November 8, 2009 at 4:57 pm (Birthdays, Surae)
Surae turned 3 on October 27. This was the day before we brought her home 2 years ago. Hard to believe we have had our sweet, funny, independent little girl home for that long. In the past 2 years, she has grown from a quiet, shy Surae to a little girl who bursts with humor and spunk. We are so in love! Happy Birthday Sweet Surae.
June 16, 2009 at 9:37 pm (Birthdays, Graham)
Graham is very into all things Super Hero at this point in his life, so he wanted to have a super hero party. Graham and I made capes for all the kiddos and let everyone decorate their own mask. Michael grilled up pizzas for everyone that were delish and of course, we had to bust a Batman pinata. He had a great time and was so excited to have a birthday party. He kept asking the next day if he looked bigger and how he had changed since turning 5. I can’t believe he is about to start 5K in the fall. What a big boy!!
October 26, 2008 at 4:48 pm (Birthdays, Family Time, Surae)
Surae’s 2nd Birthday is Monday, so we celebrated with a little party on Saturday. This also means that on Tuesday, we will have had Surae for a whole year. We decided to just invite family for her birthday party as Surae is still not too crazy about other people being around. She is a big time velcro baby with me.
Surae, unfortunately, did not hold up too well for the party. She clung to me the whole time and wouldn’t let anyone touch her. She got really upset about her gifts (again- an apprehension to all things new and unfamiliar) and just kept saying no. The only gift she seemed to attach to was a stuffed Camel from Pop Pop and Roni and her dress up jewelry.
I thought she was handling things even worse than anticipated and I finally felt her head and she seemed pretty warm. She had a runny nose all day, but everyone in my house has a runny nose right now, so I didn’t think too much about it. Anyway, when I took her temperature it was 103.1. She always seems to run a really high temp when she’s not feeling well.
We put her to bed early (before even eating her cake) and she stayed asleep for a few hours, but was then up constantly, so I pulled her into bed with me around 9. She slept pretty well and her fever went right down, but she is a restless sleeper, so I didn’t get much sleep at all. It was kind of a crazy birthday to say the least.
In other news, my dad and Roni bought Surae this baby doll that moves and coos. Surae didn’t want anything to do with it, but Graham loves it. He keeps wanting to feed it and put it to sleep. It is too funny. Graham is calling her his new sister. Ha!!
June 17, 2008 at 1:49 am (Birthdays, Family Time, Graham)
Graham turned 4 on Sunday. What a day! Not only was it Graham’s birthday, but it was also Father’s Day, our anniversary, and Michael’s parent’s anniversary. That’s a lot to pack into one day. Needless to say, our anniversary fell to the wayside, but we plan on celebrating it in July hopefully.
The birthday festivities began on Saturday with the arrival of my brother. He had a hockey match on Sunday, so decided to come into town a day early to hang out with Graham and spoil him rotten. This turned out to be a great idea as Graham and Uncle Chris needed to catch up on some bonding time. This time to bond even included a heated game of “rag in the face” that ultimately led to the sprinkler, Mr. Volcano’s ultimate demise, but sometimes with good fun you have to pay the price.
The next day, we let Graham open our presents before the chaos of the party ensued. He loved his big boy 4 year old roller skates. He had seen other kids wearing those and decided that when he was 4, he would magically wake up and be able to skate. He also was extremely excited about a daddy gift selection, the space alien laser. I was not too excited about this purchase, but sometimes Mommy’s get overruled.
For the party, we set up a ton of water toys including this great big octopus that Uncle Chris gave Graham for his birthday. Michael’s friend, Mike, also let us borrow a bouncy tent which was a hit. Thanks Mike!! It looked like it might rain and although we desperately need it, I was hoping it would hold off for the party which it did.
Graham decided he didn’t want cake this year, but an ice cream sundae party instead. So, I found these toy sand buckets that seemed perfect for loading with ice cream and other goodies. It worked well and definitely cut down on the mess.
After ice cream, Graham and his friends opened presents. He had a great time ripping through the gifts and is just now starting to process what all of those goodies actually are. It was a bit of a whirlwind.
All in all, Graham had a great time. He was completely exhausted today and I also subjected him today to his 4 year old check up where he had to get 5 shots and a finger prick. Poor guy! He’s definitely growing up really fast. Before long, he’ll be telling me he is tired of being 4 and ready to be 5, but hopefully he’ll bask in the glory of 4 for at least a little while.
October 28, 2007 at 12:57 pm (Adoption, Birthdays, China Trip)
Can you believe it? After over 2 years of paperwork and waiting, we finally have our baby girl, Surae Yaxue and boy was she worth every second of the wait. She is absolutely amazing. She has been an angel baby so far. I keep thinking I need to knock on some wood. The gotcha process was a whirlwind. We landed in Nanchang and got whisked to the hotel. We only stayed at the hotel for 10 minutes and then went straight to the Jiangxi Center for Adoptive Services Office in Nanchang where we walked into a room full of babies. It was crazy and chaotic and my heart was racing! Surae was placed with us and although she whimpered, she never really cried and hasn’t since. She has been wonderful. She has taken to Michael and I both so far and doesn’t seem to prefer one over the other. She is very curious and loves her toys we brought. She can examine a toy for hours. She can already stand without any support too. She seems really healthy and loves eating her cheerios and biscuits. We’re already making her smile a little too. We are in love!!
June 22, 2007 at 2:40 pm (Birthdays)
Graham turned 3 last Friday. It is so hard to believe and so amazing to watch him grow. He changes so much every day and I am trying to take it all in. We had a great birthday party last weekend at Riverbend Farms. Friends, family, and even 2 of his teachers came out to the equestrian park to join in pony rides, a petting zoo, and a hay ride. The pony rides were the highlight for me. Those kids looked absolutely adorable on that pony. They all seemed to love it too.
The tractor for the hay ride was right there too and the kids had a blast playing with the truck and in the hay.
We took a hay ride through the woods and back to a super petting zoo. Graham and his friends came back and ate hot dogs, hamburgers, and cake. Then, Graham opened a sea of presents. He even got his own cowboy costume which he tried on when he got home. He is one lucky boy! Can’t wait to see what Graham’s next year has in store for us…
May 28, 2007 at 12:50 am (Birthdays, Family Time)
I’m playing catch up tonight and I realized that I have gotten so far behind that I hadn’t welcomed Caleigh yet. Michael’s sister had a baby girl that was born on April 16. Her name is Caleigh Elizabeth and she weighed 7 lbs and 6 oz. and was 20 1/4 inches. I love this picture of her and her big sis Abby. So beautiful!
March 10, 2007 at 6:18 pm (Birthdays)
It’s hard to believe that Avery is 2! Time truly flies. Life has been going by so quickly lately and I have been working way too late most days, but Spring is upon us and I am so excited. Spring gives us that opportunity to get outside more and appreciate all that is around us.
Last weekend, Michael, Graham, and I were able to attend Avery’s 2nd birthday party. We all had so much fun. Avery had a sundae making party and so we gobbled up delicious ice cream sundaes with all kinds of goodies on top. Graham had a fantastic time as always running around with his cousins. He loves those girls! Avery received a beautiful rocking chair from her Nana and Poppy. It even has a little slot to keep her books in. All of the kids had a great time and even were able to bring home their sundae cups.
