Im in the club....

Yes, I am officially 'in the club.' No, not some club that gives you high social status or a free pool to swim in. I now have the accepted 'in' to my little girls special blankie club. When snuggling last week I was enjoying my little moments of holding my little girl close and thinking of how these days of her being this little will not last long. She was (as ALWAYS while snuggling or going to sleep) rubbing the silky ribbon lining of her blankie on her nose when slowly her eyes looked at me, her hand quit rubbing it on her nose and she rubbed it on mine. Sounds like a simple thing but this is her sacred blankie. There is nothing as calming or soothing to her as the feel of this blankie being rubbed on her face. Amazing how she can be having the worst moment and instantly is calmed. For the first time, she allowed me to join in:) I love being a mom!

*Someone* (you know who you are) complains that there are not enough pictures posted of Annaka. Ok, so lets play a little game......

What can we see in a photo.....Lets see.....

1.Annaka LOVES to play with her dolls/stuffed animals. She also loves to steal my dish towels and washcloths. I find her dolls and stuffed animals in many places around the house 'tucked in' for a 'nap' using a dishtowel or washcloth as a blankie....again everyone should have a special blankie to rub their nose with.

2. One would think that a two year old would get their shoes on the correct feet 50% of the time. Hmmm, I would venture to say the more accurate percentage is 5% of the time. How does this happen? Anyone? Anyone?

3. Can we say "Crop the photo mommy!" Yes, that is the potty seat in the back ground. The potty seat she will NOT use. Anyway...I will save this for the next post.

(Does anyone see that she is actually holding Elmo's hand? Sweet.)



I got a kick out of looking at her many facial expressions....Clint caught her in the act of sitting with her stuffed animals, singing to them, then hugging her little puppy.

(I have no idea about this one....singing? talking? One will never know)

Oh, and I posted this following one on fb but had to re-post it. Annaka LIVES in these shoes. She calls them her 'clappy' shoes. I guess because of the sound they make. That day she wore them with my fuzzy socks. Can we say 80's comeback....and she knows nothing of the 80's.

Even matches her dress. How 'girl'ish of her:)

Confessions of both Mama and Daughter....

Mama first...well, cause I am writing this....

1. When I get on the elevator I not only hit the button for the floor I am going to but I hit the 'close doors' button repeatedly. (When no one is trying to get on of course)

2. I put on Ratattoue rather than Minnie Mouse for my two year old(even though that is what she was asking for) because I was tired of listening to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse song.

3.The Pioneer Woman is one of my favorite people even though I have never met her. I am reading the pioneer woman’s blog while eating dinner. Saddly, I am eating plain spagetti noodles (leftover) with butter on them for dinner. Is that allowed? Reading the blog of a wonderful cook, yet eating bla...plain...leftover noodles. Oh well, if I dont eat them tonight , the trash can eats them tomorrow.

4.After being stingy with bubble wrap and tissue paper when putting away Christmas decorations, I found three unused pieces of bubble wrap. Part of me wanted to get my decorations back out and utilize these pieces of treasured bubble wrap. Guests are coming tomorrow, more cleaning is waiting me right now....so I will stick them in the cabinet beside the box of Christmas decor to use on a less busy day....who am i kidding they will probably stay there (or shoved in the Christmas decor box), unused, until next year.

Confessions from Annaka....

1. Annaka likes "chocolate in a line". I had no idea what this was until I looked at her handmotions as she asked (begged) for it. Fingers closed, flat and fingertips touching...."I want Chocolate in a line....no the one in a line" Chocolate in a line=Candy Bar

2. After being scared out of her cute little pants in a restaurant that reminds me much of Rainforest Cafe in the states...Annaka is now not fond of Rhinoceros. "That one that moves its head, thats one that moves its head, that rhinoceros is gonna kill me" ....oh my.

3. Art can be found in anything. Even when oatmeal is smeared in our hands and then our hands are clapped leaving a splattering design on the floor. "Oh pretty mommy, look" ...Annaka was very amused....mommy was not.

4. Confession....Annaka is very good at the art of delay. One night we put her to bed at 8:30pm...she was still awake at 12:30am when we went to bed. We decided a slumber party was in order so she came to sleep in our bed.
As soon as we lay down she said..."There are shadows on the ceiling, its from a car outside"
Me: Yes, now it is time to go to sleep.
Annaka: I just wanna talk to you mommy.
Me: Now it is time to be quiet and go to sleep, when we wake up and eat breakfast we can talk more.
Annaka: Ok mommy, I will be quiet now and then when i wake up we will go eat breakfast and then i will talk to you.
Me: ok, good night sweetheart.
Annaka: Good night mommy, i am going to be quiet now but when i wake up in the morning, i am going to eat breakfast and talk to you.

