Holiday Photo Shoot
(Actually this photo was taken in October)
I think this may be Grace's last photo shoot for a while. She was very wiggly during this photo shoot. Just when the photographer would get her situated and go behind the camera she'd wiggle and come all undone!


I read an article in Family Circle Magazine last night about how fast little girls are growing up and how important it is to stress talent over looks. Of course that's logical, but there are little things that I had never thought about. Like the unrealistic beauty and fairy tales of the disney princesses. I get all excited about Grace when she wants to play dress up - but is that really something to encourage? I'm not trying to go all radical on the idea, but it did make me think. It also talked about how sports are so great for girls because it helps them focus on what their bodies can do vs. what their bodies look like. Just food for thought. I know I'll be a lot more selective about the kind of TV shows that Grace watches, especially as she gets older. Disney and Family channel do not always mean appropriate for any age. As a matter of fact, "Family" channel is VERY misleading.

OK - enough of my public service announcement. Just watching out for my girl!

When I get bigger...
Grace mentions "when I get bigger" at least three times every day. Lately I've been finishing the sentence with "you can clean up the house" and she plays right along..."when I get bigger, I can clean the house". I'm really looking forward to that day. I'm not, however, looking forward to her growing up quite so fast. Where has the time gone? She's almost three. In this picture she looks five and ready to "go on the school bus and the choo choo", as she puts it.


Lately everything is her "favorite". Last night we ate McDonald's and she had orange Hi-C for the first time. She said "Mom, this is my favorite!" A few days ago we went for a walk outside and she said "Mom, being outside is my favorite." And last Saturday when we finished gymnastics she said "Mom, gymnastics is my favorite." I'm so glad I'm hitting on all her "favorite" things!

2 Years Have Flown By
Two years ago on October 30, an ll-month-old girl in China started out on an adventure. Her foster mom said goodbye to her with a tear in her eye and a certain ache in her heart. The little girl understood goodbye, but she didn't understand forever. She rode in a car for the very first time and it was a little scary. A nanny who looked a lot like her foster mother carried her on her lap and gave her a bottle as they rode. They passed by trees, fields, water buffalo and people working outside. Soon they arrived in a city with many tall buildings and more people than the little girl had ever seen. She had dozed off and she looked around, desparate to see something familiar. The little girl was dressed in thick layers and she was hot. Her face was red and her hair was wet from sweat. Her nanny carried her into a one of the tall buildings and sat down with her on a couch. She took out a comb and combed her hair into a pretty ponytail on top of her head. It helped. The little girl felt a little cooler. She looked around and noticed some people looking at her. They quickly disappeared behind two doors that closed together in the middle. She noticed tiny white lights but soon felt tired again and dozed off. When she woke up she was in a different room. Some of her friends, who had traveled with her, were gone and she watched as another one left the room in her own nanny's arms. Before she knew it, the little girl was being carried into another room. She heard someone call her name and watched as two people walked straight toward her. A strange woman held out her arms, said something to her nanny and took her from her nanny's arms. The little girl cried. This woman looked different. She had never seen someone who looked like her. She was used to women with black hair and the same dark-colored almond-shaped eyes as her own. This woman had lighter hair and her eyes were light colored, too. A man was with her. He had funny looking hair on his face and he was much larger than any man she had ever seen. She wanted to go back to her foster mom. She didn't know how long this was going to last and she didn't like it. The strangers took her to a new room where they quickly took off some of the warm layers that were making her sweat. She was glad for that. She was so hot and sweaty from crying and wearing such warm clothes. The strangers put her on a big bed and gave her some toys. They talked to her and kept saying words that sounded like Grace, Mom and Dad. Soon, they even coaxed a smile out of her. And that was just the beginning of this great adventure that started two years ago on October 30, in Wuhan, China.

We celebrated Grace's 2nd gotcha day with a Chinese dinner, a puzzle we brought back from China and a new charm for her gotcha bracelet. It was a fun evening!

October 30, 2006

October 30, 2008

Typical photo with our eyes closed...

On October 31, 2008, Cinderella appeared at our house for some trick-or-treating...