Birthday Party

On Monday, Marie turns 2! So this Saturday, we celebrated with family at our home. Marie was blessed with a grandma, aunts and uncles and some cousins. When she woke up from her nap on Saturday, we had the kitchen decorated with balloons and lots of Big Bird. She was thrilled with the balloons!!! We had an ice cream cake from Moomers that had a Big Bird likeness on it and the cousins all enjoyed playing with Uncle Rob and his crazy balloons. Rob showed Marie how to make balloons stick to her head using static energy. Marie and Annie were very interested in one another and shared some cheerios and puffs. Marie received lots of clothes and tons of things to color with. A magnet doodle, aqua doodle, color wonders marker set and coloring books. She was thrilled with her Chinese Kung fu doll from Nana Whall. It can be posed in 14 different Kung Fu poses...cool! Jim is playing with it as we speak. It was a lovely day and we are blessed to have this sweet little girl!

A Few More...

Lukey needed to get a picture on here too! Marie sharing some Cheerios with her big cuz (the hair...don't ask).

Thanksgiving Day

Jim and the ladies in the basement watching the Macy's Parade.

Marie and Shelby in the tub (Luke joined in).

Marie playing in the 3" of snow we got last night.

Snow and sun!

Shelby and Sydney sledding down the sidehill.

I would have to say that this is one of Marie's best day's ever. She woke up to find her cousins were here. The day began with playing puzzles with cousin Luke right outside her bedroom door. That progressed to breakfast with her cousins and playing downstairs while watching the parade. She shrieked at the top of her lungs when the Sesame Street float went by with Big Bird. It truly was quite exciting. After nap and the Lions' loss, the daddies took the girls out to play IN THE SNOW (Luke was napping). None of us were prepared for snow; Sydney had on my snow pants rolled up and Shelby had Uncle Jim's fleece over her clothes. But the big girls went sledding and exploring through the woods. Marie screamed when snow touched her feet and then decided that it was fun to play in...if you rip your gloves off first. When I brought her in, I discovered Jim had used atheletic tape to fasten her gloves to her sleeves so she couldn't rip them off. You can see here that this was before Daddy had that brainstorm. Marie finished off her stellar day with hot chocolate, potatoes, steak, red and yellow pepper and a popsicle. Oh...and a bath with her cousins in the big tub. Needless to say, she was very very unhappy when she had to get out of the tub and go to bed.

Hot Chocolate

"Hi. My name is Marie and I am a hot choc-oholic."

Climbing and Bathing

We love to climb. It is particularly fun to climb on the ledge of the fireplace and jump off...you can see the edges are padded...hmm, wonder why? We climb on chairs, stairs, in and out of the tub and we have contemplated the crib but nothing too much there, yet. We have 4 little chairs like this one scattered throughout the house and she knows where they are and loves to climb them.

Tonight, Jim helped out again at youth group. There is a huge side-benefit to this for me...tonight he came home with half of the leftovers of the pasta bar. I put two containers of spaghetti sauce in the freezer and have dinner for tomorrow! I have some sort of cold that has settled into my chest but is making my eye discharge icky stuff. Needless to say, I didn't go to church. So, as he was at youth group, I was in charge of Marie. After dinner, I looked at her and thought, I am too tired to play for another hour. So I asked her, "Marie, do you want to take a bath in the big tub with Mommy?" She looked at me, dropped her stuff and ran over to the stairs. We got her stuff ready for bed, I through on my suit and into the tub we went. She had a blast and after a half-hour I had to force her to get out. She likes to lie on top of me, put her head on the tub pillow and kick her legs making a huge splash. Marie went right to sleep after that. Good Night!

