Oh how I love her smile, her laugh, and her absolute sweetness.  I love her stories, her talking, and the way she sees things.  She delights us and anyone else who meets her.  She's a real gem and I'm so proud to be her mama!   She's a very happy girl with a wild imagination.  If she's not a dog named "Bark" all day then she's the proud owner of a small dog/brother named "Holly."  Sometimes when she's tired of carrying things in her mouth all day, she curls up in a nest and chews on green string because she's a dinosaur and that's her grass.  Bambi is another favorite, with little white spots and a tail that wags.  Sometimes she becomes the mommy and takes care of me or a little girl named Magnolia.  She's very interested in people's hair color, skin color, the story of China and how she came to be.  Equally as interesting is talking about the weather, noting whether it's windy or cloudy or sunny, she really likes to take note of that.  Her latest achievement is dressing herself for the day and that would include picking out her own clothes.  One day she dressed herself head to toe in black because that was her "suit" and she was going to work, just like daddy.   I wish I could bottle so many of our many exchanges during the day.  Sometimes she just knocks me off my feet with the things she says.  Life with a three year old is something else!

I thought I would share some of her recent artwork that so graciously adorns our walls.   It is our family; Mommy, Magnolia, Baby George, and Daddy respectively.

The Moment:

Friday, February 12th  

7:28 am

The sun was rising and coming through our yard showing off the ice covered branches.  It was so breathtaking and I desperately wanted to photograph it.  Being in my flannel pajamas with two kids crying for breakfast I could only step onto our screen porch and shoot from there.  Hard to believe that I spent many a summer days on that swing with both of my little ones.  It seems so far away but this picture reminds me that it is still there waiting for us.
For more black and white entries click here!

Happy Chinese New Year!  We had our celebration a couple of weeks ago with our local group, Families with Children from China.  We played Chinese bingo, had a tiger parade, and shared a Chinese dinner.  It was so nice to gather and catch up with families we don't otherwise see throughout the year.  Magnolia wore a dress I bought for her in China.  We were fortunate enough to have an outfit for George which was a gift from his Aunt Katherine who was in Beijing over the summer.  It was so much fun to see them both dressed in traditional Chinese clothing!   Gung Hay Fat Choy!

The Moment

 February 5

Early Afternoon

How did Black and White Wednesday come around so fast?!  I've been so busy around here, time is flying!   I'm glad I had this one to post that I took last Friday.  George and I were lounging on my bed having quiet playtime while Magnolia took her nap.  In this photo he propped his head on my leg to gaze out the window.   Like me, George is very sensitive to too much stimulation.  Here we are both relishing in the peace and quiet of the afternoon.
(click to enlarge photo)

George turned 10 months on Sunday!

He can stack two things.  The first time he did it was with two cans of food.  He can also drop objects into a bucket and get them out again.  He still doesn't say mama or dada.
He mostly growls.  Still a lot of fussiness too.  He's getting his 7th & 8th teeth.  His favorite toy is a ball by far.  I had no idea someone so little could catch and throw a ball.  I think ball will be his first word. 

I feel like I never have a smiley picture to post of him but I think that's just it, he's a pretty serious baby and this is his look most of the time.  Or maybe it's the 2nd picture. He does a lot of that too.  

Happy 10 months George!
I can't believe how close you are to turning one!
I really hope that 8th tooth breaks through soon so you can finally get a nice long break from teething.   
I also hope that means that you'll stop waking in the middle of the night too.  Please, won't you?  
xoxo

The Moment:

Saturday Morning

8:13 a.m.

George and Cheerios

I'm loving this Black and White Project!  I'm having so much fun thinking and shooting in black and white.  It's also so inspiring to see what others shoot too!  Thanks so much to everyone for all of their sweet and encouraging comments last week.  We just got a new iMac and we haven't decided on our photo software yet so I only have iPhoto to work with.  With that said, I'm shooting in manual and hoping for the best!  If anyone out there has any suggestions for software, let me know! 

Two posts back I revealed a very cluttered kitchen. I finally got around to cleaning it and then I decided to make some changes. I rolled up the rug (easier to keep clean with baby) & put chair covers on the chairs to soften up the room. I also moved a new table onto this wall. It was green and I decided to paint it cream. I bought some new glass jars to hold goodies and bought a new wall clock. It wasn't much but I feel so much better about it. It's always so nice to have a change! The table is set in this picture because I had a lovely lunch today with two friends and their kiddos. Happy Friday everyone!

The Moment:

January 25

10 a.m.

After putting the baby to sleep I found Magnolia like this in the bathroom. She had taken off her dress and put on her black patent leather shoes. She had gotten into her jewelry box and taken out the necklace Nana brought her back from Italy only to wear it on her head. She was busy brushing her teeth and filling her cup with water. I really love moments like these and have decided to stay focused on capturing as many of them as I can.

::: I'm attempting to participate in my friend, Lisa's, project of posting a black and white photograph every Wednesday. After missing it for two weeks, I've set my camera on manual and started to shoot. It should be a lot of fun! You can read more about the project here.

