A Birthday and A Photo Shoot

As promised in my last post, I will share some highlights from the last several weeks since returning home. Of course, every moment we share as our new family of three is a cherished moment, but I will pick just a few so we can bring you all up to speed.

Lainee turned one on November 15. We had so hoped to be with her on her birthday, but we were not scheduled to travel to China until November 18th. We decided to have a First Birthday Celebration with family once we returned home. We had cake and ice cream and lots of presents.  



No birthday is complete without Tigger and Pooh



A cake just for Lainee

She enjoyed her cake very much and we enjoyed watching her eat it even more. Needless to say she went straight from the table to the tub to defrost her little face and hands.

So what does every new parent do for Christmas? You guessed it, a Christmas Photo Card of their precious new little gift. Here are some shots from the photo shoot. I think we took about a hundred or more. Who knew that getting the perfect pose would be so hard?!!! They were all so cute, but we did manage to narrow it down to one.

Love that smile

Christmas this year was extra special for us. We received one of the greatest gifts you could ask for, just in time to celebrate. We thank the Lord for our beautiful child and the blessings He has bestowed upon us.

Hi All

Oh my goodness, who would have ever guessed that adding one little person to your family could cause such wonderful chaos?!!!! All those delusions of grandeur of the free time I would have while on leave from work, well lets just say, boy was I WRONG!!!!! Did I also mention I LOVE my new busy mommy life. As for catching up the blog once we were home, didn't happen. So I figure, if I was to ever blog again, I just needed to pick a starting point and go with it. For those of you hoping to see the rest of our days in China posted on a day by day recap, sorry. I can pretty much sum it up for you: We made it home, Lainee is ours forever, and I love the USA!!!! Not much more needs to be said about that.

Now moving on, I have so much to share about our lives since we have been home. Over the next few days I will attempt to bring this blog up to speed through pictures and posts. Did I happen to mention I LOVE being a Mommy!!!!!

Here are a few pictures of Lainee all snuggled into her crib the morning after we arrived home from China. She has adjusted exceptionally well and only had issues with the 12 hour time difference the first two days we were home; mommy and daddy on the other hand took several days longer. Next to eating, I'm pretty sure sleeping is her most favorite thing. She takes two naps a day and still manages to sleep through the night.
  

Our Little Angel



 

After several days of rest we ventured out for a stroll around the yard. We walked next door to check out Grandpa & Grandma DeBias' Christmas lights. Keep in mind, most of what Lainee is experiencing is all  "firsts" for her. So what may not seem like a big deal to us, is a very big deal to her.

Here she is trying to kick Frosty.

Stay tuned more cuteness to come.

Much Love,

Danielle, Ryan & Lainee, too!!

PS- Did I mention "I'm a Mommy!!!!"

More Lainee pics

Here are some more Lainee pics for your enjoyment. As you can tell by our posts, we were unable to finish while in China. We ran into some internet issues the last leg of our trip. We wanted to do a day-by-day but instead I am finishing up our trip posts from home. I will bring them up to date over the next few days. I just love this pic

Daddy's little girl

We are now home and I promise to update soon.

Much Love,

Danielle, Ryan, & Lainee, too

Day 10- Yuntai Garden

Today we had the privilege of visiting an absolutely beautiful garden in Guangzhou. It reminded me of a mix of Cypress Gardens meets Disney World. Lainee got so excited as soon as we entered the gate she was actually squealing. She was so attentive and looked at everything with wide eyes. The weather was gorgeous and it reminded me of home. This was our last day of touring and I believe they saved the best for last.

It was such a great time to see Lainee get so excited and seem to really enjoy herself. We look forward to many more of these experiences with our daughter.

We wrapped up the day with the usual nap after our return to the hotel and dinner at Lucy's; just call us creatures of habit.

Much Love,

Danielle, Ryan, & Lainee, too