SHARK BAIT

There are not enough adjectives in the English language that can describe how amazing our day was today. We all awoke to the delicious smell of pancakes and bacon that Aunt Bonnie was cooking upstairs. After we all ate we all changed into our bathing suits and headed to the beach. We loaded up the truck with everything you can imagine that you would need on the beach including a charcoal grill. In North Carolina you are allowed to drive onto the beach...how awesome is that! So we found a nice quiet spot and parked. We all hopped out and we all made a mad dash to the water...including Halainah. It was so exciting to see her amazement on her face. My daughter has no fear as she ran straight towards the waves. She laughed when the first wave hit her and she was hooked ever since. We have a beach bum on our hands.

Alyssa quickly named Halainah, Shark Bait. Reason being is that she would keep running further and further into the ocean if you let her. The waves would knock her down and she would jump back up only to run further into the water. And if you brought her back onto shore near our chairs, one slight turn of your back and she would be jumping in the waves again. 6 months ago in China she screamed in fear of a bath. And now you simply cannot get her out of the water.

The ocean water was like bath water today. The only ocean water that I have ever felt this warm was in St. Lucia for our honeymoon. We all went swimming today and if you were to ask Tony, I never go swimming. I haven't been in the ocean since I was a little girl. And that is what it felt like today...like we were all little kids splashing in the ocean water and riding waves. It was so refreshing. We ate the best peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a snack which are a must on the beach. And for lunch we had hamburgers and hot dogs on the charcoal grill. It honestly was the best hamburger I have ever had. Halainah didn't want to miss anything and after a few hours she was a walking zombie. I took her for a little walk and she was fast asleep on my shoulder after about 10 steps. She slept so peacefully for 1 1/2 hours.

Unfortunately we all got a little too much sun. Except Halainah since she was well covered with 70 SPF. The rest of us opted for 8 SPF and we should have at least stuck to 15. So I think tomorrow we are hanging by the house instead of the beach to recover from the dreaded sunburn. We are truly having a blast. It is beautiful here and the company, the food and the memories we are creating are truly priceless.


Daddy and Uncle Mario showing Halainah the ocean water for the very first time!

Uncle Mario and Halainah both have expressions of pure happiness!


Dada and Halainah loving the first wave!

Uncle Mario taking Halainah further into the water!

Halainah had her feet in the water at least 90% of the day.

Aunt Bonnie and Halainah having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich snack.


Halainah didn't mind being buried in the sand.

Fast asleep after an exciting day on the beach for my very first time!

WE MADE IT

We are finally in North Carolina and it is beautiful. It took 12 hours to get here and we are all exhausted. We left at 3:00 A.M. this morning which was difficult for all of us but we slept a good portion of the trip. Halainah handled the car trip better than I could have ever hoped for. She slept most of the trip and the times she was up she either colored or watched Ni Hao Kai Lan. 11 hours into the trip she got car sick and we had to quickly pull over to the side of the road. She was a mess and the car was a mess. But within 15 minutes we had her changed and the car cleaned and back into the car seat she went. She was happy the rest of the trip. We could have done without the hurl fest but hey...watcha gonna do. I can't blame the poor thing being bounced around in a car for 11 hours.

The house that we are staying at is gorgeous. It has 4 levels, 4 bedrooms each with their own bathrooms and a loft, a hot tub and an in-ground swimming pool. We are simply in heaven. Everyone except for myself had crabs with old bay for dinner, tons and tons of crabs. We are right on the water and have our own dock on the bay side. The salt air feels so good. Tomorrow morning we are heading to the beach. This will be Halainah's first time to feel the beach sand between her toes and the waves crashing at her feet. I can't wait to see the expression on her face. This beach life is simply the best.

I don't have many pics from today since most of it was spent in the car...but I do have a few!

Love to all from beautiful North Carolina!

1 of a few bridges we crossed on our 12 hour trip!

Crabs for dinner!


Sitting around the table for hours eating the crabs.


The view from our loft...simply breathtaking!


Halainah ran around the entire upstairs for hours. She had a lot of energy to burn after being in the car for so long!

28 HOURS

The countdown begins...only 28 hours left. Why is it so much stinkin work to prepare to go on vacation? I have so much left to do. This is very stressful (in a good way because I know the end result) and I cannot wait until I am sitting in the car pulling out of the driveway for our very long drive. Tomorrow is going to be a very crazy day. And I am even going to apply for a job before we leave because it is a job that I would love to have. So please keep me in your thoughts and prayers that this may work out for me.

This afternoon I took a much needed break and met up with a girlfriend of mine and her son for a few hours. We walked around an outside mall and caught up with each other's lives. We really have so much in common. But some of it is eerie...almost like we are living the same life. Like a Twilight Zone episode. It really has been a long time since we have seen each other. It was a beautiful day.

Halainah is still up right now and bouncing off of the walls because it is way past her bedtime. So I must tend to my little miracle child and whisk her off to sleep. I will not get a chance to post tomorrow so my next post will be from beautiful North Carolina.

Love to all!

Halainah loves her new Sit and Spin Zebra that Opa bought her.

She'll sit on it for hours watching Noggin!

Opa actually bought this for her way before she got home from China! Opa knew his favorite granddaughter would love it.


Our beautiful garden is in full bloom. We actually had a woman put a letter in our mailbox that said she would love to have a garden as beautiful as ours. It was a little weird. This is a Hibiscus plant and the flowers are the size of a dinner plate. They are gorgeous!

SECOND HOME STUDY COMPLETE

We had our second home study appointment today. It went extremely well and I am happy to announce that this last visit has concluded the 1st part of our next adoption. So 1 part down and about a bazillion to go. We have tons of paperwork to finish up that I will not be able to get to before vacation. So I will need to bring it with us. But the way I look at it is...what better way to complete paperwork then on the beach with our family enjoying beach hamburgers. YUMMY! So this week has been HECTIC HECTIC HECTIC. It is so hard to pack for 2 weeks with a baby. There are so many things to remember and adding the social worker visit has doubled my stress. So needless to say I cannot wait to finally get to the beach and relax.

After our visit with our social worker today we went to Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Mario's for dinner. Aunt Bonnie made a huge pot of crabs. They were preparing their taste buds for vacation. Crabs...yuck in my eyes! But Tony and Uncle Mario sat for hours savoring every last morsel. I ran to Walmart with my cousins to pick up some much needed supplies like diapers, wipes, a beach bag (and oh so cute might I add), Ni Hao Kai Lan video for the 10 hour drive, and oh yeah a do it yourself home highlighting kit. Yes, I know I am crazy. But the worst that can happen is I look like a freak and have to go and buy a hair dye kit to dye it back one color. I have no fears :)

Halainah LOVES her Uncle Mario, Aunt Bonnie, and Cousins. When I walked in she was dancing with Uncle Mario, giving a bazillion kisses, laughing and smiling from ear to ear. Oh she is one of a kind, how lucky we are to have been blessed with the miracle of adoption. The next two weeks are going to be so exciting for all of us. Halainah has no idea how much fun she is going to have and how much love is going to be bestowed upon her.

I am so very very lucky to have such a large family chock full of aunts, uncles, cousins, 2nd cousins, third cousins, grandparents, great grandma, great aunts, and my brother. We even have family from Germany that is going to visit us in August. So awesome.

Our beach house in North Carolina has Internet access. Yippee, I am so excited because I want to capture every second for Halainah. She is going to be experiencing so many firsts on our family vacation. So thankfully I will be blogging...maybe with more pictures than words but that is alright and only after late night strolls on the beach! Oh I can just smell that ocean now, so peaceful!

North Carolina...here we come!

A DELICIOUS BLOG HOP

It's the ever so much fun MckLinky Blog Hop again. And this weeks theme is favorite recipe or dish. Italian Layer Cookies AKA Rainbow cookies is my all time favorite recipe for many reasons. First because they are delicious. Second because I can bake way better than I can cook. And third because these cookies have sentimental meaning to me. My mom used to bake them for my husband every Christmas and wrap them in a box as one of his presents. I say "used to" because she passed away 5 years ago from brain cancer.


Italian Layer Cookies AKA Rainbow Cookies

Ingredients:

1 can (8 oz) almond paste (you can buy almond paste in a tube or in a can. The can is the best one.
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
20 drops of red food coloring
12 drops of green food coloring
1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam
1/4 cup apricot preserves or jam
1 package (16 oz) semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Beat egg whites with electric mixer until stiff and set aside. In a large bowl break up almond paste. Add butter, sugar and egg yolks, and blend with a spoon. Mix in flour and fold in the egg whites. Divide the mixture into three equal portions. Mix 1 portion with red food coloring, 1 portion with green food coloring and leave 1 portion plain. Smear each portion evenly into greased individual pans. Bake each layer separately for about 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden. DO NOT OVERCOOK. Let the green layer cool for 10 minutes. While still in pan, spread raspberry jam over the top. Flip the plain layer on top of the raspberry jam layer and spread apricot jam on top. Flip the red layer on top of the apricot jam. Melt the chocolate chips and spread over the top of the red layer. Put in fridge until the chocolate is dried but not too hard. Cut into squares. Makes about 6 dozen cookies.

OUR LITTLE PICASSO

This is what happens when you spend 2 hours on the phone with your Mother-In-Law. I thought Halainah was playing quietly in her playroom. I guess I am a bad mama for not checking in on her. I seriously need a vacation!

ORGANIC VERSUS HORMONE FREE MILK

Note:I (Tony) removed our previous post. It was a dictation I made to Deanna which was made in anger and I regret now for doing so. This blog is about our daughter and nothing more.

Shortly after we returned home from China, our doctor put Halainah on whole milk. She told us that she feels very strong about the benefits of organic milk. So she said that if there is one thing to go organic with it should be the milk. So I agreed and have been giving Halainah organic whole milk for the last 6 months.

So while I was in the super market this weekend I noticed that there was hormone free milk as well as organic milk. Now the hormone free milk was about 1/2 the cost of the organic milk. And only slightly more expensive than regular milk. I did wind up buying a gallon of the hormone free milk. But now I feel guilty that I opted for something less healthy because of price. So if anyone has done the research between organic versus hormone free milk, I would love to hear your opinions.

Well we most certainly had a very eventful weekend. A trip to Staten Island on Friday to start off our weekend. On Saturday I took a much needed break and met up with 2 of my college friends. We sat for hours talking about the past and the present. We enjoyed a few drinks together away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. We walked around a quaint little town and perused the small shops. It really was a great afternoon. Old friendships were rekindled and I am looking forward to rebuilding great and everlasting friendships. Halainah and Tony spent quality father daughter time together. And when I got home Halainah had a new toy she was playing with that daddy bought for her. It appears that they took a trip to Walmart together. She was very excited to show me her new toy when I got home.

Our vacation is quickly approaching so we spent Sunday running errands and getting ready. We somehow made it to Walmart again and daddy bought Halainah another toy which is an outdoor slide. Halainah's daddy sure does spoil his little girl. Once we got home we spent the rest of the afternoon playing in our backyard and swimming in the pool (or at least daddy and Halainah). And now a new week is starting and life is back to the same old, same old...sort of.

Halainah enjoying pool time!




This is why we give Halainah Organic milk...and is what we are trying to avoid...silly daddy!

Halainah playing on her new toy that daddy bought for her!