Aminah XiuPing

New Year 2011

2010-12-26T19:17:00.001-08:00

Confetti Countdown Filmstrip New Year's

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Growing up

2009-02-23T15:11:00.000-08:00

Aminah is growing up in so many ways. Each day she amazes me with the things that she says. She has grown 3/4 of an inch since Christmas. I put the pants on that she wore Christmas Eve and they were "highwaters." So I measured her and sure enough she grew. The preschool told me on Friday that they are wanting to move her up to the next level of Pre-Kindergarten (that is for the older 4 year olds) because she is ready. Yesterday the Sunday school teacher said, "She is ready to move into the Kindergarten class." I know that she is comfortable where she is and she is so ready to start teaching the class herself so I guess she is ready, but I'M NOT. How can my little girl be growing up so quickly.

On another note we went to visit our friends new grandbaby Saturday night and I told Aminah that we were going to go see the new baby. She wanted to get all dressed up. She wore a dress with lots of foofoo and her tiara. I had to take pictures. I think she wanted to make sure that the new baby did not outshine her!

Kisses

2009-01-28T22:01:00.001-08:00

Aminah: Mommy do you know what kisses are?
Mommy: What?
Aminah: Your heart coming out your mouth.
Mommy: Where did you learn that?
Aminah: I just though of it.
Aminah pauses for a minute and then says: Maybe I will teach it.

So the next time you kiss someone remember that it is your heart coming out of your mouth.

Homework

2009-01-28T18:06:00.000-08:00

Apparently homework is frustrating for a 4-year-old. All she is being asked to do is write her name. It is something that she is not mastering. She can do most other things that are required of her, but this homework thing is beyond fun. When I told her that she needed to do her homework she grumbled and groaned. So we are sitting together and with each letter she isn't enjoying herself. She puts one hand on her head and said, "This is NOT happening!" I told her it was happening and that she needed to finish writing her name. "No TV or Computer until you finish writing your name." I tell her. Then she continues to moan and says, "It's not FAIR" with more dramatics than an accomplished actress. So that was Monday night. Tonight . . . more of the same. She keeps writing the letters wrong just so she can erase them. I told her that she has at least 17 more years of homework and she should get used to it. She just rolled her eyes at me. And thus it begins.

Christmas Morning 2008

2009-01-13T21:59:00.000-08:00

Christmas was such a great day. When we woke up we came out to see what Santa brought. He filled our stockings and brought Aminah a doll house. We went to Aunt Pat and Uncle Brownie's house to open gifts there. They have a tradition of praying and thanking God before opening gifts. I asked if Aminah could pray first and then they could do their prayer. I figured Aminah would do her regular prayer that she always says at school, but no she decided to give her first heart felt prayer. It was like this, "Dear God, thank you for all these gifts, thank you for everything you do for us, for loving us, and for all our stuff." It brought tears to our eyes. She was so thankful for and I was so glad that I let her pray that morning. They decided that her prayer said it all, and we started opening our gifts. Nothing is as wonderful as the gift that God gave us with his Son. Of course I believe a close second is the gift He gave me when He let me be Aminah's mommy.

Christmas Time

2009-01-13T21:10:00.000-08:00

This year we had a fantastic Christmas. We had lots of fun leading up to the actual Christmas day. Here is a snap shot of what occured. We had breakfast with Santa at my school, a girl party at Jill's house, performances at Aminah's preschool and at our church. We had a great day in the snow with Luke and Linsey. We also had Christmas Eve at my house with Justin, Ashli, and Dane.

Aminah's Christmas Program

2008-12-20T23:42:00.001-08:00

Aminah had her Christmas Program at the Preschool and she was very excited. She had practiced her song and we invited "Bubba", Ashli, and "Baby Dane." Here is a really cute picture of Aminah and Dane (her step-cousin or her uncle's grandson or something like that) :)

Halloween Party at Preschool

2008-11-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the month Aminah's teacher at preschool asked for parents to donate items for their Halloween party. I didn't sign up at the time because there were quite a few parents already signed up and I usually will do about 3 out of the 4 parties. I had already spent quite a bit of extra money on the school fundraiser earlier in the month and felt I had to bow out of it this time. There were plenty of other parents that had signed up and all of the slots eventually were filled. As the month went on the teacher wrote "Thank You" next to each parent that had brought in their donations, so I knew that it was being taken care of. Earlier this week I received a note on the sign-in sheet asking if I could bring in either a large bag of candy or 12 toys. I ignored the little note, feeling that they already had plenty from what I had seen coming into the room. Then the day before Halloween there was another note from the teacher asking me again to either bring in 12 toys or a large bag of candy. I had arrived early enough to speak with the teacher and told her that I wasn't going to be able to do it this month. I told her I had looked through my "gift cupboard" at home and found 6 toys but didn't have 12 and she said, "well we just want to make sure that the kids have enough stuff." I felt pressured, but knew the kids would have plenty of stuff, so I didn't bring anything in. Well as it turns out I was right. When Aminah came home on Halloween day she had 67 items in her bag! Here is a list of all that she brought home:
Candy:
4 Smarties, 6 Tootsie Rolls, 3 Sour Punch, 3 Lolly Pops, 3 Starburst, 1 Nerds, 1 Dots, 3 Snickers, 3 M&Ms, 2 Almond Joy, 2 Hershey, 4 KitKat,
Other Edible Items:
1 Cookie, 1 Fruit Snack, 1 Rice Crispy
Toy Items:
1 large container of Play Dough, 1 Sponge Bob Pen with Etch-A-Sketch, 2 Eye Patches, 1 Pumpkin Sticker, 3 Spider Rings, 1 Butterfly Pen, 1 Bat Straw, 4 Lip Whistles, 1 braclet, 2 Stamps, 1 Ball and Jack set, 1 Rubber Rat, 1 Rubber Lizard, 1 Parachute Pumpkinman, 1 Bottle of Bubbles, 1 Fake Finger, 2 Chinese Yo-Yos, 1 Pumpkin Whistle, 1 Fake Gun, and 1 Glow Stick
So as you can see I wrote it all down, because I was quite amazed. I'm so glad I didn't contribute MORE to their plethora of stuff. (How often do you get to use a word like plethora? - means overabundance)

Flower Girls

2008-10-18T23:25:00.000-07:00

Aminah was in her first wedding today. She was a flower girl with her best friend Linsey. The girls were adorable and took their job very seriously. Aminah's teacher just got married a few weeks ago and so Aminah knows a real flower girl. She was able to share all kinds of information about what a flower girl does and what kinds of things a flower girl has. Apparently, flower girls get a coloring book when they are done. Unfortunately, the bride didn't have this bit of knowledge because there was no coloring book. Also it appears that flower girls are supposed to wear white instead of brown. Again the bride wasn't aware of this rule either. Another mistake the bride made was that she didn't have flowers for the girls to wear in their hair. I guess the bride didn't know much about weddings because Aminah also noted that the bride didn't wear a veil. Next time you need a wedding consultant just ask Aminah, because it seems she "knows" a LOT about how weddings are supposed to be, even though this was her first wedding.

