Mommy & Me

Just a quick update: Elizabeth is becoming more fun everyday. Her vocabulary is getting bigger. The other day she actually said diaper -- she has the cutest little voice. She also says baby, kitty cat, Momma, Dadda and some other words too! Here are some pictures of Elizabeth and Mommy!

Princess Elizabeth

When we first came back from China, Fran, our sister-in-law, gave Elizabeth a beautiful dress. It was almost like a baby bridesmaid dress. Well, the dress was way too big for Elizabeth. Last night, I remembered the dress and just had to put it on her. She was very tired and cranky, but it was one of those times where I just had to dress her up! Of course we took some pictures! Enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We had our first Valentine's Day with Elizabeth. When we got her up, I dressed her in her Valentine's outfit! She looked so cute! Then off to daycare. She always has a great time in daycare, and Valentine's day was no different. We got our first arts and crafts project: a paper heart with Elizabeth's hand prints! We love it so much. I will post a picture of it as soon as I can! Then, Daddy gave me beautiful roses and gave his little girl a single long stem rose! After dinner, Elizabeth had her very own Valentine's Day cupcake! Anyway, here are some pictures to enjoy! Take care.

The First Big Snow of 2006!

Winter finally came this weekend to the East Coast! We have been waiting all winter to show Elizabeth what snow looks like. Guy and I were so excited to take her outside! She was, to say the least, unimpressed! The pictures are fun to look at anyway! Enjoy.

Weekend Of Firsts!

Well, this has been a weekend of firsts for Elizabeth and us. On Friday evening, we decided to take Elizabeth to have her first haircut. We were a little nervous because the appointment was way after her bedtime and she never had her hair cut, at least here, before! Her hair was so chopped up when she came to us. They really did a job on it at the orphanage. Well, she was great! Caroline, who cuts my hair too, did a great job! Here are a few pictures (taken from the video)

Poem By My Sister Lisa

The Arms That Hold You
by l.m. amorosi

When you were born in China not so long ago
The arms that held you close didn’t want to let you go
But your mother’s arms opened to sadly set you free
And prayed that God would guide you to a loving family
Now there were arms so empty and waiting to embrace
The baby they had dreamed about; that precious little face
And other arms are reaching out to love and hold you tight
The arms of your whole family wait to make everything right
There are grandparents to love you and tell you of the past
And aunts and uncles waiting to show you love will last
There are cousins waiting to hold you and share a gift of love
And friends and family everywhere both here and up above
There are arms that long to cradle you and sing a timeless song
There are arms that want to comfort you and tell you nothing’s wrong
There are arms that long to hold you, just wait until you see
The arms that stretch for miles and miles, the arms of your family.

We Have Been a Family for Three Months!

I can't believe it will be three months since Elizabeth came into our lives! November 8 will always be a special day for us! Elizabeth is thriving! She is now running and can take the stairs in under 2 minutes (going up) we are working on going down. She is almost off her bottle and can feed herself, sometimes with a spoon, mostly with her fingers. She can say Momma, Dadda, Kitty Cat, Juice, Doggie, Jesus, Up, Get Down. She is trying really hard to put words together. Her baby talk almost sounds like sentences. She loves daycare and no longer cries when we drop her off. She goes down for bed around 6:30 p.m. and pretty much sleeps through the night unitl 6:00 a.m. We are truly blessed and thank God everyday for this treasure. Enjoy the pictures!

The Hula Baby!

Last weekend, Elizabeth's Aunt Fran gave her a bathing suit with a hula skirt. It is an 18 month sized swimsuit and we don't expect it to fit her come summertime. Today, we squeezed her into the suit (we had to give her a cookie to cooperate) and took some really cute pictures! Enjoy!

Elizabeth Started Daycare

Well, our original daycare plans were for our sister-in-law, Ruthann, to watch Elizabeth. Things don't always go as planned. Last week when I started back to work, we were driving back and forth between New Jersey and Philadelphia -- it turned out to be about 90 miles roundtrip per day. After the first day, we knew it was going to be too much. So I started looking for alternate daycares. I found a really nice one right around the corner from us, Early Discoveries. Elizabeth started there yesterday and seemed to have a great time. When we picked her up, she was so excited to see us -- she came running over to us to get some kisses! After we got home and had dinner, she was ready for bed at 6:15 -- 45 minutes early! She was exhausted! Hopefully, she will continue to thrive at this daycare. Enjoy the pictures!

Promised Pictures!

Our First Christmas as a Family!

Our first Christmas with Elizabeth was wonderful. Santa brought her some very nice toys -- all musical. She loves music, everytime she hears music, she starts to dance! It is so cute. Elizabeth really loved the wrapping paper and boxes - even more than the toys. Both of our families came to our house for Christmas so our house was quite full! We had a wonderful time!

Well the holidays are over and now it is almost time for me to go back to work. I start back on January 9th. I am going to miss being with Elizabeth all day. We have a nice little routine: she gets up around 7:30/8:00 and I get her dressed. We go down and have breakfast and then it is playtime. She plays very nice in the living room and I try to get some housework done. We watch Barney, Sesame Street and the Teletubbies! Sometimes we go out to the store or have lunch with Aunt Lisa or Aunt Fran. After lunch, Elizabeth has a nice nap until about 2:30/3:00. Once she gets up, we go down to the living room and wait for Daddy to come home.

Beginning Monday, my sister-in-law Ruthanne will be watching Elizabeth during the day. Although I feel sad going back to work, I am happy that she will be with family during the day!

