Overheard this morning.......

Lili was on the couch playing with Barbie and Snow White.
Barb and Snow were facing each other having a conversation.
(by the way, Lili does this hideous , "I'm going to get you, my pretty", falsetto when she makes her dolls 'talk')
Lili (as Barbie): "eeeeee, Snow White, eeeeeee"
Lili (as Snow White): "Barbie, I kick your butt."
Lili (as Lili): "hee hee hee heeeeee!"
Mama (as dumbfounded as can be): "?"

So I asked Lili what 'kick your butt' was from. She pointed at the TV and said "Spongebob---grrr, 'I kick your butt'." So, apparently someone on Spongebob is going to kick someone's butt.

(and I thought I was a 'good' mom letting her watch Spongebob.......might as well turn on Jerry Springer.)

Bike Riding, Playground Fun and a Little Spring Training

Ok, where we live if it's the end of March and there's NO snow on the ground, the sun is shining and the wind is less than 50 miles an hour, we celebrate spring.

(even if it is 40 degrees with a 20 mph north wind---at least it looks good)

'C'mon Mama, play me!'

Lili on her Princess bike. She knew exactly what to do. I'm sure she's ridden before.

This was seriously the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. Lili was all like 'Faster Mama! FASTER!' Then 3 seconds later 'OK Mama! STOP!!'

Then when she got off (or should I say fell off), she was so dizzy, she couldn't get up. Seriously hilarious. (yeah, maybe I should've picked her up off the cold muddy ground, whatever. I was laughing too hard and busy taking this picture for YOU!)

Lili loved to swing. She kept telling me to go faster, then would scream bloody murder, laughing uncontrollably..........she's just a tad dramatic. (ya think?)

The "Heck's Angels" :)

This contraption seriously looked like something at an orphanage. She was very excited to see it....maybe it looked familiar...

Lili with her cool SNOW WHITE shades.

Brett and dad during batting practice. Hey! Lili! You're supposed to be covering 3rd!

Lili in the dugout.

OK, you think I would've learned my lesson with the whole Lili/lily conversation, but here we go again: I was telling her that when Gogo plays baseball this summer, she needs to cheer for him. "Go, Gogo, Go".............yeah, that should be tons of fun.

Mama taking pictures instead of pushing her daughter....

Ridin' off into the sunset.

Getting ready to climb UP the slide the wrong way....

Lili did NOT like the static on the way down......

look at that form!

What a fun day!

Easter Smackdown!

Lili is the best tickler around.
It also helps that Brett is the most ticklish person on earth.




(kiss and make-up. awwww.)

And, Brett lost a tooth.

Not during the smackdown (as far as we know)........

hmm....but he did lose it later that night.

Maybe Lili is tougher than she looks.....

This is too true to be funny

The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR tax money.
A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases.

A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.

E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.

While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let's take a look at New Orleans

It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division

Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D), is presently asking the Congress for $250 BILLION to rebuild New Orleans ..
Interesting number, what does it mean?

A. Well, if you are one of 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, child), you each get $516,528.

B. Or, if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your home gets $1,329,787.

C. Or, if you are a family of four, your family gets $2,066,012.

Washington , D.C .
HELLO!!! ... Are all your calculators broken??

Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax Federal
Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Tax
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax.

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.

We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What happened?

Can you spell 'politicians!'

And I still have to 'press 1' for English.

What the heck happened?????

Easter Lili! (hee hee----get it?)

Easter Saturday. Yep, we do the holidays big around here. One day with my parents, one day with Jeff's.

'Look at us. We got CLACKING, WHISTLING lollipops. '

WHAT was the Easter Bunny thinking????

Lili's Saturday Easter dress.

Yep, we had to wear a sweater !!! It was about 20 degrees when we woke up....oh, and snowing.

(why do we live here again????)

Lili's Easter Sunday dress.

'Hey! These Peeps are yum, yum, yummy!!'

The Princess at Her Party

Lili with her LILIES!

