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COME FULL CIRCLE

This is a digital scrapbook of our journey to complete our family in Vietnam.

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1/28/2008

Sebastian's Dance Moves

Here is Sebastian showing off his dance moves at his friend's birthday party on Sunday. Believe it or not but the dance floor was in the parent's basement. Thankfully, Sebastian didn't ask for a dance floor to be installed in our basement ;-)

1/25/2008

Mr. Crab meets his fate.

Ava seems to prefer Mr. crab at bathtime because his little claws fit comfortably between her teeth.



Ava's Mixed Signals

Ava has learned the art of saying "no" but she doesn't really know what she's saying no to. As you will see in this video, she was reaaally tired...you can see it in her eyes. That just makes her all the more adorable and cute :-)

1/20/2008

Sugar and Spice and Everything nice

Ava received a doll for her birthday. She doesn't quite know what to do with it and handles it like any other toy. Of course it's never too early to train her on "dolly care" ;-) Most of the time though, she just flings the doll like it's one of her blocks. Kinda hysterical.



Not sure if she's kissing the doll or taking a taste test :-)

Trip down memory lane

I've been wanting to take a drive to Philly to try out one of the Pho shops. Remember I had Pho for breakfast everyday in Vietnam? Well I've been missing the Pho ever since we got back. So I finally dragged the family out on one of the coldest days this year. Which was perfect because it felt like a "soup day".

Trust me, if we didn't have to drive 40 miles out of our way, I'd have this meal at least once a week!










You know you are in an authenic Vietnamese restaurant when you see all the chopsticks and condiments already set on the table. Of course when we were in Vietnam and saw a Pho shop on every block and the flies hovering over the tables, it didn't look as appetizing. Another major difference between a Pho shop in Philly and a Pho shop in Vietnam is the meal price. You can buy a bowl of Pho in Vietnam for less than $2. In Philly, it was $6. But it was still worth it!









Sebastian is not a person who likes to experiment with food he is not familiar with. So it took a lot of coaxing for him to taste anything. This picture cracks me up. I see Ava's face in the background and she looks like she's saying "hey, where's my bite?" as the spoon is passing her.









Ava was only six months old when we ate our first Pho in Vietnam. Today she got her first taste of Pho and as usual, she really tore into it. Now I just have to teach her how to hold her chopsticks ;-)

A new viewpoint

Ava has graduated from the rear facing carseat to a front facing carseat. I can't believe she's outgrown the infant carseat. It truly doesn't feel like she was a baby for very long.

Somewhere in all that pink marshmellow fluff is a little girl.


Now we have two faces in the rearview mirror staring back at us ;-)









As you can see, it doesn't matter if your'e facing backwards or forward, car rides can be just downright exhausting!

Miss Personality

Okay, I sort of staged this pose. But I figured, since she let me place the goggles on her face, why not take a shot? As you can see, the goggles didn't stay on for very long. Ava continues to show me that little girl "pout" and silly exaggerated expressions. Yep, she's becoming a typical little toddler.




Ava's "First"

We finally celebrated Ava's First Birthday this past weekend with friends and family. Ava didn't get to enjoy her first sweet dessert almost two weeks after her birthday due to the Hand, Foot, Mouth disease she caught at the Daycare. She wasn't able to eat for two days. We felt so bad for her because it was actually painful for her to eat. So we definitely wanted to make sure she was back to her normal self before having all the festivies.

Ava's Birthday cake

Ava's Birthday Cupcake








I don't think Ava even tasted the cupcake. She polished it off in no time flat. Of course everyone enjoyed Ava as she was savoring all that sugar. ;-)







1/17/2008

Ava's Snowball Force Field

Sebastian has been anticipating the first "real" snowfall so he could out and practice his snowballs, snowman and snow eating. Unfotunately, we get home when it gets dark so Sebastian had to go on the back deck to enjoy the first snow. It was too late for Ava to go out to taste her first snow. But they managed to have some fun. Thank goodness Ava had a barrier between her and Sebastian. You'll know why when you see this video ;-)

1/09/2008

Then and Now

Here are a few pictures of Ava just a few hours after the Giving and Receiving Ceremony. It was our first afternoon with our daughter and she was this scared little thing. You can see in the pictures her eyes were still red and puffy from the good cry she had on the way to the hotel.