Ready for Church

Marie is doing much better at mass. She will draw for part of it and munch on cheerios for part. The rest of the time is spent standing on me and looking at the people behind us. I feel a little bad about this because I know it is a distraction to others. Things have been so busy that our church schedule is a little chaotic. Sometimes I go in the morning alone at 11 and Jim goes alone at 5pm (or vice versa); sometimes we all go at 9am. She is not too into the music which is surprising to us. We now live quite a bit closer to a different parish and we have gone there a few times and enjoyed it. But, then Jim got a request from the youth minister at our old parish asking him to help out at youth group on Sunday nights. So now we are back to St. Francis for a bit. For a while Marie was attempting to crawl under the pews and other such antics but now she is doing pretty good at sitting in our laps. And she loves Holy Water. She points to her forehead to make sure I do not forget to make the Sign of the Cross on her with Holy Water.

It's a matter of time...

Thumbs has found the fish. This was Sunday night.

Michigan Fan

Marie and Jim watching the U of M - msu game this weekend. Marie had a nice bowl of apples, crackers and veggies; what she is eating is Jim's chicken wing. We had a great group of friends over to watch the game. Alas, for them, they are all Spartan fans. As Michigan came back during the 4th quarter, I had all the kids in the basement and I took great care to explain how the team in green was cheating. Finally, one girl looked at me and said, "But I LIKE the green team!" "OH NO!" I said. "They keep cheating!" Marie loved having the company and it is good to see her so much more comfortable around people. She kept handing her Big Bird DVD to the adults in attempts to get someone to play it for her.

A few fashion shots. Marie has 5 pink coats of various patterns and styles. That's a bit much, don't you think? She also has about 7 pink sweaters. I think she has 4 pairs of pink pants. The funny thing is, I don't really like pink.

Halloween

Marie was one of 3 cats at our little Halloween trek tonight. She did not want to get into her costume and also did not like it when one of her friends gave her a hug...that ended in tears. She tagged along a little slow at first but once she caught on, she took off. We could tell that she had the trick or treating thing figured out when she started to run to the next house. She would not allow anyone to carry her little Jack o'Lantern basket, even when it got quite heavy with candy. And she kept stopping in between houses to try and eat some candy. It didn't make sense to her to get all this candy and not eat it! This particular house freaked her out a little so Momma carried her away. The candy is deposited in a nice big basket on the counter with perhaps a few pieces missing.

And the fish is still alive.

A New Seat and Hat

Marie got an early Christmas gift this week too. She was given a cape/poncho and matching hat knitted especially for her by Aunt Dottie. She has not worn the cape yet but wore the hat yesterday while she went to the park with Daddy. Today when we put it on her, she had a great time pulling it down over her face to make us ask, "Where did Marie go?" It is very cute on her. We tried to capture some pictures and they really don't do the hat justice. I will keep trying.
Thank you!

This weekend I had the flu so Daddy was on deck. He did wonderfully, which is a surprise to no one. Friday night, I spent the night sleeping on the couch and really don't recall it. Saturday I know he and Marie went to the library, the park and got Chinese food. They played a lot together and she took a great nap. Good job Daddy! Sunday, he got a break as I was a lot better. Jim went to church while Marie and I took naps. Then she and I colored. Her new thing is she wants to sit "Indian-Style." You know, with crossed legs. She was trying to imitate me and sit that way while we were coloring today. For those of you who haven't been to the new house, you can see we have taped paper to the floor of the dining room part of the kitchen. (I am a true vision in sweats with a blanket draped over me to ward off chills). We then watched about 3/4's of Big Bird Goes To China. For our fellow China travelers, have you seen this? Am curious what you thought of it. Marie really loved the Monkey King; as I pulled up the blog I saw that Jim had already gone to Wikipedia to look it up. After that, on went the hat and off they went to Pet Smart to get a fish. We will see how long it lasts with the cat.

Football Sunday

Obviously, I need more toys...

...and stuffed animals.

Having a post-Lions victory, pre-park snack.

Taking over Momma's sudoko. (Note matching pink bows on shirt and child.)

WHEW is all I can say. In the past 7 weeks, we have had 2 trips to Chicago, 4 weekend family visits, 1 all weekend long ski patrol refresher and parent-teacher conferences. This weekend, we had...nothing. And it was good.