Opening her gifts ('I get gifts too?!')

With her bicycle helmet......hmmm.....I think better things are to come...

Lili freaking out about her lucky she is!

Lili with her tricked-out, gag me with tinsel Disney Princess bike!

(now if we could only teach her how to pedal without continually putting on the brakes)

And finally, for your viewing pleasure, Lili singing "Happy Birthday" to herself!

Princess Party Prep is in Full Swing: HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILI!!!!!

Cupcakes for Preschool

Yes, I let Lili wear a WHITE fancy dress to preschool.......how could I deny her?

And yes, I let Lili have red nails.......kinda creeped me out after I did it. (Jeff's worried she's going to grow up to be a slut now) :)

Party Central

Her Majesty's Throne

(thanks SO MUCH for the card Robin!!)

My mom took Lili after school today so I could get the house in order. Hopefully she's had a nice long nap because in another hour we're going to be partyin' down princess style!

THE Most Mind Numbing Conversation in the History of the World

While we were out shopping the other day, I showed Lili a bunch of silk lilies.
What follows is our actual conversation (believe it or not):

Me: 'Look Lili, these are lilies.'

Lili: 'Oooh, for me?'

Me: 'No they're not "LILI'S", they're "LILIES" : flowers."

Lili: 'Lili's flowers?......For me?'

Me: 'ugh. No, Lili they're not FOR Lili they ARE lilies.'

Lili: 'Lili's? Lili's flowers?? Ohh, THANK you! I like them.'

Me: '.........................You're welcome!'

my life is never dull.

More Fun Than You Can Shake a Stick At

Since Lili LOVES fancy dresses so much, I thought I'd give her a thrill and show her that I had one too. She was speechless to see someone else who actually appreciates fashion as much as her.

Then it was time for me to pull out ye old wig. Lili was beyond thrilled to have really, really long hair. This is her Cher look.

Brett, of course, had to wig out too. He's a rock god, what can I say?

As I'm sure you can tell, we decided to stay in tonight.

I think maybe we should get out more.

Happy ONE YEAR Liliana-versary! It's been one year since our referral!

Below is my original post from one year ago today, the day we got "THE CALL":

"Thursday, March 15, 2007

WE HAVE A DAUGHTER!!!!!!!!

I am shocked, amazed, dumbfounded and in total awe!!

I walked in my house at 4:25pm today to a ringing phone. It went to our answering machine, but I figured I'd answer it anyway. It was our social worker. She asked how I was doing and if Jeff was home or still at work. I told her that he was away on business in GEORGIA! FOR THE NEXT 8 DAYS!!! She said "Oh. Well I have some exciting news for you".........[loooong pause] "You have a daughter."

HOLY GUACAMOLE!! I HAVE A DAUGHTER? SERIOUSLY?

Here I am ALL ALONE!! My husband's gone. My son is outside and I'm FREAKING OUT!! Am I really on the phone, or am I completely psychotic, wanting this SOO badly that I'm imagining it, playing it out in my head? Thankfully my son came in and heard the rest of the conversation. I had to ask him later if I was insane (by the way, he said "yes") but he did confirm that the phone call did indeed take place!

So, I try to call my husband. Who has a work phone, a cell phone and a hotel room phone. No answer on any of them! WHAT?!?!?! He PROMISED me that I could reach him ANY TIME!! I tried calling him for AN HOUR! AN HOUR!

FINALLY, I got ahold of him. He was at a book store. I asked him if he found any books on adoption. He said "no, not really, I didn't really see anything....blah....blah....blah" I said "Honey, I was hoping you found something because you have a daughter!"[crickets chirping]

Me: "Honey? Did you hear me?"

Him: "Are you serious?"

Me: "Yes"

Him: "We're not supposed to find out until tomorrow."

Me: "Um, sorry" (???)

Anyway, he was just as dumbfounded as I was (and still am!)

So, here's the story of our Liliana Laura-Mei:

Our agency receives a special needs/waiting children list a few times a year.

