WanZhou Babes

Today, travel mates Becky & Booker came over for a visit with their daughter Ruby George. We haven't seen little Ruby George since January 7th and she's not the little girl we remember, she's now walking and looking so grown up. Seeing Ruby George made both Eammon and I realize how much Maisie has changed and that she too is no longer that little girl we brought home just five months ago. We had a great visit and the girls played so well together. Both loved sharing their crackers with each other and they looked so adorable together. Hopefully we'll be able to get these little WanZhou now Georgia babes together again soon.

Two different days, two different little girls

Yesterday Maisie and I joined with Deb & LiLi, Lisa and Randi at Kathy's home for our weekly luncheon and play date. Kathy made a wonderful chicken and rice dish and special grilled cheese sandwiches for the little girls. We got to watch as Lisa received even more wonderful gifts for Briana and everyone but Maisie had a really good day.

Even though Kathy had out lots of toys, Maisie was not in the mood to play, eat much or even leave my lap for our entire visit.

Having her attached to me the entire time reminded me of China when the girl would just not let me put her down. Despite being little Miss Misery guts all day, Deb still managed to get a couple of good piccies of her. I of course had no chance of using my camera so once again my thanks to Deb and her camera. Big thanks to Kathy too for a really nice lunch and afternoon.

Today brought about a totally different little girl. This morning we attended music class and Maisie was completely involved. Then after her nap we played a bit then went out for a nice dinner with Trixie where Maisie slurped her noodles and thoroughly enjoyed her ice cream. After dinner Trixie and I played with a smiling, giggling, happy little girl up until the time she easily went down for the night. Hopefully tomorrow will bring about the happy little girl of today.

Poor Gene

Our neighbor Gene thinks that Maisie is the cutest thing ever and of course there's no argument on that matter here. Maisie has been timid to go to him but yesterday she finally allowed Gene to briefly hold her. She was fine until the camera came out then all she wanted was to get back to Mama.

Gene, hopefully one day soon she'll allow you to hold her without all the tears.

About time

I haven't posted a recipe in a while because truth be told, scrambled eggs have been showing up on our dinner table way too many times to count. After long days with Maisie, the non-egg nights bring basic, fast cooking. I haven't done too much interesting cooking but the gorgeous mangoes that are in the markets now inspired me to dust off my pots, pans and cook top and brush up on my culinary skills.

This dinner was delicious so I've decided to share the recipe.

Mango Thai Chicken

2 cups fresh mango, cubed
2 chili peppers, seeds removed
2 inch piece fresh ginger, sliced
4 cloves garlic
1 Tablespoon Thai fish sauce
3 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon Chinese cooking wine
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
juice of 1/2 lime

1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced thinly
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
salt
pepper

2 Tbsp. oil for frying
handful of cashews, toasted (for garnish)
handful of fresh cilantro, roughly chopped (for garnish)

white rice

In a food processor chop the chili peppers, ginger and garlic to fine pieces. Add the Thai fish sauce, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, Chinese cooking wine, brown sugar, lime juice and 1 1/2 cups of the chunked mango. Puree until smooth. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of mango chunks and pulse processor a couple times leaving mango chunks in the sauce. Taste test the sauce checking for a good balance of sweet, sour and salty and adjust as needed.

Mix the flour and cornstarch on a plate and season with salt and pepper. Dredge the sliced chicken breast in the flour mixture. Heat oil in a wok or large skillet and cook the chicken until cooked through, stirring occasionally to make sure the chicken cooks evenly. Add the mango sauce and cook until just bubbling. Serve with white rice and garnish with cilantro and cashews. Enjoy!!

Now for a Maisie piccie. Here she is this morning eating and wearing her oatmeal. Check out the tip of her nose.

For Briana

Today was Lisa's baby shower for Briana and it was just lovely. Briana now has just about everything she'll need or want, she's one spoiled girl already. The shower was fun and it marks the second time that I've left Maisie with Eammon. When I returned home just before 10PM both Maisie and an exhausted Baba were sleeping. It's amazing just how quickly one little girl can wear out a parent!

Hugs

Today LiLi came over to play and Deb asked the girls to give each other a hug, so they each hugged themselves...Still cute. And look, Maisie is sitting next to another child and not screaming!! Will wonders never cease!!

Where does she put it?

Today Maisie and I attended a princess party hosted by one of the Moms in our Marietta playgroup. It was fun seeing the older girls in their princess dresses and finery but alas, Maisie is still too wee for the outfits but she still looked adorable and like a little princess to me.

