Party Time

Late this afternoon we ventured out to a birthday party for Lily's best friend at school. Rosie was also invited as the friend has a little sister and it was a joint party. Let me just say here for the record, that I am not into these gala type birthday events where you need a second mortgage on your home just to pay for them. This was a pretty elaborate event but not over the top and the girls had a really great time.

There was face painting so Lily had her face done.


Oh and of course the copy cat sister was right there behind her!

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There was a huge play house with attached slide that they both loved

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Weeeeeeeee.

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There were party games o'plenty which they both did.

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Lily and the birthday girl having pizza on the ladybird

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Oh and looky here, the copycat sister is on the same ladybird!

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There was a rock wall and needless to say Lily wasted no time scaling the blinking thing.

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Natalie climbing the wall.

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Lily nearing the top

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Victory, she reached the summit.

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Someone just can't be outdone!

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She couldn't wait to have a turn and I was really shocked that she was allowed to.

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Proud little stinker

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Coming back down

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There was so much to eat and drink but the girls favourite thing was candy floss.

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And of course Rosie had to try it too. Oh but wait, could it be the one thing that she just couldn't do. She climbed, ran, danced, slid, and tried her darndest to keep up with the big kids but she just couldn't pull off the candy floss she hated the stuff! Look at her face!

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As with many of the kids parties in this neck of the woods it went on until very late so at 8.30 I corralled two very tired, sticky, fun drenched girls into the car and we came home. After a quick but thorough bath they went to bed and both fell asleep instantly. Oh how I wish they would sleep late in the morning. Never gonna happen!

It's My Own Fault!

I am a busy person. What I mean is that I like to be busy, I work well under stress and right now that is a good thing cos I am going nucking futs. I have been moving in 10,000 directions all at the same time, hence no blogging.

We have just set up Gmail accounts for ourselves cos we plan on losing our ISP shortly so having spent hours reloading all the info cos I couldn't figure out how to do the shortcut I went into Blogger to change it there and low and behold Blogger doesn't allow Gmail as the primary addy...what is that about? Any way around it?

The other project that is now killing me is one that I was really giddy about starting. We took a trip to IK*EA and bought storage units for the kids toys. We loved the colour of them so much that I decided to stain and refinish all the existing wood furniture downstairs. The first piece was a charm to do but the second piece, well lets just say I still have a mouth like a sailor! I hit a wall with it and even called my father who is really an amazing woodworker and furniture maker and I managed to stump him. I tried all of his suggestions, and Jeanne's and then a few trillion of my own and still the stain wouldn't take so I was about to throw it off the balcony, literally when I tried one last thing and victory, or so I thought. I rang my father and told him I had done it and within minutes walked out of the house to take the kids to the park. On the way home I said to Lily that I would be so cross if when we got home the table had done it's thing again. We walked in, she ran to the table and said, "you are going to be cross". Arghhh, I couldn't believe it. You need to understand that if I start something it has to be done immediately and finished yesterday. I named the table my red headed step-child and told Jacob I was going to beat it. I finally did, late last night. Now I only have 4 large pieces to go and this project will be signed off on. And I thought it would be enjoyable. Jeanne keeps telling me that when I get it all done and stand back and look at it I am going to love it...I wonder if I will ever get that far!

I decided I want a Dy*son. I have a hoover and it is great and works fine, well until last week! Apparently it is sensitive and me deciding that I want the Dy*son Ball was enough to make it pout! Then the dishwashers touch panel went on the fritz and then the final nail in the coffin was that my washing machine quit. No warning it just died. The repairman really cheered me up when he said my 3 yr old machine needed a new motor to the tune of $750! H-E-L-L-O...I don't think so. I made a swift phone call to Bosc*h and it turns out it is under warranty but I still have to pay $250 for labor because we didn't buy the extended warranty. Does anyone else find it absurd that companies now have such little faith in the products that you are forced to buy an extra warranty...I think it is truly pathetic! So adding to my busy busy-ness I am now schlepping my washing over to my friends house, cos that is just so darned helpful. (bitch session over)

My little Lily is entering her first horse riding competition. I cannot find the words to tell you how proud she is. She is beaming and not at all nervous. It is 2 weeks from Saturday. I have to go and pick up her costumes/uniforms tomorrow. I truly hope she gets a ribbon even if it is just for participating. It is going to be a long day, 10am-4pm. This is the good stuff that makes the other stuff find its rightful place. Daddy is going to have to work overtime to pay for this little hobby! He says she is worth it.

