A few things for the record...

I haven't written in a while because significant other was in China and Christmas prep!!! Shawn has taken the little one out shopping so I have some alone time to write. I wanted to get these little tidbits down so that we don't forget. Annie is growing so fast and changing every day!!!
Bullet style:
- Shawn said "Oh Great" last night and Annie copied him but it sounded like she had a thick scottish brogue. Did we ever laugh!!!! She is copying EVERYTHING we say so it is time to be careful as she repeated a few words that I had said that can't be written here!!!! As well, when something happens I say "AAAAAHHHHHHKKKKK" and she has started using that expression with the same amount of energy as I use when something happens that she doesn't like!!!! I am so thrilled that she is expressing her emotions and we are really encouraging it, whether they be sadness, frustration, happiness or contentment.
- If Mommy has a little burp, Daddy gets blamed by Annie EVERY TIME. I love it and we laugh hysterically after she does it.
- Annie is addicted to Elmo or "Lelmo". Thank you Ricci and Ozzy for the Tickle Me Elmo - she loves him!!!! The Elmo Christmas Countdown special plays at least twice daily in our house and we can sing all of the songs off by heart. Annie also gets very excited when Grover arrives - every time!!!!!
-Yesterday Annie said "Mommy...Me" as in "Mommy look at Me" for the first time. She was threading her legs through the back of her play chairs. Yes, she is very daring.
-Annie is helping in the kitchen. She says "see, see" and gets her play chair to stand on. She also says "stir" which means anything from helping beat the eggs to stirring the tofu stir fry on the stove the other night. Our girl LOVES to cook and that is great because we do quite a bit of it in our house. This is the first week that we have actually included her in the cooking process - before she had little jobs like arranging the drying rack and wiping the counters.
-The little play kitchen that we picked up in the summer is a wonderful thing. Annie eats her snacks on it and yesterday for the first time, she was using the oven part as an oven or microwave. She put her water bottle in it, closed the door and then said "Bing". We use the timer on the stove quite a bit so I wasn't sure which appliance she was using but was it ever cute!!!!
- Annie notices when new gifts arrive under the tree - every time. Our relatives and friends are sending us gifts through the mail and I open the boxes when she is napping. When she gets up she runs in and says "oooooooooooooo", noticing all the new pretty parcels under the tree. Interestingly enough, she isn't really interested in opening them yet - we may be in trouble next year once she figures out this is what you do with them!!! As for the tree itself, I went and found some unbreakable ornaments this year so that if the tree falls over, it is fine. I gave her some ornaments and curled some wrapping ribbon that are specifically Annie's ornaments. She takes them off and puts them on the tree at her whim. It is really cute. Otherwise, she really hasn't shown an inclination to climb it like Shawn was afraid of, rightly so as Annie will climb anything.
- Another new word is "nap". For a while now, Annie has placed her head on one of our pillows on our bed, pulled up the duvet and called out "BOOK!!!" . She then directs us to lay down beside her and read (yes, she is VERY bossy!!!!) so I know that I have been a good influence- about the reading that is, ha ha!!! Anyway, yesterday she curled up on the couch under a blanket with a pillow and said "nap" then "Elmo...Santa" so that I would put on her favorite show. This was after she ate a peanut butter cookie that she absconded from the cooling rack, ate the top of a hello dolly with the big rice spoon (which she removed from the rice maker), poked her finger into black cake AND poked her finger into a mincemeat tart. This was all done in a VERY short period of time because when the child is quiet, I KNOW I need to check into what she is up to!! Yep, she was on a sugar high and danced in front of the Christmas tree singing to herself for about 10 minutes before she "crashed" on the couch. It was hilarious!!! I couldn't help but laugh. Oh and when I caught her with her "fingers in the pie" so to speak, she gave me a Cheshire cat smile and said "mmmnnnnnn"!! So funny. Annie has a great personality and she has a wonderful sense of humour.
-All cuteness aside, she had her first two meltdowns in public because I wasn't following her directions. Annie threw herself down on the shop floors both times and screamed. I remained calm and chatted with her while she calmed down. The cool thing was, instinctively I didn't even care what people around me thought, only that my little girl was having a rough time and I needed to be there for her - even though I caused the problem by holding the basket the wrong way the first time and helped her steer the cart the second time!!! Annie has to do everything herself these days which is great.
-Annie is attaching to us in a very secure way. When I watch other children her age interact in public and with their parents, they are doing exactly the same thing as Annie. It is wonderful to know that our hard work to become a family is starting to pay off. When Shawn came home from China, she did regress but we expected that. It only took her a few days to come back emotionally to her present state. Great to see. Annie knows that we always come home and that Mommy and Daddy are here for her whenever she needs us. Now, if we can go out on New Year's Eve without issue, all will be well.

