Today Might Just Be the Day...

What happens in the daily life of the family.. the drama of foster care, the adventures of parenting, & pictures to share with everyone!

The Little Sister

By: comment

There is one boss in this family. If she’s not happy, nobody is happy. And “she” is not me.

The little one, she’s our princess.

But, she’s still the little one. And sometimes that means that she can be the victim.

Today we took V, Dan and the Bean to Jeeper’s. Jeeper’s is a ghetto cross between Chuck E. Cheese and Amazing Jake’s. Dave had a party at Amazing Jake’s so we wanted to something fun without having to take out a second mortgage so Jeeper’s it was.

Anyhow, Jeeper’s has a huge indoor playland thing. It’s really amazing and huge. And Bean typically loves going up the ladder and down the slide over and over and over again. Today, however, she only went down about three times total. Little V decided to use his powers for evil and informed our little princess that the play structure was actually a haunted house.  We tried to save her and told her that the only evil thing was her big brother, but she’d have none of it and she wouldn’t go up in the playland anymore.

I have a feeling she’ll exact her revenge shortly…

Million Dollar Baby

By: comment

At least that’s how it feels.

I’m torn. We have started back down the road of infertility treatment. And it’s huge for me. So, I do want to share, but, at the same time. It’s such a personal road.

So, I think that for now I’ll just share that we’ve started. I’m trying to add some balance and perspective to my life. And I don’t want to make it a focus so I’m not going to dwell on here about it. Just keep us in your thoughts!

Up in the Air

By: comment

My thoughts from yesterday…

Right now we’re mid-air. Flying like a light small bird, only not even close to small. There are one hundred plus of us crammed in here with all of our stuff.

I don’t know about the rest of these people, but I am ready to be headed this direction. Absence does make the heart grow fonder. At least, I think it’s true with our children. I am so ready to have them call my name over and over again. I’m ready to pick up after them and tuck them in. I’m ready to just hold them and cuddle them.

Our trip was very fun. And very relaxing. I am renewed. And I am ready. Ready to be me again–Mom.

Now that we’ve been back on earth and back home for a day and a half, I can say that being home is just what I needed.

Buenas Noches

By: comment

Estoy en Puerto Rico…

And I’m loving it. The weather is nearly perfect (in my opinion, it’s a little warm for my husband and a tad humid for both of us). We ate dinner at a restaurant right on the beach tonight and ate amazing shrimp right as the sun went down.

Today we went exploring to the West of San Juan. The first stop we made was in Dorado, where we had a unique lunch (photos to follow).

From there we were headed to Arecibo, but we got sidetracked by an outlet mall. I helped Brian pick an anniversary gift for me (can you believe that it’s been 7 years?). And then I helped Brian pick out some new shoes (can that count as a gift for him?).

From there we made it to Arecibo… in Arecibo we visited a light house. They’d recreated some ships and had an aquarium. It was a pretty darn cool place.

Along our drive we also saw several Head Start locations, Brian spotted the coolest one and pulled over so I could get a photo.

The roads are a little crazy. The signs are pretty non-existent. I think that my life was shortened by at least a year or so with all of the close passing that went on. Oh, and at one point we took our little Mazda off-roading, and it wasn’t a planned trip off the road.

Lots of fun memories to start our 8th year of marriage!

I Love this Part!

By: comment

So, V has told me that he wants an adoption shirt, just like his brothers. And I’m having fun searching for one. Although, I have to say that it’s kind of annoying that there are more shirts about dog adoption than people adoption, but that’s a whole other blog post!

I came across this shirt and it made me smile so I had to share. I don’t think it looks very clear. What it says is, “Make the Neighbors Wonder, Consider Trans-racial Adoption”.

I went to a foster event this weekend and it was so beautiful seeing all of the families. Most were *huge*, lots were a rainbow of colors, all were clearly in love!

 

Help! Give Away?

By: 2 Comments

O.K. This really is one of my favorite parts of the process… we’re nearing adoption so it’s time to plan the party! But, this time around, I’m kind of at a loss. So, I need help!

Anyone have any ideas? Inspiration for me?

One of the things that I can work on right now is the announcement. As some of you know, I made the first two myself. For D & D I created a little crossword puzzle for the cover, and the inside was a fairly traditional announcement with their photo. For Ms. Bean I found magnets that I could print at home… they were duckies and butterflies and I think turned out great & were spot on for her age. But, I’m at a loss this time around. Should I do a photo card? Should I do just a very cool graphic? Any websites I should check out?

And what about the party…? Something fun for *everyone* is a must! It needs to be something that the adults will enjoy and the kids will dig, too.

I would really like to do a give away on here, but I have no clue what to give.. and I don’t know how I’d pick a winner. So, if anyone reads this (I’m hoping that one person does), give me some ideas!

Help a poor woman out here!

The Best Insult

By: comment

For those of you on Facebook, this will be a repeat. But, I really think that this one bears repeating. I have a feeling, in fact, that this will be one of those V stories that lasts.

We’re driving in the car and the boys are fighting, as they pretty much always do. And I hear V tell David, “You’re acting like a teenager!”

Sometimes I feel like I cheated a little…

By: 1 Comment

You know, there are things that are more difficult about being an adoptive mama. There are challenges that bio-moms never have to go through (you wimps!).

*But*, there are somethings that are way easier. I can honestly say that I didn’t stress even for a minute about what crib to buy. I just smiled and said “thank you” a bunch of times as I picked up hand-me-downs in our frantic attempt to get ready for two kids and the start of our insta-family. I didn’t give a second thought to what brand of formula. In fact, I had three kids before I even had to buy a can of formula (and then I bought what they told me to at the WIC office). I never had to debate between breast fed and formula fed.

One time, last summer, I was at our very cool local toy store (brilliantsky.com) chatting with some of the other moms and the topic of schools came up. Frankly, it really didn’t enter my mind that I should be worried about not sending our kids to our local public schools. We moved to this area because the schools are good. And I had no reason not to trust. (It’s worked out really well, too)

At the zoo this week I was very envious of the mom with one well behaved four year old. I looked at how easy it seemed. She wasn’t yelling or cajoling. She didn’t have to have her eyes pointed in different directions. She wasn’t being pulled on by kids. She had that tiny, little, one-kid stroller!

Then I remembered that my kids have friends with them at all times. Even though they’re high energy, they always have someone to soothe them, someone to play with, someone to just be with…

I’ve never been a mom to a singleton. I skipped that whole phase.

And I think that I might be the lucky one.