Sunday, May 27, 2007
WanZhou Babes
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
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.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Poor Gene
Gene, hopefully one day soon she'll allow you to hold her without all the tears.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
About time
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.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
For Briana
Friday, May 18, 2007
Hugs
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Where does she put it?
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.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
First time
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
Sunday, May 13, 2007
It's Mother's Day!!
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.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
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.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Five months a family
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.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Pillowcase dress
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
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.
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.