so happy together...

'please put Bella on the car with me' (Bella is a little uncertain at first)


but this is sincere fun right here


and slowly Sophia starts squeezing in tight, and Bella keeps on smiling...


Sophia likes to 'play baby' and will mimic everything Bella does thinking it is so funny:
'Mama I am going to try to get the cord, and you tell me 'no, no' and then come get me, 'kay?'
In this pic Sophia just dragged her body around right up next to Bella. These two, I tell ya!


'Sophia, don't grab her too tight, and SMILE!'


'A real smile this time, please!'


The last ditch effort, this pic was her idea by the way

How are you doing?

In a major attempt to get this picture of me napping out of your mind, I will answer the question many people have asked about the new vegetarian diet and 'how are you doing?' Most people ask, 'can you tell a difference?' and 'is it hard?' Answers:

Preface: we always have weeks that are better than others, we usually never eat meat except on our scheduled dumpling outing. But that does not mean our weeks are always filled with incredibly healthy 'whole foods'. This week for example went out the window when David went up the mountain Monday and spent all day pruning trees (tough guy) and then ate in the village for dinner. And then we made him cookies for all his hard work. And then we invited company for Wednesday and we served meat....and dessert. That is how it goes. No worries.
IN GENERAL:

• it has gone really well, we dove into some new and strange recipes (I know I need to post quite a few), we have really liked most of them.
• when sticking to the 'healthy' snack and lots of fruit and veggies, and making sure we actually eat MORE of all these good things and not just not eat a snack out of busyness, then I feel a TON better, I can tell my body really likes it and I have more energy.
• the days I have felt lethargic I know I have simply missed a good snack or did not eat enough at a meal (usually trying to get the two kiddos through theirs)
• here is a whopper: The first month, in March, David and I both lost a kilogram a week. Yes, 2.2 pounds per week , the whole month. We were not starving, we were eating lots, lots of good things. Yes, I still had some baby weight to lose, but not much. I was already back into most of my old clothes at that point, but now a lot of them are hanging loose, and I am into all my pre-Sophia clothes! And yes, I do run at least 3x/week, but even that month I took a week off from exercise with other sickness and still the weight came off.
• I have felt a definite improvement in my skin, just smoothness and brightness. I have no idea what that means or how that works, but the fruits and veggies, whole grains, less oil and fat have all helped my skin out. Bonus.
• with planning, it has not been that hard. The wet markets we have are great for trying new veggies, and at restaurants, we easily order a tofu dish. I just have to stay on top of the plan and getting out to buy the fruit in season (mangoes are coming). If I don't plan well then we order out more (still meatless but not as healthy), and we nibble on whatever is available that may or may not be healthy (like the dwindling bag of chocolate chips).
  
• In the States we will give ourselves some meat meals for sure, but meat is absolutely no longer a part of our daily life. We are thinking maybe once a week, we are not sure, and nothing is settled yet. You just can't go to Florida and not eat at Sonny's BBQ, get real.
  

'SaturDAY IN THE LIFE' Late afternoon, evening

3:45 p.m.

Trying to rest my back, I took a nap. I never nap during the week, and occasionally on a Sunday I will, but the bed was calling my name today.

4:48 p.m.

Sunshine dried up all the rain, so David and Sophia went down stairs to play, our friends were outside too.

4:49 p.m.

Hearing the ruckus of fun, she wants to see what is going on. Our apartment used to not have these bars (most all here do), and the windows were put in upside down, they originally were not supposed to be able to open so low to the ground. SO dangerous. This was all done way before we
moved here. But we definitely asked for the bars to be installed.

5:43 p.m.

Pre dinner snack: soy nuts served as an appetizer at one of our favorite restaurants. We eat these often.


6:10 p.m.

It was too hot to sit in the sun near the street so we opt for behind the restaurant, right near a pile of rubble, and two hungry cats. David went on a run before dinner (I was sleeping and didn't catch him in the action remember?), and here he is helping Bella eat her dinner (green peas, tofu, and brown rice cereal).

