don't know what I did to deserve the amazing life and family I have!

Oh here we are again pushing Kate in her stroller!! Her darling outfit is Luna Luna!! How cute does she look with her outfit and ballet flats??

The best $20 I have ever spent!! Yep this was THE GIFT for Hayden and she really didn't care about anything else...she only opened a few, and then went back to "Kate" Pretty much obsessed with the doll and her stroller/high chair/pack n play!!

Christmas eve and all the children were snug in their beds with their santa slippers on!! They were still on this morning. She never leaves her socks on, but the santa slippers are a whole different deal.

Shiyu arrived on Tues night and it was so fun to go meet her at the airport!!


We shot about 200 pictures and a lot of video today, but need to sit down and edit and find the best way to display it all. But wanted to share a little bit of our merry, merry day!!

Hope you and your families had a wonderful holiday season, and I hope that 2010 has so much in store for all of us!!!

Hayden is a little bit famous

yep...Hayden was blogged about!! Check it out here

We have been busy!!

Daddy and Hayden at the airport

These chairs rock!! I can get to anything now!!

Hayden loved Molly who is a cream golden, and Molly loved Hayden. Actually Hayden loves all dogs!!

Meggie do you care for a spot of tea?

Sharing snacks and staying out of the way of the housekeeper:)

We have been visiting friends and family and so we have been out of town. Sorry to have disappeared. We had a really nice time seeing so many people that we have not seen in awhile, and many whom have never met Hayden. That still blows my mind because it seems like she has been here forever and how could there still be anyone left that hasn't met her. We are slowly checking off the list of those who have not. Again Hayden is the ultimate traveler. Other than refusing to sleep in the pack and play she is a rock star on the road. Daddy says she is just like mommy...always ready to go somewhere.

We visited my hometown, and were able to go and put flowers and such on my grandmothers grave. She passed away in Oct, and unfortunately was not able to meet Hayden before she passed. She did see pictures and we left some pictures on her grave as well. We stayed with some very important life long friends of mine and they were so gracious and so excited for Hayden to finally come to visit. They spoil her rotten by mail and now they were able to do so in person. She is a very special "grandmother" to Hayden, and Hayden almost instantly connected with Carla!! We stopped by her office when we arrived, and I swear Hayden was like a celebrity. They had all heard about this little piece of joy, but when they saw her in person the cameras were clicking and the sweet comments flowed. At one point I think there were about 25 people gathered around just watching my child HAM it up. I thought she was going to act shy...uhhhh NO she didn't, she sopped up every moment of attention she was being given along with all of the gifts that were be handed out to her. I have never seen someone receive so many gifts in her short little life from so many complete strangers!! We had an awesome visit with them even though it was colder than cold and us being the wimpy Texans who came unprepared for the polar tundra stayed inside almost the entire trip. No venturing out into take your breath away coldness.

We then headed to see our very close friends and their kiddos. Daddy only spent one day there as he headed back to be a "producer" and we stayed for the week and were "consumers" as he would say(thanks Eric)We went to the Nutcracker tea and got to wear a pretty Christmas dress, and we did get to see the kids participate in their activities like dance and we had lunch at school with Jack one day. Hayden LOVED being with Jack, Katie and Meggie. They played constantly, and just had a blast. Hayden really loved that their were so many "little" chairs for her to use to climb on things!!! Yes we are looking into buying a helmet for the little evil Knievel. She loved their dog Molly. Hayden even saw it snow for the first time. We did not go out into it, as again we were not prepared and it was WAAAAY too cold. Jack asked us if we had brought our snowsuits. I had to tell me him that we don't need them in TX!!

It was a great trip. Glad to get home and try to get ready for the holidays. But wanted to share some pictures before we get into the middle of the holidays. We are anxiously awaiting Shiyu(our exchange student) she arrives next Tuesday for her entire college break. She is even more excited than us I think:)

25 days until Christmas

Here is Hayden's tree in her room. It is a white feather tree that I bought 3 years ago and am so thrilled to have it up in her room with her admiring it to no end. Every single time we walk into her room she points and says "WOW" "tree" she would like to leave it on all the time, but Mommy is a bit of a freak about the house burning down, so we have it on for just a little while each day!! Yes, we used a tutu for her tree skirt, and I think it looks marvelous.

