Double Happiness!

We moved our blog

2007-12-24T08:21:00.000-08:00

...

Moved

2006-07-06T19:52:00.000-07:00

Why did we do this?Blogger seems to break all the time and we're tired of it.We wanted a URL that wasn't our kid's name. And, finally, because the kids are getting older and someday we'll want to password protect the blog.Be sure to bookmark the new URL and change your subscription to the RSS feed if you subscribe through sites like bloglines.com

Music Video - "When Love Takes You In"

2006-06-28T18:40:00.000-07:00

When Love Takes You InBy Steven Curtis ChapmanClick ^ the far left button (above) to play the video

Gwen's hair

2006-06-27T21:14:00.000-07:00

When Gwen came to us, she was practically bald In the 9 months she's been home, her hair has grown and grown and grown! It's super thick and glossy and gorgeous but it's also in her face all the time! To make things worse, it grows straight toward her face at a very sharp angle so any attempt to pull it back and contain it with a barrette or clip is really

Happy Birthday Gwenny!

2006-06-25T19:26:00.000-07:00

Gwen's 2nd birthday is this Sunday (June 25th). But, since there was family visiting for Michael's graduation last weekend, we decided to have her birthday party a week early.Here are the pictures. But first, a few stats:At 24 months, Gwen weighs 25.5 pounds--90th percentile on the Chinese charts--38th percentile on the US chartsAt 24 months, Gwen is 33.25 inches tall--75th percentile on the

Ahhhh! Summer!

2006-06-19T11:40:00.000-07:00

There's something special about running around outside in the grass in your bare feet! Gwenny loves doing that. She also likes to play a game we call "Ah Boom!". She'll run around until I say "Ah Boom!" then she'll fall over! She never gets tired of it and it's a great way to wear her out for a nap!Daddy got a wide angle lens for our Canon Rebel XT for father's day. Not only does it take nice

Class of 2006

2006-06-15T23:24:00.000-07:00

Our son, Michael, graduated from High School today! It was an amazing day! His class had 451 students and there were several thousand parents, family and friends cheering them on. I love the picture, above. It seems like he's "looking to the future". (Yeah, I know. He was probably looking to see if there were any cute girls around.) They don't give the kids their diploma during the ceremony.

DTC 5/15/2006

2006-06-13T11:12:00.000-07:00

Our dossier for Madeline's adoption went to China on May 15th. So we've been "in the game" for nearly a month and didn't even know it!Travel Authorization (TA) is next. Currently, the average wait for that seems to be about 75 days. We're already 30 days into it!We don't expect to travel before August or September though.

In loving memory

2006-06-13T08:59:00.000-07:00

14 years ago today, my mother passed away suddenly. She was 53. Michael was 4. I was 30.I've missed Mom so much. I missed her on her grandson's first day of kindergarten and I'll miss her in two days when he graduates from High School. I missed her when I walked down the aisle into the arms of the man she always dreamed I'd marry. I missed her on Gwen's Gotcha Day and I miss her all the time as

Naughty Girl!

2006-06-12T19:50:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, Gwenny is such a naughty little girl. You'd think standing in the corner would help her see the error of her ways but she comes out of the corner just as naughty and adorable as she was when she went in!I have to confess (before you think I've lost my mind) that I don't really put Gwen in the corner. She just decided today that she likes running there whenever I announce that she

Someone dropped some pie?

2006-06-08T19:47:00.000-07:00

Before you look at the picture below, there are a few things you should know.My floor is very clean.I don't make my child eat off of the floor. She did this of her own free will.She hasn't eaten anything I've offered her for the last two days. (Obviously, she was holding out for pie crumbs!)It's all my teenage son's fault. He left the empty "birthday pie" container on the counter where she could

Nite Nite! :)

2006-06-06T15:23:00.000-07:00

We've had lots of success with putting Gwen to bed and walking out of the room while she's still awake. The method has been around for years but someone named "Ferber" made it his own and sold a few gazillion books on the subject.The concept is simple. You make bedtime a positive experience but leave your child in her (or his) crib while fully awake. This teaches baby to not expect mommy and

Kisses!

2006-06-03T22:00:00.000-07:00

Gwen and our Japanese Bobtail, "Kitty" (formerly named "Baby") share a kiss under the watchful eye of Daddy. This is the first time Kitty trusted Gwen enough to let her get this close. I'm so glad there was a camera in my hand to capture this precious moment!

Does she look different?

