the dog days of summer

Today there was a little organized get-together at the Windsor Park and Pool. The Mommies brought their little ones and some good friends dropped by as well. It was a fabulous day, over 30°C and the pool water was freezing, not that we minded much, we needed the cool down and the kiddies loved it. Well, I should say, all but baby Zachy, he much prefers the temperature of his bath water! Between the pool and the park, the children ran around after each other, having fun and making little friends. Ahhh the dog days of summer, don't you just love them?! More pictures from our get together here.

my sunday best

If there was such a thing as wearing your Sunday best, this dress would be on the top of that list. This dress came the whole way from Florida, a gift from a very sweet couple, Kenton & Michele, who also happened to be at our Church today! Lilah sure looks cute in it. She spent a lot of time in the mirror this morning, rubbing her belly and saying 'pretty', more times than I can remember!

ccaa: meeting some of the staff

This evening we had the absolute honour of meeting a few of the staff who work at the China Center of Adoption Affairs. This is the place in Beijing, China where all our paperwork goes, families are 'matched' with their little ones and dreams are made reality!

The CCAA staff are here in Canada for a few days and the executive director of our adoption agency had a little get together and delicious supper for us all in her beautiful home. I think it is more than obvious (from these pictures) that Lilah had a very fun time. She especially loved the trampoline and the hot tub! I think the CCAA staff really appreciated seeing some 'real' families. I'd think seeing it on paper every day is quite different to actually seeing it in real life. They had their digital cameras on the ready, taking pictures and recording some precious fun moments.

To all the CCAA staff; it was so nice meeting you, thank you for the lovely trinket box and necklace you gave Lilah. We are indebted to you for all your hard work in making our dream come true. And also a special thanks to Sandra and her family for inviting us to join them on this special occassion, it was indeed a privilege.

From left to right:
Ms. Wu Shuqian, Staff Member of Finance Department.
Ms. Chu Xiaoying, Deputy Director General of CCAA.
Lilah, our daughter!
Ms. Cui Yan, Staff Member of Department 1.

Mr. Chen Yaming, Director of IT Department - Lilah really took to him!

Mr. Zhang Youwei, Deputy Director of Domestic Adoption Department.

Gifts given to Lilah from the CCAA staff, marking a special occassion.

windsor outdoor pool

Today was hot and sunny, the perfect day for a trip to the local outdoor wading pool. Lilah and I loaded up the stroller and of we went. The water was freezing, unfortunately the pool is filled and emptied every day, but the cold water didn't hold Lilah back. She loved it!

Now that I think about it more, Lilah seems to have a very positive attitude/personality and makes the best of just about any situation. The only time we get to call her 'The Bear' is when she wakes up after her midday nap. Not every day, but some days it ain't pretty!

The first picture below is the moment I told her we were going to the pool, is that the happiest smile on earth or what?! And this picture was taken a few minutes later when I was taking her picture instead of taking her to the pool, ha-ha! Her little personality, it sure does make me smile. More pictures from our day here.

sunflowers and a wagon ride

Probably not the best day to wear white, but yes, Lilah and I spent this morning checking out the experimental farm. The big attraction today was a horse drawn wagon ride for Lilah, and sunflowers for me! Lilah is much more interactive now, she continually says "Wassa?". We had a lovely time and it was such a beautiful day. The word of the day is...wait for it...'barley'! More pictures from our morning at the farm here.

Oh, and Lilah's Na and Pa are going to be sad to hear this, but Lilah will not make a good farmer's wife! The whole way around the animal barn all she could do was point and say 'messy' and 'dirty' in utter disgust!

the princess and the frog

Did you know there's a new Disney film coming to theatres in December called 'The Princess and the Frog'? Yep, just in time for Christmas! When Lilah was dancing around the house in this outfit this evening, it made me think of it.

It's been awhile since I bought this beautiful set from the very sweet and talented Wendy at Waterfalls*n*Rainbows, and I just realized yesterday that it actually fits Lilah. Her favourite parts are the little frog bell (that is attached to the skirt) and the belt! She was thrilled to have a belt, just like Baba and Mama! She danced around the house in it for a long time, just loving the feeling of the long flowing skirt and the bell jingling away of course! Thanks so much Wendy for making this beautiful froggy shirt and skirt for Lilah, you are an amazing seamstress and Lilah adores it! A few more pictures here.

precious

there is no beauty like happiness

happiness is you
happiness is to love and be loved
happiness is infectious
happiness is a trip to the park
happiness is running in the wind
happiness is picking flowers
happiness is seeing you so happy, Lilah Grace

[ more pictures from yesterday here ]

beautiful 'lilah' bracelet

My fellow blogger and adoptive mama Gin, who brought home her adorable Kerry Lu a little over a month ago, sent Lilah this sweet personalized bracelet in the mail a while back. I finally got a few pictures of her wearing it recently. It's beautiful, you are so kind Gin, thank you so much! There are a few more pictures here, you can see she is rather taken with it!

happy birthday nono!

To the best Nono and Mama around, happy birthday!
We love you so very much, enjoy your special day. xoxox

ontario day at britannia beach

Yesterday was a Civic Holiday called Ontario Day. We spent the day mostly relaxing, had lunch and then headed to a man-made beach on the Ottawa River at Britannia Bay. We realize now (after our trip to Picton) how much Lilah loves the sand and water, so we plan to try and get as many as possible of these kinda days squeezed into our schedule this summer. Here are a few more pictures of Lilah loving every minute of dipping her feet in the water and getting buried in the sand.

oh the difference six months makes

I took a few pictures of Lilah at lunch time today and when I uploaded them, I realized they looked similiar to some I'd taken a while back. So off I went in search... Yep, same chair, same bib, only six months earlier. Where on earth does the time go and what a change those six months have made on our sweet daughter. A few more pictures of our little foodie here.

cooling off in the shoppin' bin!

Buying a little paddling pool (for Lilah) has been on my mind for awhile now. It was a lovely hot first day of August and definitely would have been a good day to have one, but I still haven't gotten around to it. That being said, I use a shoppin' bin to lug around Lilah's outdoor sand and water toys and it just dawned on me today that it would be perfect for a little pool. Well she loved it! I set it out on the front porch and she spent so much time playing with it and in it. She especially enjoyed trying to wet me! Our girl is always up to some rascality! Her gorgeous smile of pure joy just melts my heart. More pictures from today here.