handsful

…going on.  Here’s what’s on my mind…

E’s first game, which I saw most of – had to leave to take Abbey to softball practice. 

My hat is off to all the single parents out there…whether you’re full-time, at home while your spouse is serving our country, etc.  Randy has been traveling a lot this last week and I’m SPENT.  It’s hard work, people, not to mention a little lonely.  Praying an extra prayer for those who hold down the fort on their own. 

I had the pleasure of calling the Poison Control hotline for the first time today.  Yep, I had a great track record going until child #5.  I had an empty nail polish remover bottle on the kitchen counter, ready to put in the recycle bin.  I should have considered that “Miss Grabby Hands” (as she’s affectionately known around here) would get to it.  I look over right as she tips it up into her mouth.  Ahh!  I knew there was only a drop or two in there, but smelling her breath told me she definitely got some.  Funny thing, she didn’t even make a face.  Yet another reason to believe that she does NOT have taste buds.  The gal at PC was very nice, listened to what happened, and told me she might have a tummy ache (nah), to offer her fluids (I did), and that she’d be fine (she is). 

Here she is, eating something she SHOULD eat.  A muffin that Marley helped make in her cooking class. 

Speaking of Lainey, she’s doing really well with her speech therapy.  We have a new therapist which we LOVE, and Lainey does great for.  In her words, the therapist is “stoked” at how much potential she shows already (only 3 sessions into it).  We both agreed that Lainey Q is just soaking everything up and readily copying, imitating, singing, signing, etc.  She’s just a bundle of learning, and it’s so fun to watch.  Her latest things are “counting” to 5 – we count with our fingers “one…two…three…” and she copies perfectly and tries to imitate the numbers (three is “eee”).  She LOVES itsy-bitsy spider and wheels on the bus, discovered her shadow for the first time this past weekend, and almost has drinking from a straw figured out!  It’s amazing to watch her experience these things. 

Ethan had his first baseball game this past Tuesday…they won, but EJ did well just to be there.  His asthma has really been kicking up this last week, and we weren’t sure all day if he’d be well enough to make it to the late afternoon game.  He had a couple of breathing treatments, cough medicine, and his inhaler in his baseball bag and we decided he felt well enough to try.  He made it through fine, never needing his inhaler (I was amazed).  He told me he had prayed about it several times, and we talked about how God had indeed allowed him to play. 

Payton and Lainey team up to clean! 

The title for this post is perfect for how I’ve felt lately…there is just too much to do, too many places to be, too many errands to run, too many items on my “to do” list.  Sometimes I dream of being Amish, with just a couple of outfits, a few books, candles, and everyone has their own ONE plate, cup, bowl, and fork.  Then, I come back to my senses.  But, for me, clutter of any kind really drives me nuts and the clutter I’m feeling in my brain isn’t any different than a full kitchen counter.  I know the answer is to purge, simplify, cut back and I honestly try.  I want to do the things that “matter”, the things that will be memories for my kids to look back on and smile when they’re my age.  I’m praying that God will guide me in this area specifically…feel free to join in ;) 

No, those aren’t “My name is” stickers on their shirts…they’re part OF the shirt.  Classy. 

Extreme Excursion is a Jr. High weekend retreat that our church does annually.  Randy works with the Jr. High 8th grade boys, and so he went along as a cabin leader/counselor.  They left Friday afternoon and returned to the church last night for the wrap-up banquet with all the kids and parents.  They had a wonderful time of worship, quiet time, small group discussion, and outrageous games.  Ever played “spit the skittles out of the whipped cream pie”?  Ever try to see how many lifesavers you can lick and stick to your face?  Me either. 

Abbey went to EE for her first time last year, before Dad was involved with the Jr. High.  She was happy that he could join in on the fun this time around.  Randy was exhausted when they got home, and fairly well beat up!  Bruises all over his arms and sore legs.  The kids play HARD and for some reason Randy is right in the thick of it.  I know I’ve said it before…in his mind, Randy is still IN Jr. High. 