2006-06-02T14:19:00.001-07:00

Does she look different?(Does she look like she's *more* our daughter?)I made this collage with FotoFusion by Lumapix.Today was Gwen's readoption day. She was our daughter before we went through this stupid and expensive formality and she's (I guess) even MORE our daughter now that it's done.We went before the judge and promised once again to take good care of her. We swore that we were acting of

My son, Michael

2006-05-29T20:14:00.000-07:00

This is my son, Michael. He's going to be 18 years old in just a couple of days! I can't begin to tell you how amazing that is to me since I can remember so well what it felt like to have him kick around inside of me. I remember holding his hands and watching his first awkward steps. I remember seeing him off to Kindergarten and then Junior High. I remember hearing him play his guitar so

Madeline's Finding Ad

2006-05-25T21:57:00.000-07:00

Today, we received Madeline's Finding Ad in the mail (from Brian Stuy). Madeline is almost 22 months old now.The ad says that she was left on the day she was born, with a note, at the gate of a local school in Qinzhou. The ad was placed in the newspaper on November 20th, 2004. That means Maddy is less than four months old in this picture. I think she's precious and I knew instantly that this was

Freaking Mommy Out!

2006-05-20T21:59:00.000-07:00

_____I made this collage with FotoFusion by Lumapix.While I folded laundry, look what Gwen decided to do.She's never tried this before so imagine my surprise when I walked in the room and saw her sitting atop the kitty scratcher post!Our family room is the most baby-proofed place in the whole house. I even have a video monitor pointed at this space so I can watch Gwen's every move if I'm in the

Double Stroller

2006-05-20T14:01:00.000-07:00

In anticipation of Madeline's arrival, we purchased a Graco double stroller recently. We shopped all around, and found lots of interesting options, but decided on this one because none of them really seemed just "perfect" and this one actually met most of our needs. It was nice that it was one of the least expensive on the market too!We bought a Graco single stroller on sale before Gwen's

Kat and Colin's have Sophia!

2006-05-15T10:44:00.000-07:00

Kat and Colin's Journey to SophiaGotcha Day was Mother's Day. How perfect was that! Check out the pictures on their blog.

Jump!

2006-05-13T20:16:00.000-07:00

I made this collage with FotoFusion by Lumapix.Gwendolyn (22 months) & Benjamin (28 months)Click to see a cute 1 minute video of these two little jumping monkies!

Hey! Hold still!

2006-05-10T12:37:00.000-07:00

These girls just won't hold still and they're all so cute that I can't pick just one photo to post. So, there's all of them!From left to right, there's Gwen (22 months), Lizzie (13 months), Ryleigh (16 months), and Madelyn (18 months)We had a super fun lunch, yesterday, with Mary-Mia, Melanie & Madelyn, Stacey and Ryleigh, and Rhonda and Lizzie.It was the first time I've seen Lizzie and Ryleigh

Gwen’s an easy kid

2006-05-09T14:48:00.000-07:00

Several of my Blogger friends have recently written of their concerns about how their 2nd adoption will change their life. Especially since their 1st child is so easy-going.I can empathize and my comments have been something like "Yeah, I know what you mean. Gwen is an easy kid too and we're worried about how Maddy might fit in." But after typing that two or three times, I recently looked at it

Sun and fun at the local park

2006-05-07T20:10:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe this little beauty has been in our life for only 8 months. She's a real treasure and we feel so blessed to be her family.

171 Approval!

2006-05-03T15:18:00.000-07:00

We got our 171 approval today. Actually, I drove down and picked it up from our local BCIS office. The processing time for this was about twice as fast as Gwen's 171 and I can only assume that it's because I sent our I600 with a sad little picture of Madeline and a personal plea that they expedite us. I figured it couldn't hurt and it sure seems to have helped!By the way, our 171 wasn't really as

Splash!

2006-05-02T12:50:00.000-07:00

The water was really cold but Gwenny loved her new pool!Note: Many of you have emailed or left comments asking what program I'm using to create these cool collages. I'm using FotoFusion by Lumapix. The standard version is affordable and it's (honestly!) the easiest program I've ever used! A bunch of folks want to know where we got the pool. It's made by Little Tikes and we got it for

Babies are so cute!

