Peanut Butter As Body Lotion

Today Reagan got a nasty bug bite while outside and despite the fact that I slathered it with hydro cortisone, she still complained of the itch. I finally took her shirt clean off and put her in her high chair for lunch with only her jeans on.

I made her a peanut butter sandwich, found some grapes and milk and plopped the food in front of my "Itchy, Mommy. Ow. Itchy" child.

Then I left the kitchen, walked down the hall and slid out of my flip flops. I put my wedding ring and watch on my dresser, pivoted and returned to the kitchen. I was gone maybe 30 seconds.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, Reagan had turned her sandwich peanut butter side out and SMEARED it across her chest and tummy region. She'd also applied the PB lotion to the outsides and palms of her hands as well as her cheeks.

I literally checked the clock to make sure the bedroom wasn't in some sort of time warp and I'd actually left her alone for an hour instead of mere seconds. Nope. The clock confirmed my suspicions--Reagan lives to blow my mind.

As true testament to how much I've grown accustomed to the general disaster a toddler creates, I sat down and ate my lunch. Reagan finished her meal and then I tackled the cleaning process.

After laboring over her skin, I pulled her out of the chair only to discover that her jeans and the chair's straps were completely covered in goo, as well. Please note, there just wasn't that much PB on the sandwich to begin with; I believe it grew in size and stickiness somehow though I've yet to solve that mystery. I'll let you know if I do.

I carried my beloved angel at arm's length down the hall to her room. The whole time she's jabbering about her baby, the weather, offshore drilling options and when she'll see Jackson next. Not a word about the fact that she's a peanut butter-covered wiggle worm.

I'm pulling off her sticky jeans when it dawns on her. She said, "Hmmm....me messy."

Ya think?!

Accept no substitutions...

We're leaving for the airport in a matter of 58 minutes or so. We're headed for the land of no humidity...Colorado!

Last night in an attempt to save time this morning, Danny and I packed and packed everything we wouldn't need today. We stayed up late to ready the house, water plants, print tickets and debate airport regulations concerning my lotion.

Before putting our little monkey to bed, I also took Todd, the very pink tiger to our room. He is securely packed away as I type this. I tried to explain to Reagan that Todd was going with us, that he needed to be packed and she would see him tomorrow.

In order to pacify her, I gave her a lavender-scented sheep and a soft, soft seagull flown in from San Francisco earlier this spring. They're both perfectly delightful bed mates and to my knowledge neither of them has parasites or a habit of hogging the covers. Should've been fine, right?

Wrong.

I tiptoed in to Reagan's room last night to acquire the baby monitor I'd forgotten and tripped over something squishy on the floor. A sheep body. A few feet further (and many, many feet from HRH's bed) I found the seagull. Our angel hurled these innocent creatures across the room after we left her.

If you can't sleep with Todd, don't sleep with anyone, I suppose.

Reagan, the foodie

So last night at supper, Reagan politely asked for a "neenex" which means Kleenex. I gave her one and we watched, both amazed and amused as she flicked it in the air and then placed it on her lap gently. She smoothed it out and everything and then smiled at us. Her Neenex looked just like our napkins. It was so sweet and clever and we both praised her and then commented to each other about how brilliant and delightful our child is. We were still talking about it as we hit the sack hours later.

Today I caught her cramming and smearing Jello into her belly button, I kid you not.

Corn, the veggie of champions

People tell me (fairly often and certainly more than I want them to) that corn isn't a real vegetable. It doesn't have as many vitamins, antioxidants or fiber as it should. And it's the wrong color, apparently.

I beg to differ. Corn has always been and always will be my very favorite vegetable, followed closely by the potato. I especially love corn on the cob and during our Independence Day celebration, Jenn and I determined that our munchkins were cob-ready and we let them go to town.

They each chose a different method of attack but the results were the same--buttery, delicious corn in their tummies and all over their faces, much like the adults around them.

