Friday, August 31, 2007

Favorite Photo(s) Friday

I love to watch these two beautiful girls together. They are friends, they are cousins, they are "sisters" of the heart. The love that they have for each other is a blessing to us all. And could they be any cuter??? I think not.























In other news: Lily and I went out yesterday and bought her "weeotawd" for dance class. We went into the dressing room for her to try it on and she immediately began spinning around. To say she loves it would be a huge understatement. (She kissed her reflection in the mirror TWICE.) We have also been discussing the fact that she will go into her dance class WITHOUT me, just like she does for church. She has reassured me that she will not "bwy"(cry) because mom always comes back..."we a famiwee fo-eva"! Oh yeah, that's another thing. She is now calling me MOM, instead of momma or mommy. I hate it. MOM. What, is she 13 all of a sudden? Ugh.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Second Wind!


After a nice relaxing bath...Lily gets her second wind.

America's Next Top Model

So, what do you think? If she can stop fallin' on her head, does she have a shot?

Sunday, August 26, 2007

"Dance Bwass" Update

Yesterday we went to an Open House at Lily's new Dance Studio...she is all set to go! We signed her up for class, ordered her tap and ballet shoes, and watched her participate in a 15 minute "Intro. Class" with other 3 and 4 year olds. She is gonna do just fine! Watching her was such an emotional experience for me...I was laughing so hard my sides hurt as she tap, tap, tapped her right foot to the lyrics singing out "This is my left foot, my left foot, my left foot"...she has much to learn! She had a huge grin on her face as she shook her bootie to the music. All of a sudden it hit me like a bulldozer that I was witnessing one of my dreams coming true right before my eyes. I remembered (like it was yesterday) watching a friend's daughter perform in her dance recital and crying through an entire number because my eyes were fixed on one particular Asian beauty in the front row. I remember thinking, praying, hoping...someday that will be my daughter. SOMEDAY HAS ARRIVED! I was about to go into the ugly cry when I caught a glimpse of my husband and his look told me something along the lines of "if you lose it, I don't know you, lady. I'm outta here!" So, I pulled myself together and continued about my business.

Wanna hear something kinda funny? Lily isn't the only one who will be taking a dance class this year. Momma signed herself up for an Adult (Beginners) Hip Hop class. My girlfriend is taking it with me. So on Tuesday nights from 7:30 to 8:30pm that is where I will be! As much as I love summer, I am actually looking forward to the fall. It should be interesting.

Friday, August 24, 2007

Friday Five...(ish)

Five things that made me smile this week. You will be soooo surprised that they are ALL things that Lily said or did.
1. Picture this: Hubs, Lily, and I sittin' on the couch one evening having some good conversation.
Lily: "You duys awe beauty-ful."
Me: "Who's beautiful?"
Lily: "You and daddy, momma!"
2. In the parking lot at the grocery store:
Lily: (pointing up) "Wook momma, it's da wetter G!"
Me: "Yes, Lily, we are parked in Row G, very good."
Lily: "I'm pwacticing my wetters."
She also screamed out E-X-I-T when we were heading out...her practicing is really paying off!
3. Giving her a bubble bath. You KNOW Lil Bubble Queen WUVS her bubble bath!
4. Every day when we walked outside she declared "It's a BEAUTY-FUL day!" (rain or shine)...she is really keeping me in check in that area. I am very careful not to say things like "It's crappy outside" or "I can't believe it's freakin' raining again"...I keep those thoughts to myself and just agree with her.
5. When she woke up from her nap yesterday, as she was still groggily rubbing her eyes, she rambled "I went to sweep all by myself so now I can get a special bweet (treat) and go to da mall with daddy and get a tattoo...dat will make me happy." So, we trotted off to the mall yesterday to get her a "buttaswy" tattoo. Lord help me when she turns 18. And, yes, we are still bribing her with "special treats" to have her go to sleep all by herself. sue me.
OK, and since I just can't stop myself, here is one more for good measure...
Lily has been painting a lot lately. Usually very basic stuff. A circle here, an oval there. But, Tuesday when I asked her what she had just painted she replied "a birdie". I thought GREAT! That is a little more imaginative. Then she continued, "And dere's da bird poop, momma. See it?" Of course I see it. Dat's my girl!
Oh crap, just one more...all of a sudden she sits crossing her legs. All the time. Even in her booster chair while eating (with her leg all cramped under the table). She has developed a sudden obvious interest in doing things "Just wike you, momma!"
As you can see, I've been smiling a lot this week.


Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Just one of the guys!

This past Saturday (while I was workin' hard for my money) Lily went out on the town with some of her favorite guys. My little princess doesn't just love girlie pink dresses and ballerina costumes... she also enjoys manly cars and TATTOOS. They went to the "Dream Cruise" to check out all the old cars and she enjoyed some pizza and got an airbrush tattoo while they were there! My dad was nice enough to send me the pictures so I could see what I missed. When I saw her that evening she was gushing with excitement about her "butterswy tattoo" and all "the diffewent syle caws" she saw. Her tatto has since washed off, so she tried to make another one herself in marker. I scolded her for drawing on her skin and told her that only professionals could draw on her skin, to which she replied "and Mr. Scott!" *refer back to our reunion in Tennessee for that one!*




















Friday, August 17, 2007

Favorite Photo(s) Friday -- the beach


































































When I put Lily in this dress I just sighed...my beautiful girl looked like an angel. She felt like a princess in it, too. She now refers to it as her special pwincess beach bwess. Can you pick a favorite??? I want to frame a few and I'm having a hard time choosing...and I have about 20 more that I didn't even post! We had a great time doing this, although Lily really wanted to put on her baithing suit and jump in the lake (actually, I wanted to as well...man it was HOT!) We've promised her that before summer's end we'll go back to the beach for a day of splashing around!

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Our weekend (continued)






So, after Sophia's birthday party we headed further west to Jay's parents' house for the remainder of the weekend. Lily was SO excited to see her Papa and Booma D! We had a fabulous time and got to see a lot of extended family (Jay's entire family lives over there)...we saw Great Papa and Great Grandma, aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was wonderful. Great Grandpa has an awesome fish pond in his backyard, so Lily spent time feeding the fishies and momma took time snapping pics! On Sunday evening we headed to the beach to take the pictures I have been dreaming about all summer...black and whites of Lily in her angelic white dress. Here she is walking to the beach with Papa and Booma D. The actual beach photos will be coming on Friday -- I need you all to help me pick which ones I should frame and hang in my home. (I think they all turned out pretty stinkin' cute)...














Monday, August 13, 2007

Lily partied with Sophia!

Well, this past weekend we loaded up the car and headed to the west side of the state for Sophia's birthday party. Lily was sooo excited to see her "fwend fwom China" although she was a bit confused because she is still under the impression (since our reunion last month) that all of her friends from China are together in kind-of a package deal. On the way there she ran out of juice and said "maybe Bwen(Gwen) has more juice". No Lily, we said, Gwen won't be there. "Emiwee??" No, Lily, Emily won't be there either. We are going to see Sophia and her family here in Michigan, we aren't going to Tennessee again right now. Some of us girls in my travel group have mentioned how great it would be to live in a gated community together...I think this was Lily's way of saying that would be A-OK with her. Anyhoo, back to the party, we arrived to an array of Hello Kitty fun-ness for the girls. They were happy to be together from minute one. They swam in the pool, we went on a boat ride and they swam in the lake (I didn't take my camera on the boat for fear of losing it overboard, but trust me when I say they had a GREAT time, and so did the adults.) There was another family there as well who also have a daughter adopted from China, along with 2 wonderful little boys. It was just so nice to be out in the sun, on the water, enjoying good times with dear friends. Sophia's grandparents (Opa and Oma) were there, too. Lily really warmed up to Opa and was splashing around in the pool with him for quite awhile. The kids played hard and relaxed on the couch for a few before dinner, actually the birthday girl fell sound asleep, but then it was round 2...dinner, cake, and chasing each other around the house with their giant balloons. It was great! Thank you Beckering family for inviting us...we had a great time.
The weekend didn't end there! More fun to come...





















Thursday, August 9, 2007

Summer Memories

Just goin' thru some of my pictures taken over the last few months and decided to post some of my favorite memories that ya'll haven't seen yet. When you take as many photos as I do -- not all of them make it into a blog post! Sorry, but the descriptions are not in the same order as the pics...couldn't get it together! (But I know you can figure it out!)



Lily playing dress up at the Hands On Museum, or as Lily calls it "Mazoom".

Lily reading with her cousins before they go to bed (at their sleepover). I love this one!

Lily walking with Gee Gee to get ice-cream. (They're twins...isn't that so cute?)

