ALOHA BABY MOORE

How a week goes by

2009-06-23T19:12:00.002-10:00

We recently found out about a great spray park. Its a fun place for the kids to run around and get wet. Aubrey Jane loves it, Lilah prefers the little pools. See Lilah in the polka dots and that's AJ sporting the bikini.

Here we are still at gymboree. The girls love art class, they love all the painting!

There's not beach close to us, but their is lake Washington and there's tons of parks with beach areas to enjoy. So here we are at Newcastle Beach park, one of our favorites. You wouldn't believe how tan Lilah is already despite her 50 Spf. I've got a pretty good watch tan myself.

You always here me saying "we're off to factoria time." Well, here it is. Its a program put on in the mall for free by the YMCA. Its great, they do parachute time, craft time, story, and songs. The kids love it. Then we always walk over to the pet store then do lunch which maybe a picnic, cheeseburger, target, whatever our mood. Here's Matty our neighbor with Lilah!

1st Annual Crawfish Boil

2009-06-23T18:49:00.002-10:00

We hosted a crawfish boil at our house over mother's day weekend. We had 'em flow in from Louisiana, 60lbs in a big Styrofoam cooler. It was cheaper than getting them locally believe it or not. We made it a mother's day theme with big signs everywhere with a picture of a crawfish that read,"For the one who's there in a pinch..... MOM!" Its not so easy to think up a crawfish/mother's day concept, but never fear, your great party planner is here! And Bill of course did all the cooking, it went off without a hitch and we hope to start making it a yearly event! We had perfect Seattle weather for the party!

We had crawfish games of course for everyone to play! Here's the crawfish race. Everyone really got into it...... cheering their own crawfish to the finish line! We also had a crawfih relay. I don't know if i've mentioned it, but we've got a great neighborhood. The Moores and Evans attended and all the rest of these folks are our neighbors. I don't know if its the fact that we moved into a brand new neighborhood, so people felt more like making friends, or maybe its the community park in the middle of the neighborhood that helps people socialize, or maybe its just the people in it, but we really love it and have made some friends we hope to have for a long time. And with me being a stay at home Mom, glad to have the neighborhood be such a social spot, previously most of my friends were all made at work.

Here's a shot of the table. It was quite delicious! Nice and spicy and the corn was great!

Aubrey jane loved the watermelon. And if you notice how her hair stands up.... it stands up like this all the time, The Moores said Bill's hair looked exactly the same when he was little, just a different color of course.

We honored all the Moms at the party. I gave a sweet speech about how specials Moms are, I had medallions for each kid to present to their Mom with their picture on it, and then I had all the kids give their moms foot massages and paint their toe nails. It was messy, but hilarious! See my friend Allison laughing as I had just announced about the pedicures ,which would be given by the kids, I love when people laugh so well.

For me mother's day is bittersweet. I enjoy the day so much now because i'm a mom of course, but I also miss the two wonderful mothers I was blessed with.... My Mom and my Nanny. Doing something fun for all the Moms at the party was a special way to make the day special for me. I only wish I could have included some other moms in my life who live so far away to let them know how loved they are on Mother's Day!

A little more vacation fun!

2009-06-23T13:28:00.002-10:00

Here we are at the beach, Aubrey jane's first time at a real beach. In Washington we hang out at Lake Washington, not a true beach. But it was windy and chilly, she wasn't so into it. It was a lot like Lilah's first time at the beach!

We rented a townhouse for the week which made meals and down time much easier with the girls. Here's Lilah and her cousin Katie enjoying an after dinner ice cream sandwich from the rooftop!

We had spa night for the girls. Everyone got their nails done, except Mommy & Aunt Liz, though we had several offers for them to do it for us!

San Diego zoo was very nice. But I like the Seattle zoo too!

A little carousel time with Daddy!

LEGO LAND

2009-06-23T13:16:00.002-10:00

Ahhh, the vacation continues. Here we are at Lego Land. I'll say I much preferred Sea World. Lego land really caters to a specific age group, I'd say about 4-8 yrs of age. Of course our girls got in free, so I shouldn't complain, but there wasn't enough for them to get to do in my opinion. Also, if you've got 3 kids its hard. Most rides were with 1 kid and 1 parent. So if Liz and Jeff hadn't had us to watch Lauren they would have been hindered too. Its a nice place, neat to see, don't get me wrong, you just have a very specific window of opportunity for it to be a great spot for your family to visit.

Here's the boys in the Lego Vegas. They can't say we don't take them anywhere nice. This was really amazing to see. All the details were fun!

Here's how we rolled for lunches. We saved money with a picnic and found it easiest to control the herd if they were all in the trunk of the van rental. You gotta love it!

One of the few things Lilah could ride, we rode it a million times. It was fun!

They had a nice water play area. The day started off cloudy and cold so I didn't pack their swimsuits, mistake..... so we just stripped it down and enjoyed it anyway!

Sea World April 2009

2009-06-23T12:37:00.002-10:00

We headed to California for vacation in April along with the Evans clan, (bill's sister) and we had a great time. Bill got us back stage passes to see a dolphin up close and feed it, the girls loved it! Hello Shamu!

Here we are ready to see the show, we're sitting in the soak zone, i didn't think we'd really get all that wet...... wrong... we got soaked thanks to the guys below us wearing ponchos begging the trainers to have us splashed. We were the only section to get so violently splashed. The big splash came and everyone started crying.... it was funny and terrible all at the same time. Luckily i brought lollipops which cheered up the crowd afterwards quite a bit despite their soggy attire!

Here's Lilah just running and having fun. This one is FULL of energy. She's got enough personality for 5 kids!

Elmo wanted to see Shamu too!

Happy Easter March 2009

2009-06-22T11:25:00.002-10:00

Yes, Yes, its been a thousand years since we've posted. I'm sure you all thought the blog was dead! Long and short we had 2 camera failures then 2 computer failures, and by the time we bought new computers, cameras, set it all up, backed it all up..... well here we are June 09. I'll try to back track some of the things we've been doing the last few months. The girls are growing like weeds and having tons of fun.

This is Aubrey Jane at Easter devouring a cupcake. She likes to just lick the top, but who can blame her?

Here are the girls Easter morning, seeing what the Easter bunny brought. My only complaint about Seattle Easter is it was wet and cold. Its no fun to sport long sleeves, tights, and closed toed shoes with Easter dresses, its just not right. And the last 2 Easters we've had to hunt eggs inside bc it was just too gross outside. But we made the most of it. At church there was a teenager sporting her Strapless Easter dress with long sleeves and jeans under it..... Spring is the only time that I'm not so crazy about Seattle weather, the rest of the time I actually like it!

Miss AJ w ith her basket, bring on the eggs!

The girls the night before leaving the carrots out for the Easter rabbit!

We had a big neighborhood easter egg hunt on saturday, and here's Lilah all ready to head out the door for it. This is when my camera stopped working. I thought she looked super cute.

What we are up 2!

2009-03-12T12:46:00.002-10:00

The girls now love art projects, or I should more acurately say Lilah does and Aubrey Jane just tries to eat everything or paint herself. Here we are using some polka dot paints.

Me and my girls. They each love a little lipstick before they go out in the morning.

Lilah now likes to tell us all the time she doesn't feel good so she can lay down on the couch with the chicken pillow, a blanket, and watch tv. She really was sick one day with vomitting, etc and this is what she got to do, since that day she tries to tell me everyday she doesn't feel good. My answer is "you'll have to go to your room then and lay down," and then she quickly replies, "i feel better."

Lilah loves to push the little carts at the store. She also reminds me to be careful when driving after Mommy got a speeding ticket a few weeks ago. AHHH from the mouths of babes!

Love the puffy vests.... got these on sale a few weeks ago. You'll be seeing them in them when they are 4 and 5. I thought they were funny in them. AJ had a big fall down the stairs while wearing hers. The puffy vest either caused the fall or prevented severe injury, not sure which!

What are we up to

2009-03-12T12:35:00.002-10:00

Bill has started building the girls elaborate forts which I don't have a picture of, but now they love to hide together in all kinds of places, here they are hiding while I wash the dishes. Its all monkey see monkey do at our house.

Hello trouble maker!!! My sweet baby has disappeared and been replaced with a busy body! Helping mommy with the dishes you think.... this one loves to do anything that can kill her..... electric outlets, playing in toilet, trying to touch paper shredder, climbing up stuff, grabbing knives out of dishwasher.... you name it!

They love to touch the ceiling, a favorite game with Daddy!

Lilah loves to dress up, play with her tea set, paint, play with playdo, and run around naked. Here's my little southern belle sporting her finest pearls!

Naked tea parties in the bathtub while mommy get ready in the morning... you gotta love it!

Happy 1 st Birthday Aubrey Jane!!

2009-03-12T12:20:00.002-10:00

Here's our little angels on AJ's birthday morning, ready to celebrate the day together!No first birthday would be complete without a trip to the pet store, its practically like going to the zoo! And how do you like her new dress from Aunt Liz. I thought the birthday girl deserved to wear something on her big day that wasn't handed down from big sister!

Does that look like fun or what? We had the Evans clan over for a double birthday for Lauren and Aubrey Jane. We enjoyed sliders for the grown up, hot dogs for the kids, and academy awards in the background, we're first class all the way

Our little girl is growing up. She took her first steps at the beginning of her 11 month, but didn't care to step again for a few weeks later. We took her to an indoor play area at the mall, she slid down the slide, and got up from the slide and walked like she had been doing it everyday. Lilah and I were amazed! Its so cute to see her and Lilah walking hand in hand!

Anybody going to follow in Daddy's footsteps? This was AJ assessing Lilah during her last cold, what a thoughtful little sister! Happy Birthday big girl.

I have some astounding news.... Aubrey Jane is no longer a baby. We went into Babies R Us on the day of her birthday to buy a gift for a friend and it wasn't till I saw all that little infant stuff that we no longer need that I truly realized my baby isn't a baby anymore. My how time does fly!

Happy Tet!

2009-02-09T13:24:00.003-10:00

book Here's necessary to get ready where we read Ten Mice for Tet while the kids ate their oranges. Its a cute little about all that's for Tet!

Here we are doing a dragon craft out of a paper cup. We also had a dragon parade. I made a dragon out of a box and red table cloth and if I must say so.... it was awesome!! I saved it for our next new year's party! Its a shame i'm the party planner and family photographer. No one took a picture of the dragon dance. I couldn't take the photo, I was helping lead them. I'll try to get a picture later of the dragon for you to see.

Since 2009 if the year of the ox all the kids made ox masks. So we also had an Ox and lantern parade. How cute!

Chuc Mung Nam Moi! Happy Tet!!

2009-02-08T20:40:00.007-10:00

Happy Vietnamese New Year to everyone or if you're feeling really brave, Chuc Mung Nam Moi! We started our New Vietnamese New Year off right with a breakfast at Oma & Opas of ban quan (sp?) or Vietnamese pancakes as Mom calls them. Its one of my absolute favorite things she cooks, I could eat a million of them! Its nothing like an American pancake, think more dim sum or dumpling like with meat inside. Delicious!

We then headed home for our neighborhood Vietnamese New Year/Combined birthday party for the girls and our neighbor party. We started the party with a little coloring.... as any good party should!

We then educated the kids and grownups on the zodiacs for Vietnamese new year. Each person got a tag for what they were, Lilah is a dog and Aubrey Jane is a rat. Bill is an ox and i'm a rabbit/cat depending if you're talking Vietnamese or Chinese calendar. And I'm sporting a shirt Oma got me from Northern Vietnam on her last trip in case you were wondering.
The kids then planed pin the orange on the tree and got a cutie to eat. Oranges represent good fortune and health for the new year, or a million other things depending on what you read. The kids were wild about the oranges, you'd think I was giving away gold!

Here's the kids eating their cupcakes. This was the quietest moment of the entire 2 hours party! Lilah passed about red envelopes with chocolate coins inside for party favors! I think everyone had a great time and learned a little something too! As usual lately i'm having some posting problems. I'll go back a post a few more photos.

Birthday continues

2009-01-20T20:35:00.004-10:00

After lunch we hit the streets of our neighborhood. Man, it was so foggy today....made it really chilly today. We were passing out invitations for a Vietnamese -Tet- New Year's Birthday Party for Lilah, Aubrey Jane, and our neighbor Matty, which we're hosting this Sunday afternoon. We didn't want to do a big party, actually our neighbor approached us about the group party idea, and then I added the VN New Year theme. I actually found out the Vietnamese celebrate everyone's birthday at Tet. Everyone turns their new age on New Year's and not on the date of their birth. See how culturally correct we are with our combined birthday party!

Then at night the Moore family all joined us for Pho at a local spot near our house. Do you like Lilah's hat? It actually said birthday boy, and I put a sticker over it that said girl. When we picked out her hat she just had to have the blue and didn't like any girl hats, i thought what the heck, its your birthday, you should have what you want. So I just made the gender corection.

I can hardly belive my little baby is already 2 years old. Where did the time go? If it continues to go this fast she'll be leaving for college in a blink. I feel so blessed to have this little person in my life. She's so full of life and she teaches me so much everday and makes me a better person. I love you Lilah, Happy Birthday Baby! On this day, January 20th, one of the most special people in my life was born, and I will always be so greatful!

Happy 2nd Birthday November

2009-01-20T19:59:00.006-10:00

We started our day with a few presents for a birthday girl before Daddy headed to work.

We then got dressed in our ever so cute polka dot shirt complete with "Today's My Birthday" Button. Here she is showing off her cake Mommy stayed up late making. They don't make Charlie Brown cakes anymore. Its all Elmo, Dora, etc. I asked Lilah several times what kind of cake she wanted, and hands down it was Charlie Brown every time. So I was left to take matters into my own hands. I think it turned out pretty good for my first time. Its no Kelley Robertson cake, but I think its great. Lilah knew exactly who it was when I showed it to her and that's all I needed. We then headed to art class at gymboree. We made cupcakes to share with all our classmates that were white with red white & blue sprinkles to honor inauguration day and our big girl's birthday. I'll always remember Lilah's 2nd birthday was a day of history in the making. I took video of the girls eating their birthday breakfast with Obama taking his oath in the background.... how historic! So Mommy forgot the camera at gymboree to show us sharing our cupcakes, ...... so much to remember.

After we passed out our cupcakes at gymboree we headed over to starbucks to enjoy a coffee. Believe it or not at Lilah's request. I get her a kid sized vanilla steamer and she loves it. Can't get her to drink milk much at home, but she loves it at starbucks, we just call it her "coffee." This picture was taken by the clerk at the counter. I was praying Lilah didn't get that icing all in my hair.

Here we are enjoying a moment, us Moore girls on our sweet Lilah's birthday. Cupcakes and milk/coffee for everyone. Aubrey Jane tried her first sip of cow's milk, yes it was the starbucks steamer. What a life.... her first sip of milk was at Starbucks, what a northwest baby!

We then stopped by safeway and bought 2 birthday balloons to make the day feel even more special!

2009-01-10T20:45:00.002-10:00

Here's Bill reading the night before Christmas I bought for our family last year.

