Chocolate Palette ::Papua New Guinea:: 21/365

 For Christmas my grandparents gave us a gift card to Trader Joe's. We were very excited about this gift and had a lot of fun spending it. We love Trader Joe's.

 One of the things we got was a collection of eight chocolate bars from around the world called a Chocolate Palette. It came with a pairing card that gives recommendations on what to eat each bar with.

Tonight we had the bar from Papua New Guinea and it was supposed to be paired with Merlot. Since I hate Merlot we had it with a dark red mixed wine. It was a Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot mix wine from France.

And for those of you who just visit the blog to see pictures of Bonita Rose here are some pictures of Baby Girl from today...

Cuddling Mama's knee. She's such a happy, kissy girl.

And here's a picture of Rosie on her rocking horse. She's such a playful girl.

Baby Steps 20/365

On Saturday night after spending all day outside Baby Girl did something amazing after bath.  She walked across the room all by her self. completely unassisted!

Our baby is a walker now. I guess I finally have to admit she's a toddler.
Here's a picture of her on Sunday morning walking to William. She's very proud of her new skill.

To celebrate Bonita's first day of walking we took her to Target after church and let you pick out first pair of shoes. Baby's first shoe shopping!

Bonita Rose has always had an aversion to shoes. We've been able to get her to wear Ugg type slippers but only if we tell her she can go outside. She wears them to keep her feet warm but as soon as she's in the house she wants them off.

I think it's the feeling of her feet being confined that she doesn't  like. She tends to use her toes and feet as extensions of her hands. feeling and touching things with them before she picks things up. For that reason, I wanted to get her something flexible but that would still protect her feet when walking around out side.

We ended up with these adorable shoes that are basically socks with heavy duty rubber grips on the bottom. They are flexible and keep her feet from getting wet and they help her not slip when she's walking. They are called SkidDERS.

But the best part? Bonita Rose loves them!

She will even wear them in the house. She's so proud to have her own shoes.

Here's a couple pictures of her doing the sign for shoes.

Sunny Days 19/365

 I know I just wrote about how wonderful the snow was a couple of days ago, but today was blue skies and almost 60(F) degrees! (15C)

The weather in Middle Tennessee is so much fun. The snow is beautiful but melts off before it has time to get gray and disgusting and then it's sunny and warm!
So today we all spent the day out side. William and my dad worked out in the field all day and took advantage of great weather for pouring cement and doing fences.

While me, Baby and my mom (Nana) spent time in the yard with the animals.

With all the cold weather the goats and dogs were feeling a little neglected. Usually my mom goes out and sits with them and pets them and makes sure they all feel loved.  They were all so happy to have her sitting in their midst.

When Baby and I met her outside she looked like Dr. Doolittle with all the animals all climbing on her at once.  Of course Baby wanted to get in on that action too.

Bonita Rose had so much fun watching and petting  every one. She wanted to try and chase the goats around but they were too fast for her.  










Here's a picture of Baby Girl doing the sign for "Goat". That's how she would tell me that she wanted me to carry her to be closer to them.

 After we spent a good bit of time with the goats, we decided what we needed was a good picnic lunch. So we called the boys in and made Angus hot dogs and Dad's Famous BBQ Chicken. 

Oh, and Sweet Tea. After all, this is The South.

It was so wonderful to be able sit in the sun and enjoy our lunch together. I really love that about farm/country life. William can work all day but we still see him for lunch!

Baby got to have a treat too. She really likes V8. We call it Nana's Juice.  She also likes drinking from the glass by her self. She's such a big girl!

I will leave you with this adorable picture of Bonita Rose giving the goats a look. She's so much fun!

 

Daddy Dear 18/365

Every day when Bonita Rose wakes up from her nap she asks to watch a video. She points at the computer and does the hand sign for "more" and makes her little grunting sign. She so cute it's hard to say no. This is her favorite one. She squeels and dances and get so happy. She's usually asking for "more" before it's even over.

17/365

Today was one of those days where you say "we didn't really do much. Nothing  really happened" but at the end of the day you're completely exhausted.  We did the dishes (baby likes to put the dishes away with mama), we had baby music and dancing time, we played in a box and we had lots of kisses. You know, the usual mama and me activities.
Here are some pictures of baby's day.

Baby discovered the old fashioned phone. The best part about this picture is there is one almost exactly like it of ME  when I was little. I need to find that picture.

Nana put up some new pictures, including a family picture of us. Baby was very excited when she realized there was a picture of her. she kept pointing at it and laughing.

Baby fed the dog the cat's food...

 

and of course we played in a box.

Snow. Then and Now 16/365

On January 25th 2008 William and I moved from the town of Wuxi, China, to Shanghai.  We had no friends, spoke no Chinese, had no jobs and had very little money.  That night, it snowed.  At the time everyone was freaked out because it hadn't snowed in Shanghai for 90 years or so, but it's snowed every winter since then. 

