Helloooooooo!!!

Helloooooo!! Yes we are still here! Time continues to fly by.  John and I mulled the other day about how slow time seemed to creep during our wait for Renee, and now, two years have already flown by since bringing her home.  Amazing!! It's so true...."Time Flys When You Are Having Fun"!!
Our days are full, work, preschool, gymnastics, drawning, playing with blocks, cleaning up the mess that "Hurricane Renee" can make in record time.  The good news is that she's now old enough to help clean up.
It's Saturday morning and Renee is still asleep, although I expect her up any second, so I'm trying to type as quickly as I can.
We are going to a fall festival with our friends later today and to dinner later on. Renee turns three at the end of the month!!!

Enjoy the pictures!!

Take Pictures of Everything!

I had a very interesting conversation recently with a work colleague of mine.  Her children are young adults and teenagers, having grown up using and being comfortable with computers and digital cameras.  She recently visited Greece, and as we are friends on Facebook, I was able to view her vacation pictures as she posted them.


When she returned to work after her vacation, I told her that I felt as if I had traveled with her, having "experienced" Greece through her photos.  What she told me, was very interesting, and I had an "aha" moment.

She said that her children, told her that they "take pictures of everything", from the most mundane, to the most exciting happenings in their lives.  It makes sense as they grew up with digital photography and now cell phones with cameras.  Not that I'd like to age myself here, but I grew up with the old cameras with "110" or "126" film that had to go to the "photomat" for developing.  One hour photo was a big deal to me, as I could finally see my pictures fairly soon after taking them.  I can't tell you how many old film cassettes I have that I never developed.  Pictures lost forever, how sad.

I realized that either I don't know what to take pictures of, or after a holiday or interesting event,  that I missed a golden opportunity to catch a moment in time for posterity. Add to that, that I frequently don't know what to "blog" about. 
So what was my "aha"?? I am going to take pictures of everything! and blog about them as well!!

Renee has mastered the slide!

She loves this swing at the park, if only she could see!!

Notice the fashion statement of two different sneakers!!!!

Hurry up and take the picture mommy!!!

We're having lima beans for dinner???

Picking flowers and leaves our front.

Very interested in the smallest flower and leave at the park.

At the beach fishing with daddy

Oh Where To Begin!!

Now that my blog makeover is complete, (thank you Diane soooo much!!), it's time to start blogging seriously again.  Renee has been a part of our family for over a year and a half now, and that time has been a blur of love, happiness and good times.  We couldn't feel more blessed.  I wake up every morning eager to see her smiling (well sometimes she's not smiling, lol!!) face. 

My goal is to try to blog at least once a week if not more.  I know, I know :) but actions speak louder than words, so stay tuned :)

So as the title of this blog post suggests, where do I begin to cover all that has happened over the last several months?? I'll try to incorporate bits and pieces into the blog posts to come, interspersed with the happenings of the day/week.  I'll get us caught up!!.

Where we are now:  Renee is two and a half, running, jumping, playing and loving the word "no" !! lol!!

I'm posting some pictures, it's amazing to see how much she's grown.  I don't realize until I see pictures from several months ago!!

Renee just woke up and is asking for "juice", so have to go, but I'll be back!!

 

A New Blog Make Over!

It's time for a make over! Renee has been home with us for over 18 months and mommy is beginning to have a little more computer time! Yippee!! So in celebration, I will have Diana create a wonderful new blog theme for us. I'm trying to come up with a new title as well, any and all suggestions will be gratefully accepted!! To be continued.........

Catching Up

I have been scolded my many, for not blogging for some time. Well the stars are aligned, Renee is napping and I have access to the lap top, so yippee, here we go!

First off, Happy Thankgiving to everyone!! We have so much to be thankful for. This past year has been glorious, busy, crazy, hectic, stressful...but glorious all the same. Waking up each morning to the smile that lights up my universe!!
Here are some recent pictures of our sweetie pie, and I will narrate below.

Here Renee is showing Daddy that she knows how to whistle. Forgive the quality of the picture, we have been using our IPhone to take most of the shots lately, and we both have yet learned to master IPhone photography. I had downloaded a really good app, but have a new phone and have yet to download it again.

In this shot, John, Renee and I were heading out east to look at the autumn leaves. Renee has that -are we there yet- look about her!!

Renee has learned that with a stethoscope you listen to the heart, and she will tell you so, as well as say boom, boom, boom!!

Renee celebrated her second birthday a month ago...time really does fly.
I will be back to work a year this January. Wow!!

It is amazing to see how much Renee has grown in the last year. Aside from her height and weight, she is the smartest little girl in the world, well...at least to her mommy and daddy!! lol!!!

She can recognize certain letters of the alphabet, and loves to draw and draw and draw and draw. She says circle, oval, duck, pop, more, eat.....and soooo much more. I was worried at one point that her language skills were lacking, but I can see now, that, that was unwarranted. Her language skills are right on target.

