Lessons for Landry
I am going to start a series called Lessons for Landry(LFL) and it will consist of things I see in this world that I will under no uncertain terms allow Landry to see, do, hear, or be a part of. The inspiration of this new series came today as we flew to Orlando. There was a little boy flying with his Grandmother and he was just a little guy...probably 5 or so. He still had a teddy bear so he was pretty young. I noticed him and his cute little bear while we were waiting to board the plane and when we sat down right behind them I couldn't help but notice how sweet he was sitting there with his 'buddy'. The plane took off and his Grandma got a laptop out and turned on a movie for him. He was sitting in the window seat and I could see him from my middle row seat. All of the sudden I saw this scantily clad woman sitting on the lap of a muscled up guy. There was a lot of body slamming and skin being shown off. Lots of threatening language and long, stringy hair. Now, I certainly appreciate all types of entertainment and I have no problem thinking that some people would find WWF Wrestling a good hour to kill but WHY on God's green earth would any adult think it was a good idea to let a little boy(that still carries a teddy bear, mind you) watch that garbage?! I could not believe what I was seeing. I think I even blushed one time when he clicked on the 'never before seen footage' tab. Are you kidding me?!! Get a grip Grandma!! You'll wondering why he'll be a regular at the juvie in the not so distant future. Poor kid.
On a much sweeter note...this is the kid sitting behind the future banger.

Gustav
PRAY! PRAY! PRAY! I am sitting here in Florida thinking about my husband and friends in Mississippi. Thankfully, it looks like it turned west so we shouldn't get it as bad as we originally thought. That being said, it just means someone else will. It is a tough place to be in watching this thing on TV knowing that someone could die and homes and businesses will be lost because of it. It is a picture of inevitable doom for many and it is a sad thing to watch...especially if you've been through it already.
I hope my family and friends in Mobile will come out okay too but they are certain to have some pretty bad rain.

Florida or Bust
Tomorrow, Landry and I are going to fly to Florida to meet up with Sister Rosalie and see my Daddy. It seems like the timing is good since Gustav is making its way to the Gulf Coast in the next few days. I pray that lives are spared and there won't be much damage. I have a few really neat things planned for the next few days so stay tuned!

Stabbin Cabin-Mommy Edition
Earlier in the week I started feeling really bad so I went to the doctor and I had a sinus infection. On top of that, my tooth was hurting. Anyway, I had to get a Rocephan shot in the hip and if you have never experienced the 'bliss' of a Rocephan shot you just don't know what you're missing! The only reason it's worth it is because they work---fast! I didn't walk straight for two days after but I am back on track!

One for me...one for Bella
Landry is all about sharing with Bella. Check out how she picks one up and moves it to get to the one she really wants. Little smarty pants!

Kisses!

Landry has mastered the KISS! If I tell her to give me kisses, she opens up her mouth and presses her face against mine. Today, I was rounding the corner and she was standing at my mirror in my closet and I caught her kissing herself in the mirror. I absolutely lost it! I ran and got my camera and got a cute shot of her playing kissy kissy in the mirror. Look at all of those finger prints!

Check out that hand eye coordination! She is so smart. If I put a few of the plain organic puffs out and one of the sweet potato puffs out she will fish out the one sweet potato puff without hesitation.

Flying the friendly skies!
After 3 weeks of being here, I put Sister Rosalie on a plane today. She is heading to my sister Rhonda's house for 6 days. She will then fly to Florida where Landry and I will meet her to visit my Daddy. I am so glad that she is getting to go to all of these wonderful places. I am absolutely amazed at the number of people she knows here in the States. Everyone has been so kind and generous to her and seeing how much she is loved is a true testament to what a special person she really is. At some point, I am going to post the story of us. It will take me a little while to get my head wrapped around it all and to make it make sense in writing but I will. We already miss you here Sister! I hope that maybe one day, you will come back again to see us.

