An Outing With Fred

I am playing catch up on my blog a bit! A couple weeks ago I took Max out for a photo shoot for my photography class with Lisa from Long Road To China.  Our assignment was do do a posed and/or lifestyle shoot.  If you have met Max you know that this little bundle of energy is nearly impossible to pose and have him stay in that spot for more than a second which makes it nearly impossible to take a posed shot of him unless there is a distraction life food or something.  We were geared up to give it a try though.

A couple months ago when we were moving we came across Fred. Fred is Eric's childhood teddy bear.  Max took to Fred instantly and started calling him Teddy.  I thought it would be fun to take Max and Teddy/Fred out for a little photo shoot!

Max was bit bothered by his dirty feet after we were settled. He kept picking them up and looking at them.

He started by playing with Teddy ....

and in no time Teddy was doing flips!

It was then of course snack time, actually snack time seemed to be frequent with the hopes of trying to keep Max is one place.

Then it was time to read Teddy some books!

I love everything this picture represents.

Just a little break to take it all in!

This little man of ours has so much personality and we daily see it oozing out of him!

I love the way those big brown eyes speak!

What a great outing withTeddy and Max!

I am linking up to Sunday Snapshots today! Head over there to see more snapshots!
I used my Canon 60D and my 50 mm lensMy ISO was 100 and f stop and shutter were all over the place! 

Out Of The Auto Zone

I can't remember how I came across Lisa's blog The Long Road To China but once I did I often went back.  I loved her photography.  I followed her to China to bring her daughter home and was in awe of the amazing pictures she captured in China. I remember studying her photos in hopes that I could gain some insight on photography, especially insight on capturing our journey to China for Max.  There is so much I know I can learn about my camera and everything else that surrounds the topic of photography.   It is one of my favorite hobbies right now but there never seems to be enough time in the day to read, practice and figure it all out. 

I was super excited when I got an email from Lisa one morning that I had won a spot in one of her photography classes.  The class is titled "Out of the Auto Zone!" I couldn't wait to get started and learn from such an amazing photographer. I love that she gives a portion of the class fee to Half The Sky.  Half The Sky is doing amazing work in the orphanages in China.  When we got Max's referral they were the first place I contacted to see if they their programs were in Max's orphanage.  I was very sad to hear they were not but since we have come home they now are implementing their programs at Jinan SWI.  

This is one of my favorite pictures from one of my assignments for my class.  I can't wait to gain more insight from a very talented photographer.

15 Minutes In The Life Of Max

Here are 15 minutes in the life of Max. 

He often will take out his tub and line them all up. 

15 minutes is about the longest he sits in one place these days and that is a stretch! 

A Celebration

When we went to China we fell in love with the Chinese culture and the people.  We have always wanted to take part of Max's culture and integrate it into our family. We also have wanted to be able to share his culture with friends and family.  We decided January would be the perfect time to do that with our family.  This year January is when the Chinese people celebrate Chinese New Year.  It is the largest celebrated Chinese holiday.  We thought it would be fun to share the customs and food of Chinese New Year with our family and also celebrate Max's 1 Year Anniversary of being in our family! 

This year is the Year of the Dragon so we hung the dragon from the ceiling. 

We spent a large part of the day preparing food.  We are rookies when it comes to Chinese cooking.  I will say it is a little bit hard to entertain a large group of people with a large amount of Chinese food because everything is cooked fresh and it is hard to make things ahead of time.  I really should have gotten a picture of the stove and all the dishes.  I think we used every pan in our house. 

I wish I would have gotten a picture before we all dug in but it was  little bit of a blur as we finished up the food prep and tried to get it all on the table at the same time.  The girls helped make fruit kabobs that we put into a fun arrangement in the empty pineapple.  We also had dumplings and spring rolls. 

We made a chicken dish to make lettuce wraps. We also made pork to put in buns that resembled one of Eric's favorite dishes in China "the Chinese hamburger" well at least that is what we called it.

Our main dishes were beef and broccoli and orange chicken that we served with rice.

The Chinese don't eat a lot of dessert.  We usually had fruit at the end of our meal for dessert in China.  We decided to have some cupcakes for a treat.

The kids had fun trying to teach their cousins how to use chopsticks. 

Max enjoyed his food!

It was fun watching everyone try out the chopsticks. 

It was fun to have everyone over to celebrate! We had a dinning room full and in this picture Eric's sister and husband and kids are missing.  They decided to venture up in the snow and got to our house after we started and I had snapped the picture.  

Happy Gotcha Day Anniversary Max!

We finished the evening with sharing a book about the Chinese traditions of the Chinese New Year.  The kids handed out some bracelets and notebooks to their cousin.

The kids also got to take a Red Envelope home with a special treat in side!

We put together this video of our journey to Max to share with our family.  

We feel so blessed by all their love and support on our journey.  It was fun to share some of the Chinese culture and traditions with them. 

Happy Gotcha Day Max

It is hard to believe that one year ago today we stood anxiously by our hotel elevator jumping at every beep as we waited to see and hold Max for the first time.

(You will want to pause the music on the side bar when you play the videos)

As I watch this video it seems so surreal that we stood and watched our little boy walk off the elevator with a director from the orphanage.  I remember feeling overwhelmed how precious he was.  It all happened so fast.  After a few questions were answered the director left and there we stood with our little boy, he was forever ours. 

It was so overwhelming for both of us as we held him for the first time. We both fell in love with him instantly.  I still can hear Eric's voice saying, "Oh my goodness, he is perfect!" Yes, he was perfect but little did we know just how perfectly he would fit into our family.

We have watched a little boy with sad, hollow eyes transform right before our very eyes.  

The sparkle in his eye, the dimple on his cheek and his love for life continue to grow.

We have experience so many first with Max this year.  There have been special days, holidays, milestones, but there have also been hugs, playing in leaves, swinging at the park and touching the grass.  A whole new life and world was at Max's fingertips this past year.  We have stood with anticipation as we watched Max experience the world and life with a family for the first time.  He soaks every ounce out of life and embraced it with every piece of him.  

He is not just a happy little boy, he is a boy that is FULL of joy!

There are so many times Eric and I have sat and watched our son and stood in awe.  How in the world can a little boy that never set foot out of an orphanage, laid on a red mat in a red room with out any toys day after day for 17 months, just had his basic needs met, did not get a lot of love or attention ... come out of that environment with a love for life and a joy that is infectious.  Others are draw to him because of the joy he exudes.  I often get asked if he ever stops smiling.  No, he rarely stops.  I know God held our little boy, guarded his mind and protected his spirit until he was in our arms.

Max has moved right into our family with ease.  His sisters and brother love him to pieces.  There is no doubt God's hand placed this little boy to fit perfectly into our family.

So today we celebrated Max's Gotcha Day.  A day we will never forget.  A day that changed his and our life.  We broke out the chopsticks and enjoyed a meal around our table together.

We finished the night at one of Max's favorite places ... Cherry Berry.  He ran in yelling "ICE CREAM" and also ran up to everyone in Cherry Berry yelling"HI!"  We can't help but smile at how much life is in this little boy.

This video is a glimpse into Max's first year home! It pretty much sums up how perfectly he fits into our family and the joy he brings! 

Happy Gotcha Day Max! 

Life Is Always Better With Bubbles

I am pretty sure these pictures speak for themselves! 

Life is ALWAYS better with BUBBLES!