Grandparents are a BLESSING, but Icees are pure EVIL

Maliana ~

So, a fresh week calls for a fresh haircut. After several months of deliberation, constant attempts to tuck your hair behind your ear, your equally constant tugs of your hair back out from behind your ear, and elaborately cajoling you to allow me to put your hair in ponytails or even just barrettes (to no avail), I finally gave in and decided it was time for bangs. We headed to our favorite Miss Aimee who did her thing and voila! Bangs! It definitely took some getting used to, you look so different, but I am in love with the new look. You even exclaimed, “I look different!” upon seeing yourself in the mirror. But I definitely think it got your stamp of approval when I saw you do your wide-mouth grin, noticed you kept sneaking peaks in store windows as we walked by, and when we got home you called out, “Look at my new hair!” to your friends. I am so thrilled to finally be able to see your beautiful eyes again!

Another person who loves your hair is Ms. Jenny next door. She said she is so happy to not have to feel like she wants to brush your hair out of your eyes all the time now. We spent a lot of time outside with Ms. Jenny, Roman and Natalia this week and are so lucky to have such great neighbors. Natalia and Roman played with you quite a bit, and you just adore them. You have ever since you came home from China, excitedly squealing and leaping out of the car any time we’d arrive home and you saw them outside.

teaching you how to use the throttle on your
battery-powered police motorcycle

walking Oliver, and Mali(?)

you were a willing participant, so what the heck!

We also hit the local Farmer’s Market in Westerville this week too. It is a pretty sparse market, with not a lot to look at really. However, you managed to pick up some fresh honey, cookies, and a real maple (syrup) leaf lollipop to bring home. Plus, Uncle Flint walked down to see us too.

buying your cookies

we walked Uncle Flint back to his place before
heading home ourselves

I had to laugh at a couple things on this particular day as well. First, you yelled at me while at a stop light on the way to the market, asking, “Mom, are you texting?”…then…”Mom, you don’t text when you drive!” I was actually just setting the reminder alarm on my phone but okay, okay…busted. Where the heck did you learn that anyway?

And secondly, you have been skipping naps for a while now, making our transition after school a bit tenuous at times due to your grumpiness. However, on our farmers’ market day, you cracked me up. On the way home, I swung through Dairy Queen to get us some Dilly Bars as a treat, and in spite of being completely exhausted, you still managed to begin eating your ice cream. After about 5 minutes though, I looked in the rearview mirror where I saw you with your eyes completely closed and your head nodding something fierce, but still licking the ice cream! If I could have pulled the car over and filmed you, I would have. It was hysterical! You love your ice cream and even sleep isn’t going to get in the way of you enjoying that frosty treat!

I also have to make a side note mention of something that was pretty touching this week. For whatever reason, and completely out of the blue, you decided that you wanted to say a prayer for Uncle Dustin. Daddy and I were very surprised and moved, and joined you to say a few words. You have also been wearing these little green hair bands on your wrist as bracelets, ever since Dustin’s memorial. Aunt Lindsey had given you a green Donate Life bracelet of your own at his memorial, but since it was too big and kept sliding off, you took it upon yourself to dig up these similarly green hair bands to wear on your wrist and that fit you perfectly. It’s amazing to see the kinds of things that make an impact on you. You constantly surprise and fascinate me. Uncle Dustin would be so proud of you.

I loved our little moments this week too. Like your telling me stories about your friends at school as we drove home (“I like my tail shakin’!” – told to me as you wiggle your butt, and then – “My friends do that all the time!”); or the stories about China that you keep requesting from me as we lie in bed in the dark each night; or putting puzzle after puzzle together with you; or running with you in the jogging stroller as you point out which birds are robins (hey, you really are paying attention) with the day turning to dusk and showing you how the tips of the trees glow golden from the setting sun. I’ve never wanted to freeze time more than I do since you came along.

So, if our week was fun, you definitely kicked off the weekend right too. On Friday, Lao Lao picked you up from school with her friend, Sal. You were SO excited to see her as we’d kept it a secret so she could surprise you. She came to your tang soo doo class too, and you were more than eager to show off for her.

