Being Home is Fun!

We've so enjoyed our time together during the holidays. Jia has played with the gifts Santa brought as well as those given to her by family. There is now something to do at all times. But the old standbys of cardboard boxes and walking up and down, and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down (ooops, I digress) the stairs are still always a good time. I'm sad to see our time together end and the real world spark back up but that is what makes time off so special I suppose. Terrell had the energy to completely de-decorate the house on Jan. 1 - more power to him! Not me - I've actually taught Jia the joys of laying flat on her back on the floor. I tell her it's all about daydreaming - it's working! At least for 4-5 minutes. On the flip side, however, she has decided that 10 hours of sleep at night is just enough. Sound like a lot? Not when she's bouncing off the walls and ready for bed at 7 pm. That math is just plain ugly. So I began restricting her naps to 20 minutes twice a day and as of last night at least my evil plan worked. I kept her up until almost 8 pm and she slept until 6:20 am. Baby steps. But tonight she was soooo sleepy at 6:30 pm that we had a hard time making it until 7:20 pm. Yes, it's pathetic, my obsession with time is now in 10 minute intervals. It's because it is amazing what a person can accomplish with an extra 10 minutes in the morning. Shower and dress? 10 minutes. Make and have a cup of coffee? 10 minutes. Put on make up AND do hair? 10 minutes. You can see what an extra 20-30 minutes in the morning buys me. It buys an extra 20-30 minutes of sleep for me as well as a shower, cup of coffee and ability not to look like Attila the Hun all day. Warm wishes to all for the new year! Jia will have been a part of our family for 8 months in just 4 short days. Wow, what a miracle 2008 thrust upon us.

Santa Came! And I Heard He Was Up Really Late!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and all other celebrations to all! We were able to actually pull off our first Christmas! We had a wonderful, wonderful day. Jia decided 6:05 am was a good time to wake up (not that I looked at the clock or anything) so we preceded on 5 hours sleep to creep downstairs to the bounty that Santa was kind enough to bring. Our first Christmas with Jia. What can I say? Happy? Tired? Fulfilled in ways that can't be described? The joy of parenthood is immense. You can't possibly explain to someone who isn't a parent the joy of having a child. When I was single (even married) and childless, I was ok. Really. My life was always so full. I've always had many friends; good, funny, dear, loving friends. And a loving, caring, funny family. And Terrell - what a wonderful, loving husband. That truly is enough to fill a life. However, parenthood is different. I won't take the time or try to find the words to explain how. It just is. There are many ways to live life and many ways to find joy. I've finally found my way. A wonderul husband and a little girl. Love to all of my friends and family.

All I Want For Christmas

We clearly have. Although I think Jia had to get a few things straight with Santa. Apparently all went well since it ended up with a kiss.

Life with LaLa

I love these pictures. You can see our little firestorm LOVES how she spends her very busy days with her Aunt Lisa. I think I need to get better at this mommy stuff - Lisa always knows just how to keep Jia occupied! Maybe I just need more practice! Enjoy the pictures!

543 emails, a Cold Grilled Cheese Sandwich and Burned Soup

That describes work this week and my dinner tonight. Add to that a neglected dog, a sore back, an equally neglected (and ever patient) husband and that pretty much explains my life at the moment. Oh, and an average of 5 hours of sleep at night and 2 brownies during the day. But in the midst of the storm Jia is stunningly thriving. She now understands EXACTLY what you are saying. You may be thinking, wait, she's only 18 months old, how can that be possible? But she does. How do we know this? Jia - can you say water? Waa . Kitty Kat? Kitty Kat. Cow? Coooow (multiply this by 25 words at least). Jia, do you want to take a nap and lay your head down? She proceeds to bedroom and places her head on the bed. Jia, are you done eating? "All done Momma" (really). But don't think for a second we have a Stepford Child. The independence and natural testing are increasing at a rate almost as great as the number of work emails I get everyday. Oh, the electrical cord is something that will get Mommy running - fabulous. What's this? Diaper Genie? Excellent. Hu midifier? Ditto. But then there are the kisses. I hug Jia and rub lotion all over at bed time after her bath. She has to have at least 3 kisses during this time. Full on, head back, germy smooch. And we wonder why I'm sick all the time. Best germs ever. A few random pics - those who know me will see that Jia is most definitely my child by the looks on her face. heh heh.