I have also noticed that Renee is not that thrilled with music, but her talents lie in the physical. Her balance and agility is amazing. We started her almost three months ago in gymnastics (15 months to 3 years class) and she amazes us every week. She can now jump on the trampoline as well as walk across a child sized balance beam. She learned how to jump, and jumps all day and on any surface she can find!! I will post a video of her jumping!!

As we are entering into the holiday season, once again, I would like to extend our families best wishes for much happiness, love and peace to you all.

Boy Am I Ever Delinquent!!!

I cannot believe that March was my last blog post. The old adage "time flies" certainly works here. The summer is already over half gone!! Renee is growing in leaps and bounds. So...I intend to catch up, but in the mean time I'll post some photos!

We Are Home Six Months

I hope those of you that are following our blog enjoy the pictures posted. Blogging has become more challenging as the laptop has had a few mishaps (John and Renee have spilled a little milk on the keyboard;) ), certain keys are not working, and I am not the most eloquent on a good day, try figuring out what to say with limited letters and punctuation, lol!!
We have been home with Renee for six months, she turned 17 months old on Thursday. The last six months have been the happiest of my life. Oh I know how corny it must sound, but this child does complete me. She is the light of our lives. She is happy, joyful, playful, inquisitive, funny... I could go on and on. She is an absolute joy.
Renee loves to draw, loves to play, has started to feed herself and can say Momma, Dadda, Boo(that means Blues Clues!), among other words. She calls her cousin Dana, Na Na!!
I have been home again with Renee for the last several weeks, as I needed surgery. I am recovering, with the love and support of my family, it gets frustrating though, when Renee wants Momma to pick her up and I cannot. As a good friend said, this surgery was a blessing in disguise, as I have had more time with Renee, watching her grow and learn. It has been a priceless time that, although I havent always felt the best, has been wonderful.
I will do my best to try to post more often, as I have said before, my laptop time has been severely curtailed, since becoming a mommy, but I wouldnt have it any other way. I love this girl with all my heart and soul.

Home 5 Months!

On Wednesday, Renee turned 16 months old! Yesterday, was 5 months that we are home. It's amazing how quickly the time has gone. Living with Renee day to day, we don't realize how much she's grown, but if you check out the photos I'm posting, you can see it! She has gained over 3 pounds since coming home! and grown about 3 inches.
She is the smartest little girl I have ever met (ok I'm mommy and maybe a bit prejudice??), but seriously, she loves to draw!! She wants pens, pencils and crayons! and loves to sit with a blank piece of paper and fill it with squiggly lines. I can't really say whether she will be a lefty or righty, as she uses both equally.
She has such a beautiful, loving, playful personality as well. She came to us with a beautiful, hopeful look on her face. And she's been smiling and laughing ever since.

Four Months Together: Look How She's Grown!

Renee was placed in our arms on September 14th, 2009, a day I'll never forget as long as I live. John and I nervously sat in a hotel conference room in Nanning, Guangxi province, China. We waited our turn till they called "Jin Mei Sang" (our daughter's given Chinese name). We nervously walked up to the "nannies" holding her and they placed her in my arms. I remember the happy, hopeful look on my baby's face. A look I see every day and hope will always see. John and I had to wear masks due to the H1N1 scare. Renee took one look at me and pulled my mask off, lol! And the rest is history... I love the hugs and wet kisses I get every day. I love this little girl with all my heart and soul! Look how she's grown!

Catching Up

It is truly amazing how time can just fly by. My last post was for Thanksgiving and I've had every good intention to continually blog throughout the holiday season and post pictures galore. Ah but all good intentions...
Wow, it's the new year! The holidays have come and gone! I'm back at work, ugh!
Why haven't I kept up with the blog?? Well, just a couple of things...wife, mother, sister, aunt...etc, etc...Life in general. Not to mention that my lap top time has been seriously curtailed since becoming a mommy :) I've grown so dependent on my IPhone!! Also, I've gotten increasedly used to posting on facebook, it's so easy to upload photos that I've taken. Lately, trying to sync my IPhone and upload all the photos I've taken has become very difficult.
Enough rambling!! Let's talk about my daughter! Well at the moment she's taking a nap (which is why mommy can type on the lap top in the first place ;-)).
She is absolutely the most wonderful baby that John and I have been blessed to have in our lives! Her smile and laughter (we just love how she cackles!!) just fills our home with joy. Many times I stop and try to remember what life was like before we brought her home, and I realized that it was somewhat boring if you want to know the truth. No boredom in my life!
I also wondered how I would get everything done once Renee came home, especially since I'll admit that I'm a major procrastinator. Well, all I can say to that, is when you know that there is a beautiful, loving baby depending upon you, procrastination goes right out of the window!
As I had said before I had some issues uploading photo's, but I'm going to post as many as I can. More of course to follow!! Look and see how Renee has grown!! I can almost put a barrett in her hair!!