Hope You Had a HAPPY Valetine's Day!

I know Noah did. He was paid a visit by one of his favorite little ladies, Miss Mimi, and boy, did he let her know that she was his Valentine supreme. Noah is very "affectionate" with many of his similar-sized munchkin friends...but there is something about this Mimi girl that he can't quite put his finger on. Heather mentioned that a book she's reading said toddlers are a lot like neanderthals, and Mimi definitely brngs out the neanderthal in him. He's all over her, and thankfully, she is starting to not be entirely put off by it, so we were able to get some cute shots of them this time.

My parents are in town and my dad made a great lasagna with garlic bread - I tossed up a quick salad and we all had a nice little dinner in the living room (we turned our dining room into a playroom for Noah so toys could stay confined to single spot - mostly!) - Grandma let Noah drink from her cup, Grandpa made Mimi giggle, we all watched and laughed...it was a super fun night!

Now I don't want to upset all of the other ladies out there who Noah loves as well - Marlie, Gaby, Ty, Simone, Tunsitu, etc etc etc - but this Valentine's Day, Noah's heart belonged to Mimi. Don't fear though - his shirt says 'heartbreaker' so clearly things could be different by next February.

Heather & Chris said that they hope that in 20 years, Mimi & Noah are best buds and laughing together at all the funny pictures we are taking of them now. And we couldn't agree with that hope more. Raising a child so far away from family can be tough, so we are very thankful for our dear friends - and love it when we can blend the family/friend-family into one cool celebration.

Our Super Bowl Sunday

 

 

 

 

We had a great Super Bowl Sunday - Noah got decked out in his little Ethiopian outfit brought back for him by his Aunt Heather & Uncle Chris & MIMI and we went to a shower for Julie O in Pasadena. It was a blast and we are so happy for her - she leaves to pick up beautiful little Ty in less than 2 weeks! I wish she had a blog so I could show you how amazing this little girl is.

Then we came back home, had some fun with Georgie and went inside to watch the Super Bowl. Great game. Best part for me was Jennifer Hudson singing the national anthem. Anil had tivo'd it and I begged him to let me watch that before we continued on with the game. She was out of control, inexplicably good. Even Anil said it's the best rendition he's ever heard - and I know he watches a lot of sports so that was a big compliment.

Life continues to move at an insanely fast pace for us - we are just trying to keep up and catch up on a daily basis at this point. Noah keeps us on our toes at all times and just when we start to think we might have figured something out, a new something pops up in its place to figure out. The wonder of a child - we are loving it.

Tree! (tee!)

Noah loves trees, almost as much as he loves hats. Here he is pointing to the tree in our backyard and shouting "tee!"...it's pretty sweet.

As he grows, he just continues to amaze us with his energy, imagination, little words and funny looks! He's got the furrowed brow down when he doesn't understand or understands and doesn't like what you have to say!

Unfortunately, we had just taught him how to say touchdown ("tada" with his arms raised in proper form), only in time for the Giants to suffer a big lose yesterday. But that's alright - he's primed and ready for next season. And we'll just have to cheer on the Eagles for my Uncle's sake for the remainder of this one (although I'm not sure Anil will allow it)...
Next up is detaching the pacifier once and for all, and trying to get him to sleep through the night again. He has been waking up at least twice every night for a while now and we are not sure why. We have neighbors upstairs so it's hard to even consider letting him 'cry it out' - if anyone has any advice on either subject, please don't hesitate to write.

GO GIANTS!

 

Welcome Home, Mimi!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Congratulations, Winters!

Words really can't express how happy we are for the Winters and today being (FINALLY) the day that they have passed court. They are officially and once and for all the parents of a beautiful little boy we had the pleasure of meeting and spending time with in Ethiopia - Eli Abdulshikur! This 'passage' is especially heartfelt for us because we were placed on the waiting list on the same day as the Winters, both for infants of either gender. And we received our referrals for Noah Arone & Eli Abdulshikur one day apart. We haven't let a day go by where we didn't look at Noah and think about how grateful we are to have him, and also how tough it must be for them, and have been for them as the days passed and they still didn't have Eli. It's been over 250 days since those referrals! And Rebecca has still continued to visit our blog, leave sweet comments and stay positive through the whole thing. I have no idea if I could have been as strong, I only know that she is my hero for her grace, and I'm so happy that TODAY she is finally, officially Eli's MOM!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Happy 1st Birthday, Noah Arone!