FINALLY!!

Our Little Joy gave us so much to celebrate last month, we had to take a bit of time to breathe! We celebrated a birthday, 6 whole months of being home and the Lunar New Year, all in the same week!! Here are a few pics of all that we did.

We had the opportunity to celebrate the Lunar New Year a little early at a local church that has an amazing Asian community, including a huge population of adoptive families of Asian children. The event was HUGE and we were a little overwhelmed, but I could see it being fun in a few years. LJ and Samuel were all dressed up in their "dragon clothes" as Samuel calls them.




A few days later, our little Miss celebrated her 2nd birthday!! We had a little party with her Bana and Papa and a very pink cake. She seemed to know that it was her very own special day and I think she really enjoyed it. Samuel decided that she needed a birthday crown, so he very thoughtfully gave up his play time at preschool to decorate her crown. She wore it ALL DAY LONG! We also had a bigger party in honor of her birthday, her 6 months of being home with us (can you believe it??!!), and the Lunar New Year. A great time was had by all!


We finished up that party weekend with a trip to my aunt and uncle's cabin up in the mountains. It was the only glimpse of snow that we had this year and it was very fun.

We weren't entirely certain how LilyJoy felt about the sledding experience, but she didn't seem to want to get out, so she stayed!

Otherwise, we've just been having fun together as a family. LilyJoy and I are doing great and Steve and LJ's relationship has also improved a ton just over the past probably 2 weeks. It has been so strange how she completely flipped the way she felt about us. I guess it just goes to show us that our experience in China was just not "real" life-- something that would be very good to remember when you're in the situation in China.

*VERY* briefly...

Yep, I'm more than way behind. We had so much to celebrate last month that I was a bit overwhelmed. And I was even going to write something interesting tonight with pictures, but then my camera battery died and I couldn't get my pictures off! *sigh* I'll try and update you all within the next week...

Check, Check: One of My Many Projects

In high school, I took German as my foreign language and was extremely blessed to have to participated in a German/American exchange program. In my senior year, my exchange partner Meli came to visit Washington and then in the summer after graduation, I went with a group to visit Meli and a few of her friends. It was one of those times in my life that I will never forget. And while not everyone in our group necessarily got along with their exchange partners, Meli and I hit it off like we had always known each other. We stayed up late laughing and talking-- Meli spoke much better English than I spoke German, thank heavens, because we can still communicate today, 14 years later and still halfway across the world.

So, all of this is a long-winded way of saying, she recently had her first baby, a precious DARLING little princess. And, of course, when my sister and I hear of someone close having a baby, a quilt is a requirement. I have been wanting to share this one for a loooooooong time. My sister and I started it about a year ago and had many big gaps of not working on it, but we finally finished officially and sent it off a few weeks ago. It is my favorite quilt to date. So, without further ado, the princess and her quilt:



And now that this one is done, you'd think I would have some time to work on LJ's 100 good wishes quilt wouldn't you...? We shall see :)

Learning to Love LilyJoy

I don't know when it happened, but it finally did. And it kind of took me by surprise. I thought I had it all figured out before we left for China. Little did I know-- not many folks talk about it-- it wouldn't be as easy and natural as I thought. But now I know for sure, I LOVE LILYJOY.

I say that I thought I had it all figured out before our trip because I was infatuated. I had pictures sitting in front of me of this beautiful little girl who didn't reject me or throw herself on the ground for a good cry or hit her brothers. In a sense, I had a baby-- fresh to me, no history, clean slate. But in retrospect, I can see that I was looking at it all wrong. No matter how many times I told other people or how many times I told myself that "things are not going to be easy," I, understandably, had NO IDEA what that meant. I didn't know that this crush I had on little Ping Ping would be completely rejected in China. I didn't know how that would affect how I began to feel about her. It kind of reminded me of unrequited Jr. High love! She didn't want me, so my heart began to build a wall around it for protection. It was being built without my conscious knowledge. I think I stayed that way for almost 3 months, just figuring that things would change soon, they just had to with time.

It was not until one day along the line that I realized, I hadn't said "I love you" to LilyJoy since we were in China and saying it felt very unnatural. At first I justified it thinking, of course I'll say it eventually... when it feels right. But I look back now and realize how wrong I was. A million times in my life I have heard the phrase "Love is a Choice." And I get that-- there are times that I don't really like Steve all that much, but I CHOOSE to love him. It is that same way with Samuel and Timothy. I choose to say "I love you" even when I don't feel like it, so why was I not doing it for LilyJoy. It dawned on me that I needed to make that choice for LilyJoy, too, despite the fact that the first months were sleep deprived, full of food issues, tantrums, and toddler opinions. She needed to hear it as much as I needed to say it.

