3 crowns.

Why in the world does a Princess need 3 crowns??

About a month ago we noticed she had a brown spot on her back tooth. The dentist referred us to a Pediatric dentist who scheduled her to go into surgery. Monday was the big day. We woke up at 5:30am and got in the car, pj's ratty hair, no shoes and all (I was a bit embarrassed, what with the fact she was having surgery for rotting teeth and all!) . By 6:40am we were there. She didn't complain about the lack of food and chokky milk. I didn't like it when they gassed her and her eyes rolled back in her head - yikes that is a scary sight! about 1/10 of a second of freaking and then I let it go - I had to trust God. After 40 minutes they called me back to her. She came out of the anesthesia like she comes out of any night terror - well, TERRORIZED! :) She seemed so angry, it lasted for about 45 minutes. I kept making eye contact with the Mom across the room with her own Asian beauty. I was hoping my baby saying over and over "My teeth are HURTING me!" wasn't scaring the other 3 children in the room waiting to have their turn. Finally she fell asleep. I was able to talk to the other Mom. Her daughter Is from China too, she is 7 and had to have 3 crowns. hmmm very interesting. We had a great conversation. My baby woke up to 'Wonder Pets'. She has been fine ever since. I'm so hoping this is the end of our relationship with the Pediatric dental surgeon!

Some more vacation photos . . .

I've been a slack blogger! It was just so busy for the past few months and I'm not used to being super busy :(

Here are some photos of Tia from our Cairns/Great Barrier Reef holiday. She is beginning to enjoy gathering shells when we go to the beach! I'm wondering if all these little China dolls get this tan in the sun? I have resorted to a long sleeve rash shirt for the Princess because she gets sooooo dark!

the things she says . . .

I asked her to smell her newly laundered blanket.

me: What does your blankey smell like?
Tia: It smells pink.
me: what does pink smell like?
Tia: Pink smells like a lollipop!

I was reading something serious.

Tia: Mommy are you happy?
me: Yes, I'm happy T.
Tia: No you're not!
me: Yes, I am - why?
Tia: If you're happy then what is your mouth going down?

posting at Shine!

After almost 3 years of posting to this blog I've decided I am going to simplify my life and put all posts (for all my children!) on my "photography blog": SHINE!
I hope to see you there!

2 years already!?

Time flies when you're having fun!

B & W Wednesday.

Here is a photo of Little Miss T posing for me after a swim - she cracks me up! . . originally this was mostly pink however I liked the way you focus more on Tia in the b&w (sepia).

to see more b&w photos pop over to The Long Road to China.

Nope, I didn't dress her

but yes, those are my shoes :)

First Day of "MY School"

Tia has been a bit lonely since Grandma left and the 3 big kids went to school at the end of January. She has been asking when she gets to go to what she calls "my school". Yesterday was the big day! It is actually Bible Study Fellowship - however she calls it "MY School" because she goes to the wonderful children's program. She is in the Wombat room this year and she loves it :)



I took these photos with my aperture set to 1:4 which obviously was a mistake and so I am a little bit sad as they are not the gorgeous in-focus photos I was imagining for her first day :( They were salvaged slightly by the b&w conversion - gotta love that! (don'tcha think she looks stinkin' cute anyway?? - I just love that nervous quirky smile and those little legs!!!)

For more Black and White Wednesday posts just click here

Happy Valentines Day!

Hope yours is full of sweetness and love!

Who loves you?

Mommy: "Who loves you Tia?"
Tia: "Mommy"
Mommy: "Who do you love?"
Tia: "Daddy"

Tippy Toes!

Tia had her very first dance class today - it was called Tippy Toes! She LOVED it! The teacher was so cute! She had pink hair and definitely knew how make dance the magical fairy princess thing that most little girls dream of :) Tia said she especially enjoyed playing the magich wand and flying like fairies!

We can't wait for next week!

SUNDAY SNAPSHOT - Three and a half (on Friday).

She turns three and a half in five days. We've been thinking about things she does we don't want to forget! Our 'Princess of Quite-A-Lot' runs our house and our lives now. sigh. happy sigh. exasperated sigh. an 'I love her' kinda sigh.

She LOVES; Butterflies, Rainbows and Fairies. she loves them. oh and pink. and purple. and pink. everything should be pink if you want her to be happy. Clothes, cups, blankets, everything. sigh. Did I mention she LOVES DORA?! She does, she watches her. A. LOT. too much (but what can I say?!) oh and she LOVES candy. she really loves candy.