6:36 p.m.

yes, we went out to eat TWO times on Saturday. Sometimes that happens. We went out with our neighbors and their two children. Here Caleb is cuddling up to Sophia. Love this pic!

We went home, David stayed outside with Sophia a little while longer. I let Bella crawl around some before putting her in her walker while I took a bath. I had to soak my back.

Then we did our evening routine: Bible time, song time, prayer time, small snack, brush teeth, wash up, get in bed, 'book of questions' time.

David has done an incredible job with the catechism, or '1st book of questions' Sophia knows quite a bit of them. I forget which number they are on. We know she does not understand all that she is saying, but it will come in time. I should record these because the way she says them are so precious:
'what is a spirit?'
'an inbisible being that does not have a body like us'
'does God have a beginning?
'no, he has always eggsisted forever....that one is hard to say' (she is referring to the word 'existed', and she adds in the 'forever' to a lot of the answers).

Then we pray again. Cuddle lots. Give lots of hugs and kisses. Good night girls!

Next, I decide to ice my back. Normally on Saturdays I would do a good bit of language listening. But not this night. Brain could not handle it. Maybe tomorrow, maybe not (I am always playing catch up). David gets me an ice pack and a movie from our first floor friends and I lay on ice for an hour and a half. David does some work on the computer. And our Saturday is done. Thanks for joining us.

'SaturDAY IN THE LIFE' Mid day

April 24, 2010

12:05 p.m.

packing up to go out to lunch, with a little one at my heels.
Love my dirty feet, our life is lived with bare feet.

12:10 p.m.

walking to the restaurant, we usually eat out at least once a day on the weekends (it is cheap), going for noodles for lunch.

12:18 p.m.

almost to our destination, I couldn't pass up what we see every day: our town is getting a face lift. All old buildings are either being torn down or redone. This bamboo serves as the scaffolding for the refacing of this building.

12:18 p.m.

We walk, taxi, or ride a bike almost everywhere we go. Most streets are lined with palm trees like this.

12:42 p.m.

'over the bridge noodles.' We do eat these often, and often on Saturdays, unless it is too hot. And since it has been rainy and windy, it was a great warm treat. Sophia loves them. This was also Bella's first intro to them. We gave the girls our pieces of chicken (so tender!) and cut up the noodles real small for Bella. She liked it!

1:22 p.m.

early afternoon meltdown. Just in time for a good nap.

'SaturDAY IN THE LIFE' The Morning

April 24, 2010

7:36 a.m.

sun is rising, barely. Dark clouds are coming. Rains are imminent. We never tire of the sun rising and setting over the surrounding peaks.

7:49 a.m.

special breakfast: beating the eggs for the waffles. Coffee is on, we still 'need' our coffee even though it is decaf. We have gone from mostly milk and sugar with a little coffee to just coffee with a special creamer if we have some, if not, black. Therefore we have become more particular about the kind of coffee...this is starbucks, yum yum when eaten with really sweet waffles and syrup.

David cooks the waffles. This is what we do. I prep, he cooks.


7:55 a.m.

Awake and all smiles. As usual. We cannot believe Bella is already in this outfit. Yesterday Sophia was wearing it, seems like it anyway...

8:02 a.m.

sleeping beauty makes her appearance on the scene. She still calls for us and we go 'get' her or let her get up. Only one time has she gotten out of bed on her own and that was at a nap time. We are not sure when they are supposed to get up by themselves and wander around, but we like that she doesn't.

8:10 a.m.

watching them cook

8:26 a.m.

taking medicine. this is 'my life' now, for 9 months (it has already been 6) I have to take INH after having a positive ppd skin test. That is for TB. NO, I do not have TB, but possible exposure. Bella also had to take some, as you know, for her reaction to the immunization she received, this particular day was Bella's very last day of INH medicine, YEAH!!!

8:28 a.m.

Bella's breakfast, oatmeal and chopped up mango and wheat germ.

9:16 a.m.

