The Snow is Calling

It was so fun to wake up to snow fall! It just brightens my day.
This morning Lilia was eating her breakfast while looking out the window. She couldn't wait to go out and play in the snow. She said, "I think the snow is asking me to come out and play."

Sleepy Head

Yesterday we had Christmas w/Dave's extended family. Dave's Aunt Linda rocked with Alex asleep for a long while and my mother-in-law took over when Aunt Linda needed to eat. Then he slept in the car ride to my parent's house. (I'm staying at their house for the week b/c Dave's away at a Bridges conference.) Then he slept from 8:30pm till 10pm when I woke him up to eat again. He went back to sleep by 11:15 and slept till 4:45am. He ate very briefly and fell right asleep. He started to stir around 7 so I woke him up to eat.
I'm telling you all this because Alex hasn't slept this well and this much since he was a few weeks old!!!!!!!! It was so wonderful. Sleep begets sleep. Maybe he's catching up from weeks of not sleeping. Either way, I'm SO THANKFUL!!!!!

Happy Alex, the sweater says it all!

Sporting her new princess dress along with fairy wings and her magic wand!

Before we even went down stairs she wanted to get into her princess dress...

Lilia's Snow day

We ended up getting 24in of snow! It was so awesome. Lilia loved it. We were away last winter so this was a great surprise!

5 am

Lilia was up this morning at 5!!! The worst part was that she didn't even remember that it was Christmas and their were presents waiting for her downstairs. We kept her upstairs till 6. We even tried to give her hints to remember it was Christmas, but no luck. When she got to the bottom of the stairs she exclaimed, "Oh, presents!" She proceeded to open each one with excitement and vigor.

Her favorite presents are, "A Belle figurine (from Beauty and the Beast), pretend food, a toy kitchen and fairy wings."

Christmas Eve

Yesterday the four of us took the bus down town to Macy's. We walked through Dicken's Village and then stood in line for Santa. Dave and Lilia had gone ahead and when Lilia saw Santa, she got scared. Luckily we didn't have to stand in the long line to find that out. Then we watched the light show in Macy's. Lilia loved it.

We took a taxi over to the Comcast Building to watch a 15 minute Holiday video. In the foyer is this giant HD video wall where the picture is the most incredible thing I've ever seen. Here's a caption from their website...

"This realistic imagery offers 10 million pixels of clarity — five times the resolution of hi-definition TV — supplemented with computer-generated images of amazingly realistic quality, producing a vivid virtual world."

We took the "L" home. We promised Lilia a lolipop so we stopped in this tiny grocery store near our house. When I put a bag on dumdums on the counter the guy said, "That's it? She can just have it." It was an early Christmas present!

The day totally felt like we were back in Asia...all the modes of transportation, exploring the city and free stuff for LIlia.

Dairy Free Pizza

Alex can't tolerate dairy very well. I love pizza so I came up with this idea for a pizza tonight. It was SO GOOD!!!

Pizza crust

Pesto sauce

Fresh spinnach

Orange pepper, diced

Marinated artichoke

Arrange ingredients in order listed, cook/heat according to package and enjoy!

Thank you

Thank you for praying, keep praying! Alex went to sleep around 10:30/10:45. Dave and I were in bed by 11pm!!! I ask you to keep praying so he will consistently go to bed earlier. However...Lilia was up this morning at 5am. Dave went in her bed w/her to sleep. He slept, but he thinks she didn't. If it's not one kid, it's the other. We are thankful to God that he gave us an earlier night. And thank you if you prayed!

If you're someone who prays, please pray for us. Alex is such a difficult baby. He has reflux, he can't tolerate me eating dairy, he's not a great sleeper during the day and at night he has a really hard time settling down. He falls in and out of sleep every night then finally settles down around midnight. The whole process involves him crying, feeding, falling asleep for a short while and waking again after like 20min or so. It is really wearing Dave and I down. We just can't do it anymore, but there seems no end in sight. We're both so tired.

At night I'm usually the one that has to be with Alex b/c I supply his food. I'm so exhausted that I'm angry with him and angry with God that he won't go to sleep and stay asleep. Please pray that Alex would be able to go to sleep earlier every night. Pray that Dave and I would have patience with him and that God would give us the strength to persevere.

Thank you.

Don't knock it till you've tried it!

I made this soup today and it's really good. Most of the ingredients you probably have on hand already, except for the cauliflower.

Creamy Cauliflower Soup

3 32oz chicken broths

1 large head of cauliflower, chopped

3 med potatoes, chopped

1 med onion, diced

2 tsp chicken bouilon

1 1/2 cups milk

1 bag frozen corn

1 large sweet potato, chopped small

salt & pepper (s & p)

1. Combine 1st 5 ingredients. Season with s & p to taste. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 45 min till everything is soft.

