A Trip To Chinatown

Kathy, Lisa S. and Maisie and I headed to the Chinatown Mall in Atlanta today for some lunch and shopping. It was a pretty chilly day, but it allowed Maisie to show off her adorable pink coat! Chinatown in Atlanta is small, and the mall has a few little shops, a couple of restaurants, a grocery store and a food court. Lunch was very good, and I couldn't help taking pictures of beautiful Miss Maisie the whole time. Kathy and I had a lot of fun walking around the Chinese grocery store. Maisie enjoyed walking around the Chinese bakery (with the help of mommy!).

I want to give a big thank you to Lisa S. for sharing lots of tips about traveling to China and tips on what to do when I first get home. Here are a few more pictures of our fun day!

Shopping, Superbowl and So Cute!

We did it! We ordered Briana's crib (without the bottom drawer), a dresser and a rocker with an ottoman on Saturday. It is going to take four to six weeks for everything to arrive, so here is a picture of the crib off the internet to show what it will look like. I can't wait for everything to come in so I can get Briana's room all done!

Then Sunday, we headed over the Kathy and Matt's house for Superbowl. We had a lot of fun, and we munched on pizza, buffalo wings and Kathy's to-die-for peanut butter and chocolate brownies. To top off the night, the Colts won! My brother-in-law Andy's (my sister's hubby) brother played offense for the Colts for 7 years and left the team a couple of years ago. He now plays for Denver, but we are still big Colts fans! Yeah Colts!

Lastly, I want to send out a big congratulations to my friend Miranda and her hubby Doug on their new baby boy Dylan who was born on January 30. I visited Miranda two weeks ago and took pics of her 16 month old son Jacob who is such a cutie and will be a big heartbreaker one day! Here are a few pics of Miranda and Jacob...

15 Months

We have been logged in 15 months today! Hopefully we only have 2 or 3 months to go!

A big congrats to Amy and David who received their referral for Emily Grace on Thursday!

Doug finally got home last night after being gone two weeks! And today we are going to buy a crib for our little Briana. Tomorrow - Superbowl!

It Really Is Getting Closer

Wow - it is looking like the CCAA matched through October 13, 2005. There are only three weeks of log in dates in front of us now. I really try not to get too excited when there are new updates regarding referrals, but I have to admit, this time it really does feel like we are finally getting closer. I am starting to get nervous and excited all at the same time. Could we possibly get a referral in late March? Will it be April? I guess only time will tell!

Neat Thing We Have Done Since LID #3

It's about time isn't it? I haven't posted one of my "neat things" in a while, and I have 7 more of my top ten I need to post before referral day. I better get a move on!

Neat Thing #3
CHINESE NEW YEAR 2006!

Last year, Doug and I attended our first Chinese New Year celebration at the Chinese Culture Center with my sister Amy and brother-in-law Andy and their friends Jody and Kurt. Jody is Chinese, and her parents are a very active in the Chinese community in Atlanta. Jody was so helpful in explaining the Chinese New Year celebration traditions and introduced us to some really delicious Chinese foods! There were so many enjoyable performances as well. I especially liked watching the little girls from the Chinese dance class perform and the Dragon dance. We had a really great time! Here are a few pictures I wanted to share...

My Man Is On The Radio!

That's right! My man is on the radio! Doug has a weekly short radio spot on Sundays (usually at 3 or 3:30PM) on AM 640 in Toronto. The spots last anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes.

A few weeks ago when Doug was sitting on the plane heading home from the CES convention in Vegas, he was just about to turn off his phone when he got a call. He thought about not answering it because he didn't recognize the number, but for some reason he did. It was someone from AM 640 in Toronto who somehow got Doug's name and asked if he would like to talk on the radio about his experience at CES. Doug said ok because he knew it would be great exposure for his Gizmos for Geeks website. On January 14, the station called him up and he did his segment live with Arlene Bynon at 3:30PM. We thought that was it. Then, Doug gets an e-mail from the station saying that Arlene liked it so much that she wanted him to join her weekly to talk about technology. So Doug has done a tech segment three times total so far! I am so proud!

So if you are interested in gizmos, gadgets or technology, turn on your radios or computers and listen to him live Sunday afternoons!

