A Nice Calm Weekend

Yep, its always nice when you have a nice, calm weekend where nothing special happens. We did some gardening...a home depot run for mulch and then planting some succulents in pots. T, of course, timed having to go peepee until right as we approached the cashier after waiting in line. Therefore, had to vere out of line, and go charging through the whole store like crazy women, to get to the bathroom in time. Luckily, we were successful. I'm certain, though, that she holds it until the perfectly most inappropriate time, just to drive me nuts.

On Sunday, we did a Target run after visiting my parents. Bought a new Incredibles and Toy Story 2 DVD, since she has worn out the old ones. Also scored some pint-sized gardening gloves and two pint-sized folding lawn chairs. Target's got all their summer/gardening stuff 50% off to make way for all their back to school crap.
Lastly, I leave you with a picture of T enjoying her ice cream cone. We're very excited, b/c swim class starts tomorrow (Monday). T's class is at 7:00 p.m, every night, M - F. No one will be more relieved than me, when T regains her skills. Hopefully, it won't take too long.

Ciao for now

Another MaoNan Sister in Florida!

It is with great joy, that I add the blog Journey to MaryAlice to the list of T's MaoNan sisters. I discovered this blog via the Rumor Queen. Mom (S) is single, lives in No. Florida and received a referral, which due to private reasons she had to reject...a singularly scary and brave thing to do given China's anti-single-mom sentiments. Well, before S received her first referral, I had predicted that her baby was in Guangdong...where T was from. Very recently, S was referred a second baby. A gorgeous baby girl from T's same SWI! Yippee! T will have another MaoNan sister living in Florida. We hope to meet someday.

I look at little MaryAlice's face, and see T, Sara, Audrey and all the other girls in our group in her face. She has the same eyebrows, dark thick hair, and big eyes of T. Her nose is a little more petite and pointy like Sara or Audrey. Cute cheeks like MaeLi, Emma, and Olivia. I'm thrilled to see that Half the Sky, a charitable organization which now works out of MaoNan, is having positive effects. I see new, nicer backgrounds in the picture, and most of all...she's a healthy little pudge...at least compared to our poor emaciated little girls at the time of their referral!

During T's time at MaoNan before Half the Sky's presence, we're all very suspicious that our girls were never given solid food...as almost none of them knew how to eat, some at very advanced ages. T still has food issues, especially with stuff with new textures.

The photo of MaryAlice laying on her stomach also reminds me of T...remember that alert look like she's interacting with someone beyond the camera? It didn't register with me until all the experienced moms commented on it. And boy, was that a harbinger of things to come! I couldn't ask for a more alert, curious, energetic, mischievious little girl. Good Lord, T even more energetic would kill me! Anyway, check out S's site. She's got photos up. I can't wait to follow along and see her get her daughter.

T's First "Mama Party"

The last thing to report from our trip to Tampa was that I bought shoes. REAL SHOES! Today is the first day that I wore them. This is such a big deal I can't even say. You can't imagine how nice it is to put on a real pair of shoes after not being able to for over 3 months. Unfortunately, these shoes cost a king's ransom, but they're the only shoes that fit both my feet. So, I also bought them in black. Look closely, they even have a heel! The brand is BeautiFeel, and I can testify that they truely do feel beautiful on my feet. Lots of support, an arch in the right place, and leather that feels like butter.

I wore the shoes today, because we had to go to a "Mama Party" tonight. A friend has been appointed judge, and her going away party was tonight after work. I had T practicing on the way there, and right on cue she said, Congratulations. Hello Judge Flora. T was quite the hit, but of course, we were only there for about 20 - 30 minutes. Enough time to put in an appearance and then get out of dodge before you-know-who acted up. However, T was on her best behavior albeit slightly disappointed when she realized there was no birthday cake.

So, since we were already dressed up, off to Nordstroms we went for dinner and a girls' night out. Yummy!
Meanwhile, I had to bribe T and let her take a picture of me, before she would pose nicely for me. She's becoming quite the photographer. That's all for tonight. We're looking forward to a nice, uneventful weekend.

Cute things she's said...

Here's a few cute things she's said that has made me laugh:

* Ceci gave us a bunch of leotards. T put one on and said, "I want to go to the pool". No, Baby, this was for ballet or tumbling, not the pool.

*while typing on the computer, T took a sip of my soda. Since we're out of diet coke, I'm drinking Cherry Coke Zero. T's never tasted that before. She takes a sip, gets a funny face, and says, "I like that medicine soda".

*T saw a Disney Fairies commercial, and screamed, "Wow, just like my panties!" Yes, now everyone knows that T is the proud new owner of disney fairies panties.

...she then proceeded to sit on the floor and do her yoga.

Gabby Shirt

Here's a shirt from the Gabriella line, teamed with hot pink shorts, sneakers, and socks with purple piping to match the back of the shirt. The Perfect Daycare Ensemble!

Yes, sir; Yes, sir; Seven bags full!

One of the things that happened in Tampa, was the Ceci and Gabriella gave T seven bags full of clothes. The sizes ranged from 3 to 6x. I finally got to sorting them tonight, and getting rid of some of T's smaller things. Here's some highlights of some dresses that either fit now, or soon will.

Thank you Ceci and Gabs for all this great loot! T wasn't exactly cooperating in most of the photos, but they give you an idea of how some of the stuff fits.

I LOVE When a Plan Comes Together!

Yep, I'm thrilled!!! All of the pictures I ordered for T's room came at the same time. This Ariel picture, I couldn't resist from Disney.com. It ended up being about 20.00, if I recall. 30% off the reduced price. Gotta love that! Especially since I don't think it's that offensive, as far as Ariel crap goes.

Meanwhile, the 2 pictures that I have been coveting for over 2 years arrived today as well. I can't say enough times how thrilled I am with them. They are so gorgeous. This photo doesn't even do them justice. Perhaps now I'll have incentive to paint that stupid spot on the wall, that I've been meaning to paint for almost 3 years.
Lastly, this is the nightlight I ordered. Ceci specifically asked for a photo of this, as she may start carrying them on her site. Its beautiful and very well made. The only complaint I have about it is that I prefer night lights that go on and off automatically, depending upon the room's darkness. That's ok, though. I already have one in the room that does that. I'll let T play with this one, and decide if and when she wants it turned on.

Saturday Fun and Calamity

After all our fun at the 4th of July Party, we came home and grilled burgers and dogs. We admit to being exhausted (at least the adults were, the kids were still raring to go!). Since G and T were making a lot of noise marching around the house as if in a parade, I took them outside and let them parade for real. Those who know me well know that I'm the Queen of Parades...the Parade Master if you will...I've marched in more parades than their combined ages! So, they marched all around the neighborhood shouting out "Happy Fourth of July" at the top of their lungs to every house we passed and car that drove by.

In this picture, they're woefully out of parade formation, but having fun nonetheless. The dried-up old tree branches they found were handy pretend-batons. It was an odd parade of 2 drum majors, marching to a beat all their own. We then watched firewords across the bay from Aunt Ceci's back porch and called it a night.


Then came Saturday...

The plan was for the girls to go to visit their friend Emma, who just turned 6 in July. They got all dressed up, and went off with Dot. Or should I call her Calamity Dot? Yep, surprisingly enough, I suffered no great calamity on this trip. Can't say the same for Dot. Dot was taking a shower, bent over to pick up the dropped soap, and took a spill... litereally out of the tub, pulling down the shower curtain as she went. After untwisting herself from the curtain, she came downstairs to report a swollen wrist. Based upon my tragic experiences, I counselled her immediately to go to the ER, but she declined and the girls went off to the party.

The girls had a great time together. They had lunch and sang on a kareoke machine. Given T's ability to carry a tune, I'm frankly relieved that I didn't have to suffer through, I mean enjoy, that performance. How do you like this pose? They look like the next generation of Charlie's Angels to me!

Anyway, Dot met us at the mall, and was complaining about her wrist. Finally, she deigned to go off to the ER at around 3:00 p.m. The ER is just up the street from Aunt Ceci's house. Dot returned around 11:30 p.m.... well after Uncle Peter and S had to deliver provisions to her...diet coke and dinner.

Diagnosis? Broken wrist. Luckily, its her left arm, which is in a cast from her fingers to above her elbow. She's screwed for about 6 weeks. Luckily, it wasn't a bad break, and they didn't even have to set it, which hurts like the dickens. Plus, she can also drive.

So, between me and my pronounced limp and Dot with her casted arm, we're quite a sight to behold as we chase after T. Luckily, we returned to Miami without incident and are now happily nesting in our own homes. T, finally, is exhausted and is napping on the couch in her Ariel dress. I told Dot that T and I are at the ready. Just say the word and we'll move in with her and take care of her. So far, she's declined.

A Day at the Races

Nothing makes the Fourth of July better than a good race...Here's G and S (standing in the tubes) waiting for their turn in the relay-inner-tube races in the big pool. The boys won that one. The girls won the earlier race of pushing a greasted watermelon across the pool.
Shortly after the above races, G (pictured in the one-piece on the trike) and T entered the Tri-cycle relay race. Oh.My.God. I can't tell you how cute this was. G was the first on her team and gave them a good head start. T brought up the rear. What was hilarious about the whole thing, was that the toddlers' actually had the advantage. They were much quicker than the big kids, who were hampered in their riding by their long limbs. Well, if my T has learned anything in her time in daycare/school, it's how to ride a trike with the skill, speed, and lack of fear of a Nascar driver! My competitive little T was in her glory. The pool scare was a thing of the past.

Here's the video of T's portion and her team's winning of the race. The end gets blurry when I tried to zoom the camera.



Needless to say, T's team of 6 girls won. If you look closely, you'll see that they had a few more toddlers on their team than the others. Anyway, my scrappy little T employed a little strategy at the end of the race as she barrelled over the finish line. She "mistakenly" rolled right into another team's racer, foiling that racer's start. He.He. Hmmm, coincidence or by design? You be the judge!

Pool Fun...Or not!

Here's T working her magic with Uncle Sam who was charming her with his bubble machine. T was basically confined to the little girl pool, when I realized that she has totally lost her swimming skills.


We had a big scare in the big-girl pool. I was sitting on the top step leading into the pool. There are about 5 steps in total. T was busy standing on the bottom step playing. She went down to the last step on which she could stand, and was playing holding the railing.

Well, I was busy sitting on the top step, watching her and taking in the scenery. Literally, I turned my head for 2 or 3 seconds to look out over the bay. When I turned back, T was out about 6 inches out from that last step, fighting for her life. She was starting to drown. I'm sad to say that it took about 1 second (a lifetime in that situation) for me to realize what I was seeing. I thought I was going to throw up. I don't think I've ever moved so fast in my life, and without a care at all for my stupid foot. All was well and I was able to rescue her with no harm to either of us, except a few more grey hairs for me. We both suffered a bad scare. The 12 lifeguards who all looked about 16 - 18 yrs old? Standing around socializing with each other. No one except me noticed a thing, and the pool was crowded.

Needless to say, after that drama, T sayed in the baby pool unless actually in the arms of me or Dot. I was yearning for a stiff shot of tequila, but I still had a long time left to watch after T, as this happened as soon as we got to the club. I had to keep my senses about me. Interestingly, by the end of the day and after our swimming on Saturday afternoon in Ceci's pool, T was regaining her swim skills.

T still can't float on her back or breathe while swimming, but she was pushing away from me and swimming to the wall from about 3 or 4 feet out. I was so proud of her. She didn't let "the incident" scare her away from the water. She kept insisting on doing it over and over. Repeatedly demanding "AGAIN!"

Lastly, no T hasn't passed out under the table from sheer fun. The boys were playing a blistering game of pingpong, and T appointed herself the official pingpong ball chaser. As you can see, she did it with her usual enthusiasm for the task.