Rosie went to the Gastroenterologist today. We were there for 2 hours and Rosie actually liked the Dr and didn't whine, whinge or cry. Yay for that turn of events! She can no longer have milk. As of today she is on Pedia*sure. Guess what? She hates it. Won't drink it and is being a real pain about it. Tomorrow she will have no choice. It has 32 cal's per teaspoon. That should put some meat on her bony little frame. She has gained 9oz's since Feb 12th so she is gaining again but has dropped to the 3rd percentile for weight. The Dr. is running a few tests but nothing to invasive as of yet and she thinks she will have all the answers she needs. She was thorough and I feel very comfortable with her and also feel that nothing is wrong with the Rosie Posie. We return at the end of April.

Andie, I hope that you come and visit as soon as you return from Iraq. Stay as long as you want and bring tools and scruffy clothes. I have a feeling I will still be knee deep in stain at that point!

We live in the cruise capitol of the world and have never ever taken a cruise. That's about to change! We are booked to take a cruise at the end of the summer and the best part, we are going with friends. Can't wait! It's a long way off but it is going to be fun. We are heading to Boston this June to take Lily to the Americ*an Girl store for her birthday. So we have lots of fun things to look forward to but right now I have to go back and tend to my red headed step child and finish her off! She will be back in her rightful place tomorrow morning and she will look good....I hope!

A Week In Pictures.

Lily riding her bike whilst wearing Heel*ies. One thing at a time apparently isn't enough for this little multi-tasker.

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Rosie on her rider.

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Just fun.

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This is what happens when you leave a child unattended with markers. DOH, I do believe I actually know better.

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Hmmm, silly Mama

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I suppose it was a good thing that I checked in on her when I did.

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I walked out of the bathroom for a minute this evening and when I returned I found that that Lily had been recruited by the Von Trapp family and was ready to start belting out the words to: "The Hills Are Alive.....

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I am going to blame every single one of my laugh lines on these two!

Bad Attitude.

Tonight was Lily's weekly riding lesson and she was, as always, really looking forward to it. We arrived at the farm a few minutes early and we waited for her instructor to show up. As soon as Frenchie appeared things got underway and before I knew it the horses were saddled up and Lily was off. She had only been gone for a minute when Latin Fire turned around and bolted for the barn with Lily on his back. Lily was giggling like a fool and Frenchie was yelling instructions to her. Lily managed to get things back under her control and she headed back to the paddock.

No sooner was she back in the driving seat, so to speak, Latin Fire took off again. This time he headed to the tarmac and put on one hell of a show with my little girl, my 42 lb wimp on his back. She was unfazed and listened carefully to what Frenchie was telling her and yet again she bought him back to the paddock. Now if any of you have known me for my entire life you will know that this is why I gave up on horses...they do not listen. When they pull this crap it really unnerves me and I get off. The last time it happened to me I never got on one again!

After a few more minutes of drama Frenchie literally screamed for Lily to, "come here" and she took her off of him. She then altered the stirrups, mounted and whipped that bad boy into shape, not literally. After she had shown him who was boss she let Lily get back on but not before she asked me if she was in trouble. I explained that she was not at all in trouble but Latin Fire was. I then explained that Frenchie was showing him who was the boss and that was what she needed to do when she got back on. A few seconds later I could hear Lily telling him something about: behaviour, I'm the boss, you will do what I want, and not tolerating his badness (her word). I smiled and watched my little Schnoog take her heels and give him one mean kick followed by a yank on the reins, that I swear would have removed my head and off they went. Lily rides Paso Finos and they ride with their heads held very high and she was making sure he was looking at the sky. She was in control and she was loving it. I have to say I was really proud of her cos she was giving 100%. I was worried cos Latin Fire was pissed off and Lily doesn't have that much experience but she did it.

She did it for a few more minutes and then off he went again. He didn't get to far cos Lily reined him in but again he started a song and dance and for the first time I really thought she was about to hit the deck. She was struggling to stay on and listen to Frenchie at the same time. Frenchie is like the horse whisperer and takes no crap from them at all so she went up and gave him a whack which of course made him rear and kick even more. Now I wanted to close my eyes but I couldn't cos at the same time I wanted to see how Lily was doing. Her face was in a grimace, she was fighting like the dickens to stay in that saddle and she did it. She turned Mr. Cranky pants about and got him back in the paddock. I have to tell you I was one proud mama.

