Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! Today is my 4th Mother's Day, and my first as a mom of two. When I think back over all the years that I wanted to be a mom, but wasn't or couldn't be for all of the various reasons, I'm amazed at these little blessings that God has given me.

Being a mom is harder than I ever expected it to be. Honestly, sometimes I'm not very good at it, or at least I don't think so. My kids, however, don't seem to notice my motherly shortcomings, so I just press on, loving them with all my heart and working hard to be the best mom I can be while juggling what seems like 1,000 responsibilities. I'm so proud to be their mom, and I hope when they grow up and look back at their respective childhoods, they'll be proud to be my kids.

Today just happens to be Mother's Day in Guatemala as well. I think alot about Ryenn's birth mom and foster mom every day, but especially on these significant days. Without these women, we wouldn't have this fiesty little princesa in our family. Their love and sacrifice, along with their hardships, is imprinted on my heart forever. We're so blessed to have email contact with her foster mom--she even emailed to tell me Happy Mother's Day! Feliz dia de la madre!

I think about my mom, who even though she lives very close, we really aren't together all that much. I used to think (okay, sometimes still think) that my mom didn't really know what to do with a challenging child and young (or not so young!) adult like me. Or that I got away with wayyyyy too much. Or that she expected too much of me. You know, all those things a therapist would tell you. :) But when I look back, my mom gave me everything--she sacrificed so much to give me the opportunities and "stuff" I need and wanted. For that I'm so very grateful, and I need to tell her that more often. I love you mom!

My hopes for the today are simple: spend time with my family, and be thankful for being a mom. Oh yeah, no stinky diaper duty or housework either! :) I can't imagine my life any other way.

I wish all my awesome mama friends a very happy day. Let's all enjoy this wonderful gift of motherhood!

Just flyin' a kite . . .

Clear blue sky, light winds, kite actually flying, chicken on the grill, happy family times--what could possibly be better than this?

Mischief and deceit

Almost 4 year olds are imaginative little boogers. With imaginination, I suppose, comes lies. Bold faced lies. I know, I know, you can't believe that an angel as precious as my critterboy could ever tell a lie. You're wrong!

A few weeks ago he reached up and touched a hot pan on the stove (after warning him about 6 million times in his life not to do that) while I had my back turned (lesson learned, for both of us!). When I turned around I heard him gasp and pull his hand back. I said "Buddy, did you touch the pan?" He said, "No." I saw evidence of 3 nasty burns across his fingers and he was starting to cry. Every day it's something new. A few days ago I found him in our shed. Daddy-o was "watching" him, but he had snuck out of sight. He was standing by gas cans *gasp* and when I called out to him, he spun around and said "I didn't do anything to the gas." Wow, really, because that sounded really guilty. (Don't worry, I explained to him that he could look at things in the shed, but he could never ever touch, or smell, or taste anything in there. I also explained to Daddy-0 that the shed needs to be closed so curious critterboys don't kill themselves with all of the dangerous things stored in there, even if we're "watching" him.)

Yesterday he said the floor was coming apart, "Do you wanna come see?" Ummm, no, not really, because no matter what it is, I'm sure I'm not going to like it. I followed him anyway, and sure enough, he had been pulling the carpet up in the far corner of the living room. I asked him how that happened and he blamed it on two classmates from daycare. Two classmates who have never been to our home. He has told me numerous times that "Sissy hit me!" or "Sissy took my _______" when she is in a different room or not even with us. He makes up wild stories, too. I should be writing them down--some are really great! I love his imagination, but I'm not too fond of the lying. I'm working on an effective discipline for it, but everyone says he'll grow out of it soon enough. I guess I'll just enjoy the innocence of it all, and enjoy watching my little man's brain become more and more creative.

Miss Priss Pants isn't talking much, but if she were, I'm sure she'd be telling tall tales too. Instead, she has begun climbing anything and everything she can get her little monkey paws onto. We've found that we can't leave a chair back from the table more than about a millimeter without her climbing up. I've found her sitting and standing on the chairs, and most recently, on top of the table. Those darn salt and pepper shakers are mysterious, aren't they? Little monkey girls LOVE to pour them out, or hold them over the side of the table, threatening to drop them to glassy death.

