Cutie pics

Lydia having an excited squeal---lunch with Grandma at Red Robin. She is a great lunch date so far. Sits in her chair, doesn't want to run around the place, and eats her food (kind of!). Restaurant trips with the boys are quite different! As the boys were smaller, many times Jason and I never enjoyed our food due to several trips to the bathroom, boys running off, peering over booths, or scouring underneath the table (yuck!). Another fun reminder of the vast differences between boys and girls---it's great!!






Lydia's first trip to our pool...she absolutely LOVES the water! She loves to splash, of course, but more strangely, loves to go under! She comes up laughing and squealing with glee, while wiping the water from her eyes. I can see that she might be quite dangerous at the first swim meet coming up in June! Watching the boys swim will be quite a challenge while chasing her around.






Here is our sweet "bat girl"...
Although we have lots of pink and girlie stuff, she also loves her brother's light sabers and super hero masks! She will be quite well-rounded in her play skills---from taking care of dollies, to "saving the day"...all in a day's work for this little gal!





Here Lydia is "cheesing" at Ben's birthday party. She now knows that cameras are for smiling and saying "eeeee"






Below...Jack is learning to read and sat to read to his younger sibs. Yesterday I mentioned that he needs to be a good example because he's a big brother...his response "No I'm not! SAM is the big brother!" I don't know what he considers himself, but I tried to point out that he, also, is a big brother...alas, the challenge for the middle child---trying hard to understand 'who you are' and where you fit in the family.

Spring Pics

Some "firsts" for Lydia...


First piggy-tails and swinging in backyard. She LOVES to swing---and HIGH! She is a thrill-seeker for sure. And, Daddy loves her hair pulled back off her face in pigtails. In this pic (in March), her hair isn't quite long enough, but they are there!

Here is her first real shopping trip---helping Mommy look for a new suit for a job interview. After much searching (and using every item in my purse for entertainment!), we found the suit! The suit looked great, the interview went very well, AND I got the job!

This Fall, I will begin my first semester as a professor at the Univ. of Central Missouri, teaching Language Development and supervising student clinicians in the on-campus clinic. A new

and exciting venture for me, and also new adjustments for our family. It has been five years since I've been in private practice and the kids don't know what it's like for me to "go off to work." Thankfully, the faculty schedule is

flexible and the little ones (Ben and Lydia) will go with me to campus, as there is a childcare facility there. I can pop in anytime, eat lunch with them, take them for a walk, or bring them back to my office. Challenges are yet to come I'm sure, but we are used to working hard to overcome and make things okay.

Another "first"...my first Mother's Day with a little girl! It is such a joy to have her. Ruffled socks and panties, which bow to wear, painting tiny toenails, girlie emotional outbursts, a tiny high-pitched voice singing and trying new words, and sweet kisses are just a few of the things I'm loving! Lydia now has over 30 words that she uses regularly, and her favorites now are "spider" (with little arm motions) to indicate that she wants "Itsy Bitsy Spider", AND whenever she meets new people she says "mama" over and over while watching them carefully, hugging me, and nodding her head---almost as if to say "I know you are not my momma, SHE is..."

Easter pics

I just got a ton of pictures downloaded off of my camera (almost 500!) So, I'll include some here, even though several are from early Spring.



Here, Ben poses for a rare photo opp. He is hardly ever aggreeable to picture taking and thus it is difficult to get good photos of all of them in the same shot---what a stinker! Sam and Jack are shown attached at the hip as usual. They are such 'buds' (on most occassions). Here, they were finishing up an Easter egg hunt.




In early March, Lydia really began to show an interest in books---not just to tear them up, but to really sit and listen for a bit! Here we are reading "Moonbeams and Dragons Boats" (for about 20 seconds!), which is a great book that explains in kid-friendly language and illustrations, the wonderful holidays, traditions, and customs celebrated in China.


Here is our FIRST family photo! It was taken in late March on Easter---so it took us 3 months to get a decent picture taken!!! That's terrible. And, the only reason this happened, is because we were all dressed for church and my sister, Andrea, was available to take the pic.

More on Earthquake

Each time I see a photo or read a clip about the suffering in China, a stab of pain pierces my heart. Half the Sky Foundation has been posting updates regarding the condition of the orphanages---there are many damaged, but no injuries to the children. However, more children are now arriving at the orphanages because they have lost their parents, survived the quake, and are now orphans themselves.

There are no reports about Lydia's orphanage in Fuling. That indicates they don't have the info and they are most likely okay.