Made In China

Friday night was a lot of fun! The children had a great time decorating their pumpkins and just playing together. We had three families over for a cookout. All three families have little girls who were born in China. The girls are precious! They are all basically the same age, give or take 6 months, and it was just so sweet to seem them together.

And here's Pryce and his friend Keaton having some fun last week....

The Little Things

Again, this is a post for me, one that will make me remember the little triumphs with MK. Today we went for a photo session. Our photographer has been with us since Colin was born 8 1/2 years ago. He is fabulous! Six months ago he had his hands full with Mason-Kate. She cried, she screamed, she was just pitiful....and all the while, I was frustrated because I had never experienced anything like this with the boys. Colin and Pryce have always performed in front of the cameras and especially for Mr. Mike. Not MK though, not six months ago. Mike and his assistant kept trying to tell me how ok it was and reminding me that she had been through so much in such a short amount of time....this I knew but it was hard to understand. This morning, six months later, she was quite the performer for Mr. Mike. She smiled, she fixed her hands how she was told, she laughed, she sat down, she stood up (stood still even) in one place, she played with the bubbles, she played peek-a-boo, she talked....she had a good time! She is secure, she is not scared, she knows she is loved and she knows we will care for her, she trusts us. I did not "get it" six months ago but today I do.

Kindergarten Love

Pryce is a lady's man, always has been and probably always will be. It isn't that he tries, but the girls (young and old) just like him - he is nice, quick to compliment and has the cutest little smile. Since school started in August, he has become friends with one particular girl in his class. He talks about her all the time, they save seats for each other at lunch and they play together at recess. They are great friends. Yesterday I overheard her whisper to Pryce "Do you love me?". Pryce put his hand on her back, leaned over to her ear with this big grin on his face and said, "No, but we can still be friends!" I wonder just how many times he will say that in his future!

A Day At The Lake

Sunday we were invited to spend some time at the lake with family and friends. The children all had a great time. They were especially excited about the boat ride! In other news, Pryce has his first legitimate loose tooth! He woke up this morning and to his delight Colin confirmed that one of Pryce's bottom teeth is loose. Pryce is beside himself. He has watched the Tooth Fairy come and go for years with Colin. Now, it will finally be his turn for a visit very soon. Stay tuned.

Colin's Poem

Colin wrote Mason-Kate the poem below over the weekend. We think Mason-Kate and Pryce are very lucky to have such a great big brother!

Mason-Kate is lucky that she has a home
where she can hang out, sleep and roam
and if she gets lost in the deep, deep woods
I would find her, yes I would,
cause I'm her brother, I love her most
so please don't fuss, for this, boast!

Emma Turns 4

Four years ago, my sister, who always told others that she wasn't going to have children, gave birth to a baby girl, Emma. One of my favorite memories of that time in our lives was when Pryce and I drove to their house from Florida to meet little Emma. She was a week old. Pryce was 2 1/2. We bathed in hand sanitizer and Pryce sat on the couch to hold little baby Emma. I thought I would let him hold her first because he was two and he would tire quickly of holding a sweet, sleeping baby. Instead, Pryce cradled her in his arms and every time I asked to hold her he would tell me "shhhh, baby is sweeping." Thus began our life with little Emma. She is the one who prepared my boys for their own little sister, Mason-Kate. As for my sister, she now has a son, Jay, too....so the one who said "no" to children now has two of her own and works as a nurse in the NICU....so much for no children! Anyway, we spent yesterday at a farm near their house and celebrated Emma's fourth birthday. It was a great day for all of us!

Busy

This has been one of those weeks for our family....busy, busy, busy. I don't even think that it is just our family....every family that I know has been busy. Busy with school, busy with meetings, busy with friends, busy with more school, busy with decorating, busy baking for school, busy with clothes - seasonal changes are occuring - , just busy. During the craziness, I did find time to laugh with my children. Yesterday, MK and I went to Target. On a personnal note, I had to go to the bathroom so in we went, cart and all. Mason-Kate started saying "mama, mama, mama...". Because she always says "mama, mama, mama" one tends to tune it out at times until she gets louder. So, when she got louder, I looked up to see her pointing to these three baby elephants on the wall. When she realized that she had my undivided attention, she put her little arm up to her head, to make a trunk, and began making the elephant sound, all the while her little head going up and down, just like the elephants do. She is into animals and their sounds....she quacks, she howls, she hoots, she roars, she moos, she meows, she barks, she oinks, she baahs....all of these sounds yet she refuses to say the one word I have tried to teach her since she entered our life 6 months ago....the word "please". Drama. This morning the boys were eating breakfast, Colin asked me what May Day was. I wondered why he wanted to know about May Day but because I have a history at my college celebrating May Day, dance and all, I went into this whole explanation of what May Day symbolizes, etc. He looked puzzled. Pryce chimes in, "so why do the captains say 'mayday, mayday' when their ship is in trouble?" Then Colin looks at me, still puzzled, and says "yeah, mom, I was asking about what 'mayday' means....I didn't even know there was such a thing as an actual May Day to celebrate." Thus begins our day, they are on one page, I am on the next. Today is Finley's 1st birthday! Hooray for Fin! Hope you all enjoy the pix.

Happy 1st Birthday, Finley!