今天是鈞彥新生訓練的日子, 一早起來他的精神不錯, 似乎很興奮他要上學了. Buddy 決定晚一兩個小時去上班, 陪鈞彥, 鈞婷和我一起去看看 Hope 蒙特梭利學校的環境.

到了學校, 我們和鈞彥的老師 Mrs. Diamond 和助教 Mrs. Heng 互相介紹. 然後, 鈞彥就開始在教室裏找東西玩起來了. 有時候他自己捉摸, 偶爾也會找 Buddy 或我幫忙, 甚至還自己跑去跟 Mrs. Diamond說:” Mrs. Diamond, we need a little help here” (Mrs. Diamond, 我們需要一點幫忙). 鈞婷似乎也對蒙特梭利的教材蠻有興趣的, 只是不太習慣一下子和這麼多陌生人相處在同一個環境裏, 所以大部份的時間她都很害羞, 需要 Buddy 或我和她一起摸索教具.

大致上來說

Dear Family and Friends -

Amelia is growing very nicely as her two months just past not too long ago on May 23rd. She is being very alert with her eyes and can lift her head from side to side, and she can even give us this wonderful smile sometime. Ethan is growing very fond of his little sister with each passing day, but sometimes he treats her like she is a doll.

Ethan is actually counting from 1-10 in English and Chinese. He just one day started to say these numbers and it was just totally amazing how he absorbed this knowledge from our everyday life. He will be two years old this July 6th, and we are planning to have a little party for him.

It looks like this summer is going to be fun-filled for us. Jon & Marla, along with Trevor are moving here this week. They will be staying at our house until they can find a house to buy. We can only wish them the best of luck since the real estate market here is unbelieveably tight. Chin-lan's parents are coming on July 3rd and will be staying with us for one month. In August, Patrick and Sandra are coming back for a short trip and we look foward to seeing them again during the warm season. Well, before we know it, it's going to be fall again....and we look forward to our trip to Akansas at Thanksgiving.

Take care everyone and we hope to talk to you soon! Love ~ Chen family

Dear Mommy,

Happy Mother's Day! Ethan, Amelia, and daddy would like to say Happy Mother’s day on this special day made just for you. Even though Mother’s day is not celebrated every single day of the year, we would like for you to know that you are very special to us, each and every single day.

We know you give up your time and freedom of lifestyle to care for us, and you continue to give us your unconditional love even when we are short tempered against you, when we cry because we hurt, and when we are selfish within our own personalities.

We have a good family because of your time, which you continue to give to us without questions, and the sacrifices you make because you love us so much. We pray that you will be blessed with good health so that our family will always be together.

Daddy would especially like to say thank you for giving us such wonderful kids in Ethan and Amelia. I know it is hard for you to care for them now, but I also want to say you are the most wonderful mother to our kids. I know they will grow up to be proud of their parents and it is because of the precious time you spent with them every minute of the day.

Mommy, I know we don’t say, ‘I love you’ enough, but we love you with all our hearts and we couldn’t be here today celebrating Mother’s day as a family without having you in our lives.

With all of our Love – We Love you Mommy!

Daddy, Ethan & Amelia

Dear Family & Friends

I can't believe it has almost been one month since Amelia was born. It seems like it was only yesterday when we brought her home. However, compared to when we brought her home, she doesn't look like a newborn anymore. She has quite a healthy appetite and gaining weight for her is not a problem. Chin-lan took her to the pediatrician yesterday, 4/18, and she weighed 8 pounds and 13 ounces. I believe it took several months for Ethan to reach that weight. We were worry Amelia has eczema but the doctor believe it is just baby acne. We are holding our fingers crossed and hope it is just what the doctor says.

Ethan is responding better and better with Amelia in the house. There are times he needs to have mommy hold him, but most of the time he is okay with himself. He does miss his two best friends, uncle Patrick and aunt San San, but we look forward to seeing them again in August.

Well, life at home is still tiring on Chin-lan and I, probably more so for Chin-lan since she has to care for the kids all day. I didn't want to go back to work after taking almost three weeks off, but it definitely feels like a vacation looking at a computer monitor versus hearing two babies cry at once. Anyway, we are hanging in there and we know life won't be like this forever, and in fact, we know it will be something wonderful one day seeing Ethan and Amelia growing up together, playing and laughing like brother and sister they are.

Take care everyone and we hope to see and talk to you soon. Love - from the Chen family

Dear Family & Friends,

I am sorry I haven't been able to keep you updated since my last journal entry. Amelia was borned on March 23rd at 2:36 AM, and weighed 6 pounds & 9 ounces. Since then, time has been a little short on our end. Chin-lan is recovering great and at first, Ethan had a little trouble adjusting to being a big brother, but has since made big strides in accepting Amelia. Now at least he doesn't point at Amelia every morning and ask, "What is that."

Chin-lan and I are back to having sleep deprivation but the joy of having Amelia here overcomes our temporary shortcomings. We hope to be able to talk to everyone soon and we especially like to say 'thank you' to Siew, Pek Yee, and Han-lin for your thoughtful card we received today. It reminds us what good friends we have back at home.

I will update our website soon, so please come back to see more pictures. Take care everyone!

With lots of Love, from the Chen Family

Well, it is now Monday and Amelia is still holding out on us. Last Friday, Chin-lan was 1 cm dilated, so we guess she will see the world anytime this week.

This past Saturday we celebrated Chin-lan's birthday (3/19) and on Sunday, we celebrated Chin-lan sister birthday (3/20). Maybe Amelia will keep that string of dates going if she is born today.

We watched the movie "Something the Lord Made" and would highly recommend this movie to everyone. This movie is wonderful! Wow, I never knew until I saw this movie that Vivien Thomas even existed. You have to know, only the God of Heaven and Earth can take a mere man, and give him the talent and skill he needs to do what this man did. He never even went to college. He trained people who did. Its to bad he never really got the credit he should have. Praise God for Vivien Thomas.

Hi Everyone! Well, no sign of Amelia yet. She must be very comfortable where she at now. Maybe she will be ready to see the world on mommy's birthday this Saturday.

I was not feeling so well last night and went to bed early. I was moving around in my sleep and bumped into something soft. I opened my eyes to see that I had accidently bumped into Ethan sleeping next to me. He didn't wake up but I got to look at him for a while and I have to say, I wish I can cherish that moment forever. The next time I awoke, he was gone as mommy moved him back to his own bed. Thank you mommy for that moment.

Well family and friends, I guess the Amelia watch continues. Everyone take care & your always in our thoughts.

Well, we are still counting down for Amelia. We predicted March 15th but it looks like she going to make us wait a little longer.

This is one of my favorite photo of Chin-lan and Ethan. One of Ethan's favorite time is bath time as he just loves to play in the water and not too happy when he has to get out. But, as you can see, he is a really happy baby with a great smile!

Okay, keep in touch as the Amelia's watch continues....

We are waiting for the arrival of Amelia. She is due on March 27th but we feel she will be born sometime this week. Ethan is doing great and keeps on dazzling us with his amazing comprehension of the world that surrounds him. He is really attached to mommy, so it is going to be difficult for him to see mommy holding another baby. But, we plan to give him lots of love and attention and maybe he will understand that Amelia is another great addition to our family.

I am totally ready for spring to arrive. Winter is getting old and this March I have nothing to look forward in the way of the NCAA basketball tournament. My team (Arkansas Razorbacks) totally stinks as we have sunk so deep since the glory days of competing for the National Championship in the 90's. I cannot bear witness to another season like this past year...it is my opinion we should find another coach, namely Mike Anderson.