Merry Christmas!

From Santa's little helper ;)

Shop...or get off the pot!

Yes, folks...time is running out on you last-minute holiday shoppers. As you can see, our little one believes in using every available minute to scour the newspaper for good deals.

In between Joe's great snotball referred to in the last entry, I found out I had pneumonia. The fever's gone, antibiotics taken, but the cough is lingering and is pretty nasty at times, especially at night. Someone has been sick in our home since Thanksgiving!

Enough whining, I have tons of presents still to wrap. Hurry, Santa!

--M.A.

That Snot Normal

OK, you'll be glad there are no images of this, but we found out last night what has been making Joe so sick -- a very large snotball.

After a doctor initially said it was strep, but when antibiotics didn't knock the sore throat out, a second doc said the initial diagnosis was wrong and it was a severe viral infection of some sort.

We now think Joe's body identified a big snot ball as a virus.

He blew it out last night and yes, he made me look at it, and if I'd had the measuring tape handy it would have been around a foot in diameter. Actually, it was shaped a bit like a fig and was a bit larger than one. We suspect it had been growing with layer after layer of mucous for a few weeks now.

Painful coming out but, boy, did it feel good.

About 10 minutes after the expulsion he was running around the house like a kid he felt so much better.

Life is so strange sometimes.

Strepping on the feedbag

"Ahh-men!" she said on her first Thanksgiving Day in the U.S.


It wasn't much of a meal, but it tasted sooo good!


The products of the day, every day, at Chez Germ.

*****

What is it about holidays, illness and Joe.

On Mothers Day, it was kidney stones that kept him in the hospital for several days. And now, on Thanksgiving? Strep throat.

That’s right, when people throughout the United States were celebrating the holiday with roasted turkey, stuffing, cranberries and football, Joe was holed up in the guest bedroom so he didn’t spread the disease to Mary Ann and Lucy.

And Mary Ann was spending her second straight day watching Lucy alone. Don’t get me wrong, we both love watching Lucy, but if you have other things to get done, at Lucy’s age, it’s virtually impossible unless you can tag-team her.

This wasn’t going to be a big deal Thanksgiving, anyway. We’ve had lots of things going on of late and decided we would play it low-key. We were going to go over to Joe’s mom’s house where she’s recovering from abdominal surgery.

We were just going to pick up turkey dinners from Shoney’s or Cracker Barrel or some place like that, spend a few hours over there then head home for a leisurely evening. But those plans were obviously scratched – last thing Joe’s mom needs is someone with strep throat infectng her house.

So, Mary Ann swung by the Krogers, picked up a frozen turkey platter, some Stovetop stuffing and we had our first thanksgiving as a family.

We said grace with Lucy punctuating it with, “Ahh-men.”

Lucy gobbled up her Stovetop stuffing, and seemed to enjoy her Banquet turkey well enough.

Joe, who doesn’t have much of an appetite with the fever and all, choked down about a half plate of turkey and stuffing. Mary Ann didn’t even try the turkey.

And she cried. It was our first Thanksgiving with Lucy.

And it was the best Thanksgiving dinner ever.

Happy Halloween!

You can see the "TVLand" influence in Lucy's costume for her first Halloween party as she got dolled up as the title character in "I Dream of Jeannie" today for her daycare's party.

There were so many adorable kids there -- Spiderman, Batman, princesses, Scooby Doo, Bob the Builder -- even a little kid dressed like a piece of candy corn! Happy to say that Lucy was the one and only genie there. Also happy that Lucy doing the arm cross, head bob thing like Jeannie was finally caught by Mom on videotape with Lucy in full costume.


Genie with a bottle


Lucy and a gal pal who came dressed as a rag doll


Must be a sugar high from the candy


The headpiece off, it's time to eat candy with Dad!

We don't know what to do about her shyness...

Yeah, here's Miss Lucy modeling her t-shirt from Angela. She really liked the shirt. Maybe she knew what it said. ;)

Pajama Day!

Hi, y'all. Just a couple photos of Lucy all ready for preschool this morning.
Today is pizza and PJ day. Kids come in their jammies, get fed pizza for lunch, and watch movies and eat popcorn.
I cannot tell you how good this sounds to Lucy's mommy and daddy right about now!

Living vicariously through our daughter,
Joe & Mary Ann

Lucy turns 2!!!

We had a blast. Her big day was Sept. 24, sandwiched in between Dad's (22nd) and Mom's (28th). We had a fairly low-key night at paternal grandma's house.

Enjoy the photos! More will be coming in a more timely manner, I promise. We've shut down our adoption blog and will be posting here exclusively! More soon.



Cake all over!


The princess castle Bundt cake!


Birthday girl


Mother's little helper


Lucy, Mom & Dad

Baptism, sketti and pedicures

Lucy on Baptism day


Here we are during Mass


Lucy was a little scared by the baptism itself, but she wound up high-fiving the priest later...

