Critz Farms, Take 2

We liked Critz Farms so much 2 weekends ago that we went back last Sunday with friends.  The weather was a little cooler than the first time but Helaina had 2 buddy's there to play with and we all had a blast.  Just before turning into the parking lot that morning there was a local TV station car pulling in ahead of us.  Jim said "Maybe we can get on TV."  Yah right was my response.  Well, while we were having our breakfast the reporter came over to our table and asked if anyone would want to be interviewed on TV.  Jim and Helaina jumped at the chance so Jim got wired up with a microphone, Helaina and her 2 friends got in on the action and the interview began.  The piece below ran the next day on TV but we never were able to catch it.  It was also on their website so that's where I taped this from.

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When the interview was being taped I was standing behind the camera motioning to Helaina to sit still.  At one point her squrming knocked Jim's microphone off onto the floor.  I told Helaina to stop being distracting or she'd end up on the cutting room floor!  She was obsessed with getting outside and onto the playground so it didn't work.  The clip is cute anyways.  Love it at the end where she says she likes maple syrup and then Jim chimes in "Oh, we LOVE maple syrup."  Ain't it the truth.

Helaina answering the reporter's questions.  She went off on a tangent and started telling her life story.  That's our gal - real shy, right?

Playing in things isn't good enough.  One must get on top of them now.

I swear this horse rememberd Helaina from the previous week.  He took one look at her running toward him with the bucket and came right over to the fence.

The only way to dry off the wet slides is to go down them and dry them with your butt - then change into the dry pants and underwear we brought with us.  Good thinking girls.

Giving interviews is exhausting.

More people than we thought saw the news piece.  At gymnastics one of the dad's told Helaina he saw her on the news.  Then at the dentist's office on Wednesday Dr. Scott came into the room and told Helaina he saw her on TV.  She was so thrilled I thought she was going to start handing out autographs.

Critz Farm

Last Sunday we took a ride to Critz Farm to see what they had going on for their Maple Sugar Celebration.  It was a not-so-typical March day with the temperature in the mid-70's.  We had their breakfast buffet with pancakes, real maple syrup, scrambled eggs, country ham, taters and coffee.  Yummy way to start our adventure. 

This friendly horse had eaten his area clean of green grass so Helaina picked some grass and clover from outside the fence.  The horse saw her coming with handfuls of the green stuff and stuck his head through the fence slats immediately.  She would have fed this horse all day if we let her.

Ah yes, slide mountain.  Helaina remembered this from our Fall trip to the farm for pumpkins and Halloween fun.  One of her favorites.

The monkey bar obsession continues.  She wants Jim to swap out the monkey bars on the playground in our yard for these hanging ones.

We took a tractor ride through the maple tree area to see the taps and set-up for the sap collection.  It was interesting to see the taps in the trees and the miles of tubing that runs through the woods to the collection area.  Of course, we bought some real maple syrup and maple sugar candy.  Major sugar high.

A few weekends ago we took Helaina to her first Wegman's "Kids in the Kitchen" session.  It caught our eye because they were making noodles in peanut sauce - noodles, right up her alley.  She enjoyed it.  She got to cut her own veggies and dip them into different sauces.  She liked the snow peas the best dipped in the ranch dressing-type sauce.

Here she's mixing up her noodles and veggies with the peanut sauce.

It was good.  The peanut sauce was a bit spicy for Helaina and she definately didn't like the edaname - but at least she tried them.  I never had the soybeans like that before and they were good.  I'm going to buy some to put in our salads.

A recent outing to visit the cousins.  Helaina loves holding Sophia and she was quite content to sit on Helaina's lap for a while.

Go 'Cuse.  Zoey's excited about watching tomorrow night's basketball game to see if the Orange make it to the Final Four.  Can't you tell?

Then ... and now

Four years ago yesterday we came home with our little Chinese dynamo.  I remember our first day at home well.  Jim went to the doctor for his eye and respiratory infections (I went to the doctor the following day for my respiratory problems), I forced myself to hit the grocery store to replenish our bare cupboards, we sprung Heidi from "doggie jail" and brought her home, my sister came over to help out, and the 3 of us just sort of "zombied" around the house trying to adjust to life as an extremely exhausted, jet-lagged family.

Then.  This is a picture of Helaina at the park near our house, probably about a week after we brought her home, and she loved it.  What a little cutie pie!