I love to capture the moments of my day.

I don't do it often but I love when I do.

Dinner time. Table loaded with Christmas ornaments from our "New Year Tree," a tub of my new favorite thing; coconut oil, crafts for making a tiger mask for our Chinese New Year parade. Babydoll "sleeping" under table. Magnolia starting a meltdown because she can't find her rolling pin to roll out her pizza dough.

Every Friday night Magnolia rolls out her own pizza dough, spreads pesto, chooses mushrooms, onions & loads with cheese.

Morning play.

Teeth revealed.

Magnolia wipes baby's face after dinner.

Last week we put George's crib mattress down all of the way. We loaded up his bottom shelf with board books. We brought the rocker from our bedroom into his. And while I sat there rocking and reading to him, he fell asleep in my arms. And suddenly it all came back to me. Suddenly everything felt like it did when we first had Magnolia. Suddenly I was in familiar territory. Magnolia was 9 and half months when we met her in China. George is 9 and a half months now.

George - 9.5 mos.

Mags -9.5 mos., China

George turned 9 months last week. I can hardly believe it. He started to crawl on Christmas Day. He doesn't like to do it and doesn't go very far. Here he is not happy about having to come and get me.And here's the head smack. He drops it either from sheer exhaustion or just for effect...not sure which.
And finally doing what he wants to really be doing, standing. Soon after he took off crawling, he started to pull himself up. He will pull himself up on anything he can and stand for long periods of time. This also means he falls a lot too. In these photos he has a bruise on his forehead and a bruise on his cheek. With these big falls his crying never lasts long. He can be such a tough cookie!
In other news George cut his fifth tooth by the new year. The teething has made him so unbelievably miserable. So much so that I was convinced something else was wrong with him. I took him to the doctor to make sure ears were clear only to be reassured that they were, that I have, in fact, a healthy baby. Good news for sure but I had no idea teething could be this horrible. He's had a reprieve for a week now making him a very sweet and content baby. Also giving way to much more exploration, crawling and climbing. I seem to spend my days sweeping the floor searching for choking hazards. He puts EVERYTHING in his mouth.

He's a funny and sweet baby. He loves to wrestle and climb all over me. He loves tickling and rough housing. He loves to conk foreheads with me. With all of his miserable teething we've only been hearing whining and whimpering sounds along with a lot of crying. We've been trying to get him to say mama/dada for a while now. Yesterday we heard him say "ma!" and look towards the kitchen for me. This morning he held his arms up for me and said, "maaaa!" Whether he's figured it out or not, I'm taking it as his first word being for me! :)

We're up to reading 4 books before nap, he used to only sit for two. One of them he's reading above. His Nani made it for him for Christmas. He is able to turn the pages. It is a definite favorite.

Here he is in the hotel in Chicago were I got a good shot of his top two teeth, finally.

Magnolia continues to be George's biggest fan. These two play and laugh together beautifully. Anything she does delights him!

Happy 9 months George!

xoxo

I'm so excited to start a new decade. While the past decade was bookended with two of the most glorious times of my life; my wedding and the arrival of my children, it was mostly sandwiched with a whole lot of heartache. I look forward to the next year and ten with my family. It was all I ever wanted and now I feel so blessed to have it. We sat down together on January 1 and wrote down our goals and wishes for the new year. I took our brightly colored pieces of paper and hung them on the branches of our apple tree in our backyard. That way we can see them from the kitchen window and be reminded of our thoughts. They also look pretty flying around in the wind. It was the start of a new tradition and we'll see if it's one that sticks...

Best wishes to you for a Happy & Healthy New Year!

***if you look closely, you can see one of Magnolia's wishes,"learn to swim." Among that, there was "run fast and not fall down" and "be a really good listener to mommy & daddy."

We were in Chicago but it seemed more like we were in our hotel, The Trump. It was the most luxurious and relaxing vacation we've had a while. We got a steal of a deal on our stay and it was worth every bit of it. We did venture out at least once a day but it was so much cozier in the hotel. Snow was falling, the pool was fabulous, and our room was so nice and big that it made it hard to get out. We started our stay off with a brunch at Frontera Grill. I had to make the reservation almost 2 months out but now I know why, the meal was fabulous!

Magnolia checks out the view in our room.

The Billy Goat Tavern was right around the corner & a great place to stop for a quick bite.

We swam every morning. The views from the pool were breathtaking.

Magnolia wanted to drink from an "umbrella" glass every night before bed ( "barilla glass" in her words). Took me a minute to figure out what an umbrella glass was...
Magnolia and I had fun in the spa locker room after our morning swims with all the fancy scrubs & lotions. We also did a few minutes in the steam room (which she said smelled like mint) and the sauna (which she said smelled like toast). Oh, and putting the hairbrushes in the blue water was super fun too.

We felt so spoiled by our trip. It was wonderful.

So wonderful that we are promising to do it again next year!