Yes, all three have been a big part of Lucy's life lately.
Sunday she was baptized into the Catholic Church. It was a beautiful day, and we were so proud to be her parents. Happily, both of Lucy's grandmothers were there, and her godmother was her aunt, Nancy, Joe's sister. Her godfather was Joe's cousin Tyler.
Lucy, who normally loves water, found herself taken a bit by surprise when Father poured the water on her, so she cried a bit but then forgave him for scaring her by clapping for herself when he presented her to the church.


Here Lucy raises the roof with her godfather, Tyler, back at the house


With Aunt Nancy, her godmother


Lucy's cake from the party at home


(See more photos at our adoption journey website in the "Baptism Day" entry)

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It's no fun unless they have to hose you down after supper!

Eating: Unbelievable. Eats everything in sight now. And, of course, food's no good unless you get it all over yourself, as you can see with the great spaghetti incident of '06.


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On her toes...

Lucy, in her "rich-princess robe," as her Daddy calls it, watched me sand my feet this morning then decided to borrow the file (or whatever it's called) and give herself a little pedicure. Ahhh, the good life.

Welcome, Harley!

We haven't liked to talk about it much, but we lost our beloved golden retriever, Bernstein, on July 8. We knew soon after that we wanted another golden, who would come from the same rescue group where we found Bernstein, GRRAND. After a few short weeks, we decided to put in our application process, and last Saturday we looked at the one and only dog for us, Harley. He's a year old, and has a history of doing well with children. Lucy loves him. Stella, our beagle, is beginning to love him.



Harley loves our bed. People might think we're getting no sleep because of Lucy, but not true. It's Harley who is making us fend for ourselves in our bed each night, trying to claim a little piece of mattress while His Majesty is sprawled out like a 70-pound sack of flour, lifeless and unable to be moved....three words: king-size bed.

Anyway, we are proud of our new addition. Harley was his original moniker, by the way, and he answers to it very well so we decided to keep the name.

Lucy's first haircut!

Ho Yeah!


The stuff I have to put up with for beauty...


Yep, Lucy visited the local "Cookie Cutters" and sat in the pink Jeep (or whatever the vehicle was supposed to be!) last Saturday and watched her favorite DVD while the lady cut her scraggly hair.

While she may look like she was upset, Lucy really was just wanting her stylist to move outta the way so she could see the TV better...!

In the end, you can see Lucy's reaction to herself (top photo) as she views her new 'do -- what a ham!

This one's for Angela

Who is sweet to ask for Lucy updates. Well, we could bore you with our endless attempts to get her to eat food, but nothing's very visual except for this cute photo (we're biased, admittedly). One of Lucy's latest things is this: for whatever reason one day I started humming the theme from "I Dream of Jeannie" to her. She loved it, and now everytime you sing it she smiles. This photo was taken during such a moment.

I have also taught her to cross her arms and blink like Jeannie -- I'm not making this up -- but unfortunately I do not have her mimic on camera yet. Naturally a genie will be a front-runner for Halloween costumes.

Please don't yell at me for putting the song in your head now. I hope it makes you smile when you hear it, too!

--M.A.

And it stoned me...

Lucy on Mother's Day!

My first Mother's Day: lovely daughter, good friends, sick husband.

Joe woke up early Saturday morning with a kidney stone attack, his first ever! He and Lucy and I rushed to the e.r., where his self-diagnosis was confirmed. They gave him painkillers and sent him on his merry way home. We came home about 8 a.m. and crashed.

That evening Lucy and I went to my friend Ellen's for dinner. She was hosting Andrea, a friend of ours who was visiting from Chicago. Both Ellen and Andrea were bridesmaids in our wedding, so it was cool to see them both at the same time. Joe stayed home, sleeping from his Percocet pills.

Dinner at Ellen's was very nice. She had a nice Mexican buffet dinner, and everyone got to socialize and have a wonderful time. As her little 4-year-old guest Simon said, "You make a mean quesadilla."

Simon and Lucy were very cute together. Personally I think Simon rushed the relationship, but kids don't want advice from the old folks, so I'll just stay quiet for the next couple of decades and support wherever this is headed: playdates, proms, whatever. (Psst: Simon, next time bring Cheerios and she'll be eating out of your hand). Seriously. This is one of the cutest little boys I've ever met. And I've met a lot of adorable ones, too.


Cute boys are everywhere! This one's Simon

Back home to crash. Next on the agenda was a 9 a.m. brunch Sunday at the Bristol, with many of the same crew from Ellen's, plus Joe's mom. Joe again said "go ahead," so up Lucy and I went. Lucy looked cute in her dress, bought specifically to make her mother happy on her first mother's day. I have no idea if she liked the dress or not, but she sure was cute! Brunch was great, except they wouldn't let us order off-buffet and get the green chili wontons! Andrea was disappointed. We got to hang out with Julia and Diego this time. Diego was of great interest to Lucy, but she picked up none of his wonderful eating habits, I'm sorry to say. (You can see more photos at our "journey to Lucy" website, by the way).


Lucy and I and Andrea after a green-chili-wonton-less brunch


Julia and her newest, little Diego


Diego the adorable!

When we got home, Joe was sicker, so we called Ellen to drive him to the e.r. (he refused an ambulance call, he was sick but not that sick, he said). I called Joe's mom to come out and sit with Lucy while she napped so I could go be with Joe.