And now....what a difference. She has come such a long way and has overcome so much. She is our bright star and inspiration. Both our children bring us so much joy!

Another milestone

Yes indeed, our little girl is turning one year old tomorrow. Since it falls on a weekday, we plan to celebrate her milestone on Saturday. She has blessed our lives for the past six months and I hope she knows she is so loved. I feel like we can never do enough for her :-)

Two Good things!

We received two things in the mail today and they weren't bills;-) Actually, they were nice surprises on the eve of Ava's FIRST birthday!

Ava's new Birth Certificate (that is what the Readoption Day was all about)









A birthday card and present from one of the families we traveled with in Vietnam.

1/07/2008

A day in the life of Sebastian

My husband's commentary on his morning routine with Sebastian:

"This morning was funny: It was still cool when he left for school so I put a stocking hat on him to keep him warm. It's the goofy one from the Christmas village, so I turned it inside out to hide the big, red, floppy yarn ball on the top (as well as the Christmas wreathes and "Christmas Village" writing on the front and back. He then said to me, "Hey! It's inside out!" I told him that I turned it that way because I didn't want him to be embarrassed. He then said, "But I like it that way! I like the red ball!"

So I let him wear it that way. Hey, whatever makes him happy, right? :)

[Sidenote: You would have to see the hat to understand...it's white with bright green and red lettering all over it....hideous!]

1/06/2008

The secret is out!!

Okay, it's true, the excitement of your first child's first steps are so monumental that it completely overshadows the excitement of your second child's milestone. Ava has been taking two and three steps for the past three weeks (during the holidays). She started to take five and six steps the first week in the new year. I came to the realization that she started officially walking right around her 11th month. That's exactly when Sebastian started walking.

I am equally excited that our baby girl is taking her first steps to independence yet very sad that she is losing part of her "baby-ness". I remember feeling the same way about Sebastian when he first started walking. The infancy stage of a baby is just a blink of an eye. I wonder what my birth mother thought when I took my first steps? Was she even alive by the time I was walking? I don't have a timeframe of when she died. So she could have been deceased way before I was taken to the orphanage.

Anyway, I'm long overdue to post some video clips of Ava's first steps. So here's the drum roll!

Ava Practicing her walk.


Ava Cruising!

1/05/2008

Two renditions of the Rudolph song

The Ad Lib Version



OR

The real version

An Evening With The Eisenhard's

We actually got to spend two evenings with the Eisenhard's between Christmas and New Year's Eve. I had caught a nasty cold during the holidays and ended up "nursing" it the entire time I was off. Suffice to say, the only time I left the house was to visit family members and friends. We mostly shared (exchanged) our "germs" with other family members. Not sure who gave the cold to who. After a while, it just didn't matter because we ended up recycling the germs back into our house any way. But we ended the holiday season rather nicely. Got to spend New Year's Eve with my bestfriend and her family and then we spent New Year's Day with the parents.

Christmas Day (in summary)

Click on the little speakerphone below and you will hear some Christmas tunes to go along with the slideshow ;-)

1/04/2008

Big Brother Humor

Yep, this is Sebastian's interpretation of "banana butt". It was all his doing. Oh sure, it seems harmless now...but wait until she gets older. I have a feeling the pranks won't stop here.



The Social Sipper

Ava has been practicing with her sippy cup at the daycare but I don't know where she learned her social etiquette. It's quite hilarious all the facial expressions and idle chit chat she makes at the table while she's casually sipping on her sippy cup.

The Great Cheerio Exchange

Every family has had a Cheerio "experience" with their children. I don't think I captured the Cheerio moment on film with Sebastian but I do know he loved Cheerios when he was a tot! Here is one of Ava's moments... I was going to label the clip "Elf in training" due to the season but the video says it all ;-)

Our tree warmer

This is the reason why we could never keep the tree skirt on. At least our the ornaments have been spared this year. We have lost several ornaments over the years during the hostile feline takeovers.

The not so formal Christmas Pictures

Here are some more cute poses from our Ava cakes. We never got around to making final prints but something to always look back on.