Nice Weekend....

We tried two adventures this weekend...one worked, one didn't. We headed to the Mid Atlantic Quilt Show Saturday morning...this is one of my FAVORITE events each year. I was really proud of Lil...she did great at the show and even tolerated me shopping for fabric and jewelry (there is a french fabric place that comes every year, and I am so addicted).

Here are some fun shots of some lovely quilts (that I never even hope to be able to mimic, but so great!), and Lilly's favorites.


Here is Lilly posing in front of the Lily quilt she found.

She was all excited to find an eagle quilt as I have started to call her Eagle Eye since she is always spotting school buses and the like when we are driving around.

This was her favorite quilt...all animals. She had brought her Baby Jaguar toy (sidekick to Diego on her favorite cartoon)...and wanted to show Baby Jaguar his picture on the quilt.

Later that day we headed to the CNU Basketball Game w/ Jackson and family...and that didn't go well at all. She was PETRIFIED. Actually...she was shaking in my arms, head buried in my chest, whimpering. So, needless to say, we didn't last long. She didn't like the noise, and she really didn't like the mascot, "Captain Chris" who looks a bit like the freakish Burger King King. We stayed about 15 minutes, and then left at halftime when Jackson & fam watched the rest of the game. Lilly has been talking about it ever since then...and she keeps telling me that when she is three she won't be afraid so we will go back then.

Da Da Da Da Da Dora

We had a GREAT "vacation" day today. I took of work, Lilly skipped school - as did Jackson & his mommy. We took the kids to see a matinee of "Dora Live." We met for a "fancy" breakfast (ie not in our kitchen but at a restaurant - Cracker Barrel), headed downtown for the show, and then met up with Jackson's dad for lunch. It was a hoot...the kids didn't quite know what to make of it at first. Lilly enjoyed most of it...but gave out at the end and had to leave the theatre to hang out in the lobby with me. She said it was just too loud - not sure if that is still due to her ruptured ear drum or what. Anyway...fun day...enjoy the pics...

Train Day Pictures...

Here are some fun pictures from our visit with Mom & Dad's neighbor, who has an AMAZING train set up in his basement.

The Conductor....

Inspecting the line...

Thought we were healthy....

but then Lilly woke up this morning with a burst eardrum!!!!

I feel so bad - it must have hurt like the dickens, but she didn't say anything! Last night she was a little fussy, but siad her teeth hurt. I felt back on her gums & you can tell her last molars are starting to come in, so I gave her motrin and didn't think more about it. Then this morning she had brown/orange/yellow snot oozing from her left ear and her hair was all matted down with the dried, crusty orange junk that had come out over night. GROSS. But, they say that once it bursts it really feels much better, and she is acting totally healthy today. I still feel bad. Before her ear tube surgery, whenever she had an ear infection she had temps of 102+, but she hasn't had a temp in over a week. And, she never complaine,d acted super clingy, etc. So - I am trying to convince myself not to beat up on myself too much. She's on antibiotics now (again), and will be back at school tomorrow.

Ironically, we had a follow up appointment with her ENT for yesterday that had to get changed due to his surgery schedule...but it got moved to a few weeks from now, so we will see him then. I was so excited for her to swim without ear plugs now, but guess that will have to wait another summer :(

A Funny...

We are both doing MUCH better now...back at school & work. We had a nice weekend - especially Staurday where we spent the day with just the two of us playing, etc. Was very nice. Sunday went to see a spectacular toy train set up at my parents' neighbor's house...pics to follow soon.

But - I really had to share a funny story. Lilly really is into the Veggie Tales characters right now, and we often listen to one of their CDs in the car. This morning we were listening to it and she heard a part where they were talking, and a character said ...

"want me to pick up your toupe from the dry cleaners?"

to which Lilly replies, "Mommy that's so SILLY! You don't put toothpaste in the dryer!!!"

Had me laughing all the way to work. ;)

Rough Week...

