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Tony has been working a TON of hours the last few weeks. It's a darn shame Tax Season isn't over...because we're all SO over Tax Season...if you know what I mean!
So Tony and Lily don't forget what each other looks like, once or twice a week we try to meet for lunch or dinner. The other day when we were on our way up to meet Tony Lily called Daddy to ask him if he wanted to meet us at California Pizza Kitchen. Well, that's what Lily meant to ask Tony anyway...but what came out sounded like, "Daddy do you want to meet us at California Peas and Chicken?"
Well, that just cracked Lily up. Lily could not stop laughing and she could not get the words California Pizza Kitchen out to save her life. All 3 of us were still laughing when we met at the restaurant and continued to giggle all through dinner.
Speaking of funny things Lily has said...I have a few more recent Lily-isms for you.
The other day I brought Lily with me to my doctor's appointment. No, I don't normally bring Lily with me to the doctor's. I had Katie lined up to babysit in the afternoon, but the doctor's office called and asked me if I could come in during the morning instead.
Anyway, my doctor was chatting with Lily and asking her her name, age, etc. Then the doctor said to Lily, "Wow, you're really tall for an almost 4 year old." To which Lily replied, "You should see me when I'm naked. I look much taller when I'm naked."
What??? That's the first time I'd heard that! Can I just tell you how our sweet little girl cracks me up??? You just never know what she might say!
And here's one more.
Recently Lily and I were listening to The Irish Tenors (her choice) when she said, "Mommy, I think that's what God sounds like when He sings."
I wonder if she's right.
The other day we were riding down the road and something off in the woods caught my eye. Tony was driving so I asked him to turn the car around so I could take a closer look.
I probably shouldn't admit this...but this happens to me quite a lot. For some reason I seem to notice "things". It's like if something is a little off or a bit different it just leaps out at me. Not only when I'm in the car...all the time.
Does that make sense to you? Probably not. Don't worry...you're not the only one. I think it's safe to say that Tony would not list my knack for noticing and needing to investigate when things aren't quite "right" as one of my most endearing qualities!
This is what we saw:
Can you tell what it is?
I know, I know, the picture quality is terrible!
It's a deer. A white and brown deer. A Piebald Deer to be exact. Can you see the deer's face right next to the skinny tree trunk? It's looking right at the camera.
The link says that less than 1% of the whitetail deer population has this genetic condition. Hmm, I wonder if Tony will think it was worth turning the car around for now?? Nah!
We had a fun and crazy busy weekend.
On Saturday, we went to Nai Nai and Aunt Sheila's church for an Easter Egg Hunt. Lily had a wonderful time dancing, singing songs, listening to Bible stories, making crafts, and even had the opportunity to hunt for Easter Eggs with Aunt Sheila!!
It was a very nice event and it is so much fun to see Lily becoming more and more confident in different settings.
After the Easter Egg Hunt Lily and I headed off to a Princess Ballerina Birthday Party for Lily's friend, Sydney. The invitation stated you should come dressed as your favorite princess. Um...Lily doesn't have one...and more importantly Lily REALLY dislikes princess dresses. Lily has a "thing" about clothes. They MUST be soft. No "scratchy" clothes for Lily...they absolutely drive her to distraction!
Lily wore a princess dress (we borrowed from a neighbor) to another birthday party a while back. She had her ballet leotard under the dress and still couldn't wait to get out of "this itchy dress".
As much as Lily likes Sydney (and Sydney's big brother, Conlan, even more) Lily did NOT want to go to Sydney's party if it meant she had to wear a princess costume. Lily was quite emphatic about it. Sydney's mom, Erica, assured Lily she could wear anything she wanted to the party, but that all the other girls would be dressed like princesses. As long as Lily didn't have to wear a princess dress she really didn't care what anyone else wore.
Lily and Sydney's ballet teacher, Miss Jen, provided the entertainment for the party. The girls danced, hula-hooped, hopped, skipped, jumped, and had an absolutely wonderful time. I've never seen 10 little girls so entralled.
After Sydney's party we headed out to dinner with Nai Nai, Aunt Sheila, and Daddy to celebrate Nai Nai's birthday.
It was nice to be able to sit and chat with Suzy and Sheila and get caught up on their lives. I'm sure we could've chatted longer, but poor Lily was practically falling asleep sitting up. Luckily for us, when Lily gets sleepy she doesn't get grumpy....she gets SILLY.
On Sunday afternoon, Lily, Tony and I spent some nice family time together. Tony has been working INSANE hours and this year Lily is really noticing it. When Tony is home Lily is practically glued to his side!
This week Lily and I had dinner with my friend, Barb, and her daughter, Kimberly. Aunt Barbie gave Lily a Bunny Hutch (think gingerbread house but for Easter) to put together. When we brought the Bunny Hutch home Lily said, "I want to wait until Daddy can help me put this together." So, Sunday evening that's just what they did!
