Our Journey To Adopt Grace

Oh yes, We Have Christmas Costumes Too

2011-12-11T20:09:00.000-05:00

Busy weekend. Jen and I are just getting over colds that kept us out of work a couple days last week. But we were feeling a bit better by Saturday so we met up with the Shahs for an afternoon at the Nutcracker. Grace was completely impressed. Sunday was spent decorating the tree and the house. Grace donned the above attire for the occasion.

2011 School Pictures

2011-12-05T21:10:00.000-05:00

We weren't planning to have Grace's school pictures done this year but we are glad we decided to at the last minute since they came out really cute. She is looking more and more like a big girl every day.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

2011-11-20T19:06:00.000-05:00

Ummm Yeah, we watch the Wizard of Oz...alot. Grace manages to put her own spin on the song though.

Not So Halloween

2011-10-31T20:33:00.000-04:00

Got a little bit of snow up here so they postponed Halloween until Wednesday. Didn't stop Gracie from putting on her Annie costume for a quick photoshoot.

Day at the Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-16T19:50:00.000-04:00

Birthday Weekend

2011-09-26T21:14:00.000-04:00

We spent last weekend celebrating Grace's Birthday. On Saturday we had a party a local bounce house place. Grace had a blast chasing her older cousins around all afternoon. The best part was we didn't have to clean up afterwards.

On Sunday we headed out to Southwick Zoo to meet up with a couple familes from our travel group. The group was a bit smaller this year but the girls had a blast. It is amazing to me that these girls only see each other a few times a year, yet they pick right up where they were the last time we got together. Definitely a special connection there.

Four

2011-09-22T21:43:00.000-04:00

Not sure where the time went but Grace turned four today. Wasn't she just two last week? Sigh. She really is an amazing little girl. More celebrations this weekend so some pics coming. For now just a quick video of Grace getting her new bike this evening. She was a little excited...

Back to School

2011-09-15T23:10:00.000-04:00

Booo!!! Summer is over, the weather is turning cooler. Grace started school today, she was very excited to be back.

Grace's New Room

2011-08-17T22:15:00.000-04:00

One of our summer projects was moving Grace out of her small bedroom and into the larger one across the hall into her big girl room. Somewhere along the way Grace decided that she had to have a canopy bed (like a princess). Not sure where she came up with the idea but she would not be denied. Luckily Jen had a canopy bed when she was little that was still (in pieces) at her parents house. With a little bit of paint, a trip to Ikea and a weekend of assembling furniture Gracie has a new room.

Clarks and Santa's Villiage

2011-08-16T22:02:00.000-04:00

This past weekend we took our annual summer pilgrimage north to New Hampshire with the Shah family. The past couple years we have gone to Story Land but we decided to change it up a bit this year and go to Santa's Village instead. I have to admit the thought of Christmas in August seemed kind of odd to me but the girls had a blast. Grace was tall enough to ride all of the rides and especially liked the water park. Definitely will be visiting again.

We also stopped in at Clark's Trading Post on the way down. The have a new Chinese Acrobat show there that we wanted to check out. Seemed a bit exploitive to me as they performed in the same enclosure as the bears do but they were pretty impressive nonetheless. And of course the bears were a big hit with Grace. Some pics of the weekend below

Clark's Trading Post

The girls

Feeding the Reindeer

Almost as tall as an elf

Weeeee!!!

Bad Blogger

2011-08-15T23:33:00.000-04:00

Yes, I have been badly neglecting this blog over the past couple months. Two weeks of not blogging turned into a month and then two months with no activity. Where does the time go? I guess it was a blogging summer vacation.

Well, we have been busy. We moved Grace into a new room, and have taken lots of little trips here and there. I will try my best to update with some catch-up posts this week and get back to regular updates. For now my favorite pic of Grace from this past weekend.

China Sisters

2011-06-05T21:33:00.000-04:00

We had our annual get together with our China travel group today. We had 9 of the girls attend and a great time was had by all. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a picture of all 9 of them at once. Three and a half year olds move pretty fast and have a mind of their own. It is always great to see Grace reunite with the girls from Jiangxi and start playing like they saw each other yesterday.

Different Parts

2011-06-02T21:03:00.000-04:00

Earlier this week Grace had a little cold that was punctuated with a really high fever. We were able to get the fever under control but we decide that Grace needed to see the doctor in the morning just in case. Jen has some end of year stuff going on at school so it was up to me to take the day off work and take her to see the doctor.

So Grace and I wait patiently for the good doctor who checks Grace out and declares that she is fine. But based on a couple of her symptoms he wanted to get a urine sample. So he proceeds to tell me that we need to wipe her with these antibacterial wipes before getting the sample and then leave the sample with one of the nurses.

Ummmm.....I then realize he wants the sample now. I am not going to be able to go home and let Jen take care of this later. So I try to delay by asking Grace if she needed to pee and of course she said no. The good doc just tells her to try and ushers us into the bathroom. Not even the offer of a nurse to help us out.

Now I have to say I am not one of those old fashioned dads. I bathe and help Grace wipe in the bathroom but this girl peeing in a cup was new to me as I wasn't actually sure where the pee was going to come from. Girls can't aim, right? If she was a boy it would have been no problem, I know how boy parts work. So I sit Grace on the toilet wipe her with the wipes, hold the cup under her area and wait for what seemed like forever.

It didn't help that Grace was asking me the whole time: Daddy why are you holding a cup? You want me to pee in a cup? Why do I have to pee in a cup? So finally after what felt like hours, but was probably less than a minute, she peed. Most of it went in the cup, the rest on my hand. I was just relieved that the job was done and we cleaned up and waited for the nurse to take the sample.

Luckily the test came back fine and Grace is now feeling much better. I may be a bit traumatized from the encounter. Grace is now asking if she can pee in a cup whenever she uses the facilities. Jen has promised me that she will take doctor duties for the next few appointments to make up for it. This is one of those things that I never thought I would find myself doing before I became a dad. But I will do anything for my litte girl. With any luck mommy will get a stool sample next time....

Love Long Weekends

2011-05-30T21:30:00.000-04:00

We had a perfect Memorial Day weekend. The heat had finally arrived and we spent plemty of time outside. Lots of beach time, graduation parties and cookouts. Some highlights below.