Disclaimer: We really do watch our kids. We do the "divide and conquer" technique most of the time, but it really only takes about 1.46 seconds of someone not watching before all *&^L breaks loose. If you can't relate, well, then, you're obviously still in the running for mommy of the year. I gave up on that dream years ago! :)

They love to wrestle with each other--and with us, the bean bag, any large pillow or blanket, etc. I get so much joy from watching them together. This is what it's all about!

Catching up--is that even possible?

I'm back . . . with pics! I know that's why people read blogs, right? It's all about the pics! Pull up a chair, grab a snack, and get ready to catch up with the crew!

The last few weeks have been so busy and have flown by, as they all seem to be lately. We died our Easter eggs, which always sounds like more fun than it actually is. It's so hard to keep little hands out of the dye! One egg was cracked before it ever even took a dip in the cup! Matthew was so funny and so proud of his eggs. (yes, we do wash our kids faces every few weeks, but the best photo ops seem to have the messiest faces . . . )

We went to an Easter egg hunt the Saturday before Easter at the home of one of the couples in our Sunday school class. The kids had alot of fun--well, we ALL had fun!

Three awesome mamas!

Ryenn getting a hug/head butt from Jagger

Three Guatemalan beauties all in a row after a long afternoon of hunting eggs

The Easter bunny came on Sunday morning, but he didn't hide any eggs since it was so cold outside. He just left the baskets of loot on the coffee table and skidaddled on to the next house. My kids, of course, never even missed the egg hunting since they were in a sugar induced oblivian within a few minutes. We decided to hurry and go to the early church service so we could come home and prepare Easter lunch. My parents and sister/brother-in-law came over to enjoy tasty ham and all the fixins.

My mom made Ry this dress for Easter, complete with pinafore and bonnet, which she wouldn't keep on her head--cute, in a Little Bo Peep sort of way!

Last Saturday we went to the American Heart Association Heart Walk, but had to leave before the walk actually began to make to the zoo for the rest of our day of fun. I have been passed down the task of coordinating the blood drives for my employer, so the OBI treated the thousands of coordinators and their family members to a picnic at the zoo. The day was chilly and it began to sprinkle on us, but really it was the best trip to the zoo that we've had so far. No melt downs, (adults included!), lots of animals out and about to see, and free lunch--can't beat that!

On Tuesday of last week, I acheived the status of lifetime member with Weight Watchers, meaning I have met my weight goal (exceeded, actually) and have maintained it (lost some more, then was forced to gain some back) for 6 weeks. This means I will officially give myself a harder time if I gain my weight back. I am smaller than I was when I got married almost 13 years ago, but I'm muchhhhhh softer now. Hey, I like it this way. My kids need soft places to lay their sweet little heads, don't they? It would be just wrong to have a rock solid body and deny them this comfort! :) I join the ranks of other awesome lifetime members like my friend Claudia --you've just got to click on her name to understand just how awesome she is at giving advice. Seriously--she's got it all figured out! Anyway, I'm pretty proud of myself. I really didn't want to even join WW, and when I did, I really thought I'd lose 10 pounds and quit. Nope. Almost 35 pounds gone. If only I could get a tan . . .

As if we haven't had enough going on, we also redecorated our hall bathroom this month. We went from a beige and purple floral"ish" theme to a super bright granny smith apple green with bright color accents and orange towels. It's hard to get a good photo of the finished product, but this one gives you an idea. Very much more kid friendly than our pre-kid decor. We're going to work on a family art project to hang on the one wall big enough to hang something soon. Stay tuned, because if it turns out anything like I picture in my head, it's gonna be awesome!

