Good Golly Miss Molly!

Libby drew whiskers on her favorite doll Molly. When asked why, she said because she did not want a doll, she wanted a cat. When I pointed out she had both a stuffed cat and a real cat, I got an eye roll and was told, "Yes, but I do not have a doll who is a cat". There you go...

Love you, you crazy, funny girl!

Happy Early Birthday Libby!

Lexa doing the "Libby lean"
What beautiful kids at the kids table!

As many of you know, we leave on August 19th for China. Libby's birthday is August 27th and we will just be arriving in Guangzhou that day! This was the first year that Libby has really talked about how excited she was for her birthday. "And everyone will sing Happy Birthday and I will blow out candles". We decided to have her birthday a little bit early so it could be all about her. Soon enough her world will be upside down!

Water girls!

We had a small party this year at our house. The heat was unbearable and for the first time ever, Eric and I talked about getting central air :) Thankfully, our friends and their children are troopers. We had two pools and a slip and slide in the backyard. It was obvious many of the adults wished they could join in! Libby could not have been more happy. She loved playing with her friends, having a flip flop ice cream cake, and whacking at the pinata. All of the presents she received were huge hits and I do not think she could have had a better time. In just a few short weeks, our little girl will be a big girl of 4! Happy birthday, our dear little Captain Wacky Pants!

The pinata was a huge hit and the kids could have hit it all day. The adults were the ones who needed to head inside :)

Sheng is not sure about Lucky Cat
The beautiful flip flop cookies made by Rena and Lexa

Friend Rivalry

This has been the summer of "winning". Libby has to be first up the stairs, first down the stairs, first out the door, etc... I am told to drive faster than the car next to us so we can win. Everything and everyone is now up for comparison and competition. At the beginning of the summer, I thought it was pretty funny. It seemed like all of her friends about the same age were very into it. However, as the summer has gone on, I realize she is now listening and paying much more attention than she ever has. Take for example her friend Lexa. They took swimming lessons together last winter. Eric would talk about how Lexa would dive in and do this and that while Libby was much more hesitant to try. It did not seem to bother Libby to hear this talk at all. Now, however, she is getting that in this regard, Lexa is "better" than her in the water. She has heard my concern that she is not as adventuresome. She has heard the praise Lexa gets because she is. She now does not want to do anything with Lexa that involves water. It made me think about the book I am reading, "Siblings without Rivalry". It made me realize we can create the same negative situations, not on purpose, but with our children and their friends, as we can between siblings. Once upon a time, we could talk freely about who did this and that and who was doing X first, etc...Little pitchers are now taking that information and computing it. It makes me realize that it is my responsibility to change how I talk not only in front of Libby, but at all times. I firmly believe that competition is a good thing, but not when it comes about in a negative package. I have to reframe how to encourage Libby to do something, without it being about someone else already doing it and the competition that I may actually be feeling myself to have her achieve something. It has been a summer of growing for both of us. Hopefully, I can take these lessons and use them in a good way with both her friends and her new little sister.

Catch Up

Oh, that Tenzing is so funny!
I think we are the cutest couple here!
Practicing my giggle...

The time is flying by! My goodness, we are seeing the end of summer around the corner and the Roller's leaving for China in just one short week. We have had a fairly busy summer. We discovered a new place called Caponi Art Park. They have a program for children every Tuesday morning, but also have other performances or you may just walk through the park and look at the sculptures. It has been a fun new find. Attached are pictures of Libby and Tenzing at the one about the Voyagers. They had a great time dancing and giggling, and, well, being the silly monkeys they are when they are together.

We have spent a lot of time at Waubun Park. I love St. Paul, but envy Minneapolis and all the little wading pools they have all over the city. It has been such a hot and humid summer, that water has been a nice relief.

Libby told her first made up by herself joke this summer. I was looking at a cookbook and she asked me what I was reading. I told her a recipe. She then started to sing, "Recipe, recipe, recipe, pee, pee, pee. I have to go potty". She then turned to me and said, "Get it Mom, get it?" I get it, honey.

New Blog Site for Trip

I will be keeping this site for everyday family life, but will have a special site for our trip and first year home with Maisy. We did it for Libby and it turned into a great baby book for her. At the end of the year, we get a disc of everything. There is really nothing new in it, but wanted to get it out there. If anyone has any comments or suggestions for it, let me know.

http://www.babyjellybeans.com/web/do/site/home?ID=628796

password: amazingmaisy