Sunday afternoon at the puppet show

Sunday after church, we met our friends Dana and Jia for lunch and then went together to a puppet show. We are blessed to have a local puppeteer who puts on brilliant, original puppet shows...everything from Little Red Riding Hood to the Mikado. I don't throw the word around a lot, but he's an absolute genius.

Anyway, the girls were very excited about the show and looked so cute together, as usual...




The show was funny and cool and afterwards, the kids got an up close look at the puppets. One of the musicians even let the girls pound on the drums and play some of his instruments...


We had such a lovely time - the temperature today actually rocketed into the mid-30s, so we took a walk afterwards. I swear, it's the first exercise I've had in weeks, thanks to this blasted cold weather. But the temps are supposed to head back down tomorrow, so no one's putting away the hats and mittens yet.

Hope ya'll had a good weekend too...back to the grind tomorrow!

Mommy - Ace Sports Photographer (NOT!)

At risk of sounding egotistical, my skills as a photographer have improved vastly since having a child. I think over the past four years, as I've taken hundreds if not thousands of pictures of Emma, I've learned a lot about what makes a decent photo. However, I have to say that I have developed little skill in taking photos of a moving child. It is so hard to capture someone in motion...as I discovered today at Emma's gymnastics class. I tried and tried to get some good photos of her in action, but I'm not happy with any of them.

That said, here are the best of the pathetic bunch (after seeing them, I'm sure you'll be thinking "These are the best ones? What did the duds look like?"

This morning at Emma's class, the girls got their first crack at the uneven parallel bars. I have to tell you, it's a little unnerving to see your 31 pound daughter, hanging upside down on the bars.




I did get a kind of cute shot of her working on her floor exercise...but, of course, she wasn't really moving much at the time I snapped the photo.


Ah well, practice makes perfect. Maybe I'll do better next week...

Prepare to be scared

Okay, what's the story here, you're wondering. Did my daughter just go 12 rounds with Mike Tyson? No, what she did is - while I was making dinner tonight, she got out her Libby Lu makeup kit (see January 28 post) without permission and gave herself a makeover. Now I'm certainly no makeup expert (one look at me would tell you that.) But I'm pretty sure using bright red lipstick as eye shadow is not really considered all that chic. But Emma was so proud of herself, I couldn't be that mad. Needless to say, her makeup kit is now on the top shelf of mommy's closet. Thank goodness it's bath night!

Greetings from the deep freeze

I can't believe it's been a week since I posted anything...I'm convinced it's because it's too cold to do anything requiring any energy. We've had more than two straight weeks with the temperatures below 30 degrees. Yesterday, the high was 7, but with the wind chill, it was like -15.

Of course, since it was practically sub-zero, we had a million things to do...gymnastics, a birthday party and then we went with some friends to see Sesame Street Live. Although Emma has never been a Sesame Street fan, she really enjoyed it. For me, it was the longest 90 minutes of my life! I've had a good time at some of the kids' shows we've seen...Dora the Explorer, Clifford and Disney Princesses on Ice come to mind. But this was mind-boggling dull to me. But the tickets were free, and as I said, Emma liked it - and loved getting cotton candy - so it was worth it.

Other than that..nothing much happening except trying to stay warm. Emma started to get a runny nose yesterday and woke up with a cold this morning. Hopefully it will be a mild one...it seems everyone here now has a cold or the flu. I can't wait until spring!

Anyway, here's a funny picture I took of Emma at the birthday party...my little goofy girl!

Our crazy day

So here was our day on Saturday:

Leave house at 9:30 to go to Emma's gymnastic lessons.
Rush from gymnastic lessons to get to Emma's friend Emme's birthday party at Libby Lu (more on that later)
After two-hour party, go with some of the party people to eat at Rainforest Cafe because everyone is starving.
After almost two hours at Rainforest, rush across town to make it in time for our monthly playgroup with Emma's Chinese friends.
After playgroup, a bunch of us go out to eat at local Mexican restaurant.
Get home at 7:30 p.m.
Go to bed at 8:30 p.m. exhausted.

