Reach for the Stars......

This photo captured the silhouette of Zachary, leaning against a hotel window, in China....It appears that he is 'reaching for the Stars'......Zachary, NEVER stop reaching for the stars....for your goals......Anything is possible.....!

Easter Sunday.....Last year, we were in China...!

Easter certainly comes earlier this year....It is hard to believe that last Easter, we were in China....! Zachary received a letter from the Easter Bunny prior to departing for China, informing him that due to his trip to China, his Easter Egg hunt would be after we arrived home....This year, we are happy to report that the bunny will be paying a visit to Mansfield, ON Easter Sunday....!! It is amazing how much time has gone bye since last year.....Right around this time, we were awaiting word as to when we would be traveling....getting all our documents....our shots...in order...Now, we are getting ready to celebrate one year with our daughter.......It truly is amazing....I know a lot of friends still have not yet met Bella, and we hope to change that this spring/summer.....She is truly a blessing, and is more and more fun each day....Yes, she is a handful, but we find ourselves just sitting back and watching her, with awe and amazement, as to how far she has come in one year.....Here is a child that was 'taken' from the only home she ever knew, put on a plane to a faraway, foreign land, with strangers she's only known for less than 2 weeks........But, it is like she has always been a part of our family.....We can't imagine life without her, nor would we want to.....This post is dedicated to you, Isabella and Zachary, who have brought more joy to our lives than you can ever imagine.....And to all of our China 137 family and friends, we know you are sharing the same joy as our one year anniversary approaches.....We are so happy to have kept in touch with everyone...to have the reunions....the chat sites...the emails...the phone calls. For two weeks, we were in a strange land, nervous, excited.....and it was comforting to share it with other families, who we now consider our family...our friends.....to our Guangxi Family.....Carmen, Dante, Michael, Steven and Jianna.....Jacqui, John and Roma......Nancy, Jimmy and Laina....and Sandra (Peeps), we wish you a very HAPPY EASTER and see you next weekend...!

the next few photos I'm posting were taken in China by 'Miss Sandra', who we lovingly refer to as "Peeps"....!!! (this first picture is one of my favorites...Bella dressed up in her Chinese dress, that our dear friend, Carmen, bought her)....For the record, the thumb STILL is a constant in her mouth...!

Quiet....peaceful....down time....

I love this picture.....We were new parents....Not ready for the craziness that a newborn brings to your life.....the sleepless nights....the constant diaper changes...the running out to get things.....the strained veggies (that get thrown at you....!!)......but, every so often, you were able to sit down....relax......and be amazed that this child.....that you are holding...is yours......It is the same feeling we have with our Bella.......As someone once said, anyone can be a parent....but it takes a special person to be a Mother.......A Father....! As crazy as things can get (and yes, those who warned me that it gets crazier with two are right on the money...!), we wouldn't change parenthood for the world.....

this picture was taken a few nights after we got home from the hospital with Zach.....Quite simply, it is mother and son.....relaxing

Styling and ready to go......

Tina had to have a professional picture of Zachary taken....every...single....month......!!! This was one of my favorites..Hard to believe he was only ONE month old in this picture.....Bear in mind, he was 9 lbs, 5 ounces and 22 inches....a BIG baby........Course, now he's skinny as can be

Zachary continued

Zach, Bella isn't the only one that had a lot of pictures taken of her......You always loved to have your picture taken, and here are some of our favorites.....!! This was one of the first pictures of Zach...he was a big, healthy, happy baby....Ate everything...My, how things change.....For those that are reading this with toddlers at home who LOVE that their daughter or son eats everything in sight....Enjoy it.....there will come a time when its Chicken Nuggets and Fries.......Although, we can't complain...he does try new things for us......!

Number One Son.......Zachary....!!

This blog....site....was set up last year before we travelled to China to get our daughter, Isabella...(Bella).....It was a resource for family and friends to track our trip.....see our daughter....and hear about our experiences......I recently started to post more updates and photos, so those interested can watch as she grows.......It got me to thinking....reflecting.....about the birth of our first child, Zachary.....Zach will be turning 7 this April (wow, where has the time gone...!!) And will celebrating his birthday in the United States...!! Last year, he celebrated his 6th birthday in Nanning, China with our wonderful Guangxi Family (Carmen and Jianna; John, Jacqui and Roma and Jimmy, Nancy and Laina, all of whom we will be seeing...soon!).........I thought it would be fun to post some baby pictures of Zachary to see how he has changed through the years...(and becaue I am very proud of what a fine, young man he is turning into, and wanted him to know that......Zachary, one day, I hope you look back on this blog, and realize how important you were in our journey to get Bella, and what a wonderful, caring brother you are.....)....Enjoy...

Hi.....!!

Nanning

I never thought I'd say this but I find myself missing China.....!!! Yes, it was an incredibly hectic, tiresome, trip......Yes, we were emotionally and physically exhausted, but it will go down as a trip of a lifetime, and not just because we were able to bring Isabella home.....! In all my years, I never would have guessed that I would have traveled to China......and, barring our adoption, probably wouldn't have......but, I loved the Guangxi province, and in particular, Nanning.....It was a beautiful city, with great parks, great weather, and friendly people........Beijing, you can take or leave it....too hectic....bustling....too tiresome......Nanning is where we spent a good part of our time.......where we relaxed with the other families...got to interact with our daugther......People ask if we'll ever go back to China, and much as we'd love to, not sure....but, if we ever did go back, would definitely spend most of the time in the Nanning area.....

Bella and Jianna

In Feb, we took a 'road trip' to visit our friends, the Pagano's, in New York.....we had a BLAST....!!! What a great trip (and what a great family.....!!).....We were able to take the train in on Saturday to New York City with the kids...(Zach, of course, loved the HUGE Toys R Us near Times Square, which boasts an indoor ferris wheel, a larger than life moving dinosaur, and TONS of toys....!!)....We did get over to Rockerfeller Center.....and saw everyone ice skating.....All and all, it was a fun weekend, and a lot shorter driver than we expected....We are hoping to make it back out this summer when the weather is warmer.....

I am attaching a picture of Bella and Jianna......Bella will be turning 2 in May and Jianna will be 3 in July.............Both girls were great and played well together......If you look closely, you can see that I am wearing a New York Giants Super Bowl tee shirt, the result of my bet with the Pagano men......(wearing a Super Bowl Tee shirt for the Pats losing is far better than what Zach wanted, which was to have whoever lost the bet to dye their hair pink.....needless to say, Zach 'escaped' wearing a Super Bowl tee, as we could not find one in his size....)......

Gung Hay Fat Choy.....(Happy New Year...!!)

Chinese New Year is celebrating the Year of the Rat........!

As we keep in touch with a lot of the families we traveled to China with (had a summer reunion.....contstantly email.....call...try and get together when we can), we decided to have a Play date with the children to celebrate Chinese New Year...(Gung Hay Fat Choy....).....

On Feb 9th, we met at a play place in the Northboro area for the group known as China 137 (we are the 137th group through Wide Horizon to travel to China).......The kids had a blast, and we all went to a buffett lunch in Shrewsbury...It really is a close 'family' for China 137......Even though there were close to 30 families that traveled to China with us, it is always great to see everyone...catch up....see how the kids are changing and growing......

Bella was from the Guangxi province of China........When we went to get her from that province and the city of Nanning, we traveled with 3 other families......The Trainers (who adopted Roma)......The Pagano's (Carmen traveled all by herself, which was incredible.......they adopted Jianna) and the Benoit's (who adopted Laina), as well as Miss Sandra (who traveled with the Trainers and become a dear friend to all of us, especially Zach)........In any event, we are all getting together the weekend of March 29th here in Mansfield...! We are looking forward to seeing the Guangxi Girls......and how they have changed....!!! The families will come down Saturday and spend the night at local hotels, with everyone coming over to our house to just relax and play......It should be a lot of fun, and will have some great stories and reminincising........

Above is a picture of Zach and Bella from the Chinese New Year play date....

BRUUUUUSCHI

In spite of Zachary and Bella wearing 'lucky' Patriots jersey (Bella in Zach's hand me down Bruschi jersey) and a magical season for the Patriots, we all know they came up short.......A couple of weekends after the Super Bowl, we visited our good friends, the Pagano's, at their home on Long Island.....and, yes, they are Giants fans.....and yes, the Walnista men talked a little trash before the Super Bowl.......sooooooooo, with the Giants taking the Championship, yours truly had to wear a New York Giants Super Bowl Championship tee shirt when we visited our friends in New York.....Luckily, we were IN New York, so I was safe from rabid Patriots fans.......We all know that the Giants out played the Patriots.......least we got the defending World Series Champion Red Sox starting up soon...........!

18 and 1....!!!

well, Zach and Bella dressed in their Patriots outfits did NOT help the Pats win the Super Bowl...they had a great run, but came up a little bit short (much to the delight of our friends, the Paganos, in New York...!!)

Holidays.....

yes, it is March....and Yes, we haven't updated the blog in quite some time now....but, going forward, will TRY and do more updates for family and friends.....

here are some pictures from the holiday season of the kids...