February Update

Gung Hay Fat Choy, everyone!

Happy Chinese New Year! How have we been? Busy, busy, busy. That's all I can say. Two kids, preschool, library storytime, cleaning, cooking, pets, errands, familyl time, playdates, kiddie birthday parties, now Chinese New Year celebrations--it's like any other kid-filled household. We do have a surgery date for David, and it's March 17th--St. Patrick's Day! More to come on that.

Dire Conditions at Chinese Orphanages

I feel terrible for not posting this sooner, but life has been so crazy. Central and South China has been hit heavily by winter storms, and the orphanages are struggling to deal with weather they've never seen before. Emily's orphanage received tons of donations to buy coal and clothes for the older children at the orphanage. Since the babies at Cenxi are all in foster care, foster families are keeping the children warm in bed with them. Many other orphanages across China are still struggling. Apparently Tianjin (David's orphanage) is used to cold weather, because there aren't any issues with the orphanage.

Life with Two

Gifts continue to arrive at the house, and we're overwhelmed with everyone's generosity. Thanks to Mary Ellen, Jack and Suzie, Gloria and Mel, Fliss and Mike...I hope I haven't forgotten anyone! Jack and Suzie, we bought a slide for the kids with your gift, so I promise to get photos soon. They love it! Mary Ellen, I can stock up on kids music, thanks to you! And thanks, Nai Nai Phyllis, for the great outfits and stuffed animals! I did get photos, below:

And a big thanks to Papa Lee for building Emily a super duper kitchen stool! You can see it in the above photos. We saw this in catalogs for $180., but why spend money when you can get Pop to build it! Thanks to Kanti (Pop's best friend and woodworking mentor), as always, for his input. Emily spends so much time with me in the kitchen that it seemed a natural thing to have--a kid-safe stool that allows her to work at the counter with me. Of course, we forgot that we'd have David when Pop finished the stool, so now we've learned to keep the countertops free of most things! They're having a ball with it.



Aunt Cindy and cousin Cassie arrive next week, which is causing great excitement in the house. Aunt Cindy is bringing a much coveted Disney Princess Aurora dress, and Emily is beside herself. Cindy photographed the dress and matching Aurora shoes in the store, and emailed it via cell phone to make sure she had the right one. Emily is pretty excited!