Complete Sentences

2008-09-30T21:06:00.000-07:00

At school I am teaching my students to use complete sentences. It is something that is following me home. I have found myself numerous times telling Aminah to use a complete sentence. Here is a sample of how that is going.
Aminah: Mommy ask me how many sides a circle has.
Mommy: Aminah, how many sides does a circle have?
Aminah: None
Mommy: Use that in a complete sentence.
Aminah: Hey Mommy none.
Mommy says with a smile: You are so smart!

It wasn't exactly the complete sentence I was hoping for, but it sure was cute!

Now What?

2008-09-01T14:43:00.001-07:00

I've been waiting for 11 1/2 months now for the Vietnam adoption. I knew it would be a long journey and that it would be filled with ups and downs. Today Vietnam officially closed adoptions to the United States. What now? Well until Vietnam and the United States can come to an agreement (called the Memo of Understanding - MOU), adoptions will NOT be happening. I still have quite a few people ahead of me before my number is even an issue. Let's say that Vietnam and the United States were to make an agreement by the end of the year, I would still be on the waiting list for about another 100 or more people ahead of me. That doesn't mean that things would move quickly then either. I have moved up about 100 people in the last year, but only because people knew that Vietnam was closing so they started looking elsewhere. Now I need to decide, if I'm going to look elsewhere or if I'm going to continue to wait for something that might not happen. If I continue to wait then I will have to renew my current homestudy and my fingerprints, and I will probably have to do that a few times before this is through. Lots to think about. On the bright side, Aminah continues to be her amazing self. I'm lucky to have her and know that if God wants us to be a family of 2, then at least we are a terrific team.

Gotta Love Preschool!

2008-08-31T12:59:00.000-07:00

This Thursday I got a call from Aminah's preschool. I had sent her to school with the sniffles and a cough so I thought that was going to be the call. Ms. Stephanie told me how much she liked me as a parent and wanted to make sure that after this call I didn't hate her. I was a little worried at this point about what she was going to say. She told me that Aminah had lice. OH! I totally didn't see that one coming. I told her I was on my way. That is when the fun began. I had Back-To-School-Night that evening and had to get ready for that. My head was totally trying to figure out what I was going to do about the LICE. Terri was going to Walgreens so she picked up the special shampoo and when I got home at 8:30, we began the process. I knew it was going to be a process, but I had no idea how much laundry I would go through over the next few days. We have pretty much been able to control the eggs and there was only one bug (the one they found at school). Hopefully on Tuesday she will be egg free and will be able to go back to school. I guess we will have to continue to check her daily for two weeks and we will also have to do another round of the shampoo 7 - 10 days later. No problem, I really don't want this to ever happen again. Aminah has a great attitude and the only time I saw her slightly upset was when she was at school and all the kids were running up to me telling me, "Aminah has bugs in her hair." She had such a sad look on her face at that point. I told each child that I knew and I would handle it. The look on Aminah's face when I calmly told them that was a little of relief. The rest of the process hasn't been tramatic for her at all. I can't wait to see my water bill and electric bill because of all the extra laundry that is being done in HOT water. It will be worth it, if I can have a bug/egg free household.

3 Amazing Years

2008-08-22T21:17:00.000-07:00

Three years ago today Aminah and I became a family. God sent me half way around the world so that I could be her mommy and she could be my daughter. What would my life had been like if I didn't go where He called me to go? I wouldn't know how much HE loved me. He must think I'm pretty special, because he let me be this little girl's mother. There just aren't enough words to express my thankfulness for having this little one in my life. This week I was talking with Aminah's teacher from last year. She was telling me that she noticed that Aminah was a very caring little girl. Whenever someone is crying she comes over and tries to comfort them. She is always willing to share with others. She thinks about others and likes to make presents for people. She is compassionate and loving. I am a very blessed mommy. The last three years really have been amazing.

Olympics in China

2008-08-08T22:04:00.000-07:00

Tonight Aminah and I watched the opening ceremonies of the olympics. I wasn't sure if Aminah would be interested or not. She is used to cartoons. I told her that I wanted to watch the olympics on TV because they were in China. She wasn't really interested at first (she was busy on the INTERNET - more on that later). She saw a group of people running and then it showed the Great Wall of China. She said, "They are all running to get them babies." She knows that when I went to China I saw the Great Wall and then got my baby. She made a connection.
So back to the fact that my 4 year old is on the INTERNET. I've taken her to a few websites that are designed for kids. PBS has a great site with all of her "friends" that she sees on TV. I usually will man the keyboard and mouse because she is young. I don't have a real mouse set up on my laptop so I thought it would be too difficult for her to use the touchpad. Well, I was wrong. Tonight I wanted to get some housework done and she wanted to play on the computer. I set her up on one easy PBS game that she wouldn't have to do much with the mouse and started getting things done. I came back and she was switching to other games and was able to use the touchpad! Children of the Digital Age.

Colorado June 2008

2008-08-03T22:57:00.000-07:00

I'm finally able to upload pictures from Colorado. I tried earlier this summer and had technical difficulties. I hope you enjoy the pictures. I'll try to get some more summer pictures loaded before summer is over.

Check out my Slide Show!

2008-06-26T23:24:00.001-07:00

My New Year's Resolution

2008-06-26T22:42:00.000-07:00

My New Year's Resolution was to blog every week. As you can see that didn't happen. It seemed like such an easy thing to follow through on. I'm so far behind I'm not sure how to catch up. Things won't even be in order. I guess I need to look at my pictures and see if anything makes for a worthy blog post. I'll check back soon. No really I will.

Re-Adoption Day

2008-03-07T21:33:00.000-08:00

It was a fantastic day. I left school early and picked up Aminah. We came home and got ready. Our appointment was at 1:30. Why did they have to schedule it during nap time? Anyway, I had invited a few friends to join us, but because it was during the school day I didn't really think anyone would be able to make it. I called my dad's house and talked to my stepmom and she said she would see if they could make it. So when I got to the courthouse I was surprised that they were there. Also Libby called and said that she was going to make it. When she arrived she Diane with her. Another nice surprise. When we were walking up to the building Aminah asked, "Is this the orphanage?" I guess she was a little confused. No telling what was going on in that little mind of hers. I tried to explain a little better. So we had to wait a little while, but then the bailiff called us in, and we were the only family there. Aminah and I had to sit at the "Plaintiff" chairs. There was a microphone that Aminah found right away and started playing with it. She thought she was something else. The judge finally asked the bailiff to move the microphone for the technical guy's sake. The judge asked a few questions and then said that he approved. We signed the papers and it was official. In reality it was official in China, but this Adoption Day is so that Aminah can have a birth certificate stating that I AM HER MOTHER. We took pictures with the judge and that was it. I invited everyone to go have ice cream with us. Yummy. We had some errands to run afterwards so Aminah never did get her nap. On the way home, she fell asleep. Poor little thing was exhausted. All in all it was a great day.

