Back in the real world, and country comes to town to stay!

So our vacation is officially over! We got home last night. Jaden did great on the trip home and slept most of the way, as did her daddy!


We are now home and back in the real world. Jaden had a fever when we got home and is alittle fussy. I am pretty sure it is her teeth. I will be glad when she has a full set!

Other big news for us is that while we were gone the country side of my family, otherwise known as my brother and his family moved 8 miles from us! They moved here from Arizona. Today they came over so Jaden could get acquainted with her cousin Jodus who she has only met once before. I know they will become fast friends! I am glad Jaden has family so close that she will see alot! And now she will get to see her Mississippi grandparents more because both of their grandchildren will be in the same place instead of across the country from each other! Plus I get free babysitters!

Our trip is winding down....

Well we are getting ready to end our vacation. Tomorrow it is back on the road to home. I dont know why they call it vacation because I am alot more tired now then I was before we left home. We have walked more miles in the past few days then we did the whole two weeks we were in China. Jaden has done great on the trip. I was so worried about how she would react to the hotel room. She did fine. She had her toys to keep her busy at night and during the day we kept her on the move.
I have put the past two days pictures on shutterfly. I am too tired to put them here.
We went to Arlington yesterday and it was amazing to see all the markers with flags in front of them. We also went to the Holocaust museum, that is a must see for anyone. Yesterday we did the big tourist thing of walking in front of the White House and taking pictures. It was funny because it must have been Chinese tourist day. There were about 5 tour buses full of people that got out to take pics of the White House. We got alot of stares! We ended the day with dinner at the hotel. They had a band and Jaden put on a show dancing for the people!
Today was all about Jaden.(and me) We went all the way to China last year and did not see one Panda so we had to go to the zoo to see them here. They were both sleeping but at least we saw them. Jaden had the best time seeing the farm animals because she finally got to see her favorite animal the cow! She says mooo so cute and southern and I know she has been dying to use that word on a cow. She saw the cow and walked right up to it and said mooo over and over again! She was asleep before we left the zoo and slept through two subway rides!
We also had our first bit of negativity while we were here regarding Jaden. Of course it is Memorial weekend so all the veterans or here. Yesterday we passed a Vietnam vet and he was staring Jaden down with a look of disgust! I am sure he thought she was from Vietnam. I wish I had said something to him but it just caught me off guard. Jerk!
For all those wondering about our swamp a$$ situation I am happy to say that the weather cooled down yesterday and today it was just a tad bit warmer! We were able to get through the day without needing our anti monkey butt.(I know alot of you were wondering)!!!
So my next post will be back in the real world! Home sweet home!

Whirlwind tour of Washington!

Well most everyone knows that we are in Washington DC now for a visit! Today we took a whirlwind tour! We did a bus tour first. Then we went to the Air & Space Museum(sucked), National History Museum( I so thought that The Night at the Museum was filmed here, big let down), Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Vets Memorial, World War II Memorial, and Chinatown for dinner(wonderful food). Jaden got tons of attention all day. There are alot of Chinese here this week. One woman thought She was 4 years old! She was shocked when I told her she was only 18 months! Alot of the shops are owned by Chinese and they are all giving Jaden free candy! We have one hyped up baby! She is also turning into a subway pro! I put most of the pics on shutterfly(you can thank me later for not putting all the airplane pics that Rusty took on there). It is so hot here now. We all have major cases of swamp a$$ going on! The good thing is its not humid. I am really missing my anti monkey butt powder(its real people, you can get it at Wal-mart and it works!) I am off to bed about 4 hours earlier than usual, this place is wearing me out!

pictures on shutterfly

I dont have time to post pics here so check out shutterfly there are tons from our trip! Link is at top of page!!!

Visiting China friends!

We are FINALLY on our trip that has been planned since we left China. We are visiting our good friend Delaine and her family who we traveled with to China. While we were here we had a small reunion planned with our other travel mate Tara and also another friend who we did not travel with but we got referrals at the same time! It was so fun seeing everyone and getting these four special girls together. We are having a great time!