On Saturday, Daddy took you to another tang soo do class in the morning, and then we headed to the Founders’ Day celebration in New Albany. Koguryo Martial Arts had a demonstration there so we watched that, which was neat to see your instructors performing. Afterwards, we walked around the rest of the festival. It was SO hot that day, that none of us were feeling all that peppy. I also realized that I could probably never live in a hot and humid climate either. My body, and temper, can just not easily withstand hot temperatures for any length of time. Unfortunately, this little lesson was illustrated by what we are now referring to as the Great Icee Debacle of 2012.

Like I said, it was unbearably hot that day, and everyone must have had the same idea as we did because we waited in the longest line of the day to get our shaved ice and sugary syrup. Upon finally making it to the head of the line and finalizing our purchases, we attempted to get situated with our extremely full cups of icy cool relief from the oppressive heat. Of course, my first mistake was ordering a bright blue icee for you, and the second mistake was allowing you to juggle it while I got all of our stuff situated in the wagon. Two seconds after I heard the first “Uh oh!”…I heard another one and knew it was bad. I looked over to see you had dumped almost half of your bright blue (and fastly staining anything it came into contact) Icee into the wagon and all over the sheets we had brought to sit down on. The syrup was rapidly seeping all the way through the rest of the wagon and so we quickly scooped you up, trying our best to minimize the blue streaks quickly appearing on anything and everything we owned. Of course, you wouldn’t stand on the pavement because you had long since abandoned your shoes for some reason that only you know. Daddy finally “tossed” you over a fence to a patch of grass, where you stood watching as we scrambled to mop things up, with me and Daddy bickering with each other about how best to go about the clean up. To make things even more interesting, you then chose that precise moment to urgently grab your crotch and say, “I have to go to the bathroom!” Sadly, I must admit that I had a bit of a mommy meltdown at this point. I ordered Daddy to take you to the bathroom because if there was one more accident right now, I was going to be beyond p!$$ed. While you went to the bathroom, I got things under control and cleaned up, finding a nice shady tree and finally taking a break, not without muttering some choice curse words as I lugged the loaded wagon through the crowd. Luckily, I was pretty much feeling like myself again by the time you both came back from the bathroom. Upon your arrival, the first words out of your mouth were, “Daddy said you’re being mean.” I looked at Daddy questioningly, who sheepishly tried to deny it, saying, “I just said you were angry.” Eventually it came out that he had actually said that I was being mean in response to your asking, “What’s wrong with Mommy?”…but then later had added, “Mommy’s just angry.” I would have been offended, had it not been true. I was being mean, and I knew it. I lost my cool when I shouldn’t have. So, I made up with Daddy later, right there in front of you, with both of us owning up to our mistakes and apologizing to each other. I wish I could say that we never allow you to see us argue or have conflicts, but I’d be lying if I said that. However, we always make sure you see our resolutions, always make sure you see us work it out too. So hopefully that helps even things out in the big picture.

I recently saw a cartoon the other day. A picture of a mother holding her baby and it said, “I hope I can give you all the love you need and just enough dysfunction to make you funny.” Well my dear, I think we’re well on our way to that.

Oh, and did I mention that this particular day was also Daddy and I’s wedding anniversary too? Yep. 11 years. Happy anniversary baby. Ha.