So, after putting some sunburn gel on Abbey and handing Randy the ibuprofen, they were both ready for bed.  :)

 

In case anyone would like to see a few pics of our resident 2 year old (come on, you know you want to…), go to this blog:

http://www.slnstudios.com/blog/

You’ll have to scroll down, almost to the bottom of the page for the blog post titled “China Doll”.  Lainey had her pictures taken by Stacy, at SLN Studios.  Stacy is affilitated with a national organization called “Celebrating Adoption”.  They connect local photographers with families that have recently adopted, and offer a free portrait sitting (and usually other perks!) if you’ve adopted within the last year.  When I checked out the site, and started looking for a photographer, I had my doubts that one would be close enough.  Sure enough, Stacy was barely 30 minutes away.  And, she was wonderful!

If you’re interested in finding out more…go here!

http://www.celebratingadoption.org/ 

Another month has gone by since that amazing day on 2/18 when Lainey was placed in our arms.  We grow to love her more everyday, and continue to be in awe of God’s perfect gift to us.  As we like to say, we undoubtedly have the goofiest child from the Bengbu City SWI!  God knew what He was doing…our other children are also certifiably goofy.  :) 

Here are a few tidbits about Lainey these days…

• she LOVES ketchup…she dips her fry, licks, dips, etc. before actually biting it. 
• she’s always been attached to him, but dada has been extra special these days.  She does the happy dance when he walks in the door!  He works from home, but lately has had lots of meetings and a few trips away. 
• when she gets especially mad or frustrated, she’ll hit whatever inanimate object is closest…the table, toy, etc.  I try not to laugh. 
• have I shared this one yet?  If you tell her to “talk”, she immediately sticks her tongue out.  Kids taught her that little trick. 
• a new word…boo boo (comes out moo moo…too cute)
• she is more frightened of strange noises, especially some toys that make noise.  This is new.  On the other hand, big lightening and thunderstorms don’t bother her in the least. 
• she still loves playing with her play kitchen.  Her favorite thing to do these days is to wipe my face and hands with a napkin after “feeding” me. 
• When we put her down for nap or nighttime, we have to play the Which Blanket game.  She has quite a few, and you never know which one she might choose.  She’s the same way with her animals…she might want them all or none.  She’s a gal who has preferences. 
• Potty training is going well…if we take her right after lunch, she almost always goes.  She’s told us (using the universal sign for “I need to go”) twice and has gone both times. 
• Still eats anything, but has her favorites…oatmeal, graham crackers, Gerber meat sticks, all veggies especially carrots, mandarin oranges…there are many more! 

I’ve been meaning to post about this, we changed Lainey’s room a few weeks ago.  She used to be in a small room with no closet downstairs.  We moved her to the bonus room upstairs, with her “room” being in the back and the rest is her playroom.  It’s working GREAT, she loves the extra space to be free to play.

Here’s a shot of it with me standing near her crib.  We’re still working on getting everything back up on the walls. 

The mandatory after-nap snack.  Today was organic chocolate bunny crackers.  Yum.  Happy 7 months, Lainey Q!   

 

Remember our trip back home to NC a few weeks ago?  I forgot to tell a story about something that happened.  Actually, I didn’t really forget, I just didn’t realize it’s significance at the time. 

After we arrived in NC, and I finished up with my orthodontist appointment (no, I’ve not found another ortho. in FL!), we decided to go out to eat.  Our families all had prior commitments for that night, so it was just us.  We ended up at Red Robin and saw that it was Kid’s Night.  This meant that a guy dressed up in a big red bird costume was going to go from table to table to “entertain” the kids.  Great…our big kids were mortified thinking he might show up at our table.  Lainey had never been around any kind of dressed-up character, but knowing she has little fear of anything, I wasn’t worried. 