Hayden enjoying her "wow tree"

Hayden learned Ho Ho Ho Merry Christmas. You can't really understand the latter part, but you can sure understand the Ho Ho Ho part and she even holds her tummy while she does it!

Hayden thinks all electronics have the ability to be used as a phone device(I am not proud of the fact the kid knows all about phones) But here she is using the remote as a phone while sliding. Just like we would all do if we were still able to fit on the slide:) right??

So Thankful

I am so thankful for this little girl...even in the midst of a terrible tantrum. The very worst tantrum is better than the best day I ever had before being a mom to Hayden.

Wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving. We are so thankful and blessed beyond measure, and we try to remember it everyday, and not just on Thanksgiving. We hope your holiday season is bright and safe. We hope that we will see many of you, but for those we don't, please know you are always in our thoughts!!

Hayden, Hayden, Hayden

Hayden blowing kisses to herself!!

Who is that baby??

loves to brush her teeth, and I do mean LOVE...we do it many times a day!!

I now have my front teeth and look even now. Two on the top and two on the bottom, makes eating a lot easier.

eye candy

Have I told you how much I love you Hayden Magee?? With all of my heart and to the moon and back:)

Random Pictures

Not much going on around here. Just starting to think about to-do list to get ready for the holidays. We just had a big garage sale and feel so relieved to have gotten rid of a lot of stuff. But otherwise it is pretty quiet here on our front. So here are some pictures of Hayden doing what she does.... She loves this toy and within seconds can have it stacked. Not in order, but she can get them on there just fine.

She loves this slide. She goes down it about 40 times a day, and she gets to the top and she counts 1, 2, 3 and then screams GO!!!

We keep her toys that are in our room in the entertainment center. One day I looked up and there she was sitting inside on top of her toys. Now she does it practically everyday. She likes me to pretend I can't see her and then she yells BOO!! I tell you people this kid is LOUD!!

I think I will take off my shoes and socks now....

Missy this shot is for you....I know you love those baby thighs, and Hayden is sporting hers with a great shot of her bloomies!!

Bubbles and more bubbles. She loves bubbles, and we go through bubbles like they are going out of style. When we are not blowing bubbles she likes to just carry around the bottle of bubbles and say "bubbles"

This picture cracks me up. David went into the bathroom, and he doesn't realize that I don't get to go to the bathroom alone. So when he shut the door, Hayden acted as though she was completely insulted by this action. So she then proceeded to lay down on the floor and try to look/see while yelling (again the yelling) Dada, dada, and then started pounding on the door. He was on the other side laughing so hard I am not sure he was actually able to take care of business. I told him, you don't get the luxury of privacy if I don't!! Hilarious this kid!!

14 months old

Hayden you are 14 months old today, and time is flying by at record speed. It feels like just yesterday you came home and were learning to crawl, and now you are running at full speed(literally) You can say about 25 words, you can sign about 13 or so. You repeat almost everything you hear. At this point I am almost certain your understand almost everything we say to you. You LOVE to take showers, you adore all dogs, but can call all of your dogs by name(we have 5) You are doing very well with eating with a fork and spoon. You can hold up one finger when we ask you how old you are...although you always say two:) You know what the cow, kitty, dog, duck, sheep and the ever famous dragon says. You can take your wooden stacking ring and in seconds have the rings back on...not in the right order, but not worried about your fine motor skills that is for sure. When I get you out of your bed each morning you whisper "baba" because you know your bottle is waiting for you on my bedside table and we will get back in bed and snuggle and have the ever loved "baba" You point to your daddy's phone and say "rhumba" which means please play the music. If either of us get a text on our phone you can immitate the sound our phone makes. Speaking of phones you LOVE phones or anything that resembles a phone and you put it up to your hear and say "hello" You act like Bon Jovi walked in the door each night when your daddy comes home, and after your bath you start saying llama mama" which is your favorite book series....yes, you sit very quietly on our laps to have any of the llama books read to you.

