Waiting for Evie

August 10, 2006 or August 17, 2010?

2010-08-23T11:12:00.005-05:00

Our log in date (LID) for our first adoption was May 11, 2006. This is the date that our dossier, that pile of paperwork we had to do in order to adopt a child, was received in China and logged into their system.

Instead of waiting in the "regular" line to adopt a non-special-needs or "healthy" baby, which was the original plan, we found our sweet Evie on our agency's waiting child list. We came home with Evie four years ago this month, and six months ago we brought home Andy.

If we had not adopted Evie, and instead had chosen to wait for a "healthy" child with no known special needs, we would have received a referral last week, on August 17, 2010, which is when families with log in dates of May 11, 2006 to May 15, 2006 received referrals for their children. The original wait we were quoted was 6-9 months, by the way! How things have changed!

It is amazing to me that we have brought home two children in the same four years that some people have been waiting for one child, and I know several families in my May LID group who ended up dropping out of the adoption process altogether.

Exciting news!

2009-05-20T10:17:00.004-05:00

I know, I've been very bad about posting for a long time. We have exciting news to share, though! Emily and Evie are going to have a new little brother!

We have been matched with a beautiful little boy from China. He is one year old.

I have started a new blog for our new little guy, so go check it out!
Waiting for Alexander

Gung Hay Fat Choy

2009-01-27T16:37:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year again! It is the year of the Ox this year. Our Em is an Ox - those of you who know her can see the Ox personality in her!

It has been a very long time since I updated last.

Em is in 6th grade, Evie started preschool. Em is playing basketball again this year. I have a new niece, Gracen Rose. She is adorable and we are all in love with her. We've been busy and had a lot of fun this year.

I will try to be better about writing updates this year.

Meet Ida

2008-07-06T22:49:00.003-05:00

She lived under our neighbor's bushes, now she lives with us. They said she was 6 weeks old, but I think she was younger.

Evie said, "Mama, I like that baby meowmeow!" Both girls begged. We said ok, Evie, what do you want to call the baby meowmeow? "Ida No, Mama" (I don't know) We thought it was cute, and Ida No stuck.

This is how Ida looks now a couple months later, when she is attacking the couch and getting ready to leap out from behind the cushions onto an unsuspecting passerby:

She is now in the phase we like to call "ballistic kitty" - she is either running around the house at 100mph and attacking anything and everything that moves, or she is sound asleep!

Her latest hobby is hiding under Evie's bed and attacking Evie's feet when she walks by. After a couple days of this, we had a slight breakdown where Evie refused to enter her room or would stand across the room from her bed and scream.

Our solution was to put a bell on Ida so at least Evie could have prior warning of the attack. Ida hates the bell with a passion. If you're holding her and you reach out and jingle it, she will growl and attack.

When our other cats were in this stage, they quickly figured out how to walk silently, without making the bell sound. Ida isn't there, yet. She runs all over the house at night, and the bell keeps me awake. Her new nickname (besides Chomper!) is Jingle Cat.

Our other two kitties:
Cleo, just lounging on the floor, and Bigfoot hiding in Ida's kitty tent.

Happy Fourth of July!

2008-07-04T08:06:00.003-05:00

Our village has their fireworks display on the 3rd, and they put it on in the big park across the highway from our subdivision. I put Evie in the mei tai and grabbed a bag full of drinks and granola bars (and a blanket and OFF!) and Rich and Em carried the chairs. I always forget how long it takes to walk it! We went around 8ish to get set up.

Two years ago we were waiting for Evie (I crocheted little lace socks for her while we waited for it to get dark!) and last year we were at my parent's house and didn't get very close to their fireworks show (and Evie was super cranky), so this is really the first year that Evie has seen the show. I think she's a fan now!

The park fills up too fast, so the rest of us set up along the highway! It looks like a parking lot - a lot of people park their cars along the sides of the highway (even in the median!). We set up our chairs in the ditch/grassy area between the highway, the access road for our neighborhood, and the local pizza joint. (they do great business on the 4th selling pop, ice cream, and pizza by the slice!)

Rich got us ice cream to share while we were waiting for the show to begin. Evie got a little upset, and I finally figured out why - we told her we were going to a birthday party for the USA. Well, we had ice cream, but there wasn't any cake! I promised her that I would make a cake today, and she was back to her old happy self!

We got in just the right spot to see, the fireworks were almost directly across the highway (and set off up on a hill). Evie ooooohed and aaaaaaahed and loved it. She was naming off the colors in Mandarin and English, telling us "Mama likes the purple ones. Daddy likes the green ones. Emma likes the sparkly ones. Evie likes all of them!" They even had some that were smiley faces, and those made a big hit.

We also watched a pickup truck full of young men parked in the median set off bottle rockets. They were sitting in the bed and on the top of the cab. They would hold the stick in their hands and light them, then set them off. I think they each got burned more than once, but they kept setting them off! They also had some misfires and sent some flying toward cars, and I think it's a miracle that they didn't set a fire!

Evie was almost asleep by the time we walked back home (I put her in the mei tai on my front this time) and fell asleep as soon as we got her changed into pajamas and into bed. The people in our neigborhood are enthusiastic about their illegal fireworks, so I sat and watched for a while. They were going off all around us. I'm sure there will be more tonight. We could hear the fireworks long after we went to bed.

Today we're going to grill and roast marshmallows, and maybe go to the zoo. I hope you all have a Happy Independence Day!

(I know it's been a while since I've posted, and I have some pictures and other stories to tell later!)

More Earthquake News

2008-05-13T18:37:00.003-05:00

The news from China just continues to get worse.

Half the Sky has set up a fund to help Chinese children affected by the earthquake. Please visit http://www.halfthesky.org/ for news and information.

Love Without Boundaries also has an Earthquake Relief Fund. http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/earthquake.cfm

Earthquake in China

2008-05-12T20:54:00.003-05:00

The earthquake was in Sichuan province, Evie is from Guangdong province. From what we have heard, the earthquake could be felt in Guangdong, but I haven't heard reports of any damage there yet.

The latest news I have read is that the earthquake was a 7.9, and almost 10,000 people have been killed and many more injured. Parents have lost their children, children have lost their parents. I'm sure the news will only continue to get worse for a while.

Please keep the people of China in your thoughts and prayers.

Today is our Equal Day

2008-05-10T19:36:00.001-05:00

The time Evie has been with us is equal to the time before we met her in China. It has been 21 months since we first met our tiny, quiet, scared girl for the first time. My oh my, how she has changed.

Tomorrow, on Mother's Day, she will have been our daughter for longer than she hasn't. (in her world, anyway. She has been my daughter since the first time I saw her picture!)

Our New Park

2008-04-07T07:45:00.004-05:00

A new neigborhood is being built behind ours. While we're sad about many of the changes being made (trees being cut down, not as much wildlife visiting our neighborhood, etc.) and confused about some of the changes (quarter million dollar McMansions on postage stamp sized lots in our working-class town), there is one change we're happy about. The developers who are building the new houses set aside a lot and built a small park. We liked to play at it last summer after it was done, and now that it's warm enough and not as muddy as it has been, we can finally go back again. When we go on our evening walk, we go through our neighborhood, past the park, up the hill to turn around in the cul de sac, and then we can stop at the park to play. Then, we usually walk over to say hi to the cows if they're near the fence, then back home!

Here are some recent park pictures:

Em and our neighbor Shelby rode their bikes over to the park while Evie rode in the stroller and Lucky and I walked!

I took some videos of Evie on her favorite park toys, the bouncy rocking horse and the slide.
Evie on the rocking horse:

Evie on the slide. If you listen, at the end she says "I go FAST!"

A Day at the Zoo

2008-04-07T07:32:00.001-05:00

We recently spent a wonderful Saturday at our zoo. We got a membership this year, so I think we will be going a lot!

DIY Home Repair - not for sissies!

2008-04-06T21:35:00.002-05:00

So, someone in this family got the bright idea that we should do a little home renovation work. You know, just slap a little paint into the bathroom, maybe replace the medicine cabinet. Easy stuff, right? (okay, okay, it was my bright idea)

We took everything off of the walls. That was the easy part! Then, we had to scrape, and scrape, and scrape off the old ugly wallpaper. Do the next owners of your house a favor. Please, for the love of everything good and wonderful in this world, please don't put up any wallpaper (unless you're a sociopath. Then, go ahead and paper up everything!) I'm already dreading peeling off the paper in the kitchen and basement. wah!

Underneath the old medicine cabinet, we found a big hole in the wall and evidence of the rainbow of colors that our bathroom has been painted over the years.

If you look closely, you can see white, yellow, green, blue, and the pink that it was when we bought our house. That wasn't the biggest surprise, though. Underneath the wallpaper, we found brown paint and a Scooby Doo wallpaper border!

Why on earth would you have a Scooby Doo theme in the main bathroom of your house? I just don't understand it.

It's finally all done (except for the trim). I picked out a lovely yellow called Lemon Cream, and Rich painted it for me. After it was dry, we hung up a new lightbar, new medicine cabinet, and new toilet topper. Now I just need to get a new towel bar for by the sink, and a new shower curtain!

Some Pictures of my girls

2008-04-06T21:29:00.003-05:00

Em loves to wear this orange shirt. Whenever she does, Evie runs to her room to find her favorite orange shirt. (Hello Kitty, of course!) Then she proudly announces "I orange like Emma!"

a quick update

2008-03-05T20:37:00.002-06:00

We've been pretty busy since the last update.

My parents came for a visit. It was fun having them here, and they got to see Emily play in two basketball games. The day they left for home, Richard had to make an unexpected business trip... to Australia! He was there for a week, and we are so glad to have him home. I think he is finally over the jet lag, but not the cold that someone on the plane shared with him (and that he shared with us!)

Emily played her last basketball game tonight. They had 3 games this week, and won all three. Now we get to relax for a while, no more basketball all the time!

Evie is doing well in speech therapy. Mrs. S, her teacher, thinks that she is making good progress. She can say all sorts of things now, including "look" and "meatball" (she is cracking all of us up with the "meatball"!)

Happy Birthday, Emily!

2008-02-13T13:23:00.004-06:00

She is 11 years old today. I can't believe it!

Happy Birthday, Boo! We love you!

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

2008-02-07T14:03:00.000-06:00

Today we welcome the year of the Rat, and give thanks that our family is warm and healthy and safe.

You may have heard about the severe winter storms affecting much of China. Much of the country is shut down. What many people don't realize is that some of the most severely affected by this storm are those the world often forgets about - the children living in orphanages. In many places the power is out, the children are cold, and food and water may be in short supply. Also, when the power and water are limited, the cloth diapers can't be washed.

Please visit Half the Sky to read more about the dire situations many orphanages are facing, and the sacrifices that are being made to keep the children warm and healthy. You can also make a donation if you desire, any amount would help the children.

We have received news that the children who live in the Dongguan CWI are all safe. It is colder there than it has been in recent memory, but the power is on and the children have food and water. I am so grateful that Evie is home safe with us.

Super Tuesday!

2008-02-07T13:59:00.000-06:00

I voted. Evie helped. Muh gets to wear the sticker!

It's not getting old yet...

2008-01-26T19:35:00.002-06:00

Another weekend, another tournament. The J-Cats took first place in this one, too! That's three so far this year. Em played quite a bit in the championship game, and scored two baskets! Someone's mother made a fool out of herself cheering today, also. I might resemble that remark. Just saying.

My camera wasn't working so well. I didn't get very many good shots. We'll call this one "blue ghosts playing basketball" See the blur in the lower left corner? That might be Em. I'm not sure.

Em and her trophy after the game:

Emily kicks Satan's butt!

2008-01-25T12:19:00.000-06:00

Last night, Emily kicked Satan's butt!

well, actually...
Last night, Emily's basketball team kicked Satan's butt!

ok, trying again...
Last night, Emily's BB team kicked Satan's basketball team's butt!

one more time...
Last night, Emily's BB team kicked butt against Seton Catholic School's basketball team.

Maybe someone accidentally mispronounced Seton as Satan. Maybe the thought of Satan Catholic School made the other family members in the car laugh so hard they snorted on the way to the game. It was a darn funny accident, though!

Em's team was ahead by a goodly amount. She played quite a bit, and had a major movie moment at the very end of the game. One of her teammates was on the other side of the court, and got the ball. She passed the ball to Em. Em caught it, then shot the ball with less than half a second on the clock. The buzzer rang. The ball went around and around, then finally went in the basket! It was so exciting! It was the kind of shot you see at the end of a movie, you know the one where the shot breaks the tie in triple-quadruple overtime and the underdog team wins in the end, and they show slow-motion shots of the ball going around and around and around... before it finally goes in.

Somebody's mother (ahem...) made a fool out of herself by cheering so loudly.

It was wonderful. We are so proud of her!

Jordan Basketball Tournament

2008-01-25T12:17:00.000-06:00

Emily's school hosted a fifth-grade girls basketball tournament last weekend. Emily's team was undefeated, and won first place! I forgot the camera at home, so I don't have any pictures of the girls getting their trophies. Richard took these at home:

Champions!

2008-01-07T13:59:00.000-06:00

Em is on her school's fifth-grade girls basketball team. This weekend, they played in a tournament at United Township highschool. After a couple of really close games, they went on to the semifinals, and then to the final game. They won! (go, J-Cats!) Each girl got a medal, and the satisfaction of knowing that they won, while the fifth-grade boys team from their school finished in last place. I guess that's what playing like a girl will do for you!

New Year's Eve

2008-01-07T13:50:00.000-06:00

We were all still recovering from being sick, so a big New Year's Eve celebration was not in the cards for us. Instead, we got in our jammies, then watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and had junk food for supper. After it was over, we cracked open the bubbly stuff to celebrate the new year (that was really still several hours away for us!) The girls had fun drinking Welch's Sparkling Grape Juice out of the wine glasses.

Em likes it:

Evie isn't so sure:
I will stick my tongue in to taste it

What is this stuff?

It tickles my nose!

I think I like it!

Christmas

2008-01-07T13:31:00.001-06:00

We drove to Hays to stay with my parents for Christmas. It's somewhere around 10 hours in the car, so not as long as our recent trip to Austin.

We had a great time visiting with everyone. We got to see my cousin Sharol's new baby, we had Chinese food at The Mall with Mom, Dad, Aunt Ardie, Aunt Marsha, Uncle Cary, Cam, and Niki, then did some shopping. I saw an old friend from high school and her two kids, and got in touch with another old friend, one I haven't seen in years. Rich and I saw a movie (alone! without kids! it wasn't a cartoon!) Jeff and Angie had to go back to work, so they made the trip home on Christmas day and we kept Logan with us.

Em, Evie and I went to see Marie, and have fabulous new haircuts, now. I just got a trim, Evie has a cute new bob, and Em got a lot cut off but still has the longest hair! It was great to see Marie again.

We got to stay a week (we got there Saturday night, we left for home Saturday morning), which was hardly long enough. Friday night we went to Uncle John's and Aunt Denny's for a holiday party, and had a great time talking to my cousin Kelly and her husband Tony. (Rich wants a motorcycle, so was talking with Tony about his.) Our night ended quickly, though. Poor Logan was attacked by a viscous coffee table in Aunt Denny's living room! After a quick triage in the kitchen, we decided that he probably needed to go to the ER. He was very brave, and ended up with three staples on his head, and a stuffed puppy named Sophie. I'm guessing that he's had the staples out by now.

We got up bright and early the next morning and headed for home, expecting an uneventful trip. Evie had other plans, and came down with the stomach flu at about Minneapolis, KS, just a couple hours into our trip home. A long car trip plus a sick three year old is not a good mix. Evie's favorite thing to say now? "Mama, I frow UP in car!" She points to the ceiling when she says up. She also likes to mimic throwing up into a trash can. We stopped at the Walmart in York, Nebraska to buy one, some pedialyte, some towels, and some air freshener. She did end up sharing her tummy bug with the rest of us. I think we're finally back to normal, now. Mostly, anyway.

Christmas Pictures

2008-01-07T13:16:00.000-06:00

trimming the tree

Evie sleeping with her chin propped on her fist:

Papa and Evie

Evie and Logan and their new scarves from Papa:

Evie is using hers as a baby sling to carry her lamb, Dandelion.

Emily and her new panda webkinz, Em in her new shirt

Em and Evie with new haircuts. Em got about 4 inches trimmed off, Evie got her hair trimmed into a cute little bob.

Super Evie! Logan introduced Evie to playing superheroes. He has a reversible cape (Batman on one side, Superman on the other). Evie doesn't have a cape, so we used an old apron that Grandma had put away. I'll have to try to find a picture of Logan in his cape, I can't believe that I don't have one.

the best question, EVER.

2007-12-10T19:10:00.000-06:00

As we were driving home from running errands on Sunday, we were talking with Emily about college, and what it would be like, where she would live, etc. She asked if we would buy her a cell phone for college (yes). Would we get her a TV? (I said maybe, Rich said yes!).

Then she asked if she would be allowed to have the internet on her computer when she was in college. We explained to her that yes, she would be able to have internet access on her computer when she in college, because she would be pretty much a grown up by then. It was just a great question, and I still smile when I think about it.

Poor girl is probably the only 10 year old in all of America with no tv in her room, and a computer without internet access!

three year old gourmet food!

2007-12-10T12:10:00.000-06:00

I have some red plates that are divided into 3 sections. Kids love them. I used one for Evie's lunch today.

The big section had two leftover taquitos I made for dinner a couple nights ago. (Chicken, refried beans, a little cheese, and diced chiles mixed together and rolled up in corn tortillas and baked)

One small section had baby carrots and apple slices. The other small section had a spoonful of sour cream for the taquitos, and a spoonful of peanut butter for the apples.

Evie ate it all, but not the way I intended. The apples were dipped in sour cream. The carrots were dipped in peanut butter. The taquitos were dipped in both.

more J-Cats news!

2007-12-05T09:25:00.000-06:00

Em has had 2 games since I last posted about it.

The first of the games was against RIMBA, and the J-Cats won 30-5. Em played almost half of this game!

Last night they played the Lady-D's. The J-Cats won, 54-4. Em played quite a bit of this game, too. The other Emily on the team fell and hurt her elbow during the game. We all hope that she is ok.

Thanksgiving, finally!

2007-12-03T13:41:00.000-06:00

We went to visit Richard's family in Austin for Thanksgiving. It was nice to see everyone again.

Evie spent a lot of time on the swing on Nana and Papa's back porch. Also, notice the infamous Hello Kitty shirt. I have to steal it in order to wash it!

Look what I found from a few years ago, Thomas and Emily and the same swing! I can't believe how much they've grown since then! I believe this was taken in 2000, so Em is 3 in this picture, and Thomas is almost 5.

Em spent time with Aunt Lallie, learning how to make jewelry:

Evie on Thanksgiving day, wearing the new outfit that Nana picked out. As you can tell, she wasn't entirely happy to be posing for pictures!

Evie with Papa

Evie in the kitchen, waiting for the food to be done!

Evie with Nana

There was a lot of good food to eat, but Evie's favorite was Oma's sweet potato casserole. Evie ate so much I thought she would pop! She called it "hot candy ice cream".

On Friday, we had a joint birthday party for Evie, turning 3 (Nov. 18) and Thomas, turning 12 (Nov. 30). We got to see Lallie and Jeff's new house, which is beautiful.

Jeff took the kids canoeing on Lake Travis while we were visiting.
Jeff, Thomas and Emily in the canoe (Em says it was fun but chilly!)

Jeff, Thomas and Jakob in the canoe

Some pictures of my family on the docks

Evie going for a ride in the mei tai. She is getting so big, each time I wear her I'm afraid it may be the last! She just saw these pictures and started saying "Up! Mama's back!"

Evie and Kelsey

2007-12-03T13:36:00.000-06:00

Evie's last speech therapy appointment with Kelsey was on Nov. 15. Kelsey helped Evie so much, and we were all sad at the last appointment. She will start speech therapy through the school district now that she is 3.

Kelsey brought Evie a present for her third birthday, a candyland game.

Evie calls Kelsey "Open the Box" because Kelsey always brought a big box of toys over to play with. Whenever Evie would say "open the box", Kelsey would open it so Evie could pick a toy out.

the many faces of Evie

2007-12-03T13:33:00.000-06:00

Evie loves to make silly faces.

this is one of my favorite pictures of Evie! She's just so ornery!

A Cat in a Box

2007-11-26T20:49:00.001-06:00

Bigfoot in Evie's shoebox

Don't know why, but he does this all the time. He is a crazy, crazy cat. If there is anything on the floor - a bag, a sock, a piece of paper, or whatever he has to sit on it. If there is a box or basket, he has to be inside it. Even a little girl's size 7 shoebox. Even if it makes said little girl so angry that she whacks him with Muh.

Cats are strange.

(Yes, people, the Thanksgiving pics are coming. Hold your horses.)

Em's first basketball game

2007-11-15T08:38:00.000-06:00

Em is on her school's fifth-grade basketball team this year. The team is called the Jordan J-Cats. The first game was on Tuesday, and we were excited to see the girls play. Emily got to play during the second quarter. They won over United Township, 15-6.

Here are some pictures of Em in her new uniform, and the girls practicing before the game:

Halloween

2007-11-15T08:31:00.000-06:00

I know, I'm a little late with the Halloween pictures!

Here is Em, my rock star. She is wearing purple eyeshadow and a fake tattoo on her cheek, and carried around a microphone with her. We were running late, and forgot all about the hot pink hairspray we bought to put streaks in her hair.

Evie was a little monkey. We found the costume at Target, and she loved it instantly. She had to carry around her little stuffed monkey when we went trick-or-treating. Evie still likes to dress up in the costume, although it's almost too small (size 24 months). The other day she put it on, then went upstairs to surprise her daddy. He was in the middle of a business call at the time. Oops!

The girls together:

Evie in the pumpkin hat I made for her last year:

St. Louis trip

2007-10-31T11:18:00.000-05:00

It's taken me a while to write this one...

At the beginning of October, we went to St. Louis to attend another wedding, this one for my cousin Ariane and her new husband, Eddie. For some reason, this is the only shot we got of her that turned out at all.

Richard had been out of town on business, but was able to fly into St. Louis instead of home. Dad, Evie, and I picked him up at the airport. I would just like to take this opportunity to publicly curse the designers of the airport, parking structures, and surrounding streets of St. Louis. I mean, come on now. Was your goal to annoy, frustrate, and waste the time of anyone who has a reason to go there? If it was, let me just say that you succeeded. Thankfully, we finally found Richard and got out of there.

There were a lot of us out-of-towners at the wedding, so we all stayed on the same floor in the same hotel. I think we overwhelmed the poor desk clerk. It was fun to see so many of my family members, though. It was the first time for Evie to meet some of them. We also found out that there was a monkey convention at the hotel when we were! Service monkeys, I guess. Some rode around in cages, some on people's shoulders. Some wore diapers (cloth diapers!), some wore clothes. Emily and Evie both thought it was so much fun to see all of the monkeys. Richard didn't believe us until he saw them himself - he thought we were all in on a joke on him at first! I told him that it's his family known far and wide for their storytelling prowess (cough... lying... cough cough), not mine.

On Saturday morning, we went to Grant's Farm. The highlight of the trip, besides watching Evie devour an amazing amount of hot dogs, bratwurst, and french fries, was the goat feeding station. You could buy baby bottles full of milk to feed the goats with. The goats would swarm around anyone with a bottle, full or empty. I saw so many kids in tears, scared of the goats.

Em just bossed them around.

Evie needed her Daddy to hold her up and out of the way.

Saturday evening was the wedding. It was beautiful, and Ariane made a lovely bride. Everything was going along wonderfully. The girls both looked beautiful.

Then Evie decided to swallow one of the table decorations (glass stones/flattened marble things) that she had been playing with for the last several hours. (They are under her hands in the first picture.) You know, the minute we decided that she was going to play safely with them since she had been doing so well. She put it in her mouth, and then started choking. I couldn't sweep it out with my fingers, and Rich couldn't either. I panicked, then put her over my knees and pounded on her back. I hoped it would fly out, but she swallowed it instead. After days of checking her dirty diapers, and a trip to the hospital for x-rays, the stone still hasn't been found! The doctor thinks that we probably missed it during a diaper check - I really hope so! Before we decided to leave, I popped Evie into our ringsling and tried to get her to sleep for a while, she was so cranky. Didn't happen, but it was worth a shot.

We were very glad to get home.

Good News!

2007-09-20T16:40:00.000-05:00

Just got a letter from the doctor - Evie's lead levels are in the normal range. Now I'm sorry that I put Evie through the trauma of the blood draw. I guess it's better to know that everything is alright, though.

the Money Jar song

2007-09-20T13:02:00.000-05:00

We have an old milk bottle where we collect all of our spare change. Evie loves to find coins to put in the Money Jar. She loves it so much that she has made up a song about it! She even sings it to Grandma over the phone!

Presenting, Evie with the Money Jar song! (by the way, "may-may yar" = "money jar"!) Every time she sees this video on the computer, she runs to get Muh, then she sings along!

Evie silliness

2007-09-20T12:57:00.000-05:00

Pigtails!

K-state shirt. I think my Uncle Doug gave this one to Emily years ago. She's pushing Muh and several babies in her doll stroller. She usually has more than one baby in the stroller at a time so no one gets left out.

Evie is having a Bad Day

2007-09-14T13:17:00.000-05:00

Today I took Evie to the doctor to be tested for lead. We have learned that many children in Dongguan, Evie's hometown in China, have dangerous levels of lead in their blood.

She had to be held down by me (in a bear hug and restraining one arm), and another guy (restraining her legs and holding the other arm out) while the nurse held her head with one hand (to avoid headbutts) and managed to draw the blood with the other. I was expecting a finger prick, but they had to take it out of her arm. She kicked and screamed and head butted, and wiggled all over the place. It was horrible. I feel like such a bad mom to make her go through all of that.

Now she is snuggled on the couch, watching the Doodlebops with Muh and Dandelion and Yellow (her 100 Wishes quilt that her Nana made for her), and she keeps signing "hurt" and saying "ow". She won't let me take the pink bandage off of her arm until Emily gets out of school - she needs to show Em her boo-boo.

No No, Nana!

2007-09-13T20:09:00.000-05:00

We went out to dinner tonight, then ran some errands. Evie and I waited in the van while Richard and Emily ran in to Best Buy. All of a sudden, a little pink Hello Kitty shoe came flying to the front seat and whacked me on the head. I turned around and asked Evie (the only other person in the van at the time) who threw it. Apparently, Nana threw it. Since Nana lives in Texas, I am assuming that she has great aim and a very good throwing arm! I'm not sure how she managed to get the shoe off of Evie's foot, though.

Who has a ponytail?

2007-09-12T13:10:00.001-05:00

Evie does!

She's so excited. She calls all jewelry and hair pretties "oooh-la-las", and is very jealous of big sis Em who wears lots of oooh-la-las, all the time! We finally found some oooh-la-las that work in her baby fine hair, and she is so happy about it. She even managed to leave one in the other day for about half an hour!

Here are some more ponytail pictures from another day!

A Walk by the Mississippi

2007-09-12T12:27:00.001-05:00

The heat of summer has passed, and now we have jumped right into fall. Temperatures have been unseasonably chilly here. It is good baking weather, and soup weather, too! We got down into the 30's last night, and everyone got an extra blanket or two on their bed!

This past Saturday we took the opportunity to go on a walk by the river.

Evie likes to ride in her new stroller. Since she can't undo the buckles herself to get out, she has also figured out how to get around on her own while in it!

There are usually lots of geese at the river, ready to beg (or steal!) breadcrumbs, crackers, or your leftover lunch. This time we only saw ducks, though. These are begging from Em, but they soon figured out that we didn't have anything for them. It is against the law to feed the birds, but people do it anyway! In fact, I should have snapped a picture of the family standing right in front of the "It is Illegal to Feed the Waterfowl" sign while feeding the ducks!

We saw mallards, American black ducks, and one that I can't identify yet.

We wondered if this one felt like the Ugly Duckling. I think it's the AFLAC duck on vacation!

More ducks. Emily crept down on the rocks near the river to take the top picture:

Heading back toward the car, Evie wanted to walk, so I pushed the empty stroller and took some photos.

A picture of the I-74 bridge over the river

Bigfoot is a bad, bad cat

2007-09-05T10:58:00.000-05:00

Someone drew lovely crayon circles all over the tv screen in the living room. They're green and blue, and about Evie height. I asked Evie who did it, and she blamed Bigfoot. She always tells me about the naughty things he does. (unplug the fan, jump on the couch, get into Em's things, spill a cup of water, etc.)

That darn cat.

Emily's first day of Fifth Grade!

2007-08-27T10:06:00.000-05:00

Emily started fifth grade today at a brand new school. She is now attending the local Catholic school. (No, we aren't Catholic.) The only good thing about it for Em? All her friends going to the public school started about a month ago, so she's had an extra-long summer break.

How does Em feel about attending this new school, where uniforms are required?

I think she looks very nice. We braided her hair last night after her shower so it would be nice and wavy this morning.

Evie had to get in on the first-day-of-school pictures, too!

Brookfield Zoo

2007-08-22T21:25:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we drove to Chicago and took the girls to the zoo. It was such a nice day, and we had a really good time.

We loved the butterfly garden. Some butterflies even tried to land on Evie! I wasn't fast enough with the camera to catch it, though. Em found this beautiful blue and black butterfly.

After we saw the condors, the girls tested out their wings:

Evie and Emily liked to play in the fountain:

The children's zoo was a big hit. The girls tried to pet the goats, but the goats were pretty skittish and hid behind the fence most of the time.

There were also piglets, cows, horses, chicks, and other animals to see. They also had a raccoon, groundhog, and a skunk that all lived together. Richard teased Emily that the skunk was in love with her.

Partway through the zoo, Evie sacked out in her stroller. She missed the stingrays and most of the bears. I mostly stayed back from the crowds as much as possible, and Em and Richard went up to look at the animals. Em was so sweet and kept offering to watch Evie so I could go look, too. She is a good girl.

While Evie was asleep, Em and I stood in line forever to see the stingrays. It was a very long line. Em was lucky to finally touch one. They seemed to know right where the line was that people could reach, and they mostly stayed on the other side.

We also liked to see the primate house. We had to leave the stroller outside for that, so I carried Evie in our ring sling, and got lots of hugs. She loved to see the monkeys. Em did too, and had fun pointing out the baby gorillas to us.

Right before we left, Richard took the girls on the carousel. Emily was on an African wild dog, and Evie was riding an anteater. The little boy next to Evie thought I was waving and blowing kisses at him.

When the ride was over, Richard brought the girls out to meet me, and we realized that Evie was crying silently. She loved the carousel so much that she didn't want to leave it! It was so sweet and sad. We promised her a ride on the carousel at our zoo sometime, and that made her a little happier.

On Saturday, we went to see Rich's cousin Fred, his wife Robin, and their new baby Freddie. Freddie is a very cute baby, but when we asked Evie if she wanted a baby, we got a big, fat, NO!!!

pictures from our July trip

2007-08-19T21:03:00.000-05:00

We found the lost camera, so here are a few pictures from our trip to western Kansas for my cousin's wedding.

On our way there, we stopped at the geographic center of the 48 states near Lebanon, KS. It was a good place to stop and let the girls run around and stretch their legs. We were the only ones there at the time. It was a beautiful summer day.

We attended my cousin Eli's wedding on Saturday.
The happy couple:

Em and Evie at the wedding, with Mom in the background (I don't think that Evie was feeling very good!):

Happy Family Day!

2007-08-10T08:03:00.001-05:00

One year ago today, we met Evie for the first time!

Our first picture of Evie was her referral picture:

This was sent in an update, and I was so happy to see it:

A wonderful woman who was in China to adopt her son from Dongguan took this picture and sent it to me:

Then, it was finally time to really meet Evie...

We had been in China for less than 24 hours. After a sleepless night and a nervewracking bus ride to the adoption center, we had to fill out paperwork and wait for what felt like hours... then I saw one of the most beautiful sights of my life:

It was so wonderful to finally be all together.

Evie has changed so much since our time in China:

I think we are the luckiest family in the world!

More cooking funnies...

2007-08-09T21:08:00.000-05:00

Tonight I told Evie that I was making pancakes and bacon for supper. She loves bacon. I asked her what she wanted to go with her bacon, and she replied, "monkey." I thought that I heard wrong, so I asked her again. "Monkey." "You want Mama to cook monkey for supper?" "Yes. Monkey soup." Well, I was fresh out of monkey, so she had to live with the pancakes. I don't think she really cared - she ate 4 small pancakes and 3 slices of bacon!

After our walk this evening, Evie was playing with her cooking toys. She was stirring her little orange pitcher with her little blue spoon. There was a plastic Chicken McNugget in there, too. I asked her what she was cooking, and she told me that it was frog soup. Yum. She gave some to Muh and Name and her new lamb, Dandelion. Ernie and Blue and Elmo got a bite, too. She also offered some to Grandma and Papa Al over the phone. They both thought it was quite tasty!

Our interesting dinner last night...

2007-08-08T07:53:00.000-05:00

Richard grilled Jerk Chicken outside. (it was good!) Inside, I made yummy Black Beans and Rice. Lots of veggies and garlic and black beans cooked together, then mashed a little and served over rice. Evie loved the rice. The beans were a little scary, though. She poked them with her finger, looked at her finger, then screamed at her Daddy to get the poop off of her finger. I'm sure she was wondering what the heck I was thinking, serving poop at a meal. She wouldn't taste it for anything! For the rest of the meal, Em and Richard referred to the dish as Poop and Rice, and wondered if I harvested the beans from the bunny cage. Yes, we are a strange family.

Speech therapy

2007-08-01T14:55:00.001-05:00

Evie started speech therapy this summer. She loves it when her speech therapist, Kelsey, comes over for her class. (We say that Kelsey is coming over to play with Evie!)

Kelsey brings over a big box of toys, and when Evie says "open the box", Kelsey will open the box and pick out a new toy to play with. There are picture books, puzzles, matching games, a baby doll, and lots of other toys. They make lots of sounds, and play lots of games, and try to say lots of words. It seems to be working. Evie is talking a lot more now.

In fact, Evie just said her first four-word sentence (all spoken, no signs involved!). She told Richard, "Yaya, Mama broke light". Yes, she was tattling on me! At bedtime, I unplug her light from the wall behind her bed so she can't turn it on. She wanted her Daddy to come and fix it for her!

a classic - updated

2007-07-25T13:51:00.000-05:00

Everyone knows the nursery rhyme "This Little Piggy ". Well, at our house there is an update.

Our new version:

This little piggy went to the market.
This little piggy went to the mall.
This little piggy tried on shoes.
This little piggy wanted them all!
This little piggy said "Whee! Whee! Whee! My name is Emily!"

Evie loves it, and giggles each time we say "My name is Emily!"

She will be upset with me when she's older...

2007-07-18T21:53:00.000-05:00

but Richard insisted that I write about it. As you may have guessed, since we have a toddler, we are busy learning how to use the potty chair and toilet here. It comes up in conversation quite a bit. For example, when Evie uses the potty or toilet like a big girl, she will mention who else is a big girl when it comes to pottying. She usually mentions Mama and Emily, and sometimes Daddy. Well, lately Papa Al, Logan, and Uncle Jeff are also big girls who potty in the toilet. Aren't you glad to know that you're a big girl, little brother?

She also loves her new book. We picked it up when we were in KC. It is called "Everyone Poops". We read it a lot. "An elephant makes a big poop. A mouse makes a tiny poop..."

We've been traveling a lot in the past couple of weeks, and eating more fast food than we should. The change in diet has affected poor Evie, and she's gotten a little "backed up" on occasion. The poor girl is feeling much better now, but coined a new sign combo in our house that has her Daddy rolling on the floor. The new phrase? "Scary" + "poop". Scary poop. I guess that is pretty accurate to describe constipation. She now signs it just to make Daddy laugh. Sometimes she throws in a "boots", which she sometimes uses for bottom (booty), but more often means passing gas.

Kids are Fun!

Lucky Emily

2007-07-12T22:58:00.000-05:00

After our vacation, Lucky Emily got to go to the mountains with my parents (her Grandma and Papa), my grandparents (her great-Grandma and great-Grandpa H), and my brother and his family (her Uncle Jeff, Aunt Angie, and cousin Logan) while Richard, Evie, and I had to come back home. No Fair!

Grandma and Grandpa H's cabin

Em and Papa, Em and Grandma

Em and Logan on the tire swing and at the cabin

At Bishop's castle, and in the big chair at the castle

Our vacation

2007-07-12T22:45:00.000-05:00

We took our vacation to Kansas (really!) to visit family and go to my cousin Eli's wedding. Unfortunately, we lost our camera somewhere along the way and haven't found it yet. I hope it isn't gone for good.

These pictures are all ones that my parents emailed to me.

A family picture at Eli and Tiffany's wedding.
Dad, Richard, Jeff, me, Mom
Logan, Em, Angie, Evie

Evie, Em's knees, and Logan at the 4th of July parade

I have cute kids.

2007-07-12T22:34:00.000-05:00

Really. I don't have to explain, do I? I wish I had more pics of Em, but I guess you'll have to see my "mystery of Emily" post below!

Yummy!

2007-07-12T22:31:00.000-05:00

While Richard was in Seattle for training, Emily wanted to have Taco Bell for supper. I think it is her favorite fast food. Evie agrees! Yum, tacos!

I was working in the kitchen...

2007-07-12T22:27:00.000-05:00

All of a sudden, I realized that the house was way too quiet. My mom radar started going crazy. I shouldn't have worried, though.
This is what I found:

Evie climbed on the rocking chair with Muh and fell asleep while watching Hanna Montana with Emily!

Big Girl Bed!

2007-07-12T22:14:00.000-05:00

Emily got a new bed, so we moved Evie out of her crib into Em's old bed. She loves to sleep in (ok, jump on) her new Big Girl Bed!

I wasn't going to jump on my Big Girl Bed with my cell phone, Mama!

Wait, haven't we seen that dress somewhere before? What a difference a year (almost) makes! (same toy cellphone, too!)

Pigtails!

2007-07-12T22:10:00.000-05:00

Well, Mama got me all dressed for the day, and don't I look cute!

Sissy decided I wasn't fabulous enough, though, and helped me out a little. Can you see them? I finally have enough hair for two tiny pigtails on top of my head.

Of course, if you think they stayed in very long at all, you don't know me very well!

the mystery of Emily

2007-07-12T22:05:00.000-05:00

Why aren't there very many pictures of Emily on this blog?

Well, it could be that every time I try to take her picture, this happens:

It's ok, though. She takes beautiful self-portraits!

Pool

2007-07-12T21:56:00.000-05:00

We got a little pool to put in our backyard. Our yard slopes a lot, and it was difficult to find a place to put it. This was the flattest part of the yard we could find, but our cheapie little Walmart pool still has a shallow end and a deep end! (you can see our gardens in the background!)

Swimming with Big Sissy

Evie loves her big Sissy

Uh oh, I think something is happening here

Yes, something definitely happened in the pool. Check out Em's face!

Evie doesn't love having to get out of the pool

Unfortunately, the pool is no longer with us. Lucky decided that it was a yummy dog treat, and it has now gone to wading pool heaven. Or the trashcan. Take your pick!

New Sweater

2007-07-12T21:54:00.000-05:00

I crocheted a little sweater for Evie to wear to my cousin Eli's wedding. This is the first modeling shot:

Second modeling shot: No, Mama, I wasn't stealing ice out of your cup!

Tricycle

2007-07-12T21:45:00.000-05:00

We've been busy this summer, and I haven't updated very well. Sorry about that!

Evie can ride her tricycle now! She can pedal forward a little bit. (Emily's toes are in the picture, too!) This picture is a little deceptive - just a little bit behind Evie, the yard has a fairly steep hill that goes down toward the fence. We have to watch her carefully so that she doesn't end up taking a wild ride down the hill!

A seal named Name

2007-06-02T14:14:00.000-05:00

Richard recently spent 3 weeks in Seattle, training for his new job. Before he left to come home, he mailed us a package. It must have taken an interesting trip, because the package just arrived here a few days ago! We got to open it with Richard here beside us. Inside were gifts for all of us. Em got a lovely snow globe for her collection, and I got some Vanilla Rooibos tea and smoked salmon. Evie got a stuffed animal baby harbor seal. She loves it.

When we asked her what the seal's name is, she thought for a moment, then replied "Name". Every time we ask her what her seal's name is, she gives the same response, so her seal's name must be Name. Name has also been given a place of honor on the bed. Usually just Evie and Muh get to sleep on the bed - she tosses all of her other animal friends off onto the floor!

Now for the truth!

2007-05-24T10:09:00.000-05:00

By now, you've had a few days to be charmed by our reading of Moo Baa Lalala (the post below.) Now, however, it is time for you all to learn the truth.

This new video will help you to understand what usually happens when we try to read a story at naptime. Enjoy! It makes me smile. Oh, and according to Evie, sheep usually growl when they say Maaaaaa!

(please excuse my scratchy voice, I had a cold at the time, and lost my voice the next day!)

Moo Baa LaLaLa

2007-05-18T12:51:00.000-05:00

Moo Baa LaLaLa by Sandra Boynton is Evie's favorite story. We read it a lot. We're on our third copy of the book, because Evie loves it just a little too much! (We have it memorized now, along with The Going to Bed Book!)

Evie and Mama are reading the story for all of you to hear!

Evie has the hiccups

2007-05-17T15:16:00.000-05:00

Evie has the hiccups, and they are obviously very annoying to her. She keeps yelling "Hey!" and signing "stop!" She is getting pretty mad about it, too.

Evie's animal friends

2007-05-16T10:42:00.000-05:00

Here is Cleo. She joined our family in Fall 1996, so she is even older than Emily!

Here is Bigfoot. He joined us in 1999? Maybe? I don't remember!

They like to cuddle, when they're not fighting!

You've seen Lucky, but here he is again. He's a lot bigger than this, now. I will have to take more pictures.

She also has two fish friends - a big unnamed algae eater, and a big, striped, mean fish named Killer. (he kills anything smaller than him!) I can never manage to take fish pics that turn out, so you'll just have to imagine them!

Please Watch

2007-05-15T13:31:00.000-05:00

Love Without Boundaries Cleft Nutrition Video

Evie was born cleft affected.

This is Evie now:

Anatomy of a Tantrum

2007-05-11T20:22:00.000-05:00

A fit in 8 parts, starring Evie

Part 1:
I'm not getting what I want here. I think I will try the secret weapon of all toddlers: The Cute Pout.

Part 2:
Oh dear, the Cute Pout isn't working. Maybe if I tilt my head just so, and blink my eyelashes, I will get what I want.

Part 3:
That didn't work. Now I will try tearing up and crying. Mama won't be able to resist a crying baby girl!

Part 4:
I'm such a sad baby, and you are so mean!

Part 5:
Hey! Are you paying attention to me? You're supposed to pay attention to me!

Part 6:
Life is so unfair when you are two.

Part 7:
I just can't handle it anymore.

Part 8:
Mama! Put down the camera! Why are you laughing?

Evie was a zebra tonight.

2007-05-03T20:36:00.000-05:00

Evie was a zebra tonight. After getting some expert opinions from Daddy, I think we finally convinced her that:
1. Zebras do not growl at their mothers.
2. Even zebras have to go to sleep when their Mama rockabyes them.
3. Bigfoot (our cat) is not a zebra.

talking about China

2007-04-17T12:50:00.000-05:00

At night, before bed, I've been talking to Evie about China. I try to keep it short and sweet because of that limited toddler attention span! I want her to know about where she is from, even though I am so glad she is with us now.

We listen to a CD of Chinese folk music before bed, while we rock in the rocking chair. I told her that the music was from China, and that Evie lived in China before she lived with Mama, Daddy, and Emily. She signed back "China" and "friends". I asked her if she had friends in China, and she said yes. (that made me happy, that she remembers good things about China) She has also told me that China is hers. (Well, she said MINE and signed China!)

the newest member of the family

2007-04-14T19:58:00.000-05:00

We got a surprise on Friday. On his way home from work, Richard stopped off and brought us a new family member.

This is Lucky:

He is 31/2 months old, and is a shepard mix. He is a puppy and therefore a little wild, but it seems like his temperment will be a little on the mellow side when he matures. His paws are big, and we are wondering if he will grow up to be a BIG dog!

Emily, of course, is totally in love with her new puppy.
Emily and Lucky:

Evie is not too sure of Lucky. She likes to throw his toys for him, and kiss him on the nose, and yell at him. Sometimes he gets a little too wild, and she gets a little scared. We do have a big problem in that he seems magnetically drawn to stuffed animals, Muh and MoMo in particular. We have been trying very hard to keep Evie's bedroom door shut to keep her toys safe.

Snow!

2007-04-14T19:55:00.000-05:00

It is mid April, and it snowed this week! Is Spring ever going to come?

It is all melted by now, though. Em and I thought that it looked like the frosting on mini shredded wheat!

The Enchanted Lollipop, a Fairy Tale Starring Evie

2007-04-12T21:32:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time there was a little girl named Evie Rosa. She lived with her Mama, Daddy, and Big Sissy in a magical land called Suburbia.

One day, Evie and her family set out in Daddy's old truck. Er, I mean, gleaming chariot. They visited many places, and finally ended up at the Magical Health Food Store. It was to be their last stop before journeying back home. Mama was tired, and Evie was being, um, delightful, so Mama decided to wear Evie on her back in the mei tai, also known as a medieval toddler torture device. Evie let Mama know of her displeasure by pulling Mama's hair.

Mama was taking too long finding nutmeg and bulgur and other mysterious things, and Big Sissy was busy smelling all of the soaps and candles, so Daddy did some exploring on his own. During his travels in the store, he found a bag of enchanted Organic All-Natural Fruit Flavored Lollipops, and slipped them into the shopping basket. He also cemented his status as a Knight in Shining Armor by finding a bag of Dark Chocolate Covered Dried Cherries for Mama.

Once the family paid for their purchases and made their way back to their chariot, Daddy pulled out the enchanted Lollipops for his fair daughters. Poor Evie Rosa was confined in yet another toddler torture device (the carseat of doom), but the enchanted Lollipop soon made her happy again.

Alas, this enchanted Lollipop had a dark side. When Evie Rosa was finished with her Lollipop, she noticed that her hands were sticky. Very sticky. Very, very sticky. As with other children her age, Evie delighted in making messes. Unlike other children, Evie couldn't stand to be messy herself. And so, the horror began.

Evie became more and more distraught. Her hands were too sticky. She cried, and rubbed her eyes, and her face became sticky. This upset our fair maiden even more. Big Sister, being ever so helpful, handed Miss Evie a tissue.

What a dreadful mistake. The tissue stuck to Evie's hands, and wouldn't come off. Was it sabotage? Only Big Sissy knows for sure. Evie cried louder and louder.

But wait! Mama had an idea! She reached into the giant Bottomless Diaper Bag and pulled out her secret weapon, the shiny Box of Wipes. Was this the end of the evil Enchanted Lollipop goo? Was the day saved? Sadly, no. The Box of Wipes was empty. Oh, dear.

Poor Evie had to wait until the family arrived home to their castle before she could wash her hands. It was a tragedy. She let her family, and everyone within hearing distance, know of her displeasure. Luckily, a nice afternoon nap made her feel all better.

Mama refilled the magic Box of Wipes, and returned it to its rightful place in the Bottomless Diaper Bag, and she banished the Enchanted Lollipops to the kitchen counter, where little hands cannot reach them. (Unless, of course, they are aided by the Forbidden Footstool. But that is another story...)

Once again, all is well in the land of Suburbia.

~~~The End~~~

April is Crazy!

2007-04-10T11:10:00.000-05:00

It is supposed to snow today and tomorrow. I thought it was spring a couple weeks ago, with the warm temperatures, and the grass turning green and the trees budding out! I thought I would take some time to update the blog, so here you have a month's worth of posts at once!

Here are a couple pictures of us taken recently

We had to send them in with our 6-month adoption post placement report.

Mom, here is one of our new bedroom set. It is huge! It makes our room seem very small.

Last, but certainly not least, a picture of our pretty Emily

Evie likes Spaghetti!

2007-04-10T11:09:00.000-05:00

Messy baby. We stuck her in her highchair in her diaper, and let her chow down. But, she is a big fan of "noodles" and loves to sign it!

Em's birthday

2007-04-10T11:06:00.000-05:00

Em had a couple of friends over for her birthday. We were pretty late on her party - she and Evie both had bronchitis in February, then Rich was out of town. But, we finally had the party!
Here are Emily, Alexis, and Shelby, and a giant chocolate birthday cake!

A trip to Kansas City (Picture Heavy!)

2007-04-10T10:07:00.000-05:00

Evie, Em and I met my parents and Jeff, Angie and Logan in Kansas City a couple weekends ago. (Poor Richard had to go on a business trip instead!)

Logan and Evie:

Hop on Papa!

Evie and Mama

The sign by the elevator said not to let children run and play in the hallway. Hah!

We spent Saturday afternoon at Science City. Em, Evie, and Logan had lots of fun exploring all of the hands-on displays for children. We all took lots of pictures!

In the music room:

Evie, Grandma, and Papa sitting on a bench in the sun.

Playing at the water table

Em playing mini golf

Logan and Jeff in the helicopter

Grandma, Logan, and the dinosaur

Driving the car!

Evie just chillin'

Making bubbles. Evie calls them "Mumm-els", and they are some of her favorite things!

Outside of Union Station/Science City. A nice stranger took the picture for us with Papa's camera!

Sunday morning, we met Aunt DJ at IHOP for brunch before we all headed home. These were all taken outside of IHOP the morning we all had to go back home:

Cousins

Em and Grandma. She's almost caught up! Watch out, Grandma!

Grandparents and Grandkids

A Nightly Dance ~ Evie's Shadow

2007-03-08T14:59:00.000-06:00

Dancing has become a part of our nightly routine. After Evie has brushed teeth, given everyone muhs, and is in a fresh diaper and jammies for the night, but before we rock-a-bye, I plug in her CD player and turn it on. Lately, we've been listening to Lotus Flower, a CD of Chinese classical and folk music. (It's very beautiful, by the way!) Then, I sit in the chair, and Evie dances.

Evie's dances consist of jumping, stomping, hopping, twirling, swaying ~ truly beautiful works of art. Sometimes she sings, growls, squeaks, hums, or yells along with the dance. Last night she squatted and stomped around the floor like a Sumo wrestler, while emitting ear-piercing shrieks. Sometimes the dances are short, just a few turns around the room, a couple of hops. Sometimes, the dances are long and elaborate, and repeated many, many times (especially when Evie is wound up, and mama is tired and cranky!)

A few nights ago, during one of the famous nighty-night dances, Evie discovered a new friend. This friend follows her out of her bedroom door, but runs away when approached. Evie slid along the floor toward the door, keeping one eye on this friend that was following her. Then, she turned around and chased it behind the rocking chair! Later, during a very gymnastic portion of the dance, Evie almost did the splits while peeking under her foot to see if she and her new friend were somehow glued together. After much giggling on my part, I explained to Evie all about her shadow. Since I don't know the sign for shadow, Evie decided to call it "Fish", which she signs very beautifully. It makes sense to me ~ she must realize that the "sh" sound in Shadow is the same as the "sh" sound in Fish!

So, now you can say that you know the only girl on earth with a Shadow Friend named Fish!

Beginning of March update

2007-03-03T09:36:00.000-06:00

Sorry it's been so long between updates! A 2 year old keeps you busy, and doesn't like it when mama sits at the computer for too long!

We have another meeting with the speech pathologist next week, and will hopefully get a referral to a speech therapist. Evie is starting to talk more and more, but she is still difficult to understand, and doesn't make many of the hard consonant sounds (b, d, p, etc.) She has started to call Richard "Ya-Ya" for Daddy. It is very cute. She says "Mama!" about a thousand times a day, usually when she wants me to watch her do something! "Emma" is still one of her favorite words, too. She is also saying "hello", "eyes" and "cheese", although she still prefers to sign cheese. She also sings "row, row, row" when we sing Row Row Row your Boat!

Next Sunday we're going to an open house meeting for a new Chinese language class for toddlers. I am hoping the classes will be at a time that we will be able to attend. It will be neat to meet some other Chinese adoptive families.

Emily's Spring Break starts in a couple of weeks, and it will be nice to have her at home during the day for a while. I hope that it will be nice out, so we can get out and play. I am tired of the snow and bad weather, and being cooped up inside the house! Maybe we will get some seeds and start some plants in little pots in the kitchen window. We will also be meeting my parents and Jeff, Angie, and Logan for a visit in KC. It will be an interesting trip with two strong-willed, potty-learning 2 year olds!

First of all, I finally got new glasses! The last pair were about 4 years old, and on their last legs. Evie is hard on the glasses! Here are the new ones. I think I like them, but I'm not sure yet.

My parents got Emily some flowers and balloons for her birthday last month. Mom, here they are!

These are the roses that Richard got me for Valentine's day. They're in a little Chinese takeout box! It's so sweet of him to keep buying me live plants, even though I have a hard time keeping indoor plants alive.

Like father, like daughter? This is Evie after eating a chocolate-frosted doughnut the other day. It looks like she's growing a mustache and beard like her daddy!

We've been potty learning at our house. I've been sitting Evie on the potty when I think it's about time for her to go, and we've had success. Lately, she's been signing "P" (for "potty") when she wants to sit on the potty chair. Evie loves to read while on the potty.

Here are a couple of photos of Evie after a recent nap ~ we can title these Bad Hair Day!

Bragging on my husband!

2007-02-20T09:31:00.000-06:00

Richard entered an iRule he wrote into a contest, and won an honorable mention! This is what the website says: "The following participants are recognized as honorable mention finalists. Each of these iRule entries were ranked as a top iRule by at least one of the contest judges."

Now, don't ask me what an iRule is, but I'm pretty proud of him! Congrats, Richard!

Feel better soon, Dad!

2007-02-20T09:30:00.001-06:00

My dad had surgery on his shoulder yesterday, and is home recovering today. I hope you feel better soon, and I love you!

Gung Hay Fat Choy

2007-02-18T17:06:00.000-06:00

It is Chinese New Year, and the year of the Pig begins. To celebrate, we took the girls out to a local Chinese buffet. Evie, who just learned the sign for "noodle", had fun eating lots of rice noodles and lo mein and signing "noodle" to everyone who looked at her!

These are the traditional Cantonese greetings for the new year. Evie is from a Cantonese-speaking area of China.
Sun Nin Fy Lok ~ Happy New Year!
Gung Hay Fat Choy ~ Wishing you Prosperity!

Just Random Stuff!

2007-02-15T16:52:00.000-06:00

Evie is still having trouble with the sleeping thing. So, I bought some of the lavender bubble bath that is supposed to help make babies sleepy. Except, Evie is afraid of bubble bath. She will sit in the tub with her arms held above the water until someone swishes some of the bubbles away for her. Guess that one didn't work as planned, huh?

Loud Puppy's ear is broken, and no longer plays "do you ears hang low?" It is a terrible tragedy, and a new loud puppy may be in our future. If you don't know, this is a loud puppy:

It is loud, therefore the name loud puppy. But, Evie loves it. It sings all sorts of songs like "Itsy bitsy spider", which is Evie's favorite.

We got Evie a new book about Elmo's Valentine. There is a page that says "Monkeys love bananas", so we always say Monkeys love... and Evie says "na-na-nas!" At the end, it says that Elmo wants a kiss, so Evie kisses the Elmo on the back of the book.

Emily got lots of $$ for her birthday, and is waiting impatiently to go to the mall. I forsee a trip to Limited Too and Claire's in our future.

~~Happy Birthday, Emily!~~

2007-02-13T21:07:00.000-06:00

Today is Emily's birthday. I can't believe she's 10 already! She should still be Evie's size...

She got lots of new clothes for her birthday, a flower and balloon bouquet, and a video game, and some coins to collect. I think this is the first year we didn't get her any toys.

She will have her party in a week or two, after she's all done with the bronchitis, and hopefully the weather will be a bit nicer.

Happy Birthday, Emily! We love you!

Look, Mom! We finally finished the nursery...

2007-02-11T22:16:00.000-06:00

We were so rushed to get everything ready to go after our TA last summer that we just got the nursery painted (Friendly Frog green!) and the furniture in there. Well, after almost 6 months home, we finally got it finished! Yes, I am the slowest person on the face of the planet ~ just ask my husband (or my dad!) Lots of butterflies in the room ~ in China we were told that butterflies are fu, good luck for Chinese babies!

Two cute little wooden things I painted and put together for her walls:

The new curtains, and the birdhouses I bought last summer. I didn't know what I was going to do with them at the time. I think they match well!

Evie's bed, with the musical flowers and the 100 good wishes quilt made by her Nana. Evie has a thing about sheets ~ she likes to rip them off the bed, and throw them and most of the blankets out of the bed during naptime. She was only partly successful this day!

Evie's dresser, with the stash of cloth diapers (and the covers on top). You can also see her cd player (so we can listen to music before bed) and the vaporizer (because of the bronchitis). Her room is so tiny that I had to stand behind the crib to take this picture!

Evie and Muh in the new rocking chair:

Evie has been with us for six months!

2007-02-11T09:50:00.000-06:00

She has grown and changed quite a bit. She has gained five pounds, and has now outgrown her 12 month sized clothes, and some of her 18 month sized clothes! She has hair now!

Here is Evie in August, 06:

Here is Evie now!

A Picture Post

2007-02-10T19:50:00.000-06:00

I finally plugged the camera in and loaded all the pictures onto my computer, so here are a few from the past month or two.

The girls and their Nana and Papa, these were taken in December right before we drove them to the train station.

Sticker Pox! If you look close enough, there are even stickers all over the floor.

Look! Evie finally has enough hair for some pretties! Of course, she never leaves them in for longer than a minute or two.

Two girls with Bronchitis

2007-02-09T16:50:00.000-06:00

blah. Em and Evie are both sick. I took them to the doctor, and they both have bronchitis. Em also has an ear infection. The doc couldn't see Evie's eardrums because of the wax, but she has been pulling at them, so probably has an infection, too. I currently have 3 big bottles of bubblegum pink amoxicillan sitting in my fridge ~ Em gets twice as much as Evie.

Poor Em always seems to get sick for her birthday (next Tuesday!). I guess we'll see how she's feeling before we decide on what to do about the party.

Added a new link!

2007-02-08T11:19:00.000-06:00

Go check out Informed Adoption Advocates
(they can also be found over there on the right, under "links"!)

They are providing education and information to the international adoption community. They already have lots of useful information, and I'm sure they will have a lot more added in the future.

Again!

2007-01-30T10:30:00.000-06:00

Dare I hope that this is the beginning of a new trend? Evie slept in her own bed all night again! (Why do I feel that we might really be in for it tonight?!)

Evie slept in her own bed all night!

2007-01-29T11:39:00.000-06:00

She had a little trouble falling asleep, but she stayed in her own bed all night! That hasn't happened in a while.

A full night's sleep is a good thing for a mama to have.

Emily needs glasses!

2007-01-23T22:18:00.000-06:00

Em has been coming home from school with a headache every day. So, we took her to the eye doctor. She is farsighted, and needs glasses to read or do homework. The doctor also said that her eyes are trying to cross a little when she reads, and the strain of keeping them pointed straight is also contributing to the headache. So, Em will have bifocals - clear lenses for distance, and prescription reading lenses for close work. We couldn't get the no-line bifocals, because the line on her glasses will help her eyes become stronger.

She picked a really cute purple pair of glasses at first, but then opted for a nice bronze-gold pair. My little fashionista explained that she liked the purple ones better, but they wouldn't match everything in her wardrobe, and the gold ones would. Makes perfect sense to me! I think I will take her along when it is time to pick out my glasses.

We pick them up next week, so I will try to post pictures then.

How can a day go from good to bad so fast?

2007-01-21T21:20:00.000-06:00

