I've been tagged and now I need to represent.

I apologize for my lameness PW, I really tried to do the last tag (10 interesting things about myself) and I stalled at 5. :( I will do better this time. Thank you for still tagging me.

Ten years ago: Chris and I were living in a hole of an apartment in New Jersey making plans to move to Charlotte. We went to Barnes & Noble and bought a boatload of "How to Write your Resumé" and "How to Interview" books. I think I sent at least 100 resumés to local design firms, just begging for a chance. We had a little friendly competition on who would get a job first. Chris won.

Five things on today's to do list: I need to finalize Hannah's birthday party menu, create a shopping list, organize the guest bedroom for Chris's Dad (they are coming on Sunday), call fritolay and complain about a weird burnt clump of chips that were found in my bag of Scoops and figure out why I can't get snapfish to compose my photo book.

Snacks I enjoy: Obviously Fritos Scoops (as long as I have some Red Neck Caviar to go with them), Snyder's Honey Wheat pretzels and almonds.

Things I would do if I was a millionaire: I would like travel with a relief group to participate in a specific project. Like building a well, setting up a farm, etc. I would not like to be away from my family for very long, but I would like to be a part of something bigger than myself.

Places I have lived: In order - Linden, Trenton, Rahway & Parsippany, New Jersey and then Charlotte & Mount Pleasant, North Carolina.

PW - I hope I have done you proud.
:)

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband and the best Daddy Hannah could ever have.
:)

Cover Girl

Everywhere we go people always stop and comment on how beautiful Hannah is. So when I was reading the latest issue of Parents magazine and found they have a cover model search contest - I figured Hannah has as much of a shot as anyone else so we have entered her in the contest. Besides, now I can fulfill my destiny of becoming an overbearing stage mother. hee hee
Please go to: http://www.parents.com/app/sharemy/photoDetails.jsp?photoId=206700972
and rate & recommend Hannah's photo(s).

And thank you for your support. :)

Look what we got in the mail today!

Our shirts for the adoption reunion in September! Our travel group is having our first reunion in Walt Disney World! I was so excited that I asked if I could design some shirts for the trip. We set up a site on cafepress and I think I got a little carried away. You can order shirts, hats, bags, buttons, magnets and more! I was really happy with how they turned out and thought I'd share. If you're interested in browsing here is the link: http://www.cafepress.com/jiangxiprincess
:)

Outside Fun

We took advantage of the beautiful weather we had on Sunday to do some work outside. Hannah had so much fun with water and a bunch of buckets - I should have put her in a bathing suit. She would fill up the buckets and then water the plants around the patio. Sweet and helpful - who could ask for more. Once she was done with the water she wanted to ride around on her scooter, bike, gator, wagon, etc. She briefly tested each one out but I think she just couldn't decide so she just walked around in her helmet. So many transportation options.
:)

Mother, Daughter and Granddaughter dinner.

Last Sunday, we went to a Mother Daughter Dinner at my Mom's church. Hannah was very excited because she got to wear her cherry dress (which she picked out on the Gymboree website herself) and was really well behaved throughout the evening. Any excuse for Hannah to get dressed up - she will take it. The ladies of the church did a good job - it was very nice event and we all had a wonderful time. I like this picture of my Mom and Hannah because it looks like she is telling her a secret.
:)

You may be right, I may be crazy...

Feast your eyes on Chris's Father's Day gift. It is a 1949 Chevy five window pickup truck. He has wanted one for a long time and found this one on craigslist. All I did was give the "nod" for him to buy it. The only stipulation: this truck does not become lawn art. I know, I know, all Chris needed was one more project... but he was so cute and excited when he asked me. He even gave me the "lip". I just could not resist.
:)

This morning

While I was uploading the previous post, I noticed that it had gotten eerily quiet in the living room. Hannah was in the living room. Hmmmm... When I get to the living room, this is what my lovely daughter had done.





She is lucky she is so cute. We are lucky that the marker is washable. And people wonder why I don't post more.
:)

A lovely anniversary weekend

What do you think of our latest yard project? Just kidding, I wish this was our yard. This was taken at the bed and breakfast we stayed at this weekend.