Zacchaeus and College

2008-02-24T11:28:00.000-08:00

So Aminah knows about Zacchaeus in the bible. We have some Bible Heroes flash cards. Last night we were going through the flashcards and came upon Zacchaeus. I unfortunately didn't remember anything about this particular person. Aminah took one look and saw the tree behind him and said, "He climbed in a tree to see Jesus." Well I thought she was just making things up, but I read about him on the back and that is in fact what happened. Wow, I asked her if she learned that at church or at school and she told me, "Ms. Rachel told me." I love the fact that she learns so much about the bible at school.
Today I asked her if she was going to go to college when she grew up. She said, "I dunno." I asked her if she was going to be a teacher or a doctor, and she said, "We will just have to see."

Shy but talkative

2008-02-23T17:04:00.000-08:00

Aminah is so shy around other people, but she will talk up a storm around me. Today she was telling me about her school. It has been raining some lately and she was talking about how she loves the rain. She said, "You know they are called rain drops." I told her that yes, I did know that. I asked her if she is able to go outside when it was raining at school. She said if it is just "a little bit rainy" then they do, but if it is "a lot rainy" then they don't. I asked what they did if it was "a lot rainy" and she said they stay inside. Then she continued to tell me that if they go outside and it has rained a lot then they can't go on the grass because it is too slippy. So they have to wait until the grass isn't slippy anymore. I told her that that was the way it was at my school also, and she said, "Yes, I know that." I know that wasn't a very interesting conversation for most people, but for me . . . it makes me realize that she knows what's going on around her and she is taking it all in. She is able to tell people all about something that is important to her. I better be careful with my conversations around her. If she is able to tell me this much, she probably tells an earful to the preschool teachers also. I love when she will tell a story and then tell me at the end, "and that is the end of the story, THE END."

Chinese New Year

2008-02-17T21:05:00.000-08:00

We have been pretty busy with Chinese New Year celebrations, but I think we are finally done. I sent things to Aminah's class, taught about Chinese New Year in my class, ate Chinese food, rode a train to Chinatown and saw the dragon parade, and attended a Chinese New Year dinner. It has been a lot of fun, but we have been extremely busy.

Airplanes

2008-02-06T22:25:00.000-08:00

Aminah and I were in the car tonight and she saw an airplane. She told me that the plane was going to get its baby. I waited for more of the story, and she continued to tell me that it was going to the "air fort" and it was going to get its baby. I asked where it was going to get its baby from and she said, "China." She then started to tell me that babies come from China and you have to go to the air fort and get on the plane and get the baby. Ooops I guess we have watched her "Gotcha Day" video way too many times. That is basically how her story begins on the video. We are at the airport and I say to the other adopting parents, "Let's get on that plane and go get those babies." She loves watching her story!

Amazing

2008-02-03T22:01:00.000-08:00

This morning Aminah and I were watching cartoons in bed and a commercial came on for a purse. The people in the commercial showed how much "stuff" could fit in the purse. They dumped out the contents of their previous purse and organized it into the new purse and even added a water bottle and an umbrella. So I asked Aminah if she liked that purse because she was watching every second of the commercial and she replied, "No it is too AMAZING." I laughed, then later I saw the commercial again and thought maybe they used the word "amazing" in the commercial, but they didn't. I guess she really thought it was too good to be true and was just "too amazing."

Aminah's Rooms

2008-01-23T18:34:00.001-08:00

I wanted to show off some of my painting (because maybe Aminah comes by it naturally). Aminah's bedroom is painted with a garden theme and the playroom has a scene on one of the walls. Aminah has a dream playroom (well as much of a dream as you can have in a 10 x 10 space. I love doing painting and if I ever move I will be sad to see the rooms repainted. Then again that would give me new "canvas" to work with at a new location. Actually a very good friend helped me with the playroom and gave me the confidence to do it on my own when it came to Aminah's room. What Aminah doesn't realize is that eventually she will have to share her rooms as well as her stuff, and most of all HER MOMMY!

Budding Artist

2008-01-23T18:26:00.000-08:00

So this doesn't look like the artwork of a 3 1/2 year old. Aminah was working one day on her art easel and I hear her talking about whiskers, eyes, mouth, nose. When I went in to see what she was making I was amazed to see a cat that she painted. I know I'm just a proud parent, but you have to admit it is pretty good.

Second Grade Standards

2008-01-13T20:44:00.000-08:00

The teacher in me is very impressed with my daughter. There have been quite a few things lately that have come up in conversations with Aminah that make me realize she is understanding some of the second grade standards better than my students. I'm not sure if this makes me a great mom, or a terrible teacher but here goes.
Plurals - We are in the car talking about Dora and Boots (Dora's monkey) and Aminah informs me that we can't call him Boots because, "he is only one, so we have to call him Boot." Pretty impressive!
Synonmyms - Lulu (the dog) is outside and for some reason she is licking the ground. Aminah sees this and says, "Lulu stop licking the ground, that is yucky, it's 'gusting and gross. So stop licking the ground Lulu."
Nutrition - "Mommy when you eat and drink the food goes in your tummy and comes out in the potty as poop."
Synonyms - We are driving in the car and I'm talking to my friend on the cell phone. Aminah is in the backseat and I'm talking about her coat for some reason and Aminah says, "It isn't a coat, it's a jacket!" My friend tells me to tell her they are synonyms. So I tell her "They are synonyms. They mean the same thing, jacket and coat mean the same thing." She says, "uuuuhhh, you are giving me a headache."
So maybe I'm pushing too much.

Aminah and Luke's First Date

2008-01-03T23:16:00.000-08:00

Well Aminah had her first date with Luke. The day before Linsey and Aminah had a day together so yesterday was the day that Luke got his day with Aminah. His mother and I are always joking about Luke and Aminah getting married. Luke's older sister Amy was teasing Luke that he was going to kiss his "girlfriend" on New Year's Eve. Well in one of these pictures you can see what Luke thought of Aminah stealing a kiss. They really do like each other and aren't worried about how they look while eating fettucini.

Enchanted Slide Show!

