All About our Family

Some Christmas Photos

2009-12-25T18:22:00.004-06:00

This is the best expression I could get with her bride Barbie...

The kids visiting with Santa at their schools last week.

Emily is 5!

2009-11-08T18:19:00.004-06:00

Our girl turned 5 years old today. The celebration started Friday with parties in each of her preschool classes. Mommy and Daddy went took cupcakes to her morning class and helped her celebrate. She got a crown from one of her teachers and you'll see it in several of these photos. She wore it most of the day on Saturday and even had it on at church Sunday!

Saturday morning her Aunt BB and cousins Haileigh and Eric came to help celebrate. Em had told me she didn't want any friends, just family, at her birthday party so that's what she had. It was small and quiet and guess what? She told me several times that this was the best birthday ever! It doesn't take tons of presents and a huge party to make this girl happy.

Saturday after a lunch of tacos (her choice) and cake (I made it myself), me, Emily and our three out of town guests went to the mall and looked around. Emily had some birthday money she was dying to spend at the "pink store" (aka Claire's) so after 15 minutes she finally settled on some Disney Princess press on nails. :-) After such a big day we had a quiet evening at home and all had an early night.

Sunday morning we all got up and went to church, then we had to say goodbye to BB, Haileigh and Eric :-(. After an afternoon rest, we went to the park to play (did I mention the weather was beautiful ALL weekend) and stopped for an ice cream on the way home.

The big purchase for her birthday was a new big girl bed. She was still in a toddler bed and was beginning to outgrow it so she now has a beautiful new twin bed all to her own, complete with Disney Princess bedding! It was a wonderful weekend and I'm so glad she enjoyed it!

Halloween Pics

2009-11-01T19:54:00.003-06:00

Benjamin is Two!

2009-09-28T20:14:00.004-05:00

Yes, I still have snowmen as my background. Yes, it's been four months since I last posted. Going back to work has put a definite cramp in my internet time! A quick recap since my last post...

Traveled to New Zealand in July to visit Jeff's family and to celebrate his 50th birthday. It was at Jeff's birthday party there that I realized there are several family and friends in NZ who actually do read our blog so I promised I would do a better job keeping it updated (sorry it's taken me so long to get to it, though)!

One week after getting back from NZ, I started back to work full time. I'm working at the office in an 8th grade building and I love it! It's taken a bit of getting used to our new routine and schedule but we are all settling into it now.

This past weekend we celebrated our baby boy's second birthday. My dad and his wife came and spent a few days with us and my sister, Brenda, and her kids joined us on Sunday for Benjamin's party. Friday, Benji's daycare had a little celebration for him during afternoon snack time. Then Sunday afternoon we had lunch and cake at a local park where the weather was summer like. I think Benjamin had a great time and one of his favorite presents was his Thomas the Train engine and some train track from Papa and Billie. Above are some highlights...

Our Swimming Pool Is Open!!!

2009-05-13T17:04:00.002-05:00

Our Weekend

2009-05-05T13:42:00.003-05:00

This past weekend our family experienced a few milestones. First, Jeff and I had a weekend away (without children) for the first time in 2 1/2 years. And it was also the first time Benjamin had been away from us. The kids stayed with my sister, Brenda, and she said she hated to disappoint me, but Benjamin did just fine without us. And Emily always has a great time at her BB's so she wasn't phased by us being gone.

The other milestone was my niece, Haileigh, graduating from 8th grade. They had a nice banquet and awards ceremony Friday evening. Isn't she just beautiful?? I feel like I should explain my appearance. We had Emily's school field trip to the zoo last Friday...it was 55 degrees, windy and pouring rain when we got there so I was sporting ball cap hair.

Here are a few photos of my little guy helping me weed a pathway last week. I swear he worked for a good 15-20 minutes, pulling weeds and putting them in the bucket. The only negative result...now he wants to pull up some of our ground cover that are NOT weeds.

Odds and Ends

2009-04-27T17:35:00.005-05:00

Here are just a few shots of the kids from the past week or so. Last week we had a few days in the mid 80's. It was great! This morning it was in the mid forties when we went to the store, so it's back to jackets and pants, but hopefully just temporarily. We also had quite a bit of rain yesterday and our little water lover had to play in it.

I hate this dress. Let me explain. I bought it at a consignment shop last spring for Emily to wear at Easter (which she did). Back in January or February she started this thing where she insists on wearing a dress every day with her high heels. It didn't matter if it was 20 degrees outside. She wore the dress. Time to get ready for bed? She chose this instead of pj's. If we did go somewhere where she needed to wear different clothes (like to school) she would immediately go to her room and change as soon as we got home. She plays on the swingset in this dress. She rides her bike in this dress. This is how much she wears it...my neighbor told me a few weeks ago, "I don't know how much you paid for this dress, but you're sure getting your moneys worth out of it." I guess it was the best (or worse) $12 I have ever spent. She still wears dresses every day and she has others she can wear. But this is her favorite.

Here she is playing with her Don't Spill the Beans game. She has no interest in playing it like it's supposed to be played (believe me, I've tried). She just prefers to spoon the beans in and out of containers, etc. Whatever keeps her occupied!

My little man. Is he cute or what?

Benjamin with Zack. I'm not sure who was trying to kiss whom!

We think he looks a bit like Linus, the Peanuts character. This is one of several "lovies." I'm lucky he did not attach himself to one specific blanket. This is a white cloth diaper...we have lots of them so when one is dirty, it gets thrown in the wash and a clean one taken out of the drawer. Oh, and his thumb is always in his mouth when he has his lovey.

Playing in a puddle in the driveway after last evening's rain.

Of Daddy couldn't miss this opportunity to be a kid, either!

Benjamin then decided to sit right down in the water. Brrr...

Okay, it wasn't so fun anymore after he realized his pants were soaking wet and stuck to him. He went right in and had a nice warm bath.

Lastly, we took our little guy for a haircut yesterday. It was just his third one and he still hates it, although seemed to cry a bit less this time. After his bath, I decided to put use a little gel in his hair. I think it looks cute.

I Forgot!

2009-04-13T18:08:00.004-05:00

Just a little brag on my daughter. She and I don't have the easiest of last names. For starters, it's 9 letter long. A few months ago she spelled it outloud completely unprompted. Then the other day she brought this to me. It's the first time she's ever spelled it on her own! There are a few letters a little messed up but I thought it was a great first attempt! She even underlined it. I don't know what the letters mean below the line.

Here she is being silly. I had this Barbie swimming pool when I was little and am letting her play with it now. It really isn't all that big. She wanted to pretend she was sleeping in it and wanted her photo taken all curled up. Either she's really tiny or has a future as a contortionist!! Oh, to be that flexible again! HA!

Easter Weekend

2009-04-13T09:16:00.007-05:00

The kids and I traveled to my dad and sister, Brenda's, this past weekend for Easter (Daddy stayed behind at home...sniff sniff). The main reason we traveled this weekend was because my niece, Haileigh, was being baptised Sunday. Didn't want to miss that!!

Saturday my sister had her step kids and all their kids over for lunch and an Easter egg hunt. Neither of my two kiddos were feeling all that great (colds and coughs) so they didn't look all that enthused in the photos, especially Emily. I think Emily found the most eggs, as her bucket was heaping full. Benjamin was more interested in just running around the field and playing on the swingset than he was looking for eggs. But the Easter Bunny was very good to them! The bunny left a basket for them at BB's (my sister's) and they each had one waiting for them here at home. And my sister gave each of the kids a bucket of goodies on Saturday before the hunt. So they had plenty!

Sunday morning we all went to church as a family and got to see my niece being baptised. Emily had never seen a baptism before and was very curious about it. She asked me, "Mom, is Haileigh going to walk with Jesus?" Trying to keep things simple, I said yes, that's what this meant. Then Emily looked at me with a worried look on her face and said, "When will she be back?" Hee hee!

We ended our visit with a wonderful lunch at my sister's and then the kids and I got on the road for the almost three hour trip back home (during which they both slept nearly the entire way!). It was a great weekend. Here are some photos.

Our Little Rock Star

2009-04-04T08:14:00.002-05:00

Benjamin was playing with sister's guitar yesterday so of course I had to snap some photos. Yes, it's hot pink. And yes, it's a Bratz guitar. But he didn't care (and neither did I)!

When he sees we have the camera he gets a big smile on his face and says, "Cheese!"

This is right before he smashed it and broke into pieces (just kidding but isn't this what some of the rock stars do?).

The other day I babysat a little girl whom we've watched before. She and Benjamin are about 2 weeks apart in age. The loved playing with each other. Here they are trying to hold hands at the breakfast table. (Please excuse Mommy's face...it was early)!

Spring Snowstorm, etc...

2009-03-29T09:43:00.006-05:00

It's been quite a while since I've posted. We are doing okay here. At least the illness seems to be slowly ridding itself from our house. The latest, most exciting news is an unusual spring snowstorm that started Friday and lasted through the morning Saturday. We received 18 inches of snow!! Emily and I spent some time outside playing in the snow. Benjamin didn't play as he would have been up to his neck (or worse) in the snow. When we did bring him out later in the afternoon after it had warmed up, he wanted nothing of it! Jeff and I both picked up a bit of snow in our hand to show it to him. He very emphatically shook his head no and leaned back as far as he could. Maybe next year he'll be interested in playing in it.

In our backyard Saturday morning

Em and I getting ready to play

Mommy showing Emily the fine art of snow angel making

Don't think we'll be getting out of our driveway for a day or two

Dad and Benji...no, they aren't wearing coats...it really wasn't that cold later in the day, amazingly enough.

Daddy showing Benjamin the snow. You can see Benjamin leaning way back. :-)

Another shot of all the snow

Sunshine on bright white snow, plus light sensitive eyes equals...squinting. And I had just gotten out of the shower so no makeup or hair fixed, etc. It's the au naturale look!
Emily & Benjamin playing in her room...our little prince and princess

Taken a month or so ago...just a random shot of Benjamin really working really hard to use his fork. Unfortunately he hasn't progressed much. He still uses his hands for most of what he eats.

Isn't She a Little Too Young?

2009-02-13T14:20:00.003-06:00

It seems my daughter is sweet on a little boy in her preschool class. And it appears the feeling is mutual. For several months now, when I would spy Emily on the playground before time to pick her up, she would be holding hands with a little boy. At first I thought it was our neighbor, who is also in her class. But it was a different little boy, I'll call him "B."

"B"'s mom and I have talked before about this budding romance. Well, this week it really seemed to go to the next level, perhaps because Valentine's Day is approaching?? Anyway, "B"'s mom told me yesterday that he has asked him mom nearly every day for a month if Emily could come over to his house to play. And yesterday at their class Valentine party, he asked his mom if Emily could sleepover at his house! Their teacher told me she heard him ask this, too. His mom explained that only boys sleep over at boys' houses, girls at girls' houses, etc. Hopefully he will be satisfied with just play time with Em.

Last night, Emily got a call on her "phone" from "B"'s mom saying he was coming over to play. So pretend "B" came to our house to play and even had supper with us (I set out a place for him and everything).

I think it's sweet that she has a "boyfriend" and that he is equally smitten with her. I mean, come on! Who wouldn't be!! :-)

Some New Photos

2009-02-09T10:13:00.005-06:00

In my last post I mentioned I hadn't taken any photos of the kids since probably Christmas. The last few days we had unseasonably warm temperatures so of course we took advantage of it by playing outside.

No, Daddy did not bend the top of the swing set. It's the result of last year's tree limb falling on top during the ice storm.

Benjamin looking like such a big boy.

Hey, who needs a fancy basketball hoop when you have an empty cat litter bucket and a ball!!

The last week or so Emily has been asking to clean the house. What!?!?! Far be it from me to deny her this pleasure. What she really wants to do is squirt the glass cleaner. So I gave her the bottle and several towels (she sprays the cleaner pretty generously) and showed her what she could clean with it (no wood). Of course, she gets a few coins for helping out so that's a big incentive. Brother was curious about this activity so I gave him a dry cloth to join in the fun. Here's a photo of them each on one side of the hall door. Do you think they will continue their excitement about cleaning for the next 15 years or so??

Daddy worked on some home projects this past weekend (one of them trying to de-squeak a very old, squeaky wood floor). He had two very eager helpers! Doesn't everyone wear high heels when working about the house? Ha!

Daddy getting hit on the back with the tape measure.

Welcome February!

2009-02-03T10:11:00.002-06:00

Boy, I am glad to see January gone. It was a rough month at our house. First, Jeff finally got a diagnosis for his several months of nausea. He had H. Pylori, a nasty bacteria that lives in the lining of the stomach. He took two different antibiotics for the course of two weeks. Thankfully he has felt well for over two weeks now. Looks like the antibiotics worked!