At this point I can no longer tell if Frenchie is cross with just the horse or with Lily as well. Rosie and I sat glued to our seats and listened as Frenchie shouted instructions to the uppity horse and it's little rider. Finally the lesson came to an end and Lily and a very relieved Latin Fire headed for the barn, much faster than usual. Rosie and I headed over and as Frenchie helped Lily get off she gave her a huge hug. As Lily gathered her folder and took off her hat and gloves and headed for the office for her homework assignment Frenchie came over and said that she was amazed by Lily today and that she did what most adults can never manage, she got Latin Fire under her control and returned him to the paddock each time.

This was supposed to have been a testing day for Lily and had things gone well she would have graduated to the next level. She didn't. It was through no fault of her own but because Latin Fire had a different set of ideas. Lily left tonight with a full understanding of how well she did and a certificate of achievement.

When Lily came up to me she showed me her hands, they were white. She was holding the reins so tight she had blisters. After her bath I gave her a massage and her thighs were so tight she asked me why and I told her from squeezing to stay in the saddle, She replied, I didn't, was I meant to? Oy vey that doesn't make me feel any better knowing that she was just perched on the top, Oh Well.

Yes, I am proud of her and I told her so myself. My parents said it wasn't good to tell your kids things like that cos they might get a big head. Frankly, she deserves a big head this time, but she doesn't have one. To her it was just another day in the saddle another fun day riding a horse. I lost a few heart beats that I will never ever get back again but kidlets do that to you all the time.

Well done, you little wimp you rode like a champion. When it comes to having attitude you really do win, hooves down.

Park Fun.

This afternoon we toddled off to the park for our Wednesday get together and the girls had fun as always. It was sort of chilly , for us anyway, so they were zooming about and generally having silly times. Lily is a monkey, she always has been. She climbs, hangs, swings and generally goes ape, pun intended.
Rosie no longer finds all the people intimidating and gets quite giddy at the thought of meeting Auntie Jen and Ebby and Julia. As we drive towards the park she sits in her car seat announcing who she will see and then says chips because someone always brings chips and she loves them.

My monkey...smiling as always.

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Rosie loves this ride and today she would perch herself on top of it and eat her pretzels, no chips today, and when she ran out she would hell, "more" and someone, usually myself or Auntie Jen would deliver her next lot.

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Julia had a birthday this week so her mum bought cupcakes for the kids to decorate. This was Rosies finished project, a butterfly. Lily helped her.

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Singing happy birthday. As you can see Rosie is very focused on the candle. Shge loves singing happy birthday and does so at least once a day and always finishes the song by blowing.

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It is hard to tell from the photos but Lily has curly hair. She wanted me to curl it for her so I did and of course a certain little girl said "me too" when she saw what was happening so Rosie had to rollers in her hair too. That was hiliarious!

A Confession

Ever since Miss Lily came home Jacob and I have only been out by ourselves twice. Yes, you read that correctly, twice, in five and a half years. One night my friend watched Lily so that we could attend her first ever parent night at school, we were gone for 40 minutes. She survived, we survived. We have been saying for years that we need to find someone to babysit but this is Miami and other than our close friends who are busy with their own kids we just can't find anyone we feel comfortable with. One time years back my sister came to visit and Jakey and I hightailed it out of the house for a dinner date.

My friend Jakie has been bugging me lately to let her babysit. I feel like it is an imposition as she is divorced with 2 girls and is always so busy. Her girls are teenagers. Well the other day we decided to have a garage sale as we seem to have accumulated way to much stuff, I come from a family of accumulators and it doesn't sit well with me. I detest stuff, it bothers me and I have never been one for keeping stuff. Every few months I have a good sort out and send it off to charity but this time I decided to try and have a garage sale and yesterday was the day so hubs had to be home with me. We had this light bulb moment when we realised that it was a Saturday and would be a perfect night for a date.

I wasted no time calling Jakie. I saw smoke cos I dialled that number so fast. She said yes. OMG we were going on a date. We were so excited. Following a day of haggling with cheap people who were buying our junk we fed the kids, bathed them got ourselves all gussied up and hightailed it out the front door with nary a glance over our shoulders. We were free.

We had such a great time and my hubby even opened the car door for me. He used to always do that but with the addition of little people it has gone by the wayside and I didn't even notice and when he walked to my side of the car last night I thought he wanted me to drive so I turned around to go to the drivers door until I realised what he was doing. We had dinner in a grown up restaurant with grown up food and drinks. No bibs were involved, no drool, no sticky fingers tugging at my sleeve. We finished our sentences, we laughed uninterrupted and then we walked around outside laughing and chatting. Of course there had to be catch and it was my migraine that I was trying so damned hard to ignore but after a couple of hours that searing pain just couldn't be ignored for one more second so I asked if we could go home.