2008-01-02T22:33:00.001-08:00

Enchanted New Year

2008-01-02T09:40:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone has an Enchanted New Year! Aminah and I went with Aunt Libby and Linsey to see the movie Enchanted at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. It was an adorable movie. Aminah wasn't as impressed as I was. I guess I should have previewed it before taking my 3 year old to it. Live and learn. At least it gave us some real bonding time, seeing as she wouldn't leave my lap and spent much of the movie with her head covered. Poor thing. Yes, she slept fine last night just in case you are wondering. So I don't recommend the movie for preschoolers but for those of us that are a little more mature it was so worth it. After the movie we went "backstage" to see the Disney Princesses. Aminah and Linsey were able to have their pictures taken with all the princesses. It was so much fun for them. I will post the slide show. Have a great New Year!

Christmas 2007 Slideshow

2007-12-28T21:50:00.001-08:00

God Loves You

2007-11-04T20:42:00.000-08:00

My Aminah . . .what can a mother say about her sweet little angel. Well at least at this particular moment she was a sweet little angel. I've been sick on and off for a few weeks now. Tonight was one of those nights that I'm just not feeling well. I was putting Aminah to bed and she said her feet were hurting her (no doubt the cowboy boots she has worn every day this week). So I took her feet in my hands and she put her hands on top of mine and I was praying for her feet. Then we prayed for our friends and family. Then she said she wanted to pray. Her prayer was heartfelt. She prayed, "Dear Jesus help my mommy to get better so that she can feel better in your name we pray, Amen." It was just so cute. Then I asked her as I was kissing her goodnight, "Who loves you?" and she said confidently - "GOD" and I asked who else loved her and she said, "mommy." Then I asked her who loved me? Again she replied, "GOD" and I said anyone else? And she said, "I love you mommy." Who could ask for anything more? God is Good! When she becomes a teenager I hope that she will answer those questions in the same way. I hope that she always knows that God and Mommy love her. Check out her in the cowboy boots.

Happy Halloween

2007-11-04T20:26:00.000-08:00

We had a great Halloween. Aminah of course is Cinderella. There are many times I have to address her as Cinderella or else she won't answer me. One time we were in a store and I turned around I couldn't see her. So I called her name and she didn't answer. I called it again and nothing. I started to panic and then remembered a few minutes earlier she told me she was Cinderella. I called out, "Cinderella where are you?" and of course she yelled, "Here I am." So it was only natural that she would wear a Cinderella outfit. We went to try on the costumes at the store and they were all too itchy. She has very sensitive skin anyway so I decided to go ahead and get out the sewing machine and make her a Cinderella costume. I forgot to look at the price of the lace and I accidently ended up having to buy the 3 yards I had them cut. I ended up paying about $24. for the lace alone. UGGGG . .. lesson learned. . . check out the price before you have them cut it. Then as I'm making the Cinderella dress I find out that Aminah can't wear her costume to preschool because they only allow Rodeo attire that day. Well, I'm already working on the costume and she IS Cinderella so I have to continue, but we end up also having to purchase items for her Rodeo outfit. We found a t-shirt that said, "Rodeo Princess" and then I also found a pair of pink cowboy boots. She has fallen in love with her boots. I'm pretty sure it is because EVERYONE comments on how cute they are. She loves the attention. So by day she was a rodeo princess and by night she was Cinderella. She had a grand time. I didn't actually get a picture of her with her rodeo outfit but I will post a picture of her with her boots later.

Happy Gotcha Day

2007-10-16T18:24:00.000-07:00

On August 22nd we celebrated our 2nd Gotcha Day. For those of you unfamiliar with the adoption term, it means the day we "got each other" or the day I got her. Some people call it "Forever Family Day" - the day they became a family forever. The only problem is that our Gotcha Day is always the first week of school. So that is why it is taking me almost 2 months to post the pictures. I do make a point of making our Gotcha Day special. We go out for Chinese food, invite friends to go with us, get a special cake, and a gift. She dresses in her Chinese outfit and off we go. I also like to watch the video of when I first held her in my arms.

Cousins

2007-10-16T18:14:00.000-07:00

Aminah had a lot of fun with her Colorado cousins. Belle and Suzie were here the week before school started so we got to spend time with them and also with Justin and Ashli and Baby Dane. I'm sure at some point I will have to stop calling him Baby Dane. Along with Belle and Suzie came TT Im and Uncle Eric.

Dress Up

2007-08-26T16:46:00.000-07:00

Aminah loves to dress up. Mostly she likes to be a "princess" but she also likes to wear a sheet over her head and run around in the front yard, or just putting a lamp shade on her head will work also. Hmmm.

Aminah takes to swimming

2007-08-26T16:35:00.000-07:00

Although she was a little reluctant in large pools Aminah enjoyed playing in the little 1 foot pool in Bear Valley and also staying on the steps of larger pools. We went to play with Luke and Linsey a few times this summer. One day we went to pick up our church's China mission team from the LAX airport and we were waiting at the hotel and Aminah went for a dip in their pool. Next year she will hopefully take swimming lessons.

My China Doll

2007-08-26T16:26:00.000-07:00

We are very lucky to have friends that travel to China and pick up dresses for Aminah. "Guncle Sing" and "Auntie Nette" went to Hong Kong and bought Aminah this gorgous lavender dress. When my friend "Aunt Libby" went to China to pick up her second china baby she got a parasol for Aminah. I try to keep some of Aminah's first heritage in her life so that she will appreciate where she came from.

Aminah's 3rd Birthday

2007-08-26T13:52:00.001-07:00

Disneyland - July 2007

2007-08-21T17:59:00.001-07:00

5 Minutes For Mom

2007-08-13T23:35:00.000-07:00

I've just discovered a new website that I think is pretty cool. http://www.5minutesformom.com/ It seems they have contests and this weeks contest is giving away a Flat Panel LCD HDTV. Wow I'm not even sure what all that means but I'm sure I NEED it as Aminah would say. She always NEEDS things (hmmmm does she get that from her mommy?). Anyway if you go to that site you could also sign up to win. Best Buy is sponsering the give away and although I would hate to have a bunch of people sign up to win, because that means that I might not win it. If I can't win it though it would be cool to know that someone won because I told them about it. (OK who am I fooling, I WANT to win)

Aminah goes to her first big screen movie.

2007-08-07T19:43:00.000-07:00

Aminah went to her very first big screen movie. I decided to give it a try and see if she could handle a movie at a movie theater. Our friends were going and I thought maybe there would be safty in numbers. We met Terri, Keli, Brenda, Kaitlin, Pat, Kaitlin's two cousins, and Jackie at the theater for the showing of Ratatouille. It was a success! She sat through the movie and just got a little restless towards the end, but nothing popcorn and Rice Krispie snacks couldn't help. Since her first movie was such a success a few days later we decided to take a trip to Disneyland to see how that went.
You will need to view our slide show of that. We ended up getting to Disneyland around 10:30 am and stayed until lunch. We then went to Terri's Aunt Glenna's house for a little rest. Silly me had hoped she would take a nap, I easily could have, but at least she was able to rest. Then we went back to Disneyland and ended up staying until almost midnight. By the time we made it to the car it was officially midnight. She did great. She is offically a Disney girl!