Staying in our PJs for awhile on Saturdays, this was a morning dance session.

9:46 a.m.

Language class. Usually I run at this hour and have class in the afternoons but Abby had to go to a wedding. And I pulled a muscle in my back, causing great pain and the inability to run today.

Day in the life (intro)

I follow a blog (sometimes, when I have time) that details how to do 'a week in the life' photo/journal album, for every year. I think this is a fabulous idea, so that you actually remember the tidbits of what a week was like in your house when the kids were at 'so and so' age, etc. I just can't fathom doing that project right now. I may do it this year, maybe not. But I did try to grab my camera every chance I got yesterday, and had David do it to, to capture some of what a SATURDAY is like for us. Journaling is a big part of this type of project, because sometimes a pictures just isn't good enough, a picture doesn't remind you what kind of mood you or the kids were in, it doesn't tell you the funny thing your toddler said, or how what you tried to cook actually tasted. So, you do have to capture the moment with words too! That is what I will try to do for our Saturday April 24, 2010. Stay tuned.

The Crawl with an audience

Sorry this is long. but I had to get Abby and Sophia cheering Bella on. They are saying: 'jiayou' which literally means 'add gas/oil' it is how you cheer someone on in Chinese. Then they start saying 'come over here.' Bella is on the MOVE! She also at ten months is mimicking sounds really well, she can actually now repeat, dada and mama but if you bring out the video camera she stops! She is on target to be absolutely all over the place on the airplane for 24 hours mid June. Start those prayers now please.

a real crawl

The week flew by...again.
As always when we return from a trip the girls both had colds/fevers/cough. They are just now getting over them really, and Bella's has lingered into a cough. But despite all the ickiness, she still managed to really start crawling this week. She still drags herself around some, but she can do the 'all fours' crawl really well. I will post video footage soon.


sweetness (at least in this picture)

Seriously...

I was laughing when I wrote the little list of 'I will never do this again unless...' but my laugh did not communicate via internet very well. I was even being a bit sarcastic, knowing that with our lifestyle future trips with just the girls and me are inevitable. I will take things as they come. I do not wish this stage away for sure....

Sophia was 'making' some food in her room.
'I am making whoosh joosh'
'whoosh juice?'
'no, whoosh joosh.'
'what language is that?'
'a new thing'
'a new language?'
'yeah.'

'actually it is whoosh juice clay.'
'oh so now it is whoosh juice?'
'yeah, whoosh juice clay.'
'that is the name of your food?'
'yeah'
'after your new friend clay that you just met?'
'yeah, after clay in bangkok'
'what does whoosh juice clay taste like?'
'its a little like chicken.'
(I absolutely bust out laughing).

THE travel day

Here is a little play by play of my traipsing across Southeast Asia (exaggeration for emphasis, stay with me here) with two very dependent children ALL BY MYSELF.

We left our home at ten a.m. and arrived in Bangkok at around 5 p.m. Not too bad, though we did change one time zone.

Our neighbor, J, helped put us in a taxi. I carried Bella in the Ergo (my newest bestest friend), a small backpack (lifesaver K!), a fold up stroller (carried on my shoulder or rolled), and Sophia in tow (with her own backpack).

We arrived at our local airport (which is new and and quite nice and is in the shape of a peacock, on purpose). I never really listen to the announcements in Chinese, but as soon as I heard the 'Sorry to inform you announcement' I went to the information desk. This is a small place, usually 1-2 flights coming around the same time in the morning and then it slows from there, maybe 5 flights a day, and to one place. The lady at the desk said due to 'fog/haze' my flight was not arriving to pick us up until sometime after 12:30. Meaning, we wouldn't leave until 1:00 or after. Ut Oh. We have learned that the very uncertain: 'sometime after...' could mean ten minutes after or could mean tomorrow. That is just how it works. We had to be on an international flight from the capital at 3:20. I asked her again: 'so, what time will it arrive?' 'After 12:30.' And I explained our situation. This lady (who very well could have been an angel sent from God), told me she would check on things for me.