I also wanted to ask everyone to say a prayer, white light, whatever you do, for my Uncle as he heals from his double lung transplant and for our dear friend Terry who is healing from a quadruple bypass. They are both doing very well but a few extra prayers, positive energy etc always helps!!!!!!!!



MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sweetie...

A lovely lady that we know is making Annie cute little pants. I wanted to help and cut them out from the pattern that Irene made. Annie loved the fabric so much that she wanted to be wrapped up in it. I made her a little toga and don't ask me how I knew how to do this!!! She had a blast playing around and hamming it up for the camera!!!

The Christmas season is in full swing. Thank you Shirley and Ricci for a great night the other night. I enjoyed being your "date"!!!!!!! Annie was perfect and slept right through. So much for being worried about leaving her!! Thank you Angela and Gary for being wonderful babysitters!!!!!

The tree is up and Annie chose silver as her theme. I wanted non-breakable ornaments for her first tree so we went shopping and she LOVED the silver ones. It looks gorgeous. I decorated it while she was sleeping and surprised her with it. Annie was surprised and said "WOW" when she first saw it. Now she "instructs" me to turn the lights on every day. And Shawn was worried about Annie and the tree!!

Speaking of Shawn, he should be home from China next weekend (we hope as they are trying to extend his time there) and we can't wait to see him in person. Skype just doesn't do it.

I also want to ask for prayers, white light, good thoughts etc for my wonderful Uncle Ken. He had a double lung transplant two days ago and has made it through the first 48 hours. We love him sooooooooooooooooooooooo much and can't wait to see him back on his bike, cycling through Canada!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAPPINESS...

our friends met their baby for the first time. If you want to see some sweetness, check out this little darling. Congratulations Lisa and David - we are over the moon thrilled for you both and can't wait to meet your sweet little girl.

Our first Santa Clause parade...

as a family. I would be lying if I told you that Shawn and I didn't tear up a little at the parade. We have waited sooooo long to take a little squirt to the parade and she had a blast!!! I think Annie's favorites were the tap dancers and the bands. She danced and clapped as she took turns sitting on our shoulders.

Glenn and Baxter joined us for the evening and the photo of Annie with her drink is at Noodle Box where we went for a pre-parade meal. The other photo is of her doing a "cheers" with her Dad's beer bottle and I didn't think that it would go over well!! Too funny. Anyway, a fun time was had by all. Hot chocolate and candy canes were consumed yet the little one was fast asleep by 8pm. She was EXHAUSTED. It was wonderful to watch Annie Isabel experience all the lights and sounds for the first time - still brings a little tear to my eye.

New bed~~~

First, thanks for all of your thoughts, emails and offers to sit!!! I still haven't really decided what to do about the event but I still have a few weeks to decide. Shawn is busy getting everything ready for his trip. I so wish that Annie and I could go too but we both agree that it is probably too much for her to return to China so soon. Change is VERY difficult for this little one and she worries about being "given away" again as was evident last night after playing with her new bed. It surprises us every time it happens but really it shouldn't. Our little one has been through so much.

So, this weekend we found a toddler bed on used Victoria - my FAVORITE site. We picked it up, set it up and then showed it to our little climber. I took the mattress and bedding out of her crib and put it all together. She did NOT like this and basically told me to put it all back!! It is not that she doesn't like the bed, just the idea that perhaps another child will be going into her crib? This has happened to her in the past. So we put a camping mat on it and her duvet that she doesn't use. I also found a pillow. These photos are of her playing on her new bed. She won't be sleeping in it for a while yet but she is trying to climb out of her crib so it is time. Oh and for the worriers, we do have a side to go on the bed. There is also a soft cushy mat beside her bed in case she falls out. This is not the permanent spot for the bed - it will be where her crib is right now, right beside our bed.

I love this photo of Annie clapping and singing to her "splat" stuffy - thanks Daddy for the name. So very cute!! This child loves music!! I also love the fact that she likes to bring her books to bed with her. I AM a good influence in at least one way!!!!

Conundrum...

