Our secret pal has sent us the cutest stacking toy for our little one. It has numbers on each piece so it will help when it comes time to learn counting and when two of the pieces are put together, they make a ball. Each month you surprise us with such amazing gifts and we are thankful beyond words for having such a terrific person as our secret pal. We look forward to receiving our package each month and to seeing where in the country it was sent from. You are a true sneak. Thank you so much for this great toy. Michele & Chuck

Once again, our Secret Pal continues to send us the most wonderful surprises each month.

I don't think either one of us, when we first started this journey, thought that we would still be exchanging presents a year later. I think we likely both thought we'd be meeting in person with our daughters in our arms, perhaps in Guangzhou, perhaps in the states. But alas, that will not happen anytime soon.

But in the meantime, it's the little things in life that matter the most.

Getting to know Renee Caldarelli and family

1. Add your name and a little something about your family.
Renee & Joe Caldarelli

2. Girl, Boy, Twins requested? Girl

3. Age Requested? 0-12 months

4. Child/children's names? This is our first...Madison

5.Nursery theme and colours?

Butterfly Kisses...Pastel pinks, purples, yellows and greens

6. Likes and Dislikes?
We love to try pretty much anything and don't know of anything we have absolutley not liked.

7. Hobbies and Collections?

Traveling, Boating, Snow Skiing, Bowling, going to Museams, Plays, Musicals and concerts, working on our computers

8. Favourite fragrance or scents? Vanilla and Lilly's

9. Favourite foods? Italian

10. Favourite books or authors? Daniel Steele, Stephan King, and Tom Clancy

11. Favourite movies? Any Comedy Movie, Grease, Chicago, Moulan Rouge,...Joe-anything with Clint Eastwood in it.

12. Favourite music? Rock, Country and Jazz, some Pop

13. Favourite colour or colours?

Black, Off White and Reds/Burgendys

14. Registered at a store? Babies R Us and JC Penny's

15. Favourite clothing item for a child? Cute Little Dresses and Jean Outfits.

16. Anything else you would like to share with your secret pal? We live in Japan (military)

Secret Pal you are awesome!! Thanks so much for the gifts. We let Sophie take a look inside the “Backyard Buddies” box and she loved the little googly eyes (she even called them googly) that came in the kit. As you can see from the picture Oatmeal (the bear) and Curious George both liked it too. We really appreciate the “Nappy Sacks”. Our hotel room in China didn’t always smell so nice on the trip to get Sophie and these should really help. The Australian stamps were neat too. The barrettes are so cute! Sorry, we missed mentioning this the last time -- but they look great in Sophie’s hair -- and I’m sure they will in Violet’s too.

We had a great time opening the box. We attached before and after photos … on the second one, you can see where Sophie snuck in and opened the box and took everything out (and even put on the shirt!) after we put it away :).

Thanks for everything.

Pete, Jill and Sophie

Thank you to the Thomas Secret Pal!!

We love all our gifts. The changing tote is too cute and I love the colors. Diaper sacks is one thing I have not even thought about purchasing. I know we will need them along with the butt paste! LOL! Thanks so much for our March gifts!

To M Jonsson´s Secret Pal!

Thank you so much for all practical and useful things in March gift.

I really like travelling with mini bottles and mini packages. This time I received lots of mini items: Bath rooms tissues, wipes, sun cream, stain remover, hand sanitizer and baby lotion-

all “minis” that I love!

I also got great and light weighted cups, bowls and spoons. Also a pair of cute bear booties.

I can´t wait until we travel!

Thank you so much Secret Pal!

Thank You Surridge Secret Pal!!!

I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again - we LOVE our secret pal!! :) I've now gone from wondering how you are spying on us each month (seriously, more on that later...) to hoping we have the same LID so that we'll be in China together for you to see our little girl using all the goodies you send us! :)

This month our pal totally stocked our diaper bag (mental note...buy diaper bag...). We got a package of take along size baby items (they smell so good!), adorable pink washcloths, a frosty bear ice pack, ladybug burp cloths, and (best of all) a purple rubber ducky! Why am I so excited for the purple rubber ducky? Aside from the fact that my mom bought me two yellow duckies for my birthday last year (really), I have a love of all things purple. My students years ago read the book Frindle (basic plot - he decides to coin a new word - Frindle - and hilarity and adventures ensue), and decided they wanted to come up with their own word. They ended up deciding that in our classroom, the word "purple" would mean fantastic. So "you're looking very purple today" is the ultimate compliment. I am so excited for my purple duck!! :) Thank you thank you thank you!

Thanks so much to the Moore Secret Pal. We received a cute bug rattle, that I almost bought last week, disposable bibs, a sippy cup (no spill), wipes and a travel set of utensils.

All of these things will come in very handy. Thanks for being a great secret pal

Lisa and Chester Moore

Thanks to our Secret Pal!

We received a boxful of diaperbag goodies yesterday. A great sippy cup, wipes, dispoable changing pads, a box of travel size baby shampoo, lotion, etc., colorful washcloths & a cute Princess comb & brush set. We appreciate all the stuff you sent & can't wait to take it to China with us!

Cyndi & Bill Williams

Thank You Bryant Secret Pal

It's been a while since we posted in the main group blog, sorry about that. Hope you've seen the posts on our blog though!

Our Secret Pal continues to send us wonderful and oh so thoughtful gifts, which for those who know me best know how much the thought means to me.

For February our pal sent us a wonderful subscription to a cooking magazine called "One". Ok, stop laughing mom (and everyone else), I do cook sometimes and well, E and I should cook more often. The magazine is wonderful, it's recipes from 'normal' people rather than pros and for the most part the recipes seem fairly straightforward.

She also sent along some wonderful spices and we've used them already when grilling some chicken, it was pretty good.

For March our Pal sent us nearly the same items we sent to ours, this is probably the 3rd time this has happened! The little stuffed bear is the softest most huggable toy I've picked up and it's wonderful, I hope Magpie loves it as much as we do.

Thank You so much Secret Pal.