Halloween 2007

Hope everyone had a happy Halloween. Our night started out with me looking for both our dogs for an HOUR! But the good news is that Ben and I found them both safe and sound and running all over the place! I served up some hotdog mummies and knuckles (tater tots:) for dinner and the crew set out for a night of trick or treat. Sophie was the perfect little pumpkin and Ben and his two buddies joined her as "pumpkin farmers". Hannah's half angel and half devil was hardly a costume at all! She looked cute dressed up with a half a halo and a little devil horn. All the kids came home with loads of candy, I hope it is all the candy that I DON'T like!

A Cute Picture with Some Randomness

Keeping with the fashionable bullet posts...
•
• A friend who adopted her daughter from China last year is pregnant with TWIN BOYS!
• Sometimes PMS makes me stupid sometime b*tchy. This month it’s both.
• I suddenly don’t want to return to work.
• Sophie’s and Ben’s Halloween costume is so cute you are going to die!
• Hannah’s costume captures her personality PERFECTLY!
• Sophie cracks me up when she covers her eyes to play peek a boo.
• We leave for Cincy on Sunday for Sophie’s surgery.
• Starting to freak a little about that, but once I get there I will be fine.
• So grateful to Krista for picking us from the airport and putting us up for the night.
• Looking forward to hanging out on her couch and chatting.
• Grateful to Robin and Maddy, Sandra and Tahlia for making plans to meet us in Cincy.
• Can’t wait to see Connie. I will post a pic to prove to all of you that she is alive and well.
• Can’t wait for Stacy to meet Sophie!
• I am going to miss Ben and Hannah like crazy. I have never been away from them for more that 3 days.
• Chris and I will celebrate our 14th anniversary in 2 different states. I will be in Ohio he will be in NC.
• I go back to work December 3rd. Did I mention that I have changed my mind about wanting to go back to work??
• Even though I am home all day, I don’t get as much done as I think I should.
• I can’t wait for soccer to end and basketball season to start.
• Have you seen the Christmas stuff up already?
• It is finally Fall here….and my pants for last year fit! Wahoooo!

My Girls...

A Special Saturday...

Today was Sophia June XuCan's Baptism day. We were all dressed and out the door early this morning. We met our family at our Church as well as Sophie's Godparents, our good friends Steve and Liz. She was such a good girl and so very patient. There were eight babies baptized today! I was moaning about having so many children being baptized at the same time and that it seemed less personal when Hannah said, "Mom, the important thing is that she was Baptized today." Out of the mouths of babes! Sophie looked beautiful in the gown that Chris and I bought soon after we sent our dossier to China. She was a good girl in Church. She tried to duck when Father Z tried to anoint her with the oil of catechumens, which made everyone laugh and she cried just a little when he poured the water over her head. It was a special day for our family and for our sweet girl.

Sophie's Godparents Steve and Liz with Father Z


Grandma and Pada

Here We Go!

A Month and 2 Days

Our internet has been acting up so I have not been able to post. Anyway we have been home from China for a month and 2 days! I have to be honest China seems like such a long time ago! Ben and Hannah are great big sibs to Sophie. She loves making them laugh. Hannah is a great helper and Sophie just loves her! Ben makes Sophie so crazy that when she sees him she starts stamping her feet, smiling and screaming. She doesn't know what he is going to do, but she is sure it is going to be fun. The other night Sophie wanted Hannah not Daddy ( she knew he was going to try to get her to go to sleep). She understands so much of what we say to her, she really is like a little sponge. She has added dog and oh oh to her list of words. She is still babbling like crazy and at times I swear it sounds Chinese! (the school speech therapist said that she is babbling in Chinese, they have sounds that we do not. Thought that was interesting, so when people ask me if she speaks Chinese I tell them "she babbles in Chinese." sarcasm) As you can tell from the pictures she has really filled out. While she was in the SWI she was on a liquid only diet, I am sure that with her foster family she at solid foods. The girl can suck up a noodle like a pro! We are all madly in love with the newest member of our TBG Gang!