In other news, I'm exploring the possiblity of going to Guatemala in December to help with Project Santa. Click HERE for the scoop on this awesome opportunity to give back to the people of Guatemala. While I don't know Vanessa personally, I know someone who does, and she is 110% amazing for what she does for these families. If you can help this project with donations of shoes, toys, or funds to ship the donations to Guatemala, let me know. I'm praying that I can join her--the "price" (virtually nothing compared to other missions) is right, it's just the small detail of leaving my family behind for the trip. I'll keep you posted as I make these decisions in the coming weeks. I feel the tug in my heart to do something. Maybe this is it . . .

Ryenn is growing and changing so fast! She has 9 teeth now, and a few more coming soon by the looks of all the drool. Her hair is so fun to play with--we're up to over 90 hair bows, but don't worry, there is room for more! I had a blast shopping and volunteering at the kids consignment sale. I spent $150 and made over $100--not a bad deal! I found some awesome deals on hardly worn Gymboree and Gap outfits, and some total steals on squeaky shoes (so fun!) and Stride Rite's. I am weird about used shoes, so I only buy them if they are nearly new or brand new, and I found 8 pairs! She doesn't sit still for long, so it's been hard to do the fashion shows that I did with her last summer when she was too young to protest! :)

We've got pictures scheduled in a couple of weeks for Matthew's 4th birthday (what? how can that be??!) and our first family day (so hard to believe Ryenn's been home almost a year!). I've pretty much decided what we will wear, which probably comes as no surprise to any of you who know me well. I can't wait!

Matthew said for many weeks that he wanted a "Scooby Doob" party. Strange, since he's never seen Scooby Doo at home--must be a daycare thing. Well, I'm smart enough to know that he's a fickle pickle just like me, so I've held off buying the decorations. I asked him last night if he wanted a Scooby Doo(b) party and he said he wanted Lion King. Ummm, no. Too hard to find these days. Then he said Spiderman. The black Spiderman. Sigh. I shouldn't have asked. I think I'll just take him to the party store and let him choose something. Then the little toot can't have a fit if I buy the wrong stuff. So picky, this boy! He's doing great with his glasses, although this pair is pretty much trashed. I gave it 3 weeks, and they've lasted 3 months, so all in all it's a success! He's wise beyond his years with this thinking, but still struggles with recognizing letters and numbers. Two well educated child educators have implied (one point blank told us) that he's gifted. I was (or still am, the jury is still out!), so why shouldn't he be too? hee hee His behavior issues, while less and less dramatic, could be because he's bored. Not an excuse, but just another thing for us to consider when disciplining him, I suppose.

All in all, things are wonderfully nutso all the time. After almost a year as a family of four, I've finally accepted that this craziness is only going to get crazier as the kids grow up. Am I ready? Sure, why not?! :)

What? It's been more than a month??

Wow guys--sorry for letting my fans down! I'm not sure why it's been so long since I've updated--partly busy, partly tired, partly facebook, and partly just enjoying life I suppose. I've been terrible about keeping the camera handy, so I've missed lots of "Kodak moments" recently. I don't have time to load and post the recent pics I have managed to take, so my blah blah blah will have to do for now!

The weather is so unpredictable here in the great state of Oklahoma--80+ degrees one day, snow and thunderstorms (yes, in the same day!) the next. I'm used to it, but it is more difficult to explain to an almost 4 year old critterboy who would probably live outside if we'd let him. He just doesn't understand that he can't ALWAYS go out to play--we've definitely been out alot though.

Daddy-0 got a great deal on the materials to resurface our deck--it has turned into a nearly complete rebuild though. We had planned on waiting another year, but the 10 year old boards were getting very splintery. Not good with precious little feet to be running all over soon! It's looking great, but the poor guy is having to work on it in 1-2 hour spurts, and most of those have kids running all over the yard while I make dinner, etc. I can't wait 'till it's finished! I'm so blessed to have a handy hubby who can build just about anything we need.

La princesa and the critterboy have been sick off and on for the last month or so. My precious princess seems to get well for about a day or so, then come down with something else. Our ped. says it's normal, but I'm starting to think we need to look at her immune system. Could just be the grubby little beastlets in her class to blame though! She has started biting alot at daycare. Funny, since the wild man was being bitten at least once a day (what can I say--he made a good snack for someone!) at that age, now the tables have turned! She's as beautiful as ever--we have the cutest little critters EVER!

