Wow, its been a while!!!

Well, so much has happened since April!!! We had a very busy summer with lots of fun and lots of growth. I have taken on a few casual positions and working opposite days to Shawn is really working out. Anyway, I think I will just post some updated photos of the sweetie from our summer...

June: Hanging out with her China Sister Anna in Calgary... what a fabulous time that was!!!

July: showing off our brand new garden patios!!!

August: LalaFUlooza in Vancouver, the annual reunion of families. Can't wait for next summer in San Jose!!!!

Annie at the pool in Stanley park. She loves to swim and went down the big slides at the pool many times!!!!!

September: Having a blast with her bud Kate at the fair.

I was going to post more photos but just posting these took an hour. Sorry.

Annie is growing more every day. She is in preschool three afternoons a week and in Mandarin school two afternoons a week. Annie adores her two different schools and gets up every morning, excited about the day. She is almost into a lap belt car seat and talks a mile a minute. Her art skills are wonderful and she has learned to print her name. Shawn gave Annie the camera to use this summer and it turns out, she is a great photographer. I will try and do a "Photos by Annie" in my next post.

Annie has a wicked sense of humour and she is thoughtful and kind. Oh and she picks out her own clothes now so everything MUST match. Her criteria, not mine!!!!!

We had a great Halloween in Ontario and Annie was a "princess". Imagine that!!!!!!!!!! I haven't uploaded the photos from that trip but will soon enough. Life gets so busy!!!!!!!!

Anyway, just wanted to give an update on the life of little misadventure. She is a hoot and a half!!!!!!!!!

Back to work...

So being back to work a few days a week has worked out fine so far. Fine in the sense that Annie has had some issues but they were expected. The past two nights (I have worked the past two days), she has woken up crying and calling for both of us. Last night (after a full day of work for me) was particularly sad as she had trouble settling and wouldn't take any comfort from us at first. The second screaming wake up, Annie allowed me to physically comfort her immediately and she went back to sleep. All I have to say is, thank goodness her toddler bed is still in our room beside our bed!!!! Annie and her Dad have had some fun days together and when they came to pick me up last night, she ran into my office yelling "Mommie, Mommie, Mommie", jumped into my arms and held on tight for QUITE a while. It was WONDERFUL!!!!! We were all smiles, hugs and kisses and the people at work were enamoured of course!! Annie is a beautiful girl!! So, it seems to be ok and since this is a very part time contract position, I think it will be a good thing. I have to say though, it is very strange for me. Having spent ten years in the position and I was very rarely sick, it felt like old times, just walking back into my office. It really isn't MY office but it hasn't changed that much!!!!!!!! I also have a renewed creative energy and when I left I was burning out so it is great to be able to come back and do some neat fun things. The reason I chose this career path was because of this fact. The welcome I received from the staff was pretty amazing too!! Everyone made me feel so welcome with hugs and kind words. Anyway, I just wanted to post to say Annie and had a little bit of a breakthrough last night at bedtime. Annie hates being by herself. It really frightens her. When she is having a hard day, even being in a room by herself can upset her. So, last night we were talking about me going to work and Daddy going to work and the fact that even though each of us works, the other one is ALWAYS with her. I told Annie that either her Mommie or her Daddy are never very far from her EVER. I could tell she was processing this fact by the changing looks on her face and then she gave me a HUGE bear hug. I have to say however, it is a challenge on a marriage to practice our type of attachment parenting BUT it is so worth it. When I feel a little sad about it, Shawn and I talk and remind ourselves that we only have a short window to build this relationship with our daughter. Soon enough, she won't be very interested in hanging out with us. We had almost twenty years together before she came into our lives and everything must shift and change. It is amazing to have a partner who is willing to do this but it wasn't easy to get here. Believe me, we have had our challenges but again what is more worth a few personal sacrifices then belonging to a warm and loving family who supports you through everything!!!! Oh and Annie's latest activity is paper cutting. We tried the kid's scissors but they just didn't work for her so she uses adult scissors and does wonderfully. She has had a long time obsession with tape and the tape has now been added to the paper cutting, folding and drawing. I must say, Annie is a talented girl and I love getting my little notes taped and rolled up in paper. Oh and Annie has so much control with those scissors she is able to make tiny cuts on strips of paper that we turn into little hula skirts for her dolls. So fun!!!!!!!

