Road Trip!

I’ve got to be honest with you…our trip to Myrtle Beach last summer was, well, complicated. We took a little girl who was smack dab in the middle of the oh-soooo-terrible-twos out of her routine and gave her way too much freedom. We were pretty much ready to come home by day two of the trip. Seriously.

We did have moments on that trip that were fun, but the trip as a whole was taxing, at least for us parents. We made numerous rookie-parent mistakes and the challenge of having to figure out how to not tick off our two year old seemed to suck all of the fun out of many activities. Ironically, we were planned our next beach vacation as we drove home from that trip. Sick.

A few weeks ago, we finally got to take that beach vacation: Two weeks in sunny Naples, Florida. Aaah. Surprisingly this trip was a joy, start to finish. We never thought of coming home early. Not even once!

I must say that having the terrible twos behind us was the biggest help. Molly was pleasant, adaptable, excited and agreeable to just about everything. We also learned from our Myrtle Beach mistakes.

For example, when going to Myrtle Beach we left the house at 4 am. We figured that Molly would sleep a good portion of the way. Yea, right. She woke up at 4 am and didn’t sleep a wink in the car for 14 hours! We paid dearly for it the next day. That's when we almost packed up and came home.

For the trip to Naples, we had Molly skip her nap and put her in the car at bedtime. We drove through the night and much of the next day. Molly slept like a champ both a night and at nap time. And no nasty attitude the next day either. Score one for the parents!

k

When we went to Myrtle Beach we decided not to bring the Pack n’ Play. There were 2 beds in our room. Molly would be fine in a bed, right? I guess you don’t transition a sleep deprived child from a crib to a bed while on vacation. Bedtime was an “adventure” and there were frazzled nerves and sleepless moments (well, hours) for everyone.

k

We brought the Pack n’ Play to Naples. Naptime and bedtime were a dream, literally. Just popped her in and she slept like a log. It was also a good corral when she needed a time out, which wasn’t often.

k

When went to Myrtle Beach, we decided not to take the travel high chair. We were on vacation; we'd eat out most of the time. As it turned out we ate in a lot of the time. We spent most of our mealtimes trying to round up a child who thought eating on the fly was much more fun than the big girl chair.

k

We didn’t bring the travel high chair with us to Naples either. I knew we’d be eating some meals in, but I just accepted the fact that Molly would eat on the run, so to speak. And she didn’t disappoint. Having those expectations going in though, made mealtime more tolerable. She wandered around and I accepted it, and she eventually cleaned her plate. Everyone was happy.

In Myrtle Beach we had an over stimulated, underfed, sleep deprived toddler who was totally off of her daily routine. That could only mean one thing: meltdown. Yep, we had our share of those. In Naples, we had a well rested, well fed toddler that thrived on all of the stimulation of the trip. And we had no meltdowns. What a difference six months and some life lessons made.

Now on to the pictures; that’s what you really came here for, right? I have to warn you, we basically hung out at the beach and the pool, so lots of photos of those moments…kind of redundant, but cute, nonetheless.

k

So, here is our trip to:

This is something I NEVER see in the winter where I live...blue sky. Just seeing the sunshine and bly skies everyday made every minute of this trip worthwhile. And made me a lot less crabby than I have been in a long time.
l

Day 1: The Beach.

Molly gets reacclimated to the sand and surf.

Day 2: The Beach, again.

"So may shells, so little time. C'mon Mom, we'd better get shelling."

Molly's shelling strategy was more about quantity than quality. She collected bucketfuls.

Heading home with my haul.

Another thing Molly's never got tired of doing: wearing our flip flops. I don't think that she'll ever grow into these.

One of Molly's classic camera poses: the crossed leg, little lady pose.

Day 3: The Beach, yep, again.

Helping Daddy set up the beach umbrellas.

k

Random act of cuteness.

Day 4: The Everglades

Molly on the lookout for alligators.

"There's one over there, Daddy!"

This big guy was about 12-15 feet long. All of the alligators we saw were in the wild. We'd just pulled the car off of the road and looked over the guard rail. Voila, alligators. Surprisingly, Molly thought this was great.

Day 5 : The Pool

Actually, the pool was a daily outing. Here's our little fish getting ready to go.

No fear of the water with this kid.

We heard the infamous, "No, I do it!" statement from Molly fairly often when it came to swimming. She wanted no help from us. Her new tricks were a somersault and totally submerging herself so that she could touch the pool bottom. I don't know if I should be proud or frightened.

Day 7: The Beach

Mommy and Molly

A rare family shot, thanks to a passing beachcomber who volunteered to take our picture.
k

"The water is too cold. You fill up the watering can, Daddy."


"Yep, I have him wrapped around my little finger."

Day 9: J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Sanibel Island

I squatted down so that I could get in the shot with Molly. From that moment on, any time that I whipped out the camera, Molly squatted for the picture.

Another squat shot.

k

Daddy and Molly.

Day 11: Tigertail Beach, Marco Island

Hmmm, there's that squatting pose again.

And again. I'm not quite sure how to break this little habit. To quote Molly: "Oh, well."

Well, that's about it. We had a fantastic time.

Oh, by the way...we have our next beach vacation planned: The Outer Banks in early September. Anyone want to join us?

Two Year Ago Today

On February 2, 2007 at 12:47 pm our phone rang. The voice on the other end of the line said, "Hi, this is Amanda from CCAI. I have some really good news for you today!" Amanda told us that she was looking at a picture of a beautiful little girl. That girl was our daughter, Guan Hai Yan.
l
For about the next 10 minutes, Amanda filled us in on all of the details. She also sent an email with Hai Yan's picture. We kept checking our email during the conversation to see if the picture had arrived. It seemed to take forever.


About half way through the referral call, the email finally came and we were able to see our daughter's face for the very first time. She was simply the most beautiful thing that we have ever seen. I know that we are her parents so we are a little biased, but OH MY! That cute little mouth, perfect little nose, dark eyes, soft hair. How could you look at that sweet face and not fall completely in love?

On February 2, 2009 at 12:47 pm we sat on beach chairs in Naples, Florida watching the most incredible little girl running in and out of the waves along the shoreline. That little girl was our daughter Molly Michelle HaiYan.


She still is the most beautiful thing that we have ever seen. But now in addition to that sweet face, we are blessed to know the actual little soul that goes along with it. Molly is lovable, thoughtful, funny, enthusiastic, strong-willed, energetic, passionate, demanding and smart. In short, she is the best thing that has ever happened to us.


The journey of the past two years has been amazing and so much more than we could have ever imagined it would be. We are, and always will be, so in love with our little Molly. Good Golly!

Going to My Happy Place, I Hope

Yesterday, I looked out of my front door and saw this:

p

When I really should have seen this:

p

Today, I looked out of my back door and saw this:

p

When I really should have seen this:

Why should I be seeing beach scenes instead of snow? Simple. I am supposed to be on vacation! Unfortunately, we had to cancel....again. Yes, that's right, again.
p

Our original vacation plans had us booked in southern Florida over the Christmas/New Year holiday. We had to cancel those plans due to the fact that Tony really needed to be in town to work on a project. We rescheduled for three weeks later, allowing plenty of time for project completion. As our new travel date approached, it was clear that the project was not going to be wrapped up in time for us to make it on our vacation. Called up the travel agent and canceled again.

p
We are now rescheduled for a third attempt. Third time's a charm, right? I hope that we make this one, but let's just say I am not counting on it until I see the beach. Call me a pessimist if you must. I don't think that my travel agent is holding her beath either.

p

Am I angry at Tony's employer. No. In this economy, with only one income in our household, I am just grateful that he has a job with a successful company. In fact, I am not all together sure that they even asked Tony to cancel his vacation plans. Twice. He just has a work ethic that is rare to find these day. He actually feels a sense of obligation to complete his work before he goes out to play. Just one of the many qualities that I love about him. Good moral compass.

p

The real crux of the issue is that I NEED to be on a beach. Or at least somewhere sunny. You see, I live in the city where Seasonal Affective Disorder was invented. The clouds roll into town in October and don't leave until April. No sun. Ever. Period.

p

Every day at about three in the afternoon, I am pretty much ready to go postal. In fact, if I did a little research, I bet that I would find that the first United States Postal Service employee to actually go postal lived here. It is, without a doubt the most depressing place to live in the winter. Well, Detroit may actually be worse, but we run a close second. I love the summers here but loathe the winters, plain and simple.

p

I have been writing my congressman for years trying to get legislation passed to help out my fair city. I know I can't control the weather, but I have a plan to make this place more livable during the winter months. I think that they should conduct a weekly aerial spraying of Prozac over the entire city. It wouldn't be sunny but at least it would be a happier place to live. It would even create new jobs. All of those crop duster pilots who are unemployeed during the winter months would have something to do during their off season. It would be a win-win situation all around.

p

So far, I haven't received a response from my congressman about my plan. I am not holding my breath either. I am packing a suitcase and getting the hell out of dodge. At least I hope. Stay

Born to Fly

Molly can described in two words: Perpetual Motion.
;
That's why Little Gym classes are such a good fit for her. Each Monday she gets to go to the Little Gym and just marinate in the thing that she loves the best. Molly will climb, twirl around or jump off of anything she sees in her environment. Doesn't matter where she is. When she is at Little Gym I have the confidence that she is safe and getting professional instruction.

l

And speaking of confidence, this kid has boat loads of it when it comes to movement. It just blows me away. I just know that she is going to get to high school and be that tiny little cheerleader that they propel way up in the air, as she flips and twists around. I sure hope that we have good health insurance for her a refillable prescription on Valium for me.

l

Molly recently graduated form the Super Beasts class and is headed to Funny Bugs. The following pictures are from the last day of class...The big show day, where they showcase their skills:

A quick warm up with Miss Amber.

o

Forward roll on the wedge.

o

Press up.....

o

Going into a tummy roll....

p

Adjust the grip....

p

And the big finish!

p
Heading down the balance beam....

p
The dismount...flying, of course!

ppp

Handstand on the wall.

p

Spider walk up the parallel bars.

k

A yoga pose...what balance!