My Busy Week

I have been trying to keep as busy as possible because my hubby is out of town on business for two whole weeks! He left Monday and won't be back until the second of February. We have not been apart this long since we got married. He is in Cherry Hill, NJ working on two big projects for Lockheed ATL. Gosh I miss him! So far, I have done well keeping busy.

Monday, I had lunch with my good friend Miranda and her cutie pie 16 month old son, Jacob (hope to post a picture soon!). Miranda is going to give birth to her second baby (Dylan) on Tuesday, and I wish her all the luck and happiness in the world! When I got home from seeing Miranda, there was my swap gift sitting on my porch from my pal Becky. This month's theme was Chinese New Year or anything to do with China. Becky got back from China in December after getting her beautiful daughter Charis, and she sent me oodles of wonderful goodies from there. I absolutely love everything, and I especially love the tiny bracelet for Briana. Here is a picture...


Tuesday and Wednesday I had to work. I had two very hectic days. I have a new broker who has a bunch of new real estate advertising ideas for our office - which means lots more work for me. I was pretty brain-fried by the time I got home each day.

Thursday, I met Kathy and Randi for lunch for some girl talk. It was good to see Randi again - I had not seen her since before Halloween. After lunch, I went over to Kathy's for some more girl talk. I got to see the beautiful pictures that Anna painted on Chani's nursery walls and also saw the 100 wishes book that Kathy put together for Chani. It was so beautiful! Kathy - you are so talented!

And now today I am catching up on my blogging. I have been so busy lately that I have a ton of catch up reading to do!

Atlanta China Adopters Potluck

Doug and I hosted our first potluck on Saturday for China adopters! I was really nervous because I hoped everyone would have a good time. But, I really think it was a success! I want to give a big "thank you" to Kathy who got the word out to everyone about the party. We had a really nice crowd. And I can't thank everyone enough for bringing all the delicious food! It was so nice catching up with friends and meeting new friends too! I was especially excited to see Maisie, who is absolutely precious, and Lisa S. is a wonderful mommy! Thanks again to everyone who came, and I cannot wait to see everyone at the next potluck! (And some of the pictures in my slide show I snagged from Kathy blog - thanks Kathy!)

Happy Birthday Doug!

I just want to say a big "Happy Birthday!" to my hubby Doug, who turns 34 today. He opened presents this morning, and he got some really nice goodies. One of the gifts I gave him were several children's books to read to Briana (thanks for the idea Kathy!). He really loved them, and I know he can't wait until he can read them to her.

Doug was at the big CES convention all week in Vegas and I missed him terribly! I am so glad he came home (late last night) in time to celebrate his birthday!

Welcome home sweetie!

New Year's Eve

We had a wonderful time ringing in the New Year with Mick and James, Kathy and Matt, and Michaela, Richard and Jarod. It was so nice to finally meet Michaela and her family (who were visiting from Orlando.)

We started off the evening eating appetizers and drinking Michaela's peach bowle. It was so delicious! It is one of those drinks that is so fruity and yummy that you don't really feel like you are drinking. So peach bowle is also very dangerous (ha!)! Then Mick prepared Raclette for dinner, and it was an unbelieveably delicious authentic German meal!

Jarod showed us some really cool magic tricks (which I am still trying to figure out), and then we played Cranium. With all the crazy and silly things that the game makes you do, we pretty much cracked up the whole evening. Teams draw cards that describe certain tasks to complete. There are particular cards in this game that tell one person on a team be a "puppetmaster" and the other to be a "puppet". The "puppetmaster" moves the "puppet's" arms and legs, and the "puppet" has to guess what action is taking place. Well, Doug and I got one of those cards. Doug did great, he was having me act out what a "baseball umpire" does. Of course, I couldn't remember the actual word "umpire" and I kept yelling "baseball referee!!" Let's just say Doug was a little more than frustrated with me. And obviously, we didn't get to move our game piece that turn.

About 15 minutes before the ball dropped, we turned on "Dick Clark's New Years Rockin' Eve" and counted down to midnight. Right behind Mick and James' house, one of the neighborhoods was shooting off huge fireworks, so we watched them from the screened porch.

We didn't have our little girls to ring in the New Year with us this year, but we had each other. And that made the beginning of the new year very, very special.