And then he's the 4 of us at Liz and Jeff's on Christmas day. I would have put a big group shot, but the shot looked a little funny. And here's a great photo of Oma with the 5 grand kids.

I don't know if you heard about all the snow Seattle got for the holidays, but we got quite a bit. We didn't even know if the family was going to get together for the holidays due to driving conditions. The final estimates were 14 inches by the media. It was beautiful and made for a very warm Christmas.

Merry Christmas from Seattle!

2009-01-10T20:31:00.003-10:00

Here we are just the 4 Moore's on Christmas morning and it was heaven! It was so wonderful to be in our own home, with our 2 happy healthy babies just enjoying every minute, we feel very blessed.

Santa brought the girls a kitchen for Christmas and they were delighted. We put their kitchen near my kitchen and they are cooking up a storm. I've never been served so much tea and soup in my life.

One of our neighbors invited us to their home for a Santa party. It was great for the kids. Every kid got to sit in Santa's lap and get a gift especially for them. Lilah did great, she didn't blink an eye and went right up to claim her gift and sit with Santa. I couldn't believe she wasn't scared.(This is a girl who at times is still scared of her own pet rabbit). I guess I had finally talked Santa up enough.

Merry Christmas Georgia!!

2009-01-10T19:36:00.002-10:00

Here we are with Aunt Cindy and the girl's cousin Sarah. We had one of our best Chaney Christmas's ever. We sang songs, played games, read the Christmas story, had great food,...... we couldn't have asked for more. I know Papa was proud of us all.
Here we are visiting Kelly and Riley. Kelly and I have been friends since birth. She and her family were really there for me when my mom died and got me through some of the toughest days of my life. Friends like these are forever. One of the best gifts is Kelly adopted her daughter Riley, its wonderful to have an old friend that we share such a special commonality now. Lilah did have a tough time at our visit with them. Both the girls had awful colds and were feeling the pangs of such a busy schedule.

Here we are visiting Aunt Holly and her cute as a button daughter Katherine at the McDonald farm. Lilah had a blast seeing all the animals and getting to ride in the golf cart, and I had fun just catching up with my old friend.

Part of our trip we stayed with Papa Jack and Grandmama Genevieve and their granddaughter Cheryl Ann. We had a great time with them. The girls really enjoyed playing with their 2 cats. And Lilah still sings happy birthday Papa Jack everyday. (his bday while we were there).

Merry Christmas Georgia!!

2009-01-09T22:09:00.005-10:00

This is my good friend Kat Balou, we visited her in her new place in Macon and got to meet her beautiful baby girl Mary Grace for the first time. We had a great time all us girls, just talking and enjoying each other's company. Katherine and I used to get together and it was just the 2 of us girls, and now its the 5 of us, my how things change, but just get sweeter and sweeter.

Here we are visiting my Aunt Ruth, she was Papa's niece, but has always been Aunt Ruth to me. She is one of the greatest ladies I know. She is funny, smart, and has the world's biggest heart. We had a wonderful time visiting her and only wish it had lasted longer.

Here's the girls posing with all their cousins at the Chaney family christmas. What a big crew they are, and its all because 2 people fell in love, Nanny & Papa.

Here's our little clan stopping for a photo during our Georgia christmas tour, it was a little warm for us Seattilites, but we enjoyed ourselves. Don't judge me by my pictures, I was in desperate need of a cut & highlight.

Here we are visiting Papa Jerry. He took us all out for seafood and we really enjoyed our time with him, just wish it could have been a little bit more to catch up better.

Happy November

2009-01-09T21:44:00.003-10:00

Here we are at Turkey Day with Opa carving up Bill's 2 fried turkey's that were delicious. They are suprisingly moist. He did a southern recipe and the cajun. This year was a new cajun recipe and it was a hit, even with me!

Here's our fry daddy!

Here's the cutest indian!

Here's the clan at our house for Turkey day, hope your's was just as spectacular!

Here we are doing one of our usual things...... hitting Costco! For the holidays the girls loved the toy isles. They loved to stop and ride the horses along with the million other things in the toy isle. Lilah is still asking where the Costco dinosaur went. Why did i get a picture of this, its good to take photos of what life's really like and we tend to be big Costco fans.

Had to stop by macy's make up counter for some blush for a second and look who stole the show, no surprise. Lilah loves to put on blush when i'm getting ready, so when the lady's at the makeup counter offered a little touch up for her, she was all over it. Is Lilah a girly girl, I don't think so, at least not yet. She loves to wear dresses and tights and carry around purses, but she also loves to carry around a hammer and throw a ball, we'll see.

Happy Halloween

2008-11-05T13:25:00.004-10:00

We had a great Halloween! During the day the girls and I were busy getting ready for our small party with Liz and her family and two families in our neighborhood that we had invited over for dinner, games, and fun before we took to the streets for tricks or treats.

During the day the girls and I went to meet Bill at work for lunch. Its not everyday a guy gets to eat with a lobster and wonder woman!
Here are the girls in the final moments before the party. In conjunction with Liz's family we went as the entire cast from Wizard of Oz! I think we were a big hit even if i do say so myself. Lilah was the scarecrow and AJ was Toto. Though we did have a few kids in the neighborhood think she was a bear and one kid asked me if she was Chubaka from Star Wars.

Here we are out hitting the neighborhood. And in our little cookie cutter neighborhood the kids were complaining their arms hurt because their pumpkins were so full of candy.... tough life isn't it!

Lizzy and I were the witches. How did we decide who was wicked and who was good, we based it on hair color.

Here's the kids playing musical chairs to thriller, you gotta love it! Go scarecrow, grab that chair! Lilah did really well keeping up with the big kids for the game!

Here's the crew! Bill and Jeff are the Lollipop kids in case you were wondering. Jeff was completely against being a lollipop kid, but being the good dad he is, he suffered along. We've promised him something with a little more dignity next year like a super hero or pirate...... we'll see.

Here's the 4 Moore's. I got my dress at good will. Aunt Vern fixed the sleeves before she left and the rest I accomplished with hot glue. You'd be amazed what you can do with hot glue and a little imagination!

Our Favorite Michigan Girls, Beth & Lily

2008-11-05T13:04:00.002-10:00

For those of you who don't know my dear friend Beth, she was my roommate in Charleston, and is one of my dearest friends in the world. She was with me when I fell in love with Bill. Coming home and giving her all the details of our first date, big talks, and all that comes with finding Mr. Forever. And I was with her when she found her Mr. Forever, Peter. She and I were and still are family and I miss her very much and wish Michigan were much closer, or one of us had access to a private plane on a monthly basis. She has one of the best hearts in the world and I am thankful to call her my friend. She had not changed one bit, still beautiful and a breath of fresh air. The only difference was when we had our girl time there was now 5 of us, instead of just the two of us. It made catching up a little more challenging, but all the sweeter. Here we are the aquarium in downtown Seattle. We loaded all the kids up and were out the door everyday for a new adventure. Its a good thing our girls are like their moms and like to be out and about. Lilah needs to work on sharing a little bit more, but Rome wasn't built in a day!And Lily looks so much like her Dad that every time I looked at her I felt like saying, "Hello Peter." But Lily is sweet and full of life just like her Mom!

I don't know why but today when I post, the picture order keeps reversing. But here the girls and I are lying on the ground at the Seattle Space Needle. I was on the ground trying to take the perfect shot as perfected by my dear friend Jim Robertson on his visit. I couldn't get it as perfect as he did, but we had fun trying. The girls thought I was so hilarious laying on the ground that they had to try it too. Monkey see and monkey do, they monkey does the same as you! As you can see below, the picture I was trying to take!

Seattle is Beth's kind of town. She and Lily really soaked up the local vibe and seemed natural born Seattlelites. If only we could get that Peter McCreedy out of Michigan!

Here we are at South 47 farm. They have a tot on the farm program on friday mornings. The kids learn about a specific topic for the day like pumpkins, seeds, caterpillars, etc. Then they do a craft, get to see some animals, wander through an herb garden, ride on saddles on top of hay bales, hay ride, and wander through the pumpkin patch. We had a great time. The two kids between us are Rosie and Matty our neighbors, their Mom is taking the photo!

Aunt Laverne & Uncle Charlie in Seattle!!

2008-11-05T12:40:00.002-10:00

We had a girl's afternoon at the Pacific Science Center while the boys stayed home and enjoyed an afternoon of football and Miss Lilah caught up on her nap. We had a really great time with Aunt Laverne and Uncle Charlie and they are already planning to come back next year.

They stayed with us for 2 weeks, which was a perfect amount of time. It gave us time to do lots of touristy stuff, but also just hang out at home with family time. Aunt Laverne is a great seamstress, so I made the most of time and got her working on Aubrey Jane's outfit for Halloween. Here's our model showing off her new hat.... can you tell what she's going to be? She's Toto from the Wizard of Oz! Oma and Opa took Aunt Laverne and Uncle Charlie on their first visit to Canada on Opa's boat the Lucky Lady. Bill had to work and couldn't join us and the weather was a little cool, but it was a great trip. We spent the night on the boat in the Victoria harbor and made our way back to San Juan the next day, We had rough seas on the way back with picture frames and vases falling everywhere. I was never nervous because I knew I was in good hands between God & Opa, but I was feeling a little green. Poor Lilah even started puking. But Aubrey Jane was quite the sailor, just laughing as she got rolled around all over the place. Here they are posing in front of the Parliament building.

Here we all are waiting for the ferry in Anacortes to take us to San Juan. Thanks Mom & Dad for taking us, we had a great time!

Aunt Laverne and Uncle Charlie were great sports with all the new foods they tried. Here they are eating dim sum for the first time at Oma's surprise birthday party. They seemed like they really liked it, just needed a little bit more practice with the chopsticks. Practice makes perfect!

Aunt Laverne & Uncle Charlie come for a visit!!

2008-11-05T12:14:00.003-10:00

Please scroll to the bottom of this post and read up, i put the pictures in backwards order and i've not time to go back and re do it all. You understand, right? A day at the Seattle Aquarium.

Here we are enjoying a lunch at Pike's Market at the Chowder house. And yes, (its October or was October and we were eating outside). The October weather was really fabulous this year!

On our way home from the falls, we hit the Issaquah Salmon hatchery. Aunt Laverne & Uncle Charlie's visit timed perfectly with the salmon returning to their places of birth to spawn. We really enjoy watching the huge salmon run up stream. The Chinook and Coho salmon are what we were watching. Here they are strolling through a garden right next to the hatchery. And Lilah loves to be swung by her arms. And yes, yes, I know it can pull her arm out of the socket, but we don't sweat it as much when we know we've got Bill at home who can put it back together without a trip to the ER. Things to be grateful for!

The first day we took it easy on them and let them recover from the long flight from GA. So that afternoon we took our first sight seeing trip and headed to Snoqualmie Falls. The falls are taller than Niagara falls, but not as wide. This is a picture I shot in the park right next to the falls, I thought it turned out great!

Here is Aubrey Jane saying hello to Uncle Charlie the first morning after they arrived late the night before. I love this picture. Aubrey Jane is just looking at him so intently, almost as if she's saying, "And so we meet again." Uncle Charlie did lots of holding of Aubrey Jane while we were in GA for 3 weeks with Papa's passing, so these 2 old friends were getting reacquainted.

Just another day in paradise

2008-10-07T11:57:00.003-10:00

Lilah can almost say Happy Halloween! We started watching the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown in the car yesterday and something traumatized her and now she won't let me turn the DVD player back on in the car. I'm sure it will resolve soon, but in the mean time i'm enjoying having the radio back for a few days! Out for a stroll in our neighborhood, enjoying some of the last perfect Seattle weather and trying out our new double stroller Mom scored for us from the thrift shop! Thanks Oma!
AJ is no longer in the bumbo at dinner. She now sits in the little red chair. I love when she relaxes in it and props her foot. She's a really smiley and giggly baby. Today while I was driving she and Lilah were laughing at each other in the back seat, i don't know over what, but it was music to my ears!
Here's how we roll in the mornings. Mommy in the shower. AJ in the exer-saucer. Lilah with snacks on the side of the bathtub and running all around getting into whatever she can find! I currently get ready faster than I ever have before! I'll look back and really miss these days, ...truthfully.
Lilah showing off her ankle tattoo of Belle from beauty and the beast!

Here we are at one of our favorite parks on a play date with one of Lilah's best pals Alex. Our two little munchkins are taking a break for playing for a little snack time. How cute they both showed up in the same colors, future prom date maybe?
Here's Lilah just having fun at home. She does this new gymnastics type pose and she's starting to do it for the camera. She lifts her back leg in the pose, but i caught the picture as she was coming out of her pose. We take gymnastics now on fridays and she loves it. Only problem is now she thinks every bar we see, i.e. at the grocery store, target, etc. should be climbed on and swung from. She also walks up to strangers and strikes the pose, they often aren't sure what to make of it which is quite fun to watch!
I recently took the girls to have their pictures done. Here's a photo I took of AJ during her photo shoot.
Thanks Auntie LA for the adorable monogrammed onesies's. We love them! Often when people ask me the baby's name they ask twice, aren't sure exactly what i said the first time. I love these, makes it much easier for folks. Just gearing up for Halloween! Hoping to hit the pumpkin patch this weekend.!

Talking bout my girls......

2008-09-30T10:48:00.003-10:00

Here we are at Aunt Liz's for a play date. Liz is so good,.... not only does she work part time, quilts, is a great cook, always taking her kids somewhere fun or doing a fun project at home, she somehow finds time to garden too. Here she is letting Lilah pick her first carrot.
Here's all the gang of kids at the playdate. I know they'll all have so much fun growing up together.
Here's Lilah playing in her playhouse sporting her adorable crab dress that some friends made for her in Hawaii. She loved to say "crab" all day then yell out the color of the crab. Does Lilah know her colors now?..... No, but she does know which words are colors. For ex: if you say what color is this crab( pointing to a purple crab) she'll say orange. So, she definitely doesn't know her colors, she loves to say pink ( used to be yellow) but at least she knows what words are colors.... I think that's something. And the yellow flowers you see are from Papa's house, which I think make the playhouse all the more special.
Here's my girls, just doing what they do best! Enjoying the moment!
Aubrey Jane sits to the side of my bathroom counter in her chair while I get ready in the morning. Lilah is usually in the sink playing with the water or putting on my make-up. Aubrey Jane loves the toothbrush. If I start brushing my teeth and forget to give her a toothbrush, she'll holler at me. Bill always wants to know why his toothbrush goes missing.... well, here you go, ...we take it with us when we go downstairs or wherever and it just goes amiss. Good thing we've got a Costco pack of toothbrushes!

Its Football Season

2008-09-30T10:33:00.004-10:00

It's football season and my girls and I are rooting as always for our dawgs! On game day I like to dress them up in their GA attire. Its fun when we're out and about in Seattle to spot other GA fans. But i must admit I didn't put them in their outfits this past saturday and GA suffered a devastating loss to Alabama. I must let Coach Richt know I won't let it happen again.
Couldn't get Lilah to sit beside Aubrey Jane so you could appreciate her outfit better, but what can you do? Still a cute picture. I now can get Lilah to say "Go Dawgs" then roof roof like a dog! It helps that she loves to say dog and make dog sounds. Bill is trying to convert them to being gamecock fans, but this will never happen, in college football the girls are with me!
But on Sundays, the girls support their dad's team, the cowboys!
I ordered these cute outfits for the girls to surprise Bill! So when when came down the stairs he'd have a nice surprise of his favorite girls showing their cowboy pride!

i got all my sisters with me!

