Xin Nian Kuai Le!

Happy New Year, everyone! This year is the Year of the Pig in the Chinese zodiak, and we celebrated at the Sunny Ridge event again this year. It was our family's third Chinese New Year celebration, but the first with Ting Ting, so it was extra special.

We saw some of our travel mates while we were there. Here Ting Ting and I are visiting with Frances and her daughter Chloe. Frances is wearing a beautiful top she bought in China, and both girls are decked out in their New Year attire. It was fun for Ting Ting to see some friends from the old country.


Lauren and Brandon wore their silk jackets as well. Their cousins Casey (pictured) and Candace and Aunt Chris attended with us again this year.

I injured my back last week, so I can't yet sit here very long, so I'll just attach a couple more photos. Look for more in a few days!

Ting Ting chilling out with her brother and sister.


She loves books, and Lauren reads with her often.

And so does Mom!

Cute story of the week: Sometimes when she's playing by herself she'll pick up a book, open it and say, "blah, blah blah," pointing to the lefthand page, then the right. Then she turns the page and repeats. Irresistable!

Baptism celebration

Some photos of Rachel Shu-Ting's baptism day Feb. 11 (Thanks, Gloria -- I knew you would come through).

Ting Ting wore a white silk dress and matching shoes that we bought her in China. The dress has a cherry blossom design on it. We added a white headband shortly before the actual baptism, and she looked beautiful.

I'm wearing red because in China it symbolizes good luck and happiness. Lance wore a red tie to match (with pandas on it, from guess where). I also wore a necklace with the Chinese characters for "mother" and "daughter" on it.

Dad and Mom are next to me in this photo, taken before the church service began.



Here's the whole family: Susan, Lance, Brandon, Lauren and Rachel.











Lance, Ting Ting and I with her grandparents after the service.








We had the family over afterwards for lunch. Here a more casually dressed Ting Ting enjoys playing with her grandfather.

You'll notice she has her fingers in her mouth -- she's teething up a storm!


She also enjoyed playing with her cousins Amber, Candace and Sarah.




She and Daddy enjoyed lunch with Aunt Gloria and her grandson, cousin Nik.


Nik also enjoyed a little quiet time with his Mom.


And here is Ting Ting with her Daddy -- you can see some of the results of all that teething activity!

And there's more!

When it rains, it pours. Here are some more cute photos of Ting Ting, courtesy of my Dad:

My parents taught her to snap her fingers (well, she tries, anyway!).

Those are her new super-warm flannel-lined jeans. And, yes, they DO make her butt look big.



Putting cheese in her mouth instead of her hair.

In her swing, with her special buddy, Cyrus. I'm convinced that "Cyrus" is going to be her first word.



Always playing to the crowd.


And here are both of Lance's daughters. Ting Ting is wearing her beautiful white silk dress and shoes we bought in China for her baptism, which was Sunday morning. My parents were in town for that.

She was absolutely adorable in that dress, but do I have a photo of her in it? Not one (Note to Gloria: HELP!).

By the way, I have a new haircut and I've lost more than 15 pounds since Ting Ting entered our lives. Not that you would notice, since no one takes my photo anymore . . . I guess this is my new phase of life, huh? From now on, I'm just the person accompanying Rachel Shu-Ting. Not that there's anything wrong with THAT gig -- after all, I waited a long time to be someone's mommy!

We're keeping busy

Here are some of the things we've been doing during Mommy's maternity leave:



Meeting Auntie Debi (hooray!!!)


















Eating grits.





("You talkin' to me?")














It's nice to share.























Once more, with eggs!























Visiting Mommy's office.





Waiting for Lauren and Brandon to arrive.


















Visiting Dr. Ochs.

And growing hair -- this photo was taken in December. Look at the difference compared to the first photo!













Meeting new friends like Grace and Nancy.






Admiring Cyrus.




Taking a spin in the Cozy Coupe (complete with pink cell phone -- thanks, Auntie Debi!)







Helping clean up the place.






A woman's work is never done.








Maybe the mop would do a better job.