Swings

The baby Butterfly loves the park. I don't just mean that she enjoys going to a park every once in a while... no. She LOVES playing at the park, and would happily spend hours there every single day if we let her. Unfortunately for her, we do have a few other things that we need to do during a day (eat, sleep, work...). But she does get the opportunity to enjoy some great, quality time at our local park several times per week with her family.


Her favorite activity is the swings. She loves to be pushed while she hangs on, moving back and forth. It is so sweet watching her excitement build as soon as she sits in the swing. She hops right in, gives us a nice wave and off she goes (... into the monotonous fun that is swinging on the baby swing).


I love to watch her as she moves back and forth. She giggles incessantly, making all of us giggle as well. She brings so much joy into our hearts. Occasionally while on the swing, she allows the momentum to slow and just sits quietly, pondering. I just wish that I could crawl up inside her head and find out what she is thinking. Of course I hope that her thoughts are positive and that she is enjoying her new life here with us. And looking at her smiles and listening to her giggles I am hopeful that thoughts about her loving us and trusting us are true. Only time will tell, but we are off to a great start.




Aside from swinging, she has taken a liking to the slide. The slide is fairly new to her, but she is getting more and more confident every day.


She also loves playing with the rocks, just like her big sister did when she was a baby. I am not quite sure what the allure is to these little ones, but they find a lot of joy with those silly little rocks.



Ahhhh, everything is new again to us as a family, and I am thoroughly enjoying the discovery that is a new baby and new family of four.

~~Aloha!

The Palm Tree

The Butterfly started going to part-time school this week. We were very worried about how things would go... after all, she only lets mommy and daddy to hold her. Over the last couple of weeks we have taken her by the school to let her play, which she thoroughly enjoyed, but we were still a bit nervous. However, things are going really well. She is only there a few hours in the mornings, then daddy picks her up and spends the afternoon with her and the Ladybug. She seems to be thriving and we feel so blessed about that.

I took these photos of the baby Butterfly this morning, just before I left for work (my first day none-the-less). Daddy did her hair differently than I had ever done it previously, and I love it! We call it the "Palm Tree!" The palm tree design was my favorite when the Ladybug was younger, and I still thoroughly love it. So cute! Another "fashionista" in the making - especially if her sister has anything to do with it! Ahhhhh, I just love having little girls (then again, I haven't yet made it to the teenage years, ewwwww)!

Enjoy!



~~Aloha!

Giggles

I am jumping ahead to today to share with you a video that I just spliced together of the baby Butterfly giggling (I am just finishing up the last post from our trip). Her giggles just warm my heart and they are what we now get to enjoy every single day. It is amazing to see how much this little girl is blossoming and bonding.

Enjoy!


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

~~Aloha!

Day 21 - Started Packing, Shopping, Lucy's for dinner

As you can tell from today's post, I am about a month behind on finishing up my journaling of our trip to China. We have been home for just over a month now, and the baby Butterfly is doing beautifully. Keep an eye on the site, I have so much to share about her progress and our summer now that we are home, with lots of photos! I cannot wait to share.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Day 21 – Started packing, Shopping, Dinner at Lucy's (short version)
~Packing, organizing, packing...
~Soaking in the sites
~Ladder beds?
~Dinner at Lucy's
~Great families

Day 21 – Started packing, Shopping, Dinner at Lucy's (long version)


Today was spent mostly packing and soaking in the sites of the island one last time. Today was listed by the agency as a free day for the families, except for the task of picking up the baby’s visa, which Daddy agreed to do for our family. So, Nana and I packed, organized, packed, organized, and continued packing for much of the day. With Daddy gone, we were able to get so much accomplished, even with the girls under foot.


Before Daddy left, I got to witness a special moment between he and the girls. The Ladybug stubbed her toe and Daddy was consoling her with hugs and kisses. While sitting on the bed, the Butterfly decided that she wanted in on the tender moment so she crawled over and climbed up on him. I looked up at just that moment and saw Daddy, giving hugs to both his girls. It was so neat to see “Daddy’s Little Girls” in his arms. He is such an amazing father, and both girls know it. We are all so very lucky.



Aside from the packing (and organizing!) I also tried to take some last photos of some memorable things from the island. I was able to capture the view of the river from our hotel room, which was something I enjoyed viewing each night before we went to bed. We wandered the hotel and enjoyed the beautiful waterfall in the center with koi swimming all around. We wandered the path at the edge of the river and observed the locals swimming, fishing, and relaxing near the water. We observed more couples getting their wedding photos taken, and enjoyed the spectacular French architecture that the island boasts throughout. And, as is common right now on the island, we saw a lot of construction, as well as construction workers resting in the shade, trying to recover from the scorching heat and humidity… gotta love their make-shift beds.




In the evening, a group of us met on over at Lucy’s for one last dinner together. It was wonderful to relax with some of our new friends and see how beautifully our children have blossomed in just a short amount of time. The children all seem to be bonding nicely with their new families with lots of smiles and giggles throughout our dinner together. We each shared some fun stories of our journeys as new families, and loved hearing the similarities and differences that each of us are experiencing. Dinner was wonderful, and just what we all needed before leaving the island tomorrow.

(This is the newly adoptive daughter of one of our friends)

It just seems so hard to believe that after enjoying China for almost three weeks, that we will be leaving in less than 24 hours. The time here has been spectacular, but I am so happy to finally be returning home. I really look forward to settling back into our house, introducing the Butterfly to her new bed and room, and finally getting into a routine with her. She is developing and bonding so well with us. I cannot wait to see what the rest of the summer has in store for us when we return.

~~Aloha!