10/31 Anniv....BOOH!

Today was Little M's first official Halloween. We spent it at home. We handed out some candy, and she was dressed in her Bengals jersey. :) I didn't put the ladybug outfit back on her. She was tired and a little cranky from big day she had yesterday.

She had cheese and toast, a bottle and some milk out of a cup for dinner. She wore her "My first Halloween" bib that Aiyee Mimi gave her! :) The milk she had was pretty minimal, but she drank it from a cup with no lid. I held it, of course, but I made it kind of a part of dinner for the first time (officially). She kept laughing at me. That's pretty normal! haha.

Today is also my LID from 2 years ago. I had an 18 month wait. I'm thankful I didn't have to wait 24 months, and that she's been with me since June. For those of you who are still waiting, please don't give up. I am SO thankful I waited and Lil' M is just a blessing. I can't believe it was 2 years ago today that China accepted my application and I was officially logged in... and what's more amazing is that we're family now. Really. I get cranky sometimes, and days like today make it ALL worth it.

She is amazing. Really.

Peace.

My Favorite Ladybug!

Happy FIRST Halloween Lil M Ladybug!!!! :) I love you. xoxo

Here is Lil M with Gramma and Grandpa, Mama, Aiyee Mimi and Chase (the Pirate!!). Definitely big fun. Lil M wasn't sure what this whole outfit change was about, but she seemed to like her ladybug dress. :) She smiled at people and waved when she got candy. We wrapped her up really well, and dressed her like an Eskimo! haha. It was pretty great, and definitely a wonderful "first" for Mama. *big grin*





Aiyee Mimi crawlin' with Lil M....


The Great Pirate tryin to get Lil M to look at Mama!!!


Grandpa and Lil M *after* the big night! Costume's off!


Peace

Christmas in Oct.

Lil M's FIRST-ever Christmas Celebration, albeit, in October!!! :) The first pic is of us and my cousin Jamie and her daughter Taley. Maybe it's just me, but I dare say that we look about the same age here!

No, Lil M, you *can't* eat your number! You need that to get your next present!!! :P) (we played the white elephant gift exchange.)


Oh, what a pretty doll for my doll-baby!!!!!

Mama, can I have the box? It's just my size!!!!!
Sis and Chase. Here, with Doodles his favorite Poodle puppy. :)

Very happy smile from Sis! :)

Can you say...CHEEEEEEEZZZZZZEEEEEEEY?! hehehe



Yes, we played matchey-matchey that night. Lil M and I wore pink and Sis and Chase wore red. :) It was fun. Mia was sick and we didn't stay too long. Then she got even sicker... but let's not beat that horse.

Peace.

14 months

Lil M is 14 months old today. :) Not monumental... just a little reminder of how fast she's growing. Months are flying by.

She seems to be feeling a little better. Still coughing, but not as much. We're staying in this weekend, trying to recuperate from the week. The pups and Manna seem to be glad we're all home for the weekend, too.

Nothing much on TV. Just been cleaning and trying to rest. The pups seem to want to play with Mia, and vice versa. I do find that cute.

Peace.

Great story

Here's a great post from Sis. (This one is for you, Tom!) hehe.

http://hobbyhungry.blogspot.com/2007/10/women-and-politics_22.html

Still coughing

It was said by Tom that Lil M probably hasn't ever felt this sick before... I bet you're right!!! I hope it is a first for her, even though I wish she never had to go through it, ever! She is still coughing, but it isn't *as bad* as it has been. It still sounds pretty bad, though. Today was her last day of antibiotic. So, if she's still coughing tomorrow morning, I'm callin the Dr. again.

Yes, pups make a mess. Skippy surely didn't know about Lil M's illness! He is doing better. The cone had to come off, he was MISERABLE. Please pray he doesn't get infected or anything.

Lil M got to hang out with Auntie Ellen last night. She must have had fun and felt very comfortable, because she fell asleep on Ellen! :) She didn't even want to wake up when I got in. She was SO tired this morning! Thank you, Ellen, for bringing me dinner and letting me go get my hair done without making Lil M go. :)

We're laying low this weekend. I'm not feeling so hot, either. It's been a long week.

Oh, my friend Joe is sick too. Healing thoughts, Joe. I hope you feel better really soon.

Peace.

Little M and Sis

Little M has gotten through the fever, so it seems! WHEW. She is still coughing a lot and has thrown up a few times now because of the phlem. ewww.

Sis stayed until last night, when she had to go get Chase. I was SO thankful for her being there. She is so great. She did my laundry and dishes ...and cleaned up dog yuck and baby yuck all day. (of course, i have done this a lot for her over the years....) but it was SO great and I appreciate her A LOT. She even took my garbage out Monday night. :)

Little M had to have two bathes last night. Actually, three. She had a bath. I walked in the other room to get her clothes and in the 30 seconds I was gone, she had gone in the tub... poo and pee! YUCK. So, i had to drain the tub and give her another bath! THEN, she got sick after her last bottle of the evening, and i do mean SICK. ALL over her and me and the floor. Back in the bath she went. Ewwww.

So, it was a long evening, but her fever is down. That is a plus. Just got to get her through the rest of this....hopefully, soon!!

Peace.

Little M update

Sis came down to our house last night. She is staying with Little M today for me. Thank God, 'cause I can't take M back to daycare until tomorrow, at least. It looks like her fever might have broken last night. Sis will tell me in a bit if it comes back, I'm sure.

I just hate that she's feeling so awful. I hope the antibiotic will really start to help today.

More later....

Peace.

Illness update

Little M's temp spiked again last night... dare I say that the thermometer said 104.1...which means it was actually 105.1?!!!!!! OMG OMG OMG !!!! I immediately put her in a cool bath and go her temp down. That was very scary. That was at 3am, when Mama got up to go potty. When I checked her, I nearly had a heart attack. :(

So, she laid in with me for a bit, and neither of us slept, really. She was still hot and miserable, even though she wasn't as hot at she had been. Then at 8am, I took her temp again...102.9. Good heavens. So, I called the On Call Dr. ....and he's her Dr. O. Took him about 20 minutes to call me back, and I told him we were on our way, and I *HOPED* he could get us in. He said...yes, come on.

When we got to the Dr. her temp had risen to 103.7. They checked her out and gave her some baby advil again...and it didn't lower it at all. It increased to 103.9!!!!! SO, the Dr. gave her a cool sponge bath. That brought her temp down to 101.6.

He said he throat is red, but doesn't think it is strep. He thinks it might be Roseo? No idea. But apparently that can spike a fever for 3-4 days and then they get a rash. Oh goodie. But I'm HOPING this fever breaks today. She's on antibiotic now and resting. God love her. Mama's poor angel. She has a cough and nose/eye gunk. He said that part is probably a cold. But gave me eye drops in case I need them.

This is my first time experiencing such a scary high fever in a baby, other than my nephews. My sister has been SO good to us this weekend. She came down and helped. She has the Mommy experience of the two of us....and it is just awesome to have her support. OH, and she made me some turkey goulash!! YUM YUM. That was just too good for words. haha.

She's coming back tonight, so I can *hopefully* go back to work tomorrow.

Oh, did I mention I walked into a door the other night? I have a nice bruise on my left eyelid... makes me look like someone popped me one! UGH. But, that's the least of my concerns. It happened when Mia was sick Friday night and crying. I wasn't awake and didn't turn the light on. BAM, right into the edge of the dang door. Oh well. :) This too shall pass.

God bless.

Peace.

Temp again....

Good heavens. Little M has a 101.1 temp again. :( She hovered around 99 or so all day, but after I gave her the Advil tonight her temp went back up. This is not good for a few reasons. She feels like crap. I can tell. She's got some goop coming out of her left eye. OMG, I hope it isn't pink eye.

The other thing is, she feels like crap. She's coughing. I think the Flu shot gave her the flu. Dangit.

Oh, and work... they aren't going to be happy. I left my boss a message, but I just don't think he's going to be ok with this. Sis just called me back, though, and said she will come down in the morning if I need her to. I'm so thankful. I will take her up on it this time.

I'm calling the Dr. first thing.

Peace.

