Thursday, November 29, 2007

Ok so...um.....this is going to be harder than I thought!

I have been trying for the past month to ween Owen off of his pacifier. He loves them so it hasn't been easy. I would put one up and then another would somehow magically appear in his mouth as he rounded the corner of the hall way. Where were they coming from????
I had come to the conclusion that my son was stashing his pacifiers for later use with the knowledge that Mommy wasn't going to give them up so easily.
Well, yesterday I found them! The stash! Set neatly in a pile under his crib behind a toy basket!!!
When I asked him about the stash he gave me an innocent smile.

The photos themselves are incriminating.





Needless to say, this is going to be harder than expected. I don't think Owen is going down without a fight.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

A Renewal of Spirit



We put up all of our Christmas decorations yesterday and I must say that I feel different. The last several years at this time I have felt a little saddened about Christmas. It just hasn't been the same. That feeling of pure excitement, human connection and giving has eluded me. I used to love the Holidays as a child and young adult but I suppose all the stresses of daily life, career, bills, relationships and my views about the world just hasn't allowed me to regain that feeling.

Until Now!!!

I feel so excited! I know this renewal is because of our son Owen. The amazement in his eyes looking at the tree, him dancing in the living room to the xm holly station and knowing that Santa is truly coming to our home this year is invigorating. I feel like a new person, a different person. I can't wait for Owen to wake up Christmas morning and see what Santa has brought him!

I feel that tingle you get at Christmas, that connection to all people.

In short, I am happy and excited at what this holiday season brings to my family.


Owen Dancing!


Peppermint Goodness!


Our Christmas Tree


Owen's first pro Christmas photo!

Friday, November 16, 2007

A Litte Pick Me Up!

We are at the very beginning stages of adopting. I am reading a ton of literature about trans racial adoption and planning how to deal with the paperwork and finances. In the meantime I often have dreams about us seeing our little girl in person for the first time. I am excited. I think about Owen and his sister playing, us at the park, the zoo, or dancing to the XM Ethel channel in the living room.

Needless to say I have told many about our decision to adopt. I guess I expected people to react in a joyous manner but that is not often the case. People generally respond "oh, yeah I heard about that", "you can't have anymore kids?", "isn't that expensive?" and one actually asked what children from Ethiopia looked liked and once I told her they are African, her response...(long pause)"oh".

But today I went to my old job to drop off a wedding album for a client (she works where I used to teach) and saw many old friends and coworkers. As is often once you start having children the question on everyones mind..."you gonna have any more???" Once I told them about the adoption many of the above responses followed.

However, two of my coworkers were particularly excited for us. They asked about the process, about the children of Ethiopia and talked about Owen becoming a big brother. I told them of some of the other responses I had received and one of these women told me that we were going to bring a little girl into our home and love her. She will be loved and that is what matters and will make us a bigger and more complete family. She said she knows our little girl will be beautiful, just beautiful.

These women I respect and spent a great deal of time with while I was employed there. Their words meant a lot to me.

If they read this I want to say Thank You. It gave me a boost to stay excited and motivated through the very long process that awaits.

I would like to say thank you to Heather and Laura too for all the encouragement.
Your excitement for me from the both of you means a lot.

Now lets start buying cute sun dresses and overalls so that at least my kids will look cute when I am at Walmart in my sweatpants!!! haha

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Bubbles and Mohawks!

Owen loves his Bath time!



Mommy loves giving Owen interesting hairdos during bath time!!! :)