Family Day

2011-05-26T19:43:00.000-04:00

Three years ago today we became a family.

Then

Now

Dance Recital

2011-05-22T18:47:00.000-04:00

Grace had her first dance recital this past weekend. It was all quite a spectacle. Grace had two performances, tap and ballet. I have to admit I was disturbed to see my three year old with makeup on. But Jen assures me that she did it as a kid and it is just so they don't get washed out by the lights. We brought our families along to the performance and everyone had a great time, especially Grace. We weren't allowed to take pictures during the recital so we we did a quick photo shoot today (sans makeup).

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T15:37:00.000-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms out there. We celebrated the day with lunch in Newburyport and a romp around the yard for some photo opportunities. Mommy and her baby below....

Grace's New Ride - Adams Trail-A-Bike

2011-04-25T22:14:00.000-04:00

We really wanted to get Grace a bike for the spring as she has outgrown the Kangaroo seat that we have been using for the past couple years. We debated getting her a bike of her own but decided to look into trailer bike so we can take longer family rides together.

We found the Adams Trail-a-Bike while researching bikes online and it was really well reviewed so we gave it a shot. It came while we were on vacation so we were really excited to give it a try when we got home this past weekend.

Adams sells a couple options on these bikes, we chose the compact folding model which is recommended for ages three to five. I am pretty sure Grace will be able to use it past 5 though. They have a tandem model as well as larger bikes for kids up to 10 years old. The bike also has an optional seat back with a seat belt that I thought we were going to need to get but based on Grace's comfort level on our first quick test ride I don't think we will need it.

The one drawback is that the bike is pretty heavy. It weights 23 pounds, add to that a 30 pound kid an that is a lot of extra weight to drag around. So I don't think we will be taking many 25 mile trips. I also got a little nervous on our first ride as I can't see her back there while I am riding so I picked up a mirror so I can keep an eye on her.

Looking forward to getting out on the bike trails next weekend for a longer ride of the weather cooperates. A quick video below of Grace's first ride.

Disney!!!

2011-04-24T20:14:00.000-04:00

We spent the better part of last week in Disney World. It was my first time going to Disney (Jen has been a couple times) so it was great being able to experience everything for the first time with Grace. What can I say about Disney....It was really hot and really crowded but we had a blast.

Grace is really into pricesses right now and her favorite princess is Snow White so it was pretty cool that she was waiting for us under the Magnolia tree as soon as we entered the Magic Kingdom.

Our first day was spent at the Magic Kingdom and Grace proved to us once again that she is fearless. She went on every ride that she was able to and was begging for more. Some of the rides have a 40 inch height requiremet and Grace was a little too short so we will definitely have some new experiences the next time we go. More pics of our week below.

Riding Dumbo with Mommy

Cinderella and her castle

Animal Kingdom with Mommy

Re-enacting a scene from Snow White

Swiss Family Tree House with Daddy

Lunch with Minnie

Happy Easter 2011

2011-04-23T16:21:00.000-04:00

Lots of blogging to catch up on. Especially our trip to Disney this past week. More to come.....

Spring, Wonderful Spring

2011-04-10T20:04:00.000-04:00

Spring finally made an appearance here this weekend. We had temperatures in the mid 60s and the snow is finally melted in our yard. Grace was so excited she was jumping around the back yard yelling, "It's Summer, It's Summer!!!" We spent a lot of time outside this weekend sucking up the warmth--including the maiden voyage of our new kayak. Now we can get the whole family our for kayak trips and I won't have to paddle solo anymore.

Almost Spring Photoshoot

2011-03-13T17:25:00.000-04:00

The weather this weekend broke 50 degrees so we took the opportunity for a little walk to a local park for a photo shoot. There is still a bit of snow on the ground but it was nice to get outside for a change. Spring can't get here soon enough.

Critters

2011-02-27T19:45:00.000-05:00

We attended a birthday party this weekend and they had a woman with a bunch of little critters come to entertain the kids. Grace loves animals but she was not a fan of the reptiles. Some pics below

No like the little alligator

Big Bunny

Not so sure about the armadillo

Only willing to touch daddy's hand while he touches the snake

Grace and the chinchilla

Ice Skating

2011-02-13T20:20:00.000-05:00

We took Grace ice skating for the first time this weekend. Let's just say that I don't think we have the next olympian on our hands. We all had a blast though and that's what counts. Pics below...

Gung Hay Fat Choy

2011-02-06T21:52:00.000-05:00

Yes, it is that time again (Chinese New Year). We celebrated this year by attending the CAWLI party. It was night to catch up with a couple of our travel mates as well as meet a few of our blog readers. Grace has a great time this year, as she gets older she is really showing her independence and it is nice to see her just jump in to the crowd and have fun.

First Manicure

Dancin'

Grace and Mommy

We rounded out our weekend with a trip to see the Disney Princeses on Ice. We went to the show last year and Grace loved it so we surprised Grace again this year.

Grace and Tiana

Pricesses are serious stuff

Snow, snow and more snow

2011-02-02T20:06:00.000-05:00

It started snowing here in early January and it seems like it hasn't stopped.We have close to 4 feet on the ground and 2 of those feet came in the last couple weeks. It's getting so there is no place to put it, but we live in New England so this is what we deal with. For Grace it is all great fun as it should be. Heading out to the CAWLI Chinese New Year party this Saturday, hope to see some of you there. Some pics from our most recent storm below.

Catching Up

2011-01-09T22:17:00.000-05:00

Been a couple weeks since I last posted so here is a little catch up....

Jen and I had the week after Christmas off so we had some nice quality time with Grace. We didn't have any big plans for the week, we just wanted to hang out and relax. Which we did and it was nice. We started out our vacation week with a nice little snowstorm so we took Grace on her first sledding excursion of the year. She had a great time sledding in MeMe's back yard with mommy and daddy.

Sledding with Daddy

On New Years Eve we went out to dinner with the Shah family and then came back to our house for a little New Years Eve kids party and of course some adult beverages for us.

Party with the Shah Girls

Grace also recently got to experience what it is like to "have curly hair like mommy". This is actually what happens to her hair after it has been in braids all day. But her hair is so straight it doesn't last too long. Grace got quite a kick out of it while it lasted though.

