This was our first Christmas together in our new home! Wow, Luke, it was just wonderful! You and I were very excited about everything to do with Christmas! We bought our first Christmas tree the day before Thanksgiving. You and I went to several stores in order to look at all the trees... Mommy wanted to make sure I bought the prettiest tree for our new home! After looking at all of the trees, we decided we liked the one at the hardware store the best! You were so excited... We both were! We bought a lot of new lights and a lot of new ribbon to hang around our new tree! We found ribbon that looked like candy canes, and we bought a lot of it because we were so excited! We stayed up very late the night before Thanksgiving because we were just so excited!
Thanksgiving is at Aunt Sandy and Uncle Joe's house every year. We picked up Grandma, and drove over to spend the day with everyone! Koko and Bob celebrate Thanksgiving with us every year... What a treat! You had so much fun, as always! We have so much to be thankful for, Luke. You and I are truly blessed! You and I got our Christmas tree out of the box before bed... We were just so excited! We watched the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving movie, and went to sleep!
We decorated the tree in our new home for the rest of Thanksgiving weekend! It looked so beautiful! Mommy took a lot of pictures because we were both very proud of our Christmas tree! You had just started a NEW PRESCHOOL in our neighborhood! It took a while for Mommy to find your new school in our new neighborhood, but it was well worth every minute of the search! Again, we are very blessed, son! Mommy actually attended this very school as a preschooler! Thank goodness it was still such a wonderful school, with such wonderful teachers, after all these years!
Koko and Bob came over to celebrate Christmas with us before they left town, and Grandma came with them. We stayed in and ordered pizza, because you had a double ear infection. You usually got one of those per year. You didn't let it stop you from having fun with Koko and Bob, and you liked telling them about your 'double ear!' Koko gave you 2 great long-sleeve shirts, and a lot of great dinosaurs! Koko always knows just what you love!
The next day, you had your annual check-up with the Orthopedic Surgeon at Cincinnati Children's. On the way to the Orthopedic Department, you and I were walking down a very busy and very crowded hallway. We ran into Carrie, your nurse during surgery, and during the first 6 months of your treatment. Mommy visited with her for a few minutes, and told her what a wonderful young boy that you've grown to be. We were blessed to have Carrie and Marcia as your nurses back then! What a blessing to run into Carrie in that crowded hallway, in that crowded Children's Hospital! Would you believe it if I told you that the same thing happened last year?
We spent Christmas Eve Day at Aunt Sandy and Uncle Joe's house. Mommy bought you a book of paper airplanes to put together. Cousin Justin helped you fold the airplane, and you loved it! Uncle Joe made a binder for you to keep your drawings and 'your work!' You loved it, and you loved spending the day with your family. Aunt Sandy and Uncle Joe gave you a fun game called "Zingo!" and Legos that light up! Later that evening, we all went to Aunt Cathy's for her party! Santa always comes to that party! You have so much fun climbing up and down the stairs, playing with all the other boys and girls, eating all of the treats! Santa gave you a wooden train for painting and you really loved it! We got home so late... We put an iced cookie out for Santa, and read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. You put on your new "Grinch" Christmas Pajamas before going to bed. It was late!
The next morning, we opened stockings before going to get Grandma. In your stocking were two wooden musical egg shakers, straws, a chocolate Santa, and snowman chocolate squares. You were so excited for Grandma to spend Christmas Day at our new house! You were excited that it was her Birthday, too! Santa brought you a Razor Cruiser Scooter this year! He brought you two containers for your lunchbox, and a Mickey Mouse Candy-cane figurine. Aunt Gerry sent you a fun snowman Christmas stocking, a dancing elf, and a note telling you that Highlights Magazine would be on the way, in the mailbox soon! Grandma gave you a Playdough Fun Factory, Pirate Legos, The Polar Express movie and Fireman Legos. We had a wonderful day! Merry Christmas, Baby! I love you!
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
November 4, 2015. Luke Turns 5!
Happy Birthday, Luke! You are 5 years old, now! I could not be more proud! What a big boy you are growing up to be! I remember the first time I saw your picture... It was your first birthday, and I was living at Grandma's house. You were a baby, still living in China. You and I were "matched" on your first birthday. You and I found each other on your first birthday, four years ago, today! You and I have been a family for always! We are blessed, Luke!
You are having a Curious George Birthday this year... He really is your favorite, hands down, and always has been your favorite! We sent party invitations from Aunt Gerry's house in North Carolina! She helped us gather all the supplies we would need, and you helped Mommy make the invitations. Grandma, Koko and Bob, Aunt Sandy and Uncle Joe, and Aunt Trish and Uncle Jerry were all in attendance for your Curious George 5th Birthday party! We all ate dinner together... Mommy ordered dinner from our favorite Chinese restaurant, near Grandma's house. The owner offered to continue delivering to us in our new house, even though his restaurant was in Grandma's neighborhood. He said we were "good people!" We enjoyed our usual: Egg Rolls, Crab Rangoon (your favorite), Sesame Chicken (Mommy's favorite), Green Pepper Steak, and Fried Rice! Mommy ordered your cake from our favorite bakery, and it was just beautiful... The cake was yellow, with blue and red dots. The writing was red, and the candles were yellow. I bought a wooden Curious George toy for the top of your cake... It was George driving a red go-cart! I had the idea while staying in the Curious George Room at Aunt Gerry's. She has Matt's red go-cart at her house in North Carolina. The bakery was giving free cupcakes to customers in their Halloween costume, because Halloween and your birthday are so close together! We ran out to the car and put your Halloween costume on, so that you could have a cupcake while we picked up your birthday cake! It was a lot of fun!
Everyone was so happy to see you and everyone agreed that you were getting big! Your 5th birthday was the first party in our new house! What a success! Grandma gave you 5 crisp dollar bills in your Birthday card, and the Lion in your Precious Moments Birthday Circus Train. Grandma is always your favorite guest. You are always most happy to see her! Koko and Bob gave you the book, Frozen. The also gave you a beautiful book, Wherever You Are My Love Will Find You. That book came as a set with a stuffed toy panda (your favorite!). How does Koko always know exactly what to give you? The little boy in this book is wearing an orange bucket-hat, exactly like the orange bucket-hat you used to wear every day! It's amazing! He looks just like you! When I read the book to you, I just call the little boy, "Luke!" Aunt Sandy and Uncle Joe gave you a building set of miniature toys. You love this toy, and we build a few miniatures before bed every night!
Aunt Trish and Uncle Jerry may have stolen the show with their gift to you! Aunt Trish bought an Air Force shaving bag, and filled it with every gadget that a young boy could ever dream of! Your favorite toy, without a doubt, was the flashlight in the shape of a bug, that bent in every way possible, to stay on your arm, your fingers, your leg, etc. It was amazing, and you loved it, of course. As if that was not enough, Aunt Trish and Uncle Jerry bought you a junior-sized USAF Flight Suit, just like the grown-up Pilots wear! Honestly, it was amazing! You were a little shy, at that point in the party, and did not put the flight suit on. However, you put the flight suit on about 5 minutes after everyone left our house! You were just so excited... Mommy's words really cannot describe your excitement! It was just a lovely birthday party, Baby! Happy 5th Birthday, Luke! Of course, I love you!
You are having a Curious George Birthday this year... He really is your favorite, hands down, and always has been your favorite! We sent party invitations from Aunt Gerry's house in North Carolina! She helped us gather all the supplies we would need, and you helped Mommy make the invitations. Grandma, Koko and Bob, Aunt Sandy and Uncle Joe, and Aunt Trish and Uncle Jerry were all in attendance for your Curious George 5th Birthday party! We all ate dinner together... Mommy ordered dinner from our favorite Chinese restaurant, near Grandma's house. The owner offered to continue delivering to us in our new house, even though his restaurant was in Grandma's neighborhood. He said we were "good people!" We enjoyed our usual: Egg Rolls, Crab Rangoon (your favorite), Sesame Chicken (Mommy's favorite), Green Pepper Steak, and Fried Rice! Mommy ordered your cake from our favorite bakery, and it was just beautiful... The cake was yellow, with blue and red dots. The writing was red, and the candles were yellow. I bought a wooden Curious George toy for the top of your cake... It was George driving a red go-cart! I had the idea while staying in the Curious George Room at Aunt Gerry's. She has Matt's red go-cart at her house in North Carolina. The bakery was giving free cupcakes to customers in their Halloween costume, because Halloween and your birthday are so close together! We ran out to the car and put your Halloween costume on, so that you could have a cupcake while we picked up your birthday cake! It was a lot of fun!