I am not sure what to do. Shawn will be going out of town (to China actually!!) for work soon and I have an event that I would like to attend while he is away. Let me preface this by saying that we have been Annie's only caregivers from day one. We haven't had a babysitter or anyone else taking care of her. Other than when she is sleeping (and even then), she has had either her Mommy or her Daddy in her line of sight. We are very invested in attachment parenting Annie and we have just celebrated eight months of being a family!!
Anyway, I am not sure what to do. The event is in the evening and I could put her to bed and then go out but I if she wakes up and we aren't here to comfort her - I just don't know. Shawn and I have been really good at alternating if we want to go out for an evening with friends or we have people here. We have had some movie and dinner "dates" in the evening after Annie is asleep so we don't feel as though we are missing out on couple time either. This is just an event that I would really like to attend and he will "happen" to be out of town. There are a few people that I would feel very comfortable leaving Annie with - even if she isn't!!Any thoughts?

It's cold...

for us here on the coast anyway!!! Actually it is not too bad, we haven't had to turn the heat on yet - others may have but we haven't. I always try to go until at least December before we have to pay a crazy hydro bill!!! Anyone who has ever stayed with us can attest to the fact that I have extra slippers, sweaters, comfy blankets and pillows to sink into so it isn't that bad. Well, it isn't that bad for everyone but Auntie V. She brings her touque and scarf to wear around the house. She sits by the fire and wears her slippers with lots of socks. Too funny. Anyway, we were fishing out all of Annie's winter goodies tonight as she tried them on - going to look into the mirror of course. So these photos are for you Auntie V - Shawn wanted to let you know that Annie is also so cold in our house that she has to wear her touque and scarf as well!!!!!!

Actually, when Jaspar was here for his birthday weekend last winter he said that our house was colder than his!!! That really made me laugh because Colleen would love to heat the whole house with a wood stove if she could!!! Really, the hydro bills with the electric heat are at least 2/3rds more. We keep it at 14 Celcius and it is still that much more!!!

Oh and this is Annie BC southwester that she wears out in the rain. You can tell that she was not impressd to be wearing it for photos tonight. Oh and like many little people, she loves to wear Daddy's BIG shoes!!! Annie wanted to go out and it was time for her bath so that might be some of the sadness in her face. She brings us our shoes and says "out" when she wants to get outside. There is no guesswork there!!!

Happy Halloween!!!!

There is a little bunny running around our house today!!! She didn't get candy but her Daddy took her to that big toy store yesterday and bought the bunny an iggle piggle. She LOVES him. The bunny has played with this doll quite a bit in stores but Daddy actually bought it for her. That Daddy!!!!!!

We aren't going out this year because of my knee surgery but we decided to have some fun at home. Here we are carving our pumpkin and getting the seeds ready for roasting. They were delicious
This next photo is of our hospital id bracelets. You will notice that

Annie's is much cuter than mine. They gave me one and Annie put her arm up to get one too. They thought she was so cute that they made her a special one we just took off today!! Funny girl. Speaking of funny, Annie was up to her Halloween hijinks this morning and decided to get into her baby doll cradle. Unfortunately, it broke and Shawn clicked the camera at the same time!! It was very funny but it scared Annie!!
Tomorrow morning I have a new job - putting it back together!!!
This last photo is of our cooked pumpkin tureen soup that we had for dinner. We also had pumpkin cheesecake and it was Yummy!!!! I put the pumpkin on the dining room table and Annie loved picking out pieces of pumpkin and eating them. The soup that we cooked inside was a coconut, swiss cheese and bread concoction- delicious with the roasted pumpkin.

Don't you just love the little shirt - thanks Auntie Katie.

Reporting in....

People always ask me if Annie is a "good eater". She is and here are some photos to prove it. The first is Annie finishing her blueberries and looking for more. Mom, I love the plant stand that you gave us a few years ago. This summer it held beautiful impatients and now I have my fall mums in it. I will plant primroses and pansies for the winter. It is so nice to look out the window and enjoy the flowers while we are eating.

Annie has also learned how to climb up on a chair so in the second photo she is having a pancake snack, sitting in a "big" chair. We are also putting

the little one to work and here she is at our garden plot, digging for potatoes with her Dad. This was actaully the first time we let her roam the garden freely and she was wonderful. Annie is an expert at picking raspberries and from that, she was able to help us pick the last of the tomatoes and peppers. She then dug for potatoes and help me fill up the compost. I wish I had taken a photo of her "swimming" in the dirt, it was really cute. Her Dad had a few heart attacks because of the "eating dirt" thing- he used to work in a soil lab and just knows too much- but it is organic soil and our fertilizer is seaweed from the ocean so it can't be that bad!!!!