We went on a gorgeous hike at Empire Bluff, a short hike that ends on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. Marie slept beautifully and her parents watched U of M beat try to lose to Illinois. Today, we biked around the peninsula a few times and Marie and Jim watched the Lions win. I sat on the back deck and read. It was heavenly.

Marie is doing wonderful. She is in love with markers and coloring. We have to hide the markers but she knows where to look. Gotta get smarter...

In a Groove

We have settled into the school year. Marie knows when it is a weekend and when it is a "school day." She l-o-v-e-s weekends. Daddy is there all day long...naptimes are uninterrupted...all the attention...no rushing...relax and play! She gets excited when she realizes in the morning that we are both there; that doesn't happen during the week very often. Although on Thursdays Jim goes into work a little late so we can have "family breakfast." Wednesday nights he has judo so we don't eat dinner together; we decided to make up the time on Thursday mornings. It is a wonderful tradition. Marie is just tickled when she gets to start her day with both of us. But weekends...ahhh...that is another thing. She gets a lot of one-on-one Daddy time. Oddly enough, she seems to like watching football with Jim. Probably because he has had so many opportunities to cheer the past few weeks. Marie roots for whoever is winning - U of M, Chicago Bears, Philly Eagles...and said, "UH OH!" when the Lions quarterback got sacked. She is obviously getting it!

Her words so far are "UH OH," "Dad-ddduuh" ( for Daddy), and "Buh-Bye!" Still no Mama...

Picnic with other Adoptive Families

We were privileged this weekend to enjoy a picnic dinner with many other families who adopted children from China or South Korea. The picnic was in Lake Ann, west of Traverse City and the families all had used the same agency as we did. There were about 12 families with kids of ages 16 months to 5 or 6 year olds. It was wonderful to make connections and talk with those who had "been there and done that" even when their experiences differed...they understood our story. We could compare notes and share memories of China; it was really a great experience. Marie was one of the youngest and tiniest. She doesn't know it but she met some good friends; we got some phone numbers and plan on playdates together. Here I am taking Marie back to the diaper bag for warmer clothing for her. Her t-shirt says, "Everyone loves a brown-eyed girl." We picked that over her U of M jersey!

Twenty-One Months Old

Then

Now

The top is a picture taken in China, one of the first times Jim held Marie. The bottom is this weekend at Elberta Beach. Things have changed!

Tonight when I put Marie to bed, I cried. Tomorrow school starts, so this weekend is the last bit of our baby summer together. Next time it is summer, she will be a true toddler. We will never have a summer together with her as a baby. Crying now too, of course!

But it was a lovely weekend. Thursday night we went to the high school football game. Marie loved the drums, the airplanes and drinking water by the capful as she couldn't manage sipping from the bottle. She went to bed late that night. Friday we went swimming in the lake and had family over for dinner and a boat ride. Very fun to have some dinner guests. Discovered our deck is much much smaller than at our last house, only complaint so far. She went to bed late that night too. Saturday we went to the beach and attended a very nice dinner with some family and ski patrol friends. She went to bed really late that night. Sunday, we made it through mass with one tired baby and got ready for a visit from Rob and Sandra. They spent the day here today and Marie definately went to bed on time tonight!

Marie is indeed 1 and 3/4's today. Almost two. Those of you who warned us that it goes so fast were not accurate. It goes really really fast. Ouch.

Still Haven't Unpacked the Camera

Errrr...sorry about that. So here are some oldies but goodies, hoping to keep you happy in the mean time.

Marie has started to talk a little bit. Whenever she does, we cheer and whoop up a storm. Her eyes light up and she laughs. 'B' words are very big with her. Baby, bye-bye, boat, yeah and daddy are her words. There is an occasional 'mama' which thrills me, of course.

She has adjusted amazingly to her new surroundings. It doesn't hurt that she has a better play space, both inside and out. She has figured out where the toys are in the basement and outside. She knows which direction the park is and also understands if we ask her if she wants to go to the lake. Those comments get squeals out of her. Marie has also figured out that the dishwasher here, like at her old house, will hold magnets. She takes them off the fridge, places them on the dishwasher, walks around for a while and moves it back to the fridge - same spot she took it from. She is in love with the washer and dryer. At the former house, she could never get to them. Since these are frontloaders, all the buttons and lights are within toddler reach. Fortunately, there is a way to lock out the buttons so she can press them to her hearts content. She likes to shut the door to the laundry room with the overhead lights out and watch the washer/dryer lights. Easily entertained?

I canned peaches the past few days. The cans are sitting on the counter, waiting for a spot in the basement to open up. As she eats, she points to the peaches and asks, in her way, if she can eat them. I am getting tired of saying no. Guess maybe I should move them out of her view.

Hopefully the camera will reveal itself in a few days. If it doesn't show up before school starts, it could be awhile.

No pix, just update

We had a dusty, dirty weekend. Friday night wasn't so bad. After dinner it was humid. So we piled in the car and ran down to the bay for a quick swim and to enjoy the breeze. Marie chased the sea gulls and ran along the water's edge and we saw a cormorant swimming! And then, the packing began in earnest. Jim spent Saturday digging out and packing up the garage. Before Jim dove into the garage, he took her to the Farmer's Market and they fed the ducks in the river. Marie spent the rest of the day with me and Grama Tina. Marie babbles non-stop but still doesn't have many words. I know that one day she will be yelling at me and I will miss this time but I can't wait to hear her say something. She has a certain phrase she uses while pointing at Jim and she definately sings songs. Tonight we took her to mass and was that an eye-opening time! She is no longer a little baby who sits quietly in our arms. She was running around up the aisle, crawling under the pew, coloring everything she could find...we had to re-group and have a little parent meeting after church to figure out what we will do for next week. It won't be pretty.

More on the Boat

Scott and his ladies at breakfast.

"They are probably going to go fast and wreck my hair!"

We snuck away from the boxes and moving fun and went to Jim's mother's cabin this weekend. We had a 4 yr old with us and were joined by another family with their daughter. The girls went swimming, boating and tubing...notice I did not say they slept! The moment you pull in to the drive, you feel relaxed. Marie loved to play in the lake but she is not sure about the boat. She likes it at first and then hides her head in my chest while we go fast. It has become a bit of a tradition for our families to spend a weekend there every summer and we love it! Jim's only wish was to pull someone behind the boat and Scott complied by tubing. A good weekend all around!

A Year Ago...

"Uhh..it's a little colder here than in Jiangxi Province!"

Having fun inside!

American Girl!

A year ago today, Jim picked up the phone shortly after 7am (after I cried myself to sleep because we hadn't heard yet) to hear, "You're a Dad!" He was so excited that he got her name, birthdate, and what province she was from but never asked the gender. Can't tell from the Chinese name! He hung up the phone without the information!!! We called back but she was busy with other calls so it was a long 15 minutes until we found out that Marie Kathleen Yi Whall was a girl! We celebrated all day long by telling all of you and had a few nice surprises! We went to the Bethany Christian Service office to get our 3 precious pictures and all the details they had about our little girl. We learned that she was in foster care and in good health. I was able to show those pictures with my cousin Becky shortly afterwards. Our good friends Kerry and Kate came over with an outfit for Marie, that she wore Thanksgiving weekend. I came home to find that my house had been decorated by Becky with balloons (that I still have, by the way!) Can't believe it has been a year since we first saw her cute face. Here are a few pictures of the past year to see how much she has changed!

A true, exhausted Asian-American girl with her sippy cup, baby doll, watching some Baby Einstein videos after a long day at play.

Chubby cheeks vacationing on Waikiki beach at the New Year.

Enjoying some noodles at the Chinese Restaurant for Chinese New Year.