I can't believe it's been over a week since I last posted. I'm really slipping!!
Last weekend Lily and I went to Richmond to visit our friends Laura and Rich and their boys: Adam, Ben, and Sam. We talked, ate, laughed, enjoyed the beautiful weather, talked some more, laughed, watched Adam play lacrosse, clapped and cheered, watched Sam compete with his high school show choir, clapped and cheered some more, played games, talked some more, laughed some more, and then sadly had to leave.
As always we had a wonderful time and the time passed too quickly. The only thing that could have made the trip better is if Tony could have joined us!
Lily had so much fun! I love to see how completely comfortable Lily is with her Godparents and my Godsons. Obviously, our girl is a great judge of character.
For reasons unknown I hardly touched my camera the entire weekend. I did, however, get this one shot of Lily and Sammy. If you're wondering why they're all smiles, Sam won Best Solo Male Vocalist in the show choir competition! There were a bunch of different schools competing...and Sam WON!! Very exciting.
You would be hard pressed to find 3 nicer 16 year old boys than Adam, Ben, and Sam. Seriously. They truly are delightful and have been since day one. Tony, Lily, and I always enjoy every minute we spend together with this amazing family!
We had a great time celebrating St. Patrick's Day today!! Okay...only after I convinced Lily that I dyed the milk green and there really wasn't a leprechaun in our house playing tricks! Poor little thing. What was I thinking???
Here are a few cute shots of our little Chirish girl. In case it is not immediately obvious what Lily is doing in these pictures...she's Irish step dancing...naturally!
I was a bit sad this morning when Lily put on this sweet little dress. Before we brought Lily home from China I bought this dress. A friend of a friend of mine was also adopting from China at the same time. Jen was making and selling dresses as a way to help fund their adoption.
When my girlfriend showed me a sample of this fabric I thought it was PERFECT. The fabric has hearts, shamrocks, ladybugs, and lilies of the valley...shamrocks for my Irish heritage, ladybugs are a symbol of Chinese Adoption, and lilies of the valley are my Mom's favorite flower and, of course, the name of our future daughter.
I bought the dress in several different sizes. This morning Lily put on the biggest (and last) one :-(. Click here, here, here, here, here, and here to see Lily modeling this dress in different sizes over the last 3 years. Wow, she is growing so fast!
Oh, and if you want to see the picture of Lily in China when Tony coined the word Chirish click here.
Can you tell I'm feeling a bit nostalgic this evening? And I haven't even had any green beer!
After ballet class today Lily and I met Dad and Patti for lunch to "celebrate" Mom's birthday.
When Dad arrived at the restaurant Lily asked Dad Dad if he thought God had birthday parties in heaven. Dad assured Lily that God had great birthday parties and that Mom Mom was celebrating her birthday with Mimi and Granddad, Aunt Gerry and Aunt Joan, Colleen and The Twins and that Mom Mom was really happy. Thinking about that...I was happy, too!
I wonder if Mom wore this hat to the party? I sure hope so!
Three years ago today we received Lily's formal referral from China. We were finally able to see the face of the child we already loved so, so much.
Tony and I were so incredibly excited that day that we were literally jumping for joy!! I still get goosebumps thinking about it. I imagine I always will.
To say I was C.R.A.Z.Y. in the days (or months) leading up to Lily's referral would be a huge understatement!! Now, I'm not saying all that craziness disappeared the second we received Lily's referral...because that would be a lie. What I am saying is seeing Lily's sweet little face for the first time brought be such joy and peace. It still does!
Lily is truly a dream come true. She is a sweet, happy, funny little girl that fills our days with love and laughter. We have been blessed beyond measure.
If you want to read about when we received Lily's referral click here. If you want to see how much Lily has grown in the blink of an eye you can take a quick look back here and here at our first two referral-versaries!
Lily is getting more and more independent each day. I can hardly believe she will be 4 in three short months!
Lily loves to pick out her own clothes and dress herself (with a tiny bit of help). Lily has a strong opinion about what she wants to wear and rarely waivers from it once she's decided.
Often during breakfast Lily will announce what she wants to wear for the day with declarations like...Today I'm going to wear a dress and tights!...or...Today feels like a jeans day! I think I find it so funny because Lily is so, so serious.
Lily also likes to brush her own hair and then decide what "hair pretty" to wear. I can often hear Lily in her room saying things like...No, I just wore that yesterday...or...I think I'll wear one of the clips Aunt Lala gave me...or...Now, where is that pink bow?
Today after Lily picked our her clothes and hair clip she stood admiring herself in the full length mirror. After several minutes she turned to me with a huge smile and said, "Oh Mommy, I'm as pretty as my big girl cousins!"
I couldn't agree with her more!