Ten minutes later she found my crew and me heading toward the bathrooms (Sophia did so awesome with the potty). She said she could get me on the other flight that would leave at noon. Go figure, one flight cannot make it due to fog but another can??? Do I even want to fly at this point? I was so thankful for this. We moved to the other waiting area which actually had a little outside part to it, it was perfect for the longer wait. The angel also brought us two meals (I was shocked, I have seen many delays but have never seen them serve food because of it. We usually pack sandwiches but since we were supposed to arrive in the capital right at lunch time and because my bag could not hold another thing, we had only small snacks). I did not eat much of my meal, but Sophia ate some of hers. At that time the lady told me that the other flight was actually coming earlier than expected, but that I could get on whichever one came first, not to worry. I thanked her profusely for all of her help. And we waited.

Many people talked with us, two men from up north were very polite, Sophia did not mind them. One of them complimented me on my Chinese (when you say one sentence you get a compliment, he was being polite), I replied by telling him it 'still is not okay' and that he spoke so fast I was could not understand him too well. His friend (who I could understand fine) laughed and said: 'yes, he does speak too fast.' I sighed with relief. He kind of reminded me of my friend Nikki from back home. Sometimes I would have to replay her messages to make sure I understood what she was saying (in English mind you.)

I nursed Bella, then fed her her solid food on the plane. We had the row to ourselves because they made the guy next to me move. This is because fyi, the right side of the plane only has enough oxygen masks per seat, while the left side has an extra one per row. Therefore if you are carrying an infant (without a full ticket), they need to be provided an oxygen mask. Instead of making all three of us move to a left side row, she moved the man, and made the one hour flight much better for me. Another gift.

No problems in the capital. Sophia had to go number two, which I knew would be my biggest dilemma all trip. But it was great timing, I wasn't carrying Bella, she was in the stroller. We were in a bit of hurry to check in but I searched for a clean handicap bathroom (western toilet). Note to anyone who cares: do not use western toilets in places where people are not used to using them. I never use them in this airport. They are always filthy and more than once I have seen people standing on them and squatting (because they don't care about closing the door, apparently), always go for the squatty. But I could not do that with Sophia and all her issues. The first handicap bathroom I came too was very clean, unbelievable. And we all could fit in it. No problems!

I thought I was in a hurry but no, not at all. Number of people checking in to fly to Bangkok: 0.
Yes, with all the instability and riots and closings of places, most people stayed away. This happened to be the best time to fly to Bangkok all by myself with two little ones. Thirty people. I counted. That is how many people flew. Why in the world did they just not cancel the flight? No idea, but I was so glad. While waiting we were very hungry. Early afternoon and not much lunch, so I searched the place for something decent to eat. Easy, and clean. I just could not handle giving Sophia hot noodles without a table, etc. So, in the very back of the duty free shop I found one lonely box of saltines and 3 small bags of peanut M&Ms. Perfect. Sophia and I ate crackers and chocolate for lunch. (I did not give her that much chocolate). Bella fell asleep in the stroller.

Then all of sudden Sophia says she has to go 'poo poo.' And the look. I grabbed her, held her tight against me, I grabbed my backpack (no one there to watch it), left Sophia's backpack of toys, on purpose, and pushed the sleeping baby as quickly as I could while carrying Sof on my hip. We made it in time, and...wait for it...she 'didn't have any' (poop). WHAT? '(deep breath, very calmly): 'Sophia you just said you had to go, you go poop and I will give you more M&Ms).' Shameless, I know, but it worked. I just could not handle the drama that moment entailed again, not alone. We happily went back to wait, Sophia's toys present and accounted for.

The flight to Bangkok was empty so that was awesome. It still is hard to feed Bella solids on an airplane, as she wants to move around. She sat at my feet (in bulkhead), and played while I ate, and then I held her to feed her. Sophia wanted to sleep so we moved to a back row to spread out, and She slept great the last 45 minutes of the two hour flight.