2008-09-16T13:35:00.003-10:00

Things are going really well with Lilah and Aubrey Jane. Lilah now can make Aubrey Jane laugh quite a bit. She'll blow zerberts on her belly or push her in the swing and Aubrey Jane will squeal with delight. Its quite fun to see. This photo Lilah had just woken up and Aubrey Jane was touching her... and Lilah was in no mood for it. But those little sisters want to be close to the big ones! The first time Lilah took a toy out of Aubrey Jane's hand and AJ screamed at her, I thought to myself.... and so it begins.
Lilah loves to sit on top of Aubrey Jane when she's in the bumbo. She'll actually bounce on her. The first time I saw her do this I almost had a heart attack. But then I realized Lilah is mostly sitting on the little piece in the middle. Both the girls think this is really funny. And to see them laughing together just melts my heart. I think its going to be so great they are so close in age.
Here's my girls enjoying some chicken drumsticks, or "Bone sticks" as the Evan's girls would call them. We may live in Washington, but if your Mama is a Georgia girl there's certain things you still got to grow up with like fried chicken, grits, chicken & dumplins, and of course my Nanny's famous egg custard.
Lilah sits next to Aubrey Jane all the time now and says, "CHEESE." If I don't immediately take their picture together, she'll continue to say it louder and louder and with more urgency. Sometimes I don't even have the camera and just have to pretend I've got a camera. And yes we do take a lot of pictures in the kitchen on the island. But when you've got little ones getting a meal fixed, fed, and cleaned takes a lot of time. I timed myself the other day and it took way over an hour just to get lunch done from start to finish.... so this is where my day goes.
My sister and I are birds of a feather. We love one another and being together.

You'll find us most everyday, just tending the friendship that got sent our way.

Yes, we're two of a kind and I know that is why, .... we'll be close forever, my sister and I!

(this is a little exert from Lilah's Sister and I book by P.K. Hallinan, its one of our absolute favorite books)

I love you Moore!

2008-09-16T13:31:00.004-10:00

We've got to have tons of fun lately with the Evan's clan. For those of you who don't remember, Liz is Bill's sister. So we all headed to San Juan one weekend and we had a great time. Here we are on a treasure hunt Jeff designed for all of us. You can see the kids all holding their maps. The kids had a great time! Liz is giving all the kids a few berries we found en route to the treasure!
We discovered a big purple star fish which Lilah was not so thrilled with. Bill says he's going to put Lilah in an exhibit at the zoo with the words "scaredy cat" beneath her. She's really scared of stuff these days. Not sure if its a phase or what. But at the same time she'll run up to strangers in the store and shout "Hi" or run a play with kids we see at a store, so not sure why the scared factor comes out at times. She's really scared of dogs, but with my allergies,.... its ok with me.
Here we are at the beach in San Juan. These photos crack me up. Its so hard to take a picture with this many little kids. And they've all got a million rocks they found stuffed in their pockets.
What will Liz and I do when we're with this many teenage girls?
Here we are waiting for the boys to go park the car for the ferry ride back to Seattle (Anacortes). It turned into a several hour ordeal. And here's Liz and I trying to kill time while we waited on the boys to get back. I remember when shopping was easier. I now know how moms start to look a little frumpy. Next time Liz and I are planning to park the cars. But we survived. We skipped the shopping and headed to the gardens to play 1-2-3 red light and then went and had some french fries!

Its been really great living close to Liz and the rest of the Evans. I've taken over Liz as my sister.... what that means is if Bill and I ever divorced, I get Liz in the settlement!

Here's to you Mrs. Robinson......

2008-09-16T13:24:00.005-10:00

My dear friend Sara, her husband Jim, and her daughter Eva from Orlando came to visit us in early August and we had a wonderful visit! Sarah and I met our freshman year in college at Georgia Southern. We lived on the same hall in the dorm. We bonded at a braves game that several freshman in our dorm attended and we've been friends ever since.

We took the Robinson clan up to San Juan (Oma & Opa's place) for a few days and we really enjoyed ourselves. This shot was taken in front of the lighthouse during a mini hike at Lime Kiln point. I thought this was a great picture of them. And the funniest part is what 's going on beneath them as you can see in the following photo.

As you can see Ms. Lilah is having a fit! She didn't like me putting her down so I could take some photos! Somebody's nap was short and really wasn't in the mood for anything! So she threw herself down while I shot the photo..... you gotta love it!
I took Sara to the original Starbucks at Pike's Market. It was a sunny hot day in Seattle.... I know you're all surprised, but August and September have been gorgeous (make your travel plans for next year)! Anyway, we went with icy/cool beverages instead of coffee. As you see, Aubrey Jane was in need of a little caffeine herself.
While in San Juan Oma took us all clamming and looking for mussells. We found plenty and enjoyed a delicious feast prepared by Oma.... she spoils us.

When you visit the Moore clan we love to play spinners and/or Phase 10. Sara beat us all in every game. Oma said she isn't allowed to visit anymore. I thought this was a super cute photo of them clamming. Eva wasn't much for this dirty activity, but who could blame her?
Lilah really enjoyed having a playmate. Eva & Lilah are just 4 months apart. Who knows maybe they'll be roomies at good ole' GSU!

We Love Daddy Day - Wednesdays!

2008-09-16T13:07:00.002-10:00

Ok, so i'm terribly embarrassed its taken me so long to update the blog once again. Unfortunately its always the last of my priority list. So if i've updated then that means i'm feeling a "little" caught up on everything else.

Bill is off every Wednesday and for the girls and i, its our favorite day of the week. For the past year we've used this day for errands, house hunting, then furniture looking, then unpacking, etc etc. Just now we're starting to do some really fun things on our special days. No, the house isn't finished yet, but all we have left is to hang pictures on the walls, organize the garage, and Bill has to sort his books in the study.... then we'll be done!! Nothing more to do than all the usual stuff like,... mow the grass, wash the clothes, blah blah blah!
Here we enjoyed a day at the Woodland Park Zoo! It was a great day, the kids really enjoyed it, .....the big ones and the little ones. Lilah is sporting her lovely hat. I know she's not smiling in a lot of these photos, but she currently prefers to smile when the camera is not pointing at her, or when the mood suits her.
Bill scored us some last minute tickets to the Mariners game off craig's list and we had a great time! Here we are posing with the mascot. And the girls even got certificates saying it was their first Mariner's game. Surprisingly everyone did quite well with the lack of naps and I certainly recommend a game for a fun family event. It was my first baseball game since i've become a parent and it was much more family friendly than I had imagined. They even had a great play area for kids.
Aubrey Jane really loved the game. She sat in our laps just content as could be watching the game. I think she's a big baseball fan already, which her Papa Jack will be thrilled about! How do you like her Mariner's hat? Of course she and Lilah have matching hats!
Here's our day at the Seattle Aquarium. It was a great day, and we got to see a huge octopus. Lilah loved the otters the most, but who wouldn't? We plan to take Beth and Lily to the aquarium when they come to visit us in October.

Happy Father's Day Bill! Your 3 Girls Love You

2008-06-15T18:04:00.006-10:00

Here is my favorite guy curled up on the couch with two of his favorite girls and a good book. Bill is a wonderful father. As our girls start to grow up they will learn this for themselves. I'm just proud of myself that I did such a great job picking out the father for my kids. I think his heart melts every time he hears Lilah say, "Dada." Some Dads don't spend a lot of time with their kids, but Bill starts playing the minute he walks in the door. He even helps me get dinner done and or washed and the kids ready for bed when he's been working hard all day. He takes great care of his family. Bill is off every wednesday, I don't know if many of you know that. But the girls and I call wednesdays our Daddy day, and its hands down our favorite day of the work week. Here's Bill, ....father's day morning,.... we made him a special mexican breakfast, his favorite! I should share that he cooked a large portion of it while I was fielding phone calls and tending to Aubrey Jane....what a great Dad!
Bill got 4 special gifts. One from each of us girls, and one from the 3 of us. This is a basting pot for when he's grilling. Aubrey Jane got him this one, but she was asleep when we opened gifts. Bill is quiet the grill master. He just got a new grill, so we got him several accessories for our favorite top chef.
Then we headed out for a hike not far from our house. Bill got me a hiking with kids in Western Washington book for mother's day and we found this hike in it. The weather was fantastic, sunny skies and 75 degrees, it made all those dreary cloudy days start to feel worth it. We made Bill a frame for father's day that had a picture of Bill and his Dad in it when Bill was a baby and Opa had him in a backpack. The other picture in the frame was of Bill with Lilah in a backpack. It was super cute. We gave Opa one too!
Here's just a cute picture of Bill and Lilah being silly at home.

While we were at breakfast today we were talking that last year he'd only been a Dad a few weeks on father's day. This year he's a real dad,..... house is messy, ... kids crying.... he's really earned his special day this year! And just 3 days after father's day we learned sweet Aubrey Jane was on the way, now that's one father's day gift we're not repeating this year!

Happy Father's Day to Opa, Papa Jack, & Papa Jerry. We love you all and hope your day was great! And to Papa, we're thinking of you and missing you!

We love you Bill, Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-10T10:16:00.002-10:00

This is how much luggage it takes to get our family of 4 half way around the world.
Gotta nap when & where you can. Can you find Lilah?

Rehearsal dinner at a winery in Chianti region. Founded by Verrazano family who were credited with discovering NY.

Leaving Tuscany, it was beautiful!

Wedding May 29th

2008-06-10T10:06:00.002-10:00

Aubrey Jane thought she looked great!

Here we are with Josh & Ellie in front of the villa. This is where the wedding was and where we stayed all week. It was gorgeous!

View from our room.

Aubrey Jane getting ready for her first wedding!

Florence

2008-06-10T09:37:00.002-10:00

How cute is that back side?
Josh with the Moore clan in Florence as we start our day. The happy couple arranged a great tour for everyone to see The David and tour the city a little.
Thinking of Opa at the Duomo.
Touching the boar so we'll be sure to return to Florence one day.

Tuscany

2008-06-10T09:01:00.002-10:00

Volterra, this is the town very near the villa where we were staying for the wedding. It is a town high up on a rock, known for its alabaster. We found it a great place for pizza and bruchetta and terrific views. This is a shot of the pool at the villa. We hung out around the pool quite a bit. It was very nice. The weather was a tad cooler than I would have wanted, i.e. no one really wanted to get in the pool, but the weather was perfect for just being outside enjoying everything.

Lilah and I in Volterra.
Lilah's new man, Tyler. She even kissed him while we were there. Tuscany is a great place for a first romance.
Bill and his 2 girls.

When In Rome 2

2008-06-10T08:49:00.003-10:00

This is one of my favorite photos. We'd been going all day and were pretty tired. We grabbed a few slices of pizza and sat in a square to eat it and take in the city. We were just really enjoying ourselves here.
Cute hotel photos here. The hardest part of the trip was trying to change the girls' schedule. Well mostly Lilah, ...Aubrey Jane is still easy. This picture was taken at midnight!
Colosseum. Things you learn on the trip. The first day when we saw the Sistine chapel we were looking down most of the time because Lilah was running around. Second day we put her in the backpack.... much better for Mom & Dad, we actually got to see some stuff and Lilah could just nap when she needed to.

WHEN IN ROME

2008-06-10T08:00:00.002-10:00

Just 5 days after the girls and I returned from GA, we headed to Italy for the wedding of Josh Morris, Bill's roommate from Rhodes.
The wedding was in Tuscany, but we stopped in Rome for a few days before we met up with the wedding party to see the sights.
The trip really turned out great. There were moments that were hard traveling with little ones, but overall very worth it. Best quotes I heard, "I can't believe you're taking your kids to Europe, when my kids were that age I didn't even take them out to eat." Said by a lady on the plane. " You guys must have a great marraige to handle this kind of trip." Said by someone at the wedding.
Vatican City
Panthenon

Trevi Fountain

We Love You Papa April 1, 1927 - April 28, 2008

2008-06-10T07:49:00.003-10:00

My Papa, George L. Chaney, passed away in late April from liver cancer. Papa had been to visit us in Seattle, and we got to spend almost a month with him. I put him on a plane to return to GA on a tuesday and the following tuesday the girls and I were headed home for the funeral. He died just 6 short days after he left us.

At the funeral so many people kept coming up to me and telling me how much Papa had been looking forward to his trip out to Seattle to see us. They said it was all he talked about and had asked everyone to pray for him that his health would allow him to make the trip to see his newest great grandbaby and to visit with me & Lilah & Bill in our new home. Everyone felt when he got back home he had done what he really wanted to do and was ready to go and be with the Lord.
Lilah loved Papa's artifical leg. She was constantly pulling on the metal piece at the end of it trying to figure it all out. And when Papa was napping she'd move his leg and cane to play with them, and then he couldn't get up! We got lots of laughs out of her fascination with the leg.

During Papa's visit he told me he has had a wonderful and blessed life and was ready to go, that not much would change now between now and the end and he had done all he wanted to do. For those of you who don't know, Papa raised me in his home after my mother passed away when I was 15 years old. There are no words to describe how much he has meant to me.
I am at peace with Papa's passing. He lived to be 81 years old and he made the most of every year he was given. And he had been so broken hearted and lonely since Nanny passed away, and I am happy knowing they are together again. I was so proud of him over the last two years he did a lot of traveling and trying new things like eating dim sum and working on his technique with chop sticks. I know Papa knew I loved him and I know without a doubt he loved me. There were no words left unsaid between us. Although I have peace with his passing I do miss him terribly. I was in GA for almost a month trying to help settle the estate. There were so many things that were left from my Mom's home, as well as going through all of Nanny & Papa's things from the home they had lived in since 1965. It was saying good bye to 3 very important people in my life. It was a lot of memories, but am a thankful to have had such wonderful people to help me grow into the person I am today. I've enclosed pictures of his time with us during what we now know was his last month of life. It was my honor that I got to spend those days with him and I'll cherish those memories forever. And Aubry Jane will feel so special to know Papa made such a big trip for her.
We love you Papa!

