Yes, we are still on the planet.....

I know it has been a long time....so sorry friends! It has just been a teensy bit hectic around our house lately. Nothing is wrong, just trying to get into the rhythm of our foursome. Maybe I'm the only one having more difficulty? But it really isn't bad. I still cannot believe how easily Anna has blended into our family. She's such a happy little tot (but she does know how to try to pitch a fit to get her way....but it doesn't work :-) I just dig in harder (well, usually!) The girls love like sisters, play like sisters and fuss like sisters! I hear the constant "sttooooop" from both of them....that must have been Anna's first english word. Speaking of english, she tends to pick up at least one new word each day. And the past few days she is easily putting 2-3 words together...."I got you", "hold this", etc. I still try to get her to say Chinese words along with her english words too. And she tattled on Natalie in Chinese tonight! It was pretty cute....they were in the bedroom & I could hear a bit of fussing going on....then Anna burst out of the room saying a mouthful of chinese, followed by "Natalie!" and pointing her finger at Natalie :-) The Roger walked in and she repeated the whole offense to him....Meanwhile Natalie was smiling and trying to defend herself. I guess tattling comes in all languages! We can tell that she speaks chinese in sentences, not just baby talk. I looked up some things tonite & she says things in chinese alot such as "take a bath" or "wash hands". It is really quite clear (if you can understand chinese that is :-)

Here are a few more pictures we took recently.....and by the way, thanks for the comments! I always enjoy them (and it is nice to know you're out there!)


Natalie and her cousins were having pictures made at the beach by a professional, and when she was finished, Natalie claimed a wave came up and knocked her down....hhmmmmm.....me thinks she msut have been in the water more than her ankles to get this wet! I was busy trying to coax a smile out of Anna....who was freezing at the time!

Aaaaggghh! A dingo ate my baby!!!!

Natalie hangin' with a few Melbourne buddies

" Yo! " or is that "Peace - Out!" ?? Anna is quite the Florida Gator fan, which makes her daddy SO proud! She can do a mean "Gator Chomp" and anytime she sees a Gator logo she screams "touchdown Gators" and throws her hands up in the air!

Just another day at the beach....

We travelled to Vero Beach, Florida to visit Roger's parents during the Thanksgiving holidays. Here are some teaser photos we took at the beach. I was going to post alot of photos tonite, but when I started looking at them, I realized I had taken over 70 photos over the few days we were gone, so I need more time to pull together a decent posting. In the meantime, here are some of my favorites! (P.S. We are doing great and the adjustment is going well too. Anna is an amazing bundle of energy and Natalie is the best big sister in the world)

Great news and bad news

Sorry I've been not posting for so long. It was both a great week and a terrible week. I have been sick with pneumonia this week and it has been a long horrible week. I'm finally feeling a tiny bit better but still tired, but I wanted to get some recent pictures posted.

I also wanted to update everyone on the GREAT news we have about Anna. She had her cardio appointment this past week....her EKG was perfect, as was her heart rate and respiration. The cardiologist could not detect any murmur or anything with the stethoscope, but when we had the echocardiogram performed, they did still find evidence of her VSD. But the great news is that since her last echo, the hole has reduced in size and is now only open about 1mm! It has been closing over on its own, so our cardiologist said surgery is not indicated for her and the only thing we need to do is have her come back in one year for another look. With hope, it will be completely closed by then! But even if it stays like it is, she will have a perfectly normal life! It is the wonderful news we were hoping for and we are so blessed!

Anna and Natalie continue to do great and still no problems. They are both doing fine & getting along very well. Halloween was quite a treat for Anna!

I'm going to post some pictures and try to catch up before time slips away!

Princessa of the Sea - Anna

Happy sisters on a beautiful day

You can see why we always say "monkey see, monkey do" around our house! Anna copies everything Natalie does......which is not always a good thing :-)

Poor Simon is now the constant center of Anna's universe. He tries to stay away, but she always finds him!

Natalie was "Little Red Riding Hood" at the Fairytale ball at school last week. Too cute!

Anna the princess figured out really quickly that it was pretty cool to get candy handed to you at each house! She has a sweet tooth and would love to eat the entire bag if possible! Natalie the queen was in charge.