I "ATTEMPTED" THE HAIR...

Unless you have had to style or brush through a dark person's hair, you have no idea!!!  Black hair is so terribly difficult to style and brush.  We will take 20 minutes or longer just to pick through Asha's hair (which we do at least three times a day) and a half an hour later it will be all tightly wound and knotted together again.  Scott's Mom always talks about how her hair forms perfect little "pea" curls. 

Caribbean people take pride in their looks and especially their hair and I want Asha to feel the same pride.  I have tried to do several things in her hair on several occasions, but she will not let me touch it for very long and any ribbons, bows or bands get ripped out almost as quickly as they go in.  Sometimes I wonder what other people - including Scott - think of my actions... I have even been so desperate at times that I will stop brown skinned people in the mall just to ask them how they do their hair or what products they use.  They often look at me like I am a stalker until I explain that I have a daughter and need some tips.  There is just not to much here for help and Asha has been blessed with the tightest curls imaginable. 

I say that I attempted Asha's hair because by far it does not look like Asha's hair did when some of my Caribbean friends styled it in St. Vincent.  But the important thing is that I tried and I can only get better right?

ASHA IS NOW A STARFISH...

Yesterday marked the very first day that Asha became a true starfish.  We enrolled her into swimming lessons at the YWCA which she will attend every Sunday until March.

Asha first began to cry while we were waiting to be told that everyone could get into the pool for the lesson; not because she was scared but because she loves water.  As soon as Asha and Daddy got in, she was so excited to start moving around.  We soon learned that Asha no longer has a fear of her face getting wet.  She jumped and kicked and splashed and got dunked again and again without complaining once - she especially loved the bubbles in the whirlpool and even loved eating them.  Asha kept talking about the pool and bath and shower and water.  We know that she can't wait to go back again next week!

ALL OF ASHA'S WORDS...

These are the words that Asha now says.  Thought it would be nice to keep a record so that we can look back on them when she is older.

ASHA, MAMA, MOMMY, DADDY, DADA, EVES (Levi - our cat), NANA, NANNY, PAPA CHE-CHOO (Chico), CHASE, AUNTIE, UNG (Uncle), GRAMMY, ESA (Lisa), CASSIE, JORDA (Jordan), ABBY, DENNIS, SHAWN, SEE-A (Cynthia), AUBY (Arby), DOCTA (doctor), HEART, EEDLE (needle), ON, OFF, FLY, BUTTON, BOOTY (this is a new one that Scott just taught her...oh boy!!!), POTTY, PEE-PEE, POO-POO, USH (flush), DIEPOO (diaper), DIRTY, BOOK, DANTO (danger), BET (bed), SEEPY (sleepy), ROLL, FAN, FUN, WEEEE, NOSE, EYES, TOES, FEET, SHOES, PRITTY (pritty), JESUS, CHURCH, AMEN, OPEN, POME (come), PUP (cup), MOTE (remote), DOTA (deodorant), TENT, EATING, LIGHT, MOON, SUN, COUCH, OH DEE (oh dear), OH OH, OW, SHOOT (so cute when she says this), DON'T (gets this from me), BABY, SHODEN (lotion), PHONE, CHAIR, SIT, STRETCH, SIT (sick), RUN, CAR, MAN (van), PURPLE, YELLOW, DUCE (juice), TEATEA (which means her bottle or her babies bottle), SHIT (shirt - scared ya didn't it?), SHOPPING, STORE, PUSH, JUMP, TACHOO (tattoo, and then she looks on her leg to see if she has the same one as Mama and Dada), PICTURE, WATER, ROCKING, BUMP, ALL DONE, PEAS (please), BRUSH, HAIR, HOT, BANANA, CHEESE, CHITEN (chicken), BURN, TOSH (wash), BATH, POOL, SHOWER, PLATE, HI, BYE, SEE YOU, TOUCH and HAITI (we pray for the people in Haiti every day with her).

She is such a smart little girl and doesn't forget a single thing.  She will remember the meaning of something or the word even if it was only told to her once.  Now, she is even starting to put two, three or four words together, and if you start counting and say 1, she will say 2, then you say 3 and she says 4 all the way up until 10 - and then at 10 she gets so excited.  Too cute!

HAITI...

There are really no words to describe the deep sadness I feel for the Haitian people right now.  It truly breaks my heart just thinking about all of the people who have lost loved ones, their homes and their identity in this tragedy.  What touches me the most is the children in the orphanages who were almost ready to make their way home to their adoptive families, but now there will be a longer delay in joining their forever families because their paperwork is missing in the rubble.

Although Asha is not from Haiti, she is still Caribbean and I feel a special closeness and connection to the Caribbean people because of this.

We have friends who are from Haiti and who are forced to face this tragedy all the way from Canada.  They have relatives from Port-Au-Prince who are still missing and cousins who have died.  Although we are not in close proximity to Haiti, this tragedy is very real.   It saddens me that I cannot do too much from Canada - I truly feel helpless.

But in the wake of sadness, this has been such an eye opening tragedy for me.  I feel so truly blessed to have an amazing daughter, loving husband, warm home, food in my refrigerator and clothes on my back.  This tragedy has made me think about what is most important to me and it has made me think a lot about the fact that I am only on earth for such a short time so I need to live my life to the fullest.  I am so richly blessed and praise God that my family is all safe and together.

From living in the Caribbean for three months, I can tell you this... Caribbean people are some of the most loving, caring and generous people on the face of the earth; they have a true love for people and strong family roots.  They WILL get through this trying time.

Dear Lord, please be with the Haitian people.  Be a comfort to them and give them hope and strength.  I pray that they would continue to glorify Your name throughout this trying time.  Please also be with the men and women who are giving their lives in order to help these people in need.  Provide these homeless people with food, water and comfort from others.  Be with those families around the world who are mourning the loss of relatives and friends.

ASHA'S FIRST CHRISTMAS HOME...

By far, this was the best Christmas we have ever had together as a couple.  In the past Christmas' were spent in tears and dreading the day because of the fact that we were childless.  But not this year!  This year was so different and so very special.  We were not only celebrating the birth of Jesus, but also the new start of our family of three and how much we had been blessed with over the year.

ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES ON ABC NEWS...

CLICK HERE to watch a short video about SVG.

This really takes us back to our second home.  It makes me miss not only the beauty of the islands but of the people as well.

WHERE HAVE WE BEEN YOU ASK?

There is one word to answer that question...BUSY!!! Asha is quite the busy body and it seems like when she does finally slow down, all we can think about is sleep!

But, my promise to all of you (if there is anyone still out there who is following our blog), is that I am going to post more this year so that many of you can continue to follow our family of three. So...look forward to some new posts soon - including pictures of Asha's first Christmas home!

Happy New Year!

The Parisien Family

ASHA LOVES THE PARK...ESPECIALLY CLIMBING UP THE SLIDE!!!

MCDONALDS...

Baba (which is Grandma in Ukrainian) sent Asha $50 cash and gave us, Dada and Mama strict instructions on what to do with it.

She said:

"Listen guys, I want you to take Asha to McDonalds".

So that is exactly what we did. Being that it was her first time there, we had to get Asha her very first happy meal of course! But she was so busy looking around, climbing up the slide and playing with all the kids, that she only got in a few bites here and there.

Overall it was a good trip, except for the fact that a little boy accidentially ran into Asha, she fell, knocked her face on the edge of the slide and started to bleed from her teeth. But other than that, it was fun! :)

ASHA IS NOW 13 MONTHS OLD...WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?

Yep, you read right. Our little peanut is now 13 months old! Crazy. It doesn't feel like we only met her when she was 9 months old; I feel like I have known her my entire life.

Asha is growing into quite the little lady. She is still so friendly and will go up to anyone regardless of who they are. And she hasn't quite mastered the meaning of personal space yet - she loves to go up to complete strangers to kiss their legs.

We have now moved her almost completely from formula to homogenized milk. Sometimes if she hasn't eaten a lot through out the day though, we will still put a few scoops of formula into the homo milk for her.

Asha is saying a lot of words now too. She will try to copy almost any word you say EXCEPT for MAMA!!!! Do you believe this? I cannot get her to say Mama for the life of me. She will say, mmmmm if something is yummy but when I point to myself and say Mama, she gets angry and says, "Dada" - like I am the one getting it all wrong. She says, Dada, danger, burn, gentle, moon, balloon, banana, dirty, hi, water, bath, Asha, Nana, Grandpa and Grandma.

And boy is Asha ever the entertainer and loves to be the center of attention. She will do just about anything to make you laugh. And if you say Asha laugh, she will laugh out loud with her phony laugh. She will go up to you and tickle you but hasn't aced the fact that a tickle is soft, not like a scratch! And if you ask for a hug or kiss she is sure to give you one.

She is so smart too! When I am cleaning the house, she gets her little broom and will help me clean. She knows where all of her body parts are and is happy to show you, but the cutest one of all is her nose. When you ask her to show you her nose, she scrunches up her lips and blows air out of her nose. And she talks like crazy! We never really know what she is saying but she sure loves to talk.

We have spent alot of the summer staying around home and visiting family and friends. Asha got to hang out with her cousins at the lake and got to play with her new friends who are her age and are twins. Asha loves Gramps and Nana's big dog Chase and knows how to say his name too. If you talk about Chase, she will pant and pant and pant. And she gets so excited to see him that she will run up to him to give him a big hug and kiss. It doesn't bother her that he is like 10 times her size. We have spent many afternoons in Grandma's backyard swimming in the pool, golfing with Gramps and Nana on their putting green and playing with different kids at the water park by the river. It has been a perfect summer because Asha is with us. We are really enjoying every second with her and we feel so blessed to have her be a part of our family.