I LOVE GETTING MAIL!!!

Recently it was Chinese New Year and my Aunt Catherine sent me my very first & one and ONLY Chinese New Year Card! She sent it in a RED ENVELOPE with a BRAND NEW ONE DOLLAR BILL IN IT FOR GOOD LUCK! Man she's crafty... and IT EVEN HAD A DOG ON IT AND IT'S NOW THE YEAR OF THE DOG!!! She's just TRICKY that Aunt Catherine!
I can't believe she knew about the Red Packet Tradition of Chinese New Year! GO AUNT CATHERINE, GO!
Check it out:
Momma said it was so special that she remembered to not only send a card but the whole 'has to be in a red envelope' deal WITH the BRAND NEW MONEY IN IT, that we're keeping this one for my journal Momma's been keeping for me. THANK YOU AUNT CATHERINE!

And then just the other day I got my very first VALENTINE CARD EVER!!!
I loved it cuz it was fun to play with the envelope and Momma loved it cuz it had a LADYBUG ON IT! =)
See?
That was from our friends Linda & Chet, THANKS GUYS!

Lost in a dream...

Howling 101:

You really have to throw your whole head into it if you want to get the proper HOWL going!
Ebenezer was teaching me yesterday and man was THAT FUN! (& slightly loud...)
But believe me, I still have a long way to go before I'm as good as him!

The In's & Out's of Belly Buttons...

Most people have a clear cut way of defining their belly buttons... typically it's either an 'innie' or an 'outie'...

Right?

Well, it's funny, this morning as my beautiful girl was splashing up a storm in her bath & getting her Momma SOAKED TO THE CORE, I happened to pay more attention to her belly button than usual & I realized that my girl has neither an innie or an outie... it's more of an
'in & out'ie'...

It's both in and out so does that make her special? Perhaps it qualifies her as a future Genius of the world or maybe the first female president?

Who knows... maybe it's just a cute belly button...
but one thing I DO know, is that belly button belongs to my precious daughter, and her very special, very much loved & never forgotten Birth Mother gave her,
that very unique very funny little belly button.

Without her birth mother, Ruby wouldn't be here,
and neither would her adorable little button.

It got me thinking too, does her Birth Mother KNOW that she is loved in the world? Does she know how much my heart LEAPS FROM MY CHEST every morning when I creep into her bedroom to find her peeking over the edge of her crib at me with that big cheezy priceless toothy grin of hers?

That her giggle brings shivvers of joy to my entire body and happiness down to the deepest core of me?

Does she know that her child is the BIGGEST & MOST AMAZING GIFT that This Single Mother has ever had the fortune of receiving?

I hope so... because I would hate to think that she is living the rest of her life sad for the brave decision she made on that dark Sept night back a year & a half ago...

... the night she laid her precious 2 day old baby girl down in front of an emergency help center in the dead of night & left with tears in her eyes knowing that she had no other choice but to give her up to fate.

Well, fate worked in everyone's favor Birth Mother... thank you for your selfless gift of life to my Daughter when there were so many other options you could've chosen, you chose life.

Thank you for the gift of a Daughter to a Woman who wanted nothing more in this world than to be a Mother herself....
Your choice to have Ruby & give her up to Fate coupled with My choice to adopt led to our adorable little family of two... and man am I the LUCKIEST WOMAN ON EARTH!

...Ruby and I both THANK YOU SO MUCH!

We are both SO BLESSED to have each other and every night, when saying our prayers before bed, we ALWAYS remember you... with a little tear in our eyes... you will ALWAYS be remembered by this american family.


Hmmm... all that from a sweet little funny belly button, isn't life amazing?

*teary eyed* gotta get a tissue now damnit!

Hipp Hipp HORRAY!!!

I'M 17 MONTHS OLD TODAY!!!

White VS. Color... *UPDATE*

Recently I've been asked about some of the paint colors I chose for my apartment...
this picture to the left is of the original swatches I chose when picking my colors.
Below are the details as they're not all the same paint brands and pictures of how each color looks on my walls... enjoy!

Living Room: Waverly Home Classics /Signature Colors AUTUMN ORANGE / WV33013
(paint bought at Lowe's)

Kitchen: Waverly Home Classics / Signature colors
YELLOW FROST / WV32010
(paint bought at Lowe's)

Bathroom: Behr Premium Plus
PROMENADE / 400F-5p
(paint bought at Home Depot)

Play Room: Behr Premium Plus
TROPICAL POOL / 550A-2u
(paint bought at Home Depot)

Ruby's Room: Behr Premium Plus
LOVELIGHT / 120A-3u
(paint bought at Home Depot)

My Room: Behr Premium Plus
FEBRUARY FROST / 630A-2u
(paint bought at Home Depot)

Here's my theory on 'white walls'... I'm not a mental patient, and I definately don't have 'mental patient bangs' so WHY ON EARTH would I want my house that I live in to feel like a mental institution?? NO THANKS! NOT A FAN!

