Interview with Pea

Pea and I were enjoying some hot chocolate together yesterday as it snowed outside and we were talking about some of his favorite things. I grabbed the video camera to capture a little bit of our impromptu interview. I just love hearing what he has to say! And, don't worry, we do not give him tires for breakfast. :)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Holidays!!

Happy Holidays, everyone!! We had a very busy and FUN holiday season. So much so that the blog had to take a backseat for a little while. We did A LOT of baking at home and with family and friends, we gained some weight, we visited a train museum and rode a small steam engine train, we spent time with family, we went to the zoo to see the lights, watched Christmas shows, opened lots of presents, and just enjoyed being together. Here is a glimpse into our funfilled month. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

Let the season begin!

Wow! We have been busy already this holiday season! This past weekend was full of holiday activities. We started off with a visit to Santa. Pea was not so sure about Santa this year! He would not sit on Santa's lap and wanted me right beside him. He did manage inform Santa that he wants a fire truck, ambulance, and police car for Christmas!

A quick pic of pea with Santa.


After visiting with Santa, we headed out to the Christmas tree farm. This was a tradition in Jason's family when he was growing up so we are continuing that tradition with our family. We had a lot of fun trying to find the perfect tree.


Pea decided it was more fun to race in and out of the trees...


to play hide and seek with daddy.


BOO!!! Pea LOVES hide and seek and wants to play it ALL the time! He just laughs and laughs.


"Wait for me, daddy!" Or, as pea often says..."Daddy is getting away!"


We had our little family tree decorating party on Sunday and it was more like a "who is the grumpiest" party! We were all feeling under the weather and nothing seemed to be going "right." But, the evening ended perfectly and I only need to replace one strand of lights on the tree...;)

FFF...Holiday Traditions

It's FRIDAY!!! Woohoo! And...that means FFF. This week's theme is Holiday Traditions! Check out more FFF on Hannah's blog HERE. So, to get in the spirit of the theme, I simply copied one of my holiday tradition posts from last year! Is that cheating?!?! Nahhhh!! It's TRADITION! :) Here it goes:

As some of you may remember from a post last year, I am CRAZY about Chex Mix! I have been since I was a kid. Growing up, we made Chex Mix every year around Christmas time and it is just one of those crazy, seemingly meaningless traditions that is so important to me! It is really less about the actual food, than it is the memories and feelings it evokes. (Though it is pretty darn deeeeee-lish!) Every year, we would dedicate an entire day to making Christmas goodies. My mom, sister, and I (sometimes my brother, too) would spend the entire day cooking, baking, and decorating cookies. The kitchen would be a disaster with flour, frosting, wax paper, and tiny cookie decorations everywhere! We had so much fun and those times together helped define the meaning of the holidays for our family. And, let me tell ya, my sister decorates a mean cookie!

At some point over the years, I became the official Chex Mix chef and thus began a lifelong, glutinous love affair that only comes around once a year! It is pretty much the staple of my diet from Thanksgiving through New Years. No joke! In fact, I am eating it right now. ;) I especially love it for breakfast! Now, I am talking about the homemade stuff, not that bagged crap that claims to be the original Chex Mix. And, I am a hardcore ORIGINAL Chex Mix recipe follower. None of this bagel chip, mixed nuts, and garlic & onion powder nonsense. I suppose you could call me a Chex Mix puritan or, well, maybe a Chex Mix snob. Call me what you will, but I stand strong and proud by the Original recipe. ;)

What is the original recipe you ask? Well, let me indulge you. Okay, I admit, the recipe may not be exactly like the original, but it is pretty darn close. And, I always double the recipe.

6 cups Rice Chex Mix
6 cups Corn Chex Mix
6 cups Wheat Chex Mix (NOT the multigrain. I made this mistake ONCE!)
1 or 2 cups pretzels
1/2 to 1 cup peanuts (I like dry roasted)
5 tbsp butter (the REAL stuff)
4 tbsp Lea & Perrins Worcestershire (the best brand)
3 tsp Seasoned Salt

Mix dry ingredients together in large bowl. Melt butter and combine with worcestershire and seasoned salt. Pour over cereal mixture and stir to coat evenly. You can bake it in the oven or the microwave. I use the microwave because that is what I have always done. :) Cook for 6 minutes in the microwave, stopping to stir mixture every 2 minutes. Lay out on paper towels to dry and then ENJOY!!!

So, since it is my turn to be mom at Christmas time now, I have the huge responsibility of passing on this sacred tradition to my family! And, well, I am so proud to say little pea may be just as crazy about Chex Mix as his mama. Sigh...so, so proud. ;)



I have been stocking up on my supplies! Seriously, I was not kidding when I said this was an addiction!!! And, I just may need to replenish this supply of cereal to get through the season!



My official taste tester.


YUM! YUM! YUM! YUM! YUM! DELICIOSO

Catching Up

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!!! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with Jason's family in Pennsylvania. We had not seen them in a very long time so it was so great to relax and spend some time together with them. It is about a 6 hour drive (with breaks) and pea did amazing! No crying, no whining, no complaints at all! Any shred of guilt I had from plopping a portable DVD player in front of him for 6 hours is looooooooong gone! Bless you, DVD player! hehe!

And, it is not Thanksgiving in our family unless someone ends up getting sick. For several years, Jason and I took turns getting sick. Last year was pea's first Thanksgiving so he was initiated with this family tradition. This year, pea and I both ended up with colds. Compared to years past, this year was nuthin'!

In spite of our sore throats and sniffles, our weekend was jam packed with fun. Unfortunately, the batteries in my camera died so I don't have very many good pictures. And, can you believe I did not have any extra batteries???? Sheez!! Of course, I have a gazillion batteries at home, but did I think to take some extra ones with us? Noooooooo. Oh well. Jason's sister and dad took some great pictures at the firehouse that they both promised to send me (HINT! HINT!) and our friend, Sally, took Eli's picture with Santa that she also promised to send me (HINT!!!).

So, here are a few token pictures from some of our adventures in PA.

Playing football with daddy.


Playing on poppop's tractor thingy.


Riding the tractor at our friend, Mindy's house. Look at that view!


Waiting for Santa to arrive on the fire truck!


Visiting the fire house. Jason's dad is a volunteer firemen so he took pea and his cousins on a special tour of the firehouse. It was great!