A Day In The Life of Aubrey Jane

2008-02-27T09:31:00.002-10:00

It occurred to me I had not posted a photo of our little cupcake without her hat on. You can see her light hair, which was a total shock to me. I thought Bill's dominant Asian features would win out. Especially since I had black hair when I was born. Aubrey Jane is already letting us know she's her own little person, got to do it her way, don't expect her to be just like everybody else. Everyone's asking what we'll call her. Bill calls her Jane, i call her Aubrey Jane, the rest of the Moore's say Aubrey, and some of the girls at Bill's office say A. J. So call her whatever you think she looks the most like. Aubrey means noble in German, and Jane means gracious gift from God.
We came home from the hospital sunday afternoon. Bill was able to be home with us for 2 days before he had to go back to work. This is Aubrey Jane with Dr German, her pediatrician, getting her first check up. He said she looks great and she is almost back up to her birth weight. Lilah was quite happy to have such a fun visit to Dr. German's office (no shots)!
After the dr's appt we all headed to our new favorite restaurant near our new house. Its a little taqueria. Bill says their food is authentic Mexican food. All I know is its just delicious. We treat ourselves to the taqueria on quite a number of our visits to the new house. Aubrey Jane enjoyed it through the womb, and now she's enjoying it through the breast milk. And Lilah loves to eat the meat from our tacos and wave hello to everyone. She hasn't learned to say Hola yet, sorry Uncle Abel, we're working on it.
We took Mom & Dad and Aubrey Jane by to see the latest updates on the house. Most of the rooms are now painted, the yard is done and they are starting on the fence. Next wednesday we do the walk through with the builder and the following wednesday we close on the house. There are just so many wonderful things happening right now that I can't decide what to be excited about. Aubrey Jane was delighted to see her new room, though she slept through most of the new house tour,...... some kids are just hard to impress I guess. But Lilah loved running all through the house and she and her Dad stopped by the neighborhood park and had fun on the slides while Aubrey Jane had a snack with Mom.
So here it is, almost finished. I think its got great curb appeal. I really do feel like my cup is running over with so many blessings. I just want to thank all our friends and family for all their support and love. We have been blessed with 2 daughters and now a wonderful house to make a home for our family of 4.

ITS A GIRL......AUBREY JANE MOORE!!!!!

2008-02-24T19:15:00.002-10:00

We are delighted to announce one more Moore was added to the Moore family, February 22 at 19:55. She weighed 6.8 lbs and was 19.5 inches long. To every one's surprise she has very light hair, sort of light brownish blond with a touch of red. Baby and Mommy are both doing great! I feel very blessed to now have 2 wonderful daughters. I keep asking Bill, "can you believe we have 2 daughters now!" God blessed me with a great pregnancy and delivery with no major problems, for this I am very thankful.
Here is the proud father with the newest lady in his life. Now Bill is outnumbered with girls, what's a guy to do?
And here's Miss. Liliah with her new baby sister. Overall I'd say Lilah had done really well. She thinks the baby is funny, and even seem to calm down when we let her hold Aubrey Jane. She has been a little more clingy and fussy than usual, but I can't blame it all on Jane, Lilah has had very few naps and has an cold and seems to be cutting a new tooth, so add all that up and Lilah is doing great! When the nurses would come in to examine the baby or something Lilah would cry and be upset. It was as if Lilah already knew we all come together and somebody was bothering her baby. What a good big sister she is before she even knows what a big sister is.
Here we are, I like this picture, both my girls look happy. I thought our family was so sweet before, but its gotten even sweeter. I am so thankful to be so blessed.

Chuc Mung Nam Moi - February 7, 2008

2008-02-13T11:05:00.005-10:00

Tet which is Vietnamese New Year was last Thursday. This was our first New Year with Lilah! Chineese New Year was also the same day. We celebrated by taking Lilah to the celebration over in Factoria. I must admit it was not quite as exciting as I hoped. So next year we'll head to the downtown celebration in Seattle where its a little more festive, or at least in my opinion. Here Lilah is sporting her dress we bought on her adoption trip in Hanoi. Oma went to California to celebrate her Aunt's 85th birthday for VN New Year's, so before she left we went with Oma to celebrate VN & China's New Year here in Seattle with her friends from the thrift shop. It was Ms. Toby's birthday so we celebrated that too! Everyone oohed and ahhed over how cute she looked.
When Oma went to VN this past November she visited a place called Sa Pa, which has a wonderful market full of crafts and items from the minority people in the surrouding areas of Northern Vietnam. She bought Lilah this adorable little outfit, and since it was VN New Year we thought we'd get it out and try it on for fun.
Can you see Lilah's jewels? This isn't part of the minority people's custom, these were extra jewels Oma has for the grandkids to play with. But better look out, looks like Lilah already knows diamonds are a girl's best friend!
And for those of you new to the Chineese /Vietnamese Calender, the zodiac signs have just started over, so this is the year of the rat, a very lucky year to move, start a new job, or any type of new beginning! The rat is thought to be wealthy, wise, and hard working. Here is Lilah sporting her Year of the rat t-shirt as we chase her around the kitchen. We bought Baby Mo a year of the rat bib since he or she will be a rat. Lilah is a dog, who is thought to be loyal & kind. So Chuc Mung Nam Moi to you all!

Beans Don't Burn In the Kitchen

2008-02-12T20:26:00.002-10:00

So here are Lilah and I showing off our Kitchen as it progresses along.
Yeah the drywall is up, can you see the pond outside? I want to get Lilah her very own duck and maybe raise some catfish in the pond for fishing, fried catfish are the best!
Walls are painted!
Now its really starting to look like a real home! Anyone want to come over for dinner?
Appliances are going in!!

I Fell Into a Burning Ring of Fire

2008-02-12T20:08:00.002-10:00

I want to catch you all up on the progress of the house, please pardon its taking me a few days to get all the pictures updated. Our computer is moving slower than molassess. But each visit we've made to the house I have Bill stand by the fireplace so we can appreciate how far everything is coming along. He was the one that really pushed for centering the fireplace with the bookshelves on each side. I must say I think its going to look really nice. He does have great taste at times, he did choose me afterall, so we know he must have some good taste! On the other side of this wall is the room for Papa, so he doesn't have to climb stairs when he visits.
Yeah, the drywall is up. And after all our drywalling experience in Hawaii, I must say I was glad to not be the one trying to sand it all down and smooth out the spots.
Lights are up and walls are painted! And what a cute baby!
Lilah is always busy trying to look outside at the ducks at the pond!
Look at my stylish baby, so cute with her leopard hat! Its really starting to look like a home. Only 4 weeks till we get the keys to our home sweet home! Maybe one day Lilah will be standing in front of this fireplace with us taking her picture for prom!

The House is coming along

2008-02-02T08:10:00.000-10:00

Wanted to show some pictures of how the house is coming along. We go by every week, sometimes twice a week to check the status. I've done a few pictures so you can see how the front of the house has changed. The house is still on track to be completed March 12th. That means we get the keys on the 12th and can start moving in furniture on the 13th. Now you can see all the shingles have been painted brown.
Front porch has been started.
What's a post on the blog without pictures of Lilah...... here she is sporting her new winter hat. I must say its taken me a little while to get better at bundling enough for the weather. At first we'd both head out and never seem to have enough on, now I seem to be over bundling, maybe i'll have it down by next winter. Everyone asks me about the Seattle weather. And overall it hasn't been bad. Its colder than Hawaii of course, but the nice thing is its consistent. These last few weeks its always been high 30's and low 40's where in GA one days it 78 and then next day its 42, so at least it is easier to plan. And when you do have a nice day that's not overcast the mountains all around are beautiful and everyone tries to make sure they head to the park or at least enjoy a little walk outside. Seattilites pride themselves on not complaining about the weather and to never let a little overcast sky or rain ruin their plans. Mom said the best thing i've heard and that's "If you're a happy person, Seattle weather is not a problem, but if you're an easily depressed person, or have a broken heart, or are all alone, don't move to Seattle, you might want to kill yourself!" Who can say it better than that?
And here's Lilah sporting a grin while we wait for Daddy to join us for breakfast after he finishes rounding at the hospital.

My baby is growing up!

2008-01-23T03:11:00.001-10:00

I can hardly believe Lilah is now 1 year old, it just doesn't seem possible. Having kids really does give an entirely new meaning to time flying. I just want to thank everyone who has supported us and loved us throughout this past year. I'm glad Lilah has had such a warm welcome and so much love all around her throughout her first year of life. I just can't tell you how truly thankful I am for Lilah and how blessed I feel to be her Mommy. Bill and I talk about how we just could never imagine life without her and how lucky we are to gave been given such a precious gift. Every night I lay down with Lilah as she drifts off to sleep and we say our prayers together. And every night I thank God for her. Every day that I live I will remember what a gift she is, and every time those little chubby arms are wrapped tight around my neck, I melt a little bit more.
Here are just more photos from Lilah's big day. This was us singing to her and I must say she was kind of confused on why everyone was looking at her all of a sudden. She didn't even clap when we clapped which is not like her at all.
Oma & Lilah
Lilah loved her new basketball game. She loves to put the balls into the basket and then clap for herself.
Aunt Jennie got her a great cell phone that looks very real, which is why she likes it. Maybe now my minutes will go down on my phone since Lilah has one of her own now.

Let Lilah Eat Cake!!!

2008-01-23T02:58:00.000-10:00

Here we started with the cake, actually Lilah had 3 cakes total, but this one was all hers! As you can see she had already gotten Miso soup on her dress from dinner.
What exactly is this stuff?
Oh yeah, I'm loving it!
I can't believe Mom & Dad are letting me get this messy!

The dreaded clean up.

I will say we didn't get Lilah naked and let her go quite as wild as I would have liked to, but since we were in a public restaurant we tried to keep it in control and it was just too chilly to let her be naked. She's got a huge clump of cake in her hair on the right side of her head, but somehow I don't have a picture of it. I found it quite hard to be the birthday girl's mommy and still get lots of photos.

Happy Birthday 1st Birthday Lilah - January 20th

2008-01-23T02:31:00.001-10:00

We started my little pumpkin's first birthday with Oma & Opa making a big family breakfast for everyone. Here is Lilah with her sippy cup trying regular milk for the first time. I must say so far, she doesn't seem to crazy about it and would really rather just have juice in the cup.
Then we were off for the day. Lilah was treated to her first haircut. We went to a kiddie cut kind of place and she got to sit in a fun chair and hold Elmo and watch cartoons while they cut her hair. She didn't fret or even seem like she wanted to cry. She was rather inquisitive about the whole thing and enjoyed seeing herself in the mirror to admire her new "hair do."
Then Lilah enjoyed Lunch out on the town in Seattle with Mom & Dad after a morning of shopping. Mom & Dad bought her a really cute wooden playhouse to go in the backyard. She can't wait to get into it and run around.
Then it was back home to get ready for the birthday girl's party! We invited all the family plus our good friends the Yahn's out for Korean BBQ to celebrate our little one's big day. For those of you who've never had Korean food, its very fun to all sit around the big tables and cook your meat on a grill that's right at your table. We had 8 grown ups and 6 kids, we thought all the kids did really well.
Then back home after the party to open some gifts and wind down from a perfect first birthday. Thanks for all the gifts and cards everyone, I wish everybody could have been here to celebrate with us!

Happy New Year!!!

2008-01-02T12:41:00.001-10:00

Happy New Year to All!! We started off our New Year with a bright and early breakfast in downtown Seattle with the family. Jeff heard this was the best place in all of Seattle for breakfast, so we checked it out. It was very good, and I really enjoyed the eggs benedict. Some were not in love with their gravy for their biscuits.
This is Norah showing off her happy pancake face she was served. It was quite yummy too, she doesn't mind sharing.
Bill called me a traitor all day because I was rooting for GA in the sugar bowl against Hawaii. I explained to him a million times that I was in no way rooting against Hawaii, but had to root for the dogs. He said if Lilah could talk she'd be requesting to wear green because 1. She looks more like a fan from Hawaii and 2. She lived in Hawaii not GA. My friend from Queen's Juliet even sent us delicious Hawaii snacks to get us in the spirit for the game and a shirt that said GA vs. HI. So, i'm sad to say the warriors lost, so many folks i love were rooting for them, but you just can't hate me for loving my dogs!
When we drove home from breakfast this was the view of Mt. Rainier over Lake Washington, i thought the photo turned out pretty good to be taken while driving.
These days whenever I brush my teeth, Lilah thinks she needs to be brushing too. What a good girl I have. So here we are sporting our pink toothbrushes. I just need to get Lilah a little one for her to get her 4 big teeth!

Christmas in Seattle

2008-01-02T12:26:00.000-10:00

On Christmas Eve we took Lilah to visit Santa. She did really well, except she just wanted to run around a lot while we waited in line. While i'm thrilled she is now walking so well (she got good at it while we were in GA) she is now quite the busy little lady. And when they took the Santa picture she could barely look toward the camera bc she was so busy looking back at Santa, saying "who is this guy and what is he wearing?"
Mommy tried to make cookies for Santa. We seemed to have a pan malfunction.
Lilah in Christmas Eve, trying to decide which ornament to pull off next.

Daddy made us some butter/salt pecans that Papa had gotten from his yard for us all to enjoy. We had a low key Christmas Day with Oma & Opa and waited till the Evans clan arrived on the 26th to open our gifts. Lilah had a ball with all of her cousins. We all look a mess in those photos so i've promised Liz i'll keep those to myself.

CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA

2008-01-02T12:00:00.000-10:00

We arrived in Georgia December 5th, and my little dumplin did pretty well on the flight. I was glad Papa had just visited us in Seattle for Thanksgiving so Lilah didn't need any warm up time to hit it off with him. We had loads of fun just hanging out with Papa for the holidays.
For those of you who may not recognize, this is my cousin Cindy. She has now lost over 100lbs, lets give the lady a round of applause! She picked us up at the airport and if I hadn't seen her get out of her truck, and walk up with her son, I would have walked right past her. She looks fabulous and she, Lilah, and I had a nice girls day together and shopping & lunch. And what warm weather there was in Georgia. I didn't think I had adjusted to the seattle 40 degree weather, but it was high 70's while we were home and Lilah and I were sweating.

Lilah got invited over to Riley's house for a play date and she had an absolute ball. Ms. Kelly hosted a little tea party, and I couldn't believe how well my little cupcake participated. Riley was Lilah's first play date that was adopted too, so that made it even more special! Its been so great to share the experience of adoption with Kelly. I've made several friends through adoption, but its so wonderful when someone you already love is walking the same blessed path too ( and you too Andrea, but Lilah and Landon haven't met yet)!
Lilah thought Ms. Kelly's cookies and tea were the best!

Here's my favorite Christmas photo we took at Papa Jack's house. Lilah had a great time with everyone!

But unfortunately somewhere my little darling picked up a bug and had a few days of vomiting and extremely rough diarrhea. She's never been really sick, and of course the first time she is, we're away from our beloved daddy the pediatrician. Due to Lilah's illness we had to cut out a few scheduled visits with folks. My apologies. Then the day we left GA we both started with a terrible cold. And the cold lasted well through Christmas. Honestly it was one of the worst cold's I've ever had. Lilah seems better, but Mommy is still sick, its been 2 weeks, so i'm headed to the doctor tomorrow.

Happy 6 Month Anniversary Lilah!!!

2007-12-02T15:13:00.000-10:00

This weekend, on December 1st, we have had Lilah in our arms for 6 months! She has now been with us longer than she was without us! What a wonderful milestone to reach!

