Library Time

One of my favorite things to do is to take Allison to the library. I try to go when we have plenty of time because she'd stay all day if I'd let her. It's so fun to watch her explore and find new books. On this particular visit there were 3 girls (all under 6) who were not behaving so nicely. Their mother was frustrated with them, and eventually she just walked away to another section of the library. They weren't being "bad"; they were just needing some attention, I think. Allison sat down and began to read a book, but she kept looking at them like, "Can you keep it down?" After a minute or two, all three girls came over and were listening to Allison "read" the book. She was sitting in a big chair and they were all hanging off the chair to get a look at the pictures. It was so cute. And proves my point- they were just needing a little attention- or for a 2 year old to read to them. :)

Afterwards we went on an errand with Daddy- it involved going into the city of St. Charles to process paperwork for one of our vehicles. I despise doing these types of things, but they are just part of life, so we headed down there. The process of even getting a place to park was exhausting, only to find out that the line was SO long there was no way we could complete the stuff that day. UGH! The good part was Daddy took us out to lunch- the bad part was that it was WAY past Allison's bedtime by the time I drove her home, and you can see that she didn't last. :)

My First Video

After months of blogging I finally had the filmstrip added to my icons so now I can share videos- FUN!! I found one from October where Allison is reading The Gingerbread Man at my parent's house. Enjoy! :)

Our Annual CHRISTMAS VIDEO

Okay, I'm trying this again- I posted the information once and then deleted it because when I went to watch the video the quality was really poor. Must just be this particular computer being testy because it works just fine on our other computer. SO, I'm sharing it today in hopes it will show well on your computer. This is the first time I've put a video link on this website, so I hope you're all able to get to it and see it. I LOVE what Scott does with our Christmas videos-he's so good!

Advice- let the video download a little bit before you start watching it, otherwise you'll catch up to it and then it's a drag trying to wait for it to upload more. Just a tip. :) ENJOY!

gallery.mac.com/theloudenbacks/100013

Happy viewing!

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Okay- most of the time I'd rather post pictures of my child with her hair fixed nicely and a full set of clothes on, preferably right side out. However, sometimes "real life" gives me better pictures! She was very proud of the b-day cake we made for Jesus yesterday, and she wanted to show it off. Notice the letters aren't all going the right direction, but oh well. We all enjoyed the cake, and hopefully Jesus appreciated our efforts. :)

Merry Christmas!

These are just some random pictures taken Christmas Eve (feeding the reindeer, making cookies for Santa, opening new jammies, etc.), and from Christmas morning (opening presents, trying out new toys, etc.) We had SO much fun with Allison this year. We thought last year was fun, but now that she's 2 1/2 it was even more fun! She loved everything Santa brought her as well as the stuff Mommy and Daddy picked out. YEAH!

My favorite memory from the last two days happened at church on Christmas Eve. Allison came with us to the service instead of going into her toddler room, and she did a great job! About half way through the service we started singing Away in a Manger. We were standing, and I was holding Allison. She was singing, right along with everyone, in her most adorable voice, and I just started crying- then I couldn't stop crying. What a mess I was. But seriously, watching your precious child sing Away in a Manger is a pretty beautiful thing. Then after the song, just when I was getting myself back together, the pastor asked us to raise our hands to God for the prayer. Well, I have never been comfortable doing this, and I could opt out of it this time because I was holding Allison. Well, she turns to see the congregation with their hands raised, and bless her heart, she raised both hands to God and closed her eyes in prayer. My tears started flowing again. I think the people behind us got a little choked up too. There is just something so pure about a child praying. I can't explain it in words, and of course I don't have a picture of it, but it will be etched in my memory forever.

I am usually the type of person who wants "everything Christmas" to be put away on December 26th- I want to move on and look forward to the new year. I don't think that's going to happen this year. Allison is singing Frosty at the top of her lungs, asking about the Advent calendar and wondering why she can't open another door, telling everyone in Target (we went early to get Christmas bags and such for next year) MERRY CHRISTMAS!, and requesting to watch Christmas movies. So, I guess we might be "in the spirit" for a bit longer this year than usual. :)

Happy New Year, everyone!

