11 Months Old

I can hardly believe it! It's all happening way too fast. We had a wonderful day. It was cool and sunny and we were out of the house almost the whole day. I finally understand what it means as a mom to get out of the house. No dirty floors, bills, dishes, and laundry staring you in the face. Nothing but pure fun out and about today and for good reason, our pumpkin is 11 months old!

We spent most of the afternoon at the park with my friend Christine and her son, Charlie.
Magnolia and I went down that huge slide!

It was so fast it shot us out and I landed right on my rear end! We met daddy out for lunch at a dive he loves with New Orleans style food. Magnolia had red beans and rice and loved it.

We celebrated Harvest Moon tonight and ate our mooncakes.
Magnolia gobbled them up like she's been eating them her whole life. Makes me wonder if her birthmother ate them last Harvest Moon, right before Magnolia was born.

She was pretty wild in these pictures, charming us to no end with all of her silly antics. We took her out for an evening drive to view the moon and calm her down!

Harvest Moon

Today is the Harvest Moon, the 8th lunar month of the year. This is a big holiday in China. They celebrate by viewing the full moon and eating moon cakes. We brought mooncakes back from China for this year's Harvest Moon. George ended up having to go to an awards dinner and the sky was completely clouded over. So Magnolia and I ate breakfast for dinner, watched Sesame Street, and had lots of giggles. We still, however, are going to be able to celebrate by going to a Harvest Moon celebration this weekend with all the local families with children from China.

Hear Magnolia giggle. Sorry the picture is so dark. I took the video on my camara it was dark in the living room!

Shopping & Finishing Touches

What a great weekend! On Saturday we drove to the Chicago suburbs to do some shopping. We stopped at the outlet mall along the way. George and Magnolia had a great time while I got to browse. George was tapping her feet on mirrors in stores and she thought this was hilarious.

We had lunch at the mall atrium and the Klements Sausage, Brat, & Hot Dog guys made an appearance. Of course we had to get a photo.
When we got to Chicago George got to shop at Syms for some suits and I got to shop a the Land of Nod Outlet. We had dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant and Magnolia had hummus, pita bread, and lentil soup! Sunday George put some finishing touches in the nursery. He hung her curtains and a new mirror I bought at the Land of Nod Outlet. I will post pictures of the nursery when it's completely finished. Magnolia's Aunt Elizabeth is doing a needlepoint that will hang over her crib. Can't wait to see it! Oh, and Magnolia is wearing her new outfit I bought for her at the outlet. :) Love the goldfish.

Every morning we wet and brush her hair back.
George went to the dentist on Friday and came home with a toothbrush for Magnolia so we can start brushing her 5 (almost 6!) little teeth.
Magnolia took a very long nap during the Packer game while I got to grocery shop.
What a great weekend!

Ahhh

Haven't taken any photos this week. I've been very busy cleaning this house, it was a disaster! I had to do all the floors, vacuuming and mopping, carrying Magnolia in the Baby Bjorn. She seemed to like it!
She also has a little cold so we haven't gone out much. We have been taking walks this week which is wonderful. I discovered that she likes her Mcclaren stroller better than her jogger. She usually sleeps the whole walk but a couple of times I've had to carry her almost the entire way. Now that's a workout. On Thursday Magnolia and George had a photo shoot at the park. George is being featured in his company's magazine for the first employee to take their newly offered paternity leave!

This week Magnolia has perfected opening and closing the cabinets. She does it fast so she gets a gush of air in her face and then giggles. Every now and then I have to get her stuck fingers out. She has also learned how to turn the pages when we read books!

I'm including this video from last week since I have no photos from this week. George did this video when I wasn't around. I think he wanted to capture her dancing but I just laughed so hard that you can briefly see him through the mirror dancing. The best part is when she says "ahhh" after drinking her water. We never taught her that. She's done that since day one. Enjoy and check back soon for more photos to come!

George's Birthday

We went apple picking on George's birthday. Well, not really.

We ended up just buying instead of picking.

Of course Magnolia had to wear her apple shoes. George bought these for her in China.
Magnolia gave George a brag book.
We've been home one month today! Wow has time flown. I still feel like we just got back. Slowly things are falling into place around here. Magnolia has accepted her carseat and hasn't cried in it for 5 days now. She's sleeping just fine. She cat naps during the day because I'm sure that's what she did in the orphanage. I think over time she'll be able to take longer naps and for now I'm just grateful she's sleeping. She's still a very good eater and will try anything, even spicy things! I think she's having a growth spurt. We're moving out of #2 diapers and into cloth. I'll keep you posted on how those go. :)
She has started to use the two signs she knows, one for milk and one for more. She very clearly says "mama" and "dada." She will now go look for toys to play with in her toy basket. She is sitting longer and longer for me to read to her. She has learned how to open cabinets and just discovered the toilet paper roll. She still stays very near me and rarely will play out of my sight but she will play longer now without crying for me to pick her up. When she falls and bumps her head she cries now and looks for me! She used to just fall and not make a sound. As each day passes I can sense her trust in us strengthening and I'm really grateful that it has been so easy for her to bond with us. She smiles when I tell her I love her and every now and then I get a spontaneous kiss from her.
She is a beautiful and delightful little girl, we just love her like crazycakes.

