Occasionally, it is fun to reminisce about how different my life was 8 years ago. I had a job that allowed me to travel at the drop of the hat. I was in a steady, realtionship with my boyfriend of a couple years. I was excitedly, anticipating, becoming a mom.
On this day 8 years ago, we started in Beijing. We had already spent several days touring in & around Beijing & we were now looking forward to our quick 2 hr flt to Nanchang, where we would get our babies that evening or the next morning.
SNOW! More importantly, flights in Beijing were becoming snowed in! We waited hours in the terminal before out flt for Nanchang was finally re scheduled to depart. It was an uneventful flight. Upon arrival, we gathered our luggage & piled into the vans that would take us to our hotel. Once in the van, our guide, David, told us that the babies were waiting for us at the hotel. We would have approx 15-20 min after check in to get our things together & then we should plan to meet in the conference room.
Whoa..after a long 14 month wait...we were now speeding towards the goal.
Meeting Lindsi was surreal. She never cried. She was full of laughs & giggles. She seemed absolutely delighted with everything going on around her. She was a Mama's girl from the first moment I held her. I'm glad I didn't have a crystal ball that day, or know everything we would face together in the coming year. It was a hard first year.
In the beginning, the resposibility was overwhelming. Once on my own with her, I remember thinking, OK, we've made it a whole afternoon, then a whole day, then a whole week, then a month, without any life threatening disasters.
Happy Family Day Lindsi!!!! Oh how we love you & are so very lucky to call you "ours"!
Admittedly, I think I have ONE of the best Mom jobs around. I say one, because I know several other moms who are raising absolutely AMAZING kids as well. It's easy to love on these 2. They soak it in & return it effortlessly every single day. Not every single moment...but every single day...
Recently, report cards came out. For the first time EVER, Lindsi had straight A's. I was / am so proud of her. She works so very hard. I'm happy that she will finally get to participate in the special honor roll celebrations.
Jami, also did very well, getting all E's (Excellent). While I see Jami learning, she's reading books aloud to me now & at the start of kindergarten, she could only read a handful of words. So far, she grasps everything easily & moves at a quick speed through her work. She's not seen "Challenging" yet.
So, as a reward for their achievement, I took them to see the Justin Beiber movie yesterday. It was better than I anticipated. We all liked it. I never could figure out the whole "Beiber Fever" phenomenon. After the movie, I can tell you, it's 10% natural talent, 20% hard work, 70% Marketing Genius. It should be required viewing for every marketing student. This is how you do it.
Beiber Movie on Sunday......
Ice cream on Sat....Yum
MMmmmmmm...Cherry...Her Favorite!
It's Valentine's Day...now...go....... spread the LOVE!!!!
We had just an AWESOME weekend last week. I think primarily because we spent it UNHURRIEDLY with a lot of our friends. It was a very BUSY weekend. Thankfully, everyone was feeling well & in a GREAT mood.
On Fri, Lindsi & her friend took part in a Cheer leading Clinic put on by the FL Gator Cheerleaders. This is the second year we've participated. I couldn't talk Jami into doing it...maybe next year. Besides, I think Jami has figured it out that if Lindsi is off doing something, THEN she has MOM all to herself.......
Somehow, even though Jami did not participate, she managed to get into all of my pictures...lol...
On Sat AM, the girls cheered together at the morning game. Jami's coach was really sweet & let Lindsi be a "Guest" cheerleader.....I was too busy helping my Dad learn the ins & outs of his new Christmas camera & I took NO PICS of my own. I have to teach him to download them now.....=)
In the afternoon, we went to our FCC Chinese New Year celebration. So much fun, & a nice time to visit with many friends we had not seen for a little while...The highlight was Lindsi getting chosen to be the Dragon Head this year!!
Don't you love these shirts? they have 2 hugging Panda's & they say: Best Sister Ever... We've outgrown our Chinese silks, but this (I thought) was just a perfect alternative. Found them at The Child*rens Pl*ace $5 each.
And, On Sun, we went to a very special little friend's birthday party, that was held at the Natural History Museum. Lots of fun & different things to do there...
Fun Times...
