But red is my favorite

Life is hectic and yet, I'm really doing nothing but playing and officiating. However, we are having fun in the hours of daylight during this fall season.

Today I just wanted to share some of my son's artwork with you. We love Bill and Nancy at Jack's Adventure Land (Sunday school) class. Our church, North Heartland Community Church is awesome. Every week Jack sings songs, talks about a bible verse and story, but best of all he gets to color. Jack is still in the toddler stages of coloring known as scribbling. We try to encourage him to pick out details in the pictures and try to color them in completely like the spots on a dog, Lightning's headlights, for example. We are so proud he is following our directions while he's away from home, understanding of course that he JUST HAS TO use red to color every picture regardless of whether it's beast, fowl, nature,novelty, automobile or human being. Have a look at some of his Adventure Land art. I've made the suggestion that he choose a different color for coloring people, but he will have none of it. "But, RED is my favorite,Mom."

Stationery card

Cover Girl Birth Announcement

Find 100's of cute birth announcements at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Favors, Child-Proofing and the Need for My Little Pony Therapy

Today was rough. Effie went with Dad to the clinic for a couple immunizations and a blood draw. The appointment went surprisingly well with just moderate tears at the time of injection and puncture but all was cleared away by stickers and dum-dums.

Nap time was not fun. 40 minutes total and lots of screaming. It's sad to know that your child is tired and probably hurting (sore from DTap). I know because I got my own Tetanus shot before we left for China and that sucker hurt for like 3 weeks.

So, knowing that, I suspected that the hours leading up to dinner would be torturous, but I was wrong. We got in some good quality time as the Three Musketeers. Effie, Jack and Mommy all made homemade Chicken Noodle Soup. It took nearly an hour and both kids sat up in the kitchen and watched my every move and listened carefully to each explanation. Adding pinches of ingredients themselves, they were thrilled to participate. Of course, there was snacking along the way to keep them interested. Very THINLY sliced apples, a Cheerio or two. They even got to test out the noodle to let me know when they were just beyond al dente. Little boy tells me daily that when he grows up he'll be a famous cook and he'll make me "Cheesy Noodles" then he'll bring them to me and say, "Here's your Cheesy Noodles Mommy!" I say, "Whoa! You're going to be an amazing Chef!" He had a blast.

There was one little glitch in this scene. Hopefully my description can help to explain the pure anger I was feeling at the situation. Lately, we've been awarding point to Jack for things he's already expected to do, but we give points for doing them without whining and without help, such as brushing teeth, getting dressed, feeding the dog, going poop (this one is worth a lot of points) and many others that are starting to make our lives a whole lot easier. He has been doing extremely well. So, with that in mind, tonight while I had two pots a bubblin' on the stove top and Effie up in her highchair watching me cook, I asked Jack to do me a simple favor. I gave him a small pile of 2 hand towels and 2 washcloths. I asked him if he would please take them up to the kids' bathroom upstairs and lay them on the counter next to the sink. He happily agreed, anticipating some bonus points for doing a favor for his Mom. No sooner had he reached the top of the stairs did I hear, "....um Mommy?..... Um...... the..... well, a couple..... some of the little towels...but not all of them..... uh.... Mommy?!

"Yes Jack, do you need help?"

"Um, Mommy, I dropped 2 of the towels, but not all of them into the toilet."

Well, let me tell you, the toilet is not near enough the counter next to the sink that the towels may have accidentally fallen into the toilet. This was an open shut case of Jack NOT LISTENING. I then tell him to just leave EVERYTHING right where it is and I'd go up later and fix it. I know how he fixes things. So, I call him back downstairs. It takes forever. I count to 3 (I rarely have to do that) and he barely makes it back downstairs in time.

It's then that I notice he is no longer wearing his socks. When I ask him where they are he replies, "They were wet, so I had to take them off."