Going back to work...or kind of!!!!

So, for two years I have had the privilege to be a stay at home Mommie with my little girl. Last month, a short term opportunity arose where I will be going back to work, two days a week. We have co-ordinated it so Annie will be cared for by her Dad which works out well for everyone... except maybe the small person who is really upset about it. Her Dad works very long shifts and is gone by the time we are up and doesn't come home until after 6:30 pm sometimes. This is in exchange for four days off, which we enjoy as a family immensely. Anyway, the small person isn't too sure about his whole idea of Mommie being at work as her experience is long hours of not seeing Daddy. Oh and she asks for him all day long so we call him at work and he calls us at least once a day. Anyway, I am sure it will all be fine but my Mommie guilt is coming to the fore... I know Annie will be JUST FINE with her Daddy and the hours are not long, it's just I have worked sooooo hard on her attachment and I don't want anything to ruin all of our precious work... hmnnn... any thoughts?

Oh and here are some photos!!!

Annie reading to her stuffies and Baby Rachael.

Ready to go to yoga class with her teddy on her back and her hair extensions in... LOL, such a silly smile!!!! Actually, I am lucky to get a photo these days as the young miss isn't really interested in having her photo taken!!!

Two years...

Now and...

Then...

It was two years ago today... Annie became part of our family. Wow, I can't believe it was so long ago and then again, I can't believe how fast the time has gone. She is an amazing child and we are so privileged to have her in our lives.
Annie's latest phrases are: "sure, why not" when you ask her if she would like to do something.
:"my options are..." when she is deciding how to behave in a certain situation
:"my mommy and daddy are my bestest friends EVER... oh and teddy too"
:"not Hot chocolate please, WARM chocolate"
She just cracks me up!!! Oh and Annie can draw an "A" on her aqua.dood.le!! She is very proud of this.
The little girl we met two years ago has grown into an amazing three year old who still loves to eat, party AND read her books. She is a caring, loving child who has to make sure all crying babies are safe, everyone around her is fed and she has people around her to give and get her hugs from. Couldn't ask for more...

LOVE this photo of Annie and her Bubble Tea in Chinatown during the Chinese New Year Celebrations!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Chinese New Year!!!

Hope that everyone is enjoying the Lunar New Year. We love anything Lunar and are looking forward to a special meal tonight and then again tomorrow night, with friends. As we don't have family who lives on the Coast, many of our dear friends are like family to us so spending this holiday with them is very special. Last year, I made a traditional, complete with homemade dumplings, fish and long life noodles. This year I decided that making the dumplings and everything else was just too much with so many guests and a busy girl so we are headed out to dinner both evenings. Can't wait!!! Annie woke up this morning, telling me everyone who was joining us tonight and then tomorrow night too. She kept saying "I memberd, I membered".
Oh and I realize that I didn't update the sleeping arrangements. Well, after those two nights, we were back to Daddy putting Annie to bed in our bed and then transferring her to her little bed beside ours so that she can access us easily in the night. We are still dealing with nighttime issues and I think we will be dealing with them for some time. These things just don't go away that easily :(
Have to run - being called upon by a small person - it took me three hours to get this much down so pictures next time!!! All the best to everyone in the year of the Rabbit!!!

Missed opportunities...

