Christmas Morning

We had a fantastic Christmas this year. It seems to get better and better as Genghis gets older. It started with a Christmas Eve dinner I hosted for family living nearby. The menu included shrimp cocktail and stuffed mushrooms (Walton family tradition) in addition to the ham, mashed potatoes and salad. We had plenty of yummy desserts to end the evening on a sweet note. Genghis then opened one gift from Grandma Susie (who was at our house), and it was a remote control helicopter. Yang loves it as much as Genghis does.

After our guests left, we changed into our new pjs and tucked Genghis in bed. She fell asleep surprisingly quickly, considering how excited she was for Santa's visit.

The video shows Genghis's morning. Her favorite gift from Santa was her drum set. We had a relaxed morning and spent the day together. It was fantastic. Hope yours was as well.

Merry Christmas!

Hint hint

I think Genghis is trying to tell me what she wants for Christmas. I'm pretending not to hear her.

Genghis

Our village (read: house) has been razed by a conquering, pillaging, and plundering toddler. At 33 months old, 37 inches tall, and an impressive 25 pounds, Xiao Mei has earned the name of the most notorious, feared (and loved!) invader of all time. Genghis Kahn. Our little Genghis sweeps across the steppe spreading toys, clothes, food, mom's shoes, and kitchen utensils in her wake. She laughs in the face of sleep, climbs every counter, and breaks through all child locks, including the lock on the door.




She is a master of languages (thanks Dora and Kai Lan!), an athlete, and an artist. She is both loved and feared (feared mostly by Freya, our poor cat). She keeps life busy, exciting, and out of control. She is the cure for overconfidence, self-reliance, and a sense of order in the universe.





She will make history.

Universal Correspondence

The universe speaks to me through fortune cookies. I listen. While I was studying for the bar exam, Yang and I went to Happy Panda for lunch. My fortune read, "you will soon pass a big test." Seriously. I knew I still needed to study, but I was a little more confident after that. (I passed.) While I was pregnant with Xiao Mei, I received a fortune that said I would soon meet a new best friend. The truth of that fortune increases every day. XM is a hilarious little person.

So, I pay attention to my fortune cookies. I have tried to give XM a sibling for quite a while now. Last Christmas day I miscarried for the first time. (How is that for dramatic timing?) We went out for Chinese a couple days later and my fortune read, "Time heals all wounds, keep your chin up." Thank you, universe. I'm waiting for my fortune to tell me that we will add a new person to our family. When I receive that fortune (which I am utterly convinced I will), I'll let you all know. Until then, Universe, good night and good luck.

I went on a cruise to Alaska the beginning of September to celebrate my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. I was the youngest person on the boat by 20 years. Fantastic.

Here is a picture of an awesome Taiwanese man I met. His business card read "Paly Boy." (It think he meant for it to say "Play Boy.") Wow. I am confident that this picture is posted on a Chinese website of ill-repute. Somehow, I am not as bothered as I perhaps should be. For the sake of reciprocity, I am exploiting his image on my blog.
Here I am with my brother and sister-in-law in front of the Hubbard glacier. I think. One of those Alaskan glaciers, anyway.

Summer Place

Lake Powell used to be my favorite place on earth. It was the vacation destination of choice for my parents while we were growing up. We went every summer.

Then I grew up, moved away, and started my own family. In August I received an invitation from my brother to join everyone on a trip to Lake Powell. It had been over 8 years since I last visited. I had forgotten how much I love that place.

The trip was a blast, and Xiao Mei had a fun time meeting most of her cousins for the first time!







This is me water skiing! I wondered if I could still get up on one ski, and I did it! I lasted about three minutes before I fell. I proved to myself I could still do it, and now I never have to again!

I'm Back

I stopped blogging because of Facebook. I uploaded photos and posted witty little status updates on my Facebook profile, and I assumed that would fulfill my need for sharing the mundane details of my life with others. And, at first, it did fulfill that need. I abandoned my blog to drift aimlessly on the interwebs--an available target for comments advertising various pharmaceutical panaceas and shiny new discos in Berlin (I still regret titling that one post in German). Because of those random, and somewhat disturbing comments, I deleted my blog a few months ago.

But lately, I've been missing something. I had a difficult time figuring out what it was. Then it hit me--I had stopped visiting other personal blogs when I stopped blogging. I felt left out of the loop. I missed reading about the lives of my friends--both close and distant. And I missed telling others about my life. Why say something concisely, in a Facebook status update, when one can use oh so many more words in a blog post? Why, indeed. So, I'm back. Thankfully, blogger gave 90 days to change my mind about deleting my blog.

I promise to make an honest effort to update my blog more frequently. (Thank goodness there is no consideration for that promise, and therefore it is not legally enforceable. Just socially enforceable).

The series finale of Lost starts in a few minutes, so I must go now. Please allow me to leave you with a picture of a lion trying to eat my daughter. I realize there is "safety glass" between the Tsavo man-eating lion and my daughter, but it still freaks me out.

My Loves English

Xiao Mei's onesie says, "My loves flowers." Gerber must give its manufacturing facilities artistic control.

It's been extremely hot these last few days. Here is XM trying to stay cool.





While on a business trip to Klamath Falls, Yang took a break from boring depositions to visit Crater Lake.



Finally, here is XM's first experimentation with make-up (that is my concealer all over her face and hands). At least it wasn't lip stick (knock on wood). The concealer was very difficult to remove! I think I washed her face at least four times before it was clean.

To battles lost

Sometimes surrender is the only viable option.




A big thanks to Yang for teaching Xiao Mei how to drink from the hose.

Women are soft and gentle, but they hit things.

If your wife hits something in a Volkswagen, it doesn't hurt you very much.

Ha!

(HT By Common Consent)

Nobody Knows

Last night I watched the film Nobody Knows: The Untold Story of Black Mormons. It is a documentary film about some of the struggles faced by African Americans who joined the Mormon church.

I thought the film was amazing. There is a lot of anguish and sadness associated with this topic, but the film, while sobering, was also uplifting and joyful. It presents honest discussion from African American Mormons about the difficulty faced by black members both before and after the priesthood ban.

Darius Gray was the heart and soul of the film. His story is truly inspiring.

On Idaho, gardens, and dirt in the diaper

We took a spontaneous trip to Idaho last weekend to visit family. It was fun to see Xiao Mei and all her cousins together. She loved the sun, grass, and great-grandma's dog, Hercules.



We brought the sunshine home with us, thereby allowing our peonies to bloom without falling over. We took lots of pictures because this has never happened (usually they fall over within a day of opening up).



Xiao Mei is going wild. She loves, loves, loves everything outdoors. She runs around, eats grass, and has dirt in her diaper every night. Good times.

Oh, Mexico

We are back from Mexico! We are flu-free!


Our trip was wonderful. Ironically, the swine flu made for ideal traveling. The flights were not full and the beautiful mega-resort we stayed at was at 15% occupancy. My friend's wedding party made up half of the guests. We had the place to ourselves. It was fantastic.






Thank you so much to Grandma for watching Xiao Mei while we were gone. Our four day trip was very short, but I was ready to get back to my little girl.

Messy Baby Pics

Every mommy blogger does it. . . posts pictures of the messy baby in the high chair. I'm no exception. Enjoy.

Butterscotch and tapioca pudding on plastic, by Xioa Mei.

Sweet Dreams

Yup, those are baby spiders. . . right outside my window. Thought I'd share.

You're welcome.

Luck of the pigs

My highly anticipated, desperately needed trip to Playa del Carmen with Yang (without Xiao Mei) in two weeks is essential travel, right? RIGHT?



Curses, swine flu!

Duke of York

The grand ole’ Duke of York, he had ten thousand men.

He marched them up to the top of the hill and he marched them down again.

And when they were up, they were up

And when they were down, they were down

And when they were only halfway up they were neither up nor down.