this picture sums up how hot we all felt

your instructors doing a tang soo do demo

blue icee tongues

Once home from Founders’ Day, Daddy and I got ready to go out to dinner to celebrate our anniversary while Lao Lao arrived to babysit. You were so stoked to have your grandma there, heading straight out on your adventure with her without a second glance to Mom and Dad. Daddy and I were able to enjoy a nice dinner with Uncle Joe and Aunt Tina (who were celebrating their first anniversary the very next day), without worrying about you at all. When we got back at about 11:45pm, you were still up and going strong. You had even convinced Lao Lao to make you oatmeal at 11:30pm (she’s such a sucker). While you wouldn’t allow her to photograph you (boo!), she recapped the night for us when we got home. First you headed to Inniswood Park where you brushed your hands through to smell all the herbs they have growing in the gardens, walked along the frog talk walk, found a huge pool of tadpoles, meandered along with a raccoon for a bit, and played in the water at the children’s garden. You then drove around Westerville, where Lao Lao showed you the Cherrington Rd. house I lived when I was your age, and finally ending at Rita’s Italian Ice where you had custard while sitting on the hood of Lao Lao’s car (which you thought was 'da bomb') and watched the night fall as the neon lights came on around you. Afterwards, you came home and put together nearly every puzzle in the house, then sat by the back door and watched june bugs, flicking them every so often when they’d land on the screen. The next morning, you even showed me how to smell our own bushes in the front yard, insisting they smelled like lemon. Ha. I am so glad you have a grandmother like Lao Lao. When we came home, and even the next day, she kept telling us what an absolute joy (her exact description) it is to spend time with you like that. And I’m so glad that these are the kinds of memories you are building of your childhood too.

On Sunday, we all needed to sleep in and thankfully you let us. Once we were finally awake, you and Daddy tackled the flowerbed outside, at least putting new dirt in it anyway. You were so proud of yourself to be helping with this big task, accompanying Daddy to Lowes and using your new gardening gloves and hand shovel. I love that you love to be so helpful.

I love that grin!

rock star gardening!

Later that afternoon, we got a call from Uncle Kevin that your cousin Joey had made it to the finals in her soccer tournament, which just so happened to be very close to our house. We went over to watch her play and they ended up winning the whole thing! Very cool to be able to see that, and you were so happy to see your cousins too.

focusing on the game

still taking it all in

with the champion!

now the other girls wanted in on the picture action too

We wrapped up our weekend by taking Memaw and Papaw out to dinner for their birthdays. We headed to El Vacquero by our house and for whatever reason you decided you just had to wear your monkey Halloween costume to surprise them. So, Daddy and I thought, “Oh, what the heck!” In spite of the crazy heat, you wore that dang thing all the way to the restaurant and definitely surprised them. I think Papaw was speechless when he saw a tiny little ape marching up to his table. Luckily, we had the foresight to make you wear shorts and a tank top underneath. We were able to peel you out of it before the drinks even arrived at the table. I swear, you are a character.

Mexican food + monkey costume = perfect sense!

Papaw was still speechless here

"say cheese" birthday boy and girl!

You were in rare form after leaving the restaurant, hyped up no doubt from a great time and getting to see most of your grandparents all weekend long. I’ve probably said this before, but when I was little I did not really grow up knowing my grandparents that well, if at all. So, I’m so glad that you have the relationships you do with yours.

Grandparents are such a blessing.

(But, I still think Icees are pure evil *wink*).

Love,

Mama

Happy Mothers' Day!

Maliana ~

Wow! Another whole year that I got to be called Mommy. What a lucky, lucky woman I am. It's flying by so fast. I’ll begin with our Mothers’ Day celebration on Sunday and then work my way backwards through our week.

For MommyFest 2012, we had our Moms over for a cookout on Sunday. Lao Lao, Memaw, Papaw, Uncles Flint and Forge, as well as the three of us were all in attendance and it was basically a nice, quiet evening spent together. It rained nearly all day with a light drizzle so we had to stay inside, but that was no big deal since we now have our new kitchen. It was our first family gathering since all of the remodeling was completed and the extra room made a world of difference. Everything went off without a hitch and you had a blast playing with everyone, getting crazy with your uncles after dinner. By the time they left, you hardly had any voice left and you were as wound up as the Tasmanian devil.

getting ready to chow down on your creation

destroying the fruit pizza

the gang on Mothers' Day 2012

silly group shot

just the ladies

loves her uncles!

Prior to everyone’s arrival, you helped me make a fruit pizza for dessert and were so proud of your project. In fact, as soon as you woke up on Sunday morning you wanted to work on it right away, but Daddy convinced you to help him make me breakfast first. Thank you Daddy!

scrambled eggs for Mommy!