*cue the exact same conversation for about 10 minutes.

5. Oh there could be so much more....

Pics I never posted from Christmas

So we got a little behind....here is a brief photo overview of some Christmas events....


We made gingerbread houses three times with different friends who live around us....


I was very surprised that Annaka was old enough/interested in actually putting it together. She really knew what to do. I put the icing on and she put on all of the candy. I tried getting pictures of Annaka by our house...but her tongue was sticking out for every one....

This is her face after being told not to stick out her tongue anymore because mommy wanted a picture of her pretty smile.....

Ok, maybe this is better....

We also made Christmas cookies to deliver to friends who live near us...after rolling it out we realized we did not have any cookie cutters. I found an elephant and a whale cookie cutter in Annaka's toys. We can make an elephant work:) (Doesnt everyone have Christmat elephants?) :)



I cut out a few trees, candy canes, what was supposed to look like a star...then gave up and used a lid to cut circles. Ah I know on thing I will bring back with me next time....

Im Dreaming of a White Christmas....

Much to our surprize, pleasent surprize I might add, we got to experience a white Christmas just a few days early! In a land where temperatures hover around 75-80 during the day we escaped to a salt desert for a few days. Camels took us from our tents to this great place. Annaka loved riding on the carts and learned that Camels spit. If you ask her what a camel says she squints her eyes and pretends to 'spit'.


The camels are decorated beautifully and are ridden by patrolmen. Each division of law enforcement has a different head dress.


The desert really was amazing. I have never seen anything like it! Salt covered the ground looking much like snow!

Friends were made along the way.....


Annaka also got to ride a train here for the first time! Four letters....C.O.L.D...it was an overnight train and we about froze! Was not expecting that. Should have brought warm blankets:) On the way home, it was playtime for Annaka...so she thought.


We were so exhausted we came back a day early. Just enough time to make cookies and deliver them to friends for Christmas!

Shopping...

When entering a new culture there are many joys and many frustrations as you re-learn to do common, everyday things.

Shopping, for instance. I dont think I will every get used to having someone follow, one step behind, beside, and infront of me. Not only do they analize everything I look at or pick up...they stand in front of items I would like to look at and stare at me. Or sometimes when you are looking for something specific they throw many options in front of you without giving you the chance to look for yourself. I say all this and then go to a hobby store to get some paint (I'm painting butterflies on Annaka's bed) and could not find someone who works there to answer my question -or- ring up my purchase.

There are, however, ways I realize how I am growing accustomed to some fo the ways of life here. I remember getting a little uneasy and a bit frustrated when they would tell me I need to leave my bags at the door. Then I learned they did not mean my purse...just excess bags. Bags from the other stores. Recently while shoping I checked bags in stores...then went into a store that did not collect bags from shoppers. Rather than being relieved, I was a bit frustrated. I had stopped at a bookstore early on in the day and my bag was heavy:)

A is for...

A is for Annaka! and apple, and aligator.....

A letter a week. Well that is my ambition as of right now. Her four year old friend can read and write already and I think that has sparked something inside Annaka to want to as well. She picked up her friends paper and asked me what letters were on it then said "Lets write my name". I guess now is a better time than ever to begin with one letter. The letter 'A' seems like the best place to begin as it is not only the beginning of the alphabet but the beginning of her name. I was telling her "Up, down....then across" as I was holding her hand writing it over and over again. Then I told her to try it. She tried it several times then was done for the day. The next day when I gave her a piece of paper to write on she put her pencil down and looked at me with raised eyebrows. I told her "Up" and she did it. I helped her with the rest of the letter and asked her if she could make one herself. To that she confidently replied "No mommy, that 'A' needs hands and feet......(pause).....and a gog(dog) too." Then this is what she did to the 'A'. Pretty good. I give her an "A":) sorry...had to say it.


P.S. Annaka calls elevators 'alligators'. Maybe this is the week to let her know elevator does not start with the letter A:)

(the events of dec 11th)

Stories to catch up.....

What a sweet hearted little stubborn girl.....

