Taghan Along: December 2008

Tonight we went to the mall across town to find a Macy's. EmmaLi wrote a letter to Santa at the North Pole and Macy's has a program where they donate a dollar to the Make a Wish Foundation for every stamped letter dropped in the mail box. They deliver the letters to Santa for the children.

Afterwards we went to see Santa. Believe it or not there was one wee little baby getting her picture taken when we walked up and there was no other line. EmmaLi walked right up and got the Big Man's attention. Afterwards he gave her a special sign that says "Santa Stop here!"On the back it has a place for EmmaLi to write her list. He instructed her to put the sign in the front window so he will see it and make sure he stops.

Santa was provided to the mall by a photography company and they forbid pictures taken with personal cameras. I was not going to pay for one of the "packages" they offered since they started at $19.99 and went up to $50.00 with additional buy up options. Instead we only have photos of her mailing her letter to Santa at Macy's. I would also like to put in a plug for the ladies at Macy's. Three of them helped us locate the mail box to Santa. They were outstanding customer service representations.

What a busy weekend we had this past weekend. It started Friday night. We went to the Christmas pageant at First Baptist Church Columbia. I hadn't planned on going this year. We went last year and EmmaLi didn't seem to enjoy it too much. She whined about it taking so long to get inside the church due to having to get there early to get a decent seat. The tickets where for assigned section but each section was first come for seat. She did like the Bell Ringers that were playing while we waited to go in. Once inside she had a difficult time sitting still and kept asking when it was going to be over. Apparently, that's how she shows she likes the show.

Last weekend she asked when we were going to the church show that we went to last year. I told her I didn't think she enjoyed it last year so I didn't get tickets. She was disappointed and said "I wiggled around alot but I liked the show and want to go again." The next day I called the church and was able to secure our tickets. So we went to the Christmas Pageant Friday night. I am glad we did. It was a better show this year than last year. This years show was geared more towards kids. Towards the end they had a live nativity and the show proceeded to show the life of Jesus. EmmaLi kept asking questions during the show which gave us an opportunity to discuss how Jesus was crucified on the cross even though he did nothing wrong. She had known that Jesus died on the cross for our sins but she didn't really get the magnitude of what that meant until she saw the show. She asked a number of questions all the way home and even continued asking questions once we were home. It was good for her to see it in a non-threatening way. She wanted to know why the guard kept pushing Jesus up the steps? Why they were being mean to him? Why if he didn't do anything wrong was he killed? I gave her the answers as best I could. It's one thing to hear that Jesus died on the cross for our sins but quite another to see it happen.

Saturday morning we went to our Families with Children from China Christmas party. EmmaLi had a great time. She made a new friend named Nan. She has come a long way for sure. Several of the older girls (7 to 9 years old) were playing just outside the doors where the parents were chatting and visiting. There was a large basketball court out there and a couple of basketballs available. Emmali wanted to go out there too. I suggested if she wanted to go play she go out with the girls but I was going to stay inside with the parents. She asked why I didn't want to go outside and accepted my answer. She actually, went outside with the girls and hung out with Nan. They were running around, playing and shooting hoops. She had a blast and the best part was I was able to stay inside and talk with the other adults.

After that party we went home to rest for a couple of hours. Later that evening we went for Christmas party #2. That one was full of food; shrimp cocktail, grilled roast pork, grilled prime rib, several different chips and dips, cocktail wieners, and veggies. There were four girls EmmaLi's age and they had a blast. They danced the night away on the deck then in the living room then back on the deck. Some of the guys there were dancing with the girls and the girls were just loving it. EmmaLi was fine tuning her hip hop skills. She had those fancy feet of hers going a mile a minute. She would slide across the living room on her knees impressing everyone watching. She even threw in a few donkey kicks while she was dancing her heart out. LOL When we were getting ready to go to the party, she didn't want to go. Once there she didn't want to lave. LOL

If she had to pick which party she liked the best, I think she would have a hard time deciding. They were different styles of parties with different people and activities but both included her favorite things. She was exhausted by the time she got home. This morning she woke up complaining her tummy hurt. It was low in the front about where her bladder was so I suggested she go in to go potty to see if that might help. I went to start my coffee and she came out and climbed on the sofa. Within a few minutes she had dozed off. I covered her with a blanket and let her rest some more since her tummy had hurt. She slept from 8:30am until 10:50am. She woke up and had no tummy ache. I was thankful for that. We missed church but I thought it was better to error on the side of caution than to get to church and her throw up all over the place.