On the medical front, Elizabeth has had a lot of blood work done as well as tests on her stools. Thank God everything was normal - except her lead level as at 13 - only slightly elevated and the doctor wasn't too concerned. We also took her to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for developmental testing. She tested great in everything and they put her right at her age level in all the tests except walking. She tested at 9-10 months. Well she is walking now ... everywhere. She looks so cute as she balances herself!

Oh well, here are some new pictures for you to enjoy!

More Christening Pictures

Our Shopping Day At The Mall

Every year, my sister Lisa, my sister-in-law Ruthann and my mother go on our annual Christmas shopping trip. This year we had Elizabeth with us. We had a great time. We took Elizabeth to see Santa -- this did no go so well. The Santa at the mall was really great! He took her around the display to try to get her to feel more comfortable with him -- although it didn't work, Ruthnn took some great pictures. Enjoy!

Christmas is Coming!

Christmas is coming so fast! Now that the Christening is done, we can finally concentrate on Christmas. We bought most of our gifts in China, but there are still some gifts to buy! On Friday, my sister Lisa and my sister-in-law Ruthann and Elizabeth and I went shopping at Cherry Hill Mall. It was really fun to have Elizabeth with us. We went to see Santa Claus -- not real happy about that and had a nice lunch. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy!

Elizabeth's Christening Day!

Today was Elizabeth's Christening day! The Christening was held at our church, St. Mary's in Williamstown, NJ. We there were six babies baptized today. Elizabeth was the oldest and I might say, the prettiest. The service took about an hour and she was so good. Our family and friends were all there to help us celebrate. After the church service, we all went to the Landmark Americana Restaurant for a nice luncheon. My sister Lisa and I made pizzelles and our sister-in-law, Ruthann made an assortment of wonderful desserts and our truly beautiful cake was given to us by Guy's brother Lance and his wife Fran.

This is Elizabeth's Christening portrait. After we get the rest of the pictures of the christening, I will post them!

Some Pictures from Thanksgiving!

One Month Ago Yesterday....

.... our treasure was given to us in China. On November 8, 2005, Elizabeth was placed in our arms and our lives changed forever. She is a totally different baby from when we got her. Her face has filled out, she plays peek-a-boo, she has an infectious laugh and a very loud cry. For the most part, she is pleasant and happy..but remember..she is a baby and can throw a tantrum as good as any baby I have seen!!

We had our first Thanksgiving with Elizabeth at my sister Lisa's house. It was a great holiday because our whole family was there. Elizabeth loves turkey and mash potatoes and I think she really enjoys being around people!

Today, we took a ride to Target and bought a few things, yes, more clothes for Elizabeth. We came home and had lunch and then Elizabeth had her bottle and is now up taking her nap! She should be up there until 4:00 or so. She plays hard, eats hard and sleeps hard!

Thanks to the pediatrician, her eczema is just about gone and she has stopped scratching!

Well, that's all for now. Enjoy the pictures!

This Time Next Week...

We will be having dinner in Beijing! It is hard to believe that we are this close to leaving for China. Our journey to Elizabeth started way back in July, 2004 when we first decided to adopt. It seems like a long time ago, but it actually went pretty fast! In just 11 days on November 8, we will become a family! We feel truly blessed and thank God everyday for helping us get here!

Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family

The Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family, built between 1890 and 1894 during the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, is the largest, best preserved, and best decorated ancient architecture existing in Guangdong province.



It was built with donations of members of the Chen family who lived in the 72 counties of the Guangdong province. After its completion, the temple was used to provide lodgings for Chen family candidates who came from all over Guangdong to in order to prepare for the imperial examinations to be held in Guangzhou. Hence it was also called the Chen Clan Academy.
Occupying an area of 15,000 square meters, the temple, has a rectangular main building and comprises six courtyards, nine main halls, and nineteen buildings. With an architectural design of traditional Guangdong style, the temple is especially renowned for its beautiful decorations. In the temple, historical figures, legends, and scenes are represented in many art forms, including wood carving, brick carving, pottery carving, stone carving, lime carving, clay sculpture, ash sculpture, brass and cast iron, grotto, new year painting, and so on. These artistic and historical attributes make the temple an important attraction in Guangzhou.

In 1986, it was designated as an important cultural relic by the State Council. The temple now is the site of the Museum of Guangdong Folk Arts and Crafts.

Tengwang Pavilion (Tengwang ge)

The Tengwang Pavilion (Tengwang ge) is situated near the mouth of the Fu River (Fu he), as it joins with the larger Ganjiang River (Ganjiang he). It is a huge structure isolated by a square of flat, grey paving and a monumental stone base and is recognised as one of the four famous Chinese superstructures, along with the Yellow Crane Tower, the Penglai Pavilion in Shandong, and the Yueyang Tower in Hunan. The pavilion was built in 653 AD by a younger brother of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) Emperor Taizong.The building has been ruined and rebuilt as many as 29 times. The latest reconstruction was completed on October 8th, 1989, and the new version is a granite structure of monstrous proportions, basically Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD) in style. The pavilion has nine storeys and is 57.5 meters high. The charm of the building lies in its green tiles and the double eaves that "fly" upwards, although most of this can be appreciated from a distance.There are exhibitions, teahouses and gift shops inside and the views from the top floor are worth going to see. A small theatre at the top has performances of traditional Chinese dance and music every hour (RMB20) and the occasional Chinese opera. The walls of much of the building are covered with calligraphy and paintings, with the occasional jade sculpture.