So, I did it-- I started saying "I love you" on a regular basis, even when the feeling was not there and I cannot tell you what a difference it made in me. We don't hear often enough about the parent's side of bonding and attachment. I wish I had heard more about it before our trip, but who knows? Maybe I wouldn't have listened given how strong that infatuation with the picture was. Now, I have regular moments where there is even feeling that wells up and it is not just for show. I LOVE this baby girl and she IS my daughter.

Beano's Belated Birthday Wishes

I'm so far behind, it's a disgrace. However, my little Bean turned five this last week (the 7th) and certainly deserves some recognition for that!

We decided to bite the bullet and have a preschool class birthday party-- Samuel was THRILLED! But, being as cheap as I am, we did it for free at Mickey D's! Samuel is still asking to go back and play there again, so I guess it was a success. (I did come home and eat an entire head of broccoli by myself to cleanse away the food) Samuel loved his pir*ate birthday cake and if I may say so myself, it did turn out pretty cool! Granted, if you google pir*ate cakes, there are some much more complicated ones that look amazing, but this worked fine for me. It was a LOT of work, but the whispered,"whoooooooa!" when Samuel saw it was worth every second :)


We had a small family party on his actual birthday and PRAISE THE LORD! we talked him into rice cri*spie treats instead! I was getting a little tired of cake as you can imagine-- I also had made one a few days before his party for my grandma who turned 93... she didn't get a pri*ate cake.

So, after Christmas and birthday, I think we are all TOYED out!! I'm planning to go through and give away a bunch of their old toys now, I just have to wait till a time when no one is looking.

Anyway, for my baby boy who is not such a baby any more, here are five things I love about you:

5. You're a bold little soul! You've growing into an assertive leader and as timid as I can be, I am SO PROUD of you.

4. You LOVE music! That just does my heart good and I can't wait to find out at your very first piano lesson next week if your passion will blossom into something greater.

3. You are one smart cookie and you drive me crazy with your intelligent questions!!!!

2. When I kiss you, you always have to make sure that it isn't too slimy :)

1. You are growing to be the boy that God had always planned for you to be... Lord, help me continue to nurture and grow this beautiful boy of mine.

Merry 5th Day of Christmas!!

I know, it feels a little late, but really, it is only the 5th day of Christmas! So, my wishing you a Merry Christmas not off target. Here's hoping that your day was filled with family, laughter, peace and joy. Here's a summary of our Christmas eve and day!

I was finally able to convince Samuel to be a sheep in the Christmas pageant this year. He did a smashing job-- baaa. His preference would have been to play ANY instrument in the band to being a sheep, but on the last song, Joy to the World, he got his wish!! He took his jingle bells out of my purse (he came prepared) and headed straight up to the front. When the band members saw him with his bells, they invited him up with them and lowered the microphone so he could sing. THAT was a Christmas wish come true!! Bummer that I didn't have the camera with me at that moment...

My Grandma (known as GG to S, T and LJ) was able to join us for church and dinner on Christmas Eve. I always feel blessed to be in her soon-to-be 93 year old presence.

LilyJoy likes to get a free ride when she can! GG is always willing to accomodate.

Can you believe that I didn't get ONE picture of our family in our Christmas clothes?? This is the only full shot of LJ in her pretty dress. Easter will be a different story...

Auntie (my sister) and Samuel being silly in their fancy hats.

Dad and Grandma.

There is no more common sight at my parent's house than the one where Bana (my mom) is reading to S and T. I think she read 10 books that night.

New Christmas jammies!!

LilyJoy's jammies have a fancy skirt that goes with it-- LOVE it!!!

Very exited about their Why-flyers from their stockings! This picture cracks me up, though, because of my telltale yawn :)

The guitar from Santa was a very big hit.

This Buzzlightyear wing pack was actually Timothy's Santa present, but he's not big on pictures right now-- Samuel jumps right in!

Good morning, little Dragon Princess! Santa came!

LJ enjoying all her Christmas gifts at once :)

Headed up the path to Bana and Papa's house, of course with Baobei in her stroller!

Steve and Dad have a disgusting tradition of smoking a pipe for about 30 seconds on Christmas Day. Unfortunately, this year was no different.

My sister, Dad and myself with Beano, Timmers and Little Joy.

Things got a little crazy toward the end of the morning after Cardamom bread, scrambled eggs and porkies to delight our bellies. Pictured here is the wrapping paper diving that ensued.

We all had a lovely time!

Finally, Some Movement!

If you're at all keeping track of the immunization issue that I have bookmarked at the top of my blog, you would have noticed that there is at least some movement going on! December 17th is the "date of consideration." I'm not entirely sure what that means, except that at least someone in the judiciary committee is looking at the issue. Here's hoping that they sign this into law quickly and you all who are traveling soon will get some relief from the stress of all those shots for your little ones!