I do believe somewhere God said " LET THERE BE COLOR!"

and so, in my house... there is. =) and LOTS OF IT!

hee hee

Mine are BROKEN!

This is my cousin Andrea',
she was being very SILLY with these great glasses on!

It looked fun so I thought I'd give it a try...


Ummm, Nonno, how come her eyes aren't crossing like mine are??
hmmm...
I think MY GLASSES ARE BROKEN!

Super 'SICK' Sunday... *sigh*

Ok, so yesterday was Superbowl Sunday & both Ruby & I were very sick & kept ourselves locked in the house... so needless to say, we didn't do much else besides curl up in balls together & pray that it be over soon.

Congratulations to the Steelers Fans on your team's victory! (Yeah Thia!!! Maybe it was you wearing your uniform that got your team all the way to the end kiddo, you're their good luck charm!)

I am kinda sad for the Seahawks fans though, their first Superbowl ever & no victory, let's just say that being a Red Sox fan, I kinda know how it feels to have your team get SO CLOSE and not win it all. There's always next year!

(psst, that photo was from Saturday when we went to my cousin Robin's 30th birthday party. Although I really DO NOT LIKE BALLOONS ANYWHERE NEAR CHILDREN, I let Ruby play for the sake of the picture but they just creep me out as my mother knew someone years ago, about Ruby's age, who bit on a balloon & a small piece of rubber went shooting down his throat & he ended up a vegetable in the hospital till the age of 14, when he finally passed... ALL BECAUSE OF A BALLOON! No thanks... that's your one picture kiddo, after that, no more balloons, unless they're the mylar kind, those are ok...)

Ruby & I are going to go take naps now, we're still pretty sick.
Have a wonderful Monday everyone!

The Holy Grail...

(Mission Impossible Theme plays in backround...)

Shhh... I have my subject in sight,
now if I can just SLOWLY creep around the corner,
he'll NEVER see me comin'!


I hope Momma doesn't see me tryin' to get her plant,
Man, I'm JUST SO CLOSE THIS TIME!
... just a little further

There it is... the HOLY GRAIL of "things I'm not supposed to touch"!
... almost there

Awwwwwww! C'MON MOMMA!
I JUST WANNA PLAY WITH IT ONCE!

Foiled again Bear! BUMMER!

It's ok buddy, I know... I'm dissappointed too, we were SO close!
... maybe NEXT TIME!

Morning routine...

Every morning, after breakfast & bath, I like to go into my bedroom & sit & enjoy a good book or two, this morning was no different except that Momma made me wear this silly hat that I didn't like on my head. (I love the outfit though, Thank you Nanna!)

After reading, Momma & I enjoy watching Ellen and MAN CAN THAT WOMAN DANCE! Today she had a SUPERBOWL SHOW and I IMMEDIATELY showed Momma that I have perfected my 'TOUCHDOWN' groove! (How cute is THIS?!@$#$)

TOUCHDOWN!!!

That's right, I DID IT!! =)

I suppose I could clap for myself, I mean after all, Bear can't do that yet
( we're still working on him...)

Hey Momma, gimmie a HUG!

Ladybug Sighting...

Shhh...

... it's NAP TIME!


G'night Emma...

G'night Abi...


G'night Sam...


G'night Ruby...


G'night Ebenezer...

Time to pick up what's left of my little apartment,
it kinda looks like a WAR ZONE! ;)
But I don't mind, they all had a GREAT MORNING!!!

More later!

*smile*

Somebody PINCH ME!

Cuz I KNOW I'm dreaming!!

MY BABIES ARE HERE TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


YIPPEE!!!!

I LOVE YOU ABI!


I LOVE YOU EMMA!


I LOVE YOU SAM!


AND I LOVE YOU RUBY~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



THE FOUR CHILDREN WHO I LOVE MOST ON THE PLANET ARE ALL HERE TOGETHER UNDER MY ROOF AND HAVING A BLAST!!!!!!!!!!!!

Man, am I LUCKY or WHAT?? I FEEL LIKE MY HEART IS GOING TO BURST RIGHT OUT OF MY CHEST I JUST LOVE ALL THESE KIDS SO MUCH MUCH MUCH!!!!

