Somersaulting into summer

She's getting pretty darn good at this. Sad to say she is better than Mom who can't do it without causing permanent damage to her neck and upper spine.

Molly vs. the Crab Monster

Molly loves seafood. Marie loves seafood. So why not make a whole crab for dinner?

Too young to fully understand the idea of meeting your food before you eat it, Molly was fascinated by the critter (already dead by the way) and after a few pokes and pinches, she was eager to dig right in.

If she didn't understand before that this was where her dinner was coming from then surely she did when Marie started bashing it apart at the table and cracking legs and shells to scoop out the meat. Molly's only complaint was that Mom wasn't fast enough at digging out the goods.

It's a start!

She has taken a liking to her potty seat. Of course she has all the habits of a normal potty user without actually "going". Oh well, one step at a time I guess.

It was HOT! in L.A. this weekend. We got out and about early on Sunday morning and walked downtown for breakfast. Afterwards the heat was already upon us but we had prepared - we brought Molly's swimsuit so she could splash around for the first time in the Lion fountain out in front of the Culver Hotel. The fountain has a lion as an ode to MGM lion (the old MGM studio is right down the street) Thanks to her Florida trip she had lots of practice with fountains like this one so she was ready to rush right in. The random squirts confused her a bit and since Mom and Dad weren't joining in she stayed mostly on the edges but it was a great way to beat the heat. I'm sure she will see much more of the fountain this summer.

Our little (packing) peanut

Grandpa sent Molly a present this week. It was a photo album of her trip to Florida with pictures of all her relatives that she got know better. Molly is getting awfully good at saying Riley and Kaitie. Of course, being a kid, Molly was fascinated by the box it came in. Of course, Dad being a bit of a kid himself, he took it upon himself to tuck in her pants and stuff her silly with packing peanuts. She loved it!

Still the happiest gal in town

Molly attended a birthday party back at the Underwood farms and once again had a great time. She's getting to be quite the regular there. 

And speaking of anniversaries of important dates, we let it slide but I think it's worth mentioning that we have passed the first anniversary of our "first call". This time last year was the first real step forward towards becoming a family after so very long of delay after delay. With that call we knew that we would be seeing our Molly for the first time very soon (although it took longer than they said it would, like everything else along the way). 

It seems like we've been a family for much longer but every now and then it hits us that we're still fairly new at this. We have Molly fooled though. She thinks we're pretty great. Well right back at ya kid. A family now and a family forever. 

Sponsor our family in the Revlon Run/Walk and help us to save a life

On Saturday May 10th Eric, Molly and I will be joining the Mom's club of Culver City in the Entertainment Industry Foundation Revlon Run/Walk to help in the fight against women's cancers.  We hope those of you who can, will help us help someone else by clicking on the Run/Walk link at the top of the page and making a donation.  It's quick and easy, just click on the above Run/Walk link that takes you to the Mom's club page then go the bottom of page, find and click on one of our names and you will be taken to one of our donation pages, at the top of the page fill in the box with the amount you would like to sponsor and click on the make the donation box.

Our family has been so blessed by having Molly come into our lives this last year, we are so grateful and want to give back.  The Revlon Run/Walk on Mother's Day weekend is a perfect way. I can't imagine becoming sick and not being strong enough to play with my girl or worse yet not being here for her.  I hope our contribution can save at least one Mom and keep one family together.

California Adventure Park with Da(Matilda)

Yesterday Molly and I met Kristen and Matilda(who Molly calls Da) at the California Aventure Park and Kristen and I and the girls had a great day.  We had a few breakdowns around nap time but for a day at the park that lasted from 10:30 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. with only one 45 minute nap I would say the girls did pretty well.  

Molly loves to explore, walk and feel independent so no stroller for her at the big amusement park, luckily Matilda likes to do the same so we didn't feel rushed and the girls could take their time to discover the park.  This means a long stay by any body of water containing ducks or fish, climbing on low walls or curbs and lying down on the ground to admire the colored glass that is molded into the paths.  It was a dirty, dirty day but Molly was enjoying herself so I gave up on trying to stay clean and let her be a kid.

Even with a few breakdowns, Disney really is the happiest place on Earth!

Molly's first family vacation

Last week Molly headed out on her first family vacation with Mom and Dad, her Grandma and Grandpa and her Aunts Riley and Kaitie to Florida. She even met her Great -Grandma Eva. It was the first time Molly was on a plane since her long flight from China eight months ago and she did amazing. Such an easy little one to travel with . . . good job Molly that will make it easier to talk Dad into taking us to Maui!


We are once again so proud of our girl! We stayed in three different hotel rooms and did a lot of traveling once we arrived in Florida and she did surprisingly well considering we were completely off our schedule and naps were hard to come by some days. She had a few melt downs which were hard for all of us because Mom and Dad aren't use to handling them because they don't happen often. Just for the record, it is not fun having the "misbehaving child" in the room. Glad we don't have that experience very much.



Molly calls her Grandpa "Paw" and started saying Paw almost as much as she says Mom. Paw and Grandma and Riley and Kaitie got some alone time with Molly when Mom and Dad snuck out during nap time and got some much needed spa time. She woke up without us and did just fine. It was so wonderful for us to see Molly surrounded by her family and so much love. The distance makes it hard for all of us to see each other often and that means it's taking some time for Molly to open up to all the love waiting for her. Luckily her family doesn't give up easily and with a few more visits everyone will get a little more Molly time and Mom and Dad will get a little time to themselves.




Molly was born in a beach town in China and moved to a beach town with Mom and Dad and let me tell you - she is 100% beach girl! Molly has no fear of the water, which terrifies Mom. A little fear would be nice. She had such a great time playing in the sand and wading in the ocean and loved the pool at the hotel. She just couldn't get enough.


Vacation week for Molly was all Dad all the time. She could not get enough of Daddy and Mom just wouldn't do. At first we thought it was just because she doesn't get Dad 24/7 very often so she wanted to take advantage of Daddy time. Now that we are home she has already switched back to all Mom all the time. So we decided away from home and her familiar surroundings Dad makes her feel safe and back at home Mom is the nurturer.