Okay, so now I'm curious. I pull Effie out of the highchair and run upstairs with her in my arms. The scene looks like a crime was committed and I'll tell you right now, the crime was 3 year old boy NOT LISTENING. Wet toilet paper strewn on the floor around the base of the toilet. The two clean hand towels on the bottom of a pile of soaking wet washcloths, some of which were from the basket of clean washcloths we keep on the toilet tank, two red (very wet) socks and puddles of water all about. UGHHHH!!!! And so...... 5 minute time out, a talk about listening very carefully and following directions.

We cooked, we dished it up, said prayers and ate like kings (and queens) and then the kids had their COOKIES. It all went wonderfully. When Effie was cleaned up, I got her down from the highchair and stood her on the floor. I made the sign for WASH HANDS which we found is a necessary part of her OCD after meals or snacks. She bursts into a FULL ON FIT! No details needed but there was screaming, hopping, spit, snot and tears. It went on and on.

It was still going when Andy got home. Eventually when it stopped, the only reasonable option was a bath. (think SNOTTY hair and spit sticky arms). After the bath, Effie was all smiles, laughing and dancing. It could have been the tylenol, but my guess is MOMMY and EFFIE time with no one around to steal her thunder.

I've often hear people talk about baby-proofing their houses, in fact our social worker asked us if we had done any during our first Post Placement visit. To be quite honest, there is absolutely no need for baby proofing. This child will not leave the 5 foot radius of my feet, for all the tea in China (and yes that pun was totally intended) Her attachment issues are our 100% baby-proofing plan.

After the bath and the renewal of attitude by both Mother and Child, I was in need of some My Little Pony Therapy. I brushed the manes and tails of each of those beauties at least a half dozen times. Effie was content to play with her shape sorter. She's made progress today. We started at about 0 for 5 and now she's able to get at least 2 shapes in the correct spot on the first try each round. That's progress. It sure makes a different when you actually look at the shapes to see which ones might fit...... I taught her that. So, I guess today was not a total failure. I may have even had a little bit of fun with my kids. (Shhhh.... don't tell anyone)

The Evolution of Lights Out

So, as most and I guess likely all of you who read our blog have noticed, we have not updated really at all since we've arrived home. First, it was jet-lag meets MAJOR TRANSITION plus 3 year old spoiled by his favorite people for two weeks meets reality. Our original only child met our "While We Were in China" only child and neither was willing to become a sibling too quickly. I'm just going to sum it up with these words; screaming, whining and tantrums... Then there were the kids and their behaviors. :)

Needless to say, almost 3 weeks later we're doing much better. In a previous post, I mentioned what an amazingly obedient sleeper our son has been. He typically goes right to bed with only minimal stalling and NEVER gets out of his bed during the night. None of the, "Mom, I need a drink." that his Dad was so famous for as a child. This child is unbelievable, really. Sleeps soundly from 9PM to 8AM. (later if we let him) and naps for usually 3 hours in the afternoon.

Coming home from China where Effie was sleeping with us in our King sized bed was definitely a wake up call (can't decide if I intended that pun, but I did think about it ahead of time, so then yes, pun intended).

The first 3 nights I slept in her room with her on a mattress next to her crib. She woke at about 3 AM each night and screamed off and on for about an hour. She'd fall back asleep around 4:30 and sleep til 6:00. Then she'd sleep about 3 hours in the afternoon for a nap. Well, we soon discovered that just like a newborn baby she had her days and nights mixed up. Day four she was allowed to sleep 1 hour for her nap in the afternoon and that made the difference. From that point on one of us would just lie down on the mattress beside her at nap time and bed time and then get up and leave when she was asleep. She was sleeping thru the night by day 5 and the family was a whole lot happier in the morning.

Next step. After almost 1 week of lying down with her at night and naps and waiting for her to get to sleep, then listening thru the monitor from the comfort of our SLEEP NUMBER BED, we realized it was time to keep progressing forward. But, what was the next step?  Distance.  I moved the mattress to the other side of her room behind her little dolly play area. At this distance, in the dim light of her monitor night light (oh, yeah, we also blacked out her windows with the eclipse curtains) I was barely visible. Now, she had to listen to my voice to be calmed and reassured. She knew I was in the room, but still there was some resistance the first few nights of this.

