Sweet Girl In Red Chucks

 

I snapped a few pics of my gal before heading to a birthday party today. I love her in her little red chucks.

She makes me smile. :D

   

 

Flashback Friday

The very first smile we got from Briana in China. It was the night of "Gotcha Day/Metcha Day." I had to change her out of her sundress that night because it was two sizes too big (knotted on the back so it would fit) and drenched in her sweat. Surprisingly, we all slept really good that night. I am sure it was due to complete exhaustion.

Black and White Wednesday

Welcome once again to Black and White Wednesday!

This picture below is one of my very favorites of Briana. She and I went blueberry picking back in 2008 with some friends and the trees were just beautiful...



A few of my blog friends have been posting some of their favorite photos from their trips to China and I have really enjoyed looking at them. I decided to share some of my favorite shots of China this week that I converted to black and white.

Temple of the Six Banyan Trees...



Driving on a bus to Dianjiang. These are the mountains we drove through. Just beautiful...



Everyone was carrying umbrellas the day we visited Forbidden City because of the sun and heat. Sure wish I had one...



The amazing Great Wall of China. The smog was so thick in Beijing (as you can see). We didn't see the sun for 4 days (even though there were no clouds or rain)...



A panda enjoying a snack at the Chongqing Zoo...



This is the hotel Doug and I stayed at in Chongqing. It was very beautiful and had a fancy mall attached to it...



For more amazing black and white photos, please visit Lisa's blog!

Just Every Day Moments (Featuring "Mommy Song" by Briana)

The past couple of weeks have been really nice. The hoopla of the Christmas holiday is over and it has been nice just getting back to normal. Bri and I have spent a lot of girl time together and have also spent some time with friends and family just "hanging out."

I've taken a lot of snapshots lately - not trying to get the perfect picture - but just trying to capture all the "little moments."

At the beginning of February, we had a warmer day, so I took Bri to the playground. I snapped these with my iPhone...



We've also been watching movies...

Spending time with friends...

Dressing up for the preschool Valentine's party...

And bringing home all this loot...

I decorated the house for CNY. There are lanterns all over our house...

Bri has been making "boats"...

Unfortunately, Briana got a nasty cold last week that kept her out of school one day and gymnastics one day. She got a little grumpy with me and decided to hide under the kitchen desk...

Luckily, Bri was feeling better and was able to go to school last Thursday to pass out panda cookies, homemade dragon puppets and red envelopes for CNY at school...

Then on Friday, we got to spend some time with cousin Noah at Monkey Joes...

And Briana decided to make up the "Mommy Song" for me. I personally think it should be a Top 40 hit. ;) Enjoy!

Flashback Friday

Thank you so much for all the sweet comments and encouraging words regarding my last post. My girl is so strong and amazing - I know she will be just fine. :)

This is a pic of Briana a few months after we came home from China. I love those chubby little cheeks!

My Little Girl's Fear

Briana and I are very, very close. She is crazy about her daddy, but she is very much a mama's girl. We must tell each other "I love you" 50 times a day. I spend lots and lots and lots of time with her. I'm lucky that I get to be a stay at home mom. I'm lucky I get to be her mom.

I wake her every morning. I put her to bed every night. There are only a handful of times that I have not tucked her into bed myself. She has spent only one night away from me, with Gramma, in the 2.5 years she has been our daughter.

And even though I make sure my baby girl knows that I will always be there, there are those moments, like tonight, that I know deep down my baby girl still feels some fear...

Briana was acting up tonight. She has had a cold all week, and she and I are both tired and just about over it now. I gave her a bath in my large master tub last night for fun, but tonight, I told her she had to take a bath in her room. She wasn't happy about it. She whined and complained. I told her several times to go to her room to get undressed and she refused. She stood like a statue in the hallway. I finally picked her up and put her on her bed for a time out. I was angry and I definitely raised my voice louder than I should have. She started to cry, but that is not unusual for Briana because she is pretty sensitive - and she has been sick. She cried getting undressed. She cried when I put her in the tub. I walked away for a few minutes and Doug tried to get her to stop crying as she sat in the tub. But she wouldn't stop crying tonight. I went back into the bathroom to talk to her and ask her why I got angry with her. Her crying started to escalate and she would not answer me. She got to the point that she could not breathe. She was almost to the point of being hysterical. I knew something was really wrong. I took her out of the tub, wrapped her in a towel, cradled her like a baby and rocked her in my arms. She finally started calming down when I did that.