She sings "Twinkle Twinkle" more than any other song. she also sings to herself, making up the words as she goes. just don't try to join her, she DOESN'T like our singing.

She chooses her own clothes, don't bother trying to choose for her (though sometimes she can be tricked - shhhhhhhhh) mostly pink, or purple or with sparkles or butterflies. or Dora. she loves Dora.

When she puts on a skirt or a dress she ALWAYS has to test if for the Twirl factor. She will love it more if it twirls :) She dances. A. Lot. She loves to dance.

She is REALLY strong. She can hurt us by taking our finger and turning it wrong. you should see her calves, they are ripped. We wonder if she will be an athlete. Did I mention she's strong willed too.

When she is sleepy she says "I want my jammies, and my chokky milk, and my silky, and my TV." actually usually she screams this. We ask her to use her 'lovely manners'. Then she screams "please!". then we ask if she can please use her 'sweet voice'. or sometimes we are too tired. sigh.

She always wants her hair styled "Like Bella's" which means only one ponytail. bummer, I like pigtails. If I put her hair in pigtails she may leave them in. for an hour. or a minute.

If we tell her she is our : big girl
baby
beauty
sweetie
doll
lovey

She will say "NO I NOT! I TIA!" and yes, she is!



When we wash her hands she says (screams) "You're getting me wet"! and if you do, indeed, get her wet she will have to change her clothes.

She says some very funny things:

She always answers "Yes", not yah, just "YES".
She says "Thenk you Mommy", or "Thenk you Daddy". She is actually very polite. when she wants to be :)
She says "No Way Jose!" - her sister taught her that.
She says "Do Again!". especially when we throw her in the air or spin her around.

She has THE most adorable and contagious giggle. When she giggles we can't even remember all the not so adorable qualities. Her giggle can brighten even the worst of days!

Every night at dinner she wants to say the prayer. She always says: "Thenk you Jesus for my food. and thenk you for my school" (she doesn't go to school but she goes to the children's program at BSF, she calls this "her school" and she hasn't gone in more than a month). and then she says "ummmmmmm, ummmmmmmm and we all say "AMEN"!"


Every night when we say our prayers we say "Thank you Jesus for our Tia".

Happy 'Three and a half birthday', Princess!

The Shell Seeker . . . .

I've been a slack blogger! It was just so busy for the past few months and I'm not used to being super busy :(

Here is our little shell seeker on our Cairns/Great Barrier Reef holiday. She got so excited when she found shells at the beach! How cute is her little tongue sticking out in the second photo?!

I'm wondering if all these little China dolls get this tan in the sun? I have resorted to a long sleeve rash shirt for the Princess because she gets sooooo dark. (click on any photo to see it larger)

I will try to get up to date with this little blog - someday I might even get Christmas posted :)

little snorkeler

I'm wondering what she is thinking!?

We've been busy!

It has been so busy around here . . . We've had wonderful overseas guests, Tia had surgery to cap 3 teeth, we went on Holiday to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef, all the children finished school and now we are FINALLY getting ready for Christmas. Just in case you've missed us I thought you might enjoy a photo of our "Princess of Quite-A-Lot" taken on an island we visited in the Great Barrier Reef. She wouldn't put her head under the water to check out the fish, and turtles, and octopus and stingrays, however she loved playing with the shells :)!

Tia sends a very Merry Christmas from Australia!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family. We have so much to be thankful for . . . . like this little turkey :)

floating w/ Grandma

Grandma Cookie (ellie's Mom) has been visiting us here in Australia for the past 2.5 weeks. Tia is really enjoying having another play mate during the day - and one who likes to swim. Today Tia and Grandma were practicing floating - and blowing bubbles under water :) We are thinking Tia will be swimming alone any day now!

Thank You Jesus for . . . .

letting me go swimming today!

After we prayed before dinner Tia stopped us and said she wanted to pray too. She just wanted to thank Jesus for her swimming lesson that day. She loves her swimming lessons :)

Our Model Bug

Her big sister was getting some photos taken dressed up for a party - she decided to teach T to "model" Here is our Little Bug, she ran to get this ladybug dress on so she could model too! (and note the pink princess dress up shoes)

my little LadyBug

Tia (my Love Bug/Lady Bug) playing on the trampoline at our Halloween Party. I really want to get more photos of her in her costume - hopefully tomorrow :)