Luke's Blog

For those who think I am a horrible mommy not only because my Thanksgiving guests ate off paper plates (Hey, I cared enough to get Chinette) but because they feel that Luke is not getting equal time I want to let you know that Luke does indeed have his own blog.  Maran makes cameo appearances on Luke's blog and Luke on Maran's.  So if you want to see what Mr. Snickerdoodle is doing then feel free to click I mean CHUG  on over. 

http://mrsnickerdoodlemisssassafras.blogspot.com/

The Miracles of the Season / Simplistic Mode

I have been at the SPA for 8 days which is why I  haven't posted..."IF ONLY".... however, what a difference a week makes.  Of course we have been busy. I want to know one person who is NOT busy the week of THANKSGIVING.  I will have to check their pulse if such a person exists.  Needless to say we got it all done.  It was challenging and exhausting but boy do I feel good now.  Today I am not cooking, cleaning, waiting on anyone or scrubbing another dish, pot or pan.  We have fed 34 people from Thanksgiving Day till now. (20 on Turkey day (David's family) and 14 on Friday (Ann's family)). To start off it was miserable ONLY from the standpoint that my hands are killing me.  Not trying to whine but I am going to complain.  They hurt so bad. So that said just imagine that you are cooking and cleaning and the ends of your fingers are so raw that they have very baby fragile skin on them... OK so you are now in my shoes (if I had any on). Ouch.  Do feel better now.   It has gotten worse in the past week and unfortunately the cleaning up from Thursday did NOT help.  Oh well, who needs finger tips anyway. 

A Week in Review: 

Saturday (One week ago) -- Entire family runs around doing errands. We wasted more time than we should have but it was so much fun goofing off.  Daddy finishes the train board that will go around the Christmas tree so we can be up and running and puffing down the tracks soon.

So much fun we had at Costco.  Cheap pizza, hot dogs and soda for all.  After lunch treat of suckers.

 Aren't these the BEST looking treats ever? Guaranteed Sugar Rush!

 Maran knows EXACTLY how much she wants added

Snickerdoodle Luke at work on his creations.  You can tell where some cookies have bites out of them.

Sunday -- we make HOLIDAY Cookies (hence above wonderful photographs).  We have tons of fun and the mess was the best part.  From the look of these beautiful creations I am not sure why there are still some left.  Do people not like a pound of frosting and cup of granulated festive color sugar crystals on each cookie?  Most of the Thanksgiving and Holiday Baking is completed this day plus most of the food for Friday's Festivities (Turkey Day Celebration Bryant style).

Monday -- Advent Calendar is filled with lots of yummy goodies.  Dinner consisted mostly of sugar.  Lots of candy tasting going on here.  It was fun and we turned it into a learning and counting adventure.  Mommy spends time working at her office most of the day and also pulls an all niter so that the chaos that has been in our home for weeks can be kicked out the door.

Tuesday -- We wake up to a Christmas Wonderland at our house.  The decorations are up, the floors can be seen and peace on earth is attempting to knock at our door.  PLEASE ALSO NOTE THAT SUITCASES ARE UNPACKED & PUT AWAY..it takes three weeks to unpack suitcases right?  We were gone for 19 days so we can justify one day after we return to unpack for each day of being gone to unload all the collected junk. (It took 21 days but who's counting?) So that's the fact as to why the suitcases sat forever and became objects in our home that  had to be dusted..  Had it been cold weather in China then we would have unpacked faster so we can blame it on "Old Man Weather" too.  When you really need something it is much easier to unpack faster.  Maran falls into the extra table that is set up in the living room in order to accommodate our crowd.  UGLY cut to the left of her lip.  THANKFULLY it didn't get her eye!

We have never put lights around our door but did this year.  Of course it looks MUCH better at night.

The elf who was supposed to get all the presents wrapped called in sick so they are still hidden and still waiting to be wrapped.

Wednesday -- We meet cousin Tefie at noon back at the house so she can play with the worlds cutest kiddos.  Mommy runs errands.  Daddy arrives home to blow the leaves in the yard and actually do something around the house without little ones trailing.  The sun sets and family shows up to start cooking some more things and get ready for Thursday.  Peggy & Tefie spend the night so we can wake up early and "GET OUR THANKSGIVING ON". 

