Love that dress-up box

In the midst of us watchin the Pats game (darn Pats LOST)....the girls got right into their dress up box...pretty freakin' cute, I must say....

FINALLY...BACK TO NORMAL...

Is this California or Antarctica??

This was the temp in our backyard this morning at 8:30am......BBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR....

Reconnecting with old travel friends....

I just had to post this link....
http://mychinatwo.blogspot.com/

from my dearest friend Susan, from our August 2001 trip to Catie...we got disconnected for a few months in 2006...but alas..we're reconnnected!....Susan adopted Delannie same time we adopted Catie...Delannie is from Meizhou, which is Guangdong Province..same as Catie & Meigan's province...Susan, Brian and I had a blast in Beijing in August 2001 before we got the girls, and we continued our amazing trip that August...we've gotten together only 2 times in the past 5 years...they live in Florida, and us in Califorina...but we keep in touch best we can...and I'm so very happy that we have reconnected!!! Susan watched as Catie came to Brian and I on August 13, 2001, and later that night, Brian, Catie and I watched as Delannie met her Mom for the first time...it was magic!

Since August 2001, Susan and her husband have brought Amelia into their family, and Meigan has come into our family.

Susan's 2 girls are just beautiful!!!! and you can check them out at:

Kristin

With a Wink and a Smile.....

As you can see, the girls have a desire to learn how to wink....they've been practicing quite a lot lately....Catie's is especially funny, with her 2 front teeth missing...and Meigan...well, we've been told she looks like Popeye when she tries to wink.......

Happy Birthday to Mommy.........

yep..another year older....it's 2:30pm...I can have this delicious bubbly in the middle of the day because on your birthday there are no rules, dietary or behavioral....

the girls woke up early, banging me on the head with huge smiles and Happy Birthday wishes and kisses and hugs...they're so cute....then Catie and Meig made me breakfast.....

as you will see from the next photos...it was a team effort and delictable delight...

Then the girls and I made a Costco run, and made an 11:25m showing of Charlotte's Web...it was such a nicely done movie..the kids loved it...the 3 of us squixshed into 2 seats with our 3 bags of greasy buttered popcorn (there's that no diet rule again) and a soda...such a treat and a very fun time for me and the girls...

Tonight, Brian and I will go out to dinner at a really nice restaurant in our town, have some really good wine, and enjoy ourselves....

Can't ask for anything better on my birthday!

Cousins Cousins Everywhere!!!

Here are Catie and Meigan with their little cousin Ella. This incredibly adorable little peanut is the daugher of my youngest brother Ryan and my sister-in-law Nicole who live down in Eagle Rock, CA (just next to Pasadena)...Ella is about to be 7months old and we got to see her over the weekend! Catie and Meig LOVE their baby cousin Ella...Meig didn't stop smiling the entire time they were here...infact, she didn't even speak for a long time, she just kept smiling her huge smile and hugging her Uncle Ryan and Aunty Cole...the girls are so good to Ella, so gentle and loving and just cute!!! I of course, got my baby fix....oh, and yes of course it was great to see Ryan and Nicole...almost forgot they were here too :)




While in New Hampshire over the holidays, we got to spend much time with my brother Kevin who is a year younger than me, and my sister-in-law Jen, and my nephews Dylan and James. Dylan will turn 13 this July, which blows my mind...13!!! and James..that sweet baby James! He is by far the happiest little guy I have ever laid eyes on! he just smiles, claps his hands and is nothing short of adorable! He belly laughs so hard he almost falls over when his big brother does some tricks....and Dylan, well he does what any 12 1/2 year. old does, torments his little cousins, and hides their stuffed animals....he had Catie distraught over her stuffed penguin that Santa brought her....it was a fun visit that turned my parents' house into a crazy place for 10 days!



This photo is just missing Ella...they couldn't make it from LA this time for Christmas...hopefully next year we'll get all 5 cousins together....

Happy 2007

How is it another year is upon us being the parents of these 2 amazing girls!

Catie is now 6 1/2...how that happned I'm not quite sure...she's so self assured, then so lacking in self confidence in the next breath....so independent one minute, then wanting us to do everything for her the next second...so many changes she is going through right now coming into the age of 7...so many...(for those of you not yet there, look out...this is a very challenging age).....you think the 2's or 3's are tough...nope, no way...the fun is just starting right now for us...god help us when she's a teenager...but she's a love, through a through and a sensitive, bright and just amazing kid...and she still takes my breath away when I look at her...

and Meigan....3 1/2 now...and still as much a ball of fire as she was the first day she came to us...she's transformed into this happy happy happy kid...smiling pretty much all of the time (and for those of you who knew her when first home...that was NOT the way she was for almost a year...and a LONG year that was).....Meig is funny...really funny...so affectionate, stubborn, naughty and compassionate...she can share better than any big kid and hold her ground as well as any big kid...she wakes up every morning with a grin on her face that makes you smile no matter what time of the morning it is....she's a big Daddy's girl...she is his shadow...follows him everywhere...

we're blessed beyond anything we could ever imagine with these 2 healthy amazing girls. so very lucky are we!