Surgery update and FFF

Ugh! Today pea had a very ROUGH post surgery day. He was in a lot of pain and definitely not himself. Very weird since yesterday he was running around like crazy! He has a follow-up appointment with the surgeon today so hopefully he will be back on the upswing. My poor baby!

In the meantime, it's Friday! This weeks FFF theme is Oh Give Thanks. Check out Hannah's blog HERE.

Here is a pic from our hike in the woods a couple weeks ago. We had so much fun! Pea is definitely entering the pretend play phase. He was pretending this long stick was a horse and we all HAD to ride it together. Of course, I would sneak off the horse to take some pictures, but I was quickly told to "hop on board, mommy. come on. come on." I am sure we were quite a sight riding our horse through the woods! I just love this age and I am thankful that being a parent allows me to be a kid again, too!


And, the only adoption related news we have at this point is we have submitted our initial application and are waiting for the preliminary approval. Yes, I told you we are just at the beginning stages! This process is sooooo much different so we have a lot to learn.

Surgery Day

My little pea had surgery yesterday. Ya know, the boy surgery. :) (I am sure he is going to hate me one day for posting this! hehe!) He did soooo amazingly well. Much better than I did! They allowed me to go into the surgery room with him while the anesthesia was administered and he was so brave! I felt a little intimidated walking into the OR because there were about 6 or 7 doctors and nurses waiting for us in scrubs, but pea did not seem phased at all. The anesthesiologist even let him color on the sheets of the bed before she put him under. Even though it was a very minor surgery, I cried all the way out to the waiting room! But, all of the hospital staff were so, so wonderful and that definitely made it easier.

We spent most of yesterday afternoon watching movies, but pea was bursting with energy today running around like a wild child! I suppose he had a lot of pent up energy built up from our lazy day yesterday. He decided it was a good day to climb everything...the bookshelf, into his crib, the entertainment center, etc, etc. The nurse told us he would probably have some limited mobility for a little while...ha. Ya right.

On the car ride home. The nurses made sure Mr. Bear was properly dressed for the occasion.

What I love - Day 7...the next chapter

I did it! I did all 7 days of Aimee's Adoption Awareness theme challenge! Woohoo! Okay, here is day 7!

Our journey to family has certainly had a significant impact on the ways in which we live our lives and view the world. Our struggle to build a family is definitely not something we focus on anymore, but we learned so much through that experience. We learned to never give up on love, never give up on our greatest dream, and never give up when it seems like there is nothing left to give. And, most importantly for me, it helped me find new sources of strength I didn't realize I had. Part of the experience of infertility for me was that sense of shame and self-doubt. I went through a period in which I questioned what Jason and I could possibly have done wrong to "deserve" this. I questioned my faith and, quite honestly, questioned whether or not I even deserved to be a mother. It was a very painful time for me. I felt like I lost a sense of who I was for awhile in trying to understand why something so amazing and miraculous came so easily to everyone but us. Yes, it was a very tough time!

As I worked through these issues and started to open my heart to other possibilities for our family, I also started to develop a new and stronger sense of myself. A stronger self that refused to give up on the dream of being a mom and raising a family with my wonderful husband. I realized that this was a dream worth fighting for, no matter what, and I decided that not having a family was just not negotiable! I started to realize that there was another plan for our family. It wasn't a Plan B or the last resort, as so many people often think of adoption. Infertility led us to adoption, it was part of our journey to finding our son. I never thought there would be a day when I would be so grateful for our infertility, but I am! So grateful.

I remember very clearly the day we learned that our last attempt at having a baby had failed and we decided that was enough. In leading up to that day, I was so unsure of how I would feel letting go of that dream. But, when that day arrived and we made the decision to pursue adoption, I felt this HUGE weight lifted from my heart and suddenly everything felt RIGHT. We closed a door that day and it seemed like the whole world opened up to us as a result.

Adoption has brought so much to our lives, more than what I can possibly express, even in daily posts like these! So, after much soul searching, we have decided that our family is not complete. What does this mean?

We are pursuing another adoption!!!!!

We are at the very beginning stages for a domestic adoption, but we are so excited!! Who knows where this next journey will lead, but I am sure it will be another roller coaster ride! I hope you all decide to ride along with us this time, too!

FFF...Beautiful Gifts and Day 6

It's FRIDAY!!! Woohoo!!! And, the FFF theme for this week is Beautiful Gifts. What a perfect theme to go along with Adoption Awareness Month! Check out more FFF HERE.

My most precious and beautiful gift came to me through adoption.


Another thing I have learned through adoption is that my greatest gift, my greatest source of joy was so connected to another woman's significant loss. I will never, ever fully comprehend the significant loss undoubtably experienced by pea's birth mother. I will never fully understand how pea will be affected by his adoption story...how it will shape his identity and his sense of self. And, until we were in the airplane ready to leave Guatemala with pea in our arms, I never truly felt the impact of my joy being so intricately connected to the significant loss and grief of another woman. I vividly remember those last moments in Guatemala looking out the plane window across the skyline of Guatemala City wondering where pea's birthmother was at that moment. Wondering if she somehow knew that something was different that day.

Sitting on that plane (crying my eyes out, of course!), I was overwhelmed with relief , joy, and disbelief that we were finally bringing our son home. At the same time, I was also overwhelmed sadness and and a sense of loss knowing we were taking pea away from everything he had known up until that point. We were taking him away from his birth country and culture, something we would never, ever be able to provide for him in the same way. It was such a complicated mix of emotions as we started to taxi down the runaway, saying goodbye to Guatemala, while also preparing ourselves for a new beginning at home.

As we settled in for the long journey home, I was lastly overwhelmed with honor and gratitude for this amazing gift asleep in my arms, at last. This amazing gift of adoption is full of complicated emotions, but most importantly...full of love, joy, and hope. Adoption was a gift for all of us. A gift we all wanted and needed: family.

What I Love - Day 5

I fell in love with Guatemala 16 years ago when I first stepped foot in the country. It left an imprint on my heart and, at the time, I really wasn't sure exactly why I felt this incredibly strong connection to Guatemala. But, I left the country in tears at the age of 19, knowing I would be back someday. Jason and I had only been dating for a few months at that time, but I knew he would be coming back with me. This was one thing I knew for SURE, with every fiber of my being. Little did I realize at the time what that really meant! I had no idea that Guatemala would be a source of life for our family.

Adopting internationally not only united us with our son, but also with a country, a culture, a new view of the world and our place in it. It is life changing to experience another culture, especially one that is so completely different than our own and in a third world country. The experience of being in a different culture combined with the experience of adoption enabled us to step back and view our lives through a different lens. To take stock, in a sense. Our fight and struggle to have a family and our journey across the boundaries of country and culture, embedded a deep appreciation and perspective on what is really important in life. It shapes how we think and see the world now and it has inspired us to be more giving in many ways, affecting so much of what we do. Having this connection makes the world feel so much smaller and makes it feel like what we all do as individuals and communities really does matter.

This year, Jason decided to carry some of these life lessons into his classroom in his attempt to develop his curriculum around character education and giving back. Jason teaches high school special education in a struggling, urban school with kids who often do not feel deserving of an education or feel like they have anything to contribute to society. Jason decided to involve the kids in a project to sponsor a student through Safe Passages in Guatemala. Click HERE to check out Safe Passages. What started out as a seemingly ambitious project has turned into a life changing experience for some of his students. Jason was able to have his students participate in a video conference (along with some other US & Canadian high schools) with a school in San Marcos, Guatemala. His students were able to interact directly with students in Guatemala and learn more about their life. After the video conference, Jason showed the movie, Recycled Life, which is an award winning documentary about the people who live and work in the Guatemala City Dump. (Click HERE to watch a trailer of the documentary. It is worth 2 minutes of your time.)The impact on these kids has been astounding and they have suddenly developed ownership over this project. Jason told me he has never seen his students work so hard. He has never seen his students work so well together, as a team, for a common goal. He has never seen his students have so much purpose and feel like what they are doing matters. Isn't that amazing and inspiring? Here are a couple pictures of their growing project that Jason took with his phone.






Obviously, their project has nothing to do with adoption, but I love that our adoption has opened our world and has influenced so much of what we do and how we live our lives. I love that adoption can bring people together across cultures, class, race, ethnicity, and more to make us all feel more connected rather than divided.

What I have learned - Day 4

Like many of you who have adopted transracially, we often get a lot of stares. It usually doesn't bother me because I know people are just genuinely curious and interested and, well, I am guilty of being one of those people, too! I admit that I attempt to stare discreetly if I see a family that looks a bit like ours! It's just part of human nature to be curious about others. And, sometimes I wonder if one of those people staring is feeling the call to adoption and wanting to make a connection. But, there are those who cross the boundaries, like the guy in Wal-Mart who stopped dead in his tracks in the middle of an aisle to unabashedly stare at us for several minutes. We have also had our share of crazy comments and questions like "does he speak English" or "who could ever give him up?" or "Oh, you couldn't have kids of your own?" And, everyone is always interested in how pea is "adjusting." I usually don't mind answering people's questions and I can certainly talk for hours about our adoption process because I am so proud of how my family was created. But, there are times when it is a little annoying and tiring.

What I really want people to realize is that we are like any other family. I have learned that there are people who don't see us that way. Sometimes I feel like there is an extra layer of judgment placed upon us. Sometimes I feel like people are looking for something to be wrong with pea just because he was adopted. And, there are some people who feel we have no right to raise a child of color and he is bound to have a major identity crisis as a result. The hardest part is when some of these attitudes come from within the adoption community. Consequently, I have learned that it is so easy to get caught up in that adoption paranoia and self-doubt. Of course I think about how adoption affects our parenting and how our conversations about adoption will evolve as pea develops and asks more questions. Of course I think a lot about how to raise a Latino son in a very racist society. But, this doesn't define everything about our family. In fact, we're actually pretty boring!

Every family has something. Something extraordinary. Special. Unique. And, we are all just trying to do our best to raise happy, healthy, confident, and strong kids. Ultimately, how we became parents is not as important as how we choose to parent our extraordinary, special, and unique children.

What I Love - Day 3

We witness a miracle every time a child enters into life.
But those who make their journey across time and miles,
growing within the hearts of those who wait to love them,
are carried on the wings of destiny and placed among us
by God's very own hands.
-Kristi Larson

One thing I love about adoption...about our adoption...is that it has renewed and strengthened my faith. I don't really like to discuss my religious and spiritual beliefs very often because it is very personal for me, something I prefer to keep to myself. But one thing is for sure, I believe 1000% that pea was meant to be our son and we were meant to be his parents. I believe that there was a "plan" for our family and there are so many events in our lives that just HAD to happen in order to bring our family together. It's quite amazing, really. I think of events like when our homestudy agency submitted our homestudy to the USCIS office without a signature and it delayed us being placed on the waiting list for a month! At the time, I was so upset! Now, I realize that delay was crucial to finding our sweet pea. It feels like nothing short of a miracle. I love these stories and all of the adventures that led to our family being together forever. These stories and adventures are uniquely our own and are woven together so perfectly by the hands of the spirit.

Adoption Awareness Day 2

I had no idea that when we started on our adoption journey we would not only become a family, but also become part of a community. I had no idea that adoption would bring so many wonderful and generous people into my life, both in the US and in Guatemala. I had no idea that I would NEED this community. I had no idea that adoption would inspire me to be a better person.


Our last dinner with pea's foster family...who we now consider part of our family.

National Adoption Awareness Month

As most of us already know, November is National Adoption Awareness Month! The original intent of this month was to raise awareness all the children in foster care in the United States waiting for a family, but it has grown to include all children and families touched by adoption.

My friend, Aimee, has challenged everyone to post ONE thing everyday this week on what you love or have learned from adoption. Visit her blog HERE. I am going to do my best so here goes my first thought...

