Happy Again

There's my happy girl!

You all know that there was a week about a week and a half ago that Briana was pushing all the limits with me. My shiny, happy Briana was just not herself. Well, Briana ended up having a slight fever on and off the weekend of that bad week, and I'm thinking that might have been the reason she had been so defiant. She just didn't feel well. I would say her whole attitude turned around last Thursday and she has been such a happy girl ever since. Smiley, snugly, loving - you name it. Except for "the incident" that happened Friday morning at Mickey D's, Miss Bri has been a very happy camper.

On the weekend that she wasn't feeling well, Doug and I had tickets to see Spamalot (which was fantastic by the way). We did go out and my parents watched Bri that evening. Gosh it was so great having a date night. Even though Briana wasn't 100% that night, she had a great time with Gramma and Papa.

She even felt good enough to do this with me before I left for the show...

And she had a blast while we were gone. Riding with Gramma...

And snuggling with Papa...


As you know, I got to meet Miss Emma last week. Lucky me, I got to see her adorable face again on Saturday at her and her mama's baby shower! I am so mad that I forgot my camera though (bad me). Here is a pic of Emma from Wed though.


And yesterday, Bri and I visited with my mom and had a girls lunch. Ice cream was afterward. Who isn't happy about that? There is a little garden area right near the ice cream shop. As you can see in the very first picture, Briana was very happy about her ice cream!

And now there is even more to be happy about! My friend Liene received a referral last Thursday for her daughter Emilija! And I have a few friends that should (fingers crossed) be receiving referrals this week. Happiness all around!

Thank You And Good Wishes Quilt

First, I must thank all of you for your outpouring of support regarding the incident Bri and I had with those boys on Friday. I am going to take what happened, learn from it and be more prepared for the next time. Because I know there will be a next time. It may not be tomorrow, but it will happen. I am going to make sure the lines of communication are open with my daughter and will do my very best to make sure she knows she can come to me absolutely anything. (Oh - and I am going to start sharpening my claws as well. :D) And I highly recommend for those parents who are still waiting or haven't experienced an incident like this yet to read the amazing comments I received. I got some really good advice from some been there, done that readers of my blog. It might help some of you out there as well.

Secondly, I got a lot of interest in people contributing to my 100 good wishes quilt! I have six squares so far which basically means I have a LONG way to go. I have fabric too, so if anyone out there is working on a quilt, just let me know because I would love to contribute to yours as well.

1st Personal Experience With Racism and Briana

It happened today. My first personal experience with Racism and Briana.

I went to Mc.Donald's today with Briana with plans to meet Angela, Laney and Laney's cousin Hallie (who is also two years old). I have never taken Briana to a Mc.Donald's before and I wasn't sure what Briana would think of the play area. Unfortunately Angela had to cancel our play date, but since Bri and I were running errands anyway, we decided to eat at Mc.Donald's since it was right there.

I was sitting at one of the tables in the play area (which is a room separate from the rest of the restaurant) and Bri was finishing her food as two boys (about 8 or 9 years old) and two little girls (maybe 4 years old or so - they might have been brothers and sisters, not sure) entered the room and immediately started climbing the playground part. Their parents were not with them. There was another family eating in eating the play area room as well. The playground part (with slides and such) looked too big for Bri, but I thought I would let her try to go up there since she was begging. She started up and almost got to the top. The two boys from the top of the contraption started yelling at the top of their lungs, "EWWW, A CHINESE GIRL - LET'S GO, LET'S GET AWAY!" or something to that effect. They repeated it over and over again and started running away from her. Bri started to cry. I believe it was the harsh tone of their voices that made her cry, not really the mean statement they were saying. She seemed scared more than anything. I had to go up and go after her. I didn't even know how to climb the dang contraption myself. As I started to climb, the boys saw me coming. I stopped and looked at them and said sternly, "That's not a very nice thing to say." They then looked at each other and one of the boys said "Uh oh." It was probably only because I yelled at them. One of the little girls offered to help me get Bri down but I managed to get her myself. I climbed down with Briana and left. I have no idea where their parents were and Bri was upset at the time so I couldn't go looking for them. She calmed down as soon as we started to leave the restaurant.

I called Doug when I got in the car and started to cry. I cried all the way home. I still feel like crying. I have been preparing myself for this to happen one day, but I am not sure if anyone is ever ready for it. And I really wasn't prepared for two 8 year olds to pick on a two year old. To be honest, I'm not sure I handled the situation right. I wish I had done more. I wish I had said more too, but I think I was shocked. I can say that I am proud of myself that I at least said something.