We applied for a girl last time the list was out (in January). We were not matched. So, this time we were leary. Should we really get a picture of this little girl and put our hearts out there for potential disappointment? Well, thankfully the answer was "yes".

We decided to write our agency a letter stating our desire to be matched with this girl.

The list came out last Thursday afternoon. We spent all weekend praying about it and researching her special need. Tuesday I emailed our social worker our letter. They were supposed to review it today and notify the families tomorrow. Supposed to. WOW!!

This post is ALL OVER THE PLACE, but I am just a mess! A LONELY mess! AAHH!

I have so many people to tell and so much to do. My son doesn't have a passport yet. We should be traveling anywhere from 3-5 months from now. Unbelieveable. I still can't get over the fact that we're just going to be going to China! WOW! we never go ANYWHERE!

OK, so, our daughter is going to be 4 years old on the 20th. That's much older than we thought. BUT! God obviously knows that our Lili was born in 2003 and has been waiting for us all this time. Before we even knew we wanted to adopt. She's been there. Just for us. And, since our son is almost 10, the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of them being closer in age. Otherwise, there'd be a 10-11 year age difference. That's quite a bit. She'll be in kindergarten when he's still in elementary school. That will be nice. The thing that bothers me the most is all the time we've missed with her. All the milestones that she hit when no one really cared (not as much as her parents would).

So, we have a lot of lost time to make up for and the rest of our lives to do it! I consider that a fair trade! :)

"In a moment what has been is lost in what will be"--Steven Curtis Chapman 'When Love Takes You In'"

I will never, ever forget that day.

There have been a lot of amazing moments in my life, but this one has to have left me the most dumb-struck. Just a total and complete shock.

Just a total 'God thing'.

And, thank you to all the people that commented. I appreciate it and I remember all of you from previous comments. It made me smile to know that you're still out there and you still find us the least bit interesting after all this time! :)

Princess Party

Lili's 5th birthday is one week from today!
I can't believe it.
Actually, it's more like her 1st birthday, because I'm sure it is. I honestly don't think they celebrated anything like birthdays at the orphanage.
So, we're really excited about it and looking forward to making it an occasion to remember.
and who else can remember their 1st birthday? :)

And, surprise surprise, can you guess what the theme is???? Like it could possibly be ANYTHING else!
I think I must've bought every single Princess party decoration, favor and tableware item in creation. It's going to be vomit-inducing princess party in here.

Oh and by the way, I KNOW there's lots and lots of people out there reading this.
And I thank you. I really do.
But I have a sneaky suspicion that I'm going to get zero comments while Kim is in China......and that makes me sad because just like you, I check my blog every day looking to see if anyone is commenting. boo hoo.
I'd LOVE to hear from you.
guilt.....guilt......guilt :)

It's Not Easy Being Green

LILI GOT TO GO TO SCHOOL TODAY!!

Today was St. Patty's Day at preschool since they don't go to school on Mondays.

They had to wear green, and since poor Lili just didn't have anything green (uhm, hm) I just HAD to buy her a special St. Patrick's Day shirt. And considering how much this girl LOVES pink, I thought this shirt was the perfect fit! And seriously, a "Kiss Me, I'm Irish" shirt just isn't going to cut it!

And, yes, she wore TIGHTS too.

So, 'Top O' The Morning" and "Ni Hao" everybody.

Not to sound like Don Imus or anything......

....but this is a little look we like to call "Napp-y Head". The princess waking up after her nap.
(gee, she actually kinda looks like Don King, huh?)

This is probably the ONLY time that Lili actually has not been thrilled to have her picture taken.

Lili was sick yesterday----no school, no dance class. Why, oh why does she always have to get sick on Tuesday or Thursday?

Try explaining to a 4-year old with limited English that she can't go to school because she's sick. If it wasn't so heartbreaking, it would've been comical. She kept asking to put on a dress and tights and go to school. (by the way, tights are her new thing. she wants to wear them EVERY DAY.)

