Turning Four!

Our Beautiful Birthday Girl!!!!


Eating Chocolate & Vanilla Ice-Cream with Sprinkles for Breakfast!

"Look at what I got from Mommy & Daddy!"

Per Francesca's request, we made pepperoni pizza for supper!

Here she is adding the sauce....

Next layering some cheese....

Than adding the pepperoni ~

Bake in the oven for 10 minutes on 450 degrees and this is what you get...

Yummy!

After supper, we headed up to Grandma's for some Birthday Cake!

Words according to Francesca..."Mommy, am I really four!" "Will I be four tomorrow?" "I just loved my birthday, Mommy!" and "Thank You for being my Mom."

I don't think it could get any better than that!

Plan B ~ in action! (weekend review)

Well...after cancelling our Disney trip to celebrated Francesca's 4th Birthday (which is tomorrow) and after my mom being admitted into the hospital Thursday and having emergency surgery on Saturday, we were able to do a few fun things with Francesca! My mom is doing well and is recovering perfectly...she is schedule to come home today!


As for what we did for Francesca's birthday, we decided to play it cool this past weekend because of Grandma's surgery and because of how cold it was (we were in the negative digits over the past few days). Since I was at the hospital most of the weekend, Francesca and Annabelle got to spend a lot of time with Daddy. They went to Dunkin Donuts every morning for breakfast and on Friday afternoon they all went to the store to pick up some ingredients to make some birthday cupcakes! Once the girls and Daddy came back from the store, we did some finger painting and marker creations while on Friday night (after the whole family stopped by the see Grandma) we went out for some pizza! Saturday night we did venture out in the cold to take Francesca to one of her favorite restaurants, Cooper's, to have a great 2.5 hour meal! (yes, you read that correctly, we were there for 2 in a half hours for supper and both kiddos we just perfect!) As for the rest of the weekend, we played "Disney's Scene It?" DVD game about a hundred times (it was left by Santa for the whole family to enjoy). She had such a nice weekend and I finally got some stuffed planned for this coming week. I know, it is not Disney...but I am thinking (and Daddy is too) that " the Disney thing"will happen sooner than we all think...

(sorry that the photos are a little out of sinc today)

Finger Painting on Friday!

Marker Creations too!




(just has to post this photo of our Annabelle...isn't she just so beautiful!)





Saturday night supper at Cooper's (wearing their pirate hats!)





And our Friday night pizza at The Library...

(here is Francesca with my nephew Scott Joe!)

Even though we had a very emotional weekend, we still manged to have a little fun.

As for our "almost going to be 4 years old" birthday girl...she is currently watching (as I am typing this) the classic "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers" for which she saw the last 10 minutes of it the other night and wanted to see the whole thing. Lucky for us, I already had it on DVD! She is truly a girl after my own heart (and her Daddy's too - we both love watching the classic!)

Plan B

If you can't tell from the title of this post...than here it goes...we are not going to Disney :(

To make a long story short, my mom aka Grandma has been sick for the past week and after several trips to her doctor and a load of prescriptions...last night she still wasn't feeling any better (and looked just awful). So me...holding onto the last minute (we were headed out today) cancelled the trip this morning. I thought about taking the girls by myself, but I KNEW my husband and family would be very VERY worried about me traveling with the two of them ~ alone. I know now I made the right decision for as of 4:30 this afternoon, my mom was admitted into the hospital. Her blood work is really out of whack and her doctors feel they need to do some more testing to pin-point the problem. I am so very worried.

As for Francesca, the minute she woke up this morning she asked "When are we leaving for Disney today?" It broke my heart to tell her that we were not going because of Grandma being so sick. And you know what she said to me (this is going to melt your heart) she said, "That's OK, Grandma not feeling well and we need to take care of her." I tell you, she just amazes me. So now since we are not going to Disney, I need to come up with a Plan B for Francesca's birthday (I have nothing planned and nothing booked). I do have a few ideas on what we can do. Maybe go to Hershey Park (we heard they are having a Winter Wonderland exhibit there), go to dine out a few meals, and I did get an appointment booked for next Friday for Francesca to get her hair, nails, and toes done (which I know she'll just love) but having a birthday in the middle of January...it being so cold and snowy...I am at a loss of what we can do. Plus with the "not knowing" of my mom...I am not sure I want to really plan anything big. If you guys have any ideas, please pass them along. Francesca loves to visit Peddler's Village but in January....not such a good idea. I am thinking maybe a night's stay at Wolf Lodge, but again I am not 100% sure.

The one thing I do have to say...more like give you all advise....is to purchase traveler's insurance whenever you book a trip/vacation. We don't always purchase it but this time I did and because I did I am getting a 100% refund. (I am only out the $240 it cost for the insurance). We are going to plan another Disney trip, just not sure when. This is the second time we tried to get there in the past four months and both times we had to cancel (last time was because we were traveling to China for Annabelle). I really want to get there for Francesca' birthday so I am thinking maybe next year this time....we shall see. As for Francesca...when I told her that we might go next year, she said, "OK and Grandma be better than and she come too!" What a kid!

(the one good thing about this whole situation is that Daddy will be home this weekend and that alone is making Francesca very happy!)

this & that...

Nothing really new to report so I am just going to post some photos of the girls that were taken over the past week. We are currently getting ready for our trip to Disney and life as we know it is...cRaZy (laundry, cleaning, last minute shopping, packing and some very important appointments)! OK enough of that...here are some super adorable photos!

