March 12th….Jillie J Day!

One year ago, on March 12th, Miss Jillie J was placed in our arms forever.  It’s a day that Jim and I will always hold very dear to our hearts.  It was simply a perfect day.  Enjoy.  Dawn

March 12th, 2008 - Daddy's first time holding J

Those first few moments...

 

Finally....at last

Our first moments alone with our daughter...One year later

 

 

The simple wonders of a…. bean jar.

Well, after February break, Jim and I talked and Ian needed some sort of “incentive plan” to break some bad habits naughty behaviorthat were quickly getting out of control in our home.  Nothing too serious….you know…being cheeky and being demanding mainly.   We cannot imagine where he gets this from?!  Soooo, the bean jar was born.

Ian earns 1 bean for each time he shows us considerate behavior.  For example, asking nicely for another glass of juice (oh yea that please word gets lost sometimes) instead of saying…. “I want another glass of juice.”  He needs to earn 25 beans to pick a prize.  So far it’s working like a charm bribes always work with him and his behavior has done a 180! Last weekend, he earned his first prize bribe  which was a batman costume complete with a utility belt.  He was pleased as punch and Mom and Dad are too! Soooo, if you catch Ian doing something sweet – stop and give that boy a bean! (It’s also teaching him some great math skills too!) Who says that bribes don’t work in parenting?!

Ian had his 6 month cleaning at the dentist yesterday and that went very well! No more visits for another 6 months – YAY! All that forcedbrushing is paying off! JJ is next…. I have yet to schedule her appointment which is horrible because Ian already had a visit at her age (Ian is one of those kids who doesn’t mind the dentist or MD at all… even gets shots without flinching and watches them administer it! One of those kids that you can be totally honest with…like when they are doing a strep test…no need to sugar coat it…it’s going to make you feel like you are about to puke… and he is fine with it and even will go ahead with it despite knowing it’s not going to be fun.)  We are very thankful to have 1 of those kinda kids.  JJ…. ummmmm not so much.  It’s going to be fun….

Ohhhhhh we are putting our house on the market soon.  I have not even spoken about it until now because the WORK involved in getting that done is just more then I can even think about STILL… it’s not that we have alot of projects (some small ones) but it’s the actual act of cleaning…scary…all those storage spaces and closets etc… not fun.  We are not sure where we are moving…but it’s going to be local and 100% dependent on the school district.  We are very happy in our neighborhood and would love to just re-draw those school lines…but we can’t.  Soooooo, it’s off for more torture on another adventure! Stay tuned…

On a happy note…we are going to the beach in April.  We are looking forward to that since it’s about high of 20 degrees here today! YIKES.  Ian is very excited and we can’t wait to see Miss J running in the surf! She is such a water baby — I think that she is going to love it. 

Dawn

 

The haircut…

Well….the hiarcut was Friday and I just now am almost able to write about it.  Ian has always had regular haircuts and this is not the first one in which he went “short” on me but it’s the one that has hurt the most so far.  I have to come to see Ian’s hair as part of who he is…always in his face, crazy, wild, and fun.  About a week ago, I was lying in bed with Ian tucking him in and he got all teary (which is NOT Ian at all) and started talking about how he really wanted black hair like sissy and me.  I talked to him about how people have various colors etc…. and then it turned into how he really was not happy with his longer hair because no one (boy) in his class had longer hair.  Of course, if he wants it shorter… shorter it will be.  I have NO problem with that in theory  at all.  Sooo, he already had an appt for this Friday and well… shorter it is.  I am not a fan but of course Ian will never know that.  It’s not that it looks bad, I just simply like the curls.  Ian’s hair is always a challenge in the winter months because it’s much much straighter and well… that doesn’t lend itself to looking its best.  But…anyways…here it is…he is still cute as a button.  He looks even more like Jim now! It’s amazing.  Jim said it was like looking in the mirror – he is right.

A little Jim right?! How funny.   Those blue eyes (that for some reason you always see because he always takes his glasses off after school and that is when most pics are taken but that I hardly ever see….behind those glasses) are so sweet. 

Then…. we have JJ.  This week she was all about this balloon.  She loved just bouncing on it.  Jim and I were sooo sure that it was going to POP and scare her but…it never did! In fact, it’s still around here somewhere?! I think?!

The two of them have a very sweet relationship which has its moments at times but… it’s so much fun to see them playing together more as JJ “gets it!” as Ian says.   The other day they were running around screaming and playing a game of tag — very sweet.

 

Here is a sweet pic of our little JJ…

Recovering…

Whew! We are recovered and finally a virus free home! I didn’t think that it would ever happen especially since Jim got HIT with it – poor guy! This week is Winter Break so Jim is home with the kiddos all week! I am trying to work Wed/Thurs/Fri of this week (I had a fairly simple outpatient procedure done yesterday and it went well but MAN oh MAN it was not fun) and so far so good. 

Jillie is loving the laptop! She will poke around and re-set all the settings press buttons and think that she is HOT stuff.  She just smiles and looks around to see if anyone is looking and then smiles and presses whatever button catches her fancy.  Good times!

Ian is loving having Daddy home all week! Although, he is on this early morning rising kick that needs to get re-adjusted.  He has been up anywhere from 6:30am to 8:00am (which that I can deal with but 6:30am is brutal!).  Ian is a funny sleeper.  He is a great sleeper and we only realized this after bringing JJ home almost 12 months ago.  Ian goes to bed at 7pm like clockwork and doesn’t get out of his bed EVER – which is not perfect because of course he calls us upstairs a few times (usually 2 times each night but not every single night) and then calls for us when he wakes in the morning.  He has NEVER climbed out of bed on his own which has been great.  No worries of wandering kids.  JJ’s sleep pattern on the other hand is well…. less then ideal.  Things have improved 100 fold since we have been home but….she is still sharing our bed most of the night.  She goes to bed at 7pm too and starts in her crib but calls out for us anywhere from 11pm to 3am and then will only settle down once she is tucked into our bed – smack in the middle.  She then sleeps soundly until we get up because she can’t get out of our bed alone and so she gets up with we do (to keep her safe).  It’s fine and we realize that this is what she needs of us right now but…..it would be nice to sleep right next to my hubby sometimes?! I think?! It’s hard to believe that we’ve been doing this for almost 12 months. 

I am working on getting together a post for a “call for quilt squares” for both our girls (JJ and her sister in China) to start on over the summer.  I am going to start taking “lessons” from a friend,  Abby,  and I can’t wait! So, if you have any squares around…. save 2 for us!

What does a 104 degree fever and dx of pneumonia get you?

Just about anything you want……

Our poor little sweetie has had a high fever and bad cold since Wednesday and well…. we headed into the MD office today at 9am and sure enough…. pneumonia and possible strep but the antibiotic would cover both so they didn’t test her since she was out of her mind already! She has not slept at all and getting her to eat and drink has been a HUGE challenge! We are not out of the woods yet but hopefully we will all have  a good night sleep and tomorrow will be a better day.  Needless to say, she wanted chocolate ice cream and she got it! All she could eat in fact!

Paperwhites & paperwork

Oh BOY! Thought that those in adoption land would get a kick out of this story…. I am still laughing as I think about the whole situation….can’t help ignorance right?!

We needed to get a social security number for JJ and so we filed (to make our tax return easier) for a temporary number – which included filling out a form and mailing a copy of our NYS adoption decree with it – with promises of a temp number in 6-8 weeks.  So, we did that and waited and waited…. finally two days ago we got a denial letter in the mail stating that in order to file for the temp number we first needed a denial letter from our local social security office stating that we couldn’t get a number at this time.  So, it gave me a form number to file at our local office.  I printed it out and realized that indeed we had all the documents necessary for a permanent number soooo… off I went this morning.  The office opens at 9am (or at least that is what the internet said) but when I arrived at 8:40am I was in a waiting room with about 15 other people!   Anyhoo – waited for my number with all my proof of existence and completed forms — finally after about 40 mins it was my turn!

I walked up to counter and handed her (her being an “older” woman) my documents and she said “whew – not sure exactly how to do this – I really don’t do them that often – it’s not a popular thing to do you know.”

THANK GOD I brought just about anything they did ask for and some things they didn’t ask for but later asked for… like an insurance card with all of our names on it.

Sooo, we get to the part where she asks me verify that JJ is from Hanoi, Vietnam — of course I say “yup” and then she says…. “well is that North or South Vietnam – the computer is asking me.”

I answer…. “well if you mean where is Hanoi in Vietnam — it’s in the North.”

She then says “Ohhhhhh my goodness…. I didn’t think that we were friendly with the North”

I just stare in disbelief.  HUH?!

PAPERWHITES…..

For Christmas, Cris, an officemate, bought me a beautiful potted plant kit of paperwhites! We (Ian and I) planted them about 2 weeks ago and Ian has done a great job reminding me to water them and turn the planter so they don’t grow crazy towards the sun – and they are blooming and SMELL AMAZING!   My entire front room smells just like SRING.  Its sooooo fabulous and a great gift! I am loving every minute of it —- I keep walking into the room just to take a big sniff! Everyone who has snowbanks up to their windows should run out and buy some to plant.  You won’t be disappointed!

After about 7 days.....

Yesterday....

In our house….unless it’s soccer…..

We don’t care!   We aren’t a football house.  We are a soccer house.  Don’t call us during the World Cup but feel free during the Superbowl! Well, I guess that sounds kinda harsh – we like a good game.  Of course watching the kids play football is something totally different….we enjoy that.  So, we just hung out Sunday – watching movies, going for a snow walk, eating, and doing some “house tasks.” JJ is quite the little helper and is loving to copy anything a grown up is doing! She even cries while doing laundry – how perfect! Sooo, for those of you who are football homes — hope you enjoyed the game!

 

I can totally feel the pain on her face….after 4 loads today…..I was done too!

 

Rocking the babies to sleep.  Now….if only it was safe for her to unload the dishwasher!?

Sleepover & Snow Day!

Ummmmmmmmm, well… we had a sleepover – I mean we are having a sleepover! My brother’s two girls, Ellie and Sophie are here for the night! Ian is just beside himself with craziness  JOY! Right now they are watching Wall-e with Uncle Jim and I am hanging out with JJ – while she is being tortured with enjoying some YO GABBA GABBA!  Here are some pics from the night! If I make it through the night – I might even post in the morning! Wish for a miracle me luck!

 

 

Ohhhh the SNOW DAY part…

On Wednesday we got about another 10 feet 8ish inches of snow!  Jim was home for the day and well….me too! It was the perfect day to play with  some of those Christmas gifts that needed adults to complete  adult supervision.  Sooo, Ian picked the Grow Rocks! Yup – good ol’ grow rocks! Good times.

 

Wish me luck tonight!

Dawn

Our weekend in review…

Well, it was not the most exciting weekend but we got alot done around the house and still managed to share a very yummy turkey dinner with all the fixin’s with my family at my parent’s house.  Sometimes these are best weekends!

Friday night, Aunt Kricket came over to visit and we got a chance to sit down and share some vino and catch up which is always nice.

JJ and Kricket sharing a good book!

 

Saturday around noonish we went up to my parents who made a very YUMMY turkey dinner! It was very good and we all ate too much but…. didn’t stop us from having dessert! Dessert of course was one of the things that I said I was bringing and then forgot — so we stopped and grabbed ice cream on the way but everyone is still making fun of us for forgetting a pie or cake! I guess that now I owe them huh?!

Saturday nite I managed to list 14 new items on ebay for auction! This is one of the ways that we are trying to fund raise for our China adoption! We have a long way to go! My goal is to list at least 5 items weekly.  I am only on week 2 though.  Good so far!

Sunday we just hung out all morning and then we did the whole divide and conquer with the kids and parents and Ian and I went up to my parents again to hang out and JJ and Jim had some home time together.  JJ did not sleep well last night so we were hoping she would get a good nap at home but all we could get was 90 minutes which is quite short for our little one!

I have a federal review of my work on 2/12 and so I am spending an extra day in the office for the next couple of weeks to prepare and we are also rolling out a new infant feeding program so lots to do but I am going to miss my time home with the muchkins!

That’s it for this weekend — kinda boring I know.  But sometimes….it’s just what we need!

Dawn

Getting soooo big

Jim and I were looking at pics of JJ in Vietnam this morning and she was soooo teeny tiny! It’s amazing to see how big she has grown in less then a year! Jillian was placed in our arms on March 12th, 2008 and as that date nears again it’s amazing to look back.  It seems like our trip to Vietnam was just yesterday.  It’s hard to believe it’s been almost a year! I can still remember smells, sights, and details of that trip like it was yesterday and hope that always is the case.  We are planning to celebrate her “adoption day” annually and hope to never forget that magical place. 

Our children are both such amazing little people and we are soo blessed to have them both in our lives. 

okay – is it me or is Ian always half naked? Yea it’s frigid here too! The first thing he does when he comes into the house is to take off his shoes and shirt?! I just don’t get it?! Hummmm need to work on that.