Happy New Year and Congratulations

I can't believe the year 2009 is almost upon us. 2008 was the first calendar year we had with Briana and it was wonderful. Parenthood is definitely the hardest job on the planet, but it certainly is the most fulfilling as well.

I have to say a big "Congratulations" to a few friends of mine. Pipo and Ozimum both received December referrals for their beautiful daughters Claire and Tari. Fellow Georgian Amy received a referral for her beautiful waiting child LynnMarie. And my wonderful friend Randi (another fellow Georgian) received her referral yesterday. I am SO happy for her. Randi doesn't have a blog, so I hope she doesn't mind if I share her picture of Emma with you.

The year 2008 has been a very special and wonderful year! And to commemorate the year 2008, I am sharing a year of pictures of Briana with you. I got the idea from Sandra - I absolutely loved it when I saw it on her blog.

Enjoy Miss Briana in 2008! And hope we see lots and lots more referrals in the year 2009. Happy New Year Everyone!

Christmas Day 2008

Christmas Day was so much fun! Seeing Briana's face on Christmas morning was so amazing and exceeded my wildest dreams. You can see the smiles we got from Briana coming down the stairs and as she opened gifts on Christmas morning. Bri loves opening presents so much, she decided to assist Doug and me by helping us open ours as well. :)

This was my favorite gift from Doug. He put one of my favorite photos of Briana on a canvas. It is so beautiful!

Below is Miss Briana at Grandma and Grandpa's house. She was more than happy to put on her "princess dress" again for the occasion. Briana was spoiled once again with lots and lots of gifts to open. Her big present from my parents was a new kitchen set!

Here is a picture of my mom, Briana and my grandmother.

I love this picture of Doug and Briana.

Here are a few more pictures from the day...

Our tradition for dinner on Christmas Day is to go out to eat Chinese food. We have done this since we moved to Georgia when I was 13 years old. We had no family in GA at the time, so my parents started the tradition - it was just my parents, my sister and me. Then when Amy and I got married, our husbands joined in, and now our kids take part. With Briana being from China, it really makes our tradition more special.

Christmas Day was also the fifth night of Hanukkah, so we lit the Hanukkah candles to celebrate with my dad.

And here is the aftermath the next day. Briana is slightly overdone. She is laying on her new Winnie the Pooh blanket from Grandma and Grandpa.

And here is the kitchen my parents bought Briana for Christmas. Doug put it together on Saturday. Isn't it cute!?!!!!

Hope everyone had the best Christmas ever!!! I know that this girl did - congrats Ozimum!

Christmas Visitors/Christmas Eve

We had a few busy days leading up to Christmas Day starting on Monday. My cousin Jennifer and her husband Andrew came into town from Florida for a visit. My sister had the whole family over to her house for brunch (except Doug couldn't make it - he had to work - boo!). It was so great seeing them and Briana had lots of fun - especially eating all the blueberries in sight (as you can see above).

Jennifer and Andrew.

Briana having fun with my Aunt Joanne.

Tuesday, my good friend Carole came over to my house with her son Guy for a visit. We all went out and had a yummy Mexican lunch together.

Wednesday was Christmas Eve and we had Doug's parents over for our traditional Belgian Waffle breakfast. The big difference this year was that instead of having it at Doug's parents' house like we usually do, we had it at our house. And because we invited them to our house this year, I offered to cook them! I was so nervous. I told everyone my backup plan was scrambled eggs if they totally stunk. I had never made Belgian Waffles from scratch before (Doug's mom's recipe), but if I do say so myself, they turned out really good! Yay me!

Here we all are before brunch...

My waffles!!

Doug's parents spent the whole morning and early afternoon with us. As soon as they left, I stuck the turkey in the oven for Christmas Eve dinner. Christmas Eve night was very quiet - just Doug, Briana and me. We ate dinner, we each opened one gift and then we left cookies for Santa. Who knew Santa Claus would like Mint Milano cookies? :)

Here are a few more pictures from Christmas Eve...

(Next post - pictures from Christmas Day!)

Briana's Gift To Doug

We had a wonderful (and super busy) Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. There is so much too post - it is really hard to know where to start. I guess I will start with Briana's Christmas gift to her daddy. A week before Christmas, my sister and I met up at a pottery painting studio to paint some Christmas gifts. Briana picked a mug to paint for Doug and painted it all by herself! She had so much fun. I helped her with the lettering, but the coloring/painting was all Briana. By the first photo, you can see how much Doug loved it. (She had so much fun painting, she ended up painting a couple of ornaments too.)

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas. I will have several recap posts coming over the next couple of days.

Here are a few photos of Briana creating her work of art...

The finished product.

Here is an artist at work...

Needed just a tiny bit of assistance from Mommy!

Merry Christmas!

We have been so busy the last fews days. I have lots to post, but will have to do it after Christmas. I thought this picture was pretty appropriate for this time of year, don't ya think? They dressed like this back in the day! Ha!

Merry Christmas to all of you! XOXO

Friday Bullets!

* Here is Briana two days ago...

* Here is Briana one year ago...

* Times certainly flies. Christmas is in six days people! Can you believe it? I can't. And I can't get over the above pictures of Briana. Look same hat, almost same pose! It is a complete coincidence. Briana is losing her baby face and looks more and more like a little girl every day.

* Get a load of my scallop stir fry. I made it Tuesday night. It was so pretty, I had to take a picture. Good news is that is actually tasted good too. Yay me.

* Briana decided to try a new pose while assembling Legos. Interesting...

* Bri is lovin' her play-doh. She likes to make "snakes" and "worms" as you can see.

* Briana took her first independent gymnastics class today (it was a trial class). She did really well. There were times she would wander off a little, but as soon as the teacher called her to come back, she did right away. Over the last few weeks, Bri hasn't been wanting my assistance in the mommy and me class. She has been pushing my hands away because she wants to do everything by herself. That was a definite sign. She did so well today that I signed her up for an independent class that starts back up after the new year.

* I am pretty happy that I don't have any specific plans for this weekend. Last weekend was my crazy, busy weekend. This weekend will be laid back. I can sit back and watch my Christmas movies (that is if Miss Briana lets me).

* The weather has been in the 70's for three days now. I am ready for it to be cold again. It just doesn't feel like Christmas weather to me.

* I better enjoy my quiet weekend because starting Monday, I am going to be super busy through Christmas Day.

* Oh - remember I heard angels singing at the library when Briana knew she was in trouble and actually felt bad about it? Um, yeah, I didn't hear them so much when she had a meltdown in Circuit City last weekend. Ugh.

* Well, meltdowns and all - this little girl brings me insane amounts of joy every day.

* Have a great weekend everyone!

So Much Can Change In A Year

It is really amazing the difference a year makes. I honestly cannot get over how fast the kids are growing up. Kathy took the above pics at the potluck on Sunday - we managed to get all the kids on the steps for a group picture. Briana decided not to smile for it, but at least she sat there, so I'm (sort of) happy. ;)

The potluck took place at the house of our friends Ann, John and Katie. The kids had a blast running around in circles. eating cookies and opening presents. I can't thank Ann and John for opening up their home to us.

Here are the pics as promised...

Last year, Chani wasn't even home yet for the holiday potluck. Matt and Kathy went to China right after it. Doug, Briana and I met Chani for the first time on Dec. 23. Click here to see the meeting.

I went back and looked at the photos I took from last year. I can't believe how much the girls have changed in just a year. Here they are last year...

And here they are at the potluck on Sunday...

Kathy, Chani, Briana and I met for lunch today to catch up and do a little girl talk. You know, Kathy was the first person that reached out to me when I first started my adoption journey. We actually "met" on a yahoo group! Then we met in person for the first time at an Applebee's along with our good friend Randi. That was back in February 2006. We've certainly come a long way since then - haven't we, Kathy? :)

Her Princess Dress

This is the dress Briana wore to the local adopters potluck on Sunday. The minute I put it on her she said "princess dress." Yep, she sure is a princess. ;)

Here are a few shots of the "princess dress."

And I had to include this picture. This is Briana trying to pose for me. Well, trying too hard to pose for me. She won't be getting any "Miss Photogenic" awards with this one.

Pictures of the potluck to come...