Jaden was so good on the LONG ride here!

Naps are rocking around here!

I posted yesterday about Jaden finally putting herself to sleep. I decided to take pictures to prove it today!





I also was able to get a picture of the devil's birds that are living on the front porch. They are crazy! Last night I was looking out the dinning room window and it dived at the window!



And I finally got a response from our builder after calling and threatening them with the attorney general and BBB. Needless to say they are fixing the roof! Now maybe I can relax and enjoy vacation!

Quick trip to the zoo and a little update on Jaden!

Today after the contractors got to work on the fence, Jaden and I decided to make a quick trip to the zoo to check out the polar bears! The exhibit just opened and has been so crowded we haven't checked it out. It was raining off and on today so I thought we could go see them real fast since no one would be out in the rain. Boy was I wrong. I think every school in Columbus was there today! We went ahead and checked it out. It wasn't to bad. We got some good pictures of the bears and headed out the door.






Now onto Miss Jaden! She is doing so well. She is so funny and keeps us laughing! She is talking more. She will have a conversation with me and I have no clue what she is saying. I just keep saying really and yhea and she just keeps talking. Our only issue with Jaden since we came home from China is sleep. She refuses to sleep in her crib. She sleep with me at night and then for nap she falls asleep while I am holding her and then I lay her on the couch where she will sleep for about 2 hours. This is what works best for she and I. This week we have made big strides(at least for me). She will now crawl onto the couch herself when I tell her it is nap time and she actually puts herself to sleep! I know it is a small step but at this point I will take anything I can get. I am hoping that she can soon be moved to her bed so I can sleep through the night myself. She is a very restless sleeper and I get kicked in the head alot. But it is all worth it because most mornings she wakes up and kisses me to wake me up!



And in more exciting news, we will be going on a little trip soon! We are going to visit my wonderful friend Delaine and her family! We adopted our girls together and have not seen each other since. We had talked on the internet since before we were even logged in to China! And if that isn't enough we will also see another wonderful family that we adopted with, Tara and her family and also another of the group that has been emailing each other since before our referral Beth and her little Ping Ping will be there too! I can't wait to get the four of these girls together. And those three mamas helped me get through the long wait for Jaden with all of their support! I can't wait to see them all. They are all family to us after what we went through and all the things we shared! I am so excited. Look for pictures soon!

Things are getting done around here!

Well finally things are moving around here and getting done. Thanks to me!
The van is now back in the garage!




We now have a nice new patio which Jaden supervised the construction of!




They have even started on the fence today!(no pics sorry)

The roof is another story. Our sorry builder is not returning our calls. I guess he thinks we are just going to go away. Wrong! Tomorrow we will call again with the threat of the attorney general and BBB.

Our new issue is that we have a lovely new tenant that has taken up residence on our front porch! It wouldn't be so bad but they refuse to pay rent and they don't keep a tidy house! They also don't like us to be on the porch! I will be glad when the eggs hatch and they leave the nest!




And while mommy was running around like a crazy person the other two got to catch up on some sleep. Must be nice!

Late Mother's day post!

Ok I have to apologize to my one faithful reader about not posting a mother's day post. You would think that since I have waited years for that one special day I would jump on the chance to post. But I have an excuse, really alot of them!


It could be that I wasn't able to post because of the lovely shingles that are missing from our roof that is less than 3 years old...





Or maybe its because of the rain that is coming in through the playroom ceiling....




Or maybe it is because of the van that is not in our garage because its at the dealership getting fixed....





Or maybe its because of that 18 month old beauty who is getting 6 teeth at the same time and wants to eat nothing that I make for her for lunch...




Or maybe its that dog in the background who does eat everything that I make for lunch for that beauty in the highchair...





Or could it be because I have been dealing with the contractor who was supposed to have our fence and patio in weeks ago...






Nope its none of that. Its because I spent the whole day loving on my girl and enjoying the fact that I was Finally able to celebrate that special day of being a mother!(the rest of the week I dealt with the other stuff!)