On Friday night we headed down to see the lighting of Ivar's Clam Lights in Renton. Just this past week has been the first really cold weather us Hawaiians have experienced. And having to put so many clothes on a baby is new to me. Lilah doesn't even have any gloves yet, so i put my gloves on her. It was around 35 degrees while we enjoyed the lights and boat parade. But I must say, it wasn't quite as happening as the Hawaii Kai Boat Parade, no volcanoes or hula dancers on top of the boats. But all the pretty lights with cool weather and our coats made it easy to get into the season.
Good news, the house is ours! We finished signing everything this past saturday, with it all officially completed this coming monday. We're really excited, March can't get here soon enough. Saturday was Lilah's first snowfall and we thought it made the new house look great. We get to pick all the colors and stuff for the inside which I find exciting and over whelming all at the same time. We are meeting with our project manager this coming tuesday to get started on all the plans and we can barely wait. For those of you who know us well, know Bill and I always agree on big stuff like, should we marry, where to live, adopting kids, etc but little stuff like paint color and furniture selection...... we'll be duking it out for days! So come visit us and see what compromise looks like.
This is a pond right next to our house. Its in a cookie cutter neighborhood, but I think we have the best lot because all our windows look out to this very nice pond. It even has its own ducks, maybe we can even get Lilah her own duck, and don't worry, we'll have a fence around the house to prevent any accidents.
Here's a photo to show the house next to the pond so you can could a good feel for the place.
So Saturday was our 6 month anniversary with Lilah, it was also her first snowfall, and her first time meeting a celebrity..... and who did she meet you might ask?..... PAULA DEEN. Lilah and I went to Costco and there she was signing books, we had no idea she was going to be there, so what were two country girls like us to do... we got in line and got a book signed. Paula was very nice and of course said how cute Lilah was. We met her husband Michael too. For those of you who don't know, i'm originally from Brunswick GA, just 45 min south of Savannah, Paula's home town. And every dish of hers i've ever made has turned out great, unlike some other food network stars. And when we came out of Costco all excited after we met Paula, we got to enjoy a very big snowfall, Lilah's first snowfall. What a big day!

We leave this week for GA for two weeks, so we'll catch up again after we return.

More pictures of Rainier

2007-11-30T12:04:00.001-10:00

Bill hopes to climb Rainier sometime in the next few years. I'm not so hip on the idea, people do die from doing this. Jeff (bill's brother in law) said he wasn't up to it, he's more of a biking man, so any of you fellas want to go with him? This is Lilah's first time sitting in the snow, you can see she loved it as much as she loved the beach for the first time. I think she's crying because she's saying, "I'm still a Hawaiian baby, what are ya'll doing to me?"
What beautiful scenery. It was a great drive all through the park, or at least that parts that were open. We do need to buy some tire chains and we were minutes from running out of gas, but we still had a great day.
Here's a great little stream we saw in the Paradise area of the Rainier park. It was really breathtaking.
And this is a beautiful large female Elk (we think) we saw just standing on the side of the road, it was really amazing!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!!

2007-11-30T11:28:00.000-10:00

Papa arrived the Monday before Thanksgiving to stay for a week and enjoy the holidays with us. We had a lot of fun and ran Papa all over town. I told him to dress warm, but I don't think he was quite ready for the 30 something temps, we had some really chilly days while he was here. But the nice thing was it only rained 2 of the 7 days he was here. Look at me, what a Seattlelite already thinking 30 degree weather with 5 days of sun is pretty good. Here we took Papa to the Salmon Hatchery in Issaquah. Its quite fun to read and learn all about the salmon and how they return to where they were born to spawn. This hatchery is helping the Salmon population replenish here in the NW, this past year that had the best numbers they've had in a log time for new Chinook salmon.

Lilah has now gotten so heavy (18.1lbs) I can't carry her in the bjorn or sling without my shoulders or back hurting. So I started using this Ergo carrier Bill's co-workers gave us and I've got to say its great. I can wear her for hours and do pretty well. Its got a lot of straps, clips, etc that I found odd at first, but i've gotten used to it and love it. You should have seen me taking Papa around, I had Lilah in the Ergo, pushing Papa in the wheelchair up a hill, and not to mention i'm 7 months pregnant, i was pretty proud of myself!

Here's my little Turkey all ready for her first Thanksgiving. We started the day with a big family breakfast and a turkey craft with apples and marshmellows for the kids. Then the boys watched football while I baked a cake and Opa cooked the turkey. We headed over to Aunt Liz's that night for the big Moore family Thanksgiving dinner. It was great to be with family this Thanksgiving, though we did say how much we missed the Hall's and Uncle Abel for our usual Hawaii family dinner.
As you can see we had all the grown ups wear pilgrim hats and feathers for the kids. We took this shot at the end of dinner, so some people had lost their head gear. Everyone was feeling pretty full and ready for a nap at this point, or at least the grownups were.
Everybody keeps asking for a belly shot, well here you go. It depends on the clothing i'm wearing on how much belly you can see. But the baby is kicking a lot at night. Had a check up this week and we're still on track for a Feb 24th delivery and the baby currently weights 2.5 lbs which is right on target. We're not finding out the sex ahead of time to many folk's dismay, but i just want to remember this baby is a blessing and to just be thankful for a healthy child, i can worry about pink or blue later. Currently I'm just really nervous about splitting my time with my dear sweet Lilah.
We drove Papa up to Mt. Rainier over the weekend. We were all impressed with the beauty of the park around the mountain. It was just gorgeous. We sat Lilah down in the snow and she loved it as much as she loved her first trip to the beach. We can't wait to go sledding and snow shoeing up here, but i think i'll pass on the skiing, I can never understand how to stop.

Lilah On The Go!!

2007-11-19T19:21:00.000-10:00

Last tuesday we bought Lilah this little airplane from Target to help her start walking as Bill's sister Liz suggested. The minute we gave it to her she was off and running. She likes to sit on it and us push her around, but if you want to see her grin from ear to ear then let her stand behind it and push it. And as soon as she runs into a piece of furniture and can't go anymore she'll turn and look at you and squeal until you remedy the problem. We couldn't believe just how well she was doing with her airplane.
Lilah's grandpa, who we call Opa, celebrated his 72nd birthday this past saturday and we celebrated with a surprise Navy Soup Party. Soup party you may ask..... well, Bill's Dad loves soup so our menu consisted of 3 soups for our supper and since he is a retired Navy Commander all of our decorations were Navy themed. Liz and I did quite well with our decorating we submarines and anchors all over the place. This is a picture of Lilah with her cousin Lauren and her Oma and Opa just as the celebration was beginning. Lilah & Lauren shortened their naps so they could be right in the kitchen preparing with us!
She really loves this little airplane. And thanks to the airplane and all the walking practice she had, she took her first steps this past Sunday. So we gave her the toy on tuesday night and by sunday morning she was taking steps on her own. My baby is so advanced!!!! That's what I tell Bill all the time and he just rolls his eyes at me, but I think steps before her 10 month is pretty advanced..... (you can't tell i'm her mother can you?)
One of Lilah's favorite things to do while we get ready in the morning is to play with my makeup bag. She's been doing this for quite a while, but she's getting too smart. Now she can take the tops off of all the lipsticks, chapsticks, and lip liners, so I have to watch her close and she likes to suck on the blush brush, but other than that, this keeps her occupied for a few minutes while I finish blow drying. Don't you love her little leggings? I ordered these online. They have really helped us make some of her Hawaiian baby outfits wearable in the Seattle weather.
And here's my little cupcake holding onto my pants leg. See how we're both wearing brown corduroys pants. I always think its super cheesy when Mom's and babies dress just alike. But i've found in the mornings when I dress us, I'll find myself in a purple mood, or pink mood and don't even realize it till we're out of the house that we look just alike.

Well, that's just a few clips of what's going on around here. We just got the internet going on our laptop here at Oma & Opa's yesterday, so i should be able to do much better with blogging, anything is better than once a month, right? Papa arrives from Georgia tomorrow to celebrate Thanksgiving with us, so we're excited about that!

CUTEST LOBSTER IN SEATTLE

2007-11-02T14:23:00.000-10:00

Lilah was a Lobster for Halloween and I being her mother thinks she looked absolutely adorable. We got rave reviews everywhere we went.

We stopped by Daddy's office during the day so the staff could ooh and ahh over our precious little shellfish. This is one shellfish that Uncle Abel can be exposed to wtihout his epi pen.

We spent Halloween with the Evans clan, combing the streets for candy. We had a great time. The weather was chilly but dry and the girls had a great time. We were accompanied by a pea pod, a ghost, and a lion, who often got scared by some of the rather creative lawn decorations we saw. We even collected candy for the babies telling the neighbors it was for the pregnant lady. And I must say, Liz really helped me score as many Baby Ruths as possible. I'd be embarrassed to tell you just how many bite size baby ruth's i've eaten during the pregnancy.

We really hit the neighborhood hard and had a fantastic time.

We even got 2 red lobster bibs for Mom & Dad to be in theme with Lilah, an idea we stole from our friend Yolanda.

To those of you who have been wondering where I've been with the updates, my apologies. We are still living with Bill's parents due to us being nowhere close to selling the townhouse in hawaii. Dad has a Mac computer which is not user friendly to me and i've been having major computer issues. Our own laptop we brought from home isn't working. So,today Liz has kindly let me take over her computer for a few hours to post and download all my photos. Ahh it feels good to be in the land of windows again. For those of you who don't know me personally and know I have severe allergies to dogs is why i hadn't gone to Liz's earlier. But today, I felt I needed to get back to posting and get my photos organized. I'm a camera junky and must download often. So, i'm all claritin and albuterol upped and here I am. I'll try to go back and update over what's been going on in the last month. Overall things are good. Seattle has a beautiful fall which I didn't expect. It rained a lot the first two weeks, but has been nice these last two weeks. We're enjoying it, just hoping the townhouse will sell so we can officially start to feel settled in.

We're going to miss you Hawaii!!!

2007-10-04T09:42:00.000-10:00

Well, for those of you who don't know, we the Moore family are relocating to Seattle, in fact we are already here, we arrived this past sunday morning. This was a difficult decision for us, but one we feel is best for our family. Bill's parents & sister and her family all live in the area and we'd like for Lilah to grow up with family around along with lots of other reasons like cost of living, closer to my family with flight time cut from 12 hours to 5 hours, better public schools, and the list goes on. This is a picture we took at our dear friend Carol's wedding just a few days before we left paradise.
The packing and boxing has been rather busy and I must say its quite difficult to get an entire home packed in 1 week with an 8 month old to entertain.
Here's my cutie pie in the suitcase, all ready for her new adventure to seattle.
Uncle Abel really saved the day. He came over every single day last week and either entertained Lilah or packed fevorishly or both at once. We wouldn't have made it without him, we're really going to miss him. He even came over to help when he'd been up all night working at the hospital. He is single ladies and very good with babies. He even got a grumpy Lilah to sleep a few times, keep that in mind when looking for Mr. Forever!
And look who can pull herself up now. She is crawling very well, though its a funky crawl, she still gets where she's going. And she loves to pull up. Take one last look at these naked diaper photos, won't be too many of these in Seattle. So far its been 49-52 degrees and raining everyday, but at least Lilah is cute in her new warm clothes!

Lilah is Going to be a Big Sister!!

2007-09-12T17:29:00.000-10:00

That's right, you read the headline correctly, Lilah is going to be a Big Sister. We're pregnant, currently 16 weeks, the new addition to the family is due February 24th, 2008! Lilah and her new sibling will be 13 months apart. At first I thought, "Oh, I can do this, Lilah will be walking a little, it'll work out." Then I went to two different 1 year old birthday parties and realized 1 is a little younger than I thought. I think I was imagining more around 18 months..... then the panic started to sink in. But, we're excited! I've just decided the next few years will be rather hectic, but eventually it'll be great because the kids will be so close in age.
We announced our big new to Oma & Opa in Seattle this past weekend. We were holding out to tell them in person together, so now that they know we can tell everybody! I had Lilah a t-shirt made that read "I"M THE BIG SISTER" on the front with a monkey. On the back it says, "February 2008" with 2 monkeys. Lilah put on the t-shirt late in the afternoon and wore it around ALL evening, waiting on Oma and Opa to notice. But they never did.
Finally we had to get Norah, Lilah's oldest cousin who is 4, to say "Oma & Opa please read Lilah's t-shirt." They were almost speechless and very surprised, but Oma said she guessed it when we arrived at the airport by the way I looked the night before. Opa kept saying "5 under 5," that's the number of grand kids all under 5. Sounds like a band doesn't it? Here's a picture of Opa playing with Lilah and still not reading the t-shirt. He said if it had been morning instead of night it wouldn't have slipped by him.
We're not going to find out the sex of the baby, at least that's what I'm saying right now. I always said for my first baby i'd be surprised. So Lilah being my first, not only did I know, I chose, so I think I can show some restraint, but we'll see, i may be unable to resist.
Lilah had a great weekend in Seattle with her cousins. She is really crazy about Norah the oldest who makes her laugh a lot. And it was fun to see her and Lauren playing together, so cute because they are the same size doing lots of the same things. And no matter how you try, you can never get all the kids to look at the camera at once.

Wanted to give folks a few pointers now that we're pregnant. Please try to resist the temptation to say, "See I told you that you would get pregnant as soon as you adopted." Please remember we've been trying to have a family over 2.5 years and this was a result of my surgery for endometriosis, not a result of less stress now that we have Lilah. Now if you want to say this was part of God's plan, i'll go along with that. Bill & I always said we wanted to adopt, except we had planned to adopt the 3rd baby. With us being in our 30's we needed to get started on the bio kids first. But when #1 was slow in coming, Bill said let's move the adopted baby from #3 to #1, and we did. I believe with all my heart that Lilah was meant to be our daughter. So the good Lord may have delayed things, moved back things, etc, just so we'd be in the right place at the right time for Lilah or she would have ended up with a different family and she was truly meant to be ours. Bill says Lilah has brought us good luck.

Also, please don't say things like, "Now you'll have a baby of your own." Lilah is our own baby, I take care of her and love her everyday, she is mine forever. Please also don't say things like this is a baby of your blood, ...... Lilah was not born from me, but she is a result of a lot of hard work, dedication, and love on mine and Bill's part for all the things that had to happen for this little angel to be in our life. It is a miracle to me how it all happened, all the things that had to be in place so she'd be ours, it truly shows that there are some things in life that are truly meant to be, and Lilah was meant to be our baby.

So if anyone ever asks, I"ll tell them they are both my children, one is hand picked and the other home grown. I just feel so blessed to have the experience of being a mother through adoption and biological. I just wish everyone in the world could know how good if feels to adopt a baby, to know your family was so destined to be that even a big ocean couldn't keep you from each other.

LIKE MOONLIGHT THROUGH THE PINES!!!!

2007-09-05T17:20:00.000-10:00

This is Lilah getting her hair washed in the sink at Papa's house. The special thing about this is I got my hair washed in this sink many times as a child. And it was just so special to take Lilah here and wash her hair too. Probably sounds silly, but was so special to me. My Mom passed away when I was 15, and then my Nanny & Papa finished raising me in this house. My Nanny passed away last April and I have wished a million times she could have met Lilah and hugged her. And to be in this house with all of Nanny's things really made me feel Nanny was here, and she got to see Lilah after all. And I can't wait to show Lilah this picture and tell her all about it.