Today we had to say goodbye to our dog, Ralphie. He's been with us since September, 2001. Richard had been travelling for work at the time of the attacks on 9/11, and was actually in the air when the planes hit. He landed safely in Columbus, was able to get his rental car, and drove home to Kansas instead of to his motel. Shortly after he got home, he got Ralph for us, to watch over Em and me while he was gone.

Ralphie has always been a nervous and needy dog. He has been a good dog, though. But, he developed a problem with children. He nipped at our neighbor's daughter through the fence. Our vet said it was just a territory/aggression problem. He nipped at our nephew when he was tickling Emily. Everyone tried to explain it away, that he was protecting Em. He was a little aggressive towards Evie at first, and tried to nip at her. So, we never left them alone together. I thought things were getting better. We worked with Evie about leaving Ralphie's food alone, leaving his crate alone, etc. This dog was on his last chance. His last last chance.

Today, he bit Emily on the hand. She is the last person I would have ever expected him to bite. Thankfully, she is ok. He didn't break the skin - but I think that she will have a bruise. Emily is Ralph's person. She feeds him, takes care of him. He often sleeps on the foot of her bed. It broke her heart that her puppy bit her.

Richard and I decided that we couldn't take any more chances. Ralphie had to go. Richard drove him to the shelter to give him up. If he passes the aggression test, he will have at least 7 days to find a home, a home without children. I think we all know what will happen if he fails the aggression test. It broke our hearts, but our children have to come first. I feel so badly for Richard - Ralphie was his buddy, and would often hang out with him in the basement, laying at his feet while he worked on the computer or did his homework. If you couldn't tell, my heart is broken, too. Evie is just confused - she knows that we are all sad, but doesn't know why.

I just feel like we failed Emily and Evie by having an unsuitable pet. We failed Ralphie - we had supposedly rescued him from the pound, but ended up being an unsuitable home for him. I don't know what we could have done differently. I am so sad.

An ordinary, yet wonderful, update!

2007-01-21T11:15:00.000-06:00

It is a cold, snowy morning. I think we got another 4-5 inches of snow overnight, and it made the outside world look fluffy and beautiful! Richard is outside right now snowblowing, and Evie is standing at the livingroom window pounding on the glass and yelling at him!

Yesterday we took a drive to Des Moines. We were looking for a new glider rocker for Evie's room. (the old one was inexpensive, and we got what we paid for!) Well, I found one I really liked, and it was on clearance, so we ended up buying two - one for Evie's room, and one for the living room. They are soft and sturdy and comfy, and somehow the wood on them ended up matching everything else wonderfully! We had to take them out of the boxes and do some creative rearranging, but we got them both in the back of the new van after we laid the back seats down. There is really a lot of room back there!

While we were in Des Moines, we ate lunch at the Texas Roadhouse. Since Evie got the go-ahead to try to drink with a straw, we let her try it out. She was actually successful at getting the water in her mouth several times! Each time she also ended up splashing her face, so she soon gave up the straw in favor of her pink sippy cup. We'll try again later, with juice or milk, which will be more of a reward for the hard work of learning to use a straw.

Evie also seems to be talking more, both in signs and words. She also seems to be trying to say many of the words that she signs. She loves to sign and say "light" and "banana" especially!

Evie's nights seem to be going better, too. There is a lot less fighting, and she seems to fall asleep easier. She has actually slept in her own bed all night a couple times! She likes her new rocking chair, and was petting it while I was rocking her last night.

Emily is doing wonderfully, too. She is a good student, and loves to read. Right now she is reading the sixth Harry Potter book, and is already impatiently waiting for the next one! She is very excited about her school field trip next week. They are going to learn how to ski at Snowstar, a local ski resort. None of us have ever skied, so she will be our new expert! Her school takes this fieldtrip in 4th, 5th, and 6th grades. Emily also happens to be Evie's favorite person in the world. Her sister loves to say "Ema!", and her favorite time of day is when her sissy comes home from school.

The Good and the Bad

2007-01-17T18:44:00.000-06:00

First, the bad news. Evie does not want to sleep at night, and has all but given up her afternoon naps. She fights and fights against sleep and against me. She wants me to hold her while she fights and cries and screams. Then, *poof*, all is back to normal, and she wants me to rock her and sing to her while we snuggle. It's confusing and exhausting. She also wants me to sit in the rocker next to her crib while she tries to fall asleep. Sometimes it takes hours to get her to sleep. When she wakes during the night, we bring her into our room to sleep in the playpen. (We tried cosleeping, but she likes to kick/hit/flip/elbow/poke, etc.) We are all so tired and cranky at this point. I think it is getting better, but I also think that I'll have to let you know in a couple weeks!

Now for the good news! We had another post-surgery appointment with Dr. P today. He is very happy with the way her palate has healed, and doesn't see any fistulas. (Richard and I had thought that we'd seen one.) He doesn't need to see her back until the end of May!

After her appointment, we went to Sam's so I could get some clementines. (Two boxes, I think I am addicted!) Evie saw the trail mix with the dried fruit and nuts, and asked for it. It has dried na-nanas in it! She held it and hugged it throughout the store and loudly sang the praises of na-nanas! When we left, it was lightly snowing, big fat flakes that land on your windshield and sit for a minute before melting, so you can see how delicate and feathery and crystallike they are. Pretty!

Evie had a tantrum...

2006-12-30T15:46:00.000-06:00

and I got the giggles. I feel bad about it, because she was so mad and didn't know what to do. It's not her fault that she's so darn cute!

I was on the couch with the heating pad on my tailbone, and she wanted her shoes on. Again. For the thousandth time in a row. So, I just quietly slipped the shoes behind the couch, which made her mad. Then, I slipped off her socks and tossed them over by the basement door so I could carry them down to wash in a little while. Remember, I am still flat on the couch during all of this.

Oh, she was so mad at me. She was already fussing and yelling about the shoes, but the socks were the last straw. She marched over, in tears, picked them up and stomped back over to me. Then she threw them at me, one at a time, while yelling NO NO NO!!! at me. She was so mad, and so cute all at the same time. I got the giggles, even though I tried really hard not to. Poor baby, it just made her madder. It took a lot of snuggling and patting her back on the couch, but I was finally forgiven.

She is having a difficult time adjusting after the holidays - she is once again the Amazing Baby Who Never Sleeps (Except In The Car When You Don't Want Her To Because You Know It Will Just Make Her Even Crankier When You Wake Her Up At Your Destination) She was up again really late last night, then up really early this morning. She came in to sleep with us in the middle of the night, and did flips and twirls and kicks and pokes, and cried whever the blanket did/didn't touch her exactly right, and whenever she lost Muh. (So, due to lack of sleep, I am becoming the Amazing Crankier Mom!) She also gets really mad because we can't see her sign when it is dark out and/or we have our eyes closed. (Have you ever had your eyes pried open at 4:00 a.m. by an angry toddler?)

Let's hope we can get settled back into our normal routine soon.

Christmas!

2006-12-26T18:19:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! This was Evie's first Christmas, as far as we know. (I need to find a Baby's First Christmas ornament for her.) We also got a new tree this year, and she is fascinated by it. We had to stash the gifts in the basement so she couldn't find them and open them before it was time. We put them under the tree on Christmas Eve, and the girls left out cookies and a Pepsi for Santa, and nibbled on some cookies themselves! You should have seen her eyes when all of these mysterious brightly wrapped presents started appearing under the tree!

Richard's parents took the train up from Texas to be with us for Christmas, and to meet Evie. She loves her Nana and Papa! She can say Nana, and loves to sign Papa. Needless to say, they are in love with her, too. Em is having lots of fun with her Nana and Papa, too.

Evie was so excited to rip the paper off of her gifts, and loved to play with the wrapping, too ~ especially the bows, ribbons, and gift bags. I think we all went overboard because it's so much fun to buy for a little one. The favorites? The Learning Puppy from Daddy, the Momo (Elmo/elbow!) phone from Nana and Papa, and the wagon full of big Legos from Grandma and Papa. We had a mountain of presents under the tree, and tons of boxes to recycle and bags of trash when we were done! Emily also made out like a bandit - she got a guitar from Daddy, with the promise of lessons to follow. She also got clothes and necklaces, and Littlest Pet Shop pets and a video game. I got a beautiful Mother's necklace with both of the girls' birthstones on it. I love it! I think Richard's favorites were the calendars - a wall "de-Motivational" calendar, and a desk calendar with stupid sayings.

Evie also loved the Christmas feast - well, anything to do with food is a hit in her eyes! I made a turkey breast, ham, party potatoes, green bean casserole, a relish tray and yeast rolls. We also had apple pie and strawberry rhubarb pie for dessert. Evie ate so many potatoes that I thought she would burst! She also liked the green bean casserole, and she licked all the butter off of her roll before she ate it! I also slipped a slice of her beloved American cheese onto her plate.

Here are my favorite girls! Emily after her school Christmas program, and Evie just being Evie!

Wednesday update!

2006-12-13T10:43:00.000-06:00

I called and moved up Evie's appointment with Dr. Paul to this morning. She is doing great! He is very pleased with how things look. He said she had a very big cleft and it was a difficult repair. I think he was not expecting it to look so good! She let him look in her mouth, and there was just a little fussing, but not bad.

We took the nonos off, and she can use a sippy cup again, suck her thumb, and feed herself without silverware. He said she could have a bottle, but I don't think we'll do that. As I type, she's drinking watered down apple juice from her sippy, and playing all of her musical toys at once!

She has now graduated to soft solids - oatmeal, mashed potatoes, very overcooked noodles, stage 3 baby foods, regular yogurts, etc. None of the beloved cheese, though. I guess it's too sticky? Next week we get to slowly introduce everything else back in. He wants to see her back in a month.

The diaper rash is a side effect of the augmentin, and he said it should go away since she's not taking it anymore.

She is in a much happier mood. I took her to Hyvee and bought a bunch of mushy foods for her, and she waved and smiled and charmed everyone. She even blew kisses to the cashier - we seem to get in her line a lot and they get on really well. She is also signing up a storm - all the face signs she couldn't do for a week!

I am so relieved. I knew she was doing well, but I really had no idea what to look for in her mouth. I am so glad Dr. P thinks it went well!

Saturday update

2006-12-09T21:05:00.000-06:00

Evie is still doing well. She has caught on to my half chicken broth/half baby food sweet potatoes trick, and is now boycotting that. She has eaten lots of pudding, yogurt, and "oatmeal juice" (the liquid from a package of instant oatmeal after it's been cooked.) She still won't drink anything out of her own cup, but has had tea, water, and a little juice out of everyone else's cups. She is getting really mad when everyone else eats and she can't have any. She really wants cheese, and keeps signing for it. She keeps asking for milk, too, but gets mad when she can't have it in a bottle. She won't drink it from a cup.

She is not fighting her medicine nearly as much, although she still hates it. She didn't have any tylenol today! She did have her antibiotic and ear drops.

The nonos really stink for a little one who communicates a lot by signing. She is making quite a few signs at arm's length, and also uses me or her stuffed bird to sign a lot of the words made by the face and body. She can't sign "uncle" right now, so she is calling him by the "hamburger" sign that he taught her at Thanksgiving!

The hospital and surgery picture post!

2006-12-08T15:52:00.000-06:00

Monday night, and Muh has a bath in preparation for the trip to the hospital:

Tuesday morning, bright and early at the hospital
Evie in her stylin' new hospital gown with the McDonald's gang on it:

Tuesday morning, after surgery and in our hospital room #3408

They low-jacked our baby! This alarm would sound an alarm if anyone tried to take Evie out of the pediatric surgical ward. It went off when they tried to remove it when we were leaving!

These show how beat up her little face looked in the hours after surgery:

Drinking pedialyte with a syringe and tube:

Watching the Doodlebops on Daddy's laptop:

Snuggling with Bird and Muh:

Sitting up so we can have apple juice with a spoon:

Evie got ballons from Grandma and Grandpa Hurst, Uncle Jim and Aunt Terri, and Big Sissy Emily! "Thank you for the balloons! I just don't feel very good right now, and mean mama wants to take pictures!"

A picture from Thursday, showing the nonos (arm splints) and how much the swelling has gone down in Evie's cheeks already: