Video of Bean at the Helm

Day 2 of visiting

I thought that I would write about the second day that we spent with Dan and Cheri. Part of why Dan and Cheri are good company for us is that they are totally down with slower starts to the day's activities a (and they are not afraid of a nap either!) , so we spent the a.m. at the house futzing about. Towards the afternoon we set out for the beach and a bit of kite flying. It was cold a windy out there but clear and beautiful as well. We saw several of the Brown Pelicans and Dan and Cheri took a walk along the beach. After some time on the shore, Les arranged for us all to go over to the Coast Guard station and have a boat ride. This was so much fun! It's been awhile since I was on a boat and this was Ev's first trip. She was so excited to finally get a ride on her Papa's boat, she was wiggly and talkative before hand but as we got onto the boats, she quieted down and started taking it all in. I think that she really loved getting to see her Papa in action. After awhile Les slowed the boat and took Ev on his lap so she could drive the boat for a bit, she took this very seriously and kept trying to fiddle with the GPS and talk on the radio like the Coastie's do. We were out on the water for a beautiful sunset- cold but pretty. Then we came ashore for a seafood dinner. I got a quick picture of Ev's track line- looks like spaghetti.

We had such a nice weekend with Dan and Cheri. Thanks you two for coming to see us. Evelyn misses you both, and actually Billy spent some time wandering around trying to figure out where you had gone as well. Come back anytime, wherever we are, whenever you can.

I would also like to say that i have no idea why the screen with my pic slideshow is now doing the weird "subscribe to my photos thing" - I didn't do that. sigh. I will now have to find a different way to post pictures as I don't like that one bit.

A Visit with friends

Our friends Dan and Cheri came this past weekend to spend some time with us. Dan has been Leslie's friend since they were in Boy Scouts together and he has been my friend from the minute I was Les' woman. This is the first time that we met Cheri, she is Dan's fiance and it just seems like she has been our friend forever as well. We had a great weekend.

We met them at the airport on Fri and on the way home we ate at a place called Owen's- great food and conversation. They got a real dose of Evelyn in the car though- you know, talk, talk, talk. Ev took to Cheri right away, by the time we were home, they were fast friends. The next day, we headed out to Hatteras Lighthouse to look around, Evelyn wanted to be carried by Cheri and Cheri obliged. For those of you that know Ev, this is a huge thing, it usually takes her much longer to warm up to people. She kept calling Dan and Cheri her friends and wanted to know where they were at all times.

Some deep emotions

Sometimes our minds work in funny ways. Here I am zooming thru my life and loving every minute of it. No thoughts of infertility, no desire for a biological child, because , Heaven knows, I love my little girl with every fiber in my being and being HER Mom is what I was meant for. Seriously- once we were on the path to Evelyn, my heart just opened wide for her and the pain of infertility was gone and I have not looked back- not ever. And I'm not now. It just seems that for some strange reason, for about 4 nights in a row, I have been having pregnancy dreams. It's so strange- I have no desire to be pregnant-none. My Evelyn came from China and China is the way that my next child will come, I love it. What I can not for the life of me understand, is why , oh why is my subconscious doing this?
I have the dreams and wake up and for a brief few seconds I am thrown into an absolute darkness of grief and longing, similar to what I call " the good old days of zero percent chance". Then I hear this little sleepy voice coming over the monitor- "Mama I up here waiting for you" and my heart explodes into joy and I'm like "oh yeah" and I go thru the day, never longing for a biological child, just maybe another spicy, bossy, dark haired beauty from a far away land. I know that my mind is working on things. Maybe since we are now finally, really settling into family life, my guts are working out some deep unexpressed stuff that got pushed aside when Ev came along like gang busters. For now I will allow myself to feel those brief moments of pain , I know that they will pass. I know that there is another child out there for me, I am already starting to worry over her and wonder- maybe these dreams are linked up with that. In reality though I should be dreaming of papers and copies and stamps and files.....don't ya think?

Changes

It seems so funny to think as I watch Evelyn now, that when we got her in China she was 10.5 months old and wearing a size 1 diaper, a shy, tiny girl that could barely sit up on her own . How things have changed. She is now a boisterous , semi-rowdy toddler that:

• Goes in for marathon couch jumping sessions while counting to thirteen in Mandarin-at the top of her lungs
• Belly laughs at jokes(mostly her own though, Papa and I usually get that "humpphh" sort of pity laugh), tho physical humor never fails to get her goat
• Zooms thru the house on her little bike
• Sings along to our music and has definite opinions on what types of music she likes and does not like. For instance, Bad Religion =good any form of modern country=bad
• Has phrases like " I really appreciate that" or "Mom if you could just pull yourself together" in her every day talking with us.
• While in her stroller sightseeing in Savannah , would make sure to wave at all of the trolley passengers.
• Is a total fiend for swinging and even prefers when her Papa twists her swing up and then swings her so that she is unwinding and swinging back and forth at the same time, she does this so long that it makes me nauseous just watching.
• When "helping" her Mama clean out her toy kitchen, has a very long list of reasons why she needs that one piece of paper that looks like a match book, or the sticker that she has rolled up so it resembles a nasal spray bottle (she has yallergees and needs to nose pray every day so she doesn't have to see Crabtree- that is a quote and that would be DR Crabtree our family doc)- and let's say that she isn't shy about making her views on these matters known even if she knows that the kitchen is being cleaned up because it resembles the hospital bed-side table of a COPD'r and that Dan and Cherie are coming for a visit and we want to have the house looking nice- she still needs those bits of paper and bottles of lotion water all over her kitchen.
• That once she got over her initial anxiety of being in a big city, wanted to stay in Savannah so she could " get out every single day and see that big big world"

