A VERY Belated Birthday...

You would think that I could have gotten around to this post sooner, since Van's birthday was nearly a week and a half ago! But, alas, this is what you get - at least I am posting!

Van celebrated her first birthday on the 13th. She's not one year old, but they don't celebrate birthdays in Vietnam, so it WAS her first birthday! Holly and I sent her balloons at school and so did a group of her friends. They made her cupcakes (which they ate in physics class) and gave her a few gifts, too. She was so amazed and kept saying she had "a lot, a lot of balloons!" She brought them home and decorated her room with them.
But she and Holly had to play with them for a little while first. The cat had fun chasing the ends of the balloons, too.

We got together with my family on the Friday after her birthday and had dinner at a Thai restaurant in Spokane. It was sooo yummy! Here's a picture of the whole family, excluding me (taking the picture!) and Mike, who must have been in the restroom or something.

My sister-in-law brought Holly a little crown and earring set from the dollar store, and here is Holly sporting her new look while eating a spring roll.

It was hard to decide what to eat because everything on the menu sounded so good! We all ended up with something we were happy with, and my aunt ordered this amazing looking meal that was served in a half of a pineapple! It must have been good because there wasn't any left at the end of the meal!

Van wore Holly's crown after she was done with it, which seemed appropriate, since she was the birthday girl!

Since the whole birthday thing is new, so was opening presents. She learns quickly, though! Here she is reading a card from Nana & Pop Pop.

And opening some warm, fuzzy socks. This was especially funny to me, since Van is always saying how cold it is, yet she walks around in her sandels all the time! Maybe she can put the socks on with her sandals...

She also got a stawberry & kiwi scented candle that she loved.

The best part of the night was when Van was talking about how tall my brother is. Yes, I did try to warn her, but you know how that goes if you know him at all. Van wanted a few pictures of the two of them. This one cracks me up! If you look closely, you will see that Van is on her tiptoes on the chair, and is STILL shorter than my brother!

The whole birthday celebration was a wonderful time, both for Van and our family. She's looking forward to seeing everyone again this week for Thanksgiving, and the day(s) rated as "really, really good" and "awesome," both of which are high praise! I think her birthday was one of her top 2-3 days being here so far. Hopefully, it will become one of MANY memorable days with our family!

One Year Ago Today...

It is astonishing to me that one year ago today I was in Taiwan and met Holly for the very first time. I had promised myself that I wouldn't cry, but of course I did. It was both a joyful and a sad day last year and I feel the same way this year. I think about Holly's birth mother very often, but on days like today, it is especially sad and painful for me. As Holly gets older, I am sure that she will think of her birth mother a lot and I hope that she will understand how much I love her birth mother and think that she was a courageous woman to make such a difficult decision.

Then:

Every day I still feel so lucky to be Holly's Mama and to have her in my life. She was so tiny and scared that day. She had no idea what was going on, but attached to me beautifully. Today, she is such a big girl, brave, cuddly, full of fun, and has oodles of personality. She knows who her Mama is and when she wants Mama, there isn't anyone who is an acceptable substitute! I cannot imagine my life without her. She has brought such joy into my world.

Now:
We didn't do anything different on this Family Day. I had a meeting all day, and Holly went to bed an hour earlier than usual. I guess I don't really have anything spectacular to say about this special day, so I will just show you pictures so you can see what a funny, independent girl she is.She loves the smell of playdoh and has finally decided that playing with it is fun. She loves shoes (watch out future husband!) and plays with any of them that she finds laying around the house. They are never where you left them!

Everyone loves a sleeping baby and I am no different. I snuck into her room the other night to take this picture. She has to have all of her things with her in bed (bear, giraffe, book, bunny, binky, blankets...).
More than anything, I just want to say that this girl makes me so darned happy to get up every single morning. I love to be with her, laugh with her, watch her, and love her. She truly is the best thing that has ever happened to me! I sometimes wonder if life can get any better than being a parent.

I love you, Holly! Today, tomorrow, and forever!

Happy Halloween!

Last weekend we carved all the pumpkins we had gathered from the pumpkin patch. Van watched me start one of the big ones, but wanted to carve a smaller one herself. She scooped the guts out...

And carved her design. It took her a long time to do because she is such a perfectionist and wanted it to be just right!

Of course, Van thought mine was better, but I tried to tell her I've just had more practice. Van's looked very cool when it was outside and lit up.

Halloween weekend, Nana & Pop Pop came to visit and go trick or treating with us. They came a day early, so they got to spend all day Friday with Holly. She woke up from her nap with a fever, so she spent some time just chillin' out with Pop Pop while he read a book. Poor little thing; look at those cheeks! :(

When I got home from work on Friday, we got all ready to go trick or treating. Holly was feeling better and loved her traditional outfit that I got in Taiwan. The slippers even fit perfectly! Don't ask me how it was that she just stood at attention like this. It just happened.

For those of you who don't know my family, we used to be HUGE into Halloween and had the best haunted house in the town where I grew up. Pop Pop didn't want to miss out on the fun. He brought a had with pigtails for Van to wear, too. The braids remind me of Pipi Longstockings.

Finally, we were ready to head out. I'll tell you, the biggest difference in changing when daylight savings ends was that we were trick or treating in broad daylight.

It took Holly a couple houses to figure out the whole trick or treating process. She was shy about saying trick or treat at first, but got a hang of picking out her candy and putting it in her bucket! She is always great about saying thank you, of course. She was both curious and unsure about this ghost at a friend's house, but got a full sized candy bar out of the deal, so it was worth walking by that ghost!

At first, Van just stood back and observed the tradition, but was persuaded to participate by a neighbor. She ended up with quite a selection of candy bars, too. At Lance's house, she went over to hug their pumpkin in the front yard. Too bad they weren't home when we were trick or treating. I'm sure Holly would have loved to see fireman Lance.

After trick or treating, we went to the high school football game. Holly was fascinated with the little cheerleaders that have been at a "camp" all week with the big cheerleaders. The busy weekend continued with a volleyball tournament all day Saturday and then just relaxing with the family on Sunday.

As a side note, let me tell you how incredibly lucky I am to have such a great kid! Since I was running the volleyball tournament, I had to be there at noon and was there all day long. Holly only took a 1 hour nap (in the bleachers), ate far less than usual, and played or ran around a lot that day. She was such a trouper and I can't believe that she didn't have a meltdown until 9 pm. Fortunately, it was the last game of the last match, so I delegated some tasks and got the heck out of Dodge. The reality is, Holly will grow up around sports, so being ok with hanging out in a gym is a MUST. I am so blessed to have a go-with-the-flow kind of girl!

Here's my observation for the day: Holly loves the book "I Don't Have Your Eyes," by Carrie A. Kitze. As I read each page, she points to the body part that it is talking about. She really cracks me up when we get to the knees because she wiggles her kneecap back and forth (sorry to gross you out, Mom!). This kid loves books of all kinds and will sit still for 30-45 minutes while I read to her. Usually, I lose interest before she does!

Next week will be 1 year since I met Holly and we became a family. We will definitely do something special to celebrate Family Day!