Cod Liver Oil

A little while ago a woman who owns a health food store came and did at talk at Mom's Morning Out. Among other things, she talked about how good fish oils are for developing brains. We try to eat Salmon at least once a week, but I decided that the kiddies should be getting more fish oils so I picked some Cod Liver Oil up at the drugstore.

Once home I mentioned to DH that I was going to need to find some reciepes that would allow me to get this C.L.O. into the kids each day and he said, 'Why don't you just give it to them on a spoon.' 'Oh, yah,' I thought. 'No problem, they'll just suck it back. NOT'.

So what does DH do? He pulls out a spoon, pours some C.L.O. onto it and tells J. to come over and get some 'poisson' (fish). The kid comes over, sucks back the 'fish', makes a face, says, 'J'aime pas ca (I don't like that)' and walks away. Well, since J. had gotten something, E. wanted it too so over she comes, sucks back the C.L.O., makes a face, says, 'Yucky, daddy' and walks away. I thought, 'Great, now we'll never get it into them again.'

The next morning DH pulls out the spoon and the C.L.O again. 'J.', he coos, 'time for some 'poisson'. There is no way these kids are going to take this horrible concoction two days in a row! Come on, they know what they were getting into this time so it has to be no way. But no.....J. sucks the stuff back, makes and face and then says, 'Mei-Mei's turn'. She sucks her dose back without a word and then goes back to eating her breakfast. What the hell!

That was about two weeks ago. The children now.....wait for it......ASK for their 'poisson' each morning. Yesterday they actually sat at the table chanting, 'poisson, poisson, poisson'! Crazy.

How long will it last? I'm hoping it lasts at least until the bottle is gone or (best case senerio) until they are old enough to take C.L.O. in capsule form.

I Was Tagged

I was tagged a while ago by Steffanie. So, for what it's worth, here's the info.:

5 All Time Favorites (in no particular order)

1. Glass of wine on the patio on a summer evening.

2. Hearing my children laugh so hard they can't breath.

3. The moment in the day when J.P. walks in the door from work.

4. Sitting on a white sand beach in Jamaica talking about our future with my man.

5. A cup of tea right after the kiddies fall asleep for their afternoon nap.

5 Favorite Movies

1. Monty Python's Holy Grail

2. The Piano

3. What Dreams May Come

4. Laura Croft Tomb Raider movies
5. Hmmm...

Baby Names You Love But Aren't Planning To Use

Isabelle, Gabrielle/Gabriel - Ah, that's about it.

5 Songs You Could Listen To Over and Over

1. Where is the Love? - Celine Dion

2. Cry - James Blunt

3. Stupid Girls - Pink

4. Waiting For Tonight - Jennifer Lopez

5. Slipping Through My Fingers - Mama Mia soundtrack

5 People Who Influenced Your Life in a Positive Way

1. Sonia Rowe (Boss when I taught the Lifeskills course)

2. J.P. (he insisted I write that - O.k., but it is true)

3. My parents and my grandma

4. My children

5. Lyse Gregoire & Marilyn Hrycauk (Two of my previous bosses)

5 Things That Stay in Your Purse at All Times

1. My wallet

2. Various pens and pencils

3. Envelope with cards

4. All kinds of receipts from the grocery store, gas station, etc.

That's about it. I hate having lots of stuff in my purse!

5 Moments You Knew Things Changed Forever

1. The moment the Aiyi brought E. into the meeting room in Nanning.

2. The moment Colette told me about a little boy with a cyst on his eye.

3. The moment J.P. asked me to marry him.

4. The moment we decided to adopt.

5. The moment we were told we were being moved to Quebec

5 Obsessions You Have Right Now

1. My Hair (Cut if off again? Grow it longer? Shave my head?)

2. Jie-Jie's Gottcha Trip Movie

3. This Blog

4. My kiddies (since that's all I ever really talk about)

5. Chocolate

5 Places You'd Really Like to Go

1. To the bathroom by myself

2. Back to Italy

3. To live somewhere in Guiangxi for a few months

4. To France

5. Beach vacation with my man

Getting Back on Track

Things are improving in the back department. The lower back pain is completely gone, but now I have numbness in my right calf and right foot. That's not the best sign. It means a nerve is aggravated. I've got some wonderful anti-inflamatories which I'm hoping will rectify the situation. Without the pain it's difficult to remember to not lift anything (well, more like 'anyone') and to not push things too hard by trying to get back into the full routine right away. At least I know now it's going to work itself out and I'm not going to end up on the couch for the summer. Anyway, on to more interesting stuff...

E. has had a language explosion over the past week or so. She's gone from telegraph speech (using one or two words to get her message across) to using three and four word sentences. She's initiating a lot more conversations these days too. It's not like we're discussing molecular science or anything though. It's mostly, 'Look Mama a train.'; 'Look, a blue car.'; 'I'm wondering if we might go to Safeway today so I could get one of those amazing chocolate chip cookies.' (O.K., O.K., I might have embellished that last one). Oh yes and her new favorite topic of conversation.....CHRISTMAS.

Every single night as I tuck her in she wants to talk about the present she's going to get from Santa. It's been a blue train for the last little while, but they just got a train set as a gift from J.P.'s aunt so two nights ago she told me she wanted......wait for it....a little window into our daughter's sense of humour.....PEE-PEE. Yes, pee-pee! Followed by gales of laughter. Furthermore, last week she was convinced that Santa must be coming soon. Why? Because, she told me, it's snowing so Santa must be on his way. In her mind spring was over and winter had gloriously come again which meant that the joly old elf was on his way! Hall....e...lujah... Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

I'm trying to convince E. to ask for a doll house from Santa. She has a bunch of great doll furniture I bought at Ikea before she arrived, but she doesn't really play with it. She got a Kelly doll for her birthday that fits the furniture perfectly so I'm thinking that if she had a house she would play with everything a lot more (well, really she'd play with it at all). I think I might be out to lunch on this one though. E.'s really not that interested in playing with dolls. She loves the Kelly doll. She named it Pheobe (Go figure, I have NO idea where she has heard that name. I mean, I have NO, NO idea. I've been racking my brain and have nadda). Anyway, she named the doll, undressed the doll and now carries the doll around in whatever paper bag, plastic bag, truck or basket is being hauled around that day. I don't know. Don't ask me.

Buggered My Back.....Again

Yep, I buggered up my back again. (BTW, I love the word buggered. My maternal grandfather used to use it. Not in the Jamie Fraser sense of the word though. More like meaning something is broken or someone is less than truthful or is annoying or is sneaky). Anyway, although hard to believe, there are some people who don't know that I had a herniated disc when I lived in Quebec City. I pushed it so far that it started to effect my syatic nerve and eventually deadened the back of my left leg. The leg feels better, but I don't have an ankle reflex on that side now. Long story short, three months on the couch, many, many anti-inflamitories, much physio. and much whining later and I was back on my feet. My back still bothered me for at least 2 years afterwards, but lately I haven't had any disc problems.

Tada. Once we got home with J. my back started acting up. Luckily it wasn't the herniated disc so, of course, I didn't take it too seriously. It was only my lower back, but it wouldn't go away. Recently I started seeing a chiroprator and it was really amazing. He really is my new boyfriend since he was making me feel so much better. But then I blew it. Literally. I blew my five lumbar discs out of place (whatever that means). Anyway, he put them back and I see him again Monday. I do feel better today, but am taking it very easy. Sitting does not help my situation, so I won't be posting again until I have the situation back under control (no pun intended, but it's cute anyway).

Party, Party, Party

The kiddies had a fantastic time at their third birthday party. When I put E. to bed tonight I asked her what her favorite part of the party was. She said, 'Balloons, star balloons'. She said she liked it best when she gave the balloons to her guests to take home. Hell, I could have bought a bunch of balloons, gone over to the local mall (which is down the road and across the street) and she could have given the balloons to randam kiddies. Piff, paff, poof she would have had a super special birthday! :-)). I know, I know 'balloons' doesn't mean she didn't love the rest of the party....., but she could have said that her favorite part was the CAKE! Or all her friends coming over to play!

The second thing she said during our bedtime talk was, 'Christmas Mama?' (translation, 'When is Christmas coming Mama?' - she asks this nearly every night and every morning). I asked her why she wants Christmas to come and she said, 'presents'. PRESENTS! She got a ton of them today! Ahhhh (sigh). They really did love all their presents. As soon as they got up from their naps, they got right into everything. E. especially liked the cars and was very intrigued by the abacus. J. got right into the playdough toys (I wouldn't let him open the playdough yet - yucky mommy), the Kid K'nex set and the lego. He also had to have the red car and the dinosaur near him as he played. He got a moving, bellowing dinosaur as a gift. He got a similar dinosaur as a welcome gift from Janet and he was so excited to play with them together. The funny thing is that he's a little bit freaked out by the roaring dino., but he constantly wants to play with it. He asks me to push the button and when it starts to roar and move toward him he jumps back. Then he moves towards it and starts hitting it. It's hilarious.

Oh, BTW Shelley, J. got 'Walter the Farting Dog' as one of his gifts (Shelley introduced me to that book). Both J. and E. are going to LOVE that book. I didn't try it out on them today, but I'm sure the humour in that book is going to be right up their alley. E. will be able to relate to Walter....

After supper tonight we got the kiddies to try on some clothes they got. I wasn't sure if J. would be into that because when he opened this present's box and saw that it wasn't a toy he started yelling, 'No, no, no' as if the gift was a huge spider that was going to bite him. When we showed him the clothes tonight though, he was happy to put them on and he really seems to like them. What a guy! E. put her new 'fish' dress on right away and then ran looking for her pink crocs. to go with it.

So, the cake. Last year E. cried and cried when she saw the candle on the cake. There was only one (it was in the shape of a two since she was two) and since it was a cheap dollar store candle the flame was pretty feeble. Never the less, she was terrified of it. Now, we've been to a few birthdays since then and we have a video of one of E.'s cousins blowing out the candles of her birthday cake (that E. likes to watch at nauseam) so she got over her 'candle fears' and blew out her three candles like a trooper. J. didn't show any hesitation either. With a little encouragement from Baba those candles were out in no time. The problems started afterwards. As I was trying to cut the cakes, J. kept sneaking icing with his little index finger! Everytime I took my eyes off him for a second he had that little finger in the cake. E. wasn't really any better, but since my body was between her and the cake she was easier to catch. Check this out - once they finally got their pieces of cake.....they didn't eat them. Nope, J. just ate the icing and E. wanted to go and play! Oh, well. Most everyone else had some.

So, Mama/E. birthday fantasty fulfilled for another year. I'm assuming J. will be in with a fantasty of his own next year now that he knows what birthdays are all about. And Baba....well, he just goes with the flow on this celebration/tradition building stuff. Bless his little heart.

So, thank-you to everyone who attended the party. You all made J. & E.'s third birthday so very special.

Birthday Preparations

Well tomorrow is J.'s third birthday. His first birthday with us. E.'s birthday is Tuesday, but we're celebrating both birthdays tomorrow and then we'll do something special as a family on Tuesday. Here's what our kiddies looked like when they turned 3: So, at this point the cakes are done, the balloons have been picked up, the Diego plates and cups have been bought, the car and princess hats are in place (E. is very excited about wearing the car hats....sigh. I bought the princess hats for her and the girls) and the house is pretty much clean. At first I thought I would only make one cake, so I asked E. what colour cake she wanted and then I asked J. what shape he would like (since he doesn't know his colours in English or French yet this worked very well). E. has said all long (about the past two months) that she wants a 'pink' cake for her birthday so, pink it is. J. said he wants a 'yue' cake. That's a 'fish' cake. This worked out beautifully as the store that rents the cake molds actually had a tropical fish mold (yeah!). So, I made the 'yue' cake and then decided that it may be too small for the 19 or so people who are coming (7 kiddies, 1 or 2 babies and parents). So I ended up making two 'yue' cakes. One pink and one 'clown fish' colours. I did the clown fish second so I think the decorating is better on it than on the pink one.

Here are the preparations. I had lots of help. Notice the little hand sneaking onto the counter in the first shot.....

Here's the finished Clown Fish.

I still need a brown smartie for the eye, but it's basically finished.

Here's E.'s Pink Fish. I took a close up shot, but it was overexposed.

So, I can now check off 'Mommy Fantasties Number 325 and 326' - Having the chance to make special birthday cakes for your kiddies and having the chance to plan a special birthday party for them too. B.T.W., they are way, way, way excited for tomorrow and so are we!

Kiddies, Kiddies, Kiddies

We bought a new bike cart for the kiddies. They LOVE it. We LOVE it too because it is so easy to use. So far we've actually used it more as a stroller than a bike cart. We take it with us on walks. The kiddies push their strollers and we push the cart. When they get tired half way through the walk they jump into the cart, we strap their stroller(s) to the back and we continue on.

I've been working on getting some shots of the kiddies to put into a new frame. It's a frame with multiple places for pictures and I wanted to get some 'artistic' shots to put in it. So far everything I've taken is a little blurry so I'll have to continue to play around with stuff. Here are some of my favorite shots:

Want to Add Your Blog?

I haven't put any links to other blogs into my blog yet because I wanted to ask permission. So if you don't mind my friends reading about your family, leave a comment that you allow your blog to be listed on my links list.

Who is Who

I thought it might be fun to introduce my friends to each other. I don't have pictures of everyone who has commented, but it might be fun if you each sent me one..... I'm introducing you in relation to how I know you and to your kiddies. I realize that you ladies are MUCH, MUCH more than these definitions, but I just want to give a little context for some of your possible comments and it's not my place to tell everything I know about you ;-)

Anyway here it goes in order of comments:












Jen - I met Jen through our sponsor for E. Her daughter came home 6 months after E. Jen and her family were an oasis in the storm of the Montreal/Ottawa week that we left for J. Here she is with her two sweeties and there is her handsome hunk of a man with the girls. Check the homecoming video we made for them when they arrived back with their youngest daughter: http://inchina.kjvb.com/video/

Colette - Our sponsor for J. I have never actually seen Colette in person, but she did an absolute hell of a job getting J. home. Colette is a foster and adoptive parent with grown bio-kiddies.

Mary - I also met Mary through E.'s sponsor. She has a precious little girl who came home from China, yikes, just less than a year ago? Here's a picture of their homecoming. (The baby's daddy was there too, but I don't have a picture of them all together).

Teri - I met Teri when I worked at Holland Elementary School over 7 years ago. She has a gorgeous little girl who is almost 5. What? Is that right Teri?!

Shelley - I worked with Shelley at two different schools while we lived in Quebec City. She's originally from Saskatchewan, but don't hold that against her. She has a very large baby (Great Dane dog) and apparently now has added something more?????

Wanda - Also met her through E.'s sponsor. She has a little girl who is 5 and is logged in for another child as of March 2006. Their LID is close to our LID for Eva.

Janet - I met Janet through Sylvia (whom I think met Janet through her blog). It ends up that Janet lives just down the road from us. She has four children and is leaving APRIL 9th to adopt her two babies who are waiting for her in Uganda!

Sylvia - E. sponsor link as well. Fellow teacher, but we've never worked together. Sylvia is waiting for a referral for her child from China. Should be any time now.

Rita - I worked with Rita at Holland School. Rita is a stay-at-home grandma for her daughter's at least one little girl (are there two now Rita - who's Ivy?).

Sonya - Sonya is a fellow adoptive mom that I met at a meeting at the Chinese community center. She has a two year old little girl.

Monica - I met Monica though an adoption group here. She has a sweet little missy who will turn two soon and they are logged in as of March this year for their second child from China. Here she is with her cutie and her man.

Karen - Karen was our sponsor for our first adoption (E.'s sponsor). She taught us the ropes of Waiting Child adoption from China. She held our hands, networked us to tons of other adoptive families and became a friend in the process. She found us our beautiful YiLin (a.k.a Eva-Lynn).

Welcome

Welcome to my blog. The purpose of my blog is to keep family and friends who live far away from us updated and 'involved' in our lives. There are many other ways to fulfill that mandate such as e-mail, phone conversations as well as letters and pictures sent through snail-mail, but those methods aren't as quick and/or as immediate as the blog format. Hence the name of the blog 'Close to the EDJJ (edge)'. It's an attempt to try to keep people close to us. I've chosen just to use my family's initials rather than their complete names. If you know about this blog, you know who is who and if you'd don't know who is who then you don't really need to :-). ...

So, since nothing is for free in this world, here's the cost of reading my blog (other than commenting once in a while). You must send us an update at least once a year about what is going on in your family. You may write a New Year's letter, you can phone us, you can send us an e-mail with pictures. Whatever. If you already have a blog, you're off the hook. We'll catch up with you there.


I found the artwork for the title of the blog in Google Images. It's titled 'Landscape of Experience'. I thought it was fitting for my new creation. The colours matched and so did the name.