Sunday Snapshot: Kate NaNa

It's been awhile since I have written a Kate NaNa post, so I am well overdue.

She is still her adorable, giggly, sharp-as-a-tack self, constantly changing and growing and surprising me. This week she counted to thirteen. I had no idea she could count to ten, much less thirteen. Last time I asked she only got to three.

She loves to carry around her Daddy's old cell phone, telling me, "I have to check my email."

She still loves preschool, her teachers, all of her friends, and lunch. Lunch is now her favorite topic of conversation when I pick her up. She'll say, "I had ih-in (chicken)," or "ah-ee-o-ee (ravioli)" or some other yummy school food. But she was most excited the day she came home to tell me she drank chocolate milk. From A Straw, Thankyouverymuch! She still can't do the straw thing 100% of the time, but she is making progress that we are seriously proud of.

Another of her new favorite pastimes is telling jokes. But let's face it, she is only three, so you probably have a good idea of how bad these jokes are, even if they make sense, which they usually do not. But what she really wants to do is to make us laugh, so she will find a way to do it.

The other night I was putting her to bed, and she told me not to let Mrs. Claus get her.

Let me back this story up a bit.

All throughout Christmas, she kept telling me not to let Santa get her. Thankfully we never saw the big guy, but she kept saying this. So finally, one day while the boys were at school, I sat her down, and we had the talk. You know, the one about you-know-who and who really brings the presents. We went over the details several times to make sure she understood she was safe, and then I told her that the boys didn't know this yet, and it was a secret. I asked her if she could pretend with me. She nodded yes. I figured, hey, what have I got to lose? If she spills the beans, they aren't going to understand her anyway, and if they do, they probably won't believe her. (And even if they do, I am so ready to be done with Santa. I never told my kids about him in the first place. But that is a topic for another post.)

So fast forward back to the story.

Kate: Don't let Mrs. Claus get me.

Me: Now, you know that Santa and Mrs. Claus aren't real, don't you?

Kate: (Head nod)

Me: And who brings the presents?

Kate: Mommy and Daddy

Me: That's right. But we pretend for Ben and Will don't we?

Kate: No, I told them.

Me: You told Ben and Will that Santa isn't real?

Kate: Yes.

Me: Did they believe you?

Kate: Yes.

Me: REALLY?

Kate: (Hysterical laughing)NO!!! I joking!

See what I mean? I have quite the comedian living here.

Things at my house have been a bit crazy lately...

and shockingly it has nothing to do with my children:)

I know I have been gone for awhile, and I also know that you couldn't care less, except for the fact that you don't get cute pictures when I don't blog. (For the record, I am referring to my parents/grandparents/aunts here, I know the rest of you probably have tons of cute at your house.)

I have to plead insanity though, because that is what it has been like around here for the past 2 weeks. I hate to bore you with the details, but the rundown goes something like this:

• Two weeks ago, I got new linoleum, which is awesome, but I couldn't get in my kitchen for a couple days. So, no stove, washer, or dryer, and I had to go into the living room to get milk, which is just weird.
• Last week, I got new carpet, which is even more awesome, except apparently when you unplug my TV and router, my phone no longer works (that lasted 4 days). On top of that, I lost Tim's cell phone, which we later discovered was being held hostage by some jerk who made up some story about how he got it. Tim ended up having to bribe, I mean, reward him to get the phone back. Oh, and I forgot to mention that when the carpet guys pulled up my carpet, there were several fist sized holes near the back door. Yay.
• Then my ceiling started leaking for no apparent reason, so I had to go without water on and off for three days. At some point in all this, I just looked up and said, "Really, Lord? Really?" I now have a two foot hole in my ceiling. Anybody know any good drywallers?

Repeatedly, I have had to try to put all of this into perspective. I mean, I have all new flooring. My family is healthy and doing well. My sweet husband didn't even yell when I lost his phone. I haven't just lived through an earthquake. My husband did not just have a stroke. I am not fighting to keep my children. (Those last two examples are things my friends are going through right now.)

So whenever I have wanted to moan about my misfortune, I have tried to turn that into a prayer of thankfulness and a prayer for those who are need of courage, healing, peace, and the multitude of other things this world needs.

I do this not because I am righteous, but because I am a selfish human being, who can only survive by giving my problems away. My problems are small, but He is mighty.

If it sounds like I have it all together, then I have misled you. Notice I used the word "tried" up there. I have spent much more time whining about my own problems than I have helping or praying for others. After a week like this, I am reminded how self-centered I am.

Good thing He is also full of grace, or I would be in a heap of trouble.

Snow!

On Tuesday we woke up to just enough snow for them to cancel school. The kids were dying to get out into it, even though it didn't even cover the grass. They ended up just playing on the swing set. Will's favorite part is always sliding down the slide to clean it off.