A long day, to say the least, but fun.

Okay, the birthday party at Libby Lu. For those of you unfamiliar with Libby Lu...it's like they stuffed 500 princesses into a store and it exploded. If you have a girl into princess and girly girl stuff, it's heaven. In addition to the rows of little girl makeup, crowns, glitter, jewelry and hair accoutrements, you can book birthday parties where the guests can get makeovers. So Emma's friend Emme had her party there yesterday and let me tell you, these girls were on cloud nine. First you get to decide if you want to be a princess or a rock star (guess which one our girl picked!) Then you had your makeup done and your hair done. Here's what Emma looked like when her makeover was complete:


And here's a picture of Emma with Emme (who went for the rock star look)


I didn't mind this whole thing too much because they went really easy on the makeup and they did such an incredible job on Emma's hair...it was so cute (if you click on the picture of Emma and Emme, you can see upclose how wonderful Emma's hair looked,) I have to tell you, when I saw her after they got done working on her, I actually got tears in my eyes. I have always thought Emma was just about the cutest girl on the planet. But when I saw her like this, I got a glimpse into the future of what a beautiful young woman she was going to be. Probably way too soon for me.

But when we got home last night, it was into the tub to scrub off the makeup and the hair glitter. So I've got my little 4-year-old girl back now.

Today it's church and we're hooking up with our friends Dana and Jia this afternoon. When I'm going to clean the house, do laundry and go grocery shopping is up in the air.

Hope all of you are enjoying your weekend!

Months vs. years

Last night after work/school, Emma and I went to Target to get a birthday present for a friend of hers and then went out for dinner (hey, it's been a long week.) So Emma and a little girl were hanging out in the play area and I started chatting with her mom. I asked how old her little girl was and she said "39 months."

Excuse me...I was unaware I was going to have to do math when I got into this conversation. So now I have to get out my rusty mental calculator and think "okay, 39 divided by 12"...oh, so she's THREE.

It is my personal opinion (and therefore should be the law) that you have to stop reciting your child's age in months at 23...as in 23 months. I'm sorry, after that you just have to say "two." If you like, you can be more specific, such as "she just turned two" or "he's two-and-a-half" or "she'll be three in March."

Which brings up the question...when do you stop saying "and-a-half?" I frequently told people Emma was two-and-a-half and three-and-a-half. But I can't remember ever telling someone she was four-and-a-half. Maybe four should be the cutoff for that, since I have taken it upon myself to lay down these rules. I certainly know I would roll my eyes if someone told me their child was six-and-a-half.

Of course, the really sad part is, I spend more time thinking about these matters than I do on issues like whether the troop surge will make any difference in Iraq.

Such is my life these days...sigh!

Snowmen and angels

The last thing we really needed after last week's ice storm was six inches of snow. But that's what we got last night. It was that heavy, wet snow that is a nightmare to shovel. I spent an hour this morning shoveling out our driveway - it will be a miracle if my back doesn't totally spaz out, which tends to happen when I overdo things.

On the positive side, heavy, wet snow is the most fun to play in. So this afternoon Emma and I headed outside to the frolic in the winter wonderland. First, we made angels in the snow - which actually isn't all that easy in the heavy stuff. But it was still fun...


Then we attempted to build Emma's first snowman. It has been forever since I've built a snowman, and I'm telling you, it isn't as easy as I remember! But we managed to mold together a sad, pathetic-looking snow creature that in some ways resembles a man...


I swear, Emma is crouching down in a futile effort to make our snowman look bigger. Anyway, we had fun and I'm sure we will both sleep like logs tonight.

My little Mary Lou Retton

Emma's arm has recovered nicely, so we went to our first gymnastic lesson today. Emma was very excited, but as I anticipated, got very clingy as the class began and I practically had to drag her onto the floor. Fortunately, the instructor took her under her wing and let Emma stand next to her during class. Here's Emma sitting next to her new little friend Cassidy...


After a very tentative start, Emma ended up having a great time. And at the risk of sounding like one of those delusional stage moms, she really seems to have a talent for gymnastics. She certainly has the physique for it. The other parents were commenting on how well Emma did on the balance beam (despite the uncertain look she has in this picture, she really did great on the beam.)


So I'm all ready to order our tickets for the 2016 Olympics - wherever they may be - because Emma will no doubt be the captain of the U.S. gymnastics team by then (kidding!)

Okay...what happened here?

No, despite the fact that our entire metropolitan area is a skating rink, Emma did not fall down on the ice. We finally got out of the house yesterday and we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant after running some errands. While we were sitting in our little booth, a waiter dropped a glass on the floor and, as she leaned out to see what had happened, Emma fell right out of booth and onto the hard floor.

I guess I should have known something serious had happened when she didn't cry. Normally, Emma breaks into hysterical tears for like 90 seconds every time she has any kind of little mishap. But after this, she just sat on my lap with this pale, pinched look on her face. She said she was fine, but when we got home, and I got her pjs on, she started crying and crying, saying her arm hurt. These are the moments when the parenting books really don't help much. I just sat there with her in my lap, wondering if I should just give her some Tylenol and put her in bed, or if we needed to get to a doctor. I knew she didn't have a fracture or anything because she could bend her arm and wiggle her fingers. But when she didn't stop crying, I bundled her up and headed out to the closest emergency room.

What a madhouse...there were like 40 people waiting to be seen, the majority of whom had wiped out on the ice and broken arms, legs, tailbones or heads. Shockingly, they got to us fairly quickly (like after 30 minutes.) They examined her, x-rayed her arm and said she had a small crack in one of her elbow bones. Not enough to put on a cast at this point, but she needs to keep her arm in a sling for a week or so. If it still really bothers her after a few days, we may need a cast.

When we got home, I dosed her with Tylenol, put her into my bed and then crawled in with her. She fell right asleep and I watched the rest of the Golden Globes. Emma whimpered all night in her sleep, especially when she rolled over on her arm. Her school was cancelled today so we're home, trying to recuperate from our little freak accident.

Ah...the adventures of parenting! It's certainly never boring!

Still shut in...

...but appears the storm is finally coming to an end. After 48 straight hours of sleet, the precipitation has turned to snow and should be ending soon. Hopefully we can dig out later today and get to the grocery store at least!

We've been entertaining ourselves fairly well. It helped that Emma took at 2.5 hour nap yesterday...that makes a tremendous difference in how the day goes. Last night, we decided to make a fort with the clothes basket and Emma's khakis (blankets!)


Emma also got her first introduction to the IPod...I've never let her use mine because I didn't want to start her on the road to hearing impairment so soon. But I turned the volume down low and loaded some of her favorites, like Hilary Duff, Laurie Berkner and Dora - and she listened for quite awhile...


So I guess we're going to make it out of this mess with our sanity in tact. However, I do think we're going to take a break from playing Go Fish and Crazy Eights for awhile...I swear, we've played about a hundred games of cards over the past two days!

Cabin fever

Ugh...like much of the Midwest, we are in the middle of a winter storm. It's that lovely "wintery mix" of sleet, freezing rain and snow that makes life miserable. It started yesterday afternoon with a nasty sleet storm. Emma's school closed at noon so I went to get her and we made it home by 1 p.m.

Now please don't misunderstand...I love spending time with my daughter. We never seem to have enough time together really. However, the prospect of being stuck inside with a 4-year-old for three straight days (which is how long this storm is supposed to last) would fill most parents with dread. By 5 o'clock yesterday afternoon, I was getting weary of hearing "Mommy, play with me" and "Mommy, I'm bored" and "Mommy, can we GO somewhere?" And we probably had at least two more days of this!

Fortunately, the relentless pelting of ice and snow let up for a couple of hours late this morning and we ran out to Target and met some friends for lunch. But then it started up again and it's back to the house (with the walls slowly closing in...) It's not that Emma and I can't entertain ourselves...we can - but not for 12 straight friggin' hours! We are just used to being on the go a lot, I guess. Anyway...here are some pictures from our lovely weekend so far...as you can see, being stuck inside has made Emma a bit goofy too.

I convinced her to try on her new swim suit (see yesterday's post) - I think she likes it!


Later, I let her pick out whatever she wanted to wear - since it appeared we weren't going to be going anywhere. This is the ensemble she came up with...


I think she thought the diaphanous pink skirt, the fur-trimmed pink sweater and the pink Crocs went together because they are all pink.

Finally, I think this kind of sums up our mental state right now...


We're going a little crazy!

Gymbo spree

For those of you who don't live in the Gymboree universe, it's time to redeem your Gymbucks. So yesterday during my lunch hour, I dashed over to the nearest Gymboree to see what looked cute (uh, just about everything!) It was the usual madhouse there. Even though they had tons of winter clothes marked way down, I was in the mood to get Emma something for summer - despite the fact that warm weather is months away.

I spied this adorable swim suit and knew it was perfect for my gal. I can't wait to see her running (WALKING) around the pool this summer in this. Of course, I had to buy the matching sunglasses and picked up a couple of cold weather tops super-cheap. But it's the swim suit I was most excited about.

Mommy Einstein

It was a fairly nice winter day on Sunday, so Emma and I headed to the park to get some exercise. We were hiking around the park and there was a huge pine tree with scads of pine cones underneath. Emma walked around the tree, picking the biggest and best pine cones. We put them in a plastic bag, along with a few acorns. I suggested that maybe we could buy some glittery spray paint and little sparkly jewels and decorate them. Emma's eyes got really big and she said "Mommy, that is SUCH a great idea!"

So we went to Michael's and spent $12 on spray paint and glue-on jewels to decorate a few pine cones. But hey...your kid thinking you're a genius...priceless.

I'll have to remember this day ten years from now, when everything I say to Emma will be greeted with a roll of her eyes to show what a total idiot she thinks I am!

Switched at adoption?

Not only do Emma and I look nothing alike...we are very different individuals.

I was always a bit of a tomboy. I played on the basketball, tennis and badminton teams while in school, and still enjoy playing in a volleyball league today. Emma has no interest in anything remotely athletic. She is at the age now where many of her little friends are signing up for soccer and t-ball, but she has absolutely zero enthusiasm for the idea. I have signed her up for gymnastics lessons beginning next week, but that is about as athletic as she'll get, and I'm not even sure how that will go.

Emma's interests center totally around being a girly-girl. She loves prancing around in princess dresses, wearing tiaras and sparkly shoes. She adores putting on makeup. I'm one of those women who puts on just enough makeup so I don't scare people when I'm out in public. Emma could sit in front of her grandma's light-up makeup mirror for hours, applying eye shadow, blush and lipstick. Sure, sometimes she puts the eye shadow on her cheeks and the blush on her eyelids, but she knows more about makeup than I do.

The point I'm making is...there could not be two more different people than the two of us. So here's my theory...

When Emma's dossier was in the matching room, so was Elizabeth Taylor's (for the sake of argument, let's forget the fact that Liz is about 30 years past the CCAA age limit for parents.) So Liz's file and my file are right next to each others in a pile. And a brand new worker in the matching room is working on the dossiers. But he's a little confused and distracted because it's his first day and he accidently staples the baby meant for Liz onto my dossier, and she was matched with Emma.

So while I have this girly-girl, Elizabeth Taylor is sitting in her mansion in Beverly Hills with all her tiaras and jewels and perfume and makeup - and she has a little girl who asked for a lacrosse stick for Christmas.

In all seriousness, Emma and I might have widely varying interests at this point. But she has always been, and always will be, the perfect child for me...I guess the CCAA knew what they were doing!

And the award for the world's worst mom goes to...

...ME! Yesterday we decided to take advantage of all the New Year's sales and do a little shopping. I needed a couple of jackets or sweaters to get me through the winter, so we stopped at a favorite clothing store to browse. Apparently about a thousand people had the same idea, because the place was packed.

I saw a skirt I liked and was flipping through the rack to see if they had my size. When I turned around, Emma was nowhere to be found. I start walking around, calling out "Emma." I circled the store, but I couldn't find her. Although I am really kind of paranoid about child predators, that really didn't enter my mind (if you were a child predator, would you head to Coldwater Creek to see if there was any action? Probably not.) But I was concerned she might have left the store or something and was outside.

I was about to head outside when I heard someone's voice saying "Donna...Donna." So I started running around the store, trying to find the voice. Finally, I spotted a sales clerk holding Emma, who had tears running down her face. I ran up and got her and thanked the woman and apologized. I felt like every eye in the place was on me, a mom who was too busy shopping for herself to keep track of her kid. I kept telling Emma how sorry I was that I got lost. She said in her tiny voice "That's all right, Mama. I still think you're a good mom." Stab me in the heart, why don't you?!

I felt so guilty about the entire incident that I played Barbies with Emma for TWO HOURS when we got home. And I let her sleep with me last night, which is a real sacrifice for me, since Emma thrashes about at night like a wounded wolverine and also talks in her sleep.

I can't believe this is the first time in our four years together that I have lost Emma at a store. I guess that's pretty good, but I still feel badly about the whole thing.

Happy New Year!

We spent New Year's Eve with our friends Dana and Jia...


So Happy New Year from Princess Emma and Princess Jia!

(and their moms too!)

If looks could kill...

So after a fun day together, my precious little angel decided she did NOT want to go to bed last night. The minute I mentioned that it was getting close to bedtime, her eyes filled with tears and she said in her little quivering voice "But I'm not tired and I want to stay up with you."

Before your heart melts, I should tell you that Emma is pretty good at turning the tears on and off when she wants something (or in this case, didn't want to do something.) So, despite the tears, I got her clothes off her totally limp and uncooperative body and got her nightgown on. Then it was off to the bathroom to go potty and brush our teeth. I think reality was setting in, because this is the look Emma shot me while she was sluggishly brushing her teeth...


Isn't she adorable? Anyway, upstairs to bed we went, a quick story and then lights out. Despite her protestations, Emma was asleep within seconds. And here it is, 12 hours later, and she's still asleep! I think someone was more tired than she knew.

At least someone got some new clothes!

I may have mentioned that my Christmas largesse consisted primarily of clothes that didn't fit me (big surprise!) However, Emma totally lucked out and got a fantastic new dress-up outfit from my Aunt Hazel. Everything fit her and it looks mah-velous!


Unfortunately, I snapped this picture before Emma draped herself with the bright purple feather boa that makes this ensemble complete!

Belated Merry Christmas!

We just got back from my parent's house...we had a fantastic holiday. Nothing earthshaking...just a great time with our family.

Emma says she had a super Christmas and was so excited that Santa remembered that she was staying at Biggie and Poppa's for Christmas. Here she is, opening her gift from Santa...the ultra-hip Polly Pocket Cruise Ship...


Her big present was the new bike she got from grandma and grandpa...they got her a 12 inch bike last Christmas, but she has already outgrown it! So we went with the 16 inch Cinderella bike. It's a little big, but I think it will be fine by summertime...


I got a bunch of clothes that didn't fit, but who cares? It was just fun watching Emma enjoy the holiday.

Here's my favorite picture I took this week...Emma was sitting on her Uncle Murphy's lap...


I don't know what it is about this picture, but Emma looks so grown up to me. I can't believe I will have a five-year-old in a couple of months.

Hope everyone had a great holiday...from catching up on the blogs, it sounds like you did!

And we're off...

...tomorrow to spend the holiday at my parent's house. As you can see, Emma is packed and ready to go!

Although I'm not that thrilled with the long drive, we're looking forward to spending Christmas with my mom and dad. Emma is so out-of-her-mind excited about Christmas this year. I'm convinced four is about the age where the anticipation of Christmas is nearly unbearable for a child. The season really does take on a whole new meaning when it's shared with kids.

Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday...hopefully I'll have some festive pics of Emma for you after Monday!

Not so fast...

As I've read the comments some of you have left on my last post, I was concerned that I may have come across as the world's most perfect, know-it-all parent. I was re-reading the post and I really did sound like a self-congratulatory cross between Dr. T. Berry Brazelton and the Supernanny. Trust me when I tell you, every day I wake up and hope to be a fantastic parent and every single day, I fall short (some days, WAY short!)

It seems like at the end of the day, there's always something I beat myself up about. I'm constantly doubting my parenting skills (or lack of said skills.) There's something I said to Emma that day that I now regret or something I should have said. I came down too hard on her about something, or I bought her something she really doesn't need and now I'm spoiling her. Then there are the days where I'm tired and cross and she's whiny and we seem to be at odds all day. Those are the days when you just have tell yourself to start all over again the next day and hope that your kid isn't storing all this stuff in her head for when she writes her "Mommie Dearest" memoir in 35 years.

I swear, every night when I go to bed at night, I pray to God to give me the strength and wisdom to be a better mom the next day.

I guess the point of this rambling post is...no need to pat me on the back and tell me what a great mother I am. I think I'm a better mom than I ever thought I would be. But I know there are people out there doing a better job than me. I'm definitely a work in progress!

The meltdown

Let me preface this by saying I have been pretty much blessed with the world's most even-tempered and well-behaved child. I'm sure it's partly due to her genetics and partly due to the fact that I expect Emma to behave and she knows there are consequences if she doesn't. I think I've had to put her in the "naughty chair" like three times in her life. And in the past four years, we've had to leave a grocery store once and a restaurant once because she wasn't being good. The point is, she's a wonderful kid.

However, she's not perfect (what child is?) It seems that every year, a couple months before her birthday, she has a bad week or two where she apparently is getting all the bad behavior out of her system. She did it before she turned two (I remember the first time she threw herself on the floor sobbing hysterically because she didn't get her way, I was convinced she was autistic!) And she did it right before she turned three and four. And now we're having a little bump a couple months before she turns five.

So the past week, I've seen a significant upswing in the teariness and whining (when Emma starts the whining, I tell her "sorry, I can't understand you because I don't speak Whinese" - I know, what a comedian!) I guess I should be grateful she doesn't ever throw tantrums - man, I have friends whose kids scream and yell and hit them and do all this stuff I wouldn't put up with for a second! But the incessant whining over the past week, I have to admit, has really gotten on my nerves.

Anyway, last night we had Emma's friend Helen over for a couple of hours (her parents had a neighborhood holiday party to attend.) Unfortunately, from almost the moment Helen was dropped off, Emma decided it was going to be an unpleasant evening for everyone involved. We made some gingerbread cookies and Emma pouted because she thought hers turned out badly. We made reindeer out of construction paper and Emma sulked because I had the nerve to compliment Helen on hers. We decided to play a game and, of course, the girls fought over who got to use a particular game piece. When I told Emma that Helen was our guest and she could choose which one she wanted to play with, well. that was the final straw! Emma ran into her room and flung herself on her bed sobbing. She wisely didn't close the door, so we could hear the full extent of her agony.

I know some parents would disagree, but my strategy when we have one of these rare meltdowns is to pretty much ignore it. I went in the room and told Emma when she got herself under control, she should come back out and play with Helen and me. But like most kids, Emma is stubborn and she stayed in there and sobbed for the better part of 30 minutes. Helen's mom came to pick her up and asked what was going on, I just rolled my eyes...she understood!

So like ten seconds after Helen left, Emma came out of her room and said (like nothing had happened) "Can I have a snack now?" I had to sit her down and explain how VERY disappointed I was in her behavior and how I wouldn't be surprised if Helen doesn't want to come back over for a long time. Which led to more tears. She wanted to know if I hated her (she has been pulling this out everytime I need to reprimand her about anything.) I assured her I didn't hate her, I loved her more than anything in the world, but that doesn't mean I don't always like her behavior.

