This and That

I am just now getting around to posting about our weekend.  We spent Friday night watching one of our favorite movies... Mulan.  We love this movie!

Saturday was a great game day for Blake.  He has made so much progress with his basketball skills.  He made his first basket in a game!  He was so excited!

 The weather wasn't too cold, so the boys spent hours playing outside with our neighbor friend.

 Cute little Barrett playing with his cars... just like I used to do when I was his age (and yes the road he is playing on was mine)!

 He has had a little cold this weekend, hoping his sniffles pass quickly!

It was a great weekend!

February is Blake's birthday month, so lots of counting down going on at our house right now!  It is also American Heart Month... more info on this coming soon!

A Big Week

It was a big week for our big boy!

Barrett has been asking if he could start riding his bike with two wheels, instead of four.  So when the weather was nice and daddy was home, that is exactly what happened!

 Daddy took his training wheels off,

 Brynn was there to cheer,

 And off he went!

 I love this picture of his proud sister chasing after him!  Barrett is so proud of himself and has been telling everyone the good news!

 Due to Daddy's upcoming schedule change, Barrett will start riding the school bus to his speech class one day a week.  Daddy will still be able to take him the other day.  We started "practicing" this week, so that when his schedule changes, we will be ready.  Barrett was excited to ride the bus with two of his other classmates.  When he got home he said, "that was fun, but just a little".  His bus driver and the aide on the bus are so friendly and we feel good about his short ride to school.

A big week for this almost 4 year old!!

Celebrating Brynn

Brynn awoke the morning of her birthday to find her room full of birthday balloons!  But since she actually awoke the morning of her birthday in our bed, she had to walk to her room to see her birthday balloons, and then we staged a picture!

 That evening when Daddy got home from work, we sang "Happy Birthday" to our big 3 year old.

 Then she opened her birthday present from us.

 She was loving all the attention and fuss we were making over her!

 She loved her new music box!  We took it to her room, plugged it in, turned on her favorite CD... 

 And the dance party began!  She was giggling and showing us her best moves!

 We then loaded up and took our girl to eat one of her favorite foods... chips and hot sauce!

 At the table, Brynn was singing "Happy Birthday" to herself, so I asked the waitress if they could sing her a special birthday song.  Of course I requested it to be sung a bit quieter than normal... didn't want to scare the b-day girl!

 They brought her a yummy chocolate cake with ice cream on top... that we all enjoyed!

 Yes, every last one of us enjoyed it! 

 Mama and her 3 year old.

 Mama and her other 3 year old.

 Baba and his birthday girl.

We had a wonderful evening celebrating our girl!

Her birthday party will be later.  We postponed it due to her surgery and recovery.

For an inspiring read... click HERE to read something posted by one of our fellow group #1663 adoptive families.  It is lengthy, so make sure you read it when you have time to sit and take it in... it is very humbling.

Happy 3rd Birthday

Happy 3rd Birthday Brynn Olivia AiXin!

 You bring so much joy to our lives!  We truly could not imagine life without you!

We love how you are silly, affectionate, loving, bossy, mothering, sweet natured, happy (you tell us all the time, "I am so happy"), feisty, brave, and of course "so big"!

You capture the heart of anyone who comes in contact with you.

You love the songs: Twinkle Twinkle, Jesus Loves Me, Row Row Your Boat, and M-i-c-k-e-y.
You love anything Minnie and Disney Princess.  You love to play babies.  You love to wear pretty dresses.  Your favorite color is pink.  You love your hair in a little braid and pretties.  You love chips & hot sauce, yogurt, green beans, steamed broccoli, corn, french fries, meat, eggs, water, and pickles (to name a few).  You fall asleep in your own bed, but usually end up finding your way to mommy and daddy's bed half way through the night, just needing to know we are here.  You are a mommy's girl and thrive on attention and affection from mommy.  Your love for Baba continues to grow with each passing day.  You love to boss Blake and Barrett around.  You are a girlie girl!  God made you perfect and we love every last ounce of you!

With this day comes thoughts of a birth mother and father in a country far away... oh how they must miss their little girl and ache with wonder over how she is doing.  My heart hurts for them today.

Happy Birthday Brynn AiXin!!

Boys Will Be Boys

It was another beautiful day here in the Lone Star State!

Weekend Update

We had a wonderful weekend!  It started off Friday evening with a play date at the park with friends, and then our cousins came over for dinner.  Brynn, Barrett, and their cousin Karissa played together for hours.  It was so cute!!

 Saturday we did what has become our new routine.

 To the game we went.

 Gram sat with Brynn, for what will probably be her last weekend home bound.  Barrett, Papa, Yay Yay and I went to cheer Blake on.

 Well, Papa and I cheered Blake on.  Yay Yay and Barrett are easily distracted at sporting events.

 Sunday was the day we have been waiting for!

 We went to the airport to welcome Uncle Joshie home (earlier than expected) from his assignment overseas.

 We have sure been missing that guy!

 The kids were so antsy with excitement as they waited.

 I was the photographer (with Shan's camera) for all the excitement of Josh arriving, so I will post the link to her pictures when they are up.

I totally love the nervous lip biting by Blake and how Brynn's poster is upside down! 

 Yay, it's Uncle Joshie!

 He brought home a nice beard, that he was rubbing on Brynn's face.  We thought for a minute it was Zach Brown who walked through the gate:)

 He had a special request for a Mexican food lunch!  Robert was glad he was able to meet us there.  Barrett was stuck to Josh like glue the whole lunch.  He was laying his head on him, rubbing him, patting him... the boy missed his Uncle Joshie!

It was such a beautiful day, that we decided to go on a walk when we got home. 

 Brynn wanted to push her stroller on our walk.  I took our regular stroller for her to ride in when she tired.  I was shocked at how far she walked before she made the request to ride.

On our way home from our walk, we stopped by the park to play. 

The wind was blowing, but the sun was shining!

 It was the perfect afternoon to take our shoes off,

 dig our toes in the sand,

 let the wind blow through our hair,

 and let the sun shine on our faces!

And that is enough to make it a perfect day! 

I hope you had a great weekend!

Happy Chinese New Year ~ Year of the Dragon!

We are excited about celebrating this important Chinese holiday tomorrow evening!