This picture is special too, because throughout my life our family has had many pictures in front of this sign. I've got pictures all at different ages in front of the sign. The sign has even changed, but its the same spot. Nanny & Papa took their 50th wedding picture right here, so this is another hall of fame picture to tell Lilah about one day!
Lilah got to meet her new friends Reese, Reagan, & Griffin along with Aunty Gayle & Pam at Mom's favorite local BBQ place, Mack's. Here's Reese posing while Lilah ogles the fries.
Lilah insisted we buy Papa a bunny while we were home in Georgia. Papa named the bunny Beanie, and Papa had his hands full with these two in his lap. We had a great trip home and we can't wait to see everyone again at the holidays!

ON THAT MIDNIGHT TRAIN TO GEORGIA

2007-09-05T17:11:00.000-10:00

If you're starting to understand, Lilah really made the rounds this trip, meeting everyone. This is Lilah meeting Uncle Wendell and Aunt Grace, who is very special and makes delicious chocolate and cheese toast, .... its a Bailey family tradition.
This is the Harvey Clan, Seliest is Aunt Grace's daughter, and Lilah was delighted to meet Pat and Will too.
Lilah trying to show her cousin Cheryl Ann how to use the gift she bought for her in VN.
Uncle Wayne was crazy about Lilah, and he is so tall, that they looked very cute together since she is so small.
Lilah got to meet Papa Jerry too, and he took her out for a nice dinner and her first bite of grits!

GEORGIA ON MY MIND

2007-09-05T16:50:00.000-10:00

After Seattle, Lilah and I headed to Georgia to meet Mommy's side of the tree. This is Papa, and the whole trip was a big surprise for him! He just finished radiation for cancer and for his celebration of treatment over, Lilah and I surprised him with a week long visit. But actually, he's the one that surprised us, the day before we arrived we found out he had gone out of town to visit some family, so it took a large family effort to get him back home without spoiling the surprise that we were on our way, but it all worked out and Lilah and Papa had a great visit! This picture is taken when Papa had just found out we had arrived and that everyone was in on it except him.
This is Aunt Cindy feeling Lilah some pears while she sports her ever so stylish GA bib from Aunty LA, who is a big Gator fan, thank you Aunty LA for your sacrifice, and thank you Aunt Cindy for all the food, rides to the airport, and stashing us till Papa found out we arrived.
Lilah enjoyed meeting Aunt Kathryn & Uncle Lance, and hopes they'll come visit us very soon. Lilah loves to watch people brush their teeth, I think she may want to be a dentist just like Uncle Lance!
Lilah had a great visit with Papa Jack and Grandmama Genevieve. There was lots of tickling and fun to be had at their house along with watching all the ducks, cats, and pet Hamster.
The funny thing you should know about this picture is Lilah really wanted Papa checkbook, but he wouldn't give it too her, so about 45 seconds after I took this shot, she had a really HUGE puke right into his pocket. How classic is that! I told Papa, that's my girl, if you won't give her your money, she'll puke in your pocket!

WE ARE FAMILY...... I GOT ALL MY COUSINS WITH ME!

2007-09-04T14:22:00.000-10:00

As you may recall, Lilah and I went to the mainland to visit family back in July. This was our first stop in Seattle to meet the Moore family, ..... Daddy's side of the tree. This is Aunt Liz entertaining all 4 girls with a story. Amazing that they all look so entertained, even if its just for a moment. This was Lilah's very first time meeting her 3 cousins and she found them quite interesting to watch. We are definitely blessed with girls in the Moore family.
This is one of my favorite photos of Aunt Liz and Lilah, meeting for the first time, looks like they are hitting it off well!
Lilah with her older cousins Norah & Katie.
Lilah also got to meet Opa for the very first time and she was of course happy to see Oma again. Oma even gave her a little sip of Pho.
This is Lilah's new best friend Lauren. Lauren is only 1 month younger than Lilah, so we expect these two to grow up thick as thieve, I can only imagine the fun these two will have growing up together!

GO DAWGS!!!

2007-09-02T10:14:00.000-10:00

As you may know College Football Season started this past weekend. And Lilah got to watch her first Georgia game! She sported her first Georgia t-shirt from her Aunt Kathryn & Uncle Lance, and I must say the shirt brought the Dawgs good luck for their first game.
Bill keeps saying she'll be a Gamecocks fan like him, not a dawg fan like me, but since i'm the one that dresses her most of the time, i'm not all that worried. Though I must admit she was rather fussy on saturday. Bill kept saying it was the shirt, she didn't want to be a GA fan, i told him she didn't want to play favorites between the two of us, so she wore the GA shirt for me, and acted like a Gamecocks fan for him..... whiny! Ha ha
Lilah and Mommy on the couch watching a movie, one of the actual few moments that my little wiggle worm isn't moving around.
Look who can hold her own sippy cup now! She needs us to hold up the bottom at times, but i think she does pretty good.
Lilah loves corn just like her Oma! We went over to Uncle Jon & Aunty Andrea's the other night and we let Lilah chew on an ear of corn and she loved it. But part way through the meal I did have to stop and take off all the kernels and just let her suck the cob, she was getting to good at gumming the kernels off and I was afraid she'd choke.

MAHALO 4D FOR THE SHOWER

2007-08-27T15:10:00.000-10:00

Just a few days before we left for our trip to Georgia & Seattle, my co-workers from the Neuro ICU at Queen's Medical Center celebrated us bringing Lilah home with a wonderful party/shower. Our wonderful hosts were Aunty Andrea & Uncle Jon, who held the soiree at the top of their building in downtown Honolulu. Lilah is just crazy about these two and we thank them so much for all they have done for us since we got home from Vietnam. Andrea is ever the perfect party planner, complete with clever baby games, itunes with all songs related to "Baby" and an adorable clothesline holding pictures of our trip to Vietnam and first pictures at home. The menu was southern cooking and Jon made delicious ribs and everyone brought southern dishes. Mel made the best hush puppies ever. It was weird though to go to a party in Hawaii with no rice or noodles.
This is Lilah with her Aunty Juliet and her daughter Gabby. These two were part of the clean up crew from when we first arrived home. Gabby is adorable, sweet, and very smart (just like her Mom), we hope Lilah will grow up with many of Gabby's fine traits.
This is Aunty Vanh who is half Vietnamese and half Chinese. I always tell Vanh there's a chance Lilah could look like her when she's grown. Of course Lilah is Vietnamese, but she's from Northern Vietnam where the Chinese migrated in the 13th century, so you never know. You may have also noticed poor Lilah's breakouts on her face. She got 3 big zits the day of the party, i think she was just nervous about it all..... what to wear...... meeting all these new people....she's like her Mom, life gets stressful, and the breakouts start.
Lilah's favorite gift of the night was Elmo from Aunty Heather & Uncle Ryan and their two girls Sarah and Jessie. Lilah loves this thing. He talks and she's supposed to help him get dressed. But I'm embarrassed to say just a few days ago I found this tag in his back you pull to end the demo and Elmo can really begin. So all this time we'd been hearing the same things over and over because it was on demo. I must say now Mommy finds the toy much less bothersome since he now says more than two things. And Sarah ( Heather & Ryan's oldest daughter) is so cute, she walks right up and talks to Lilah and says, "Baby Lilah would you like to play with me." She always calls her Baby Lilah and I love it.
This is Aunty Gina & Aunty KJ. Aunty KJ (in blue) was another of the musketeers that helped clean up when we first arrived home and she gave us a huge bag of yard sale goodies that were terrific.

Bill, Lilah, and I just wanted to say thank you to my work family for everything you have done for us. Your support and love has meant the world. You are one of the few people who were right there with us everyday of the adoption process and you know just how hard we worked for this little angel. You've loved us on our happy days and sad days and we just can't even begin to thank you enough. Love you all.

Happy Birthday Daddy ....... (July 10th)

2007-08-14T20:49:00.000-10:00

I told you we'd been busy, so i'm trying to catch back up to where we left off. Bill is finishing up his MBA this summer and so his birthday, tuesday, was on the same day he had class. So that means he goes to work all day, then straight to class, and doesn't get home till after 10pm, .... not much of a birthday. So Lilah and I decided to have a spur of the moment Surprise birthday dinner for Bill on monday night when he didn't have class, the day before his birthday. We knew this would really surprise him.

So John & Andrea ( who are adopting domestically here in Hawaii) and Abel came over to help us celebrate with the birthday boy. Many of you know when we first got home, Lilah wanted to be held ALL the time. Just the amount of time it took for me to change clothes in the morning and make up the bed would make her cry, so you can imagine that dinner was impossible to get finished. The day of the party I had so much cooking to do and she was such an angel all day. She sat right in her bumbo (greatest baby invention ever) and helped me cook all afternoon, and was a trooper with grocery shopping and all the last minute running around. It was like she almost knew we had to get it done and she was such a great sport. By the way, she's doing so much better now with entertaining herself. The sitting up on her own has really helped a lot. Now I'm afraid she's growing up too fast. She can put herself in the crawling position, no movement of course, but soon enough she'll be running around and will not want all that snuggling anymore. So i'm enjoying every bit of snuggling I can for now. I whisper in her ear at night to please not grow up too fast. Think it will work?

When our friends came over that night for the birthday, the boys helped Bill assemble Lilah's new highchair. We laughed about how times have changed..... They used to come over for relaxing & socializing and now we've got 'em busy putting highchairs together instead of enjoying sports center. But everyone brought Lilah a gift along with her Daddy's gift, so she felt like it was her birthday too, so much so that she wore Daddy's crown instead of him!

Lilah Can Sit Up Now!!!

2007-08-10T23:33:00.000-10:00

Lilah started sitting up last weekend. She now can sit up by herself from anywhere to 5 to 15 minutes without falling over. I put pillows all around her to cushion the fall when she does finally tip over. She's really enjoying sitting up and will sit next to me while I'm going through the mail, putting on makeup, etc. She does not want to hold everything that I've got. She makes this grunting whimpering type of noise when she wants what I have. It doesn't matter if I have a pen, paper, or machete, if I've got it she wants it.

She's now eating all kinds of baby food and I must brag and say she's doing quite well. She hated rice cereal, so we just skipped it and went on to fruits and veggies. She loves everything except green peas. She'll still eat the peas, she just makes a face when she does. She's also started using her sippy cup. Bill came home and said, "you've got the sippy cup out, isn't it a little soon?" She hasn't totally mastered it yet, but already she's making big improvements. She can now get some water out, but can't quite hold it high enough without a little help.

Lilah and I planned Bill a boys weekend in Vegas for his birthday. So he's off this weekend enjoying some friends he hasn't seen in a long time. We of course miss him, but are enjoying our girl time. We hope he comes home rich! But could he ever be richer than having the two of us?

I know we have been MIA from the blog for almost a month. Things just got crazy around here with finishing up the reconstruction, planning Bill's surprise birthday dinner, then Lilah and I headed to GA & Seattle for almost 2 weeks to let all the family meet my little pumpkin! Then we were back a day and my friend Leslie from nursing school came to visit with her family, so we've been busy bees. Hopefully things will slow down just a little now, but i'll never be able to blog as well as I did pre Lilah. Already I'm watching the clock knowing I better get to bed so i'll be ready when my little Sunshine wakes up.

More pictures of Lilah the Party Girl

2007-07-14T22:23:00.001-10:00

The other day I told Dad for him and Mom not to wear themselves out running back and forth from San Juan to Seattle on our account while we're in town next week. Dad said, "don't worry, its for Lilah, not for you." And i must say that's certainly the truth, when people see me now, nobody says hello to me, its all hi and hello's to Lilah. But if I had to be shoved out of the spotlight at least its by someone with a cute big slobbery grin.

Here's Lilah and her new friend Kyle. They got along great and Kyle's mom even had a bumbo Lilah could use so she felt right at home.

Karen is our Biggest Blogger Fan

2007-07-14T21:57:00.000-10:00

Yolanda our host is so fancy, she even had this little basket filled with baby bottles with little stickers on the bottle that read ALOHA BABY MOORE complete with the picture of Lilah at the orphanage with the two flowers behind her ears. She really thought of everything.

At the shower Yolanda also had a fun game called Who Knows Aloha Baby Moore Blog the best. It had a series of questions about our blog covering various things like how long is the bus ride to Lang Son, what was Bill doing on the way to the G&R ceremony, what does G&R stand for, what does Lilah call her grandmother, who is our pediatrician, does Lilah like cheese T or F, etc.

I was really surprised how many people knew so many of the answers, poor Bill was trying to help some people and couldn't remember a few of the answers himself.

But I'm happy to say KAREN was our biggest blogging fan!!! She told us while we were in VN the first thing she did everyday was check the blog, before she even fed her beloved dogs. Everyone laughed at how fun it was to actually see Lilah in person and not just on a computer anymore.

I know there are a few of you out there who could have done quite well yourself at the Aloha Baby Moore trivia questions and given Karen a run for her money.

Karen is a very special and talented lady. She made this adorable crab dress with matching hat and bloomers for Lilah along with a few extra hats. In Hawaii you can never have too many sun hats. And Lilah loved all the colors in the dress. Here's a few cute pictures of Lilah with her biggest blogger fan Karen, nice for these two to finally meet in person.

So to all of our blog fans, thank you so much for all your love and support, your comments and thoughts have supported us so much more than you could ever know. And thank you for being interested in what's going on in our little neck of the woods. Maybe all of you will start a blog too so I can keep up with you better. Leslie started one to chronicle their big move to Nashville, and its been so great to see Hailey so much more often, so come on, jump on the blogging train!

Mahalo Yolanda, Mo, & Brenda

2007-07-14T21:30:00.000-10:00

These girls really thought of everything for the party! There was delicious food, fun games, and they even gave me a beautiful Haku to wear and feel like a princess for the day. Two Haku's in one year, I may start to think I really am Hawaiian royalty.

Miss Lilah enjoyed every minute of limelight. She had only had a 30 min nap in the car on the trip from Kailua to Kahala, and had not eaten in over 7 hours total, but she was still smiling and just enjoying all the attention. I know you're reading and thinking 7 hrs.. but she wouldn't eat when I tried to feed her... honest....., my little social butterfly was to busy socializing,.... (a lot like her Mama).

Aunty Maureeen who we like to call Aunty Mo, has this magic ability to soothe all the kids, I told her there were plenty of babies in Lang Son if she'd like one for her own. And Aunty Brenda actually had to work, but she finished rounding just in time as the party started. And the cutie you see in the photos with Maureen & Brenda is Kyle, he's almost 1 year old, and Lilah was certainly glad to make a new friend.

Here Kyle is with his Dad Dean, they hosted the party at their new beautiful home, unfortunately Yolanda, Kyle's Mom, is not in one single picture, because she's the busy bee taking all the photos. She's so good, she had a CD with pictures from the party to me by Monday, I'm slower than her with my thank you blog.

Mahalo Kapiolani Pediatric Outpatient Clinic For the SURPRISE Party!!

2007-07-14T21:06:00.000-10:00

Last saturday Lilah and I had a big day planned. We woke up and got ready and headed out the door to her first birthday party in Kailua. Her new friend Jackson Cedar, whose Mommy works with me, was turning 1 year old. Then we were meeting some friends from Bill's office for a cookout.