2006-04-27T16:06:00.000-07:00

I made this collage with FotoFusion by Lumapix. Mary-Mia and Gwen and I headed to our local lake to see if we could make friends with some hungry geese.Man! These sure are some confrontational geese! We were feeding them bread and crackers (while Mary-Mia was happily snapping pictures and trying to distract them well enough that they don't notice her toes!) . Then, one jumped right up on the

22 months

2006-04-26T20:53:00.000-07:00

We took 167 pictures today. Thank goodness for digital cameras, huh! Of those, we got a dozen decent shots and I liked this one best. I think it really captures the personality of our little sprite!Gwen is 22 months old and has been home for about 7.5 months. She's finally figuring out that verbal communication is a two way street. She produces a sound (a word) from her mouth and Mommy

Gwen's new friend, Abigail!

2006-04-24T14:18:00.000-07:00

Gwen made friends with a cute little four year old girl in the toddler play area at the mall today. Her friend's name is Abigail (Abby). Abby's mom (Joy) took this cute picture of the two girls with the camera in her cell phone.They had a wonderful time playing together! Gwen loves older kids and Abby was just the sweetest! If this is a preview of how much Gwen will enjoy her new sister, then I'm

"Language Littles"

2006-04-20T12:49:00.000-07:00

Here's another goodie we purchased for Madeline's next care package: Ling from Language Littles! She's a cute 16 inch doll that speaks 25 different words and phrases in English and Mandarin. Gwen liked her and it's possible that we'll have trouble when we finally have to shove her in the box and mail her off!Maddy is from Qinzhou in Guangxi Province. We've heard that she very likely does NOT

Six Weird Things About Me

2006-04-19T09:22:00.000-07:00

Tenley's Mom, Michelle, from The Taming of Tenley tagged me so I'm supposed to tell you six weird things about me. There are so many more to tell but here are the first six that come to mind: My number one pet peeve is telemarketers. I thought the no-call list would end my misery but it seems companies who you’ve done prior business with are “allowed” to market to you this annoying way. Maybe it’

Fingerprinted today!

2006-04-15T21:42:00.000-07:00

We mailed our I600 to BCIS on April 4, 2006 and, at the suggestion of our friends Tina and Scott (Hui Hui's Mom and Dad), we sent along a photo of Madeline and a special request that our I171 be expedited. I felt a little bit uncomfortable doing this since our child isn't more important than anyone else's but figured that it sure couldn't hurt.The result? It HELPED........ tremendously!We got our

Kids who look like Gwen and Maddy

2006-04-14T13:35:00.000-07:00

We've been looking for a new house for nearly a year. It's been hard for several reasons. First of all, we're picky because we already live in a nice house in a great school district. But a two hour daily commute was starting to make my husband grumpy so we decided to branch out and find something new.In addition to easing the commute, the new house needed to be in a school district where our

21st century baby surveillance

2006-04-11T16:48:00.000-07:00

Before we traveled to China and brought Gwen home, we spent a great deal of time baby-proofing our home. We attached the floor lamps to the wall. We tied the doors to the fireplace closed. We moved all of our stereo equipment up out of her reach. And we put soft foam bumpers around everything else in the room!Then we stood back and watched her defeat every bit of it! She carries toys in from

My first house

2006-04-09T21:12:00.000-07:00

Because of Madeline's adoption, I recently visited the County Recorder's Office of Santa Clara county to get another certified copy of my birth certificate. My only other copy went to China last year (with my dossier) for Gwendolyn's adoption.Unlike my last certified copy, this one was an actual photocopy of my original birth certificate -- including my parents signatures and our home address in

Pink bows

2006-04-09T20:25:00.000-07:00

She only left her first bows in for a few minutes but they sure were cute while they lasted!

Madeline's first care package

2006-04-06T11:59:00.000-07:00

Here's the first of Madeline's care packages:We have at least 5 months before we can travel to get her so I'm going to try to send a package every month. Her birthday is in July and that'll be a BIG package for sure!Here's what we included in our first package. A wooden animal puzzle Some freeze-dried fruit snacks for babies Some fruit cereal bars for babies An Elmo (Sesame Street) cell phone

Seven months post "Gotcha"!

2006-04-05T15:35:00.000-07:00

Here we were seven months ago. We waited in a hot, humid, room until it was time for the babies to arrive then we went into another room where Gwen was the first child to enter.They put her in my arms and she just cried her little heart out! She was scared to death and if I'd understood her cry (like I do now!) it would have broke my heart. I knew she'd be scared but I didn't have a maternal

Beauty Sleeps...

2006-04-03T19:44:00.000-07:00

Our Princess is a little bit confused about Daylight Savings Time. First, Mommy gets her up what feels like a whole hour earlier THEN she expects her to take a nap at a weird time too! The result is that Gwendolyn just skipped her nap completely then fell asleep on the sofa while Mommy was making dinner!Good thing we've read the story and know the proper way to wake up Sleeping Beauty!::::Kiss!::

Monkey See, Monkey Do...

2006-03-31T19:20:00.000-08:00

Gwenny starts her day watching Daddy get ready for work and part of his ritual is shaving. So, naturally, Gwen thinks she should do this too!You can't put anything past this little girl! She notices everything you do. Even when you think she's happily distracted in the other room watching Sponge Bob Square Pants.I think we'll have to be extra careful to be discreet around her!:)

Alumni Adoption Rocks!

2006-03-29T17:49:00.000-08:00

(click the image to view a larger version)Today, we had our first and our last Social Worker visit for Madeline's adoption. That's right - just ONE visit is needed! And, we needed only about half of the paperwork as last time and the cost was also reduced.Now, if BCIS worked the same way, life would *really* be good!I know you're all hungry for pictures of Gwenny so here you go! She's a bit over

China says XiaoXian (Madeline) is ours!

2006-03-21T14:34:00.000-08:00

It shouldn't have come as any big surprise but I still found myself crying after I got the call. China says XiaoXian is ours! We'll name her Madeline Abigail and we'll love her forever!Let the paperchase begin!

Peek-a-Boo!

2006-03-20T22:25:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe but our little darling is nearly 21 months old now!Here she is playing peek-a-boo with her Easter Basket/Bucket! One of the good things about being only 21 months old is that she won't notice that the Easter Bunny uses this bucket for her goodies! She also won't notice that everyone else gets candy in their basket but she's getting crackers and toddler cookies instead.By next

1.2 million faces...

2006-03-20T10:43:00.000-08:00

Dailymotion blogged videoAdoption1Video sent by ludoYou might want to grab a box of tissue and be sure to turn up the volume because the song is very touching too.

Steve and Becky and Alexandra visit

2006-03-19T21:29:00.000-08:00

This is Becky and Steve and their daughter, Alexandra. They traveled with us to China last September and came by for a visit today.It was fun to see how much Alexandra has changed in the last six months. She's almost walking and has so much more hair than when we saw her last! She also knows lots of baby (sign language) signs! I think we're inspired to try a bit harder to teach Gwen to

Kat & Colin's baby shower

2006-03-18T21:53:00.000-08:00

This is Kat and Colin from USAA Group 110. Kat may not look it, but she's four months overdue! That's right, it was originally thought that they'd have their Sophia's referral sometime last year. Needless to say, the delays are brutal!Today was their baby shower and even though there was no picture of sweet little Sophia, I know she's out there somewhere waiting for some bureaucracy to match her

Pigtails!

2006-03-17T22:05:00.000-08:00

We've been home from China for exactly six months so Gwenny decided to let Mommy celebrate by giving her some crazy pigtails! Fun! Of course, she ripped them out about 3 minutes later. J(Click the picture to enlarge it)

Green Tube

2006-03-14T23:28:00.000-08:00

Ever have one of these days?

2006-03-14T23:27:00.000-08:00

Ever have one of these days?Originally uploaded by Donna & Andrew. Have you ever had one of those days where you can hardly wait to get home and kick off your shoes and rip off your pantyhose?

Esther finally meets her family!

2006-03-12T21:08:00.000-08:00

When we were in China last September, we visited Gwen's orphanage in Shenzhen and I recognized one of the little girls because I'd been corresponding with her new Mother in the USA. This is XiaoTian (Esther). We took this picture to send back to her waiting family.Fast-forward six months to today and click to see Esther in the arms of her beautiful big sister, Sera, and her new Daddy.

Gwen and Maddy's new room?

2006-03-11T18:51:00.000-08:00

As you might remember, Gwen's nursery was originally inspired by Kelly Rightsell. Click to see her really wonderful site.Here's Gwenny's nursery just to refresh your memory. The theme was "Fashion Frog" and I hand painted the big frog:We're making an offer on a new house and that means I get to redesign the nursery. Yippee!!!I really loved our original theme and it

Michael is going to SJSU!

2006-03-06T21:57:00.000-08:00

We got Michael's college acceptance letter today. I think Gwen looks happier than her big brother about this news! Actually, she's just happy to be near him and that's not always to his liking. But we're hoping that as they both continue to mature together, they'll someday be the best of buddies. I appreciate all of the nice comments and helpful advice about my two kiddos! I'm a lucky mom

Updated picture of Madeline!