Thursday --  GOBBLE GOBBLE. Gieser side of family starts to arrive and we starve.  There is no food and no appetizers, no drinks no nothing.  YEAH..right.  More food than you can imagine. David Fries a turkey while Peggy cooks one in the oven.  I make sure the wine is good & chilled.  Maran decides that Daddy can NOT get out of her sight so she is under foot for him all day. This "all about daddy mode" continues throughout the weekend  which has been a huge break for mommy!  (Good for ME ---not so much for daddy).  Maran crashes on her tricycle and since she had on her Thanksgiving dress her knees don't fare too well.  Scrapped knees and fingers = tears.  Dr. Daddy fixed her right up. We eat, eat again, eat more & want to die.  Thankfully this year I did something that has NEVER been done on David's side of the family (at least at my house).....we ate off paper plates.  Go ahead, gasp, cover your mouth in dismay and unfriend me from facebook.  This was done for a number of reasons but first and foremost it was done NOT IN DEFEAT but I was tired.  Our table was always beautifully set with either the SNOWMEN HOLIDAY CHINA or the Eat Drink and Be Merry China (one with a blue color theme and the other with red).  We even used paper napkins. Yes, I know be horrified beyond belief now and look up in Miss Manners how horrible a 'entertaining faux pas' I made.  When it was all said & done there was one less load of laundry to do and 5 less dishwasher loads.  Instead of me being "DONE IN THE KITCHEN" at midnight I was done by 9 pm. (Thanks to friend Mary Ann who ALWAYS is my wing man during clean up....she has always been there and THANKFULLY so).  The garbage can is a little fuller but we have done very well with not 'overdoing' our share of land filling.  The food didn't taste any different --- it was all INCREDIBLE.  Ann's Sister arrives in time for dinner so she gets TWO Thanksgiving feasts and a feast it was. What a GREAT START to the HOLIDAY SEASON!

I have NEVER been the matching clothes type for children but we found these outfits in China and had to get them.  (David picked them out).  I can almost 100% assure you that this is the FIRST and LAST matchy matchy you will see my children in.

Gieser Side Cousins minus Christina

Friday -- Bryant (Ann's side of the family) Thanksgiving is today.  So we repeat the day before because our pants aren't tight enough yet and we had so much fun on Thursday we wanted to do it again on Friday so we did.  NEW TURKEY bird and all the fixings.  My family shows up and we do some appetizers, visit and have some fun.  They enjoy spending time with the 'youngest new addition to the family'.  We at ate at 6:15.  House was empty by 7:20.  David looks at me and says "I LOVE YOUR FAMILY.  They come and spend some time, they eat and they leave".  We were all resting by 10 pm as we were slower in putting away the left overs.  (WHICH by the way, I don't like leftovers).  The reason for that is another blog entry and we will get there one day. Just another aspect of my Warped Childhood. Oh and the crock pot mac & cheese for the first time tastes NASTY! Something went wrong!

Bryant Side minus Niece Christina, Aunt Jean, (David is photographing) John and Logan.

Saturday --  David and the older guys go skeet shooting (this is not a normal thing for him).  Lisa and I get a few hours of shopping in WITHOUT kiddos in tow and have a blast at Chico's.  I LOVE trying on clothes there now that are too big!! What a feeling!  We buy some outfits to get us through the rest of the season and then meet David's family for dinner.  After a great dinner (thanks Pop Pop) we come home and unload the sleigh  aka "Gangsta" and start to go through the house to gather all of Lisa's stuff.  She claims she will be leaving early on Sunday but we will see about that.  Two more loads of laundry done.

Sunday -- 6:58 am Lisa pulls out of the driveway.  I am afraid the world is ending.  She couldn't sleep so she decided to get up and head back to Georgia and attempt to beat the traffic.  Normally leaving early means leaving at 10 am because we always find so more things to do.  I couldn't get the garage door open so all the stuff I had made for her is stuck in the freezer in the garage.  I will ship it to her tomorrow.  I am going back to bed.  Enjoy today.  For us it will truly be a "DAY OF REST".  Safe travels -- St. Christopher protect us and our families who travel now and this holiday season.

Hugs --

My Momma said "THERE WILL BE DAYS LIKE THIS" But Weeks?

It is all catching up with me and the faster I run the closer it gets.  We have been home three weeks and it has been interesting, fun, challenging, frightening, arduous, tiring, adventurous, and down right different.  Yes, another child should be down right different.  It didn't help that I had a nasty flare up of my Lupus and that my Renaud's reared it's ugly head too.  (Yes I have these wonderful diseases and very rarely if ever talk about them but will do a side bar on it one day in all my free time --I secretly hope that by me having these wonderful issues coupled with my infertility that I was double whammied so someone else wasn't). Add to that the fact that it took both David and I a LONG time to recover from the jet lag and we are a Class A Coma.  Getting Old has it's privileges.

The difference between adopting an almost new born (Luke was 10 months old but looked like a 3 month old) and a 3 year old is as different as it comes.  Duh...............For everything that Luke is Maran is not.  They are so different but their hearts and souls are so similar.  They just want to be loved.  I guess we are all connected that way.  A few things that are kind of cool:

