Happy 7th Birthday Hannah XiaoFen!!! Mommy Loves You!

My sweet, amazing, wonderful girl turned 7 years old on Saturday!
She woke up to traditional celebratory balloons.

She quickly wanted to go downstairs and open her gifts!  Frozen Early Reader
Ice Cream Pillow craft kit
and, Friends Vet Clinic Lego.  I bought the Lego a number of months ago and when she saw it on ellieV toys on YouTube last month she really liked it which I’m glad about.  (This channel plus Disney Parks are the 2 YouTube channels Hannah is allowed to watch.)
After gymnastics we met my parents at our favourite Chinese food restaurant for lunch.  Great choice Hannah!


More Lego fun!

Lunch was followed with a surprise visit to a local pottery painting store that Hannah has wanted to visit for a while.  It was made extra special when her cousins were there too!
In Kallen’s excitement he painted mommy too!  I think he enjoyed that!

Painting was followed by an impromptu play date and I finally took my sleeping birthday girl home to bed after partying all day!
Sunday the celebrations continued with a birthday lunch at Nana and Papa’s!


I love you so much my sweet, sweet Hannah XiaoFen!!!  Happy 7th Birthday!!!

Mother's Day Gifts from the Heart

Hannah was beyond excited about Mother's Day!!  She began working on surprises more than 3 weeks before the day and my adorable girlie kept every one of them!  Beginning about 5 days before Mother's Day she would wake up and ask how many more days until Mother's Day?

Being a single Mommy, I have always been blessed by many helping Hannah to creates special moments to help us celebrate Mother's Day and this year was no exception.  I cannot tell you how much each and every one of these special treats meant!

Friday Hannah came home from daycare with sweet little paper flower pots that she had created at both preschool and daycare.  (LOL!  You can tell when something is hot on Pinterest.  They both made the same thing and....it was the same thing I had already planned Hannah would make for Grandma, Nana and Grandma Dale!)  And....we all loved it!!  (Heh.  I had to giggle at what Hannah told her teacher about why she loves Mommy.  Hmmmm.... ;o)

She also made this sweet little flower pot at Ange's.  Love the cute little butterfly made using her footprints.

Sunday morning I woke up to adorable gifts that Hannah had chosen when Grandma took her out shopping a couple of times.  Mom said my little love took 2 hours to carefully wrap her gifts Thursday evening and she couldn't have been more proud.

 The gifts Hannah chose for Mommy - a vase with a pink rose, hair jewels (since she noticed I didn't have any), nail polish, a 'M' for Mommy to put on my keychain and a pink 'flute'.  I love how she chose the pink theme.  She said it was because she knew I liked pink.  How sweet of her to think of that!

On the Saturday evening, Nana had requested Hannah visit she and Papa for an hour.  Check this out!  It says, 'I love you to the moon and back.   Love, Hannah'

A couple of weeks earlier when Hannah was helping Papa with the dishes she stood on her tippy toes and reached up to the sky.  Sharon asked me to take a picture of her and send it.  I guessed it was for Mother's Day but had no idea what for.  Love what they made together!

Hannah, Mommy loves you so very, very much!  Thank you for all your beautiful gifts but most of all, thank you for being you!  You are the sweetest, most loving, caring, wonderful little girl and Mommy loves you to the moon and back too!

A Treasured Gift

When Hannah turned 3, M3 and I were chatting about gift ideas and she told me how much her girls had enjoyed the Disney Junior magazine when they were Hannah’s age.  I mentioned this to my parents and they purchased a 1 year subscription for her.  This gift quickly became a treasure and something she checked the mail for on almost a daily basis.  We receive either 6 or 8 magazines each year so it’s a long wait between them but she reads them over and over and over again!  (There are times when I spot it in the box but if we don’t have time for her to delve into it or if she’s not with me I leave it there for her to discover the following day.)  MMC magazine days are special days where she gets to get out of the car and help me collect the mail.  A special treat for sure!

These magazines are a wonderful combination of reading, writing activities, craft ideas as well as cutting and pasting. 

This year may parents extended her subscription again and she’s still just as excited now as she was then to open the mail box and see her magazine waiting!

