All is quiet this morning.  The hubz and the munch are at church and I am home with our newest additon.  So, the blog is taking new direction.  Life post-adoption and now, life with an exchange student from China.  We picked up the newest member of our family at the airport yesterday.  I do not know what to expect from this experience.  I know what I am expecting, but how do I make that happen? 

Anyway, the pick-up was much like our adoption experience.  High hopes, lots of expectations and then reality...a scared, quiet child.  Lilli and I had made a sign welcoming our young lady and had brought her flowers as well.  As soon as she saw us we waved and she shyly walked toward us.  I think the sign and flowers embarrassed her.  She made no notice of either one and seemed like she really wanted to get out of the airport as quickly as possible.  So we walked quietly to the car and packed her up to bring her home.  I attempted to engage her in conversation but I think she was exhausted and really missing her family.

Before heading home we went to a restaurant to get something to eat.  ONG (our new guest) was just so shell-shocked and tired; eating out probably wasn't the best move on night one.  I ordered for her because I wasn't sure she could read the menu and there were a lot of options.  I'm sure it was overwhelming.  She ate half of a hamburger, tried spinach and artichoke dip and drank sweet tea.  She consumed all of it without any protest so I have to assume that she liked it.

The ride home was rough for her as we live off of a very hilly and steep road out in the boonies.  The hubz had to back off the accelerator a bit.  We showed her to her room and allowed her some space so she could unpack and get settled.  We did not see her again by her own will but I did check on her once.  At about 11:00 she came upstairs to get some water and she is still sleeping right now!!  It is 11:14 A.M.  I'm going to get her up and make sure she is OK.  Lots of shopping to do today and then school tomorrow.  This is going to be very interesting!!

It has been almost 5 years since I posted anything.  I am attempting to get back in to blogging as I have many things on my mind!  I'd also like to start going in a different direction than just childcare but things that the munchkin and I do together.  We are crafting up a storm this summer!  More entertainment to come!!

Almost a year

Tuesday will be Lilli's "Gotcha" Day. I can't believe it has been a year! Time flies so fast. It has been an interesting year with lots of ups and a few downs. Becoming a parent of a toddler has certainly been challenging, but we've had so much fun.

I will post my last post on July 17th and then I am shutting down this blog. I have been printing the entries for her baby book and I hope that some day she will have a good laugh at her crazy mommy.

Thanks to everyone who has supported me during this year. I appreciate the positive comments.

Lorie

The Toddler Bed

Lilli's bed has been converted! Things were going great until tonight when she discovered that she could get out of bed. It was really cute the first time. We have hardwood floors and we heard her slide out of bed and the pitter-patter of her feet on the floor. When we went to her door, we saw a little head make a bee-line for her bed. This little game got old very quickly and dh ended up having to lie beside her bed until she fell asleep.

The tubes went well. Lilli hears everything now and she doesn't want to eat any more. Apparently she can now taste the food and has become quite picky! What a little stinker. She definitely keeps life interesting.

Tubes

Lilli is getting tubes in her ears in the morning. It should be an interesting day. I'm worried about the time when she gets up until she can have something to eat. She is going to be extremely crabby if she can't have something to eat in the morning. I will update more tomorrow after her surgery.

Silly, giggly girl

Lilli is going to be a flower girl in my cousin's wedding. I was FINALLY able to get her to try on the dress. She has spent the last week walking by it and hitting it. She has this thing about dresses. Here are some pix of her in the dress.

6 Weeks!

The longest time between posts! Life with a 2 y/o is chaotic to say the least and blogging is one of the last things I do with my down time.

Everyone here is doing well. We have celebrated Lilli's birthday, Easter, and many other occasions since my last post. Lilli is doing GREAT! She is so much fun. Her personality just seems to get brighter and brighter with each passing day. Her speech is coming along as well which is cutting down on some of the frustration. She is a classic 2 y/o in that she throws tantrums, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Last week, Lilli was moved from the toddler room at daycare to the "Terrific Twos" room. I was devastated because we LOVED her toddler teachers. They made everything so easy for us and Lilli became so attached to them. I hope she does just as well in the 2 y/o room. She is so much smaller than the other kids!

On Friday Lilli is having tubes put in her ears. The kid keeps having ear infections and has been on so many antibiotics that I can't see continuing to put her through all of that nonsense anymore. Our pediatrician recommended it and referred us to an ENT. I am so hoping that the tubes will help with her speech as well. Maybe the reason why she has been so slow to communicate is because she can't hear!

Lilli says several words now: Mommy, puppy, kitty, beep-beep (cars), fish, more, juice, drink, yes, and her favorite words NO, and STOP IT! I have to keep myself from laughing when she tells us to STOP IT! It is hilarious. I'm sure there are other things she says, but I can't think of them right now.

I forgot to mention that Lilli is now sleeping every night in her crib AND we put her in the crib and leave. More nights than not she spends the ENTIRE night in her bed! Yeah us! 9 months of HORRID bedtimes have finally paid off!

Well, I'm off to bed.