It has been a really gruelling day and I am beat. Thank heavens for little girls or one little girl in particular who, through her innocent eyes, can see a silver lining in every cloud.
Yesterday we were supposed to book our tickets. No biggy we have done this 100's of times but somehow things got all snarled up and today we had no tickets. It was alarming and bothersome and WACAP was waiting for us. I am not going to bore you with the drivvle cos we have tickets now and we are leaving a day earlier than planned due to the SNAFU. We head to China on the 13th of February.
As I was frantically emailing WACAP and Jacob was dealing with the airlines I sent Lily on a scavenger hunt. I warned her to stay quiet and told her I would help her with the clues. All was going well until I sent her in search of " a Chinese dolly". She was gone for ages, which I sadly didn't notice due to my preoccupation, when I suddenly heard her calling me. She wasn't yelling as such, it was more like a plea. I went upstairs and when I saw her I told her to wait a second and ran downstairs to grab the camera.
Last time we went to China it was in the heat of the summer and we went to Wuhan which is considered one of the 4 furnaces of China. One bright and sunny day the mercury hit 115 degrees. We got a tad sweaty. We were not allowed to leave the hotel due to the heat.
This time it is going to be a totally different story. It is darned good thing that wisdom prevailed and I caved and bought myself a little hat. I just found this story on the front page of AOL news. It is going to be a fun time for us warm blooded creatures. Not to worry though cos Jacob's cousin Joan who lives in the frigid Notheast gave me a few pointers on Sunday and I spent most of yesterday "adding to my online shopping basket" with the fine folks at LL Beanie and a few other merchants. We will be snug and warm.
Before Rosie came into our lives we had booked a trip to Boston for the same time that we are going to China just so that Lily can play in some snow. Obviously we can't be in 2 places at once but it looks as if we will still be seeing tonnes of the white stuff. I wonder if Lily will believe us when we tell her we ordered it just for her.
I LOVE SNOW....I'm just scared sh*tless of the really cold weather. Now please keep your fingers crossed that I can fit all of our toasty warm clothes in our luggage.
We had a visitor today and it wasn't one of my family! Quite shocking isn't it but Jacob does actually have his own family and they do in fact speak and visit. The visits are a rarity because they are spread out all over this country but this weekend his cousin Joan was in Miami so we met up with her for lunch.
The weather here is on the cool side so we decided that since it would be a nice temperature for Joan we would eat at an outside restaurant on the bay. Joan is from Maine so this 60 degree weather is a heat wave for her......not us.
I am not kidding here but once we got home I had to make all of us hot chocolate and we ate cookies to get warm again. (just how are we going to survive China???) I freely admit that I prefer this chilliness and even when it gets downright cold to the hot and humid days of summer. The upside of a trip to China at this time of year is that we should see snow. It might be at O'hare airport in Chicago during on of our plane changes but I will take it.
Katie and Marie: your aunt Joan and us send warm thoughts to you as you freeze yourself silly in Michigan.
Lily just had to get in on the photos.
This afternoon was spent doing stuff around the house in preparation for the arrival of the little person. We installed the stair gates....groan! As much as I couldn't live in a house that has stairs without a stair gate they drive me nuts. We are attempting to get in the habit of using them now. I think you can go over the top with all the childproofing that they offer now but the stair gate is an annoying neccessity.
Then we started to put the rocking chair together. Jacob went to the DIY centre to pick up some things so it was Lily and I. All I can say is it is a darned good thing she was here cos I was getting nowhere with the chair and she kept interrupting. I was just about to get quite cross with her when she pointed out that the reason I couldn't get it to fit together is because I had it back to front. Alrighty then. From that moment on I let her take over and she did the whole thing. Jacob just helped at the end with tightening the screws. I have a great video of her explaining the situation but dropshots is on the fritz and blogger takes eons to upload video so I shall wait.
My Little Miss Fix It.
