just pics!

I bet you can't fit in a Pampers box!
Aren't I cute!
I used to be afraid of that guy in the background, but not anymore!
Going for a ride with my DaDa!
I love my BaPa!

Life!

It sure sucks you in and keeps you busy! For the last few weeks I have started out the day with the best of intentions to update my blog, but just seem to run out of minutes in the day! Kaelin is in full throttle toddler mode now and keeps us, me especially, runn'in constantly! I can't believe she will be two in less than a month! The time is flying by so fast it is kind of making me sad to see my baby girl disappear! On the flip side it has been a nonstop avalanche of fun watching her learn and grow into such an amazing little person! Every single day is an adventure watching her do something new or say a new word. She learned to do a summersault and loves to show off to anyone who will watch! She is also saying a lot more words in the last few weeks! Sometimes I tell her "in a minute" and she will repeat me, nod and say, "nanette". Her newest thing is pretending she is a kitty cat. It is soooo cute! We have three cats so it is no wonder she loves to pretend to be one!
What else!, oh, we went to visit our daughters in Chicago a couple of weekends ago and Kaelin had a great time! We went to the Shedd Aquarium and she loved all of the fish! We saw almost everything until she peed right through her clothes and stupid mommy didn't pack an extra outfit! We left with Kaelin wearing only a diaper, a sweater, and socks! I have her bundled in my jacket in some of the pics we took outside, it was about 45 degrees!
We are not sure how Kaelin will do with Halloween! She is deathly afraid of anything having to do with it! Everytime we go into Target or the grocery store she freaks out at the skeletons and ghosts! I bought her the cutest lion costume (fits her personality to a tee!) and she is afraid of it! Ugh! So I bought her a ladybug costume and she wants nothing to do with it, either! Okay, plan C! I am going to try to conjure up a Hello Kitty costume! Hopefully she will wear it! Stay tuned....

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one year home!

Happy girl on the plane ride home!
Touching the ground for the first time as a US citizen!
Home!
I can't believe it has been one whole year since we brought Kaelin home! I will never forget seeing all of our kids nervously waiting for us as we walked out of the security area with their new baby sister! I was fine until I saw them and then unexpectedly burst into tears! Maybe it was just because I missed them or more so that I realized I had been waiting for this moment for three and a half years! I wish I had been more prepared for the moment! I did not have my camera ready as it had been such a long and tiring flight, that I just wasn't coherent enough to remember that small but important thing! Oh well, the memory lives in our hearts and minds and it is surely one we will all never forget! Come to think of it, maybe Marie or Sarah have pics and I just never got them!

1st annual hunan spicy girls reunion!

We had our first annual travel group reunion this past weekend in Ft Myers Beach Florida! It was amazing to see all of Kaelin's little friends from her orphanage! My how they had all changed and grown so much! The weather was hot and humid and brought back memories of us all being in Changsha and Guangzhou! It all seemed so familiar right down to all of the mosquitos! I have tons more pics but my cd drive is refusing to work so all I have is what was left on my camera! It is so amazing to share such a special bond with these families! We are so blessed to have them in our life so that Kaelin will always be close to her "sisters" from China!

One year ago today.....We held our precious little angel for the very first time!

Our Gotcha Moment!





Fast asleep on daddy's shoulder for the bus ride back to the hotelGotcha Night!

Has it really been a whole year? It seems like five minutes ago that our beautiful daughter was placed in my arms! I can still smell the sweetness of her silky soft skin the first time I held her. She was sooooo tiny and just downright scrumptious! She was perfect in every way and best of all, she was ours! I don't think that a Gotcha Day could have went more perfectly! You can see for yourself from the pics that it was like something out of a dream! If you want to relive our Gotcha Day you can go here to the post I made the day after we got her.
This past year with Kaelin Bing Wen has been nothing short of amazing! She is soooo happy (except when it is time for bed!), silly, smart, energetic, stubborn, independent, cuddly, loving, beautiful, and sweeeeeeet! She has meant so much to our family and brings sunshine and happiness into our lives every single day! We just can't get enough of her! God has blessed us beyond belief! We thank Him everyday for this little miracle He has placed in our lives!

I like to.....

Color!
Bake cookies!
Play on mommy's pewter!

bye bye sarah!

Our babygirl, Sarah (on the right), will be joining her sister, Marie (on the left), to live and work in Chicago! It is going to be so hard on Bing a Ling to say goodbye and she will no doubt be looking for "Ah" for days on end after she leaves!
Oh crap! Bing just did a face plant into the kitcHen floor! Gotta go!

corn eat'in girl

kaelin's first trip to the zoo!

Well, sort of! If you don't count the Changsha Zoo that we visited while we were in China! On Saturday we took Kaelin to the Detroit Zoo and she loved seeing all of the animals! It was such a beautiful day,82 degrees and sunny! Although Bing is pretty good about sitting in the stroller, her favorite place to see the animals was perched up high on dada's or Marcus' shoulders! One thing she did not like much at all was riding the train! She was so cute! After we got off, she did her sign over and over again for "all done!" There was no way we were going to get her back on that train! Yes we did it backwards, you are supposed to ride the train to the back and then walk your way to the front! So we had to hoof it all the way back thru the zoo again! Good thing Bing got her way or we would have missed some really cool exhibits we didn't see the first time thru!