And the temp goes up

Yesterday, Little M's temp spiked up to 103.0 degrees. OMG OMG. On the positive note, Sis and Chase came down... they surprised me. BOY, was I happy to see them (ok, they know I was a bit crabby, but I *really* was happy to see them!!). Sis helped me with Little M and we got her fever down. She was pretty surprised (not happily) when she heard that the Ped gave Little M a Flu shot on top of her immunizations. I think that's what's made her temperature go sooooo high. :( So, her temp has been hovinger at 99-100 today. Please pray it goes down and that yesterday was the worst of it. I took half a day off Friday, but didn't want to! I'm trying to be able to go tomorrow. So, let's see.

Someone asked if I can remember a time when she wasn't here.. well, yes, but she's so amazing and I'm So glad she's here now. It does feel like she's been here longer than 4 months, though. That's for sure!!!!!

Peace.

Temp or not

Even though Little M isn't feeling 100%, I had to take some pics of our 4 month Family Day Anniversary. I just wish she was feeling better. She's smiling 'cause I convinced her to play Pat-a-cake. :)



I even got the pups in the next one, too.




God, I love that smile. I'm happy to be your Mama, Little M. Happy 4 months. :) (last temp was 99.5)

Peace.

102.4

No, it's not a new radio station. 102.4 was Little M's temperature at 12:30. I had to go get her from daycare. bah. When I brought her home, it was still 102.1. :( I am hoping the baby Advil will kick in soon and she'll feel better. It is just because of the shots yesterday, but no fun.

Peace.

Dr. Visit

Little M had shots today (her 12 mo, but she's 13 mo 3 weeks today).

She weighed in at a whopping 19.6 lbs and is 28" long. She's in the 40th percentile now (up from 25 and 30 at 10 months). Head circ. is 40, which is also at the 40th percentile. They gave her chicken pox vaccine, a flu vaccine and another one. She goes back in 6 weeks for a Flu booster and her 15 month shots.

She did great... until she was given the shots. Then she cried.... :( Mama's poor baby!!! She's gonna likely be cranky tonight.

Peace.

4 month anniv

Today is 4 months since I met my daughter. The adoption was finalized the next day. :)

She's come so far in such a short time!!

She can
roll over,
sit up,
stand up,
crawl,
walk - assisted and cruisin,
eat cheerios by herself,
self feed some soft foods,
eat food that isn't baby food,
take some whole milk (but she's still on formula for the most part),
drink from a sippy cup,
she has 4 teeth,
she's gained 4 lbs in 4 months,
can play pattacake,
blows cherries,
makes funny noises like Mama,
crawls to Mama when I get to daycare,
can say Mama, Dada, Yeah, Dow for Down (when we play the up/down game),
knows lots of words, but one of her first to respond to was "bite" :)

I'm sure there's much more, but I thought I'd just get some thoughts down. :)

I can't believe it's only been 4 months!!! Seems like we've been together forever.

Peace.

Xian girl name

Xian as a girl name means "Refined". I am just doing some looking at other places Xian is in China and what it means. Since certain words have multiple meanings. In this context, though, the Chinese characters are likely different. I'm just looking up the English word Xian and Xi'an.

Xian

Now, I don't know if "Xian" and "Xi'an" are exactly the same, but when I did a search for Xian, I found the following interesting:

The two Chinese characters in the name "Xi'an" literally mean "Western Peace".

As one of the most important cities in Chinese history, Xi'an is one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China for it has been the capital of 69 dynasties, including the Zhou, Qin, Han, and the Tang. Xi'an is also renowned for being the eastern terminus of the Silk Road and for the location of the Terracotta Army made during the Qin Dynasty. The city has more than 3,100 years of history. It was called Chang'an (Traditional Chinese: 長安; Simplified Chinese: 长安; pinyin: Cháng'ān; literally "Perpetual Peace") in ancient times.

Now, Mia isn't *from* Xi'an. Her given name in China was Xian. So, I thought I would look up the meaning/history I could find. I find it very cool that the word "Peace" came up twice, so far. :)

Peace.

A little Positive

God made it so I was able to get the money for the furnace problem. Something came in that was almost exactly that amount!! Very relieved. Thank you, God.

Peace.