• Maran, I guess,  has never seen anyone cook and the mixer (brought out only for OOEY GOOEY PUMPKIN BARS) is better than a sucker and that is saying a lot.
• Since she  was constantly with others in the orphanage there is no such thing as 'entertaining herself' therefore the insane but sweet fear that she is going to be left alone which by the way brings on that incredibly painful cry of hers along with about a 1/4 cup of tears (Truly her tears are so big that they would fill a measuring cup). 
• It is challenging trying to entertain her. Don't get me wrong here.  She loves an art project but would much rather be taking the TV apart to see how it works in an attempt to possibly make it better. 
• I can bet that she will not be a VIDEO junkie or a couch potato.  Girl has got to go and be on the run (like me).  She can not be bothered with sitting still as there is so much to investigate. (YES I REALIZE THIS IS ALL NEW TO HER).
• She would touch anything & everything no matter what it is if she could.
• She would brush her teeth 30 times a day if she could (we have had to hide her toothbrush and ours too for that matter) so she won't brush her teeth too much.  I bet many mom's would love to have this problem.  She even  brushes them GOOD. I mean each one squeaky clean.  GOOD THING:  it has rubbed off on Snickerdoodle Luke.  His toothbrush is hidden as well.  There are worse things in life I know.
• She would constantly be putting something into her mouth if she could. FOOD THAT IS.  I think that I may have to move to a farm and plant some crop and get some livestock so we can keep her fed.  BOTTOMLESS PIT. This makes my heart feel good.  It's not that it is my good cooking it is that the child has been hungry for three years and she has some catching up to do.  JOKING...she has not been hungry for three years but I am sure the 'access to food' versus what she had has a lot to do with it.
• She still will not drink milk or milk products. No matter what I buy (and I have bought it all) she will take a sip and shake her head no. 
• Sassy can put a hurting on a glass of water.
• She now knows all the parts of her body (in English) and can tell me what hurts.  We do a little bit of baby sign language (I know only a few and I mean FEW signs which I loved doing with Luke). She knows the word "ouch" and can correlate it with a true ouch.

There's so much more but I have to make a path through our house so that our Thanksgiving guests won't fall over our luggage (it is almost unpacked --- see I told you I have lost it but can I use the excuse (which is true by the way) that my fingertips are so tender from the Renaud's that it kills me to pick up stuff?  It truly does and the fresh layers of skin are not at all tough.  Makes it hard to unbuckle a car seat without wanting to shed some tears yourself and I am buckling and unbuckling for three).  There's baking to be done and beds to have stuff shoved under.  OOOOhhh..... Fairy Godmother! 

ALICE is on her way HOME! --oh & Jennfier, Charles & Charlie too!

FOR ALL YOU ALICE FANS and there are a lot of us (Not to discount mom, dad and super BIG BROTHER CHARLIE who was such a SUPER HELP IN CHINA) we wish Safe travels to the Morrison's as they travel home to Alabama!  We can't wait to hear all about the journey!  St. Christopher protect us! 

So as our "ODE TO ALICE" we had to post a snapshot of her that we got on our camera that the orphanage took.  Boy do we have some neat pictures to post.  Interesting ones at the orphanage and all that.  (We will save it for another day).

HUGS TO THE MORRISON'S and enjoy a GREAT NIGHTS SLEEP in your own bed with all of your loving children around you!  What a great way to start THANKSGIVING WEEK!

What a Difference a Lil' Bit of English Makes

We are learning English & Maran knows more than she wants you to believe! 

• We will count to 10 all by ourself.
• Will repeat the ABC's (W is absolutely adorable and I must tape it).
• Will repeat our entire family & extended family names as well as office co-workers, neighbors & friends.
• Will sing E I E I O from Old McDonald (I know that's not spelled right).

WILL SAY:

•  "OK"
• "Here we go"
• "Yoooouuuuu" (which I say to her in a joking way when she is being silly).
• "Silly Girl"
• "Potty"
• "YUMMY"
• "Ut- OH"
• "Abbey, NO"  (Abbey is our perfect dog who really wants to run away).
• "Luka -- Stop"  (Telling Luke to stop).
• "Come On" (she got this from me in the car when I was telling the car in front of me to COME ON and GO -- funny as I normally do not yell at other drivers or make comments as I have the attitude that I could be sitting in Atlanta traffic and nothing is worse than that -- we lived there for five years).
• "Pretty Girl"
• "Yum-Yum"
• "Santa"
• "Thank you"
• "Please"
• "More"
• "House"
• "Dog"
• "Car" -- I have only gotten her to say "GANGSTA" once.  I believe every child should call the car by it's name as well. 
• "BABY"
• "DOLL"
• "Sorry" (A VERY IMPORTANT ONE).
• "Good Morning" (this does not come naturally though... we are still working on this one).
• "THOMAS"... she is after her brother's heart on this as Thomas is his favorite.

She has called David Da Da or BA BA from the beginning.  She has been very hesitant to call me mommy on a full time basis. She calls me "YA YA" or something along those lines.  I remind her that I am mommy and she says "Mommy" and then will follow it up with a hug or a kiss. She loves to grab your hands and kiss them.  Luke loved doing that too and I just melt when they do it (Luke still does it too but not as often).  I have always thought that a kiss on the hand or a kiss on the forehead is the sweetest thing ever.  When we are in the car and Luke is not with us I put her in Luke's car seat so I can see her easily.  I talk to her the whole time.  I point out other cars, trucks, buses, firetrucks, trees, buildings and all that.  We repeat our ABC's and we count.  We sing and we dance.  I also put on a Chinese Lullabies CD that my sister sent to her.  "THIS WAS ONE OF THE BEST GIFTS EVER".  I can put this on and she instantly smiles and sings in the sweetest softest voice.