Three weeks ago Emily threw up and later that day told me her throat hurt. Uh-oh. I looked and sure enough it was red with white bumps. So off to the doctor we went and were diagnosed with strep throat.

Two weeks later (which was last week), Benjamin woke us in the night making horrible breathing sounds and acting like he was gasping for air. After a rough night of trying to make him comfortable, I took him in to the pediatrician the next morning. After getting blood drawn and chest x-rays (NOT a fun experience with a 16 month old who did not feel well), he was diagnosed with a severe case of croup so the doctor admitted him to the hospital. We were there from Wednesday morning to Thursday evening. He was made more comfortable with breathing treatments and steroid shots.

During a visit to see her brother Wednesday afternoon, Emily started throwing up in his hospital room. UGH! ENOUGH ALREADY! She frequently complains of her tummy hurting. So last Friday, the day after getting home from the hospital with Benjamin, I took her to the doctor where she had to get blood drawn to check blood counts and also check for H. Pylori (it's contagious). Luckily all her blood work checked out just fine. But she is now on a prescription antacid for a month when the doctor wants to see her again. I think she just might be the kind of personality who carries her stress in her stomach. Lastly and unfortunately, I came home from the hospital with a head cold which I generously shared with my husband.

That was our January...

So, I'm really hoping things will start to look up for us. We have been so sick this winter for some reason and the medical bills are starting to stack up (Benji's hospitalization, my trip to the ER in Dec. and Jeff's procedure in July in addition to the other office visits).

Okay, I'm done whining. But we could sure use some prayers here for better health.

On a positive note, I am excited to be starting a candle business to help make ends meet. I will be selling candles from Southwest Candles and hope to start doing some home parties soon. I'm hoping it goes well! I'm just waiting on my shipment of samples and then I'll get started. I'm also going to be teaching a graduate level Counseling class for my former full time employer starting in March. The one night a week, six week long class, is a fun one for me.

Unfortunately, I haven't taken any photos of the kids since the first of the year so none to share this post. Hopefully next time! Until then...Happy Valentine's Day!

It's Been a Great Week!

2009-01-02T10:46:00.004-06:00

We've had a great week with Daddy being off work this entire time. We've not done much of anything special, just enjoying lots of relaxing time at home. I think I've enjoyed having Jeff home the most as it's just nice having two sets of hands and additional support when it comes to the kids. I've had some wonderful time to myself, too. So thanks to my wonderful husband!

We had a nice quiet Christmas with just the four of us. New Year's Eve was uneventful...I fell asleep in front of the TV a little after 9pm and was in bed asleep before 10:00. What party animals we are! At least we were not on the roads but instead safe and sound at home.

Yesterday we took a spur of the moment trip to Wichita, a little less than an hour away, to visit a hands on museum for children and adults alike. It was a discount day and oh my gosh! The line was out the door what looked like half a mile. After standing line for about an hour and a half (yes, we did and the kids were very patient) we got inside. I had never been there so it was fun for me, too. The kids enjoyed it. Here are a few photos from yesterday (the batteries in the camera died). One exhibit was on Jane Goodall and chimps. There was a life size chimp nest that Benjamin spent some time in (Emily wouldn't get in). There was also an exhibit called the Scoop on Poop. There was a funny photo op that we put the kids in.

My little monkey and my handsome husband

My other little monkey climbing around in the forest

Speaks for itself...

After leaving the museum we met our friends, Liz, Adam and Bodi for a quick visit. Bodi just turned a year old and is so sweet. He loved Emily and kept flashing her the sweetest smiles. After a quick stop at Burger King for supper we came home with two very tired little ones (the big ones were tired, too).

And here's a picture that I took a few days ago of our cat, Murphy. I just thought it was sweet. He found a nice soft place to sleep.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T16:28:00.004-06:00

Here are some photos from our day!

Emily's Christmas Eve service outfit

Putting cookies out for Santa right before bed

Opening gifts on Christmas morning

Emily opening Candyland (which we played shortly after opening gifts)

Benjamin riding the car Santa left him

Benjamin (and Mommy) still sporting jammies while trying on the new vest from Grandad in NZ

Mommy sporting the new apron from Grandad in NZ (yes, I wore it and yes, I cooked)

Benjamin playing in his new tent

Jeff and Emily

Me and my girl

Me and my baby boy

The best gifts of all!

Christmas Means...

2008-12-03T13:35:00.005-06:00

...cookies and milk while decorating the tree and a visit to Santa!

This past weekend we bought our tree and Emily and I decorated it while Daddy kept Benjamin otherwise occupied. We did invite Benjamin to join us girls for a warm chocolate chip cookie and milk afterward, though. This is something I started doing a few years ago and hope to make it a tradition. While the cookies aren't entirely homemade (dough bought from the store), I bake them and we enjoy them after decorating. Here are a few photos of Benjamin helping Daddy get the tree just right before Em and I decorated it. I have to add a footnote here and say that we've already had at least two glass ornament casualties in the five days the tree has been up. Unlike last year when he was so tiny, someone is awfully interested in the tree this time around!

Of course I had Christmas music playing while we decorated and I loved hearing Emily sing along to every single tune, even if it meant making up the words because she had no idea what was being sung. :-) Here are a couple of photos of the kids enjoying their cookies and milk.

This morning we went to the student union on the campus where Daddy works and got to spend a few minutes visiting with Santa! Before we left the house, Emily told me she was going to give Santa a hug. I thought, "Yeah, right" as I remembered last year the only way she would get her photo taken with him was with Benjamin and I as a barrier. She did better this year, although Santa will just have to wait for his hug from her. At least she talked to him this year. She was a bit taken aback when Santa called her by name! And he knew Benjamin's and Mommy and Daddy's names, too! How did he know? Why, it's the magic of Santa (for adults only: Santa also attends our church-hee hee).

Benjamin wasn't exactly sure what to think of Santa. He didn't cry but had a perplexed, serious look on his face at all times. He was most interested in the sleigh bells Santa wore on his wrists. Here are some photos from this morning and for fun, a shot of us visiting Santa last year at this time.

Of course, Mommy couldn't be left out! I had to give Santa my wish list, too!

I just thought this was a cute shot. One night last weekend we watched The Polar Express on TV. None of us had ever seen it but I had been wanting to. So we all got in our jammies and put the kids on the couch together under a blanket. They actually stayed this way and watched the movie for probably 15 minutes!

Benjamin's First Haircut!

2008-11-15T18:55:00.004-06:00

Today we took Benjamin for his first haircut. Not that he has tons of hair (it's really fine) but it was getting kind of long in the back and around his ears. I thought back to the first time I took Emily for a haircut. You would have thought she was being stabbed with the scissors instead of just having a haircut. Benjamin was not quite as dramatic as sister was at this age but he was equally disturbed by his first time. Daddy wanted to hold his son for this momentous occasion so I was the photographer this time. :-)

Walking with Daddy to the appointment

At this point he clearly senses something is up...you can see it in his face

This was just getting the cape on (no cutting yet)

A few seconds later after he ripped the cape off

Daddy trying to reassure him but it was not working

Finally calming down a bit

Just giving up and letting Amanda have her way. :-)

Hopefully he'll do better next time around. He looks like such a little man now with his hair trimmed up in the back. This mommy is not sure she likes how quickly her little boy is growing up...sniff, sniff.

Three Years Ago Today

2008-11-14T12:31:00.006-06:00

Three years ago today I met my daughter for the very first time. Talk about nervous! I had no idea what to expect and left my now husband at home. While I had my sister and niece with me, I was very much on my own with this little one.

Emily had just turned one year old the week before we met and was already walking, on table food and had a pretty fiesty personality. Good thing, as the first few days were very difficult for her. Leaving her foster family of a year and being thrust into the arms of a complete stranger is quite a bit for a 12 month old to have to deal with. However, by the end of the trip, she had decided she liked me. What a special day that I will never forget. Here are some of my favorite photos of that trip...

I love the saying on the wall of the Civil Affairs office where we met our children.

The orphanage director, me and Emily right after he carried her out and placed her in my arms.

We're both crying but for different reasons! She must be thinking, "I want a do-over! I don't want this one!" What a traumatic time it must have been for her.

Still screaming...

A break from crying but now she seemed to be in shock.

Me, my niece and sister in Tiananmen Square

My niece and I on the Great Wall! The Great Wall of China!! Amazing.

Emily with one of her most favorite people then AND now...cousin Haileigh. :-)

Happy Birthday...

2008-11-09T08:53:00.003-06:00

...to me. No, not my birthday. This is what Emily was singing to herself yesterday morning. She turned four years old yesterday and I think she had a really nice day. We had a pizza party for her with a few of her friends, some of my family and some of our friends. Emily was showered with love and presents at her Princess Party. Here are few shots from the party.

For months, she has been asking for a pink guitar. So of course I had to get her one.

Emily also received not one, but TWO Happy Birthday phone calls all the way from New Zealand! First, Grandad called and then Auntie Claire. Unfortunately, Emily was a little two busy playing with her new toys and wasn't very chatty. Daddy and I enjoyed chatting, though. But how nice of them to think of her on her special day!

We wrapped up the day by she and I having a girls only slumber party downstairs. She told Daddy, "No boys allowed!" We dined on a hot dog (Em) and leftover pizza (me) and cheese puffs (our most favorite snack). I painted her nails (no, I did not let her do mine) and we watched Cinderella (her current favorite book and movie) twice. We both crashed at about 9pm. What a fun day!

Leaf Pile Fun

2008-11-05T15:22:00.002-06:00

Here is what we did this afternoon!

Trick or Treat!

2008-11-02T13:11:00.005-06:00

Here are a few photos of my little ghost and spider. Now I realize I am no Martha Stewart. But we got lots of compliments on Emily's costume and I was pleased that my daughter was one of the very few NOT in a store bought costume. Well, it was store bought I suppose--the pillow case came from Target and the sheer curtain on top and purple ribbon were from Goodwill. As I will have two kiddos to dress up now I am not sure if I can keep up the home made costumes but I'll try! There are tons of great ideas out there. We are already thinking about next year (although I'm sure Santa and Christmas will begin to consume her soon). :-)

Our day started out in the morning at Em's preschool with trick or treating. Then we went to the college and got treats from a few departments in Dad's building. After an afternoon break, we went back out around 5:30 to our church, a friend's house, to McD's for supper and then after Dad and brother pooped out, Em and I went to a few houses on our street. She was ready to finish up before I was but it was getting kind of late for her to be out anyway. In all honesty, I'm pretty sure I enjoyed dressing up and taking the kids trick or treating more than they did!

A Dog's Life

2008-10-24T09:18:00.004-05:00

We are a pet friendly family and home. I grew up with at least one dog and one cat at all times (usually more) and Jeff had a few pets while he was growing up as well. Simply put, our pets are members of our family. The other evening our dog, Zack, thought he would have a rest on our bed for a few minutes. But the kids got on the bed, too, so Zack got all kinds of love, pats and kisses.

Zack, a Golden Retriever and Chow/Sharpei mix, is ten years old now. I adopted him when he was three from the Humane Society where I was volunteering. I know almost nothing of his "past life" but I am convinced children must have been a part of it. He has always been drawn to kids and at 60 pounds he is always gentle with our children. He is a good dog and I'm glad our children will always know the love of a pet.

Born Free

2008-10-12T21:12:00.004-05:00

In an earlier post, I described our new "pet" Patsy. Patsy was a caterpillar given to us by Emily's friend next door. We carefully kept Patsy in a jelly jar and fed her the leaves from the vine on which we found her. I even dropped a few drops of water in the top of the jar (I have no idea if caterpillars need water but it made sense to me). After about 10 days Patsy turned into a chrysalis that was first bright green, then later turned black.

I had been keeping a close eye on her in hopes she would in fact turn into a monarch butterfly like our neighbor's did. One day I picked it up to let Emily peek in the jar and at the very moment I bent down to show her, Patsy came out transformed into a beautiful butterfly. I mean at that exact moment we watched her emerge from her chrysalis. How cool is that!?!? I told Emily we would soon have to let her go outside as she wouldn't survive in her jar for very long. It took a little bit of convincing since Emily told me, "But Patsy's my friend." But the next day, as I watched Patsy struggling to spread her wings in the confined space, I took the jar to Emily and without me saying a word she looked at me and in a very grown up way asked, "Is it time?" I told her yes, it was time. So we let Patsy out of her jar in some flowers I had spotted other monarchs land on. At first, Patsy did nothing. I was worried. How would I explain it if the end of the story wasn't a happily ever after ending? But after about five minutes of Patsy stretching her wings repeatedly, she fluttered a few feet away and landed in the grass. Again, I was worried. But with a little nudging on my part with a stick, Patsy took flight. It was a breezy day (what day isn't in Kansas?) so we watched as Patsy floated up to our rooftop, cross our driveway, and fly past the neighbor's house. That was the last we saw of her.