Farmer's Market & Squeaky Shoes

We went to the local Farmer's Market on Saturday. We tried Magnolia out in the backpack carrier and she seemed to love it!

George and Magnolia went to Lowes to get a new tool cabinet.

Magnolia and George hanging out in the workshop.

I came down Saturday morning to Magnolia eating an apple and did a double take...aren't you too little to be eating an apple!? In China many little kids wear squeaky shoes. They squeak every time you take a step. I think the idea is to encourage little ones to walk and when they do start walking, a way to keep track of them! We bought about 15 pairs while we were there to wear over the years. You can take out the squeaker otherwise you'd go crazy with all that squeaking. Here's a little video of Magnolia wearing her first pair!

Happy Birthday!

Keeping Busy

Magnolia is very curious and stays very busy, keeping me very busy! Here she is getting into the lamp cord. We just use lots of distractions around here. She puts EVERYTHING in her mouth, I mean everything. I'm constantly sweeping out her mouth and she continues to give me serious adrenaline rushes. She just looks so cute all bundled up today, it's cold outside! We finally went to the hospital and got her blood drawn. She screamed bloody murder but it went fast. Glad its over.
Here she is standing up on her own. Never for long, maybe a second or two.
All of the hairbows I ordered arrived yesterday. They are huge! I thought she looked like a birthday present! I put them away for now and bought smaller ones (see above) today.
She is starting to get used to the grass.
Here she is on her new wheely bug, she loves it! It's such a cute little thing.
I can't believe she's wearing this sweater. I think this sweater must be over 30 years old because I clearly remember dressing my dolls in it! Emily, Mary, look familiar?

Discovery!

Magnolia must have felt like she hit the jackpot in these photos. Inside is the cable box and stereo. You know, buttons and lights galore. If we have it open for one split second she speed crawls towards it. So the other day she finally learned how to open the cabinet! Well then of course she's learned to open all the other cabinets. I was taking these photos when she made her discovery.

On this same day we went to the bike store to have her fitted for a bike helmet so she can ride on my bike. I was so excited to go but we barely made it down the driveway when I noticed both tires where flat as flat could be. Go figure, brand new bike that had been sitting and waiting for that very moment with a brand new bike seat, wicker basket, and shiny new bell. Kind of brought me back to waiting two years to go to China only to discover that my passport had expired just before we had to leave. No big deal, just need to ask around the neighborhood for a pump. Just a little anti climatic is all. :)

We continue to do very well around here. Magnolia comes to life more and more each day. She giggles when I say "boo," when she swings, when I crawl really fast towards her, when we tickle her, and when I dance. :) She is a complete joy!

NOTE: You should be able to view the video clips below, I think I fixed the problem. If not, let me know. I also took the music off our blog for now so it won't interfere with the sound of the clips. Enjoy!

Conking Red Wing Black Bird

Magnolia's First Trip Up North

Sweet

This face is just too sweet. These were taken last week but I had to post them because I love this look she's giving me. I love the one below because she just looks happy. Everyday she's doing something new. Today she took her little hands and held my cheeks so she could kiss my mouth! I also caught her kissing babies in her books. Must be a lot of kissing going on around here! We're taking Magnolia up north tomorrow for the first time. It should be chilly but cozy, can't wait! Check back for photos!

One Month

We've had Magnolia for exactly one month! What a magical day that was, August 6, 2007!
We celebrated by doing her footprints. Here she is holding them for me. :)

Magnolia sharing dad's breakfast, she'll try anything!
Magnolia had her second doctor visit. It was a rough one. It took 4 tries and 4 people to hold her down to take blood but they still couldn't get it. This is the second visit where they've tried to get blood but she's such a strong squirmer and screams until she turns purple that they're sending us to the hospital next week to try there. She also has an ear infection which she's probably had since we got her! To top it all off, she got her first round of immunizations.
This was all of her bandaids. Seven total but she took one off in her carseat. :)

Magnolia had her first friend over. This is Charlie, my friend's son.

They were so cute together!

Magnolia eating naan, she loves it! Great for teething.



Magnolia gnawing on an "empty" corn on the cob.
You'd think with all she eats, she would be putting on a lot of weight but she's only gained 3 ounces in the past two weeks! Those 3 ounces moved her from the 3rd percentile to the 5th!