baby Kate

Just some cute update pics of baby kate. E. Rose
she is doing well and growing like razy. now if she will just slep at night,life would be good.

A DORA birthday party

WE spent the afternoon Saturday with some friends for their twins 2nd bday party.
The wind blew like crazy,there was food and plates flying everywhere. Seems they have picked the windiest day of the year twice now for bday parties. We had a great time though,despite the wind. The people and food was great but the best part???? Guess who was at the party? to visit and play games with the kids????
DORA THE EXPLORER!!!! yes she was,after the initial spooke and scare for most of the kids,they pretty much had a great time.

May 23 2009 Discovery Kingdom

We spent a cool,foggy day at the 6 flags Discovery Kingdom today with our good friends the Toyoma's. The kids had a great time,as did us parents. Rideing the rides and watching the Killer Whale show.
Today the kids were especially good friends,always when we are together with our other family friends the kids have a great time but it seemed to me that today was even more so for some reason,perhaps they are getting to know and remember eachother better? perhaps they are getting older and it just happens that way? not sure but they all three sure had a good time together today. holding hands,wanting to ride the rides together and so on. It was alot of fun and so nice when they all just get along.
The sun did come out eventually but it sure never got terribly warm.

Baby Kate 1 month old may 2009

The kids and i spent the day with Katy and baby Kate yesterday.
She has grown so much and looks so much more mature. I must say though,her pictures dont do her any justice,she is absolutley darling in real life but i have only been able to get a pic or two that is as cute as she is in real life.
Her hair is getting a bit red,very interesting and her eyes seem to be green. She has hit 10 lbs ad other thatn having bad gas pains and being somewhat constipated,misreable to travel with and be in public,she is precious.
I stayed with her whole katy took my two and went to the store. My tow of course were just perfect for big sister Katy and were helpers at the recycle. Baby kate and i stayed home,visited,slept a bit,lay on our left side to try to get rid of more gas and waited for a poop. NOTHING!!! but she was quiet,pleasant and comfortable.
We had a nice day with her,not quite the same as when Isaiah was born and they lived right upstairs from us and i saw him several times during each day.

Then and Now!!! Zak 2 yrs ago and today

Here is the little baby we met 2 years ago this afternoon and now the much bigger and healthier boy we have today. What a difference two short years makes!!!
Welcome Home Little Zakary!!
He has choosen to go to dinner at our favorite mexican restaurant near by and then have ice cream and gummy bears afterwards at his favorite ice cream place.

HAPPY 2 YR ANNIVERSARY ZAKARY!!!

May 21 2009

2 years ago this afternoon,Zakary joined our family. It was a grey and rainy,very hot and humid day in Guangzhou. We waited allllll day to go to the Civil Affairs office to meet him. What does a family do all day till 4 om in a foreign country where you have already been for 3.5 days and have waited for 8 months to happen? eat breakfast,wander the streets,get anxious,get nervous,a little sick to your stomach with anxiety and nerves,ohhh eat lunch,get the sibling who is only 2 at the time a late nap,wait some more,look at eachother,wait some more,look at eachother some more,wonder what the other parent is thinking,feeling,is it the same as i am? watch the sleeping sibling sleep and wonder what it will be like with 2 kids the same age. Wonder how they will get along? adjust,how he will transition to our family at age 27months,to our country,our food and so on. All this goes on between breakfast and 4 pm.
FINALLYYYYY...wake the sleeping sibling,change clothes and go to the Civil Affairs office. Whats a few more min to wait at this point>what? a few more minutes? LOL LOL
There he is!!!!! walking in to meet us,tiny as can be,so scared and weak. hanging skin on his little tiny baby sized butt. But finally!!! he is here,we are there and we are his!!!he is ours!! and 2 years later.....wow a different child has emerged from that little tiny scared,and weak baby boy. A robust,healthy,verbal,energetc and smart little pre schooler now. no more sagging skin anywhere,infact a tight little firm body now. He and sibling are the best of friends,infact,they dont like being apart at all. He has transitioned to our family beautifully,no problems there at all and to our country and life style as well. He has done amazingly well.He is still timid at times but no longer scared. He is shy to new things but gets out and tries them all,esp with sisters guidance. He is an amazing new boy.
Happy 2nd anniversary of our forever family day Zakary....We are sure glad we have been given the privilage of being your family. All of us ,your entire family.
I will post pics later of then and now.....but he is still asleep right now,curled up next to daddy and sister,ohhh and buddy the dog.

Kate E.Rose update may 20 2009

We are happy to announce that sweet baby Kate E. Rose has hit 10 lbs!!!!
She is nursing like a champ,sleeping better at night but man is she hell when it comes to a car ride. She HATES!!!!! being in the car and screams the entire time. It has taken Katy 1.5 hrs to drive from Vallejo home to Napa due to the screaming and having to stop to comfort her. Unfortunatly,the most popular comfort is mommy's breast. makes it tough to do much of anaything at all. LOL aint motherhood great???
Kate looks much more mature now than she did even just a week or two ago and is awake more of the time now. I will get some pics downloaded and posted soon as i can.

Kids activities/Moms bday and she is HOW OLD?