P.S. The hat situation is still not resolved. Thank you for all your suggestions. I think I will take a scarf and flip it over my head....should look really attractive.
We now have our consulate appointment. We were hoping for February 25th but that wasn't available so we have Feb 27. Two days does not a difference make to us. We have the appointment and that is what counts.
We hoped that today we would be able to finalise all of our travel plans but we didn't get any news from our agency so we can't do it and our representative is off on Monday so it will be Tuesday before we can book our flights. I am sort of glad for the extra day of limbo as the reality of everything is overwhelming. One side of my brain can't wait to get there and the other side can't believe we are so close when we have been waiting for so long. I must have lots of different personalities cos right now they are all talking to each other.
Every one keeps telling me that we will need hats and scarves in Beijing. Well that isn't a problem for Jakey and Schnoog but it is a huge problem for me. I DO NOT wear hats. I had to wear a hat as part of my school uniform and I swore I would never ever wear a hat again and I haven't. I detest them but I detest my ears getting frozen off of my head even more so maybe wisdom will out way stubbornness. Tomorrow we will shop for winter gear and we will see whether or not wisdom prevails.
Lily has entered the world of potty talk. Now that she can read she cannot read the word 'but" without a fit of giggles. Every time she reads that word I say to her, "it is not spelled the same" and she just giggles more and says, "It still says BUT" Hilarious, I'm sure. Then there is the word, "we". In the UK you don't pee pee you wee wee. So that sets her off for a good five minutes too. It is actually quite funny to see her naughty side coming out. I just roll my eyes at her but it has no effect whatsoever.
Yesterday at school Lily decided it would be a fine idea to put her finger in her pencil sharpener and give it a turn. Not surprisingly she tore her nail right down the middle. After her bath last night I was trying to figure out the best way to salvage it and decided that superglu* was the way to go. It didn't go well. At one point I was stuck to her finger and a paper towel was stuck to me. I managed to free us but it was a mess. Luckily it didn't hurt her at all and she found the whole episode rather entertaining. Today her nail is still stuck together which is good.
In the last 4 weeks I have gone to all of my annual doctors appointments. I am not sure that I will be fitting any me time in for the next couple of months so I decided to get them all behind me.The final one was this morning when I went for my mammo'. As I am standing "in" the machine the tech stands back and says, "don't move". Is that actually an option when your boobage is clamped between two pieces of metal and squashed down so hard that it looks like a crepe? I really wanted to say something glib but she had the personality of a squash. At that point breathing was seeming like a bad idea I had NO intentions of going anywhere.
Lastly, I have been reading every ones blogs I just haven't been commenting. Bad Blogger. I will catch up with you all tonight. Don't take it personally it is just that I am a taddy bit busy currently. It has something to do with a big trip that is just around the corner.
We are going to be in China in about 3 weeks. I am nervous and excited. I cannot sleep and or concentrate on anything. We are going to Beijing first and now I am wondering why. It is so flippin' cold there. Don't forget we live in South Florida and freezing cold to us is 50 degrees. I love cold weather but Beijiing at the moment is colder than anything I have ever experienced, it is 17 degrees. Who knew the temperature went that low. LOL
My cousin Andie left for New Zealand this morning and she arrives back in the UK on the 11th then she has to do a study day for her new job on the 13th and will fly out to Beijing that night. What a trooper. She won't have a clue what planet she is on.
Lily is so excited. She will spend Valentines day either in China or on a plane, depending whether WACAP gets us the consulate appointment that they request and she thinks that is the most fun ever. Oddball kid. She keeps reminding me to tell her teacher and to not forget to withdraw her from school. Yes, I have to withdraw her from the school system. It is infuriating but at least now, after 5 or 6 conversations, the principal is at least attempting to work with us a little bit and will give her her classwork. She still cannot guarantee Lily's place back in the same classroom when she returns!!!! Hard player this lady! But we will take our chances. I have warned Lily she might be in a different class and she doesn't seem to bothered.