April 23rd was our second family day anniversary and I missed it. :( I was in Connecticut training for my new job. BTW, have I told you that I got a new job? If not, I apologize, and would be glad to fill you in on another blog post. Anyway, since Sunday was also our 12th wedding anniversary, Chris decided to plan a lovely weekend getaway for the three of us. I got back home Friday evening and Saturday morning we got up and went to the Liberty antique show. It is one of my favorite shows because it is the perfect size (not too big not too small) and the quality of the dealers has always been impressive. Hannah had a great time looking at all of the stuff and listened when we told her "to look and not touch" when we were looking at breakable things. We got some nice antique tiles for around the fireplace in Hannah's playroom and some printing letters that we collect. After the show, Chris took me to a wonderful little Bed in Breakfast. He had scheduled a massage for me as well. After the massage we had dinner and then watched 101 Dalmations on our portable DVD player. Hannah even went potty. It was a great day. The next day we had a delicious breakfast and headed to several different farms for their "open houses" where you can go and meet the animals and buy cheeses, wool, pottery, etc. Before the farms opened, we found a cute little park by a stream and fed some over-zealous geese and ducks a handful of cheerios. Overall, I think my and Hannah's favorite part was when the cow licked Daddy's hand. I don't think that was Daddy's favorite part.

I told Chris that he is off-the-hook for Mothers Day. We had a great anniversary weekend.
:)

Random Hannah

Just a couple random bits of Hannahness...
- She still loves stickers. We had a church yard sale this weekend and Hannah had a great time peeling the pricing stickers off of items and putting them on others. It was a fun game for Mommy to guess what the original price was supposed to be. One basket had at least 6 prices on it - I guess she really wanted to sell that one.
- She loves soft serve vanilla ice cream and pink (strawberry) ice cream.
- She is a slow eater. She likes to take several breaks during a meal (especially if we are eating out).
- She has started to phase herself out of naps - at least on the weekends. Needless to say, progress on the play room has gone from slow to VERY SLOW.
- She does not like loud noises and frequently tells Daddy that his "tools are too loud and they are hurting her ears".
- She loves to wear dresses. She usually gets to wear them on Sundays, but sometimes we squeeze one into Saturday too. I don't send her to daycare in a dress for fear of what I might get back. The girl loves to play in the dirt.
- When asked what type of party she would like for her third birthday she responded simply a "pink party". Challenge accepted.
- She tells everyone that she is a princess. So now she is called Princess Hannah at daycare.
- We've started talking about a sister every once in a while. So far she seems to be excited with the idea. I think it helps that two of her friends at daycare just had younger siblings.
- She has NO interest in potty training and tells me she will do it "later" whenever I put her on the potty. Wish us luck.

:)

Happy Birthday Uncle Sneaky!

Despite the rain, friends and family came out for Uncle Sneaky's surprise birthday party. Hannah loves her Uncle Sneaky and would not leave him alone for a good part of the time we were there. And to top it all off, Hannah had another occasion to wear a dress (another beautiful lender from Riley).
:)

Let's build something together...

Happy Birthday Connor!
Hannah had a great time at your builder birthday party. Since then she has helped Daddy build Mommy's new office chair and knows the difference between a wrench, screwdriver and hammer. She loves to wear her hardhat with a dress and tool apron. All a girl needs to get the job done!
Thank you!
:)

She is now an egg hunter.

Hannah had the opportunity to go on not one, not two, but three Easter egg hunts last weekend. She is now a pro. We had a wonderful Easter weekend. Thankfully the weather was perfect. On Saturday, we went to our church for their annual Easter party and then from there we went to a local Easter festival at a community park. The Easter bunny was there, but Hannah did not want to go near him and only shot him dirty looks as we passed by. They had several egg hunts scheduled starting at ages 3-4. We took Hannah in anyway, even though she is not three yet. But thankfully they weren't checking IDs at the gate. There were alot of bigger kids in there (hopefully with their younger siblings) so Mommy ran interference while Hannah picked up the eggs. On Sunday after church, we headed to Grandma and Papa's house. Hannah got to wear a beautiful silk hand-me-down dress from Riley. She loved wearing it so much - Grandma and I had to tackle her to get the dress off so she could wear some play clothes. We had alot of fun with the Easter egg hunt, four-wheeling and delicious bunny cake. And then we finished off our wonderful weekend with bubbles, as it should be. Happy Easter Day!
:)

No need to adjust your monitor...

She really is this cute. Yes, Mommy could not resist a pink tutu at the last consignment sale. If Daddy had gone with her, this loveliness would have never have happened. Besides it goes perfectly with Riley's "dassin shooos." There is a slight catch, Hannah wants to wear her "baareena dess" ALL THE TIME. We have to hide it from her otherwise she'd wear it to daycare. Oh well.
:)