I can be cute

And I can be bad-ass

Christmas Chaos

2010-12-26T20:08:00.000-05:00

Christmas with a 3 year old...well what can I say....total chaos, excitement and overall fun. We started out Christmas eve with dinner at our house with some of Jen's family. Grace has a great time exchanging gifts with Me Me, Pa Pa and her cousins. On Christmas morning Grace came into our room nice and early letting us know it was time to get up. She was very excited to go downstairs to see what Santa had brought her. Later in the day we headed out to my mom's for dinner. By the end of Christmas day we were all wiped out but it was a great day.

Happy Holidays

2010-12-22T22:22:00.000-05:00

Our holiday cards are going out a little late this year. For our blog readers not on our holiday cards list the list the 2010 edition below. Hope everyone has a great holiday season.

This kid needs to be in theater

2010-12-14T19:32:00.000-05:00

No idea where she came up with this or what she is singing but it is pretty damn cute

Getting ready for the holidays

2010-12-12T19:48:00.000-05:00

We are about a week late getting started with our holiday activities this year as we had some home improvement stuff going on and are just getting our house back together. We ventured out to the mall this weekend for a visit was Santa. We weren' t sure how it was going to go as last year Grace wouldn't sit will Santa unless mommy was with her. Grace seemed excited but we thought she may freeze up when her big moment came. But she surprised us and marched right up and plopped herself down next to Santa and rattled off the list of presents that she has in mind this year.

After our trip to Santa we headed home to finish decorating our tree with a little help from Grace. Perfect photo oppurtunity.....

Really!?!?!

2010-12-07T20:28:00.000-05:00

Last Friday after Jen picked Grace up from school they were having a conversation about Grace's day. During this conversation Jen referred to herself as mommy, after which Grace stopped her and said "but not the real one". Jen's first reaction was a bit of shock and sadness but she quickly composed herself and asked Grace who had told her this. I think Grace knew from Jen's reaction that something wasn''t right so she tried to get change the subject. Jen eventually got it out of her that one of the little girls in class had told her this. Jen handled the situation pretty well explaining to Grace that she did not grow in her belly but she was still her real mommy. Luckily Grace didn't seem to be upset by the whole situation, but I am not sure she fully understood either.

Now we knew we would be dealing with this type of thing eventually but not so soon. The kids in Grace's preschool are three and four years old. We have to assume that this child was just repeating something she heard at at home. We don't blame the kid, it is obviously the parents that need a little education.

The teachers at Grace's school are really good but we realize that not everybody is as familiar with Positive Adoption Language as we are so we printed out a couple adoption language documents to bring in to school on Monday. Jen had a conversation with one of the teachers on Monday and to say the teacher was surprised would be an understatement. She totally got why this was an issue and was very supportive. She told us she would keep an eye out for future conversations of this type between the kids and would be sure to correct any of them if it comes up again. Unfortunately you can't teach the parents proper adoption language but hopefully if a kid is corrected at school this will find its way back home and make the parents think twice about the conversations that have with or in front of their children.

We were really happy with the way the school handled our concerns but still were a bit shocked that this has come up so soon..... Since this was kind of a downer post I will sign off with a cute pic of Grace...

Action Packed Weekend

2010-11-28T20:03:00.000-05:00

We had a very busy long weekend. Thursday wa,,s of course Thanksgiving. We had dinner at MeMe and PaPa's and then traveled to Gram's to spend some time with cousins James and Sammy.

On Saturday we took Grace to see the Annie Musical. She has the movie and watches it all the time so when we noticed that it was playing locally we had to take her. She loved it, but was very quick to point out all of the differences from the movie. After Annie, we headed into Lowell for the City of Lights Parade. Grace was on the GLTHS Candy "County" float dressed as a peppermint.

Today we hung out at home and got started raking all of the leaves in our backyard. Luckily for me Grace was able to help me out this year.

I Whip My Hair Back and Forth

2010-11-14T18:31:00.000-05:00

Grace channeling Willow Smith

Foliage Photos

2010-11-07T19:26:00.000-05:00

Spent some time enjoying the fall weather outside with Grace this weekend. It was a great opportunity for a little photo session. I bought a new portrait lens for my camera so I had to take the opportunity to try it out. Results below....

Trick or Treat 2010

2010-10-31T20:46:00.000-04:00

We had a very busy Halloween today. We started out around mid afternoon visiting with family and friends for some early trick or treating fun. We did a quick little run through our neighborhood and then headed over to the Shahs' for some more trick or treating on their street. The last couple years we have been really lucky with warm weather for Halloween. Not so much this year, we were treated with temperatures in the mid 40s and some brisk wind. The girls were real troopers though, nothing was getting in the way of their candy getting. A couple pics from the day below.

Our Princess - Snow White

Hanging with the Superheroes

Grace and the Shah Princesses

Clean Teeth and Jack O' Lantern Carving

2010-10-24T20:41:00.000-04:00

Earlier this week Grace had her first dentist appointment. Grace was actually pretty excited about going to the dentist which apparently is pretty unusual. She did great and the hygienist was able to clean her teeth. I guess sometimes they don't actually clean kids' teeth on their first appointment because they are so freaked out. Grace is even more excited about her next appointment since she got a doll after her cleaning.

On Saturday we decided it was time to carve our pumpkin. Grace had a great time helping out daddy although she didn't really like getting her hands messy. Such a girl.

Pledge of Allegiance

2010-10-18T19:16:00.000-04:00

We just love when Grace comes home from school with a new song or something that she didn't pick up from us. At her new school they apparently say the Pledge of Allegiance in the morning. Grace's rendition isn't perfect but it is pretty cute. Our favorite part is: One "Asian" under God.....enjoy.

Catching Up with Friends

2010-10-17T20:48:00.000-04:00

This past Saturday we got together at Honey Pot Hill Farm with a couple of Jen's friends from college and their families. We had lots of fun eating apples, feeding the farm animals and getting lost in the hedge maze. Some pics of the day below

On Sunday we met up with a bunch of families from our China Travel group to celebrate the girls 3rd birthdays. We got together at Southwick zoo again this year as it is always a hit. Seeing these girls together is always a highlight of the season for us. It is apparent that there is still a connection between all of them as they always pick up right where they left off the last time we got together.

