Mother's Day 2010

1) Yes it is basically July and I am posting about May (busy mama).

2) Mother's day was a very mixed bag of emotions.

On a sad note Mark's Grandmother died on Mother's day weekend and obviously it was tough to find the balance between happy and sad for us all. On a happy note I was FINALLY a Mother on Mothers day. Ya know in many ways it did not feel like my 1st mothers day. Last Mother's day we had Laney's pictures and were making plans to meet her within weeks so honestly in my heart I had a Mother's Day in 2009 she was just not in my arms yet but wow it still was an amazing Mother's day last year too. It also feels like Laney has been with us forever so how could it be my 1st mothers day? She just fits our family so amazingly well and 110% she is the little girl of my dreams, she is 110% my daughter and I am proud to be her Mama. It is more than I could have ever asked for. My dear hubby and Laney made me an awesome homemade card that I will forever cherish. I got tons of hugs, kisses and a game of hot and cold (Laney was funny and would tell me I was cold if I was not near my gifts and hot if I was close to my gifts. "Hot Mama, No cold Mama"........TOO FUNNY). I eventually found a gift card for a massage and a Jade necklace/earring set with Mother/Daughter Chinese symbols. We also got to enjoy brunch with my Mother and Dinner with his Mother and let's face it Grandmothers are rockin mothers too. So now I better get posting about father's day so I am not so behind :)

napping with pooh

We cracked up on this day (May 2010) when she had her leg through Pooh's shirt during her afternoon nap.

cousin party fun

Laney's little cousin (he is 1 day younger than her) had a birthday party in May and she had so much fun. The Mickey Mouse tattoo on her cheek was a huge hit and she asked looking in the mirror many times a day where it was for weeks after we washed it off. This is how she got hooked on "the Mouse". Her older cousin (who is almost 4) gave her a ride in the pink Jeep. FUN!

Tea time

Tea time photos from May 2010

Let's bake

I have to say this is 1 of those moments I dreamt of. All those years dreaming of being a Mom. This is 1 of the things I longed to share with my daughter. Laney helped me (May 2010) bake cakes and it melted my heart. I have amazing memories of my grandmother and I in the kitchen and ohhhh seeing Laney and I in the kitchen baking ohhhhhhhhhh AWESOME, awesome, awesome! The 1st picture is now 1 of my new favorites!!

Flowers

In May we got 2 sets of Flowers (1 sympathy and 1 happy birthday) Mark's Gram's funeral happened to be on my birthday (which was also mother's day weekend) so a sad and happy mixed time for sure. Laney loves flowers and really has a way of cheering us up.

1st shrimp, 1st peanut butter

The end of April marked Laney's 1st try of Shrimp!! The end of May marked her 1st try of Peanut butter ( I did not get a photo of that yet but there is plenty of opportunity since she loves it and asks for it often). As she calls it "P BUTTER". For us we wanted to do these firsts at home at least 1 month apart in case of any reactions. Yahoo all went fine. YUM, let's eat!

BIG and little

Big truck...........................little Laney (April 2010)

getting longer hair

pictures from April 2010

June 6th

On June 6, 2009 we returned home from the adventure of a lifetime. I just cannot believe one year ago we returned home from China! Unreal to think how much has changed in 1 year. How quickly 1 year went by. How amazing our little angel Laney is. How much joy she brings us every second of everyday. WOW

May 31, 2010

May 31, 2010 we celebrated Memorial Day at Laney's first parade. We also celebrated the best blind date EVER (14 years ago WOW)!

Cake 1, 2, 3, 4

wow cakes 1, 2, 3, 4 we really did improve over time!

Birthday party and cake # 4

On Sunday, May 30, 2010 we had birthday party # 4 for our little 2 year old. Our final birthday bash for the party girl. Her cousins enjoyed the outdoor & indoor fun. Mark & I made our 4th & final (dairy free) guitar cake. I need to put all 4 pictures side by side to see if we improved with each one? We again used the candle just like the one she had when we were in China (we hang onto every little China memory - such an amazing trip)! The girl is a pro at blowing out birthday candles, opening presents and singing "happy birthday" after 4 parties go figure - lol.