A few videos for your viewing pleasure

This post is a bit overdue (what's new, LOL.) But I wanted to quickly share with you a few videos. The first one is of our little 6 month Gotcha celebration for Madeline. We didn't do anything other than cupcakes. As you can see in the video, Madeline is up to her same old tricks, that silly girl.

We love you, precious girl. It's hard to believe it's been 6 months since that hot day in Wuhan, when you were finally placed in our arms. You've come a long way, little dumplin', as so clearly seen in the video above.

Next up is Caleb, who, as of this past Sunday, has been riding his bike without training wheels! The video below was taken after those first passes with Daddy in front of the house. And five days later....well, he can't be stopped! We're so proud of you, Caleb!!!!

Well, tomorrow starts the spring season of Tee ball down here. Caleb is so pumped up to be playing again. His head coach will be one of his coaches from last year. And assistant coach is... drum roll please..... DADDY!

Caleb's birthday fun

This year for Caleb's birthday, we opted to throw him a party at a friend of ours' clubhouse. Unlike last year's sleet and frigid temps (for Florida anyways), we had gorgeous weather in the low 70s. Regardless of the temps this year, we were determined to have a bounce house at Caleb's party. And that we did! Although we "only" invited a few friends and family, we ended up having around 30 people there. All the kids had a blast bouncing and running around. And all the grown ups enjoyed beautiful weather, great food and awesome fellowship. Since Caleb's birthday was on a Wednesday, we opted to throw him a party the Saturday before. And as the tradition stands, we took Caleb to Disney on his actual birthday. Here are just a few photos from both his party and at Disney. Enjoy!

Caleb outside his sports themed bounce house

Baseball birthday cake, courtesy of Publix

Caleb's friend, SG, graciously read all of his cards to him

Opening his gifts

Madeline opening a belated Christmas gift, a Madeline doll, of course!

Caleb and I had some fun taking "serious" photos of him while Patrick ordered our lunch at Disney

Caleb and his buddy, Buzz Lightyear

Looking cute, as always

Madeline Bei behind the wheel at the Raceway. Watch out, world!

Mommy and her birthday boy

The best photo Patrick could get of me with Madeline Bei...she's such a wiggle worm...*sigh*

Happy 6th Birthday, precious Caleb! We had such an incredible time celebrating your birthday this year. We love you like crazycakes!!!!!!!!!!!

Who's birthday is it anyway?

Just a quickie here to share with you what a wonderful day we all had at Disney on Caleb's birthday. We arrived around lunchtime, grabbed something to eat, and headed directly over to the Buzz Lightyear ride, Caleb's favorite. I love going to the Magic Kingdom on Caleb's birthday because, although it's a tad chilly for us Floridians, there are NO LINES!!!! LOL. We love it! After the ride, Caleb got Buzz's autograph. He was so thrilled! Next we did the Grand Prix, which is always fun when your almost 3yo daughter is steering yet can't see over the wheel. We also went on Pooh's Adventure, which finally opened up and the Riverboat ride. All in all, it was a great, relaxing, crowdless day at Disney.

For dinner, we headed over to Epcot to eat in Mexico. (Next time we go, I will be sure to work in some sort of geography/culture lesson for homeschooling.) Dinner was delicious, and our day was fabulous. But the moment that steals the show can be found at the very end of this video clip, taken with my iPhone that I quickly whipped out (and am so glad I did.) Keep your eye on Madeline at the end. She's a show stealer. We love you, Caleb!!! I'll post some photos...some....time....soon.

And just to ease your mind a little bit, the couple sitting behind us felt so bad for Caleb that, when the woman's own birthday dessert was delivered, she let Caleb blow her candle out. Too sweet.

Guess who's six years old today????

Happy Birthday, dear Caleb!

It's hard to believe how quickly these last three years have gone by. You are no longer the little toddler we held in our arms in China over three years ago. You continue to grow and amaze us daily. The love you have for your sister just melts our hearts. Mommy and Daddy love you like crazycakes, precious boy! Happy 6th Birthday!!!!

{As soon as I am able, I will post photos from Caleb's birthday celebrations.}

Christmas {Part Two}

Here are some more photos from our Christmas celebration. And now that I have tackled edited some of my favorite shots from Christmas, it's time to play catch up on the last few months of 2010.  Stay tuned...I'll be sharing more of my favorite shots with you soon. Enjoy!

Madeline has been making a silly looking frown face when I ask her to "look at me" with my camera. She can't hold it for too long before she starts laughing at herself.

John and Michele at dinner

Lydia enjoying some coloring time at breakfast

Total cuteness

Baba with his princess, after she ripped her bow out of her hair

Most of the munchkins with Donald

Auntie Deb looking gorgeous

Lydia and Madeline enjoyed taking their baths together

Christmas Fun {Part One}

We had such a wonderful Christmas this year. It was made very special by the presence of Patrick's sister, Michele, our brother-in-law John and niece, Lydia. They flew down from Connecticut, spent a few days at Disney and then headed over to the coast.

We had such a wonderful time, just hanging out and relaxing for a few days. One night we went down to the Ocean Grill in Vero Beach for a delicious meal on the water. The food and company were unsurpassed.

Caleb and Lydia

On Christmas Eve morning, we headed over to Disney's Vero Beach resort for breakfast with Donald and Goofy. Caleb and Lydia had a blast, while Madeline had a hard time looking at the characters (which we expected.)

John, Michele and Eva in the back row, with Patrick in front with all the kiddos

That afternoon, we all headed to church for Christmas Eve service. Our pastor gave a great message, and it was wonderful to sing praises to the Lord. That night, Patrick prepared a wonderful meal of crab legs and blueberry chicken, creamy brussel sprouts with bacon and roasted potatoes. It was so delicious! We finished off our meal with a birthday cake for our Savior. Then we had to get busy wrapping gifts. Since Patrick placed my gifts with the kids, I never got the chance to wrap any of theirs. So Michele was gracious enough to stay up and help me.

Christmas morning, Lydia was the first to awaken. So we scrambled Caleb and Madeline out of their beds quickly so all the kiddos could open their presents together. Madeline wasn't too thrilled at being woken up. Poor girl. Caleb and Lydia made quick work of opening their gifts. Madeline opened up some of her gifts while leaving others completely untouched under the tree.

Deb, Andy, and Leah made it over to the house late morning. So the unwrapping of presents continued.

Eventually we were all done with the presents and could relax and hang out a little bit. Then we were off to the Disney Vero resort again for an early dinner. The food was fabulous. I naturally helped myself to two servings of dessert! LOL. The kids had a blast running around on the lawn afterward, and we enjoyed chasing them with our cameras.

Although the focus is soft in this next photo, it is, by far, my favorite from the entire week. We finally were able to get all the cousins together, despite living so far away.....and despite all the silliness going on while attempting to capture the shot! LOL.

I love how Leah is hugging Lydia, Madeline is preparing for what her brother may do next, and Caleb is thoroughly enjoying himself, as evidenced by the huge smile on his face and all the sweat in his hair!

Michele, John, and Lydia were supposed to head back to Connecticut on Sunday. But the blizzard that kept planes grounded on the east coast kept them with us just a few days longer. Caleb and Lydia really enjoyed their extra time together. It was very hard for them to finally say good bye. We had such a wonderful Christmas week. Now, it's time to gear up for Caleb's birthday in just two short weeks! Having your child's birthday fall just after Christmas is crazy, insane. I'm not yet getting the hang of it. LOL. Anyway, I hope to post more photos from Christmas when I get the chance. And I promise to still post some photos from our trip to New York.