But today, we woke up to serious snow. Well, serious for our southern state, anyway. The kids got sleds for Christmas this year, so all I heard all day long was, "Is there enough snow now?" Finally, at about 3pm, we decided there was enough. We loaded up and headed over to our friends' house, where there is an amazing hill. Whoohoo!

At first, Will was not crazy about it. He kept getting it in his face and gloves.

Kate tried it a couple times, but she decided she liked pushing us better than going down herself.

Her favorite part was when we pulled her over flat areas.

It turns out Ben is my dare devil.

He could've done it all day long! And he was much better than his mommy. I love to sled, but I am terrible at steering. I wiped out more times than not, and I have the bruises to prove it.

Thanks, Brad and Laura! We had a great day!

"Kate NaNa from China"

Kate NaNa and I have been having some interesting conversations lately. As you know, she really struggles with her speech, but she has made some serious progress in the past few months.

For her birthday back in October, she got a Ni Hao, Kai Lan DVD in which Kai Lan and her friends travel to China. (For those of you not schooled in children's programming, Kai Lan is the Chinese version of Dora, except Kai Lan thankfully doesn't yell at you to "say it louder". I have issues with Dora.) Kate loves Kai Lan, and talks about her all the time.

Also back in October, Kate started talking about China. She would ask me, "Why you call me Kate?" I responded, "Kate is your name." She said, "You call me Kate NaNa. Kate NaNa from China."

I shared this story with her teacher, since it happened right before she started school, and asked her to use this name. For about a month, when I picked Kate up from school, we would have the following conversation: "How was school today?" "Good. Mrs.Whoa-Ah, she call me Kate NaNa." And then she would giggle. I would say, "Did you like that?" "Yeah, Kate NaNa from China."

We have always encouraged NaNa to talk about China, but up until now she has been quite limited by her lack of speech. In many ways, it is still hard to understand her. And even when we do understand her words, we aren't sure how much of it is real and how much is imagined. (After all she can be quite the story teller. Tonight she told me a big tale, and when I asked her, "Really?" She laughed, "No, I joking.")

Lately, the stories have been coming more frequently. For example, once she told us that Mimi was with her in China when she was a baby. We don't know if she is retelling the story that Mimi was with us when we went to China and met her, or if she is getting someone in her past confused with Mimi. Mimi recently asked her if her foster mama (China mama) was old like Mimi or young like Mommy, and Kate responded, "Old like Mimi." Frequently she tells me, "I was baby in China."

Today we were sitting around the table, and she says to us, "When I was a baby in China, I had a sister and a mama." Well, that got my attention. I asked, "Was it a little sister, a big sister, or a sister the same size?" "A sister the same size." One of the boys asked if she had a daddy too. "Yes," she replies. But later, she told me that her brothers were there too, referring to Ben and Will. In other words, we have no idea how much of this is real, and how much is simply her desire to have a story. She was only two years old when she left China, but it really is possible that she had a foster sister.

Tonight as she got in bed she told her Daddy that in China, she slept with her foster mama, which is entirely likely. Does she really remember that? I have no idea. Twenty minutes later, she tells me that she had a YeYe in China. I didn't understand what she was saying, and I said, "You had a YiYi in China?" She started laughing hysterically, "No! YeYe in China," and she laughed some more. I repeated, "YeYe"? And then it dawned on me. YeYe is Kai Lan's grandfather on the show. "Do you mean on the show?" "Yes!" she says. Which just leaves me even more confused.

On the one hand, I am glad she is happy to be Chinese. I want her to be proud of her heritage and her birth culture. I also am happy that she wants to talk about it. I always want her to feel like she can talk to us about anything, and China is no exception.

But on the other hand, it makes me sad. Sad that part of her story is missing. We often tell birth and adoption stories in our family, and I wonder if Kate is just telling us these things so that she will have more of a story, like her brothers. But as I said before, what if she really does remember these things?

In truth, we will likely never know. We have few details about her life in China, only speculation. We know from a Western volunteer that Kate was in foster care, but the orphanage denies it for some reason. In other words, we can't ask those questions, and so how can we ever know?

On some level, we have to accept the fact that details are missing, but that doesn't mean I won't treasure these kernels, whether they are real or imagined. She has an amazing story in front of her, that we still haven't seen yet. So as her mama, I have to help her embrace that story. But I will also, at some point, have to help her grieve the missing parts.

Sunday Snapshot: Will William WaWa TeePee TuTu

How do I even begin to describe my Will?

He is ... unique. Yes, that is one word to describe him:) He is also simultaneously the most charming, sweet, adorable, ornery, stubborn, and exasperating little stinker I know. He would rather sit in time-out forever than admit he is wrong. And his temper...well, we are working on that one.