4th of July 2007

2007-08-07T19:33:00.001-07:00

Tashia Visits

2007-08-07T18:30:00.000-07:00

My niece, Tashia came to visit one warm summer day. So we took off for Tehachapi where it is about 10 degrees cooler. It was a great visit and Aminah was able to play with Luke and Linsey for a little while also. Tashia lives in Texas so we don't get to see her too often. It was nice to be able to catch up.

Summer Days

2007-07-25T08:26:00.000-07:00

We are having a great summer! I've been trying to keep Aminah busy with activities. She likes to paint with a paint brush and water on the sidewalk and wait for it to disappear. I also gave her a bowl of water and lots of things to pour with and she measures and plays for hours. I gave her shaving cream on a lid and she played for a while but I don't think she really liked the mess. One day she came home from preschool and she had a Fruit Loop necklace so after she ate all of her Fruit Loops she made a Cherrio necklace at home.

Mother's Day and Father's Day

2007-07-24T18:06:00.001-07:00

The beauty of being a single mom is that I was able to celebrate both Mother's Day and Father's Day. Aminah had a performance at her school where she was able to sing songs. It was very sweet to see her at her debut. Terri, Nana Nancy, and even Mr. David came to see her sing. On Father's Day I received my first handmade tie. I proudly wore it to church.

Santa Barbara Zoo - May 2007

2007-07-24T17:56:00.001-07:00

How about these Easter Cuties!

2007-07-15T22:32:00.001-07:00

More Easter 2007

2007-07-15T21:55:00.000-07:00

Aminah had to leave carrots for the Easter bunny. For some reason my flash wasn't working that night. I also wanted to show off Aminah's new "big girl" haircut and Easter dress. I can't believe how grown up she looks.

Aminah's First Haircut

2007-07-15T21:46:00.000-07:00

We finally had to go to a professional! I had cut Aminah's bangs for a while and did fine, but then she decided to move around while I was in the middle of a cut. Then we had to go about 3 weeks (while it was growing out) with people asking me if she cut her own hair. I prepped her for the big day and made sure I brought her some treats to hold onto while we were cutting her hair. She loves Uncle Brownie (Terri's uncle) and was willing to let him cut her hair. Of course Mommy had to go first, so it was a fun day for both of us.

Check out my Slide Show!

2007-07-10T21:33:00.001-07:00

The Neighborhood Celebrates Easter

2007-07-10T16:41:00.000-07:00

I live in a great neighborhood. Our first Easter event was when Brenda and Kaitlyn invited us to dye Easter eggs at their house. Terri joined us also. Aminah spent quite a bit of time painting the perfect egg. A few days later Brenda and Kaitlyn invited us over for an Easter egg hunt. Aminah had a great time and had lots of fun hunting for the eggs. The previous year she didn't enjoy having to "pick up" after that bunny, but this year we had LOTS of egg finding opportunities. Terri gave Aminah the DVD Veggie Tales An Easter Carol which replaced her favorite movie (Frosty the Snowman), which I was able to recite word for word by this time. Nana Nancy came over with a few items for Aminah also including a new Easter purse. The night before Easter John and Darlene came across the street with an Easter basket for Aminah. She had definately won the hearts of our neighbors.

A Day at CALM

2007-06-26T13:04:00.000-07:00

One day in March, Terri and Mommy took Aminah to the California Living Musuem. We had a great day. Aminah really liked the snake. She thought the reptile house was great. She also liked watching the ducks and the bears. I'm wondering what the animals thought of Aminah going through the "zoo" making her animal noises?

All Work and No Play?

2007-06-25T23:35:00.000-07:00

Aminah likes to play outdoors but she also likes to help around the house. One day in March, Mommy was cleaning out the garage and Aminah wanted to help (I'll show her this picture when she is a teenager). She of course still needs to be stylish while she is working (Maybe she really is a teenager in a toddler's body). When she needs her sunglasses on she will say, "Eww, too bright Mommy." Which translates to: "Hey, get my sunglasses!"

Aminah is Learning to Like the Camera

2007-06-25T23:19:00.000-07:00

For the longest time Aminah would not cooperate with the camera, but she is learning that Mommy likes to take her picture. She has also decided that she likes to see the pictures. Now when she has a new outfit on and I say, "Let's go take your picture." She goes right outside and gets ready. I'm not even going to mention the fact that once I offered to pay her money if she would just smile for me. (The girl can be bought). Both of these pictures were taken on our way to school.

Chinese New Year

2007-06-23T21:58:00.000-07:00

This year Chinese New Year seemed to last forever. We had so many wonderful events and Aminah was definately exposed to the Chinese Culture. We went to Los Angeles for the Chinese New Year Parade with the Gividens and the Jamesons. It was nice to see so many families with Chinese children. Uncle Sing and Auntie Nette invited us to a Chinese dinner hosted by the Chinese Woman's Club. The following week we were invited to another dinner and dance with the Gividens. It was so much fun to see Aminah playing with all of the Chinese kids. The local Chinese Woman's club said that I could join as an honorary Chinese woman. I might just have to take them up on that offer. Auntie Nette thought that she was teaching Aminah how to use chopsticks but little did she know Aminah is already able to manipulate them enough to get a few bites in her mouth. As you can see she is quite the ham . . . after all it was the year of the pig. Of course Aminah was born in the year of the monkey and she will always be my little monkey.

Aminah's First Day of Preschool

2007-06-23T16:25:00.000-07:00

Aminah was so excited to go to school. She was totally ready although I had some mixed feelings. Her previous daycare was so close to my school and took such wonderful care of her that it was a tough decision. I will always be grateful that Aminah had such a loving place to go when she was still a "baby" but now that she is a big girl she is ready to learn. She was very excited about the swings. That seemed to be the top thing she would talk about along with the food. She is no different than any other school kid when you ask what they did at school they always talk about recess and lunch. Aminah is in a class with 15 other 2 year olds. God bless the teachers, they really are wonderful and patient. Aminah also loves to paint. When I go to pick her up in the afternoon she says, "no, not yet." I finally figured out that I was picking her up right at paint time, so I had to adjust my schedule a little so that she could do her painting.

Merry Christmas

2007-06-23T15:48:00.000-07:00

Aminah and Mommy had a great Christmas! Aminah woke up to another "tree" in her living room but wasn't as shocked as she was the previous year. She didn't have any problems keeping her hands off the ornaments. I didn't put very many presents under the tree until about December 20th because I thought it might be too tempting. We spent Christmas morning with our friends here in Bakersfield (Aunt Pat, Uncle Brownie, Nana Nancy, Mr. David, the Tolberts, and of course Terri) and Christmas afternoon was spent with the Gividen's and Jamesons in Tehachapi. Aminah was just a "little" spoiled at Aunt Pat's house. Everyone went overboard. There were so many gifts for her from them that I ended up taking most of the gifts I bought her home (still wrapped). I took them out a little at a time and some are still wrapped 6 months later. Santa was very nice and gave Aminah a kitchen for Christmas. It fits perfectly in Mommy's kitchen so that she can "cook" while Mommy is also cooking.

I also have to tell a funny story from November. We had a couple of foggy days here in Bakersfield and one Sunday when we were leaving for church it was very foggy and I was showing Aminah the fog. We could barely see our neighbor John across the street. I was showing her the fog and she was saying, "oh yea, foggy." I wasn't sure if she understood what I was talking about. Two days later we were leaving for school and it was again foggy. She noticed right away and said, "It foggy." I of course was amazed that she could figure this out so quickly. So as we are driving along she is talking about the "fog" and then she said, "it foggy . . . ribbit, ribbit." So much for by brilliant teaching. She was probably wondering the whole time, "I don't see a stinkin' frog, but I'll play along just to humor the lady."

Where have I been?

2007-06-23T15:31:00.000-07:00

Well it has been only 9 months since my last post. I could have created a child in that amount of time but alas . . . I have only been really busy with my toddler. Lets see if I can do a little updating with pictures. These were taken September of 2006 (yikes). Aminah loves to play outside and she has a container for her toys. Where are the toys you ask? Well they are all over the yard and she is in the container. She really loved that game. Not as much as she loves her "Wooky" (her boyfriend Lukey). Here you will see their "first kiss" as I like to call it. Luke's sister Linsey is watching. Luke's mom, Libby and I hope that one day this will be shown at Luke and Aminah's wedding and of course Linsey will be the maid of honor. The two picures of her in her Chinese outfit are just too cute. The one that looks like she is sneezing is actually her showing me what a skunk says (for those of you that don't know what a skunk say, he says, "shoo, shoo, shoo" and he covers his nose). I can't wait to add more to the blog. Stay tuned!

Watching Video

2006-09-30T22:10:00.000-07:00

I love seeing this picture. I finally let Aminah see her "Gotcha Day" video. Although she doesn't quite understand it she does know that the video shows "Mama" and "baby Aminah." She hears other babies crying in the video and tries to tell them to "shhh" and tells me they need to go "nite-nite." So what if this picture shows her with a little spaghetti sauce on her face, I still love this picture. She looks so happy watching the moment we became a family.

2006-09-30T22:02:00.000-07:00

Aminah and I went to a Laua for the homestudy agency that I went through for Aminah's adoption and post-adoption paperwork. We met up with another family that was with us in China. Aminah and Emma were able to play together and it was so nice to see these happy girls. They have been home over a year and lets just say, "what a difference a year makes." God has blessed our families. Emma just found out that she is going to be a big sister. Her little sister will be coming home from Columbia next month.

2006-09-30T21:49:00.000-07:00

Aminah and I hosted a get-together with some friends. We had two other families that had also adopted from China as well as two families that are planning on adopting from China. One of these families had already sent their dossier to China and the other family decided that evening to sign up with America World as their adoption agency. Thank you God for Aminah, and for these precious children that have become such an important part of our lives.

Happy Gotcha Day

2006-08-22T21:20:00.000-07:00

One year ago today I was in China meeting my daughter for the first time. It has been an incredible journey. I can't believe that God loves me as much as He does. God brought us together and made us a family. We celebrated tonight by going out for Chinese food with our friends. Aminah had a great time. What a difference a year makes. A scared little baby was placed in my arms and a year later a confident little girl runs around knowing that she has the world wrapped around her finger, and most of all she knows that she is loved.

Aminah's Bike

2006-07-11T13:34:00.000-07:00

For Aminah's birthday we ended up getting Aminah a tricycle. I had planned on getting just a normal trike that I had seen or even finding one at the second hand store but our friends had other ideas. I had told a few people that I wanted to get her a tricycle and people gave her gift certificates so that we could get a really cool "bike." I asked one friend, Keli if she knew what she was getting yet and I have her an idea for the helmet and she bought an adorable helment, basket, and the handlebar streamers. As soon as she saw the tricycle in the driveway with the helmet in the basket she wanted her "hat" on so she could ride her "bike." I took her to have her picture taken and she did not want to have her picture taken until I went out to the car and got the "bike" and we were finally able to get a cute smile. Yes she is spoiled but she is worth it. My job is to make sure that she doesn't act spoiled.

Aminah's Birthday Party

2006-07-11T13:20:00.000-07:00

We had Aminah's 2nd Birthday Party a little early because we will be in Colorado visiting my sister, brother-in-law, and nieces on her actual birthday. It was obviously a ladybug theme. We had about 30 friends and family here at the house. It was a lot of fun. Aminah has been really blessed to have so many people that love her. She enjoyed playing with her friends and of course eating her cupcake that Mommy made.

America the Beautiful

2006-07-11T13:14:00.000-07:00

It looks like Aminah is singing "America the Beautiful" in this picture on the 4th of July. Actually she has decided that she HATES having her picture taken and she is telling me, "NO!" Of course I didn't listen and I ended up taking many pictures but this was the only one that turned out half way decent.

Our China Toddlers

2006-07-11T13:07:00.000-07:00

The first picture shows our friend Linsey in the front of the wagon, Aminah in the middle, and Linsey's brother Luke pulling the wagon. I thought it was neat because Linsey came home from China first then Aminah, and finally Luke and that is how they are shown in the picture. The second picture shows Aminah and Luke playing in the sandbox. These little toddlers have a lot of fun when they get together.

Super Model?

2006-06-20T13:53:00.000-07:00

Give me a pose. Aminah could be the next super model. She just looks so adorable in her Chinese outfit. Those people in my travel group might remember how much trouble I had trying to decide which outfits to buy at the silk factory in China. I ended up being the last one back to the bus and they sent our guide back in to find me because it had already gotten dark and I was walking alone down an alley to get back to the bus. I didn't realize that everyone had already left. It was all worth it to have my wonderful little daughter wearing this adorable little outfit.

San Diego

2006-06-20T13:45:00.000-07:00

Aminah and Mommy went to San Diego for Mother's Day weekend 2006. Our friend, Auntie Jeannette was graduating from Point Loma University and invited us to come and celebrate with her and Uncle Sing. It was so much fun. Aminah was able to go to the beach and play in the sand. Auntie Jeannette's sister-in-law spoke to Aminah in Mandarin and Aminah answered her in English. It was incredible to see her listening and responding since she hadn't heard that language for 9 months. That was the greatest Mother's Day gift!

