Hot Off the Presses

I took a few pictures this morning:

Riding on the pink pony!

Getting ready to feed the pink pony. Last night Olivia was playing around with her kitchen and food. She was bringing us delicious items to taste, then started feeding the pony with a bowl and a spoon. I encouraged her, then off she runs. I thought nothing of it and returned to reading. Next thing I know, she returns with a bib for pony. She did again this morning.

This and the next pictures I am trying to show off her pigtails, but just couldn't get her to pose for it:

A few pictures

I finally grabbed a couple pictures off my purse camera. As I have mentioned, Olivia is nearly obsessed with wearing mine and Michael's clothing. She loves to get in drawers or laundry baskets and always goes straight for the undergarments!

One other cool thing about that photo is that Olivia will now, on occasion, actually smile when told "say cheese" for the camera. She also sits down and scoots toward me whenever I am taking a picture, so we have not quite got this posing thing down yet.

Sammi, the cat, frequently escapes to the top of the climbing tower to find peace and solitude. A week or so ago, Olivia spies her up there and walks over to it and pulls up a little. I say "I wonder how long it will be before she climbs up that thing?" The answer came less than a minute later. I should have known, she can climb just about anything she wants to these days.

And, a pic of the previously mentioned pink pony from Aunt Bobbie:

Wow!

It just doesn't get much better than this. Two absolutely beautiful girls! Thanks for a wonderful evening, a great dinner and the world's most awesome pink pony, Aunt Bobbie, Uncle Shane and Jeran.

An Amazing Quote

If you as parents cut corners, your children will too. If you lie, they will too. If you spend all your money on yourselves and tithe no portion of it for charities, colleges, churches, synagogues, and civic causes, your children won't either. And if parents snicker at racial and gender jokes, another generation will pass on the poison adults still have not had the courage to snuff out.

~ Marian Wright Edelman~

There are so many things I could add to this because it has been on my mind so much lately, but two huge issues come to the forefront:

1. The media's relentless ability to find "humor" in the unusual (to our palate) foods that are eaten in China. I realize that I was surprised by the variety of items that are used for food and medicine, much of which did not appeal to me, and I even commented about it on this blog. But, hearing a news anchor ask a reporter "what strange food have you encountered, we have heard so much about it?" then the reporter trying to hedge the question and the anchor persisting is over the top for me. Why, oh why, is it so difficult for us to be respectful of differences, whether it be food, music, clothing choice, religion or cultural beliefs?

2. Why is it okay to use the "r" word in a demeaning fashion? What am I talking about? Retard, retarded, etc. This word is as offensive to people with developmental disabilities, their friends, families and advocates as the "n" word is to others. Yes, it really is THAT offensive. I cringe whenever I hear it. It is still used as a descriptor and a diagnosis, although many are trying to get that changed because of the terribly negative connotations associated with it. It my state we still have a Department of Mental Retardation/Developmental Disabilities. For those of you who see Tropical Thunder, you will see one of the most demeaning dialogs ever to occur on film as it relates to people with intellectual disabilities. I have, unfortunately, already seen the clip. I found it disgusting.

I feel overwhelming challenged by attempting to raise a kind, charitable, well-mannered, thoughtful, trustworthy, open-minded, spiritual, caring, generous and respectful child. I certainly plan on doing my best to set as good as an example as possible. I pray that "the village" of people who surround our family do the same.

I want juice

So, as most of you are well aware, I have had concerns about Olivia's language development. Receptive is super - she understands nearly everything we say, and has for quite some time. Expressive - not so much. She certainly has some words that she uses quite a bit, specifically: Mom and no. Okay, there are a few beside that as well. I have thought for a little while that she seemed to be stringing some words together, and over the past week started saying "I wan dat" or "I do wan dat" pretty regularly. Well today, she signs that she wants a drink. I say "Drink? Okay, mama will get you some water". Clear as day, as if she had been saying it for years, she looks at me and says "I wan juice." I was floored. I immediately went and got her some juice, of course! So, I am thinking we are making progress on this language thing.

When You Say....

you've said it all!

So, just in case it may not be an option in the future, and because Michael had never been, and because it is (sorta) conveniently located nearby, and mostly because they have free beer (lol) we headed downtown for a brewery tour today!

It was fun, Olivia did great, and did I mention the free beer? After the tour, we met up with Mark - one of Michael's closest friends, and had a lovely lunch at a local place. It was a good day - and I took a few good pictures.

The first glimpse of a Clydesdale!

We're Home!!!

One year ago this past Friday (the 8th) was our last night in China. I did not post about it at all because there really was not time. In this post I talk about being back in Hong Kong, but that only got us through mid-afternoon. That evening, Amy, Jeff, Lily, Nick, Michael, Olivia and I met up and headed out on the streets and waters of Hong Kong. Our first order of business was food! The first place we saw that struck our fancy was Outback Steakhouse. As it was a little before 5, when we got there, we were the only people in the place. (and it was freezing cold!!!) Anyway, we ordered more food than any small group of people should be able to eat, then proceeded to devour nearly every bit of it. We all shared and tasted each others meals and thought it was perhaps the best food in the world. It was yet another amazingly memorable times on the trip.

Afterwards, we hopped on the ferry for a ride from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island and back, then hung out and watched the amazing laser show (after ice cream at Hagan Daas (I think). That was Olivia's first time tasting ice cream and she was not too impressed as I do not think she was used to eating cold things.

So, to celebrate the anniversary of this wonderful meal, we met up, sans Nick at an Outback in St. Louis for dinner on Saturday (missed it by a day, but conflicts held us up a bit). It was fun once again! Afterwards, we went to the playground at the Mills to let the girls burn off a little steam.