Lilly had been sick, and then I got it. We were FINALLY both on our last dose of antibiotics this past week....but Lil then woke up on Wednesday with a 102 fever...it was more or less controlled with tylenol & motrin...and her snot factory was on overdrive. But then Thursday I had my latest bout of vertigo strike. SO....I am dizzy and have no balance, and she is a burning up snot factory. We definietly needed help, so my parents jumped in and helped a lot. Friday night after mom & dad had left, her fever went higher and higher despite the tylenol & motrin, and then in her bath she crumpled over in the fetal position, whimpering, non coherent babbling. Scared the crap out of me. After her fever went UP to 103.7 after the motrin, I decided I couldn't wait it out and threw her in the car in and headed to the emergency room. I am still dizzy... but adrenaline is a very powerful force, so I somehow got her there. And of course, in the 2 mile/5 min drive to the hospital, her fever dropped to 101.5 and she was back to her normal self. Murphy's Law I guess! But, the checked her out to be sure she didn't have any infections (ear, strep throat, etc), and she didn't. SO, we headed home to let her virus run its course. FInally last night (Sun) she had her first night without a high temp. She has been fever free for about 36 hours now, so she will definitely be going to "school" tomorrow. Anyway...rough week...any prayer, thoughts, good wishes or good karma would be appreciated.

At Last...

What a fabulous day for our country! I am always so proud to be an American in Innauguration Day. I have lived places and visited places where a peaceful transfer of power is not even a dream. And here - whether the one you voted for won or not - we all acknowledge, accept, honor and move on with the rule of law. Just amazing. Add to that the fact that I can now look at my daughter and say with absolute conviction that yes - anyone can be president and that our country really does have government that is a reflection of the immensely diverse country we are lucky enough to call home.

I ran home at lunch and got to see the swearing in - and suprised myself when I teared up. Lilly - dressed in red white & blue - watched it at "school," and got to wave the flag and say "Barack Obama" over an over again.

Tonight she got to stay up late to watch their first dance. I hope to make that moment cemented in my mind...curled up with my daughter, listening to Beyonce sing "At Last" while teh Obamas danced their first dance...and we were both studying the crowd trying to spot Maren who has a spot ON THE STAGE! She got to go the swearing in & the Neighborhood Ball...so fun!! Can't wait for pics & stories! But, holding Lilly (and Didgy) in my arms to the words "at last, my love has come along, my lonely days are over, and you are mine at last..." was the priceless moment.

Enjoy the pics...

Best Possible Terrible Weekend

I had been looking forward to Friday night for WEEKS. Lilly was going to stay at my mom & dad's house for the night, and I was going to get a massage and then sleep all night long. It was fabulous. And Saturday I did laundry and worked on pulling some finance stuff together (thinking of refinancing the house). It wasn't until the last load of laundry was done around 3 that I realized my hot water wasn't working...and it wasn't just that it was cold - there just wasn't any water coming out. It was also about that time I realized I still heard water running even though nothing was turned on. Oh yeah...did I forget to mention? Coldest night of the year (actually - probably the coldest night in the 10 years that I lived in Virginia).

You guessed it...BURST PIPE! YUCK! I knew it was burst, but I couldn't figure out where it was. I stuck my head in the crawl space under the house & couldn't see any water anywhere. I called Rhonda & she called Jerry her superhero husband, and he came to the immediate rescue. We eventually found the problem - water gushing from the garage gave it away. The pipe leading out to my newly rennovated garage had burst and there was water everywhere. Well, actually - there was ice everywhere too, as the water that had pooled in the driveway outside of the garage had already frozen into a sheet of ice.

Well, Jerry got the water turned off (which since I have radiator heat, means the heat was also turned off) and got the stuff to fix it. Problem was, since it was so stinking cold outside, the glue to bond the pipes would take. So, after a failed attempt, we eventually were able to just cap it off (we of course meaning Jerry with Rhonda and I watching supportively). However, the hot water still wasn't working. We were worried that one of those pipes were frozen so superhero Jerry crawled into my very tight crawl space to check on things and rig up a lamp to keep the pipes warm. But, he evetually concluded the problem was simultaneous though unrelated - and I had a broken valve in my furnace. So, the radiator heat worked, but no hot water.

Luckily Lilly was still at mom& dad's & stayed there an extra night. And, Jerry came on Sunday and fixed the hot water too (yes - ehr is actually a superhero). And, since superheros don't accept tips, all I could do was make chocolate chip cookies.

So...I am sick as a dog (I am sure standing on ice Sat night trying to drain the pipes by duct taping a turkey baster to a wet vac - yes it worked - didn't help the cold) - and Lilly is sick too (though hers has turned into a sinus infection & is now on antibiotics after green snot oozed from her eyes), but I have AMAZING friends who jumped in and helped at a moments notice in the freezing cold. And, they fixed the problem & I didn't have to pay a plumber a bazillion dollars to do it. And, if the hot water hadn't broken, I would never have noticed the burst pipe & there would have been some significant damage (vs just a small amount of dry wall to patch).

So...it was the best possible terrible weekend a girl could have.

2 funnies...

On Sunday,, my Dad came over to help w/ Lilly, and we watched the NFL Playoff game while we ate dinner. Lilly was not very excited about the football game and kept trying to get us to turn it off. Finally...she came in and announced that Baby Jesus was having a party in the living room and I had to attend. I mean really - you can't say no to that!

Yesterday my mom picked her up from school. You have to sign them out on this clipboard, and usually Lil's name has been at the bottom of the page thanks to alphabetical order. Recently more kids have joined the class, soon Monday she is on the second page - took me a minute to find it. Well, apparently my mom had the same issue yesterday. Lilly asked her what she was doing, and mom said "looking for your name so I can sign you out," to which Lilly replied in her teenage eye-rolling voice, "Mae Mae, it starts with an L!"

Pics from New Years...

ENjoy...

Happy New Year!

Had a fun New Year's Eve "Party" with Jackson & his parents coming to dinner...pics to follow another day, haven't downloaded them off the camera yet. It was fun - complete with traditional Brithish crackers (well - traditional for my family anyway), noisemakers, balloons for Lilly & Jackson, and "Champagne" (aka sparkling cider) in lovely glasses for all 5 of us. The kids got a kick out of the fancy champagne flutes. Jackson liked the cider...but Lilly was not such a fan. We counted down to around 7:45 or so...

I looked back at my post from last New Year's...and saw that I had said 07 was about bringing her home, 08 was about getting her to sleep through the night & potty trained. I guess I am only batting 500. So...renewing the resolution...09 will be about finding healthy & PERMANENT sleep schedules for the TWO of us...same going to bed & getting up times EVERY DAY starting this Sunday. I don't need her to sleep through the night...but I do need her to go to bed smoothly without it taking 3 hours each night, and if she gets up at night, its up to her to come to me. That's the goal...I'll keep you posted on our progress.

Family Night...

Maren cooked dinner for just the immediate family last night (very yummy!)...and we had a great time with just the 5 of us. Enjoy the pics....

My favorites:

The First Annual Ollie vs Lilly Wheelbarrow Race...

Lilly Jumping on Papa...

Lilly and Olllie Both Crawling Under the Sofa to Find the Ball...

HO HO HO!

We had a great Christmas. Her hesitations on Santa seem to have disappeared with seeing the loot her left for her...a Santa Convert! (The pics are of her playing with Santa's gift - "Diego's Animal Rescue Center" which was THE hit of Christmas....)She did really well through the church service - to my relief and delight. And thanks to balmy weather around here - I have been able to get her outside every day and run her into the ground to burn off the lingering sugar high. And...I am trying hard to get her back to her normal sleep times as she has been staying up late (on purpose on my part for Christmas Eve & Christmas Night...but it has been taking a while to undo it!). Enjoy the pics...

(Walking in Colonial Williamsburg Christmas Day)

Visions of Sugar Plums...

So, we started a new tradition this week...baking and decorating train cakes...and it was fun...mostly....

We had a blast...she piled about a zillion pounds of candy on them (after she insisted on eating the engine train last night...she said she wanted to eat the one with the whistle). She tried all of the candy, and spit out most of it...which is what I had hoped she would do. But, she definitely ate some! I knew she would...and knew to expect some bouncing off the walls. What I didn't quite bank on or see coming...Lilly running laps around the sofa, slipping, busting her lip, blood pouring out, but the sugar high still kicking in and none of it bothering her at all! She is now snoring in bed...can you be drunk on sugar?!?!?

Another funny thing? She LOVES singing Christmas Carols....she just doesn't quite have the words right. "WE MISS YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Also - here are some fun pics of Lilly and Abby from when we (& Abby's mama - my other adoptive single mama friend) went to the Virginia Children's Museum. The girls had a great time. They had full sized buses and fire trucks the kids could drive...so here is Lilly's version of "The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round...."

Overheard...

Recent conversations in our lives....

ON SANTA....
"Mama, he not a real man"

"Who, honey?"

"Santa"

"Who said that?"

"I did"

"Oh, alright then..."

ON WHAT SHE WANTS FOR CHRISTMAS...
"What do you want for Christmas, Lilly?"

"MACARONIES!"

ON OUR CHRISTMAS TREE...
(friend) "What a great tree...where did you get it?"

(me) "KMart"

(Lil) "No, mommy - it is from upstairs" (the attic)

(friend) "What else is upstairs Lilly?"

(Lil) "Mice"

ON THE FIRST CHRISTMAS...
We were reading one of those I Spy books and there was a page with pictures of tons of stuffed animals..

(Lil) "Mommy, baby Jesus had one of these..."

(me) "Had what, honey, a teddy bear?"

(Lil) "NO silly mommy, a monkey!" (all of this was said totally seriously!)

AT THE PEDIATRICIAN TODAY...
(me) "Well, I know something is wrong - she slept through the night in her own bed -not that I don't want that - it is just soooooo not her normal behavior...and she is as mean as a snake"

(doc) "Yup - mother's intuition has it again...its strep"

FROM MY FRIEND DAMARIS...
They finally got PINK and Nidia is coming home after almost 4 years!!! Their embassy appt is Tuesday and they will be home later next week...and have an INCREDIBLY blessed Christmas!!! Please join me in thanking God for allowing Nidia to finally come home...and to hold her in prayer as she goes through another difficult transition in home life that she may somewhere in her heart know this time it is for forever.

Decorating For Christmas

We put up or 2 trees...the regular one, and a 2 ft one that Lilly can decorate, redecorate and redecorate again! And - we got out our Advent Calendar that Lilly loves (a doll from a different country each day goes on a wreath...very cute).

Wedding Pics (Noooo..not mine!)

My dear friends Rhonda and Jerry after dating for some 15ish years and being engaged for a year FINALLY tied the knot on Wednesday at my house! It was sort of a secret wedding as I wasn't allowed to tell anyone until afterwords! Anyway - it was at my house and there were about 30 people there - mostly all their family. I got to do the flowers and the cake, and I had a great time doing it. It was great fun...thought Wednesday night I pretty much collapsed into my bed and put off making the Thanksgiving desserts to the next day.

Here are some cute photos from that lovely day. And - here are two HILARIOUS pics of the exhausted Lilly and Didgy imitating each other's yawns.

Finally - blatant prayer request for help. I am wearing really thin on patience and wisdom in the parenting department. We are struggling with sleep again. We are battling over everything. There is something going on in her little head and I just can't figure it out. SOrt of like when she pretended she wasn't potty trained because she thought she would have to leave Jackson behaind in the other class. I just can't piece it together. I am really wearing thin on patience and need help...so any and all prayers would be greatly appreciated.

"It's Been So Long Since Last We Met..."

OK - appropriate title & the first line to the Georgetown fight song (not to mention one of only about 3 lines in the whole song that I know...but I digress). Since I last wrote...the quick summary: shingles, sinus infection, lung infection and jury duty...and that's just me! Lilly has had Halloween, more monster battles, lots of sleep struggles, a lot of attitude struggles, but all and all seems to be doing much better. And, my company continues to go through its re-org. Its been months in the making. I keep reminding folks that if the new executive branch of the most powerful nation in the world can do it in about 10 weeks...we should b e able to hurry it up a bit. But, my cynical comments don't seem to be getting us anywhere.

I know I get all kinds of bad blogger awards. But let me tell you...its been a rough 6 weeks or so. Had the shingles, then got what I think was a sinus infection I didn't know about, which moved to a lung infection that I couldn't ignore. Seem to have gotten over those, but I STILL have a low grade fever - and have since Oct 1. But - no one seems to be worried about it, and I don't really feel bad, so I am going to just ignore it for a while and see what happens. Actually thought I had whooping cough there for a while, as a close co-worker and her sister both came down with it. And, when she was contagious was when I had the shingles, so everyone made she and I sit together on one side of the table in meetings as the "sick" side to not get everyone else sick. Smart thinking on there part I guess! Anyway, got the blood work back today and I was negative for pertussis.

Halloween: I was sick as a dog with the lung infection, but Halloween waits for no (wo)man. Lilly was not so enthusiastic about the costume as we got closer to Halloween. It wasn't that she wanted a different costume, she just didn't want much to do with Halloween in general. But, she agreed to put part on for her school party, and got dressed and went trick or treating with Jackson. Lilly and I made it to about 6 houses before she got scared and my lungs gave out. Jackson, however, was fully embracing the experience. As I carried Lilly back to my house with Lil's head buried in my chest, Superman had taken Lilly's sword, was pointing it forward and commanding to his mom and dad, "NEXT HOUSE!" So - needless to say - his trick or treat haul was quite better. But, Lilly loved passing out treats with my mom while I was laid out on the couch trying to down the Amaretto Sour my dad made for me in the hopes it would help me stop coughing. It helped the cough somewhat, and my attitude a lot. The best part of the night was Jackson & Lilly storming around the house like crazy people after trick or treating while the adults sat on teh couches in front of the fireplace laughing at them. As Lilly only had a few pieces of candy, she went through them in about a week or so. Tonight she announced to me that we needed to go again and just get some more treats. When I told her we had to wait until next year she just looked at me like I was nuts.

Maren was in town volunteering for the Obama campaign, so she and Ollie came too...check out Ollie's hot dog costume! (As Lilly pointed out..."with ketchup!")

Election morning, Lil and I headed to the polls at 6:15 to stand in the pouring rain for about 45 minutes to vote. Needless to say - Lilly was not overwhelmed with excitement about the democratic process - even after getting the "I Voted" sticker. After an early morning, I thought she would zonk out, but that night she started back down the "terrified to sleep" mode. It was a very long night, and she was up about 10 times, and then we had to get up at 5 for an early meeting. SO, I didn't get to watch Obama's acceptance speech that everyone is still raving about (even friends who voted for McCain). But, I watched it later that week online.

ALso loved this "All My Children" picture of Lilly in her big girl bed, and my cat Didgy asleep in "Baby's Bed." SInce then we have moved the bed to the other side of the room to be farther from the scary closet and scary window. Results are hit and miss, but the past few nights have been ok.

Jury Duty: I got called to be on the jury panel of this large asbestosis case against Exxon Mobile. They told us to expect the trial to go through Thanksgiving, etc. Yuck. Anyway, I was hopeful that I would get off the jury since I work at a cancer center, so a lot with Mesothelioma, and worked w/ a lot of the physicians on the witness list. After being locked in a witness room with other crazy jurors for two days, I was finally called in for juror screening. They asked me one questin"DO you really have to be at day care each day by 6?" Yes "Can your husband pick up your child?" No - I am single. Ok....dismissed. GLad to be dismissed! The overall selection was taking days...it was taking 2 hours to question 3 jurors...YIKES!

Lastly - great news from my friend Damaris. I had asked all of you to pray for her and her daughter Nidia as the adoption process was taking forever. While they have been out of PGN for more than 2 months, they only yesterday got the new and final birth certificate. Nidia is officially their daughter now! Praise God!!! They will have an amazing Christmas....

Alright...that's the quick update. Again, I am so sorry for being MIA for so long. And, a great big thank you to all of you who checked in on me. Really appreciate it!