Journey To MaryAlice

Join me as I journey to China to find my daughter, Mary Alice.

Monday, August 31, 2009

A Year Ago Today....

Trying to get MaryAlice's picture is sometimes, well..trying. She keeps running towards the camera.

I call this photo, "Sunday Afternoon Jam Session".

My sad little girl. These pictures make me so sad to see how scared she was. A five hour drive that day and carried in on a back papoose by the ayi (nanny), carrying a little jelly cup firmly in her hand. Her hair was about 1/2 inch long. I regret not taking more photos. I fear the memories and details are fading as time moves on. My baby is growing up and I'm going to miss rocking her, giving her a bottle, and carrying her into my bed, just so I can watch her sleep.

We have come so far in the past twelve months. I can honestly say that I feel MaryAlice has securely attached and bonded with me. It has taken twelve months to get here, with a few bumps in the road, and it took doing some things a little differently (co-sleeping, wearing her in a carrier, bottle at bedtime, eye contact games and more). Her teacher recently wrote on the bottom of her Daily Sheet, "MaryAlice brings so much joy and happiness to our classroom". I'm saving that one. She really is a joyful girl and has brought this Momma lots of happiness.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Barney Is The Man!

I should be asleep, but I'll try to write some semblance of a post. I took a vacation day to take MaryAlice to see Barney Live at Universal Studios. With free admission pass in hand (compliments of AAA magazine insert), we made it through the entrance at 9:15. Only problem is that there is nothing for a two year old to do until 11am at that park. I still may send the complaint letter that I formulated in my head to Universal, if I find the energy. My issue is that there are no times listed on the website for the shows to help people plan their day in the park. I'll get off my soapbox now.

Barney was available for photo ops before the show and the assisting staff was very friendly. They had an indoor (air-conditioned) playground just made for little kids, so we hung out there for about an hour. The show was cute and MaryAlice loved it. She fell asleep as soon as I put her back in her stroller and headed to Islands of Adventure to just check it out. We rode the Cat in the Hat ride, the merry-go-round and played in the water spray park for little kids. We could have stayed there longer, but by 4pm, I was in the words of MaryAlice, "done".