No wet meat!

Colby can't say pants. I'm not sure why. I'm not even sure (truthfully) if I've blogged about it before. Anyway, pez he can say, pizza he can say (although it used to be beeba), but pants and please elude him still. Please comes out "meeeeeee" and pants....well....pants come out "meat". Every time. Meat.

I got him out of bed on Saturday morning and asked if he'd wet through. He looked right at me, shook his head, and declared. "No...wet....meat!!!" He was so serious that I had to stifle my laugh. Then I secretly reported to Steve and we laughed in the corner over it!

The day before yesterday he put a new spin on it. He declared "poopy meat" several times throughout the day. I am glad he's now letting me know that he needs a change (because it both signifies the beginning of a desire (I hope) to potty train and also because he's starting to string more words together), the thought of poopy meat made me envision a breaking news story about some kind of e. coli outbreak within the confines of my house or something. Anyway, I laughed in the corner again.

The last Colby story for the day is that I put him on the phone with my mom the other night. I laughed out loud when I heard that his whole end of the conversation was going to be "yup. yup. yup. yup. yup. yup. yuv you, BYE!" What a silly little goose.

Gotta just love him.

A little run-in with Johnny Law....

Last Friday was going to be beautiful, so I thought I'd take the kids to the zoo. Unfortunately, I failed to remember that it was the last day of Spring Break for about four counties worth of kids. As we approached the zoo we came to a halt amidst tons of other cars (mostly minivans) obviously headed for the zoo as well. As we sat in line to get into the zoo and I thought about just how zooey it was going to be, it came to me that maybe Kailin would be willing to change our plans. I didn't want to upset her, but I didn't think the kids would even be able to see any of the animals with that much of a crowd. I suggested that we go surprise Nai Nai (my mom) at work and then see if she wanted to join us for a picnic and some fun at the park. Kailin loved the idea and off we went. My mom was truly surprised and showed off her grandkids in true form.

I told her we'd meet her back at her house and I guess Kailin overheard me. She said, "Hey Nai Nai - you wanna race?" while making her eyebrows go up and down real fast. I laughed SO hard!! I snapped the picture above while we waited for her to come home.

We had a little lunch and were off to the playground. The kids had a blast and Kailin was asleep by the time we hit the freeway to come home. We stopped off at the grocery store to get a few things - and some supplies for a picnic I was planning for us for Saturday.

On the rural highway I take to get to our house, less than five miles from home, I saw a police officer headed toward me and glanced down at the speedometer. Then I saw him pull to the side of the road (lights off) and whip a u-ey (lights now on). I knew immediately it was for me. Of course Kailin started in right away asking what was going on....so I explained that Mommy was going too fast and the police officer was going to come and talk to us. Thankfully, he was a great guy and only gave me a warning (10 over in a 55mph zone). He gave the kids police badges and sent us on our way. I've (knock on wood) never had a speeding ticket, so I was really thankful for the warning - and for the reminder to pay attention and protect those kiddos I love so much!!

Egg! More Egg!!! Open!!!!!!

Okay, it's a little late.... I was waiting until the pictures were on this computer, and then the week just got away from me.

It was surely an Easter to remember. We all began the day (and all unwillingly so) at 3am. Colby awoke screaming (I think he'd been laying on his stomach and right now that is not a good option). By the time I got him changed and settled he'd woken Kailin. She immediately began interrogating me regarding whether we were going to church or Nai Nai's church and if we went to Nai Nai's church would Nai Nai be there or would she be at our church and were we going to Nai Nai's house after church and would the Easter bunny be there.... so I told her we could discuss it all in the morning, it was the middle of the night and she should go back to sleep. If only.... the kids stayed awake and busied themselves bickering over which color stars they should have (their turtle night light offers 3 options) until Steve went in and turned it off entirely which elicited MANY cries of protest. Then Colby was entirely convinced that he had lost Kiki or Froggy (which he pronounces "FRO-Gee") when in fact upon closer inspection he had one clenched in each little fist. Then he banged on the wall (directly behind my head) for awhile. Then I think I did actually doze for about 15 minutes and then my alarm went off at 5:30 and it was time to get up. I showered and went to get the kids up so they could see their Easter baskets. Lo and behold, Colby was asleep. I decided to let him sleep (as much as the mean mom in me wanted to wake his sorry butt up) awhile longer.

Kailin loved her Easter baskets (one from the big bunny and one from Steve's parents), and the pinwheel was her favorite. I hustled her through breakfast and took her back upstairs to spray her off in the shower. Colby woke up and was not any too happy about it. I got him dressed and sent him downstairs with Steve. I could hear the call of "TIH-TAC!!!!!!!!" from downstairs signalling that he'd gotten into his Easter baskets as well. I had Steve grab some shots while we girls finishing dolling ourselves up.

We attended church at my "home church" in Waukesha. It was so nice to go back and sing the same songs I sang every Easter for the first 20 or so years of my life - and hear the trumpets blast as we shouted good tidings of "He is risen!" The kids behaved pretty well in church and then it was off to Nai Nai's.

The kids had an absolute blast hunting for Easter eggs in the yard. Colby took to it right away and although I told Kailin to make sure to leave some for her brother, I guess I need not have. Not only did he keep up (unless one broke open - then we had a chorus of "boking!! Egg boking!!!" followed by a harried effort to rescue the contents from the grass), but Kailin repeatedly picked up an egg and then ran it over to her brother. Considering the lack of rest we had, it was nothing short of a MIRACLE that we had no fights of any kind during the event and I absolutely reveled in hearing Kailin delightedly shout "Another egg! I see more!" and Colby's sweet little voice plaintively calling, "Egg!!! More Egg!!! Open!!!!" I could just have scooped both of them up and smooshed them.

We had a wonderful Easter dinner followed by naps for the kids (wish there'd been some for the adults!), some more play time, and then we headed home. Everyone had far too much sugar - but if not on Easter, then what better day is there?

I'm so blessed to have a Savior whose death and resurrection made this wonderful day possible - and blessed to have such a wonderful family to have shared it with.

One year ago....

One year ago in this very moment (if you factor in the time change), I was headed downstairs to meet our agency's liaison to head to Chung Yi to pick up Colby. My stomach was turning and I was nervous as heck. I didn't know what the rest of the day would bring - nevermind thinking about the next whole year!! Tonight, I sit here without my stomach turning and in fact feeling warm and content (I was cold as heck last year at this time because we didn't take any warm clothes and it was cold and rainy for days on end!). I just peeked in on a beautiful sleeping boy, and decided to sit down and count my blessings. I'm so grateful that God led us down the path of adoption and that He led us to Taiwan and to accept Colby's referral. I'm so grateful for my happy, jolly, joyful little boy - sassy mouth and bad attitude (as of late) and all. He's tender and gentle and caring. He is loving and funny and silly and playful. He's all that I could ever want or hope for in a child and I love him more than he will ever know. I can't believe it's been a year - it seems like a heartbeat and then again I feel like he's always been here. We are having Chinese Feast tomorrow to celebrate our family - and I'm sure that Captain Noodle and Dumpling Girl will make their appearances. How very very blessed I am!

Ni hao, Chinese feast!

I had the afternoon to myself on Friday and decided that it was high time to visit the Asian market I'd heard so much about. I was a little nervous as you have to drive through a "not so nice" neighborhood to get there, but it all went fine. As soon as I walked through the door I was in China (or Taiwan). The smell brought it back right away - in a good way - and I was so homesick!! I took my time and wandered around and got a bunch of stuff for us to have a huge Chinese food feast - and was sad that I was headed out for the evening and it would all have to wait for today (Monday).

I was anxiously awaiting dinner alllll day. I checked and rechecked the cooking instructions and looked up a recipe for dipping sauce for the dumplings. All the packages I bought were mostly labeled in Chinese, so I was really hoping that we'd be having some (decently) authentic food on the table.

Dinner was FANTASTIC. It was maybe the best Chinese food we've had since returning from China! Fresh lo mein noodles (takeaway lesson - CUT those suckers - they were seriously at least 3 feet long each!), dumplings (less rice wine vinegar in the sauce), and steamed buns (the real bready ones are never my personal favorite, but for bready steamed buns, these were pretty good). Kailin didn't like the buns, either, but holy mackerel did she wolf down the dumplings and noodles. She had a full helping of noodles and then ate FIVE dumplings! Oh, and she ate them all with chopsticks!! Cheater chopsticks, but chopsticks nonetheless! Colby used some as well - and although he did get some stuff in his mouth with them, he fared a little worse than his sister did.

We had the most amazing dessert dim sum in Hunan and I bought some custard buns that I thought might be something like the wonderful ones we'd eaten in China. These were....well....like a Cadbury egg gone horribly, awfully wrong. There was something gritty in the unnaturally yellow filling, and the filling immediately and entirely coated my teeth. I made a horrific face and let Steve know that he should proceed at his own risk. He was still eating dumplings... but Kailin piped right in and said she wanted to try some. I thought "oh sure, we'll see how far this goes..." She ate THREE. Steve ate half of one and Colby had two bites before he quit. As I put the rest away, Kailin was concerned that I was going to throw out the yummy "zert". I assured her I was only putting it away and that they were ALL HERS. ha ha ha.

After dinner, I remembered the guava juice and jasmine tea I'd purchased. The guava juice was a hit with everyone. I cracked open the jasmine tea and took a huge drink and nearly choked. I wasn't expecting it to be a. carbonated, and b. "jasmine flavored"(as I later learned from the can). It was NOTHING like the jasmine tea I love in China and Taiwan. It was pretty much like flower soda. Heavy on the flower and highly carbonated. The kids loved it. Figures. Ha ha ha.

I think we'll be frequenting the Asian market more often!!

Big time family outing

Last Friday was supposed to be an unusually warm day for early Wisconsin in March. I planned a trip to the zoo with our friends the Klopfs. Steve got wind of it and said he'd like to join us. Neither of us has had any vacation to speak of since the year before we brought Kailin home because we were either saving vacation for an adoption trip or taking one. It seemed utterly frivolous and fun that Steve could decide on a Tuesday that he'd take Friday off and come to the zoo!

We had a blast! The weather was indeed warm and the kids, after a bit of a rough start, frolicked and played and checked out the animals. We had a picnic lunch and then Colby eventually conked out for awhile. He looked so stinking cute in his stroller with his little monkey hat on that I couldn't resist taking about 10 pictures in his various positions. I won't make you view all 10 - at least not here - they're posted at our Shutterfly site. ha ha ha. Our friends had to leave, but we decided to stay on and tempt fate. I am so glad we did! The kids got a second wind and the zoo started to empty out. We finished the day up on the playground and both kids were in their glory. This is the kind of family day I long for and it was the perfect day to do it!

Captain Roar and Miss Ladybug take on the world....

I know - again with the woeful neglect. I try to be better, but I must admit that not having an easy way to get my pictures onto my laptop is a barrier to more regular posting. I'm hoping that I can get a card reader with birthday money and then all will be well with the blogging world once again.

The other night after a bath, Colby was insistent on wearing his "hat" some more, so Steve let both kids come downstairs with their hooded towels on. They zoomed around the house in true super-hero style. It was too cute to pass up, and I figured it was a good kick-off to "back to blogging".