Look who came to visit!

Papa and Lao Lao came to visit for a few days! Ting Ting knew they were coming, but I didn't tell her that they were going to be here early enough to pick her up at day care, so that was a great surprise.


This photo doesn't have all of Lao Lao's head in it, but I still like the expressions.


Ting Ting was "sooooo happy" to see her grandparents and introduce them to her teacher and some of her friends.


They also looked at her photo book to see some of the things she has done and what she has learned since she moved to the 2-year-old class.

We had a great time visiting for three days (well, at least when we weren't watching the Vandy game). Dr. Ting Ting checked out both Papa and Lao Lao several times, so we know they're in good health. Lao Lao and Ting Ting read books together and also "hid" from the rest of us over and over (and over and over). Papa would "color" with Ting Ting and help her trace her hands (over and over). And while she napped, the rest of us got some things done in preparation for a very special occasion coming up soon -- Papa and Lao Lao's 50th wedding anniversary!


Dec. 21, 1958: If they only knew . . .

Politically correct tattle tale

SCENE: Sunday, early afternoon. Brandon and Ting Ting are in the computer room playing while Mom is in the kitchen putting together lunch. All of a sudden, Ting Ting marches into the kitchen and puts her hands on her hips.

TING TING: Mom! Banden's not making good choices!



(For the record, Brandon was printing a copy of a page they had just made with her favorite cartoon characters -- seemed like an excellent choice to me.)

Dynamite!

We interrupt the usual programming of The Rachel Chronicles to bring you this special sports message:



THE VANDERBILT COMMODORES ARE 5-0 FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1943!



Oh, and one more thing:



WOOT!






Thank you. We now return to our regularly scheduled blog.

One Hundred Good Wishes -- Granted!

When we arrived at my parents' house for our last visit, I found this waiting for me:


It's our One Hundred Good Wishes Quilt, all finished!

The picture really doesn't do it justice. My mother was able to stitch together all those very different colors, shapes and types of fabric into one unique gift of love. It turned out even more beautiful than I imagined it would be -- very colorful and warm and full of happiness. I love to point out the squares and tell Ting Ting who they came from or what they represent. I also have a scrapbook of all the quilt fabrics and good wishes so she can match them up herself some day.

Her quilt contains:
-- logos of three institutions of higher learning: Vanderbilt University, Notre Dame and Stephens College.
-- part of a Brownie uniform skirt.
-- three different pockets: a large cargo pocket with a velcro closure; a jeans pocket sewn on another piece of fabric and a big ladybug pocket on a piece of a little girl's dress.
-- two newspaper logos, from the first stop on my professional career (thanks, Steve) and the other from my current employer.
-- a piece of cloth from Nigeria (the first contribution).
-- the Chinese character for Joy, written by one neighbor for another neighbor to have silk screened.
-- pieces of several onesies worn by other babies, including one on which yours truly cross-stitched a design nearly 17 years ago (the baby who wore it just got his driver's license).
-- pieces of several beloved baby blankets.
-- part of a shirt that my late grandfather once wore that features the logo of the small town in Tennessee where he was mayor for 16 years.
-- A piece of my late grandmother's clothing embroidered with the name her grandchildren called her.
-- Pieces of the clothing Lance and I wore on the 4th of July in 2003, the night before our wedding.
-- Other fabrics that represent our friends and family in beautiful ways, from the blue-on-blue from my friend Debi to the cow fabric from my sister Kay to the musical notes from two travel mates who teach music.

See what I mean? It's beautiful! Some of the fabrics are even from people I never met in real life, but who accompanied us on this journey in one way or another.

No matter what twists and turns Ting Ting's life might take, she will always be able to look at the scrapbook and touch the quilt and know just how much she was wanted and loved before we even knew her name.


What a beautiful gift. Thank you all for contributing. And thank you, Mom, for putting it together so wonderfully.

Paging Dr. Ting Ting

Well, hello! I'm Dr. Ting Ting. We provide the very best in patient care at my hospital.

. . . once you've made it out of our waiting room. (Hey, Mr. Bear! You can't use your cell phone in here.)


Say, "ahhhhhh."

A few of these drops will soothe that achy throat.

I don't know, Elmo, it doesn't sound good.

Fortunately, I have just the right antidote.

Still waiting . . . but at least she still has a smile on her face.

Well, my work here is done. No, don't worry about the possum -- she's just playing.

Fashionista

Ladies and gentlemen, The Rachel Chronicles brings you the very latest in toddler fashion.

In gathering her ensemble Monday morning, Miss Ting Ting first insisted on wearing the exact same top and skirt she had worn the previous Friday. Her stylist at first objected, but Miss Ting Ting has strong confidence in her own fashion instincts, so the stylist quickly relented. Miss Ting Ting put on the matching socks her stylist offered, but in a fresh interpretation of the ordinary, she pulled them up to her knees instead of cuffing them demurely above her ankles. Then, in a shockingly brilliant move, she chose headgear and footwear in an insect theme. Note the bold use of primary colors to offset the pale green outfit. She wears the bumblebee hat rakishly askew so that the bee appears to be searching for a new source of pollen and ignoring the sweetness right beneath him. The famous ladybug slippers complete the ensemble, which is all tied together with a non-designer bag that looks amazing like a sack full of trinkets she might have won at a recent carnival. It's definitely NOT what all the other girls are wearing these days.

(Yes, I let her wear it to daycare -- oh, yes, I did -- although I put a pair of regular shoes in her cubby so she could go onto the playground. And when she was strapped into the car seat, I managed to distract her long enough to cuff the socks. But you pick your battles on Monday mornings, and this one was too cute to fight about.)

I'm one of those clueless moms

Ting Ting: Mama, I'm a superhero.

Mama: You're a superhero?

Ting Ting: SHHHH!! Don't say anything! It's a secret.

The kid is too quick for me

Ting Ting: Mama, I'm a choo -choo train. Choo Choo! Choo Choo!

(She chugs her way downstairs to the kitchen)

Mama: Well, it's time to eat. What do choo-choo trains have for breakfast?

Ting Ting: Cookies.

Nice try, kiddo. Next time I'll know better than to ask!

Happy (belated) birthday to us!

This is my grandmother. Lance took this photo when we visited in August, and she celebrated her 96th birthday on Labor Day.

Although she has marked this occasion nearly a hundred times, she can quickly name her favorite birthday gift of all: her first grandchild.

That would be me.

I was born on my grandmother's 48th birthday. On Sept. 1, I turned 48 myself. So I considered this birthday extra special.

My grandmother has told me many times the story of how she got on a bus the morning of her birthday to travel to Nashville to meet me. She describes standing at my father's side as they peered at his pride and joy, his first-born daughter, just a few hours old. She loves to recount how she patted her son on the arm and reassured him, in that grandmotherly way, "don't worry, honey, she'll look better in a few days."

(I might be offended at that story if I hadn't seen the pictures. Thankfully, she was right.)

My grandmother was born before women had the right to vote and lived for decades in a segregated South. Now she's witnessing an election that will give us either the first female vice president or the first African-American president. The scientific and technological achievements of her lifetime are mind-boggling. And perhaps the societal changes are best marked by noting that while she celebrated her 48th birthday by becoming a grandmother, I marked mine by snuggling on the couch with my 2 1/2-year-old daughter to watch an episode of "Dora the Explorer."

Yes, things have changed.

But no matter how dizzyingly fast the changes come, one thing is constant: I share a birthday with a smart, resourceful, opinionated, funny, sometimes stubborn and amazing woman that I love and admire very much. And that will always be my favorite birthday gift.

Again with the excuses

I've been sick, but I'm on the mend . . . just wanted to give you the latest excuse for not posting! I'm finally back at work and so will get back into the swing soon.

I apologize for those of you going through Ting Ting withdrawals.

Friends from the old country

Two weeks ago, we got together with some of the families who traveled to China with us. Here's a group shot of the Ba babies:

From the left: Leanna, Bella, Ting Ting, Dani, Chloe, Shelbi and Tabitha.

Eight of our 11 families attended the picnic, but one had to leave before we could manage to corral all the kids. Why do you suppose it was so hard to get seven almost-3-year-olds to sit down together for a photo?


Oh, yeah.

Once we lined them up and stepped out of the way, though, the paparazzi (and mamarazzi) had a field day. You should have seen it -- all the little ones sitting in a line with cameras flashing at them constantly as parents waved their hands and shouted out individual names. I was standing to the side watching it and found myself starting to feel sorry for Brittney Spears.

But I got over that.

Afterward, someone suggested a game of Ring Around the Rosie. I loved these shots:


Every time they would fall down, several little voices would exclaim "again!"


And once the little girls started playing together, the big brothers and sisters got into the act.

Here's Bella attacking Dani's brother, Matt. And a certain someone is right on her heels.

Dani's sister Alexa was getting it from all sides (Ting Ting, Bella, Shelbi). Looks like Leanna was thinking of grabbing her right arm, too.

It was a beautiful day with great food and even better company. We can hardly wait for the next one.

Coming up for air

Yes, we're still alive. It's been busy, though.

In the month and four days since my last post, we have taken a trip out of town with all three kids, hosted a picnic for our China travel buddies and taken one child to two different urgent care centers in two states for two different reasons in the span of 10 days (by the way, that girl knows how to work an urgent care waiting room, let me tell you). Lance has been in budget hell at his job (just when he thinks he's done, he gets another time-sucking assignment). I saw dozens of colleagues lose their jobs two Fridays in a row at my workplace, and a new management team has been announced. I'm still employed there, but I lost many treasured colleagues and friends, and even as the dust settles around us we're trying to figure out how to get things done with only half the people (in my office) that we had a few months ago. Now that our friends have departed, it's a quiet and somewhat lonesome place, at least right now. And the hours are rough.