2006-03-02T16:45:00.000-08:00

Here's our timeline for Madeline:February 2006 - XiaoXian found us! Petition for adoption sent. March 2006 - Updated photo received. XiaoXian is 19 months old. Start homestudy and paperchase April 2006 - finish homestudy and paperchase May 1, 2006 - turn in dossier documents to USAA. Should also have pre-approval from China by nowJune 2006 - DTC September 8th, 2006 (or later) - TravelWe can't

Twenty Months!

2006-02-21T21:22:00.000-08:00

I bought this dress for Gwen many months before her referral. I'd been eyeing it for several months at my favorite store: TJ Max. It was wicked expensive originally. I think it was around $75. But TJ Max always has good deals on quality name-brand stuff. Even so, it was $20 and that's still more than I'm usually willing to pay for something that'll get Juicy-Juice spilled on it or get worn just

My baby's so far away!

2006-02-19T16:25:00.000-08:00

Madeline (Maddy) feels very far away to me. Maybe because we know we can't get her before September. It's pretty hard to look at her picture or look at Gwen (who is nearly the same age as Maddy) and not think about her and wonder what she's doing and if she's happy. I feel like we're missing so much of her babyhood!But it does feel good to know that she's in foster care. At least she's got a mom.

Valentine's Day at the park

2006-02-14T19:50:00.000-08:00

What better way to spend a beautiful California day in February than with your Valentine in the park! Unless, of course, it's on a swing! ....or a slide! Look at that crazy hair from the static electricity! Our big girl can climb up on the play equipment all by herself now! This leaves mommy's hands free for other things -- like holding a camera! Mostly, we had the whole park to ourselves. But a

Her first bike!

2006-02-12T22:03:00.000-08:00

We got this Schwinn trike from Costco long before we even got our referral for Gwen. It looks like as great a match for her as she was for us!

Help me rename this blog?

2006-02-11T06:33:00.000-08:00

Now that we're expecting our 2nd daughter, Madeline, I can't call this blog "Gwen of Shenzhen" anymore. I liked that name because it rhymed and was very unique. I'm less enthusiastic about "Gwen and Maddy's blog" ............ boring!But I'm drawing a blank. I want something short and sweet. Not more than three words, clever or catchy would be great! It doesn't have to include their names. It can

Something pretty amazing?

2006-02-10T13:20:00.000-08:00

I think Maddy lookes like Gwen. Not like her twin but certainly like her sister. So I've been searching my old photos for proof but can't find any since all of Maddy's pictures are from about age 11 months and, except for her referral pictures, I only have pictures of Gwen from age 14 months.So I pulled out the referral photos. Remember that both girl are just one month apart in age(Gwen is a

Happy Birthday, Dad!

2006-02-10T01:46:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday, Dad! Guess what? You've got another Granddaughter!Introducing...Madeline Abigail(photos moved and reposted, above)Born July 31, 2004 (she's just 36 days younger than Gwendolyn)Guangxi Province, Qinzhou City, Peoples Republic of China

Oh, how I love this child!

2006-02-09T12:50:00.000-08:00

First night results:

2006-02-09T07:10:00.000-08:00

It's 7:14 AM and Gwen's still asleep in her crib. She didn't make a peep all night long! She only cried for about 13 minutes after we left her room last night at 8:45. All night, I kept waking up and checking the monitor to make sure it was really working and I'm going to be pretty happy when she finally wakes up because, frankly, my arms ache for her right now! She was such a little trooper last

"Cry it out"

2006-02-08T21:13:00.000-08:00

I always thought I was against the bedtime sleep method of "crying it out" for kids who've lived in orphanages since they've had enough crying it out to last a lifetime. But after five months of sleeping with Gwen, I'm ready to try anything new. Also, everyone I know who's done this has been successful. EVERYONE. Everyone gets a good night sleep and is so much happier. Lately, I've been having

Corn on the cob

2006-02-07T17:01:00.000-08:00

Gwen's first taste of corn on the cob. I think she likes it!!

Five month anniversary

2006-02-05T22:24:00.000-08:00

Today marks the start of our 6th month with Gwendolyn! It's amazing how fast the months fly by *after* you get your child home!We have a busy day tomorrow. New windows in our house, Doctor appointment for Gwen, pick up Michael's transcript and mail it to San Jose State University, and call our agency and get more information about the child they offered us Friday.

How does Gwendolyn grow?