A BRAVE GIRL during our Hospital Visit for Blood Work

What a strong and trusting child Maran is.  We went to the hospital today to get her blood work drawn for all the extensive tests that they want to run on her.  IT TOOK ME FOUR days to perfectly time catching the specimen that had to accompany us to this visit.  I was either NOT PREPARED or too slow or who knows what but I was beginning to think that my friend Duckie would have to take over this task for me.  However, this morning was the magical time.  Therefore we got to go to the main hospital with our treasure in it's nice sealed baggie.

Once we got to the BIG ROOM where they take the blood she was apprehensive at first about the nurses but they were so gentle with her.  She didn't want to show them her arms but reluctantly she did.  She started to tear up and I rubbed her back while holding her and they swabbed her arm and stuck the needle in.  She did not make a noise.  They took about 8 tubes of blood and she silently waited for them to be done.  They were shocked at her behavior.  I was too!  How proud I was of this strong, brave and courageous little one.  I know it hurt me more than it hurt her.  (Mommy doesn't do needles too well which is weird after all the needles I endured during infertility).  She was given graham crackers and many stickers.  She was so good that they even gave her a sticker for her brother Luke.  After they were done she looked at them and said in her best southern voice "Thank you and Bye Bye".  Then she shared the love and blew them kisses.  They were smitten with my little porcelain doll. 

 Waiting to have our blood drawn. We had to shed our jacket and have a "BON BON TON" (sucker in Chinese but that is NOT spelled right for sure). Note the $15.00 stroller from China is still hanging around.

 Waiting for our turn.  The bio hazard bag is what mommy worked so hard to get all week long.

Showing our 'ouchie' on our left arm.  The pink wrap made it even more special for her. 

Pretty sure that it  hurt as she kept pointing to it and saying "OUCH".  Amazing how some English words are REALLY staying with her now. 

Thank you everyone for your continued comments, love & prayers.  We really appreciate it. 

Hugs to all ~~

Finally some Promised Pictures!

It's not hard for me to admit that the coma has lasted a little longer than anticipated.  First of all it seemed like it took us forever to get over the jet lag.  Today while Luke was in play group (before swim class) I was watching from the bleachers and could only think about how AT THAT MOMENT the most wonderful thing would be having a nap.  I never think about naps.  I never take them and I never 'crave' them.  This was a severe craving -- kind of like the Diet Coke and good Vino cravings from China that seemed to be so abundant.  My earlier feelings were confirmed when after dinner we 'jammied the kids' and took them to the grocery store in their Jammie's hoping they would fall asleep on the way home.  How sad is that?  They did fall asleep but then I couldn't get either of them into their beds without them waking up so I tossed them into our bed and have successfully gotten one out so far.  Snickerdoodle LUKE does NOT like to let me win at this game if he can help it.  We don't have a problem with children and grocery stores and Jammie's...it's just not something that we prefer to do or would normally do it for that matter.  However, desperate times mean desperate measures I guess.  We are totally exhausted.  It will be three weeks 'home' on Monday and you would think that we would be OK by now.  Guess we are so old that our bodies just don't want to recover.  So where is this "YOUR CHILDREN KEEP YOU YOUNG" type deal going to come visit?  It is welcome at any time.  The door is not locked.  (it is but that's another story).

Below are some RANDOM (and boy do I mean random) photos.  There is a story behind them all I am sure.  We may not know the story or we are just too exhausted to tell it... so let your imagination run wild.

 We sent the orphanage an old digital camera to take photos of Maran in action.  When we got her they gave it back to us. We went to the store to get another  flash card for it and we gave it back to them on the day of our orphanage visit.  It is quite interesting what shots we found.  Above you can see her eating her meal on a chair. 

This is the crew eating their meal from the floor. Maran is the one with her head just about diving into the bowl.  Alice is straight across from her.  The older girl to the left is a 13 year old orphan whose mother will not give up her rights to her.  (Same holds true for the lil' boy who stole my heart and still has not given it back).

 The four musketeers and their caretaker.

 Here they are again.  This had to of been taken some time between late June and August.  Alice (far end) has on the outfit that Jennifer sent her in a care package and Maran (beside Alice) has on the dress and sandals we sent  her for her birthday in late June.

 We have many pictures of them lined up like this.

 This picture is a real gem as we had never seen nor did we have a picture of her at such a young age.  This is actually a picture of a picture that we are VERY happy to have.

Maran pronounces his name and I can't even begin to think of how to spell it but I just have such a crush on this lil' fella.  Look at those eyes. 