Our New Toy

2010-10-10T20:45:00.000-04:00

For the past 6 months or so Jen and I have been discussing picking up a DSLR camera. Our current point and shoot is really bad causing us to get blurry shots or totally missing shots of our fast moving three year old. With the holidays as well as lots of great photo opportunities coming up we decided not to wait any longer and went out and bought a Canon Rebel EOS XS. We are still learning how to use it but this thing takes pictures 100 times better than our old point and shoot. Some of our first practice shots below.

Three

2010-09-26T23:05:00.000-04:00

On Wednesday we celebrated Grace's third birthday. As Grace gets older she is really starting to get excited about parties, and presents and getting dressed up. We celebrated her actual birthday with just the three of us.

Birthday Outfit

Three

Mom, I can fly!!!

On Saturday we had some friends and family over for a party. Grace loved hanging out with her friends and cousins and celebrating her big day with them.

Birthday Girls

We had yet another bithday party to attend on Sunday for Grace's China travelmate Annika. We were also joined by another travelmate, Mei Lu. It is great seeing these girls playing together and how much they have grown over the past few years.

File This Under

2010-09-20T20:49:00.000-04:00

Things I never thought I would find myself doing before I became a dad......

A Couple Firsts and Our Annual Trip to Smolack Farm

2010-09-19T20:50:00.000-04:00

This was am action packed week for us. On Thursday Grace had her first day of Preschool. We are having a hard time believing she is already in preschool. She was a little nervous on her first day but did great overall.

Grace also started dance class this week. She will be takng tap and ballet. Jen is already well on her way to becoming a stage mom.

This past Saturday we took out annual trip to Smolack Farm for apple picking, pumpkins and a hayride. Always a good time.

Oh Dear!!!

I can't decide, I guess I will take them all.

A boost from daddy

Enjoying the fruits of her labor

Hayride!!!

Weekend In Maryland

2010-09-12T20:07:00.000-04:00

We spent the weekend in Maryland visiting with family and catching a Navy game. Appropriate place to be on the anniversary of 9/11. Some pics from the weekend below.

The Brigade

Littlest Cheerleader

The Goat!!!

Grace and cousin Nathan

Back to Work

2010-08-29T20:12:00.000-04:00

Summer vacation is over....Jen and I are back to work on Monday. Grace has a couple weeks before she starts her new preschool so she will be spending the time between our parents. We tried to make the most of the rainy week last week and actually had some really beautiful days at the end of the week. Summary of our week in pics below.

Rainy Day Activities

Helping Daddy with his candles

Trying out braids

Who doesn't love a trolley ride?

Go fly a kite

4 little monkeys in a hammock

Vacation

2010-08-22T22:48:00.000-04:00

This will be Jen's last week of summer vacation before going back to work. I took the week off as well so we could enjoy the last unofficial week of summer. Unfortunately it looks like the weather is not going to cooperate. It has not rained here practically all summer and this week there is rain in the forecast for the next three days.

We started the week yesterday by attending the Lowell Southeast Asian Water Festival. We had a fun time watching the dragon boat races and checking out the exhibits.

Today we braved the rain and went to a Lowell Spinners game. Unfortunately it rained for most of the game and we only made it through the 5th inning. Grace was quite a trooper though. She was pretty happy as long as she had Cracker Jacks or cotton candy to stuff in her mouth.

A Couple Weeks In Pictures

2010-08-15T22:46:00.000-04:00

Just a quick summary of our last couple weeks in pictures....

Fun with friends

More friends in Maine

I love the beach!!!

Mmmmm, smores

Rockport with Mommy

Rockport with Daddy

Make Way For Ducklings.....and Grace

2010-08-01T21:12:00.000-04:00

We have been reading Make Way for Ducklings at night to Grace for the past couple weeks. She just loves this book so we decided to spend the day in Boston yesterday and see the ducklings in person. When I worked in Boston and spent a couple hours a day driving back and forth I never wanted to drive into Boston on the weekends. Now I look forward to going into Boston, especially to spend the day with my girls.

We started our day walking along the Rose Kennedy Greenway to Fanueil hall for a bite to eat for lunch and then back to the Greenway for a quick carousel ride. The Greenway is still under consruction in some areas but it is going to be a really nice space for families when it is complete.

Then it was off to to the Public Graden to meet the ducks. First we had to say hello to "Michael" though, Grace was very impressed that he now has a horse.

It was a bit crowded around the ducks but Grace patiently waited her turn and finally got her turn to sit on mama duck.

We finished up the day with a swan boat ride

Summertime at the Beach

2010-07-25T21:00:00.000-04:00

No explanation needed

Catch up

2010-07-11T23:04:00.003-04:00

Seems like it has been a little while since I last posted. We've been pretty busy here and just getting over a little heat wave so I finally have the energy to sit down and type up an update. The day after we returned form out trip to Storyland Jen and Grace flew down to Maryland for her nephew's induction into the US Naval Academy. Grace had a blast hanging out the the Browns in Maryland and is very proud of her cousin Nathan.

The girls came back just in time for the 4th of July and a little fireworks at the beach. Grace was pretty impressed although we didn't get too close this time. We also enjoyed some pool time to cool off from the heat.

This past weekend our friends Kristen and Biren had a wedding to go to and asked us to watch Kath and Karina overnight. Of course we happily obliged and the girls had a great time on their first sleepover.

Storyland 2010

2010-06-29T22:06:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the late posting this week but we spend the early part of the week at Storyland with the Shah family so we are just getting caught up tonight. We rented a cute little log cabin in the mountains and spent a couple days at the park. This is the second year we have taken the trip together and as usual it was lots of fun!!!

Last year the girls were not tall enough to ride all of the rides but this year they reached the height requirement so they had free reign of the park. Grace is pretty fearless when it comes to rides but is not a big fan of the characters unless they are princesses, which she loves. We left the park today thoroughly exhausted but had lots of fun and are looking forward to next year. Some pics of the trip below.

Getting ready to start our day

I love the teacups!!!!

Cinderella?

A panda in New Hampshire?

