in the photos I take of Leah, I catch a glimpse into the future and see what she will look like when she's in her teens and twenties. Can you see it too?
She's changing from a very cute, healthy baby/toddler with the most pinchable cheeks into a beautiful little girl. She's sassy, ultra smart, funny, so sensitive and has the kindest heart. She loves her "babies" (stuffed animals), wearing her hair in fancy styles, listening to Hannah Montana and Taylor Swift. She's adjusted to the change of having a little sister, and has rose to the challenge of being a good example so her little sis learns the right way. I'm in absolute crazy love with her, so very proud of her.
Today, she starts her new pre-K class, and before I know it...she'll be in college. I want her to spread her wings and fly, but WHOA!! Slow down life...you're going too fast.
and it was all that I wanted it to be for our newly-formed family of four. Much needed R & R, bonding time for all of us, lots of sunshine, laughter and absolutely beautiful memories made.
I could write all sorts of stuff about counting my blessings, and looking at those beautiful smiles every day of my life...but I'll just get to the point.
I got this at Costco before we even got Kate's referral, just gambling that she would be of the age to appreciate it. Oh my goodness, does she ever! The water runs through the faucet without having to connect it to a hose, it comes with dishes and pans to "wash" and it is the perfect size for our deck. What's not too love...I mean, look at that little face!
Well, I took a little vacay from blogger to tend to my new life as a working mother of two. I left you hanging, sorry about that. If it makes you feel any better, my camera USB cord broke, so nobody got to see any pictures, except for sorry little mobile phone photos like this...
Lots of wonderful things have happened in the past month, but it's just too much for one post...so here's a few of the highlights...
Kate is blessing our lives and brightening our days with her million watt smile. She's truly beautiful, inside and out. She's a little firecracker too. S-P-U-N-K-Y. And oh, so sweet.
My brother is a proud new daddy of a little guy named Jack.
She's 4 now. My baby is growing up. Sniff. Sniff. She's really busy with lots of playtime with her cousins and her new friends at preschool, but thankfully, still drops everything for cuddle time with Mommy.
And finally, I get this...
and this...
plus, some new photo editing software, and a couple of accessories, like this...
On Thursday morning, we finally reached what we missed so much after two and a half weeks away...home. Really....is there anything better than your bed? Precious little Kate was greeted by family and friends that got up early on that morning in the rain, wow. Holly & Brad, Carolin, Kelly...we love you all so much, thank you!
This trip was really hard, I'm not gonna sugar coat it. In the short time span of our the journey, we logged thousands of miles on 10 separate airplanes, stopped in several countries and states along the way toting two children under four. It nearly did us in.
Here's a funny TMI, that wasn't so funny at the time....my perfect little angel (that would be Kate that I am referring to this time)....who rarely had anything but smiles after we got to know each other in China, decided to have the mother of all meltdowns during a security checkpoint in the Guangzhou airport as we were leaving for Japan. She was terribly upset because I had the nerve to put her in the stroller earlier when she had wanted to walk, but since we needed to get past security and on to our gate to make the next flight, there was no time for dillydallying. So she was letting us HAVE IT and doing a fabulous job making it known to everyone in the airport her displeasure. When I pulled her out of her stroller at security to walk through the detector, I noticed she didn't smell too hot, so I turned her over to discover that she has poop all the way up her back.
In her battle with the stroller, she had made herself human toothpaste.
Peachy.
Holding my stinky, screaming child, I walk under the security detector, and get flagged to have one of those really fun extra security probes. Except I don't know it at the time because I don't understand Chinese and my child has poop all over her, so I walk through quickly, concentrating on finding a bathroom and move on with my life. Luckily for me, there is a bathroom less than 15 feet away, so I get to the bathroom and look up to see I have 5 Chinese security guards surrounding me as I attempt to change my daughter who is now writhing in tears and anger and definitely won't be sitting still for a quick diaper change. I realize that I am now a security risk in communist China. Really peachy.
After 15 minutes and the battle of the century, I finally get Kate cleaned up and changed. I'm sweating, worn out, embarrassed, horrified at her tantrum and wanting to pause the whole scene so I can quickly skim some chapters from a book on handling the "terrible two's" temper tantrums in public. Leah can be dramatic, but has yet to produce a performance like this, so I was totally unequipped to know what to do.
I look down to see I am covered in poop. The guards have looks on their faces that you don't need a Chinese translation book to figure out... "Ewwww....that's just gross."
I have it on my shirt, in my hair, on my body, on my pants, on my shoes...everywhere. At this point, our plane is getting ready to board in 20 minutes which begins a journey of 15 hours in a slender, silver tube with recirculating air. And I still have to go back with all my new friends and do a security check with poop all over me.
Thankfully, they made it quick.
After I got Kate changed and out of the bathroom, she instantly was her happy little self, like the last 20 minutes had not transpired. Figures. That's motherhood for you.
Enough about that, this is about Kate.
She is home and I think she knows it's for good. And after two full days of exploring her new nest, she is having the time of her life, and so are we. The next chapter has begun.
The photos above are provided by our wonderful friends, Brad & Holly.
Mom to two beautiful girls, married to one of the nicest guys on the planet, friend and family to some absolutely amazing people, and have a fantastic job in the tourism industry. I feel very blessed and even though the road has never been easy...that's taught me to truly appreciate the beauty of life!
