Halloween

Frozen mania hit our house back in late Spring. So guess who Meili wanted to be for Halloween? 

ELSA. 

And specifically she wanted Elsa's blue dress that touched the ground. I found a dress online in August but it didn't touch the ground. I wasn't going to pay $150 for the one that actually did. So we went with the inexpensive dress. And you know what? It was beautiful on her. Much better than many of the other Elsa dresses that I saw during Halloween.

Her school held a carnival for the kids and community. I invited my sister's kids to accompany us since this was a safe environment for trick or treating. 

We got ready at my house. Piper and Paige were dressed as My Little Ponies. The babies didn't have costumes.

The school had games and crafts for the kids.

And face painting. Except Meili didn't want her face painted. She wanted her 'tattoo' to be on her left forearm. Almost exactly where mine is located.

Had to include these 2. They make my life more colorful. Actually without them, I'm not quite sure what I would do. As a fun fact, they are less than a month apart in age -- both 29!

Happy Halloween!

Meili's Field Trips

Meili went on 2 field trips in October - the Insect Festival and Farmland Adventures. Guess which one she was least thrilled about.

My boyfriend accompanied her to the Insect Festival. There were literally hundreds of school children looking at bugs. Add in a little girl who dislikes bugs and the field trip was a magical experience. Ha Ha...

My Mom was a chaperone on the Farmland Adventures trip. She had to take my place because I just delivered Maia on the previous day. Meili definitely enjoyed herself during this activity. Outdoors, animals, and pumpkins - who wouldn't love it!

Piper's Birthday Brunch

Piper wanted a small party on her actual birthday. Of course, my sister agreed and invited just the immediate family. Meili was with her dad for the weekend but Maia and I were able to enjoy the brunch for Piper. 

The theme was Frozen. My sister made the girls' Elsa dresses. She is quite talented as a seamstress. Something that I'm lacking. 

My sister's family (minus the baby).

Happy 5th birthday Piper!

Garvesting Pumpkins

4 days after giving birth, we went to Farmland Adventures to 'garvest' pumpkins. Meili couldn't pronounce harvest - it came out as garvest. All of the older cousins attended the outing, along with my Mom, boyfriend, and SIL. The kids:

Fed goats and petted farm animals.

Rode ponies.

Watched pig races.

Rode huge rocking horses.

Took a group photo minus my Mom.

Got lost in a corn maze.

Garvested pumpkins.

And finally selected the right size to share amongst the cousins.

Baby Maia!

Baby Maia was born on October 14 @ 5:06 pm. She weighed 7 lb 3 oz and was 20.5 in long.

Initially, I was in shock that 'a real baby' was here. As soon as the nurse placed her on my abdomen, my first words were "wow, it's a real baby!"

Meili was sooooo excited that her baby sister was finally here! She declared that this was "a happy day" because she finally was a big sister. She has been looking forward to holding and feeding Maia for months.

I'm glad to say that the 40 week pregnancy was worth the outcome - baby Maia!

Girls' bedroom

I can *officially* say that construction on the girls' bedroom is complete. Painting, window trim, baseboards, a new fan, and carpet installation are done - all for less than $500!

How did I do it?

Paint and carpet were the most expensive. I believe in a good paint. Nothing cheap because you'll just be repainting in a year. That came from Lowe's. I kept to a white (except for the striped wall) because it's cheaper and the girls' toys/stuff will add any needed color to the room. The carpet is from Home Depot. It can only be bought online. I chose to go with carpet tiles in a neutral tan. This way if there's an accident or stain, I can replace just that 1 tile without having to worry about the entire flooring. And with a 4 year old and baby, there will be plenty of stains in the future.

3/4 of the window trim is from the original baseboard - just needed some sanding and new paint. The top piece is a modern, decorative molding piece from Lowe's. It was cut in 1/2; the other 1/2 will be used for the playroom's window.

The furniture was recycled from Meili's old room. I do plan on painting the dresser green to match the green stripe. But not until I'm on maternity leave. Same with the artwork. Meili has got a few nice pieces of artwork from China that I want to place on the walls. Again, I'll do that when I'm on maternity leave. I'm also on the lookout for 2 giant Ms to paint and place on the wall by the girls' beds. Just haven't found exactly what I want yet.

I wish that I could take credit for any work performed in the girls' bedroom. Sadly @ 32-24 weeks pregnant, the only thing I could do was sit in a chair and watch my family put the room together. I will say that they were an excellent team, probably stemming from my superior leadership - lol! I'm extremely lucky to have a supportive family who will do just about anything for my girls and me.
 

Meili was quite surprised to come home to a completed room. Her first words to describe it were "it's beautiful!" Her happiness makes all the hard work worth it.

Vietnam & Possiblities

If you keep up on international adoption, you know that Vietnam reopened for international adoption this week. The agency that I used to adopt Meili, Dillon International, is one of 2 agencies selected to perform international adoptions. I highly recommend them. But this post isn't about them.

Currently, Vietnam is open to single women and single women with 2+ children. Hence, I would qualify without getting any special permission or whatever from the government (unlike China). Adopting another child has been on my mind a lot in the recent months. Particularly as this pregnancy as progressed. This baby will be 1/2 Vietnamese. Meili is full Chinese. A sibling of similar heritage would be ideal. I'm not saying that I'm going to jump in and send in an application. But it is something that is simmering in the back of my old young brain. I do want to keep up with what's going on and let the more adventurous families go ahead of me. 

Maybe in a year to 18 months...

First Thursday

The family and I went to First Thursday last night. First Thursday is an event in town where vendors, food trucks, and local musicians get together and have a family friendly evening. It is a lot of fun just really hot in the summer. Including last night.

We had lots of fun. My mom bought all the girls (Meili + 2 cousins) balloon creations.

 

 

Piper picked out a pink and green flower. Meili had to be exactly like her cousin but chose different colors - black and dark green. Paige got a red monkey.

Even the boyfriend came along. (Really I just needed him to push the stroller since I'm now almost 34 weeks. Between the heat and stroller there's no way that Meili and I could have attended First Thursday)

Baby Registry

My coworkers have been very diligent in requesting that I make a baby registry. In all honesty, I didn't really want to do it. It takes time and really isn't fun. But I brought along my favorite helper who did most of the scanning for me.

Meili was VERY excited to scan the merchandise and pick out baby items. She didn't understand why we weren't bringing everything home with us. I tried to explain what a baby registry was but it just went over her head. Regardless she had fun scanning all of the items and I didn't have to mess with it. Win - win for us both!

Growing by 4 paws

Our family grew by 4 paws last week. We got a friend for Speedracer since he is now an inside cat.

Introducing..... Rylee!

Rylee is a female cat that Meili and I rescued from the city's animal shelter. She is still fairly young, probably around 12-14 months. She loves to be held and petted. She likes people and will follow us around just like Speed does. Rylee is not as demanding for attention as Speed. Which is good but this may change as she watches his behavior and the attention that he gets.

So we're back to having 4 animals - 2 dogs + 2 cats.