I LIKE pickles!

We tried a 'sour' thing with Sakura...her first taste of pickles and she liked them! It was pretty funny, my Mom kept saying that we should have been taking pictures of Daddy's face since he hates even the smell of a pickle, so his expression was better than Sakura's. She sensed it too - she kept watching Daddy as she picked up the pickle and chewed on it.

Watching Daddy's expression....






We are SO fortunate that she is such a great eater, since we are both pretty picky!


Just another picture from this weekend, a freshly bathed baby, is there anything better?

Ruff-Ruff video

I FINALLY got this on video -

sorry Sakura was interested in her Doggies book, but it's the best I could get.

Sakura has been doing this for a few weeks now, we laugh and laugh at her expression when she's saying "ruff, ruff, ruff", look at those cheeks!

She has added "Bby" (for Baby) to her vocabulary too, she talks to her baby all the time.

Here she comes

Sakura is pretty proud of the fact that she can push her stroller!

Such a big girl pushing Kitty!

A special vest

Back in March when we got Sakura, Okada san gave us this sweet little vest. It was quite big (at the time) for Sakura and recently I pulled it out and it fits....this vest was given to Sakura chan by her Bio Grandma (Bachan). I hate to put it on Sakura because I want to keep it nice, but I know that she would want Sakura to wear it, I know how special it is, and want to keep it nice for Sakura. Today I took a few picture of Sakura out back to send to Taz so she could share them with Sakura's Bio Grandma. Her outfit came from Grandma (my mom), so she was dressed by a couple of her Grandmas! We think she looks pretty cute!

Sakura is now pointing at everything! Her little shirt should say "chapped cheeks"!

Today we went to work, and one of Daddy's engineers commented that her shirt was 'right'. Must be pretty rosy for the guys to notice!

11 months old!

Happy 11 months to my little Sakura chan!

It's hard to believe it, but today Sakura turned 11 months old, our baby is growing up WAY too fast, but we are enjoying every single minute.

• At 11 months we FINALLY found a food that she doesn't like - of all things pineapple! We were at Mimi's this past weekend and Sakura now eats just about everything we eat (minus the no-no's that the Dr. told us about until after she is 1 year old), and when Daddy shared his pineapple, Sakura CRIED! Guess that means that she didn't like it!



• She is still standing and walking around things, but not yet walking on her own.



• She has 4 teeth and it looks like two more will emerge any day!


• She has a few new words - YaYa for Yancha Bozu and Ruff, Ruff, Ruff (I've GOT to get this on video, she cracks us up with the expression she makes when she says this!) - instead of saying just a nice sweet "MaMa" she hollers "MOM" when she wants something, it doesn't matter if I'm sitting right beside her I think she figures if she hollers she'll get immediate attention?



• She does Patty-Cake and claps for "Yay Sakura"



• Waves HI and Bye-Bye



• LOVES to be 'walked' holding on to your hands and walking like a big girl

Walking like a big girl with her friend coming along.



• "Holds" things in her mouth so her hands are free to crawl, walk, or do whatever else she might want to do...just like Kumi!



• She has started "dancing" or "bouncing" when she listens to something she likes on TV



• HATES bibs!

For Sakura's 1st birthday next month we will be headed to Disneyland to celebrate!

The Happiest Place on Earth with the little girl that has made us the Happiest People on Earth!

Dinner with the Galakatos family

We always make time to meet up with the Galakatos family whenever we head to Phoenix. The Galakatos family was the very first family we met (face to face) once we started the adoption process with ATWA. It sure is amazing that when we first met Cory and Amy, little Sinclair was only 7 months old, and next month she will turn 2! She is adorable, smart and quite funny! She is so fun to be around. Sakura really loves Cory (Sinclair's Daddy), most people know that it's hard to get a smile out of our girl, but Cory manages to get several every time we see them. Unfortunately we forgot to get a group photo, but I did take a few pictures at dinner.

Sinclair calls Peyton "Peyt", she can say Peyton, but calls her "Peyt" it's pretty cute!

Cory and sweet Sinclair

These next few photos tell a little story, the story of Sakura having "pains" for Sinclair.

Photo #1 - All is well, Sakura loves watching Sinclair.....Sakura loves Cory, he gets LOTS of smiles!

Photo #2 - Sinclair has a little melt down because she wanted the straw and Mommy wanted a nice picture without the straw....notice Sakura's face

Photo #3 - Poor Sakura doesn't like Sinclair crying, and joins in - my friend is upset, I'm upset too!

All better - the girls recovered fairly quickly.
Hugs and Kisses for "Peyt" from Sinclair - Bye-Bye Sinclair we will see you again soon.

Christmas Part II

We had our Christmas in Phoenix over the weekend. Sakura still wasn't into opening presents, but did a tiny bit more than while we were in California. She LOVES the camera that Grandma and Papa gave her, it's pretty cute that click, click, clicks it...just like I do :)

Sorry these pics are in reverse order, right now it won't let me move them.

After opening presents, ready to go shopping!

Up from her nap!

Sleepy girl just woke up.

Opening her kimono from Grandma - my Mom really wanted Sakura to have a kimono and we just plain ran out of time while we were in Japan, so my Mom's friend bought one for her when she was in Japan a few weeks ago and brought it home with her. It isn't what we'd choose ourselves, but she does have a kimono now so that's good!

Her favorite gift...a toy camera!

Opening presents with Mommy and Daddy

My pretty girl by the tree with her Santa Mouse

Holding an ornament in front of the tree...because she wanted to crawl away every time I put her in front of the tree, if you can imagine?!

Before opening packages, sitting with Santa Clause and Santa Mouse