Here we are at nearly 3 weeks and we've hit a point of progression again. The last few nights and naps have been spent fairly peacefully with Effie in her crib, calming herself, no tears, just questioning "Ugh? Ugh?s" to which we reply, "I'm right in the hall Effie. Goodnight little girl and sweet dreams."

That's right, we are putting her down in her crib without crying, she is drifting off to sleep without fits or tantrums and we are walking out of the room leaving the door cracked behind us just an inch or two, sitting in the hallway until the questioning Ugh?s stop, she's settled in and sleeping. Then, we gently pull her door closed and see her again to greet her in the morning at 7:30AM or so. AND IT'S WORKING!!!! Next step is closing the door a crack and working on my computer or helping Jack to bed upstairs while she falls asleep on her own. Regardless, Andy and I had a vision. We worked together to make it happen. We never expected we'd live thru it, but we did and I think that this time around we are more of a team.

I have so much more to write about, but you'll all just have to wait. Thanks for hanging around when we've been absent. We hope to catch up with you all really soon!

Tonight's progress in Bedtime. That's Effie's Door, barely cracked.

We made it!

Can't waste precious sleep and snuggle time blogging just yet, but I wanted to post a few pictures and let everyone know we made it home just fine. More in depth stories to come.

Where do I begin?!

We've been going non-stop since we got on the plane a little over a week ago in Kansas City. Now, I have pages of hand written journal entries, memories etched in my mind forever, a mass of photos and all I feel is utter joy. I cannot remember much of the last few days but her smile, tears, and mannerisms. What a wonderfully chaotic experience it's been. I know that all you all really want to see is the photos. I am sleeping until about 4:30 AM now which is quite an accomplishment. I imagine I'll be fully adjusted right about the time we get on that 14 hour flight back to the US. Thanks to all who have been following and waiting patiently. I have accomplished what I have set out to do in this trip. #1- Hold our daughter in our arms and #2 be totally and completely present in every single second of the experience. And all the rest, matters not!

I don't have the words!

Although I'm up at 3:30 now, I can tell you all that I am floating. Nothing has hit me yet. I'm not sleepy, hungry, sore, anxious, any of it. She's here with us now and all is right with the world. Her wrinkled little nose and melodious giggle have got mom, dad and grandma mesmerized. Although I have written many things down in a journal, I feel now is such a precious time for me to be a part of and just be present. I fear blogging will take a backseat, and rightly so. I will desperately try to keep you updated with photos and short stories. I know all of you are probably just interested in the photos anyway. So, I will post several whenever I can.

Gotcha Day

The whole day was an absolute dream. We woke up at 2:30 AM or so which is kind of the tradition here since that first night in Beijing, that now feels like a different lifetime ago. My Mom was in the room next door taking a bath, I was journal writing and all of us wide awake. Luckily we all fell back asleep around 4 and slept til 7:00. Breakfast was wonderful, not just for the amazing western bacon, eggs and local fruit piled high everywhere, but for the fact that every 5 minutes or so another family arrived with their precious newly adopted, beautiful boy or girl. It was hard to focus on eating. After breakfast mom and I went to the steam room for 20 minutes or so to sweat out all we've been stewing in with the smog here. It was amazing!! We got out and almost immediately when I arrived back to the room it was time to leave for the bank. Andy and I were both relieved to exchange our giant wad of hundreds for a wad about 6 times thicker in local RMB and be one step closer to having it not be our responsibility very soon. The bank trip for the exchange of money took quite a lot longer than expected. We came back to the room to straighten up and shower. I packed up Effie's backpack, all the camera capable devices, snacks, diapers, etc. and it was time to go. The drive over was surreal. Almost instantly without my knowledge, we were in an elevator, I heard a few babies crying as the doors opened, and there it was, the scenery of nearly every clip of adoption porn I'd ever laid eyes on. The red sectional couches with black and white polka dot pillows. The little multicolored frog curtain dividing up the play room and the room. I knew right away where she was. Andy peered thru the curtain and motioned to me to have a look. There, right behind the curtain perched on a RED sofa was our little dolly. She looked right at us, smiled, gave a little wave as if on cue. I bawled. And then, I turned it off. I'm not sure how, but the rest of that perfect day is lost in the emotion of finding that which once was lost! She is with us now. God has blessed us and changed our lives.