Mommy's School Carnival

2006-06-20T13:39:00.000-07:00

Mommy and Aminah went to her school's carnival. Can anyone guess which booth Mommy was working? Aminah had a great time. She was a big hit with all of the kids.

What is up with this bunny?

2006-06-03T16:11:00.000-07:00

What is up with this bunny? Why can't he pick up after himself? Aminah wasn't thrilled with the bunny. He left all these eggs and she had to pick them up. She would make a little groan eveytime I pointed out a new egg. She likes to have everything in its place and the bunny must be some sort of slob because he can't pick up after himself. Then to top it off he gave Aminah bath paints and when Mommy put them on the tub walls Aminah had to clean that up too. She was not impressed.

My mommy made me wear this.

2006-06-03T16:06:00.000-07:00

Aminah does not look thrilled. She was having a calm moment in between fit throwing (we are having her picture taken professionally and she hates that). It doesn't look too terrible here but in the larger picture you can see the tears and drool coming down her chin and onto her dress. When will she out grow this? I keep thinking that this time will be different.

Coloring Easter Eggs

2006-06-03T15:55:00.000-07:00

We went to our neighbors' house (Brenda, Pat, and Kaitlyn) to color Easter Eggs. Kaitlyn is in the third grade and is an experienced egg colorer (she is wearing an apron). They had 10 or so different dyes along with crayons and paints. What did my daughter want to use? The paints. She had a great time and managed to get paint on two eggs. At first when I handed her the egg she wasn't quite sure what to do with it but like I have said before she is a very quick learner. She watched and within minutes she was painting her first egg.

Photo Op

2006-06-03T15:49:00.000-07:00

Another Photo Op. I like to have lots of pictures. We had to go over to my neighbor's house to have this picture taken because she likes to sit on the little brick wall there (I know it is scary but it makes her feel like a big girl) and Terri's lawn is green. I didn't plant rye grass this year because I was a little busy with a toddler so I just have to wait until spring before I can have grass nice enough to photograph. I still think she will want to sit on the bricks for a picture.

Bye-Bye Hair

2006-06-03T15:46:00.000-07:00

Aminah has to have her hair done before we go out. She calls it "bye-bye hair." On this day I was actually able to get small little pig-tails in her hair which was a very big deal for me since I have been waiting for her hair to grow out from when they shaved her at the orphanage.

Prayer Warrior

2006-06-03T15:40:00.000-07:00

Aminah is going to be a "prayer warrior." She can say, "pray" and "dear Jesus" (at least I can understand what she means). We say our prayers each night before we go to bed and then sing, "Jesus Loves Me" and "Jesus Loves the Little Children." Before each meal we pray and when you say "amen" she raises her hands and claps. When we go to church she likes to go to the front of the church and kneal at the alter because we were visiting a church and they had an alter call and she watched other people go up and from then on she likes to go up to the front of the church to pray. I thank Jesus for giving me this precious gift.

I'm pretty cute!

2006-06-03T15:29:00.000-07:00

What is not to love about this face? Aminah doesn't necessarily like having her picture taken but she tolorates it when it is done by her Mommy. If we want to have it done somewhere else, like professionally, that is when she throws an absolute fit. To her having her picture shot professionally ranks right up there with going to the doctor's for a shot. We went to have the 1st picture done professionally and this was the only shot they could get after being there for about 45 mintues. You can see she had been crying but finally I was able to make her laugh and we got this picture, then she threw a fit again.

She even pouts cute!

2006-06-03T15:24:00.000-07:00

I don't remember exactly why she was pouting here. It looks like she spilled her juice or water on her outfit. She isn't the kind of child that will throw a fit often but when she does you better watch out. This must have been a pretty mild one. Around this time I would tell her that she couldn't throw a fit until she was officially two so she had to wait at least 6 more months. It usually calmed her down. I'm guessing just having me calmly talk to her did the trick, because I'm pretty sure she didn't understand what I meant.

Learning to feed herself is no easy task

2006-06-03T15:19:00.000-07:00

One thing I can say about Aminah is that she is a quick learner. I'm so glad I got this picture when I did because she learned right away that the messier she was with her food the less food she was going to actually eat. She now is a very clean eater but for a while I was wondering. I'm not sure what I expected by giving her Spaggetti but she had to learn sometime.

Baby's First Christmas

2006-06-03T15:09:00.000-07:00

We might have gone a little overboard for Baby's First Christmas. Between Aminah and my nieces (Belle and Suzie) my front room was bulging. My oldest niece, Tashia and I were joking that the adults would all have to stand outside and look in through the windows at the kids opening their gifts. Auntie Im and Uncle Eric came in from Colorado but I would have thought they drove in directly from Santa's workshop at the North Pole. It was a lot of fun and Aminah got right into it by saying, "oooohhh" to each present she opened. It didn't matter what she was opening she gave it an appropriate, "oooohhh." One of the highlights for me that day was watching the "stroller parade." Aminah, Belle, and Suzie each got strollers from Santa and amazingly we got babies for each of the girls, so in the afternoon the girls all got to take their babies for a stroll. The weather was about 78 degrees on Christmas day here in California. All in all it was a fantastic first Christmas.

Do you want fries with that?

2006-06-03T15:03:00.000-07:00

I love this picture because Aminah is wearing a telephone headset and "talking" to her Auntie Im. Actually she is just listening. She looks like one of the people at drive up windows that takes your order. This poor little thing has only had french fries once and even then it was only with the babysitter. She much prefers steamed broccoli or vegetables, so who a I to complain?

These are a few of my favorite things

2006-05-31T21:07:00.000-07:00

I felt like I was in the movie "The Jerk" where Steve Martin was saying, "all I need is this . . ." and he kept adding more and more things to his hands. If you don't remember the movie then this won't make any sense. Aminah has to have things just so. She has to have her blanky and bottle (at least in December it was her bottle, now it is her sippy cup). This picture was taken early in the morning one day before going to school. She wanted her blanky and bottle and then she added her baby. She is sitting on the box of wipes which was a perfect size for her at the time.

Merry Christmas!

2006-05-31T20:57:00.000-07:00

This was the picture we sent out as our Christmas Cards. I went to have the pictures taken at a studio but Aminah cried and threw a fit. She seems to not enjoy having someone else take the pictures so I had my friend come across the street to take the pictures.

Look what my Mommy did this time!

2006-05-31T20:45:00.000-07:00

Look what my Mommy did this time! She is a funny lady. She brought a tree into our front room while I was asleep. She put these strange things all over it with some lights and then told me "No-no" anytime I got close to it. Aminah woke up the day after Thanksgiving to a Christmas tree. Aminah got in trouble once at the sitters and the sitter had to tell her "No-no" and shook her finger at her and from then on whenever I told Aminah "No-no" then she would shake her finger at me and say "No-no." We had a lot of finger shaking during the month of December.