This was the first time since April 3, when Lucy was placed in our arms, that both of us have been away from her, and I have not yet recovered from the trauma it caused me. But I felt she needed her rest at home.

Turns out Joe's evil kidney stone had been refusing to pass, hanging out in his body and causing an infection. His white count had gone way up, which is when they decided to admit him to the hospital (this was Sunday evening). I came home to get Lucy, then we went back to the hospital to visit with Joe.


Lucy visits DaDa in the hospital

So the docs decided that the antibiotics had stopped the infection, and they decided not to do anything invasive with the stone, just to let it pass. They released Joe on Tuesday, and today he went back to work. He's tired, but overall feeling much, much better.

And I will always remember my very first wacky but wonderful Mother's Day, because in the end everyone's back home and healthy!

Happy Derby Day!

Lucy's hat rivals any at the Downs!


Lucy's horse is Barbaro, she says.


In the first-ever adult Derby Day spent at home, not at work, I say hello to everyone a mere minutes before the 132nd Run for the Roses. As you can see, Lucy donned her Derby hat for the day. OK, for five minutes, not the whole day. Hope everyone will have a mint julep today in honor of the greatest two minutes in sports!!

Made it to Beijing

After being awake 30 hours plus, we arrived in Beijing's airport.
The guide from our agency, Families Thru International Adoption (FTIA), met us waving a blue FTIA flag and put us on a bus to the Kuntai Royal Hotel. This is a wonderful place. The rooms are a nice size, the bathroom nice and big, and Joe is already in his hotel robe and slippers, wondering how much it might cost to take them with us.

This'll be a short post. We'll have some fresh stuff for you to look at in the morning after we post tonight with today's adventures. On the agenda today is the Beijing Zoo, a little market nearby, a nearby mall and at some point the Hard Rock Beijing.

Killin' time in the Twin Cities

It's 9 a.m. and already he's had a bloody Mary!

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- Well, our 5-hour lay-over in Minneapolis/St. Paul didn't start off too bad. We found the Wolfgang Puck Gourmet Express bar where they make a pretty mean Bloody Mary. I've had one. I'll have more.

The flight wasn't bad -- about an hour and 45 minutes. Mary Ann read some, slept some. I did a couple of crossword puzzles, couldn't sleep. Hopefully we'll get some real shut-eye on the next leg -- Minneapolis to Tokyo.

That will be about 12 hours in the air. Thank God for Ambien.

Joe wouldn't let me go to Mall of America during our 5-hour layover! Wahhhhh!


Mary Ann is actually excited about the next leg, the 12-ish-hour flight, because she can finish this great novel she's started reading called "Princess Izzy and the E Street Shuffle" by Beverly Bartlett. Although there is one thing that's going to make her put that book down -- I hear they're showing "Pride and Prejudice" on the plane. Mary Ann loves Jane Austen more than almost anyone or anything. She's going to miss Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy in this version (she's a BBC version snob) though. I (Joe) will be sleeping then, I sincerely hope.

In the airport in Louisville, we met a nice woman who lives in Louisville and is traveling home to the Phillipines to visit family. Jessie is our new traveling buddy, she'll be with us through Tokyo, then we'll split up.

She's a manager at the Meijer's on Westport Road and is responsible for the great deals on rawhide bones that Bernstein and Stella love to chew on.

Also, on the flight from Louisville, we sat next to John Roush, the president of Centre College. I've talked to him in the past, the last time when the Vice Presidential Debates took place at Centre in 2000. Nice guy. He was traveling to California to see his new granddaughter who was born Monday.

He seemed generally excited about our trip and even was telling others on the plane about what we were going to China for.

Always a salesman, he invited us to visit the campus and bring Lucy with us. Hope she can get into Centre and hope we can afford it if she does make the grade.

We've got another four hours to wait and if my figuring is right, that means another four Bloody Marys. I'll drink the next one in honor of Kirby Puckett. Then off to Tokyo.

Latest photos of Lucy

Recently we received two new photos of little Lucy, who from the photo where she's standing looks like she may, repeat may, have Peggy Hill's feet. Could be just the angle, but big feet or no, we soooo are in love with her.

It's official -- we leave March 28, that's Tuesday, returning April 14th, a long stay! We'll be in Beijing an extra day, I think. We're set to receive Lucy on April 3. We are packing like crazy, but we have a lot done so far. We can't wait for this!

I know we're cutting back on heat, but...

Stella, a mere five minutes after being put in her "playpen" on a recent morning. Can you say "drama queen?"

We miss you, Barney

As you may have read in our very first post, The Loaded Goat is named for an old Andy Griffith Show episode in which a goat ate some sticks of dynamite. We are biiiig -- reallly biiiig -- fans of the show. Thus it was with great sadness we learned recently that Don Knotts died. He will always be loved and remembered fondly by us as Deputy Barney Fife, who made sure law and order was kept in Mayberry. There was no character like him.
So, here's to you, Barn. You beat everything. Nip it, nip it, nip it.