Where Oh Where Have We Been?

Having tons of late summer fun! We've had such a great time together as a family these past 6 weeks or so! I have lots to share and many, many pictures. But just getting back from a week at the beach and I'm a bit tired. Just wanted to let any readers we may have know that all is good and sorry for lack of posts! I'll get some up over the next week or so detailing our adventures!

Jia's Sunflower

For Mother's Day this year Jia surprised me with a great big "Happy Mudder's Day Mommy" squeal, a bear hug and a sloppy kiss. I'd never had a better day. Along with her dreamy greeting she presented me a gift she made at school. It included an organic pot with a Happy Mother's Day note from Jia that promised the delight of a sunflower. We arrived at home and T promptly planted the seed (snugly inside the organic pot)into a big container. It sat and sat and sat. T lovingly watered and fertilized. These pictures show the bounty of Jia's sweet Mother's Day gift oh so many months ago. Thank you sweet daughter. I love it now just and as I loved it then. The first picture is especially poignant for the mom. While all sunflowers may present in this fashion, I will attribute the heart to a higher power!

Bug Catching and Butterfly Watching

Our intrepid explorer asks daily to venture outside to hunt for bugs with her Daddy. We have her bug catchers within easy reach and you can bet she'll grab them and ask her dad for her daily adventure. She has brought a number of interesting little creatures into the house to show her mommy on more than several occasions and I must control my urge to run wildly in the opposite direction in order to admire her catch. They are then all released, of course, back into their natural environment. T has created a wonderland of plants that attracts birds, butterflies and if you look in just the right places, bugs.

Hope you are all enjoying your summer and managing to have fun despite the wicked and miserable heat.

9th

Jia, your mommy and daddy have now been in love for 9 years. We fell in love the moment our eyes met. Seriously. We met on July 3rd 2001. Our dear friends were having a 4th of July party. My friends, his friends - who happened to live across the street from each other. I drove from Washington DC and your daddy drove from Hampton, VA. I was visiting with Carlos and JR and they said that there was a really cute guy across the street visiting Beth and Mike. I said, yes, they are ALL cute. But then I walked across the street and there was your dad! He WAS (and is)cute. But there was also some crazy magic that happened that night. I'm including some pictures of our days together. Not quite "the first" meeting but a few from early in our lives.

We never dreamed that just 7 years later you would become our daughter. How truly lucky are we!

More Birthday Pictures

Better late than never! Right? We had a big birthday party for Jia at her grandma and papa's house on June 13th and we rocked the house! Well, not exactly, but we did have a wonderful day and Jia felt all the joy and love that comes with a day that was all about her. I think the highlight of the event was a big box of dress up clothes from her grandma. I had never played "dress-up" with Jia so I was amazed when she dove right in and delighted in her big hat, frilly skirt, and feathery mules! Best pictures of the day! She may be only 3 but she's clearly hardwired pure little girl!

We're all good here even if we are suffering through 100 plus degree days. Whew. Summer is most certainly not my favorite time of the year. We do have some things to look forward to this summer - Jia's Aunt Laura and her Illinois cousins Sara and Patrick will be visiting soon and we can't wait! Hopefully we can do some day trips to Busch Gardens or other fun destinations.

Hope everyone is having a super summer and staying cool!

Happy Birthday to Our Big Girll

Happy Birthday my sweet Jia! You are getting to be such a big girl! But you'll always be my baby! We love you so much and are so very blessed to be your mommy and daddy! I hope this day is delightful, joyful, silly, special and everything that is you!

I made Jia a lopsided tacky birthday cake which is a family tradition! She got lots of fun stuff and even had a party at her new school! Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy.

Love you Jia!!!

So Many Changes

Time goes by so fast - cliche but true. The month has passed in warp speed and we've had many changes! Jia, in 7 days, is no longer a "baby" but a big girl with big girl pants and no more diapers. We spent a weekend together watching an amazing video and reading the accompanying book - pulled out the potties and have had only a hand full of accidents since. Amazing. She was obviously ready and so was the mom so we did it! (She did it.) Jia is a big girl in so many ways. She understands and communicates far beyond what I think is possible. I'm astounded by her everyday. Her dad is quite a gardener and we go outside and explore nature and see the birds and butterflies. We've added a bird feeder and she loves to watch the birds and fill the feeder with her dad each day. One day the dad said to me "Jia is no longer a baby" - I was like, "duh!" but he continued and what had happened amazed me. He said that while driving to school one morning they were stopped at a light and he looked over and saw her looking at a bird. He said "hi, sweetie, are you looking at the birdie?". In exasperated response Jia said "it's a Robin daddy". He looked again and darned if she wasn't exactly correct! She's amazing. I'm including some fairly recent pictures. As previously noted, she is difficult to get on film these days.

Jia will start a new summer school this summer and she is very excited! She will get all of the stimulation and joy a (soon to be) 3 year old wants and needs!

Love to all.

Hi All

Sorry for lack of posts. Where has April gone? Whew. Busy, busy, busy. I don't know if I'll have time to post any pics today but just wanted to say all is great in Jia land! She is holding entire conversations now and doesn't stop moving, talking and on some days, fussing from dawn to dusk! Hah. She is eating like crazy and we know she is in an amazing developmental and physical growth explosion. She has grown an inch in the last 2 months as well as gained about a pound and a half - which is a lot in a quick time at this age!

We're heading to the boat today for the first time this season. The last time she was on the boat Jia was a little girl and now, at least according to her, she's a big girl. So it will be interesting to say the least. She doesn't like bugs these days. In fact, she throws a fit of monumental proportions when she sees one. We'll see - there are most certainly bugs to be seen today. Maybe we'll get lucky.

I'll try to get some pictures of our trip. Hope all is well with everyone!

Kool Kids

A couple of wonderful pictures from Jia's cousin Melissa's 7th birthday party. These are rock stars in the making! Jia does have a bit of a runny nose, but, hey, that's a perpetual state these days. And Melissa, hello, can you say MOVIE STAR???

Beautiful

Back to our regularly scheduled program - pictures of Jia! Not much to say tonight but want to add a few pictures that will brighten your day!

I'm Ready for My Close-Up

Jia is an amateur photographer, in case you haven't heard! She loves, loves, loves taking pictures with her mom's camera. She even knows to put the strap around her arm so as not to drop and break the delightful contraption. It's getting increasingly difficult for me to get shots of her since she insists on being the photographer. Tonight I was trying to explain again how it works. She's got the pushing of the button down pat. She knows how to turn it on and off and that it's a no-no to do so in rapid succession. Tonight the lesson involved taking a picture of the intended object. She got a lot of shots of me during the lesson. I have the following observations about the pictures I've included:

1. Honey, hey, I'm over here.
2. See, point the camera a little higher.
3. I need a filter, God knows, but that's a little strong.
4. Your mom is old and tired, bug eyes should try to be minimized.
5. Ah, there you go - your mom even looks a little bit like a hottie. Heh. From now on, Jia takes all my pictures!