It's about time.. & some news!!

Autumn Moon 2009

Stripey & Spotty - Buffalos posing as Kittens!

Brother & Sister Love

They just do this when I bring out the camera...

Aaaawwww...

EFP & Pony LOVE!!

Just LOVE that smile!!!

What the heck is that thing?

What? A Flounder? It looks like a sea monster!!

OH! THIS is what a fish looks like before Mommy cooks it??? I get it!

Fishing Fun!

I can not believe it has been so long since I had a moment to update the blog!! Seems like I never have a minute these days.. kids are so busy.. new job.. starting not to feel so much like a new job.. is wonderful but HECTIC!


AND... tada...

we are paperchasing again.... ha ha bet you didn't see that coming did ya? We received PA last week for a 5 year old girl residing in LongGang, ShenZhen, GuangDong... she has a repaired cleft lip/palate... and she has a beautiful smile!! Can't post pics yet (darn! cuz she is a cutie pie!) just exactly who we need! Her birthday is listed as 8.23.04 - so she fits right in between EFP & EBB!! Can not believe we have hopped on the roller coaster again.. but you know.. somehow this felt right.. it is a long story.. how we got to this place.. with highs and lows.. happiness and sadness... but then that IS adopting from China isn't it? Can't imagine travel before the summer and I can't really travel until well after July - so perhaps August (UGH GuangZhou in August????) or September.. and two or three of my favorite people in the world are (hopefully) going to travel with me while DH stays home with the Empress & Emperor.. while I travel for Empress Sassy Pants...

Spent most of the fall dealing with Imperial Daddy's unfortunate BOWLING injury... completely dislocated 2 fingers... requiring emergency surgery, 3 or 4 titanium pins and a hand surgeon specialist to preserve his ability to use his fingers... of course it was his left hand and yes, he is left-handed. To be fair we don't bowl.. and he had no idea that the finger holes came in different sizes.. so when he went to throw the ball and his hand stayed IN the ball when it traveled down the lane.. well, you can't even imagine the difficulty!! Then to top it off.. and as we have come to expect.. he bowled for another hour, and refused to go to the ER for a couple of days.. till he really had no other choice... and then we found out how serious an injury it was. Now, you would think that having him home for 2.5 months would have freed up some of my time.. no way. Well, enough about that! Finally he is back at work and mostly able to use the hand but he still has PT a few times a week.

The Empress is doing really well in her new center.. it was nerve wracking to move her but honestly she really needed a change and so new experiences.. though she still misses her two little friends especially. She is really a smartie and I can see that a regular school is just not going to cut it for her... haven't figured out what we will do about that but I am again touring the private schools in the area.... gotta sell the house. PERIOD. She is adding & subtracting, reading and knows all the sight words.... if she were a little more emotionally/socially mature I could easily skip the Kindergarten and go right to first grade.. but I don't think she is ready for the other kids quite yet. At least in her pre-K she is with great kids and she does seem to be blossoming and changing a bit.. she still has a hard time expressing her feelings to others... and I have seen her crumple at the suggestion that something she is doing/wearing/believing isn't what others do.. but she is actually starting to be ok with that too.. that is accepting that others are not always going to agree or like what she likes - it is not ok for others to disparage her for her likes and she absolutely can stick up for herself if she needs to. Love my little girl.. she is the absolutely best thing that ever happened to me.

The Emperor, is doing very well also. He is really a great kid.... finally showed some growth.. 3 inches in a few months then added one more recently.. so he is topped off at about 44" and weighs about 50 lbs!! Solid little guy - my boy!! His sense of humor is exactly what you would expect of any yo boy.. and let me tell you he is always in a humorous mood.. always. His teacher confirms he stays happy all day and even tries (and usually succeeds according to her!) to make her laugh.. all his teachers are impressed with his progress, how hard he works and how sweet and funny he is. I will say that I can't imagine our life without this little guy!

As for me.. well, making progress on getting the place organized to sell. We put a for sale by owner sign out.. and then someone took it. Oh well. We'll try again. I have a little more to do before I can get a Realtor in... but I hope we will be able to sell and find a new place we like as much, but in a better school district. Otherwise.. we are all good. Orianna is hanging in there - she has been a real sport about the interlopers. Kittens are adorable and very cuddly and LOUD.. one is a thief.. socks, pantyhose, hair scrunchies etc. the other is just funny... EFP is still so happy with her orange stripey kitty.. though it hasn't stopped her from wanting every FAKE animal in the universe for the holidays. I don't know I will do with all the fake pets.. ..tune in soon and see!!!

I Scream, U Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream!