We finished re-doing the wild man's big boy bedroom this past weekend. It turned out great--just a few finished touches left, then it will be perfect! I was really worried (when am I NOT worried?) that he wouldn't do well changing rooms, but he's done great so far. We just leave a nightlight on in the bathroom across the hall so he will know where to go when he wakes up during the night. He's truly amazing me with his vocabulary and his animated communication. His latest, greatest, cutest thing is talking with his hands for emphasis. Soooo cute! Less than 2 months until his birthday . . . I'm already in party planning mode! hee hee

I'm both happy and melancholy about all of our "this time last year" stuff that's coming up. I have a deep caring about Guatemala anyway, and all of these anniversaries keep it coming to the surface in the strangest times and places. I can't explain it, but if you've ever been passionate about something, I'm sure you understand. There is just something about that place . . .

Because I'm silly and remember every significant date (well, some insignificant ones too!), it's worth mentioning that Thursday is my main man and my 15th, yes, fifteenth anniversary of our first date. Seriously, I remember it like it was yesterday. I know what you're thinking--gosh, you must have been what, 5 years old when you started dating? Not quite--I was 16 (and a half, if that counts!). We've practically grown up together and I can't wait (well, maybe a few more years!) to be sitting beside him in rocking chairs on the front porch, reminiscing about our wild and crazy life. For now, I'll settle for running around crazy, passing him in the hall to hand him a freshly bathed kid while I finish with the other, and occasionally meeting for lunch sans kids to save our sanity. Ahhhh, life is good!

I wish there were more days like this . . .

. . . and I'm not kidding this time! The day started at about 2:30am with the critterboy coming into our room announcing that his bed was wet. I know, it's not the best way be awakened, but secretly I love snuggling with that little guy and it was a good excuse to snuggle since I was NOT going to change sheets in the middle of the night! The cutest part was when he said "Daddy, my bed is wet." Daddy-o said "Okay buddy, let's go get you some dry undies and jammies." The little man had already gotten them and brought them with him into our room! So sweet! (And I secretly love that daddy-o is closest to the door so it's always "Daddy, I need . . . .", and not Mommy!) He got changed and crawled into bed with us for some snuggle time and fell right back to sleep. So did I. Ahhh, all is well! Miss Priss Pants woke up at about 3:45am, which is not like her lately, so I held her for a few minutes, gave her a binky, and laid her back down wide awake and fussing. I went back to bed and the screaming stopped shortly after (either that or I fell asleep and didn't hear it, either way, I got some sleep!).

The critterboy was fairly easy to get ready this morning, got in the car without a fight (that is HUGE!), and didn't scream or kick my seat all the way to school. Whining was kept to a minimum, too. Woo hoo!

Work wasn't horrible today (which is also HUGE for me lately!). Busy, but not insanely so where I can't even think, and no issues that were "undealable". I went to a ribbon cutting ceremony at one of our third party administrators' new office building in the late afternoon and met some great people and had some even greater snacks! When I left, I called hubby dearest and we decided to meet at Chick-fil-A for dinner. They were about 30 minutes closer than I was, so the kids got to play for a bit before I got there. Both kids ate very well (also a big deal lately!), and the little man sang "My Country 'Tis of Thee" loud enough for several tables to hear and say "yay" with me when he finished. Check him out on this video--he left out a small part, which he doesn't usually do, but he's a bit camera shy. Don't mind it being sideways--I'm still not sure how to turn it and can't ever remember to leave the cameral horizontal when I'm taking video . .

I just love him to pieces! I can't wait to bribe him with candy to sing the other songs he's been learning for the "school program" next week!