We made it

So, we are here in Guangzhou and have made many new friends. This morning I heard that I may be able to post to Blogger with my Blogger App. So here goes nothing! If it works, I will start this evening with the story of our journey. Tomorrow is Gotcha Day! Almost exactly this time tomorrow we'll have Effie in our arms forever.

We're on our way!

Leaving KC in a few!

The After Shot

Big breath in and... out.

With everything there is to do

What do you think I've been stressing over in these last few days before we leave for China? Your first guess might be food. Yes, I'll admit food is usually the first, second or third thing on my mind at any given moment. In that same list though comes sunscreen, child safety locks, water safety, toddlers chewing and swallowing their food. Okay, you get the picture. Between writing up schedules, numerous notes and stickies posted all over the house, my mind rests on one thing this morning. I wish I could say it was faith and prayer. In fact, I should probably stop this post right now and get down on my knees to talk to God. But, I can't stop thinking about the shower in our master bath.

So in every place that I've ever lived I am notorious for NOT cleaning the shower that I use daily. Our guest showers and little boy's tub are immaculate (It gets cleaned weekly). But for some reason, while I can wipe down the walls and glass doors with cleaner, I can't bring myself to scrub our shower walls and floor. Embarrassing I know. I hope my Mother is not reading this post.

I think it all started when we lived in Colorado Springs. Andy was deployed for 15 months and I was either preparing to get pregnant or actively pregnant with Jack most of that time. I never cleaned the shower or tub for fear the chemicals in the tub and tile cleaner would be harmful to Jack. When we left Colorado Springs and Andy spent almost an entire day in the tub scrubbing and scrubbing and scrubbing at soap scum. And, the day we moved out of our house in Sioux Falls that job was mine. Again, it took nearly the whole day and half a can of Bon Ami to get the job done.

Well, we're not moving out of our place anytime soon, so what's the big deal? The big deal is Andy's parents, our good friends and my stepdad are all coming to our house to take care of Jack while we're gone for two weeks to China. We've offered up our bedroom and bathroom as a guest area for such an extended stay. And now you're just starting to understand why my filthy shower is weighing so heavily on my mind. Oh well, it's time to get back to cooking organizing, list making, list checking-off, packing, unpacking, weighing, breathing deeply, lists, lists, lists, notes, Notes, Notes. And don't forget… PRAYING while I scrub, scrub, scrub.

The clean, white part in the upper left corner and around the drain
are the small areas I scrubbed before my shower last night.  Whoa! A lot left to do.

Good Morning!

I am one who covets sleep. I am generally a great sleeper. When given the opportunity I typically fall asleep within less than 10 minutes of my head hitting the pillow. I try very hard to get 8 hours or more each night. Well, that all changed about 2 days ago. On Monday afternoon as we were making our way home from a visit with my sister, both Andy and I were checking our email intermittently... no, constantly. I had to scold him a few times when I caught him doing it while driving. By about noon we gave up on the email coming since China is 13 hours ahead of us. We figured if we hadn't gotten it by then, it wasn't coming that day.

We were wrong. Around 2:00 PM we got the email. We'll leave on the 26th of July. And then something immediately snapped in me. "This is really going to happen!"

I've been treating this trip like one of Andy's deployments. Because the first few were so amazingly hard, I have learned to practice denial. I've gotten pretty good at it. I typically just ignore the fact that an upcoming transition is coming. It is easier on my mind, my heart and my gut to be quite frank. But, this time I have doubt it will be working for me. 

Yesterday and this morning I woke up before 6:00 AM which is very out of the ordinary for me. I typically have to be dragged out of bed by my 3 year old at  7:30 (oops, I'm showing my laziness) Anyway, hoping to be productive today. There are many things to do and organize before we leave.  One thing that eases my mind a bit is the fact that all of our family and friends staying with Jack have graciously agreed to stay here at home with him so that he can be in the most familiar environment possible. That alone gives me a tiny chunk of peace in a whirlwind of chaos.

