Life is Good!

As 2011 comes to an end, all I can say is that life is good. It's been a wonderful year! We went on two amazing trips. Taiwan ROCks in Dallas was a once in a lifetime experience. We got to meet people who I've only known online, but it seems like I've known them forever. Then, to see all of those beautiful children laughing and playing as if they have always been friends just took my breath away. Our 2nd trip was to the most magical place on earth - DISNEYLAND. Lexie was an angel and sharing the magic with her was a dream come true. We're excited to see what 2012 has in store for us and we're hoping that it might include some good news from Taiwan.

We spent the end of the year cleaning the house and our yard. Lexie got to make mochi. She's not much into eating it yet, but loves to smash and pound it. It reminds her of playdoh. She loved the potato starch that is used to keep the mochi from sticking to the table. She was throwing it in the air and saying, "Snow!!" Our poor deprived child. We really need to take her to see snow first hand!!

Lexie finally started warming up to her cousins and enjoyed playing with them and making them follow her up and down the stairs. Rylan helped her make some peanut butter mochi.

For New Year's Eve, we had a quiet night at home, just the 5 of us! Eric made ramen for dinner and Lexie had all of her favorites - noodles, spam musubi, scrambled eggs and fishcake. Even Maxx and Gohan got some noodles for a long and healthy life.

Eric was very proud of his ramen creation!

That night Lexie chose to watch "Finding Nemo." She fell asleep about 10:30 after we read some books and she did her tackle hugs with mommy and daddy. It was the best way to end the year.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Lexie woke up about 7:30 and it was just a normal day to her. The first thing she asked for was her cereal and water and to watch some Mickey Mouse. We had to take her to the living room to show her that Santa brought the special gift that she's been asking for.

Lexie was surprised to see her little brown bear.

She loves her bear! Lexie still doesn't understand how to give her dolls names, so we decided to call him Teddy.

Lexie was excited to open her presents. She started ripping the wrapping paper off right away. Gohan is always interested to see what's in the boxes. He thinks there will be food to eat.

Lexie got a lot of Hello Kitty clothes and a whole bunch of new toys. She wanted to play with everything, but we've decided to open a few toys at a time and use some to help her along with her potty training.

Her last present was from mommy and daddy. It was a little hard for Lexie to open, but she was determined to get that paper off. We got her a princess ATV to ride on. Lexie was the sweetest and while she was riding it, she kept saying, "Thank you mommy and daddy!"

We had a wonderful Christmas with Lexie. It still feels like we are living in a dream and sometimes it's hard to believe that she's really our daughter, so being able to share in her excitement is always the best Christmas present we could ever have.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

We did so much in the days leading up to Christmas. It was very exhausting but it was so much fun enjoying the holidays with friends and furry brothers.

We had a Christmas decorating party with my friends from school.

The first thing Lexie did was eat her cone that she was supposed to be using for her Christmas tree.

Then instead of decorating her tree, she only wanted to eat the candy.

When it was time to decorate the cookies, it looked like Lexie finally understood that she needed to put the frosting on the cookie.

I guess she thought we said to put the frosting inside of her!

I'm going to eat the marshmallows anyways! Why wait for the cookie?

I like to eat, I mean, decorate cookies!

With mommy's help, we were able to get some decorations on to the cookies. We took these cookies to the graveyard for Amma and Ampa.

Here is Lexie's lopsided tree because she ate part of the cone before we even got started.

Lexie had fun drawing on the sidewalk with Aunty Trisha. She draws a lot better than mommy does.

I guess it was too sunny, so Lexie decided to draw under her table where it was more shady.

Taryn came by to make a gingerbread tree with Lexie.

Their masterpiece!

We went to Christmas Lane which is right by our house and got to see the pretty lights. Thank you Uncle Greg for taking our pictures.

Finally it was Christmas Eve. Even though we've talked about Santa almost everyday, Lexie still wants nothing to do with him unless he's far, far away from her. She knows who he is and that he rides a sleigh pulled by reindeer and he brings presents for good little girls and boys.