The big bad wolf and the three little pigs

Exhausted

Daddy's Day

2010-06-20T22:57:00.000-04:00

This past week kicked off summer for us as Jen finished up school. We are keeping Grace in daycare for another week but after that it will be Gracie and Mommy all summer long. But today was about Daddy. We started out our day with some lobster rolls for lunch, Grace opted for a hot dog. Then this afternoon Grace joined me for a kayak ride.

Pretty good day overall!!! Some additional pics of Grace enjoying the sun.

Makeover

2010-06-10T22:06:00.001-04:00

No, you are not at the wrong place....Just doing a little makeover on the ole Blog. Blogger has some cool new templates and we figured it was time for a change. Grace chose this one because she likes to blow the heads off dandelions. Let us know what you think of our new look.

Two Years Later

2010-06-06T22:16:00.000-04:00

This weekend was our annual get together with our China travel group. 8 of the 14 families made it out this year for a great time. The girls are all getting so big and don't look like babies any more, they are just sassy little girls.

It is tough work wrangling two year olds

Still one missing

We had to bribe them with cupcakes

Three Amigos

How much they have changed

*** Potty Update ***

Potty training is going very well. Only one accident over the weekend and very few over the past week. She seems to have turned a corner. We are still not ready to brave a long car trip without pull-ups but we are getting there.

Potty Weekend

2010-05-31T22:03:00.000-04:00

*** Just a warning this post is about pee and poop....skip to the bottom for the cute pics ***

We were pretty free this weekend so we decided it would be a good time to start potty training in earnest with Grace. Grace needs to be potty trained by September as the new preschool she will be going to requires that the kids be trained. We have plenty of time but the summer can get busy and go by fast so we decided to get a head-start. We have been sitting Grace on the potty at night and in the morning and most of the time she will pee. She has also recently been asking to sit on the potty but that has been pretty sporadic but it tells us that she is now ready,

A couple months ago we tried with not great results as she obviously wasn't ready and neither was I. It started out pretty well and then Jen left to run some errands....big mistake. About 2 minutes after Jen left Grace climbed up onto one of our dining room chairs and proceded to pee on it. This was change #1. About 10 minutes later I sat her on the potty and she peed. Then a few minutes later she peed on the couch, change #2. About 10 minutes later we sat on the potty but she didn't have to go. But just 5 minutes after that she peed on the floor. At this point I was getting frustrated and decided that she was just not ready. Jen came home and agreed and the diapers went back on.

This weekend started pretty well, she went most of the day Saturday in dry panties. We went out later in the day and used some pull-ups and she did pee in those once. But overall it was a pretty good day. Sunday we were running errands most of the day so we were on and off with the panties and pullups. She was able to experience peeing and even pooping in a restaurant bathroom but also peed in her pull-ups a couple times.

Monday all hell broke loose....I needed to get some things done around the house so Jen was on her own. As I was coming upstairs from mowing the lawn I caught a glimpse of a pile of poop on the bathroom floor. Apparently it fell out of her panties as Jen was sitting her down to pee. This happened again about an hour later. We kept sitting her on the potty throughout the day every 15 minutes or so and had some success and some failure. At one point I think Grace had enough and refused to sit on the potty...when I finally got her on she started crying that she wanted to put her diapers on and then threw up all over herself. Poor baby.

The rest of the day went pretty well. Jen put a piece of paper on the wall next to the potty and gave her a sticker to put on it whenever she had a successful pee and that seemed to work pretty well. Tomorrow it is back to work and daycare for Grace. Jen wrote up some instructions for them so hopefully they keep her in panties and have some success. We shall see. Just a couple pics of Grace being silly from this weekend below.

2 Year Familiversary

2010-05-26T21:05:00.000-04:00

Two years ago today we met our Gracie for the very first time. Hard to belive it has been two years. It feels like it was just yesterday and yet feels like she has been with us forever.

Then

Now

Ponies and Canoes

2010-05-23T21:19:00.000-04:00

It was a beautiful weekend here and we took full advantage of it by trying to be outside most of the time. On Saturday we attended a birthday party for Jen's coworker's daughter. They had great food, a fun playset and Grace's favorite.....Ponies!!!!

On Sunday we trekked down to Newton to a canoe rental place to give Grace her first taste of the Charles River. She actually seemed to like it.

No Like the Mice

2010-05-16T21:15:00.000-04:00

One of the restaurants in the area has a character brunch for kids a couple weeks a month. This Sunday was Mickey and Minnie Mouse so we got up early and met up with the Shahs for a liitle fun. Unfortunately Grace wasn't into the mice this time around which is very out of character for her. The one pic we got below.

Fortunately this weekend was beautiful. We spent the day Saturday on the Minuteman Bike Trail and most of Sunday outside around the neighborhood.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T18:40:00.000-04:00

Happy Mother's day to all of the mothers and mothers-to-be out there.

We had a nice mother's day. Grace and I started out with a run to the local coffee shop to get donuts and coffee for breakfast in bed for Mommy. We headed to Portsmouth, NH for lunch and some shopping.

We gave our mothers framed copies of the below portrait. This was taken at costume day at school. They brought in a bunch of costumes for the kids to choose from and, of course, Grace chose the fairy costume. Just love the devilish little smile in the pic.

Bittersweet

2010-05-02T22:01:00.000-04:00

I made kind of a big change this week.....after almost 14 years I am leaving my postition at the company I work for to take a new job. I will still be working in the IT field (actually I will be doing the exact same job I have been for the past few years). But I will be knocking about 2 hours off my daily commute. No more driving into Boston every day and I will have more time to spend with my girls.

We had some really hot weather this weekend and got to spend part of it celebrating Uno de Mayo with the Shahs. It was our first cookout of the year and Grace got to take a couple swings at her first Pinata. Some pics below.

Vacation Week

2010-04-25T23:25:00.001-04:00

Jen was on vacation this past week, overall it was a pretty low-key. Jen and Grace had a couple play dates and the weather was pretty nice so they got to enjoy the outdoors. Unfortunately our old digital camera decided to stop working so she wasn't able to take as many pictures as she would have liked. We were able to get out this weekand and pick up a new camera so just a couple pics below.

First bike ride of the season

This strawberry is bigger than my head

Wheeeeee!!!!!

Swingset!!!!

2010-04-14T22:12:00.001-04:00

Grace's Swingset was finally installed today and she couldn't have been more excited. We waited until I got home from work to bring Grace out to play on it. Keeping it hidden was no small feat for Mommy given that it is huge. Some pics of Grace enjoying her swingset below.

Hand me downs

2010-04-11T11:17:00.000-04:00

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Princess-Easter-Anniversary

2010-04-04T21:01:00.001-04:00

Busy Busy weekend over here. We started out on Saturday with a trip down to Worcester to see the Disney Princesses on Ice show. We didn't tell Grace where we were going, just that it was a surprise. And boy was she surprised. She absolutely loved the show.

Today of course was Easter and we have been talking a bit lately with Grace about the Easter Bunny coming to leave her candy. She really got the whole Easter thing this year and was in our room at 7:30 (at least she slept in an extra hour) getting us out of bed to go downstairs to hunt for Easter eggs. We spent the rest of the day with family and enjoying the beautiful day that we had today.

Lastly, it was two years ago today that we got the best news of our lives. It was referral day, the day we first saw the beautiful little face below. It was only a picture but it kept us going for the next month and a half while we waited to travel and meet our sweet Grace.

Those days of waiting are a distant memory now that we have this beautiful, smart, funny little princess in our lives. Happy Easter!!!! Hope everyone had as great a day as we did.

More Easter Fun

2010-03-28T20:23:00.000-04:00

Lots of Easter fun today.....We picked up an egg coloring kit at the supermarket this afternoon and helped Grace color some Easter eggs. Some pics of the fun below....

Thank You Easter Bunny

2010-03-28T15:24:00.000-04:00

We took Grace to the mall on Saturday for a visit with the Easter Bunny. Last year she wouldn't get anywhere near him unless mommy was with her so we weren't sure how it was gonna go. This year she toughed it out and even attempted a forced smile. She called it a day when the photographer asked the Easter Bunny to give her a hug though.

Spring Wonderful Spring

2010-03-21T20:15:00.000-04:00

Mother nature cooperated and gave us a beautiful first day of Spring on Saturday. We were able to head out for a walk around the neighborhood without winter coats for the first time in a while. Sunday was a little cooler but we still were able to get outside for a little bit of swingset shopping. Grace picked out a cute little model equipped with a slide and playhouse. It should be delivered and installed within a couple weeks so I will post some pics then. Couple pics from our week below.

State of Grace

2010-03-14T17:46:00.000-04:00

I havent posted on the latest milestones that Grace has reached recently so I figured tonight I would post a little update....

Grace will be turning 2-1/2 later this month. We can't believe how fast she is growing. She amazes us daily with how smart she is and always has us laughing with the things she comes up with.
It has been a rough winter for Grace health-wise. She has had an ear infection, a sinus infection, pnemonia, a stomach virus and at least a half dozen colds. She was barely sick last winter....must be daycare.
To go along with the above sicknesses Grace has been prescribed three rounds of antibiotics, the third we are currently in the midst of.
We converted Grace's crib to a big-girl-bed a couple months ago. Grace is doing great with it although we often get a little visitor staring at us in the middle of the night.
Grace has been going pee and poop on the potty for months now, although not consistently. We think she is ready to go diaper free but we will probably wait until Jen's April vacation to officially start.
Grace is now at the age where she is testing boundaries. We have started issuing time-outs to stem the unwanted behavior. This seems to stop the bad behavior when it is happening but doesn't keep it from happening the following day.
Grace was given a developmental assessment at daycare a few months ago and she scored above average in all areas. We had a meeting with her teacher to review the assesment aand she was very impressed with Grace. The only area she said Grace needs to work on is cleaning up after play. Grace tends to dissapear at clean-up time. We have the same problem at home. Probably pretty typical two year old behavior though.
Grace's communication continues to improve by leaps and bounds. She can recite her ABCs and can count to 20. She speaks in full sentences now and it is pretty rare that she says something that we don't understand.
She has her daily schedule down better than mommy and daddy. She knows which days of the week she goes to Me Me's, Gram's, and daycare. And she has been known to correct us if we get the day wrong.
She can sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, the Barney Song and The Wheels on the Bus and certain parts of many others.
She can get a drink of water from the sink by herself. I actually found this out as I was writing this and she snuck upstairs. All was quiet (never a good thing) and I found her upstairs (without pants on) on her stool pulled up to the sink. When she saw me coming up the stairs she said "My getting a drink of wa wa".

Monkey Feet

2010-03-07T22:17:00.000-05:00

I know I have been a little lazy with just posting videos lately but this stuff is too funny not to post. If this kid is anything she is a creative dresser.

My, What Big Hands You Have!!

2010-02-28T20:34:00.000-05:00

Just a video post tonight of Grace trying on Daddy's ski gloves

Vacation Week

2010-02-21T21:00:00.000-05:00

Jen was on vacation this week so Grace had lots of mommy time. We still sent her to daycare on Tuesday and Thursday since we pay for it anyway but Grace really enjoyed her extra time with mommy. Overall it was a pretty quiet week. We got some snow on Tuesday and Grace had a playdate with the Shah girls on Friday. On Friday night Jen and I had a date night, kind of a belated Valentine's Day Italian dinner. Thanks to MeMe for babysitting. Some pics from the week below....

Attend Juilliard she will not

2010-02-14T21:25:00.001-05:00

We were out for dinner the other night and Grace was singing at the top of her lungs without a care in the world. Must be great to be two and fearless. Not sure how much the other diners appreciated it but we thought it was pretty funny. We captured her encore performance the other morning for your enjoyment.

Gung hay fat choy (Happy New Year)

2010-02-07T22:55:00.000-05:00

I know I am a week early but we attended our adoption agency's Chinese New Year party this weekend. It was a good time as usual and we were able to meet up with a couple of families from our travel group. It's always nice to see how big the girls are getting. We almost thought we weren't going to make it this week as I picked up a nasty stomach virus and then Jen started feeling sick on Friday as well. Luckily Jen didn't get the same virus as I had. A couple pics below of Grace enjoying the party,

Big Bird and Big Girl Bed

2010-01-31T20:54:00.000-05:00

Seems like it has been a while since I last posted but that is not due to the lack of things going on....seems like we have too much going on sometimes. Ok a little catch-up. Two weekends ago we took Grace to see the Sesame Street Elmo Live Show. She absolutely loved it. Seeing Elmo in the ~~flesh~~ fur was so exciting she fell to sleep for the last 5 minutes of the show. Unfortunately she wasn't too happy when she woke up and Elmo was gone. All in all a pretty good day.