The kids are keeping dad very busy with all their activities. The kids each go to Pre school. Laurel goes on her own and dad volunteers in the classroom a few times a month.
zak and dad still go to the pre school together where the parents participate. All is going VERY well. Laurel will be graduatng from her pre school since she will be starting Kindergarten in the fall. yes,Kindergarten and where did the time go?
She will then attend with Zak and dad their program for fun over the summer.
The kids have been playing tball which i have posted about with pics,this eve is their last day and they have just recently started a Tae kwon Do class,we are hoping that if they go together for a bit,since Zak still really needs his sister for guidance that she will not have to continue unless she really wants to, she can do her gymnastics that she has been taking for some time now and is realy excelling at and that zak will be able to continue Tae Kwon Do on his own,for we feel he would really benefit from it all,help him control his anger and frustration,discipline which we all need and so forth. We will keep you posted on all that. Zak is still attending spccech therapy one time a week and that will end for the summer as the school year ends. the speech therapist is recomending one more year,before he starts kindergartne and that he should be all up to speed at that time. he is doing vry well and by the way,tomorrow,may 21 we will celebrate 2 years since Zak joined our family. i will post then and now pics tomorrow,he has changed just a little bit. LOL

We celebrated mom's 51st bday over this past weekend. We spent a wonderful day at bodega bay where we sorta by accident found my brother and his wife camping and celebrating his wifes bday which was the 19th. yes i am about 48 hrs older than she is ans she will make sure you know it.
We played at their camp ground and spent some time at the beach. the weather wa perfect and then stopped for a wonderful Seafood dinner on our way home. We wished we had known earlier that they were there camoing,we'd have joined them a night or 2. perhaps next year.
So i think we are all caught up to date for the time being. i will try to do better.
Between my job,my children,graandchildren and my volunteer positions with Love without boundaries and being on the FCC board,i really get busy and dont keep up with all my blogging responsibilitiers and for that i apologize. just know that we are busy and all doing very very well.

im falling so far behind and i cant catch up!!

i am so sorry that i am so far behind here.
quick catch up and on to pictures.
Mothers day 2009 was wonderful. It started with cards from my little children and then a wonderful lunch out with my big son Chris. he will be 30 in August and also will be getting married in August as well. He and his Fiance,Destinly took me alone to early lunch. its so nice when they are old enough to invite,make the arrangements and pay the bill. We had a wonderful time,its so nice to enjoy time with him alone.
later that day,Katy and i an all the kids tok a visit to he Jelly Belly factory up the road in fairfield. the tour is kinda a drag,esp on the weekend when ther is no one working in the actual factory but the reason the kids like to go cuz at the end there is a free sample bag of Jelly Belly's for each one. We had a very nice day and dad stayed home to finish painting the bathroom.

MOTHERS DAY 2009

May 10 2009
Mothers day is here again. And for some reason,i have yet to have a restful mothers day,now i didnt say i had not had a good mothers day,they are all good but restful is another story entirely.
On top of a VERY busy weekend,then moms day.
i must say though it is lovely when the grown kids have their own paychecks and make the plans and pay the tabs.
i had a lovely lunch with my big son,chris who is almost 30. he will be getting married in august just a few days after his 30th birthday. And a very large arrangement of wonderfully smelling flowers. A nice long visit since the grill in the restaurant went down at some point right after our orders went in, therefore no food came for quite a while. It was just fine since we had a table outside and got to sit and visit.
Later that day, katy and i took all the kids to visit the Jelly belly factory,that was fun as well. The grandkids brought me a wonderful charm bracelet with a charm reading "Nana". Funny to be a nana and a mommy all at the same time.
Sometimes zak and laurel will ask me,
are you a nana or a mommy? i explain that i am both.
Towards the end of the day,and the kids were tired of hearing all about mothers day this and mothers day that Zakary asked me "when is it gonna be Zakary day".
For the third night in row,Zak had a terrible melt down,part from exhaustion and part from just having a rough time lately. Zak has been quite wild and almost unmanagable at times,angry and strong and physical. We are not sure what to do with him or even how to handle him at times,we are taking him to look at a Tae kwon Do class tomorrow after noon in hopes that perhaps that may help some.
Hope you all had a great moms day!!!! Till later...

Red panda Acrobats may 2009

This ws a really busy and crazy Saturday. Infact,too much if you ask Zakary and I.
We are seeing some anxiety with poor Zak come eve and esp if there has not been any nap for one reason or another. For the last couple nights he just has horrible and scarey meltdown and its virtually imppossible to console him. Its very hard to deal with and to listen to,the poor kid. Both kids were asleep in the car and we had stopped to look at a sign in a window of a house for sale. I hopped out,and he woke,i was right there but he LOST IT. if he wakes and im not right there......ohhh boy. And he has a hard time letting go of things as well. Once he gets us back in and where he can see us,he immediatly wants to go home. I am sure a safety thing,anxiety of being left and the anxoety of being outta control and needing to be back where he is comfortable and familiar at home.
We went to the JFK library this afternoon and saw the Red Panda Acrobts,it was really great. An acrobat from China and was he amazing and fun. The kids would watch him and then turn to me and say "how does he do that"? we all really enjoyed ourselves.
Tomorrow is moms day,we will stay close to home i think. i am going to meet my big son,Chris for lunch tomorrow,just us,thats always fun and esp when they have their own pay check and i dont have to pick up the tab.
Happy MOMS day to all you moms out there. Enjoy your special day.