[

Popping bubbles with her toes.

l

Receiving her medal.

p

A quick wave to the crowd.

p

Why walk down the stairs when you can jump off the awards platform?

pp

Molly and a few of her classmates

Finally! The Christmas Morning Post...better late than never!

This year Molly got Christmas. She understood Santa, knew about presents, was full of excitement about decorations and lights, and was thrilled that she got to eat way more sugar than I have ever allowed. Needless to say, she thoroughly enjoyed the entire holiday season.
l
One of the great things about being a parent is that you get to relive your childhood through the eyes of your children. It is funny to see how different Molly is from me as a child at Christmastime:

• Me as a child: Up at the crack of dawn (or before) on Christmas morning, dragging my parents from bed so that I could see what Santa had brought.
• Molly: Slept until 9:30 at which time we finally went into her room and woke her up so that she could see what Santa has brought.
• Me as a child: Viewed unwrapping Christmas presents as a sprint—“Let’s get these babies open and see what’s inside!”
• Molly: Viewed unwrapping presents as a marathon—“Let’s see how long I can make this last.”
• Me as a child: Had most of the candy in my stocking consumed before breakfast.
• Molly: Was content to suck on a single candy cane for most of the day.
  k
  At about 9:45 am, Molly did finally make it downstairs.

k
She was thrilled to see what was waiting under the tree for her.

k
She immediately spied her the tricycle from Grandmas and Grandpa and was content to just examine, explore and try out her new wheels for hours:
k
We practically had to beg her to open more gifts. When she finally conceded, she wanted to open them while on the tricycle and play with them from the tricycle seat.
k
She even tried a few stunts on her new bike:

Remember how I said that Molly view opening gifts as a marathon? I think I completed my entire marathon in a shorter amount of time than it took Molly to open her gifts. Yes, it was a 4+ hour extravaganza! Molly even needed to stop at the feed zone half way through to take on additional calories for the rest of the race.

Of course this was all done while remaining on the trike:
k
We finally convinced her to take a break from her trike and open a few gifts sans wheels. She was thrilled with her new Hello Kitty CD player from Aunt Shel and family. She pretty much had mastered its operation before it was even out of the box:

She was also eager to try on items from her dress up treasure chest, given to her by the Southcott's. And by the way, high heels are the appropriate footwear to accompany Santa pajamas.

Notice how the colors of the bracelets pick up on the PJ's polka dots. And pearls? They're a classic. They go with anything, dahling!

l

At the end of the marathon, it was obvious from the prize package that Molly was the winner!

But wait! There's more! Molly's victory lap...digging through the goodies in her stocking. This took another 1/2 hour. Our girl certainly has a flair for the dramatics.

Molly finally finished with Christmas morning just in time for her afternoon nap.

And when she awoke, what did she find? Round 2!! Grandmom, Uncle Jack and Aunt Karen had arrived for Christmas dinner, and they came bearing gifts! The doll house from Auntie Molly, Uncle Eli, Grandmom and Uncle Jack was every bit the hit in the evening that the tricycle was earlier in the day:

Yes, you could say that Molly, really got Christmas this year,in more ways than one!

Thank you to everyone who helped to make this a magical Christmas for little Miss Molly. It is one that she'll never forget.

Twas the Night Before Christmas

I literally have a ton of holiday books (yep, the ex-reading teacher strikes again) and I read just about every single one of them in the past month. Molly's really liked the Velveteen Rabbit, Santa's Sleigh and Reindeer Games, but her all time favorite, without a doubt, was The Night Before Christmas.
l
How do I know this? Because I read it sooooo many times that I can recite the entire thing from memory. Every single word. Even the part about the dry leaves in the hurricane meeting with an obstacle and mounting to the sky. Yea, every single word.

In all honesty, I think Molly really liked the illustrations in the James Marshall version of The Night Before Christmas more so than the words. We've looked at, talked about and acted out each illustration more times than I can count. According to Molly, our little family was even represented in the book. She named the bulldogs (who appear on almost every page) Mommy, Daddy and Molly.

Anyhoo,when it came time to pick a book to read under the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve, of course you know the selection. This was perfectly fine with me. I love the classics. Gee, I might actually get a Norman Rockwell moment after all!

After the story, it was time to put the cookies out for Santa. Ahhh, the cookies. Still gets my blood pressure up a little bit when I think about the decorating experience (see previous post). But despite the memories, the cookies were plated up and ready for Santa.

Molly kept telling me all week, "Santa loves cookies and I love cookies." Apparently she feels a certain bond with Santa over this shared taste for treats.

And we can't forget the milk.....

Once everything was set, Molly sat down at the fireplace. She just sat there. When I asked her what she was doing, she replied, "Waiting for Santa, Mommy."
I thought that we had covered this about a billion times: YOU HAVE TO BE ASLEEP BEFORE SANTA WILL COME!

Ah well, you can't blame a girl for trying! Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night!

If you are coming to the blog looking for pictures of Molly opening gifts on Christmas morning, hang in there. They're coming soon, I promise!