And when it came time to finally make the fruit pizza, what are we adding to the icing, Mali?
Click the link to find out. Ha ha.....http://youtu.be/zDXZqeQd4xM

mmm...licking the beaters!

getting started on her fruit pizza masterpiece!

and voila! complete with a strawberry "stonehenge" and
a red raspberry forest!

And speaking of Mother’s Day morning, I had the best wake up. We snuggled together all night, and the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was your sweet sleeping face. Daddy snuck this picture of us while we were still snoozing and I swear, there is no way I’d rather wake up. Ever.

this is actually a common way we sleep together...I
have more than one picture like this. I love it!

And if this week ended with a celebration of moms, the week began with you and Daddy doing some serious bonding together. You requested a date with him one night so you both headed to Easton where you suckered him into some Yagoot and a Lightening McQueen ball cap. You obviously thought you were Miss Thang with it on…

"So what, So what, So whatcha want?!"

When you got home, I asked how your date went and you said, “So cool. Awesome!”

Another day Daddy took you fishing at Sharon Woods. While Daddy actually snagged the fish on the hook, he let you reel it in. Your reaction was priceless!!

http://youtu.be/Qg_3HGiBnIM ~ watch the video here!

You are officially a fishing enthusiast now! And spending this time with Daddy is so good for both of you.

got one!

our little fisher-woman

And finally, Daddy swears you didn’t learn this from him, but I have to share one more story and let you be the judge of where you think you learned it. As Daddy was buckling you into your car seat one morning, you acted like he pinched your thigh. You then ever so dramatically grabbed your leg near your crotch and yelled, “Ow! My balls!” It was early in the morning, and even without coffee, Daddy was at full alert when you said that, asking, “What did you say?” To which you repeated that infamous phrase again. It was all he could do not to burst out laughing. Later that day when I picked you up at school, you told me all about it. “Mommy, did you know that Daddy hit my balls this morning?” (Having heard this story from Daddy already, I was able to maintain a bit more composure). I asked, “Really? Well, where are your balls?” To which you replied casually, “Um, I don’t know.” And that was the end of the discussion. Daddy is sticking to his story that you didn’t hear it from him, so we’ll blame it on the boys you hang around with at school for now. Never a dull moment with you, kid.

Saturday of this week, we had our monthly Fu playgroup and this time one of the families rented a bounce house and hosted a huge potluck cookout for everyone. It was so much fun, always good to spend time with the other parents and watch you crazy kids together. Remarkably, with the large group of kids at any given time in that bounce house, there was only one small injury (easily cured by a kiss and hug from her mom). And fortunately, for once, it wasn’t you.

a great turnout for our Fu Group cookout!

This week brought a surprising shift for you at tang soo do. You expressed an interest for the first time ever in moving up in belts there. I don’t really know how serious this interest is since you don’t necessarily practice much at home, but you have definitely shown improvement while there in class. Instructor Wolfe allowed you to attempt to show him that you know the first fighting combination, which after practicing with him a few times, you were able to muddle through. You definitely need to keep working on memorizing the steps, but are definitely showing progress and so he awarded you a little yellow stripe (basically yellow duct tape on the end of your belt) to reflect this fact. You were proud of it, and it was very sweet when we opened the mailbox a couple days later to find a personalized postcard from Instructor Wolfe, addressed directly to you, congratulating you on your hard work. Cool stuff kid.

We also headed over to the Park of Roses this week to visit Uncle Dustin’s stone, to say hello to him and take your annual picture, as well as have a family picnic on a beautiful spring evening. We brought your big girl bike with us and you loved riding it along the paths that snake throughout the park. I’ll have to remember this bike riding option for you this summer, as well as come back when the roses are in full bloom. If you think it’s pretty right now, just wait until the roses are all open and smiling at us! Wai Gong grew up not far from this park and used to hang out here all the time as a kid, so not only is it pretty special because we get to visit Dustin here, but it holds a lifetime of memories for Wai Gong, as well as Ggma Hart.

