Love, Lucy Blue: April 2007

Amy, Amy, Amy! :)

Amy sleeps with confidence!

Mommy and Amy's hands

Amy's bassinet

What a cutie!

Amy is still basically sleeping, eating, and pooping.

She will celebrate her two week birthday this Wednesday

Randomness on Friday with a Pig's Foot!

Tracy and Amy miss Daddy but they are getting along very well!

Amy and her Auntie Nana

Amy and her Auntie Liyin

Uh....thanks....but no thank you! :)

(poor little piggy)

Hua gets a free hair cut!

Just some random shots for a Friday. It's a nice day here in Knoxburg but it does look like rain. It's a cool 67 degrees and feels great! My son took me out to lunch today. We had fast mexican at El Charro Express. Pretty good plate of food for just four bucks! I intend to take lots of pictures of Amy this weekend and I'll post them on Monday.

I have only been working weekends for three weeks and already I miss the freedom of days off. At least I only work half days on Sunday. That counts for something. You know?

Amy and her Daddy!

Hua is an excellent daddy (Baba). He loves little Amy dearly!

Amy is not too thrilled with the flash of her American Nana's camera!

Amy is gazing at her mommy who is about to feed her.

And Now for Something Completely Different.....

Remember those kittens I caught and got adopted last year? These are them. Cinnamon and Sugar. They were adopted by a terrific cat-loving family who lets them eat at the table with their own high chairs!!!!
Well, Mama Cat has had two more litters. I couldn't get any of the second litter and below is a kitten of the 3 from the third litter. We're trying to find this little calico a home.

I've decided that since I can't NOT feed these feral cats every day (they live under a house across the street from mine), I'm just going to have to move. When I come home from work and open my screen door (which makes a high-pitched sound) they are all lined up in the yard across the street and start meowing. They also know the "jingle" of my keys. I've become a "crazy cat lady" and I'm not proud of it. I'm thinking of entering cat-dependency rehab.

All About Amy!

That's my hand under Amy's hand and Nana's hand over Amy's arm! Truly a miracle, babies!

Amy holds on to Nana!

In many ultrasounds Amy was seen with her hands around her face. Now that she is born she still likes keeping her hands around her face. It gives her comfort!

What an adorable Asian beauty!

Amy lays sideways in one of her little bouncey things. She went to the doctor today and has gained one ounce since she left the hospital 3 days ago. Both Mom and daughter are learning the art of nursing and the fact that Amy has gained an ounce is a good thing. Amy is still only performing two tricks: eating and sleeping (well, I guess pooping makes 3, right?). Soon, however, she's going to have more awake time and her little eyes will be darting here and there. And I will be there to take many, many photos. So if you don't want to see lots of pictures of my little girl (okay...technically she's not mine) then tune back in around mid-June when Tracy will join Hua in Boston and, unfortunately, take Amy with her. :( But until then..........

I Was Born in the U.S.A.!

Amy was born in the USA in the Year of the Pig! She's a lucky girl!

Tracy and her husband reunite after nearly two months, and just before Amy is born!

What a little beauty!

Dad is very excited!

First Xing family portrait!

Mom and baby are exhausted and take a little time to nap.
Below: Amy is almost one day old!

Miss Amy Li Xing was born Wednesday, April 18, 2007 at 6:11 p.m. Weighing in at 6 lbs. 4 oz, and being 19.3 inches long, Amy proudly showed off her head full of black hair. Mom and Dad are both very happy and proud to be Amy’s parents. Tracy had a tough time with her labor. Being induced can sometimes be brutal. However, she was a real trooper and in the end she came through with flying colors. As Tracy began the pushing phase of Amy’s birth, we all counted in Chinese from 1 to 10 with each contraction as a nurse monitored Amy’s progress. The nurses and folks on the floor thought we were singing! Ha ha
Hua was supposed to arrive at 12:00 and we figured Amy would be born that evening. His flight, however, was delayed out of Boston due to weather and he did not arrive in Knoxville until 3:40. He arrived at the hospital a little after 4:00 p.m. and Miss Amy was born at 6:11 p.m. A close call but he made it!
Yesterday, Dad changed his first diaper as I guided him through the process. He did a great job and it was a poopy diaper to boot! :) Mom is doing great and the new Xing family is coming home from the hospital today. I took about 65 photographs, chronicling the entire experience for Tracy and Hua and about 10 videos. Amy is a very good baby and is eating well and rarely cries. I actually think little Amy knows my voice, as well as her mother and father. She is very curious and already seems to focus on Mom and Dad’s face.

The world has a new citizen.....and a very beautiful one (nah, I'm not biased at all!).

Come and get it!

My son makes great baked ziti! He's not so great at paying for the ingredients but hey.....

When I tried to take his photo he politely told me to talk to the hand.

My friend Tracy will have a new baby girl to love and adore tomorrow. I will take her to the hospital tonight at midnight. Yep. Midnight. She is going to be induced. Little Amy Li Xing (pronounced "shing" like "ping") wants to see the light! Hua, Tracy's husband, will arrive from Boston at noon tomorrow and we expect the baby to be born tomorrow afternoon or early evening. Hua only has one week off from work. I'm off from work tomorrow and Thursday and will post a picture of the little Asian beauty on Friday. We've seen many untrasound images of Amy. Tracy and Hua think she looks like Hua. She has fat cheeks and beautiful pouty lips. She also has a lot of hair, so say the sonographers. I can't wait to hold her. But I'll let Mom and Dad hold her first. I promise.

April Showers.....

I guess we'll be taking showers in the downstairs bathroom for a while........
We have an all new shower head and stems and knobs and spigot....but who knows when the landlord will get around to replacing the tile so we can actually use the shower. You can see right into the bathroom closet! Much like the holes in the wall from February's plumbing work, I don't expect the tile work to be repaired anytime soon. When we DO get to use the upstairs showers, at least it won't rain into the closet of the downstairs bathroom.
In more appealing news, N is completing his second full week of work and is looking forward to the weekend. He's never worked a job that was M-F, 8-5 before. He joins me for lunch nearly every day because.....well, because he's not stupid. Know what I mean?

Death by Chocolate, Boredom by Pictures!

I consider myself to be a fairly creative person. Would you call this creativity? Today is a very slow day. Sigh.....

Had lunch with my son today. I drove to the ag campus and picked him up, took him to the arena cafeteria, paid for both our lunches, gave him a dollar in change for a drink this afternoon and took him back to his building. I need a Mom like me! :)

Happy Easter!

Easter Sunday will arrive with a temperature of 24 degrees in Knoxville!

Pink AND white blossoms on this dogwood! My brother once attempted to splice one of our dogwood trees when we were growing up but it didn't take.

A beautiful, bright, and sunny day!

Tiptoe through the tulips!

I love the Japanese maple!

Today I attend the second meeting of the International Literary Colloquy and we discussed the book The Sand Child. It was a confusing book to me, rife with Moroccan fables and myth, so I offered very little by way of discussion. I did, however, enjoy hearing others dissect the book because it cleared up some things for me. This is what I love about literary discussion.

Tomorrow is Good Friday! No work! Peace to everyone!