If you see him at home or in the car, he likely has his gucky wrapped around his head or arm. Gucky is a soft fleece blanket with clouds on it. He says gucky's name is Cloudy.

His Will-isms are well known to our friends and family, partly because he weelly stwuggles with his R's. And sometimes his L's are a wittle twicky too. But also because he says some of the funniest things I have ever heard, like "You scared the chickens out of me!" or "Shirts are very important to me," or "My sons!"

He is also well known for his fashion sense. For example, he refuses to wear white socks. He will wear black, blue, green, or brown, but bright red ones are his favorite (see picture at top). He loves ties and hats (and turning away when I try to take a picture).

He loves to come into a room and declare, "Let's cuddle!" He puts his hands on my face and croons, "Sweet Mama." (Did I mention that I love this kid?) He is 100% a Momma's Boy, but I am beginning to have some stiff competition from Kate NaNa. He pretty much thinks she hung the moon. He wears her out with the hugs and kisses, and will follow her around saying, "You are adorable!" (Remember, you have to say it without the r's.) He wants more siblings, and recently told my aunt that Mommy and Daddy were going to have 2 more kids because we have a 7 passenger van, and in his words, "that is what it will take to fill it up." Logical, yes? I thought my mother would choke.

He has two imaginary friends named Handshake and Bert. Handshake used to be his "imaginary bully", but now they are friends. According to Will, Handshake and Bert used to operate the "walk/don't walk" signs at the park in a neighboring city. I recently asked him if they were still working there, but he told me no, they had different jobs now.

His life's ambition is to write, direct, and star in Star Wars Episode Seven, along with his brother, of course. They are pretty much inseparable. Ben told me a few days ago that Will was insisting that they start filming on January 5th, but Ben was doubtful they could get the everything (props, extras, a script) together in time since school starts back on January 4th. And have I mentioned that Will is 5?

The thing is, I wouldn't be a bit shocked if he does it someday. He and his brother love to create new superheroes, complete with costumes and powers, like Power Ring, whose super power is that he can do whatever he wants. There is also Trap Man, who throws traps to catch villains.

Despite all his craziness, he has a big heart. Whenever someone asks him what his favorite part of going to China was? His answer is always, "Two things: riding in an airplane, and making NaNa feel better when she was sad."

As for his name - most people call him Will, but his real name is William, Kate calls him WaWa, and he says that TeePee TuTu is his Indian name. So sometimes he insists on all of it. Definitely unique.

Christmas

We had a very busy Christmas, but for some reason it did not seem as hectic as it normally does. I tried very hard this year to take it one celebration at a time, while still planning ahead. Kind of tricky, I know, but we spaced things out more this year, and that helped a lot.

Dressed and ready for church -
Aunt Sally gave Kate a new "princess" dress. Kate has done more twirling in the past 3 weeks than she did in the entire previous year.

Time with grandparents (How is it possible I have no pictures of the other ones?)

Christmas Eve (Will got all gussied up.) -

Can we come down and open our presents yet?

The annual cousins picture -

My mother-in-law says no more kids because there are no more steps. Haha.

Sunday Snapshot: Our Christmas Ornaments

I wanted to participate in last week's Sunday Snapshot, but because of the Christmas craziness, I couldn't get it together in time. Better late than never, yes? I wanted to share about our Christmas tree, but to do that, I need to give a little back story. (If I make some mistakes in the retelling, I hope my family will forgive me.)

My great Aunt Mary hosted Christmas breakfast for our family for years. And I am not talking about just our immediate family. I am talking about her 2 children, spouses, and grandchildren. Her 4 siblings, their spouses, their children, their spouses, and grandchildren. I am very close to this side of my family, and I honestly don't think I could count how many 1st cousins, 2nd cousins, and 3rd cousins were involved, not to mention the random precious friends who are counted as family and show up.

Many years ago (35?), my 2nd cousin came to Christmas breakfast, and upon seeing all of the presents around the tree, asked where her gift was. This broke my aunt's heart, and she swore she would always have a gift for every child at her house on Christmas.



Thus started our ornament tradition. Every year, my Aunt Mary and Uncle Bill make hundreds of Christmas ornaments for the children in their family and community. The deal is, you get an ornament until you have children, and then the children get their own ornaments. So I have over 20 ornaments with Amy on them, 4 ornaments with Amy & Tim, and now my children get ornaments with each of their names on them. Sometimes they are cross stitched, but usually they are made of wood and painted. There have been angels, stars, snowmen, bells, bears, and many, many others.


I love Christmas ornaments, and I love getting new, store bought ones each year, but none compare with the ornaments that were made by my aunt and uncle. So, thank you, Aunt Mary and Uncle Bill, for starting and continuing such a special Christmas tradition in our family!


(For the record, my cousin and his wife have taken over Christmas breakfast, but Mary and Bill are still churning out ornaments each year.)