Today was one of those days where I had to continue to 'remind' myself to have patience. Annaka 'suffers' from a strong case of the 'only child' syndrome. In simple words, she does NOT know how to play by herself. When forced to stay in her room and play with her toys for one hour today she whined, cried, and fussed with every excuse from pointing out a bird out her window, to hearing clifford bark at her from outside, to come sit by me on my bed and "mommy, where is my *insert toy name here*". It took everything in me to remember that it is kind of like letting them cry when in time out or whine while supposed to be going to sleep. The part of me that needed to get things done wanted to get upset at her and tell her to be quiet or shut the door so I could not hear her as loudly.....on the other hand....the mommy in me wanted to go sit by her and read the book/play with the toy/ etc. Instead I talked to her about the bird she saw out her window as I was in the other room doing dishes. Anyone have any advice about this???? How to I encourage her to play by herself without feeling like I am being a horrible mom?

Anyway, I saw the sweet heart of my little girl this evening. We had been out running errands and I had told her the whole time we could go to McDonalds for dinner. She was so good while we were out I was excited to get her some nuggets and have a fun dinner out with her. We got in line, ordered, they began bringing the food to the little tray beside the register, I gave them my debit card and was told they only take cash! I had only enough cash on me to get us a ride home. I saddly had to carry my two year old (who was in tears) out of the restaurant and tell her we cannot have that for dinner tonight. She settled down enough to run to our last two stops before heading home to peanut butter sandwiches. As we were eating Annaka looked at my plate and said in her sweetest excited voice "Good job Mommy! You ate your sandwich all gone! Im proud of you!" I was humbled at how quickly a two year old can forgive and get over something. I need to learn that lesson myself. When things dont go my way, I need to be more flexible and make the most of the new situation:) Thank you Lord for using my two year old to remind me.


Rocking Horse...
When trying to get a photo of Annaka and one of her new favorite things she would not quit squirming and making faces. In fact her favorite faces are either when she sticks out her tongue or making a fish face.

This is the face she makes when I aske her to stand by her horse and smile.....

Her new friends like the horse too! Three on at once!
*Note to self (and anyone who stumbles upon this blog post) I (Valerie) am definitely NOT the photographer of the family. I took about 12 pictures and this is the least blurry shot with everyone's head in the picture! If Clint were home at that moment, he would have taken it and it would have looked fabulous.

Bread,Fruit,Spices

The bread turned out great! I cut some too thin and it crumbled a little. Tasted great though. Will definitely make this recipe again!
I love shopping here. The fruit and veggies are so fresh and wonderful! Look at all I got today for under $5! Just over six lbs of potatos, just over four lbs of carrots and bananas, over two lbs of tomatoes. More and more and more. Annaka tried helping to carry it but would only make it a few feet and tell me it is heavy and give it back:) What help she is at the market!


And I thought I would miss the couponing fun from the states. Well, maybe I do a little, but haggling to get a deal in a market can be pretty fun rewarding as well. Clint tends to do better at this than I do, but today I felt was a success:)


Which brings me to my favorite part of our kitchen....our spice rack/shelf. Fruit/Veggies/Rice, Dahl, Nuts, Mmmmmm. Besides their yummy-ness I love the color it adds to our kitchen:)

Its About Time...

Its about time for an update huh? We have been off the radar so to speak for a little while. Partly because we are getting settled and partly because we did not have consistent internet. We have had fun exploring and finding things in our new city. Clint amazes me with how much of the language he remembers and Annaka charms everyone around her. She has her own paparazzi some days as people want her photo and to squeeze her cheeks! We love our new city and our apartment and have been meeting people who live around us.

Here is Annaka eating a sandwich in our new apartment....no furniture...no dining room table still even today so we eat on the floor... for now. She loves the apartment. Running from room to room she acts as if she owns the place.

(Note her crossed feet and the yellow wall in the background....thats my favorite part! )

We did arrive in the big holiday season here. Its like a month long constant celebration! First a local holiday that is celebrated in our state, then a major holiday that is nation wide! Then two days later is the local New Years Day. Every state here has a different 'local' new years. Its when they start their local calendars and businesses dedicate the financial books for the new year. Everyone takes anywhere from 5-15 days off from working. A week solid of 'crackers' as they call them (fireworks) being set off all night. There are no restrictions so it is more like little explosions outside our windows.

Here is the Rangoli (sand art) and lights from in front of a local doorway.

Annaka has done very well. The way she has chosen to deal with all the transition from moving ...KC, VA, PA, here....is that she does not want anything to do with the potty anymore. I figure that if that is the worst thing she does (i.e. rather than behavior tantrums or something worse) then we can deal with this. Once we are more settled and into a routine we will begin again. (for the 3rd time) The biggest thing she is having a hard time 'getting' is how the feet are regarded as something dirty. It is insulting to sit and face the bottom of your foot toward someone. It is very rude to touch someone or something with your foot. Annaka will sit down and rub her hand....or sandwich...across the bottom of her foot. She gets in trouble now for carrying her shoes around and putting them by her (or my) face.

One thing I was concerned about before we left was finding friends quickly for Annaka. Not that I thought there would be a problem finding little ones, I just wanted her to find one fast as we had been in limbo for three months. Since we have been here she has made friends and has so much fun! She gets so excited when they come to visit. Shows her toys and shouts "My Friends!" I love seeing her light up! I was talking to a new friend who has two kiddos the other day and as soon as Annaka heard me, she ran into their home to play with the kids with no regard to good ol mom left behind her. :)

Here is Annaka playing at a local playground. She makes friends wherever she goes!

I have had fun cooking and will post some recipes soon. Cooking some local food and some American food. Tonight I made Eggplant Parm from complete scratch. Made the breadcrumbs from a loaf of bread I made, wiped the feather off that was stuck onto the egg before cracking it:). I feel so domestic as I grind my own sugar etc. After three tries, I did finally succeeded in making bread. Well, at least it looks right. We will know for sure in the morning at breakfast if it tastes as good as it looks! It even has the muffin top like loafs you get at a store there in the states. Now on to tackle those cinnamon rolls I have flopped on twice! :)


Better cut out for now. More updates to come:)


P.S. I love the brooms here. The only problem is that they are very very short...If we could make the handles longer my back would be happy.




P.P.S. I will never complain about traffic again.....wanna come drive here?

McDonalds

Two fun facts about McDonalds in Asia.

1. They have happy meals in Asia!

Annaka was thrilled to get a cute little blue plastic headband with her nuggets and drink. Yep, you heard me right Happy meals come with zero french fries. Since that is mainly what Annaka eats when we go to McDonalds, Clint and I took over most of her nuggets and gave her several our fries.

She wore that headband until it was time to climb into bed!

2. They have a really cool disco room for birthday parties! We walked in the other day and saw about fifteen girls dancing in a room with glass walls. The lights were off and there were sparkles gliding over the walls and the girls from the hanging disco ball. Every once in a while the girls would run out into the middle of the restaurant and sing happy birthday to the birthday girl.

Annaka Nuggets

Burp...

Do you now the sound you can make when trying to sound like a frog. No, not the word Ribbit but when you suck air in and make a funny sound. One of Annaka's favorite things right now is to do that and then look around, giggle, and say "excuse me" with a big grin. She is pretending to burp. Newsflash little princess....girls are supposed to pretend to curtsy to twirl or diaper your baby doll....not burp!

Dogs...

Also, whenever she hears a dog barking she informs me that Clifford the big red dog is barking at her. We have had to have the conversation a few times already that we do not run up and try to pet every dog we meet on the street. In fact we really dont want to touch them at all. We should just wave.

Language...

We have been here a week today and Annaka (i think) has already picked up a word and used it correctly. Playing with play dough with Clint earlier today she looked at him and said "good good" but not in English! Somehow she has picked up studdering (the week before leaving) in English and is picking up language here. This will be quite an experience to see how her mind works now. (p.s. the sudden studdering thing sent me on a huge google-fest trying to see what is 'wrong' and what to do....found out it is normal around 2 or 2 1/2 and shouldnt last long....any advice? )

Sense of Humor...

She is developing a sense of humor all of her own. Making up stories, even using a different voice when telling me what someone (or something) says. She saw a squirrel hopping along and told me that he was looking for his mommy and was saying 'mommy, mommy, hold you me mommy' Yes the squirrel had his own voice.

Our sense of humor...

Sometimes it is just us that ends up rolling in laughter. I feel we laugh many times a day at what she says/does but this is t he only one that comes to mind as I am sitting to type this. She was supposed to be taking a nap the other day. I was laying by her in the bed and Clint walked in the room. I told her to tell Papa to come join the party. She then sat up, shouted with a smile "Papa, its party time!" I guess she figured I had to mean she did not have to take a nap if I mentioned a party!