Our Arrival home. This is a VERY COMMON sight at our house.  Heaven forbid one get more "DADDY TIME" than the other.

This is when we were still in China.  Note the Jammie's and the sandals that she INSISTED on having on.  IT was her security blanket.

 First Night Home meant we were cuddly to an extreme.

 We hugged and hugged and then hugged some more.

 We played like we had known each other our entire lives.

 We even tried to have a slumber party before Mommy and Daddy broke it up around 1:30 A.M.

And we hugged some more.

 I got a SPECIAL treat with the stork. 

 The stork was in the yard when we got home and stayed there for the next 13 days.  Apparently 'STORKVILLE' figured out they were missing a stork and came to get it.

Our photos with the stork leave a lot to be desired.  Children did not want to cooperate and Daddy's tripod was almost as unwilling as Luke and Maran.

Lil' Miss Sassy Takes Mommy's Purse & Decides to Leave

I guess everyone at some point in their life decides they are going to run away.  I know that my sister did once.  I helped her pack, gave her an orange and watched her make it to the end of the driveway.  She then turned around and came back. It was a quick trip.  She didn't even eat the orange I sent with her.  (I am 10 months younger so it was great that I was so caring and made sure she had food).  That said, Lil' Missy decided she was going to 'head out' today.  Not sure what her business itinerary was but she had my purse over her shoulder and was saying "BYE BYE" like she had been saying it for all 3 years of her life.  She spotted my wallet on the table and quickly turned back around to grab it.  (Smart girl... not a lot of $ in it but DADDY'S CREDIT CARD IS so again.... VERY SMART GIRL). 

 Approach to the Car

 Closing the Door

Pushing as MANY buttons as possible.

I was able to snap some photos of where she went.  She went somewhere very near and dear to my heart... "GANGSTA".  Yes, Gangsta is my car.  I am weird about cars (and many other things) but I just feel that you should really like what you drive if you can and since my husband was so kind to get me a new car for HIS birthday I feel it even more important to love it more than normal. 

She played for about 5 minutes then was done.  We then baked cookies.  More photos later of that one.  It was interesting to say the least!

What Did I Do with my Time?

A juggler I am not but I certainly need to be one.  Honestly I thought I would be better at this than what I am but oh well.  I remember thinking the same thing when Luke came home.  Suitcases are still not unpacked.  My glasses have been missing for two weeks now and I have looked everywhere for them.  NOW MOST UNFORTUNATELY my rings are missing as well.  The glasses can be replaced and yes the rings can too but I am just heartbroken.  This morning I broke down over them and then realized how incredibly selfish I was being.  They are just rings... just material things that don't mean you have a good life or not.  I am most hurt that my 5 year anniversary band is gone.  I would do just about anything (Except give my children away) to be able to have that ring.  Forget the custom ring with the nice diamonds...it is just a 'thing' but the five year band was one of the most special gifts I have ever received.  Feeling like I need to gain control somehow and just can't get grounded enough to do it.  Luke has his moments and so does Avay Maran.  I have mine as well.  I am getting frustrated easier and I hate that because I simply shouldn't.  Here we have Luke who has been our complete world for 3 1/2 years now and Maran whom we have journeyed to for 11 months and who speaks no English and feels probably like she has been kidnapped.  She is a loving child and a caring one.  Luke is as well but Luke is used to our entire family being "ALL ABOUT LUKE".  The 'attention split' has really knocked him for a loop.  In time this will pass and get better I know.  It takes extra nurturing and extra love which we have and are more than willing to give.  I guess I just need a hug from my mother.  I feel like if I could have that then I will be fine.  I can hear her telling me now to "SUCK IT UP ANN, you don't have time to be all icky over nothing you need to get these kids on a schedule and teach them what they need to know".  OK Mama Joyce I am going to do just that but it would be a WHOLE LOT EASIER if I had my glasses and could see what I am trying to teach them.  Maybe they will show up.  Who knows. 

(NOT SURE WHY THIS DIDN'T POST but as you may already know my rings have been found).  For some reason this was not posted two days ago as I left it in draft form... see I truly do need to figure my new coma out as I am really dropping the ball here). Can't promise I may find my mind but I am looking for it so if anyone has seen it let me know... it's pretty small... about the size of a pea so it may be impossible to locate.

Sharing for Snickerdoodle Luke & Miss Sassafras is NOT AS FUN as it was the first Day!

