We're off on an adventure!

Key Words include: 
family, lion dancers, Windy City, dim sum, dragons, and parade. 

I'm so excited. 

More Chinese New Year Fun

Monday Night

The year of the dragon is coming in with a bang at our house.  The first night we had a couple small gifts.    I know that the red envelope is traditional, but I saw this dragon and I wanted to get it for Nugget.  The book is the latest in the Tales from the Chinese Zodiac series.  We have a few other books from the series.  They are fun, colorful stories.

Nugget really liked the book, but the dragon - not so much.  He will only pick up the dragon by the tail with two fingers.   By far, Nugget's favorite thing was the gold (chocolate) coins.

Wednesday Night


We all love to get together with our friends.  Tonight we all met for our CNY dinner.

Baby L just turned one this week!
Happy Birthday, L!!

Miss C. and Nugget checking out the fish.  These pictures were so cute
I couldn't pick one.

A Moment to Remember


A sweet friend of ours sent Nugget a red envelope this week.  When Nugget opened it he was so excited.  The cutest moment was when he pulled a quarter out of the envelope and immediately tried to take a bite. I guess he figures all coins have chocolate inside.

Chinese New Year Celebration

Yesterday we went with some friends to Lexington to begin our Chinese New Year celebrations. We met for for dinner at PF Changs, YUM!  After dinner we went to the Singletary Center for KCAA's Chinese New Year Celebration.  It was a wonderful evening.  Unfortunately I left the camera at home, so sadly I only had my cell phone to capture the night.   Here are some highlights.

We had about an hour and a half to wait until the performance began.  We found a little corner to hang out for a while.  The kids...

...shared a snack...

...they hopped...

...they even watched a movie for a while.

Finally the doors opened and we could enter the auditorium.

In our seats waiting for the show to start.

After many speakers thanking everyone for their help putting on this performance we finally got to the good stuff.  The night began with the Dragon Dance.  It was the perfect way to start for our little group.  The dragon grabbed their attention and we settled in to enjoy the show.

The Dragon entering the auditorium.

Nugget watching the Dragon move to the stage.

The Dragon Dance

Yeah, Mama!
Nugget was so cute when he clapped for the performance.

Even Baby L clapped and enjoyed the dancers!

The Yellow River Piano Concerto was beautiful!

Nugget enjoying the performance.

I LOVED watching the boys.  Too cute!

Such a beautiful moment.

There were several more performances that we enjoyed, but Nugget started getting antsy. We stayed for a while longer, but left before the night was over. Nugget was really good, especially this being his first time in a theater of any sort, and it was late.  It was a perfect way to kick off our Chinese New Year celebrations!

Bear Bear Needs a Change

A few weeks ago (you can tell by the Santa figure in the background, and no Santa is not there any longer)  any way, a few weeks ago someone in our house needed a diaper change.  I brought all of the changing material over to change Nugget.  The phone rang and when I came back this is what I saw:

Nugget decided it was Bear Bear who needed the change.

Unfortunately for Bear Bear Nugget still needs some pointers on which end the
diaper belongs.  HaHaHa!!

It was such a cute moment I just had to document it!

A Moment to Remember 

When I sat down to write this post Nugget climbed up on my lap.  We had just put in the Cars movie and he wanted to sit in my lap.  :o)  After a few minutes I moved him next to me so I could work on the computer.  He moved next to me, but he said, 'hand, Mama's hand'.  It absolutely melted my heart.  We sat holding hands and watching Cars for at least 20 minutes.  Then he had to go find his Mac truck.

Stepping Back, WAY Back...

I have made the executive decision to step away from Face Book. I am not comfortable with all of the changes that are constantly being made over there. There are too many stories of hackers and other troublemakers floating around. The thought of putting Nugget's pictures out there for potential trouble is something I am not comfortable with.

As of right now I have not completely closed my Face Book.  I have put up every protective lock down I can find on my FB page.  I will keep it open to receive messages from our Nanchang travel group, a local adoption group, and it is nice to check in with my relatives from time to time who live all over the country. 

If it weren't for those few things I can honestly say that I wouldn't miss pulling the plug all together on Face Book.   Although I have enjoyed reading most posts, and I have learned from a lot from others, there are some posts that just irritate me.  Irritated in the fact that I'm sitting wasting my time reading about things that won't make one iota of a difference in my life.  I would much rather spend that time making 'bubble tars'* with Nugget.