I have never kept a caterpillar and watched this process so I think I was as excited, or perhaps more so, as Emily. Luckily I have photos of the process from start to finish.

Patsy in her full glory.

Here Emily is telling Patsy she can come back and visit us if she wants. :-)

You have to click on the photo above and look in the top left corner to see Patsy flying away. Godspeed, Patsy. Thanks for letting us take care of you. :-)

Benjamin Turns One!!

2008-10-12T20:22:00.008-05:00

What a bad mommy for not getting this updated before now. But September 27th our little guy celebrated his first birthday! We were blessed to have some friends and family join us for cupcakes and ice cream. I think he was a little overwhelmed by all the extra people in our home. But he did really well and has enjoyed playing with with all his toys.

He was not one of those children who dove right into his birthday cake. In fact, he stuck a finger in the icing and didn't even put it in his mouth (this was his first experience with cake, icing, etc). In this photo you can see a little bit of icing in his right hand and he was holding it away from himself until I wiped it off.

I am happy to report however that later in the day, after all our guests had gone, Benjamin did enjoy some of his cupcake (I had to "prime" him a bit by putting some icing in his mouth so he could get a taste). Here he is finally enjoying his birthday cupcake (the peas were leftover from his supper).

Some photos of Mommy and Daddy with their birthday boy. Happy birthday, baby!

New Glasses and a New Pet!

2008-09-23T20:40:00.003-05:00

Well, we picked up Emily's new glasses last week. For the first few days, it was a little difficult getting her to keep them on. But now she keeps them on all day. She did have to take them off for gymnastics tonight and afterward she told me she didn't like taking them off! Yeah! Hopefully she is getting used to them.

Also, we have a new "pet." We've been playing a lot over the last week with our neighbor who is a six year old little boy who likes bugs. Apparently he keeps a "bug jar" in his house to store his finds. He first gave Emily a roly-poly but let's just say Emily set him free somewhere in our basement. So the next day, he gave her a pretty caterpillar. That was on Sunday. It is now Tuesday night and it's still alive! We are feeding it the same leaves that it was on when we found it and boy, can it eat. It has affectionately been named "Patsy" and Emily says it's her best friend. Patsy lives in a jelly jar and seems to be doing well. We are hoping she will make a cocoon and turn into a butterfly. We have no idea what kind of butterfly it will be but right now she's a really pretty black, white and yellow striped caterpillar. Here are some photos of Patsy and Emily (and the new glasses).

A Few Really Big Milestones

2008-09-16T20:18:00.002-05:00

Emily has officially, FINALLY, given up her binky (aka pacifier). I'm a little ashamed to admit that my nearly 4 year old still used one when she slept. But it was like it was a part of her. She came to me with the clothes on her back and pacifier around her neck and that was it. So I felt like the binky was the one thing that helped comfort her during that difficult transition in her little life. However, over the last few months she voluntarily gave away or threw away a few of her binkies (yes, she had a collection that she carried in an eyeglasses case). But she did this knowing she always had one more safe in her room. Well, Labor Day weekend binky went missing. I mean truly missing, not that Mommy or Daddy quietly slipped in her room and took it. So she had a few sort of rough nights without it. Then about a week later I was putting her to bed and glanced in the corner and saw binky staring out at me from under some of her stuffed animals! Emily had made such great progress up to that point, I REALLY hoped she didn't spot it. She didn't and after she fell asleep, Mommy (aka Binky Fairy) came and quietly took it away. There has been no mention of binky since those first few nights without it. For that, I am grateful!

Second big milestone...my baby girl is getting glasses. She had an eye appointment yesterday and it was discovered that she can't see all that well. Who knew??? So, we will go Friday to pick them up and have them fitted. And yes, there will definitely be photos. Daddy took her to the appointment and was there when she picked them out. All I know is that they are "purply-pink"--Daddy's words--and Emily calls them Barbie glasses although I think they are Cinderella. So I'm not sure what to expect but as long as she likes them and WEARS THEM, I don't care.

More later...

Labor Day Weekend

2008-09-05T16:09:00.005-05:00

We had a terrific Labor Day weekend last weekend. It was sort of a family reuinion as my family had not all been together for probably close to two years. It's sad, since we all live in the same state but we made it happen this weekend. My two older sisters and their families, my aunt and my dad and his wife all made the trip to our house. We cooked out, celebrated my dad's and aunt's birthdays, ate lots and visited. Emily enjoyed playing with her cousins and with my sister's step-granddaughter who is close to the same age. Of course, Benjamin just enjoyed the excitement and all the extra attention. I'm glad we were able to get lots of photos!

My sisters and me

All of us girls with our dad

Not all of the grandkids but most of them

Emily and BB's granddaughter, Carmella

Papa getting a physical before his workout shown below...

Emily instructing Papa on the fine art of doing the hula hoop!

Me and my baby boy.

The loves of my life!

A Quick Post

2008-08-26T10:01:00.007-05:00

I don't know where the time goes but it's been two months since my last post. What's been going on here, you ask?

This past month, Emily has started at her preschool again. She is attending two mornings a week and this is her second week. So far, so good. She LOVES school and her teachers and paras. I have volunteered to be the children's clothing closet coordinator for the PTO so I'll be busy with that. I also will be volunteering for other various activities during the year. Here are a few photos from the first day of school. And great news! Her best buddy/our neighbor is also attending and they are in the same group!

Two weeks ago, Emily also started gymnastics. She attends just once a week but so far, it has also been a hit. She loves it and our next door neighbor is her teacher so that's a plus. The class only lasts for another three or four weeks and at that point we'll re-evaluate whether she'd like to enroll again. She's always doing headstands and somersaults here at home (usually on the sofa) so hopefully class will provide her an outlet for all her energy. Here are a few photos. The first one is a little hard to make out due to the net around the trampoline. But that's Emily working on the bar. :-)

Lastly, Emily has started a class at church on Wednesday nights. The kids meet for supper and then have their class time. It's 90 minutes and last week was a little difficult for her but now that she knows what to expect hopefully she'll not cry this week when I leave.

I'm happy to say we're trying to keep big sister busy with a variety of activities. At the same time, Brother is also getting lots more active. At my last post, he still did not have any teeth. But a week after turning 9 months old, the first bottom tooth appeared and a week later, the second came through. We seem to have stalled now on teeth and still only have those two at nearly 11 months old. He is able to eat some very soft solids but still really prefers his smoother baby foods.

Benjamin is not yet walking but is pulling himself up all over the place. A few times he has even let go, only to fall on his bum a few seconds later. He jabbers a lot and I heard the most precious words from him last Monday--"Mama." He's only said it two or three times and usually it's when he is upset or tired and wants me. But it's still nice to hear. Of course he's been saying "Dada" for a few months now. He LOVES his Dada and squeals with delight and waves his arms wildly when he sees Dada coming home from work.

We've joined a new Mom's playgroup here in our community and have met a few new friends through that. Benjamin even had a friend over last Thursday for a few hours. She is just a few weeks younger than Benjamin but they are right about the same developmental level. They seemed to like having another little person crawling on the floor and playing with toys.

The kids has cousins, Haileigh and Eric, come visit for a week earlier this month. Emily and Benjamin both loved having the kids here to play, especially Emily who kept saying she was a big kid just like H and E. Mommy enjoyed having her niece and nephew here, too. Hopefully we can make this a summer tradition! That is, if the kids weren't too worn out after they left here! Here are a few photos from that week...

Mommy and Daddy are both doing well. I started teaching another Counseling class to a group about 45 minutes away from where we live. It's one night a week for 6 weeks so it's a short term stint but nice to get out of the house, dress like a professional again and make a little money at the same time.

Until next time....

A Month in the Life of...

2008-06-30T09:45:00.004-05:00

...Little ones! Time flies (and mommy is tired and very busy). Ha!

Well, let's see what's happened since my last post...

First, I started and finished teaching a six week long counseling class for my former full time employer. It was nice to get back into a professional setting, even if it was for just four hours one night a week. I enjoyed it. I will teach the same class to a group starting in mid-August so again I'll have the opportunity to actually dress up in something other than shorts, t-shirts and tennis shoes!

Emily is still a three year old!! Some days are a challenge but I dare say she is now 100% potty trained, day and night (we NEVER thought the day would come). She seems to be outgrowing clothes and shoes at a faster rate than before. Sometimes I look at her and she looks like such a big girl to me. She continues to exercise her incredible imagination, makes up stories and make believe play all the time. Preschool is out for the summer and we are trying to keep busy. We try to go to story time at the library each week, in the month of July the library will have a craft time one day a week we'll be attending and the first week of June she did bible school at our church. I think she will be excited to have school start again in August.

Now for our little guy. He is now 9 months old and boy, is he on the move now! He is crawling all over the place (although at this point it more resembles an army type of belly crawl than a hands and knees crawl), loves scooting around in his walker (it's amazing at how well he maneuvers around corners, finding us in rooms, etc), and consequently is getting into everything! We really have to keep an eye on him. He is exploring everything and is starting to mimic his sister (God help us!). If she yells through the house for me, he will also join in. He still does not have any teeth but I'm not worried. They'll be here eventually.

Not to forget Daddy, he is doing well, too. Staying busy at work although we are looking forward to him having a few weeks off next month. Father's Day was a nice day, too (sorry, I didn't take one photo). My dad and his wife also joined us for a four day visit which was really nice.

Here are a few photos taken recently. Happy 4th!

When the boy is tired, he falls asleep anywhere!

Mommy is not looking so good here, but I had to post it because Benjamin is wearing his "Babe Magnet" t-shirt. He certainly is a babe magnet. However, most of the "babes" are 65 years old or older!!

Riding a horsey. Moments later, the horse bucked him off. Ouch! :-(

My two little firecrackers...

My biggest firecracker!!

Mother's Day, etc...

2008-05-19T10:45:00.004-05:00

Here are a few photos taken during the hiatus from my last post. I had a really nice Mother's Day. When Emily woke up she brought me a card she had been hiding in her room since the day before when she, brother and Daddy went shopping. It was difficult for her to keep it a secret; she kept telling me she had a surprise for me and to come see. :-) We then went to church, then got some family photos taken (a certain little 3 year old was not being cooperative so there are not as many with the four of us as I would like). Then my dear husband made us brunch...bacon and spinach quiche and hashbrowns. I read the paper and had coffee while he cooked. Then I planted lots and lots of flowers and worked in the yard. While yard work may not sound like loads of fun to some of you, I really enjoy doing it and usually am unable to get any done due to a child (or two) being attached to me. So while Jeff supervised the kids for most of the afternoon I got to indulge my green thumb. Oh, and I got a wonderful gift...a lilac bush for our yard. I love lilacs and the particular variety Jeff and kids found is called "Miss Kim." How fitting!!

My Mother's Day gifts! Taken at church...it was wear red day.

My kiddos. Me and my baby boy...

All of us again.

Last week we attended Emily's school program and recognition ceremony. I told Jeff this will be the first of MANY programs we get to attend. I love it! I know I had lots of concerts and plays when I was growing up and I don't think my parents missed any of them. That really meant a lot to me and I plan to do the same for my kids. Here are a few photos from last week. The kids sang four or five different songs then got a certificate at the end since their last day of school is this week. While I was busy snapping photos in between songs, Emily must have thought I was too busy taking pictures and not paying enough attention to her...she told me, "Put the camera down, Mom." Uh, sorry. I don't think so!

Receiving her certificate

Updates

2008-04-21T09:46:00.009-05:00

We've had a good month since our last post. Nothing much really to report aside from some new photos. Emily loves her school. Last week's lessons were all about recycling (I think Earth Day was last week maybe). Recycling is something we do at home all the time so it wasn't a new concept to her.

Last week was the week of the young child here in town and we only made it to one activity where Horton Hears a Who was read and then the kids were able to explore a fire truck, an ambulance and a smoke house where a firefighter talked to the children about what to do if there's smoke in their house. Here are a few photos. As you can see in one shot, Emily was ready to get out of the smoke house. Brother was wearing her Horton hat. She covered her ears as Daddy rang the fire truck's bell. And we were lucky enough to run into our good friend from two houses down and they hung out together while we were there.

She likes making a beard of bubbles in the bath.

This past weekend we got together with a group of other folks around our state with kiddos from China (and one waiting family). We had an awesome bbq dinner then played on the playground. Emily told us all the way home that she didn't want to leave. I think she had a good time! On the playground, Daddy was on slipper slide duty.

This past weekend was also a reunion in Atlanta for all the families who were in my Hubei travel group 2 1/2 years ago. We share something pretty special with these families and little ones as we all met our daughters at the same time, in the same room. Unfortunately our family was not able to go this time. But one of the moms was kind enough to send me some photos of the girls. Here's one of them together. Pretty cute, huh? Hopefully we can attend the next reunion.

Benjamin had his six month appointment last week. He's actually nearly 7 months but that's okay. He's 17 lbs 3 oz and 27 3/4 inches long. Unlike his big sister, he is in the 95%tile for his height! Strange coming from parents who are 5'5" and 5'6" but that's genetics for you! The nurse called him long and lean. Not exactly my definition of his body type as you can see by the rolls of chubbiness on his legs! He still hasn't cut any teeth but based on his recent uncharacteristic grumpiness, I don't think it will be long. Here are some photos from the last few weeks...

Look at my big boy sitting up all by himself!

Picking posies...

Riding sister's bike--which did not go over well with sister when she saw him!

Two weeks later and he had already graduated to a really cool chopper!!!

Too Tired to Eat??

2008-04-02T13:27:00.003-05:00

Here's something I've never experienced...falling asleep mid-meal! I guess learning how to do all this big boy stuff wears a guy out! By the way, after taking these shots I promptly wiped him off and put him in his crib for a big nap.

The BIG Six Months!

2008-04-01T09:23:00.005-05:00

My little guy is six months old. So hard to believe how time is flying. He's now having rice cereal regularly about twice a day. We've tried carrots once and will likely try again soon. He's showing LOTS of interest in our food when we eat, sometimes to the point of crying when he we're eating and he isn't. All signs of a big boy ready to start on more solids. He's also rolling all over the place when he's laying down. He's doing pretty well on sitting up although still needs some assistance while doing so unless he's strapped in. And he's "talking" to us a lot now, too. Here are some photos of him when he was first born and now. What a change!!

I might add that he is almost too big for this car seat now!!

Big Sister is still enjoying school lots. Right now they are learning about weather and the days of the week. We are already looking forward to a class field trip to the zoo in early May. The whole family will be going. We attended her school carnival (the first of many we'll be attending no doubt) last weekend. I think she was a bit overwhelmed by all the people and noise but still had a good time and won some cool prizes!

Lots of Updates

2008-03-24T09:33:00.006-05:00

It's been several months since my last post and we've had a busy month!

Emily started preschool last week. She goes Tuesday and Thursday mornings. It's a great facility and she really seems to enjoy it! All of the teachers were so welcoming and made her feel right at home. Here are a few photos of her on her first day. And no, Mommy did not cry. :-)

We also had two out of town trips this month. Jeff had a conference to attend about two hours away. It happened to be held in the hometown of one of my good friends who now lives in Minneapolis and she was visiting her mom the same time we were there. So we got to see her and her family a few times. We also went to my sister and Dad's two weeks ago to see my lovely niece Haileigh perform in her school play. She is in 7th grade and is really turning into a beautiful young woman. Here's a photo of Haileigh. It's very blurry...I had a wiggly 5 month old on my lap!

Of course this weekend was Easter. We had a very chilly day with temps in the high 20's Easter morning. I'm sad that we did not get any family photos but I did get a few of the kids. The Easter Bunny brought Emily (among other things) her own rake and shovel for working in the yard. Afterewtting home from church we heard Emily go out back and I snapped a few photos of what I found. Here is a picture of Emily coloring eggs (the big scrape on her chin is from a swingset "accident" last week, the kids together and Em out working in the yard (still in her Easter dress). :-)

Lastly, after church Emily hunted Easter eggs in our front yard (no big Easter egg hunts were attended this year...I know, I'm a horrible mommy but honestly, how much candy does one three year old really need??). Anyway, I told her how many eggs there were to find. She insisted on opening each one up everytime she found one to see what was inside (most had money and a few had candy). When she had found all the eggs, she insisted there were still more to find. Here are a few photos of her hunting the eggs but my favorite is the one with her finger on her chin. She had just said, "Hmmm...where are the other eggs hiding?"

Whew! I think that's about all to report for now. However, someone is turning the BIG 6 MONTHS this week so I'm sure I'll have more photos to post later!

5 Months, Drool and A Star Is Born

2008-03-04T10:24:00.004-06:00

Benjamin hit the big 5 month mark last week. He's getting to be such a big boy. We continue to try rice cereal every couple of days and he's still trying to get the hang of it. He'll eat a few bites fine, then start getting really mad and upset, kicking his legs, etc. That's when we stop. I know he'll get used to it eventually and I'm not rushing it. Here are a few of his 5 month photos. Notice the drool. It's nonstop, copious amounts and we have to wonder if we will be seeing a tooth soon.

Here's a brother and sister picture. Sister was not yet dressed when I took this. And yes, she is not wearing matching jammies. She changes her jammie pants frequently and usually does not have a matching set on. But I think they look so cute together. :-)

Sunday evening was the church talent show. For the last week Emily has been talking about signing, practicing her songs, and telling me, "I want to get on stage by all myself." Well, the show was over and the youth pastor asked if anyone else would like to perform. Emily got up, took her microphone she brought from home, got on stage and sang Jesus Loves Me and then another little song from a Barney movie we have here at home. She wanted me to come up on stage with her so I sat next to her, held the real microphone for her and sang quietly along with her. She did a great job and didn't want to leave the stage!! What a ham! Everyone loved her show and I think it won't be long before she has an agent and takes her act on the road. Ha! We don't have photos of her solo performance since I was on stage with her and Daddy was running the camcorder. And I don't think we can post our camcorder video to the blog so you'll just have to take my word for it how cute it was. But here is a photo of her with the group of other children singing some songs earlier in the show. Notice she had her mic with her then, too.

A Weekend of Milestones

2008-02-24T21:37:00.005-06:00

We had a few really significant milestones this weekend. Okay, WE didn't but Benjamin did. First, Saturday he rolled over for the first time! Here is a very grainy and poor quality video with no sound we took with our digital camera of the big event and some other very cute photos of sister showing him how to write his ABC's. I love this photo of them together.

Sunday, Benjamin got to try his first solid food--rice cereal. Well, I wouldn't exactly call it solid since we had to mix it with four parts formula with one part cereal. We gave it to him before his bottle and found that was NOT a very successful way to go. Here is a photo of him before we gave him his bottle. He was hungry and didn't know what I was sticking in his mouth. But after he enjoyed his bottle we tried again and I couldn't spoon it in fast enough. Much of it ended up on his chin, upper lip, and his hand (when he stuck his fist in his mouth). But we finished what was in the bowl. We'll try again again tomorrow. Then look out baby food! Here we come!

The Baker and the Cooker

2008-02-21T17:38:00.003-06:00

This afternoon Emily was playing with her chef's hat and apron in her kitchen. She came up to me and told me, "I'm the baker, you're the cooker." I told her normally the "cooker" was called a chef. Anyone who knows my culinary skills would laugh at me being referred to as a chef. Does pouring milk on dry cereal constitute being a chef? Just kidding--it's not quite that bad.

I should be ashamed of myself for taking advantage of a little boy who can't defend himself against getting dressed up--and then take pictures of it!! But I couldn't resist. I had to put the chef's hat on Benjamin. As soon as I started laughing at him, he got a big grin on his face. The photos above tell it all and show what happened to the hat that was too big a few seconds after I put it on him. And don't be alarmed---it didn't stay over his face for more than a second or two.

This morning we went for Emily's evaluation at the preschool we hope to get her in. She did very well and exceeded all the minimum scores for her age. Her highest score was on the verbal part of the assessment. There were a few times when she simply would not cooperate, like when one of the teachers asked her where her knee was. I mean come on, she's been telling us that for two years now. But would she do it this morning? Nope. She also had her eyes and hearing checked. She was not very cooperative during the eye exam. I had to chuckle because in the paperwork I received at my referral, it mentioned she would not cooperate for her eye exam. Two and a half years later, nothing has changed!! A few times during the evaluation she told the teachers, "I'm tired. I don't want to do this anymore." Well, at least she is honest! On our way home, I asked her what she thought about all of it. She said, "We forgot to have a snack!" Bummer. Apparently when you are three, a snack at school is a requirement. Ha!

A Little Bit of Nothing

2008-02-18T12:58:00.003-06:00

The last week or so around here has been a bit odd. First, Jeff was sick most of last week and stayed home from work for three days. While it was sort of nice to have him home, it really kind of threw off our "routine." Luckily, it's nothing more than a nasty virus that will just need to run its course. So that, along with our questionable weather on Saturday prevented us from making the hour drive to our FCC CNY dinner. I was sorry to miss it but also didn't feel like driving with ice on the roads. It ended up just being rain but we didn't know what it was going to do for sure (neither did the weather forecasters). Consequently, I don't have photos of Emily at CNY this year. Hopefully next year!

The only photos I have to post are from weekend before last. We had a nice day and I wanted to take Benjamin outside while Jeff was working in the yard and Emily was "helping." I'm sure you can tell, Benjamin is pretty fair skinned (how could he not be with parents like us). So I got a sun hat for him for summertime and decided to try it on him. It's a bit big but he'll grow into it. You can tell he's not very happy in these photos and it wasn't due to the hat, although I'm sure that didn't help. He was already getting a bit cranky and ready for a change of scenery hence his expression.

I just thought this was funny...kids say the darndest things. Or at least in this household, Emily does. Yesterday I was coming down the stairs and she was already in the basement playing. When she saw me she said, "What's happenin' Mom?" Where does she come up with this stuff??? Jeff and I had a chuckle at that one.

Happy New Year!

2008-02-07T20:26:00.000-06:00

Happy Year of the Rat. I hope this year brings much happiness to everyone.

We had a low key celebration tonight. I'm a little ashamed to admit this but our Chinese food came out of cardboard boxes from the freezer. Unfortunately my daughter, WHO IS CHINESE, does not like Chinese food. Her choice for supper tonight...a cheese quesadilla. The closest thing to Chinese I could get her to eat was a cup of mandarin oranges. Oh well. Daddy and I enjoyed the Chinese food. We will be attending a dinner weekend after next with our regional FCC group. It will be nice to see them again since we only see them once a year. I'm sure I'll have some photos from that to post later. Until then...Happy New Year!

Slumber Party!

2008-02-04T09:43:00.000-06:00

Being a parent to two is SO different than just having one, especially when the second is dependent upon me for everything. That means big sister often hears, "I can't right now" or "Benjamin needs me right now" or Later." So Saturday night I decided would be Emily's night. Emily and I had a slumber party downstairs in our play room. It was just she and I, no boys allowed (well, the boys joined us downstairs for pizza then went upstairs for the evening)! We got into our jammies early, put the futon down and made up our bed on it and dined on typical slumber party food...pizza, cheetos, marshmallows and ice cream. We played with her Little People school, had a pillow fight, painted our fingernails (she calls them hang nails) and watched the Little Mermaid. By 9pm Emily announced she was tired so I turned the lights out. Then she wasn't tired so she hopped around on the bed for another half hour. Meanwhile, Mommy was getting sleepy, too. I think we were both asleep well before 10pm. What party animals we are! We have lots of fun and I'm glad we were able to do spend some one on one time together.

Here are a few photos from our party. Also, here's a photo of Emily before church yesterday. First, she got a shorter haircut on Friday that looks so much better. And she actually let me put a barrette in her hair and kept it there. The cute little jumper is one of my great Goodwill store finds from a few weeks ago (the shirt is from her BB).

It was a great slumber party and I'm sure it won't be long before Mommy is banished to upstairs with Daddy and little brother while Emily enjoys all the slumber party fun with her little friends.

Four Month Check-Up and Possible Preschool

2008-02-01T14:36:00.000-06:00

Today Benjamin has his four month check up and shots. Our little guy now weighs 14 pounds, 6 oz, nearly 10 pounds more than what he weighed the day we brought him home from the hospital! He is in the 40-50th percentile in his weight and 50th in length. I guess that makes him about average? Anyway, he's doing great. There are some developmental milestones he hasn't achieved yet that some little ones his age do, but nothing the doctor is concerned about as she's confident he'll pick these up soon.

Benjamin also got several immunizations today. One shot was sort of a three in one shot, so he only got stuck three times. When he had his shots at 2 months, he cried briefly when he got them. This time, he cried quite a bit more. I mean, come on. I'm sure he's thinking, "Here's this nice lady who comes in, talks sweetly to me, I give her one of my most charming smiles...and then she pokes me. And then again. And again." Poor little guy. The nurse picked up right after she was done and cuddled him for a bit and he calmed right down. When she handed him to me, he looked at me and started to scream again like, "Mommy! Did you see what she did to me???" The crying was all short lived and true to Benjamin's personality, he's not been fussy since then. If anything, he's a bit more sleepy than normal but if that's how he responds to shots, we'll take it!

