Forever Friends

A few more of my favorite shots (first post below).

Girard having fun with the girls.

"Are you finished already?!"

"I love your stylin' bib!"

Gardeners in the making.

Girard got a workout catching the girls as they jumped off Bryn's little chair into his arms. I'm sure they'd have carried on with this game for hours if Girard could have kept up!

"Love you, Claire!"

And hugs for Monica.

Yay! Finally all three girls together!

It's hard to get three kids to sit for a photo when they'd much rather be playing. Monica had the great idea to bribe them with sun chips. Then the challenge was to get them to quit eating long enough to smile for the camera.

Caia and blankie.

"Hey, check out that little boy next door."

Claire and Bryn were very interested in Caia's kitty, Stitch.

Thanks Monica and Claire for making time for us during your holiday here, we loved every minute of our visits!

Photos, As Promised

Our visits with Monica and Claire were wonderful. We all had a great time watching the girls together and they interact more with each visit. All three girls seemed very comfortable with each other and us moms had a great time watching them and catching up on things. Unfortunately Shea and Caia were under the weather for the first week of Monica and Claire's stay in the city so they couldn't join us for the first few get togethers, but thankfully we did all manage to meet at Shea's once she and Caia were feeling better.

We also had the chance to meet Monica's mom, Mary, and thanks to her for having us over to her house for tea (I now have a new favorite tea!). I was pretty surprised to find out while chatting with Mary that she knows some of my relatives! It really is a small world.

Anyway, here are some of my favorite photos of the girls. It's hard to pick just a few so once again this has turned into a two-part post.

Claire's grandma has all kinds of great playthings.

Between playing with Claire and all the cool stuff,

Bryn had a blast while we were there.

I love the kissy shots!

Cute as can be, even from the back.

Claire makes good use of her chopsticks

while waiting for her lunch.

"' Sup, dude?"

I really hate having my picture taken but I make exceptions when I have a special little girl on my knee.

Monica, Claire, Bryn and Girard.

Claire and Bryn working off their lunch with a game of Ring Around the Rosey.

Together Again

Bryn's Xinyu sister Claire and her mom Monica have been in town for the past two weeks visiting relatives and friends. We were so lucky to be able to spend time with them and with Shea and Caia while they were here.

I know some of you out there in blog land are anxious to see photos of the girls together but until I get around to sorting through my pictures I'll share a couple videos of the girls having fun at Shea's the other night.

This one started out with them singing Ring Around the Rosey. Claire was trying hard to play the game right but Bryn and Caia had other plans. And then Bryn spotted Shea's cat under the table...




This one makes me smile every time I watch it. They were having a great time together and Monica, Shea and I had a blast watching them.




For anyone who is a stat nut like me, Claire, Caia and Bryn are 30", 33" and 34" tall and weigh 18, 24 and 28 pounds. (Lucky for me I just happened to have my scale and yardstick with me when we went to Shea's to visit.)

Long Weekend

Here are some photos from our weekend visit at Bryn's papa's. We hadn't been on a long road trip since September and Bryn did pretty good sitting for 4 hours in her car seat but I think we might take everyone's advice and invest in a portable DVD player. I'm game for anything to make a long trip easier.

We had a great time at Papa's. Bryn learned how to play hopscotch and drive a boat and had a chance to visit with her cousins Cara, Jacey and Bretten and Auntie Carey. We also had a short visit with my lifelong friend Bonny and her twins, Mac and Emmy. Bryn's great-grandma also came along with us and it was wonderful to have her there, too.

Unfortunately Bryn hasn't been co-operating with the camera lately and getting her to sit with anyone is a challenge these days, so our photos of her with family are limited.

Hanging out with Emmy and Mac.

Mac, Emmy and Bryn. Thanks for the fun visit!

Hamming it up with Bretten and Cara.

Ahoy, matey!

Checking out all the cool stuff in Papa's garage.

What's that up in the rafters, Papa?

Me, Bryn and Jacey.

*Coming soon: another Xinyu Sisters' Reunion!!

Catching Up

It's been busy around here since I went back to work. I've been back 4 weeks now and if I ever get caught up with things that need to be done at home it will be a miracle. I'm behind in everything -- housework, yard work, email, blogging -- and wonder if I'll ever get to the end of my list of to-dos. Even Bryn has noticed how far behind I am -- I'm embarrassed to say yesterday she told me I have "whiskers" on my legs. Anyway, I've decided a new post is more important than a clean floor or silky, smooth legs (though I'm sure Girard would disagree).

The best news of the past few weeks is Bryn has adjusted nicely to daycare. I was really worried about it since the first few times we left her she screamed and cried the entire time we were gone, but she's doing very well. The sitter (Denise) has taken a shine to Bryn and is very good to her. She lives only about 5 blocks from us so it's nice and handy for drop offs and picking up after work. Girard takes Bryn to Denise's about 1.00 and I pick her up by 5.00 so it's a short day for her. I find the evenings go too fast, though -- by the time we have supper and play a bit it's almost time for a bath and bed. Thankfully Bryn doesn't go to bed until 9.00 or 9.30 so we do have a bit of time together but it still seems to short to me.

We're getting into our yard work now that winter is finally over. It's still been cool but at least the threat of more snow is gone (knock wood). I can't wait to go to the greenhouse and get all my flowers and start digging in the dirt with Bryn. She's already watering everything, from the dirt to her shoes so it's going to be a fun summer. I think I might spend a lot of my time refilling her watering can and trying to keep her from digging up the flowers but hopefully we can get her sandbox built soon and that will keep her from digging where she's not supposed to. She's not big on getting her hands dirty but I'm sure I can turn her into a gardener in no time.

Bryn's latest pastime is singing. She's been a chatterbox for months but now she's singing all the time, everything from Oh My Darling Clementine to the Backyardigans theme song. (One of my favorites is Yankee Doodle "Bambi".) She sings everywhere she goes -- in the car, her crib, the tub, the grocery store, when we're out walking in the park. I wish I could have a video camera on her all day just to capture all the memories.

We'll get it figured out before the summer is over.

Watching the pelicans.

"And that's how I met the president
of the U-nited States of America."

Our cool girl.

I've also posted a cute video of Bryn and Caia but had to put it in a separate post because of the size.