Celebrating!!

Today is a day to celebrate!

Our very good friends [and cohorts in this adoption journey] are in Ethiopia right now and today they passed court and became [officially] mommy and daddy to a precious little Ethiopian princess!

Congratulations, Amaya, you are a FOUST!

One of the most amazing things about our parallel journey with these friends is that Desi and Amaya were companions and crib mates at the orphanage in Ethiopia. Now, in just a few weeks these girls will be reunited and be able to continue their lives as friends/sisters!

Isn't God's work just amazing!!

[yes, it's a silly picture, but that is Amaya under the blanket! I confirmed it with the nanny.]

Super Mom...for a morning.

Today [well actually it was Thursday] I decided to try to be THAT mom. You know, the one who does all these fantastic activities with her kids like trips to fun places and crafts. And she only feeds her children homemade organic healthy snacks and her kids never watch TV? Ya, THAT mom. I think that may have sounded a bit sarcastic and cynical....not my intent. I actually would love to actually be THAT mom, but alas, I am not. She seems like a lot of work, no? I don't think I have the energy. But I envy her with her endless creativity and energy, wanting to squeeze the most fun and education out of every day with her little ones. You, go girl!

Anyway, Thursday was a beautiful day and I told Em that we could go to the library to try to find the book Little Red Riding Hood because she's got a pair of jammies with Lil' Red on them and she wants to know the story, but I don't know if I could tell it in it's entirety. [doesn't Red's grandma get eaten by the wolf? I honestly can't remember how the story ends...] Since I knew we were going to be getting out of our jammies and into real clothes and in the car...these things being somewhat uncommon on my days with my girls....I figured that I'd try to make a little more out of the trip. So I told Em that we could go to the park too.

So we went to the library to look for books and we happened to catch Ms. Bobbie's sing-a-long, which was really fun. Then we took a walk on the Monon from BR McD's down to the park and played. Then back up to McD's for cheeseburgers. [I was pleased to find out that the there-and-back added up to 2.5 miles so I counted it as my workout...after all I was pushing a combined 50-60lbs in a double wide umbrella stroller...not easy, I broke a sweat.]

Back home in time for naps and I felt like I needed one too! Quite a morning! Maybe it would have been wiser to ease my way into Super Mom.

But really, it's so much easier to just stay at home. I am the ultimate home body, by the way. But on these last beautiful warm days of the year I know I need to get out and let the kids enjoy the beauty of fall. I'll admit I was feeling pretty good about myself for getting out, like I chose something good for my girls over something good for me. And I enjoyed it as much as they did. I vow to do it more often for as long as the weather allows.

I'm pretty sure I'm not ever going to be THAT mom, but she still inspires me.

I *heart* Family Visits!

We had another great family visit this past weekend. This time my big sister, Erin, brought her family [Steve, Cody, Ethan] out for a weekend visit. I can't even begin to express how much I LOVE when my family comes out to visit....I won't even try.

The kids just played and played. Jake and Ethan had a ball together...as usual. Emily did a pretty good job of keeping up with the boys too!

At the Children's Museum...

Ethan giving Em a lift....

Speedway Museum....

The weather was awesome for playing outside....

Desi with her Auntie Erin...

Em and Desi reading a story with Uncle Steve...

Desi was obsessed with Cody...she mauled him all weekend. He was a good sport...he even asked if we would consider trading Desi for Ethan! Ha.There is no doubt that I would rather be able to call up my sisters and hang out any time we want... and I would LOVE it if the kids could see Papaw Vinny and Grandma way more often....but, living this far away and only getting to see them a few times a year sure does make me appreciate the time we have together. It is like a precious treasure. I want to make sure every minute of it counts! Like anything we treasure, we wish we had more, right?

Getting Along.

Nothing wears a mom down quite like your kids not getting along...constantly fighting, at each other's throats, bossing, and tormenting one another... And then there's the whining, the crying, and the yelling...[I admit that the whining, crying and yelling isn't always just from the kids...] I mean, I can deal with a lot of things and keep my cool...[vomit, snot, poop in the bathtub...] But when the kids start at each other and won't stop...I lose it! I'm not always proud of the way I react...much of the time it's counterproductive. You know, angrily screaming at your kids to stop...uhm...angrily screaming at each other. You see my point? In fact, I often hope that they didn't learn their reactions to anger and frustration from mom and dad... Everyone knows parenting takes a great deal of self control!

The point of this post isn't to vent about "losing it" with my kids....it's really to say that for as much frustration that comes when your kids aren't getting along, there is so much JOY that comes when they do!

Jake and Em have always had their good and bad moments...Jake being the older brother likes to be "in charge" [aka.. bossy]. He also likes to play the role of "teacher" which dovetails with "bossy". But Em is a strong-willed little girl and doesn't take being bossed lightly. So they have their tense moments. But they play really well together too.

Bringing Desi into the mix really shook things up for Emily. I've blogged about their "developing" relationship before. The thing is, when Ryan and I decided to adopt we didn't discard how it would affect Jake and Em, but we knew that even though it would be an adjustment for them, it's what God wanted for our family. [at the time we were also not planning on bringing home a child only 15 months younger than Em. We were thinking it would be an infant...totally different situation.] As much as we tried to prepare Emily that another little sister was coming to our family, and as much as she tried to understand and be okay with it, she just didn't know how this was going to rock her world!

The last couple of months have been a struggle for Em. Desi is also a strong willed little girl. I'm pretty sure that they both fancy themselves as the Queen Bee. [what they don't know is that mamma is the only Queen Bee in this hive!] So there's been a lot of competition for attention...especially my attention. But in the last several days, I think I'm noticing that things are really starting to change a little bit. For one, Desi never wanted to give or receive bedtime hugs and kisses from Emily [can't really blame her...Em had made her feelings about Desi crystal clear!] But now, she loves to kiss and hug on her big sister! I'm also catching them playing together more. It makes my heart so happy!

I never wanted to rock Emily's world. She is my joy! I love her like crazy! It's been hard to see her struggle. I want her to spend her days happy! That compounds the joy and relief that I feel to see her open her heart to her new sister and start to welcome her into her family!

We still have plenty of those tense moments that wear me down. But I need to learn to build my strength back up in the moments when the 3 of them are outside playing together or when I can hear them giggling and laughing together. Moments like these....

And here's something else that brings me a lot of joy...

Love, S

Growing!

So today I took Des to the pediatrician for her second round of immunizations. It's been about 8 weeks since our initial visit with Dr. O. Everyone in the office goes crazy over her! They all think she's gorgeous! ...she is. [I feel totally okay with saying that because since I didn't actually make her and she looks nothing like me, I don't feel vain in saying that she is gorgeous. Unlike Jake and Em who are obviously my clones...it feels a little bit weird heralding their beauty as if to say, "look at my beautiful children who look just like me....so I, vis-a-vis, must be beautiful too, no?" It feels like vainly paying myself a compliment. I do humbly accept that Jake and Em are beautiful children...the very best parts of Ryan and I and God did all the work.

But I digress...]

Where was I? Oh, yes....the pediatrician. Now, I've been hanging out with this child for a couple of months now and I realize that she looks different. For one, she HAS HAIR NOW! [which, by the way has glitter stuck in it and I can not get it out! my first afro dilemma!] But Dr. O was totally taken aback by how different she looks! She went on and on and on about it! All good, mind you. She's growing well and seems so much more adjusted...Dr. O even noticed how "lovey" she is with her mommy. [having total strangers poke you with sharp things would make anyone cling a bit, don't you think?] But the truth is that she is a very affectionate child, which I am so grateful for.

So, today's trip to see Dr. O. got us 3 shots [ouchie], lots of tears, a diagnosis of another ear infection [boo!] , a lot of oohs and aahhs from the office staff, and we found out that she has gained almost 5lbs. in the past 2 months, bringing her up to a smidge over 24 lbs! Yay!!! Since it wasn't an official "well baby" check up I don't have her charted on the growth curve, but no doubt she is making progress! And the bonus was that I didn't have to pay the $30 co-pay because technically it was a "nurse visit" for shots but Dr. O. was with us most of the time! Nice!

To celebrate Desi's accomplishments I gave her a sucker in the car....as far as I know she's never had one. [we are THOSE parents who try to keep our kids from having pure sugar or at least limit it...so what?!] She loved it!

Snazz-y!