You have come so far in in just 6 1/2 months of being home. You are a great traveler, you are happy most of the time. You eat just about anything, but mandarin oranges, pancakes, and green beans seem to be at the top of the list right now. You are really loud, but love for mama to tell you secrets....and then you whisper for just a few minutes after. We have come to a meeting of the minds about wearing your hair bows, and you leave them in for the most part now. But you take your shoes and socks off at every possible moment available. You LOVE music and you are quite the dancer!! You are not sure at all about your daddy hugging your mama, but you huggie bear everything from daddy to the dogs to your stuffed animals...which you also will share your baba, your binka, or your goldfish. You are a very good sharer. You love to blow kisses, you check for your bellybutton and mine about 20 times a day. You know where your nose, eyes, ears, teeth and hair are located. You have finally learned and adhere to "gentle" You notice all babies, and all dogs!! You will sit and watch a full episode of the dog whisperer with Yaya. You love to SKYPE, and we do it frequently...you are usually a big show off. You love to brush your teeth, and know you must sit down on the floor in order to do it or Mama takes it away. You raise your arms when we say "be still monsters....let the rhumpus begin"

You are such a bright little girl who has so much personality!! We think you are hilarious, and have quite the sense of humor for such a little person. The list is much longer of the funny and cute things you do or have learned. I can't wait for the next 14 months to see what you are up to.

50 days until Christmas!!

We had Hayden's pictures done for the holidays and our Christmas cards. Here is just a peek at the little miss in one of her holiday dresses. You can't tell how cranky she is with her front teeth coming in or that she has quite the runny nose. Miss Yony did a fabulous job of hiding the misfortunes of the day, and was so patient with Hayden who was not really interested in her job as model for the day!! YLK photography if you are in the DFW area....Yony will not disappoint and you will love her on top it!! She takes beautiful photographs, so easy to get along with, and her prices are great!! So go check her out!!!

So if you haven't started on your holiday preparations you might want to get started, it is just around the corner, and just to make you feel better this is the only thing I have checked off my list!!

One year ago....

After waiting nearly 3 years in the adoption world, we received the phone call of our lifetime, and just a few minutes later this was the face we saw on the screen. I will never forget how I felt, what I had on and what I was doing. We stared at this picture for weeks studying every single thing about this new little person. That intent stare that she still has when she wants something, those incredibly long fingers...hoping that perhaps one day they would suit her in playing the piano, the cry in her video when the voices stopped talking to her...she still does today. No one can ever prepare you for what being a parent will feel like, how you will parent, or how you will love. I know we totally fell in love with her pictures and video, and were prepared to love this tiny treasure, but no one could have ever prepared me for the love in my heart that I have for this child. I really never thought of myself as somone that would just be "crazy in love" with anyone until I met my husband, and I thought it stopped there. Well all I can say I am so crazy in love with our daughter that it makes my heart hurt I love her so much. She has brought so much joy, happiness and love to our already FULL hearts that I just can't tell you how lucky I feel. I have no idea what I have done to deserve this life of mine....but don't ever think that I take it for granted or that I am not thankful.

One year ago today our lives changed forever and forever I will be grateful!!

Happy Halloween

This is our costume this year!! Next year we will do the fun costume, but Hayden is not into anything being on her head, and everything I found that I loved for her had some sort of hood or hat!! Was not worth fighting her on it. Plus I really think it would have been overwhelming to her this year. But next year I think she will love it. So we will just be handing out candy to the kiddos this year!!!


Hope you have a happy and safe Halloween!!!

**yes she got to have her very first tootsie pop and loved it!!

This just makes me smile everytime I watch this video!!

Planes, trains and automobiles

I know it has taken me forever to get my pictures and post up. We just arrived home yesterday from our whirlwind tour of the Northeast. We had an amazing time, feel so blessed to have made these lifelong adoption friends and now we can honestly say we have met in person. We loved getting to visit with everyone and had such a great time.