This week we toured a potential preschool for Emily. I was so impressed with this place. This is a real school setting and the building is full of professionals from a registered nurse to physical and speech therapists to certified teachers. Part of the reason for the extra personnel is that about half of the children who attend there have special needs of some sort. The other half are what they refer to as "model" children. These kids are integrated into the same class, yet individual educational plans are developed for each child after an assessment to best serve each child. Emily seemed to be most interested in the gymnasium (equipped with adaptive PE equipment for some of the kids) and also the snack cart that was going down the hall. The woman giving us the tour was kind enough to offer Emily some of the chocolate milk and a graham cracker. It doesn't get much better than that! We have an appointment in late February for Emily to be assessed to determine where she is in several different areas. At that time they will let us know if there are any spaces available. At this point, it doesn't sound favorable for getting in this year so maybe next fall.

Yard Clean Up and a Good Friend

2008-01-28T10:15:00.000-06:00

This weekend we had really nice weather and we were finally able to get out and clean up all the limbs and debris from the December ice storm. Okay, Jeff did most of the work but we were all outside. We couldn't have been outside more than three minutes when Emily was already "taking a break" and having a drink and a snack. Her latest thing is to tell me "I do lots of hard work" and I guess this was one of those times. Here are a few photos: break time (before the work even started); raking; sitting in the limbs rowing her boat.

A bit later we were out front cleaning a flower bed when she spotted her good buddy who lives two houses down. We haven't seen him in probably a month and Emily has been talking about missing him. So when she saw him she literally ran to him yelling his name and wrapped her arms around him. I'm not sure what this little guy thought about it, but he complied. They played for a bit then he had to leave. But later in the afternoon when we were out back playing on the swingset, he and his mommy came over and the kids got to play for another hour or so. They played on the swingset, played catch and played with Emily's new hula hoop. And our neighbor played with Zack, our dog. Zack loved having another little person to play with. Here are some photos of the kids playing. It was a nice weekend, we all enjoyed getting some fresh air and we are forecast to have a 70 degree day today. And then snow possible tonight and later in the week!! But we'll take the nice days when we can get them...especially in January!

A Bit of Nostalgia

2008-01-26T14:09:00.000-06:00

For those of you in my age range, you may appreciate this. I am lucky enough to still have several toys from my childhood and have already gotten a few of them out for Emily to play with. But one had not been taken down off the shelf until last night...my Winnie the Pooh record player and several of my little records that go along with the story books. You might remember these books/records. Tinkerbell would ring her bell and that's how you would know to turn the page. So last night, after Emily spotted the record player in her closet and asked to get it down, I agreed. I might add that while this record player was purchased at least 3o years ago from Sears (the Sears emblem is still affixed to it) and played for what must have been hundreds of hours, when I plugged it in yesterday, it still worked like a charm. I have to say that I don't remember the quality of the records being quite so bad and grainy. I suppose this digital age we live in has me spoiled. Here are some photos of some of my records and my record player, complete with the pennies still taped to the top of the stylus to keep the records from skipping (remember doing that??).

I'm amazed, when putting the first record on last night, how quickly the words and music came back to me, like it had only been a week or two since I last listened to them. Unfortunately, with a very cranky baby and a 3 year old with an attention span of about 12 seconds, the player and records were put back up on the shelf before long. But I did promise Emily that we would get the "toy that turns around" (her words) out again this weekend when Daddy was home to look after Benjamin. Oh, how I love a stroll down memory lane!

Benjamin Has a New Toy!

2008-01-25T13:50:00.001-06:00

I introduced Benjamin to a new toy yesterday. Now that he's able to hold his head up well I thought we would try out his new exersaucer. Well, it's not new but new to us. I'm realizing more than ever that these tiny guys grow and develop so quickly at this age that it doesn't make sense to buy new anything. But of course, that's coming from a rather frugal person by nature (this exact toy new at Wal Mart is over $70--I got ours at a yard sale for $15)! It might still be a bit too big for him but he seems to enjoy his time in it. He is usually only in it for 10 minutes or so and then he's done. But he also can't reach out and grab any of the toys yet, so maybe when he can do that he'll spend more time in it.

Here are a few photos of him playing in it. He really reacts to and loves happy faces. Here he is looking at the sun smiley face. If you click on the top left photo and look closely you will see the long stream of drool coming out of his mouth. Yes, we have entered the slobbery, hands always in the mouth stage! I thought the other photo was cute. It's his little legs dangling underneath. He's too short to be able to touch. :-)

16 weeks old and ABC's

2008-01-17T20:45:00.001-06:00

No, Benjamin does not know his ABC's yet. But he is 16 weeks old today! He is such a happy little guy nearly all of the time and I'm happy to say we've had SIX NIGHTS IN A ROW of sleeping through the night! Aside from a few tummy issues last week that required a move to a sensitive tummy formula, he's been healthy and well. Here are a few photos of my guy this morning. I think the little shirt he's wearing makes him look like a man of the cloth! :-)

Emily has really been working on her ABC's this last week. We have a little placemat that has the alphabet on it and she can trace around each letter with a dry erase marker. She really seems interested in this activity and if I'm in the other room I can often hear her walking through the steps like, "Line, down, across" and so on. I'm also happy to say that she can now spell her name. Not write it, but spell it verbally. So I think we may be well on our way to having some of these letters come together as words. Tonight she asked me, "What starts with"...and then she would insert the letter. Here is a shot of her alphabet work.

Also, a few weeks ago I celebrated a birthday. Apparently we are still celebrating at our house as I was presented with a playdough birthday cake and a rendition of the Happy Birthday song this evening. You'll notice the two plastic pieces sticking out of the cake. These are the candles.

Hooray for Emily!!

2008-01-12T06:53:00.000-06:00

Folks, she's finally done it. She did #2 in the big girl potty last night!!!! I am so proud of her. I was in a training at church last night so I didn't get to be here for the big event. But Daddy said she basically took herself to the bathroom and did what she needed to do alone and acted as if it was no big deal. I'm so happy for her. This is something we have been trying and trying and trying for such a long time. Yes, she will be going to Wal Mart today to pick out a special toy.

Way to go, Emily!!!

Children's Museum

2008-01-09T21:22:00.000-06:00

After going to the Children's Museum on Monday and finding it closed, we decided to try again this morning. I really wouldn't call it a museum as much as a great big play room with all kinds of hands on things for kids. It was built in an old movie theatre so the room is huge. There was a sand box, rock climbing wall, basketball, puppet theatre, play kitchen, grocery store, hospital, craft corner, dress up, doll house, train set, a music station and the list goes on. We will definitely be going back.

When we arrived there were two different daycare/preschool classes there, but within minutes they all left so Emily, Benjamin and I had the entire place to ourselves.

Emily's favorite things were the real piano and of course the craft area. While playing the piano she would keep playing with one hand and turn the music sheets with the other. And the crafts! There were TONS of different pairs of scissors and real Elmer's glue. She was in heaven. She also grabbed a pair of binoculars and when I asked her what she was looking at she said, "I'm looking at the birds." Maybe she'll be an ornithologist when she grows up! Benjamin and I were also treated to a puppet show by Emily. It was brief but oh so cute.

Above are some photos of my little bird watcher, pianist, puppeteer and artist. It was definitely well worth the few dollars spent for a fun two hours of playtime!

Bragging

2008-01-08T07:11:00.000-06:00

Okay, I'm a mom so I'm allowed to brag, right? If not, please just humor me for this post.

Last night Emily was playing with her foam letters while she was in the tub. She only had five or six letters but luckily there was a vowel in the mix. I put the three letters C-A-T together and said, "Do you know what this word is?" She nodded her head and said, "Yes." When I asked her what it was she said, "Cat." Okay, I was really floored by this. We have not practiced this word or talked about how to spell cat. Perhaps it was just a coincidence but I was still very surprised and pleased.

While I'm bragging here, above you will see a picture Emily drew back in October. We were watching the movie Happy Feet and she wanted some paper and markers. She started doodling on the paper and then handed it to me and said, "Look, a penguin." Sure enough, while being maybe a bit abstract, it looked like a penguin to me. We will definitely save this piece of art.

Signed,

A very impressed mommy

Mid-winter Blahs

2008-01-07T14:30:00.000-06:00

About this time of year, I am ready for spring. The holidays are over and it seems like I've been cooped up in the house for ages. And especially so this year since Benjamin was born in late September prematurely, I didn't really take him outside for the first four or five weeks. By then, it was too chilly to take him out. However today we are having a reasonably nice day so I decided we would go do a few things to let all of us get some fresh air.

Our first stop was at a preschool to get information about enrollment. Emily is showing lots of signs of being ready for some new intellectual challenges and I think school a few mornings a week would be great for her. Unfortunately we learned that there are no spaces in the three year old class so we'll need to wait until next fall to start.

Then we went to the park to play at the playground. Here are some shots of my brave girl climbing the "rock wall" all by herself and then being rather pleased with herself at the top; walking on the movable discs (have no idea what they are called); and swinging. We were only there maybe a total of 20 minutes as it had at that time not warmed up enough and Emily complained of her hands being cold. Mine were, too, so we headed to our little mall instead for some indoor fun and the Children's Museum there.

Our mall is very tiny, although a decent size for the little town we live in. When we got there we realized the museum is closed on Mondays...bummer! But there are a few little rides in the same area of the mall and Emily always asks to ride the Barney tractor ride. She rode that twice. The photo shows her hands blurred. That's how fast she was steering the tractor. Hang on, Barney! Then she needed to potty. Having made great strides in potty training the last few weeks, we went immediately to the potty. As we were on our way, she shouted very loudly, "This place is awesome!" Don't know where she got that but apparently she thought being at our little mall was pretty neat. Once in the potty we realized they were automatic flush potties and therefore, she refused to go. Months ago, her first time on an auto flush one, it flushed while she was sitting on it and she freaked. Therefore, she will not use them. So, no successes today so far but we'll get back on track now that we are home.

A quick stop at Hobby Lobby to pick up two Christmas stocking hangers for our mantle for next year (all Christmas items are 80% off so I literally got these for like $2 a piece--yippee!!) and we were on our way home for lunch and naptime. With rain/snow in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow, this will likely be the last day for a while we will get out to the park. I CAN'T WAIT FOR SPRING!!

NOT the Princess and the Pea...

2008-01-03T14:36:00.000-06:00

...but the Princess and the poo. :-)

Emily was supposed to be napping this afternoon and she had an extra special treat for naptime today. Zoe, our cat, was sleeping on the blankets on the end of Emily's bed. So I asked if she wanted Zoe to stay in her room for naptime and she said yes. About 30 minutes later I heard Emily calling to me. I went to her room and she was pointing to a "mess" on her bed. At first I wasn't sure if it was from the cat or Emily. Okay, so now back up a few weeks. Emily has always had issues with doing #2 and the last few weeks she has been going after she is put to bed...and then trying to change herself. :-( I'm thinking this might not be all bad in that she is finally getting uncomfortable with it in her diaper and therefore is trying to clean up. Maybe one day she'll go in the potty!! Anyway, after noticing the mess on Emily's bed, I looked over at Zoe and she was still laying in the same spot, but was now wearing Emily's princess tiara. I had to laugh as Zoe was just laying there like nothing was different. Zoe is the matriarch of our three kitties and is getting quite old and apparently mellow in her old age. Had I not needed to immediately take the sheet off Emily's bed and hence, move the cat, and clean up I would have taken a photo. Instead, here is a photo of Emily hugging her brother earlier today. And so goes our own version of the fairy tale "The Princess and the Poo!" Never a dull moment as a Mommy!

Snow and Happy New Year!

2008-01-03T06:58:00.000-06:00

Last Friday night we got another snow storm. The local news station (about an hour away) reported this to be the fifth snowiest December on record. I believe it. We have not been without snow ice on the ground since the ice storm in early December. We still have a bunch on the ground but with temps getting to the upper 50's this weekend, most if not all will be gone. So Saturday someone was chomping at the bit to go outside and play in the snow. We got Emily all bundled up and Daddy, too, and they went out to play. Well, Daddy shoveled but Emily played. We were pleasantly surprised when our friend London from two houses down came outside with his Mommy. Here are a few photos of the kids. They were cute to watch. He was trying to show Emily how to make a snow angel. She got the hang of the arm part, but not the legs at the same time. He brought out his little shovel and rake to help his mom shovel the sidewalk. Of course Miss Bossy Pants snatched London's shovel out of his hands. She didn't want to rake the snow. Thankfully, he is a very easy going little boy and obliged.

This was the perfect opportunity to bring baby brother outside for his first snow experience, too. Someone had given us this cute Pooh snowsuit and he's going to be outgrowing it soon. It was a very sunny day that day and needless to say he was not happy to be out in the bright, bright light. Like me, he couldn't see. So he wasn't out for long.

