Andrew's first steps and Happy New Year

To ring in the New Year, Andrew decided to learn a new skill! He took his first real steps! He's been standing, cruising furniture and walking while holding our hands for a long time. We've seen the occasional step here and there that really were balance corrections.

While we were all sitting on the floor and playing together, Andrew just stood up and took 4 steps alone! We all cheered and he yelled too! I think he was just as surprised and stunned as we were. I ran and grabbed the camera to get the next steps recorded on video. We think this is pretty funny because he's so darn excited that he doesn't know how to respond! He yells with excitement, looks stunned and then giggles with us. All of it's pretty cute :)

What a fun way to start the Year of the Ox. Happy New year to everyone. May you all have a wonderful year full of great things!

One year ago today.........

We were basking in our unexpected referral of our baby boy! I can remember the "call" so well. Bill, Lily and I had just finished lunch and I was heading off to work. Tatianna, our case manager called just as I was warming up my car. I remember thinking she was calling us about an email we had received 2 times earlier in the week. I said something like "Did you tell her we already got the email?" Bill had a funny expression on his face and said "I think it might be more important, like our referral." My heart jumped just at the thought, but I so didn't want to get my hopes up.

Picking up the phone and feeling nervous I said "Hello?" Tatianna said "Melissa, I have good news. I have a referral for you!" Stunned, excited, and breathless, I said "I'm so surprised!" Tatianna replied "I know. I'm totally surprised too." She then went over the statistics. I became a parrot, repeating everything she said.
"It's a boy." -"It's a boy"
"He's 15 days old"--"He's 15 days old."
You get the idea:) For the next 2 hours, Bill and I were glued to our laptop, staring at 3 pictures, 3 documents and 1 video. Phone calls were made to grandparents and uncles and soon they arrived to join us.

It was such a fun, celebratory time. Grandmothers fussed over their new grandson claiming he was obviously a very bright baby. They claimed they could tell by how alert he was in video :) Copies of pictures were made and passed around and we all headed out to our favorite Chinese restaurant where we proudly showed off our newest family member's photo.

This week, my Taiwan agency has finally received a big batch of referrals and China appears to be on the brink of a bigger batch of referrals. I've seen my online friends experience the absolute amazing, life changing event of getting their referral. I truly believe some of my real-life friends are going to get their referrals from China in a matter of weeks and I can't wait.

My advice to all my friends is enjoy the ride, because there isn't anything that compares to it!
Andrew then:

Andrew now:

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

My Favorite Picture of the Kids

The picture at the top of the page is my favorite picture of the kids together. About 2 weeks before Christmas, I scheduled a photo session at Portrait Innovations. Two days before, I found the Chinese silk outfit for Andrew. Bill couldn't understand why I would want to buy it and I couldn't understand why Bill couldn't understand :) How could I resist such an adorable outfit? Plus, it gave me another reason to dress Lily in her gorgeous silks too. Anyway, at the last minute, I dressed the kids in their silk rather than their holiday outfits. Boy am I glad that I did because I just love this photo. If you happen to live near a Portrait Innnovations, I would highly recommend their 9.99 deal. That price will get you one session with at least 30 poses taken, 1 11x14, 2 8x10s, 4 5x7s, 4 3x5s and 36 wallets. Now, you'll be totally tempted to purchase more than one shot. I completely understand. However if you stick to your guns and get the one shot, you'll walk away with a great deal. Plus you can access the deal 4 times a year. So you'll probably see more of their work on this blog.

Our Boy Turns One!

Today our precious little guy turns one! It's hard to believe he's been with us for almost 6 months and he's officially moving onto the toddler stage. Well, given his extreme mobility at a young age, toddlerhood doesn't seem that hard to believe :) I know as a mom, I'm supposed to feel weepy about this milestone, but I don't. It's been a priveledge to get Andrew at such a young age and spend the past six months with him. I wouldn't trade it for the world. Yet, I also think 1 is such a fun age. Andrew is so interactive, funny and silly. Sure he gets into a million things before his morning nap, but boy can he grab my heart with one toothy grin and spontaneous hug. He's a charmer that little Andrew.

Due to our many holiday family gatherings, playdates and visits with friends, we actually opted for a low key celebration today. I can see how a January 3rd birthday could be challenging down the road. Untill he's more aware of dates, I believe we'll be pushing the birthday celebrations to later in January. Today we took the kids up to spend time with Great-Grandma and Great Uncle Bob. We picked up a little teeny-tiny cake and let Andrew enjoy his first piece. I think this may be the first time Andrew has tasted chocolate and let me tell you, he's a fan :) I'm pretty sure if he could request it for his bigger party, he would. Here are a few pictures of our adorable little man enjoying the cake!