2. Puree in blender or food processor 2/3 of soup. Pulse the last 1/3 so there are some hearty chunks. Return to pot and add milk, corn & sweet potato. Simmer low an additional hour until sweet potatoes are soft.

3. Serve with your favorite bread. Feeds about 4-6.

Snow day!

What an awesome day. We have gotten so much snow. I think we have at least a foot right now, and it's still snowing. Dave has been out shoveling, but it's hardly noticeable. Lilia got to go outside and play. She had a great time, but she came in and was really cold. She warmed up with some hot chocolate.

I made some soup and brownies and invited our friends over that live on our block. It's so nice living in such a close community that they just had to walk a few houses in the snow and we could get a nice break from being inside all day.

Dave has Alex giggling

Today has been an awesome day!!!

Killer Find!

Dude, check out these boots!!! They go for $89 new. I got them at a consignment shop in the city for $17.50! They are Merrills. Killer deal! Oh and they are exactly my size, 9.5. What are the odds???

Christmas baby

I LOVE my happy boy!!!

Chubby baby

Alex is gaining weight so well. He's up to 11lb 9oz!!! He was 2 months on the 12th.

30

Today was my 30th b-day. I can't believe that I'm now entering my 30's. It's weird.

Dave and I went to dinner in the city and spent a little time at Starbucks. My mother-in-law was so sweet to babysit so we could enjoy time alone. It was a nice night.

Where we parked, on 20th and Samson St. we found this killer consignment shop that sells high end clothing. I found a great pair of Merrill boots and 2 shrugs. Dave got a shirt. Everything was really reasonable. I love shopping and don't get to do it enough with Alex and Lilia in the picture. It's too stressful crazy. Some day soon things will feel more normal...I hope!

Lilia and Alex-8 weeks

It makes your middle of the night when you walk into the room and your son smiles at you!!!

Oh Toddlers!

Last night we were driving in the car and Lilia told me what she wanted from Santa. She said, "I want a table and chairs. A refrigerator and food and a computer. Yup, that's what I want."

I asked her, "What if Santa doesn't bring you those things?"

Her response was, "He has to, I need them."

Dave comes clean!

I was shocked last night to hear my husband confess his horrible eating habits in East Asia.

His first year there, 2001-2002, he ate McDonald's every day for lunch. He became known for it among everyone that was in the city. It's a big city!

Last year he ate a snickers and a Coke everyday during the class break! I couldn't believe my ears last night. I shot out of bed, "What! That's so bad for you."

It came up b/c during my 1st trimester I couldn't eat enough calories (that I liked) to fill my growing belly. Dave suggested a snickers. So I ate a snickers every day for about 2 weeks. I thought that was a long time!

Our tree...we found this one in Lansdowne, only $35!

I'm not vain

Lilia likes to play with our camera and take pictures. She's pretty careful so we let her. Yesterday she pointed the camera at me and told me to say "Cheese." This is her shot. Pretty good for 2 1/2 yrs old.

All smiles, sometimes

On most days when Alex isn't sleeping, he's generally crying. He does have his moments when he's happy. Usually it's on the changing table. We can almost always get him to smile there. It's AWESOME! 8 weeks old today.

Is this wrong?

Today, on 2 separate occasions, I craved alcohol.

1. I passed by a wine and spirits store on my way home from food shopping. All I wanted to do was stop in and buy the necessary ingredients for a Cosmopolitan.

2. Dave has bought beer b/c we had some friends over during the snow day. After Lilia went to bed a beer sounded good to me. I'm pretty sure my last beer was in college.

Today I asked Lilia what she wanted for Christmas. Here was her response...

"A ding dong bell and a door. That will be exciting! Yeah!"

Alex, 7 weeks

A nice treat

The past 2 days have been a little rough. Yesterday was better than the day before, but we're still just barely getting by. Alex is not a good sleeper during the day so I don't get much of a break. He cries often too.

Last night Dave and I were shot. Since 2pm yesterday, Alex was eating ever hour and a half. He had barely slept since then. Around 10:45ish we were both so tired. Dave put Alex in his car seat in his room and came to bed. Alex was wide awake, but content. We prayed and asked God for mercy that Alex would fall asleep on his own. The next thing we knew it was 6am and Lilia was coming into our room. Alex was still asleep! I think his last feeding was at 10:20pm. Since I was awake anyway I went to wake him to feed him. He ate and went back to sleep shortly after.

Thank you God for the really nice break!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday he weighed in at 10lb 10oz.

