A Date WithThe Ambassador!

We had such an amazing day today. This morning we had a house full of babies. Well o.k. maybe not FULL, but there were four (it seemed like a lot when they were all doing their own thing). Four beautiful baby girls from Hoa Binh, Vietnam; all adopted from the same orphanage. If fact, these four girls actually slept together in one room at one time. How cool is that? They are now halfway around the world and meeting once again. I was full of warm fuzzies watching the girls together. These children are so very cherished. They are happy, secure and thriving. Because of adoption, all our lives (parents and babies) have been transformed into something magnificent and magical. I am so proud and thankful to be part of this "secret society". Seriously! I have found joy in its purest form. I guess I am digressing here....

We all went to the home of Mr Nguyen Duc Hung, Ambassador of Vietnam. His family kindly hosted a reception for families who have adopted children from Vietnam. I was in awe watching all these families with their little Vietnamese babies. Babies, babies and more babies everywhere! So cute! I could see a bit of Aimée in all their faces. It was a very nice event and I look forward to attending again with old and new faces (Little Meg, Vanh and Maxem and their families)

Aimée ready for the party in her Ao dai (Traditional Vietnamese attire primarily for women).

Hannah and Aimée playing at the house.

Hannah (14 months), Aimée (16 months) and Sadie (a little over two)

Léane(12 months) and her maman Marie-France

Sadie is the daughter of Jim and Jaqueline. They adopted Sadie shortly before I adopted Aimée in May. Here is a picture of Jaqueline and Sadie with Aimée and a nanny back at the orphanage.

Here is Jaqueline with Aimée today.

Baby girls from Hoa Binh.

I just missed a great shot. If I had been a moment quicker with my camera, I would have caught Hannah with her arm around her buddy Aimée.

Mr Nguyen Duc Hung (Ambassador of Vietnam), Mrs. Tran Thi Vinh, Aimée and I

Dorinda (director of TDH) and Aimée

Cindy and Hannah with Aimée and I

Be our guest! be our guest!

Put our service to the test.

Tie your napkin 'round your neck, cherie.

And we provide the rest.

Auntie Ju came by Friday afternoon for a visit. Aimée adores her Auntie Ju.

"You are so funny, Auntie Ju!"

"Stop it. Stop it. You're killing me!!!"

Because every girl needs a bow or clip in their hair at some time in their lives... Aimée and I are secretly looking to buy a navy bow clip for Auntie Ju to wear with her police uniform.

Hopefully, then, Auntie Ju will give Aimée back her pink one.

I was so proud of my top notch hostess abilities. I made Judith some bubble tea with pearl beads and all. Yes, I did... and it was bubblicious! We got all the ingredients in China Town including the big straws to slurp up the black tapioca pearls. Mmmm! Mmmmm! Mmmmmm! No more paying $5.00 for a bubble tea downtown. I think I may have some every day now simply because I can. Won't you drop by and join me sometime?

What everyone needs to know about the making of Bubble Tea.

The yummy result!!

We also had Marie-France and her daughter Léane spend the night at our place. Léane is almost a year old and was adopted from the same orphanage in Hoa Binh, Vietnam. The girls really had a nice time together as did the moms.

Marie-France adopted Léane last October.

Léane teaches Aimée how to climb our stairs. Oh, oh!!!

Aimée teaches Léane how to make music with her table.

Bath time!

Work it Baby!

I had blast with the little miss and my new camera. I would love to take photography courses one day. I am forever admiring many of my blogger friends' amazing photography skills. For now, I am having a whole lot of amateur fun taking pictures of my most favourite subject....

Aimée

Pour babe! Aimée's molars are coming out

and they hurt!

Enough already. I'm done!

"That's what Friends are for..."

Hanging with Little M

"Come here often?"

Feeding Casey Cheerios

Passing out with Casey and her Blankie

Chatting with Bev

Playing house with Liam

Reading with Sara, Liam and Hannah

Snuggling with Julie

Drumming with Auntie Ju

Learning valuable life lessons with Sue

Drinking with Carol

Confessions of a Neurotic Mother

Before I adopted Aimée, I promised myself I would never be one of those high strung neurotic mothers. I was going to be as cool as a cucumber and just take things in stride. That was my plan.
Withing the first 24 hours of becoming Aimée’s mother the neuroses began. That first evening, while I was marvelling over her tiny pink toes, her wrinkled feet and her little legs, I noticed a tiny scar of about ¼ inch on each knee. I recognised the scars right away, because I had the exact same scar on my shoulder from a laparoscopic scope done years ago. I was puzzled and to be honest, I was panicked. What was wrong with her knees? Why did she need a scope done on her knees at such a young age? Why didn’t the orphanage tell me about her knees? What might they be hiding? Do her knees hurt her? And so on and so forth. I shared my concerns with the other two families I was traveling with first thing that next morning at breakfast. They quickly pointed out to me that they were not scars but two adorable little dimples. If I had looked more closely at her elbows, I would have seen dimples there too. What the heck was I thinking? What orphan from a developing country has scopes done on her knees?



Over the last 8 months, I have had to make a mental effort to keep my worries in check. Nobody ever told me how hard that would be as a mother. I knew when I adopted Aimée that she may possibly experience some short-term delays. Even though my brain knows all this, I sometimes work myself up into a frenzy worrying about Aimée and her development. It is so hard to find the right balance between letting Aimée set the pace and me being pushy and doing everything I can so she will move on. One day we spent a long time (only God knows how long) on me trying to get her to distinguish between her cow and her horsey. "Show me the horse... No that's your cow. Aimée... Aimée.... Where's the horse? The horse... Over here... Look, here! Not the cow, the horse.... The horse.. THE HORSE!!!!" I just have to chill! I know.

With Love.....

Can you find all 7 hearts

in this next picture???

"Two!"

"Two baby pigtails!

Agh.. Agh.. Agh... Aaaagh..."