It was still a really fabulous evening and it is going to happen again soon. Lily had a blast, she was still up when we got home but what can I say, it was a first for her and she was having so much fun. Rosie slept right through everything which was the plan. Jakie and Lucy, thank you so much. You have no idea what it was like to be out by ourselves. We love our kidlets to bits but we love each other too and being alone was fabulous.

As for garage sales: you can keep 'em. Yes, we made lots of pennies and it was a success but dealing with all those people is just yucky.

Home For One Year.

One year ago today in a chilly room in Guandong Province we were united with Nan Qi Min. I think we were the last couple to receive our baby and all the other families were doting on their new babies when suddenly we saw her. Her, the little tiny person that we had been so in love with for 2 years. Her, the baby sister, that Lily had longed for. Rosie was about to be in our arms. The emotions that you go through at the very moment are hard to put into words. It is as if your heart is finally being made whole for the first time. We were on cloud nine, and have stayed there actually.

We let Lily approach her first, it was a promise we had made to her and then Jacob touched her next, as he held Lily first when we received her and we wanted to do things the same. By the time I got to touch her the guides were begging us to take her so I carried her out of their arms and that is when the crying started. We all sat down on the floor with her, right there and tried to console her little body but it was no use she was gutted, devastated, scared and alone. Our dream come true was a nightmare for her. We must have spent at least another hour there and she pretty much cried the whole time. Food, drink, soft words, soft toys and kisses just couldn't compare to the feelings of loss and fear that she had. I had to go and interview her care givers and Jacob tried to console her but decided after a few minutes that she might be better off with me. Once she saw her nannies she calmed down a little.

She was so very, very tiny and frail. I really wanted to get her back to the room so that we could really look at her, inspect her, see every inch of her tiny body. I wanted to know if she was all right. She definitely had a good set of lungs but I just wanted to really be able to see her tiny little beautiful body.

She sobbed on and off all afternoon. We fed her and she was eager to eat by that point. Her first bottle didn't go very well but finally she took it and then I tried to undress her. She had a lovely little suit of yellow corduroy on with fake sheepskin cuffs and as I tried to remove it she became inconsolable again but I had to do it. As I removed each layer she grabbed for them and held them close, wailing the whole time. Under her yellow suit were 2 of the saddest looking shirts I have ever seen, both were torn, and badly stained but their purpose was not to look nice but to protect her from the brutally cold temperatures that China suffered from last year. I finally changed her and was so shocked to see such a bony little child underneath all of the layers. If you remember I was a little taken back by her deformed chest and rib cage but mostly I was shocked at how very small and how very white she was. To this day Lily will often say, "do you remember how white Rosie used to be?" I do remember. The Mama in me just wanted to make it all better, I wanted to get her here right then so that we could see our pediatrician and our cardiac team.

That first night she slept like a champ. We woke her to feed her and she didn't cry. We held her and kissed her softly and spoke to her. I layed with her until she went back to sleep. We just couldn't believe she was ours. We finally had 2 girls, each as precious as the other and each belonged to us. This day was extra special cos we had Andie with us. Lily calls her, Cousin Andie, she never just calls her Andie and Rosie calls her Annie.

Rosie, it took you along time to really accept all the changes in your life but you have and now you are a happy little girl. We will always be here for you. If you have questions we will answer them, if we don't know the answers which will be the case quite often we will try everything we can to find them for you. Your sister will understand you and everything that you have gone through. All we can do is console you and always let you ask what it is you need to know. You heart is mended, in more ways than one and you are ready to take life by the horns. You are still our skinny little chicken but you have a big sister always standing ready to protect you when things get to rough or people get to nosey or pushy. We love you little Qi Qi and cannot believe you have been with us for a year. In so many ways it seems much longer but at the same time it feels like just yesterday.

One year ago.

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These are some random shots of her today. I think she has changed rather alot.
Rosie in the car on the way to Chuck-up-Cheese

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During dinner this evening she pulled off this tasty little party trick! That is Mac-n-Cheese up her schnoz

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In the bath tonight. This girl has some serious hair demons.

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Reading together before bed. Lily is reading her The Hungry Caterpillar.

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The only person that could do anything for Rosie tonight was Lily. She was in a huge Lily mood and wanted her to do everything for her. Lily of course, lovingly obliged. It's funny really cos 12 months ago today she pretty much wanted Lily for everything then too. If Lily is around Rosie has more nerve. Rosie needs Lily so that everything is all right in Rosieland.