新年快樂 Xin Nian Kuai Le!

Here are some quick shots from today. We had our Chinese New Year dinner with our FCC group. Luci wore a dress we bought in Guang zhou and looked beautiful, as always. She also wore the jewelry that Daddy sent to her...garnets around her wrist and around her neck! With the party favor, a dragon!

Luci handled her chopsticks pretty well. She used them properly to pick up a square of jello! Wish I had caught that on film! (Yes, Feingold friends, I know it was a bad choice in food! She does have that red sauce on her plate for the chicken, but she didn't eat any of that. Just two jello squares and some bean noodles.)

Most of the girls played afterwards. Lots of fun! These photos are much more interesting than the "official portrait" of the girls all together, behaving. :)

And down they come! Right after this, these sweet, sweet girls began tickling Luci...she loved it! The mommas were appalled, but Luci is used to much sillier stuff with her big brothers, and thus enjoyed it!

I'll post more pictures later.

I can *SO* relate to this!

Luci has had me sleep-deprived for 3 1/2 years!

Cops: Woman Shoots Boyfriend for Not Letting Her Sleep

Jiaozi--Chinese Dumplings

Luci has been asking for dumplings--not the Southern USA version, but the Chinese version. Jiaozi. We've watched a Ni Hao, Kai-lan episode about Chinese New Year and Ye Ye (Grandfather) is making dumplings. So I set about to make some. I wish Jie Jie were here, she showed me how to make them 2 1/2 years ago. I think I did a fair job. Here are a couple of pictures of the dumplings before cooking and one of a cooked dumpling...I think they look better before cooking. Now that I've seen Jie Jie's from two years ago (click here), I can see that mine are sorely lacking! But I still think they look pretty. Just not anything like Jie Jie's.

PS--they tasted very good; little meatballs in a dumpling wrapper. Would Luci eat them? Of course NOT!

SNOW!

We had a dusting of snow! That makes any day grand around here. Today I took Luci to the dentist. The visit went well. She had a sedative to help her be calm and it made like a happy, drunken 4 year old. She was pretty funny and talked a mile a minute. But on the way home, she chewed a hole in her lip and it looks pitiful. Oh, I feel so sorry for her!

Now we are watching the Inauguration. What an incredible day, knowing that our country can pass power from one party to the other without bloodshed. To know that my kids think nothing is out of the ordinary when an African-American takes the lead because they see no difference in skin color...they see the person. We wish our President well!

Monday in Birmingham, Part 2

Luci just about broke my heart one day earlier this month when she handed me her baby doll, told me to take care of her because "I'm going to Gaf-ghanistan and I can't take my baby because she might get hurt." Then she got on the couch (her airplane) and flew off into a war zone.

A week or so before that sad scene, I received a newsletter from the International Adoption Clinic in Birmingham asking parents to bring in their children from China adopted since January 2004, to check them out for melamine damage to the kidneys. So, I called for a two-fold appointment.

Here's how it went:

I spent quite a while talking to Leigh Anne about Luci missing her Daddy. She loved what we did with Luci's picture, and the talking Daddy-bear from Build a Bear Workshop. She had some additional good suggestions for helping Luci cope. Easy to do. And that play-acting, Luci's "flying to Gaf-ghanistan" is a good thing, she's processing her loss in a good way.

Leigh Anne also said that this "Daddy leaving" opened up that wound that is deep within her brain of being left by her birth mother (Luci knew her voice from being in the womb) and being left by the orphanage officials when we got her. She does not remember the first instance, but does remember the second, and it is no secret here what happened. In any event, her brain remembers and the wounds run deep. We look at photos, have a story we tell her that is some truth + some wishful thinking (because we don't really know, we never will, so let's think the best, okay?), to help her cope instead of having this be a mystery that haunts her.

Of course, sleeping habits and potty habits and binky habits all got brought up. Leigh Anne said pretty much to do what I have to do with these things, she will eventually sleep on her own, go to the potty instead of wearing pull-ups and won't use her binky in public forever. So don't go about changing everything while she's dealing with Daddy's absence. One big thing at a time. And don't let others' expectations of what they think a 4-year-old should be doing keep me from doing what is right for this precious little girl.

Luci has some super days where everything is goodness and light, and some very sad moments in other days where she misses her Daddy terribly. Leigh Anne said that this would be a difficult thing for the rest of her life, this concern about being abandoned. Luci will learn to deal with it, but it will be hard. Right now, talking to Luci about Daddy's absence is easier because she is in the "average" IQ category. If she were a higher-functioning child, or even a few years older, she would understand that what we say (Daddy will come home when his job is done) might not be true, because she would be able to understand that "things happen, and there are no guarantees."

Thank God for average.