This is what I hear each time she climbs back into the car.

The moment she’s buckled back into her car seat the magazine is open and then once home she can often be found walking down the hallway still reading it as she makes her way to a comfy spot to pour herself into her magazine.

If you’re looking for a gift that keeps on going for your 2-5yo, I don’t think you can go wrong with Disney Junior.  There’s nothing better thank making supper and seeing your child absorbed in a good book!

Getting Ready to Hold My Baby Girl Close to my Heart

My cousin Bridget and I are wonderfully close and I shared with her a long time ago my desire to carry Hannah as much as possible to aid in the attachment process. Bridget is an expert on baby carriers and shared so much of her knowledge with me as well as introduced me to the great website, TheBabyWearer.com. In the summer of 2008 when I shared with her that I'd decided on a BabyHawk she quickly said that she had planned long ago that she would buy whichever carrier I chose as a gift for Hannah! I was overwhelmed as carrying my baby girl close to me has been something I've dreamed about for years and years! Thank you SO MUCH Bridge! Your gift truly is one from the heart!

Pics of the fun while Bridget was teaching me how to wrap and wear my new BabyHawk.
Front Carry

Back Carry

'Uncle Willie' my 'sit in' for Hannah! Thanks Liam!

The fabrics I chose to go with caramel straps are:
Blue Floating Flowers

Red Dragonflies

Thanks again Bridge! Your gift is more appreciated than you'll ever know! Love you! xoxo

Thank You Heather!

I arrived home from work to find a large box tucked in the doorway. It was sent from a friend Heather who helped Rebecca and I book our first Disney trip. Seeing the gift in the doorway brought back fun memories of the Secret Pal Gift Exchange and I couldn't wait to rip into it and see what goodies it might contain. Yup....still such a kid!

Heather, your generosity is amazing!! Her beautiful gift contained a Blessing for Hannah's Blessings Book (will be posted seperately in a post with a few others), Christmas ball, growth chart, books, a puzzle, a framed page with Hannah's name, a thermos, DVD and CD! Wow!!

Thank you SO MUCH Heather! The gifts you shared with Hannah and I are truly appreciated! I cannot wait for the day when she and I cuddle up in the rocking chair and read the books together!

Gifts for Hannah

Yesterday Norma and I enjoyed a great day together as we travelled into Toronto and visited our friend Julie. Two years ago we also did this and even though Julie and I have had a few opportunities to get together since then this was the first time Norma was able to come along again. Good times! How fun it was to see Julie's daughter who has grown and changed into an adorable little girl! So cute and so creative. She entertained herself for much of our visit being creative with a shoelace and making jewellery for all of us over and over again.

Over the years Julie has also been amazingly generous with Hannah and has shared much of what her little cutie has outgrown. Yesterday she added:

a lamp for Hannah's nursery,

a cute little beanbag chair that matches the nursery bedding she gave Hannah last year,

a beautiful Pottery Barn Kids quilt for Hannah's big girl bed and...

a Learning Tower! I have secretly wanted a Learning Tower since I heard about them a couple of years ago and even moreso after spending time with Mary-Mia and the girls and seeing Rose and Marie in action on their LT. Hey BobBob, when you and Wela are 'in the neighbourhood' wanna stop over and pop some wheels on Hannah's new LT? LOL! You're always welcome!

Julie, thank you again for ALL you've shared with Hannah! Your generosity is GREATLY appreciated! Cannot wait for the day when our visit includes my introducing you to Hannah! You're a special friend and I'm so thankful for you.

Waiting Mommies Dinner #10

Saturday night was our 10th Waiting Mommies Dinner. What fun! We welcomed a number of new Vietnam Waiting Moms to our dinner this month. It's always neat to see this 'little' group grow and our GTA Waiting Mommies Yahoo Group now has over 50 members! It reminds me how important it is for us to have one another for friendship, support, encouragement and also to celebrate referrals and babies brought home!!

Here's the whole group together! Whoee, this was a big pic to set up for. Thankfully one of the dads showed up to pick up his little princesses so he helped us out by taking the pics. Thanks Mike!