To answer the burning questions: Yes, we will be blogging from China. If we run into any glitches my fathers wife is all ready to take over for us and my sweet friend Lori has offered as well. So we will be broadcasting somehow.
No, sorry I cannot post anymore photos of Rose. I have lots but I just can't do it. In a few weeks her face will be all over this blog so just wait a little bit longer.
No, we are not packed???? It's me remember, I detest packing. I would rather lick a toilet seat....no no I wouldn't that is way to yucky. We have little and in some cases big heaps spread out all around Rosies room. But there isn't a suitcase in sight. I think we have everything that we need so it is just a case of getting it packed.
As you can see by this mindless rambling I am starting to develop a twitch. I will leave you now. Have a great Humpday.
It has finally happened. We have our Notice Of Travel and we will be in China within the next 3 weeks. Now I can do it, I can wait. It won't be a problem cos we have a TA. We are hoping to have a consulate appointment on February 25th which means we need to be in Guandong Province on the 17th. We are going to Beijing for a few days before gotcha day so tentatively we will be leaving here around the 12th of Feb. That is just a couple of weeks away. We should have our itinerary at the beginning of next week
Can you say excited? My whole family has gone stark raving mad....it's brilliant.
We're going to China, we're going to China.
Waterboy thanks you all for offers of a place to stay until the bathroom dries out. The comment from 3 peas in a pod nearly made me pee it was so funny. Thanks for the giggle Hayley.
For as long as he can remember Jacob has always worn glasses. Last week he went to the eye DR and he is now waiting for his new specs.
He woke up this morning and decided it was a perfect day to do some pressure cleaning so he took his little self outside and started his job. About an hour later as I walked through the living room I saw him out the window with his cleaning "wand' aimed at the second story windows. I watched him for a few minutes and then realised he was aiming at the bathroom window. I thought to myself, no he can't be cos the window is open. Then I made sure that the bathroom window was the one he was aiming at. Just then I panic stricken look washed over hubby's face and I headed up the stairs 3 at a time.
As I walked across the bedroom carpet heading to the bathroom my feet got wetter and wetter the closer I got. Yes, the window was open and he had been spraying it for a good 2 minutes before he realised. He came upstairs and we laughed so hard. The bathroom was flooded. The light fixtures were dripping, the floor was an ocean and everything in between was floating away.
All he said was: I hope my new glasses arrive soon!
So if any one is looking for a hubby, mine needs a new home! It has to be a nice home cos he is a good guy, a really good guy but he needs new glasses.
I am cherishing this last little time with my Schnoog. Just her and I. Times like this will be few and far between very soon and I want to make the most of our alone time now.
Today we went to the zoo. It is one of our favourite things to do. It was her choice and whatever she wanted was just fine. The temps were in the middle 80's today which is thoroughly absurd for this time of year so I didn't enjoy our time together as much as I had hoped but I didn't let on.
I think she is so beautiful....and that will never change. I love the fact that she belongs to me. Well Jakey too of course but she is ours.
Look at the size of this Tiger. We have an amazing zoo. Even though the animals are penned you feel like the caged animal and not them. There are no cages ANYWHERE.
This is an expression that both my parents used to use all the time. Once something was finished it became, another job jobbed. So today we finally received our visa's for China and I believe that Andy got hers today too. We sent away for them ages ago but my application was returned because I failed to send in my green card...well if you had asked for it I would have sent it the first time. Lily keeps staring at hers. It marks another milestone and she is very into all the milestones that get us closer to her sister. Jacob and I were talking earlier about how wonderful it will be to finally have Rose in our arms and be able to watch our family unfold. How will they react to each other? Will they be friends? How long will it take for Lily to realise that she has been demoted from Queen of the house to Princess. Will Lily be totally P*ssed off when she realises that a sister is forever? We just can't wait. I cannot wait to see Lily's face when she sees her precious sister for the very first time. We are still waiting for the elusive golden ticket, ooops I mean TA. I have always thought that bank holidays and any celebrations that gave you time off of work and more time with your family were wonderful but now they are just a big phat delay in my plans....humpf.