Our beautiful Francesca playing dress-up (while still lounging around her in jammies)!

Our Annabelle just being her silly self! (doesn't the hat look familiar)!

(it is so amazing how an empty paper towel roll holder can entertain our little ones for hours!)

***I have to credit where credit is due. All photos featured above were taken by Keith. I must say, he is really getting into this whole photography thing. Great job, Babe!***

In one week from today -

We will be leaving for Disney! Francesca is super excited and Annabelle is following right along! Since her birthday is on the 20th, Francesca requested that we eat at Cinderella's castle (which we got a reservation for) and since we are going to be there on her actual birthday, the crew at Disney is actually preparing a Mickey Mouse cake for her that will be presented to her by all the Princesses! (now that's a little surprise just for the birthday girl!) Oh how she can't wait! As for me, I am a little nervous about taking both girls ~ for the first time ~ on a vacation without Dad. Keith is such an amazing father and is such a major part of our lives...we all are going to truly miss him, but Grandma is stepping in and coming with us (which made the girls so very happy!)

I will be taking my new mini notebook (that I received as a Christmas gift) with me so I can try to post at least something while we are away. I am still working on setting it up so I am hoping that by this weekend I'll have it in perfect running condition. (it is the greatest thing ever - only weights 2lbs and can fit into my VB Villager perfectly).

So here's to our countdown to Disney ~ only one week away....

*As for Dad, he is truly sorry he can not come with us. After taking off over one month's worth of time from his company when we traveled/came home from China only two months ago...he is still catching up on designing, layouts, and installations that need his attention. Plus I am thinking he has something "up his sleeve" for our 10th anniversary which is only a few months away. It should be very interesting to say the least...*

When my oldest just couldn't fall asleep...and had an important question to ask!

Since I am using this blog to document some of the 'things' that are happening within our family I thought I share with you all a conversation Francesca had with me last night (when she just couldn't fall asleep and kept calling for me).

(over the monitor I hear...)

Francesca: "Mommy, Are you there?"

Francesca: "Mommy, I need you."

(so up the stairs I go into the girls' bedroom to see what's so important!)

whispering...because Annabelle is sleeping

Mom: "Is everything OK?" What do you need baby?"

Francesca: "Can we go back to China?"

Mom: "Someday..." (hopefully)

Francesca: "Can we go right now?"

Mom: "No baby, it is night time and its time for you to go to asleep."

Francesca: "Can we go to China tomorrow?"

Mom: "I don't think so. Why do you want to go to China again?"

Francesca: "I had a very good time in China and I just love my little sister. Can we get another little sister for me and Annabelle in China?"

Mom: "Hopefully - someday - we'll be going back again for another little sister or little brother. But if we can't get that little sister or brother, I promise that we will go back to China again for a visit."

Francesca: "A little brother! Oh I always wanted a little brother! Can we go to China on Friday when Daddy comes home and get a little brother?"

(boy how I wish it was that easy...)

Finally...Our Christmas 2008!

So after uploading so many photos...I decided to post a handful (OK a full hand) to show you how much fun, exciting and wonderful our Christmas was...

The girls on Christmas Eve morning...(as we head out to do some visiting!)




All ready for Christmas Eve supper at Grandma's...

(one with Mom)

(and one with Dad)

Christmas morning...after just seeing what Santa had left under the tree for each of them!

Back up at Grandma's for Christmas Day lunch. Here is Annabelle with G.G.

Later that evening over at my sister's house. As I said before, this little angel loves her baby dolls!

My sister and I...(after we just finished opening up our gifts to one another)

Papa and Grandma C came in for a visit too (all the way from Virginia Beach). Here is Papa helping Francesca with Scott Joe's new motorcycle game which she so loved and so wants one!

Our little Santa (as always...she is eating!)

On the 26th, we were so happy to be united with some travel friends from Annabelle's adoption. Here is Hannah. Isn't she just so beautiful!

Our Annabelle was just so excited!

Francesca had such a great time with Lori & Al while in China and she was just so excited to see them again. Here is a beautiful photo of Lori and our Francesca....

Here is Keith with Hannah....

And here is Al with Francesca...

Our two girls from Henan. I can't believe how much both have grown and changed...

These are just some photos that were taken on the evening of the 27th while we were headed back to my sister's for round two. In this photo, Francesca is singing "Baby Its Cold Outside" by Dean Martin.

And our Annabelle is just smiling along...

And this last photo is of our Annabelle who just loved her Santa hat! Daddy just couldn't resist taking her photo!

As you can see, we truly had a busy but WONDERFUL Christmas! After looking at all the photos and seeing how truly blessed we are...it makes me wonder...what is in store for us in 2009! (if you haven't read the post below...you must do so after this!)

Now, all I need to do is get our New Year's photos uploaded & posted...and the Holiday Celebrations of 2008 and the beginning of 2009 will be complete ~ so we can than concentration on our upcoming Disney trip to celebrate Francesca's 4th Birthday in a few weeks. Oh how we so can't wait!

***Also, I finally got around to updating our http://www.babyjellybeans.com/ web site. There are four new journal enteries ~ "Almost Two Months of Being Home" "United Once Again" "love" and "Update Sent To New Hope". Make sure you check them out and if you forgotten the password, just drop me a line and I will send it to you.***