Why China?

The other day Lily and I ran into a girl (woman) I haven’t seen since middle school. For many years Jeannie and I were practically joined at the hip. Then we went to separate high schools and that was the end of that. It was great to see Jeannie again and for an hour we talked and tried to get caught up on the highlights of the past 30 years.

Jeannie asked me a question that so many people have asked (in one form or another) since we announced our plans to adopt. Why China? I tried to explain why to Jeannie. I don't think she understood. I'll try again now. The simple answer is...God only knows...and I mean that quite literally.

When I began to see myself as a mother it wasn’t pregnancy, sonograms, and maternity clothes that I dreamed of. I simply longed for my daughter…that was born half a world away. I can’t explain it any other way. I just knew that the child I was meant to parent would be born in China. I knew and believed it just like I know and believe the sun will rise tomorrow. I’m sure it sounds strange, but it’s true. From the very beginning Lily was as real to me as she is right now.

I would love to be able to tell you that I have always had a deep interest and connection to China. That is not the case. It may seem odd for me to say that God called me to adopt my daughter from China but that is what I truly believe. In my mind there is no other way to explain it.

That does not mean we didn't research adoption from other countries (including the US). We did. In fact, we completed an application for an adoption from Korea. On the way home from the agency that afternoon we were talking in the car and pretty much asked each other, "Why did we apply for a Korean adoption if our child is in China?" We called the next day and cancelled the application and submitted our application to adopt from China and bring Lily home.

When I first saw Lily’s referral picture it felt as if a missing puzzle piece had magically slid into place. I looked at her beautiful face and said, “There you are.” I honestly believe if the adoption agency had given me a stack of baby pictures I would have been able to pick Lily out. Seeing her sweet little face for the first time felt just like coming home.


When I held Lily in my arms for the first time I realized I had been waiting for her my whole life...it just took me a little while to figure it out.


I'm not sure that that explanation adequately answers the question "Why China?" All I know is that I am so glad we followed what God put in our hearts.

The Name Of A Good Plastic Surgeon

Help! Quick! Someone please give me the name of a good...I mean GREAT plastic surgeon....fast!

Today Lily and I were out shopping and a women said to Lily, "Are you having a good day out with your grandmom?" She then looked at me and said, "My granddaughter is a litte older than yours. Aren't they great?" To be honest I don't remember how I replied...you know, the mind is the first thing to go! After I recovered from the blow to the stomach I think I said something like, "Come on Lily, hold Mommy's hand and get far, far away from that crazy old lady who obviously needs her eyes examined!" ;-)

The sad thing is I thought I looked pretty good today. I had a good night's sleep. I didn't have dark circles under my eyes...I left my housecoat, slippers, and rollers at home...I mean honestly!

Don't get me wrong, I am well aware of the fact that I am old enough to be a grandmother. It's just if I'm already being mistaken for Lily's grandmother now what's going to happen when she's in kindergarten?? Middle school?? College??

I need to calm down. It's not good for a woman my age to get too worked up. Good night now. Mee Maw needs to get some rest.

Date Night

I just can't take it!

Since Tony and I have been home from China we had not been out alone together...and we were really starting to miss our 'T and Tony' time. We made a New Year's resolution to incorporate "Date Night" back into our schedules.

My niece Katie has watched Lily on several occasions so I could get my hair done, go to camp, run errands, etc. but never so Tony and I could go out together. So, Tony and I thought we'd start small. We asked Katie to watch Lily while we went out for a quick bite and told her we'd be back in plenty of time to put Lily down for the night.

Tony and I decided to head to a new restaurant in town we've been wanting to try. Oops. We didn't call ahead and they're closed on Monday nights! Darn. No problem. We'll just go to one of our trusty old favorites. Oops. We forgot Monday nights kids eat free so the place was packed...and seeing all those families with their children made us miss Lily even more. Then...to add insult to injury...guess who gets seated right next to us?? Two families with a total of 4 girls adopted from China. Everything inside me was screaming...I want my BABY!!

Apparently, I wasn't the only one who was feeling fussy. Poor Lily (or should I say poor, poor Katie) really melted down when she realized we were gone. I went down to the playroom and told Lily I was leaving and that I would be back but I think she thought I was just going upstairs. When Katie brought Lily upstairs for dinner all hell broke loose. My little sweetie walked all over looking for me and calling my name. Rumor has it that Lily got herself pretty worked up and would not let Katie pick her up or try to comfort her. Sweet Katie tried to down play how bad it was but I've heard from both my sisters (who called during the drama) that Lily was making quite a racket. I guess the poor thing wore herself out and fell asleep in her highchair without eating her dinner!!

