Happy Year of the Ox!

Today we're thinking about all our friends on the east side. January 26 is Chinese New Year on the lunar calendar! Happy New Year! This current lunar year is the Year of the Ox, or Bull, however you want to say it. It's difficult to convey what an important holiday this is to the Chinese world. It's HUGE: the biggest, grandest holiday of the year for them, celebrated with family, food, fireworks, and gifts of red envelopes of money. Makes me crave authentic Chinese food!

getting excited

I think it's finally starting to sink in that we're having another bambino. For the longest time, March seemed like a far-off date. Not so much anymore. Looks like this baby girl will be born March 5, if not before. Only 39 days left! I'm excited to know that Grace absolutely adores little babies right now, although I'm sure she will have quite an adjustment not being the only child...I'm forseeing some major jealousy in the days ahead! But, for now, she loves to kiss my belly and talk to baby sister. When she sees the baby move, she pulls her shirt up and makes her belly move and says, "look mommy, my baby's moving too." Tonight she was "tickling" baby sister and holding her hand on my tummy. She looked up and me with sincerity and said, "Mommy, can you take her out?" It's fun to watch her little brain try to process this. We're attempting potty training, but thus far we've only had lots of sit-time and not much action. Hmmm, I've been reading up on potty training and am learning there are as many different potty-training philosophies as there are experts.

the zoo and other fun

In late December, after we discovered we wouldn't be boarding a cruise ship, we decided to make our way back from south Texas to west Texas via our old stomping grounds of Ft. Worth. One of our favorite things to do during grad school days was to visit the zoo. Yes, back in the day we 2 grown adults (with no kids at the time) bought a one-year zoo membership. But, the FTW zoo is not just ANY zoo, it's now considered one of the top 5 zoos in the nation. It's spectacular. Our 4 years in Ft. Worth hold many special memories but were also bittersweet because it was during those years we were waiting and praying for a baby. I remember going to the FTW zoo on many occasions and having waves of sadness back then, because all I saw were mommies with their kiddos. Maybe that's one of the reasons Kevin and I had so much fun when we took Grace a few weeks ago...it was a reminder of God's faithfulness to answer our years of prayers. It also helped that Grace was on her best behavior that day, the weather was glorious, and we had no time crunches. It was just one of those fun family days. Grace loved the animals, but perhaps her favorite part was getting to ride in this stroller we rented. She insisted on buckling in every time she sat down!

Grace loved the giraffes, but later in the day she said her favorite animal was the "ham and cheese." It took me a while to realize she was trying to say "chimpanzees!"

Checking out the lions with Dad

Later that evening, we ventured to another of our favorite Ft. Worth stops: downtown! We used to go there on dates almost every weekend. Our favorite dessert at our favorite restaurant was Uno's pizzeria's peanut butter cup. It's so rich I don't think we've ever totally finished one between the 2 of us. But it's sooo good.

The Christmas decorations were still up and very beautiful.

And the best treat was getting to see our dear friends Daniel, Tiffany, and Claire the next day. This sweet family of 3 also lives overseas and happened to be in the US for a few weeks. Grace and Claire really hit it off, and I know they would be best buds if they didn't live on different continents!

D, T, and C--it was wonderful to see you!

Is it too late to post Christmas pictures?

I've had quite the blogger's block lately for various reasons, but I finally decided it was time to upload a few pictures from Christmas...better late than never? We had a lovely pre-Christmas celebration with my folks in Lubbock before we drove out to Lindale. Papa Jim's always a good sport about letting his grandkids pounce on him... Grace had "helped" my mom put some of the decorations on the tree this year, and she remained fascinated with Christmas trees all season. Here we are in Lindale on Christmas Eve, heading out to the service at church. Grace found some rockin' red boots at Nana's house and thought they'd be fun to wear with her dress. Fabulously Texan, don't you think? It was great to see cousins Alicia and Ariel for the first time since we arrived in the US! Grace trying to wait patiently while all the gifts were being passed out... Kimberly, Nana, and Pappaw made great hosts! Aren't Steve and Crystal a cute couple?! It really was super to be in the US and with family for Christmas this year!