More zoo photos.

Nikki's first trip to the Omaha zoo. May 2011

Nikki's baptismal party.

We had a party at our house after church, lots of food, family & fun.

Nikki received lots of gifts & had lots of fun.

NIKKI'S BAPTISM MAY 2011

My mom made Nikki a beautiful gown for her baptism. Her godparents are my sister Holly & her husband Eric.

This is the only picture I have of all 5 of us at the baptism, sorry noone is looking at the camera.

It has already been 3 months since we met Nikki in that government office in Nanjing. She is such a blessing. She is a very easy baby except that she doesn't sleep all that well, but it is getting better. She is walking, says a few words, signs even more words. She is a great eater, has gained maybe 2 pounds and is lots of fun. She loves to ride with Matthew on his little four-wheeler. She really is a blessing!

Easter Egg hunt at the Nursing home.

Matthew, Ben and Ben's cousin Gavin showing off their finds.

All the grandkids on my side except Alex(who is to big for the hunt and was busy delivering salt with the football or wrestling team)

Nikki figured out the easter egg thing pretty quick-she filled her bucket.

Nikki, Levi & Cody before the hunt.

Let me at those eggs!

She loved the bunny-it doesn't look like it hear, but she grabbed his nose and wanted to stay on his lap.

On April 9th, Matthew had to be in Yankton to compete in the second round of pine wood derby cars races. It was held during the Scout O'Rama. They had all sorts of activities for the kids to do.

Matthew & his friend Matthew sawed through a branch with a buck saw. It took a while but they did it.

Archery

Here Alex, Matthew & I got a lesson in archery, it was fun-I even came close to a bulls-eye.

Matthew won first place at the Cub Scout O'Rama in Yankton.

His pine wood derby car won first again in the tiger group, his car was the fourth fastest at the derby.

Matthew is the third from the left. The boy standing next to him on the right is a fifth grader and Matthew is small for his age!

Last weekend we went to Kearney for Christmas on Jeff's side. We usually wait until after Christmas but this year is was way after christmas. Nikki got to meet 3 cousins and an aunt & uncle. We always have lots of fun there. Nikki got to go swimming for the first time, I think she is going to be like me and Matthew. We hate cold water and prefer the hot tub!

Nikki's new swim suit from Grandma Lynne.

Nikki & Aunt Jennifer

Nikki wasn't too fond of the floatie.

This girl is never still, it is almost impossible to get a picture that isn't blurry!

Within the last year my grandma Eileen got 4 new great grand-daughters. Here are three of them: From left to right: My cousin Krisi and her daughter Mazie (3 months), Me & Nikki(17 months), My youngest sister Holly and her daughter Nora(10 months).

The only one missing is Krisi's sister Shannon & her daughter Kavita(11 months?).

Nikki opening a gift. She's doing her squat-she does this a lot.

Nikki & Tory. I call Tori "my first baby". I took care of her when she was 6 weeks old while I worked at a daycare in college. She spent a lot of time with me over the years. She is almost 16 now.

So Sweet!

Nikki & Matthew in the tub.

NIKKI HAS BEEN OURS FOR 8 WEEKS !



Nikki is such a blessing! She is a cute, sweet, loveable little thing. She is so smart & is a very easy baby. The only challenge is sleeping and that is getting better, last night she only got up once. I think daylight savings time helped a lot. She was getting up so early no matter what time she went to bed. Daylight savings time fixed that.



She is walking all over, she falls quite a bit too. She gives kisses, high five's, & seems to understand what we are saying to her. She loves to dance and listen to music too. She is adorable when she shakes her little tushie.

February 26, 2011

Nikki took 7 steps yesterday! She could walk if she would slow down. She gets around faster crawling and she wants to keep up with the dog Otis and Matthew.

She said "up" yesterday when she wanted me to pick her up.

She has a rash all over his neck and chin, I thought it was from the whole milk we were trying to switch her too (Matthew got a rash all over his chest whenever we gave him whole milk when he was first here too). But now I am not too sure, her rash flared up after a few days without milk.

Here is Matthew with his trophy from the cub scout pine wood derby and our neighbor Luke with his. Matthew got first, he is a tiger cub and Luke got third and I think he is a bear cub.

This is how Matthew goes to Luke's house to play in the mud.

Nikki & Otis

Nikki making alphabet soup?

Nikki with cousins Jayden and Jaley.

Nikki has been with us for 5 weeks and home for a little over 3 weeks.

She is a sweetheart. She is starting to give hugs, waves and says bye bye, loves to play pat-a-cake (she rolls her hands to the roll it part) and is taking a few steps. She still isn't sleeping very well but it is getting better.

The doctor proclaimed her healthy even though she isn't on the growth charts yet. The doctors don't hear a heart murmur & she has outgrown the pulmonary stenosis....those were her only special needs except for anemia (blood test was fine). She weighed 18.6 pounds and was 29 inches tall. Matthew weighed 18 lbs when we adopted him too, except he was 26 months not 16 like Nikki.

She is a smart little thing and only has to watch something once before she figures it out. She loves our weiner dog Otis, I thought she would be scared to death of him.

Nikki & Uncle Todd

Poor Matthew didn't make it through supper the first 3 nights we were home.  He did sleep through the nights unlike us.

Nikki wanting Matthew's food (since he was asleep)

Matthew pushing Nikki in his dump truck

Nikki's White Swan Red Couch photo (this is a tradition for people adopting from China ) Sorry it is blurry, I'll try and find another one.

Nikki's been with us 3 weeks now!
She's crawling all over the place, waves goodbye, and tells the dog no.

She isn't sleeping all night yet, but hopefully she will soon. She started daycare because I work during tax season. She really seems to like it. She can pull her self up to standing without holding on to anything. She loves to eat and eats almost everything. She is generally a very easy baby. We are very blessed!