Day 1 in China



Last week on our way out to dinner.

YAHOO!

Just got a call from Sophie's pediatrician about all her blood work etc and it is ALL GOOD! So happy and relieved. Many children from China have high levels of lead, especially children from Sophie's province. I was worried about her lead level after seeing the pollution in Taiyuan and speaking with other parents of children from Shanxi. But our girl is good....better than good! On another Sophie health note I have purchased our tickets for Ohio and we will be heading to Cincy Children's on November 6th for test etc and then she will be admitted on the 7th. Sophie and I will be in Cincy until Thanksgiving day when we get to head home for some turkey and stuffing and some much needed time with Chris, Ben and Hannah. We are going to miss being away from them for such a long time.

*** I have been sneaking in the veggies and so far no complaints. I bought baby food it is waaay easier than making your own puree. It looks like the only veggies I will need to puree on my own are the broccoli and cauliflower.***

Fun, Football, Food, and a Flat Tire!

This could be the longest slideshow ever but we had a busy weekend! After a drama filled week at work Chris decided we needed to go out to dinner and have a beer, so off we went to our fav place. Sophie was great and Hannah has to be the best big sister ever! Sophie enjoyed some tomato bisque and some chocolate mousse. Chris and I enjoyed our much needed beer! On Saturday we headed to a local college to watch a football game with friends. It was a beautiful day for a game and the kids all had a great time. In one of the pictures you can see the kids sliding down a grass hill on torn pieces of cardboard. They had a blast! On Sunday as we were racing out the door to go to church we discovered that we had a flat tire! UGH! The good thing was that we were still in our driveway, and Chris knows how to change a tire (I do not know how. I know horrible). Ben learned how to change a tire just in case I get another flat and I can't get a hold of Chris. After "my boys" fixed the tire we were off to Hannah's soccer game. She played well and it was another beautiful day in NC. Sophie cracks us up talking on the cell phone. For the record the first time we saw her do this we were in China. She was walking around our room pretending to talk on Chris's cell phone. Her foster family must have had a cell phone because she knew how to flip the phone open and started chatting! Too cute! On Monday my school family threw us a shower. Sophie got lots of cute clothes and some fun toys! It was fun to see everyone and Sophie was the star of the show!

I Don't Get It????

WTF people with April 06' LIDS with "ONE" agency got "Surprise" referrals??? What agency is it??? Why won't anyone say what freakin agency this is??? I don't get it! ANd this is not the Golden agency who always gets early referrals. I don't get it.....if you get it ,please share your wisdom with me.

***UPDATE****

The kids liked them except BEN! He is such a pain in the ass. It's on now....there is no tellin what I will sneak in to his food next!! ** The recipe only called for a 1/4 cup of prunes or dates. I have a certain someone emailing me about us "running" from our muffins! LOL***


Have you seen or heard about this book yet? It is by Jessica Seinfeld and it is a cookbook that “sneaks” in veggies. Ben only eats potatoes and corn. I make him try whatever veggie we are having that night for dinner…..he usually gags or spits it out. It makes me crazy!! Oh and as far as fruit goes, he might eat an apple (skin removed) with some low fat peanut butter if he’s in the mood. He drives us nuts. He is basically on the At*kins diet. Hannah will eat her veggies and fruit, but I am sure she isn’t eating enough every day either. Sophie and I were up and out early this mornings so we headed over to Bar*es and N*ble to pick up this book. I can’t wait to make the pudding with avocado hidden or the mac and cheese with cauliflower! Basically she has designed the recipes using veggie puree so the kids “won’t see” the veggies and the amount of puree and the other ingredients keep the kids from actually tasting the puree. Of course she encourages you to continue to serve veggies with dinner, but at least you know that the chocolate cake for dessert has beet puree hidden inside!! I am going to make the kids chocolate chip muffins tomorrow for their after school snack, I’ll let you know if they taste the prunes I have snuck in!!!


***Hannah read my blog today! (looking to see pictures) UGH! She has promised not to tell....or I will take her Hannah M@ntana tickets and sell them on Eb&y!!!!