Of course, if you know me I can really get into a party and loose track of time. I called Bill to check in and was quickly reprimanded for not being home yet to make it to the BBQ. For anyone who knows us, or Bill, know that we are quite often running late, especially Bill, and he's never one to be anal about things like getting to a party right when it starts. I couldn't figure out why he was so up in arms about being a few minutes late to the party. I had told Yolanda we'd be there around 1:00 and it was now 1:20, not bad for a weekend party in my opinion, especially when the birthday party had been on the other side of town.

As we entered the back gate to their patio area, I hear.... "Surprise"...... Bill's co-workers from the Kapiolani Women's & Children Hospital Pediatric Outpatient clinic had thrown us a surprise baby shower. It was such a wonderful and very kind surprise. I was just overwhelmed with their thoughtfulness. Thank you so much Yolanda, Dean, & Kyle for hosting the party, and thank you so much to Maureen & Brenda too for all your planning and hard work. Thank you to everyone for all your support and love through our entire adoption process. For those close to us, you know this was not always an easy road, so thank you for everything, we appreciate it more than you know. We are so blessed to have friends like you!

2007-07-07T23:58:00.000-10:00

I started noticing about a week or two ago little hairs all over the back of Lilah's neck. Then I'd notice them on her changing table, in the crib, and I had to conclude.... she's loosing her hair. And sure enough she's got two developing bold spots, each on the side of her head. So now she has this Mohawk looking thing, or at least it looks like a mohawk when I stand it straight up, or I can make it Alfalfa style. Bill says when I comb it, it looks like a comb over, he suggested I cut it, but I told him you don't cut kids hair till they are at least one, he asked me why, I had no answer, isn't this true, or is it some old wives tale i've taken to heart through the years?

Nonetheless, if our little doll goes bald, she'll still be beautiful. And if she's still got the mohawk at Halloween, we just may spray paint it hot pink and let her be a punk rocker!

Me & My Daddy Love BJ Penn!!!!

2007-07-02T20:43:00.000-10:00

Many of you may not have heard of UFC, Ultimate Fighting Championship, but my husband Bill loves to watch it. Its this type of fighting that crosses martial arts, wrestling, and boxing. They even have a reality show they has had several seasons. You follow along as the fighters all live in the same house, and learn their motivations for fighting, personalities, etc. The reality show makes it much more tolerable for me to watch with Bill. It gives me a story to go with the person who's in the ring. Well, two saturday nights ago, there was a big UFC fight on cable. Usually the actual big championships in the octagon are pay per view, but this time it was on cable and Bill was all excited to watch.

BJ Penn is a fighter from here in Hawaii. He actually lives in Hilo which is on the Big Island. In the opinion of many BJ Penn is the best UFC fighter ever. He is thought to have just a natural talent never seen before. Anyway he was fighting his long time rival Pulver. All of Hawaii was so excited to see Penn fight. Hawaii is a state that really has a ton of pride in their people, and BJ Penn is considered by many to be the best athlete to ever come from Hawaii.

So all this background information to tell you Bill was really pumped about the fight and excited to watch. So while he was getting into the game I took Lilah and wrapped a red bandanna around her head for a doo'rag, then I held her up to Bill and said, "Hey Dad, I want to watch the fight with you, I love BJ Penn too." Bill had a big laugh at his little fighter. He sat her in his lap and they watched the rest of the fight together. She actually watched it very intently raising her hands, talking to the tv and looking like she actually knew what was going on and who we were rooting for. And BJ Penn did win of course in case you were wondering!

I'm sure that's more than many of you ever cared to know about UFC, but we had a lot of fun with her, who knows maybe Lilah and her Daddy will always watch UFC together.

DON'T TAKE MY CHEESE!!!

2007-06-29T21:02:00.000-10:00

One evening while I was trying to get dinner done and Miss Lilah was hanging out in her bumbo and getting a little fussy I handed her a bag of cheese to keep her occupied. As I begin to notice her drooling profusely ALL over the bag, I decided it was time to take it back. The minute I took it back she started screaming like a wild woman. I quickly handed the cheese back and she was happy as a clam. Now in the evenings when I'm trying to get dinner done the cheese is often given out to help soothe my little angel till we're done cooking. Who knew she'd love a bag of cheese so much? We buy all kinds of toys, and my kid loves a bag of shredded sharp cheddar cheese.

Lilah's First Trip to the Beach

2007-06-28T22:30:00.000-10:00

On Wednesday we took Lilah for her very first trip to the beach! We didn't go for an all out day, we just drove over on a whim and wanted to stick her feet in the warm Pacific. She fell asleep en route to the beach, so we had a sleepy baby when we arrived. She didn't mind the sand on her feet as long as you were holding her and not making her sit down in it. I've posted the pictures in the order of her reaction. You can see where Bill is leaning her over closer to the water and she's looking back like, " I don't think I like this," Then when her feet are in the cold sand she says, "Yeah, I don't like it" Then the water hits her toes, and she says, "I definitely don't like it, get me outta here." Although she didn't love the water, she still loved it. I'm hoping over the weekend to take her to the pool for a little dip in her bikini.

GO DAWGS!!!

2007-06-21T23:16:00.000-10:00

For those of you who don't know me well, I am a very big Georgia Bulldogs Fan! No, I didn't go to the University of Georgia, I'm a Georgia Southern girl, but I have loved the bulldogs since I was a little girl. It was a huge family rivalry since my step dad Jerry loves the Gators, and we have had so much fun teasing each other through the years, and still do. But Thuy has been given her very first Georgia Bulldogs t-shirt by Aunt Kathryn, known as Kat Balou, and Uncle Lance! It is one of my favorite baby gifts. They originally bought it for Quynh, but we know she wouldn't have minded letting her little sister Thuy wear it! Thanks again you two!

Mahalo Aunt Kathryn & Uncle Lance

2007-06-21T23:08:00.000-10:00

Aunt Kathryn & Uncle Lance sent Thuy a great big gift box with lots of goodies. She's sporting her Augusta Master's bib and Georgia Bulldog pacifier holder for all of you to ooh and aww over. I think its just adorable. They even sent me a Georgia Bulldog scrub top for work. So Thuy's all ready to root for the Georgia Bulldogs this fall.

Sorry to Aunt Liz and Aunty Melissa & Olivia, but I put all the stuff up from the great goody boxes you sent before Thuy arrived. But Thuy's certainly enjoying Aunt Liz's beautiful quilt and Aunty Melissa's bumbo every single day.

LIFE WITH LILAH THANH THUY MOORE

2007-06-21T22:46:00.000-10:00

Drumroll please...... yes, we have given her a first name, Lilah. Its the same name we were batting around the entire time, I guess we just needed enough time to make sure we got it right. Thanh Thuy (pronounced like Tan Twee) is the Vietnamese name given by her birth mother. Our family in VN told us that Thanh with the Thuy makes the name extra special. They said it is a VERY nice Vietnamese name and we would be taking away from it if we left Thuy all alone. Plus the nice thing is Thanh is part of Oma's name as well. So that way it gives honor to her birth mother and Oma too, the best of both worlds. I think on legal paper we'll combine Thanh Thuy to Thanhthuy, so that she legally has only 3 names. I just think its way to confusing to have 4 names when it comes to SAT's, legal forms, etc. One of the other families we traveled with was doing this also, and we thought it was a great idea. So thanks Chi & Wim for the idea.

I love this picture of Thuy asleep on her daddy chest on father's day. Thuy got Bill a very nice picture and frame as well as a bag full of his favorite local snacks like smoked squid.

The other picture is how we eat dinner every single night. Thuy sits in her bumbo while we eat. This way she can see us and we can see her, but we can use both our hands to eat, but one person does have drool duty, (wiping her face with a dry cloth when the drool gets heavy). The other day when we finished dinner we noticed she had drool all under her right leg in the bumbo..... daddy had drool duty that night. :-)

Thuy loves pizza

2007-06-17T00:45:00.000-10:00

Thuy is a definite slobber box. Yes, I realize all kids slobber, but she slobbers so much we have to carry a rag around with us all the time to wipe up the slobber. Oma bought me 20 rags from VN and i'm beginning to wonder if that's enough. No she's not teething, not a tooth appears to be in sight. She just slobbers and loves to chew on her hands, our hands, her rag, her toys, whatever she can get in her mouth. I was holding her up over my head yesterday playing and a big thing of slobber went right into my eye.

Yesterday we were eating pizza for lunch. I let her suck on the back of the crust and she loves it. If you could have heard all the sucking she was doing on the bread. Yes I know a almost 5 month old should not be eating pizza,.... she was just sucking on the bread and enjoying herself thoroughly.

Tomorrow is Bill's first father's day and i'm very excited! Since we just got back I didn't have much time to plan. I got him a cute frame with a picture of Thuy as well as a card from Thuy that says something about "though we've just started, I love you so much already." It's a perfect card. I also got the makings for his favorite mexican breakfast in the morning as a surprise. I'll be using your recipe Liz.

So let me say Happy Father's Day to Opa, Papa, Daddy Jack, & Daddy Jerry. Wish I could be there to celebrate with you all. As a new parent myself I can all the more appreciate all the love and work you've given me and Bill our entire lives. Thank you, we love you!

Thuy meets Bynx & Barabus

2007-06-17T00:15:00.000-10:00

We are a few days into being at home now and things are going well. Its been difficult to adjust to the time zones, but Thuy now seems to be doing better than us. The first day we felt a little like, "what do we do now." Its hard to go back to your "regular/old" life with a new baby. How do I find time to do all the things I normally do and take good care of her, especially when she likes to be held so much?

Well we are starting to find a new "regular" life and its quite wonderful. We just started trying today to write down when she eats and sleeps to figure out some sort of schedule. I am now able to predict the morning nap, so we're making some progress. And Tuesday we have our first visit with our pediatrician.

The first day at home Thuy hated every single chair or toy I put her in. She wouldn't stay in anything longer than a minute or two. But i've learned she's usually happiest in the mornings. So I try to put her in things like her bouncy chair first thing in the morning, and every day she seems to like it just a little bit more.

The biggest hit thus far is her Bumbo seat. Thank you very much Melissa, Scott, Maddox, & Olivia! I love the way she looks in it with her little feet sticking out. She stays in the bumbo longer than she'll stay in anything else. If she's happy before I put her in it, i'll be able to get breakfast made and almost finish eating before she's ready to get out. This is quite an improvement.

Here's 2 pictures of Thuy meeting her 2 rabbit ts Bynx & Barabus. We sat her in the bumbo outside near them while we fed them. At first she found them quite interesting and then they got a little too close and she wasn't so crazy that. Her favorite way to view them is from our arms. I guess I can understand her apprehension, they're almost the same size as her.

Aunty Andrea & Uncle Abel

2007-06-14T11:11:00.000-10:00

Yesterday we were picked up from the airport by our dear friends Abel & Andrea, they both work in the Neuro ICU with me at Queen's. They greeted all 3 of us with lots of leis. And Thuy was very excited to get her very first lei's. She had very cute little baby leis and they all smelled delicious. She couldn't quite figure them out and tried to eat them, but she really liked them.

Here in Hawaii one of the things I love the most is kids call everyone Aunty or Uncle, even if they are not your aunt or uncle. I'm from GA originally and little kids would call me Mrs. Amanda, but here in Hawaii little kids call us Aunty Amanda and Uncle Bill, its so nice, I really love it. So here's shots of Thuy's first meeting with Aunty Andrea & Uncle Abel. Usually she's pretty serious with new people but she loved them both immediately and gave lots of smiles and coos to both of them.

We had a little trouble with the car seat. We couldn't figure out how to extend the straps to get her arms in. Bill had to get out the manual, but don't worry we got it figured out.... what new parents we are, right? I thought she'd hate the whole ride home in the seat but she actually did quite well. When we got home to our suprise Andrea along with 2 other co-workers, Juliet & KJ, had came in and cleaned our home. So much had been left in a mess due to the construction. And Mama Wong had dinner in the fridge for us. It was all so nice and thoughtful of them, i'm lucky to know such wonderful special people. Thank you to you all.

Thuy is having a little trouble changing time zones. She didn't go to bed till 0500 am. And them Marcus our friend working on our home was here around 0800, not much sleep for us. But hopefully it'll only take us a few days to get her on Hawaii time. She seems to be doing very well at home. She's relaxed and seems to understand this is a comfortable safe place to be. And she slept in her crib very well. Her crib mattress will vibrate for 15 minutes and she really seems to like that. It gives her that little something she needs to go to sleep. We are starting to transition her to Similac today from her VN formula Dielac, so hopefully all will go well.

In short, we're happy to be home. Just wish I could blink my eyes and be unpacked!

We're Back

2007-06-14T10:49:00.000-10:00

We made it back!!! Our total commute time 28 hours counting our super long 13 hour layover in Korea. We left our hotel on Tuesday at 14:00 in VN and went around Hanoi with Mom visiting some relatives we hadn't had a chance to visit yet. We had to buy an extra suitcase in order to accommodate all the gifts we bought. We then went to our Aunty's and had dinner and relaxed until time for our flight. We got to the Hanoi airport around 22:30. Thuy woke up just as we were going onto the flight. You could just see in her little face that she was scared and couldn't quite figure out what exactly was going on. All the beeps of the cabin like the seat belt sign and the overhead speaker really confused her. She was looking all around trying to figure it out. And then the crying began. She cried for a good little bit, but Korean airlines gave us our bassinet and as soon as we put her in it she went to sleep.

At the airport in Seoul they have a hotel in the airport. We rented a room for the 12 hours and were able to take naps, watch a movie, and the time really passed quickly. Bill and I even got to take a shower and refresh a little bit. Thuy did much better on her second flight. She was still really nervous when we first got on, but not as bad. I've found she can get very overwhelmed when situations change and there's lots of new people especially when they are packed in close around us on a flight. Whenever we go anywhere new she typically doesn't smile much and gets very quite, she has to take it all in and figure it out before she'll start being her regular happy baby self.

We arrived back in Honolulu around 10:30. It took a while to get through customs. They go over all your paperwork, but we met 2 other families who had just arrived from China with their new babies. Which was very nice. It was so exciting to bring Thuy home to the states. I whispered in her ear how much she was going to love it here and how we'd support her in all her dreams to help make them come true!

I do have a serious side

2007-06-11T15:33:00.000-10:00

Sometimes its hard to take a picture of a baby smiling, as soon as I put the camera down she's laughing again, so here's a few shots of her more serious side.

A Rose By Any Other Name is Still a Rose

2007-06-11T15:23:00.000-10:00

Everyone has been asking me what have we decided to name Thuy. Everyone thinks we've been keeping it a big secret. But the big secret is we still can't decide I'm very sad to say. Bill and I just can't come to an agreement. If you know both of us personally you could see how this could happen. We both want to choose a name we both like and so far no names fit the Bill.

In my defense, we had a beautiful name for our first baby, Elizabeth Quynh, and we were going to call her Quynh, but we lost her and her name when she passed away. So we had to start over. So although our entire adoption has taken 9 months, we have only had the news of Thuy's arrival in the last few months. So we haven't had the time to really say a name enough times to make sure we like it. A name is forever and we want to get it right.

