Mia had her first visit to the dentist today! As you can see, she had her concerned, I am thinking about it look. She was a very brave girl and sat in the dental chair all by herself, holding my hand while I sat next to her. Daddy was sitting on the stool and the end of the room very proud of his BIG girl. She got all her teeth polished front and back using the handpiece and she let Maria apply fluoride varnish to all her teeth. She liked when I took the suction to get out the water and she wanted to try "Mr. Thirsty" herself. When her visit was complete, she raided the toy chest and got lots of TLC and attention from everyone in my office. Dr. Huot said everything looked great and he was very impressed on how well she did, considering some adults do not cooperate that well!

Georgia

GIRLS WEEKEND GET-AWAY!!

We took advantage of the long holiday weekend and went to Atlanta and visited with my sister and family. It was Kenedy's 7th Birthday party and the kids had a blast. It was Mia and myself and my friend Tami and her 2 daughters. We shared a hotel near my sister's home and we were very busy. We took the train in to the city to the Georgia Aquarium, where Mia really enjoyed it. Much to my surprise, she really got into it and loved to see all the animals. Kenedy's party was at an inflatable interactive gym where the kids climbed, jumped, and slid on everything. One of the pictures shows Mia sliding down almost sideways and smiling ear to ear. I had to laugh, I was watching her climb up the slide and an older child was being impatient and not wanting to wait for Mia to take her steps, so she stopped and pointed her finger at him and said, " No pushing". I thought to myself, YOU GO GIRL. Some of the kids are just so excited that they don't realize that the little ones are slower. We were able to take advantage of some major shopping, everything you need or want is within 15 minutes of her home. We ate dinner one night at a fabulous Brazilian steak house, where the food was excellent. Mia is always so well behaved at restaurants, that we joke that she has eaten at some of the fanciest places. Mike really missed Mia and it was cute to see them hug and kiss when we arrived. 5 days with no Mia makes for a very quiet house!

I know Mike has waited

a long time to

fish with his daughter.

No hooks yet, but she's

getting her form.

She practices casting too!

Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.

We celebrated with family and friends at a Chinese restaurant in Vero Beach which had a dancing dragon, acrobats, and firecrackers. We dressed Mia in a traditional Chinese dress and most of us wore red symbolizing good luck. We fed the dragon dollar bills for good luck as well, but Mia didn't like that part. In one of the pictures, you can see her hugging Mike which is when he stepped back with her while I gave the dragon some dollars. When Mia saw me up there she told Mike, " Get Mommy Away"

Brushing Bunny
Mia loves to brush her teeth, after I brush them first of course! We picked up these bunny ears when we went shopping today and she runs around the house with them.

Where's Mia ??? !!Mia loves to play hide and seek with Mike. She always asks me to help her, so this time I put her in our hamper. Mike walked in the bathroom saying "Where's Mia" and we could hear her giggling in the basket with the top on. It was so funny, you can hear her breathing heaving because she's so excited and then this little giggle squeaks out!

I am so glad Santa brought my

Mommy an annual pass to Disney!

Now I can really get to know Mickey!

It also helps that we don't live very far either!

The Frogleg Festival

Saturday we went to the Famous Fellsmere Frogleg Festival. YES, I said frogleg and NO I didn't eat any! The festival is held every January, they have arts and crafts vendors, many food vendors, a petting zoo, and carnival rides. We went with The Semkow clan and my parents. In one area, the had bleachers with live music playing, Mia stood up in front of the stage on the grassy area and started to dance, it was hysterical. The man singing even made a comment about her. I love it! She doesn't care, she's not shy and loves to have a good time. We thought she would be a little scared of the horses, since she was petrified of the Merry Go Round, but go figure, she loved the horse and she rode it all by herself. Mike said " Oh no! Barbara's going to call tomorrow to inquire about horseback riding lessons" He knows me all to well!

The weather here in Florida has been great these past few days so we took advantage of it today! Mike, Mia, and I enjoyed a beautiful Sunday at the beach. I can relax a little more now because Mia tends to play in the sand and listen (sorta), instead of darting straight into the surf. She and I took a walk and collected some shells for a decorative project I am working on. Mike was happy he got some fishing in and we finished it off with lunch at a cute little beach shack near by. Today was a PERFECT day.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

This holiday was full of FAMILY, FRIENDS, FUN, and FOOD!

The holidays kicked off with my last day of work being December 20th and that evening was my office party, so Mike and I had a chance to get dressed up and enjoy some holiday festivities alone, while Grandma and Grandpa babysat. 2 days later my sister and family arrived, with the next day, Mike's dad, Grandaddy and Grandma T arriving as well. Christmas Eve dinner turned out great and my friends Tami and her 2 girls joined us as well. After the kiddos went to bed, the adults had their Christmas and then we assembled the gifts from Santa. Christmas morning was a blast and although I was totally exhausted from cooking, and being the hostess with the mostest, seeing the kids open their gift and enjoy themselves was priceless. Mia really understands presents now and kept saying birthday presents, so we had to explain that Santa brought them and she would shake her head and say, "NO SANTA" because she was petrified of Santa at the mall and refused to go near him. It was so cute, she gets funny like that sometimes. Mike and I bought her a Mr Potato head kit and when she opened it I think the eyes frightened her and she said no no and went running from the tree. So now Mr. Potato head is in the closet for a couple of months. Mia got a Little Tikes piano with a stool and a microphone attached to the keyboard, She is so funny with it. Disney and Universal Studios was fun and the kids really enjoyed themselves. Our friend Barbara and her kids joined us to Universal so us girls took advantage of the adult roller coasters. What a blast! I am so bummed that I have to go back to work tomorrow and head back to reality. The holidays were great but entirely to fast.

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.