Blue Toenails

The weather here was cool and rainy all weekend, and as we had been planning a garage sale, we found ourselves with no plans at all for the weekend!  We mostly sat around watching movies with the kids and playing with the zhu zhu pets and their little “town”.  It was very relaxing, and I can’t remember the last time we did nothing all weekend-usually they are jam-packed with activities!  It was a nice change!

Anyway, on Saturday, Bernie was putting Brody down for a nap, and I decided to take Makenna for her first pedicure (actually, I had a full pedicure, Makenna just had polish!)!!  We had a blast and she was very interested in the whole process.   I let her pick out our toenail polish, so now I have to live with neon blue toenails for the next few weeks, but I guess that’s ok.  She has informed me that next time, we’re getting purple polish!  I had the nail tech add a flower, and Makenna was delighted-she said she can’t wait to go to preschool and show all her friends!

 

And, just for fun, here are a few more cute pics we took over the weekend!  BTW, Sandy, LOVE the Live Messenger!

Ya’ll have a good one!  Monica

note the rug burn on the tip of Brody’s nose!

Daddy Wasn't Thrilled....

Need I say more?

Daddy can breathe a sigh of relief, however: about 5 seconds after I took this picture, Brody ripped off the dress, head butted me, took a flying leap off the ottoman, and started playing with the loudest fire truck he owns. Methinks his sister coerced him into the dress and then dragged him upstairs to show him off. Brody is not really that interested in being the new Princess Jasmine, but at least I have a cute picture for his future girlfriends!

Monica

Diva

Being a glamorous diva is simply EXHAUSTING, dahling!

I caught Makenna napping on her beanbag this afternoon in her room...you can't see it in this picture, but Makenna has on lip gloss and sparkly face powder, and please notice the pink tutu! Her "makeup" box is outside the picture, and everything is open...she even used her sparkly body spray! She is going to be a very high maintenance wife to a very lucky man some day...that's my girl!!!

9 Month Anniversary

A moment in time...my kids, tonight, freshly bathed...5/2/10, 8:00 pm.

Hi Friends!

Monday May 3rd marks our 9 month anniversary with Brody! Looking back, his transition into our family has been remarkably smooth. He and Makenna adore each other, and of course we think he's been just what our little family needed! He has such a good heart-he loves everybody, and is always ready with hugs, kisses, and smiles whenever needed. Brody is very loving and compassionate, and is the first to comfort anyone who has a boo-boo or a tear! We feel so lucky to have such beautiful and wonderful children!

The last two months have been fast, fun, and essentially uneventful. Bernie had a birthday in the beginning of March, and he got a new bike with a "kid carrier" to tow behind it. He and the kids have been having a lot of fun with it. There is a nice paved walking/biking trail near our house, so they have been going there. Bernie is glad to get the exercise, and of course Brody and Makenna love it! I pretty much just hold my breath until they get home!

They love it! Go, Daddy, GO!!!

Look both ways!

Someone once wrote (I am paraphrasing!) that the definition of motherhood is the willingness to wear your heart outside your body for 18 years....how true! Bernie, bring my babies home safely!!!

It's never too cold to play on the swingset!

Brody enjoyed his first Easter! At first he didn't understand what was going on, but he watched Makenna and was soon hunting for eggs right with her! Makenna and Brody helped Grandma color eggs, and they all had fun (or at least Makenna and Brody did!!!). Makenna really enjoys ANY gift-receiving holiday! The egg hunts were the best part...I never imagined when I was young that the most fun thing EVER is watching your kids have fun!!!

Decorating Easter Eggs- he's very neat and fastidious (like his dad!).

In my last post, I told you that we were trying to decide whether to send Makenna to public or parochial school for kindergarten. Well, we have actually decided to hold her back a year. This represents quite a turn-around for us and our way of thinking! We think she needs an extra year of preschool, growth, and maturity to take to kindergarten with her. She's very bright, but we want her to be a leader, not a follower, and so we want her to be very grounded in the skills she'll need for success in school. She only makes the "cut-off" for kindergarten by 9 days anyway, so the experts we've talked to said it would most likely be better for her to keep her out for an extra year. Makenna doesn't seem to mind, and at her preschool she'll be in the "yellow room" which is where all the big kids are, so to her that means more than going to kindergarten! Also, for selfish reasons, we get to have her at home for an extra year!!

