Dancing to American Idol

Play Date with Lili and Aly

Yesterday, we had a play date at the park with Shelley and her girls, Aly and Lili. Mind you, we planned this for the day of a cold snap--highs only made it up to the low 60's. (Okay, my northern friends--stop rolling your eyes now. :-)) It actually turned out to be a beautiful day, just a bit cooler than usual. Another family was planning to join us, but they were bitten by the yucky flu bug. :-( (Feel better soon!)

Aly and Lili are also from Jiangxi province, like Mary Joyce, and Lili is also from Tonggu, as I've mentioned before. The girls had a great time. It took Mary Joyce a few minutes to get into the swing of things, but by the time we got in the car to head home, she was asking for "Awy" and "Wiwi." Hopefully, we will be getting the girls together on a regular basis, along with some others in our area.

Thanks, Shelley, for a fun idea!

Now, on to the pictures--

Mary Joyce and Lili on the "Big Girl" Swings


Mary Joyce on the Move


A Hug from Aly


Sweet Girls--Mary Joyce and Lili



A Serious 2 Year Old Conversation :-)


Smiling Katherine--Who actually stayed awake this time...


All 4 Girls

Catching Up

It has been awhile since I've posted to the blog. Things have been a little chaotic, normal chaotic, but still... Trying to find time to sit down and post has been difficult. Here are some "catch-up" pictures for the last couple of weeks:

Mary Joyce and Katherine got Valentine's Day packages from Lao Lao and Papa in Louisiana. The alphabet books are actually written by the older sister of 2 girls I went to high school with. The books are adorable--very bright and colorful. Thanks again for everything!


Samson and Chloe are very patient kitties. They actually enjoy being around the girls (and also know how to make a quick get-away if things get a little too intense). Here is Mary Joyce with her 2 favorite felines.


Mary Joyce and Katherine are starting to play together, as much as they can while Katherine is as young as she is. Katherine smiles and laughs whenever Mary Joyce is around. Mary Joyce talks to her and shares toys. It is too sweet!


Here are the girls modeling their shirts from the aforementioned package. Mary Joyce wears her LSU shirt and points at it all day saying "Papa." (Her Papa sent her the shirt, and she is a bit of a Papa's girl anyway.) I love the way Katherine is looking up at Mary Joyce. She really loves her big sister.


Mary Joyce has never been a huge fruit eater. She has always eaten bananas sporadically, but to this point, I've been cutting them in little pieces for her. I've discovered if you let her eat it the "big girl" way, she will polish off a whole banana. :-)


Here is Mary Joyce in her pj's, dancing to one of the American Idol singers. The ever-present "Bear Bear" is her dance partner. I do have this on video, and I'll try to get it posted a little later.


Katherine says, "Shoes are yummy!" (Note: This is one of the very few still-surviving pairs of squeaky shoes from China. Once Mary Joyce started walking, they didn't last nearly as long. In fact, she (Mary Joyce) grew into her last pair recently, and they were extremely scuffed after 2 wearings. Oh, well...)


Katherine makes a goofy face:


Hanging Out in the High Chair. Katherine is not sitting up on her own yet, but she does just fine in the high chair. For the record, she ate her first stage 2 baby food today.


Mary Joyce at nap time last Friday. Her sleeping positions never cease to crack me up. :-)


Chloe has taken to sleeping under the rug in the girls' room. Mary Joyce thinks this is great! (There is an early picture of Mary Joyce with Chloe under the rug at the old house. Some things never change, I guess...)


Katherine and her Teething Ring--Katherine is the queen of teething lately. Drool everywhere and something always in her mouth. The fussiness and runny nose have started now, too. I checked her mouth today, and it looks like she is cutting multiple (as in more than 2) teeth at the same time. I'll have to let you know how many come in after this round of teething is done.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone from us and our little sweethearts!







Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.--1 Corinthinans 13:4-8a

Chinese New Year

A Day at the Playground

Chet's mom is in town for a visit, and we took the girls to a local playground Saturday morning. We are having some absolutely beautiful weather lately--sunny and in the 70's. We're enjoying our first winter in Florida. :-)

Mary Joyce has finally decided that swings are okay, but she definitely prefers the regular swings or the chair-style ones to the "bucket with leg holes" style baby swings that you find at a lot of playgrounds. Katherine slept through the whole thing...

6 Months Old!

Can you believe that Katherine is 6 months old already? Where does the time go? That's a whole half-year!!! She is still such a sweet baby and always has smile for everyone. She is teething like crazy--lots and lots of drool and chewing. She is doing well with baby food, and is growing so much. (I spent a good portion of yesterday packing up clothes that she has outgrown and getting the next size out of storage.) Recently, Katherine has really found her voice, and she has a healthy set of lungs on her. Trust me, if she doesn't think she is getting enough attention, she will let you know about it in no uncertain terms. She adores her big sister, and lights up whenever Mary Joyce is around.

Happy 6 months, Katherine!

A Couple of Weeks in Pictures

I've been collecting pictures for awhile. Things have been really busy around here, and we also had a computer crash, so we were running the website and doing all of our personal work, plus some of Chet's church work with one computer. Blogging kind of got pushed aside, except for a quick post here and there. Anyway, all is well now, and here are some fun pictures from the last couple of weeks--

Katherine hasn't learned to crawl yet, but she can roll over, and she can scoot herself while she is on her back. Look at where she is in this picture. She started out on her tummy, facing the mirror that is sitting on the blanket, actually right in front of the mirror. She looks very pleased with herself. :-)


Mary Joyce, our little mommy...


Isn't this a cheesy smile? Cute anyway, though...


Katherine's Close-Up--She has 2 teeth already, and is working on more, if the amount of chewing and drooling she has been doing is any indication.


Mary Joyce is doing a little reading in bed. (This was before we put the side back on her crib, due to the climbing into Katherine's crib situation.)


Mary Joyce's Serious Side--Not a smiling picture, but I still thought it was a good one.


Katherine, Just Chillin'... She is wearing the onesie that was under the dress she wore to church that day. Katherine would be content to hang out all day in her diaper and nothing else. She gets so excited when the time comes to change her clothes. She's going to love spring and summer, when she can dress in onesies and rompers all the time.


Katherine modeling another of her Christmas outfits. She has to wear them while she can--she's growing fast.



Due to our computer fiasco, we are now the owners of a new Mac Mini, and Mary Joyce has adopted the box that it was shipped in. The box isn't huge, but she thinks it is just the right size.


Katherine really enjoys her exersaucer. I just thought the facial expression in this picture was priceless...


This picture was made Saturday morning. The church had the palm trees in our yard trimmed, and Mary Joyce was watching the workers out the window. Note the baseball cap with her PJ's, and her ever-present "Bear Bear."

Jesus at Halftime, the Video

Jesus at the Halftime Show

When I have time, I have some great pictures to post, but I had to do a really quick post about something hilarious that happened last night. After evening service, we came home and turned on the Super Bowl. It was halftime, and Mary Joyce became enthralled by the lights and the music. She was jumping around, dancing, and thoroughly enjoying herself. At one point, she stopped in her track, pointed at the lead singer for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and said, "Jesus!" The singer had long hair and a beard, and except for the modern clothes and the guitar looked a lot like the artist renditions of Jesus that Mary Joyce has seen. Throughout the show, she would continue pointing at the screen, saying, "Jesus!" We were rolling with laughter by the end of the halftime show.

The video is in a separate post because that's the only way I could get it to cooperate. In the video, I also love how when she was singing along with the music, she was singing the "ABC" song. Priceless!

(By the way, this video has Mary Joyce's personality written all over it. :-) )