Our New Year's Eve was as low key as you might expect for a couple with a three year old and a 13 week old. I made some things to snack on and we settled in to watch Shrek 3. Emily made it half way through and then asked to go to bed. It was only about 8:30 but the girl likes her sleep! Jeff and I made it to maybe 10pm before we were in bed. We are so exciting!

We got our first babysitter ever on Dec. 29th so we could go out and celebrate our wedding anniversary. We enjoyed a dinner out and a movie. Dinner was especially nice. Nothing fancy, but for once we didn't have to fumble with highchairs, booster seats, cutting up someone else's food, cleaning up spills, getting kids out of car seats, etc. We actually had an adult conversation. And I only worried about Benjamin 3 or 4 dozen times that evening!

Happy New Year!

Christmas!

2007-12-25T11:23:00.000-06:00

We've had a wonderful Christmas here at our house. On Sunday my sisters, their families and our aunt all braved the winter weather to come to our house for a soup and chili lunch and then opened gifts. We had a horrible blizzard on Saturday but by Sunday roads were good enough for everyone to make it. It was wonderful to get to see two of my nephews that I haven't seen in a few years and meet their new little ones (yes, I'm a great aunt)! Emily's aunts spoiled her with some fun gifts and here are some photos to prove it. Benjamin got to meet his Aunt Lisa and cousins for the first time and saw his Aunt BB again. He didn't mind the attention and being held by a few new folks. Here's a photo of BB holding him while he sported his little Christmas outfit. Cousin Haileigh also got in on the action. Boy, this little guy sure gets a lot of attention from the ladies! He doesn't seem to mind a bit! :-)

Last night, we attended Christmas Eve services at our church. Here are a few photos of our family before church. After the service we drove around for a bit looking at Christmas lights then stopped off at our pastor's house for snacks before heading home. The kids were both up past their bedtimes so needless to say it didn't take long for them to get to sleep. AND...drumroll please...we had our own little Christmas miracle last night. Benjamin slept all night through! He finally woke up around 6:45 and Jeff and I looked at each other and asked, "Did YOU get up and feed him in the night?" We certainly aren't expecting this again, at least for a while. But apparently Benjamin was tired enough to make it through the night.

This morning, we got up and opened our gifts to each other. Santa was good enough to bring Emily a ball of yarn (see photo where she is hugging it), more chapstick AND a computer--all the things she asked for. Mommy and Daddy got her a digital camera and she spent the morning trying that out, too.

We will have our Christmas dinner of ham, sweet potatoes, corn and bread this evening before turning in the night. Until then, we will call our family in New Zealand (who celebrated their Christmas a day before us) on our computer and try out our new webcam so they can see live shots of us. I'm sure there will also be some television watching and of course, naps for the little ones and maybe the big ones, too.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Holiday baking

2007-12-20T11:14:00.000-06:00

I'm not doing very much holiday baking at all. First, Jeff and I DON"T need all those sweets around our house. And second, I have a pretty small family and will just have them here for the day on Sunday. However, I did bake some pumpkin bread yesterday and of course, had my helper right there with me. She is pretty much attached to my side all the time anyway, but especially likes to do anything in the kitchen and gets so "exciting" (her word for excited). So here are a few photos of her helping. I tend to be a bit of a control freak so messes in the kitchen take lots of patience for me to accept. But I reminded myself it only has to be wiped up and then it's taken care of. :-)

Today Benjamin is 12 weeks old. Hard to believe how quickly the time is going. He is really working hard to hold his head up. He does pretty well most of the time but is still a bit like a bobblehead at times. He smiles and babbles a lot now which is so fun to watch. So here are a few photos of him to commemorate his 12 week birthday!

Yesterday Emily was in my bedroom getting dressed while I was in Benjamin's room changing him. I was telling Benjamin how Emily is such a big girl and can get dressed all by herself now. Emily then told Benjamin that "The tag goes in the back, Benjamin" and "Don't put it on backwards!" Benjamin is going to have lots of help when he starts learning to get dressed himself!

Also, good news on the potty training. Emily has been wearing her pull ups during the day and over the last week or so has taken herself to the potty and gone on her own. And yesterday she asked to wear her big girl Dora panties. So while there have been a few "accidents" during the day in her pull up, she is doing really well. Number 2 is a completely different story, but we'll take baby steps!

This Saturday Emily and Benjamin's BB (my sister Brenda) and family will be coming to visit. Then my other sister, her family and our aunt will be arriving here Sunday for the day to celebrate Christmas. On Christmas Eve and Christmas it will be just our little family of four so it should be a nice, quiet holiday. I'm sure I'll have a few photos to post after Christmas! Happy Holidays!

We're HOME!!!

2007-12-17T06:21:00.000-06:00

We are finally home! We all got home as a family Sunday evening! Needless to say everyone, kitties, dog, kids, and Mommy and Daddy were glad to be together in our home again. Yesterday after church we stopped by the house so we could walk our dog. I saw footprints in our new 7 inches of snow that led to the backyard and around where the downed power line was located. Well, as we were pulling out of the driveway I saw a man with a hard hat walking down the sidewalk a few houses down. We stopped and hollered at him asking if he knew when they might be working on our house. He asked where we lived and when we told him he said we were next!!! Music to my ears. I actually had tears in my eyes I was so happy. I was sure the 7 inches of snow we got Friday night was going to slow progress down even more. We decided to go back to our hotel room for a while to let the house warm up. It was a chilly 38 degrees in there that morning. Besides, Emily wanted to go "swimming" in the hot tub. So while the kids and I had naps in the room, Jeff came home and cleaned, shoveled snow, and got everything ready for us to return home (what a wonderful husband). Then after a church dinner and program last night we got home. Needless to say, the cats and Zack, my dog, didn't venture far from us. And everyone had a great night's sleep. Benjamin even slept 7 straight hours!!

This ice storm will certainly go down in Hutchinson history. Our little town of maybe 40,000 was featured on the national news and the weather channel last week because of the devastation and the thousands without power. Please pray for the many in Kansans whose homes are still dark and cold that they will soon be able to return, too, because it is so very cold outside. Send thanks to all the power company lineman who brave this nasty weather (we had crews here from Colorado, Indiana, Arkansas to name a few). And count your blessings and enjoy your home, however modest it may be and be thankful for all you have. We forget how very blessed we are until something we have is gone, even temporarily.

Still Homeless

2007-12-13T14:47:00.001-06:00

Today is Thursday and we still don't have power back on at our house (see previous blog). We had an electrician come to the house and put the electrical box back on our house (called a weather head, I think). But Westar energy hasn't gotten to us yet. Jeff called yesterday and actually reached a live person there, but the news wasn't good. She said it could be December 22 before they get our lines back up! Needless to say that bit of news was particularly discouraging. We are hosting Christmas for my family at our house on the 23rd so I certainly hope we have at least a few days to prepare.

We are still in our little hotel room and toughing it out. Jeff is back at work so the kids and I are here day and night. I did go to our house this morning to get a few more clothes and necessities, let my dog out, check on kitties, etc. Zack, our poor dog, doesn't understand what's going on. While we go over several times a day to let him out to potty, I still feel horrible for leaving him there in the cold and dark. I don't think it's all bad...I believe he's making himself comfortable in Jeff's new armchair! :-) I also stopped by the neighbor's house and invited them to take any and all the food out of our deep freeze in the garage as it was thawing out and would be ruined if not used soon. What's left in the fridge and freezer in the house is already a total loss.

Today after breakfast and dropping Daddy off at work, I decided to take the kids to the library for a change of scenery. Unfortunately the library was not open. So we went to our little mall and walked around in the stores. My dear daughter is at the age where she says the funniest things. We were walking past the lingerie department in a store when she spotted a bra hanging at her eye level. She stopped, grabbed it and said, "Look mom! Boobies!" Then she informed me she wanted a bra. Sure, Emily. When you grow into a 38C you can get one. HA! I just had to laugh at her comment. Kids do say the funniest things!

Here's hoping we can go home soon and that I can continue to look on the bright side of things.

This STINKS!!

2007-12-11T20:44:00.000-06:00

I'm talking about our weather here the last 24 hours. I'm currently writing this post from a hotel room, if that gives you any indication of how the weather has affected us. I'm sure you all have heard about the big winter storm making its way through the midwest. Well, here in our hometown (which apparently has been featured on the Weather Channel) was slammed by an ice storm last night. Consequently our power lines are lying in our back yard and we have no electricity, heat, etc. Jeff and I both agreed that if we didn't have little ones, especially an 11 week old little one, we would have toughed it out and stayed with our dog and kitties. But it was just too cold for him. So after getting on a waiting list at one of our local hotels, praise God there was a cancellation and we got a room. Having no family within three hours, there really wasn't anywhere else for us to go. We've dealt today with a sick baby (he is doing better now), the electicity going out at the restaurant we were at for breakfast, part of the neighbor's tree falling on our car (no apparent damage), me falling on the ice (again, no apparent damage other than a bruised leg and backside) and a near miss as we almost slid into a pickup truck in front of us. BUT, I am so thankful we have a room for the next four nights and HEAT. Because we are on the power company's waiting list along with thousands of other people and the lines pulled the box off the side of the house which will require an electrician, we will likely not be home for another few days. I hope any of you in the path of this or other storms stay safe and warm!! Our little family is off to bed for the night. :-)

What a Novelty!!

2007-12-08T19:25:00.001-06:00

Mommy took a bath tonight. Before the kids were in bed. This caused quite a stir in our little family. I shower at night now as it is more convenient to do while Jeff is at home and can take care of Benjamin. But I always shower after Emily is in bed. So it took a bit of convincing before I even went into the bathroom. As soon as I said I was going to take a bath, she wanted one, too. We live in a 70+ year old home with one bath and the tub certainly isn't big enough to share. After telling her Mommy wanted to take a bath ALONE, she reluctantly went into the living room with Daddy. Within minutes she was back and told me, "I want to watch you." No, Emmy. Go back out with Daddy. Then I heard the dog scratching at the back door wanting back in. Then Benjamin started to cry and I heard Emily tell him, "Mommy's taking a bath, Benjamin!" By her tone, I could have been climbing Mt. Everest. Mommy was doing something she hadn't done before...at least for a very long time. A few minutes later I heard Emily ask to nobody in particular, "Where is Mommy?" I finished up in the bath, opened the bathroom door and Zack (our dog) was the first to come running in. Then I heard Emily running down the hall. She came in and asked with a smile, "You done, Mommy?" Yes, I suppose I was. My entire "retreat" lasted maybe 20 minutes. Surprisingly I was able to relax and enjoyed my few minutes of solitude. But I think next time I will wait until everyone is asleep. :-)

Visit with Santa

2007-12-05T12:43:00.000-06:00

Our visit to Santa was this morning. I'll start by saying Emily has never before been to see Santa. Neither has Mommy for that matter. I never went as a child. Emily had already told me that she would not sit on his lap and that she was afraid of Santa. So on the way to see him this morning part of me thought, "This will be a waste of time." But I wanted to at least try. I really think sometimes these things are more for the parents than they are for the children. At any rate, we went, and she got to visit with Santa from a distance. She was sure he knew her name, age, the town we live in and what she wanted from him (a computer, a ball of yarn-see previous post-and she just this morning added chapstick to her list). She also wanted to know where he had parked his sleigh. He told her it was clear on the other side of campus where the reindeer were having a snack. When it was time for us to leave, she wanted to drive around a bit looking for the sleigh. When we couldn't find it anywhere she would say, "Hmmmmm." ;-)

We were able to get a photo of all of us (she insisted Mommy be in the photo, too) with Santa. She wasn't interested in smiling so this is the best we could do. Benjamin, on the other hand, wasn't afraid of Santa at all and liked looking at Santa's bright red suit. :-)

And so this concluded our first visit with Santa. I'm thinking Santa might be able to accomodate her request for a computer, ball of yarn and chapstick. I'm just glad she didn't ask for a pony!! We love you, Santa, and will have your chocolate chip cookies and milk waiting for you on December 24th!

All I Want for Christmas

2007-12-04T20:42:00.000-06:00

For a few months now, Emily has been asking for a "compooter" for Christmas. I told her she would have to be a good girl in order for Santa to bring it. Today she also said she would like a ball of yarn. Yes, you read that correctly. Emily wants a computer and a ball of yarn for Christmas! Lately she has been fascinated by unrolling spools of ribbon and rolls of tape (we've had it everywhere) so I wonder if a ball of yarn somehow ties in. I'm sure she wants it so that she can unroll it all over the house. Tomorrow we will actually be going to visit with Santa at the college where Daddy works. I told her she would get to sit on Santa's lap and tell him about the computer and ball of yarn. She said no, she wants to hide from Santa but she would sit on my lap and tell me what she wants. So Mommy might end up being the one to sit on Santa's lap with Emily sitting on my lap (hope Santa has a big lap to accomodate Mommy). :-) Whether or not she actually agrees to see Santa, we will find out tomorrow. But while other children are thinking about sugarplums and all the toys and gadgets they hope to receive from him, my little girl will dreaming of a ball of yarn!