When we travelled to China the first time we had a really wonderful group. I think we all say this. Some of the people chatted before hand and some just laid low in the background until we were all thrown together in Wuhan. The first night we were there we had dinner with another couple but didn't spend much time with them the rest of the trip. Now we email each other and chat on the phone and have found that we are very much alike in many ways. I have called to ask her advice and suggestions more times than I can count. They have already bought their second daughter home so she is my go to girl. Her eldest and Lily are from the same SWI and they now email, well we do it for them. They send photos and they love this blog. Lily decided today that she HAD TO send a video to her China sister all about Bunny.
Today the UPS guy delivered the BIG envelope from our agency. This is the one that requires your final payment and the one that contains every single last form under the sun. We spent an hour signing, dating and initialling papers before I shot out to the notary to get everything made official. This is it for us, the paperwork on this side of the Atlantic is done now we get the next heap handed to us once we are in China.. This must mean we are close. And if we are so close, where, oh where, is our TA???? I rang our agency cos I had a few (read loads and loads) of questions and I asked if they had any idea when we would get it and she said, "I am not sure but I have a really good feeling about it". What does that mean? I suddenly remembered that RQ posts about expected deliveries so I clicked on her site and nothing, zilch, butkus! If anyone hears any rumours about expected arrival of SN, TA's PLEASE let me know. I am going a little nutty here. We are ready to go. Everything is done. The baby's clothes are already in baggies and ready to hit the suitcase. Lily has a new carry on and it is partially packed. I am ready to go. I have even made out the shopping list for our friend who is going to be staying here while we are gone so that she can get some necessary grocery items for us before we return. Yes, I am type-A, I am a list maker and I am ready....I think I might have said that already.
Onward we must trek. We received more love in the mail yesterday from these two. Before I could get a photo of Lily and her loot she had dismantled the box and was playing with gusto with her new Asian Doll complete with hair accessories. She loves it and loves playing with the dolls hair. I was able to snap this shot of the cute little onesie for Rosie. On the front it says: I love my Daddy and on the bum is a little heart that says: and he loves me too. These little burp cloths rock....I have never seen them before. Thank you Dannye, Ray and Freckles you are so kind and we love them. Dannye, Chynna better like shopping! We also received a gift from Nannis but I didn't take pictures of those either. Thank you Nannis, only you could find a ladybird sippee cup.
This should have been a bullet post cos it is jumping all over the place like a cat on a hot tin roof. Lily's school offers lots of various awards that the kids can earn. The most prestigious of these being the Student Of The Month award. Lily has never earned it, she has earned others but not this much coveted one. She is a good student and does very, very well but I think she can do alot more than she does and consequently she never receives the award. We never put any pressure on her to get it and tell her that if she wants it she must work really hard for it. Enough said. Today when I picked her up she flew out of the school gate like a rat from and aqua duct and showed me a ring she had received from the treasure box. I looked at the gaudy, offensive thing and gushed about how gorgeous it was and asked her why she got to go to the treasure box. Well, those were the words she was waiting for. Her reply was, "I am student of the Month". She nearly burst with pride as she told me and I nearly burst with pride too. My eyes started to "sweat" and I hugged her so tight. She is so proud of herself and we are really proud to. She wanted it, she worked for it and she got it. We had to ring every relative that we have and then we went out for ice cream to celebrate. Jacob's eyes got a bit sweaty too when she told him. Tonight she said "this is nearly the best day of my life but Rosie is my best day but this nearly is". How sweet she is.
As for the burnt chin. She is fine it wasn't serious so no need to ring the social workers! We put ice on it and then some medicine and she barely had a mark.....I promise. But now she seems to have made it worse.
I took this photo tonight when we were sitting together on the couch. She wasn't expecting it hence the very startled expression. I love it.
I didn't mean to alarm anybody by not posting for a few days. I have no idea what has kept me away from the computer other than everyday stuff and running around. But all is well we are all fine and just in case you were wondering we are still waiting for our TA.
In my absence lots of lovely things have happened. Yesterday as I went to pick up Schnoog from school, Arthur, our really lovely mailman stopped me to say he had a package. After we accosted him everyday for the video of Rosie he announces packages or lack thereof when he sees us, it is so funny. I had no idea who could have sent us something. I was sure I wasn't waiting for something I had ordered so when he handed me something from Canada, I was totally surprised.
These 2 bloggersare unbelievable. Doris and Dan, thank you so much and yes it is amazing that we have 2 beautiful daughters.Look at all those Bunnies on Rosie'sjim jams. They are the sweetest, softest P.J.s and we love them. Lily loves her shirt and we thank you for thinking of her too. Her life is about to change a smidge and your kindness just helps to make the change a whole lot easier.
The rest of the love was all about this blog. It is award time of year again.....no writers strikes here in Bloggerville. I could write about how I never knew quite what I was getting into when I started blogging or how many fabulous people I have met through it and in some cases, not met, just feel as if I have but I won't write about all that because we all know it and all feel the same way.
My first award is the, "Blogging With Purpose Award". It was sent to me from April over at the Road to Siji. Thank you April. I am not sure I deserve this as I am not sure what purpose Eggrolls and Chopsticks serves. April says it makes her laugh. That's good enough for me, my life makes me laugh too and I am grateful for that. Can I call myself a trophy wife now that I have a trophy of sorts???
The guidelines that accompany this award: 1. Awarded parties must nominate five people who have not received the award. 2. The blogs that receive the award must serve some purpose. 3. In their post about the award they need to link back to the original entry. 4. Awarded parties must post the award banner on their site. The banner must remain linked to Eric Novak'ssite.
Since I haven't been blogging for a few days it would appear that I missed my window of opportunity to pass this award along to 5 people of my choosing who haven't already received it. So I shall probably be breaking all the rules when I list my five.
Stress Is The New Black. My friend Lori and her dynamic duo. Lori always keeps it real. Her blog tells it like it is and there are alot of laughs to be found in that arena along with some true mummy moments that just make you want to shed a tear. Lori's was the first blog I ever read and without hers I would not have mine.
2 Kayaks. K1 and K2 are some of the kindest, gentlest people who I have "never" met. They blog from the heart and sometimes of late life has dealt them some wicked blows but they always stand up and dust themselves off with such grace and decorum we could and should all learn from them.
3D's adoption journey. Doris and Dan are more of my faves. These 2 know how to enjoy chocolate and life in general. This road that we travel that appears to have no end but Doris always manages to get back up and plod along. Plus they party like I wish I could and truly love life.
Buckeyes and Eggrolls. This is one of my faves also but this one holds a special place in my heart as it was the adorable Miss Maddy that made Jacob and I realise that we needed to take another look at the SN program and you all know what happened when we did that!
And finally, and these are in no particular order: The Seventh Diamond. If there are angels in bloglandRMJ is one of them. RMJ is a truly special person who just gives so much of herself daily to all of us. Thank you RMJ.
Onward to award numero dos.
Steffie, awarded me the "Daily Dose" award.Thank you Steffie and right back at you. I should be half as graceful and eloquent as you! This award goes to blogs that you just have to read everyday. Ummm, isn't that all of them on your blogroll? My picks for these are my entire blogroll but I recently updated it and added a few newbies that I found and they include:
Life With Kerri Everyday it is another tale of life with Kerri and her life is so full. They used to live down here with us but we never met. Now that she lives in the freezing North, well Canada I follow her. Go figure!
On Being Erin's Mother. We met Tammie and Erin in October and I have followed her blog ever since. This is real life. Real life funny.We share the same reality which is life with a 5 yr old. Just the daily stuff and I have to read it daily!
You see I like the funny ones. The ones that tell it like it is. All of you in my blogroll are blogs I read otherwise they wouldn't be there. Sometimes we cry, sometimes we laugh but we can always count on each other.
I cannot finish this without giving a shout out to i-con. Her and her blog.....ROCK.
This is the longest post I have EVER written. But you already know that since you had to read it....sorry.
I am being really impatient waiting for our TA. I know it is utterly stupid but I want to go to China NOW. Each day our little girl gets bigger and bigger and I want to be there to see her grow, I know I have the rest of her life but PLEASE send me a TA.
We received word this morning that all our papers are in China and we should receive word in about 3 weeks so that brings us to the end of January and then it is Chinese New Year....fa la la la la, so then it is the end of February and the consulate might be backed up from CNY. Sigh.
So whats a mother to do? Retail therapy, that's what! I have been shopping, we have been shopping and I have been shopping some more. After all that shopping I feel lots better. We still have a few things to get for her but everything is coming together nicely.
We sent our passports off for the visa's yesterday and today I received a phone call to say I had over paid. Apparently if you hold a British passport the visa is markedly cheaper than if you hold an American one. God Save The Queen!
We put together the pushchair that my folks bought for us this summer and it is one cool ride. Lily has been using it to get Bunny from one place to the next. No, I don't have photos but I will. I have also been buying the knick knackerea that we will have to take with us and even though it is still very early I have no idea how people manage to fly to China to bring home their babies with only carry on luggage. Mind you I cannot go away for the weekend carry on only.
So that does it. I haven't had much time to blog as I have been a good girl and done my taxes! Yes, you read correctly, I have everything organised, itemised and ready to drop off at the accountant once hubby gets his forms in the mail! This is actually quite earth shattering news. Anyway now that they are done, I can go and catch up with all of you.
Yesterday was a day that Lily has been waiting for, for a very long time. Our friend's daughter Carolina, had her Bat Mitzvah and Lily couldn't wait. She had no idea what it was all about even though we tried to explain. To her it was just something that involved getting 2 new dresses and that meant it was going to be fun. We got up bright and early in the morning and Lily was beside herself with anticipation as she got dressed. We headed to the temple and after we had been there for an hour or so she leant over and whispered to me, "Mommy, I can't wait until the Bar Mitzma", that is what she called it. I looked at her and had to explain that this was the Bar Mitvah. She looked a little deflated to say the least. She managed to stay still and pay attention for the whole 3 hours. Once we exited the temple she came back to life.
Later in the afternoon I told her she had to nap. That is a nasty word to Lily cos she doesn't nap and hasn't for years but she obliged me and slept for 2 hours and when she got up I told her it was time to get ready. She put on her clothes and strutted about like a peacock and actually told us how beautiful she looked. No self image problems in this house!
From the moment we arrived at the celebrations Lily didn't stop. She was the youngest child there by about 5 years but that didn't stop her. She danced, she participated in all the games, she laughed, and she held her own. Jacob and I had such a wonderful time watching the kids enjoying themselves. We danced, no correction, I danced, he doesn't, we had so much fun. I have no idea who the entertainment company was but they were good, really, really good.
After last night I have decided that having 2 girls might be a big mistake. Have you seen teenage girls lately? They are all so beautiful and "mature" at such a tender age. Sure you could tell they were still little girls but holy smokes they looked like fashion models. Jacob is very, very scared and I am right there with him.
See, we had a wonderful time. It was the best party we have attended in ages. Jakie, thank you so much for having us we all had so much fun.
Me and the Mitzma Momma, my special friend Jakie. I am a person who holds my friends close to my heart. I have many acquaintances but I can count my friends on one hand. Jakie and I only met about 5 years ago but something just clicked that fateful day and we both felt we had known each other for years. Maybe it is because she is shorter than me....that doesn't happen often. In this photo I took my shoes off and she has 3 inch heels on!!!