Everyone was so happy to see you and everyone agreed that you were getting big! Your 5th birthday was the first party in our new house! What a success! Grandma gave you 5 crisp dollar bills in your Birthday card, and the Lion in your Precious Moments Birthday Circus Train. Grandma is always your favorite guest. You are always most happy to see her! Koko and Bob gave you the book, Frozen. The also gave you a beautiful book, Wherever You Are My Love Will Find You. That book came as a set with a stuffed toy panda (your favorite!). How does Koko always know exactly what to give you? The little boy in this book is wearing an orange bucket-hat, exactly like the orange bucket-hat you used to wear every day! It's amazing! He looks just like you! When I read the book to you, I just call the little boy, "Luke!" Aunt Sandy and Uncle Joe gave you a building set of miniature toys. You love this toy, and we build a few miniatures before bed every night!
Aunt Trish and Uncle Jerry may have stolen the show with their gift to you! Aunt Trish bought an Air Force shaving bag, and filled it with every gadget that a young boy could ever dream of! Your favorite toy, without a doubt, was the flashlight in the shape of a bug, that bent in every way possible, to stay on your arm, your fingers, your leg, etc. It was amazing, and you loved it, of course. As if that was not enough, Aunt Trish and Uncle Jerry bought you a junior-sized USAF Flight Suit, just like the grown-up Pilots wear! Honestly, it was amazing! You were a little shy, at that point in the party, and did not put the flight suit on. However, you put the flight suit on about 5 minutes after everyone left our house! You were just so excited... Mommy's words really cannot describe your excitement! It was just a lovely birthday party, Baby! Happy 5th Birthday, Luke! Of course, I love you!
October 31, 2015. Halloween!
Hi, Baby! Halloween begins an especially fun time for you! You decided to wear your Panda costume for one more year! You had a Halloween Party with your friends at school, and you brought pretzels. Halloween was on a Friday this year, and we were really excited to Trick-or-Treat in our new neighborhood! We decided to Trick-or-Treat for about an hour and a half, then go home to pass out candy for the last half an hour. The night was a big success, and we both had a great time, son! Happy Halloween!
P.S. Your birthday party is in 2 days! Hooray!
P.S. Your birthday party is in 2 days! Hooray!
October 2015, Fall Break. Back to North Carolina!
It's time for your second vacation, your second trip to Greensboro, NC, to see Aunt Gerry, Uncle Bob, and cousins, Bobby, David, Holly, Matt, and Jenna! This time, Aunt Gerry will take us to the mountains for the Woolly Worm Festival! We love going to Aunt Gerry's, of course, and she is always so happy to see us! Cousin Bobby brought over a few animals for you to see... He helps nurse them back to health, and you got to hold the baby bird, with his help. Aunt Gerry took us to a pumpkin patch, and you got to pick a pumpkin with Matt and Jenna! You absolutely picked the biggest pumpkin in the entire pumpkin patch! Matt could hardly carry it! Matt helped you carve your pumpkin that afternoon in Aunt Gerry's driveway. We all went to see Cousin Holly and Cousin David play kickball, and you loved that, of course! Aunt Gerry and Jenna took you to Build-a-Bear, where Jenna helped you build your black and white puppy! She helped you pick the puppy's music (Frozen) and helped you pick the puppy's name (Pirate "Smee")! Aunt Gerry had a lot of fun helping you dress the puppy in a jack-o-lantern costume! This puppy was your Birthday gift from Aunt Gerry! What fun, Baby! We were able to go see Jenna perform in her class play, Aesop's Fables. Jenna played the Tortoise (from The Tortoise and the Hare). You loved this, and really loved Jenna in her play. We all did... She was amazing and the play was a big success!