There are other things I could share, but won't here.

Another part of the visit was figuring out kidney damage from the baby-milk. Even though Luci's literature from the Chinese authorities said she was on all kinds of "vegetable powder and meat powder" ?? I think she had only milk formula before we got her. She didn't even like the thicker formula with rice cereal added that we fixed for her (we heard all the babies liked that)--the thickness gagged her, only free-flowing liquid would go down. So I don't think she had anything but watered-down formula for the first 9 months. Certainly not enough formula, if it were full-strength, because she only weighed 15 pounds when we got to the USA.

So we prepared her for the ultrasound. Luci was thrilled that they really did put jelly on her belly and ran it around with a video game-controller (that's what it looked like to her!) but I didn't prepare her for "peeing in a cup." That was a new one to her, and most of it missed (ha ha, I know you are laughing at me). They also did a blood draw (I didn't know that would happen) but Luci did great. The girl who is afraid of almost everything said it didn't even hurt, and was amazed that her "blud is red." I'll let you know what they say about her kidneys, but I'm not expecting any problems.

Monday in Birmingham

After our visit to the International Adoption Clinic, we headed for the zoo. (More on the IAC visit in another post.) JT was wonderful with Luci. So nice since he sometimes feels put out by her still--for taking the baby slot. Waiting forever for Luci's appointments to get done at the IAC didn't help, but wow! what a neat kid Monday afternoon. This tiger was really that close. He walked right up to the window, turned and sprayed the window. We moved out of there quickly. The wall between the tiger and us (his lunch) was not all that high. After the tragedy in San Francisco a few years ago, I decided it was not wise to linger here since he was agitated, and we were the only people around (no other items available for his lunch!).

Wow! This peacock let us get up close. Made me wish I had one of those super-duper cameras. Usually I like my camera just fine.

JT mugging it up....

But Luci took her job more seriously. She felt on top of the world after surviving her doctor visit that morning.

Bryan spent the whole day solving and re-scrambling his Rubik's Cube. And yes, it was cold in Birmingham.

Luci went over the rope bridge for the very first time. Yay, Luci!

And finally was happy on the merry-go-round. She was terrified of DisneyWorld's merry-go-round and has been scared of them since then.

JT was a billy-goat.

Virtual Soccer

Today we were at the McWane Science Museum/Center whatever they call it for most of the afternoon. This was a hoot! The kids playing soccer.

Af ghan istan

My favorite picture from Af ghan istan! John put this in his office area. Now everyone in the Ka bul office knows that Luci loves Daddy! Is this from Star Wars? No--just down the road from the capital city of Ka bul. Don't those towers look like AT-ATs? You Star Wars fans will know what I'm talking about.

If your child is studying geography with Flat Stanley, feel free to use this. This is an Afghan man "visiting" with Flat Stanley.

Last Week

Luci in the library. I loved this shot!

With Hannah.

Luci and Mommy wearing our "working shoes." Notice that Luci is wearing glass slippers!

Mommy and Luci and Blankie.

So Thankful!

Tom, my brother, made it through a heart surgery just fine today. He's probably the healthiest of my brothers, certainly Mr. Physical Fitness growing up, so this need of his was a surprise to me. We're praying for your complete recovery, Tom. (By the way, Bryan looks so much like Tom to me--sometimes it really astounds me how much his personality is like Tom's, too.)

Luci had two cavities filled Monday, and scaredy-cat that she is, I wasn't expecting it to go well. It went great. She had meds to help her be calm and then some laughing gas...and that TV on the ceiling helped, too. We get to do this again in two weeks.

And Luci made it to Af ghan istan! John picked her up in his mail today.

Things that Make Me Smile

Luci trying to make a face just like Curious George...since she was born in the Year of the Monkey, this is rather appropriate!Some new shoes and a cerise-colored jacket. Re-starting Flylady for getting my household in order.

The shoes are for using indoors with Flylady. I needed something with clean soles, as we take off our shoes when entering the house. These are just for inside. Flylady says to "get dressed down to your lace-up shoes." So no flip-flops (zoris to you who know what they are), slippers or stocking-feet. You just feel like you are able to get more done if you have on shoes.

Why Flylady? Because I was not B.O. (Born Organized). In 2001, I started Flylady and was doing very well. Did well until 2005, when Luci entered the picture. Actually, I was doing well with Luci, too, until she started walking, and could destroy a room with the best of them. Our house looked like a blender set to "frappe." Not good. Now I'm working on the Baby Steps again, and feel like we can accomplish a lot here.

Funny, what can make me happy.

USA animated .gif

This is Bryan, I just made this for my mom, its just a simple animated .gif image but they're fun to make. You can see a smaller version on the side bar on the right of the screen. (It wouldn't quite fit so it just says USA.) I hope you like it.