Last time I posted Grace was recovering from a slight case of pnemonia. A few days after she finished her antibiotics for the pnemonia her fever came back. So we were back to the doctor with a diagnosis of an ear infection and another 10 days of antibiotics.

This weekend was a much anticipated event in our household. We converted Grace's crib to a big girl bed. We have one of those cribs that convert to a full size bed so we let Grace help us take the crib apart and attach the rails. Then mommy locked herself in the room and put all of the pretty bedding on. The video below is Grace's reaction to seeing her big girl bed for the first time.

All went really well at bedtime, she went right to sleep and slept well through the night until about 4am, when Jen heard her coughing and went in to find Grace vomiting all over herself, the new bedding and eventually Jen. Fun times!!! So Grace spent the rest of the night in bed with us. We will give it another shot tonight, hopefully with better results. Some more pics below of Grace trying out her new bed.

As long is everyone is healthy next weekend we are planning to attend the CAWLI Chinese New Year party. Looking forward to seeing our travel mates and others so if you will be there leave us a comment so we know to be looking for you.

Sick Princess

2010-01-18T20:17:00.000-05:00

We had a fairly eventful week last week. It started with Grace's ongoing cold getting worse. She has had the cold for the past month (may have been two different colds) but last week it moved into her chest so we took her to the doctor. The doc confirmed that she has pnemonia. Sounds kind of scary but even pnemonia hasn't slowed our girl down much. The doc prescribed antobiotics so she is now on the mend.

For the past month or so Jen and I have been discussing moving Grace out of her crib and into a big girl bed. I have been a bit hesitant for fear that Grace will wake up in the middle of the night and wander into our room. I finally relented and we went out this past weekend and bought a mattress. It will get delivered this weekend so we have some time to talk-up sleeping in a big-girl bed. So far she seems excited. We'll see....

We had another sizable snow storm this weekend and this one was a really wet snow so we went out with Grace and attemped something we have been looking forward to for a while. Making a snowman. We present "Frosty" below.

Sick Princess

Helping Daddy

Makin' a snowman is hard work

You're freakin' me out Frosty

My first snowman

Our Little Princess

2010-01-10T20:13:00.000-05:00

One of Grace's favorite Christmas gifts was a little princess dress up set that we got her. We are not really sure where her obsession with princesses started as she hasn't seen any of the Disney movies yet but she loves anything with princesses on it. The set has three costumes, Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty and Grace needs to be wearing one or a combination of these contumes for all waking hours. Some pics of Cinderella (I think?) below.

Quality Time

2010-01-03T21:08:00.000-05:00

Going back to work tomorrow morning isn't going to be fun after being off for two weeks. Spent some real quality time with my girls which was nice. We didn't really do much for my time off, just hung out and got some errands done. Grace did have a sleepover at MeMe and PaPa's on New Years Eve so Jen and I could go out for dinner and to a party with friends. Was really nice to be out with adults for a change but we did miss our Gracie. We also finally got around to opening a UFund college investing plan for Grace, something we have been wanting to do for a while but we just never got around to doing it. We ended this week with a nice little snowstorm that had us pretty much housebound for the weekend but we did get out to do a little sledding.

Happy New Year 2010!!!

Grace is just too cute in this hat.

Showing Lucy some love.

Mommy slides down the hill

Daddy pulls the sled back up the hill

Happy New Year

2010-01-01T10:39:00.002-05:00

Happy Holidays

2009-12-28T00:03:00.000-05:00

I was hoping to post some pics on Christmas but we were pretty busy hosting our families on both Chrsitmas and Christmas Eve. Grace had so much fun this year. She really got excited about Santa coming and loved opening all of her presents. She actually doesn't get that Christmas is over as she keeps asking us if Santa is coming again. Jen and I have this week off so we will have some time to relax and enjoy some downtime and maybe complete a couple projects around the house. Some pics from the weeks festivities below.

Cookies for Santa

Family pic

Backpack!!!

Bliss

Opening presents is serious business

Another family pic

Grace Goes Sledding

2009-12-21T12:35:00.001-05:00

We got a little bit of snow this past weekend so we were able to take Grace out for a little sledding and she loved it.

Random Outfits

2009-12-13T20:35:00.004-05:00

This is what happens when you let a two year old pick out her own clothes. Hilarity ensues.

A poncho and one sandal in December, nice

Bob and my boots

Dancin Boots

No ideaDon't even ask

Pants optional

Visit to Santa

2009-12-06T22:51:00.003-05:00

Grace seemed to be pretty excited this year to have her picture taken with Santa. We have been talking him up for a couple days now so we were hoping that Grace would be willing to sit on his lap for a picture. She was pretty good while waiting in line, she kept peeking around the corner at him until it was finally our turn. That is when the she turned into velcro-baby. She wanted nothing to do with Santa. Luckily there were no tears but she was not sitting for a picture. So we tried with Mommy sitting next to Santa with Grace sitting on her lap. Still that was too close for our Grace. Our good Santa, the professional that he is, would not be denied. He slyly got up and walked a few steps away to admire the stockings on the mantle and jumped into the frame at the last second for the picture below.

Festive Weekend

2009-12-06T22:09:00.003-05:00

We had a pretty busy weekend here getting into the Christmas spirit. We started the weekend with a little trip to see Santa Claus but that deserves a blog post of its own later. Saturday afternoon we headed across town to the Shah girls 2nd birthday. There were a ton of kids there and Grace had a blast as usual at the Shah fun house.

We got a little bit of snow Saturday night to get us in the Christmas mood so it was time to do a little holiday decorating. We put the tree up Saturday night and decorated it today with Grace. Our tree seems to be a little bottom heavy this year due to Grace not being able to reach the higher branches but she had a great time helping to decorate the tree. It's not the prettiest tree that we have ever had but I think it is our favorite one. Some pictures below.