My heart breaks to think that Briana will be dealing with this in her life. I want her to try to have a thick skin, to be able to stick up for herself and be proud of who she is when this does arise again. I want to protect my baby forever and I know that I won't always be able to do that.

It Took Three Years...

...for Briana, Chani and Emma to be together for the first time. Randi came home with Emma a couple of weeks ago and what a cutie she is! It was such a wonderful sight to see the girls in one room - finally.


Randi and Kathy were the first friends I made in the adoption world. We all met for the first time in February 2006 - Randi wasn't even LID yet! We were less than four months apart in LIDs. My LID was 11/3/05, Kathy's was 11/30/05 and Randi's was 2/28/06. Briana came home in August 2007, Chani in December 2007 and Emma now in March of 2009. It really puts the China adoption wait into perspective, doesn't it?

During the wait, Kathy, Randi and I spent many lunch dates at Mexican restaurants - waiting for and dreaming about our girls. It was very fitting that we had lunch at a Mexican restaurant today.

Here are a few pics from our morning at Randi's house...





What a happy mama! Congrats Randi! I couldn't be more happy for you!!!!

And I want to give a quick shout out to my local friend Jackie who received a referral for her daughter Melina. Jackie received her referral three years to the day of her LID (3/3/06). Congrats Jackie!

Off The Ground

I love my girl. She lives her life with her feet off the ground. Here's to living life to the fullest.

Not A Princess, More Like A Queen

Briana's shirt reads, "I'm Not A Princess, My Needs Are More Like A Queen." And after this week, these words could not be more true. Briana has really tested me this week.

The week started out great. Doug and I met a high school friend of ours for lunch on Monday. We hadn't see Joy since our 10 year reunion, and it was great seeing her. Want to hear what a small world it is? Joy has another friend that adopted from China, so Joy enjoys reading China adoption blogs. She stumbled upon my blog before Bri's referral via another person's blog roll. Joy was stunned when she saw Doug's and my face! She followed our journey quietly for a long time, and then she started commenting here and there, but there was no link. Finally, Joy got in touch with Doug on e-mail and told him that all the Joy comments were hers! She is a big Briana fan! Joy works for a country radio station in Oregon and has met many famous country singers. She said she was more excited to meet Briana. Isn't that sweet? Here we are!

Ok, so Monday was a really good day. Then Tuesday came. Story time is on Tuesdays. Briana the last few weeks has been less than thrilled with story time. I asked her if she wanted to go the night before and she said yes. Tuesday morning in the car on the way to the library, I had a pep talk with Bri. I told her that if she didn't behave (including walking around the room and not paying attention), we would leave story time and go to the car. She said, "Ok, Mama". We arrived and headed into story time...

The minute Bri hit the door, she started to pout and huff. Then she started to circle the room. I warned my friend Amy that we would most likely be leaving. Bri kept looking at me as she misbehaved - kind of like, "What are you gonna do about it?" She did everything she promised me she wouldn't. So about a minute into story time, I dragged Briana out and headed for the parking lot. I think she was stunned. And then she got really ticked. She screamed and yelled across the parking lot and threw a tantrum as I put her in her car seat. I was actually surprised at her reaction because I kind of thought she wouldn't care since she doesn't like story time anyway. She was screaming so loud that I pulled into the adjoining store parking lot, stopped the car and got in the backseat with her. She was sobbing. I was pointing at her and firmly telling her that her actions got her pulled out of story time. She tried to talk but she was almost hyperventilating because she was crying so hard. At first, all I heard was "Hee, Ha, Hee, Ha". I managed to calm her down and she managed to say "I'm...I'm...Sorry...Mama" (between the Hee's and Ha's) over and over. She was very remorseful.

I debated about it and decided to still eat lunch with Amy & Mary and Angela & Laney after story time because Briana really needed to burn off some energy at the indoor playground (at Chick Fil A). I made Bri wait in the car with nothing to do for a half an hour until Angela and Amy got there. And then I told her apologize to Amy and Angela for her behavior. She ended up being an angel the rest of the day. After talking with Briana last night, she told me "I don't like story time." So, we won't be returning. I'm really sad about it, but I'm not going to make her go if she hates it. And that was Tuesday...

Then there was Wednesday. Wednesday during the day - Briana was great. We colored, read books, used sidewalk chalk outside and I took her to the playground. That evening, I asked her no less than 5 times to get out of the bathtub (she had been in there playing for a half an hour). She kept ignoring me. I told her we wouldn't read any books before bed if she didn't get out of the tub. She didn't get out. No stories. She was so ticked as I put her to bed and turned off the light. Crying. Yelling. You get the picture.

Thursday was a better day. We had gymnastics and went to the park with Angela and Laney. I can say Briana LOVES gymnastics. She listens to directions and participates with excitement. She has come such a long way since the first day we went to gymnastics last August when I didn't think I would be able to survive gymnastics! Bri was all over the place that first day!

Here are a few pics from Thursday...




The weather has been gorgeous lately. We are taking advantage of the nice weather now before it gets too hot.

This morning, Bri and I met Kathy and Chani over at a consignment sale. Bri acted up once again. As we waited in line, she didn't want to wear her monkey backpack I had on her. It was a must because if you have ever been to a consignment sale, you know how hectic and crowded they can be. The sale was in a church, but before we entered the church, there was a large tent set up that we had to enter through. It was dark. Bri didn't want to go in. She started yelling, "No, No Mama!!!" and ran the other way. Ugh. I had brought an empty laundry basket to put my finds in, so I put Bri in there and carried her into the church. She was fine once she got in the church, but I was really thinking I would have to leave. I swear - Briana can be fine one second and in a tizzy the next.

I am totally feeling the whole "terrible two's" thing right now. She can be so sweet and cuddly and then fiercely independent at the same time. On the bright side, she is saying more sentences now. She talks ALL the time. I was telling Kathy this morning that Briana talks all day when it is just the two of us, but when she gets in front of other people or in a big crowd, she clams up. I felt better when she said Chani does the same thing. I think Briana rather be running, laughing and playing than talking I guess.

It has been a tiring week. Two year olds are soooo much work. I think I'll have a drink tonight to celebrate another week down surviving with a two year old. ;)

To end this LONG post, I ran across this card today that I bought a long time ago (that I never ended up sending anyone). It makes me laugh every time I read it and I really needed the laugh today...


Have a good weekend everyone!

100 Good Wishes Quilt

Ok - I am now convinced to start collecting fabric for a quilt for Briana. I'm still not sure who I can get to piece it together for me, but I will figure it out. If you would like to contribute to Briana's quilt, please e-mail me at waitingforbriana@gmail.com.

I would be honored to have my friends and family that follow my blog to be a part of Briana's quilt.

Briana's Baptism

Our beautiful girl was baptized in the Catholic Church yesterday. It was a very special day. Bri was baptized in the church that Doug's parents currently attend. The church has special meaning because it was also the church where Doug's brother's memorial service was held back in 1997. The church has a beautiful baptismal fountain, and it provided a lovely backdrop to Briana's special day.

Briana absolutely loved her white dress. She danced around and kept saying she was a princess.




(And to make the day even more momentous, Briana tinkled in the potty for the first time that morning!!!! Yay!)

Shiny Happy Briana - Part II

First, I want to thank you all for the sweet comments about the shadow box and the books I created for Briana. I wish I could take credit for the shadow box idea, but I actually swiped it from Sandra. She did the same thing for her girls and I absolutely loved the idea. I love looking at Briana's dress every day.

In the sidebar of my blog, I added a new section called Picture/Music Montages. I didn't realize how many montages I had put together until I started putting them in their own section. One of my favorites was "Shiny Happy Briana". You can see the post here. I gathered a bunch of Briana's smiley pictures and used "Shiny Happy People" as the song. She was only home six months at the time. I have taken a ton more of Briana happy shots since then. Bri is really one happy kid. She is just so bright, vibrant and full of life. She spends most of the day with a smile on her face. Her enthusiasm to experience everything in life is really a sight to see. So, I made another montage of smiley Briana pictures. I used the same song because it fits her personality too well - if it ain't broke...

Enjoy! Have a great weekend! (The video may have to buffer for a minute or so before it starts playing.)

Finally Getting Around To Things

I know I have been a little MIA in the blog department lately. One reason is that Doug has been really busy - which means I am really busy with Briana. The second reason is that I am in kind of in a blog funk. Not sure why, but I haven't been feeling it lately. I am sure I will get my mojo back soon. And the third reason is that I am finally getting around to things that I have been wanting to work on. Above you can see that I placed Briana's Gotcha/Metcha day outfit in a shadow box and hung it on the wall.

I am currently working on scrapbooking our trip to China (yes, that was back in 2007 and now it is 2009 - ugh). I have so many photos, I decided to split the trip and make three separate albums (Beijing, Chongqing and Guangzhou). I also decided to do them the old fashion way (not digitally). I collected a ton of scrapbooking supplies over the years while waiting for Briana and I need to just use the stuff. I have actually enjoyed cutting the pictures, placing stickers in the books, etc. It's been a lot of fun. I just got the Chongqing part of the trip done. I still have Beijing and Guangzhou to go...


I also wrote a Toddler Lifebook for Briana. I worked really hard on it. I designed it through Shutterfly and I am so pleased with how it turned out. Bri has read it with me a couple of times already (though I am not sure how much she really understands yet). Only a handful of eyes will ever see the inside of this book because it is Briana's private story, but I think it turned out really nice. Hopefully, it will help Briana when she starts to have questions about her first year of life. And in a few years, I will make an older, more detailed version of her Lifebook. For now, this should be helpful.

The one thing that I never did for Briana was collect fabric for a 100 wishes quilt. I didn't (and still don't) know of anyone who could put a blanket together for me. I am kind of sad I didn't do it now. I guess it is never too late, but I still need to think about how I could pull it all together.

I also want to put together a book of all the wonderful wishes and good thoughts Doug and I received at referral time. I collected the cards I received and printed out all the good wishes off of my blog and I am going to put them all in one place so Briana can see how excited everyone was to finally "meet" her.

So, I have been keeping busy - finally getting around to things I have been wanting to do. I still have several things on my plate to work on. I guess I better go now. I have some things to do...

A Week In Pictures

Before I start talking about our week, I am trying to figure out why Briana always gives me the "cheese" smile. I ask her to smile and this is what I get. It's funny and cute but not necessarily the most sophisticated face in the world. ;)

Doug has been busy at work. And when I say busy, I mean BUSY. Like getting up at 5AM and getting home anywhere between 11PM and 2AM busy. He had that schedule last week on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and again this past Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Luckily, he did get a break from going into work on the weekend, but he still was on the computer for a lot of it. I have been trying to keep Miss Briana very busy so we would not miss Daddy so much. Good news - it is looking like things are getting back to normal now for Doug.

I think we did pretty good keeping busy and happy. Can you tell?

Monday was a pretty low key day. Just some errand running. Monday evening, Briana and I spent over an hour making "snowmen" out of playdoh.

On Tuesday, we found a new inflatable jumping place with Angela and Laney. The girls had a blast. We will definitely be returning.

There were a number of machines situated around the place where you could buy stuffed animals, rubber balls, etc for like 50 cents. Briana came up to me a couple of times and asking, "Mommy, money?" Good grief - she really knows what money is now. Oh help me.

And speaking of money, we went to the mall on Wednesday with Gramma. Briana ended up with a dress, two pairs of shoes and a couple of goodies from the Disney Store. It's amazing that I hardly spent any money that day. Thanks Gramma. ;)

The rides at the mall are pretty fun too!

On Thursday, Bri went to gymnastics class. Laney and Briana are back in the same class again as of last week. Reunited and it feels so good!

Briana was so excited about getting stamps on her hands and feet at the end of class, she went and brought the stamp pad to Ms. Jennifer herself.

After gymnastics class, Angela and I headed to the park with the girls. It was a beautiful day, a little chilly, but still very nice. Am I getting the "good grief, another picture" look in this photo?

Taking turns on the train at the park.

Taking a drive.

Laney pushing Briana on the swing.

Two girls pretending to sleep.

And finally today. Bri and I met Liene, Liene's mom Rita and Eriks at DAC Kids. The kids had a blast together and it was so nice to meet Liene's mom.

At one point, Eriks was following Briana and patiently holding all of the "treasures" (balls, pails, shovels) that she was handing to him.

And here are the giggle monsters at lunch.

Bri and I had such a good week, but now I am really tired. I am ready for a low key weekend (well as low key as I can living with Miss Bri). We didn't schedule anything with it being daylight saving time weekend. Ya'll know how much I dislike this spring forward/fall back stuff. Hope everyone has a good weekend (it is supposed to be in the low 70's here!) and don't forget to "spring forward."