2006-01-30T13:09:00.000-08:00

I emailed some pictures of Gwen to Ewa (a volunteer at Gwen's old orphanage) and she shared them with the staff at the SWI. Ewa said nobody recognized Gwen! So that made me want to search through our gazillion pictures to see how she's changed from month to month. I needed to find pictures where she wasn't smiling since she looks so different when she smiles. It was hard but I found these. Then I

Ten things Meg Ryan and I have in common

2006-01-26T22:20:00.000-08:00

We were born the same yearWe're both 5'8"We had dark brown hair in high schoolWe graduated from HS the same yearMeg's character was married to a Navy Pilot in the movie Top Gun. I married a Navy PilotMeg starred in the movie "The Presidio". I was stationed on The Presidio.We currently have teenage sons from a prior marriage.She found true love over the internet in the movie "You've got mail". I

Congratulations to Karen and Scott!

2006-01-26T12:46:00.000-08:00

My dear friend Karen and her husband, Scott, just saw their daughter's pretty face today. Congratulations! Here's their blog: http://onceuponacadence.blogspot.com/

Doctor visit yesterday, Social Security office today

2006-01-25T12:21:00.000-08:00

Gwen went to the Doctor yesterday. Thankfully, she didn't remember her last visit there and she was super cheerful and happy -- at least for a little while.We wanted our Doctor to look at her legs. She seems a big bow-legged to us and that could be a sign of rickets which are not uncommon to Chinese adopted children. Usually a good diet with plenty of vitamin D is all that's needed to correct the

She's almost 19 months old!

2006-01-23T21:58:00.000-08:00

The time really flies. I know this all too well because I have a 17 and a half year old son upstairs sleeping in the room next to Gwen's. It really doesn't seem like it's been 17 years since he was my little guy. I know it'll be a blink of the eye before Gwen stops being my baby too. But for now, she is my baby and she's such a little treasure. She's recently learned to give puckered up kisses.

Why do I blog?

2006-01-22T06:58:00.000-08:00

Remember the days of the 110 camera?20 years ago, I went on vacations and shared holidays and other special times with family and friends and took lots of pictures with my 110 camera. After paying a small fortune to have the film developed (always double prints!), I faithfully put those photos into photo albums and mailed the others to relatives and friends all over the country.Fast forward to

Piano

2006-01-21T22:31:00.000-08:00

Gwen loves music.Pretty much any kind of music.She'll happily listen to anything from her big brother's alternative rock electric guitar solos to Andrea Bocelli's awe inspiring rendition of Ava Maria. * Maybe the only thing she loves more than listening to music is playing music! Or playing and singing too!Here she is performing "Crocodile Rock". (She just loves Elton!) "I remember when rock was

Daddy's got a brand new flash!!

2006-01-14T19:57:00.000-08:00

Andrew got a pretty cool new flash for Christmas for our digital camera. He's finally had some time to try it out and it's pretty impressive!I've always thought the best way to judge a camera was to take a picture of a cat and let the eyes tell the story. I think you'll agree that our Japanese Bobtail, "Kitty", is a great advertisment for this new flash! Just look at that pretty face! In other

How to find the link for a specific post on your blog?

2006-01-07T19:03:00.000-08:00

Most of the time, you can find the URL for any specific post on your blog by right clicking on the time stamp for that post (located under the post -- usually near the comments link) then selecting "copy shortcut" from the drop down menu. You can then "paste" the URL anywhere you want by clicking ctrl v on your keyboard.The timestamp is the 'permalink' for that post (usually). It's helpful to

Party!

2006-01-07T16:21:00.000-08:00

While we set stuff up, Mary-Mia's husband, Rod (above) kept Gwen entertained with some piano lessons. I don't have a picture of them, but we were also really excited to see K of the Wunchmachen blog and finally meet her husband, F. I would love to name everyone who came but I know I'd leave someone out so I'll just leave it as this. Above, is Kat and Colin. It was fun to see them again and we can

Baby Care 101

2006-01-06T22:08:00.000-08:00

Throw away all those books written by so-called "experts" in child rearing. Gwen knows exactly how to care for a baby and she's sharing her secrets in this special pictorial! Grab a pencil and paper because you're gonna want to take some notes! To feed your baby, hold her firmly by the hair and stick the bottle up her nose. Then drink the bottle yourself. After all, Mommies need to keep their

4 Month Gotcha Anniversary

2006-01-05T13:15:00.000-08:00

Four months ago today, Gwendolyn came to us scared, tired and hungry. She cried for 45 minutes straight. I didn't have the right words, hugs or caresses to make it all better. In fact, I seemed to only make it worse. But I was optimistic since I knew her reaction to this new and frightening situation was normal. Still, when the orphanage Director told me (through a translator) that our child "

Squeaky Shoes!