Speaking of preschool, Brody turned 2 1/2 last week and so was able to start preschool at the same place Makenna goes. He loves it! He has been with Bernie and me many, many times to drop off and pick up Makenna, and so he is accustomed to the place, and knows that Mom or Dad will eventually come get you. He doesn't seem to mind being dropped off and left there, probably since Makenna is there with him. The teachers say Brody is doing great and playing well with the other kids, and that everyone loves him! It is so nice to have excellent day care available for my kids! Their preschool is the best around, and I wouldn't change it for anything.

My baby is going to preschool!!! Boo hoo!

At preschool- really, he's happy to be here!

We are all enjoying the nice weather we've been having. I'm so happy all of our trees have leaves on them and the grass is green and everything is blooming, even if my sinuses are going crazy! The kiddos have been outside in the back yard as much as possible, playing and getting filthy like kids are supposed to! Bernie and I have spent the last few weeks finishing some painting and redecorating inside, and I think we'll have a garage sale in the next few weeks. Thanks to my friend Sandy for encouraging me to get back on this blog- I need to do better, I know!!!

Beware criminals everywhere! Bridezilla Batman Supergirl is on the lookout!

Love to all, thanks for stopping by! Talk to you later!

Love, Monica

A Relaxing Weekend...

Hello all!

We have enjoyed a nice weekend and are very happy to say good riddance to February and all of its snow and ice! My mom, "Grandma Ruth", came for a visit and we had lots of fun. Mom makes jewelry, and she and Makenna enjoyed some quality time with Grandma's beads. Makenna received some beading kits for Christmas, and as I don't have the time or the inclination to string beads (although I love getting the bracelets!) we got them out and they had fun with those, too. We all enjoyed having Chinese take-out last night and went out for Mexican for lunch today. We even had time for a little shopping! The kids revel in the unconditional love they get from their grandparents on both sides, with no discipline attached!

Now everyone is tired and tomorrow we go back to the grind... Brody has a doctor's appointment, Makenna has speech therapy, I have a hair appointment, and Bernie has to work! Right now, Bernie is rocking Brody to sleep and Makenna is playing with some marbles that her Grandma Alice gave her that were Bernie's when he was little. Pretty soon we'll gather up the marbles that will surely be all over the living room and we'll all hit the hay.

Nite-nite!!! Monica

Nice and clean (for now!)

What a cheesy smile!

Brody is ready for his close-up

This little bee goes outside when the weather warms up!

Cleaning the jello out of Brody's hair. Makenna would never let me do this!

He's so trusting and very cooperative!!!

For your enjoyment....

They may look sweet, but I promise you they're planning something!

I don't think there has ever been this much snow piled in front of our house...Makenna is on top.

Ahhh...togetherness!!

Our family

She looks so angelic...looks can be deceiving!

So stinkin' cute!!!

I fell off the face of the earth...

No, not really, but I'm sure anyone still bothering to follow my blog thinks so!! Thanks for stopping by and not giving up on me!! I was always one of the kids in high school and college that when given a journaling assignment wrote it all the night before- not such a good journaler!!! I'm not even going to bother to promise to try to do better-I'll just post when I can.

Anyway, life has gone on at a very hectic pace since my last post in September. Both of the kids are doing fantastic! Brody has fit into our lives so smoothly and effortlessly that I can't remember what it was like before he came along. He turned 2 in October and is growing and learning so much! Bernie and I sat down a few weeks ago and wrote down all of the words that he can say, and it is 80+... not too bad! He is putting words/ideas together, but no sentences yet. For instance, he will say "Daddy", "work", "go" and "car", meaning that Daddy went to work in the car, but you have to acknowledge each word as he says it, he hasn't put it together in sentence form yet, but I am confident he will soon. We have this conversation many, many times during the course of the day!!! He continues to go to Bernie's sister for daycare on Wed, Thur and Fri. He and Makenna get along like typical siblings, hitting one minute and hugging the next. He looks to her for guidance on how to behave, for better or for worse. Brody has picked up her habit of saying "Dat, Dat!!!", meaning "I want that!!!" everytime he sees a toy commercial. He still loves to be cuddled, and has a ready supply of hugs and kisses available whenever we want one.

