Princess Malia is 3 1/2!!!

So we had the Princess Party today to celebrate Malia's half birthday. I like to celebrate in the summer since her birthday is on Christmas Day. This way she can just enjoy a special day all about her.

Since the theme was princesses, I let her pick a princess dress to wear. After she wanted to switch dresses three times she finally settled with Belle. Then the other little girls came and also dresses in princess outfits. We did a small craft activity and played "Pin the Crown on Malia". Then snacks and cake. Finally gift opening. Malia did so well and was polite about saying thank you and sharing her presents with the girls waiting to test them out. It was a wonderful day and it was nice to have a smaller event after the big one last year. Happy Half Birthday Malia!!!

Father's Day and Wedding

The fast pace continues. First we went to Deb's with the China group last weekend. Thursday I got to be Malia's "dad" for the Donuts with Dad party at daycare. It was so sweet that she was happy I was there since my dad couldn't make it. Then Friday we celebrated my mom's birthday and went swimming. Malia swam by herself (well with her life jacket on) and she paddled and kicked until she wore out. She was so excited that she could 'do it myself'. Saturday Malia was a flower girl in my cousin's wedding. She 'got married' and was going to 'dance with the prince'. Dream big baby!!! She had a blast even though she missed nap time and she danced until late into the night. Then Sunday we had father's day with my dad and the whole family and celebrated my brother's birthday. Whew!!!

Enjoy some pictures from the wedding. I think she was so adorable but I know I am a little biased. She also made me so proud for behaving and doing so good on this busy weekend.

Dance Like You Will Never Stop...

Malia had her dance dress rehearsal on Wednesday and the recital on Saturday evening. She did so well and you could tell she really loved it. She didn't freeze up but you could tell she was looking for me when she first came out. We even tried curlers for the first time for the event. It turned out but the only lasted through the recital with the rain and dampness in the air.

I am such a lucky mom to have such a wonderful little girl.

P.S. Ignore the fuzziness in the pictures. I have no idea what was going on with my camera... again.

June?

I can't believe it is June tomorrow. May just flew by. I keep thinking that the next month will not be as busy but we seem to continue to be running. We were able to play with our travel partners (Janice and her daughter Libby) at the Children's Museum. We have visited the playground, had a garage sale, Malia did the adoption walk (while I did the garage sale) went to her first Saints game in 95+ degree heat (including tailgating - note: she didn't have any beer), went to the Paperbag Princess play, and have been busy with her final dance classes before recital this coming Saturday. We also had my grandparents in town from Arizona so they got to meet Malia in person. Then I think it will calm in June but we have the dance rehearsal, dance recital, play group, family wedding, baby shower, and Malia's half birthday. We have something going on every weekend but at least the weeknights should slow down some.

Malia and cousin Aislinn


Malia and Libby


Saints Game



At Paperbag Princess

Happy Mothers Day

I can't believe this was my second Mother's Day with Malia. This year was so special because she got that it was Mama's Day and really was just so loving. She did awesome all weekend but was so cute that morning I was almost in tears. We went on the Race for the Cure walk that morning and she walked/rode with the girls. It was so crowded again so I felt bad for her but once we were farther on the walk then I got her out of the stroller and she walked with us. We were fortunate that our friend Kirsten could join us. Her mom also recently battled breast cancer so I was a nice way to spend the morning. Thank you to everyone that donated to me or Malia

After the walk Malia crashed completely in the car and then we went to my parents house for a BBQ dinner. It was a wonderful day with family. Even my sister and her family were in town for the celebration this year. I hope everyone else had a terrific Mother's Day regardless if you are a mom, soon to be mom, or a birthparent. We did a special prayer for Malia's China birthmom that evening.

Susan G Komen - Race for the Cure

Malia and I are doing the Race for the Cure again this year with the family. Since my mom found out she had breast cancer I have been actively involved with this organization. I would love to help them find a cure so people don't have to live year after year wondering if it is going to come back. It is especially important since this year my mom did have a scare that it came back. Luckily it wasn't cancer but it made me realize more that she will never feel secure until there is a cure.