2006-01-04T15:50:00.000-08:00

Another video. This one is short and it's all about "Squeaky Shoes". As usual, click the image above to view it.

Our Gotcha Video

2006-01-02T16:39:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, Santa got me Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 and I've spent every spare moment (that Gwen will give me) trying to figure out how to create a video. This is my best effort to date. If I wait until it is "perfect" before sharing it, you'll never see it!It might take a minute or two to load. I hope you enjoy it.(click the image, above, to view the video)

Gwen finds mom and dad's reading glasses (yes, we're getting old!)

2005-12-31T08:34:00.000-08:00

I took the idea for this picture from Lissa. Her Lydia is so cute! I think Gwenny is pretty cute in glasses too!

Christmas 2005

2005-12-25T18:47:00.000-08:00

This was our first Christmas with Gwendolyn and even though the holiday was pretty insignificant to her, it was very significant to us.Christmas is a time for 'family' and this year has been all about growing our family. What a joy to have her home with us! Christmas was in Santa Fe this year. Andrew's parents live there and I'm always amazed to see that no matter what direction you look,

Gwen is talking....maybe

2005-12-16T00:05:00.000-08:00

This morning, Gwenny pointed at her baby dolls and said "b'dolls!" Then, as if to convince me that it wasn't just a fluke, she said it again two more times.Later this afternoon, while I was throwing clothes in the dryer, she was a few feet away at the baby gate and when I peeked around the corner to see what she was up to, she saw me and announced "Hi Mama!"So, she's added a few words to her very

Mommy? Why can't I mess up your desk?

2005-12-14T20:55:00.000-08:00

Back when I was naive enough to think I could work from home while caring for Gwen, we rearranged our office to keep baby on one side of the desks and mommy and daddy's computer equipment and junk safely out of the way on the other side. This worked well until Gwen got tall enough to reach the top of the desk and start pulling stuff off!For a few months, we've pushed our stuff toward the middle

Very important! Please read this!

2005-12-14T12:10:00.000-08:00

This is Emma. She was home from China just 8 months when she died.Her adoptive mother is charged in her death. This is the 2nd China adopted child in recent months to die or suffer horrible injury (blindness, permanent brain damage) because she was shaken by her mother.Please remember as you look at my blog (and everyone else's) that life with baby is not always as rosey we depict it here on

Internet Privacy: Hiding in Plain Sight

2005-12-09T13:16:00.000-08:00

Some of my friends have asked if I feel creepy having so many strangers looking at our blog.I thought about this question as Gwen and I walked through the mall this morning. Several hundred people probably saw us. Most just kept walking but some smiled and a few actually said "Hello". This isn't unlike the people who see our blog (we've averaged about 170 hits per day since we started the blog).

How many Research Scientists does it take to teach a baby to count to five?

2005-12-09T00:11:00.000-08:00

Tonight, our friends Kevin and Jan came bearing gifts of Gourmet Mandarin Cuisine from the Mandarin Gourmet. We ate until we couldn't manage another bite and then we threw in a slab of German chocolate cake just to prove that we're not wimps.While Jan and I chatted, Gwendolyn entertained the men with her newest toy, the Leapfrog Learning Playground. Through touch and sound, it teaches the letters

Brrrrrr!!!!

2005-12-07T22:35:00.000-08:00

When it's bath time, we pull off all of Gwen's clothes and she runs around for a few minutes pretending to be cold even though it's nice and toasty upstairs in our house. In this picture, she's saying "Brrrrr!" and clenching her teeth and faking a darn good shiver! She does this every time we mention the word "cold" or when she sees her bath towel or her coat. She's done this almost since the day

Pine cones

2005-12-05T14:52:00.000-08:00

Today is the three month anniversary of Gwenny's Gotcha day. To celebrate, we took a walk outside in the cool December sunshine, crunched through the fallen leaves and collected pine cones. Then we came inside and shared a pudding snack.She's 17.5 months old and about 24 pounds. She wears size 18 month tops and size 12 month pants. Her shoe size is a 5.We've had some exciting developments this

Developmental milestones

2005-12-03T14:39:00.000-08:00

(Andrew posting) There are a lot of firsts in a young girl's life, but I think anybody's list of the top five would include first steps, first words, and first bite of marmite. Gwendolyn completed her triple crown today, eating a tiny bite of Daddy's marmite sandwich and coming back several times for more.(Donna posting) Many people are asking what the heck Marmite is so I’ll do my best to

Ahhhhhh..... Adoption!