These next photos are of Annie in her Chinese dress. She LOVED it and I wanted to get some photos of her in it before she grows out of it.

We were also trying to get some photos for a few gifts for a few special fellows in her life. These are the two best ones. Even though Shawn hated the hairband, Annie loved it and she has played with it every day since, putting it on and looking at herself in the mirror. Funny girl.

I also wanted to note a few developmental changes here too. We were having a play date with Asia who is a few years older than Annie and loves to hug. It was getting a bit too much for Annie so she started telling Asia "back back". I am so happy that she knows her limits and feels comfortable enough to tell people when they are in her space and she is uncomfortable. Thanks Debbie, for a fun morning. You are right, other people's toys are so much fun and so is Asia.

Another developmental change is in the way she deals with new things that other people give or show her. Colleen was here over last weekend into the week and at first, Annie would grab my hand to take anything that Colleen offered. She did this the other night when we were out for dinner and she was playing with another little girl in the restaurant. She had me do the task first, holding my hand and directing me. Interesting.

I would also like to thank Lisa for having us over and for a lovely lunch. It was wonderful for Annie to play with Musette again and she did not have any allergy attacks after rolling around in her kitty bed. Yippee!!!!

In other news, I resigned from my job this past week. I will now be a stay at home Mom and I am really happy about this decision - no regrets. My Mom said the other day that I seem so much happier and I told her it is because I finally have the life I want. Some days are tough and it will be interesting living on one income but it is worth every minute!!!!!

Happy Moon Fest, Thanksgiving etc etc...

When you have a little person who is growing up and becoming very busy, it is difficult to get time on the computer, read your library books and generally do anything that does not include paying your complete attention to your child. I have been thinking of blogging for days now but just haven't had the chance!!!

We had a lovely moon fest and went to the top of the mountain to make our moon wishes, ate moon cakes and celebrated Jack's first birthday. That week we also attended a great dinner with other families who are waiting for their children from China and Vietnam. It was a very nice evening and Annie did very well, sitting in the restaurant for over three hours. Thank goodness we have a child who enjoys food!!!

Here she is in her pretty yellow dress at Jack's birthday party.

Thanksgiving was wonderful and I have to say, it was super to have the time at home to prepare. In years past, Colleen has always prepared the meal but this year, with Shawn and Bob's schedules, we stayed home. Staying home also meant having guests and we had a full table for our evening. I was able to bake apple and pumpkin pies, get all of the vegis done, cook a 25kg turkey with homemade bread stuffing and prepare the homemade cranberries too. I LOVE being at home. I only wish that we had photos of Annie as she sat at the end of the pretty table and looked at all the food around her. She was THRILLED to say the least. Veronica may have some photos but she is so hard to get these days!!! We both now have head colds and the weather has changed to windy and rain but the weekend was lovely. Thank you to Angela and Gary for having us over on Saturday night too. It was a blast.

Here are a few photos of our darling girl to share with family and friends. There are some neat photos of Annie and Shawn playing guitar that I will post on facebook too...

Annie is wearing her Grandpa Ivan's hat. She loves to look at herself in her mirror when she put on "ats".

This is how hard it is to get a photo of Miss. She has her Fu dolly in her carrier but when it came time to take the photo, she came running towards me!!!!! Love the corelle dolls - thank you Auntie Colleen!!!!

Photos...

Here is the litle kitchen helper!!!!! Love the pants - only little ones can get away with wearing these I guess. Annie and Joma that is.

A few things...