Thankful

Jia's grandma got her a cool new toy to play with while visiting their house and the grandpa put it together for her. She was quite the helper! You'll see from the pictures that Jia loved getting right in the middle of the project! Jia also was right in the middle of helping me make stuffing for the Thanksgiving dinner we hosted. I'll just say it was a very interesting experience trying to cook for 7 (only 7, whew) with Jia at my legs or on my hip! Fortunately I had a lot of help from Terrell and his family once they got here. I fell into bed at the end of day feeling pretty accomplished and very, very thankful.

Jia is doing wonderfully I'm happy to report. We enjoyed 4.5 days together over the holiday and we had a blast together. We fall into a rhythm with each other when we have more than just two weekend days together. We play, shop, run errands and nap together. It's wonderful. She's getting to be such a big girl. Still a bit grumpy in the morning and after waking from naps but other than that she is so very happy. What a wonderful personality she has. She laughed, belly laughed, threw her head back and just giggled out loud during bathtime tonight. She blinked her eyes at me and I mimicked her. Oh, the delight at getting her mommy to mimick her! We continued this pattern for 4-5 minutes while she literally threw her head back in glee with an out loud belly giggle. I love laughter. It's one of the most important things in my life and it gives me such a warm thrill to know that is in Jia's nature too. It makes life a little easier when you can throw your head back and laugh. It feels so very good.

Happy Birthday to my dear sister Laura. I miss you and hope we can all be together soon. Jia needs to see the other LaLa in the family! Love you.

Happy Birthday LaLa

Jia's LaLa (Aunt Lisa) had a birthday on November 20th and today we celebrated as a family at Jia's grandma and grandpa's house (as always - thanks mom and dad). Here are a few pictures showing the beautiful Lisa and her equally beautiful children. Jia loves a chance weekend meeting with her in-town cousins, Aunt LaLa and Uncle Dave!

Jia continues to be incredibly clingy with me - I'm guessing it's because she just doesn't get enough mommy time during the week. As she gets older she'll better understand but in the meantime - she is lovingly cared for by her Aunt Lisa during the week while I work - a true second mommy the way Lisa loves and cares for her - plus Jia gets the added bonus of having all of her in-town cousins company. Thank you Lisa - I don't know how I'd pull this off without you - I certainly wouldn't be able to with such comfort knowing you are taking such wonderful care of Jia. Love you kiddo. (Lisa has been a part of our family since she met my brother at the ripe old age of 15 - so both she and my brother will always be "kiddo" to me!).

Oh - and p.s. - Jia got her first haircut - more on that later! But you'll see it in these pictures!

Lovely

Just one picture says it all. I miss Jia more and more everyday when I'm at work. She's the most delightful part of my day.

Am I 17 months or a movie star? Or both?

Oh the moods of a toddler. Jen, in one of her recent blog posts, captured the challenges of a toddler so vividly I felt I was actually there with her. These kids vacillate between charming movie star and queen of a horror flick so fast it's amazing! I had Jia on my hip or at my legs ALL weekend long. Ehh, ehh, ehh, ehh, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, ehh, ehh, ehh, AAAAAAAAAAAAAA, ehh, ehh, ehh, giggle, giggle, smack. And I know there are super mommies out there. You know the kind - all of this makes them smile and coo and knowingly nod their heads. It's just a phase. Aren't they cute? What do you need next sweetie? You want to be picked up? Of course, you need your mommy - I'm here to do anything you need and couldn't be more happy to do it. Are there moms who exist that are actually LIKE that? God love them, literally. I mean, I do FEEL all those things but sometimes I also just feel so exhausted! A long bath and a glass of wine does THIS mommy good.

A few pics from the weekend.