This is Xiao Mei’s favorite nursery rhyme at the moment. It is also rather descriptive of the last few months. We have had our ups and downs, but we are alive and well.

Downs:

XM and I had colds at the same time. That was the first time our illnesses were concurrent, and it was not pretty.

XM has begun to flush things down the toilet.

I decorated the gym all day Holy Saturday for our church auction, rather than taking XM on what would have been her first Easter egg hunt.

Ups:

Xiao Mei’s growth is back on track. She was quite a bit underweight at her 12 month check up, but she gained extra pounds these last few months. Sadly, so have I. Thank you Cadbury mini eggs.

XM’s vocabulary is exploding. It is fun to teach her new words, and discover what words she learned on her own. The other day I mentioned to my mother-in-law that “Mr. Brown can Moo” was XM’s favorite book. Right after I said that XM ran into her bedroom, found the Mr. Brown book, and brought it back to us.

We had a lovely Easter. Both Yang and I played with XM all day, and Grandma and Grandpa joined us for dinner.

When I left a drawer in the kitchen for Xiao Mei to play in, this isn't what I had in mind.

Outside

Oh the joy and wonder that is outside. We are finally putting our back yard to good use.

This is Xiao Mei at her birthday party on Saturday.

The Big One

Long time, no post. Sorry. (Per my last post, I've created my first digi-scrapbook page using Paint.net and a free paper kit. It turned out ok, but I still need more practise).

Xiao Mei turns one tomorrow. I can't believe how quickly this year has passed, and I am grateful that XM, Yang and I survived relatively unscathed. She is such an amazing little girl, and I am so happy that we are her parents. So, in the spirit of this important milestone, please indulge me as I gush about my daughter.


While I was busy around the house yesterday, XM was in her room looking at her books. I overheard her humming the "abc" song. She had the tune down almost perfectly. She loves music more and more each day. I tracked down my "Primary Childrens' Songbook" CDs, and I have been playing those in the car and at home. It is so fun to see her dance to the songs she recognizes.

Her vocabulary is growing. She says "hi" to everyone she sees, and she is starting to mimic Yang and me more often. Time to watch our language.


XM walks all the time now and is learning to run. She loves to chase Freya (poor cat) and loves me to chase her. She enjoys playing outside and swinging on the toddler swings at the park.


We traveled to Idaho last weekend to visit G and T. We drove, and XM handled the car so much better than I thought she would (thanks primarily to the heroic efforts of XM's grandma who traveled with me). XM played really well with her two cousins, and I suspect that they will raise hell together in a few years. We also visited XM's great-grandma and grandpa. It was fun to see everyone again. G and T were wonderful hosts.

XM started acting pretty grumpy the last few days of our trip. I assumed she was having a hard time because of the unfamiliar surroundings, but it turns out she was breaking a molar. Ouch. She has nine teeth now. I think she may be working on more molars. Happy, happy, joy, joy.

XM sleeps really well at night, and has been for several months now. Because of that, she is not the best napper. She is already down to one nap. If I am lucky, she will sleep about an hour and a half during the day. She does fine with that little nap, so I am not too worried about it. She is like her dad in that way, neither of them need much sleep.



Happy birthday Xiao Mei!

Soliciting Advice

Occasionally I will scroll through the hundreds of pictures I have saved on my computer. Cute pictures like this one:


Or this one:










Or this one:










These pictures are hidden away in my computer and not admired nearly often enough. I have printed a small fraction of the pictures saved on my computer, and I've placed an even smaller fraction of those in scrapbooks. I am not a crafty person, and I am known to be afraid of colorful things; nevertheless, I've tried to keep current on scrapbooking. I'm losing in that effort. Aside from Xiao Mei's baby book, my most recent scrapbook contains pictures from 2003.

So, as my digital memories get larger and larger, and my corresponding actual memories get fuzzier and fuzzier, I am considering digital scrapbooking.

On to my request: do you scrapbook digitally? If so, what program do you recommend? How do you publish your scrapbooks?

Thanks in advance for recommendations.