One of the greatest things I have learned through being an adoptive mother is the power of letting go of fear and opening the heart in a million ways, but more specifically concerning pea's birth mother. When we started our adoption journey and were not quite sure which path we would choose, I certainly had some insecurities about having a relationship with my child's birthmother and fears that my role as mom would be always be inferior. But, now, I think of pea's birthmother daily and long for her to know how much her child is loved, that he is smart, funny, and full of joy. I long for her to know that he has her eyes and her nose. I feel a deep sadness that she cannot share in our joy of loving pea everyday. I hope that someday our paths will cross, but until that time my heart will always carry deep gratitude and grief for the woman who gave my son life. Adoption requires you to open your heart wide open, even when it feels uncomfortable, scary, and full of unknowns. Aimee also posted this poem a few days ago and it speaks beautifully to what it means, and feels like, to be an adoptive mother:

Being an Adoptive Mother…
Being an adoptive mother is not for every woman.
She must possess not only the natural mother instinct but an understanding and appreciation of the situation that brought a child into her arms making her a mother.
The adoptive family came to be by choices made, choices made by the first parents and by the adoptive parents.
This bond the adoptive mother has with her child grows over time, like the child did within his first mother’s womb.
Day by day, touch by touch, with each tear, kiss, and memory made they became a family.
Adoptive mothers have that special knack to let love grow.
Adoptive mothers know that she’s a mender of wounds, not just of the physical skinned knees with a band-aid and a kiss, but of the heart.
She gives love, acceptance, and permission to ask and talk about the day he was born and of his first parents.
Adoptive mothers are embracers, not only of the child with many hugs and kisses, but of the child’s heritage and history.
She embraces the facts of her child’s past with strength for herself and the child.
She’s not only a memory maker planning family vacations, activities, and birthday parties, but also a memory keeper.
Details of a birth, photos of the hospital, and of the parents who brought her into the world are kept along side the newspaper clipping that announced it all. All these things are kept in a special book that tells the whole story.
She’s a tier of shoelaces and of hearts.
She weaves lives together into a tapestry of a new family, with many different brightly, colored threads showcasing their individualities and family origins. Together they create one unit attached to each other.
Adoptive mothers are experts at finding lost objects, but understand and validate the profound, deep loss left by adoption.
She allows the tears to fall and grief to be felt, allowing the mourning of the mom not there.
She is secure in knowing that she’s not a replacement, but a finisher of a race for someone who, for whatever reason, could not run any longer.
This role is not for the weak of spirit, or the easily wounded.
Loving a child not born to her but calling him her own, but this is what she does, it is her calling. She is a mother.

FFF...Black and White

I haven't participated in FFF for quite awhile so I thought I would join in the fun this week!

This is absolutely one of my favorite photos of pea. The sweetness of his face and those gorgeous black eyes just makes my heart swell. I took this photo on our first visit trip when pea was 4 months old. It brings back so many emotions and memories of holding my sweet boy for the first time. It was pure joy and I feel so blessed that we have these memories with him during the time we were waiting for him to come home.


For more FFF, visit Hannah's blog HERE.

Captain Underpants

There's a big boy in da house! Give it up for Lil' Pea! Whoot! Whoot!

Actually, I am not sure whether I should be excited or sad that we are done with diapers (other than pull-ups at night.) I suppose it is a mix of both! Pea is doing amazingly well in his big boy underpants and it is definitely exciting to see him learning, growing, and finding his own sense of independence. His little personality is just blossoming, too. He has always been a little comedian, but lately EVERYTHING is funny and silly. He will do something silly and just crack himself up saying "that's funny!" Even when he is not trying to be funny, he is constantly cracking us up! He talks nonstop and the craziest things come out of his mouth! I just love it! For example, the other night Jason shaved off his moustache and pea said (in a very serious tone), "did you eat it, daddy?"

Here is silly pea showing off his new underpants. This picture is almost shocking to me...he looks so much older.


Daddy had to get in on the fun...(no, he did not coordinate the undies with his eyes!)

Elmo in a Sock

Pea has been developing a strong affection for Elmo lately. It started at the babysitter's house with the movie, Elmo in Grouchland (or something like that). Everyday, pea often says, "that man took Elmo's blankie!" (In reference to the movie) We also own Elmo potty (which, by the way, we have not changed a poopy diaper in WEEKS!!! Yes, he mastered poo before pee) and we also own Elmo visits the Firehouse. With this new affection, he has been carrying around the only Elmo toy he owns...a 3" plastic Elmo.

The other night, pea decided that Elmo needed to go poopy and pea on the potty and that Elmo needed to wear jammies. Pea started pulling out his PJ's for Elmo, but of course they were too big! So, mommy came to the rescue and found some jammies for Elmo...in the sock drawer. Pea was very excited and has been carrying Elmo around in a sock for about 3 days now! It is hilarious!

Little Chef

Pea was particularly needy and whiny tonight as I was trying to get dinner ready so I decided to ask him to help me make dinner. He LOVES "helping" in the kitchen. His newest thing pull a chair up to the counter and try to "help" by grabbing everything in sight saying "what's this?" or "what are you making, mommy?" Over and over and over...:) I usually don't mind until he starts grabbing the knives...

So, I thought he could help me make dinner by stirring something on the stove, then I decided that was a really bad idea with mr. grabby even under the closest supervision and with my haste to get dinner done. So, instead, I put him to work making his own dinner. I grabbed a bag of dried 10 bean soup that has been in the cupboard forever, gave him some measuring cups, tupperware, measuring spoons, and let him have at it. He had a blast "making dinner." He was out of my way while also feeling like he was helping me.

Starting the soup.


Carefully measuring.





Transferring from one bowl to the next with the measuring cups.


Forget the measuring cups...



Okay, so somewhere in there, pea decided his hands were sticky so he needed to move his chair over to the sink. Now, he LOVES playing with the water in the sink. So, he got a bit distracted from his soup while getting himself wet at the sink. Actually, I was shocked to discover there was hardly any water on the floor! It all ended up on his shirt. Sooooo....

off with the shirt and back to the soup (note the wet shirt draped over the chair!).


Somehow he snuck his sippy cup of water over to the soup station, opened it up, and dumped all the water into the soup (and put some beans in his cup). Well, OF COURSE! You gotta have water for soup, right?!


Amazingly, there really were not that many beans on the floor! It was pretty fun watching him play and explore while I cooked dinner. I admit, I am not really that great at coming up with creative ideas like this so I felt like a brilliant mom tonight. hehehe! No, seriously, it is hard to balance working all day while also dealing with all of the other day to day responsibilities like cooking dinner, paying bills, etc while still fitting in quality time and activities. I sometimes have those mommy guilt moments feeling like I should be providing more structured and stimulating activities for pea at home. Anyone else feel like that sometimes? What activities do you do with your toddler?

What's for dinner tonight?

Savory Crescent Chicken Squares! I scored a great deal on Pillsbury crescent rolls a few weeks ago (like FREE) with fond memories of chicken crescent rolls my mom used to make when we were growing up. I found a similar recipe online and decided to give it my own little personal spin. They are extremely easy and quick. I think they turned out pretty yummy, too!

Savory Crescent Chicken Squares

6oz of cream cheese (I used the lowfat version), softened
1tbsp butter, softened
2c. cubed cooked chicken
1/2c. frozen spinach (thawed with water squeezed out)
1/2c. chopped artichoke hearts
1/4tsp salt
1/8tsp pepper
2tbsp milk
2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls (8oz)
1tbsp butter, melted
3/4c. crushed ritz crackers

1. Heat oven to 350.
2. In medium bowl, mix cream cheese and 1tbsp of butter; beat until smooth. Add chicken, spinach, artichokes, salt, pepper, and milk. Mix well.
3. Separate dough into eight rectangles. (Firmly press the perforations of the crescents together to seal.) Spoon approximately 1/2c. of chicken into the center of each rectangle. Pull corners of dough to center of chicken mixture; twist firmly. Pinch edges to seal. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Brush tops of squares with 1tbsp of butter; sprinkle with crushed ritz crackers.
4. Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy!

Mr. Independent

Pea has officially decided that he is the boss of the house and that he can do everything himself. It's been a lot of fun at our house! "Come here, mommy." "Do this, mommy." "Go to timeout, daddy." "Nooooooooo!! I don't want to do XYZ!" For example:

Pea: I am hungry.
Me: Okay, I will fix you some lunch.
Pea: NOOOOO!! I DON'T WANT LUNCH. (crying starts)
Me: Oh! Are you hungry?
Pea: Yes.
Me: Okay. I will get you something to eat.
Pea: NOOOOO!! I DON'T WANT SOMETHING TO EAT. (more crying and some throwing to mix it up a little.)

He then kicked it up a notch with the crying and threw something across the kitchen so he had to sit in his room for a little bit. We recently started having him go to his room when he gets mad (to the point of throwing things) to calm down. It is so funny because he just runs right into his room crying and sits in the middle of the floor. AND, he will not get up until we tell him it's okay. He will just sit there and cry until it's all out of his system and then he is fine.

On the flip side, all of his sweetness far outweighs the other stuff. One of his newest things is to run in the room saying "Look who's here, mommy?" Of course, I say "Who's here?" Pea: "It's ELI!" A couple weeks ago he asked where the sun went after it went behind the clouds so I asked him where he thought the sun went. He said "It's playing hide and seek."

A couple weeks ago Pea and I had a "mommy and Eli day." These days are very rare and I really miss them! We had a lot of fun playing at the park. And, of course, Mr. Independent was not really interested in the toddler area of the park and instead had to try out the big kid area. That is so much more fun!

Walking on the ropes.


Full steam ahead!

10 Years...then and now

Friday, 9/25, was our 10 year wedding anniversary! It's hard to believe it has already been ten years, though that time in our lives also seems like a lifetime ago. We were living in Asheville, North Carolina at the time so we were married in the mountains right outside of Asheville. It was perfect. It was very important to us that our wedding ceremony and celebration reflected who we were as a couple and as individuals so we wrote our own ceremony and vows, which made it so much more meaningful for us....and, I think, for our friends and family, too. The entire day was just perfect and it was exactly what we had dreamed about. We had a great celebration after the ceremony that was complete with a bonfire and a beautiful full moon. Who could ask for anything more?!?!

Ten years ago


Jason and I have actually been together 16 years as of this November. (Wow. Where has the time gone?) We met during my sophomore year of college. Jason had just transferred to the school that year and lived in the same dorm as me. In fact, he lived directly below me! I knew from the instant I saw him walking through our dorm that I just HAD to meet him. No if's, ands, or buts about it. I had to meet this guy! Our first conversation lasted about two hours and after our first "date" I knew he was the guy I was meant to marry. No joke! I have it documented in my journal! hehehe!

I am so lucky to be married to my best friend...to someone who understands me better than I understand myself, to someone who puts up with all of my craziness, and to someone who still makes me laugh everyday.

A Perfect Moment

Everyday, God gives us the sun - and also one moment in which we have

the ability to change everything...

-Paulo Coelho

I scream, You scream...

We all scream for ice cream! Pea finally discovered what the ice cream truck is all about this past weekend. He is very familiar with hearing and seeing the truck and knows that it is an ice cream truck, but...he had no idea what that really meant! The truck comes through our neighborhood regularly so we figured it was close enough to the end of summer to get a dose of the ice cream truck. (We deliberately did not do this at the beginning of summer. No need to create an ice cream truck monster too early!)

Notice the shadow? My attempt to be in the picture!





Shadow Family


Dora ice cream. Pea loves Dora. I think more than Diego, but not as much as the Backyardigans!


mmmmmmm...yummy!


Trying to get some of daddy's ice cream.

Who's Missing?

I recently read this great post on iheartfaces about self-portraits and putting yourself in the picture. Read the post HERE. Most of the family pictures I take are of Eli with a few of him and his daddy. I am typically the one behind the camera so I am often left out of most of the pictures. Sometimes I will hand Jason the camera, but usually I am just focused on capturing pea and his little personality. It dawned on me after reading this post that, by not including myself in a lot of the pictures, I have definitely fallen into that mommy trap where it is so easy to forget about me. I have officially become the invisible mom behind the camera. I don't want pea to look back on these years and have very few pictures of us together. I absolutely love seeing pictures of me as a child with my parents! Those pictures have helped to form and maintain so many of our family memories, our family story. Isn't that what is important? So, that is one of my new goals...more FAMILY pictures...not just pea pictures.

Here are a few from our visit to the park this past Saturday. It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun feeding the ducks, throwing rocks in the water, looking at the crabapples (pea trying to eat them!)...just being together.












Okay, one token pea-only picture. ;)

Takin' A Break

I took a little unplanned break from blogger world. There have been too many other things robbing my time and attention! You know how that goes. Since school recently started, Jason is back to work and adjusting back to our school time routine. As hard as it was working all summer with my fav fellas home all day, I REALLY enjoyed having a stay-at-home hubby for the summer! He did the laundry, would start dinner, ran errands for me, planned our Mexico trip, etc, etc. Aren't I lucky? But, alas, it's back to the grind. Sigh...

So, even though I haven't posted in a few weeks, I certainly have been thinking about some "blog worthy" things such as how do you deal with rude stares (I have been noticing this more and more), how do you talk to your kids about adoption and their story, and I recently read a great post about the importance including yourself in photos with your kids! But, those posts will have to wait for right now.

In the meantime, I have really been into cooking lately and trying new recipes (if you haven't noticed already!). My newest thing? Meal planning. I am not much of a planner so this is a new venture for me and it is working out pretty well. Of course, my "plan" is a very flexible one but that is what works for me! I am finding that I have the motivation to cook more if I know what's on the menu! I generally plan about 3 meals per week since we usually have leftovers and we have a standing weekly dinner date with my parents.

So, tonight's menu included homemade Italian Breadsticks and Chicken Pesto and Couscous. Both recipes are from one of my new favorite blogs to stalk: Cooking During Stolen Moments.
I have already made several of her recipes! Now, I still make adjustments to "lighten" up some of her recipes, but every recipe has been a hit so far!

Here are the Italian Breadsticks. I have never, ever made bread from scratch before so I was a little intimated by the whole yeast, dough thing. WOW! It was so EASY!!! These breadsticks were so yummy and, I swear, they were about 1.5" thick! I made these after I got home from work and we were still sitting down at the table to eat by 6pm. Check out the recipe here. I will definitely be making these again.



We ate the breadsticks with a side of Chicken Pesto and Couscous. :) If you have never had couscous, give it a try! It cooks in 5 minutes and you can generally substitute it for rice in various dishes (though it is not as "hardy" as rice). We love the whole wheat couscous from Trader Joe's. I made this with chicken, tomatoes from our garden, zucchini from a friend's garden, and of course my garden fresh pesto! Check out the recipe here. She served this recipe cold, but we ate it straight from the skillet. Either way is delish!


Okay, next post I hope to tackle one of the topics I mentioned above!

More Funnies

Okay, I had to add onto my last post with a few more funnies!

• Pea loves to play on our bed and pretend he is sleeping. He often ropes us into the game so he and Jason were playing sleep today. Pea then pointed to Jason's armpit and said "What's that, daddy" Jason said, "That's hair." Pea said "OH!" He then jumped off the bed, ran into the bathroom, and came back with a comb. You know what's coming next...yep, he intended to comb daddy's armpit hair.
  
• After dinner tonight I asked pea if he wanted some zucchini blueberry bread. His eyes got really big and he said in a hushed voice "oooooooh!! Oh snap!"
• Pea has been sporadically calling his daddy "Jason." We were at a festival over the weekend and came running towards his daddy saying, "Hey Jason!" Of course, we quickly correct him, but it is slightly amusing!

Life with Two...

Goofballs. And, to think I sometimes wonder where pea gets his silliness! Lord help me...



Between pea and Jason, there is always some sort of craziness going on at our house and Jason always knows how to make pea laugh. You know...that pure, laughing-so-hard-stop-I-can't-breathe kind of laugh. It is music to my ears and always gets me laughing, too!

Pea doesn't always need his daddy to get laughing. He is learning to crack himself up and, I admit, he is pretty funny! Sometimes he really tries to be funny and, well, most times he is funny just by nature of being a toddler. For example:

• He has this really funny dance thing he does when he is really, really excited. He moves his feet around really fast, does some beat boxin', and does a combo breakdance/yoga move where he puts his hands on the ground and stretches like he's in the downward dog position while periodically kicking back his legs. It's hilarious and cracks me up every time!
• He also has a "sneaky walk." Again, another thing he learned from the Backyardigans (Robinhood the Clean episode for you fans! Sad...I know.) He gets on his tippy toes, hunches over, holds his hands up, and "sneaks" around very fast.
• The other day, he was sitting on the potty and making a grand effort (if you know what I mean.) He then looked at me with a very sincere and earnest face, held up his hands, and said "I got nothing, mommy."
• Saturday, pea decided he wanted to go swimming so he ran over to the pool, took off all his clothes, and jumped in. He then said "Come on, daddy. Take off your pants. Come on, mommy. Take off your shirt." Oh, to be so free and uninhibited!
• Last night...Jason said "Hey Eli." Eli covered up his face with his hands and said "Eli's gone."
• One of the things we typically tell pea at bedtime is mommy and daddy will see him in the morning when he wakes up. Last night he woke up around 10:30pm crying and saying "Good morning, mommy. Up, Up, Up. Good morning, daddy."
• Every morning for the past week or two when pea first wakes up, he talks about the penguin in his closet. (no, there is no penguin in the closet!) He said he likes the penguin and it sleeps in his closet.

I love hearing toddler funnies! What have your little ones done? Leave a comment or write your own post!

Move over little pea...

and say hello to little fish! Yes, my little fish is baaaaack!! Woohoo!! No more screaming with terror in the water!! Pea had his last swimming lesson Tuesday (for this session) and did awesome! He was so ready to be off swimming by himself and I could barely hold onto him. He swam on his back and on his stomach and could not get enough dunking under water. Just when he thought it could not get anymore exciting, they pulled out the slide. He was so excited, I had to hold him back until it was his turn. All of the other kiddos slowly or moderately slid their way down the slide and ever so gently into the waiting arms of their parents. Not my pea...I swear the slide was greased when he went down! He sank right to the bottom and popped up wanting more. He went down a few more times and just could not get enough. What a difference a couple weeks makes! He not only loved sliding into the water, but also loved climbing out of the pool (which he did all by himself) and jumping off the side. It was so fun! To top if off, he had already spent 1.5 hours swimming earlier that day at the babysitter's house. And, he didn't want to get out then! I am so happy and relieved that he got over this fear of water so quickly. We are signing him up for lessons again this fall and I am sure he will be swimming without any help in no time.

Getting ready to jump off the wall. I really had to remind him to wait until we counted to 3 before jumping in.

Speaking of water, our underwater pictures from Mexico turned out terribly! We are so disappointed! So, I will have to post some other pictures soon.

Livin' it up on the cheap

Quick, easy, delicious, healthy, and cheap! The perfect meal combo! I have not only been challenging myself to cut our grocery bill in half, but also to have meals that are quick and healthy. My sister and I went to the Aunt Millie's bakery outlet and found some great deals on whole grain breads (some even organic!) for $0.49, including a package of whole wheat pitas. No, they were not expired or even close to being expired...just overstock. So, I decided to make some pita pizzas today based on a recipe I found online.

Remember the garden fresh pesto in my freezer? Well, I used this as the base. I deviated from the recipe (of course!) and used some chard we bought at the farmers market, some summer squash from our garden, and a tomato from our garden. I topped the pizzas with a little bit of feta and other shredded cheese. I chopped the veggies up pretty small so that pea would not have the opportunity to pick them off! He gobbled it up. Yet, another easy and delicious way to sneak in a variety of veggies.


I then pulled out the red potato wedges I froze last weekend and made some oven baked fries. I simply tossed the fries with a little olive oil, lots of minced garlic, italian seasoning, salt, and a little bit of balsamic vinegar then baked them at 400 degrees (425 may have been better) for about 20 minutes turning once. They were so good!!
This dinner was so easy, quick, and really yummy! Not to mention...pretty healthy. Okay, I know it's a little carb heavy, but hey...it's good! Here is the recipe I used to create pizzas: PITA PIZZA.

It was also very cheap. Here is the approximate rundown based on the amounts I used for this recipe:

package of whole wheat pitas: $0.49
chard: $0.25
feta cheese: $1.00
shredded cheese: $0.25
pesto: free from last year's freezer pesto stash
tomato: free from garden
summer squash: free from garden
red potatoes: $0.20
TOTAL: $1.94 for 6 pita pizzas!! Plenty for dinner and lunch tomorrow!!

Let me know if you try any of these recipes and if you add your own version! I love to hear other ideas for adjusting recipes.

Monster Feet

Our pea has some big feet and they keep growing!! I did a similar post last year after he went from a size 4 to a size 6 within a few short months. Well, this summer he managed to go from a size 7 to a size 9 in less than one month. No joke!!! About 3 weeks ago, he started wearing size 8 and now he is in size 9. Sheez! He is growing way to fast and I don't like it! He is up to 37" tall (as of 3 weeks ago) and weighs 33lbs (he actually lost a couple pounds in the last month or so!). For the first 5 or 6 months of his life he hovered in the 5-10th percentile and is now consistently in the 90-95th percentile. He is a big boy!

He received these size 7 firetruck shoes for his birthday in April. I LOVE these shoes and I am so sad they are now too small!
His size 8 shoes that he not only outgrew in 3 weeks, but he also destroyed by dragging his feet down the sidewalk when riding his ride-on horse.

His newest pair of sandals...size 9. It doesn't look like these are going to fit for very long, does it? At least they only cost $3.00!! Gotta love Once Upon A Child (they were brand new Children's Place shoes with the tags still on!).
Aside from growing like a weed, here are a few other tidbits about pea:

• He has entered a whole new level of energy lately. He. Never. Stops. It's tiring just trying to keep up with him! He is definitely a rough and tumble little boy. To pea, everything is a ladder so he naturally climbs on everything. He is very resourceful in finding a way to reach something. For example, he uses the drawer pulls on the bathroom cabinet like ladder rungs in order to climb up to the counter. He also climbed the side of a shopping cart the other day while I was paying and managed to pull the cart over on top of him. Thank goodness he wasn't hurt, but I could not get out of that store fast enough!
  
• He has recently started using a lot of Spanish vocabulary without any prompting. The other day he was counting in Spanish, yelling "Buenos Dias" and "vamanos" at the grocery store, and saying "cuidado" as he tried to avoid "tar puddles" in the house. (For all you Backyardigans fans, tar puddles are in the Caveman's Best Friend episode.) We go through spurts using Spanish vocabulary so I was surprised when he started using some of these words routinely and appropriately! It just proves that he is always listening. (I won't mention what he repeated in the car the other day.)
  
• Pea not only listens intently, but he is also a very observant child. For example, he is our little GPS in the car. He is always telling us which direction to go while driving and he usually has a specific reason. He knows where all the fire stations are in town and which direction we need to turn in order to drive by any given station. (He has actually been doing this for months). He also knows which way we need to turn to get to various train tracks, grandma & grandpa's house, either of my sibling's houses, grandma's work, the ice cream store, etc. Another example...When we were in Indy a couple weeks ago, we ate breakfast at Einstein Bagels one morning and took a back way from our hotel to get there. The next day, we were approaching Einsteins (it was not in view, yet), but from a completely different direction and he started saying "Eat breakfast!" Initially, I had no idea what he was talking about until we passed Einsteins and he was pointing in that direction.
• He has been using the potty off and on for several months, but we have not done any "formal" training until today. Well, that is subjective because nothing is really formal in our house! But, he has been doing great! He willingly sits on the potty and goes almost everytime. Granted, he has had some accidents, but that is okay. He'll get there when he's ready.
• Pea is a great eater and is generally willing to eat most anything! He loves dipping red pepper strips in hummus, loves brown rice, beans, couscous, guacamole, edemame, sweet potatoes, squash, mangoes, berries, etc. I hope he continues to eat like this!
• He is definitely a cuddlebug, though a cuddle bug that is constantly moving! He loves to snuggle under blankets on the couch, even if it is hot out.
• And, he is definitely Mr. Independent. Everything is "I try" or "I do it."

I finally took our underwater cameras to be developed so I hope to be posting some more Mexico pictures soon!

Recipe

Here is the recipe for Black Bean Casserole that I mentioned in my previous post. As I have stated before, I do not follow recipes exactly and this one is no exception. In fact, I don't have this recipe written down anywhere, it is just one of those in my head so it changes all the time! But, here is the basic premise:

1lb ground turkey or ground beef (you could also use chicken and I often don't use any meat at all)
1c. bell pepper, chopped
1c. onion, chopped
2 cans black beans
1 can corn (sometimes I use corn, sometimes not)
1 can chopped tomatoes with green chiles
Various spices to your taste: cumin, chili powder, garlic, oregano or whatever else you like. You could substitute a package of taco seasoning, too.
cheese (your choice: cheddar, pepper jack, mexican blend)
12 corn tortillas

Preheat oven to 350. Brown turkey with onions and peppers. Add seasoning. Add black beans and tomatoes. Simmer until heated through.
Layer 6 tortillas in a 9x13 dish.

Top tortillas with half of the bean mixture and top with cheese. Layer another 6 tortillas with top with the remaining bean mixture and top with cheese.


Bake for 20-30 minutes. If you are baking it right away, then stick with around 20 minutes or so since you are primarily just melting the cheese. I had it in the fridge all afternoon so I baked it for 30 minutes, which was perfect.
Enjoy! Pea thoroughly enjoyed this tonight. After each bite, he either said "yum, yum" or simply "mmmmmm." It was soooo cute and funny!

A day in the kitchen

Remember my post a few weeks ago about my couponing/bargain shopping adventures? Well, it has become a bit of an obsession for me lately and, man, am I scoring BIG on groceries and other personal items! It definitely takes me more time to plan my shopping trips, but I am getting more and more efficient with organizing my coupons and finding the best deals. As an example, I went to Meijer this week and spent $27 on groceries, but saved $57! Woohoo! I was able to get several items for free between coupons and sales. I hate wasting money when I know I can get an item cheaper or free! Especially when it means we then have more money available for other things that are important to us.

