Fun With the Cosby Cousins

Hannah had so much fun meeting her Louisiana cousins this week. She and Jaycie played with Lori, Kylie and Ella until a yucky virus struck the littlest Cosby, which cut the visit time a little short. Despite the sickness, all 5 little girls had a great time, as did their grandparents and aunts and uncles. If only Louisiana and Kentucky and Pennsylvania were closer to one another! Know anyone who could arrange a state swap so the Fowlkes/Cosby/Cooper crew could get together more often?

Guess Who's Crawling?

Pretty As A Picture, First Pony Tail, and Shots

Gotta love this pic:
Hannah's got lots of hair, and her bangs are starting to get in her eyes. Her hair is kind of fine, but she's got lots of it. Headbands are Mommy's favorite, but she's figured out how to pull them out, and barettes slip out. The clippy bows are good as long as she doesn't discover them, so now we're experimenting.

With so many options, what's a girl to do?

Medical update: Hannah had her first medical exam yesterday and did very well, if I do say so myself. She has gained a little over a pound since joining the family (she's 18.4 lbs.), which puts her in a whopping third percentile weight category, and her height (27 inches) puts her in the fifth percentile. Our doctor says not to worry, however, because she's growing well, and many Chinese baby girls are smaller than the average American-born child. According to a chart I got from the FCC (Families with Children from China) web site, she's somewhere between the 25th and 30th percentile for growth of Chinese-born baby girls.

She also got 4 shots yesterday, so yesterday afternoon wasn't very fun, and she woke up crying last night more often than normal. This morning she wasn't all that playful, either, and her nap time started a little early. She actually fell asleep in my lap, which is not typical. It's weird for her not to be in a good mood, but I totally understand. Poor baby.

Sorry for the Sideways Video (but it's really funny)

This is driving me absolutely batty, but I want to go ahead and post this, because it's too cute. Anyone with techie information on how to rotate this video, I'd appreciate it. Lee says he can do it, but I'm an impatient type-A woman.

Click here to link to a follow-up video (filmed on 2/8) that I posted on our Picasa Web Album. This one can't be embedded from this site.

Snow Friday

I'm not sure if Hannah was impressed with the snowfall last week or not, but Jaycie sure was. She and her friend Mollie loved having snowball fights and making snow angels (in the driveway, no less). These photos were taken last Friday, when schools were already out because of sickness; that was convenient!

Bragging on Ashley

Since we returned from China, I have kinda' abdicated the blogging duties to Ashley. Besides, nobody wants to read about my thoughts while shopping for diapers at Wal-Mart. There must be something about the mundane that keeps me from thinking too deeply.

However, the down side of this is that nobody is here to tell about how fantastic Ashley is as a mom. Since I am working again, she is here all day every day, doing the full-time mommy thing for the first time. She is amazing. She may feel bad for not having everything done, but I am impressed that she gets anything done. I want a parade when I load the dishwasher, but she does the dishes and the laundry, feeds, clothes and diapers the baby, gets Jaycie from school, has the neighbor kids in the house, and still manages to get dinner ready more often than not. She works to balance the attention given to Jaycie and Hannah, and works me in whenever possible.

I am thankful every night for my girls - all three of them. I know that God loves me because He gave me these three precious people to love me and for me to love. I am humbled that He trusts me enough to teach, protect and guide, and I strive to be worthy of that task.

One more thing - I want to say how much it means that so many people have been reading this blog - even after we have returned home. We created it and wrote it partly for our family and friends, but partly to process the whole experience ourselves. To know how many people care enough to read is truly humbling. So thank you for your love and sharing in our lives. We are so much richer because of it.

Driving Lessons

I"m having troubles making this work. Go here if it doesn't.