Anniversary Photos

We took some pictures of our spicy girl on our Gotcha Day anniversary...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/84389878@N00/?saved=1

365 Days Ago, Our Princess Reagan Arrived...

Or, more accurately, we arrived to her. :) Below is a copy of the post we made that night from Changsha, China.
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I don't know what to tell you. She's perfect, obviously. We can't find a darn thing wrong with her except she has a cold but we expected that. We've already administered a baby dose of Tylenol cold medicine. SHE LOVES THAT MEDICINE. Oh, she wiggled with glee and sucked the syringe dry. Strange kid. She seems pretty infatuated with us, too. Lots of nose pinching, mouth exploring, finger holding going on here. She hasn't cried yet so we're expecting her to figure out that her nannies are gone and they've left her with two white giants any minute. :( Thank you for your prayers. We can feel your love and Father's love. I sang kumbaya to her in the civil affairs office. Just whispered it softly in her little ear and we've told her wa ai nee (I love you) about 100 times already. She adores her little keys. She went right for the red key and sucked and sucked and gummed it to death. Of course she loves red. She's mommy's girl. :) She hasn't any teeth yet but is so close. We can feel them under the gums. We've turned up the AC in here so mommy and daddy are sweltering but now she isn't shaking or cold. She's a Hunan spicy girl and they LOVE the heat. So...I guess we're officially parents because without thinking we just wanted her to be comfortable and so what if we're not? Who cares. Ru is happy and that's all that matters.

We'll post more on Flickr later. We've taken (and this isn't Lisa exaggeration) 50 or so pictures and several videos and we've had her all of an hour. We think she's pretty darn cool, basically. :)

One Year!

I'll post more pictures tomorrow but just wanted to point out that since China is 12 hours ahead of us...today is our Gotcha Day...sort of. :)

Reagan RuXian, you have completely flipped our world upside down. We thank God for you, for the magic you bring to our lives! We love you, Baby Girl. (This picture was taken in Guangzhou, China, July 2007).

Independence?

Happy Birthday, USA!
Happy 1st 4th of July, Reagan Ru!

One year ago tomorrow we got on a plane headed to China to get our little daughter.
WOW.

We said goodbye to our Independence, to sleeping in, to extra cash, to socializing without first spending a week scouring for a babysitter, to a life that was completely inwardly focused.

And now we're parents.

We woke up today at 6:49 am to a little voice saying, "Mommy? Daddy?" over and over and over again, getting a little bit louder, a little more high pitched with each occurrence. And we'll spend the day feeding Reagan, changing her diaper, attempting to keep her from mortal peril and most importantly, teaching her the fine art of "using her words" instead of whining for what she wants.

I remember independence as a vague, Utopian sort of idea and Danny isn't sure he remembers it at all but we all know my memory is better than his. But then, as he points out, who'd want to remember life before Reagan?

Well, not us.

Happy Independence Day, everyone! We're so blessed to live in this great nation, so fortunate to experience freedom! Hope you all have a safe, fun, freedom-filled 4th.

12 month post placement visit today

Reagan is snoozing. I'm taking the time to blog. Danny's at work.
And, yet in just over an hour, our social worker will be here for our FINAL visit.

The first time we had one of these things, I cleaned for 3 days straight.
Today I shoved some pooh in the closet, wiped down the bathrooms and ran my hand over the dustiest part of the dining room table, smeared the findings on the back of my jeans and kept moving.

For the first visit, Danny and I went over tons of adoption-related material, studying all the right answers, quizzing each other over what not to say so they'd let us have a child, please, oh please, oh please.
Today I flipped through a Fitness magazine.

Back in 2006 when we began the process, I baked from-scratch cookies for our social worker's home visit.
Today I made sure the faucet was still working so I could offer her some water.

Two summers ago, I sat on the floor in my closet analyzing the perfect outfit. What says "I'll be a fabulous mom" in just the right hues?
Today I found a pair of capris that fit and a red shirt without any stains on it and put them on. And, as an extra measure of hygiene, I swiped on some midday deodorant.

It's not that I'm lackadaisical or I don't care. It's just that this time, we're not out to prove we can be a family. We're in the thick of family and have nothing to prove to anyone. It's a good place to be.