We ate and talked and suddenly I look beside me and there he is, just standing there staring at Lainey.  She stares back for a minute, and then it happens….she absolutely freaks out.  Think of the face you’d make if you saw someone staring at you from outside your window at night.  That face.  And she screamed, cried, reached for me, started frantically pushing her plate away and signed “all done” over and over again.  The bird got the message and left and we tried to comfort her, convince her that the bird went “night-night”, and did our “shhhh” sign with our finger over our lips.  For the rest of the night, she kept her head down unless she was looking all around for the bird…all the while showing me the “shhhh” sign like she was saying “he’s gone, right?  night-night?!?  promise??” 

Little did I know that this incident would completely turn her off to ALL birds!?!  She hates seeing birds now, even in pictures.  We were at the grocery store, unloading the groceries into the car, and a few black birds walked by.  She went into Red Robin mode all over again…well, not AS bad, but nearly.  We’re thinking of suing the place for emotional abuse.  Think we have a shot?? 

 

In the light of the silvery moon…

This weekend, we had the pleasure of getting together with our local FCC (Families with Children from China) group to celebrate the Autumn Moon Festival.  Here is a little info on this holiday…

The Autumn Moon Festival…sometimes called the Mid-Autumn Festival or Lantern Festival…dates back to over 3,000 years to moon worship in China’s Shang (or Tang, I saw references to both) dynasty.  It’s held on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month.  It’s one of the two most important Chinese holidays (the other being Chinese New Year).  It is a time for families to come together to admire the moon, eat mooncakes, light lanterns, and watch dragon dances.  Chinese people believe that on that day, the moon is the roundest and the brightest, signaling a time of completeness and abundance.  

Our group decided to spend our evening at the St. Augustine splash park, right beside the beach and under the moon.  We were very excited to be there, as it was our first FCC event WITH our Lainey.  We had attended other things in the past (as a “waiting family”) and had admired all the beautiful little girls (and some boys) in our group, with a wee bit of jealousy ;)  This time, it felt great to actually be a family with a child from China. 

Here are some photos from the night…

Lainey, Mom, Abbey, Marley, and Ethan…splashing with a view of the ocean.  Can’t beat that. 

Pure joy

Payton throws a little kung fu on the fountains

Payton, there’s water EVERYWHERE!

It was a fun night!  On my sidebar, you’ll see a category called “local families”.  Check out some of their blogs…I’ll be adding more soon. 

 

…little of that.  Here is a hodge-podge of stuff going on around here :)

Remember our trip to NC?  We were able to visit my mom’s workplace, a daycare called Building Blocks.  One of the gals there is Ami, and she is a devoted “fan” (ha) of our blog.  She was SO very excited to meet our Lainey, she’s followed our story for quite a while and has grown to love her just from the blog.  Amazing.  She even had a gift for Lainey, an adorable baby doll. 

It’s not exactly “high-tech”, but the pics above are from that day.  I had forgotten our camera, but my mom had hers (as always).  So, the plan was to take her memory card and get a CD made for us to take home.  Well, the machine at Target wasn’t working properly, so all they could do was make these small prints for us.  So, I made do.  Thank you, Ami!!!  (waving!)

Homeschool is in full-swing around here, and it’s going well.  This is from today, our science unit is on rocks right now.  Abbey has always loved rocks, so she was really excited. 

Abbey, all ready for softball practice.  Notice the super cute pink and black cleats (which match her pink and black glove and bat, of course).  This is her first time playing softball, and from what we’ve seen so far, she should do well.  I can’t wait to watch her in a game!

Remember the pic of the violets I posted a while back, with the one pot with only 1 leaf in it?  I started rooting that thing MONTHS ago, and look what we found when we got home from vacation?!?  BABY VIOLETS!!  I just love it. 

Who can resist a toddler in her Oakley shades?  No, they’re really daddy’s. 

More shades, the girl loves them.  And, her leopard that her cousin Anna Grace gave her :)