Blah, blah, blah. I guess we'll see today if she got her little annual emotional growing spurt out of her system. We have another busy weekend, including going to our church's huge holiday spectacular with a big light show, the choir singing Christmas songs, a live nativity and Santa and Mrs. Claus (it kind of takes in everything!) I would prefer not to have to leave this because of my whiny kid. I think I'll just be positive and BELIEVE she's going to shape up!

Anyway, I thought I'd leave you a picture of Emma from earlier in the week when she was happier...it's hard to believe we were sledding at this same park two weeks ago!

FFFF challenge

Donna's FFFF challenge this weeks is pajamas! Emma pretty much prefers nightgowns to pj's. Here are a couple pictures of her in her favorite nightgown. This particular evening, she was favoring us with one of her energetic interpretive dances...

M-m-m-m...corn-on-the-cob!

Tired

We've had a very full and exhausting weekend. What is it about this time of year? We are not exactly social butterflies, but we are booked every weekend until the end of the year. I like to be out and about, but we did way too much this weekend. The house is a disaster area because I haven't had any time to clean. I did just do two loads of laundry, so I feel a bit better.

Anyway, the most fun we had this weekend was on Saturday when we met two of my friends and their daughters from China. We went to this children's museum thing that the kids loved. Emma, of course, spent the bulk of her time in the art area. Here's a picture of her and her friend Kimmie, who just got glasses and looks adorable!


They had this pretend hospital and Emma was the doctor (guess who had to be the patient?!) Anyway, she ran around with these glasses and badge and a pager and was hysterical! My favorite moment was when her "pager" went off and she yelled "Let the nurse handle it - I have an emergency here!" I love this picture...


I wonder if there's any chance Emma will ever become a doctor? That would be cool...I could stop saving for retirement.

And here's one other pic of Emma, Kimmie and Jenna. They will all turn five in the next three months...it's so hard to believe. They are all such sweet girls...each unique in her own way. Us moms met at an adoption seminar during the wait and have stayed close for more than five years now.


Well, I need to unload the dishwasher so I don't feel like a total slug. Have a good week, all!

Four years ago today...

...I was sitting in a meeting room at a hotel in Changsha, China waiting to be given my baby girl. My memories of that day are a blur. But I do remember being almost sick with apprehension. The day before, we had been given the latest development reports on our children-to-be. What I zeroed in on was that little Yin Yi Qian (Emma) got very upset when she was around strangers. My new daughter was going to hate me! She had been at the orphanage since she was two days old and had never left the building until she was carried onto a bus on this chilly December day to be driven to a hotel 90 minutes away to be handed to a total stranger who looked and smelled different than anyone she had ever seen before. I was almost in tears thinking about how confused and upset she was going to be. I was just sitting in this room with my sister and niece and 11 other families and thinking to myself what a monumental mistake this had been. I was literally shaking.

But I didn't have much time to fret because our CCAI guide announced the babies were here! And who was the very first baby that was carried in the room...but little Yin Yi Qian! Here is a short slide show of our first moments together. I apologize for the poor quality of the photos. This was before the advent of digital photography and I had to scan these in with my crappy scanner. But anyway...

Here was the moment I was handed my daughter...as you can see, she looks thrilled!


As you can tell, our first few moments were not without a few tears!



Bu then I showed her the little toy I had brought for her...it was a small baby mirror.


I really don't know why I chose this particular toy...but it was a brilliant choice. Who knows if my baby had ever even seen herself in a mirror before? After that, it was the start of a love affair that continues to this day (not between Emma and me...between Emma and the MIRROR!)


After showing her the mirror, there were no more tears from Miss Emma...she was a pretty happy little baby for the rest of our time in the room...


The one thing that I was later a little sad about was that, because Emma was the first baby in the room, I really didn't get to enjoy the rest of our group getting their babies. Of course, we would get to know them over the next two weeks, but I would have liked to have seen the joy of the other families as they saw their babies for the first time.

Anyway, after like 15 minutes, we were told to take the babies back to our rooms and try to wind down a little from all the excitement. When I got Emma to the room, I began taking off her FIVE layers of clothing! No exaggeration. When I finally got her stripped down, it was time to attempt my first diaper change. My niece D.J. watched with much amusement. I'm sure Emma was thinking at this point "who is this idiot and why can't she get a diaper on the first try!"


Then it was time for our first bottle. I have to tell you that during the wait, I spent countless hours researching baby bottles and finally settled on Avent bottles with the disposable liners. The perfect choice. So I mixed up Emma's Chinese formula, which we had bought at the grocery store the night before. I put it in my state-of-the-art bottle and put it in Emma's mouth. "No, I don't think so," she said. Well, she didn't actually SAY it, but she kept pushing the bottle away so I knew that's what she was thinking. I was in a real panic. She was very hungry but she wouldn't let me give her a bottle. Our CCAI rep said some babies only like the bottles they're used to. So my sister Marcia ran across the street to a little store across the street and bought some cheap Chinese bottles. We made cuts in the nipples so the formula would come out easier and - TAH-DAH - I successfully gave Emma her bottle!


And here's a little post-bottle bliss...I think we were starting to bond a little...


This is my favorite picture of the two of us from the entire trip...and it was taken just a few hours after we met...


I have to thank my sister Marcia who did such a good job taking pictures of our trip to China...because my memories of the experience are sometimes blurry, it's so great to see all the photos she took.

Far from being a monumental mistake, choosing adoption was the best decision I have ever made. Has it always been easy? No, of course not. We had a very difficult first month home. The first week back, I was sick with infected tonsils and the remnants of food poisoning that I picked up my last day in China (I spent the entire flight home in the bathroom throwing up.) The first week, we were up all night and slept all day because of the time difference. And even when we got back on schedule, poor Emma suffered through night terrors for a month. She would be fast asleep, but cried and cried. I felt so helpless and was exhausted. Even though I didn't know it at the time, I'm sure I was suffering through some post-adoption depression. But soon Emma started to sleep through the night without crying and I got some sleep and we got through it all.

So I can't believe it's really been four years...how has the time gone by so quickly? It's a cliche, but it really does seem like yesterday. On the other hand, I really have no memory of my life before Emma, so it seems like forever. I love you so much, my little girl...every day, but especially on December 9th!

Xmas photo outtakes

We had Emma's Christmas pictures taken a couple of weeks ago...here are a couple of them we ended up not using for the cards. The resolution isn't very good because they're scanned from proofs. But I thought the photographer did a good job. We've been going to her since Emma was one year old. She's not a great artiste or anything...she's just been taking kids' pictures for more than 20 years and does a nice job of capturing their personalities. We really like her. Anyway, hope you like the photos!

Let's go sledding!

Whenever it snows here, hundreds of kids head to a park charmingly dubbed "Suicide Hill" to go sledding. The park has a frighteningly steep hill that stops just short of a very busy street. Families have been sledding at this park for generations.

So when we got 8 inches of snow Thursday night, my friend Dana and I decided to try to talk our girls into sledding at Suicide Hill. Jia was totally game, but Emma took some convincing. One of the few things that concerns me about Emma is her reluctance to try anything new. She is such a timid child (hopefully this will come in handy down the road when one of her friends pressures her to try cigarettes or drugs.) In the meantime, she often hangs back when it comes to new experiences. But we threw caution to the wind and loaded our sleds in the car and drove over to the park, which was quite the scene.

Much to my surprise, it didn't take much convincing to get Emma on the sled and we were going down the less steep part of the hill in no time!

The girls had an absolute blast and looked so cute on the sled together!

Of course, for the first time,I found out how much work sledding is for PARENTS...I'm the one that had to drag the sled back up the hill time after time - often pulling my 31 pound daughter on it. I'm a little sore this morning, but it was great fun and I'm sure we'll be doing it again soon.