2005-12-02T12:51:00.000-08:00

I saw this on Cindy's blog and just had to borrow it.This 100 year old tortoise has become surrogate mommy to a baby hippo who lost its mommy in the tsunami. What a lovely example of how adoption exists even in the animal world. Just look at that baby.... what a look of contentment! She's smiling!I'm not 100 (and Gwen's not that chubby!) but I can relate to this picture. You don't have to give

Gwen's Baby Dolls

2005-11-30T18:31:00.000-08:00

Earlier this year, I started looking for baby dolls for Gwen. I wasn't sure if she'd like dolls so I knew the few I picked out might be the only dolls she'd ever have. I found three Corolle dolls that I really liked. They're made very well, have soft bodies, smell of vanilla, and (best of all) they're machine washable. I thought the Asian ones were absolutely precious too and I was happy that

More Christmas Portraits...

2005-11-29T20:52:00.000-08:00

The many faces of Gwendolyn!

2005-11-27T23:27:00.000-08:00

The Many Faces of Gwendolyn Claire!This would be the happy face!We're lucky that this face (or a close variation) is the one we see most of the time.This is Gwen's Monkey Face!We first saw this face in China. It really stood out as one of her very unique expressions! We call this her monkey face because she makes monkey sounds when she wears this expression! This would be the NOT so happy face! .

Four reasons why Gwen is smiling

2005-11-25T23:41:00.000-08:00

1. We live in one of the most beautiful places in the whole world and this is the view from our front door!2. Today is the 17 month anniversary of her birth!3. It's exactly one month until Christmas!4. She's loved!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What's this ouchie thing in my mouth?

2005-11-24T20:39:00.000-08:00

Gwen's is 17 months old tomorrow and two more teeth are coming in. I guess I'd also have trouble keeping my hands out of my mouth if this was happening to me!She, currently, has 8 teeth: four on the top and four on the bottom. These new additions will bring the total to 10 but they've still got a long way to go! I can barely see them but, apparently, Gwen has no trouble feeling them!We cooked

Gwen and her Great Grandmother!

2005-11-22T14:58:00.000-08:00

Gwen and her Great Grandmother!Originally uploaded by Donna & Andrew. On their first meeting, Gwen catches a ride from her Great Grandmother. There were so many new faces and people to meet but, one by one, Gwen got to know (and charm) everyone.

November has been the month for Uncles!!

2005-11-22T14:55:00.000-08:00

Gwen can't resist the charm of Uncle Mike either!Originally uploaded by Donna & Andrew. Gwen can't resist the charm of her Great Uncle Mike!As kids, I think all of his nieces had a crush on him at one time or another -- much to Aunt Diane's dismay! But it was harmless and we couldn't help that he always had that irresistible smile and twinkle in his eye! Gosh, did I just describe Santa? Hee hee..

2005-11-20T14:36:00.000-08:00

Looks like Gwenny just has a'thing' for Uncles!Here she is with Uncle David(Donna's brother)........... We got all dressed up for ourfirst official family portrait.Gwen's Uncle David was ourvery capable photographer!I think we snapped about 300digital photos and got about10 that were super goodso it was a success!Here are two of our favorites.

Cute but perhaps a little bit creepy?

2005-11-17T19:08:00.000-08:00

I was wondering what Gwen would look like with longer hair but couldn't find any baby hairstyles online. So I put her face on these.Yes, I realize that it's kinda creepy but she's so darn cute!In this picture, she's between 1 and2 months old. It's the picture fromher finding ad.............. ..This picture is more recent.I think she looks precious in hats and thisconfirms it.I was also really

Home for two months

2005-11-17T10:43:00.000-08:00

Gwen has been home for two months (with us for 2.5 months). Here are a few stats:* She's 16.5 months old* She weighs 23 pounds* She wears a size 5 shoe (China size 145)* She wears 18 month sizes but the pants are a bit long because she has a long torso and shorter legs.* Her hair is finally long enough that it "parts" when wet!* She has 8 teeth* She finally knows her name and will turn around

Older and wiser?

2005-11-15T13:04:00.000-08:00

Last time I had diapers this size in the house, here's who was wearing them!Yep, that's my baby boy -- Michael.We're all 17 years older now and there's no doubt that Gwendolyn will benefit from my extra years of experience and maturity.I feel so much more calm this time around. I've lived through the febrile seizures and the midnight trips to the emergency room. I've squirted Bactine on a hundred