Wishing everyone a healthy and happy 2007!!

Christmas Day..examining the "loot"

"MY OWN LIP GLOSS" exlaims Meigan....everything she took out of her stocking she yelled out "MY OWN"..geesh, she sounds so deprived.......

by 7:01am, Catie and Meigan had discovered toys and stockings by Nana and Grampa's tree, and had dumped the contents of their stockings on the floor...

T'was the Night Before Christmas

and these girls were all ready in their new christmas jammies from Nana! The girls left Santa a letter, some cookies, milk and carrots for the reindeer...all very exciting!

Airplane pics

Over the USA and the Mississippi River to New Hampshire we go...

We're here...after one LONG day yesterday...in chilly and I mean chilly Dover, NH...at Nana 7 Grampa's house..where the girls are in HEAVEN! they have a HUGe tree, and are just giving the girls nothing but their undivided attention (which is FINE with me)...at this very second, nobody is bugging me, whining, fighting....pure heaven...

the trip was easy, just long...extremely full flight full of kids, my 2 again, are just champs at traveling..so easy they are...thank god! they watch movies, eat, color...they did great!

Catie lost her other front tooth on the flight..pretty exciting stuff that was..of course the tooth fairy came last night (good thing she packed some tooth fairy gifts in her suitcase, just in case)..

here are a few pics of the journey!

Kristin

Santa Clause is Coming to Town

you better watch out...you better not cry.....
no cryin' here....these girls are veterans...kinda/sorta.....

Catie would NOT go near Santa until last year, when she was almost 5 1/2..I remember bringing her to see him when she was 17mos. old...she'd been with us for 4 months, and we just looked at him, and she grabbed onto me like nothing I'd seen and whimpered..and we left.......Meigan's first experience with Santa was Dec. 04...home just 4 months, and almost 18mos. of age she was....reacted worse than Catie..and we left...no pictures of kids on Santa's lap crying....no sense traumatizing them just for "that picture"...all in good time things come....

so we'll enjoy this one...our 2nd pic. with the girls and Santa...ho ho ho!

Fish, Frenchfries and Greenbeans.. OH MY!

3 cuties being quite goofy during dinner....as always we love having Norah at our house...Catie and Meigan LOVE Norah...they're really amazing with her...and Norah bosses them around...because she can, because SHE IS 2!!



oh, where is Anna you say???
well, she was messing up my computer while the girls were eating..... really she and I were having a bit of a "challenge " logging onto my blog...

all I can say is "don't drink and blob"......hiccup....I mean don't drink and blog... :)

The "fine art" of noodle slurping

demonstrated by Meigan....chief noodle slurper #2 (yes, she takes her rank behind her big sister "chief noodle slurper #1 who loves to slurp noodles through those spots where her teeth have come out!

WHAT A FACE!!!! look at those cheeks!....this kid is SUCH a crack up....

All Pooped Out

Sometimes you just gotta give into sleep....6:05pm tonight, here was Meig.....GONE!

she won't nap suddenly (though if I have to go in a car, she'll go out in a flash)...and after 2 days of no nap, very early rising, and a late night last night staying with our neighbors while we were in the city overnight for Brian's Christmas party she couldn' t hold up any longer....that's ok, it's a cold, rainy, windy nasty night and we have the fire going and she got all cozy on the couch and whap, out she went! now I just gotta get Catie to go to sleep now.....hmmmm, cold medicine with alcohol in it?? :))

as for that Christmas party last night, and us staying overnight in the city....we had fun! I think...at least I remember having fun most of the night... hangovers STINK when you're over 40!

These boots are made for walking........

These have to be THE CUTEST boots I've ever seen! These are Meigan's newest wardrobe addition. she loves them..and I have to say, they are adorable on her. Catie is getting ones in pink for christmas from Nana... One more reason we love Target!

Life is Good when you are 6

Yesterday, I took Catie to the Teddy Bear Tea at the Ritz Carlton in San Francisco. It was really nice, and very fun. We went with her group of friends from her old Preschool. Now, I have to say, yes we were at the Ritz..and the cost was steep...but the entertainment was THE BEST..this guy was fantastic with the kids and all Bay Area people should check him out...he's good for grownups and kids..www.binkytheelf.com

Catie was all decked out in her fancy dress, and all the kids got a really nice Gund teddy bear, that is very soft and cuddly....It was a fun time, with of course a little bubbly for the Mommies!

Another tooth is gone....bring on the Tooth Fairy

Tooth #5 is now out...and #6 will probably be out tomorrow night...
this kid is losing her teeth like crazy....4 on the bottoom are gone, the
big giant permanent teeth are in...and now the top
are coming out... stay tuned, I"m sure that the other tooth
will come out tomrorow...it's barely hanging on, but she wants to wait...

looks like the Tooth Fairy will be broke by Sunday.... I love this!!