We fixed it so Luci *can* go to Afghanistan!

Since we can't get Daddy to come to us, Luci is going to Daddy. We traced around her body and colored it in. This is the result:

Luci took this one.

Ta-Dah!

Bryan says the drawing on the left is better than the one on the right. Luci has her eyes crossed, she's always trying to be funny.


Here's another one, and yes, her eyes are silly again.

She's going to Gaf-Ghanistan.

Luci packed up her backpack with all things important (plastic food from her kitchen set, binky, blankie and a coloring book), handed me her baby ("Please take care of her, I can't take babies, Mommy") and headed off to Afghanistan.

I don't think she'll get very far--all she is wearing is her Ariel panties and white patent leather shoes (which is why I am not posting a picture!).

Right after dropping Luci off at the "airport" (the living room sofa) I made an appointment at the International Adoption Clinic in Birmingham for a meeting with Leigh Anne, their family therapist. She's been a big help in the past. I think the play-acting is a good thing, but it really is breaking my heart. Luci's had other things pop up about Daddy in the past week that shows she is having a tough time with this. Can't wait for that appointment!

Another issue that the Clinic is going to check out is whether melamine in the baby milk supply in China affected Luci in any way. The recommendation is to check any child adopted after January 1, 2004, so Luci will have that evaluation when our meeting with Leigh Anne is done. Luci was born in October 2004, and adopted in August 2005.

A big, huge, gi-normous thing--Luci is now sleeping through the night!

I love our new plates!

I like these Active Reservist plates even better than the last. This is a sample plate.

Did you see this story?

Virgin Mary Gives Birth to Baby Jesus on Christmas Day ... in Peru

Virgin Mary gave birth to 7.7 pound baby Jesus on Christmas Day. In Peru.
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Really.
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Twenty-year-old Virgen Maria Huarcaya delivered her newborn son, Jesus Emanuel, in the early hours of Christmas in Peru's capital of Lima, Reuters reported.

The baby's father, Adolfo Jorge Huamani, is a carpenter, causing religious Peruvians to compare the 24-year-old to Mary's Biblical husband Joseph, who was a carpenter as well.
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Though the boy wasn't placed in a manger — he stuck around in a ward at the city's central maternity hospital — he's got Peruvians gabbing about his birth, Reuters reported.
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"Two thousand years later the story of Bethlehem is relived," read a headline about the birth in El Comercio, Peru's main newspaper.
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"A few days ago we had decided to name my son after a professional soccer player," the father said. "But thanks to a happy coincidence this is how things ended up."
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story from Foxnews.com

Secret Santa Revealed!

Yesterday, after all the hoop-la of gifts and I was in a sleepy stupor, nearly asleep...the phone rang. The kids have been trained to let the answering machine answer if they don't recognize the number on Caller ID.

So, we got this very nice Christmas message from our preacher and his wife, Frank and Summer, who were calling from someone else's phone out of town: saying they hoped we had a happy Christmas, and a good 12 Days of Christmas!

Thank you, Summer, for heading up all of our merriment. Your gift was more precious than just presents. Our church family really is Family to John and me, since our physical family is far away. Thanks, Sisters!

A Fun Morning

JT is so happy with his gift from Bryan.

Thank you, Bryan!

My Army KidTraditional breakfast--pancakes (used to be cinnamon rolls), an "impossible quiche", oranges, tomato, and hot chocolate. This year we are gluten free for Luci's sake, to help her eczema (gluten and dairy mess her up; the quiche has some cheese in it but everything else for her is dairy free). The funny white squares are homemade marshmallows! No corn syrup in the homemade ones (no blue dye, either). The quiche and pancakes were made with Pamela's Ultimate Baking and Pancake Mix, and they tasted incredibly good. You never would have guessed they were gluten free if you weren't told so.


Posted this one so I can share it with my Feingold friends.

Merry Christmas!!

The 12th Day of Christmas!

The Secret Santas remain a secret. They certainly gave us a thrill, and we thank them for their sneakiness and kind deeds they've done for us.

Today brought treats, including Fruitcake Cookies, and a doll for Luci--how on Earth did our Secret Santa know that Sleeping Beauty is on Luci's wish list? This is a "baby princess" doll.

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The boys helped Santa out by putting together a kitchen set for Luci. Wow! Good thing they started this afternoon instead of waiting until Luci fell asleep tonight. It took 3 hours to put together!!
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Luci made a special phone call to Santa tonight. It's been a yearly event since Bryan was about 3 years old. This year, JT thinks I am just dialing Papa's number.
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Did you follow Santa's journey on NORAD's Santa Tracker? Here is Santa going through China: