Long Time No Post

• Busy. That sums up my life at the moment.
• I have 14 people for Thanksgiving and I am really bad at cooking. How on earth do you figure out how much food is required for that amount of people? It's mind boggling.
• Last weekend we had so much fun and I don't have any photos to prove it.
• We have already gone to a Christmas parade. A bit early don't you think? It was very lame this year, most years it is really impressive.
• FCC groups rock. We had our national adoption day picnic on Sunday and it was fabulous. I cannot imagine not being able to share my life with all these families. Everybody has something to offer that MAKES SENSE, as opposed to the usual busy body stuff. LOVE THAT.
• Christmas shopping. Need I say more?
• Cannot wait to get into the Christmas spirit but I feel rather behind cos I have barely done any shopping. Once I get more done I will calm down.
• Life with Rosie is a dance. We move forward 2 paces and side step one. Somethings get easier and others, not so much. I cannot wait for the day that she has the vocabulary to express her fears.
• 3rd grade is going to renamed: the year of the projects. Lily barely finishes one and another one is assigned. Seriously, do we need 40,000 projects on one school year?
• Lily decided to go on a sleep walking bender on Sunday night. Hubby and I were hysterical. She finally ended up climbing on to the island in the kitchen and falling back into a restful slumber. HILARIOUS. Since she is known to sleep walk frequently we have high locks on all exterior doors that she cannot reach.
• Rosie has been sleeping in her own bed. Her choice. I wonder how long it will last. It came with a self imposed condition that I don't like but that is part of the dance. This child is way to tough on herself.
• Rosie has her first "play" coming up in a couple of weeks. Her teacher has already told me to expect her to run of off the stage in tears. At least we are on the same page. I will be amazed if she does anything other than that. Kidlet hates crowds and anything that is loud. I will have the video camera at the ready.
• I am house sitting for a friend. She has been gone for nearly a month and I just remembered the other day to water her plants. Oopsie, I think they are OK but I am not sure. I have done everything else but the plants escaped my head. They didn't escape Lily's, thank goodness.
• I had my hair cut the other day and didn't like it. I came home and did it myself....looks good now.
• I think that is all the stuff that was ruminating through my noggin.

Milestones....and mumblings. (amended)

I completely forgot to mention the milestone! As of 2 days ago when the weather turned chilly ( it has since returned to it's usual yucky hotness ) Rosie wore her first piece of clothing that has the numbers 24 printed on the tag! Yes that is correct, our little girl who turns 3 in 3 months time is finally wearing 24 month clothing just so long as it is 18-24 months and not plain old 24 months or heaven forbid 2t! I pulled a pair of her jeans out for her to wear on Sunday and they were capri's on her, they fit perfectly at her waist but were way to short in the leg so I paraded her around the house for her whole family to see before dragging her back to her room to find something bigger.

This is one of those posts. One of those that hops about a bit. You may need sea sickness tablets.

Rosie is growing up WAY. TO. FAST. When Lily was little I suppose part of me knew that she was going to have a little sister, that I was going to have another baby girl but this time around, THIS. IS. IT. The crib is gone, the tiny baby clothes are all gone, some of her little baby toys are gone. What's going on? This is bothering me alot. It is just a little bit too final. I keep thinking perhaps one more? My new found friend Grace has the most gorgeous little man called Liam. I can barely look at him in fear of drooling on his head! I often wonder if we should have a boy as well, just one more. Then reality sinks in...WE ARE DONE, NO MORE! But what if I log in to WACAP's waitng child list and I see a little boy? Would it be really terrible? Yes, yes it would cos we are done!

Rosie is now becoming very independent however she refuses any and all attempts on our behalf to get her to give up her diapers! I bought her some Elmo knickers at the shop the other day cos the loved them. I told her she should wear them but mustn't pee in them cos she would be peeing on Elmo's head. She loved the idea of Elmo knickers and said she would never pee on his head. Of course she won't pee on his head because that would entail actually having them on! She is quite capable of using the loo. In fact she hasn't pooped in a diaper in 7 months and frequently tells me she has to pee but she is lazy, really flipping lazy...little devil!

Her vocabulary is outstanding. She strings full sentences together like nobodies business. Of course with that wonderful use of words comes many embarrassing moments for me. We were in the store the other day and an elderly lady in front of us was really slow at unloading her groceries and to my horror Rosie yelled, "come on old lady move it". I was speechless. Mortified, Red Faced. I didn't handle the situation well at all. Thankfully the lady was Hispanic and spoke no English so I was saved. I think Rosie got that frightful expression from me when I am driving. I am not a patient person behind the wheel. I think it could have been worse but at the time I wasn't so sure. Jacob gave me the stink eye for ages for that one! Oopsie, live and learn I say. There are still words she cannot say, washcloths are still, loff joff's but she has mastered most words. Things like garbage are garby but she doesn't really have to many Rosie-isms. Like I may have mentioned she is growing up way to fast.

I miss my folks. I came over to this country for a year, in 1983. We would like to move back, if only it were that easy. We just found out that the UK may not recognise our adoptions...oh well thank you very freaking much. We are looking into it. My green card expires again in a couple of months so I have to renew it or go for citizenship. I hate tests but for the sake of the girls and my own sanity, immigration officers are really nasty and very mean I need to do the citizen thing.

Lily gets sillier by the day. She is really into origami and yesterday made her and Rosie some paper shoes. They were so funny. I failed to get photos of them. They poked about the house in them for ages.

Miss Lil loves school again this year. Really loves it. She is doing really well again too and her reading age is off the charts. She loves to read and write silly stories however she doesn't like to actually write, if that makes sense. She always gets told her writing isn't neat enough. In the last couple of weeks she has worked very hard on it and when I asked her about it she said, "I got fed up with people telling me to re do it so now I just do it neat the first time:. Well duh sparky!

She is very protective of Rosie. She knows what Rosie likes and what gets her upset and when we are out she goes to great lengths to make sure she is protected. She is a very kind child, always has been. I don't think she will ever do well up against mean kids. Jakey will have to toughen her up a bit. One of her cousins was a bit mean one day and she ended up in tears, she just couldn't get her head around it. I really hope she stays this way but who knows.

I asked Lily to start a Christmas list and she handed me a list of things for Rosie. I told her that was nice but I needed one for her. SHe said she didn't need anything but Rosie would like this stuff. She then said did she have to have anything? What am I supposed to say to that? I suggested she think of something otherwise she might feel a little bit sad on Christmas morning but she insists she has everything she wants.

Oh here is another wonderful line from Rosie to end this post with. We were driving home on Sunday evening and we were just saying silly words. Usually at this particular spot I read the street names cos they are all birds. But it was too dark and I couldn't see them so instead I said silly things, ie. squiggle swaggle, and the girls would say it, then Lily would say something silly and we would say it and then it was Rosies turn, etc etc repeat repeat. It was Rosie turn and she belts out........ANUS! Lovely huh? Do I need to tell you how hard we all laughed. As for where she got this awful word, well it's along story but it was in fact from Lily's Spanish homework. The word was anos meaning year but if you don't have the little accent on the N you have anus when you translate it and we don't have the accent on out computer so Lily had to ask me what anus meant cos that is what it translated to and all of a sudden I was laughing hysterically and I had to explain and Rosie heard and she NEVER forgot the word! SIGH.

Adios, mi amigos. hasta ya pasta.

A Good Bye Post

This post is dedicated to saying good bye.

First and foremost yet again we say bye bye to Andie who headed back to Afghanistan on Monday to care for the wounded soldiers. Take care Andie and we hope this time you get to Skype us. Send me your address ASAP the girls are anxious to send you things, they want to go shopping at the chinese shop for you...ha ha ha.

Next up...drumroll please: we know longer have a crib in our house. Rosie has transitioned into a big bed or as she still insists on calling it, "a to-to bed" Bye bye crib! She thinks it has gone to Jenny's baby Danielle. Without any fanfare Lily and I just decided to take it down on Sunday morning and put her big bed together with all the frilly sheets and pillows and she was fine with it. In fact she napped that day for her longest nap ever and we ended having to wake her up after 2 hours and 45 minutes cos we needed to get ready to go out. Sunday evening didn't go so well for her. She went to bed in it but ended up in our bed but we think it is because of something that happened that day but last night was a charm and all naps have been fine. Throw salt over my shoulder, cross my fingers and pay uncle Howards Rabbi. Talking of Uncle Howard, I actually met him but that part comes next. And I still havn't met his Rabbi!

My final good bye is this: good bye to all the bad luck that has been haunting my dear friends the Weinstocks. On Sunday evening we went to a fabulous, and that is an understatement, fundraiser to raise money to cover the cost of Marc's medical bills for his upcoming heart surgery. We had a blast. The kidlets were all taken care of by some really lovely girls in a separate room and we big kids had a night at the races. I met Lori's father there and it was so odd because I feel as if I have known that man for years but in fact we have never met, he is such a nice gentleman and in these parts gentlemen are few and far between. I have met Lori's mum before but only once but I feel like I know her too. Truly a lovely family. Both sides of the family are just lovely and they deserve for this black cloud to go away so, BYE BYE already.

Dear Gawd was it ever fun and I hope they raised loads and loads of cash cos they truly deserve it. Bye bye wonky heart and HELLO good times for Marc, Lori and the DD.

These are some photos of the hubby and I which I snagged from Lori. As you can see Jakey and I are always very subdued.

Behaving ourselves for one second!

Harper Is Coming Home

The little girl that has been at the centre of so much media attention because her family was forced to leave her behind in China following their adoption is coming home!
Jay will hopefully be travelling next weekend back to China to bring Harper home. They haven't posted all the ins and outs of what happened yet on their website but will be doing so shortly.

I just have one thing to say: Don't mess with the Chinese Adoption Community, we are a force to be reckoned with! I am so proud to be able to say that my family stood up and fought for this little girl.

What an amazing homecoming this will be.........sigh.

Independent Annies

Both of the girls are very independent. Lily is fiercely independent and Rosie is independent when she is around people she knows and trusts, otherwise she is a complete wimp and is afraid of her own shadow but more about that another time.
We spent a fabulous day yesterday with Hollis and the girls. From the minute we arrived they all played harmoniously. Since we haven't seen each other for 6 weeks the kids were in heaven as were the adults. When we first came home with Rosie and had served our six weeks of self inflicted house arrest to get her used to being part of our nutty household one of the first homes we visited was Hollis' so she is really comfortable there and runs about as if she owns it which pleases Hollis tremendously.
Once the thunderstorms left we headed into the pool and the kids had a hayday. Rosie is starting to get quite brave in the water and we had all good intentions of getting her into swimming lessons this summer but (a) summer hasn't gone quite as we had planned it and (b) Rosie still freaks out around strangers so we have decided that it probably won't benefit her to give her swimming lessons with a stranger at this point and will have the adverse effect on her and she will end up hating water which is something that we don't want as we spend alot of time in the wet stuff. A couple of weeks ago she decided she liked tubes and would put herself in a tube and kick like mad to get around the pool. I trail her and she loves it. It gives her freedom and I can still do stuff with Lily. Yesterday we took some tubes up to Hollis' with us and the big girls played with them and the noodles and a myriad of other toys and Rosie clung to her tube and swam, as she calls it, all around. She also likes to jump in so she did alot of that too. In fact she tried hard to do what the big kids were doing but just her version of it. Just as we were getting ready to call it a day and go inside for ice cream Rosie said she wanted to swim under water. For the most part she hates to get her face wet. On occasion I shove her face under and push her really fast to the side and tell her to kick. She does it but reluctantly. (yes, I am harsh but the kid has to learn to swim. Lily could swim, properly at 18 months, this is Fl there is water everywhere) I called for Jacob and he sat on the steps and I gave Rosie a shove and she swam underwater to her Daddy. He pulled her up and she was all smiles and asked to do it again so he shoved her back to me and so it went again and again and again! She was swimming. Not well but she was doing it and she was loving it. She needs to kick a bit more but she has the concept so I think if we go into the pool everyday this week she will be swimming by the end of it. She just really wants to be able to do what the big kids are doing.

Joie came up to me yesterday afternoon and asked when Lily could sleepover again so Hollis said she could sleepover that evening. I realised that Lily didn't have her Bunny so I said, soon, she could sleepover again soon. Lily pleaded so I asked to talk to her in private and explained the situation. For a minute she looked panic stricken and then she pushed her shoulders back in a way that would have made my father proud and said, I can do it. I told Hollis that if it was fine with her it was fine with us and independent child number 2 took off playing without looking back.
When it was time to leave I barely got a kiss goodbye but she did ask that I send up her Daddy so could say good bye to him before he left. She loves to play with Joie, Anlie and Trevi and the idea of sleeping there is just the cats pajamas.
When we left, Rosie was so worried because she thought we had forgotten Lily and it took us quite some time to calm her fears and make her understand that everything was fine.
I am glad they are willing to try new things. Rosie has been so scared for so long and to see her break free from her chains is wonderful. Lily has always been outgoing but she used to say she would never sleep anywhere if we were not there but now she cannot wait to sleep with her friends, at least not these friends.

Random Yipping.

• Rosie has decided that she wants to be potty trained. She is doing this all herself as I am in no rush as we only have another month before we go away and vacations equal lots of planes, car trips and public bathrooms...yuck! I am hoping it is a faze.
• Rosie is talking a mile a minute (now that makes 2 of them) and she speaks really clearly but one word that she messes up is this one, squiggle (squirrel). She loves squiggles and squeals when she sees them and each time she says it I crack up.  She really likes their fluff-oo tails.
• Rosie is still petrified of the vacuum cleaner. The other day she was being a real pill and I told her that if she didn't stop I was going to get the Hoover out. She totally freaked out and started to cry and begged me not to Hoover her up.  I felt really bad and explained until I was blue in the face that there was no possible way that she would fit up the Hoover but she still isn't buying it and every time she sees it she freaks out. Oh dear. She does however love her little hoover that is the exactly the same as mine and really works.
• Every day when Lily comes out of school Rosie runs up to her with her arms out stretched to give her a hug. It gives me the fuzzies.
• Lily is our little brainiac and just made the principles honor roll for the  3rd grading period in a row. 
• Lily has now reached the point when she rides a horse that she can gallop without stirrups and actually manages to look as if she is part of the horse. No more of the bouncing all over the place and hanging on for dear life antics. She has found her style and it is really quite graceful. Graceful isn't a word easily associated with Lily ;0)
• This has not been Lily's favourite year at school. She doesn't think her teacher is very nice and I can't say that I am very impressed with her either. When a teacher of a 1st grade class makes this statement:"my first grade class last year was much better than you", I think she is really thoughtless. We have taught Lily to deal with her and when she makes these ridiculous statements Lily usually makes one right back to her but keeps it inside her head. 
• Lily has a wonderful sense of humor and is now seeing things as funny that are well beyond her years. The other day she came home and said, "My teacher was actually funny today, she called herself nice!" Now that is pretty darned smart for a 6 yr old.
• The girls fight like cats and dogs but they can also play harmoniously for hours and hours.
• Lily can be really bossy and the other day Rose came onto the kitchen and told me that she was going  into the naughty corner. When I asked her why she told me that Lily had sent her there.  Poor kid. I quickly resolved that one and told Lily that was not her jurisdiction. 
• Top0max still rocks.
• Jacob bumped Rosie on the head accidentally with the camera the other day, very lightly. Ever since then Rosie keeps saying, "Daddy hurt Rosie". Talk about a guilt trip. 
• That is it for this wonderfully exciting installment.

In A Nutshell.

• I have been busy and just haven't really been near the computer. My camera still refuses to upload videos and it is annoying me to the point to desertion. What is a blog post without Lily and Rosie's photos in it?
• Rosie is now talking in leaps and bounds. Tonight when she saw me set the table she ran into the living room and yelled, "Dinnertime" as clear as a bell.
• Rosie has a cold. It isn't fazing her in the least but the kid is producing snot by the gallon. We have gone through 2 boxes of tissues.
• She is aware of her bodily functions and now when she "pops" she says, "Butt talk" and then she makes a raspberry noise. Very delightful and I am sure it was taught to her by her dad!
• Lily is growing up way to fast. She still makes me giggle on a daily basis. She loves being a big sister but is occasionally a bit too bossy.
• Lily loves to read. She reads anything and everything. I learnt that you shouldn't take a young reader into the card department at Tar#get cos they can read the cards and not all the cards should be read by a 6 yr old. Oopsie.
• Sometimes I just cannot believe that I have 2 kids. It makes me smile when I realise it is true.
• We were planning on moving soon but our house value has sunk to lower than a snakes belly button so it looks as if we might be a bit stuck. Not to worry we like this house but just not Miami. We will move just not quite yet. I don't mind losing a little money to gain alot but this, well this is absurd! I feel like I am on a roller coaster with the move at present.
• One year ago this week we left for China to bring home Rosie. I read the blog posts from a year ago everyday to see how excited we were. I think Jacob and Lily are sick of my morning Tribune.
• I suck at Face*book. It's is to "in your face" for me. It would be like going outside on a windy day with no knickers on.....risky.
• Some fellow bloggers are either in China or very close to heading that way and I just can't wait to see them with their babies in their arms. There is something so very special about Gotcha day.
• That's it, in a nutshell.

Factoids, Bullet Style

• My head is all a whir with many different thoughts, problems and silliness that have been ruminating around in my grey matter for a while now so if I were you I would skip this post because at best it is just going to be me on a bender.
• When Rosie goes down a slide or is being pushed along on a toy she shouts, peee, instead of wheeeeee. It is so funny.
• Thank God Halloween is over. I don't think I have ever eaten quite so much chocolate. I eat a lot during a normal week but last week even I was astounded, no I think appalled is a better choice of words.
• Part two of my blog book should be arriving on my doorstep at any minute. I am really thrilled about it but very disappointed that it has taken this long. It was my Mothers day gift??
• My Uncle rang me today to see if the girls like to paint. I said they love it and he said good, I have just bought them 100 paint brushes. Well, I guess I will never ever have to buy them paintbrushes again. He then asked if he should be them a set each....I don't think that is necessary but thank you all the same.
• I am done with the eye doctor finally. This is it, it won't get better than this. As long as I don't actually try and use both eyes I am fine. LOL. I go back in 6 months to have my vision checked cos by then I should be healed completely....allrighty then.
• Somebody who is supposedly very close to me is not being very honest with me. I don't know how to handle the situation but I am going to have to soon cos it is really eating away at me. Usually I jump in 2 feet first but this time I am going to have to use diplomacy. ( I will need to look that word up in the dictionary if I am going to pull it off.)
• I am so glad today is election day. No more campaigning. This has been a very long campaign and now it is all over bar the shouting. Well maybe not cos I am sure Florida will mess it up once again. Not all of Florida of course, just the part where we live.
• Lily loves to read and is currently hooked on the American Girl series. She will sit on the couch curled up with her book and laugh her little head off. It just makes my heart smile.
• Our close friend CF is in China for 6 months so we are running her house, taking care of bills etc. Today I had to pay a bill over the phone for her. She is Chinese and we joked on Skype yesterday that my Chinese accent might need a little help in order for me to pull it off since I was using her credit card. I practiced this morning at breakfast and when Lily finally decided I sounded like her Goo Goo I picked up the phone and started being her. It was really funny and so hard for me not to laugh. At one point I must have sounded a little too authentic cos the lady in billing asked me to repeat myself. Lily was cracking up but I did it! I then had to immediately call our contractor and without thinking started speaking in the same stupid voice. Lily found that even more hilarious.
• Rosie likes soft things under her feet and hates to be bare foot on the tile. I am with her on that one cos I don't like being barefoot on tile. We bought her some slippers but she thought they were toys so that didn't work. Today I found some slipper socks and she loves them and wont take them off.
• Rosie has started telling me that she has to pee pee. It is always after the fact but she loves to sit on the toilet and use the loo roll. I decided this morning to pull out a potty chair for her but it proved to be a little premature as she decided it was a hat. Sadly I didn't get that on video cos I was to busy shaking my head in disbelief. Lily and her marched around the house for about 20 minutes with various parts of the potty seat balanced on their noggins.
• When Lily was little she didn't take vitamins but Rosies doctor wanted her to. She had these nasty, smelled like hell and tasted even worse infant drops and everyday was a fight. So I switched her to Flintstones and I cut them into 3 pieces and she loves them. Hooked on them is a more accurate definition. She comes up to me at least 3 times a day and asks for "vitties".
• I will leave you with the cutest little feet in the cutest little socks, or bocks as Rose calls them.

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

We Made It.

This morning we all got up and got on our bikes and rode Lily to school. She was a bundle of energy, nerves and excitement.

Our usual morning routine involves one of us getting up and taking Lily to school, usually me, and the other one stays home with Rosie and moves at a more humane pace for that time of day. Today of course we were all up and bustling about. I was feeding the kidlets and Jacob was checking tyre pressure and finding bike helmets etc. Finally it was time to leave and we headed out. Rosie has her own little seat and it can go on either of our bikes but this morning Jacob put her on mine. He took the lead and I must say he looked very dashing wearing Lily's pink and brown Osh Kosh messenger bag over his shoulder, Lily followed him and I took the rear with Rosie. Those that know me will understand why I was bringing up the rear of this convoy and not leading....I do not do mornings.

Once we got to the main street, the equivalent of a dual carriageway, Jacob waited for the light to change rode into the middle stuck his hand in the air to stop traffic and waved us through. All I could think of was the children's book, Make Way For Ducklings. Once we got very close to the school, traffic was awful and nobody was about to let us cross the road so once again Daddy Duck rode into the middle, narrowly avoiding being run over, stuck his arm in the air and waved us through. At this point the convoy was longer than before as we had picked up some other families. Lily was doing really well and had managed to avoid all parked cars but when her teacher drove by and started beeping and shouting hello out of her window she nearly fell off.

This afternoon was a different story as I was alone for the pick up and part of me really wanted it to pour with rain so I could go in the car but it didn't and I didn't. Rosie and I rode to school and I took a cold drink for all of us and a snack for them and once she was dismissed we sat down under a tree and had our refreshments. It was actually a play for time because by the time we were done nearly everyone had gone and we were able to ride without many cars. It was nearly 90 degrees today so we stopped one more time under a tree on the way home so that Lily could have some more water.

Her school isn't far ( just over a mile) and we have biked much further distances but not usually in 90 degrees and not on a main rode. I just hope tomorrow when I have to go and pick her up that Rose doesn't have a fit because we aren't on the bike.

She was really chuffed that she got to do this and as far as I could tell only one other classmate did it.

Rosie Round - Up

Rosie has now been home with us for 6 months. It is the same old cliche that you hear every day: sometimes it feels like just yesterday and sometimes it feels like she has been with us forever. The one thing we know for sure is that she is changing in leaps and bounds. She was so very fragile to begin with and had such a hard time dealing with the loss of her former home but she slowly turned it all around and has become our daughter and she is now so very affectionate towards us. The biggest changes have happened in the last couple of weeks.

She turned 18 months yesterday and is right on target with other children of her age developmentally but still lags behind in her size. We had a big day last week when I went through her closets and had to get rid of all her 9 month old clothes cos they just don't fit. The tops still fit but the bottoms looked as if she was waiting for a flood.

I trimmed her hair because her scraggy fringe was in her eyes and now she actually looks a bit older. I also trimmed the back so that it was even and now hopefully it will grow enough so that it can be styled by a hairdresser. (Jenna, are you coming down for a visit anytime soon?)

Although she doesn't say an awful lot in English she makes herself understood. Her vocabulary consists of the usual first words and the funniest thing that she has started to do is call everybody Mummy. I mean everybody! She knows that it gets attention so she just yells, MUM. She used to call Jacob Dada but now he is Mum as well, ditto Lily. Even our friend Hollis was Mummy yesterday.

We are working very hard with her to stop her from hitting and biting Lily and I think (fingers crossed, pay the Rabbi, send a cheque to Uncle Howard, and salt over my shoulder) we are winning the war. I really told her off the other day and sat her in the naughty corner and explained the whole deal to her and hopefully she will think twice before doing it again.

She has a stubborn streak that is mind blowing but she has met her match with us cos as a child I was the Queen of stubborn. Her clever little mind picks up on everything and when she sets her mind to do something she does it. She loves to read books, even if they are upside down and jabbers away to herself making up the story. If you put the television on she will turn it off and if it isn't on she will turn it on. She sleeps like a champion and wakes up every morning with a smile.

She truly is a wonderful little girl and we love her so very much. It is hard to imagine back to life without her. If I had a penny for every time that Lily says she loves her baby sister I would be a millionaire but instead I get the warm fuzzy's and they in themselves are worth millions.

The other day Lily left the stair gate open and Rosie noticed it immediately and made a bee-line for it. I was watching her and I have never seen her climb the stairs quite so fast. She giggled all the way to the top. If any doors are left open she will say, uh oh and shut them. She is so helpful. She still likes to unroll the toilet paper and unload the cupboards.

She is a thumb sucker and I thought that since she did that she wouldn't need anything else but I was wrong. She has her thumb, her bunny, and 2 blankets that she drags about with her. Quite frankly she looks like a homeless woman who is dragging her life around with her. For Christmas I will have to buy her a little shopping trolley so that she can really play the part.

She makes us laugh endlessly with her antics and she knows only to well that she is funny. Her and Lily conspire against us and have a ball doing it.

Rosie still doesn't like strangers and clings to us when we are out and about. On occasion she will say hi to people but usually she gets rather bothered when people come to close to her. She needs a t-shirt that says, get out of my space.

This was out little sweet girl 6 months ago. Poor little soul was scared to death and heart broken. It still hurts me to see these pictures but I know now that she is fine.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

And this is the same little girl yesterday. All confident and having fun.

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

This video makes me laugh out loud every time I see it.

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Bookssrc="http://counters.gigya.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEyMTc5MDQ*MzM*NTMmcHQ9MTIxNzkwNDQzNjE*MCZwPTEyNTIxJmQ9Jm49Jmc9MQ==.gif" />


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

This month holds a lot of doctors appointments for her and she isn't going to like it one bit. She has her 18month old check up with the pediatrician and then we also have to go back to Miami Children's Hospital for an EKG an Echo and this time she will have chest xrays as well. Hopefully if she has to have the surgery it will get scheduled and we can put it behind us and move on and if she doesn't have to have because by some small miracle it has healed itself then we will just start marching forwards from that moment. Since her heart is improving we are really hoping it has fixed itself.

Updates

Yesterday was our 6th month post placement visit with our social worker. One of the reasons that we have not moved out of this area yet is because of this lady. She is a phenomenal SW and we just love her. She has known us since 1999 and was genuinely thrilled to meet Rosie yesterday. So, the visit should have gone really well but alas, not so. Lily decided yesterday to exhibit behaviour that is rarely seen in her. Translation: she was an absolute brat from start to finish....arghhhh. After Barbara left Jacob sent Lily to her room and she spent the remainder of the day there. That is a first for her and as much as I would like it to be the last I suppose this is just the beginning. Today her manners are impeccable and her attitude, as sweet as honey. The SW was very impressed with Rose but we won't know much until we get the report back in a couple of weeks. Wish us luck.

Rosie Posie is feeling much better. She finally started to eat again yesterday and this is the first day she hasn't had a temperature. She really looked pathetic with her big black circles and her red eyes. She had no energy whatsoever and needed to be held constantly. It was so sad. Now she appears to catching up on all the sleep she missed.

As for me. I woke up 5 weeks ago looking like this. If you are squeamish look away. I have Iritis again.



Last week things were not going well and my eye pressure was so high that the Dr. was concerned about permanent damage to my optic nerve. In fact his actual words were, "Oh Sh*t". I love this man and he has dealt with my eye for 10 years and knows that when I get this I always get bad cases of it. He changed all my meds and yesterdays visit was better. The pressure is back to normal, my vision has improved but it is still to early to tell if there is any permanent damage. It appears that all good news comes with a catch and yesterday catch was that the virus is now worse than last week because these meds are not so good and my eyeball is drying up. The doc told me to look straight ahead and then literally poked me in the eye, twice! I told him that wasn't very nice and he told me not to complain cos he was having a bad day. (he has a great sense of humour and when I am dealing with this stuff I need someone who can make me laugh cos (a) it hurts and (b) it is just a general pain.) He explained that by poking me like that my eye should have produced massive amounts of tears but it didn't. I have so many eyedrops I think my brain is water logged and I am on massive amounts of steroids and the side effects are starting to rear their ugly heads. I have spots....yuck, I tell you. I never had spots as a teenager and I really don't need them now. Lily keeps looking and saying things like....eeewww. Very helpful.

There is a large tree between our house and our neighbours and this morning I was in the kitchen and I heard a funny noise,. I looked outside and a very large branch from the tree was in our garden. The kidlets were fascinated by it. There fascination was short lived because with 2 hours it had been chopped up and removed.

This was a fun filled post wasn't it I bet you are just thrilled that you stopped by.

1 Month Home

What a difference a month can make!
One month ago today at 3.55am we walked through our front door. We were ending one journey and starting another one. We were so happy to be here. When we walked through the front door with Lily a few years back it was as if she knew she was home. She instantly came to life and literally ran from room to room shrieking. Not so with Rose.

Rose was very insecure and didn't "feel" that this was the place we were meant to be. She remained that way for a another 10 days or so and then in her own sweet time she came to accept all of the changes. Now we have no idea where that timid, grieving little girl has gone because she has been replaced with the "Wildchild". She had a nickname in the orphanage and if we called her that she would always respond, she doesn't anymore. It is sad really to think that she is forgetting who she was. We won't let her forget it all, we want her to be proud of being Chinese and to be very proud of where she came from. I still speak the little bit of Chinese that I know to her and so does Lily. She understands it, which in itself is amazing cos I don't sound at all Chinese when I speak. LOL

It is just amazing how much our children can accept and process in such a short amount of time. I swear if I had to go through half of what my girls have gone through I would be in therapy for years. Rose is now the sister to Lily that Lily dreamt of for 3 years. They are an act together, they play, they laugh and they chat. Rose now talks constantly. My father call this type of babble, talking scribble and I think that is the perfect summation of it. She has decided that walking might be a good idea and in the last few days she has really been trying hard to get from point A to point B in an upright position. I have still yet to catch it on film because I stand next to her cheering her on and then when I think of the camera she is once again in a seated position.

She knows what she wants and how to go about getting it. She has given us so much and I hope that we can give to her all that she deserves by being outstanding parents to her. This is my goal for both girls. Since Rose entered our lives even the laundry has got cuter. Have you seen how tiny weiny her socks are? It is hard to find laundry boring when you are folding such adorable things.

To both girlies, I love you more than you will ever know. Thank you for being mine/ours. You make my heart and soul want to burst with love.

Nattering's

This is going to be a post that hops around so bullets will be the best format.

Rose is now going by the name of Petal. This morning I took her outside with me in her stroller so that I could get a few jobs done. At one point I was using the hosepipe and she was sitting next to a planter playing with a ladybug ornament. I turned around to look at her and she had a grabbed a handful of flowers and was chowing down. (Have no fear they are non poisonous.) I unloaded her mouth much to her chagrin and I moved her away and set back to work. About an hour later we were in her room and I was giving her a bottle before her nap and she wouldn't take it. I tried a couple of times but she had no interest so I told her that was fine but she was going to sleep anyway. She looked me straight in the eye, put her hand in her mouth and retrieved two more flowers!!!!!!

She took 2 steps yesterday. Lily her and I were in the kitchen and she was standing up and just decided to walk to Lily. I reached for the camera but was not fast enough. Lily was so happy that she took her first steps towards her. She hasn't done it again and honestly she is so wobbley I hope she takes her time about it as I freak out everytime I catch her standing up on the tile. Carpet is so much softer on the noggin!

Rose is going to the Hospital on Monday to have her heart checked out. Lily asked me yesterday if she would have to have a shot. I told her just one. She looked at me and said, "Mummy I wish I could go through all the tests for her so that she doesn't have too". Those are words that melted my heart. Lily is so sensitive and now she has added protective to her list of adjectives. Such a deep soul for a 5 yr old.

Rose can eat! She doesn't have an off switch so I turn it off for her when she has eaten more that I can imagine a child of her size eating.

As Lily and I were walking upstairs tonight to go to bed we were having a conversation that wasn't making any sense at all. We must have been talking about different things. Lily stopped, turned around, looked at me and said,"Daddy is right, you don't make any sense at all!" She wasn't being rude, it was just a comment. I had to bite my tongue so that I didn't laugh. (thanks very much Jakey)

We seem to have found our stride. Last night I was talking to my uncle on the phone and it was late and I said I needed to go and start cleaning the house. He immediately told me that I have 2 children now and that nobody expects my house to be clean. Well, I do expect it to be clean. When Lily came into our lives everyone said I would stop being a neat freak and it didn't happen and then they said, well with 2 you won't care about the house.....WRONG. I do care and it has to be clean and everything still has to be done yesterday. I cannot function well if things are upside down. I have now figured out a way to make it all come together. It might not work tomorrow or next week but for now it is fine. If I can just fit in some "blog time" I will be over joyed.

And finally, Andie sent us her photos from China and they are amazing so I am going to post some of them now even though they are "old".

Red Couch Day

Freezing Family At Beijing Zoo


The 4 of Us.


On The Great Wall. This is one of my favourite photos of the trip.


The Final Seconds of Being An Only Child (for both of them)


Sisters, at last.


Oy, is this not the cutest thing ever?


Last but by no means least. Nannie Rene, this photo is for you. I have a better one somewhere but we have approx 600 photos from the trip and finding them all is a bit hard. On the left hand side of the picture are to ladies looking down at a bag. In that bag are the blankets that you made, which by now are surrounding 2 Chinese babies with love and warmth. Thank you so much.

Biting The Bullet.....Post

• 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.