sore thumb

This past Friday, 6 days after arriving home from Thailand, we finally had a sunny day.  Thank goodness because otherwise I was about to pack up the family and head south.  It is amazing how sunshine can affect our moods. Lilian is 8 months old.  She was extremely busy in Thailand.  She began crawling the day after we arrived.  Within just a couple days of her crawling her first pearly white started poking through. Then 2 days later another started pushing through.  Her hair had a growth spurt and it all grew straight up.  Her funky hair was the delight of many. Madeleine has said a couple really fun things lately.  1 - "Why does Lilian have that on her forehead?" (a red, speckled birthmark in the middle of her forehead)  "Did she fall out of you?" --2 - " Shhhh , I hear snowing, I think" (said on a particularly cold evening while playing outside). Getting back home after vacation seems to be difficult no matter who you are or where you live. I don't ...

I took advantage of feeling sick today to undecorate our home.  Sick enough to skip school but well enough to get some things done in the house.  It's hard to make understandable Mandarin come out of my mouth when my head is pounding and my stomach turning. When I was younger I always felt very sad when the tree came down and we didn't have little lights glimmering in our living room.  But now, I feel happy that it's done and I have my living room floor space back.  Ah, the reality of getting older.  I think it helps that I did it on NY's Eve so that I have tonight and the new year to be excited about. Here are a few things that stick out about 2008. -Lilian Pearl, possibly the sweetest baby on planet Earth -Moving across town because of toxic fumes in the old place -Finding and decorating an apartment that we LOVE.  We may have the largest kitchen in all of China. -Living in Beijing for 6 weeks -Becoming such great friends with Natasha Tompkins -Living in Chengdu for...

If you have ever lived or passed through eastern PA you may have experienced an unspeakable joy in the form of the gas/ convenience store, " Wawa ".  Because of Wawa , I L-O-V-E hazelnut coffee.  Yesterday, a package came from our good friends in northern OH.  Among other wonderful things, was a coffee can of hazelnut flavored coffee.  happy sighhhhhh .  My house smells amazing this morning.  It's a combination of coffee, fresh baked bread and apple butter simmering in the crock pot. If hazelnut coffee wasn't enough to rejoice about, I also finished the 5 th and final book of our Chinese textbooks yesterday.   Yippeeeee !!!  With the birth of Lilian, going to Chengdu and studying this particular book only 4 hours a week, it has taken a very long time to get through Book 5.  So, I couldn't stop smiling yesterday as we finished up the lesson.  I proudly announced to the school office that I was finished and there was much rejoicing among us.  It is a very good fe...

I don't know how many kids I want.  I know how many kids Phil would like, 2.  Immediately, after giving birth to Lilian I looked up at Phil and said, "I don't want any more kids.  I don't want to do this again.  Two is enough."  I have not forgotten what caused me to passionately speak those words to Phil.  But, when I hold my sweet little girl I have this nagging thought that I don't want this to be the last little baby I cuddle with.   So here is what I think about to try to decide: Traveling...5 people boarding a plane, packing for 5, finding lodging for 5, feeding 5 while on vacation.  We travel a lot so this is something that really is good to consider.  Of course, the main time this will be a hassle is when 3 of the 5 are still young and need a lot of assistance from the 2 that are adults. Sleeping...where does a third sleep?  Is it possible to get 3 kids to nap at the same time?  Both of my girls sleep through the night well almost every night , do I wa...

December first saw our lovely tree ascend in the living room.  December second it became adorned with little lights and lovingly made, given or bought ornaments.  Today we're enjoying it.   Madeleine helped decorated.  We have one branch that is very well decorated and then I helped her space the others out a bit.  She was really sweet looking at the ornaments and getting excited about them.  It's nice that Phil and I have collected ornaments over the years and we even have several from his childhood.  So many of them have special meaning for us.  I remember how much fun it was for me to go through the ornaments when I was little.  So we made sure to let Madeleine enjoy the process even though it meant one fragile little sled got broken.  Thankfully, we had several. Lilian was less than thrilled this morning when she saw the tree in all it's glory.  She did roll underneath it, tried to grab a branch and sucked on a stocking for awhile.  