Open and Shut Them, Open and Shut Them

Any of you who have been through Music Together or had a child or grandchild in Montessori knows the title to this song. It's very cute and Jia loves it. However, it takes on an entirely different meaning while exploring around the house. Every door and cabinet gets this treatment. We knew it was coming and it's officially here! She's very much like her daddy in that if she opens a cabinet and gets something out it is very important to follow through with actually shutting the door - even if it means backtracking steps to put things in order. While spending time with my friend and colleague Kitty today I commented on the sweet potatoes on my pants. She asked - "Does Jia eat anything else?" :) Very funny and understandable comment. But I laughted and assured her our little firestorm does have days where she practically eats us out of house and home. Her Aunt Lisa keeps a record each day of Jia's food, excursions, activities, etc. Here is the list of food Jia ate TODAY:

6:50 am - 6 oz. formula and about 10 cheerios

9:00 am - cereal bar, grapenut cereal, yogurt balls

11:30 am - spaghetti with meatballs, kool-aid

3:00 pm - 1 Chick-Fillet Nugget, 1 fry, 5 oz. chocolate milk

4:10 pm - popcorn, picked apart (to avoid choking hazard), cran-rasberry juice

4:30 pm - 3 oz chocolate milk, sweet potato puffs (lots)

5:50 pm - half a container of microwaveable mac-n-cheese, 1 container stage 2 apple/sweet-potato baby food

7:00 pm - 1 oz. formula

The early morning and dinner and bedtime food happened at home - the rest Aunt Lisa had to come up with! And our little one is still not 20lbs! Although at her latest appt. she weighed in at 18 lbs 15 oz. so we're getting there! She has 4 molars cutting through so she is fairly miserable and has had several days in the past week where she rejects almost anything you put in front of her and just wants to suck her bottle. She's getting old for that but I'm just not going to worry about it. We don't offer that first and she gets lots of good nutrition but some days - well, she just wants comfort. I doubt she'll be walking down the aisle to get married with a bottle of formula! It all works itself out naturally! Right?

Here are some pics of Jia with her Daddy and at home.

7 of the Best Years of My Life

Happy 50th Anniversary to my parents. My mom and dad have had an incredible impact on my life and it is only as good as it is because of them. Thank you - from the bottom of my heart.

You have raised 3 successful, well adjusted, happy humans. And now enjoy 7 beautiful smart grandchildren. Wow. They've enjoyed many other successes along the way but I know their family is their most important accomplishment and we feel that everyday.

Both of my parents have an incredible sense of humor and they make me smile and laugh regularly. Many anniversaries have been celebrated as a family and my dad always thanks my mom for 7 of the best years of his life! :) They are truly the epitome of wonderful parents. Our family has always been so very functional that I joke our only dysfunction is how functional we are!

Thank you mom and dad. I love you deeply.

As grandparents your fabulousness continues. If that is not a word, I don't care! Here are a few pictures of Jia because I know you miss her since you've been out on your vacation trip. She misses you too!

p.s Yes, I know there are sweet potato stains on Jia's high chair - bad mommy!

Why I'm Not Skinny

Ok - I've been tagged! Thanks Jen - now I have to tell weird things about myself! :)

This is Jen's wonderful blog about her beautiful family. Jennifer's daughter Kelly and Jia were best friends in the orphanage. I'm amazed that we found each other on-line! We were not in China at the same time.

http://tochinaforkelly.blogspot.com/

There is a huge pool of things to pull from - I'll do my best to limit it to just seven!

1. I have chronic insomnia and wake up with a racing mind. A friend once told me a transcendental meditation trick is to pick a number and in your mind trace it over and over on an imagined black board to help fall asleep. Stupidly, I picked the number 8. Why didn't I pick the number 1?

2. I eat chocolate at 10 am - routinely. (See title of this post.)

3. I wake up with a tune in my head everyday - lately it has involved Blue's Clues - but sometimes it's a bad Barry White song.

4. I've colored my hair since I was 25 - I've always wanted to be a natural red head.

5. I wish I could write for a living. David Sedaris is my hero. Instead I'm a businesswoman............zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

6. As a young woman I said one of my dating criteria was that I'd never date a guy with a butt smaller than mine. It severely limited my dating pool.

7. I get out of bed at 5:30 am every morning. Not interesting but a fact. An exhausting one.

I don't have the 7 blogs to link to! I'll work on that and add later!

Last Minute Campaign Calls

Jia made some last minute calls to rally support for her favorite Presidential candidate. Let's hope they pan out.