Where did my baby go?

Tonight we headed out, AGAIN, to St. Charles to enjoy the Christmas carolers, Dickens characters, and decorations. It's really beautiful this time of year, and Allison LOVES going there, so we thought we'd go one last time before Christmas. All of the characters walking around (Santa's from different eras, Scrooge, Tiny Tim, etc.), hand out cards with their pictures and little stories about them. We've been collecting them each time we go, and now I think she has about 15 cards- not bad since there are only 26 to be had. :) She calls them her "Christmas cards"- it's very cute. We usually eat at the same restaurant every time we go (FABULOUS baked ziti!), but this time we tried a new place. It was equally yummy. :) Scott took this picture of Allison and when I downloaded it tonight it just took my breath away. She really is a big girl, and I'm really having a hard time accepting it. Can anyone relate?

I'll leave you with a funny story from our trip back to KC. At one of our Christmas celebrations I looked over and noticed Allison was moving her head around in different ways, and I asked her, "What are you doing?" She said, "My head moves." Then she kind of grabbed it, as if she was going to try and pull it off her body. I just looked at her and she said, "And it doesn't come off!" We all just stared at her and then burst out laughing. I mean, just when you think your kid might be brighter than the average bear, they say something like that! Hmmm. :)

We're baaaack!!

Greetings, everyone! We returned from KC today and although we had a GREAT time celebrating the holidays with our extended families, we're thrilled to be home. This will be a fun few days, preparing for Christmas at our own home with a little girl that is excited to have Santa visit, make Jesus a birthday cake, feed the reindeer, read Night Before Christmas, etc. She loves it all!

We fit a lot of fun activities into our short visit to KC- we stayed on the Plaza for 2 nights, which was SO much fun (google Country Club Plaza in KC if you want to see pictures of the area). Allison LOVES staying in hotels (so does Mommy!), and the Plaza lights didn't disappoint! A highlight of the weekend was taking a carriage ride in the Cinderella carriage! It was a cold night, but not too cold, and the snow on the ground just added to the beauty of the Plaza lights! When the ride was over, Allison looked at us and said, "AGAIN!!???!!" At $85 bucks a pop (thanks, Jeff and Sheila) we had to tell her no. :(

Each of our three Christmas celebrations was fun, but in different ways. At our first celebration we had a theme- everyone dressed up as a character and the little ones acted as the press, taking pictures of us on the red carpet and such. It was so much fun, thanks to Aunt Jenny, our fearless director! The funny of that night was that there was a mix-up in the name exchange and yours truly didn't get any presents. It was actually very funny for everyone, including me. :) But my true Santa did not leave me empty handed- I was given gift cards before we left town so I'll get to do some fun shopping after all. Thanks, Santa!! I love you!!

Our 2nd celebration was equally fun! We were served a wonderful breakfast at Scott's mom's house. YUMMY!! Thanks for the egg bake, Judie- you're the best! Allison had a ball opening all her presents, including an almost life sized stuffed penguin- fun! The afternoon concluded with a fun game of farkel (I don't know how to spell it) that I believe our host won both times. Hmmmm.

Our 3rd celebration was at my parents' house, and it started with a DELICIOUS chili dinner. My mom's chili is the only chili I'll eat (cause she leaves out the chunky stuff, just for me!). It's SOOOO good!! We had a great time opening our stockings, and once everyone had opened their kazoo we started up quite the band! Allison "read" a Christmas book to us to get the present opening started, and the rest is a blur, but when I unloaded the loot today I thought- wow- we got some really nice things! My favorite gifts are always updated pictures of my family, and I got a few of those, so I was thrilled! :)

Okay, it's getting late, and I want to upload some of the pictures I've chosen from our time away. Hope you enjoy! I'll post a few funny stories later- I don't want to bore you too much in one post! :)

PS- the one picture of Allison at our place, in the sweatsuit, is of her making bookmark presents for each member of our family. They were SO cute, and done by her and her alone! :)

Goin' to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come...

Today was a really fun day. I love Fridays! Not quite as much as Saturdays, but a close second. We had MOPS this morning, and it was a really good meeting. Our speaker talked about keeping Christ in Christmas for our little ones, and he said a lot of things I'll remember for years to come. Most importantly, for me, was the message that Christmas was about the greatest gift of love, and that we are to show our kids real, unconditional, simple love every day- by doing that we are doing "the meaning of Christmas" every day of the year. :) We really do make things more complicated than they need to be, don't we?

Then this evening we had a Ladies Night Out with the MOPS group. About 10 of us gathered at a place called Imagination Pottery- I love those places. I made Allison a little present and then attempted to create a mosaic piece. I have no idea how it'll turn out, but it sure was fun to make, and the fellowship with the MOPS gang was of course the highlight of the evening. We have SUCH a great group of ladies this year, and it was fun to get together outside the normal meeting time.

Tonight I've been busy packing and repacking, as we're leaving for KC tomorrow. We have three family celebrations to attend between Sunday and Monday-it'll be busy but fun. We'll head back to St. Louis on Wednesday in order to prepare for our own little family Christmas. I hope you all have a great weekend! I'll be checking in from KC with pictures of our celebrations on Monday. Until then- happy blogging!

Laurie

Elf Yourself- too funny!!

I spent all of nap time yesterday creating these little elf dances for family members. It was so much fun, and Allison laughed harder than I've ever heard her laugh at all of them. I even made one of her favorite stuffed animals- a little creepy, but still VERY funny! First of all, I hope I did it the right way and that you can actually view it. Secondly, I hope it makes you laugh, and thirdly, I hope you'll make one of your family and send it to me. :)

Thanks, Emilie, for getting us all started on elfing- it's been a blast!

Click on the website below- or type it in if I've messed it up and you can't just click on it. In case you don't know me personally, it's of my husband, myself, and Allison. :)



http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1320694407

A relaxing day at home

Well, I didn't get to go shopping yesterday because my little darling woke up feeling under the weather. Bummer for her, but bigger bummer for me (I'm so selfish!) because I REALLY needed to shop!! Instead we stayed in all day and I hit a couple shops after she went to bed. We stayed in all day again today, but we had a little break when a friend came over to play. He was tired, so we had a pretty lazy morning, watching movies and having tea time. In the picture they are saying "Cheers!" with their cups of tea- too cute!

Tomorrow is my last day to finish up shopping because Friday is MOPS and Saturday we leave for Kansas City. Hmmm, wonder how this will all get done.

I wanted to say thank you to all of you who have been leaving comments on my blog. It's so fun to check in and read them, so thanks! :) Plus it's nice to know that all my funny little stories really might be funny to someone else and not just me. Ha! Or you're all just humoring me (no pun intended) and that's okay too! :)

Okay-off to bed. Hope you all had a joyous Wednesday!

Craft time with Daddy

Sometimes I really do think Scott would do a better job staying home with Allison. He always has such fun ideas for things to do with her, inside and outside the house! This week he found a paper bag and they were off and running. I love watching my husband play with our daughter- it is one of my greatest joys!

Stories to share: Allison is getting quite good at saying her own prayers at night. I think I've shared one before, but this week she topped herself. We went to a pull-up at bedtime instead of a diaper. She loved the idea of it and was excited to try it. At bedtime we asked her if she wanted to say a prayer. "Deeeear God, thank you for a beautiful day." Then there was a long pause where usually she says "Amen!" right away. I said, "Is there something you want to ask God?' She continues, "Deeeaar God, please watch over me. I am wearing a pull up and I don't want to have an accident." How Scott and I managed to contain our laughter is beyond me, but we did, until we got out of her room at least! :) She is really a darling little girl!