So, here's the question of the day. For the first few months we had Maisie, she awoke 6 - 10 times per night and other than a brief 20 minute snooze in the car seat, the girl did not nap. How she functioned with so little sleep is beyond me. Then six weeks ago I was able to move her and the tented pack & play into the nursery and she started to sleep through the night. Things were really looking up and she was so much happier, being better rested. Just over two weeks later I moved the tent to the crib thinking that it would make the crib less threatening as she was already comfortable with the tent and after just two nights she started sleeping in the crib without too much drama. At the same time the girl also started taking an afternoon nap, sweet!! This was almost too much to ask for, full nights of sleep and 1 - 1.45 hours in the afternoon. Now something new is happening, little Miss M is still sleeping through the night but has added a morning nap to the mix. She's still going to bed between 7 - 8PM, she still wakes between 6:45 - 7:30am but around 9 - 10am she wants to sleep and will for about 45 - 60 minutes and then come 1 - 1:30PM she's ready to take another 1 hour+ nap.

Along with this new and improved sleep pattern, she's also started eating and eating and eating. The girl eats and snacks all day long. The other night we went out for dinner and Maisie must have slurped a good 2 cups of noodles in addition to other food then twenty minutes after getting home, she's signing hungry, eat. I couldn't believe it but after all the food at dinner, she ate a few slices of ham, a string cheese stick and about a 1/4 cup of dried goji berries. When we go for her 24 month exam, she better have gained more than the pitiful 15 ounces she gained in the first four months she was with us. She's mostly wearing 12 month clothing but as you can sort of make out in the picture, 12 month shorts still are a bit big and still have to be safety pinned to her diaper so that she doesn't walk out of them.

First time

Yesterday Maisie and I joined with Kathy for a lovely lunch at Deb & Lili’s. Maisie and LiLi played in the pool and this time, for the first time, Maisie actually got in! Then she got in and out and in and out over and over. Once again Deb took some wonderful piccies of the girls which I nicked and have added here. Thanks Deb for the great lunch, playtime and the piccies.

Pure joy

Maisie with Baba

Techie geek time with Baba

Playing with Baba’s toys.

Let’s play sudoku.

My turn.

I won of course.

Does this thing work as a phone?

You try.

Hello.   

Hello???

This thing isn’t working.

Let’s try Baba’s Blackberry.

Who should I call?

This is better…Hi there!     

It's Mother's Day!!

I can't believe that it's Mother's Day and I'm now a Mom, very cool!!

Last night I was taken out for dinner to celebrate both my birthday and Mother's day. This morning I was able to sleep in late waking to a freshly bathed, fed and dressed baby, cards and big kisses and hugs. Now planning on a relaxing and fun day with Eammon and Maisie Miao Miao.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there, first timers, multi-timers and all the Moms-to-be and a special hug to my Mom and Mum.

Brown envelope part deux

Yesterdays mail included our brown envelope with a letter saying: Congratulations! The U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services recently notified U.S. Consulate Guangzhou that the Department of Homeland Security has approved your petition to adopt an overseas orphan.

   
Do they know something I don't know?

Maybe having virtually everyone who is waiting for their referral needing to reapply for their I-171H two or even three times is bogging down the USCIS and they don't realize that we've been home for over four months already.

Five months a family

It's hard to believe that as of today, Maisie has been with us for five months and to celebrate, I bought Eammon just a wee bit of chocolate! In many ways it feels like just yesterday that Maisie was placed in my arms but then it's difficult to remember a time before she was with us. It's also difficult to believe that it was just a year ago that I was in the throes of a major meltdown with the wait as that seems like a lifetime ago. Time moved so slowly during our wait yet now it races along.

Maisie has brought so much joy to our lives in just five months, here's looking at a lifetime with our little Maisie Miao Miao.

Pillowcase dress

Trixie came over today for lunch bearing a pillow case dress for Miss Maisie. So of course once Maisie awoke from her nap (do you notice that I say nap almost every day now! It's a wonderful thing!!) we had to put the dress on her and pull out the camera. Doesn't she look cute!! Thanks Trixie for the dress.

Pool time with LiLi

We've had another busy week starting with a play date on Monday with our Marietta Moms group followed by an afternoon of shopping. Tuesday, Theresa came over for lunch and some playtime with Maisie. I haven't seen Theresa in months so it was great seeing her and to hear the news that we're going to be seeing a lot more of her makes both Maisie and I quite happy.

Our Music Together teacher was away this week so I had planned to take Maisie to the playground when Deb made a better offer. Deb has a wonderfully contained play area with a pool, fountain and sandbox. Ian took pictures of the girls (Thank you Ian) and of course I nicked them from Deb's site to show them here.

We played for a few hours and though Maisie was afraid to get into the pool, she did manage to get soaked and have a good time. Within five minutes of leaving Maisie was dozing off in the car but luckily it's only a short drive home and I was able to just about keep her awake so that she was still able to take a nice long nap.

Just to wear out little Miss a little more, in the afternoon we attending another Marietta Moms play group where we both had a really nice time. It all seemed to work because Maisie went to bed without any whimpers, moans or groans.