What's New With Sophie...

Sophie continues to do great! Other than the first week home, the transition for all of us has been pretty easy.

• Sophie is getting in four new teeth to add to the mouthful of chicklets that she already has!
• She is learning how to use a fork and spoon.
• She loves to share her food, but she also likes to tease us and pretend like she is going to share.
• Sophie is working on learning to drink from a sippy cup.
• She is giving hugs to Grandma,Pada, and Auntie Amy.
• Sophie is giving kisses to Mommy, Daddy, Ben and Hannah,
• We have had a glimpse at what the terrible two’s might look like this summer….it should be interesting.
• She can now say Dada, hot, and cat.
• She waves to all the kids in the car rider bleachers when we pick up Hannah.
• She thinks that the car windows moving up and down is hysterical!
• Her hair is growing. They must have shaved her head weekly!
• She cried when I left to bring Hannah to soccer. She kept going to the door looking for me, I know not nice that she cried but a good sign.
• She loves the cabinet with the pots and pans.
• Loooves the bath.
• Currently not loving brushing her teeth.
• The magic crib seems to be working, Sophie is sleeping well most nights.
• Sophie continues to crack us up. She is a funny, smart and lovey girl. We love her more every day!

My Doctors Visit....

I don't dare post without first posting a pic of Sophie (although if I don't get some pictures of Ben and Hannah on here soon my name will be mud!)

I am over the cold that Chris gave me the DAY we came home from China, that's the good news. The bad news is that I have been coughing so I went to the doctor, I am now being treated for Whooping cough. I am taking antibiotics. Everyone here is healthy, no coughing. I need to call the kids doctor to be sure that the kids are all immunized. I think that Pertussis was one of the vaccines Sophie got on Tuesday. Can you believe it ??!!

Recent Doctors Visit

Sophie: Babble, babble, squawk, babble, babble, babble (roll around on the floor).

Dr.J: I think since we are drawing blood we should do xyz test.

Sophie: (get up ) Babble, babble, babble, (walk around) squawk, squawk, babble, babble (wave)

Me: Sounds good to me.

Dr. J: Observes Sophie walking and babbling/squawking, looks back to me....

Me: You know Chinese women are so quiet and demure ( sarcasm)

Sophie: (rolling around again) Babble, babble, squawk, babble, squawk (get up, wave and do touch down).

Dr.J: I guess 3 weeks with the TBG Gang has cured her of that!


** Sophie must have caught something rolling around on the floor. She is running a pretty good fever, probably a bit to high to linked to her vaccinations yesterday.....after the doc left.****

So How are You Doing???

Ahhhh week number two home. I have to say that I glad to have that first week over with!! The TBG gang is back in the swing of things, school, soccer, lacrosse, football and Sophie is happy to be along for the ride! Hannah is feeling better this week having caught up on all of her schoolwork. Ben has the easiest time with jetlag; I guess it is the adolescent brain. He slept better than anyone. Chris is busy with work, and I am home with Sophie amazed at my Inability to get all my housework finished. Well I guess instead of posting I could be cleaning a bathroom or folding some clothes!

Sophie is sleeping much better now that we have hitched up her crib to our bed. We took down one of the side rails and secured the crib to the side of our bed. Now she can “sleep with us” but she is in her crib most of the night. She needs her space to sleep because she moves around so much all night. Last night she only woke up once, sat up and saw me a just crawled over to snuggle and went back to sleep. After she has her surgery we will get serious about seeing if she can sleep with all 4 sides of her crib up! Speaking of Miss Sophie’s surgery, we will be heading to the Cincinnati Children’s hospital on November 4th and she will have her surgery on the 8th. Sophie and I will be in Cincy for almost 3 weeks! That is a long time to be away from home and Chris and I are trying to figure out a good time for him to come with the kids to visit. It also happens to overlap with the Thanksgiving holiday and I am hesitant for them to travel such a distance during the holiday. We will figure out something....none of y'all have a privat jet do ya?? You could fly my fam up for a quick visit....we would be forever grateful!