The only other time I needed help was on the bus that carried us from the plane to the terminal, it was a huge step down that Sophia could not make. I had all my stuff and Bella on my front. So someone just picked up Sophia's other arm and we both lowered her down. Customs and everything else was fine (because who in their right mind is flying to Bangkok). And guess who was waiting for us??? A bit unexpected, David made it there to greet us. He had a doctor's appt and wasn't sure if he would be out in time, but he was! Reunited at last.

The trip was fine, obviously. But I did vow to only do it again by myself under the following circumstances (big smile):

• the children can each feed them selves unassisted
• the children can each use the bathroom unassisted
• the children can entertain themselves
• the children can walk unassisted
• the children can fill out all their own forms
• the children can carry all their own stuff
  

This is it

I may or may not post from Bangkok. So this may be it for a while. David has talked to many people in Bangkok and things seem okay for now. We will play it by ear. He will get there before us and assess everything which is comforting. We may stay a week, we may stay a day.
I survived the week + without him, but missed him terribly. If only I can survive tomorrow. I have had multiple people tell me I am crazy...so I am beginning to think I am. Just need much grace tomorrow.

I told Sophia we were going on a 'big adventure' and she kept saying, 'yep, not a little one, but a big one.' You got that right.
Until next time.

travel plans

well, things in Bangkok are worse now. We are still trying to assess what to do. This absolutely is the worst possible time for the political uproar/unrest that is Bangkok, but they didn't ask me did they?
We are still definitely flying into Bangkok tomorrow we will arrive in the early evening. I am not sure if we will actually go into the city. Where we stay is in the heart of the trouble and all of our favorite malls/shopping venues/restaurants are closed. We may stay close to the airport and come right back or head to the beach for a few days...
we will let you know

It's still Saturday

what the morning looked like: girls busy. still in PJs

love pig tails, don't you?


girls at the piano


sophia is being drama queen as she 'performs' the song.

We watersplashed after naps and it was so much fun. Bella sat in the stroller while we squirted the guns. Sophia did wonderful, but a lot of times she preferred to wash our bicycles or water the neighbor's plants than play water war. What a little lady. She did accidentally squirt water pretty hard right in my ear, took me back a step. K took some pics, like always so I will post some when I get them.

we are still going to Bangkok. We will meet David at the guest house and assess the situation, we may actually just turn around after one day if necessary and if we can get a flight. We will see.

Saturday, first half

I usually LOVE Saturdays, weekend wanderings to wherever, usually rest for me, David is off work, etc, etc. I was determined for today to be no different. So I started with special breakfast, a little bit of a feat, trying to feed first breakfasts to Bel and Sof (to be followed up with 'special' stuff). But it wasn't that bad since I got started before they woke up making the Maple syrup and prepped all for the whole grain waffles. Bella woke up, I fed her while the sugar boiled, and mixed up the waffle mix and put the first batch on until Sophia woke up (at 8 a.m. unbelievable). She has been waking up around 7:15 all week.

It was scrumptious! During breakfast Sophia asked me 'how do you say 'yawn' in Chinese? I answered her. She repeated. She then asked how do you say 'hiccup' in Chinese. I answered her. She repeated. Our helper had not arrived yet, I thought she might talk to her about these two things since she just asked me, but she didn't, I really wonder how her brain works. A lot of times she asks me how to say thing when she is trying to communicate with her. But today she just wanted to know I guess.

Later when I was trying to teach Bella how to say 'ball' (in English of course), I kept saying 'ball' and Sophia said: 'teach her to say ping pang qiu (Chinese for ping pong ball)' I laughed and told her that was a little advanced....

Abby came to fill in for David (again), and since it was video day for Sophia she watched her 30 minutes worth while I went on my last run of the week, (while Bella slept). One day I must take a camera on my runs, really. Such cool stuff that becomes dull when I look at it day after day, but when I think about the donkey grazing, or the kids playing the gorde flute, or the Mosque, or the people selling honey, or the Buddhist Pagoda, it is quite a myriad to remember.