I love going to church!

2006-05-31T20:42:00.000-07:00

Aminah loves to go to church. At this point (November 2005) she was just learning to smile for the camera. She didn't like having Mommy too far away. One thing she has always enjoyed was "people watching" so going to church gave her a great opprotunity to do just that.

Do all Mommies allow slides in the house?

2006-05-31T20:38:00.000-07:00

Do all Mommies allow slides in the house? Aminah was just learning to slide and so I brought the slide into the front room so that she could practice.

2006-05-29T21:27:00.000-07:00

Aminah LOVES music. Especially live music. We went to a benefit concert with Christian artist Clay Crosse in November (2005). My friends in Tehachapi, CA were fundraising for their adoption of their second child from China and Clay Crosse and his wife were also adopting from China. They were able to raise about $5,000 and now both families have their children home from China.

2006-05-29T21:13:00.000-07:00

Aminah had a great fall. She was able to spend time at home with Mommy before she had to go back to work. We went to the pumpkin patch that was at Mommy's school and then on Halloween we went to school for the parade. That evening we went to visit friends. One of Aminah's favorite things at the time was bananas so it was only fitting that she dressed up as a monkey. She was even able to say "oohh, oohh, oohh" just like a monkey. It was

Aminah's First Snow

2005-10-13T21:21:00.000-07:00

When we went to Colorado in early October I never thought that we would end up in the middle of a snow storm. On Saturday it was about 80 degrees outside and Sunday night it started snowing at about 9:00 PM and didn't stop snowing until about 6:00 PM on Monday. Of course Auntie Im had to go out and buy Aminah a snow suit and boots so she could go out and play in the snow. Aminah wasn't too sure about the snow but we did try it. The think that she did like was the fact that the gloves were attached to the snowsuit. When her glove fell off she looked to the ground and then noticed that the glove was still attached and was just dangling by a string. We probably stayed out in the snow for about 10 minutes but I think that it took at least 20 minutes to put Aminah into her snowsuit and boots. It was funny to see Aminah instinctively put out her tongue to catch the snowflakes. It was a great experience and I'm glad that we were able to capture it with the camera.

Aminah likes the slide

2005-10-13T21:09:00.000-07:00

While we were in Colorado we went to the park next to the school that Belle and Suzie attend. Aminah didn't like the swings or the animals that you sit and bounce on but she did decide that the slide was good. She tried two different slides and the one that has slight bumps wasn't as much fun as the one that went straight down.

Our one month anniversary

2005-09-22T20:26:00.000-07:00

Today is our one month anniversary. It was August 22nd when Aminah was put into her Mommy's arms. Now she is very comfortable and knows that she is loved. She loves being on a schedule and that includes going outside to play each evening.

Just kicking back and reading

2005-09-09T22:32:00.000-07:00

This afternoon seemed like a great day to kick back and read a few books. Aminah's favorite was her Mommy's favorite when she was a little girl, "I am a Puppy." The other book that we were reading was "A Mother for Choco." We need to get some books that taste better because as much fun as reading is, chewing is a lot more fun at this time.

Going to Church

2005-09-09T22:27:00.000-07:00

We are getting ready for our first Wednesday night church service. We had a great time! The only thing that wasn't great is that church got out at 8:30 and Aminah's bedtime is 8:30. Not a pleasant ride home. As soon as we got home it was jammie time and off to the crib. It is hard to believe that we have only been in the United States for one week.

It's time for lunch

2005-09-07T12:16:00.000-07:00

"Hey Mommy, It's time for lunch!" Aminah crawls over to her high chair when it is time to eat. She makes it very easy. When it is time for a nap she has been crawling over to her bottle to let me know she is ready to go down for a nap. She will still protest when I take her to her crib but only for a little while. She is starting to get into her schedule and making it easy for me to pick up on her clues.

I'm home!!

2005-09-01T21:21:00.000-07:00

I'm home now. Aminah was able to play in the Exersaucer for a little while. There are so many things at home to play with she is probably a little over stimulated. When she walked into the house yesterday she just looked around. When I took her into her room she just looked at all of the things with wonder. She loved looking at the tree that is painted on the wall. When it was time for bed she didn't really want to go to sleep because she wanted to still look around. She is asleep now and I'm hoping that she will get on California time within the next week or so. So far so good.

Aminah's first bath at home

2005-09-01T21:07:00.000-07:00

Aminah's first bath at home. She seemed to enjoy it because I put in a lot of little toys. These were the same toys that I bought for my little nieces, Belle and Suzie. She didn't scream so we are making progress. Now that we are home we are able to start a routine. By the time we were ready to go out for the day she decided to take a nap so we decided to just stay in for the day. We have only been home one day so it is going to take a little time to adjust to the time change for both of us but we are managing.

Life is just ducky!

2005-09-01T21:00:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken in the hotel in China. I'm wearing one of my cute little ducky outfits and some ducky slippers. I really like it when mommy is playing with me on the floor. When I'm not playing I really enjoy eating.

We are home

2005-09-01T02:03:00.000-07:00

Well we touched American soil yesterday morning. Aminah became a US citizen at 8:19 am. The guy at the "new immigrations" area was so nice and told me "OK remember this time . . . 8:19 your baby became a citizen." After being in the air for 13 + hours and knowing that we still had to get through customs and then board another flight for Bakersfield, I wasn't as excited as I should have been. We got home about 12 hours ago. Aminah has been sleeping on and off and therefore so have I. I hadn't eaten anything for about 24 hours so I thought I better at least eat something and so I came out to the front room to eat and I thought I would let everyone know that we made it home safely. I really miss the people we traveled with but I'm looking forward to having my friends and family back home meet Aminah. For now I'm heading back to bed.

Mommy and Aminah

2005-08-27T23:12:00.000-07:00

I think this was our first morning together. She was wearing a little bonnet that made her look like a little Amish girl. Very cute though. I looked still pretty perky at that point. She was still pretty scared. She has perked up quite a bit since then. It really is an amazing transformation of what these babies have had to go through. Well I better go feed my daughter some lunch she is about to have a melt down.

Sleeping like a baby

2005-08-27T23:08:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Aminah sleeping. There were a few days that the only time I could get her picture was when she was sleeping. She was a very "clingy" baby. She wanted to be held constantly which was fine for a while but then she decided that there were more things. She still is a very good sleeper. I'm very lucky.

Aminah's first step

2005-08-27T23:01:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Aminah taking her fist steps (for me anyway). The nanny said that she walked but it took her a few days before she was comfortable enough to wander from me.
She is toddling now. We have a lot of fun playing in the room together. She loves to stand and then dive into me. She giggles and laughs. She thinks she is something else (and she is).