Heat

So, apparently my furnace blower motor was bad. It had smoked up really bad on Friday night (so bad, I thought it might catch on fire), and it's just on the verge of getting cold out... so, with the baby, we've got to have heat!! Well, and those of you who know me... I MUST have heat, too!! :)

The furnace guy is here now... he's going to let me know if anything else is wrong. Oh, and check the AC to see why it has been leaking. Let's pray it doesn't cost a fortune.

Little M is glad for the extra Mama time this morning. :)

It rained overnight. We need the rain. I got out last night and 'cut the grass'.... actually, just put the bag on and mulched up the leaves. That worked MUCH better than me having to rake!! :) I'll likely have to do it again this fall, but it was worth it. My friend, Joe, suggested I do that last year, but it was too late and too many leaves. I caught it early this year. Woot!

I'll update about the furnace in a bit...

**Update: The furnace just needed the new blower motor. It is fixed now. Very glad about that. I'm also thankful that this happened when it wasn't so cold out. 'Cause at least it wasn't too terribly cold this time of year, they got out to fix it quickly and it wasn't horribly expensive. So, thank you, God. :)

Peace.

Monday, Monday

We had an interesting weekend. It started off with the furnace acting up. So, I loaded the pups and the baby in the car and we went to Sis' house. I have since call a furnace place, and they're going to try to get to my house by tomorrow.

We got to Sis' house at about 3am Friday night. Oh joy. Oh poop. And I do mean poop. Her foster pup, Ebby, had 2 accidents in the house that I had to clean up. :( Then Maggi had one yesterday. So, they all got medicine. I'm hoping that works!!

We had a pretty enjoyable, relaxing weekend overall. Sis and Little M and I went to the store to get exicitng things like food and diapers. Sis' friend's daughter, Abbi, came with us. It was a nice afternoon. We found a couple of garage sales. At the last one of the day we ended up with all kinds of stuff for $.50...for all of it. There were probably 3 boxes and a silver metal shelf for Sis.

Yesterday, we all slept in and then got some cleaning and grocery shopping done. But it was nice. I am hoping that the furnace person can come out today, so I don't have to worry about it getting too cold at night. Little M is not used to the cold yet, and I want to make sure she doesn't have to sleep in it yet. Plus, winter is just around the corner. This has to be fixed now! :)

Oh!! The *big* purchase of the weekend was the new LeAnn Rimes CD!!! WOOOHOOO. It is great. It was on sale at Target for 9.98. Very nice.

My friend, Joe, got us registered for the Turkey Trot next month. So, I guess I need to get RUNNING. :)

Peace.

Week end

So... it is Friday. I can't wait for the weekend to begin. I'm needing some down time. How about you?!

It is supposed to be gorgeous this weekend. Cooler, but gorgeous. I need to cut my lawn and do some leaf work. But somehow, that is actually appealing right now. I'm going to see Sis, too.

I can't believe it is almost Halloween. I dressed Little M in her one-piece black and orange, w/ ghosts, outfit today. Cute. :)

Ok... not much to say. Just trying to relax.

Peace.

Better

So, things are a snad better at work today. I at least met with the boss and told him my side of things and my feelings about what's been going on. Who knows if it will help. But I tried.

As for personally... well, Sis got terrible news today. That stupid counselor thinks Jake should have custody. WTF? He's an alcoholic. Well known fact.... 2 DUI's in one year isn't enough proof?!!! She's an idiot. And Sis is VERY upset about it. I hope she doesn't give up. She needs to fight this.

Little M is feeling a bit better. I've got to go get her some more cold weather stuff... boy, did it get cold over the past couple of days!!

Peace.

PS. I didn't mean that I should have done something differently than what I've done by creating my own little family. I love my family. But with it comes pressure. It's not so much about finding a Mr. It's more about the fears of not being able to do this alone. Fears that someday she won't want me as her Mom. Fears that I'll fail as a Mom. Fears that stem from my own childhood and my own Mother's disowning of us. I've started to really take this little person into my heart.... and not only do I want to provide for her and protect her... but I also want to make sure I don't screw something up where she hates me later. So, there. I said it.

Pressure

Boy, did I set myself up for a LOT of pressure. I mean... what the Hell was I thinking? I couldn't possibly be normal and find a man and get married... NOOOOOOOOO, I had to become a single mom, with two dogs, a house, a cat... ok, the biggies are the house and the baby. Not only do I have put a roof over my own head... I've got another little person to think about. And, overall, that isn't a problem.... but, this job thing really stinks... really. And I'm so worried. (nothing's happened yet, but I just feel like the other shoe is getting ready to drop) I haven't been this worried in a long time. No pressure. No worries. I guess I should have known that it couldn't be easy.

PLEASE pray for me. (and the meeting I have Monday with the bosses)

God, I need your Peace right now.

3 in one day, oh my!

This is my 3rd post for today... lots to think and write about, I guess.

For example... my dogs. Yes, I said Dogs. You see, you all have seen Maggi and heard about her for months... She'll even be a year old on November 8. She's a hoot! She is excitable... fun... playful... great with Little M. She is gorgeous. Really. Biased or not! :) I really love her. She's a great dog. She'll always be high-energy, and I'm totally OK with that. I can't wait to run with her...

Then there is Skippy. Skippy came to us because my friend Sue decided to let me foster him a few months ago... just to see how things'd go. He seemed friendly enough, but totally afraid of everything. Oh, and he's gorgeous too. But in a very... hunting dog kind of way!! haha. I had to take him back when I went to China. I wasn't sure after that if I could handle two dogs, a cat and a baby. Well... Sue hadn't found Skippy a home yet, as of a few weeks ago. So, crazy me... I told her I'd take him. Foster him, or keep him (more likely) if things worked out. He's great. He's lazy... he's good with Little M... he's good with Maggi... he's really coming around. He needs lots more socialization, but you know, I guess that'll come in time. It didn't have to all happen in one day. And he's really good for Maggi. She has someone to romp and play with.

So, there you have it. I'm crazy. I needed TWO dogs like a hole in the head. But, I like him. And if I didn't... trust me, he'd have to find another place to call home. I guess since I went out and got him his very own crate (only sleeps in it during the day, 'cause he sleeps in my room at night).... he's got to stay! HAHA. How's *that* for reasoning?!!

But, boy, does he have stinky gas. Oooweee.

Oh, Little M likes both dogs and the cat. It only took her a couple of months to warm up to them and to get to play with them. It is very cute. :) She even played with Manna (the 13 year old cat) the other day, and Manna LET HER!!! Wow. That was just very exciting. :D Proud Mama moment, indeed.

See... I'm not ALL doom and gloom.

God loves me. He love you, too.

Peace.

L&O Criminal Intent

Ok, I admit it... I've really started to love CI. Great show. I'm so glad that USA took it over and the new season started tonight!! WOOHOO. I stayed up past my bedtime just to watch it. :) hehe. I'm going to regret it tomorrow... Oh, I watched Survivor China tonight, too... it's ok. Not too much about China on there. But it's pretty good.

So, speaking of tomorrow, got to try to get Mr. Skippy to the Vet tomorrow for his snip-snip surgery. Before 8am. Yeah right. :( Oh, and I'm supposed to be at work by 8am too. Great fun.

But it'll be Friday. And I got to see the first CI on USA tonight! :)

Little M fell asleep early again tonight. She is definitely still not feeling very well. bummer.

Peace.

Just a Cold

So, we saw the Dr. He says she just has a cold... but if her temp gets to 101 to call them and he might put her on antibiotic.

I'm still working from home... and I hope she feels better soon. Thanks for the well wishes and calls. I have a headache now. But it'll all be ok.

Update: Little M weighed in at 19.2 lbs today at the Dr.'s office.

On a sad front... my Aunt Betty passed away today. I feel guilty for not getting over to see her recently. I need to go see my Grandmother, too.

Peace.

First Fever

Little M had her first fever yesterday. It got up to 101.9 degrees. We're going to her Dr. today to make sure she's ok. Sounds like she has some chest congestion. Not sure it if from her teething or a cold. They had an appt, so I'm going to just get her checked out.

Other than that, things are ok. I'm working from home and have been online since 8am, oh and in the middle of the night. I checked on our offshore folks, who weren't there at 2:45 am (which is like 10am their time or later). Oh well. I have more important things to worry about.

Peace.