I knew that having a toddler who is turning into a preschooler before our eyes was going to be busy but little did I know how busy we would be!! My well organized and ordered life is no longer, I now am forgetting to pay bills and just keeping up with the laundry is a challenge. I am not complaining though, far from it. I love my life with my brilliant, beautiful and charming child. Her sense of humour is amazing and she has us all laughing every day. Annie is a little bossy though but I guess that comes with the territory - her Mom is a little bossy too!!!
Anyway, I am missing opportunities to write about the precious moments that are happening in our daily life. To many, they may seem pedantic but to us, they are family memories we want to cherish.
For instance, today we had a special fondue dessert because it is a special day. I had the chocolate out on the counter and Annie was busy unwrapping it, asking me what it was. I told her it was the chocolate for our dessert and she said "Oh, dat makes sense, dat makes sense, dis is chocolate, mnnnnnn". It was hilarious and because I laughed, she said it over and over again. She also insisted on being the one to cook it all by her "selse" but we were able to negotiate to a truce where I was able to help her with the recipe!!
Another activity which is related to cooking is Annie's love of having a "birthday party" with all of her babies and I mean ALL of her dollies. Luckily, we have kept the dolls down to only around ten. So Annie prepares the M.ellissa and D.oug birthday cake toy that we gave her for Christmas. As an aside, if you have a preschooler THIS is the toy to buy!! After the cake preparation, all the babies who are still in their beds (all around the living room floor) with their covers and their respective animals, have plates of cake served to them. When they are eating their cake, the tea set is then set up (on a little box WITH a tablecloth I might add) and they are all given some "berry" tea while Mommie reads them poetry (my favorite part). The first five times we played this game, I thought is was cute, now, well, it is not so novel but Annie came up with this all on her own, sets EVERYTHING up and plays away using her imagination. THAT is the part I love. She gives each of us presents (imaginary ones) which are sometimes VERY big and heavy according to Annie, which we open and show our joy at the gift she has chosen for us. We then give her a gift and she is just as thrilled with it. We also play the "message" game where we use her toy cell phone and leave "messages" for friends and family. Annie loves the train sets that she plays with at different stores so she decided that our living room rug was a train track and built a hill using a handtowel with stickers. We were then required to chug-a-choo around the rug and go over the hill. It was hilarious!!! Annie is also into "playing games" so we play dominoes as a family and we have a matching card game that she loves. So much fun.
Now that I start to write these little stories down, more come flooding into my brain. Annie as most children her age, is into stickers and colouring. I pick up so many stickers off the floor it is crazy but she loves them and sits for some time, focusing on where the next sticker should go. Annie "knows" they are to go on paper but for some reason, her Dad ends up at work with stickers on his pants!!! Too funny.
Annie talks a mile a minute (like her Mom) and some of her expressions are priceless but for the life of me, I can't remember any right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That will be the next post...

Happy New Year... a little late!!!

I keep meaning to post but life has just been sooo busy over the holiday season. We had a wonderful Christmas and Open House. Annie is now a firm believer in Santa Claus and is playing happily with all of the neat toys that he brought. She can actually tell us who gave her what which is very neat!!! I think what helped was going through her toys and taking the nicer ones she doesn't play with anymore, to the food bank before Christmas. Annie and I went through the toys together and anything that she didn't want to send, we didn't. I am happy to report we had a good size shopping bag full of toys to give. We are hoping that they made other children very happy this Christmas. I just feel we have so much and it is so important to teach Annie to give to others. She is growing so fast that we might do this more regularly however I do know it will be harder as she gets older and becomes more attached to her things.

So, in a nutshell, we are settled in the new house, we had a wonderful Christmas and we are looking forward to getting outside and using our new backyard very soon. We had the windows open and cleaned the deck yesterday as the weather was great!!! Annie is loving the idea of the sandbox that was a wonderful re gift from Auntie Colleen, Uncle Bob and the boys. Unfortunately, the sand was out in the rain so we have to wait for a nice day to put it into the sandbox to dry :( Oh well. Those lovely days are coming soon and we are eagerly waiting for our flowers to come up through the earth!!! Can't wait to start gardening again!!!!!!!!!

Enough of that, here are some photos.

Blogger won't let me add more photos and the divine one is calling for attention so... will try more later!!!