Who's in the pic? Here you go. (back row, l to r) Me, Suzanne, Tammy, Andrea, Liz and Ava, Ange, Leslie, Anne-Marie, Stephanie and Justine. (front row l to r) Karen with Samara and Victoria, Tracey with Ran and Maia, Bev, Julia, Renny and Leah.

This month's dinner we were blessed to share the table with 5 adorable little girls celebrating Mother's Day a little early with their Mom's:

Samara


Victoria


Ran(l) and Maia(r)


Ava


Part of our bi-monthly dinners is also a gift exchange. Since our group is now made up with moms waiting for baby girls, boys and children already home we've switched things up and each months gift exchange will now be a book theme. This month's theme was Alphabet books and I received this adorable little book for Hannah! Samara took one look at it and realized it was one of her very favourites! Sounds like it comes highly recommended! (Also, a big Thank You to Victoria and Maia who helped me out with the gift exchange! Thanks girls...you did a great job!)

I'm going to pop another special gift in here. Last week I received this adorable little hand-made bib from Kayce. Thanks so much Kayce! I'm sure it will be adorable on Hannah!

The next dinner is July 11th and unfortunately I'll have to miss it as I'll be on vacation that week. It will be my first miss since we started these dinners a year and a half ago. Oh well, the others are still planning on going so if you're in the GTA and want to come along, please email me and I'll pass on the details to you.

Thanks for another great evening ladies! These dinners are a great way to help keep our spirits up and also form friendships that will last long after our babies are home. Have fun next time and I'll see you in September!!

Waiting Mommies Dinner #9

Last night a group of us gathered for another Waiting Mommies Dinner. We were excited to have the adorable Owen with us but Daddy missed him too much and snuck him away before I could snap any pics. He's absolutely adorable so hop on over to Ange's blog if your want to see pics of this little cutie. He also holds a place of honour in that he's the very first boy to earn a place at the Waiting Mommies table. We're hoping he'll be joined by many other boys this year but for now, the place is his alone. Welcome Owen! Congratulations Ange!!

Last night was a fun group made up of mommies adopting from Ethiopia, Vietnam and China. Here's the rundown of who is in the picture: (back row l to r): Jill, Ange, Anne-Marie (who was with us for the first time...welcome!!), Andrea, myself. (Front row l to r): Karen, Tammy, Lea, Julia and Bev. It was great to spend time with everyone! Looking forward to May 10th. Any suggestions for a gift theme for May? Please leave them in the comments area.

Last night's gift theme was 'Pamper Mommy'. Oh yah....that's a good theme! (Thanks Karen!) I received this adorable little mug that I'd seen on Lea's blog but had restrained myself from asking where she bought it. Now I have my very own and my coffee will taste extra special in that adorable mug....after Roll-up time is over! ;o)

Speaking of Roll-up time, my dear friend Karen showed up with this fun gift from she and her hubby Mike. A winning coffee Roll-up!! LOL!! It was beautifully wrapped in a gift bag and I laughed when I opened it. Thanks so much Karen and Mike! You're too funny! I'll think of you and smile when I enjoy my coffee.

I also wanted to add another beautiful gift that I received recently from my friend Julia who is also part of this group. It's the book, 'the Gift of an Angel' by Marianne Richmond. It's a beautiful book written to welcome a new child and the first time I read it there were a few tears. Thank you Julia! I'll treasure it and look forward to reading it to Hannah.

I am SO thankful to have this wonderful group of ladies in my life. Ladies who know what it's like to wait for so long for a child they already love so much. A supportive group of people who allow us to share our frustrations with the wait, question the unknowns (of which there are many) and also, celebrate our referrals and the addition of new babies to the group!

It really is quite funny I must say though when these new cuties join our group. In most baby situations everyone would be playing 'pass the baby' but we all understand the importance of the initial attachment and bonding period so we look on from a safe distance allowing mommy to be the one to totally care for baby. Oh yes, we oooo and awwwwe but just without the holding part. It's tough but we are all well studied in the adjustments mommy and baby are making so for the first visit we look on without holding. Now, after about 6 months home we're more than happy to hug, snuggle and do everything we can to help mommy out!