Love you Uncle Dustin!

the roses are just starting to bloom

you loved the freedom of all the paths here

one of Mommy's silly timer picture ideas

a rose and a rainbow...go to the below link to an old blog's
post to find out the significance of these two symbols
(http://waitingformaliana.blogspot.com/2009/05/roses-and-rainbows.html)

And of course, I can’t let this week go by without giving a big heartfelt thank you to your birthmother. The woman who selflessly carried you for ten months in her belly and under her heart, only to find a special place where you could be found so that the red thread could bring you halfway around the world, into a new life with our family. I can’t imagine how hard that must have been for her and I hope that somehow she knows how grateful we are for the blessing she has given us in you. Daddy and I are so lucky, words can’t even begin to describe.

Happy Mothers’ Day!

I love you!

Mama

Enjoying the Outdoors

Maliana ~

Well this week has been pretty darn good if I do say so myself. It’s been full of bike riding, nature runs, practice fishing, a visit to the zoo, and spending time with family and friends. In fact, it was such a good week that I wasn’t even all that depressed come Sunday night when I knew I was going back to work the next morning. We’d done this week up right so I was nice and relaxed going into Monday morning.

This particular week we’ve had super weather, gorgeous during the day and some very impressive thunderstorms at night. You’ve decided to begin practicing on your new big girl bike every single night, going around the block not once, but twice each evening. You are doing amazingly well too. You have your brakes down to a science, and are even standing to pedal when you need to get uphill. We’ve also made it a game to see how many worms we can “save” from the hot sun or trampling feet on the sidewalk. This week you were pretty proud to say you saved 4 worms from their imminent demise. My little nature lover.

slick little wave as you roll by

You are such a natural athletically, even Ms. Theresa and Ms. Krista (your Tap and Tumble instructors) made the comment that you are doing really well. A super strong kid.

Here you are on your bike ~ look at you go!
http://youtu.be/u2qczI4MR_U

And speaking of loving nature, you and I went on a few different runs together. After school one day I took you to Sharon Woods, and since you have chosen to begin skipping naps at school, on this particular day you slept the entire 3.8 miles that I ran with you. You love to sleep outside and the lull of the jogging stroller really puts you out when you are tired. You may have missed the 6 wild turkeys I spotted along the trail, but I’m glad you got your nap in. For our next run you were wide awake and I’m so glad because we ran into an old friend, Mr. Turtle! We’ve seen this little guy off the trail by our house for at least the last 2 years. We know it’s the same one because he has a little chip on the side of his shell. Pretty cool stuff. I wonder how old he is?

hi again little guy!

Also, upon leaving the house for this run, the fog had not yet burned off. You were so excited to see the “frosty” as you called it.

This week I also took a little personal time from work to get things done at home before picking you up at school. As I attacked your room, cleaning and sorting all of your accumulated stuff, I had to laugh at what I found in your bed. It’s always interesting to see what your kids stash in different places. Between your sheets I found: Spiderman, the Green Goblin, part of a spaceship, 10,000 various sized blankets, Dora, Mickey Mouse, and your Innotab (or as you call it, your Ipad).

As I said before, you have been way into fishing lately. You love to practice casting with your new Lightning McQueen fishing pole, so Daddy and I decided to take you to Hoover to let you cast for “reel” (ha ha). We were racing a storm and so you only got to plunk your bait in a few times, but again you were a natural. You casted effortlessly and probably farther than I could, and you loved it.

heading to the water

your fishing "game face"

testing the waterproof-ness of your boots

just like Daddy

someone is "hooked" on fishing

Here you are casting your line...clearly a natural!
http://youtu.be/32cye5TDMac

Memaw and Papaw visited for dinner another night, and you were happy to see them both. Of course, you pulled out your doctor kit and got to work on them right away. This appears to be a standby game when they visit. Perhaps to you they look like they need a little TLC, or you just know that they are suckers and easy patients. Either way, you all have a great time playing together. But should we be concerned that you chose your Animal Hospital scrubs to work on them? Ha ha.