This type of crying has happened maybe two or three times before. The type where Briana gets so upset that she almost hyperventilates. I know this episode was definitely more than just Briana being upset about not getting her way tonight. It was much deeper than that.

As Doug and I were helping her get in her jammies, I started asking her why she was so unbelievably upset. I decided to ask her if she was worried that something bad might happen if mommy got angry with her. I asked her if she was worried that I would leave her if I got angry. Her eyes filled up with tears again and her lips started to quiver. She put her arms tightly around my neck and quietly said "yes." I almost burst into tears myself. I held her tight and told her that mommy would never ever EVER leave her. I told her no matter what she did - if mommy sometimes got angry at something she did that mommy would never leave her - ever. I told her that I would be with her forever - that I was her mommy forever and she was my best girl. Doug gave her lots of hugs and reassured her tonight as well. She climbed into bed, Doug gave her a kiss and a big hug and left the room, and I turned off her light (left her nightlight on) and sat on her bed with her for a few minutes. I told her to look into my eyes. I again stated that we would always be together no matter what. She grabbed me around my neck again and hugged me so tight. I must have given her a thousand kisses before I left her room.

She has been with us 2.5 years. After all the hugs, kisses and "I love you's", after all the time spent with her, after the cuddles, the tickles and the cradling - my girl still has a fear. A fear buried deep down inside that mommy and daddy might leave her. It breaks my heart into a million pieces. All I can do is reassure her over and over and over again that we are here for good. No matter what. And I don't mind doing it for her because she is my best girl and I love her more than words could ever express.

Last Quilt Square Post!!!

I am so excited to announce that I have collected all the squares that I need to complete a 100 Good Wishes Quilt for my precious Briana. Here are the final contributions...

This beautiful butterfly piece is from our good friends Ann, John and Katie...

This gorgeous Cinderella piece is from Doug's cousin Nancy and her family. This piece of fabric has been in Doug's family for 40 years. Half will go in Briana's book and the other half will go into her quilt...

The next two pieces are also from Doug's extended family and they are so special. They are from Nancy, Sue, Michele and Alison.


This beautiful pink flowered fabric is from The Long Road to China family. Thank you so much Lisa!

This adorable kitty piece are from friends Mark, Alison, Ashlyn, Kaitlyn and Lauren...

This amazing red silk Asian fabric is from my childhood friend Jennifer, her husband Greg and their new baby boy Jeremy...

This blue piece is from our good friend Khalid...

Doug and I wanted to put a square in the quilt on behalf of his late brother Leo. Leo was driven, intelligent and successful. We believe he would have chosen this piece himself...

The next two pieces are from our dear, dear friends. Actually, they really are more like our family. This adorable pumpkin piece is from Ginny...

...and this adorable snowflake fabric is from Debra and Zachary...

These next two unbelievably thoughtful pieces come from my BIL's parents, Joanne and Darrell. They are embroidered with Briana's full name, birth date and place of birth...


This adorable kid fabric is from Ally in my OHGWQ Yahoo Group...

And these two lovely pieces are from Lois (also from the OHGWQ group).


This wonderful fairy princess fabric is from Jenny and Abby...

This beautiful balloon fabric is from Daddy to his beautiful girl...

And this special piece is from me to my beautiful girl. Night time is our special time. I always want Briana to remember...

The next post I do on the quilt should hopefully be the finished product! Thank you SO much to everyone that contributed. It means more to me than you will ever know.

Black and White Wednesday

I know I have done snow pictures before, but we Georgians get very excited when we get snow. Especially when it is a significant snow like last Friday's snow. So here are a few pictures that I changed to black and white of our snow fall. With March around the corner, this is most likely our last one for a while. Enjoy!







For more great black and white photos, check out Lisa's blog!