Ohhhhhhhh...........if only the sweetness of the first days had lasted JUST A LITTLE LONGER. Needless to say Mr. Snickerdoodle Luke is NOT at all happy with sharing his things with Avay Maran.  (our two weeks of calling her AVAY MARAN is up tomorrow so we then switch to Maran). We are still torn on this because we believe that AVAY is a beautiful name and are somewhat heartbroken that we weren't pronouncing it correct from the beginning.  What a difference a pronunciation makes!  That said our entire family and world here in the US knows her by her English name so we are going to go with our original plan.  Since I have called her 'AVAY' for a month now I am not sure that it will be so easy for me to drop.  It may just have to stick for me.  I'm not looking to 'rip' her of her life before us and don't know that a name being different would in essence do that.  We will just have to wait and see.  We are still enjoying being home and have been SLOW to get back into the groove.  We are still very tired but that is from the 'extra' pitter patters around here.  The adjustment has been hardest for Snickerdoodle Luke and Abbey the dog.  Poor Abbey just looks at us as if she is saying "Why was I not enough for you two".  What a wonderful dog we have (But I have already said that many times before).   David and I have just continued the coma that we have been in since we got Luke it is just a heavier one now.  I have to admit that our luggage is still not unpacked.  The house still looks like a whirlwind of little people and big people have muddled through it.  My car went for 11 days (after I got home) before it got washed.  THIS IS A RARITY.  For a girl who washes her car twice a week whether it needs it or not then this small fact has indeed rocked my world.   A dirty car is no big deal when you have small ones at home and they need, want and deserve your time and you need and want all the hugs and cuddles they are willing to give.  For some reason my car has always been something that I have always taken care of.  "Gangsta" rides better when she's clean.  (Yes my car has a name and a very fitting one at that I shall say). 

Luke wants to prove to Maran that this was 'his house first' and Maran is not at all afraid to show that she can hold her own.  She is INTO IT ALL.  It is so good that we 'baby proofed' the house a lot before we left because she gets into things Luke never thought about getting into.  Her curiosity has brought Luke to a level that he was never at before.  Maran said 'HELLO" into the outlet the other day and Luke decides he needs to put his tongue in it.  LUKE NEVER WENT NEAR AN OUTLET BEFORE AND COULD HAVE CARED LESS ABOUT IT.  What a difference another child makes.  This is fun but I STILL WANT TO FIND MY GLASSES especially since my rings have been found (THANK GOODNESS).  Sleep in peace -----

New LUKE-ISM

For Some reason this post didn't get published so this is from last week but I wanted to still share it). Luke played hooky on Tuesday from playschool. Since he was still wide awake at 1:30 am it was the best choice (he was going to stay home anyway as I had to just stare at him after 19 days away).  When he went back to school on Wednesday he asked if his sister could go with him. I explained that she didn't speak English and that I needed to teach her many words before she could go.  After a couple of tries he could say the word "English" himself.  While in the carpool line he says "Maran say English so you can go to school with me".  Oh, can't we just clone the innocence?  PRECIOUS beyond words!!!

Life's Daily Adventures Still Make us Smile

We are still in such a discovery phase.  It is interesting to see Avay Maran's reaction to things that we take for granted.  Every time she gets a WHOLE banana her entire world lights up.  I am guessing she never got an entire one to herself.  She lights up when she finds some toys that are LOUD and LIGHT up and move.  She and Luke yesterday rolled around the den to the kitchen to the living room and dining room on scooter toys for about two hours.  Mommy thought "OH GOOD... nap time is forthcoming". Well, they showed me that there was going to be NO SUCH THING.  Luke enjous playing with her OFTEN but Sharing brings on it's challenges.  I can only imagine how Luke's world has been rocked.  We have found that POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT for the smallest of things to him has worked well.  Wow... what have we done to be so blessed by these two beautiful children who simply want to be loved?

Luke Lays Down the Law

Maran was trying to undo her car seat belt and I had to tell her no. She did it again and I told her no again.  Snickerdoodle Luke pipes in and says to her "Maran, if we have to tell you NO again then you are going back to China".  That's it...Luke has spoken!

Lil' Miss Sassafras Cries herself to Sleep

Mommy stepped out for less than an hour to go find a pair of pants that fit her (thankfully current ones are too big).  Lil Sassy got out of the tub and found no mommy so she cried herself to sleep.  How sad and sweet at the same time. Her cry is the saddest ever.  It is grueling to listen to and I tear up when I hear it.  THANKFULLY SHE IS NOT A FREQUENT CRIER!  Quite frankly I have never heard a cry like this one before.  I am sure it has a lot of meaning in it.  Some meaning that we probably don't want to know about.  I think she is in a little pain too. She points to her feet and wants her shoes off more often than not and she wants me to kiss her knees, elbows and wrists quite a bit (where the rickets is predominant).  What a sweet soul she is. 

Maran's First Doctor's Appointment in the U.S.!

We went to the Dr. yesterday and Avay Maran did quite well. She didn't shed one tear in China at the Doctor because our interpreter was there to speak to her in her native tongue. All in all she did very well with Dr. Anne. Dr. Anne has such a way with children. It amazes me the tenderness and love she shows to her patients. It is like they are her own. When she turned to walk out the door yesterday she said to me "I am going to cry". Now, THAT IS LOVE FOR YOUR CAREER and for OTHERS! We are SO INCREDIBLY Blessed to have such a great pediatrician. She always asks how we are doing and give us such great pointers on many things. It can be something like great kids meal deals or asking us to come over to watch some baseball games. We can only hope that there is a Dr. Anne in your life.  If there isn't move to Charlotte so you can have one! 

Sweet Alice's GOTCHA DAY!

We anxiously await to hear about Maran's BFF, Alice's GOTCHA DAY!  We are so excited!  (After the news of Alice we will share Maran's Welcome Home Party information).  So  many updates to give and so little time!  We appreciate your continued love and support.... it does take a village!

OUR NEW LIFE -- This is Day 3's Adventures

6:00 pm (TUESDAY EVENING) Maran is OUT LIKE A LIGHT.

9:00 pm Maran is awake and crying like crazy.  Grabbing at her ears and NOT HAPPY. Asks  for "SWAY" ~Water & a snack goes down & she falls asleep in my arms still  whimpering while I am working on the computer.   Haven't "TESTED" Benadryl on her yet so not sure if it makes her HYPER or zonks her.  Slight fever & slight runny nose (I think mostly due to the crying).

1:05 am Maran awake again & this time for good.  She puts the feed bag on & is jabbering away. David asks if I want to go to bed I say no so he then deals with Luke who is awake & crying.

2:50 am Maran  & Mommy leave for Mommy's office to get some work done.

7:00 am Maran & Mommy return from the office after going to the grocery store and eating at I HOP (the only place open and I have a starving child on my hands).  Greeted at the door by Daddy who is dressed & ready for work and a WIDE AWAKE Luke the Bear.  Get them to both eat some blueberries, cherry tomatoes and jelly bellies (Yes that's right) REMEMBER Maran is on like dinner by now.

7:30 am Training session with Abbey the Dog (THE BEST DOG IN THE WORLD & we will take any challenges for that -- A Sweet Golden Retriever who Maran is UNBELIEVABLY TERRIFIED OF.  I got her to walk around Abbey & to touch her for a brief second. (THIS IS LEAPS AND BOUNDS of where we started).

8:50 am leave to drop Luke off for school.

9:00 am off to Target to pick up more stuff.  (Another bed rail, double stroller, mattress pad for Maran's bed that was out of stock before we left) Other needed Maran items that we don't have etc. On phone with office & checking e-mails while sitting in parking lot.

10:00 am enter Target.  Maran is great at telling you what she likes.  She liked none of the clothes I held up and only a few toys.  She GASPED at a baby doll.  This child has liked NO DOLLS pretty much so far except Barbie. Needless to say I broke my rule of "NEVER OPENING ANYTHING IN A STORE". I had that doll unpacked in no time flight.  The adult proof box did NOT slow me down at all.  We broke into MASSIVE tears at the store & I don't know why.  If I spoke Chinese I would have known.  TOO BAD there was no Chinese restaurant around that could help me out with a little Cantonese and Mandarin mix. (Maran speaks some of both languages but more Cantonese we are told.  She does count in Mandarin). 

12:00  -- on way to pick up her prescription for an ear infection.

12:45 -- Pick up big Brother LUKE (Mr. Snickerdoodle) at school

1:00 -- Home eating a snack and playing like crazy

Activities include:  Brother Sister photos with the stork who is still living in the front yard, meeting another neighbor, Lots of hand washing, Chuggington and Lesson number 2 with Abbey the Dog.  (This one was better, I at least got her to walk closer to Abbey and touch her). 

4:00 -- Shower time and prepping for Daddy's arrival (Daddy was going to take care of them while Mommy ran some errands and popped into Girls Night Out for a few minutes).

5:45 -- Maran can NOT be peeled out of mommy's arms.  She is holding on like a monkey and crying profusely as I try to leave the house.

5:55 -- Entire family loaded up to go to Girls Night Out.

6:20 -- Arrive at Girls Night Out,  Order Pizza and Pasta and proceed to try to keep Maran awake until at least 7:00.  ERRANDS ARE PUT OFF FOR THE EVENING.

6:50 -- The effort of keeping her awake is fruitless so she is held by Tia Patti while Mommy eats and hangs out.  She wakes when we try to get her in the car and cries pretty hard as she doesn't know where she is and DOES NOT WAKE UP WELL -- regardless of how little or much sleep she has had.

8:00 -- in Bed at home.

8:50 -- Everyone in Bed and just about asleep.

5:45 am (Friday November 5)  The Maran alarm goes off and it's time for Potty and some eating.

6:15 am Still at the table eating.  (Banana, blueberries (a ton of them), cherry tomatoes, eggs).  CAN NOT GET MILK INTO THIS CHILD!  Will see what Dr. Anne says Monday at her appointment!

Off to start a new day.  Should be fun as we get to drop Abbey off at the dry cleaners today (Grooming place) because she SHEEWWW stinkies.  It will be a fun ride with Maran in the same location as the dog.

A NEW DAY BEGINS!

Alice Parent's are ON THEIR WAY

I can't sleep thinking about Alice's parents -- Jennifer, Charlie and Charles on their way to China.  We pray for their trip to be as SMOOTH AS POSSIBLE.  We hope that our travel nightmares were enough for both families.  Of course we can laugh now but OOHH what a LONG 19 days it was.  Trying to find my desk right now but have some incredible pictures to post later... I PROMISE!  Please keep the Morrison's in your prayers as they go to get Maran's BFF, Alice in the orphanage.  (thankfully they got their TA while we were in China otherwise I am not sure I could have left Alice there although she is well taken care of). They will try to blog from China so follow them if you wish:  http://oursweetleap.blogspot.coom

 ********ok, thanks DIANA FREE STYLE MAMA *** let's get the blog name right! I would love to have a great excuse for making such a stupid error but I guess the lack of spell check in China has made me totally lazy!  SORRY GUYS!!!! Maybe because Maran woke at 1 am this morning and has been up ever since?  NOPE need a better excuse than that!  HA!

http://oursweetleap.blogspot.com/

Home at Last and To A HERO's Welcome Nonetheless!

I expect nothing less from my family and friends!  We got off the plane slightly exhausted.  Avay Maran had a great trip and was a trooper. We had a few tears but we think it was from her ears.  She slept for about 8 of the 11 hour trip from Hong Kong to San Francisco and the entire way from San Francisco to Charlotte except for about 30 minutes.  We couldn't have been blessed with a better trip.  We were about 4 hours into our trip from Hong Kong and they announced that we had a medical emergency and if any medical professionals were on the plane to please advise.  Of course we immediately thought we were going to be turned around or land in Tokyo but apparently the issue was not that huge as we continued on for the rest of our journey.  Lots of turbulence but it was fine. 

In Charlotte we arrived at baggage claim to the most beautiful sights ever.  Our family and friends!  Luke was asleep but quickly woke up and wanted only Daddy and had the most adorable "BIG BROTHER" shirt on that Nammy ran all over town to get.  Avay Maran warmed up and the pictures began.  We got loaded up and went to our house.  THE STORK ARRIVED -- a wonderful stork was in our front yard and he left his foot prints up the driveway!  There was also  a CUSTOM FLAG for Lil' Miss Sassy that is gorgeous and has her home arrival date on it (Luke has one too).  There was even an extra sign in the yard that said "Luke is a Big Brother".  HOW PERFECT!  (will post picture later).  It was exciting to see what our friends did to the house when we came back with Luke and was even more exciting this time.  SUCH THOUGHTFULNESS! My family and friends have known that the biggest part of my not 'birthing a child' was so trivial. I always said that I would miss coming  home to a Stork in the yard.  YES QUITE TRIVIAL but I have always loved seeing the storks in yards.  (How crazy is that?)

Maran LOVED HER ROOM!  She gasped when she saw the tricycle.  She played with lots of toys and finally about 1:30 am we got two little youngsters in OUR bed.  (They had bed hopped between Luke's room and Maran's for about 30 minutes).  We were torn about the sleeping arrangements for the first night.  Setting the precedent FROM THE START would have been great, however, exhaustion took over and our plans to put them in their beds when they fell asleep went to the wayside as neither of us had the energy to get up once they were both zonked.  WE ARE NOT ADVOCATES OF CHILDREN SLEEPING WITH PARENTS BUT THE CUDDLING IS JUST SO PRECIOUS...yes you can cuddle elsewhere but hey... after 19 days of being gone our bed was the best! Lil' Miss Sassy woke up a little before 5 am and had to have a snack.  She got back in bed for about 20 minutes and then she and I got up and started the laundry.  After breakfast at Bruegger's with Daddy we started running around.  Luke is so far being a great big brother and being very cautious with her.  He likes his new role for now.  We all know it will not be all lollipops every day.  When I pick up one the other wants to be picked up.  They are so precious. We stopped by the office to say Hi and we have been here for a few hours.  They have completely wrecked the place so we are off to our next place to destroy.

I MUST GET THIS CHILD SOME WINTER CLOTHES!  We have only clothes for China where it was quite warm.  So off to shopping we go.  Mr. Snickerdoodle skipped school today and was happy to do so. 

Will post more WELCOME HOME pictures later.  Can not say enough  "There's NO PLACE LIKE HOME" and GOD BLESS THE USA!  It was so nice to wake up to the wonderful smell of our home and not 'skank'.  Anyone for some Fish Stomach Soup?  Well, go to China and you can get it!  (YAK).....

 Our favorite picture of the two (so far)  Taken by Tia Patti

This could be a perfect Holiday picture! 

Thank you to our AIRPORT GREETING COMMITTE: 

Nammy * Pop Pop * Shane * Tefie * Big Brother Luke* Tia Peggy * Tia Patti * Dylan * Tia Mary Ann * Tia Duckie 

The Balloons, Gifts and LOVE were the best!!

CUSTOMS CLEARANCE IN SAN FRANCISCO

--- that story comes later and oh how much fun it was ---