Imo's

George and I have a tradition of eating Imo's pizzas on our drive home from STL. I offered a bite to Magnolia to see what she would think and before I knew it she ate a whole piece. She loved it but she'll eat anything. So today when I went to eat my leftover Imo's at lunch she must have smelled it because she kept crying and reaching for it. I finally caved in and here's a video of her reaction. She did finish her pears after the pizza.

St. Louis

We had a wonderful time in St. Louis last weekend. My only regret is that we hardly have any photos to speak of! I was so disappointed that we didn't take more. I don't know where the time went, our visit just flew by. It was fun to introduce Magnolia to her STL family. I think she just loved all the attention and of course, her cousins!

Nani reading to Magnolia

Morning walk to get coffee. Check out that syringe she's holding!

It was cracking me up, she wouldn't put it down!
Only picture we got of Magnolia at the party Nani had for her.
Asleep in her Uncle Anderson's jumper.
Magnolia was an absolute gem in the car, much better than we had anticipated.

We made it in the usual 7 hours on the way home, only stopping once!

We had a great time in St. Louis and I got to do a bit of shopping which was nice. We're looking forward to going back at Christmas, our visits always seem so short!

Balancing, Sand, & Hairbows

I stood Magnolia in the grass today and she stood for what seemed like 2 minutes! Even she was amazed at her balance and her two free hands! I've counted 5 steps she can take before crashing.



We played in Charlie's yard today and Magnolia lasted all of two seconds in the sandbox before crying...she'll get used to it eventually.
This is how I get Magnolia in her stroller for our walks, Zwieback works every time!
This was the last time I'm putting a bow in her hair on a walk. She pulls them out and drops them in the road. I didn't realize this one was missing until tonight so we got in the car and retraced our walk until we found it! Good thing it was orange, easy to spot.
Magnolia and I ate Chinese food tonight and she of course, loved it!

We are leaving tomorrow for St. Louis so Magnolia can meet all of her STL cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents! Check back for photos next week! Have a great weekend everyone!

Catching Up

Just catching up on photos, video clips and updating this blog! We had a great weekend. We went to Oktoberfest on Saturday and ate entirely too much. Here are some photos from that day.

We went to the Autumn Moon Festival for Families with Children from China (FCC). It was held at a beautiful old farm. They had a lot of activities for the kids including hay rides! Magnolia was the youngest one there, most of the kids were around 8-12. We didn't stay long since we had dinner with friends that night. Thanks again Tom and Christine, the meal was fabulous!

Watching Curious George. I just love the way she has her ankles crossed.
Here are a few videos I've taken over the past week.

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?