I really really wanted the beautiful adoption announcements they have here in Vietnam, but we decided the perfect name is more important than perfect announcements. So she will be arriving in Hawaii as Thuy (Twee) and hopefully her ridiculous parents will get their act together soon and come up with a name as beautiful as she is.

Ha Long Bay

2007-06-11T15:00:00.000-10:00

No post in last few days due to Internet problems again. But when I last left you we were headed to Ha Long Bay. If you are a WC family and would like to go during your time in VN, let the staff know and they can coordinate for you for about $35/person. Our Mom got our cousin who lives here to rent a 12 passenger van for us and he took us up to Ha Long Bay. Our trip was around $25/person. 3 World Child Families went including us and Mom.

We had a great time. We rented a boat that had 2 decks for a 6 hour boat tour. The tour started with a stop at a cave aka grotto. It's a short climb up some steps for a nice cool walk through the grotto. It was great and the cool air was what we enjoyed the most. Then we were off for more touring. We stopped at a floating dock that had seafood you could buy fresh (still alive), you just choose what you want and your boat crew cooks it up for you. At the start of your ship you can let the crew know you'd like them to prepare lunch. They make fish, squid, shrimp, crab, and some good vegetables.

Then they took us to the beach, oh how great it was to get in the water. I didn't pack my swimsuit since our hotel didn't have a pool, but I bought one at the beach for $8. It wasn't that cute but oh so worth it to cool off a little in the water. The beach was my favorite part of the entire trip. 4 of us had to buy swimsuits, but it was so worth it.

It was such a hot day. I stripped down Thuy on the boat to her bloomers and nothing else. It was just so hot. The VN on the boat probably thought I was an awful mother for letting her go without being all covered up, but I didn't care it was just so hot. Oma got cold rags and we'd put them on her head to cool her off. Everyone else stripped down their babies too.

Overall it was a great day and highly suggested if you have the time. There was a big storm here on Sunday night and ever since then the weather has been so much better.

Big news in adoption land is we got Thuy's Visa yesterday, so she's all ours!!! We are leaving Tuesday night for Hawaii. It will take us around 26 hours to get home. That's counting the 13 hour lay over in Korea, yuck. But flights on leave for Hawaii late at night and only arrive in Korea from VN very early, hence our problem. They airline told me so many people honeymoon in Hawaii that's why all the flights leave late.

I'm a little anxious about the long plane ride. And Thuy's had a lot of gas lately making her cry, (sure she'd love that I shared that), so I hope all goes well. But in the wise words of our pediatrician Brian Tanabe, "Just remember on a plane, when your baby's crying & crying, you'll never see those people again."

SPROUT POUCH

2007-06-08T05:53:00.000-10:00

Just wanted to say I love my sling. I researched these forever before I bought one. I just wasn't sure if i'd like it or really use it. Some moms like them, some hate them, some moms told me she'd be too big to like it by the time I got her. Bill even said I'd never use it. And one friend said it was way too much of a hippy look.

But I just loved the way they look and wanted to try. There are so many slings to choose from. Many that are more and less expensive than mine. I went with sprout pouch because I loved the fabric and its reversible and i can return it after 30-60 days if I don't like it and its still in good condition with only a $4 reshelving fee. That's much more reasonable than other sling return policies.

But Thuy and I really like it. Of course it gets hot if we wear it more then 2-3 hours in the Hanoi heat, but so does the Bjorn. And when she's asleep and we've got to go somewhere this is an easy way to let her finish her nap when I don't have a car seat or anything. And I find people don't bug her quite as much when she's in the sling.

I do like having the Bjorn and the sling. Both are very useful. Of course Bill wouldn't want to wear the sling. But its easy to fold up in my baby bag for whenever I need it.

Just wanted to share. I was always glad to hear what people liked and disliked with their baby products. This picture here is of us today at the embassy. We just got our approval. Thuy slept right through all the good news!

Thuy's out on the town

2007-06-08T05:09:00.000-10:00

Today's lovely outfit was brought to you by Olivia, 9 months old adopted from Vietnam in February, and her wonderfully sweet Mommy Melissa. Thank you so much. Thuy was a hit all day in her tennis dress and we added a leopard print bow to the top of her head!

We headed off this morning to the Museum of Ethnology with 2 other World Child families. Our cousin took all of us in his car, it was tight but cozy. The museum was really great. Lots of information on the 54 minorities of Vietnam. My favorite was seeing the cultural outfits of the different groups and learning about the musical instruments and ancestral shrines in their homes.

Thuy is Nung as I've mentioned before. Nung people are known to wear dark indigo clothing. Not as colorful as the Dao people who wear red, but still very beautiful. Where I am confused is that Thuy's birth mom wore a bright red/green almost plaid type of blouse with matching head wrap to the G&R. I can't seem to find any picture of Nung people wearing this type of attire. I don't know if maybe her dress was for special occasions or something. I also learned there are several type of Nung, and I'm not sure which one Thuy is, I'll ask Thuy's birth mother when I write to her in the future. Tonight we did buy Thuy a beautiful velvet piece of clothing in the same Indigo color the Nung wear, our inspiration was the colorful pieces of clothing we saw today.

The museum was hot although we got up early to get started as soon as possible in order to beat the heat. The babies were a little cranky but so was I. Thuy is definitely an A/C princess now. Outside at the museum they had housing that represented different groups that you could walk through. It was really neat and a definite must see in Hanoi.

And while at the Museum we got our call from Martin.....WE GOT OUR APPROVAL FROM THE US EMBASSY TODAY!!!!! Yeah, so that means the US agrees for us to bring Thuy back to the states. So we had our second interview with the embassy today at 1400 and all went quite well. We got our yellow card and all we need now is our Visa and we're ready to go home! Four of the 6 families have gotten their approval. 2 more are still waiting, but hopefully Monday for them. Thuy's Visa should be ready at 16:00 on monday. So we'll be leaving hopefully late Tuesday night and getting back to Hawaii wednesday. I can't believe we're almost done. But I'm staying flexible and not getting my heart set on any return dates till I have that visa in my hand.

When we got back from the embassy Mom took one of the other families out shopping for jade and Bill went to change our airline tickets and buy one for Thuy. Yes, you have to buy a ticket for the baby on an international flight. Its 10% of our ticket cost. But they do give you a bassinet for the baby to sleep in which is quite nice. And Thuy and I spent time together at the hotel just us girls. It was nice. I love trying to find new ways to make her smile. Today I found pressing the left side of her belly makes her laugh.

We then went to Aunty's for dinner as usual and then Mom walked us around the neighborhood to say hello to some people she knows and to show off Thuy of course. Thuy was pretty hot and grumpy by the end but a very good sport. Mom had some very nice friends that gave Thuy a gold bracelet and another friend who gave her a silver bangle for the ankle.

Then we left for the water puppet show. If you ever go to VN you must see the water puppets. Its an ancient cultural activity. Of course very touristy now, but a must see and tickets are only $1.50- $2.50. We were bragging how good Thuy had been through all the running around all day, then about 1 minute before the show started she began to cry. We had bad seats in the middle of the room in the middle of a very long isle. She was crying so loudly an attendant came to get us. Everyone was very nice, and smiled, but I'm sure they thought "get that crying baby outta here." She said we could sit on an isle, but we just decided to leave. Bill and i had quite a good giggle over the whole ordeal. She had just had too big of a day. We went ahead and bought tickets again for sunday afternoon, but this time in the front row. So we can slip out if we need to, and Thuy won't feel so overwhelmed and crowded by so many people in front of her. The seats were so small our knees were hitting the seats in front of us.. and we're not all that tall.

So tomorrow, our cousin rented a car for us and he's driving us up to Halong Bay tomorrow with the same 2 families we went with to the Museum today. It is should be very beautiful and quite a nice break from the hustle and bustle of Hanoi.

I weigh 12 lbs, 5 lbs are my cheeks!!!

2007-06-07T01:32:00.000-10:00

Today we had our visit to the SOS clinic. The taxis were late picking us up, over 30 min late, so our coordinator Kim had us flag down 2 cabs from the street. She went in one cab with a family, while we and another family shared a different cab. We got dropped off at the clinic and we waited, waited, and waited, and the group with our coordinator never showed up. And it was so hot and we didn't see the words SOS anywhere. We looked like we were at the health clinic for the general VN population. So we used the very useful cell phone from Ed & Peggy to call the coordinators to find out what the problem was. And yes we were in the wrong place. So we flagged another cab and off we went to the SOS. We were only an hour behind. Come to find out we were only 1 block away from where we should have been. We could have walked, but we didn't know where we were going. Our coordinator reprimanded the cab driver for his poor performance. But all went well and it wasn't a big deal. The clinic was very nice and the doctor and nurse were very pleasant. Thuy got a good bill of health. She weighs 12 lbs which we were suprised at. We were both guessing around 10 lbs. And she was around 59 inches along. And she was so good through all the measuring and the exam. She didn't cry at all. What a good girl!

This is another cute outfit from her Oma. Doesn't she look sweet. Oma bought 2 outfits for $3.40. They're nice and thin for the VN weather. ( Hope you like it Liz, Lauren has one too). And this is a picture of Enlaya, a fellow crib mate from Lang Son. She had her medical today too. Her parents are from Germany.

Tomorrow morning we hope to go to the ethnology museum. But we're going to go early to try to avoid the heat. We did a good bit of shopping today and had a lot of fun. 2 Families already got their CIS approval, but we weren't one of them. We're crossing our fingers for tomorrow. Although I do hope to have a bowl of Pho with Donna & Phoebe Jade if they arrive before we leave!

How Cute Am I?

2007-06-06T05:00:00.000-10:00

Oma got Thuy a new cute embroidered outfit. Oma and Aunty are really talented hagglers. Liz I hope you like it because Lauren has one too. So now not only do you and I always get matching gifts, now Thuy & Lauren will too. I know Cindy and I got matching gifts our whole lives. Lauren's looks just like this minus the stain.

After all the boy or girl questions I got when she was sporting her dog t-shirt, it reminded me of the little hair bows I had brought for Thuy (although I don't have red one). But this morning we thought we'd try it out and I thought it looked adorable. The only problem was it was really hard trying to keep it in!

And I know from our pictures she looks so chubby, her face really is or the cheeks at least, but she's now 4.5 months old and the 3-6 month outfits I brought are a little big. The 3 month outfits fit her best. Most of the other babies are even slimmer than Thuy. So keep that in mind for those of you packing. I had always thought from her cheeks she'd be pretty chubby, but she's still pretty small, just well proportioned and so lovable of course!

Two Clowns

2007-06-06T04:34:00.000-10:00

If Thuy could have a voice of her own, I hope she would say, these two clowns (Mom & Dad) are starting to get the hang of it. We are starting to learn what makes her laugh. She loves raspberries on her chubby neck and on her belly and she likes the funny thing we do with our hands to grab her. And she loves when you talk to her in certain ways. Making her laugh is so much fun.

And we're starting to understand some of the cries. I now can recognize the I'm very tired cry. And last night she slept in the crib again. She woke up several times, I picked her up, snuggled for just a few minutes, then she was right back to sleep. And I now know the cry with tears in it means somethings really wrong, like hungry, wet, scared, etc. The no tears, means I just want to be held or you're not holding me the way I want to be held.

This morning Bill went and picked up her Vietnamese passport. Tomorrow morning we're getting picked up from the hotel at 07:45 to take her for her medical exam. I'm excited to find out how much she weighs.

And it is SOOOOOO HOT! Today Bill and Thuy stayed indoors while me, Oma, and Aunty went to do a little shopping. I was dripping sweat in a matter of seconds. (For those of you about to travel, be sure to bring light weight clothing. And don't over pack. We only packed enough clothes for a week and we do laundry at a place just outside the hotel. Its usually $1-2 per kilo). On our outing today we found the VN version of subway. So we ordered some sandwiches with Vietnamese bologna, a lot like Bale sandwich shop in Hawaii, and they were quite delicious. At times I'm starting to find myself noodled out and ready for a coke with ice and maybe some french fries.

Year of the Dog

2007-06-05T21:00:00.000-10:00

My sister Liz sent Thuy this cute little t-shirt that says Year of the Dog. Thuy is a Dog for the chineese/Vietnamese calender. On the back if you can't read it, it says, "Loves attention, very loving and cuddley, but sometimes can be a cry baby, very loyal, especially to Mom." I think its so adorable. She got it from Red Envelope I believe. The only problem was when she was wearing it everyone kept asking if she was a boy or a girl. I guess the red confused them. I should have put a bow in her hair.

She was such a good baby all day today. We ran her all over town doing errands with Oma and our family here in VN then met up with the group this afternoon to go to the embassy for our first interview. They informed us the paperwork will now go to Ho Chi Min City to be approved and if no problems, it comes back, then we will schedule the second embassy interview. The second interview should be fairly short and simple with just some paperwork to sign. Then we'll apply for our visas which should take approximately 24 hours. So after the second interview we should be on our way home in 24-48 hours. But they did tell us today it may take 10 to 14 days till the paperwork returns from Saigon. Good news is that will give us plenty of time to do some things like possibly go to HaLong Bay, Sa Pa, museums, etc. The bad news is we may be getting home a little later than we thought. We're flying Korean airlines and had our return for next wednesday, but we'll just change them. We have tickets that allow us to change dates with no charge. We checked on this specifically before we left. We booked straight through the airlines and didn't use a travel agent because when we talked to several travel agents they all told us once we were in VN and needed to change dates we'd just call the airline directly anyway, so we cut out the middle man to save some hassle.

I now have caught Thuy's cold. And so has one of the other Mom, not Thuy's cold, but her own baby's cold. I feel rather lousy, so I now know why Thuy was so fussy these last few days. I'd be more fussy if I thought it would help. But Thuy's nasal drainage and cough is getting much better. Another thing not to forget is a bulb suction and nasal spray for your baby. Lots of the kids have a cold. So a few drops in each nostril to loosen up the yuck then use the bulb sxn.

Several of the families asked Bill come to check their kids. So he's been the doctor on call. All the kids look great, except for the cold of course. I will say Thuy looks so healthy, I'm so happy with the love and care she received at the Lang Son orphanage. She doesn't have any scabies, diaper rash, bug bites, or anything. She looks perfect minus the scratch she got on her nose with us and a little forhead acne. She takes after me with the breakouts I guess.

This afternoon after the interviews we stopped by the Trang Tien book store and purchased a book on ethnic minorities of VN with some great pictures. And a few blocks away in another book store I found quite a few VN books with English and VN. I bought ones that covered colors, alphabet, numbers, and shapes. They are cute and Oma read through the vegetable book with me to help me with the pronounciations.

Tomorrow we are meeting with Martin at 10:00 am to go to pick up Thuy's Vietnamese passport that we had expedited. Then hopefully we'll be able to get squeezed in this week for her medical exam at the SOS clinic. And we're possibly thinking of renting a van this weekend for our cousin to drive us and some of the other families up to Ha Long Bay.