The Mommy That Grew Me In Her Tummy

Yesterday morning, seemingly out of nowhere, Lily said to me, "Mommy, you know the mommy that grew me in her tummy? She lives in China. Right?"

I said, "She sure does."

To which Lily responded, "When we go to China on vacation I still want YOU to be my mommy. Okay?"

I quickly assured Lily that no matter where we are I will ALWAYS be her mommy and that we will always be a FOREVER family.

We don't have any immediate plans to return to China, but it is something we've talked about doing when Lily is a little older. It just breaks my heart to realize what Lily must have been thinking in that sweet little head of hers when we talked about going back to China.

Bob's Back

For quite some time now Lily has been saying she wanted her hair to grow long enough so she could wear it in a ponytail again. On Tuesday she did just that.

Let me tell you Lily was absolutely loving that ponytail! Honestly, I don't know how Lily didn't get whiplash from tossing her head around so much. It was incredibly cute.

So, it's safe to say I was more than a little surprised when Lily said to me Tuesday evening, "Can you call Miss Kathy tomorrow and see if she can cut my hair?"

Thinking she was just teasing I said, "I thought you wanted your hair long enough to wear a ponytail."

Lily answered, "Oh, I did. But now I'm ready for my bob back."

Have I mentioned lately how much this child cracks me up??

Here's a little proof that Lily wasn't teasing!

Trains, Warriors, and Polar Bears

On Sunday, Tony, Lily, and I went to Washington, DC, to see the Terra Cotta Warrior Exhibit at the National Geographic Museum.


I would love to tell you how great the exhibit was...but the truth of the matter is I just couldn't wait to get out of there!!


As we are all aware by now I have issues...lots and lots of issues. In fact, my issues have issues!

One of the biggest is claustrophobia. I really don't like large crowds and feeling hemmed in. Two strikes against me on Sunday.

I was absolutely stunned at the number of people visiting the exhibit. I had no idea it would be so popular. I also thought that with timed admissions it wouldn't be very crowded. Boy, was I wrong!


In the spirit of full disclosure, I think "dealing with" the piles of snow everywhere for the last few weeks has kind of got me feeling like a rat in a maze. Am I the only one that feels like that??

So, I'm thinking riding the crowded Metro on top of the "rat in a maze" feeling I've been experiencing probably didn't put me in the best frame of mind to be standing uncomfortably close to lots and lots of absolute strangers in a confined space.

Okay, enough whining!

Now, for the good news. Lily LOVED riding the Metro! No surprise there. The girl is a positive train junkie!

While we were at the museum we were able to check out a really beautiful photography exhibit called Polar Obsession. Amazing...positively breathtaking...and any other superlative you can think of. It was the perfect antidote for my claustrophobia!

We were also able to spend some quality time together as a family. A very rare commodity during tax season!

Lions and Tigers and Bears...Oh My!

Lions...

Me and Beanie sure do make cute lion dancers.

and tigers...

Daddy and Nai Nai both brought me stuffed tigers!

and bears...

I wonder why the waiter laughed when I asked if he had a highchair for my baby.

oh my!

Saturday night we got together with our families to celebrate The Year of the Tiger and had a rip roaring good time!

Sorry. Tiger...roaring...I just couldn't help myself. Rip roaring might be overstating it a bit, but we really did have a great time at the get together that almost didn't happen!

Last year we all went to a local Chinese restaurant to celebrate Chinese New Year. It was great. We had a private room, there were lion dancers, and we had planned to make it an annual tradition.

You know what they say about the best laid plans! We reserved the same room we had last year, invited all the guests, and then learned that the restaurant was doing things differently. Call me tight, but I just wasn't willing to spend $26 a head for a fixed and very limited menu. Oh, and the $26 didn't included beverages, tax, and tip!

I know this is EXTREMELY tacky, but I called and uninvited everyone to the restaurant and invited them to our home instead. Miss Manners wasn't the only one that was appalled...I think Tony just about had a cow when I did that! Thankfully, everyone else was more than gracious.

I was actually pretty excited about trying my hand at creating a New Year's feast with a "little" help from my friend, Erica. Then all the snow came. Remember the guy I was going to run out and kiss???



Well, after he finished plowing there were huge mountains of snow lining the road leaving no place for anyone to park. Literally. So, I had to call everyone and cancel...again! After I did that I felt really awful. I wanted to celebrate Chinese New Year with our families...even if there was no place to park!

Patti suggested we find another Chinese restaurant to have dinner at and that's what we did. Everyone was great and basically said, "Tell us where to show up and we'll be there!"



We pretty much took over a little Chinese restaurant in town. I'm sure someday the other diners in the restaurant will forgive us ;-). It may not have been Plan A, or Plan B, but it sure was a great time.

ROAR!!!!

Gung Hay Fat Choy! Happy New Year! Happy Year Of The Tiger! Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day, too!!



We have had a fun few days celebrating the start of Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day.

On Saturday, we celebrated Chinese New Year's Eve with Lily's Godparents and my Godsons. We love every minute we spend with Laura, Rich, and the boys (and Kim). Saturday night was no exception!