Now.  Here's Helaina at that same park on the same equipment 4 years later.  Wow, that's all I can say.  Notice that she's enjoying the record-breaking 70 and 80 degree weather.  It's insane.

We went to the park after dinner and then mentioned to Helaina that one of the local ice cream stands is open.  She started screaming and jumping and deciding what flavor cone she wanted.  Twoberry twist with rainbow sprinkles.  The ice cream stand was so crowded with people sitting around in shorts and t-shirts that you'd think it was a July evening instead of March.

A few pictures from the first week of March which was nice and sunny, but still a little cool.

Thought this was cute wearing her favorite Scooby Doo hat.

The older kids who live across from us are always climbing trees, so Helaina talked Jim into letting her wedge herself into one of our trees.  I wasn't outside at the time or I would have been the meanie and said no.

Helaina's been enjoying her new Disney princess bike she got for her birthday.  We also got our little daredevil a small bike ramp (gulp).  She loves it and always hits it dead center, thank goodness.

Jim on my bike trying to popping a wheelie on the ramp (or more likely pop a kneecap).

More summer activities in March like bubble blowing ...

... and sidewalk chalk masterpieces in the driveway.

It's supposed to be another record-breaking day tomorrow with a high near 80 degrees.  All the other kids at the bus stop have been wearing shorts (and flip flops!) to school this week and I finally agreed to let Helaina wear shorts tomorrow.  Only problem was she needed new ones so I headed out to the store this morning and picked up a few new pairs for her.  At the checkout I had 3 pair of shorts and new sneakers for Helaina.  I was wearing a short sleeved shirt and capri pants.  In March ... shopping for new shorts ... while wearing a t-shirt.  I still can't believe it. 

Expander, yuck

It's been almost 3 weeks since Helaina's palate expander has been in place.  I've been nervous and apprehensive about this since last year.  It's a big commitment - it will take about a year for the process to be completed.  Helaina's surgeon and her dentist (who consults on our surgeon's cleft and craniofacial team) said it was the optimum time to get the ball rolling so I reluctantly agreed.  Helaina's endured 3 unpleasant dental visits to get all the impressions made and finally the appliance fitted and in place.  She's been an unbelievable trooper through this whole process, sitting in the dental chair quietly while being worked on - she's a "big girl" now and no longer needs the laughing gas to get her through appointments.

This picture was taken at home after the expander was put in place.  She's wearing her t-shirt from the dentist's office.  If she wears it to the office for each visit she gets her name entered in a monthly drawing for a Target gift card.  She liked that.  Helaina loves these stick balloons so I had two of them hidden in the car waiting for her after her appointment.

We came home exhausted, emotionally drained (that would be me) with a ton of stuff and lots of information.  The long blue sticks are the "keys" we used to turn the "screw" in the expander (it's not anything like a key or a screw and it doesn't really get "turned").  They gave us an electric toothbrush and some items to use for cleaning the expander after she eats.  The white playdo-type mold on the left is one of the impressions of her upper teeth and palate.  She had 3 impressions total taken and they weren't pleasant.  Trays were filled with goo then placed in her mouth until they hardened.  The goo tasted yucky, dripped onto her tongue and down her throat which made her gag (Helaina's a "gager" just like me!).  When dry they were pulled from her mouth with a good amount of force.  She had different sized brackets fit over her back molars several times until they got the right tight fit to hold the expander in place.  On the final appointment when everything was in place, her lips and face were a bit swollen from manipulation.  She talked like she had a mouth full of marbles.  We were warned ahead of time that her speech would be affected for a while - my absolute worst fear - and it was.  They had to teach her how to swallow and drink from a cup before we left the office.  They told us food would get stuck in it and we'd need to be vigilent about cleaning it, but we couldn't have imagined the mess that eating makes.  We have to waterpik the expander every time she eats anything.  Thankfully, she's gotten used to the expander quickly - I knew she would.  Her speech is just about back to normal with the "s" and "sh" sounds affected the most - but minimally now.  We no longer have to remind her to close her mouth and "swallow your spit" (gross).  It's just one of those necessary evils that I didn't want to do to her.  Every time I say that at the dentist's office he reminds me that "we're not doing this TO her - we're doing this FOR her".  Yah, I know, but it's still my baby's mouth and she's been through so much already.  We're enjoying this mini-dental-break where the key turning is done and we don't go back until the 28th for the head-gear, nightmare part 2.

I just can't emphasize enough how strong and adapting Helaina's been through this whole process.  She wakes up every morning happy and ready to take on whatever life throws her way - be it good or bad.  She's a tough little cookie and she's definately my pint-sized hero.  We love you like crazycakes, little girl.

The day after tooth yanking

Helaina was thrilled to wake up this morning and find that the tooth fairy left her a note, money AND left the tooth for her to keep.  With a huge grin on her face she said to us: "I thought the tooth fairy wasn't real - but I guess she is!!!"  Oh yah, sweetie, she's real. 

Helaina doesn't have school tomorrow so the kids wore their green for St. Patrick's day today.  She was thrilled to be decked out in green and had a shamrock necklace, shamrock socks, shamrock earrings (which were mine when I was a kid) and green scrunchies in her ponytails.

February recap - some pictures left over from last month to finish up February and get on with March.

In school they celebrated 100 days of school with special crafts, sticker and counting projects, a crown and trail mix that they made for a snack.  They seem to celebrate everything in Helaina's class, which is why our party girl loves school so much.

Right before Valentine's Day the school had a Labor of Love night with a yummy Italian dinner buffet and items to sell that benefited a local foodbank and a few charities.  There was a photographer to take pictures of the kids too.

In the cafeteria the tables were set up with crayons, stickers and all kinds of decorations for the kids to make Valentine's Day cards that were going to be delivered to a local Hospice.  She's pointing to the card she made.  Such a nice idea.

Helaina and I got flowers and candy for Valentine's Day.  Every year I tell Jim not to get flowers because of the jacked-up prices, and every year he sends them to us.  Helaina loves hearing the doorbell ring and seeing the flower delivery dude there with something for her.  She loved her rose and Beauty and the Beast balloon but immediately wanted to know why I got more roses than she did - and if she could have some of mine.

I told her I didn't know why I got more roses than she did and that I'd have to ask John, apparently my mystery boyfriend who sent me the flowers.  Idiots at the flower shop.

We went out to dinner at my now-favorite Chinese restaurant - China Pavillion, then came home and Helaina and Josh had a few gifts waiting for them.  We got Helaina birthstone earrings.

I made a chocolate layer cake for dessert and cut 2 round cakes to look like a heart, sort of.  Joshua said the cake looked like pac man, and he was right.  As soon as I put the cake pans in the oven I remembered that I have a heart-shaped bundt pan.  Maybe I'll remember the pan next year.

Family swim and gym night at the high school.  Jim went in the pool with Helaina with the intention of keeping his head dry.  I wished him good luck with that.  He was drenched within 30 seconds of entering the water with the splash queen.

The day before Helaina's family birthday party Jim took her to the zoo so I could get some things finished around the house.  Helaina's more than happy to go places with just Jim because she can get away with way more stuff than when I'm around - and she'll be the first one to tell you that.

Helaina snapped this picture at the penguin cutout.  What the heck's with the face?  Reminds me of the ax door busting scene from the movie the Shining.  "Here's Jimmy".

Only one post left to do from February - Helaina's palate expander.  Ewwwww.  It was a dental nightmare at the beginning but it's getting better now - and Helaina's been a tough little trooper through this whole thing.  We're 2 weeks post insertion and we "turned the screw" in the device for the last time tonight - and promptly celebrated.  The widening portion is over for now and in a few weeks we go back to the dentist for headgear (yup) to start the "jaw lengthening" portion of the treatment - all in an attempt to correct Helaina's wicked underbite and avoid a nasty jaw surgery in the future where they would have to actually break her upper jaw and reposition it.  OMG - that million dollar mouth of hers.  Nothing in this kid's mouth is ordinary.

The tooth post

I was going to post some pictures from our China adventure, but that's old news now because there has been a new development in our house.  Helaina's tooth that has been loose for what seems like forever is finally under her pillow tonight.  This morning it was hanging by a few threads so we promised her we'd give it a final yank when Daddy got home from work tonight.  The minute Helaina got off the bus as she was walking up the driveway she said to me "Can we pull my tooth out now?"  I told her that we had to wait for Daddy to come home.  "Can we call him now to come home?"

Helaina's tooth took so long to come out because the new tooth was popping up behind the loose tooth instead of coming up from underneath it.  The dentist had seen the situation a few weeks ago at her teeth cleaning and said it wasn't a problem and that it would move forward once the baby tooth fell out.  This whole time I've been saying that she's had rows of teeth like a shark.  The same thing is going on with Helaina's 2nd loose tooth right next to the space.

The tooth came out easy.  I was the one to pull it.  Jim recorded the yanking and Helaina must have watched the tape 10 times.  She was so excited.

There wasn't too much blood because it was ready to come out.  She's biting down on a cotton ball to stop the little bit of blood.  When she saw her blood on the cotton ball she yelled "I hate blood!"

Happy gal with the space in her mouth.  She can't wait to go to school tomorrow to show her teacher and classmates.

Time for me to go play tooth fairy.  The tooth is sealed in a baggie under Helaina's pillow.  Here's a note from the tooth fairy with a $5 bill and a quarter wrapped up in it.  The tooth fairy told Helaina that she could keep her tooth because it's the first one she lost and it's special.  After we tucked Helaina in bed tonight she asked "How's the tooth fairy going to get in my room?"  So believing at this age!

4 years ago today, we were on our way

Yup, hard to believe, but 4 years ago today we embarked on our adventure half way around the world to meet our daughter.  I remember it as if it were yesterday.

On our front porch ready to head out feeling excited, nervous, scared to death and nauseous (that would be me - about flying).

Finding our gate in Chicago.  Beijing, really?  Us?  Reality check.

I'll never forget the moment I saw the nose of our jet as it pulled up toward the windows where we were sitting.  You can explain how jets fly to me a million times but it just doesn't make sense.  Anything that BIG and that HEAVY just shouldn't be at an altitude of 30,000 feet.

Bye bye Chicago.

9 hours and counting.  I never even knew jets carried enough fuel to be in the air for 13 hours.

A few of my favorite pictures taken from our window seat.  Somewhere over Siberia.  Yikes.

I'll never forget Jim saying "Wait, I think I see a polar bear down there."  Yah, we were groggy and exhausted already and we hadn't even landed in China.

Hard to believe Helaina's been with us 4 years now.  How boring life must have been when it was just the 2 of us!

Finally done celebrating

The partying finally ended this past Saturday with Helaina's first bounce house birthday party with friends.  To say that she was excited was an understatement.  We selected the 11:30am slot for her party because we knew it would be difficult to make her wait until the afternoon or evening for her party.  "Is it time to go yet?  How many more minutes until we leave? " was what we heard Saturday morning until we left.

Is it just me, or does Helaina look like 6 going on 16 in this picture?  She looks so much older than 6 to me.  She's wearing a necklace and bracelet that she strung with her new alphabet beads.  The necklace has her name and the bracelet says "six years old" - and she doesn't want to take it off.  She loved this Dora outfit with the stretchy jean leggings and the sparkly pink vest.

The bounce house we selected was great.  We chose a private party so they close the place for you and your guests.  They did everything from setting up the party room with Disney princess decorations to cutting and serving the pizza and cake, getting drinks for the kids and cleaning up the mess.   Well worth the cost.

Princess Helaina.  Yah, unfortunately she thinks that too.

Having bouncy fun with a few of her friends.

Here's the dance room.  It was dark with disco lights and a kareoke machine.  They all loved shaking their booty.

Pizza time with Princess Helaina at the head of the table.

Even princesses love Po - the Kung Fu Panda.

I brought a candle with me for the cake but the woman running the party asked if it was ok to use one of their special birthday sparkler candles.  She warned the kids ahead of time not to be scared then lit it up.  It was just like a July 4th sparkler shooting sparks all over the place.  Everyone sang to her and after the candle died down a bit Helaina was able to blow it out like a regular candle.  She was absolutely thrilled.

While we were finishing the cake they inflated a huge throne next to the gift table for Helaina to sit in while opening presents.  I knew about the throne but didn't tell her about it so it would be a surprise.  Her eyes got huge and so did her smile when she first saw it.  I told parents ahead of time if they wanted to bring a gift to please keep it small and inexpensive.  Some did, others didn't.  Helaina got Disney princess dolls, Target and Toys R Us gift cards, board games, a Dora mermaid doll, markers and stickers and lots of other things.  I'm still rearranging things in the basement and family room to make more toy storage.

It was a 6th birthday to remember for our little gal.  We told Helaina to enjoy every minute of it becaue it's not the kind of party you get every year - and we made that very clear.  It was a blast to watch her at the party, though.  She's been to so many parties for friends.  For her to finally have one of her own great.