Yen Yen is 1 month at home (tomorrow) and already it feels like she has always been with us. The boys are crazy in love with her and I walk around the house saying, “I never knew I could love like this before.”

Chaeli is the perfect baby and our family is rejoicing over her daily, at how perfectly God answers prayers. She is crawling from room to room and is pulling herself up and walking along her crib and our furniture.

She loves her new excersaucer (from Pat & Cindy Frye) and is so happy when she takes her baths (see th epictures I have posted).

The girl is a little fish! Her newest talent is that she puts her head down on the floor, hands and feet planted firmly (like she is going to do a somer sualt), and then she lifts her butt up in the air (holds the position) and does the wiggle dance! It is the cutest thing you have ever seen! I swear she will be doing somersaults by the end of the week!

Here are some of the latest pictures of our little Sugar Plum. We will celebrate her first birthday on February 28th! Love to you all ~

Sheila & Dan.

P.S. OK so we are jumping the gun a little by putting Chaeli in her swim suits…but we can dream can’t we! Can’t wait for the long, lazy days of summer with Yen Yen on my hip! Thank you Auntie Christ and Uncle Dean for buying Yen Yen her first pink bathing suite.

Tomorrow Dan turns 42 and all the boys (and girls!) at our house are getting ready to celebrate a nice, quiet birthday with Danny (we love him so!) Today Chaeli is fighting her first cold but is still managing to crawl all over the place exploring every nook and cranny of her room. I wanted to post a picture of Yen Yen all in black so her Na Na could see how cute she looks in the outfit she bought her. Also, these pictures are for my Auntie Carol who called today and wanted me to describe (in detail, on the phone) what Chaeli was wearing.

Now you can all see her and love her today! Please pray her little nose stops running and she recovers quickly from her first sick bug. Oh and before I forget… Yen Yen started eating solids! She LOVES sweet potatoes, plums and oatmeal – who would have known she would grow up so fast?!

The other day my good long time friend Tammy came over with her two very beautiful daughters (both of whom she adopted from China!) They loved Chaeli up and smothered her with kisses and giggles. Emma is the oldest and came from the Shaanzi provence and Abbey came from Guangdong Provence just like our Chaeli. Tammy asked us to bring her back some traditional Chinese clothing for her girls, and they were so excited to put them on! Emma, who loves to dance, twirled around in cirlces in her new dress, while Abbey playfully bounced on the couch. What an amazing site to see two children born of a common ancestory, in opposite parts of their country, finally together as the sisters God intended them to be. After seeing these beautiful girls playing together, Dan thinks we should go to China again and get Chaeli a little sister (I say I would take them all if I could!)

Dan’s parents Paul & Maureen came down a few days ago to meet little Chaeli. It was Grandpa Paul’s first time seeing his new grandaughter. We think he was smitten by her, of course Grandma was for sure! Chaeli seems to have that affect on everyone though… We still fight around here to hold her and rock her to sleep. Can’t wait for you all to meet her!

Yen Yen wanted to thank both of her Grandmas for the beautiful baby sweaters they gave her! The yellow and white one was lovingly knit by her talented Grandma Maureen and the blue one was lovingly bought by my Mom with the best shopping eye around! We call it her “blue bell” outfit. Funny how the colors I used to put on my baby boys (yellow and blue) are now adorning my little girl. I swore she’d never wear anything blue either, but what can I say? It is one of her best colors (just like pink and red).

The snow has kept us bundled up mostly inside these first few days but we did venture out to downtown Snohomish 2 days ago and will be returning there this afternoon. Chase runs track at the high school there, so while he gets his workouts Chaeli and I window shop in all of the antique stores and baby boutiques. She is so much fun to have around! She just started to clap her hands and really move around on the floor. She was crawling before, but now she is easily crawling from one room to another and is even standing up on her legs while holding on to something (wow! I forgot how exciting a baby’s first steps can be!) I wish everyone could have a baby at 40 so they could experience the fun and the joy that I am having. It is simply the best gift one could receive!

Today marked the first week home with beautiful Yen Yen. We woke up to a gorgeous sunrise on a Wintery day. The view from our window was absolutely breathtaking!

I took a few pictures of the boys outside today sledding with the neighbors (they were pretty excited about a no school day in the middle of the week!) I also managed to snap a photo of the tree outfront that looked magical with all of the snow laying on its branches. Winter can really be beautiful.

I kept Chaeli inside all day due to the cold and what did we do??? We played dress up together! This girl is just like a baby doll, so much fun to hold and squeeze. Why is it that Yen Yen looks so good in everything I put on her?! She just takes my breath away ~ especially when I am with her like this.

Chase and I ventured out today around 4pm in the snow and I stopped off and bought Chaeli her first little snow suit. It fit perfectly (6-9 mos). I don’t ever want her to grow up. We took her out to our back yard for a brief minute or two to let her experience the snow. She didn’t say much but her eyes were taking it all in. Brrr! I couldn’t take but a few minutes of it myself!

It is going to be so much fun watching Chaeli experience her life here in the NorthWest. She never had snow in her 10 months in Guangdong.

I hope you are all enjoying this baby as much as we are! She is so precious, in every way.

Our thanks goes out to Uncle Buddy who bought Chaeli her first music box! It attaches to her crib and plays bach and beethoven music while lights and fish move around in an aquarium. Chaeli loved it at first sight! The moment we put it in her crib she began dancing and crawling towards it. She loves to spin the crab and the seashell toys that are attached. My Mom asked me to post some pictures of her enjoying the music box in her crib so here you go Mom! Tell Uncle Buddy he’s the best!

Chaeli also got a new bath chair so that she can take bath swith her brothers without the worry of slipping too far into the tub. I snuck in and grabbed a couple of pictures of her with brother Cael who was teaching her how to play in the bath.

Cael also fed Chaeli her very first bottle today. This was a really big deal to Cael and he was careful to hold her “just right.” From the picture you can see how relaxed Chaeli was.

Cael came into the room last night to kiss Chaeli goodnight and I heard him tell her, “I would die for you Chaeli.” Those were strong words coming from a 7 year old boy. I asked him why he said that and he replied, “Because I would Mom.” Cael is learning to love and to attach with his sister in a way that is all his own.

Last night my dear, sweet friend Ali came over and brought Chaeli and I matching sandals from Hawaii’s best, most spectacular store “Cinnamon Girl.” It is a store that specializes in matching Mother & Daughter everything! Ali was so kind to think of Chaeli and me and to bring us these gorgeous shoes! How beautiful are they?! Thank you Ali for a one of a kind gift.

Well Chaeli is fast asleep, Dan is sacked out, and all the boys are tucked snug as a bug under their covers. I am enjoying my last few minutes of quiet time before heading down the hall to my slumber oasis. I can’t tell you how glorious and (much appreciated) my sleep is these days. It is something only mothers of infant children can comprehend.

Love to you all and I hope everyone is staying warm in the winter storm.

Love Sheila.