Make mine strawberry with M&Ms, MiniMarshmallows, Chocolate sauce, whupped and a cherry on TOP! YUM-EE!

Good Morning Beijing!

At 3:30AM Beijing Time - the Empress decided to arise and since she requires her coutiers be in attendance at all times - Mama & Baba were up too! Actually works out kinda ok - since we really needed to be down to breakfast buffet early so we can meet others and get on the bus at 8:00 am - we are still waiting for certain things to, uh.. happen for her highness and I am hoping being up that early with speed things on (IYKWIM) We were quite tired but managing and it will be interesting to see what happens tonight! We ate leaisurely breakfast and the bacon and sausage were going like gangbusters! I don't know where she puts it all. I am already tired of eggs! Would love a bagel with a smear and some fishy but - whatever! Shortly we will be off to Great Wall then Lunch then Ming Tombs.. we will not return till much later.. but I will try to post more and a few pics. I am having a LOT of trouble posting from here and can't even post to my yahoo groups... so if any of my buddies are reading this - if you could just say hi to all and let them know we are OK - I will send updates when I can.

Word of the day: Sleep! ( for those who have been where I am - the word is really poop!)

Surprise!

Here are some bonus pictures - some days are too perfect to last. One day in October we had the best time. EFP got to ride her first (real live) pony and she was so happy. She also got to play in a ball pit all alone and first - which frankly, is the only way I could stand to have her play in what I consider a kid-sized petri dish of putrescence. Anyway - I managed to capture some really great shots of my darling girl! We are otherwise spending a quiet holiday. Much of the family is down with some nasty virus - so we are keeping to the house. EFP has been sick and so we are not having the house of company we had planned and it looks like Christmas dinner will be en familigia..... I am making lasagna! I will post some cute holiday pixs on Christmas.. but for now isn't she cute!?

Go Elf Yourself!!

Seriously! Go Elf yourself, your family, your pets etc. It is just nice to laugh out loud for no other reason than this:

Elf Me Family

Project Runway - Our Way

The Combined wealth of several small nation-states in plastic are on my kid! (psst check out her dance moves!!)

I swear she picked out that heart necklace on her own - because she wanted one like mine. (note: mine is small tasteful platinum 1ct diamond heart that DH gave me for a birthday a few years prior to her Imperial Highness's arrival and usurpation of the royal jewel budget for her own jewel needs).

At least this is what I am saying about this whole episode! I have been home sick a few days now, EFP has been under the weather (I will have to post about the rush to the MD and the drama - but be assured there is nothing wrong with my darling that an ice pop couldn't cure immediately!) She came home with a slight fever and as we had been scheduled home anyway I kept her in and watched - she seemed better, she went back to childcare - I had some back to back events and a lot of sturm und drang at work (foolishly I keep thinking I have an actual career - then I wake up) and I felt under the weather myself - by Friday I knew I had lost the battle. Surrendered and spent the whole long weekend alternately trying to get well and keep toddler from running amok and staying well. Well, she is coughing and although there is no fever - just a runny nose and cough. Then today - with a tiny bit of energy she decided to...well the pics speak for themselves!

Waiting Family.............

Log In Date (for China) 12/15/05


Happy Halloween!

Autumnal Musings....

We drove up to Vermont to do the weekender leaf peeping required of all Northeast region inhabitants. We had a great time and EFP got to spend some quality time with her Nana & Papa. We went we saw we photographed! So without much further ado... here it is! Also here is your free preview of the custom-made, one-of-a-kind, Dorothy of Oz costume!! We received this after our little excursion and it will make its debut on Saturday the 13th for the Halloween extravaganza we are attending!

I will have a longer post about our newest resident - AKA THE HORSEY! Shortly!

You deserve some new pics of my darling girl!

Daddy Love & Jello - Life is Good!!

Beast of Burden - No, It's Elmo Goes for a Ride on Daddy's Head with EFP!
Crossing the finish line...

Riding in the lap of luxury - who doesn't love that little face!!!


These are the most recent pics.. taken before bed tonight and the other day before School, and at the diner after the horrible chicken incident (don't ask)!!!! Fresh off the camera.

I am teaching a summer course here on campus about Gender & Work and we were talking about gender stereotypes. One of the students said that "people don't really want to see men cry..." I replied I would have been very hurt if my DH had not cried on one or two occasions in our life together. Our marriage and February 20, 2006 when a woman from the orphanage placed our darling girl in our arms for the first time. There were plenty of tears to go around - Mamas and Babas! I was thinking also that there were at least two occasions I could think of in my lifetime where I had seen groups of men crying openly in the street. One I have seen in film since I was less that a year old and the other well... I think there were plenty of people of whatever gender crying where ever they were. It would have seemed somehow too inappropriate to not cry on that terrible day.