She's feeling better today. And, yes, she's still asking to go to school.........sigh.

Another Precious Girl is Coming Home!

My buddy Kim and her family should be on a plane RIGHT NOW heading to Beijing!
I couldn't be more excited if it was me!!
They will be receiving their Josie on 3/16----FINALLY.
I'm sure they'd love you to follow along: (and send some prayers)

http://www.youbelong.net/thekenwards

What a Difference a Year Makes

Lili's Referral Picture

March 2007

Lili AND Her Referral Picture
March 2008

One year ago today we saw our daughter's face for the first time

Today, one year ago, was the day that we got Lili's (Mei Xiu Yuan's) referral information.

I'll never forget opening that email and reading all about this little girl on the other side of the world. Her history from the date she was found (3/22/03) till September of '06 was all there on paper: The first time she held her head up, the first time she smiled and recognized her caretakers, the first time she crawled and walked and talked. I didn't know if I should get attached to any of that. After all, we were reading about a complete stranger. Why get all invested in something that may never come to be? It would just make it hurt all the more when we found out she would be someone else's daughter.



Jeff and I would talk and talk and talk about this girl for the next 4 days.

"Should we do this?"

"She's so much older than we wanted."

"Doesn't she deserve a family?"

"I don't know what to do. I'm scared."

So, we prayed for God to show us His will. That was all we could do. If He wanted this to be 'Lili', He would work it all out. If this girl wasn't our Lili, He would help us through.

And the rest is history.



When we talked to Lili about it today (for what it was worth), we showed her her referral pictures. She said "Lili short hair, Lili sad, no happy."



God is so great.

March 8, 2007-----Just One Year Ago...

On March 8, 2007 we were emailed a waiting children list.

Little did we know (or did we?) that our daughter was on that list.



Below is an excerpt from my journal from that day:

'What an unbelieveable shock! At 5:00 today we got an email that another COP (children of promise) list is out. Wow! Wow! Wow! That's only about 5 weeks after the last one. In the past [our agency] has gotten a list every 4 or 5 months!! Jeff and I looked the list over and found a girl we thought was named 'Wu'. They translated it wrong and it turns out her name is 'Mei'. She's almost 4, DOB 3/20/2003. That is WAY older than we thought we'd want. We talked about it though, and decided to be put on the list' [the way our agency's waiting children list works is that each couple requests to be put on a list to be considered to adopt a certain child/certain children. it's not like getting a traditional referral. you get pictures and information, but have to wait a week for the agency to let you know if they matched you or not.] 'We'll email our application letter for Mei on Monday (3/12), the agency makes their decision on Thurs. (3/15) and we find out their decision on Fri. (3/16). I'm a lot more calm about it this time' [in January 2007 we put in a request for another little girl. we were not matched.] 'Last time was a good experience for me. My eyes are more open about the whole process. But, my eyes are still also closed in prayer! God's will be done.'



So, there you have it. Little did we know that in just ONE WEEK our lives would be changed forever!!

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Lili has obviously learned some kind of song in preschool, but I'll be darned if I can figure out what it is. It sounds like she's saying "tick tock" at the beginning, so maybe it's some kind of telling time song?? Jeff and I are at a total loss as to what it could be.

Oh well, at least (she thinks) she's catching on. ;)

It's Hard to Even Imagine This is What I Was Doing Just 3 Days Ago....

We're home. La tee frickin' da...........

OK, it did make it all worth it to have our kids run to us yelling and screaming and so excited to see us. That was nice.

But MAN! I wish they could've met us out in California. If we could've stayed out there, we would've sent for them. Honest.

Now that we're back in the snow and cold, I can't even imagine that people can live where it's warm and sunny.

So unreal.

So unfair.

Just Thursday night I was wearing flip flops..........sigh.....

Oh well. We'll have our turn......someday. In just maybe 3 or 4 more months I'll be able to get my flip flops out again.....

I HATE WINTER