Let It Snow!

We have had some heavy snow fall over the past 48 hours. We have got close to a foot of snow with some ice in between here and there. I have had quite the workout shoveling us out when we need to go somewhere. Oh how I love northeastern Ohio (sometimes not so much). Now Jade being from southern China (only 200 miles from the Vietnamese border) oddly enough loves the snow. She kept saying "outside, outside". So we decided to bundle up and make a snowman. When we got outside the wind chill was pretty cold but Jade was loving it.

Just because this is under the porch in storage doesn't mean we can't use it according to Jade. Jade saw her slide and was so excited since she hasn't been on it since October. Sliding in the middle of winter (okay end of winter but you can't tell by the weather here) why not . It's like sledding without the sled. (huh)

I was freezing my butt off after about 5 minutes but Jade was having so much fun throwing snow and rolling in it. It kinda of reminded me of the time at the beach with her, without the teeth chattering and 3 layers of clothing.

Okay the snowman plan didn't quite work we didn't have good "packing" snow. So we made some snow art. Jade added the decorative stick on top.

As we were going inside, Jade thought she would help me shovel. (which is actually a snow rake for the van) She loves to do what mommy is doing so cute.

Hopefully this is the last of the heavy stuff. I'm ready for Spring!!!

When Mommy's away Jade and Daddy will Play

Last Night My friend Kari had a "Mommy's night in" at her house. We have a friend who has been given some stressful info lately (which I will keep private). So some friends of mine decided to watch a girly movie eat some junk and de-stress. I LOVE being a stay at home mom but it is so good to get out with the girls evey once in a while. So Jade and John had a Jade and Daddy night. Jade loves to go bye, bye. So when she wanted to go last night Daddy took her to Walmart. When I came home I noticed chips on the counter (which I never buy) and two huge bags of big legos. (This is a treat because we are on one income and a very tight budget). I always joke that we would be naked if the Grandparents didn't get us clothes. John said Jade could not wait to bust open those blocks.

Oh really, looks like daddy couldn't wait to open them. Who were these really bought for!

PARRRTYYYYY!

Well we had quite the fun filled weekend. Saturday Jade's friend Millie had her third birthday party. Jade wanted to "help" Millie with all her presents. She did really good at helping pass Millie her presents but when it came to watching Millie open them not so good. Jade wanted to help with that too. "What these aren't my presents?"

Look these storage boxes and ballons are more fun then all these new toys behind us.

We also had our Tet celebration with our agency. This was fun! We got to meet our foreign rep and meet other families in all stages of the process or had already adopted. I have never had Pho before, it was really good! Jade got to make a dragon and eat lots of food. (You don't have to tell her twice food is ready) I can't wait to have Liam (I'm pretty sure this will be his name) next year for the celebration. Jade got some real money. She was pretty excited about this and kept telling us, "two dollars, two dollars." After we left here we went to her cousin's birthday party. So I'm sure she will be on a sugar high for the next 48 hours from all the cake she has inhaled in the last two days.

Let's eat!

Making Dough

Playdough that is. Jade and I went downstairs in the basement/playroom and oops, left the lids off all the playdough. Jade was not too pleased that the playdough was "all gone" so we decided to make some. She was pretty excited about doing this. Any chance to "help" mommy make somthing in the kitchen she is on that. So here we are making it. This is the first time I have ever made playdough so I was hoping it came out ok.

She loves her creation. I believe we even gave the playdough a kiss.

Yep, just as good as the real stuff. Jade approved, it can make her favorite shape, a circle.

Always learning

I have to say that I tend to be an initial worrier. What I mean by this is that when I start learning or being informed of something new I panic and think worst case senerio. I really wish I didn't do this but I do. I haven't written in a while and have had been tinking a lot about what it means to have our daughter (and soon to be son) who are (will be) transracially adopted. We had classes on raising internationally adopted children required by our agency when we adopted our daughter. (which were great and I believe should be requiremnts). I learned a lot during these classes and was challenged by them as well. I don't know if I really digested all that was presented to me (especially with our triad panel). For those of you who don't know what this means it is: adoptees, birthparents, and adoptive parents. Now that I have our daughter and she is getting older (yes I know she is only two) I am really trying to educate myself more so I can hopefully give her what she needs being a transracial adoptee. I'm new at blogging and have encountered some blogs of adult adoptees. I have to say first reading some of these I felt (as I stated above) paniced along with fearful, unprepared, unexperienced, and nieve to some of the things that transratial adoptees have and do go through. I was not totally unaware of this but I have a better (still I'm sure very limited understanding) of what some of these individuals have and will go through. BUT after thinking more and reading more (from all different perspectives) Iam glad to have this information and will use it to help my children in the best way I can. As a mother I want to protect my children from all harsh realities in life but I know I can't or even should. So I am more commited then ever to help raise my children to be who they are and hopefully be proud of who they are. I know this can not be done all on my own and will need resources or influences from others (especially other transracial adoptees who will know what my children are going through more then I ever could). So I can either live in fear for myself and my children or be proactive. I choose to be proactive because I love my children and chose them. I'm also thanful for the sights I have read on ethical adoptions and wish we had to take a class on this when we adopted our daughter. I pray God gives me the strength and knowledge to do what is right and support those who are and trying to make a positive and just difference for orphaned and adopted children. I have found quite a few books on the subject and can't wait to read them all. I will post them as I read them.

Moving on down the number line

Well I got an e-mail from my agency that we will soon be moving to # 11 on the list. So atleast things are moving. I went to a support group for adoptive/foster care families. I have to say I really enjoyed it. We talked about lifebooks and why they are important. I also got a lot of tips on composing one too. It is so nice to be able to talk with other adoptive parents. I feel like I can relate so much with them. Raising children in general has commonalities but us adoptive parents (and more importantly our kids) have specific needs. I feel like I will be able to better parent my children using the resources given to me at these meetings. Not only do we get to talk about adoption issues (challenges and joys) but our kids get to spend time with other adoptees. I think this is so important. I have talked with older adoptees and some didn't have this and wish they had. If you are an adoptive parent or soon to be, join a group for you and your kid(s). I'm so thankful to have these groups to go to.

Happy Chinese New Year (almost)

We had our Chinese New Year celebration last night with our FCC group. As you can see our daughter had so much fun. We had the hall decorated like a Chinese city street with lights, we had a dragon dance, story time, crafts, pictures, and lots of food. We have a fairly large group with kids of all ages. It is so cool to see all of the Asian children together. It is nice to have a support group for our kids. It is also nice to be around other adoptive parents too. I love to see how these parents incorporate their child's native country and celebrate it. I want my daughter to be proud of who she is and where she came from. In this picture she is dancing and making noise to wake the sleeping dragon for the new year. She was just shaking her booty and waving around her noise maker like crazy. I was telling my mom that next year we will have our son and be celebrating Tet too. I am excited to learn more about Vietnam's traditons as well. We will have our first Tet celebration with our agency here in a couple of weeks. We will have such a mix of celebrations I hope we can keep em all straight. May God bless our new year to come and bring all our babies home soon!