Has it really only been 2 years?

Yes it correct.  Your eyes are not seeing things.  Guess who's back, back again, Guess who's back, tell a friend, Daddy's back, Daddy's back, Daddy's back.  For all of those who have begged and pleaded for more posts from Dad, your wish (or nightmare) it will be decided soon enough, is about to come true.  And for all of you who didn't ask for my return, you will just have to suffer through.  Wanda and LJ are forced to listen to my uncanny sense of humour and wisecracks on a daily basis, the world might as well get a chance to share there joy as well. 

Where to begin... I'd say we begin with humour, but since we might not get to that part anyway (depending on your opinion), we'll leave that as a goal for the end.

Its hard to believe its been 2 years since we saw LJ in person for the first time.  Everything seemed so slow and drawn out up to the day we got to pick her up.  And its been non-stop since then.  We were going to have a dinner to remind of us our first day, but cold Papa John's pizza (nice product placement if I say so myself) or chinese food for dinner, however we went with a wonderfully prepared baked tilapia and rice for dinner instead.  The cold pizza we will save for another day.  And if Papa Johns would like to use our story as a commercial, please leave a message and our people will call your people.  In my office I have the two best pictures I think I could possibly have.  The first is of Wanda holding Lexi for the first time, and I think I can still see the tears on her cheek, and the first of myself holding Lexi.  I don't think there is anyway that I could change out those two pictures.  Others come and go, but these two will remain.  I can still see those pictures in my head, along with part of that first day.  I wish i could say that I remember everything from everyday that we were there, but that is just wishful thinking at this point.  One of these days we will put our video together and the memories will be kept alive for Lexi to see later on. 

So here's a toast to cold pizza, a darling princess of a 3 year old that is ours forever and ever, and to the best Mom she could ever have asked for, and the most wonderful wife a husband could ask for.  Two years have flown by fast, and we have a long time to go and a lot more to learn.  Lexi.... see you in a few hours for a potty break and the between 3 and 5 when you decide you need to sleep with Mommy and Daddy.  Your always welcome in our bed.  Mom just wishes you would let her sleep a little longer on the weekends... she enjoys the nuggling... just let her sleep till 8.

Daddy

Happy 2nd Family Day Anniversary to US!

Today gives us one really good reason to blog… to remember and document moments in time of our lives.  Of course as today dawned Geoff and I were reminded of a momentous day in our life together… our FAMILY DAY in China two years ago.  It is hard to believe that just “moments in time ago” we saw our precious Lexi in person and were joined as a family.  The day has been full of memories and I found myself even missing the time we were in China.  I find myself so grateful and so prayerful for Lexi’s birthmother.  She gave us the greatest gift she ever could.  I hope and pray that she is at peace and knows that her darling little one is safe and in good hands.

When I think of Lexi, I think of God blessing our family in so many ways!  He not only gave Geoff and I a gift beyond measure, he blessed everyone who has and will come in contact with our darling daughter.  Although I may not always show it, I really and truly believe that Lexi is a gift from God to all who know us, especially our close family.  Many people that we know look back and think of her when we first brought her home and say things like “when we first got her…”  and I just know that she is a precious gift to all of us.

So tonight I think back to two years ago walking into that room in China and seeing our sweetie for the first time sitting in an unfamiliar Nanny’s lap looking scared as she could be and my reaction that she WAS REAL!  The picture we had gotten from the agency was really REAL and there she was and she WAS OURS!  Then the rest was just surreal.  We met her, held her, talked to the Nanny through the guide and then suddenly, we were in the midst of craziness!  We went to the Chinese version of a Super Wal Mart to buy food, diapers, and a stroller for her and then walked across the street and ordered a Papa John’s Pizza!  Talk about surreal! 

So in honor of our family history, I must post (repost old photos and new photos)….

Family Day 2009..

Family Day 2010…

2011…. (surely this is not the same girl!… disregard the spilled milk on the dress!")

The Lexi popsicle!  Crazy little girl!

 

 

 

The Lexi looking back at “little Lexi in China”. 

I can’t tell anyone how many times people have told us that Lexi is lucky to have us.  Each time someone tells us this I tell them that we are the lucky ones.  Truth be known none of us are “lucky”. .. We are blessed.  We are blessed that God chose us to be Lexi’s parents… God chose our families to be Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, cousins, sisters, brother in laws, nephews, great grand-parents, and even “adopted” aunties and uncles.  Everyone who enters into the life of Lexi is blessed and meant to be.  And watching her profound effect on others brings joy to our lives.  I look forward to the many years in front of us watching our daughter grow and develop into a beautiful confident young woman. And trust me… she has a head start!  Strong willed and confident only can begin to describe her!

I love you Lexi Jayne!  You are a miracle in our lives and we love you beyond words!

 

Blog Make-over Surprise!

We were off from work another day today for President's Day.   Lj and I headed to Savannah to do a little bargain shopping and lunch with Daddy.  While we were gone, the Blog-Fairy (Dear Friend Melissa) did us a very needed update on Lexi's blog!  I love the new look and the precious pictures! 

Thank you Melissa... for EVERYTHING!  You are the best and I really hope you will begin your next career in graphic design and photography!  You have a gift and are amazing!  And I am blessed to call you a really wonderful TRUE friend!

Much love,
Wanda


And P.S.  The photo with the pale pink Baby Gap dress... she wore it for the first time last Friday... and every since, it has been bed-time attire.  We have washed it but she just LOVES it so much she will not go to bed without it. She loves her "pretty dress".  (It's really not that cute but for some reason, she thinks it is amazing!)  Good gracious... I really have no idea how "princesses" are born!  We had nothing to do with this!  It's all Lexi.... the Princess entitled but yet tom-boy go-cart, ball throwing, outdoor little gal... She's definitely all Lexi... all her own!  But yet, all ours and we love her so!

And More…

running out of words… other than precious… thankful… blessed!

This is like Christmas!

Finding pictures of Lj taken by Melissa on FB.  Need I say talented??? 

Pictures like this of Lexi just take my breath away!

Sunny Spring-like Saturday Family Fun!

Yesterday was so much fun visiting with Melissa and Matt that I decided that it would be fun to spend an afternoon… well at least part of one with Sara and the boys.  Lexi LOVES Brennen… (and Christopher too!) and as soon as I told her we would be going to visit them she never let a moment slip without asking WHEN we could leave.  We had a mid-tax season treat this morning of Daddy sleeping in and having breakfast with us before heading out for his day at work.  It was soooooo nice to have family cuddle time first thing this morning.  But after he left we headed to Sara and Chris’s place. 
I took photos of the kids throughout the day… it was so funny and as the day unfolded, I stayed longer and longer until both Lj and I were both exhausted even though she cried as we left… she wanted her Brennen!

A quick-study from Matt-Matt yesterday, Lexi was loving some Power Wheels… and again is practicing the new speech to YeYe… “YeYe… I need a Go-Cart!”  I have to admit she could use some driving lessons!


The 3-Amigos with Lexi’s Sissy Sara… Brennen looking so cute in his new hair do… he looks even more like his Daddy!
Then began the afternoon drama… when we arrived the vice president of Chris’s company and one of the engineers were there being tough guys with chain saws taking down a few trees in their yard where they plan to build in the future.  As I drove up, they were dropping a big tree where they would relocate.  We watched them work and work taking the tree apart for fire wood and then as we played with the kids they began working on a  particularly tough tree near the trailer.  If it were to fall the wrong way, it would take out the bedroom, master bath and part of the kitchen!  They were confident and began.  I was amazed as I watched my son-in-law scoot up a tree to tie a rope high up to control the tree.  What we did not expect came later…



Here is Chris driving the tractor trying to pull the tree over… it was a tough one though and just made him spin his wheels!  At this point the tree was cut to fall but was leaning to the trailer… so no one could go inside and we all began to worry.   Thankfully, they have insurance! 

The “pecking” order… Brennen… Lexi… CE!  running down the road as we stayed out of the way of the tree cutting!

Miranda (3 1/2 and Chris’s brother’s little girl) deciding that Lexi was okay so she gave her a kiss.  It was sweet!
Then Sara rescued the potty from the house and low and behold all of the kids had to go potty outside!  (Sorry Bren, I only got one shot and YOU were the one!
In the meantime… Chris calls in the professionals and they arrive to save the day. 



Only when I knew they would be safe could I go home.  I have to give out a shout out to Rick’s Tree Service for coming so quickly and not charging them an arm and a leg for a Saturday emergency service.  They barely made enough money for their service! 
Afterwards we left, but Lj was NOT happy about leaving her Brennen.  She cried until she fell asleep and then awoke once home to cry again for him.  She was a bear for the second night in a row of no nap!  Geoff came home a rescued me from whiney Lj and cooked dinner.  I was extra happy when he fixed me Geoff’s Outback Style Fresh Green beans!  Yummy!

and then… Lj fell asleep in her Daddy’s lap… so precious!  In the past few days we have learned, she can play with the best of the boys and come home and dress and be a pretty princess still insisting on sleeping in dresses!

Good-night, Princess Lexi Jayne!  Sleep tight!

Foto Fun Friday with Friends!

We’ve had some really busy days the past two days! Yesterday we had a school holiday and Lj and I had hair appointments near Melissa so I twisted her arm (it was really a tough job!) to let me and Lj come by and take some photos afterwards.  We ended up staying all afternoon and into early evening and had a blast taking pictures (well…. she did the taking!) all over the place.  I had asked her to take some 3 year old pictures of Lj because she takes such awesome pictures of Matt.  I even told her she could launch her photography career with Lexi’s photo shoot.  She does not give herself enough credit for her skills.  I have seen the photos at a quick glance but can’t wait to see the finished product.  Her blog and Facebook hints are amazing.  Lexi fell in LUV with Matt-Matt and was at his beck and call.  I only can wish she would listen to us as much as she did Matt-Matt!  She even told him she would be coming back to see him today.  It was too stinkin’ cute when on the last photos she took, Matt said “she could be my sister!”.  Coming from an only child and a boy of his age it was too cute!  He even took us for a ride on the Mule before we left.  She now wants a go-cart because Matt-Matt took her for a ride on his.  It was a fun-filled day with two very extra special precious kids!  I’d gladly take Matt-Matt as Lexi’s big-brother. 

And I surely love my dear friend Melissa and her kind heart. 

This precious little dress was a birthday gift from another extra special friend, Sharon.  I love it!!  It’s my new favorite on Lj.   She looks so grown in this picture…. where did our baby go! 

And here are some with Matt-Matt!  I can’t wait to see the rest!  I “stole” these from Melissa’s blog!  Okay… so we have the two most precious kids in the world…. no debating allowed!

I love this picture of Lj and Matt running off to play hide and go seek… although it gives me visions of her running off to get married one day!  Oh, yikes! 

And Lexi is now practicing her next conversation with YeYe… “ YeYe, I want a g0-cart!” 

Reading Robert Munsch Books Part 1

As a teacher I am amazed at Lexi’s ability to retell stories that she has read in her own words.  It also amazes me at how much expression she already uses while she retells her stories.  This video is just an example of how well she does.  I hope to record her “reading” Mortimer soon.  It’s our favorite by far.  I did get this video recently though of her looking through many of her Robert Munsch books that I have checked out from school.  We read them almost every night.  We also go online to his official site and read them as he tells the stories in his voice.  It is so much fun!

Sickly Runny Nose

Last week, Lexi had a viral infection.  She ran fever for 5 days and had this awful runny nose along with congested coughing and sneezing.  After a few days, I got my own version of it but it was more of a stomach virus.  Together we made one sick person!  I missed a few days of work and Lexi missed all three days of her preschool.  Sadly, it was the last week Ms. Aida (her teacher’s helper) was there.  Lexi loves her and mentions her every day now that she is no longer there.  I was especially touched to find a note that she wrote to Lexi in her Valentine’s Party bag.  I will keep it for her forever.

One afternoon when I got her home, I brought her some new books that came with puzzles and she sat in the floor while I cooked dinner and put one of them together.  Ignore the messy hair, Oreo mouth and the runny nose.  It has been a fixture in Lexi’s life since she began preschool.  I guess that is what happens when you are around lots of other runny noses all the time! And the hair… that is a new thing.  She is taking to the hair bows less and less even though she is still a toddler diva only wanting to dress in dresses ALL the time!  I did add the bow after I began to take pictures but had to bribe her to get photos! 

I love those little fingers and love to watch them work!  She is a great puzzle solver! 

Parsley in the nose Grossness

Pardon me for posting too much tonight… I’ve been a slacker and am trying to catch up with February pictures.

I took these pictures last night while Lj and I had dinner.  I have been on a cooking new recipes kick and last night decided to make Ginger Glazed Mahi Mahi and Sesame Noodles for dinner with garlic toast.  The recipes turned out great but of course, Lj only wanted to eat the toast.  She is discriminating though and only wanted the inside with no crust…  (I on the other hand loved it all… a little too much and must get off this cooking kick before I regain my 30 lbs back!)

Love those pony tails!  She requested them herself from Mom.  I love her hair but have to admit that I miss her shorter hair.  If she didn’t want a big pony tail in the “back” I’d have Cheryl trim her hair back to a bob.   

Don’t ya just love the parsley in the nostril?   Nice!  And I hate to admit it, I’m still missing those two teeth that she knocked out last month.  She is still as cute as a June bug but I miss those pearly whites!  But in the end, who could resist this darling little face!

Picture of Daddy…

Like I said earlier… the girl misses her Daddy.  This is a picture she drew last week of him.  I had to take a picture of it before she erased it!  I think the “multiple eyes” are his glasses and you can definitely recognize the spiky hair!  

Girls “best” Friend

Tax season is beginning to take its toll on me and Lj.  She cries daily for her daddy when we come home so we’ve been doing all kinds of things to keep her busy.  Sable has become a little bit of a substitute even though most of the time she does not really enjoy the attention.   She’s much too old now to appreciate an overactive toddler dragging her around the house.  Before she got sick last week, they played bubbles.  I got some really cute pictures of them.  When Sable was a puppy she LOVED bubbles and liked to try to “eat” them!  This was only a glimpse of days gone by.

Happy Valentine's Day!

There's nothing better than a Lj Hug!

Valentine's Day 2011 began bright and early this morning!  Lexi headed in to Mom and Dad's with Valentines and flowers for Mom.  This was overshowered by Mom and Dad's Valentine's Day gift for Lexi... a Zhu Zhu hamster complete with the princess carriage. Lexi was in heaven when I left her for work this morning. 

After work I ran into Wally World and tried to buy some cut and bake chocolate chip cookies for us to make for Daddy.  Somehow with even the few items I had, the cookies did not make it to the car! Once home I realized this and debated... no cookies for Daddy or cookies from scratch.  I was already planning on making a nice Valentine's Day dinner of Parmesan crusted Talipia and was not sure if I could pull it all off.  Well, I just threw caution to the wind and cooking we began.  We needed to do something special for an extra special Daddy!  We managed to be taking the last cookies off of the pan as Geoff came home and the talipia was almost finished cooking!  Whew! Never mind that it is almost 8:30 and he has not tasted one cookie... he likes his cookies NON-warm... contrary to most of us other people!

But backing up a little bit... as we came home I pulled up to the mail box and pulled out a card for Lexi.  It was from Ye Ye and Grandma.  As she opened it she took a deep breath and said "ahhh... It's beautiful!!!!".  It was so sweet!

After dinner, we brought Lexi out her card and presents from us.  She covered her eyes and peeked!  LOL! Then when we finally gave her her presents, she exclaimed in complete joy "oh, my goodness!" Her Daddy had picked out a cute little pink sock monkey and a few other things.  It amazes us how excited she can get.  She is such a joy and we are reminded every holiday big or small how much she has brought to our lives.

We read Robert Munch's "Andrew's Loose Tooth" and "Mortimer" before Geoff took her to her room to tuck her in.  That's where they are now... and here I sit, fulfilled with love and joy for my precious family.  It was a great Valentine's Day and a great way to start a week.