When I reread my post about speaking language, it sounded pretty stupid. It wasn't that I was excited about saying something so simple. It was that it flowed off my tongue and that it came out right. This is what surprised Abby. Pray it keeps flowing. This is a hard language, 6 tones, a little sing songy (pretty actually). As a westerner I need to be more emphatic with my tones and sounds, at least early on to make sure I mimic correctly. But a lot of times I am embarrassed to do that. I am really trying to let go all inhibitions this time around and just speak no matter what, right or wrong, keep trying....after the 'flow off the tongue' episode, it stopped flowing, just gurgled really, and came to a stop....that is okay, I am still on the horse....

Girls went down for naps and Bella cried for over 20 minutes, very unlike her. why? because she learned to stand up in her bed just then and didn't like being in there I suppose. What on earth will we do all in one room in Bangkok...who knows, but we need to get used to it, eh?

I promised Sophia we would 'water splash' a little after naps. It is that time of year again. Water Splashing festival. In Thailand it is called Songkran. Usually it is pretty crazy, but because of a serious drought here, the government has called of a lot of the festivities. We will get out our little buckets and water guns and see what we can do.

Speaking of Bangkok. We travel there in two days and things are crazy. State of Emergency. We are checking out our options now.

girls are up, must go load the water guns...

videos for daddy

'this is my husband'

I have officially finished phase A of language study, the non-speaking phase. I really really really need to review/listen to all my recordings. But today in class after learning some new vocab, at the very end I got out pictures of our family and told my teacher this: 'I can understand everything you have taught me so far, I have listened and pretty much know it but that doesn't mean I can speak it out, or speak it well, I will try, and you correct me.' She understood.
I said: 'This is my husband,' and her face lit up in shock and she clapped. It really was a priceless moment for me. Of course of all the family relationships to speak out this was the easiest, but all in due time. She was a bit surprised I think that I actually could speak after not doing so for a while. We went through a few, just five minutes worth, and I said 'that is enough for today, we will really start next time.' We are both excited.

Things I forgot to tell you

(David)

• Meatless xinjiang lamian is awesome, but very spicy
• I have ridden the bike with Sophia 2x
  
• Sophia has 10 bruises on her legs, I counted
• Bella has a real toothy grin that I need to take a picture of
• We will get out the squirt guns tomorrow even though the whole town is on a 'use less water and do not water splash' warning, so much so that when you call someone that announcement come while it rings
• I spoke in class today, a teeny bit at the end, and am geared up for full on speaking it all out
• miss you too much
• you've got some precious daughters
• your old teacher is probably coming by tomorrow to play with the girls
• our home is absolutely not the same without you here
  
• The lemon pie is gone, and the sweet gummy things will be by night's end
• should I watch an ncis without you?
  

Thurs and Fri

04.08.10

The day started out well, but went downhill fast.
Sophia had the worst fit/tantrum I have ever seen. I will not blog the details, it would exhaust me all over again, and I am still scarred from it....
finally she took her nap and I went on a run...where I had a good talk and rebuke from our all knowing Father. Enough said.

How the day started:



love these shoes (hand me downs of course)


what I wanted to do at the end of the day.

(I promise there is supervision going on in our home, I went to help Sophia with something, heard Bella start whining, and found this)

04.09.10
FRIDAY, just three full days left and then travel day....
Today went pretty well. I was able to do a lot of prep for our trip and Sophia had Chinese language time. I have some great books that have fairy tales with English, Chinese, and Chinese pinyin. Sophia loves to listen Abby read these, and then I gave them a sticker book with tons of chinese vocab, they did this for over an hour on the couch. I couldn't believe it. Next week, seriously, her Chinese will be better than mine.

Anyway. We walked to Dicos for dinner where I ate meat, like a big honkin' chicken sandwich, not little pieces of fat that are in dumplings. It was not great. And while we did have fun, the AC was broken which was a main reason we were going in the first place. I promised Sophia Dicos while daddy was gone, and I made good. She also ate her first ice cream cone by herself. She wore a lot of it, and didn't finish it, but it was a great try.