Poor little thing!

The funny thing is when we got home and I woke Lily up she gobbled down her dinner and then walked around the house calling, "Kay Key, Kay Key" like nothing had happened. Lily didn't realize that Tony had taken Katie home during her little cat nap.

In retrospect, I think our timing probably wasn't the greatest. Lily was still adjusting to Tony being gone and had been very clingy with me. Lily also hadn't had a nap. For only the second time in 9 months Lily did not nap on Monday. She "rested" but never fell asleep.

Tony and I are still completely committed to having date night. We know the adjustment wont be easy for Lily (or us...or whoever is babysitting!) but we think it is so important that Lily has parents that stay in love and connected. We see how easy it could be to get caught up in the day to day things and figure out too late that a huge gap has formed between us. We don't want that to happen.

P.S. - Yes, that is a chip clip holding Lily's bib on. Without it Lily can get out of any bib in 2.2 seconds. I tell you that girl could put Houdini to shame!!

Daddy's 3 Foot Shadow

Tony arrived home safely late Friday night. Lily was already in bed for the evening so she didn't see Tony until Saturday morning. You should have seen how excited Lily was that her Daddy was home!

Tony has been away before but I think this time Lily really understood that Daddy wasn't home...if that makes sense. Each morning that Tony was gone Lily walked around the house and called out his name. It was really sweet (and kind of sad) to see Lily with her hands on her hips calling, "Da Dee! Da Dee? Da Dee???".

Since Tony has been home Lily has barely left his side. It's interesting. As much as Lily wants to be with Tony she has also been very clingy with me. I think the little hiccup in her routine has her a little uncertain. Tony doesn't have any trips planned in the near future so we should get right back into the swing of things.

Bad Mood

Um...Daddy...can you hurry home so Mommy can vacuum while we do tubby time?

Lily is not a big fan of loud noises. In fact, she hates them! Among her least favorite are the vacuum and the blender.

Can you see the boo boo on my lip from when I fell down yesterday?

Normally, I try to vacuum while Lily is having tubby time with Daddy or is somehow otherwise being entertained by her father. That way she is too distracted to be bothered by the noise. If I vacuum at other times I have to hold Lily at the same time...not an easy task at 26.25 pounds!

Until today if Lily spotted the vacuum in the closet or if I tortured her by actually vacuuming with her in my arms she would simply point to the vacuum and call it "noise". Today she made numerous attempts to say the word vacuum and each time it came out as "bad mood". I don't know why but it just cracked me up. Given how she feels about that little appliance I would say the name fits!

I'm sending you a smooch Daddy.

Tank Chew For The Flowers Daddy!

Aren't they beautiful?!?

Today Lily received her very first flower arrangement from a not so secret admirer...her Daddy!

Hmm, what's this card say? Mommy and I miss you, too, Daddy!

To think, 9 months ago today we were united with Lily for the first time and tonight she was on the phone with her Daddy saying "Yuv you. Mich you." I'm sure the time will come when the 16th of the month will come and go without me thinking it's been X number of months since we were united with Lily...but not for a long, long time!

The flowers and cards are nice Daddy...but can you please hurry home?

Love Letters From Daddy

At nap time today we discovered a card in Lily's crib and she decided to sit on the rocking chair to have a look. It was a love letter from her daddy! Lily loved opening the card and later this afternoon found another one on the counter of her play kitchen.

By the way...there were a few love letters "hidden" around the house for Mommy, too!

Playing Hooky With Daddy

Tony is out of town for a few days for business but before he left he was able to take off Friday and Monday for an extra long weekend. It was so nice. We really didn't do anything special just hung out and had some quality family time...on second thought that is pretty special!

Come on Daddy, if you keep moving it's not that cold!

Lily loved having her daddy around during the day to play with outside. No matter what the weather is like Lily wants to be outside. She will walk up to the front door and say, "outside, outside" over and over again. Lily doesn't care if it's freezing cold she still wants to be out there taking a walk, waving to cars as they drive by, and exploring. Lily also loves to take her stroller for a walk. No, not her baby...her stroller. Lily loves her babies and her stroller...just not any of her babies actually in the stroller!

18 Month Check-Up

This morning we went for Lily's 18 month check-up. I'm happy to report she is doing beautifully and growing like a weed!

Here are Lily's latest stats:

Weight: 26.25 lbs

Height: 33.25 inches

Head: 19 inches

She has grown over an inch and gained almost 2 pounds since her 15 month check-up. It must be the Miracle-Gro we're feeding her.

Today when they weighed Lily they did not use the little baby scale. Nope, Little Miss just walked right up and stood on the regular scale. Then it really hit me... wow, look how big she is! I'm sure it sounds ridiculous but it really did choke me up.

Our pediatrician was thrilled with Lily's progress. When Dr. Lane walked in the room I asked Lily if she could say, "Hi" to Dr. Lane. Lily responded by saying, "Hi Dalane." Dr. Lane chuckled and then asked Lily if she could show her where her cheeks were. Lily showed Dr. Lane her cheeks and then proceeded to show her where her hair, eyes, nose, chin, knees, and toes were. Then Dr. Lane asked if Lily was able to identify/label objects. I pointed to the picture on the cover of the parenting magazine on the counter and Lily said and signed "baby". The examining room we were in is covered with dinosaurs and Lily pointed to them and said, "dasores". Lily also told Dr. Lane her name, "Yeye". All in all, Dr. Lane was quite impressed with our little chatty girl.

It is so much fun to see how much Lily has grown and changed. Lily is such a happy, healthy, funny, stubborn, inquisitive, sweet little girl. She has such a warm, friendly, easy going personality and she literally charms people everywhere we go.

Right now, Lily is far more interested in "working" then playing. Lily is always quite busy doing something industrious. She loves to help with the laundry. Lily loves helping me switch the clothes from the washer to the dryer and bringing me hangers to hang the clothes on. Her all time favorite thing to do is push the laundry basket into the family room and then help "fold" the clothes. The clothes get quite a ride around the family room floor before Lily decides it's time to start folding.

When Lily isn't busy doing laundry she is busy taking care of her babies. Lily is quite a good little mommy. She loves to feed, hug, and change her babies. Interestingly enough it appears that all of Lily's babies belong to a nudist colony!

I should also mention that Lily LOVES to throw things away. Mail, credit cards, random toys, and sometimes actual trash. Lily will pick things up and hold them out to you and say, "Trash?". If you say, "No." then she'll ask, "Syclin? (recycling)". I love it. I'm raising a little Earth Mama!!

I'm also THRILLED to tell you that "No" has been replaced as Lily's favorite word. Her new favorite is "Tank chew" aka "thank you". Lily just loves to say it and uses it as often as possible. The other night we went out to dinner (so much for our New Year's Eve resolution to eat out less often) and each time the waiter brought something to the table Lily just couldn't wait to say, "Tank chew." Just like when Lily learned to say "Hi" and would say it again and again in ever increasing decibel levels until you acknowledged her the same is true with "Tank chew". If Lily says, "Tank chew" she expects a response. If she doesn't get one she will keep saying...tank chew...Tank Chew...TANK CHEW. It took a little while the other night but the waiter figured it out and started saying, "you're welcome". Lily was delighted!

Lily's vocabulary is huge and Tony and I have stopped trying to keep track. Each day she says something new. Yesterday when we were out for our walk she pointed to our neighbor's house and said, "Fred". At first I didn't understand what she meant and then she said, "Fred. Bebby." She was right. Fred and Betty are our neighbors that live down the street. I just had no idea she knew or would have remembered their names!!

Lily has also started singing. Trust me it is the sweetest sound you've ever heard! When we listen to music she sings the last word in each line. So, if the line is, "I knocked, knocked, knocked, knocked on your door." Lily will sing, "dooooor". She holds each word she sings for the longest time. It is really so cute!

Okay, okay, enough gushing....sorry I went on such a proud Mama rant!

Ooh! Ahh! Glad I Am A Seahawk!

That is the chant that was being said over and over again at our house yesterday!

E Awks!

Last night I attended my Uncle Bernie's 70th surprise birthday party and left Lily in the very capable (yet distracted) hands of her father. Before I left I got Lily dressed in her Seahawk cheerleader outfit and reminded Tony to please feed Lily dinner during half time!

Tony is convinced that dressing Lily up brings the team good luck and besides...she looks so darn cute! Lily has grown so much she is getting too big for her uniform. It's a good thing Santa brought her one in a bigger size!

Go Team!

When I left Daddy and Lily were sitting on a blanket on the family room floor eating snacks and watching the big game. While I was at the party I checked the score of the game from time to time. Several members of my extended family are Redskins fans. Sorry guys...but I was happy to see the Seahawks win...that way I knew it was safe for me to go home ;-).

Brett who?

Next the Seahawks face the Green Bay Packers. Tony doesn't think the Seahawks stand much of a chance and he also isn't pleased that his wife (who couldn't name 5 NFL players if you held a gun to her head) has always been a fan of Brett Favre! Hey, could I come over and watch the game at your house?