The next morning we left for the long, long journey home - so many memorable moments there - pretty much all are included in the original post with the exception of that overwhelmingly amazing feeling it was to be sitting at my kitchen table at around midnight eating a sandwich. Ham and swiss cheese never tasted so good.

By now, one year ago, we had been home two full days. The jet lag was pretty well just starting to set in, but it was all good!

Michael, Gina and Olivia

Amy, Jeff and Lily

The girls playing

Olivia taking a break

I Wish I Were There

The Olympics have begun! I am so excited to see all of the beauty, culture, history and graciousness of Olivia's homeland displayed for the world. I have never looked forward to an Olympics as much as these, and am thrilled it is finally starting.

In every way possible these days I find myself rooting for China - but, since we are now a Chinese-American family now, I guess that makes sense. These games, and this spotlight on China has been so wonderful in so many ways. Those with open eyes and minds have an unprecedented opportunity to see one of the world's oldest and richest cultures in all of its glory.

The pictures I have seen thus far of the opening ceremony have been no less than stunning. I hope you enjoy them, the Olympics and China as much as I plan to.

Underwear and Diapers

Seriously, no, we are nowhere near potty training - the title has nothing to do with that. Just a couple stories from the evening.

Thankfully, after a rough start to the week, Olivia is feeling much better. Still a runny nose, but her spirit and happiness are back. Mama and Daddy are VERY thankful.

So, Jodi is off taking her kids to Six Flags today, so Olivia gets to hang with Daddy. After her nap, around 4pm, as usual, it is time for a little snack. Fast forward to around 6:45pm. Michael and I are working on making vegetable soup for canning and Olivia is watching television. She comes in and asks for a drink, we get her some milk, then she points to her foot and says "ick". I see something on her foot, but do not do a close investigation but give her a wet paper towel. She cleans it off and hands it back. She is still saying "ick" and pointing to the living room where she had been standing (and squatting). I look in there and see what has to be poop on the floor. I check the diaper and send her and Daddy off for changing. While I am cleaning up the carpet, I hear bath water running, so I know it must be bad. When they come back, Michael says "that was pretty much my fault" Huh?

Turns out that aforementioned snack was "oh four, maybe five" prunes! As is now obvious to all readers, Olivia loves prunes and I give them to her often, but never more than one a day.

So, about 45 minutes later, Olivia is standing in the kitchen as I am still working on vegetables. More "ick". I clean the kitchen floor and Michael and Olivia are off to the tub again. Two diaper changes in less than an hour! My mom suggested to me on the phone that I should avoid getting Olivia out of the crib in the morning just in case, leaving that task to Daddy!

On to underwear. Olivia has long been really into my bras and underwear, but she has now moved on to Daddy's boxers and socks. First, she gets them out of the drawer:

Then tries a few on:

Then poses for a couple pictures:


Until I was helping her take them off, I thought she had on three pair. Turns out there were actually four.

Life is never, ever, ever dull.

Maria

I am deeply saddened by tragic events regarding China or adoption from China. I first heard the news of the earthquake as I was driving home from work and I cried for the rest of the drive. Afterward, although nearly impossible to avoid, I did not read or listen to much of the reporting. It was simply too much for me to bear. The astonishing loss of life, parents losing children, children losing their families. Orphanages damaged and some unaccounted for after several days.

The same deep sadness then self imposed disconnection occurred upon hearing of the death of Maria Chapman. I did not read the posts on all my friends blogs, the threads on forums, and I avoided the news reports following the tragedy. Steven Curtis Chapman and his beautiful family have always played a small role in our adoption story, so, like many others I was deeply saddened by Maria's tragic death. Unlike many, many others I have never seen Steven Curtis Chapman in concert, and was not inspired by his adoption story as I did not know it until we were well into the process and I realized that he had inspired thousands to adopt from China. I half-jokingly blamed the increased wait times on him. I received his beautiful book about adoption and now read it to Olivia.

I saw that the Chapman's were doing their first interview since Maria's death this week. I did not read further. I received an email with a link to the video and finally decided that I needed to watch it. I did, and cried the entire time. My heart aches for this beautiful family. Their strength is amazing.

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=5524419

The Garden

Our garden is going strong thanks to some recent hot weather and lots of rain! Saturday morning started with picking, shucking, cleaning, cooking, cooling and cutting off the cob about 50 ears of corn. It was then packed for freezing.

After the corn project was over, I went up and started picking other stuff. This was the result:


Now, you have to remember, the 50 ears of corn from earlier are not in the picture.

So today, we started "doing something" with all of it. We made salsa and dill pickles. Next on the list is pickled peppers and jalapeño pepper jelly. And we need to do something with all that cabbage beside eat it - which we have also done a lot of. For dinner tonight we had carrots, celery, green pepper and cabbage stir fried with chicken, and some of the corn on the cob. Oh, and onion picked at an early date.

Yesterday, I used a bunch of the corn in a corn casserole - it is a favorite recipe of mine, but for some reason, I was not all that thrilled with it yesterday. Michael always likes it too (it has bacon in it) but he also thought it was not as good as usual. Hmmmm. I also used some parsley from my herb garden and onions from the regular garden.

In case it is not obvious, I really, really enjoy being able to garden and I enjoy the canning and preserving part of it too. It is certainly something that has always been a part of my life, especially as a child. I was always around a big garden, and "helped" with canning a lot. I have also canned and preserved most of my adult life - making salsa or jams and jellies, canning tomatoes... Lately, my and Michael's specialty has been beets! This year's crop is not so good though, so I will probably just roast and eat them. I counted - we still have 13 jars left from last year. The rationing will begin!