On Sunday night, Tony, Lily, and I went out to dinner for Valentine's Day. Our plan was to come home for a dessert of chocolate fondue. Lily had other plans for her dessert...namely half of the Hershey Bar Daddy gave her for Valentine's Day! Oh well, maybe we'll have fondue tomorrow night.



Today we had a first. An evening playdate! We invited a few little girls that live in our neighborhood to come over to celebrate Chinese New Year with us. We made Chinese Lanterns and Fans, ate a traditional Chinese dinner of pizza and fortune cookies ;-), and rang in the New Year with firecrackers (or bubble wrap). It was so much fun!

The Lizard Of 2010 - Part Two

Okay, two blizzards in 5 days...how many more days until spring??

Have I mentioned I'm not much of a homebody??? I really wasn't feeling all that stir crazy until Monday when I heard the forecast for Tuesday...and our road still hadn't been plowed from the first blizzard! Needless to say, I almost ran out and kissed this man late Monday afternoon.


No, not Tony. The guy driving the snowplow!

I have to admit I did kiss Tony once or twice for going out repeatedly to shovel snow and do his level best to stay ahead of Mother Nature on Wednesday.



That's Tony dressed like the Gorton's Fisherman. In case you're wondering Tony isn't crazy about that coat. I got it many years ago at Kohl's for $3.00. Hey, at least it makes Tony easy to spot during a whiteout!

Speaking of whiteouts...we actually witnessed several of them on Wednesday! More than once we literally could not see the house directly across the street. It was so surreal!

Here's some proof that I wasn't the only one experiencing cabin fever and getting a little antsy from the whiteouts. In case you are wondering what you are looking at...that's Lily doing a little Irish Step Dancing dressed in her pajamas and Christmas shoes!



Thankfully, Lily has warmed up a bit to the mounds of snow outside. I was able to get her out of her pj's and Christmas shoes and into her snowsuit.



Again this snowfall Tony had a lot of work moving mountains of snow outside and mountains of paperwork inside. Thankfully, Tony was able to spend time helping Lily climb Mount Driveway and to help put the finishing touches on our patio table igloo.





Before we know it there will be daffodils blooming where the mounds of snow are now. I don't know about you, but I'll be ready!

The Lizard Of 2010

The other day when I picked Lily up from school she said, "Mrs. Masters (Lily's teacher) said when we get a lot of snow it's called a lizard. Mommy, why is a lot of snow called a lizard? I think that's pretty silly!"

Needless to say, I thought it was pretty silly too! When I told Lily a lot of snow is called a blizzard not a lizard she said, "Now THAT makes sense!" I could not stop laughing!!

Unfortunately, Lily hasn't really laughed much about this lizard. I think the amount of snow is a little overwhelming for her. Lily hasn't exactly said she doesn't like the snow she just hasn't wanted to go outside AT ALL.

I have been able to convince Lily to go outside and play with me a few times, but she is quickly ready to go back inside.

Like many people, Tony has spent the majority of the last few days shovelling. Tony not only shovelled us out, but also several of our neighbors. Quite a few of our neighbors are original owners and our homes were built in 1950. If you do the math you can see why they need a "little" extra help digging out.

I can't tell you how much I appreciate that Tony willing helps our elderly neighbors. Our neighbors really appreciate it, too!

If Tony hasn't been outside working, he's been inside working. Sadly, not on my "honey do" list ;-). Instead, when Tony saw the forecast for the end of last week he brought home stacks of work almost as high as the snow that piled up outside!! Let's just say lizards and Tax Season are not a good combination.

It's very hard for Lily (and Tony) when Tony tries to work from home. Lily equates Daddy being home with play time. I do my best to keep Lily busy, but it's hard on both Tony and Lily to be under the same roof yet still separated...if that makes sense.

According to the weather forecast we're in for Round Two of The Lizard of 2010. Here are some pictures from Round One.

Okay, Now She's Pushing It

When Lily started signing "DADDY" before she signed "MOMMY" I chalked it up to the fact that I signed with Lily all the time and...um...Tony...doesn't.

Then when Lily said "Da Dee" before she started saying "Me-Mom-Me" I comforted myself by remembering that I had read somewhere that most babies say Daddy before they say Mommy.

But this...this...I have no explanation for!



These are fighting words...or letters...or...or...

Lily's new favorite word to write is Tony. She writes it all the time...on everything...everywhere. I'm just going to pretend that my name has more than two letters. That must be why she writes Tony all the time and not TJ. Right? Right???

Lily-ly-ly-ly

Honestly, right now Lily obviously, completely, absolutely, evidently, loves any word that ends in "ly". Seriously.

It's quite a hoot.

What amazes me is how Lily uses all these words appropriately. I often need to remind myself that I am talking to a 3 1/2 year old not a 30 year old.

Since the moment Lily started talking she has been quite a chatter box. A fact that I LOVE. Recently Lily has gone through another communication explosion.

Not only does Lily have a love affair with words ending in "ly", Lily's speech is now also peppered with expressions like, "As a matter of fact", "By any chance did you...", "Can you do me a favor", "You know what I was wondering?", "I can't even begin to tell you...", "You're not going to believe this, but...", among many others.

Here's a little video clip from our little loquacious Lily who said to me today, "Mommy, I was wondering...can you get the video camera? I want you to record a song I learned at school."



Don't you just love that Jesus Christ was born...once?!?