I will be attempting to update thru blogger while we are away, but I'm not sure how it will work. I also have spoken to my brother about posting for us, so regardless of the obstacles that may stand in our way, we'll get you pictures and stories about our sweet Effie, one way or another.

Here's to early rising from now until July 30th when that sweet little girl is in our arms forever!

Jack and his Cousin having a blast in the water...

... and exploring the neighborhood park.

We're going to China!

We'll know in 2-5 days when our Consulate appointment is scheduled and departure dates will be determined according to that appointment date. We could be leaving in 2 weeks!!! Oh yeah!

Great Things Come in Threes

We got a nice surprise (not really a surprise at all we've been tracking it since it left Great Wall on Friday) today! Our Visas came. Jack is convinced that he's coming to China with us so he assumed when I opened it up and pulled out THREE passports that one was naturally for him. :( Sorry Honey, one for Mommy, one for Daddy and one for Grandma Marci. Frowns. He's been planning ways to get to China with us and coming up with reason after reason why we need him there. It's pretty convincing. But, he's staying right here in the US of A. More frowns.:(

YouTube and Gotcha Day Videos

Hello All,

I see many have stopped over to take a look from China Adopt Talk and I'm so glad that you have. If you would like to see our Timeline, glance at our Referral Pictures or the Pictures from Effie's 2nd Birthday Party, we've got it all here. Today, I'll be posting on what I referred to HERE as my newest addition, YouTube videos of Gotcha Day! Now, obviously as we all do, when watching these videos (and crying our eyes out) I have been making a mental note of all the elements that make up a great Gotcha video. Now, don't get me wrong, every single Gotcha moment is in and of itself priceless. It's just that there are wonderful lead ups and follow ups that can make expectant parents or anyone who has gone thru the process go from whimper to BAWLING! I'm trying to find out what those are.

This is my goal. I want crying Grandmas.

 I have also been working hard to begin making our video so that all I have to do is add the Gotcha footage and post that baby up on YouTube immediately for everyone to see. But, you'll find when you start this process, that it's not that easy. You've got to have some kind of plan and so just like everything else in my life that's worth doing I'll be trying to do it well. This will mean that I need to do an analysis. My addiction has now become a homework assignment. Now I am watching for sequence, timing and most importantly music choice. Here is a list of just a couple of the videos that I have loved watching on You Tube.

This one is by ashleyfairley39 about their precious Mia

This one is by ourlilypad1103 about their sweet little Lily

This one is by bradtuckman about their lovely Maya

Based on these and others I've seen, I've compiled the following list of elements that seem to be common in most Gotcha videos:

• Paper chase photos
• Referral info and photos
• Proof of long awaited documents- Photos of I-800A approval /Fed Ex guy bringing the  LSC
• Birthday pictures of child at the orphanage and/or your family celebrating without her/him  at home
• Update photos
• Baby’s bedroom photo
• Packing up all the STUFF photo
• Spinning Globe with the red thread from home to China (standard issue on iMovie)
• Traveling/ Waiting (bus, plane, airport, hotel)
• China’s Great Wall
• Pictures of locals and shopping venues 
• Pictures of the Welfare Institute
• Finding ad/ Place of abandonment picture
• Video of “Anxiety building, T minus one hour” usually directed at child. What we wanted to tell you video.
• Other waiting families and chaos of the room where you will meet her/him
• The GOTCHA moment, tears from Mom, Dad and Baby
• The classic passed out exhausted from crying and just overall excitement of the day picture
• The classic Red Couch photo at the White Swan picture (I've heard that even though the White Swan is closed for renovations, you are still able to go in to get the couch picture)
• The family waiting at home to welcome you picture or video
• Home

This list is what I will most likely base my gathering strategies upon. Although, once we set foot on the ground in China this list will most likely be out the window. Life will be a whirlwind of emotions and whatever we can manage to capture for her of this precious time will have to do. After all, I'd much rather be living it, than watching it. And also, that's why we're bringing my Mom. ;) Camera person.

