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.
______________

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.