Our heat did indeed come on on Saturday but it just got really crankin ' yesterday (Tues).  I'm not sure what the temp is inside but it's nice and toasty.  We opened the window in our bedroom last night and turned down the radiator.  I love a cold bedroom for sleeping.  Outside it's in the low 40s in the morning and just around 50 during the day.  We've had nice sunny weather for the last few days and it really looks and feels so wintery .  I love it.   Madeleine has really gotten into leaves.   Phil has taught her how to recognize the tree by it's leaves.  It's so cute as she walks down the sidewalk and says, "Look, a Ginkgo leaf!"  Yesterday he gave her a piece of evergreen.  She smelled it and said, "Smells like Christmas."  Neither of us intentionally taught her that but she's so right. Phil and I are meeting for an Indian lunch later today.   Yippeeeeeee !  It's been so long and I just can't wait.  Xi'an doesn't...

Having time to read, pry and drink coffee before the girls wake. Coffee with whipping cream. Looking out my kitchen window.   Watching Lilian's face as she watches Madeleine. Hearing Phil's voice when he talks to Lilian. Knowing Madeleine has sweet, funny friends. Starbucks on a cold day. Getting enough sleep. Crock pots . A couple days ago Phil was making a cup of tea.  Madeleine really likes tea and especially enjoys Peppermint Tea.  Madeleine, "Papa, is that Peppermint Tea?"  Phil, "No, it's Iron Buddha." Maddie, "Why it iron booty?" Yesterday was a really nice day for me.  Wednesday are my day off from school.  It's a great day to be off because Yali is here to help with the girls and it's mid-week.  I had already decided that I would use the morning to hang out by myself at Starbucks.  We have one very close to us.  I took my textbook and some other books that I just wanted to read.  I drank a latte, munched on a chocolate pastry ...

Still have beautiful fall leaves on our trees despite the valiant effort of some cleaning ladies.  3 of them stood around one of our trees the other afternoon beating it with a long bamboo pole and shaking it violently to get all the changing leaves off.  It made me furious.  I thought, "That is one of my trees that I look at from my window.  Now stop hurting it and my lovely autumn view." Thankfully, they left it alone and we have still have lovely autumn covered sidewalks to stroll along these days. I woke to clear, blue skies which made me want to get outdoors as soon as possible.  It didn't take long for Maddie and I to get it all together for a vigorous walk.  I pushed her and she commented on the trees, the cars and the smells.  "I smell something. (sniff, sniff)  Smells like bad."  Car exhaust was our fresh-morning smell.  I must be acculturating , since it only bothered me a bit. We walked towards the mountains that sit at the southern side of our city....

My clearest Halloween memory is from when I was about 4 years old.  I dressed as a cheerleader and went around with my sister and cousin, Van, door-to-door in Morehead, Kentucky.  Now, I know that I trick-or-treated for years and years but something about that particular time was special to me. I've wondered before what Maddie's first memory will be.  It may be that monkey jumping on her stroller in Malaysia.  She often talks about it.  Or riding an elephant in Thailand. This was M's first year to celebrate Halloween.  She dressed as a princess in pink tennis shoes. She made her own treat bag from a Starbuck's paperbag covered in brown paper and she put fancy tape all over it.  We went to the Tompkins for supper and then an adult (we had 6 that night) stood behind a closed door in their house and Natasha took the kids from door to door.   They knocked on the door, said "Trick-or-Treat!" and then we all had candy to give them.  You should have seen the huge smi...

From my kitchen window I can look down on the treetops and see leaves gradually changing from green to red, green to yellow and green to burnt orange.  This is the first autumn I have actually noticed here in China.  It must be because this is the first time I've lived in a place with a great view and that view includes lots of trees.  How lovely. In Georgia we had an annual apple pickin' day around this time.  My folks and family would drive up to the foothills of North GA and we'd spend a morning in the orchard.  There were fried apple pies and cider to be bought and eaten.  The sky would be that brilliant blue that I always loves so much around the Toccoa area.   Is there really anything better than a day spent outdoors in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains?   How appropriate that I'm eating apple crisp this afternoon as I type.   Our provence is the biggest apple producer in the country.  You'd think with all those apples we'd have lots of apple trea...