Anyway, I had better go for now. Trying to log a few things in this blog so I remember them later. We are in a hotel room that literally has about three feet on three sides of the bed (which has luggage stacked in it) so there is no baby book or notebook at easy access to write these in!

Sorry, no pictures today:( Come again another day.

Getting old...

You know you are getting old....(will be 30 in a matter of months)... when you have to google every time you see several letters in a row that you dont know what they mean. Come on now people. Cant we use full words. Help us old people out. Am I really that out of touch already. In a way, I am kinda ashamed how often I find myself on google....then feeling really dumb once I find out what they mean. There are some I would rather not have looked up.

Anyway, here is a picture of the biggest lollipop ever....

...its from MeeMaw. Annaka loved it!

must. get. back. to. packing......its 2:34am and I have taken a 4 minute break. Back to work.

Guiness World Reccord For Making Cookies

I think we should win the world record for the longest time it takes to make a batch of cookies. Half a batch at that! I am used to doubling or trippling the recipe at Christmas time...this time it was cut in half so it should have been quick!

MeMaw gave Annaka a toy mixer. We have aquired many toys the past two months since being here in PA and can not take them all, so today we played with many of them. Papa came in and took some fun photos:)

Annaka had so much fun with her very own mixer!

First she helped me measure everything out, then she dumped everything into a large bowl for Mommy to mix. We both got our mixers (hers with water in it) and we mixed.

Had so much fun! She even tasted her 'mixture' in her bowl.

She even got to ice them herself!

Lastly, we went and 'delivered' them to everyone close by. She carried the plate and we delivered cookies....matching aprons, uneven icing (icing on the back of some cookies) and all.

What a fun day!

A run in the rain.

Today I went for a run in the rain.

It was good. Wonderful. Relaxing. So great that as soon as I came inside (soaked), sat down, I wanted to go outside again. It has been a long time since I have played in the rain. I guess today was my version of playing in the rain. I thought it would be a time for me to shut down my brain....news to me...time alone, with no cute little two year old at my ankles, is not when my brain decides to turn off. My brain turns off when I need to remember something or when I am trying to gather my purse or bag to go somewhere (especially the bank or post office...I go, then realize I only accomplished half of what I set out to do there) or even worse, when I am trying to have a phone call. Why is it that I cannot turn off my brain when I choose to. Oh well, I am looking forward to my run tomorrow and will bring an agenda to think through:)

Annaka has started standing holding her lower back for pictures. I have no idea why....many times she is lifting up her dress at the same time. We said stand here for a picture and this was her pose.

She loved looking at and smelling the flowers.

Staring contest with the eagle.

By far, our favorite activity of the day was chasing the fountain. Up and down the ramp. Annaka and her friend she met at the fountains would run up and down chasing the quickly moving water.

Then she got all too comfortable with the water...sticking her hands, arms in the fountain.

This has nothing to do with Annaka...just a wierd looking venus fly trap plant I think looks cool.

In Charge

Who is in Charge? I guess I don’t stop too often to think about who is ‘in charge’. We teach Annaka to obey, not because we say so, but because God does. In fact the first thing out of her mouth when she knows she is in trouble is “Obey your Papa and Mama for THIS IS RIGHT” (Yes, she even over emphasizes the ‘this is right’ part sometimes pairing it with waving a pointed finger.)

This morning I found myself chuckling when I heard her telling her imaginary friend to “obey Mama, Papa and Annaka, this is right.” Wow, how quickly she learned to give herself the responsibility of being in charge.

It sent me into a few minutes of reflection about where we are at right now. (Waiting to get our visas and finishing up our to do list.) “Have I appointed myself ‘in charge’?” Even as I sit to write this I have been thinking about what we could possibly do to contact the Consulate to see if we can speed this process along. We have a plane to catch in less than three days, how can I get us to the point we need to be. I guess I will always be learning in one way or another about who is ‘in charge’ and that I can rest in HIS loving arms while watching HIS plan unfold. I am not ‘in charge’ and I don’t care to be. If HE wants us on that plane this week, HE will get us there. All I can do is be ready and have a good attitude either way.

I marvel at how He chooses to teach me lessons I should have learned quite a while ago....maybe that is why he is using my two year old to ‘remind’ me.

Thank you Lord that you are in control, and thank you for refining my heart.

p.s. We got to 'play' with pumpkins the other day...yea for fall!