You know your daughter watches too much tv when...

Instead of using the word "then" to transition a sentence, she uses the phrase "coming up next."

Shu shu Matt

It was a GREAT night

We have no idea what's been going on with Alex. From about week 3 till now, he'll be 7 weeks on Monday, he's been screaming crying after he eats. When he cries, it's like he's in pain and he cries for a long time. Sometimes he latches on and pulls off after a minute and cries. He's on medicine for reflux and I've taken dairy out of my diet as of Wednesday.

By the way...worst timing ever!!! The day before Thanksgiving. Now that's just plain old cruel, but it's worth a try.

In the last 2 days I've noticed a difference. I don't know how permanent it is, but we are thoroughly enjoying it. He went to bed at 8:30 last night. Usually he's asleep, and so are we, somewhere around midnight. The nights usually have been that he cries like he's in pain and then nurses for a bit, then cries. Maybe he settles down a bit, but then he's hungry again b/c he's not getting enough at each feeding to really settle him to sleep.

Well last night was AMAZING. I went to bed at 8:30 too b/c I'm getting a cold. I woke him up at 1am to eat. His previous feeding was at 7:30pm. After he was done he was smiling and happy. It was so joyous! He went back to sleep pretty easily. Then I woke him up again at 6am to eat. (They say not to let him go too long with the reflux.) He was again really pleasant and went back to sleep on his own easily.

You don't understand...this has NEVER happened. It was so glorious. I don't know if he's growing out of things, if my milk let-down is better regulated, if the dairy was a problem, but I'll keep doing what I'm doing. It may not last, but we are finally enjoying our son instead of just getting through each hour.

Aunt Karen reading to Lilia

Tea Party With Alex

Our guests

Here are our guests. Each one was born in China. They all came to the states at different times and their English was great. We had a wonderful dinner. The girls even helped make the gravy, carve the turkey and put stuff on the table. We loved it! After dinner we played Apples to Apples, which was really fun.

Alex is so colicky at night and so we prayed before our guests came. He only fussed a little here and there. We were so thankful that God chose to have him be more relaxed than usual. The girls loved the dinner and we all had a really fun night.

My helper

We got a gift the other day of matching aprons. They are the cutest things I've ever seen! We put them on yesterday while making our Thanksgiving dinner and Lilia was my helper. Dave was the peeler, I was the chopper and Lilia placed the potatoes into the pot of water. We had so much fun as a family.

The table

My 1st Thanksgiving

This is the first time I am cooking a Thanksgiving dinner. The really funny thing is that it's not for my family (extended). Tonight we are having a Christian Chinese student and some of her non-Christian friends over for Thanksgiving dinner. Somewhere around 75% of international students will never enter an American home. So we are giving some of them a chance to do that as well as experience a traditional holiday dinner

The turkey scares me the most. It grosses me out. My mom picked one up from a turkey farm for me that was all ready to go. We'll see how it all goes!

Dave is home today to help me with the kids so it's been great. Lilia helped me put the potatoes in the pot of water and get the corn muffin mix ready. As of right now, everything is pretty much made and I'm sticking the turkey in the oven. Wish me luck!

We think Alex has colic...bummer

Ice Princess Lilia

Lilia and Alex in my bed

Our New Car

We have outgrown our Honda Civic. With two kids in the back, our knees are in our chest. Plus trunk space is minimal.

Last weekend we bought a 2003 Buick Century off of a friends mom. It is in good condition and only has 27,000 miles on it!!!

We love it! Our car rides so nice. We are getting ready to go to Sandy Cove, MD for a conference with Crusade. We are so excited to take it on a road trip!

Thank you God for providing yet again!

The picture says it all...

Drawbacks of breast feeding around a toddler

Lilia singing to Alex

Princesses

So you know how Lilia loves dressing up as a princess. Well I put on my wedding dress so we could both be princesses. (Don't worry...I couldn't zip it up.) Anyway, she loved it. Her eyes lit up and she was so excited. She took my hand and we walked down the hall holding hands as princesses all the way to her room. She was so upset when I took it off!

Our friend's daughter Cameron

Our friends Bryan and Melissa came to visit last Saturday and this is their daughter Cameron. She is 6 mo old. Lilia wanted her to dress up in her Tinkerbell costume. Cameron didn't really care either way, but Lilia liked it!

Ice cream boobs

Sorry, this isn't a story about Lilia. Yesterday I took Alex to the doctors for an evaluation. It turns out he has reflux, which is causing him to scream and cry either not too far into eating or just after.