As I mentioned initially, one of the last key elements of your video will be the music choice. I've seen some really great video that was lost by music that didn't fit and vice versa. I've seen video that was just video until the music started and then it was a floodgate of tears bursting open. Here is a list of my favorites right now, but I know there are hundreds of great songs appropriate for these montages. Please leave me a comment on those you've heard that fit just perfectly. Also, I'd love links to other videos that you simply LOVE to watch.

One Less Broken Heart- Matthew West

The Healing Has Begun- Matthew West 

Children of God- Third Day 

This is Home- Switchfoot 

When Love Takes You In – Steven Curtis Chapmen 

The Boat Song- JJ Heller 

Haven’t Met You Yet- Michael Buble’ 

Beautiful Day- U2 

At the Beginning- Donna Lewis

Don't let me be the one to start your addiction to YouTube, but if you are curious just type in Gotcha Day in the search. There's plenty of them and you know where you can get more if you need it. ;)

My Best Guess

I've been given the opportunity to demonstrate patience and I have failed. Miserably!  I've been given that time just before sleep when a million thoughts are racing and those moments during the day when I feel like I'll fall over with the overwhelming lists in my brain of what's left to do. I've been given the opportunity to place my faith and trust in God's plan. Whoah! Wait a minute. Total lack of control?!?!? Ughhh. Big breath.

So today, as I think about the return of my husband from what will be his last long trip before we leave for China I can't help but get a twinge of anxiety. Selfish anxiety, like, "14 hour plane trip, yikes, will I live thru it?" like, "what in the world am I going to eat in China?" like, "how can I feel calm about leaving our child at home when we are literally half way across the world for 2 weeks." like, "I've never spent longer that 2 days and maybe 50 miles away from him" 'Nother big breath.

But here's the deal; WE'RE GOING.

The last few weeks I've spent scanning timelines on adoption blogs, watching You Tube videos of Gotcha Days (or what my husband warmly refers to as Adoption Porn), asking all kinds of questions on my Yahoo groups about current timelines and I've come to this conclusion. By my calculations, averages based on mean, median and mode, we'll be traveling either the 2nd or 9th of August.

Now please don't jam up my comments with talk about how "Adoption Porn" is a wildly inappropriate term. You all know that you are just as guilty as the next person. All we want to see are those beautiful babies and their Mommy's and Daddy's crazy, snotty, bawling their eyes out face, kids kicking and screaming and the whole chaotic mess of that perfect moment. About 80% of the time I'm crying my eyes out too. All alone in my computer room, Bawling! All the while with a giant smile on my face repeating every little coo and comment Mom or Dad makes. Adoption porn is not a You Tube activity that leads you into watching clips like "Sleep Running Dog wakes up and smacks the wall" No ma'am, there are days and days of this stuff and when you finish watching, well, up pops another. Like, if you liked "Joanna and Bob Crying their eyes out in Guangzhou", you'll love, "Tim and Leesa losing it in Jiangxi" Millions of them!

Yet, I digress. My biggest boost of hope was this discovery today:

We will be holding our little girl in our arms before my milk expires!

I'll post more later, gotta get back to YouTube! ;)

Sucking it up and bedtime chatter

When I went to sleep last night, the clouds were gathering and it looked like rain. Sure enough, at about midnight we had a full on lightning and rain storm. Jack is an amazing sleeper. Despite the fact that he likes to stay up for sometimes hours after we've put him to bed just talking to himself in the dark of his little bedroom. We listen on the monitor to things like, " No matter what, we never talk to strangers, even if they say, 'Hey, wanna ride in my SPORTS car (the example I gave him)' we just say, 'No thanks, I don't wanna do that' and then we run away."
Last night's was great, "... and then he took the lobes of bread and the fish and he fed EV-ree one! And they called him master of the railway".  Hmmmm so I think he is mixing plot lines, but you get the picture.