Therefore I will be posting my mindless-trivial-nonsense banter here on my blog.  Not really, but I will put pictures here that I use to put up on FB.  I will probably post things that won't affect anyone in their daily lives, but it will be a moment worth remembering in our lives.  Plus, I mean really, I have to have some place to show off my handsome, beautiful, perfect little man.   Wow!!  I feel so liberated.  I can say that here on my blog, and I am not worried about what the 'masses' with think.  It's my blog and I feel much more free to speak my mind here, also I don't have a massive following.  ;o)



Reading a book before bed.



*bubble tars = a car wash made out of any stacking material.

Sweet Memories of a Sweet Treat

When we were in China everyone who 'had been there, done that' strongly suggested getting this cracker. They are a rice cracker with a sweet/salty taste that the babies are supposed to love.  We bought a package of the crackers at the Nanchang Walmart.

When we first met Nugget he didn't feed himself, and he only would eat congee, steamed eggs and his bottle.  He would eat Cheerios, but he couldn't feed them to himself.  Even though Nugget was nearly 13 months old, his fine motor skills were almost nonexistent.

We gave him one of these crackers, and he ate it all by himself.  I was so excited I took lots of pictures!

Can you believe how little he is here?
It amazes me how small he was!!

Unfortunately I only had a few of these crackers by the time we got home. I left a whole bag in the Guangzhou airport because I was rushing.

This weekend we all went to Lexington. We found an Asian market, Yeah!  I also found the crackers!  Double Yeah!!

Here is Nugget this morning eating one of the crackers.  My baby is getting too big!!

Cars, Cars, and more Cars

It has been a quiet week, overall. Nugget and I stayed home on Monday because he had been sick all weekend. I was pretty sure he had a sinus infection, and Dr. T. confirmed it. After some antibiotics he is almost as good as new and ready for our long weekend.

 

Since Christmas our world has become overrun with cars.  Nugget is on the verge of being obsessed with cars.  He wakes up talking about cars, plays with cars, watches Cars, and goes to sleep talking about cars.

Just a few of our car collection.

Nugget got this blanket from his Uncle BR.  The first time
I spread it out for him, he was in Heaven.

At the mall Nugget likes to sit in this car more than playing
in the play area.  We can't turn on the car,
he just likes to sit in the 'red tar'.

Nugget loves to wear 'tars' to bed, too.

For Christmas Nugget received a Cars race track.  He Loves it!

He likes to share his joy with Tucker!  ;o)

Even when he gets presents that are not cars Nugget is thinking about
how he can use it with his cars.  He sure makes me smile.

I'm not sure if I should be worried about how obsessed he is with cars, or if this is normal for two and a half year old boys.  I do know that it makes him happy and that is fine with me.

A Recap of 2011: In Pictures

January

The month started off warm enough for a stroll
through the neighborhood.

Even though it started off warm, Nugget and I had many snow days later
in the month.

 February

Nugget showed us all how strong and brave he is after an
encounter with a glass vase.

March

I don't know why, but I love this picture.  He looks
so sweet.

April

Nugget's 2nd birthday!

Leaving dinner with Papa.

Sweet Boy!

 May

Playing in the rain, having a snack.

June

Nugget's first horse show

Getting some hints from Pop.

July

Gatlinburg, Tennessee

August

Nugget's first bike

September

Meeting some of our travel group in Gatlinburg.

Helping prepare for Mid-Autumn Harvest Festival

Nugget with his best bud, Bear Bear.

October

Halloween.
Nugget wasn't a fan of the trick or treat ~ this year.

November

Nugget's first trip to Chicago.
He refused to wear his swim trunks, but was fine with the
swim diaper.  ???

Thanksgiving dinner with ReeRee.

December

Decorating the tree 

Breakfast with Santa

Decorating cookies.

Visits with cousins

My Nugget

2011 has been a wonderful year.  Looking back I can't believe how much Nugget has grown and changed in just 12 short months.  I am looking forward to 2012 ~ I do hope it doesn't fly as fast as 2011, though.

Happy New Year!!