So they weighed him, he's now 1 month old as of Thursday. He weighs 9lb 11oz. I texted Dave because I couldn't believe how big he got in just 2 weeks. (He was 7lb 15oz 2 1/2 weeks ago.)

Dave texted me back saying, "You must have ice cream in your boobs!"

The craziness ensues

Last night Lilia came into our room at 2:40 am saying she couldn't sleep. She's never done that before. Dave went into her room with her to sleep in her bed. (So thankful we have a full size bed for her!)

I woke up around 3:30 to feed Alex. After he was done I peeked in on Lilia and Dave and Lilia was sitting up in bed playing with her favorite Cinderella barbie that Ava Manni gave her. Dave was zonked out next to her. I told her to come down stairs with me while I still had Alex.

She was super pleasant and played with her farm for about an hour while I got Alex calm and back to sleep. We went back up to bed at 5 and I slept with her this time. I told her a story and then fell asleep. I guess she fell asleep not too long after that.

Thankfully she woke up at 9:15. Alex had a good morning feeding and went right back to sleep. Dave and I enjoyed a quite breakfast and some nice down time.

For as odd of a night as it was, it wasn't too bad!

It's getting worse

Yesterday was complete chaos!!! Our morning was fairly good, I got Lilia some lunch, but I didn't have a chance to eat. I got her upstairs for her alone time, which leads to a nap. So I put her up in her room, read a little and went downstairs to heat up some leftover soup. It was finished and I was just sitting down to eat when I hear, "Mom! Mom!"

I go upstairs to find that Lilia has taken off her diaper...and pooped on her floor!!!!!!!!! I didn't yell at her, I was able to keep my cool. I ran her to the bathroom where she soon after peed on the floor. I cleaned her up, cleaned up the floor and explained that we can only poop in our diapers or on the potty.

After that craziness was over I was able to eat lunch and start over with her alone time. She ended up napping for at least 2 hours. Alex had a good feeding so I could nap and rest on the couch and spend some time with God.

Frustrations

Lilia insists on wearing her big girl underwear. She takes off her diaper and puts on her underwear. Sometimes she wears it over her diaper so I don't always check. Several times during naps or before bed I have caught her with just underwear. Tonight she did it and made a puddle on the floor.

I'm assuming she's ready for potty training, but now's not a good time with a demanding 4 week old little baby to take care of.

What's the ONE question you never ask???

Today after church I stopped into Michael's Arts and Crafts store. I had to pick up some ribbon to hang pictures in our living room. I also picked up a scrapbook kit for Alex. I did one for Lilia and had so much fun.

Dave was in the car with the kids. I was checking out and I was wearing a long sleeve shirt that was fitting. The women who was scanning my purchases asked me the ONE question that you never ask..."So when are you due?"

I responded that I just gave birth 4 weeks ago. The women behind me in line broke what would have been incredibly awkward for the sales women with a comment about her pregnant daughter with twins.

I left the store laughing. Dave had a good laugh too!

Polite Chinese Gangsters

The following is the end of an Americans tale of rehabbing an apartment in China from last weeks NY Times.

The total cost of the project, once everything was added up — materials, labor, furniture, fixtures and appliances — was about $60,000. But the final chapter of the construction story didn’t occur until several weeks after we had moved in.

One morning, I found a letter to Andy in the mailbox, handwritten in Chinese. It said, in effect, “We are a large gang of dangerous men. We know you are rich” — we are not — “and unless you give us 10,000 yuan” — about $1,500 — “we will kidnap you and torture you and then ask for an even larger sum. If you pay, we will leave you alone.”

From the details the writer had provided about us and our belongings, it wasn’t hard to figure out that the “gang” members were among the local laborers who had been in the apartment during the post-construction decorating process.

In the family powwow that followed, I argued that if we conceded, they would be back for more. Andy’s parents thought it wasn’t worth the risk and insisted that Chinese criminals are usually men of their word. So we paid.

A week later I found a nicely worded thank-you note in the mailbox. So far, we have heard nothing more from our extortionists.

Drawbacks of breast feeding with a toddler around

Lilia got this awesome present from Lauren of these huge princess coloring pages. Tonight she was coloring in one of the pages. I looked over at her drawing and said, "Oh, are you making her dress have polka dots?"

Lilia replied, "No, I'm drawing boobies."

Most kids mimic their mothers by breast feeding their baby dolls. My daughter draws boobs on coloring pages!

Bride Princess trick or treating

Alex the Giraffe

A carriage ride

I went to my parents house Friday with the kids. We went to Peddlers Village late in the afternoon and then had dinner. We went on a carriage ride before dinner and my mom left my dad's phone on the carriage. Everyone was stressing out and trying to find it. By the time we finished dinner the carriage was gone. My dad was so mad and my mom was frustrated with herself. On our way out we stopped by the central desk and they had it. My mom was so happy she was waving her arms walking back to the car. When she got in all excited Lilia sang this song...