If you can help by donating, there are two links (one for me and one for Malia). They both go to the same organization but it is funny that they gave Malia her own site so we will have a mini contest (ha, ha...). See the links on the right side of the page.

http://www.active.com/donate/komentc09/Malia2005

http://www.active.com/donate/komentc07/MAnders71

I love ice cream!

I just have to tell everyone that mom let me get a full ice cream cone to eat on the walk home from the mall. It was really messy but mom didn't seem to mind.



She took me to a water park to swim and that was fun until I hurt myself. I also got my big girl bed this weekend and I love it. It is a princess bed and it matches my blanket.





Love, Malia

Happy Easter!!!

It was a fun day. It was our first Easter together since Easter was so early last year. We also celebrated the first year home and Malia's citizenship with a trip to the zoo with friends yesterday. I don't have pictures from the zoo since my camera was acting up but here are some from today.

Malia was so excited this morning. She has been talking about the Easter Bunny coming for weeks now. As soon as she got up this morning she ran out to see if he was here. Once she saw the basket, she wanted to see him and give him a hug (thank you). When I explained that he was already gone, she was crushed. I have to mention that she has been the Easter Bunny 3 times this year so she wasn't deprived.

We later had Easter dinner with part of the family at my house. It seemed to go really well and I am glad the weather was still nice. The kids got to play out on the deck and they loved looking for eggs. In addition, lots and lots of candy was eaten by Malia today. It was a very memorable day!

Getting ready for Easter

Well, we kicked off the pre-Easter activities last weekend. We went to meet the Easter bunny and Malia wasn't too sure but she sat next to him on the chair. Then we went to an easter egg hunt for FCC (Families with Children from China). Malia had a blast and loved hopping with the Easter bunny all afternoon. Today we colored eggs with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Jeff, and cousin Malia. Malia couldn't color them fast enough but spent forever painting and stamping on them for the finishing touch. I wonder what next weekend will be like with so many eggs filled with CANDY!





OK, you can also tell that I am experimenting more with digital scrapbooking. Any ideas or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

One Year Celebration

Malia, myself, and my parents were able to celebrate the first year with another family from our travel group. Eric and Janice were joined with their daughter, Libby, at the same time I met Malia. It was so nice to travel with someone that I got along with. I first met Janice and Eric in summer 2005 for the pre-adoptive classes. Here are some pictures of the girls playing like they have known each other forever!

One Year - I can't believe it!

I really just can't believe that it has been a year already. One year ago today Malia and I met for the first time and became a family. In celebration of this moment we enjoyed a special day together - just the two of us.





First, I gave Malia her special Forever Family gifts. The first item was a silver toddler bell bracelet that I bought on the adoption trip. The other item was a new outfit for her Bitty Baby. Her first reaction to the presents was to say that "it isn't my birthday". So I explained that this is a special Malia day. Her next question was "can I open"? It was so cute.



Then we went a place we both enjoy... the Mall of America. It was Toddler Tuesday so we got to meet Curious George, go on about 20 rides, and had a wonderful lunch at American Girl. Tonight we had a nice dinner at home, read Curious George books, and are watching Ni Hao, Kai Lan. We were excited today to see that the Nick stores at MOA now carry Ni Hao tee shirts. It is the first item we have seen based on this show. It was great to spend quality time together without the rush and stress of everyday life.















On Saturday morning we had some quiet time so I pulled out the video from forever family day. Malia was funny watching it. Her first question was where is Malia (it was before she was brought into the room). Once she came in a year ago, she cried for a minute or two. She asked me why she was crying and why the other kids were crying so I explained how she was probably a little scared since she didn't really know Mommy yet. Then she noticed the stuffed dog that I send her and brought the second one with me on that day. When she realized it was her dog she had to stop the video and go get her dog. She was called out that Grandma was there and asked where Grandpa is. I told her he was taking the video and laughed because he talked on the video about then and she told me "see there is Grandpa" like I was the one confused. It was nice to watch part of it with her to see her reaction and help talk about the adoption. It is hard to know that I took her away from China but we were definitely meant to be together. Happy Forever Family Malia!!!!