These are 2 of my Christmas gifts that I thought I would share. The one on the left is from my sister who had Mia's name written in Chinese. I love it and thought that I could pass this to her when she is older. It came on a black leather cord and it is beautiful. The one on my right is from MIke and it is a "What's inside your Heart" locket. I tried to get a good shot but the flash is blurring it a little. It has an M for Mike and Mia, a ladybug for China adoption, a pink heart for Mia, and a police badge , because Mike is a retired officer. I have to get 1 more charm because the charms float around in the heart as they are supposed to, but I don't like when the "M" flips over and looks like a "W". We have had a busy, fun week so far and I will post great cousin shots after the weekend!

Merry Christmas! We hope that your holidays are everything you wished for. Mia's cousins are in town for 10 days and we are enjoying every minute of it! Tonight is dinner at our house and the cooking has already begun. Tomorrow morning should be total chaos at our home and we are going to love it. Two 2 year olds and a 6 year old, I see a BIG mess to clean up.

FL ReunionMakena, Mia, and Valerie

Makena and Mia playing etch a sketch

Going to the pool for a dip

Puzzles !

Makena and Mia are both from Qianjiang, Chongqing and when we went to China, we traveled the entire time with Makena's family. Makena and family flew in from Malibu, CA and they are now off to the Bahamas for a week of fun in the sun. Valerie's family lives in Florida too and was also in our travel group, she is from Guandong province. Most of the girls in our travel group are in California, so it was great to have a FL playdate. We hope to join in on the California reunion next year. It was so great to see the girls play and interact. They are so similar, but very different at the same time. Mia was so exhausted after we checked out and she was asleep by the time we hit the highway.

Bye Bye Birthmark. . . . Mia had to have her "little raisin" removed on the 7th of December. The dermatologist didn't like the way it looked so he recommended that we remove it. Unfortunately, he didn't feel comfortable doing it in the office as he would have done on an adult, so we had to have it removed by a general surgeon in an out patient surgical center. Mia was so brave and we are just waiting back answer from the pathology report. Mia did well and the surgeon said that everything went as expected with no surprises, however; she did not like the recovery room and wanted OUT! She kept reaching for her IV and was really mad. She started flexing her back and trying to wrestle out of our arms if we tried to calm her down. I felt bad for the others that were in recovery post surgery as she was screaming bloody murder. I asked the nurse at one time, where is my daughter? This is not the daughter I left before entering the OR! Once in the car, she sorta calmed down but was acting very mad. She didn't even want to go home and watch Calliou. Mike and I looked at each other and said WHOOA, she must be really PO'd, if she says no to Calliou. I think she was hungry and irritated and just wanted to get back to her environment. 15 minutes after getting home and have some juice, she was smiling and relaxing in Daddy's recliner. After her nap, she was our Mia again. She was running around acting like herself by the afternoon. No bandages, no stitches to remove, all internal and that means no picking! She doesn't remember anything because the pre-op juice has an amnesia affect. I asked her if she wanted to go see the doctor and she still says YES.
Merry Christmas!
Florida's version of snow flurries!

A little R & R before the Holidays!

Mike and I decided to do a little get away before the holidays! The inside is decorated, the tree is up, most of the shopping is done and we'll finish the outside next weekend! We left on Thursday and came home today. We stayed in Cocoa Beach (not to far) at The Ron Jon Resort and what an awesome place for the family! Mia had a ball and the weather was not so bad. We can not wait to go back again and stay for a week. The place was so great, they had a movie theatre, inside and outside playgrounds, 2 kiddie pools, a giant slide, lazy river, big pool and a enormous hot tub. Music was piped in all over the resort and the Mango margaritas during happy hour weren't too bad either. The room was so nice and everything we needed was there. Just an hour drive away and we felt like we were on an island somewhere! For those of you who are reading this with your heat on and winter coats on, come to Florida for a visit we can still be in our bathing suits in December.