Flippers, and other Matthewspeak

If you don't already know, my kiddo is a real hoot. Really, he makes me laugh all. the. time. Saturday he wanted to go outside to play. He said, "Mama, let's go outside!". I told him I needed to put my shoes on, and he asked me, "Mama, you need your flippers?". I looked at him curiously, looked at Mark, who was trying not to laugh, and said "What honey?" He promptly said again "your flippers!" He calls flip flops flippers! It's hilarious. Everytime he says it, I laugh so hard and picture myself with actual flippers on my feet, clopping along in the back yard. Did I tell you it's hilarious??!!

Our dog is named Gidget (you know, after the old movie with Sandra Dee? I always wanted to get a boy dog and name it Moondoggie, so then if they had puppies, the parents on their registration papers would be Gidget and Moondoggie! I digress . . .), but to the critterboy, it's "Jidjit". He LOVES to give her treats and she's getting really fat in her old age because of it.

I could go on and on about the many silly things this amazing little boy says and does. But instead, I'll stop boring you and just give you a pic of his majesty! TTYL

We're in PGN!!!

Okay, for those of you who don't speak the Guatemalan adoption language, PGN is the last step on the Guatemalan side of the adoption. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but our agency thinks we might be "out" by the end of the month. I'm still thinking mid-April, but you never know. What comes next, you ask? I updated the timeline on the right side of the page to list all of the steps to be completed before we can have la princesa in our arms forever. Basically, as a general rule, most families pick up their babies about 6 weeks after getting out of PGN.

La princesa will be 4 months old on Friday. Wow--time flies! Seriously, if you would have asked me a year ago if we would ever be to this point, I would have laughed at you. We have a long way to go, and alot can happen politically that can affect our case, but please pray that everything goes smoothly. Specifically pray that we get through PGN without any "kickouts" (the technical term is previo, but to me, KO works just fine--too hard to explain, but just know that they are BAD and we don't want any!) and get out quickly. We're ready to bring our baby girl home. Well, ready except her room isn't done, she has no clothes, etc., but ready none the less!

You freakin' out mommy?

A wise friend , one of my BFF's, actually, once told me to be careful what you say in front of your child because you never know when they will start understanding and remembering. For better or for worse. This friend told me about her little one remembering a heated argument she had had with her beloved and how the adorable little one would bring it up all. the. time. Even months later. To teachers, to grandparents, to anyone.

Well, I listened, but didn't think my kid was as smart as hers. Wrong! One morning a few weeks ago while trying to wrestle a 27 lb. worm out of the house and into the car so I could go to work, I was super stressed out and running late. I had a major meltdown which resulted in me crying hysterically and raising my voice to anyone and everyone who could hear me in a 3 state area. My beloved raised his voice back, saying "Stop freaking out!". We never do this. Seriously, maybe only one other time in the last nearly 15 years together. Guess who was standing at our feet? Yep, the 27 lb. worm/munchkin/adorable wild man.

Tonight he was sitting on the floor beside my chair while I was checking our email. He looked up from playing and said "You cryin' mama?" I, of course, was not crying, so I said no. Then he said, you guessed it "You freakin' out mommy?" I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. How funny that he remembered hearing that, but how sad that it was and must still be on his mind. Have we scarred him forever? Gosh, I hope not. We have so much more damage planned for the next several years of his life, I'd hate for none of it to count! haha

I have decided that it's okay. He has watched us be nice to each other far, far, far more than this one incident. Hopefully it won't ever happen again, and if it does, I hope he's not around.

So, BFF Steph, message received, loud and clear! Thanks for the heads up--anything else I should know?

Standing in line . . .

Please tell me that it's not just me. I'm pretty sure I have an invisible sign somewhere on my forehead that only rude people can see. It must say something like "sure, go ahead and cut in front of me, use me as the break in the line to pass through, I'm not really here anyway". I have noticed more often than not that when I stand in line, and it doesn't matter where I am, I'm always the one who people decide to use to cut through the line instead of going around. It happened last night at the mall. It happens everywhere. Seriously, I must look like the nicest person in the line or something. Or maybe I have the aforementioned sign. Who knows, but it's getting old. Those same kinds of people are the ones who will literally walk straight toward me in the grocery store, making me practically leap out of the way to avoid crashing our shopping carts. Am I invisible? Please tell me I'm not alone!

My first attempt at blogging!

Okay, it's official. I'm way behind the rest of the world and this is my first attempt to blog. Don't shoot me if it's not as great as others you've seen!

Since having my first kiddo almost 3 years ago, I have found blogs to be a great source of information, comedic relief, and most of all, an outlet for people, mostly moms, like me to share what's on their mind without boring their spouse with every detail. If he wants to know, he can check out the blog, right? Not that it means I won't talk to him, anyone who knows me knows that I talk pretty much non-stop; it'll just give him a bit of a break!

After the little wild man was born we thought he might be an only child. He was born 10 weeks early and spent 6 weeks in the NICU before coming home to us. Who would want to go through that again? Without boring you with every detail leading up to our decision to adopt, suffice it to say that I now feel that we were simply called to complete our family through adoption. I have always believed that things happen for a reason, but I now firmly believe it is true. God has a plan for us, and part of that plan is in Guatemala, waiting to come home to her forever family. Gosh, I hope we can meet His expectations!

There is so much on my mind right now that I can't possibly share it all. I'll use this blog as a place to keep friends and family up to date on the happenings of our little Ridlen universe. Hopefully someone will find it helpful, funny, or at least a bit interesting. Hope you enjoy!