I miss my daughter.  I miss how I used to have the time each morning to get up and play with Madeleine for a bit before I needed to get ready for the day.  I hate how I have to tell her, "I can't play with you right now because....".  I just miss her.  And the worst part is that I know she misses me, too.  I guess that's good but at the same time I feel like it also means I'm letting her down and we both know it. The other afternoon I had helped her lay down for her nap.  As I was leaving the room she looked at me and said, "Mom, I love you SO much."  Just goes to show that even though life looks a bit different these days, she knows the love has only grown deeper.  What a relief. I'm tired tonight.  I like my new class schedule with taking all afternoon classes because I have time to study and prepare in the mornings.  The big downside is that I often don't get a nap and I think this new schedule is one of the reasons I don't have much time ...

A week ago tonight, Madeleine got her right arm stuck between a rubber ball and the moving belt on our treadmill.  It was horrible.  The belt took off skin around the wrist and on the inside of her forearm.  A doctor friend told us it was pretty much a 2nd degree burn and to treat it as such.  The hardest part was keeping bandages from sticking to it because for several days it oozed.  No blood but just a clear oozing.  Once we started putting wax paper down as the first layer of dressing (Phil's brilliant idea) things got much easier.  Tonight it looked so much better.  New skin is growing and we are just trusting for no major scars or no scaring at all. Madeleine has been a real trooper.  I came to a new conclusion throught this ordeal.  People who intentially harm children should be put to death.  I have always struggled with the death penalty because our system seems so easily flawed by corrupt judges, jurys, lawyers, cops, witnesses and too may innocent people have been senten...

So I'm having a very rare moment here as I type at 7:09am because I'm the only one up.  I quickly booted up the computer, waited impatiently for everything to start up, typed in the address a couple times too quickly so it was wrong, and now I'm frantically typing.  Why?  Because there is no way that I'll finish this post before one of my 2 girls needs me. There was a perfect time in history when my eldest would sleep till almost 8am every morning.  I would get up, run, take a shower, read, drink coffee and feel totally prepared for a new day.  Now, I'm usually lying down with her around 6am so she'll go back to sleep.  As I leave her room her little sister begins to cry and by the time I crawl back into bed, it's time for us to get up.   Yesterday, was a rainy cool fall day.  Madeleine came in around 6:45am, wide awake and so happy for a new day.  My bed felt so warm and cozy.  I had my husband there, a coolness in the air, my bed was warm, it was gray outs...

Yesterday Phil, Lilian and I went out for lunch. Lilian slept the entire time but Phil and I really enjoyed our Portuguese restaurant experience. It has got to be the tackiest restaurant I have ever seen and seeing that it's often easier to judge a book by it's cover than not, I expected the food to be pretty terrible. On the contrary, it was very good. At the end of our meal the waiter brought us two cups of coffee, which we had not ordered. When we told him this he said, "It's our 8th birthday and this is our gift to you." How nice, we thought. Then I realized it was Nescafe which is a very popular instant coffee here that has the sugar and creamer already added. It's amazing how nice instant coffee looks in a little white coffee cup sitting on a saucer. As they say, it's the thought that counts. Today Madeleine will have her first Chinese language lesson. Her teacher is my former teacher and our friend. She's our age and very good with kid...

I got a facebook site last week. I don't know if I should announce this because I actually don't like that I have a site and the pressure that comes with it concerning Facebook "friends". I also don't like that there's another thing on the internet that takes up my time. I haven't posted here in days and days and days and this is what I actually enjoy. But somehow Facebook has sucked me in and I really, really don't like that. The hard thing is that there are people I've talked with in the last couple days that I haven't seen in years and well, that's good. My life right now is really odd. Madeleine and Phil are in Beijing. They left Monday and will be back tomorrow, Thursday, evening. Being home with a newborn is just incrediably dull. The good thing about it is that I can blog, excersice, watch Seinfield, go for long walks with Lilian, sleep past 6am and pretty much do anything I want as long as it involves toting around a 3 mont...

I'm so happy to announce that my oldest daughter is officially potty trained. We really thought she'd never poop on the potty but continue to give us 2 soiled pairs of underwear everyday for the rest of her life. But thankfully she figured out "the feeling" and she's got it down pat. She hasn't had an accident for days and days and even sleeps through the night with no problems. So, just one kiddo in diapers now. My dear Steiner Dad and Mom will be boarding the plane in the morning to head to our home. We're just around the block, really. We just can't believe they are actually going to be sitting on our couch in our home in Xi'an. What a great thing. This week has gone well with starting back to school. I was so dreading it but it hasn't been so bad. My teacher is really great at speaking clearly and correcting me. It's also nice to be starting back slowly with just 6 hours a week. Lilian is doing great with being away from me a...

Here's what's been on my mind lately. Greenery - I love green space. There are places abounding with greenery here but I don't live in one of them. To give credit where credit is due, Xi'an does have more trees than other areas that we've lived in. Because of my need for green I have decided that whenever possible I will try to live on the 1st, 2nd or 3rd floor of apartments from now on. We live on the 8th and I can see trees lower down from various windows in my apartment but I'd like to be low enough that the trees where actually at my windows. This complex has a lot of beautiful landscaping and lots and lots of green stuff. That's one reason why we chose this place. Characters - I am pretty horrible at remembering Chinese characters. Tuesday (the day I start back to school) is going to be very painful since the book I'm currently studying is all characters. Milk - Today Yali stayed home with Lilian while Madeleine and I went out. It was a little trial...

We are in what we call our home now. Which means Xi'an for the foreseeable future. This, in our case, can mean anything from a couple years to a couple weeks. I have discovered that our home in Xi'an doesn't feel like home yet. We moved in on May 4th but we've actually only lived in this apartment for about a month and that month wasn't contiguous. Madeleine still considers our home to be in the other area of Xi'an that we first moved to and last night I couldn't remember were stuff was in the kitchen. Phil doesn't seem to have a problem. Today Yali came back to work and Maddie was happy to see her. Lilian seems to be happy to be anywhere that has me within close proximity so she's doing great. I'm very, very happy to be back here with my girls and my Phil.

Wouldn't it be so exciting to have a child in the Olympics? Today Madeleine and I were watching gymnastics. She wasn't so in to it but since I wouldn't play with her she sat with me and watched grudgingly. However, after awhile she got down and started trying to stand on her head and running from corner to corner of the room (floor routines) and ending with a grand throwing of the hands in the air and bowing. I was proud of her for just that display so I can't imagine having a child actually compete. In yesterday's post I mentioned that a requirment to be a stay-at-home mom would be for us to have play friends. Well, today I found out that Madeleine already has about 8 friends here. They patiently sit on the bathtub eagerly awaiting her nightly bath. They are (in no particular order) shampoo bottle, conditioner bottle, empty sprite bottle, empty coke bottle, baby shampoos bottle, wierd blue liquid in a bottle and empty juice bottle. This morning when she wal...

The girls and I are back at the office for a few days and nights. We may be here until we go back to Xi'an. Depends on when my folks return...no need for us all to share a room again when we could be at Dave's house. Dad and Mom are back in Wuhan waiting for their visas to be renewed. So hard sharing a room with Madeleine and Lilian. One or the other is doable but last night I had one girl on either side of the bed - not in the bed but Maddie was on a pallet and Lilian in her portable cradle. Everything went okay until about 5am when Lilian let out a sharp cry waking both Maddie and me. Maddie started crying and so was Lilian and it took all I had not to join in with them. But we all settled down and got another hour and half sleep before the day officially began. Phil's out of town again. 5 nights this time. The days I can handle fine but the evenings are a pain when we're here at the office. It's a vicious cycle if and when one of them starts crying. Th...