giving Memaw a shot in her ankle

now giving Abby a shot...she doesn't seem to mind at all

prepping Papaw for surgery

reversing roles

We hit the zoo over the weekend with the Neuhausels. When we woke up that morning, you announced, “I’m gonna be a girl today. Where are my heels?”

feeling girly in your requested heels

We had a super time eating a picnic lunch and then visiting a bunch of animals. We always enjoy spending time with the Neuhausels and it’s nice to see you and Mia together. All three of you kids, (you, Mia, and Freddy), were pretty tired with not one nap between the three of you, so there were challenging moments towards the end, but we had a great time nonetheless.

the Neuhausels
(Mia, Michelle, Freddy, and Fred)

you girls were more interested in checking out
the lake than eating lunch

feeding geese

checking out the carp with Dad

the tunnel that is always fun to yell in as you go through...
to see who can make the biggest echo

riding a manatee

note to self: take group photo before the kids begin
their meltdown...all three of you were beyond
the point of no return

boat ride!

(love that face!)

Mommy trying to steal a kiss from you

you look a little constipated, but that's just your fake smile, ha.

Dippin Dots!

Once home, Daddy headed out with friends and you and I waited for Lao Lao who came over and made guacamole with us for Cinco de Mayo. While you waited for Lao Lao, you raided my thank you cards and created some masterpieces especially for her. On more than one card, you had drawn pictures of Lao Lao, which remarkably all looked about the same and so we surmised that this is in fact how you must see her. It’s a pretty good likeness too!

your artistic vision of Lao Lao

You loved helping make the guac and even enjoyed some tastes too, although were more into the lime tortilla chips than anything else.

smooshing the avocado

cooking lesson with Lao Lao

guacamole is done!

and the first taste ~ yum!

Sunday felt like a lazy day, but was anything but. Daddy took you to Safety Town in New Albany so you could try out your big girl bike there and so I could get some flowers potted and the house cleaned.

After you worked up an appetite, he took you to a Chinese restaurant nearby (Great Wall) where you made a new friend, Selena. Her parents own the restaurant and you are both only a month apart in age, however she just returned from living in China most of her life and so does not speak much English at all. No matter though, because “play” is an international language and boy did you guys “talk” up a storm.

"silly" is understood in any language

After returning home you needed to take a nap, but were fighting it tooth and nail. You had wanted me to lay down with you, and so both Daddy and I did for a bit (in our bed), but then you kept kicking (because you were angry) and several times they landed on me. I gave you fair warning, and when you didn’t stop I got up and went back downstairs to repot more flowers. You immediately got very upset, but I felt like you needed to learn a lesson and suffer the consequences of your actions, so I stayed downstairs. A little bit later, I was pleasantly surprised when you came outside with Daddy. Evidently, all on your own you had asked to come down and apologize to me. I was very impressed (making sure to tell you how much I appreciated that). But I was even more shocked when you decided to sleep in your own bed for nap. You even went in your room and did it all by yourself. That’s a first that you did it all on your own. There are usually many arguments, stalling, and creative negotiations to accompany any type of sleep in this house. So wow! Mark this date in the record books.

Sunday evening we wrapped up the weekend with dinner at Northstar Café with my cousin Amy and her little girl Chloe, as well as Lao Lao, Uncles Flint and Forge, and Papaw Rick. They (Amy, Tre (who is Amy’s husband), and Chloe) live in Tennessee since Tre is in the army and so we don’t get to see them much. In spite of there being 2 years difference between you and Chloe’s ages, you found a common interest in rearranging the condiment counter together. I’m sure the staff loved that. Ha. Anyway, it was nice to catch up and have you spend some rare time with both of them. Amy is expecting a baby soon (who will be your new cousin, Eva), but unfortunately Tre is being redeployed to Afghanistan this fall. Because of this, the girls are all moving back to Ohio for 9 months or so. Hopefully, we’ll be able to see them more often and help make the time pass a little quicker and easier while they wait for their Daddy to return.

the gang at Northstar after dinner

Love,
Mama