fake smile, anyone?

Since the T family sent us several cute pictures from our evening together a few weeks ago, I thought I would post a couple. One of them happens to be Lilah's 'lovely' fake smile which I mentioned in the previous post. The other is of Lilah with the T's two beautiful kiddies, Adam and Lane. I have a funny feeling they're all wearing fake smiles in that one! Too cute! They had a lot of fun together running around the backyard. Thanks again for good times and great memories!

new telephoto lens

My new Canon 55-250mm telephoto lens arrived in the mail today. So when Colin and Lilah were on their way down the street to the park this evening, I decided to catch up with them! I must say, I am quite taken with this lens, albeit a little heavy and long, I think I can get used to that. My other lens is an 18-55mm, which came standard with the Canon XSi kit I bought. I'm so happy I decided to go for this lens, it takes some sweet pictures of my Lilah girl and there is also the added bonus of our little missy not even knowing I'm photographing her... 'cause believe me, the fake smile ain't that pleasant!

[ more pictures here ]

it won't be like this for long

It won’t be like this for long
One day soon we'll look back laughin’
At the week we brought her home
This phase is gonna fly by
So baby just hold on
‘Cause it won't be like this for long

He lays down there beside her
‘Til her eyes are finally closed
And just watchin’ her it breaks his heart
Cause he already knows

It won’t be like this for long
One day soon that little girl is gonna be
All grown up and gone
Yeah, this phase is gonna fly by
So, he's tryin’ to hold on
‘Cause it won’t be like this for long

It won’t be like this for long

rain rain go away, come again another day

[ more pictures here ]

gift from the orphanage director

It's taken me a long time to get around to posting this, however I want to record it on Lilah's blog, so better late than never! In April the director from Lilah's Social Welfare Institute made a trip to the US to speak at the 'East Meets West' Chinese Adoption Conference. One very kind (and very organized) Mommy (Kelly) on the Yangdong SWI Yahoo Group went to the conference to hear Mr Huang speak. She asked if anyone wanted to email her a few pictures of their Yangdong children, she would print them and pass them on to Mr Huang. She not only did that, she created a fabulous album with all the pictures that were sent to her and gave it to the director. It sounded like he was thrilled to see all the little ones growing up and happy! In return, he kindly gave gifts to Kelly to pass on to all those families that contributed to the album. Kelly very kindly mailed the gifts to each of us. I have added a few pictures below of Lilah wearing her jade necklace and also a picture of the gifts from Mr Huang.

I have to say, I think the director of Lilah's orphanage is a wonderful man. He works hard and really has the children's best interest at heart. I have an email of everything he said at that conference, kindly typed out by Kelly. There are many parts that make me feel thankful that Lilah was brought up in his orphanage, for those first 18 months of her life. Here is one part that reinforces to me what a great director he is, it is interpreted...
"Remember the tainted formula, the melamine? He said that when he took over in 2004 they were using the formula that was tainted. And he felt that formula was not right, so he decided to drop that formula and started using Nestle, even if it means that one can of formula costs 100 Yuan more, especially back then it was 40 Yuan. Now the price has gone up to 200 Yuan. So he said, "It doesn't matter, that's expensive, but we're using that" and that's why his children are not affected, because he dropped that formula manufacturer company and is now using American formula."

happy canada day

Colin and I both said it was our best Canada Day celebration to date, I think Lilah has a lot to do with that! What a beautiful day, there was just one heavy downpour that lasted about 5 minutes, just before we left, which was really quite nice! It cooled us down and Lilah enjoyed the puddles afterwards! Lilah had a lot of fun, she even stood still to get a maple leaf painted on her cheek, which we were all wearing by the time we got home! More pictures from our fun filled day here. Also, I was sent this link by a lady who follows our blog, someone captured a picture of our Lilah today and the lady recognized her, so she kindly sent me the link!

oh to be, young and carefree

We had a lovely day today. This morning we went out biking, checked out the ducks, a quick stop at Tim Horton's and then home. Then this evening we went to the experimental gardens for a picnic. Ah, life is good, you don't even have to be young for it to be this good! I should mention, 'Piggy' comes everywhere with us now, you'll see it in a lot of the pictures. In fact, Lilah almost stood beside the washing machine for the full 50 minute cycle tonight! Now and again she would say 'Piggy, where are you?', believe me, he was badly in need of a wash after a well travelled week! More pictures from today here.

your beautiful smile lights up our world

[ more pictures here ]

first time at the splash park

There's a splash park just down the road from where we live. Since today is the third extremely hot day (in a row) this week, we desperately needed to cool down! I'm not sure why I felt the need to bike there, but that's what we did. The heat may have affected my ability to think! Anyway, Lilah had so so so much fun. It's the first and certainly won't be the last time we take a trip to the splash park! More pictures here.

Oh the squeals of pure joy sure do make me smile.

Judging by the expression on her face, that must have been a pretty cold shock!

Pushing the button to turn the sprinklers on.

Sitting having her snack, a gentleman came over and told me how regal she looked.

Baba proudly taught her the fine art of getting the crumbs out of the pouch!

Home again, home again, jiggety-jig!

goodbye uncle jd & aunt ida

Well it was a fun filled week with Uncle JD & Aunt Ida, who are visiting from Ireland. (Lilah's Great-Uncle and Great-Aunt). Lilah seemed to take it all in her stride. It's our first company to stay (longer than one night) since Lilah has joined our family and we weren't sure how she would react, but she did great. She tends to warm up to men 'strangers' much quicker than women 'strangers', a trait we've noticed since bringing Lilah home from China. She was fascinated with Uncle JD's beard and enjoyed giving him high fives! I've added a few pictures from our week together below and you can see a few more here.

JD & Ida: We're so pleased that you decided to spend one of your weeks visiting with us. Ottawa is a little out of the way, but a lot out of the ordinary! Enjoy the rest of your time in Canada and safe travels. Lots of love, C, J & Lilah. xox

happy father's day - a week early

We have company staying with us all this week, from Ireland. Very exciting! That being said, we celebrated Father's Day a week early. Oh how she loves her Baba!

a family for six months

Six months ago today, this little girl changed our lives.

new photoshop software

I was inspired by a Mom who is a contributor to the mamarazzi blog, you can view her blog here. I am totally and utterly blown away by her skill, she is amazing! So the inspiration led me to order myself the Adobe Photoshop CS3 photo editing software! Ohh, I'm excited!

we picture {this} ~ theme: before and after

Since I really enjoy editing photos, I thought I would play along with the 'we picture {this}' mamarazzi photoblog and their current theme. For this photo, I used the following tools: crop, rotate, enhance, desaturation and exposure.

[ before ]

[ after ]

Check out the following link for lots of fabulous 'before and after' pictures!

take time to smell the flowers

"Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children"
~ Chuck Swindoll ~

[ more pictures here ]