Thanksgiving, First snow and Cooking up a Storm

2007-12-03T16:57:00.000-06:00

We've done lots of fun things these last few weeks. Two days after Emily and I played in the leaves outside, we had our first snow. As soon as I told her it was snowing she said she wanted to get her gum boots on and go outside and play in it. At that point it was already dark so she had to wait until the next morning and Daddy took her out to play in the snow.

On Thanksgiving we traveled three hours to my sister, Brenda's, house for the day. Emily insisted she wear pantyhose (aka tights) so she wore her sparkly snowman tights with her dress. She proudly lifted up her dress too show my family her pantyhose. She was pretty proud of them!

The Saturday after Thaksgiving Emily and Daddy bought our Christmas tree and she and I decorated it that night. She sang "Jingle Bells" over and over again as we decorated. She told me "I'm exciting" which means she's excited. We had a good time and the tree looks beautiful although she wasn't that interested in getting her photo taken. I was able to steal one quick shot.

Emily got a play kitchen for her birthday and she really enjoys it. To be honest, Mommy enjoys playing with it with Emily. I always wanted a play kitchen when I was little. This morning she and I played with it for quite some time. The main course was soup made from cabbage, red bell pepper, carrots...and an orange. A little different but we both had a serving of it. :-)

Baby brother is doing great. Last Thursday he had his two month check up and is over 11lbs and 22 1/2 inches long. That's more than double his weight and three inches longer in just 9 weeks. AND...He's now smiling at me! Talk about wrapping me around his little finger! ;-)

Life Changes

2007-11-21T14:57:00.000-06:00

Well, we have certainly had lots of life changes in the two years Emily has been home with us. The latest is the arrival of her baby brother. Benjamin Patrick Adams was born September 27 at 1:53pm. He was 4-5 weeks early so we weren't quite expecting him so soon, but are glad that he is here. Matter of fact, he was born just a few days after my last post and less than a week after our childbirth class and our baby shower. Talk about timing! Whew!

Being a big sister certainly has its ups and downs. First, for a girl who was used to be the only to being one of two, it has taken some time to get used to the idea that Mom and Dad can't always respond immediately to her wants and wishes now. Add that to the fact that we are now three years old, and there have definitely been some behavior issues. However, she is very loving toward her baby brother and has been interested in all things baby related from the start. Mommy struggles to make time for just Emily some days as Daddy's work schedule requires some long hours. But we do our best. In the meantime, here are a few other things, besides getting a new brother, that have happened since our last post:

*Lots of time with Aunt BB, who was a HUGE help with Emily while we were in the hospital with Benjamin. Emily attended her cousin's football game where she apparently shouted, "Run, People!"

*A birthday: Emily turned three on November 8th. We celebrated quietly that day since Daddy had to work late that night. We did take her lunch at Applebees for her birthday and we opened presents. Some of her favorite presents were (and please don't laugh--she really does love these) flashlights and a disposable camera. Then we had a birthday party for her on the 10th with some family and friends. We had pizza and really groovy Dora cake! Her favorite presents that day were her new kitchen from Mommy and Daddy and some bath gels and lotions from her friends from church.

*Our Family Day. Our Family Day is the anniversary of the day Emily and I first met each other and became a family. This year unfortunately went uncelebrated as Mommy was sick in bed with an infection.

Now we are gearing up for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Emily is sure to tell me when she sees a toy commercial that, "I want that, Mom." It makes no difference what kind of toy it is, she says she wants it. She continues to have a fiery personality and is talking up an absolute storm. Some of my favorite phrases of hers include, "Relax, Mom," "I'm relaxing" and "I'm getting situated." Sometimes she will say things and I will have no idea where she has come up with the word. So, she's great in verbal skills. Now if we could only get the potty training thing! One major change at a time, I suppose. We're trying not to push it.

Yesterday we had a lovely morning so we went outside to blow bubbles and ride her bike. But her attention quickly switched to all the leaves on the ground. So I got the rake, made a big pile and she had a great time running and jumping into it and also liked laying down in it and wanted to be completely covered up. So these are some photos of her playing in the leaves as well as some photos of she and her brother together.

Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels if you are on the road, plane or rail!

Our last few weeks

2007-09-25T15:48:00.000-05:00

Our last few weeks here at home have been busy ones. First, we've really been working on potty training. While most days she has the "pee pee" thing down, we still have accidents and have yet to even attempt "poo poo" on the potty. Mommy is trying not to get discouraged but some days it can be. I know she can do it!! She just has a stubborn streak. Yesterday we had a dry panties day all day and so far so good today. So while progress might not be as quick as what I might like, we are getting there slowly but surely. Last week we did make a trip to the zoo (see photo of Em and racoon) and she pottied in the big girl potty before we left. When we walked out of the restroom she shouted very loudly, "I pottied, People!" Unfortunately we were the only ones there at the time and nobody heard.

Last week we started our Wee Toddlers class at the Rec Center. This is a one hour class on Thursday mornings where kids her age get together for 30 minutes of unstructured playtime then story time, snack and a craft. Since last week was our first week I anticipated maybe a bit of reluctance. However I was not prepared for Emily running down the hall back toward the front door, screaming and spending the first 30 minutes in class crying hysterically. I felt horrible! The teacher made several attempts to get Emily involved and then I think finally gave up. It wasn't until it was time to pick up toys and get ready for a story that she actually left my side. I slipped out the door of the classroom (which was left open but had a baby gate in it) and sat outside the room and I never heard another peep out of her for the last 30 minutes. When class was over she came running out to show me her picture and was happy, laughing and having a great time. I'm hoping this Thursday is better and that we don't have to go through the first 30 minutes like we did last week.

This morning was our first morning for Toddler Time at the library. It runs for 30 minutes each week. Today's topic was ABC's. There were just three other toddlers there with their moms so not a very big group. I was pretty pleased with my girl though as she was the only one who sang along to the ABC song with the librarian. She seemed to enjoy it and Mommy did, too, so we'll look forward to going back each week from now until mid-December (minus the weeks we will be out when baby brother comes along).

Yesterday we had our baby shower for our little boy expected in just four weeks. Emily knew pretty much everyone there and had a great time. Here is a picture of Em, me, my two sisters and our two aunts--three generations of a sort since my mom is no longer with us.

Emily loves to water the flowers. A co-worker of Jeff's gave her a duck watering can shortly after we moved here and she takes such care walking from the kitchen sink to the front porch to water. Here is a picture of her watering our flowers.

And this from the "out of the mouths of babes" column...last week I was finishing putting my make-up on one morning when Emily joined me in the bathroom. I told her I was almost finished but needed to put my make-up on. She asked, "So you don't scare people?" Yes, Emily, so I don't scare people. Children are so honest!! :-)

Fun at the Fair!!

2007-09-15T15:56:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we had the opportunity to go to the state fair. It's held every year in Hutchinson, the town we just moved to this summer. We live just 6 blocks from the fair grounds and since Jeff had to work at a booth for his college for part of the afternoon, Emily and I went up to meet Daddy after his shift and have a look around.

I had never been to our Kansas State Fair so I had no idea what to expect. It had all the typical fair "stuff" just on a larger level. We got to eat a bit of fair food--funnel cake for me and Em and a meat pie just like what they have in NZ for Daddy. We also got to visit the birthing barn (darn, no babies being born at the time) and got to see a very friendly one day old calf, some baby pigs, baby chicks (to which she said "Gobble, gobble") and a baby donkey. They were all so cute. She wanted to see some cows and had been making mooing sounds a good part of the day so of course there were plenty to see.

Probably the biggest highlight for me was watching Emily ride some rides so I included some photos. The only ride she had ever been on was a merry-go-round at the mall. So we started out on that. Unfortunately she did not want to sit on a horse but instead settled for sitting on a bench with Daddy. Then she saw the car ride and wanted to ride on that. She said she wanted a specific car. Since there was just one kid ahead of her and six cars to choose from, I hoped she would be able to get the car she wanted. She didn't (the little boy took "her" car) but she quickly decided on her second choice...a sporty little red car. She rode that twice. She and Daddy also rode the bumblebee ride. She wasn't sure about it at first. And neither was Mommy as it went pretty high up in the air. But she seemed to enjoy it. I was worried about Daddy on all these rides but he fared pretty well, too! HA!

After walking around for more than two hours and seeing all we wanted to see, Mommy's eight month pregnant body was ready for a rest so we said goodbye to the fair until maybe next year. Then, we will have two in tow!!

Labor Day Weekend fun

2007-09-05T13:51:00.000-05:00

This past Labor Day weekend we spent at my dad and sister's houses. They live next door to each other so it's easy to visit both. Here is a photo of Emily and her Papa (my dad). We left home Saturday morning and drove just 20 minutes to the little Amish/Mennonite town of Yoder and had breakfast at a very popular restaurant there. Then we drove the rest of the two and a half hours to Papa and BB's (my dad and sister, Brenda). Saturday afternoon Emily had a swim in BB's pool with Mommy, Daddy, BB, and cousins Haileigh and Eric. A good time was had by all...except for when Emily was clinging to someone. She is not terribly confident in the water. Saturday night we had pizza at Papa's and Sunday at lunch we celebrated Papa's birthday (Sept. 3) and Emily's great Aunt Dee's birthday (August 30) with hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, etc. etc. Needless to say we were well fed this past weekend. We had a special visit from Emily's great Aunt Carol who lives in Arizona and is in Kansas for a month visiting. Emily and Jeff had never met Aunt Carol and it had been several years since I last saw her.

We had a nice time and it was good to get away, if even just a few hours away! But visiting family was the best part!

Elmo Came Through Surgery with Flying Colors!

2007-08-28T11:32:00.000-05:00

I don't know if you all know or not, but Elmo was really ill yesterday. Matter of fact, he had to have surgery. Dr. Emily Tomlinson started out by giving him several shots but that didn't seem to work so off he went to her room (aka the OR) and into her bed for surgery. She shut her door behind her so I asked if everything was okay and if Elmo needed help. She opened her door, stuck her head out with her stethoscope around her neck, said, "No thank you" and returned to the task at hand.

Shortly afterward, she came out asking for some help. Apparently things were pretty touch and go in the OR so she was calling in some reinforcements in the form of Mommy. I was handed a pair of scissors from the doctor kit. Oh dear! I have to admit I wasn't prepared for surgery yesterday afternoon. I hadn't even scrubbed yet! But I'm happy to say Elmo made it through the night and was well enough to go on some errands with us this morning! Whew! I'm sure you are all relieved. Here are some photos I was able to sneak in during surgery. You'll notice that Dr. Tomlinson got tired and decided to lay down with Elmo right after surgery. :-)

More fun with a two year old!

2007-08-27T10:53:00.000-05:00

In my last post, I listed several phrases which are current favorites with Emily. I did forget one; one we've heard nearly every morning over the last few days. We still have a monitor in her room so we can hear her if she wakes up at night with a bad dream, when she wakes up in the morning, etc. We have had several laughs over the last year or so with what she is saying or singing first thing in the morning. The last several mornings she has said, "Mommy, come here! I need to show you someping." My first thought was, "Oh great...what has she done!" So the first morning when I went to her room to tell her good morning and ask what she needed to show me, she said another one of her current favorites: "I don't know."

This morning, a young salesman came to the front door selling educational books. Because #1 I'm not prone to inviting strangers into my home and #2 Our dog Zack was standing at the front door barking loudly, I chose to go out on the front porch to see what he had to say. Once he was all done (and I chose not to purchase any of his items) he asked me for a glass of water. I said I would be happy to go get him one. As I tried to open the front storm door, I realized with a sickening feeling, that the door was locked. My two year old was on the other side of the door, with our dog, and had her hand on the lock. She had locked me out. I wondered how easy it would be to get her to twist the lock back to the unlock position. After a few tense moments and me saying in my most stern voice to turn the lock the other way, she unlocked it, I went in to get the young man a drink of water, and another crisis was averted. Fun with a two year old! It must be Monday. Ha!!!

I survived!!