On Saturday morning, Aunt Gerry and Matt took us to their house in the mountains! We were going to The Woolly Worm Festival and we could not be more excited! We stopped to get donuts and orange juice for the car trip, on our way out of town! You loved sitting with Matt in the back seat! We stopped for pizza when we got into the mountains, before we went to the cabin. That night, you loved working on puzzles with Aunt Gerry and Matt. You also loved playing with Matt while he was watching his baseball game! He would toss you up in the air, and you could not get enough of that game! The next morning, we all went to breakfast before heading to the festival. Aunt Gerry immediately found a face-painting artist, and you had a beautiful Woolly Worm painted on your face! You got so many compliments on your face-painting because it was so beautiful! We spent the day walking around the festival, eating great foods, and enjoying the sights! Mommy bought you a Woolly Worm Christmas ornament. Aunt Gerry bought you a children's book written and signed by a local artist. You and I read that book a lot! When it was time for the big race, you were so excited! We actually had a hard time finding our worms, because the festival was almost over. Aunt Gerry would not stop, however, until we all had our worms for the big race! It was all just so exciting, baby, and we were all amazed and elated to see your worm come in second place! You won second place, and everyone cheered for you and your woolly worm (Pirate "Smee")! We talked about that race for the rest of our vacation, Baby! We still talk about it! You won a red ribbon, and Aunt Gerry pinned it to your shirt! She bought you a hand-made bug catcher, and you carried your woolly worm around for the rest of our vacation! Holly and Jenna were so excited to hear about the big race, and of course, they loved your face painting! We had so much fun on our vacation to North Carolina!
On Saturday morning, Aunt Gerry and Matt took us to their house in the mountains! We were going to The Woolly Worm Festival and we could not be more excited! We stopped to get donuts and orange juice for the car trip, on our way out of town! You loved sitting with Matt in the back seat! We stopped for pizza when we got into the mountains, before we went to the cabin. That night, you loved working on puzzles with Aunt Gerry and Matt. You also loved playing with Matt while he was watching his baseball game! He would toss you up in the air, and you could not get enough of that game! The next morning, we all went to breakfast before heading to the festival. Aunt Gerry immediately found a face-painting artist, and you had a beautiful Woolly Worm painted on your face! You got so many compliments on your face-painting because it was so beautiful! We spent the day walking around the festival, eating great foods, and enjoying the sights! Mommy bought you a Woolly Worm Christmas ornament. Aunt Gerry bought you a children's book written and signed by a local artist. You and I read that book a lot! When it was time for the big race, you were so excited! We actually had a hard time finding our worms, because the festival was almost over. Aunt Gerry would not stop, however, until we all had our worms for the big race! It was all just so exciting, baby, and we were all amazed and elated to see your worm come in second place! You won second place, and everyone cheered for you and your woolly worm (Pirate "Smee")! We talked about that race for the rest of our vacation, Baby! We still talk about it! You won a red ribbon, and Aunt Gerry pinned it to your shirt! She bought you a hand-made bug catcher, and you carried your woolly worm around for the rest of our vacation! Holly and Jenna were so excited to hear about the big race, and of course, they loved your face painting! We had so much fun on our vacation to North Carolina!
August 10, 2015. Gotcha Day!
Today is the third anniversary of your adoption! Incredible, baby! Three years ago, you and I had just finished our adoption papers in China, and we were ready to go home. Our journey home took us to 4 different airports, and 3 different airplanes. About 32 hours later, Grandma, Koko, and Bob met us at the airport as we had finally arrived home together! I was so proud of you, and everyone was amazed at how happy you were. Everyone is still amazed at how happy you are! You are a joyful child, Luke. You are very loved!
This year, Mommy took you to the zoo to celebrate Gotcha Day! This was our second trip to the zoo together... We first went to the zoo in Guangzhou, as a part of our adoption adventures! When you are a little bit older, Mommy will let you decide what we do to celebrate our adoption day. This year, I chose the Cincinnati Zoo... I am so glad I did! We had so much fun seeing all of the animals, and spending the day together. You got to see 3 baby lions, as close as your nose! The zookeepers had a lot of toys and ribbons to attract the cubs, and you had a front row seat to watch them play! Mommy filmed most of that... It was amazing and I'm so glad you were there to be a part of that! The Mommy and Daddy lion were laying right behind their cubs! We had a great trip to the zoo, Baby! I love you very much. I am very Blessed to be your Mommy.
This year, Mommy took you to the zoo to celebrate Gotcha Day! This was our second trip to the zoo together... We first went to the zoo in Guangzhou, as a part of our adoption adventures! When you are a little bit older, Mommy will let you decide what we do to celebrate our adoption day. This year, I chose the Cincinnati Zoo... I am so glad I did! We had so much fun seeing all of the animals, and spending the day together. You got to see 3 baby lions, as close as your nose! The zookeepers had a lot of toys and ribbons to attract the cubs, and you had a front row seat to watch them play! Mommy filmed most of that... It was amazing and I'm so glad you were there to be a part of that! The Mommy and Daddy lion were laying right behind their cubs! We had a great trip to the zoo, Baby! I love you very much. I am very Blessed to be your Mommy.
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