"We found Poppy's phone and now we're so happy!"

We all burst out laughing! Thanks for making us smile Lilia.

This morning Lilia sung twinkle tinkle little star to Alex while holding him.

Will you marry me?

All week long Lilia has been proposing to Dave and I. She asks several times a day..."Will you marry me?" I wish you could hear the tone and inflection of her voice as well as her hand gestures.

This morning she noticed that I'm wearing 2 rings. (Wedding band and engagement ring.) I explained the rings to her and her response was..."Aww."

She's such a girl!!!

Lilia's Names

The following are a list of names Lilia likes to be referred to at various times:

"Bride Princess"

"Mr. Conductor"

"Mama"

"Teacher"

"Emily Elizabeth"

"Tinkerbell"

Big Boy

Today Alex is 2 weeks old and he had his weight check. He was born at 7lb 4oz. When we left the hospital he was 6lb 12oz.

Today Alex weighed in at a whopping 7lb 15oz!!!!!!!!! I'm so proud of my good eater.

I feed him every 3 hrs during the day and every 4 at night. I still have to wake him at every feeding, but he's growing and doing great!

Hot chocolate discovered

This afternoon Lilia enjoyed her very first cup of hot chocolate. Before she even tasted it, she looked at the box and said, "I love hot chocolate."

Then once she tasted it her first comment was, "Mmm. Hot chocolate is my favorite."

Regressing

Lilia climbed into Alex's car seat that has a cover on it. She is regressing back into the baby stage!

My beautiful girl

Alex is sporting his, "Made in Malaysia" onesie

"I'm Mama"

Nap time

Dave was putting Lilia down for her nap/alone time. He was retelling the story of Nemo and they both fell asleep. Too cute!

Mixed emotions

Lilia is beginning a love hate relationship w/her brother. She loves him and wants to hold him and is affectionate towards him. She is also to the point of wanting him gone. Today she said, "I want Alex to go away with daddy." She wanted it to be just me and her.

Two kids

The transition to two kids...so far...isn't as scary as I anticipated. Lilia is a challenge when Alex is within reach. I'm constantly telling her, "No, don't touch his eye," "Be gentle," and "Not so hard. See he's telling you he doesn't like that."

It's frustrating, but I know she loves him. She just has no idea how to show an infant love. We're trying to be patient and understanding, but also set firm limits.

Alex is a dream so far. He's so pleasant and easy. I have to wake him up to feed him every time he eats. He sleeps really well. When he's awake, which isn't often, he's great.

Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly exhausted. I wish I got more sleep than 6 hrs a night. We're doing good though.

Which one looks right to you???

I asked Dave to dress Alex today. I handed him the outfit and the picture on top is the result. His diaper is hanging out the bottom. He said, as he was struggling to dress Alex, "This is really hard to put on." After he dressed Alex he then said, "Something doesn't look right." Boy did we have a good laugh!

Late night feeding

Alex just ate well. 45 min feeding AND diaper change...we're gettin good!

It's my turn w/eggs and cinnamon raisin toast.

Life with Alex

Last night was a fairly good night. Today was a pretty good day. We had our 1st follow up visit with the pediatrician. He is gaining weight nicely. It felt good to leave the house and feel normal. Although this awful weather took me by surprise!

All of my coats are at my parents house b/c I had this huge belly that wouldn't fit in any of them. I didn't think I would be wearing them for a while, but I wish I had them today.

Diapering 101

I changed Alex's diaper to wake him up. I finally figured out the diapering a little boy thing tonight. I cleaned him up, put the cream on and it didn't even get on his legs or socks! A success! (Normally he squirms so much and pee starts flying.

Lilia wanted to hold Alex so she sat on the couch and just as I was placing him in Lilia's lap I heard a loud squirt. Darn!

Upstairs again for another diaper change. And of course, while feeding...another poop. 3 diaper changes in 1 hour, ugh.

Home sweet home

We are home. We are now a family of 4! Crazy.

Alex is doing really well. He was born 7lb 4oz and when we left the hospital he was 6lb 13oz, which they said was a pound above where he should be. That made me happy.

I gave him a tour of the house, showing him his room. I pointed out the animals on his wall hanging. He starred at them for a while. I guess there is good contrast that drew him in.

Our little boy

One Big Happy Family

Lilia still loves her little brother. She requests to see him and touch him and hold him. We'll see how the week progresses...

Proud Daddy

Lilia loves her new baby brother