As soon as we started getting ready for Christmas, I would ask her everyday, "What do you want Santa to bring you?" She would ignore me and finally one day, she said, "I want a bear. A brown bear. A little brown bear." Just to be sure, it wasn't something out of the blue, I asked Lexie the same question several days in a row and her answer was always the same. Lexie didn't want to ask Santa, but we did visit him. She didn't want to go up to him, but she did wave at him and blew him a kiss. Santa also sent Lexie a video message and she smiled and giggled when she saw it. She even asked to see it again. We decorated cookies for Santa and she knew we were putting it out for him. When I was making Santa's hot chocolate. Lexie told me to remember to make a cup for Mrs. Claus too!

Lexie got to taste a little hot chocolate and said, "Santa's chocolate tastes delicious."

We let Lexie open one gift before she went to sleep. She was very excited tonight. She didn't want to go to sleep.

We read one story about Santa Claus before she went to sleep. When we were done, Lexie was so cute and said, "Merry Christmas Santa. Merry Christmas Dog and Merry Christmas Cat" because those were the characters in the story.

She is such a sweet girl. Don't know where she heard it, but she keeps telling me, "Happy Holidays, Mommy!" Christmas will definitely be a happy day for Lexie.

All I Want For Christmas

"I don't want a lot for Christmas. There's just one thing I need. I don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree. I just want you for my own, more than you could ever know. Make my wish come true. All I want for Christmas is you....."

Every Christmas the only present I ever wanted was to be a mommy. And now we're about to celebrate our 3rd Christmas with Lexie. Each year it gets better and better, but I still remember those Christmases that I hoped and prayed that we would get the news that we had been waiting for, only to be disappointed. Even though we're anxiously awaiting a referral, it's not our main focus right now. Lexie keeps us very busy and she's so excited about Christmas that it makes this wait more tolerable.

To many, the wait for Lexie wasn't very long. She was home with us within a year, but many Christmases went by before that where we wondered if we would ever have a baby to share this special holiday with.

"All the lights are shining so brightly everywhere and the sound of children's laughter fills the air. And everyone is singing. I hear those sleigh bells ringing. Santa won't you bring me the one I really need. Won't you please bring my baby to me....."

Our wish finally came true and Christmas has never been the same.

It can be a long and winding road and sometimes it can feel like an eternity, but keep believing in your wishes and they will come true. Merry Christmas from our family to yours!!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

We always dream of snow for Christmas, but that hasn't happened yet. Right now, it's a brisk 74 degrees. Our winter has been pretty wet and gloomy. We finally had a night with clear skies, so we took Lexie to see the lights at Honolulu Hale. The inside is decorated with trees by city workers. Lexie loves Kung Fu Panda and loved that he had a giant bowl of noodles.

Then, she saw another favorite friend, Stitch. This tree was decorated by our police department.

Santa wasn't there that night, which might have been a good thing since Lexie is not too fond of him. She wanted to sit in front of the gingerbread house.

Lexie loved all of the animals that were sitting around the giant Christmas tree.

These are probably the only snowmen you will see in Hawaii.

Lexie loves trains so we had to ride the Christmas train. She loved all of the lights on it and liked riding in the dark. She was rockin' to the Christmas carols that were playing on the train.

After we got off the train, Lexie was so happy. She couldn't stop dancing and wanted to do some ballet for us.

I thought these statues were so cute. They were shaped like huge cookies and they looked like children colored them. Lexie was pretending that she took a bite out of the gingerbread cookie.

Lexie didn't want to see Santa but she was happy to chat with the Queen and even got a blessing from her.

Seeing the lights has become our yearly tradition with Lexie. This has always been her favorite part of Christmas and we love how happy she is seeing all of the twinkling lights and decorations. We wish we could put her smile and laughter in a present to give to everyone!