I have missed some incredible photo ops too...oh well. I am tired. I need to study. Don't even know if this makes any sense. Thanks for all the encouragement from friends and family!

day 4, and really counting counting down

04.07.10

Bella woke up last night too, teeth hurting, I suppose. She didn't tell me that, she had no fever, and her toothy grin says a lot. Ouch, mainly. But we all made it through the night okay.

Sophia has been saying so many sweet and hilarious things and for the most part has been well behaved (except at bedtime)...

This morning I made the body to the Lego 'giraffe' and Sophia made the head all by herself, and I thought she did a pretty darn good job. looks more like a horse, but it does look like the head of an animal right?



I decided to bike to our old school and see if we had mail there. Lo and behold a sweet envelop from Aunt Julie, an anniversary gift to David and me (sweet gummy things that I will eat before you get back), and really cute matching Tees for the girls. Sophia wanted to wear it right away, over her other shirt.


We talked to Poppy and CC, to make sure we told CC HAPPY BIRTHDAY. They had called and talked to Abby. And since they don't speak the same language, I am sure it was entertaining. Abby's retelling was funny: 'they probably asked where you were, so I told them you were outside. they probably didn't understand. So , they probably said they would call you or you should call them, I don't know.'


Had class in the middle of the day, it went okay, I spoke a little and may do so again next class before I really dive into it all. Abby was smiling and laughing at me trying to be so precise, she said I was not saying it wrong. I told her seriously that if she laughed at me I wouldn't want to speak at all. Ha, get over it, I know...seriously, I love it, and cannot wait to get into messy conversations where I say absurd things. Bring it on...

Sophia had to 'fix' her broken stroller. She also has gotten into the whole: 'daddy lets me do this, doesn't let me do that, jie jie doesn't do that, etc'


Sophia stood on the stool behind a chair I was sitting in, hugged my neck and said: 'mama, I love you so much. And I love daddy so much, and Bella, and JieJie.'
I could have cried. I told her JieJie (Abby) would love to hear that, why don't you tell her. And she did. Makes Abby's day every time.

Sophia also said this today:
"my owie on my leg feels better. God really helped it. He is everywhere.......walkin' around....protectin' it (her owie???)...Praise the Lord (she throws up her hands)"

Alas, as prep for bedtime all day I told her she was not sick, and to not say it for the third night in a row. I told her I would not sleep with her, etc. etc. And of course, at bedtime this time (not an hour later), she starts her shenanigans. I am supposed to be studying, but I really try to nip it in the bud this time. She has a little discipline. I do threaten to take baa baa away. I take her to the bathroom once. And all is quiet. For now. I did study some...and ate more of the Lemon Pie I made for the ladies, completely un-vegan that it is (I was getting rid of our last thing of cream cheese!)

Day 3 missin' daddy

4.6.10

The previous night, as you know, Sophia cried wolf with being sick. I slept in the room with her and did not sleep well...
In the morning, she wore this pretty dress (from cousin Anna I think)


and Bella played on the floor


Sophia learned how to use scissors, plastic ones that could not hurt a flea. But I soon upgraded to 'safe' but not plastic ones within an hour. I got out a whole kit I had been saving that has new paint, crayons, scissors, etc. She loves it! And she was so proud. But at one point she said: 'I am going to rest a minute, because I can't do it very well.' I was shocked, and encouraged her to keep trying, and told her that she was a great 'cutter.'




and Bella is everywhere into everything, and keeps being so cute. Except when she cries at night because four teeth are coming in all at once. Poor thing.



I had every intention of getting pics from my host of 'ladies night out.' Indeed I was crazy for hosting with you away, since Sophia was up again calling/screaming whatever saying all manner of things: 'i am really sick, i have to go pee, mommy please sleep with me...'
I did not sleep with her but she did not go to sleep until after 9 pm I am sure.