How Creepy Is This???

I had a George Orwell "Big Brother" kind of moment today and I just had to share. I learned the hard way over New Year's weekend that my SideKick can't swim. No, I did not drop it in the toilet...it ended up in a cooler...and no...no alcohol was involved. How did it end up in a cooler you ask? It's a long story but just trust me that electronics and ice are not a good combination!

This morning I went to the store to replace my SideKick and discovered that I had insurance on the darn thing. Who knew? I'm sure I did when I signed up for it but since then had forgotten. So I called the insurance company to make a claim. After some very serious hoop jumping and a ridiculously involved menu-driven system I was finally connected to a real live person. Several times during our conversation the customer service person shared with me how seriously they take fraudulent claims and identity theft. I thought to myself...Good for you...now can we just replace my SideKick? After answering a million questions and admitting that my SideKick died an icy death I was told I would be asked several multiple choice questions to verify my identity. Okey dokey...fire away.

The first question I was asked is which street address meant something to me. I was given 4 choices including the old faithful - none of the above. One of the addresses that the customer service rep read was the address of the first home I ever owned way back in 1986. Wow, pretty thorough I thought but I'm sure they could find that info on my credit report.

The second question I was asked if any of the town names she read off meant anything to me. One of the towns listed was my home town. The rep pronounced it incorrectly but lots of people not from around here do and again that info would be included on my credit report.

Then came the last question. The rep told me that she would list 3 names and I was to tell her if any of them meant anything to me. The second name she read off was my younger sister's married name. The hair on the back of my neck stood straight up. I said, "that's pretty creepy that you know that." The rep responded, "It's a matter of public record." So I said, "Okay, then it's publicly creepy and what public record contains my name, Patti's married name, and the fact that we are sisters?" I was not given an answer. Is it me or is that really unsettling?

I've been thinking all day where would that kind of information be stored and why on Earth would a company that insures phones have access to it? By the way, Patti and I do not use the same cell phone provider, we do not have the same last name and haven't in over 20 years, we do not have any joint accounts or any other obvious things that would make that information readily available. We are both at a loss as to where that information would have come from. My mom's obituary? My parent's beneficiary information?

I'm sure I'm overreacting...and I'm not trying to deny Patti is my sister (not since I was a teenager anyway) but it still gives me the creeps to think how much someone can learn about you with just a few clicks of a mouse.

Baby New Year Turns 40!!!

That's right. Baby New Year (aka Tony) finally turned 40!!! We had a small party to celebrate the big event. Of course, since Tony is still the youngest one in my family and pretty much the youngest one of all of our friends it's a little hard to rib him too much about his age...but at least he is finally catching up to the rest of us!!



Happy Birthday Sweetie. In honor of your 40th birthday here are 40 reasons why I love you:

1. Because you are my best friend.


2. Because you are kind.


3. Because what's important to me matters to you.


4. Because you are gentle.


5. Because you listen to my dreams.


6. Because you are a wonderful Daddy.


7. Because you never leave or enter the house without giving me a kiss.


8. Because you never complain if I ask you to stop at the grocery store on the way home from work to pick up something I forgot.


9. Because you send me flowers just because.


10. Because you fill my car with gas so I don't have to.


11. Because you always sign your cards with more than just "Love, Tony".


12. Because you open the car door for me.


13. Because you give me thoughtful gifts.


14. Because you work hard for our family.


15. Because if I cook you do the dishes.


16. Because you have dreams and goals for our family.


17. Because you scrape the ice and snow off of my car.


18. Because you always make Tubby Time special for Lily.


19. Because you love to dance.


20. Because your face lights up the room when you see our daughter.


21. Because you love my family.


22. Because you love your family.


23. Because you love OUR family.


24. Because you want me to be a stay at home mom as much as I want to be one.


25. Because you laugh at my strange sense of humor.


26. Because you are a wonderful husband.


27. Because you encourage me in everything I do.


28. Because you rub my feet.


29. Because you took me skydiving.


30. Because you didn't give up on us when it would have been easy to do.


31. Because you listen to my stories...again...and again.


32. Because you make me laugh.


33. Because you take longer than me to get ready to go out!


34. Because you have a willing heart and give of your time so freely.


35. Because you are a good man.


36. Because you always hold my hand.


37. Because you tease me about my lack of sports knowledge.


38. Because your faith in God is growing.


39. Because you wanted us to be parents.


40. Because you make my dreams come true.

There are a million other reasons I could list...but wont. For all of these reasons and countless others....I love you! Happy Birthday!!