Anyway, once he's asleep, he's a great sleeper. He sleeps thru ANYTHING and up until just about 6 months ago he literally would not get up out of his bed in the morning until we came up and got him. It was hilarious. At about 16 months  old we transitioned him to a toddler bed and he'd just lie in there until you opened his door in the morning and got him up. He'd be sleeping with his McQueen car and accidentally drop him out of the bed. He wouldn't get up and get it, no. He'd scream for you and say, "Mommy, I dropped Lightning" and then wait for you to come in and pick him up. Weirdo!

So, I feel like I'm going to have my work cut out for me with Effie. There's no way in the world I'll get lucky enough to have another child that is that good of a sleeper. To sleep all night for usually 10+ hours and then go ahead and nap very consistently for 3+ hours every afternoon I know is truly a gift from GOD. That said, I am just crossing my fingers that Effie will grow to become a lazy sleep-in kind of girl like the rest of the family. I pray she loves a good nap!

Back to the rain. So, when I woke this morning it was wet and overcast outside. I told Jack that we would not be going to swimming lessons as yesterday was semi-sunny and we FROZE. I was having flashbacks of my own days in the pool as a child at 10AM bobbing up and down trying to keep my teeth from chattering. I thought I was done with that. Nope. I'm right back there only older, less flexible, maybe less tolerant of cold (if that's a thing) and paying for swimming lessons to teach my child how to swim. It's just so hard to smile and coax my 3 year old into the water with me. I hear myself saying all the crap my parents used to say to me, "If you stay down in the water Honey, you won't be so cold" and yet I'm not sure if that's true.

Well, we dinked and pinked around this morning not expecting to go anywhere and then at about 9:45 the sun came out. Oh man! Now what? I go down and ask Jack, who is watching Sesame Street, "Do you want to go swim today? The sun has come out and I think it will be warm enough." to which he replied, "Yep" and so, off we went. I was proud of myself that I let HIM make that decision, because my choice would have still been NOT. And, it was rather cold. Chatter. With one week of swim lessons down, I'm hoping Daddy will go with Jack next week, at least once or twice.

The rest of the summer looks to be fairly busy with visiting family in Minnesota, Little Dragons (Martial Arts Class) and just today, we finally got Jack signed up for Soccer Camp. I asked him, "Jack would you like me to sign you up for Soccer Camp?" and he promptly replied, "Yeah, and Football Camp too. Because you need to kick the football with your foot. And then if you play soccer, you just need to wear socks when you kick it."

You know, never really thought about it that way. This is why I need my son. He gives me perspective.

Too Cool for the Pool

An AMAZINGLY WONDERFUL Surprise! Um huh, Birthday Pictures.

This morning we got a half dozen beautiful pictures of our sweet daughter celebrating her 2nd birthday with her friends in the orphanage. I'm going to be honest, I bawled like a baby! Jack asked me, "Mommy, why are you crying?" I said, "Because my heart is so happy that it's making tears." His response,"My heart is happy too Mommy, but it isn't making any tears." which is just fine with me.

The closest thing we've seen to a smile yet!

Have you ever seen a more beautiful face?

These pictures were provided to us by GSWI via a service called RED THREAD CHINA. Ann at Red Thread specializes in care packages for the children in the orphanages all over China. Please consider her service if you are thinking about sending a care package. It is economical and she gives great care to detail and there is always wonderful communication. I would highly recommend her and her service!! If you would like to just take a look at the care packages she offers, click on the link below or it is always available on the sidebar here. 

Project! Keeping busy while we wait

My first mobile blog post. This should be exciting. So, Siri is helping me write this post with talk to text. Tonight I made some pillowcases for Effie and couple for brother. Ladybugs, little owls and Minnie Mouse of course ( the Chinese people are crazy about her). I also took Effie on a tour of her bedroom and showed her the birthday decorations that I hung up for her Birthday on Friday all via video cam on my iPhone. Man oh man do I love that thing. I'm fixing to write a post in honor of my dad for Father's Day. That one I'm going to do old-school style sitting in front of the computer, typing on my keyboard and most likely sobbing my eyes out. Should be only semi-depressing. ;)