2nd story- the other night I was trying to get jammies on Allison (my LEAST favorite part of the day), and she was being uncooperative as usual (not always so darling!), and I was getting frustrated. All of a sudden she goes and sits herself on the naughty step. Again, containing laughter was difficult. Scott says, "Allison, why are you sitting there?" She says, "Because I was not being nice." The child is putting HERSELF in time out? What a riot! A minute or two later he says to her, "What did you do to sit on the naughty step?" and she says, "I was not being nice to Mommy!" She gets up, gives me a hug and gets into her jammies. Now, if only this would work when she's a teenager? Yea, right! :)

That's all folks- my little one is waking up, and I get to take her to a friend's house this morning so I can get some shopping done. YIPPEE!!

First Snow!

Our first snow actually happened prior to the previous post, but I didn't want to post twice in one day. Plus I just love looking at that referral picture on my post. :) I realize there wasn't much snow to speak of, but I just HAD to try on the new snowsuit I just bought Allison the previous day. Ha! She loved it and wanted to stay out in it even though it wasn't falling anymore and there was no accumulation. That just tells me that when it really does snow and snow big, she'll be SO excited to go out and play!

Two Years Ago Today!!!

It doesn't seem possible that it has been TWO YEARS since we received "the call", telling us about our beautiful daughter, Lu Wei Feng. I remember it well because we were expecting the call and I was lucky enough (a God thing, I'm sure) to be home from work because we had a snow day. I was home on a snow day the following day also, when her pictures and information arrived. It was one of the best days of my life, and I will never forget it. We found out she was from the Jiangxi province, that she had lots of hair, and that she'd be 9 1/2 months old when we met her. The following day we took her picture (put into already home-made frames for each family member) to everyone to introduce her. Every family member was home (what are the odds?) and it was a joyous day for everyone!

From the time we turned in our paperwork to the time we traveled was 10 months for us, and I thought that was a lifetime. People meeting their children in China right now had to wait exactly 2 years to get there, and Scott and I will have to wait who knows how many years before we will be able to meet our 2nd child. But as we learned even before Allison arrived, God's timing is perfect for our lives, and we trust in Him totally!

I don't see a whole lot of Allison in this early picture, but it sits on my bedside table even today- a daily reminder of how much I've been blessed in my life. The "curse" of infertility turned into the greatest blessing I could have ever imagined, and I wouldn't trade the experience now for anything!

If you're in group 209 and you're reading this, please know that we thought of all of you today and wondered how you were remembering this special day. Our girls will forever have such a special bond with one another, and we feel blessed to know each and every one of you and to have shared this experience in our lives with you. God bless!

Laurie

"I need the ottoman to read!"

I heard this statement today when I was in the kitchen and looked out to find that she had moved the ottoman from our big leather chair to her little leather chair. I wondered how Daddy would feel about THAT! :) I love how she even has her little foot kicked up on it.

Story for the day- last night we talked about how Katie was coming over today and how we needed to share our toys. I got into a discussion with her about how important it was to let Katie play with the things she wanted to play with and how she could play with whatever she wanted to as soon as Katie left. After our little talk (my talk, really), I asked Allison if she wanted to pray. I'm used to saying the prayers for her, but now she does them herself (LOVE IT!). She said, "Deeeeeear God, thank you for the wonderful day, and please help me share my toys with Katie." :)

Daddy time is SO FUN!

This week Scott discovered that Allison REALLY likes it when he reads books to her in the voice of her different animals. Tonight she asked him to read The Curious George book in his Elmo voice. It was HYSTERICAL! I sat there thinking, if the people at his work could see him now- he was great, and you can see Allison loved every minute of it! :) He's a GREAT Daddy! He'll have no voice tomorrow, but he's great!

My little "reader"

As most of you reading this know, my little girl is an avid reader. Given the choice she'll pick books over toys, movies, etc. any day of the week. I LOVE this trait in her, but boy, we need some new books. She reads them all, but she does have favorites, so you read the same ones over and over and over again. Her current favorite is Curious George Goes to the Hospital. It is FORTY FOUR pages long- and she'd have you read it to her several times a day if you agreed. We don't agree. We say "Once a day". So the other day she thought, heck, if they won't read it to me I'll just read it to myself.

I've talked before about this child's ability to memorize, but a 44 page book? Yep! We had to help her out on a few lines, and she left out a few sentences, but basically she read the whole thing. Today when I was getting ready, I caught her in her little chair, reading it to herself again. To me this is some kind of freak "talent" that may or may not serve her in any way in the future, but right now it's SO much fun to listen to her. She reads all of her books with the same expressions I use when I read them to her. She even changes voices for characters sometimes. It's a hoot! My fear is that when she actually starts learning to read she'll become frustrated trying to sound out words instead of just "reading" the whole book from memory. We'll see.

The other picture I took is from today- we were heading out to pick up Daddy for our weekly Wednesday lunch. I just thought she looked so cute. I know, I dress her the way I'd like to dress but don't. Kid clothes today are just SO adorable- I can't resist!

Some folks have asked how potty training and the big girl bed are going... potty training is pretty much done, in my book. She's been going on her own without accidents since mid-October. She just wears a diaper at night, and it's 50/50 if she wakes up dry. Until it's 90/10 waking up dry, we'll stick with the diaper. :) The big girl bed is great! Except for the one time she fell out the first night, she's stayed put and we've had no problems at all. She LOVES it and even "pretend sleeps" in there sometimes for fun. :) She knows she can get out to use the bathroom, but she still calls out to us if she needs to go. It must just feel wrong to get out of the bed- my little rule follower (just like Mommy!). The best part about it to me is that you can cuddle really close right before bed- that's nice.

On another positive note, we went to the doctor yesterday to finish up our final "make up" vaccination shots and to get a flu shot. Reading Curious George Goes to the Hospital every day for the last month must have made an impression- she was actually excited to go! She continued to be excited even as we went in the room to get the shots. She just looked at me and grinned. The nurse was super fast, and Allison didn't even flinch. She immediately looked at the nurse and said, "Cookies?" She knows the drill! I was SO proud of her and SO happy that it wasn't like the last 100 times we've gotten shots. She usually screams before we even get in the room, and I have to hold her down while she screams some more, and then I have to hold back my own tears cause I feel so horrible for her. My, this was quite a nice change! :)


Okay- time to go get some housework done while she's sleeping! :) Happy Wednesday, everyone!

A fun weekend with my "buddy" Cooper!

This weekend my niece Jennifer, her husband Zach, and their adorable 14 month old, Cooper came for a visit. I was so excited they could visit because we never get to talk with them all alone- we're always with a bunch of family- so it was a nice change. Even though they are MUCH younger than we are, we're all going through the stages of parenting close together, so we have lots to talk about. On Saturday we took them with us to the annual Parents as Teachers holiday event at our local school. Allison loved all the activities, but I think Cooper could have stayed at the "shoveling snow" area the whole time. :)

Allison was quite jealous of Cooper the entire time, which was a bit exhausting for everyone, I'm sure. If I said, "Oh, Cooper, you are just so adorable!" she'd say, "NO, I'M adorable!!" After awhile I wanted to say, "Not so much right now!", but I didn't. I was nice. :) She's also developing a bit more empathy, though, and that's good. If Cooper cried, Allison had to cry too. That wasn't much fun. She was honestly just so sad for him when he was upset. Normally she lets babies cry and just goes about her way, but not this time. When they left our house today she was in desperate need of mommy alone time, so we played a lot.

The pictures are mainly of us enjoying the Parents as Teachers event (she willingly went to Santa and told him her list!), but it also includes one of Allison at her music lessons. The first week we took her she was very shy, wouldn't participate much, and just looked sullen. We thought, great, we just wrote this big check and she's not even going to like it! But this time she loved every bit of it. She danced, sang, played all the instruments, laughed, etc. YEAH!!

I'll leave this post with a funny story from today. Last week we ate at a restaurant that served waffle-cut fries, and she LOVED them. She wanted nothing to do with Daddy's normal fries-she only wanted to share my special fries. Today we went to the same place for lunch, so I ordered the waffle fries again, and we shared them. Once in the car she said, "I REALLY liked those pancake fries!" :) No one every told me how much my child would crack me up on a daily basis! :)