I was actually quite delighted with the snow because snow is always magical. Like a blessing from heaven. I love how it makes everything sparkle.

 Unfortunately for us our heater broke. The fan got ice on it and broke in half. It was so cold in our small apartment that even with all our warm clothes on we just couldn't get warm. We had no idea who to call or how to communicate, so we did what a lot Chinese people do to keep warm. We went out. We spent the day at the art museum and enjoyed their heating. 



Here is a picture of the view from our 17th floor apartment.

Last night at about midnight I looked out the window and saw big fluffs of snow falling from the sky. I got baby and William out of bed and dragged them to the front porch to marvel at the magic of it.  I really do love to watch it snow. Baby thought it was great fun and was fascinated by how it stuck in our hair.

 Here is a picture of the view from our kitchen window.

 

 What a difference!

I don't regret our time in China. I'm thankful for our friends there and miss them. Some days I miss the city. But I am so thankful for where we are now. For trees and clean air and blue skies. For silence.


But no matter where I am. I'm thankful for snow.

I'll leave you with the most adorable picture of Rosie standing on the heater vent to keep her feet warm. She most have learned this trick from her Nana.

I love this face

Technical Difficulties 14/365

Well we've had a bit of a technical difficulty. Our computer kind of freaked out yesterday and gave us the blue screen of death. Luckily for us we live with my mom who is a computer genius (not employed by apple) and she spent half the day fixing it. While I've spent the other half the day sorting through files and deleting stuff.

Anyway, the day started off as a very grumpy one because I thought all our pictures were gone and my computer was down. But there is a silver lining, a bright side, if you will allow me to play the "Glad game" (if you don't know what that is you should watch or read PollyAnna. It's wonderful)

My mom ended up finding two years worth of pictures that I thought was lost forever, including pictures from our honeymoon trip to Prague! So that is wonderful.

The computer is still a bit on the fritz though so I can't upload any pictures at the moment. Hopefully tonight I'll have something adorable of baby to post.

Now I need to go be nice to William as I was grumpy to him this morning.

OH... and don't forget, it's 20 days till Valentine's Day.

Self Portrait 13/365

Christmas comes late 12/365

Today was a good day. First of all this was the first day that Baby didn't have any more fever. She's still been a little fussy and more tired than usual but she's feeling a lot better. She took 3 naps today but she also felt well enough to ask to go on a walk. So William took her out for a long walk and she got to go out and pet the goats. Thank you every one for prayer for her.

Also, Christmas arrived later for us!!
Luke and Katie gave us a cappuccino machine for Christmas and today they also sent us espresso cups.
Started our Saturday off with some great cappuccinos


Then William took Baby for her walk and when was coming back in the house he found a package that the postman had left on the porch. The bad part about that is that my mom's dog (yogi) is really annoying and eats any mail that is left on the porch. They are supposed to put boxes in a parcel drop but sometimes they forget. Luckily William rescued the mail before Yogi ate it all.

Anyway, this package came all the way from Singapore! It's a book that our friend Shelly Bryant wrote and check it out...
William wrote the intro!
You can buy it here at genremal.com and check out Shelly's Blog here.
I've already started reading the book and LOVE IT. Shelly is a wonderful writer. I'm also very impressed with William's intro. Please check it out.

Well we better get going to bed. Baby is still a little fussy from her teeth but she's doing a lot better. I'll leave you with a picture of her helping her Nana on the computer while talking on the speaker phone to Aunt Jenny.

Sleeping like a baby 11/365

Baby is an active sleeper.

SNOW!! 10/365

Well Baby is still not feeling well today. It looks/feels like she's cutting two large molars on the bottom. It's made her very grumpy and very needy. and it's been exhausting for her.
Today we tried to take her for a drive to cheer her up. I think she enjoyed getting out of the house. But she was still tired and not feeling well. And I don't think she liked me sticking the camera in her face. Here's a grumpy face she gave me.

But even in her discomfort she's been extra cuddly. And she's been getting lots of cuddles and kisses.

After we got home from our drive it started to snow! Baby and I laid in bed and watched the snow fall.


Now we have over 3 inches of snow and a beautiful full moon. I just hope baby feels better tomorrow.

**Edit**
Baby still has a fever of 104.5 (40.3c)
We are setting the alarm for every 3 hours again tonight to give her medicine to keep the fever down. It gets really high at night. She's so sweet and perfect, I just wish she felt better. she get's so upset by the flavor of the medicine. She's nursing almost constantly.

On the positive side though, it's kind of sweet how she's reverting back to infant like behavior. Ok. Off to bed we go. Please pray for her.

Daddy's Girl 9/365

Daddy's of daughters are so much fun. They will do anything to entertain their baby girls. William is such a fun Daddy. He is her fashionable super Daddy. While she is his pock-a-dot princess.

Sick Day 8/365

People always say things like "I wish I was a baby again" or "Life is so easy for babies."
I don't really think these people know what they are talking about. It's hard work being a baby. You have to learn things like how to walk with out falling or running into things. You have to try go get the people that are bigger than you to pay attention to you and understand you and you don't even speak their language. And the hardest of all... you have to make teeth.