Some things have stayed the same though. We are still madly in love with her. She is still a bright and quirky little thing. She does still have some lingering attachment issues , some we face every day, some only crop up occasionally. She still gets that completely stoic Chinese expression on her face in any uncertain situation and can not be moved, and you have no idea what she is thinking- no kidding she could intimidate a Sumo wrestler with that look. She always has about one thing that for no reason Les and I can understand, is deathly afraid of and experiences real terror over these things. We have to work with her until one fear is conquered and then another will crop right up ( her current fear is t.v.- anything on t.v. will inspire terror in her , white faced, heart pounding, trembling terror). She is still the single most beautiful person that I have ever known, she has a heart of gold and will share anything, even her last piece of chocolate, if she thinks that someone is going to have to go without. She worries. She has always worried, she will always worry, I have to face that, worries about everything. She is sweet and kind and funny and I am so lucky to get to call her daughter. She is stubborn and will not be swayed by anyone else's opinions. If she thinks that a person really wants her to talk with them, it will be the last thing that she does- ever. I know for a fact that she likes our landlord, but he loves her and makes no bones about the fact that he wants her to talk with him-nothing, not a word in 5 months. That is Evelyn- you gotta love her.

Some Savannah Pictures

Home Again

On the 26th we left Hatteras, heading down to Savannah, Georgia for a little family get away. The morning we left, our yard was flooded from 2 days of nothing but rain and we were ok with getting out of here while things dried up. The trip down took about 9 hours, we decided to have Ev travel like a big girl, so no pull-ups- instead we had her potty loaded into the backseat and set up for any emergencies. ( I will say here that Ev went all week, in the car, and bopping about Savannah with no accidents- she is quite proud of that fact and so are her parents.) That drive down was essentially uneventful and we arrived in Savannah in time for dinner. We stayed just outside of the Historic District, a couple there has tricked out their carriage house for rentals, it was an open floor plan with a bed, little dining table, a small, fully equipped kitchen and a beautiful bathroom. This was so much nicer than staying in a hotel, we had a little home to get back to in the evenings and relax in.
We all had so much fun. Savannah is a great city and it was fun to be there around all of that history and all of those ghost stories at Halloween. I think we ended up with a nice mix of guided tours and being off on our own. Just walking about the city amongst those trees and beautiful squares would have been enough. We toured the Owens-Thomas House , took a Trolley Tour, a Ghost Tour and the rest of the time we were off doing our own thing. I got to wander around the Colonial Park Cemetery as well as Bonaventure Cemetery.
Dining in Savannah can be a real treat, all of that down home southern cooking! I think my favorite meal was at the Pirate's House, a true honest to goodness pirate hangout from way back in the day, it's haunted and spooky and the food was excellent. It's the oldest building in Savannah, Captain Flint did die upstairs, the first 5 chapters of Treasure Island were penned here as well, and many a man was Shanghaid from the rooms. The other outstanding meal was at Mrs. Wilke's Boarding House, old fashioned dining where the "boarding house reach" is a must, you even get to carry your own dishes to the kitchen- the food was endless and delicious.
We did NOT eat at Paula Deene's- I wouldn't stand in line for 4 hours for medicine that I needed. I could go on and on but I don't want to sound like an ad for Savannah travel.
Evelyn loved the trolley ride and we were able to take her to High Tea at the Griffin Tea Room. There were plenty of parks for her to play in (one was even at the site of the old Savannah Dueling grounds). I think it was good to get Ev out of this quiet island life and out and about in a big city. She was a bit nervous for the first day but by the time we left she was really enjoying the city life. She got to go trick or treating in the neighborhood that we were staying in - that was an interesting mix of fright and delight though. The cats were well tended while we were gone, even so every day Ev would say " I not worried about the cats", which was her way of letting me know that she was worried but that she was trying to be brave about it. ( when she would say this, I would remind her that Megan was taking care of the cats and that she would call us if there were any problems).
We arrived home late last night , just as hurricane Noel started whipping things up here on the OBX. Nothing but wind and a bit of rain though, we don't expect much here , maybe some minor flooding along the sound side. It is good to be home.
I am trying to figure out the best way to get the pictures up, so the pics will have to wait for a bit.