Happy Halloween!!

Well... Alexia has survived her first Halloween. And like a champ, I might add. She went along with the entire thing without saying a word. And was she ever cute!

Both my girls looked fabulous in their costumes despite the last minute wardrobe change. It was understood that the girls would go as 'Beauty and the Beast'. Cara-Li would be Belle and Alexia would be the Beast (well actually a lion). However, late yesterday afternoon, I started to get some lip from Cara-Li on how she did not want to be Belle and how much she hated princesses (guess we won't need to go to Disney this year!). So, in order to get rid of the long face, we managed to borrow a cape and looked for anything black and came up with this.

Count Dracula!

You know what is the best part about having 2 kids? It means double the candy at Halloween!!

Happy Halloween to one and all!

Decadence at its best!

You know, I hate to admit it... but I hate bathing my children. I know its sounds bad but it is one Mommy thing that I do not like to do. It is tedious and mostly because it is uncomfortable bending over the tub. Now, usually Gord does the bathing as he enjoys it but when he is out of town, well, Mommy has to do it. And guess what? Daddy is out of town. Ughhh!

Alas... I came up with a plan. First, I sent Cara-Li into the shower where she is old enough to do her thing. However, I do have to check to make sure certain body parts were being washed. Next, head downstairs into the kitchen and...

That's right... Alexia is bathing in the kitchen sink! I don't know if many of you do this but it is great. No bending down, all bath items are readily available. It doesn't get better. Ah, yes... it can get better....

I can watch Oprah at the same time! Now that is decadence!

I must hurry and get Alexia out of the sink. Dinner must be prepared as tonight is pumpkin carving night with Auntie Loula coming to help. (Usually we carve 20-24 pumpkins but this year I decided that we should downsize to about 10 as we have been extremely busy lately. Well, Scrooge Gord went out for pumpkins the other day with instructions to buy 10 pumpkins and he came home with only 5!! What will the neighbors think??)

Happy Birthday Alexia!

So Alexia's 1st birthday party went off without a hitch. We were honored with the presence of 2 little girls from our travel group. It is so nice to see them again as we have not since our return. I miss all those little girls tremendously!

Alexia had her first cupcake (which Mama baked at 6:30AM!) and she certainly took her time to get into it... close to 30 minutes! People got fed of waiting to she what she did with it (including myself!). But a couple of bites were taken and then she was off to something else.

Opening presents... well, that is certainly going to take the entire week. Alexia managed to open only 3 presents but that's OK, as at our house, we celebrate Birthday Week! Every day for one week is our birthday.

Happy Birthday my sweet Alexia!

Alexia turns 1 today!

That's right... my sweet, sweet Alexia turns one today! It is hardly believable that we actually have her in our arms on her first birthday. This is truly very special! Her actual party will be held tomorrow so we will have more pictures of birthday girl then. Tonight, however, we went to a birthday party of a dear friend whose daughter is our babysitter and who is also adopted from China. This special girl is also the reason why we have our two pearls from China as once we met her, we knew we had to go to China. Isn't life funny sometimes?

Alexia is getting her third tooth and was up late tonight so I hope that she will not be a mess tomorrow. I, on the other hand, must go and finish up with party preparations. I really do not want to be up all night!

What's in a name

You know... these little girls we bring home from China and become a part of our family instantaneously, sure end up with a lot of names! They come with a Chinese name and then we go and change it on them to something a little more North American (easier to pronounce). Sometimes we keep part of their Chinese name as an homage to their roots. Then some of us have a nickname (or several) for them.

So at the end of the day, our daughters' names look like this:



(Chinese name)


Guang Yun Xia (Chinese name in pinyin pronounced Guang Yun Shia)
Alexia Yun Xia Angeli Farrell (complete North American name)
Alexia (usual name)
Yun Xia (name we used in China)
Xia Xia (nickname since arriving home and common Chinese nickname)
Mei Mei (pre-China nickname)
Thing 2 (Cara-Li's choice of nickname based on 'Cat in the Hat')
Dumpling (our cutsy nickname)




(Chinese name)

Qin Li Cui (Chinese name in pinyin pronounced Chin Li Tsway)
Cara-Li Cui Angeli Farrell (complete North American name)
Cara-Li (usual name)
Li Cui ( name we used in China)
Cui Cui (new nickname since this trip to China)
Jie Jie (pre-China nickname)
Thing 1 (Cara-Li's choice of nickname based on 'Cat in the Hat')
Spring Roll (our cutsy nickname)

How these girls know what to answer to! And believe me, they do!

3 days and counting!

That's right... my little baby girl turns one this Saturday. Unbelievable! And, go ahead and ask me... did I work on her birthday festivities yet? Nope. We are have a little party for her on Sunday so that gives me 4 days to get my act in gear. Friday will be my big shopping day for decorations, loot bags, gifts etc. My darling husband suggested we order platters of food from a local restaurant / take-out place just around the corner. After much hesitation, I agreed and, let me tell you, what a load off my shoulders! First time that I do not have to dream up a menu... someone else has done it me. Great!

Oh... and I mention that Alexia has started to walk! Yup... for a few weeks now she was standing very sturdily and then last week, she started taking a couple of steps unassisted. Yesterday, she took a total of 12 steps before realizing what she was doing and, of course, threw herself down. It won't be long now before she starts to tear through the entire house! Too cute!

Craziness!

Let me tell you... life is very hectic with two kids! Between getting the older one to school every day, to her activities and to her playdates and then getting the younger one to all her activities between naps, it certainly does not leave a lot of free time for mama. Not to mention that mama tries to work for 2 - 4 hours per day. I have so much on the go these days work wise that needs to be done before the end of this month. In November, I will be much freer... yeah, right! It will then be time to start thinking about Christmas!

We spent the long Thanksgiving weekend in Guelph, Ontario where part of Gord's family resides. They finally got to meet Alexia and fun was had by all! We went apple picking at the famous Chudleigh's Farm and then went antique hunting at Aberfoyle's Antique Market. Wow! What a place! Must go back to this place with a plan. There is so much to see and fabulous finds to be had. I got another sewing box. Yes, because you always need more than one. Haha! Did I tell you I hate to sew?

We had two fabulous meals at Auntie Karen's (Thanks Karen!) which included turkey, of course! This is the one time a year that I have turkey (being Italian, we have lasagne at Christmas... yumyum) and boy, I overeat every single time. To the point that I must lie down on the couch for the rest of the night groaning in pain! Here's a funny shot of Karen's grandson and my great-nefew, Cayden. Too funny!

Gord then headed off to Atlanta for the week and he left me alone with two kids... for the entire week! Thus the other reason for not posting! Oh, and did I mention that all my girlfriends are getting together this weekend in Mont-Tremblant to celebrate all our 40th birthdays? Luckily, Gord is back early tomorrow afternoon and therefore I will be joining them for dinner after missing the spa day :( and spending the night. Gord still does not believe that I will be leaving him alone for one night with two kids. I guess he will start believing it when he sees by car pull out of the driveway the second he gets home. Heehee!

I leave you with a cute shot of my Southern Belles. I must go pack for my night away from home and write up an instruction manual for my husband on how to care for two children at the same time!