It is weird to think I will someday have to explain 9-11 to my daughter just as my own mother explained JFK's assasination to me. To think that this is now a part of our collective history and as such EFP will need to understand that point in time - hard to imagine since I still do not really understand it either. I got to thinking because last night after putting her to bed for the night I turned on the TV and was stunned to see a scene quite reminiscent of 9-11. NYC was ablaze with sirens, flashing lights and regular broadcasting was interrupted. Thankfully - it was a steam pipe explosion and though there were casualties they were relatively few. The city is all in an uproar and on top of that it had already been a very bad day for many. The torrential rain and thunder/lightening brought traffic to a complete standstill and many people never made it to work, cars were flooded and I know for a fact that there was not a rental car available for 100 miles anywhere near NYC.

Not far from where we live a tornado touched down. Hmph! It is all too easy to forget the precarious nature of human life. How seemingly small events or large can impact us in ways we are not prepared. Counting myslef lucky to have merely been a bystander in the annals of history seems quite enough for me. I can handle brushing with greatness from a safe distance.

Life goes on here much as usual. My car is fixed and back at home. We are still struggling some with separation anxiety at daycare drop off and yesterday EFP declared "I no like school" but then ran up the path and happily shared snack with her two favorite friends J & K. We had one more nasty bite incident and while I do feel sorry for the child who is the biter - I am not going to allow my child to be victimized by another. We had stated in no uncertain terms that our child is not be be put at risk for another bite/scratch from this kid. I know that toddlers are physical and that EFP can get pushy - so when she is in it with any other child it is not a problem and they do teach good skills for dealing with this. No, this is simply a child who will get up from playing, walk across the room and try to bite a chunk out of my daughter for no earthly reason. The child in question is now on one-on-one restriction and the next step is out the door. I am by no means the sort of mother who will swear that her child is never at fault or that it is impossible for her to misbehave... quite the contrary!! I do see that she needs limits and discipline with frustration. She has hit a kitty and received an immediate time out. I mean we only have three big rules... no hitting, no throwing (except balls) and no meaness to kitties. That is it for now. EFP and her friend J are like sibs already they are always at each other with toys or activities - but they are just as likely to hug and kiss as push and shove. This other situation is nothing like that. I am still rather furious.

On other fronts things continue much the same. We are getting excited about our upcoming vacation and looking forward to some much needed rest and relaxation. Hope everyone is enjoying their summer and getting the chance to recreate and recuperate.

Busy Times!

Who knew that our social life would get so hectic - not for us though! Mostly for our Empress, naturally she gets to go to all the best parties. This weekend alone we got our nails done, went to a very windy picnic and then attended a family fete in honor of Father's Day. EFP made her daddy a spectacular giftie - a picture of her with daddy in a great frame with all sorts of animals on it. She also drew all over the card we gave to Papa. (DH's Dad) We went she played and we got to spend some time with our delightful niece and nephew... it was all good!!

By the way - does it seem like I am over compensating with the fancy hair flowers?? She tolerates my hairdressing - nothing more. She did wear a hat yesterday for the picnic - but it was too windy to wear it long. I will post pics of EFP's first Popsicle shortly. I am just too tired to go downstairs and get the camera! So these will have to do!

EFP's ABCs

This is definitely way more fun than prime time TV!

More Birthday Weekend Pics

Weird new obsession with babuschkas!


EFP discovers it is fun to ride around chaos!

Playing inside a big house at the party place!

Happy Birthday EFP & DTC!!!!!!

EFP Claps to the birthday song - sung in her honor!

Cupcakes are a big hit!

YUM! Frosting!

If you look closely you will see that EFP is munching on Calamari - no joke this kid can eat!!

Happy Birthday in Italian - La Dulce Vita!

Sorry this is a little late - the hoopla has taken over and we are so busy trying to figure out how to celebrate TWO such momentous occasions - we were late in posting!

So - without further ado - pics from the Imperial Birthday Celebration - parts I and II. First a little party at daycare and then a family celebration at EFP's favorite bite out - Carraba's. We were also celebrating the Official Launching of Baby Project 2! We are DTC 3/23 with our dear friends again and we should hear something any 2 or 3 years now... seriously the wait is incredibly long! Which is ok with us... so don't expect any updates or more news.. there will be none - until there is!

The birthday went fine - we also attended the party of EFP's good friend and she had a blast. But I digress - let the pics speak for themselves.. enjoy and yes Sissy I am sorry I made you wait!!!