Eating breakfast at the Waffle House, the first morning we arrived in Tennessee for our reunion. Our waitress gave Lily that "official" hat and Lily thought she was just the bomb in it. This was taken moments before we scurried off to the potty and Lily peed ALL OVER the mens' room floor (cuz the ladies' room was occupied) and we waited just one minute too long. She then informed me that we needed to get out of there cuz the floor was DISGUSTING. (Ya think?)

Family photo...taken after a wonderful lunch eaten on the patio of the restaurant where I am currently employed. It's extremely rare for us to ALL be photographed together.












Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Everybody Dance Now!



Yesterday was HOT and HUMID, so we decided not to venture out. We passed the day in the usual manner...books, puzzles, painting, and (of course) turning on the Dance Music channel and shaking our booties. Lily was crackin' me up when she started gyrating! Lord help me!
As always, I apologize for the poor quality of my video.

Sunday, August 5, 2007

Weekend at a glance


Another weekend is wrapping up...I have just a couple hours before I end it with my Sunday evening shift. We haven't been home much. Friday night was our "Bare-butt chicken BBQ" with friends, and we had a great time. They have a "jumpoween" in their backyard and Lily was on that thing for well over an hour. She was fun to watch...I was giggling like a little school girl. I just love how she is so unafraid now. She just got right in there with the boys (and even let daddy bounce her around).



Yesterday we went to my sister's for her youngest son's birthday party. My nephew Payton is now TWO! He is such a funny kid...ALL BOY, wild and crazy, fearless and hilarious, and cute as a bug. He and Lily had a rough start, but they are great friends now...at least 20 hugs and kisses are exchanged per meeting for the two of them.




This morning was church and it marked the third week in a row where Lily went to "Kids' Church" all by herself. (Today I guess she cried a bit off and on, but not enough for us to be called out of service...so it was still a victory in my book!)




Now Lily is upstairs doing Karaoke with her cousins...non-stop fun around here!

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Lil' Tidbits


Just a sneak peak into the little details that make up my daily life with Lily Lin. The things that come out of her mouth keep me entertained from sun up to sun down.


- She was playing with her beautiful Asian doll that my sister bought her and said "I name dolly Emiwee. Emiwee's a nice name, just wike my friend from China" (AWWWW)

- When she wakes up in the morning after greeting me she will say "wook momma, my pull up is bwy (aka dry)...she says this whether it is dry or not, by the way. This is usually followed by "Are you weady to have a BIG day, momma?" "What are we donna do? What are we donna see?"

- The other night when she was SUPPOSED to be in bed sleeping she crept out into the office where I was and whispered "shhhhh...I don't wanna hear any noise. I need to det a dood night sweep." (hmmm...wonder where she heard THAT?)

- When she passed gas in the bathtub last night she said "Oh! I have fiah-wooks coming outta my bootie!"

- At Target today there was a little boy having a big ol' temper tantrum and his mom was threatening him with all sorts of nasty punishments, but this just made his rants louder...Lily looked at me and said "dat boy not bein' a good wistener to his mommy. He gonna have to sit in his van all day."

- We are going to a BBQ on Friday night and I was on the phone with my friend discussing what she was going to be serving. She told me she was making Beer butt chicken. I have NEVER heard of such a thing, so I replied "Beer butt chicken!?" Lily was sitting next to me at the time, so she screamed "Bare butt chicken!? MMMMM...yummy in my tummy!" Then today when I told her we were going out to a restaurant for lunch and asked what she was in the mood for, what do you think she said? Yep. "Bare butt chicken" of course!

So, we go out for lunch ( Mexican, not beer butt chicken) and about 15 minutes into our meal she tells me she has to go potty. She is reluctant to leave her lunch. She is looking it up and down and I can see she is torn. But she declares "my food will wait for me" and I reply "of course it will, sweetie". So, we run, not walk, to the ladies' room to take care of business. We return, approximately 4 minutes later to see that our table has been cleared, bussed, and RE-SAT! Um. I couldn't believe it. They ended up making Lily another meal and we took it to-go. But, she told her daddy later on what had happened...how she "missed her chicken" at lunch. I still can't believe her food didn't wait for her! I'm hoping this won't stop her from taking a potty break next time we go out!
OK, that's all the Lil' tidbits I have for today. I'm off to bed...it's waaaay past my bedtime.