The Big Easy--part two

Mike got up with Sister Rosalie and took her to 7:30am Mass at the St. Louis Cathedral on Friday. I have to give huge props to Mike for doing that because I was so tired from the night before that I just couldn't do it. I woke up to the melody of Mike snoring and I could NOT get back to sleep. I tried for over an hour and a half and bless his heart, he wasn't letting up. I ended up taking the main cover off of the bed and crawling on the bathroom floor...yes, the bathroom floor! I shut the door and went to sleep. When he left for Mass, I crawled back in the bed and I went into a coma! I slept so hard my head hurt when I got up. We got up and went to eat breakfast. We decided to leave the hotel and not eat the continental breakfast they were serving because it had too much sugar for Sister Rosalie. We went to a great little dive and had a big ole country breakfast. She ate 2 eggs and part of a biscuit and unfortunately, it didn't settle on her stomach too well. After we left breakfast we went to the Ursuline Convent. It was interesting but I don't think Sister Rosalie was that impressed. After that, we went to the French Market and my how it has changed. It was way too clean and lacked the character it once had. I miss the rows and rows of junk vendors and bargaining for the 'deal'. It even had some permanent stores going in. I guess you just have to see it now to understand. Sister Rosalie did find a silver necklace and crucifix that she wanted so I bought it for her. We then walked all the way to the Aquarium and IMAX theater. I haven't been to the Aquarium in years so it was nice to go again. When we saw the penguins Sister said 'Sometime people think the Dominican Sisters look like these.' I cracked up because she was right! They wear White mainly but they have a black habit(head piece). She didn't have it on but she did pose for a cute picture.

One of the funniest things I think I saw was Me, Mike and Sister Rosalie all wearing out 3D glasses at the IMAX theater. We watched a movie about dolphins and whales and it was pretty interesting. She has never seen a 3D movie before so it was quite an experience. We ended up grabbing lunch at a Chinese/Vietnamese restaurant and going to the market for vegetables for her. Okay, a first for me and for Mike was that we didn't eat ANY typical New Orleans food while were down there. I sooo wanted a po-boy....especially one from the Acme along with a dozen raw oysters! YUM!! We will have to go back just for the food!! Anyway, we had a great time and Landry was great for the Barnharts. We really appreciate them keeping her and we always know she is in great hands with them.

The Big Easy

I thought it would be fun to take Sister Rosalie to New Orleans to check out the sights and sounds of the Big Easy. We left on Thursday morning and took Landry to the Barnhart's for an over night trip. We made it to N.O. around noon and headed straight to Gretna. It has a very large Vietnamese population and we knew we could find some food for her to eat there. I found a fabulous store called the Hong Kong Supermarket and it was huge! When I Googled it, it said it was the Walmart of Asian markets and it really was. We ate at a Pho(sounds like DUH with an f) restaurant and headed back to the city. We checked into the Bienville Hotel and was pleasantly surprised at how really nice it was. I got the rooms for $62 night and it included breakfast! It was right in the middle of everything and the staff was very nice. We rested for about 30 minutes and then we took her to the St. Louis Cathedral. It is such a magnificent sanctuary and I was absolutely blown away by the art in the ceiling and the stained glass. As I was leaving, we made an offering and lit a candle for my baby girl, Sophie and of course it was the 12th one on the row! We walked around the N.O. and looked at the architecture and strolled around the river walk. One of the things that Sister Rosalie noticed was all of the tattoos on everyone. Every time she saw one she shook her head and grimaced. It was pretty funny to see her reaction to so many new things. She was really surprised at how big the city was. She had been to San Francisco but she didn't see the buildings up close the way she did down there. I wish I could do a Faces of Rosalie series. I could have had some doozies! One of the things I think Mike and I appreciated most about this trip was that we got to be tourist and we took the time to really look at the city in a way other than just hitting Bourbon Street. It was kind of nice to appreciate another side of it and we certainly did. Later that evening, we went to a Japanese restaurant and had a some dinner. We got her to her room and settled in and then Mike and I hit the town! YEP! Sister Rosalie and Landry were both in safe places and we took advantage of a night out. Can I just say, we had a REALLY good time. I won't go into detail but be assured that we made the most of the night. We met a great couple from New York celebrating his birthday and just danced and sang our hearts out! We had SUCH a good time that I ended up buying a round of drinks for a whole table of Army soldiers that were heading to Afghanistan. I guess between the Olympics, Sister Rosalie visiting and thinking about my favorite Soldier(my Daddy), I was feeling patriotic and I thought it would be a nice gesture. They were very appreciative and even toasted to us. The only thing that made me sad was the fact that a few of the guys looked like they were barely out of high school. They were just babies. I hope they make it back safely. Anyway, here is a sneak peek of tomorrows post. Good times ahead!

Sisters

Yesterday we had lunch with Sister Dorothea at St. Dominics Hospital. She was gracious and warm and was very kind to Sister Rosalie. The two are both Dominican Sisters and it ended up that Sister Dorothea knew a sister from Vietnam that Sister Rosalie also knew. Like Sister Rosalie in her community, Sister Dorothea is a pillar in ours. She is so well respected and loved by many. It was a wondeful experience to visit with both of these wonderful women.

Faces of Landry I was going back through the Faces of Landry series and I just can't believe this is the same child. She gets more beautiful every time I look at her. Her personality is so much a part of her beauty.

Shake Rattle & Roll
I got into an accident today. DANG IT! Thankfully, Landry and Sister Rosalie were fine and no one else was hurt. Just a little shaken up from the rattle but we were able to roll on. I wonder what the tally is going to be on fixing my car. What's your guess? I would make it a contest and give the winner a big fat gift certificate to somewhere groovy but I'll be paying my deductible instead. Oh well...guess any way. I'll post the total in the next few days and the winner will receive one never before used fortune...see next paragraph. As a side note....she had Auburn stickers all over her car and no, it wasn't on purpose!! ;)

On a totally hilarious note, something happened that almost made me choke on a fortune cookie today. Don brought Sister Rosalie back to me from Mobile today and I took them to P.F. Changs before he had to head back. When the waitress brought me the check, she also brought 4 of the customary fortune cookies. Don picked up the plate and took one, let Sister Rosalie select hers and then I took one. I read mine first and it was a keeper. It read: 'No need to worry! You will always have everything you need.' Woo hoo! (I guess it didn't mean the 4.5 seconds I needed not to crash into the 18 year-old on her birthday! UGH!) Don read his and his said something good too but I don't remember exactly what. Sister was having a hard time getting into her cookie and she gave it to Don so he could get it open. He decided to read Sister Rosalie's fortune and his eyes got very big. He said 'No, I don't think that one is for her' and he had the funniest look on his face. Of course I asked him what it said and he showed it to me. It said: 'This is a night for love and affection.' Mercy me --was I laughing! Mainly because Don's expression and then because he said 'Hmm, we better try again on this one' all while he was ripping open the last fortune cookie hoping to get a more appropriate fortune for our dear sweet sister of the cloth.

Okay, drum roll please.....and the winnnnner is.........._______________!

Boing!
Landry is just like every other child I have ever known in the fact that she likes anything and everything but the actual toy I have to give her. I bought her a new 'jam box' from Fisher Price and while I was taking it out of the box for her she got so excited to play with the box that she didn't care a thing about the brightly colored musical toy I picked out for her. Of course, now she just thinks it's great so hopefully we will have a musically inclined child after all.
I was in the kitchen the other day and I saw Landry crawl toward my bedroom. I was getting ready to go after her and all of the sudden I heard this vaguely familiar sound. Boing! Boing! Boing! Over and over again. I turned the corner and she was in front of a door stopper and was going to town making music with it! It was so funny I had to get my camera out so I could show it to her Daddy when he got home. BTW...I had to remove all of the white caps from the stoppers because she pulled on of them off and you know right where it went! Luckily, I was right there when she did it but it still scared me to death. Looks like I am going to have to hot glue those suckers on there!

ABM

I asked one of my favorite people to guest blog for me and while I am certainly flattered by her kind words, I would be remiss in not saying something about her before I post her entry. Julie is my former sister-in-law. She is married to my ex-husbands brother and it was only until we divorced that we became friends and ultimately best friends. I treasure her friendship in so many ways. She is such a hard worker, a devoted mother and one of the most 'real' people I have ever met. I am blessed to have her in my life. So without further ado.....here's Julie

Okay,
Talk about making someone cry. What an honor it is for me to have you ask me to be a guest blogger at Maderville. I don't know what I could possibly write that compares to your thoughts and creative writings that you post. But I will give it a try.If after you read it it's not what you would want to post you will not hurt my feelings. I am thrilled just having you ask me.
Okay so for everyone that doesn't know who I am... a brief history. Renee was in my life for ten years before I "really knew her". I never thought I was a judgemental person but when Renee and I started to really talk and sort our way through a lot of "life", I found out a lot about her that I didn't know, but I think I found out even more about me. I found out how judgemental I had been. Renee was in my life for ten years and I always thought of her as having attitude(sorry Renee, I didn't know how else to word that). Once we found each other I realized for those ten years I had missed out big time on having a wonderful, genuine person in my life. I think God has a reason for everything, although I can't figure out why he kept her a secret for so long before gifting her to me. Renee and I have talked many times about those ten years, and I have apologized for thinking what I thought about her. The moral of this is never listen to what other people say about someone, and don't judge someone on appearances. I had a diamond in the rough(although there is nothing rough about Renee) whose beauty shined before me all the time. I just had to open my eyes and see the beauty.Thankfully when things were settled in a divorce Renee got to keep us.
So here we are today. I cannot tell anyone how special Renee is to me. I've heard a best friend is a sister God forgot to give to you. This is how I feel about Renee. I let life get in my face so much I missed out on several special events over the years with Renee. For this I will always be sorry. My kids adore her. She is truly their Aunt. I guess that comes from that sister thing God forgot to give me. Anyway Thank you Renee, I will always hold you near my heart.
Of course I could not write this without mentioning little Ms. Landry. Gosh, this baby is so absolutely precious. Hopefully with changes going on in my life right now I will have a chance to see her more than I do now. I have never seen a baby as adorable as this little one. Thank you Renee for posting the pictures on your blog. I start my day with looking at her cute face. Give her a kiss for me.
So that's who I am. If you ever read some of the comments on the blog I go by Aunt Big Momma(ABM). My grandkids(if my boys ever give me any)will call me Big Momma, so Renee came up with ABM for Landry to call me. If I don't start seeing her more she won't know who I am.
ABM

Heritage

I thought I was coming home on Monday and was persuaded to stay another day. I went to go by and see Sister Rosalie before I left and Elizabeth asked if I would stay another day and invited us to stay at her house. After talking with Mike and taking into consideration the weather and the time of day, I chose to stay. We went to her sisters nail shop and I got one of the best pedicures I have had in a long time. I also got a manicure and my brows waxed. It was such a treat to have Sister Rosalie watching Landry while I got to do something for myself. I went to pay for mine and I was going to treat Elizabeth and I found out she had already paid for it! Then we went to dinner and again, they treated. I couldn't believe how generous and kind they were. I couldn't do anything for them before they beat me to it. When we got back to their house after dinner, I found out that I was going to have to sleep with Elizabeth. Well most of you that know me are probably laughing at the thought of me first, agreeing to spend the night(with my child) with complete strangers and then finding out that my sleeping arrangements were a little different than I originally thought. We stayed up for a while talking and as strange as it seems, it felt like I had known her my whole life. She is 28, one of 12...yes-12 children and has one of the most interesting stories you have ever heard. She told me some really funny stories from her childhood and some truly heartbreaking ones. I was touched by her honesty and candor and appreciated her ability to have such a great outlook on life. She told me that she came here when she was 11 years old and would have to wake up at 3 am to go work on the crab boats 45 minutes away. She talked about how she would smell like crab and that she would be so tired by the end of the day only to have to wake up and do it all over again. I can't imagine what a tough life it would be for a young girl but she and her brothers and sisters did their part and now they are reaping the benefits of their hard work. She also told me that when they were in Vietnam that were wealthy and they they had a big house and lots of money and even housekeepers. After the war, that all changed. When they got here, they had very few things and only a few clothes each. They had to start completely from scratch. I only have to spend a short period of time with people that I share the same heritage from to realize how truly blessed this life I have is. While I had a difficult start, my fairy tale started much sooner than most of theirs. Her family is full of very intelligent individuals. They have a doctor, a few business owners, pharmacist, Registered Nurse and on and on. I am so glad I chose to stay and get to know these wonderful people. I know that we will be friends for a long, long time.

L-Landry sitting up on a riding toy at Aunt Elaine's house

R top-Sister Rosalie and Landry

R bottom-Elizabeth feeding Landry a Vietnamese fruit.

Cousins Cousins Cousins!
I am in Mobile this weekend to drop Sister Rosalie off to visit some friends. When we got here I took them to their Vietnamese Grocery store and met the nicest people. Don is the nephew of the the Father at her charity hospital. Elizabeth is his wife and she was just a joy to meet. They were so excited to see Sister Rosalie and it made me feel so much better knowing I was leaving her with such wonderful people. I was planning on letting her stay for 2 or 3 days but they want to keep her for a week! We are still working out the details but it sounds like they are going to spoil her while she is here. In the meantime, I visited several of my cousins today. I got to see my cousin Mindy's grandson so I guess he is my 3rd cousin. He is 14 weeks old and when I saw him next to Landry I couldn't believe how much bigger she was than him. She looked like a giant. Bless his heart, Landry was so enthralled with him that she was just all over him. She was so happy to see him and was so curious. As you have seen from my family reunion pictures, I have a big family. If you add in all of my cousins, aunts and uncles...I have a HUGE family! Like they always say...the more the merrier!

The Law
I forgot to write about something that happened on the way home from the airport picking Sister Rosalie up. I had Landry and her in my car and Mike(who had to meet us) was in his car. We were crossing over the spillway and Landry decided she was going to throw a fit... and I mean a BIG fit too. Sister Rosalie was sitting in the back with her and all of the sudden I looked in my rear view mirror and Sister Rosalie had taken Landry was almost completely out of her car seat! She thought 'Well she's not happy so I'll just get her out and hold her'. I almost wrecked just watching it happen...it was almost in slow motion. I told her in my nicest, I know you don't understand the rules around here and you were just trying to help but you can't understand me very well voice that she has to stay in her seat because it is against the law. When I said that she told Landry 'You must sit back down because the police come for you!' I was laughing and almost crying at the same time. I had about 1 1/2 miles before I could pull over and get her strapped back in. In the mean time she was propped back on her elbows screaming even louder. Can you imagine how confused she must have been! Anyway, I got her strapped back in and we were on our merry way without incident.
In Vietnam the traffic there is the most unbelievable thing you have ever seen. I feared for my life just crossing the street there because there are no rules and there are 3 million motorbikes in Ho Chi Minh City alone. They will put up to 5 people on one bike with children of all ages and no helmets. I guess one little baby in an SUV is nothing compared to that chaos! I don't know when we will ever be able to visit Vietnam again but you can be assured it won't be before Landry is out of a car seat!

Full Circle
Today at 3:10 pm I picked up someone very special from the airport. I picked up the nun that raised me in the orphanage I was in in Vietnam. Sister Rosalie is here visiting me for a month. When we went to Vietnam last year I asked her to come to the US to visit us and lo and behold...here she is! She has already spent 2 weeks in California visiting other friends. She went to the Redwood Forest, San Francisco, San Jose and several other places. She has a cell phone, a new camera and she's ready to roll! She will visit some friends in Mobile, I will take her to New Orleans and we will do somethings here locally. Then she will fly her to Massachusetts to spend a week with my sister and her children and then I will meet her in Orlando so she can visit my Daddy and see what Florida has to offer. From there, she will fly her to Los Angeles so she can visit more friends and then she will head back to Vietnam. She will be in country for over 2 months by the time all of this is over. I am so thrilled to be able to do this for her and for her to experience some of what I have experienced in my lifetime. Mike and I feel so blessed that we have been able to see her world and now we are able share ours with her. She seemed to be so impressed with everything she has seen so far. It is a far cry from Vietnam and the community she serves at the charity hospital. She has spent a lifetime serving others and now is her time to be served. We feel so blessed to be a part of this journey.

A Kiss for Daddy

Landry is starting to learn how to give kisses. I tell her to give me kisses and she will open up her mouth or pucker up and push her face toward me. Of course her Mama goes nuts when she performs her 'trick'. It is so funny to think that all of the things your friends showed you when they had their children and you thought oh, how cute. Ok, lets move on. Now I know the pride of showing off your child and I must openly apologize if I didn't go over the moon from your offsprings latest talent.

The funny thing about Landry these days is that she is extremely attached to her Daddy. She cries when he leaves the room now and well, let me tell you, her face lights up like a firecracker when she sees him. It is such a joy to see her so excited. It just makes my heart smile. Tonight we were talking on the phone(he's out of town) and he was looking at the pictures on my photo album and he said "Was she ever really THAT small?' It's just hard to believe.' And yesterday he was changing her diaper and he looked at her and said 'Is she getting skinny?!' I laughed and said no she's just getting longer and she's really moving around a lot these days. My my she is a changing! Check out my photo album for more pics from today. Have I told you how much I LOVE my new camera?!

Anyway, this one is for Daddy...I miss you. Love, The Bug

Party Animal

I know I have been a little slow on the blogging front these last few weeks but I have been so busy with all of the traveling and parties I have been a part of. We had a party for Laura D. and Alan last night at my house and what a party it was! It was a full house with about 50 people and the libations flowing. We had a great time and I think Laura and Alan had a memorable evening. They received a lot of really nice gifts and were able to surround themselves with their family and friends. I love having parties at my house because the memories that are made in this home are what a great life is made of. Mike really worked hard to get the yard ready and he helped me get Landry situated. The food was catered by the best chef I know..Chef Tony. He never disappoints and the food was fantastic. My only regret was that I didn't take many pictures! I got totally distracted by all that was going on and didn't take any. The few that I got were taken by my friend Pam and I didn't have the flash set on it! I guess the memories will have to be recorded in our minds.

I have a special house guest staying with me starting on Tuesday. More on that later....