What a difference a year makes...

Sept 7th, 2004: Ruby is born in Jiangxi province-Nanchang, China
Sept 7th, 2005: I receive her Referral and fell HEAD OVER HEELS IN LOVE!

Jan 31st, 2005: My Official LID
Jan 31st, 2006: Ruby is officially WALKING ALL BY HERSELF!

It's amazing to me the difference a year makes...

Sometimes milestones can come sooner than a year; for instance... when Ruby was handed to me in China on Nov 20th, 2005, she could barely crawl, she merely dragged her lower body with her hands scratching & clawing at the floor in desperation to become mobile. Poor thing, she looked like a soldier on maneuvers...

Within the first few weeks, I taught her to crawl... then within the next few weeks, to pull herself up and 'cruize' holding onto things... baby steps, right?

Then, just yesterday, my girl decided it was high time to just take off & get shit done, so off she went!
No more holding Momma's hand out of necessity, now it's out of desire & love, not desperation or fear.
She's walking ALL OVER MY HOUSE & I'm BEYOND THRILLED! I have baby gates & live in a small but cozy 5 room apartment, so no worries about her newfound mobility, just a gate here & some toys there & we're good to go!

It's just amazing to me to think about all that's happened in my life in a matter of a year, & when I start to think about all these things, my thoughts turn to my friends who are currently in the midst of the 'process' and are either paperchasing or brown envelope waiting, or DTC or LID, and are either waiting for or have just received their Referral and or TA etc...

I wonder what they'll be able to say one year from this date... will they too be celebrating a milestone of their own? Most likely... and all I can hope for is that I can be there to share in their joy!

HERE'S TO ALL OF YOU WHO ARE STILL WAITING TO PUT YOUR ARMS AROUND YOUR PRECIOUS CHILDREN! YOU ARE ALL IN OUR PRAYERS EVERY NIGHT!

*BIG GROUP HUG*

-Amy & Ruby (& Bear too...)

Music & Treats make for a VERY GOOD MORNING!

So, a few days ago my good friend Krista mentioned to me that our local Great Harvest Bread Co. not only has the most SINFULLY DELICIOUS BREADS & TREATS ON THE PLANET, but also has music for the kids every Wed & Fri mornings from 10am to 10:30am. A local musician named Brian Doser comes & plays accoustic guitar & sings for the kids and as you can imagine, the kids go NUTS!

You don't have to pay to get in & enjoy the music & fun but they do ask that you buy a little something while there, whether it be a coffee or a muffin or whater. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? OF COURSE I'M GONNA BUY SOMETHING, I WALK INTO THIS PLACE & AM NEARLY BOWLED OVER BY THE FANTASTIC SMELL OF FRESHLY BAKED BREADS & ROLLS & MUFFINS & CAKES ETC... IT'S A RECOVERING FAT GIRL'S PARADISE!
*Ok Amy, breath in, breath out...*

Ok, I'm kewl now... so, back to my story...

I go in, & buy a cinnamon chip loaf & a seperate piece for little miss Ruby to snack on. We then grab the diaper bag, our good friend Bear and our water sippies, and we wait.
Moments later, in comes Brian with his guitar & the FUN BEGINS!
Ruby was a little overwhelmed at first with all the kids & the noise but once she realized that "HEY, IT'S MUSIC AND I LOVE MUSIC," she was GOOD TO GO! ;)

The first song he played was the theme song to Peep and the Big Wide World, which was GREAT FOR ME SINCE I KNOW ALL THE WORDS!!!
(sad but true)

ALL the kids jumped up & started dancing, it was adorable to watch...


Well, maybe not 'all' the kids...


Hmm, ok maybe this 'dancing' stuff isn't so bad, I could do that... they look like they're having fun, c'mon Bear, let's give this a try.

Check me out! All by myself on the dance floor with Bear!!
(psst, I'm officially WALKING now...)

Brian was GREAT with the kids!! (This Momma was impressed to say the least!)



After all the dancing & fun, we headed home but not before stopping by Nonno's work to give him a much needed SURPRISE RUBY KISS which he HAPPILY accepted, and then stole SEVERAL DOZEN MORE! ;)


Ah... then it was home for lunch & right after lunch & a diaper change, Bear & little miss Ruby were ready for a nap. God bless the PLAY PEN & NOGGIN on tv!


Within minutes both Ruby and Bear were sound asleep & snoring...

Shh... Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz