A playdate and a hockey game

Well, once again I find myself a bit behind. Funny how someone so small needs so much stuff and can take up so much of your time. Don't get me wrong, I totally love it ~ but I continue to be amazed how she and I can play for what feels like a few minutes and when I look at the clock I realize it has been over an hour.

So I'll cram the weekend into one quick post while she's napping and worry about the rest tomorrow...

Friday afternoon Kylie and I went to visit my cousin Monica and her daughter Chloe. Chloe (who is 3) and Kylie played around each other. By that I mean that Chloe would show Kylie some toys to distract her from the one she wanted to play with. It was hilarious to watch them and Monica and I enjoyed some conversation while they played. We headed home in time for an afternoon nap (which she now willingly takes in her crib) and then played for the rest of the afternoon. Ian ended up in a phone conference that lasted until about 6:30, so we had no choice but to go out to dinner (yeah, I worked that one well... I told him that Kylie had been demanding of my attention but I could heat up a can of soup real quick ~ he decided that we'd go out! Seriously though, I do miss cooking and hope that Kylie will get more comfortable playing with her toys in the kitchen while I make dinners soon.)

Saturday started earlier than we (Mommy and Daddy) wanted ~ we should have known it was coming because we put her to bed at 9, 10 hours later is 7! Anyway, Ian got up and fixed breakfast ~ I LOVE Saturday mornings because he always makes something yummy and then even cleans the dishes! (Did I marry a great man or what?) This week he decided to scramble some cheesy eggs for our little one. She and I both enjoyed them! Then Ian headed out to finish hanging the speakers from the ceiling in the church fellowship hall.

Kylie and I played for a while and then called LaoLao to see what she was up to. We ended up going to her house to pick her up and then to take Ian and our friend Lee (aka Ian's partner in crime at church this weekend) out to lunch. Our little ham is starting to like her car seat now and was putting on quite a show for her grandma as we drove down the road. It is a good thing that she likes the car seat now, we are heading to VT later this month for Wesley weekend and then to DC in early May. It's about 3 hours to Blacksburg and about 6 1/2 to Ian's dad's house. The night we got home from China I would have told you that we'd never travel anywhere by car!

We had an afternoon nap and then when Ian got home headed to Kylie's first sporting event, a Charlotte Checkers hockey game. CCC had a fundraiser and got to keep half of the cost of tickets sold, so we decided to see some friends (Kylie got to meet Joyce, Drew, Jonathan and Mary Taylor for the first time) and watch a game. We were prepared to leave quickly because we didn't know how Kylie would react to the commotion, but she surprised us and LOVED it. The movement on the ice had her mesmerized and it was difficult to turn her around to take photos. She also got to sport her Elon University sweatshirt for the first time, it's still way too big, but at least she'll be able to wear it this fall. We ended up staying till the end of the game which meant that we no sooner had her strapped in her car seat when she promptly sacked out.

That meant a sleepy baby when we got up for church on Sunday morning! Luckily her sweet disposition made up for being worn out and she had fun running around with Aunt Traci's dry cereal (yes, sleep is more important to most of us than a real breakfast) while we rehearsed for praise team. Because it was Palm Sunday the children were coming in during the second praise song waving palm branches. I was singing with the team, so Aunt Traci volunteered to bring her in. I can't believe we didn't get a picture of her waving her branch ~ I had a hard time singing as I watched her! She stayed with Traci and Mama until the first group of songs was done and then wanted me. During the sermon she promptly sacked out so I decided to just hold her as we sang our final song. Poor baby didn't even begin to wake up!

After church we just hung around Mama's and did our typical Sunday afternoon thing (naps, reading, chatting, playing with Kylie ~ it's our day of rest) until praise team practice. After we got back and ate dinner, we watched the video of February 5th. Kylie was very interested in the children she saw on the screen. I think she misses her Lianjiang friends. We hope to catch up with some of them soon!