Happy Birthday Aunt Heidi!

Here's a cute pose for ya:
One of my favorite Esther T-shirts:

Poor Sydney...Esther's new thing is pulling the cat's tail but so far he's been a good sport:

At my sister's birthday party, here's Ivy and Esther:

I don't know, maybe they were singing a duet:

Yummy cupcake:

Saving some frosting for later:

Esther's saving some, too, but it's vanilla:

Sorry, no pictures...

but here's an interesting link about riots in China concerning population controls: http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/21/asia/china.3-58166.php#top
The province it's taking place in is Guangxi, where Esther was born.

A New Elmo Chair...life can't get any better than this:

Mid-slide (do you like our action photo?):

Twirling with Mommy:

Look at our sweet chickadee:

Doesn't she look so much older in this picture?

I learned something new this weekend...not only does it seem Gene and Esther have the same expression in their photos but apparently it's hereditary because look at Nana and Esther. Here's Nana, Papa and E:

Happy Mother's Day!

Wow! I'm a mom. Hee hee. I had a good day being with my daughter and family.

We headed to Sequim this weekend to visit my mom. Added bonus: the Sequim Irrigation Festival was in full swing which included the tiny carnival. There's Gene, Esther and Bela venturing down the slide of doom:

Snug as a bug in a rug (it was a bit chilly so Pan Pan and Mom snuggled up in Gene's sweatshirt):

Hanging out with my mom's dog Tessie:

Tessie and Esther seemed to like each other...but were both a bit cautious:

Lounging on Nana Carolyn and Grandpa Bob's bed:

Piano lessons with Bela and Nana:

Pan Pan is showing Nana how it's done:

Nana, Grandpa Bob and Esther, oh yeah... and Tessie:

So does this mean that we have to grow up now?

We bought a family car...a Subaru Forester. Gene loved his 2-door VW GTI but I basically had to throw Esther into the back seat. This is much easier to put her into: See, she's so happy:

Here's Esther trying to get into the safe:

Playing in the sandbox...yes, she did consume some:

Helping Daddy with some animation at work:

Not only did we buy a new car, but we also got Esther some new wheels:

Lots of pictures!!!

Caught in the act of doing something she knows she's not supposed to do...opening the toilet lid: (We do have a "child-proof" thing for the toilet, but it keeps falling off of on it's own.)

We finally made it to the pool for Esther's first swim. I think she thought it was a really big bathtub. It was fun, but Daddy couldn't join us because he just got a new tatoo. Next time.

Gardening on our patio...well, really just playing in the dirt because Mom isn't much of a gardener. I have really good intentions.

At the park, Esther's deciding if she should go down the slide or not:

This was taken after her doctor's visit...she was emotionally exhausted and fell fast asleep:

Teething has caused Pan Pan to take drastic action...chewing on Dad:

Happy girl:

Uh oh...now she's started chewing Daddy's butt:

Seven teeth and counting...

...Pan Pan's been teething a lot (which translates to lots of drool). Her eighth tooth is trying to poke through now. I can't wait until she gets her molars, because maybe then she'll like meat. Right now she just spits it out...hey, maybe she's trying to tell me she's vegetarian.
We're having to intensify our child-proofing efforts as she's learning how to get into everything! And can I just say most child-proofing supplies are cheap and/or useless, which really irks me. What's the point of buying this stuff if Esther can get past it in two seconds flat. How long does this hyper-vigilance last? Seventeen more years?

Looking at the ducks behind Juliet's store. Gene had to hold her tight, because she really wanted in that water. It's hard to see but there's a little baby chick swimming in the water.

This was a weird caterpillar thingy that Pan Pan and her Daddy crawled through (much to the delight of Gene's knees).

Checking out Dad's new work studio...and pretending to be Pacman:

We attended an AWAA (our adoption agency) get-together today and the next few photos are of the girls. Esther played nice most of the time though she does tend to take over when she's around other little kids. She runs around like she owns the place. This is something that we'll have to work on as she gets older. Don't get me wrong, I love her strong personality but sometimes she can be a little overbearing. Daddy put the monkey on her butt.

This is Brianna, she's 5 years old. She didn't want to be photographed with her sister...only alone. Sibling rivalry starts early. She was a bit more reserved than her sister and very sweet.

On the left is her younger sister, Sheilynn (age ?), who has a personality similar to Esther's (social/outgoing). To the right is Kaylyn (sp?) who is two and a half. She is quiet and gentle.