2 Little Trick-or-Treat Cheerleaders

Getting Ready for Trick-or-Treat

It is funny how the smallest things can turn into an ordeal around here. When we were in GA a couple of weeks ago, we got Mary Joyce a UGA cheerleader outfit. It was marked size 2T, so it should have been fine. If anything, I would have expected the skirt to be too big. Well, the skirt, even though it is labeled as a 2, is definitely not a 2. Let's just say, it is a bit too tight, even on her itsy bitsy bottom--quite a bit. Then, I pulled out the LA Tech (my alma mater) cheerleader dress that we had bought a few years ago before Mary Joyce had even come home from China. It was sized as an 18 month. We put it on Katherine, and it was huge! So, what did we do--we traded outfits! Yes, the almost-3 year old is wearing an outfit marked 18 months, and the almost-15 month old is wearing one marked 2T. Go figure...

Forgot to mention that I spent time today teaching Mary Joyce to say, "Go Dawgs!," which actually works for both, since LA Tech's mascot is also Bulldogs, but I also was working on getting her to say, "Beat the Gators!"--not as effective in the LA Tech costume.

Pictures in the next post!

Here She Goes!

Katherine has been walking in 3-4 step increments for awhile now, but she is just now really getting her confidence. Watch our girl go!

At the Pumpkin Patch

Game Day Girls

Guess what we'll be watching around here this afternoon? We got Mary Joyce's UGA cheerleader outfit in GA last weekend, but I told Chet she could only wear it today if Katherine could wear Mary Joyce's LSU shirt. :-)

Mama says, "Geaux Tigers!"

Daddy says, "Go Dawgs!"

Our Travel Group Girls

I just finished putting together the most recent (Summer 2008) photo collage for our China travel group. The girls have been home 2 years this past September, and will all be turning 3 years old between November and January. All are from Tonggu in the Jiangxi province. (As always, you can click on the image to see a larger version.)



For comparison purposes, here they are a year ago. (There are only 7 of the 8 girls pictured in this collage.):


Edit to Answer a Question from the Comments:
I use a program called Fireworks to make the 117b collages. This is a graphics program that we have because we use it with Adoption Voyages. I know others have used programs like Print Shop to make similar collages. We are Mac users, so I use iPhoto to crop and resize the photos before organizing them into the collage format.

Tagged!

While we were out of town, I was tagged by my friend Karen. The rules are listed in the image above.

Let's see if I can think of 7 random/weird things about me...

1. I am much more outgoing online than I am in real life.

2. I really don't like lettuce, although I'm making progress. I can now eat an occasional salad if I have the right ranch dressing with it, and even find myself occasionally craving the Ruby Tuesday's salad bar since I have been pregnant this time around.

3. I was valedictorian of my senior class in high school. (Not all that weird, but kind of random.)

4. I can't swim.

5. I am unnerved by bad storms, but I'm getting better since I have to be the "brave mama."

6. Chet and I had only been dating for 2 weeks when we knew we would get married. (Preface that with we knew each other for a year as friends before we started dating, and weren't "officially" engaged for another month or so.)

7. I am originally from northeastern Louisiana. That is not cajun country, nor is it New Orleans. :-) (Sorry, I get that A LOT.)

Now, I am supposed to tag 7 people. Let's see who I can think of...

1. Kim: One of our China travel buddies and mama to Jaiden and her big brothers, Jared and Cody.

2. Angie: A real-life friend who is in the midst of the very long wait for baby Ruthie from China, and is a very busy mom to her 2 boys. **Listen to the song playing on her blog right now--AWESOME!**

3. Mendy: Online friend and member of a couple of Yahoo groups that I also belong to.

4. Heather: Another online friend and one of our former Adoption Voyages moms. (Love the song on her blog, too!)

5. Susan: Yet another online adoption friend who we'll hopefully get to meet in real life when she and her family come to Disney soon.

6. Rossette: Not to sound repetitive, but another online adoption friend, referral buddy, and fellow "China Peach," even though we're not officially living in Peach land anymore.

7. Shelley: Real-life friend, and mama to Lili, also from Tonggu (like Mary Joyce) and Aly.

Heading Out of Town

We are leaving for Georgia tomorrow, headed up to Chet's hometown for the weekend to attend his 20th high school reunion. Mary Joyce is really looking forward to going to Grandmama's house. We will be home sometime on Monday, so I will be MIA for a few days, other than a random email check here and there. Have a great weekend, everyone!

You Know You Live Near the Beach When...

...you have this as a visitor in your garage:




Yes, that is a huge blue crab. It was there when we drove up after revival services tonight. We really don't know how it got into the garage--the garage door was closed, and the crab was inside when we opened it. Definitely a new experience for us...

Pictures from Our Fun Day

Katherine Loves to Swing!

A Fun Day

Today was our monthly get-together with our local China families, and we only had a small group. We had a lot of fun, though. We got together at a local state park with a nice playground (in the shade!) and access to the Intercoastal waterway. Katherine LOVED the baby swings! In fact, she stayed on for a long time the first time, and would have continued, except we stopped for a snack. When we returned to the playground, the swings were occupied, but she kept pointing and saying, "Dis!" When Mary Joyce decided to get down, we put her back in, and she had a ball! I will post a video of her swinging.

Then, we walked down to the Intercoastal, where the girls had a great time playing in the sand and water. We finally relented and let Mary Joyce take her shoes off and wade. She thought that was the best thing ever. All-in-all, a very good day. :-)

Photos coming in another post...

Amazing Grace: Mary Joyce-Style

Play Date at the Park

We got together at a local park yesterday with a couple of other China adoptive families, and our girls had a great time playing together. (The other 2 families homeschool, thus the older girls being there in the early afternoon.) Mary Joyce names each one of the girls by name, and she spent the rest of yesterday evening telling us everyone she played with at the park. This morning, she woke up wanting to go again. Here are a few pictures:

Mary Joyce loves this rocking horse, and has since the first time we came to this park last year:


All the Girls (Except for Katherine who is still to little to sit up on that swing by herself):


Mary Joyce and her Tonggu Buddy, Lili--Doesn't it look like they are having a serious conversation about something?


Katherine enjoying some Goldfish:

Today's Appointment

I had my monthly doctor's appointment today, and all is well. We got to hear Baby #3's heartbeat for the first time. The doctor actually found the baby very easily (Katherine was never that easy to track down.). Heart rate was around 140. I also saw the "new" doctor in the practice today. (He's been there about a year, but he didn't come in until after Katherine was born.)

Edited to add: A quick answer to a question in the comments section--Yes, we do plan to find out the baby's gender. Chet and I are both planners, so we want to know beforehand. It will probably be early December when we are able to find out, provided baby cooperates.

A Girl and Her Purse

Our sweet nursery worker at church, who the girls just adore, brought Mary Joyce a new purse the other day. Mary Joyce can play rough-and-tumble with the toughest of little boys, but she also has a real "girly-girl" side to her. This purse is shiny and pink with a huge flower on it and came complete with sunglasses, toy lipstick, toy nail polish, toy perfume, and a pink cell phone. Mary Joyce has hardly been anywhere without it (except to bed) since Wednesday night. Here are some pictures from this morning. (My apologies for the fact that she was still in her nightgown.)

At the Blue Playground

Mary Joyce has been asking constantly to go to the "blue playground," which is the park closest to our house. Unfortunately, between rainy weather and us playing "pass-the-sick-bug," it has been awhile since we've been able to get over there. Finally, on Saturday, we were able to go. Here are a few pictures.