We started our trip with our flight(in the carseat~yay) to Philly where Paul(Heather's husband) so kindly picked us up and entertained us for the afternoon. Heather and Hsin came home and Hayden and Hsin played and Heather and I had an awesome time catching up and laughing that we couldn't believe that we were actually sitting in the same room with each other and looking at our girls playing together. We headed to dinner where Hayden pooped from the trip slept completely through, and then ventured to the mall for a quick exchange in the WINTER like weather. Then home we went to get the girls in bed...except Hayden had other plans...no sleeping in the pack and play!! So I will just skip the bedtime part of this trip by saying that Hayden decided that when we travel she will be sleeping (me not so much) with her mommy and at times ON her mommy:)
Just know that Heather's hubby Paul was the best host, and went way above and beyond the call of duty in entertaining the crazy lady with a baby and a whole lot of crap in tow from TX:)

The next morning we stopped for a bite of breakfast and then got on the road to NY to see Lisa and Paige. The trip was nice because we don't really get the sense of fall here in TX, so it was beautiful to see all the trees changing and for the tempeture to reflect a cool crisp fall day. On arrival to Lisa's house in the cutest neck of the woods we were just so excited to actually all be together and with our girls. We dressed them all alike as you can see, and I would say they were the cutest little girls in town!! The girls played together really well considering they had never been together and quite frankly Hayden has had very little interaction with children her own age. Hayden loved Magic(Lisa's lab) she squealed in delight when Magic was let out and was chasing her all over the kitchen trying to get a hold of her tail:)

Awesome is all I can say about the entire visit. We all had really bonded during our wait, and I just kept wanting to pinch myself that I was actually sitting there with these awesome mommies and watching our girls race for the stairs(oh lord I am too old to be doing that much running back and forth) I totally felt like we had been friends forever and there was never one moment for me that I felt nervous or weird that technically I was spending the weekend with strangers...the nicest strangers I have ever met. We did some shopping at the outlets, we sat and had wine and cheese, we watched Lisa's two great son's entertain the little girls and just be so incredibly sweet is was crazy. Awesome I tell you, I can't wait to do it again.

On Sunday the plan was for me to take the train to NJ to another friend's house, but John(Lisa's amazing husband) insisted that he drive me because he thought I had too much stuff(crap) So really there wasn't a train involved, but there was suppose to be one(hence the title) So on Sunday night in the rain(while the Jets where playing...sorry John) we loaded up the car and kids and drove what was suppose to be halfway between NY and my friend in NJ. Problem was we didn't plan well enough that we each came in on two different roads but were trying to find each other at an exit....dum de dum dum dum!!! So what should have actually been not a terrible trip turned into the three stooges on a wet cold Sunday night where I think both cars got to see drug deals go down in Brooklyn, and Lisa feeling VERY carsick!! Thanks John for everything!! You cook, you clean and you drive and you do it all with a sense of humor.

Then we spent the next 3 days in NJ with a very old friend and her girls. It is beautiful where she lives and I always forget that I would move there in a second if I liked winter. NJ really gets a bad rap, but I am telling you everything is so charming and pretty. The churches, the houses, the landscape...everything is just so pretty and charming. Hayden loved spending time with Madeline(7) and Emma(4)We were able to see them do some of their activities by going to ballet and to swim practice. We had great food!! Hayden loved playing in their amazing playroom, her eyes would get big and she would say WOW each time we went down the stairs. She rode on the neat battery powered barbie car(bad steering, but good at pressing the button) Hayden discovered that she loves Indian food, and that a 7 year old will always be happy to carry you anywhere you want to go. Suz I always miss you more after I have been to visit. You have the sweetest, most polite kiddos, and we hope we see you this summer!!

Well 6 nights and 7 days away, it was time to go home. Hayden missed her dogs and her daddy(not in that order) and we made our way to the airport for the journey home. We lucked out and while we didn't have our carseat we were able to score 2 seats and so Hayden actually did well on the flight home. She slept for part of it and the rest of the time seemed to be content playing with our stuff. I know the man sitting in the row with us was relieved that she was so good. I think he had a moment of panic when he got to his row:) She screamed as loud as she could when she saw David!! I think they both missed each other a ton!!

Friends in the Northeast we had a blast, and can't wait to do it again. We missed seeing a few people, but hopefully we'll see them the next time we come up. We are glad to be home where we will stay put for awhile. I must say...single moms I don't know how you do it, I am exhausted.