I tell you these things not to make excuses but to try to explain why it's been difficult to find the time, energy or proper attitude to post here. But be ready to be bombarded. I have several funny stories, and Lance has many wonderful photos from our trip to Nashville and the picnic that he's started editing, so you'll see them soon.

In the meantime, we appreciate your patience and understanding. And here's a story to tide you over.

A few weeks ago, Ting Ting discovered a pair of slippers in her closet that look like ladybugs. She put them on her feet and, delighted, went to show her Daddy.
"Oh, look at you!" he said. "You have ladybugs on your feet!"
He looked closer as she pranced around.
"They even have eyes," he said, noticing the fake eyes in the very front of the slippers, the part covering Ting Ting's tiny toes. "What are they looking at?"
"Snakes," responded Ting Ting without even hesitating.

Who's a ham?

Lauren often describes her little sister this way: "She's such a ham!"

Lately other family members and friends have been using the same expression.

I'm not sure why.


Maybe it's things like the day at the beach when she raced into the condo's living room, where most of the family was gathered.

"Hey guys!" she said excitedly. "Guess WHAT? Here I am!"


Or the day Lance picked her up and she began patting him on the shoulder.

"I love my Daddy," she told her grandparents. "He's a good boy."


Or the way she plays to a crowd. She plays peek-a-boo with people sitting behind us in church and introduces herself to perfect strangers wherever we go. The other day, perhaps fearing she had been impolite, she interrupted a story she was telling our next-door neighbor to point to me and say, "This is Susan."

"She's met me before," I said in mock exasperation as Melinda laughed.


One day, probably a year ago, we were sitting in the Nashville airport waiting for a delayed flight home. Ting Ting began working to catch the eye of a young man sitting across from us, then grinned at the elderly couple sitting next to him and began chatting them up. "She ought to run for mayor!" the man told us. Then, looking around and seeing all eyes on her, she cued the music.

"Bus, Mama!" she commanded, moving her hands in circles so she could enact "The Wheels on the Bus go 'Round and 'Round" as I sang for her.


She was still pretty little then. If she tried that today, I'd tell her to sing the song herself.

Heaven knows she's not shy.

Six words

I've been tagged by my fellow Dragonfly Dusty to describe how I'm feeling right now in six words.

She tagged me more than two weeks ago, and this is the first time I've posted since then. So I guess the first word I'd have to use to describe myself is BUSY.

And I'd have to say I'm a little STRESSED at work these days.

But despite the turmoil, I'm feeling . . .

BLESSED. I do have a job that I enjoy, but better than that I have a wonderful family, great friends, a friendly neighborhood. We have roof over our heads and plenty to eat.

GRATEFUL for all the things listed above.

LOVED (and full of love for others).

JOYFUL that I am where I am today.

Now I'm to tag five more bloggers. This particular game of tag has been going around for awhile, and many of the bloggers I read regularly have already responded. But I'll give it a try with these folks:

A. at D.C. Diaries
Lauri at Leap of Faith
Beverly at Motherhood and Other Ramblings
Missy, a Tennessean who writes about her beautiful sister Paige at Party of Many . . . oh, wait a minute. Looks like Missy has already done this one. Well how about Diana . . . no, her, too. And I promised Dawn I wouldn't tag her again.

Guys! This is STRESSING me out! I'm way too BUSY to go searching everybody's archives. Tell you what -- I'd be most GRATEFUL if some readers could help me out. If you want to play, do it -- and put a note in the comments letting me know. Maybe I'll meet some new folks this way! That would make me feel LOVED! And think of how JOYFUL we'll all be to read your blogs!

So get to work! I'm off to post comments on those other blogs.

More fun at the beach

Here are some more random shots from our recent beach vacation.
Heading down with Mama and Lao Lao (Ting Ting called the beach "the sandbox").

She liked the pool, too. She learned to jump off the side into Mama's arms.

And she loves Uncle Bud -- he gives her cookies.

Lauren spent a lot of time reading a really good book, so her stepmother bought her two more.

Lao Lao enjoyed some reading time, too.

Meeting Cousin Ella.

Ting Ting loved hanging out with Ella's brother, Cousin Will.

Putting on shoes for our next adventure.

Enjoying a restaurant with Papa and Lao Lao.

and with Brandon.

The rest of us had a good time hanging out, too.

Combing Papa's hair.

Lance enjoyed sharing his photos as he took them.

Happy Fourth!

These aren't the most spectacular fireworks, but I figured today I had an excellent excuse to show you how much Lance enjoyed playing with his new camera while we were at the beach.


Some people were firing them one night while we were in Florida, so he shot the photos from our balcony.

He used the balcony railing to hold the camera still for some timed exposures.


Pretty cool, huh?

Happy Fourth of July to everyone (and happy 19-month anniversary to Ting Ting)!