Today Baby is making teeth. She's had a high fever all day long and has not felt good at all.
Daddy tried to cheer her up as much as her could. She got to sit and watch her baby videos between naps. And the dog did what he could to cheer her up.
Even though Bonnie Rose wasn't in a good mood (for her) and really didn't feel well she still keeps a good attitude and is never too sick to give her mama kisses.
Life is hard being a baby. But at least she has her Nana and her Dada to cuddle her when she doesn't feel good. And she can have all the Mama's milk she wants.

A matching pair 7/365

When I was very young I loved matching clothes. My sister and I had several matching dresses and it was fun wearing them together. Sometimes I would even try to "accidentally" wear the same shirt as my brother so we could match. It rarely worked because he would always change when he saw me.

In China it was very common for couples to wear matching shirts when they went out. We called them "couples shirts". I loved going out on Friday nights and seeing all the couples in their matching shirts walking down the street.

I still love matching clothes.
For Christmas William's mom sent me and baby matching Christmas PJ's. As you can imagine I love them. I know that some day Rosie is going to grow out of liking to wear matching clothes with me. Until then I plan to take full advantage of it while I can.
I love this picture of Bonita Rose. She just started making this face at us (she learned it from her Nana). It cracks me up every time.
OH and this book she's holding is her favorite bed time book. She likes to sit in bed and read it by her self.
She's such a smart baby to be studying German all by her self.

Sunday is Fun day. 6/365

Sundays are usually long days for us, but always nice. It's the day we wake up early and actually comb our hair and then go to Church. We haven't made any new friends since moving back from China and since we live a bit out side the nearest town we don't get out much. But Sundays are fun because we get to go out and see people. Even if we don't really talk to them.


We've been going to church at the local Catholic church, St. Patrick's. It's a really cute little church and the priest is so warm and friendly and sincere. It's taken Baby a little bit of time getting used to having to sit still and be quiet in church, since in China we met at our house and baby was aloud to crawl around and talk to every one, But she's been so good. The nicest part about going to this church, though, is that people really love kids and they don't mind if babies make a little (or some times a lot) of noise. Parents are never glared at or asked to step out side and we are never made to sit behind some stupid window in a separate "cry room". If babies make noise most people just ignore it, or occasionally smile at the baby and just enjoy that they are there. The Priest never gets annoyed or distracted. He just keeps on taking and occasionally talks to the kids in the congregation.

We haven't really talked to or met any one at church so far. But we're really enjoyed just being there and basking in the freedom and reverence of the service.

This Sunday was especially fun because after church we went home and William made fried catfish and Aunt Mae came over! We love spending time with Aunt Mae. She lives in town and she's so much fun to hang out with and talk to. And Baby Bonita loves her. I think it's because Aunt Mae talks to her and laughs at her jokes.

Fried Cat fish is a local specially in this area and William has gotten really good at making it. He fries it in corn meal and he secret seasoning. Aunt Mae brought the vinegar coleslaw. or "slaw" as they call it. It's made with vinegar and cabbage and is served cold. It's wonderful.
Usually, when Aunt Mae comes over she leaves right after we eat, but today she hung out and talked with us and watch a Baby Signing Time video with Bonita Rose and even went outside and looked at the goats with us. It was really nice having her stay so long and spend time with us. (did I mention we don't get out much or meet many people?) (actually she's pretty funny and we like talking to her )

Then it was nap time. William's been reading a book about dragons to me and baby. Baby loves it when he reads to us and loves falling asleep to his reading.

After our lovely nap we decided it was time to make Buckeyes! I've been wanting to make this since Christmas but we just never got around to it.

Buckeye's are Chocolate covered peanut butter balls and they are so so yummy. It was really fun making them all together because they are super easy and every one can help.

Even baby helped! Here's a picture of her laying out the papers for them.
William looks very cool mixing the peanut butter and sugar.
Then we rolled the peanut butter into balls and put them on the paper. Baby was very good at helping put the balls on the paper. Until she decided to put one in her mouth and discovered their sugary goodness.

We all had a lot of fun dipping the peanut butter balls in melted chocolate after they had sat in the freezer for a while. We even had some chocolate left over and made some chocolate dipped peppermint sticks. Then we remembered we had a Mickey Mouse ice cube tray. I'm really happy with how the Mickeys turned out.

William even put little candy hearts on some of the buckeyes. Aren't they cute!
To top off our eventful, fun Sunday we all watched a new show on TV called The Cape. My Dad had called earlier this week to tell us about it and thought we'd really like it. So I taped it and we finally got around to watching it. It's basically a comic book super hero story. I love how well my Dad knows our geeky taste. We all really enjoyed the show. It helped we had some great buckeyes to snack on while watching it.

So that was our Sunday. It was really fun and relaxing. Now I'm going to go eat a buckeye.