Makenna turns 5 in August, just 9 days before the cut-off day for kindergarten, and we are going to let her go ahead and start this year instead of holding her back. She is very bright and very social, and I think she'll do just fine. Her teachers at preschool agree. So now the main topic of discussion for Bernie and me is public vs. parochial school. Our city has a fantastic public school system, but they are facing a HUGE budget shortfall and are looking for ways and places to cut the budget. The Catholic school is great, and they have full day kindergarten (which is what I want), but it's a little bit of a drive for me through city traffic every day. There are pros and cons, and I'll let you know what we decide! Makenna is receiving speech therapy now and really enjoys it. Her speech problems aren't severe, but we wanted to get started before she starts school. She mainly does some substitutions- for instance, she pronounces "f" as "s". Bernie has a friend named Fred, and Makenna calls him Shred (so of course now I call him Shred, too!), and she pronounces "k" as "t", so "coke" is "tote". As her mother, of course, I understand everything she says, but I have to translate for her pretty often. I want her to be understood by her classmates, especially once she starts kindergarten.

Bernie and I are doing great...we love these kids to pieces! They are very active and funny children, and I always tell people that they are either going to keep us young or they are going to kill us! Bernie is getting ready to leave for his annual sales meeting in Phoenix in two weeks, so I'll be alone with the kiddos for 5 days (yikes!). Brody has really enjoyed all of our special occasions...birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and especially Christmas! He also loves the snow, which is great considering how much we have had this winter so far! We have seen a huge change in his physical abilities since coming home. He can go up and down the stairs without assistance, he runs everywhere, floats in the bathtub, and can take anything apart and put it back together again. He also likes to help with the laundry and setting the table (we'll see how long THAT lasts!!). Brody is just generally a joy to be around- smiles all day, needs to have his boo-boos kissed, listens to us (for now at least!) and loves his sister, mom and dad! We are so lucky-for us, lightning struck twice.

Again, thanks for not giving up on me. I'm going to publish this now and put some pics up in a separate post. Talk to ya'll later! Monica

Birthdaypalooza

Hi Everyone!!!

Remember in my last post I said we hit the ground running after returning from China with Brody? One of the things that occupied a lot of my time was Makenna's 4th birthday. We got home from China on August 13th, and Makenna's birthday was August 21st! We really felt like we should make a really big deal out of her turning 4, since she had really put up with a lot from us in the previous few months- all of the activity around Brody's adoption had really taken a lot of our time and attention (as you can imagine!). Not to mention all the attention that Brody got from friends and family when we got home! So on the day of her birthday I took cupcakes to her preschool class for a snack, and everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to her. That evening we took her to Chuck E. Cheese's (gack!) for pizza and games, then she received presents from us when we got home. She did get the gift she was asking for the most- the "Barbie wis da bwaids" (Barbie Rapunzel)!!

The next day, which was Saturday, we had a "Princess Party" in the back yard with seven of her little friends from school and the neighborhood. They had a great time in the Princess jumping room we rented for the day (thank heavens I had enough wits about me before we left to reserve it!), played on the swingset, and then we had pizza and cupcakes and opened presents. Makenna had a fantastic time and so did all her little friends! The weather was absolutely perfect, about 76 degrees, which is unheard of in this part of the country in August! After everyone left we all got in the jumping room and had some fun, although Bernie and I didn't last very long-it takes a lot of energy to move around in one of those things!

Makenna and Brody try it out before everyone arrives!

The tale of the seven screaming princesses!

Everyone loves pizza!

Brody gets a turn-Hey, I like it!!

Whoopsie-doodle!!!

Later that evening, it was the family's turn to come over and pay homage to the birthday girl. I made tacos and some sides, and we were all able to sit on the deck and enjoy dinner, the weather, and each other's company. Makenna got even MORE presents and more cupcakes, and after everyone went home we all took baths and collapsed!!!!