-Annie has a little pink stool that we use in the bathroom to brush teeth, sit on la toilet and wash hands. This stool has a hole in the middle to make for easy carrying and although it is almost as big as she is, Annie carries it around the house. Today I was doing dishes and she brought it in to help. I was folding laundry on the bed and she brought it in to try and climb onto the bed (we have a very high bed!!). Annie carries it from room to room (without being asked at all) and is figuring out ways to use it. It is neat to watch how her brain is working.
-Annie has now climbed to the top rung of her loft bed ladder by herself. This ladder is not a "children's" ladder per say and at the top, it is 6.5 feet off the ground. This child is not scared of heights but she can't figure yet, how to get down. Not a good scene for Mommy who likes her to figure her own way out of situations and I think Shawn's hair has become more grey over this one!!!! We may be taking the ladder off the bed and only putting in on when guests are coming!!
- I feel that I can share this now. On returning from China and the trauma that we dealt with there as well as the loss of my Mother-in-law (she died while we were flying back to Canada), I suffered from post-adoption depression. There is a staggering figure that 60% of AP's suffer from this but there is very little out there about it. Luckily, our agency was wonderful and set us up with some counselling and I felt comfortable talking to my Dr. about meds. Many people don't have these resources. A BC adoptive parent Elizabeth Elias has just written a memoir of her experiences with PA depression and I wanted to put it out there for others to see. The title is "Don't Call Me Mother" and it is available here . As a side note, I tried once to write about this on the "big Chinese adoption" yahoo list and the moderator wouldn't post my messages. I was in conversation with two other AP's at the time and their posts were blocked as well. Very interesting that this is a topic not many want to touch when sooooooo many suffer...
I am just glad that I was able to recognize and deal with it quickly as well as having a wonderful attachment therapist who took us on pro-bono because of all the trauma we had been through.

Weekend away...

Evening stroll. On the ferry.

Sunset. "Hanging" on the balcony.

We had a lovely weekend in Vancouver with Veronica. She lives in English Bay and it is a beautiful part of the city. Lots of walking, surf watching and GREAT restaurants which we took advantage of. Annie loved the balcony and every evening we were sitting out on the balcony when Shawn was putting her to bed. She didn't want to go and kept trying to come out and "hang" with the girls. So sweet. The next day Annie came out on the balcony, showed us all where to sit and then sat in the beach chair which fit her perfectly.

We went to visit Chinatown and to the Granville Island Market. Of course, we stopped off at Ike.a and then V took Shawn to the airport. A great weekend all around. Thanks V for the fun and hospitality!!!

A hug...

Today, Annie and I were dancing as we do most days. I fell into the couch with exhaustion with my little girl facing me. I looked her right in the eye and said "I love you". She reached around my shoulder and neck and gave me a HUGE hug. Wow, we really really have come a long way!!!! There is nothing like the feeling of little arms hugging you close, NOTHING!!!!!
Now I just have to get her to say "peas" after "up" like she does for Daddy!!!!!!

Too bad...

it won't fit for Halloween but how cute is she!!!! Oh and for those in the know, Annie is doing the actions for the Tiny Turtle song in this photo...

Pink Leopards like to crawl and read books!!!! Can you see the ears on the top of the costume...

The bottom is my favorite photo, my cutie little leopard!!! Guess Annie will have to be a bunny this year because even though she and Mommy LOVE the princess dresses, Daddy says NO!!!!

Six months...

March 2009 September 2009

ago yesterday we became a family. It has been a long and short six months with so many trials and tribulations. Annie has grown so much and come such a long way. It is amazing to think that six months ago, she couldn't sit up by herself and now she is chasing us down the hall. The photos of then and now are so very different. I won't say that the transition to becoming a parent wasn't a challenging one and that Annie's transition to accepting us as her parents is complete but we are getting there. I feel as though I can breathe a little better now. Shawn took to being a Daddy like a duck to water and enjoys every minute. He and Annie have a beautiful relationship - they adore one another.

We are sitting and watching the DVD which was made for us of our trip to China, for the first time. I am happy to say that we aren't in it much (we were exhausted and sick) but the videographer did a wonderful job of capturing all of the sites we visited. A walk down memory lane. When we were there, it was hard to focus on anything other than Annie so seeing all of the adventures we went on as well as the people we travelled with is super. Even though at the time, it felt like the videographer was in our space, I am so pleased to have this DVD of our trip. Thanks to Yulin our FOI facilitator for everything she did for us, including having this DVD made. Here's to many more years of family life together!!!!! And no, we aren't going to adopt again, Annie is our one and only!! We are so thrilled to have her.

Firsts...

