Thursday, June 11, 2009

BUDDHA BELLY

Well of course there is a story behind the title of this post. So Jiu Jiu (my brother and Halainah's uncle) had many many nicknames for our precious little China girl while on our trip of a lifetime. Hmmmm...Jiu Jiu, let me know if I missed any: Snowball, Noodle Girl, Chubsy Ubsy, Spicy Girl, Congee Girl and Buddha Belly. How cute is that onesie on the left there. It would have been perfect for Halainah.

Let's just say that Halainah was much larger on Gotcha Day than we had expected. The last measurement we received while still awaiting travel approval weighed her in at 15 pounds. So you can imagine my surprise when we received updated measurements of her on orientation day. They said she weighed 22 pounds. That was a 7 pound weight gain. I had been calling her a little peanut since the day we were matched (well my mother in law gave her that nickname first). Luckily I packed all 12 month clothes and they all fit. Actually they were a little big. Halainah was petite in a small way, you know legs and arms. But let me tell you, she had a belly, a very big belly that Jiu Jiu quickly nicknamed, Buddha Belly.

Here is a picture from Gotcha Day, 5 months ago. Jiu Jiu is holding his niece and showing everyone her Buddha Belly.


So today, Halainah was inspecting her belly for some reason and it made me think of that awesome day 5 months ago. She is getting so big, way too fast. But I think her belly has thinned out a bit. I don't know...I think she still does have that Buddha Belly. She currently weighs in at 23 pounds.



I do have to admit that Halainah is always hungry and always in search of a snack.

Halainah is always fiddling through the pantry. And usually walks into the next room with a box of something. Here she found an entire box of cereal.


And here she is stuffing her face. Let me just say that Jumbo Rice Krispies taste nothing like regular Rice Krispies...I don't even know how she likes them.

Happy and Content with a full belly...a full Buddha Belly that is!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

So funny. I loved Julian's Buddah Belly too...they outgrow it much too quickly. I tell my husband, the excess belly stretches out and makes them taller. LOL.

Jumbo Rice Krispies ARE gross. LOL...I guess it's better than sugary cereal though.

Kate Quinlan said...

Hey D! When Dev was little we called him Buddah Belly. It has now, 8 years later, transformed into "Booder." He will always be Booder no matter how old he gets.

Robert said...

I think you got most of the names, but you know that she will have at least one new one every time that I see her =-)

TanyaLea said...

Hi Deanna,

Thank you for stopping by my blog and for the encouraging comment. Halainah is such a beautiful name...perfect for such a beautiful little girl! May God bless your journey to your next precious miracle! He is faithful!!

Blessings,
~Tanya

Natalie said...

LOL! Lauren had a buddha belly, too. I think it's starting to thin out now, though. I have a great picture of it somewhere that I'll have to try to find so I can post for you because it was SO funny. Gotta get the hubby to get all my photos off my old hard drive!

We're crazy with the nicknames in our family, too. I don't even know how we come up with them most of the time. I still have my nickname my sister gave me from when we were kids! Even Joey has gotten in on the act. He came up with Alec's most famous nickname, Modie Chalec. NO idea how he came up with that one, but it's stuck. Whenever I talk to my brother, he'll ask, "How's Modie?" LOL! We're crazy, I tell ya.

As always, she's a sweetheart, Deanna. Just precious, the kind of little girl you know you'd just want to squeeze. And have no doubt that the biggest reason she is so beautifully happy is because of you and Tony ;)