Fall Fun

2009-11-29T21:01:00.003-05:00

I meant to post a Thanksgiving greeting on Thursday but we got busy and I never got around to it. So I will make up for it with two posts today. We had a great Thanksgiving spent with family. Hope everyone had a great day as well. Our long weekend was action packed, I was hoping for a relaxing weekend but it wasn't in the cards. Luckily it was a productive weekend as I finally finished raking my leaves....with a little help from Grace.

Harade!!!!!

2009-11-29T19:12:00.001-05:00

Or a parade to everyone else. Jen's school enters a float in the local holiday parade every year and this year we were asked to come along for the ride. Grace was very excited about the "harade" and was talking about it all day. It was a bit cold out but Grace was quite a trooper.

We tried to get Grace to ride in the float but she opted to be carried the whole way.

Not too sure about Lowla the bear

One of the neighboring floats was for Sesame Street Live. I don't think Grover was too happy when Grace asked him "Where's Elmo?"

Lady Gra Gra

2009-11-22T22:14:00.003-05:00

Just in case you didn't know, we have a budding rock star in the house. See for yourself.

Pictures

2009-11-18T21:12:00.002-05:00

Grace had some pictures taken at school recently and we also had some studio pics done for her 2nd birthday(a little late)

Missed my girls

2009-11-15T22:10:00.002-05:00

Jen and Grace took a little trip down to Florida this weekend for Uncle Rich's change of command ceremony. This was the first time that I have been away from Grace for more than a couple days. It was nice and quiet in the house but I was really missing her by the end of the day today. I did get some nice big hugs from Grace (and mommy) this evening when I picked them up at the airport. They were supposed to come home Saturday night but there were some flight delays so they ended up coming home tonight.

Grace and her uncles

wa wa

Can't catch me Me-Me
Exhausted....

Enjoying some Halloween Candy

2009-11-09T21:30:00.001-05:00

First Five Word Sentence

2009-11-01T20:44:00.001-05:00

Yes, we are still alive....

2009-11-01T20:16:00.003-05:00

Been a couple weeks since I last posted, sorry about that. We have had a bout of sickness go though the house that had us all out of sorts for a couple weeks. Nothing too serious, just upper respiratory stuff that seemed to linger longer that it should have. We seem to be back to normal now though.

We are still trying to settle into our new routine with Jen back at work. The first couple weeks dropping Grace off at daycare was pretty easy. Then the honeymoon period seemed to abruptly end and she wanted nothing to do with daycare. It is pretty heart wrenching to leave your kid while she is screaming and reaching for you. Even though her teachers say she is fine a few minutes after I leave it is still rough. This past week though she seemed to have turned a corner and didn't cry for drop-off so hopefully it lasts.

And of course this weekend we celebrated Halloween. We pretty much made a day of it starting in the early afternoon trick or treating at family and friends. We did a quick loop around our neighborhood in the early evening and then headed over to the Shahs' for some more fun with the twins. Grace really got it this year and loved saying trick or treat and getting a handful of candy. I hope she doesn't think that will work year round. I think Jen and I had as much fun as Grace did.

Our Little Ladybug

Gracie Ladybug with her cousins James "the frog" and Sammy "the monkey"

Getting ready to loot the hood with the twins

Planning our attack

Two at the Zoo

2009-10-11T22:00:00.003-04:00

We met up with a few of the families from our travel group today at a local zoo to celebrate our girls' 2nd birthdays.

Want MaMa

2009-10-04T21:42:00.003-04:00

Want MaMa seemed to be the Grace's favorite phrase this past week. She started with a little fever early Thursday morning and at one point on Friday it was over 104 degrees. It was pretty scary for a little while but we were able to get it back down to 101 with a little Motrin. With Grace being under the weather all she really wanted was to stay attached to Jen's hip. She would tolerate me for a while but was sure to let me know that she "wants mama".

Grace is normally on the go for all waking hours and doesn't usually sit and snuggle with is for more than a couple minutes at a time. This weekend there was plenty of snuggling to go around as all Grace wanted to do was lay on the couch with us which was kind of nice.

Even though she was sick, she needed some fresh air so we bundled up in a fall outfit and went out for a ride....

Dora Party

2009-09-27T21:08:00.000-04:00

We celebrated Grace's birthday this weekend with family and friends. Some pics of the day below.

Blowing out my candles
For me?

Dress up with Bames

My sweet new ride

Happy Birthday Grace

2009-09-22T20:42:00.003-04:00

We had a little party with just the three of us to celebrate Grace's 2nd birthday. As you can see she is excited.

Settling In

2009-09-20T21:12:00.003-04:00

Last week was a pretty crazy week. I mentioned earlier that Grace started daycare on Tuesday which is going surprisingly well so far. We are trying to get used to our new schedules of getting up much earlier in the morning which has us really dragging by the end of the day. Grace is taking it all in stride. She seems to love daycare. She is in a very small class so she gets a lot of attention which is good. She has cried a little during the day because she wanted us but we haven't had any hysterical screaming at drop off yet.

Grace has also been dealing with some sort of allergy this past week. It started last Sunday when she woke up with some redness under one of her eyes. The next day she woke up with her other eye swollen on her upper lid. It seem to be bothering her much but we took her to the doctor just in case. The doc just prescribed drops and Benadryl. Over the next few days the swelling seemed to subside and reappear every other day. We haven't yet been able to figure out if it is something in her diet that is causing it. Hopefully it is not the cat. She has a checkup with her doctor this week so hopefully we will learn more then.

We ended this week ed with a trip up to Annika's to celebrate her 2nd Birthday. Mei Lu was also in attendance. Hard to believe that our girls are all turning two!!!

First Day of School

After School we party

Lunch with Annika and Mei Lu

First day of school

2009-09-15T07:10:00.000-04:00

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Trip To The Farm

2009-09-13T18:40:00.002-04:00

We took our annual trip to Smolak Farm today for some apple and pumpkin picking. It seemed a bit warm for apple picking today but we weren't complaining. Some pics of our day below.....

Ridin' out to the pumpkin patch
I want these daddy

Finding the perfect apple

A little help from daddy

Emjoying the "fruits" of my labor

"Huss"

2009-09-06T15:49:00.000-04:00

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Fishy Face

2009-09-04T18:28:00.001-04:00

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