*Annie ate her first piece of corn on the cob yesterday. I have cut the kernels off a fresh piece before but she REALLY wanted to eat like Mommy so I gave her a small piece. She LOVED it.
*Annie spills her water from her cup quite a bit and I showed her the cloth to clean it up yesterday. When I asked her to bring it to me, she did. So tonight, I had her soup cooling on the counter and Shawn knocked it over onto the floor - chicken, noodles, vegis, tofu and broth everywhere. Annie went and found the cloth to help clean it up!!!
*Yesterday I asked Annie if she wanted to go "out" or stay "home". She said "ome" and we stayed home for the day.
*We use a blue cup to rinse Annie's hair when we are washing it. Tonight she put on a pout, took it out of Shawn's hand and threw it into the water!!! This child needs her hair at least rinsed every night as she has food in it constantly!!!
*Annie has two "baby dolls" one is hard plastic and one is a cabb.age patch of mine. These "babies" go everywhere and must eat with us. The funny thing is that Annie only remembers half way through her meal. We then go get baby, pretend to feed baby (Annie makes the slurping sound) and then the spoonful goes into Annie's mouth. It is very cute!!
* Shawn really snores loudly and Annie has noticed from day one that he makes alot of noise when he sleeps. So now when I ask if it is time to sleep, she makes a snoring sound!!!!!
*Annie will climb anything. She is not however, fearless. She works at it and does get scared but she gets herself out of whatever she gets into with our encouragement. She has a butterbox beside the couch so she can get on and off of the couch on her own.
* Annie is eating with a fork and she is eating out of a bowl or plate on her chair tray. At the end of the meal the bowl or plate is turned upside down and she hands me the empty plate with her fork/spoon on top. Annie then proceeds to finish eating her food from her tray!!! We are getting there!! She also loves to dip and her favorite sauce these days is honey mustard. It is adorable to watch.
* Annie's favorite word these days is "Uh-oh". It is so much better than "no". She uses it perfectly too.

There are so many other little things that happen every day. I am trying to capture them all so that I can write her story for her...

Today...

We went to visit the bunnies that are all over the UVIC campus. They loved Annie!!!

Annie LOVES food, LOVES to watch us cook and ALWAYS wants to help. I thought maybe she could wait for a play kitchen until Christmas but it was just too far away. So I went on Used Victoria (my fav site these days) and found this kitchen with tons of goodies, the high chair (which is also a baby swing for dolly), a dolly, a princess doll bed with a canopy (it is in storage for later giving) AND a beautiful old doll stroller. All this for next to nothing. It was fabulous and Annie is having a blast with her kitchen. She has used her red ladle forever and mixed soup in any kind of "pot" she can find and then she feeds it to all the "babies", her stuffies and us. Yep, she is into her new kitchen. I love it because it is an 80's kitchen and it waxes nostalgic for me. Now I have to get some Ikea stools and.

I have to dig out the pots and pans my great secret pal sent us...

Oh and I have always wondered why all dolls MUST be naked!!! It really bugs Daddy who keeps dressing them all... too funny!!!!!

Annie LOVES her quilt...

We had a little "photo-shoot" and these were the best photos. She is such a ham!!!!! The photos aren't the best because Shawn had to camera set for taking photos outside-we were supposed to go see bunnies this afternoon but that is another story.

Shawn says that everyone thinks this about their own child but I think that she is the most beautiful little 18month old in the world!!!!! Annie is smart AND beautiful - we are so very privileged to have this little person in our lives.

I might be winning the battle...

Shawn and I lost our 20 year old kitty 1 1/2 years ago and I miss her so very much. This is the longest I have been without a cat in my life since I was a child and I have found it to be very hard. I want to get two kittens and everyone who knows us, knows that Shawn is against this idea - mainly because he says he ALREADY has two kitties to care for, haha.
So I gave Annie a little grey stuffed kitty and this morning she started meowing for the first time. It was the cutest thing!!!!!! She is looking at her book right now that has kitties in it and she is meowing for her Daddy.
So, because his little Empress is showing signs of wanting a kitty he said this morning, "if I end up taking care of the cats, I am sending them back". Yippee, I think I may be winning the battle because whatever the Empress wants (no she isn't a princess!!) from Daddy, she gets. Stay tuned!!!!

Annie's quilt...

Isn't it gorgeous!!! I pieced and sewed it together and then Teresa, a wonderful quilter, put the backing on and quilted it for us. She also wanted to give Annie a piece of fabric because she loved the whole idea so she added the binding as her contribution. It is quilted with hearts and stars - just lovely. The backing is the fabric that we sent to people and the beginning of Annie's book has that fabric and our wish for her, our darling girl. A huge thank you to Shirley and Teresa for giving me quilter Teresa's name. She did a beautiful job, we couldn't be happier. Annie loves it too and she cuddled up in it when I was trying to spread it on the floor. Now I just have to finish her wishes scrapbook... oh and then her lifebook, oh and then the special trunk I am making her for all of her precious gifts from China oh and... I better stop there. At least her/our photo albums are all complete now. And my Mom told me I needed projects. Yikes!!!!!