Why, no, she's not spoiled.....why do you ask??!!

It was a great 2 days, though, and Makenna really enjoyed it all, and I'm glad, because she deserves it! Bernie and I both love her soooo much, and she will always be our first, our princess, the answer to our prayers, the beautiful little baby girl who filled the hole in our childless hearts!!!!!!!!

Back Online

Hi Everybody! Sorry I've gone AWOL for the last few weeks. We made it home from China and hit the ground running, and I haven't had time to sit at the computer for any length of time. Since I'm at my home computer and no longer dealing with the "Great Firewall of China", I can also post some pictures!

Since our last post, a lot has happened. We didn't have any issues getting Brody's adoption finalized and getting his visa and passport, and were allowed to leave China without problems. We were able to get in a little more sightseeing before we left, such as the Guangzhou Zoo (where our group was just as interesting to the locals as the animals!), the 5 Ram Park, and we took a dinner cruise on the Pearl River the night before we went to the Consulate. The dinner cruise was a lot of fun! The dinner was very mediocre, but the buildings along the river are all lit up with colored lights and lasers, and it is very pretty. The evening was balmy and comfortable, and there is a deck on top where you could stand and look at everything. Makenna especially loved it.

Wednesday the 12th was our last full day in China. We'd had a great trip, but we were all ready to go home! That afternoon around 3pm we went to the American Consulate to take our oath promising never to abandon or abuse Brody, then we had a short drive to the train station where we bid a tearful farewell to some of our travelling companions and went into the terminal to take the train to Hong Kong. It was a 2 hour trip, and pretty enjoyable. The staff on the train were less than helpful, but there were a few people on the train who were willing to help us find our seats. We saw a little of Brody's home town, Dongguan, which truthfully looked pretty industrial and non-descript. When we landed in Hong Kong, our hotel was right across from the train station, so we wrestled kids and baggage across the street, checked in, and got to our room. The room had a moldy smell that bothered Makenna and me for several days afterwards, but otherwise the room was ok, and the view of Victoria Harbor was out of this world! When we bring the kids back for a heritage tour (when they are old enough to drag their own luggage!!), we plan to explore Hong Kong more fully. It is fabulously beautiful, and everything that we saw was clean, new and gorgeous.

The next morning, Thursday the 13th, we boarded our Continental flight to Newark, a 15hr 30 minute flight. I sat with the kids, who spent the entire trip either sleeping on me, fighting, or jockeying for position on my lap. Mom and Bernie were able to relax and enjoy their movies, and neither child would allow either of them to hold them for very long, and I wasn't allowed to sleep for the entire flight! It was a very long day, and all you really can do is sit there and gut it out (even though in my mind I was running up and down the aisles screaming "Lemme out! Lemme out!). We finally landed in Newark, cruised through customs, immigration, and security, and thought we were almost home free when we got to our gate and found that our flight to KC was delayed for 1 hour 45 minutes!!! AAAAHHHH! Of course by this time we are all exhausted and the kids are crabby, but there was absolutely nothing we could do about it! We finally got on the plane to KC about 2 hours later than scheduled and flew home without incident. There was no one to greet us when we got home, which was fine with us, so we were able to get on the shuttle and get our car. When we got to the long-term parking lot, we found that when we dropped it off 2 weeks earlier someone had left the inside light on so the car's battery was dead! When they finally got our car jump started and brought around, the guy turned off the car, took the keys out, and handed them to us. Of course the car wouldn't start again so soon after being jumped, so we had to wait for them to jump it again! By this time it was about 9:30pm, and we still had a 45 minute drive home. We made it home ok, went to Taco Bell for tacos, then came home, took showers, ate, and hit the bed. What a long long long day! We all slept all night, then the next morning, Friday, Mom headed home. We are ready to begin our new lives as a family of four!

The Empress has returned to claim her rightful throne!!!

Waiting to go get Brody!

GOTCHA!!!!!!!!!!

Two beautiful children to love!!!!

Happy Mommy!!

Yeah, I'm talkin' ta you!!!

Happy Parents!!The Diva has arrived!!

Daddy loves this part!!

Cool!

Goodnight!