2007-08-24T18:21:00.001-05:00

I survived my first week of being a stay at home mom! Better yet, my two-almost three year old-survived, too! It's been a good week of both of us trying to find our "routine." We took a walk nearly every morning this week before it got too hot. They were short jaunts around our new neighborhood but still gave Mom some exercise and Emily seemed to enjoy the change of scenery, too. Daddy works close enough to walk to and from home so we get to have him home for lunch each day. We've done some shopping, gardening (aka weed pulling), playing on the swingset, she rode her bike, did lots of sidewalk chalk, did painting and coloring with markers and the hit of the week was Emily getting a pair of her own scissors (don't worry, they are the kindergarten type with blunt ends and are ONLY used under Mom's strict supervision).

I hope to get Emily enrolled in a few classes starting in September: Toddler Story Time at the local library on Tuesday mornings and Wee Wigglers (a play group) at the local rec center. I also hope to join the Y this weekend so we might add a gymnastics class to the mix. Depends on how much she is up for. I think she is going to really miss the interaction with other kids. Yesterday we were on a walk and she saw some boys outside playing at what appeared to have been a home daycare. She heard them laughing and playing, commented on their play and said, "I play, too!" Unfortunately we didn't know these folks and they had all gone inside by the time we got to the house.

Phrases I've heard at least 3oo times this week: "Mommy doing?" "Why?" "I don't know." "Why?" "I mean it, Mommy!" "Why?" "I do it!" and yes, "Why?" again! Ah, the mind of a two year old! It's been fun for Mommy so far. Hopefully it has been for Emily. Several people have told me this is the most important job I'll ever have and I will never regret my decision to stay home while our children are little. So far, so good! :-)

Please check back again! I hope to stay on top of this blog now--at least until October 23rd or thereabouts!

Time goes too quickly!!

2007-08-19T15:50:00.000-05:00

Well, my last post back in MARCH!! (shame on me) was titled "Mommy is a slacker." I can't imagine what I could title this post as I'm just now getting back to this blog. There have only been a few things going on in our lives these last five months.

First, in February we learned that Emily would be a big sister. Jeff and I are expecting a baby boy (that part we didn't learn until early June) on October 23rd. The pregnancy has gone well so far and I am down to my last nine weeks (again, time goes too quickly)! I feel like I have lots to do before the arrival of our new little one.

In April Daddy (and about 25 others) unfortunately was laid off from his job. And after only three weeks off work he was gainfully employed again, this time with Hutchinson Community College. Hutchinson is a town about an hour away from where we lived. Yes, I said lived...

We decided to make Hutchinson our new home and after having our house and land on the market for just four days, it sold and we were able to buy a home just three blocks from Jeff's office. So he walks to work now. This is a wonderful thing, especially with gas prices what they are. With these changes, we decided now was a good time for me to leave my position of nine years and be a stay at home mom for the time being. This is something I've always wanted to try and feel so lucky to be able to do. So effective last Friday, August 17th, I am no longer employed full time outside of the home. But trust me, a nearly three year old will keep me hopping, not to mention the new baby who will be coming soon.

So, pregnancy, loss of hubby's job, new job for hubby, moving and quitting my job are what I've been doing in the last five months! Oh, and I forgot to mention an international trip the end of June/first part of July to New Zealand to visit my husband's family. It was an awesome trip. I got to see his immediate family again and meet all kinds of new family and friends. Emily was a little trooper through all the travel ups and downs we experienced. What a good girl she was. She was often more patient than many of the adults we saw in the airports!

If I can remember how to post some photos, I'll try to do so. These are some photos from our trip to New Zealand (yes, our summer is their winter-that's why we are in winter clothes). I'm hoping to stay better on top of the blog, however am realistic that there is a little someone who is more of a priority right now.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Kim, Jeff and Emily

Mommy is a SLACKER!!

2007-03-20T21:22:00.000-05:00

Good grief! It's been a month or more since my last post. I can't seem to find the time to keep up but here I am again. It's late so I won't be doing anything fancy with the photos--just posting them in a line so you can at least see that we've been busy with our two year old this last month.

In February we attended a CNY dinner with our local FCC group. It was a big group in a very small room at restaurant but we met some new people and had fun. I pulled out an outfit from China that Emily hadn't worn yet and it fit wondefully (all except for the pants length but she has very short legs).

This past month has been a month of working on her alphabet and identifying letters by sight. She's really doing pretty well! I'm amazed at what she has learned in the last year. Jeff and I continue to receive requests from her to sign "The Wheels on the Bus..." She loves for she and I to sing on our way to daycare each morning. Some mornings we branch out and sing "Happy Birthday to You" or "Tinkle Tinkle Little Star" but we always revert back to the bus song. I must have led a sheltered childhood but I swear I never heard this song before we adopted Emily.

We went to the doctor last month for what only turned out to be a cold. She LOVES her new pediatrician, Dr. Nichols. We call him Dr. Luke. He's young and I wouldn't be surprised if he were a daddy himself. Anyway, at that visit she was a whopping 31 1/2 inches and weighed 25 pounds (although she was screaming and wouldn't stop moving when she got weighed so I doubt this is accurate). She's still little although I do notice her shoes we bought last fall are getting a little short on her.

We have been enjoying some nice spring weather here in Kansas so we of course have spent several hours on our swingset. She surprised me by climbing the little ladder to her slipper slide all by herself. And when she's on the swing she is always asking to go higher.

The recent time change has been a bit of a challenge for us. For the first week, she didn't want to get up out of bed in the morning. This last week it's been not wanting to go to bed at her normal bedtime of 8pm. So that's been extended most nights at least 30 minutes or so. We both have read much on the importance of sleep for little ones (kids her age should have at least 12-14 hours of sleep a night!) so we shoot for about 12 hours although I know she doesn't always get that as I often hear her talking to herself after we've put her to bed.

Hopefully I'll not go another month before posting again. Besides I'll have Easter photos to post by then!! Here's a variety of CNY, St. Patrick's Day and other random shots from the last month. I hope you enjoy.

My Little Helper

2007-02-18T13:42:00.000-06:00

One thing I learned in dog obedience training is that dogs have a strong need to please and also need to have a job or purpose to help them be happy. I think two year olds aren't much different. The last month or two have brought about an extra set of hands whenever I go about daily household chores. Emily literally drops what she is doing and comes running if she hears water being run in the kitchen sink and yells, "Dishes!" We are one of the few families left on earth without a dishwasher so yes, we do it the old fashioned way--with our hands. Mommy washes, Emily rinses and Daddy dries. While some of you might be feeling sorry for us for not having all the modern kitchen conveniences, we like this time; it is time we are all together as a family, working a task to completion and simply put--enjoying each other's company. Emily also is a big helper when it comes to doing laundry. She helps Mommy sort clothes, helps pick them up out of the basket so I can put them in the washer and when it's all done, she likes to fold and put away. In addition to Emily learning lots at the age, I think I am learning more. Gone are the days of trying to get things done quickly and most efficiently. I am happily learning to move at a slower pace, to practice my patience and enjoy the little things. Do I have to refold laundry after Emily helps? Yes. Does she put clothes in drawers differently than I might? Oh yes! But I know one day she will think helping Mom and Dad with household chores is a big drag. But right now, she takes pride in the "jobs" she volunteers to do around the house. And after all these years of doing these tasks by myself, I am happy to have a little shadow. :o)

Dr. Tomlinson, paging Dr. Tomlinson...to the ER stat!

2007-02-02T19:55:00.000-06:00

Tonight we opened a little doctor's kit for Emily to play with. She actually got it for her birthday back in November but because of all the toys we have, we have kept a few things back and have been able to spread them out over a period of a few months. As I sit here writing this, Emily is in the other room operating on Daddy. Daddy is being a great sport and playing along. I realize it's a new toy to her but she is really enjoying playing "doctor." I suppose I should warn the dog and cats to look out...she will likely be looking for more patients. :-)

Maybe our little Emily will one day grow up to be a doctor, either to people or to animals. Maybe she'll be a pianist. Or a professional soccer player. Or perhaps an engineer or a botanist. Or maybe a teacher. Jeff and I have big dreams for our little girl. But whatever it is she chooses to do for a living, we most of all hope she grows up to become a compassionate, generous, loving, nonjudgmental and kind human being.

Swingset Fun

2007-01-26T19:16:00.000-06:00

These photos are from a few weeks ago. But one of Emily's favorite Christmas presents was a shiny, new swingset from her Papa (my dad). Due to weather we haven't had many opportunities to go out and play on it. But we've been able to play on it a few times. I know this spring and summer we'll be on it alot. :-) She's really been pretty brave when she swings high. Of course Mommy is a bit more conservative on how high she swings. Daddy is a bit more "fun." There has been a wipe out or two but surprisingly she just jumped up and wanted back on. She also wants Mommy to get on the swingset with her. She can't quite understand that the swingset would never be the same if Mommy got on with her. Having a swingset in my backyard brings back memories of the swingset I had in my backyard when I was little in Pennsylvania. I cannot imagine how many hours I must have clocked on that thing. I hope Emily will have similar fond memories when she's grown. Thank you again, Papa.

We Have Success!

2007-01-21T14:50:00.000-06:00

No, not on the potty yet. I'm talking about success in getting Emily outside to play in the snow today. She was a little frustrated at having to walk in it since it's so deep. But then Daddy showed her how to make a snowball and throw it at Mommy. Then we decided to build a snowman. Jeff said he didn't know how to make one so I decided I would show this Kiwi how it's done. I grew up in Pennsylvania and we had our share of snow there. However, it has been a good thirty years or so since I've had an occasion to build one. Here are some photos of our play time outside today and of our snowman. I like to call him Snowman meets Elephant man. Not my best work but by then hands and feet were frozen and someone wanted to go inside. While we were outside, Emily told me, "Mommy, hot coffee." I think she was cold. No, we don't give her coffee. But Mom and Dad drink it every morning so she knows the difference between hot and cold. Anyway, after coming in and changing into warm, dry clothes we ate some lunch and Emily is now hopefully having sweet dreams about our snowman. Or would that be nightmares?

Snow, Snow and more Snow!!

2007-01-20T22:31:00.000-06:00

This morning the snow started to fall. Now mind you, we still had plenty of ice on the ground from last weekend's storm. The forecast was for snow to start midday. By 8am which certainly is not MY midday, it started. It was a beautiful, wet snow. And it snowed and snowed and snowed and snowed. We don't usually get lots of snow here. Instead our winter weather usually comes in the form of ice. Anyway around 5pm or so, after Emily woke up from her nap, I decided it was time to get bundled up and go play outside. I decided to get myself dressed for snowy play first and then get Emily ready. Jeff was already outside shoveling. So after donning two pairs of socks, boots, long underwear, jeans, and three shirts I went to get Emily dressed. Best laid plans...she flat out refused to go outside. I tried coaxing her by telling her, "Look at Zack (our dog) outside playing in the snow! It looks like fun. Let's go!" After trying that a few times and enduring a crying fit, I gave up. How many kids do you know turn down an opportunity to play in the snow!?!? Anyway, we staying inside and played "shopping" instead. So much for Mommy showing Emily all about snow angels this afternoon. Maybe next time.

First Post!

2007-01-20T21:33:00.000-06:00

And so begins my entry into the world of blogging! First, this site will be used to post updates and information about our darling daughter, Emily Rose JiaYing. And as for the blog address, aroundtheworldfamily, we truly are a global family (unfortunately that address was already taken). I am American, my husband is a Kiwi (from New Zealand) and our daughter is from China.

Ours is not a traditional story of boy meets girl, boy marries girl and they have children. I started the adoption process as single person, having known my husband for a few years at that time as a good friend. Emily was adopted in November 2005 and Jeff and I got married the following month. As two older, educated people we were feeling like fish out of water when it came to parenting a one year old at the time. But alas, we have learned as we've gone along and continue to do so. And we three are all better people for it!

Fast forward to January 2007. We now have a very active 26 month old who is a rather independent thinker when it comes to wanting things her way. Some of her favorite things are music, dancing and singing, being outside riding on the tractor when the weather is nice, feeding our dog and cats and drinking chocolate milk. She is small for her age but she doesn't let that stop her. She has recently learned how to carry her step stool all around the house which is kind of a scary thing for mom and dad! She is talking more and more although there are times when we still cannot understand what she's saying. But for someone who started her first year hearing nothing but Chinese, I'm not worried. Over the last month she has learned to count to 10 and is even going up into the teens, sings along with me to her favorite song "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", is working on her ABC's and often says things that surprise me. The other day we walked out of the house and there was ice on the ground. I was holding her hand and she told me, "Slow down, Mommy!" right before she started to slide. I guess she knew what she was talking about. :)

I hope you enjoy this blog. I envy those who are able to keep theirs up regularly. I'm doing good to even look at the blogs so I don't know how I plan to keep this up. But I'll give it a try. I'm brand new at this and have no idea what I'm doing. But I do know how to type so I'll start out slow. Please feel free to leave comments and thank you for stopping in.