La princesa crawled all the way in the top of the play thing and even slid down the slide all by herself. She looked a little shocked when she came down (on her belly, feet first thank goodness!), but went right back over to climb more. She lights up every room with her crooked toothed smile and her squeals of delight! She was the prettiest girl in Chick-fil-A, too, if you were wondering :)

While at Chick-fil-A playing after dinner, he announced loudly "Mom, I've gotta poop!" I sent him to daddy and off they went to the bathroom. I was convinced he was faking, but guess what--I was wrong! He came back a few minutes later and announced to the entire play area "Mom, I went poop! It was a big poop and it was sticking out. It was like a poop tail!" I just beamed proudly, high-fived him, and told him how proud I was. The other adults congratulated him too! If you're wondering, he's doing VERY well with the potty training, but the #2 part has been very hard to master. This is twice this month though, both times at restaurants, that he's gone #2 on "the pot"--I couldn't be more proud, or more ready to stop scooping poop out of Incredible Hulk underwear!

Now both critters are sitting on daddy's lap. Sissy priss is having her bedtime bottle and the critterboy is watching a few minutes of Wall-E before bed. After the kids go to bed, we old folks will watch Grey's Anatomy that we DVR'd and we might even sit by each other on the couch instead of across the room from each other. Sigh. This is the best day we've had in awhile--it obviously doesn't take much to impress me--and I'm so happy I could just giggle! Dare I ask if we can make tomorrow even better? Nah, I'd better quit while I'm ahead!

Blogoversary!

Ahhh, another milestone in my life! Today is my first blogoversary. This is one of the few things that I've actually started and kept going with, and still enjoy it! One year ago today I bit the bullet and began this blog. If you're wanting to join me in being nostalgic, you can read my first post HERE . I have made many friends through this blog, some in person and some just in blogland, at least for now, and I cherish every one of my loyal fans (wait, I meant readers!)!

As you can imagine, this year has been a rollercoaster. These next few months are full of big "anniversary days" for our family--I get emotional just thinking about this time last year with all of the uncertainty and doubt that loomed with the adoption process, and I live in constant amazement that we made it through in what now seems like record time. God is good!

Now on to the latest happenings. La princesa had her 15 month check up last week. She's so tall (31 inches - 80th percentile) and thin (18 lbs 12 oz - less than 5th percentile) that we need to get her on the baby runway! Her ped. is happy with her development and isn't concerned about her height/weight ranges since she's always been long and lean, just not THIS long and lean! She eats like a horse, so I'm not worried either! I decided to attempt a sewing project last weekend, and for not sewing in a year or so, I think I did pretty well, and it even fits her! Check it out--what do you think?

I've been sewing since I was about 5 years old and even helped my mom make my wedding dress! I use my mom's old sewing machine (circa 1970) which is showing signs of needing to retire, but since I wrote my name on it with magic marker when I was about 4, I'm going to use it 'til it dies completely. Then I'll probably put it in a closet somewhere and get a serger! Yee haw! (Yes, I already know I'm a nerd.) I'm going to make the little pants that go with the top next, then I have a secret plan in mind for my next project. One blogfriend (who will remain nameless) might just get a cockeyed, crooked seam ensemble for her princesa if all goes well!

My little daredevil girl with her "I'm ready for bed" hair.

The wild man just keeps getting wilder, as 3 and 3/4 year old boys seem to do. Sometimes I am convinced that he's going to get kicked out of daycare or Sunday school. That would leave me no choice but to quit my job and stay home . . . maybe I'm on to something . . . nope, just wishful thinking! He is doing very well wearing his glasses, although a few of the kids in his class make fun of him. Can you believe all that snarkiness begins so young? What in the world are some parents teaching (or allowing) their kids? It's hard for me to hear that he is already experiencing the rudeness of others, and even harder to think that he's got alot more ahead of him, as most kids do. He's so stinkin' smart and is hilarious! I need to get him on video singing all of his songs from school. Before we left this morning he made us all sit down in the living room for "group time" while he pointed to imaginary letters and numbers at the wall and made us tell him what they were. So cute!

My little wild man "working" in his kitchen while I work in mine.


Overall, things are great--we've found a routine that works for all of us (most of the time!) and while many days pass in a fog and a frenzy, we cherish every moment. Here's to another year of blogging, friendships, and fun!