Such as....


And...
We have always wanted to get a pop-up camper, but there was always something else taking priority. So, we have decided to set it as a goal to save for right now and hopefully we can get one sooner than later! We also want to buy a bigger house. Okay, not quite as big as the one in the picture, but...it sure is beautiful, isn't it?!?! I don't think I have mentioned that we decided to hold off on putting our house on the market this year (mainly due to the economy), but we plan to try selling our house in the spring. Since we know we will not be able to sell our house for as much as we'd like, we need to start saving now so we will be ready to purchase another house when that time comes.

Why am I telling you this? Well, this post is primarily a public reminder to myself that all the time and effort I put into cutting our spending will pay off when we are creating family memories by the campfire and finding a new home for our family to grow. And, sometimes making personal goals public adds even more motivation!

So, today I had a little impromptu stocking up day in the kitchen to make it easier later on to whip up dinner and reduce any excuses to eat out when we are feeling lazy! I started around 11:15am and worked for about 2.5 hours total throughout the afternoon (with a few breaks here and there so not to bad!) I found a great deal on potatoes this week so I cooked some in cubes and some in wedges for french fries. I then froze them with my vacuum sealer (LOVE IT!) so we can just pull them out of the freezer and throw them in the oven or microwave. I then browned 2lbs of ground turkey with red peppers that can be quickly thawed for tacos, pasta, or whatever! In the meantime, the crockpot was busy cooking up pulled pork that is now in the freezer and ready for fajitas, sandwiches, quesadillas, etc. Since I was already browning the ground turkey I decided make one of our favorite recipes: Black Bean Casserole. YUM! I actually got this recipe from my mother-in-law. I make it different every time, which is the beauty of this recipe! Plus, it is soooo easy. I will share the recipe in a separate post since this one is getting long.

After his nap, pea decided to "help" me out with baking a few loaves of Blueberry Banana Bread.

His idea of helping was flinging flour around, shaking the vanilla, dumping cinnamon on the table...but he loves to help!

All in all, it was a pretty productive afternoon. I hope to have one of these freezer stock-up days about once a month. But, I noticed that we have ton of basil ready in the garden so I will need to make some of my pesto stock very soon and we are starting to be bombarded with summer squash. So, I may have another stock-up day sooner than later!

Overcoming fear, building trust, and attachment

Up until recently, pea has been virtually fearless and he rarely shys away from anything. He approaches most new activities and experiences with lots of energy! It is so refreshing and fun to watch his fearless and enthusiastic approach to life. We all have a lot to learn from our toddlers at times, don't we? So, I was very upset when pea suddenly developed an intense fear of the water. He LOVED the water! He loved to dunk his head underwater, splash, pour water on his face before he was even a year old. That is, until he learned the hard way that water can be very scary.

Our babysitter, Diane, has an in ground pool and she takes the kids swimming one-on-one and tries to teach them some basic swimming lessons. About a month ago, she took pea out to swim and he was so excited! As is typical for him, he approached this activity full force and ran right into the water...and sank. Thank goodness Diane was right there and thank goodness she only allows one child in the pool area at a time. Of course, she informed us of what happened, but I honestly did not worry about it too much because we trust her 100% and we realize that things like this just happen. The following weekend we went swimming and pea absolutely refused to get into the water. He would not even let us hold him in the water. It was very clear that he was very, very scared. He finally ventured to the steps leading into the pool, but that is as far as he went. It was then that I realized how traumatic the pool incident was for him. On one hand, it was good that he learned how dangerous the water can be...on the other hand I was definitely upset by this new intense fear of something he loved so much.

It just so happens that we had signed him up for swimming lessons so the timing could not have been any better! But, the first lesson did not go well! He had a full body death grip on me while we were in the water and cried off and on the entire 30 minutes. I basically held him the entire time and we just walked around in the water. So, I was anticipating the same last night for his second lesson. We started off with the death grip and the crying, but he slowly started to relax. By the end of the lesson, he was laying on his belly in the water, kicking like crazy, blowing bubbles in the water, and laughing! I was so excited I almost started crying in the pool! Isn't that funny?!

Now, he definitely still had moments of fear and would wrap his arms around my neck very tightly, but he definitely had a breakthrough so I am confident he will overcome this fear very quickly. Whenever he would start getting scared, I would just have him look at me in the eyes and he would quickly calm down. For me, it was not only an experience in overcoming a new fear, but also an experience of building trust and attachment. It was confirmation that we have developed a strong attachment as a family, but also a reminder that it is something that will always be tested.

Attachment is always a hot topic in adoption so it is something I think about a lot. Sometimes it's hard to know that fine balance between what is typical toddler behavior and what is adoption/attachment related. I wonder if we sometimes become victims of adoption paranoia, thinking everything little thing must be an adoption/attachment issue. For example, pea is also going through a separation anxiety phase right now that has thrown us for a little loop because he is normally pretty easy going. My first thought was "is this an adoption/attachment issue?" even though I know it is completely normal for every toddler to experience separation anxiety at some point. In fact, it can be a very good sign of the attachment process and developmental milestones. But, I can't help but still wonder...is he afraid we are going to leave him? Is he having some sort of memories of the loss he has already experienced in his very short life? Did we leave him too long, too early when we went on our trip? I don't think so, but I still wonder.

What do you all think? Do you get caught up in the "adoption paranoia?" How do you find that balance?

Indy Weekend (LONG post)

Last weekend was our agency's annual picnic at a park just north of Indianapolis. We decided to make a long weekend out of the event and managed to cram in a lot of fun!

We left Friday afternoon and headed to Jenney & Jim's house. We received our referrals within a couple of days of each other and also went on our first visit trip together. It was so great to see them again! We had a cookout and just hung out on their deck catching up and watching our boys play together. Pea and L. had a great time together!

Here they are sharing a chair and digging into a back of chips.
Practicing for their upcoming debut.

On Saturday morning, we all headed to our agency's annual picnic. There were over 900 families there. Believe it or not, I hardly took any pictures! We were very busy chasing pea around while also trying to visit with other families, especially those we have known since the beginning of our adoption process. It is always so much fun to see every one's kiddos and to be surrounded by families that look like ours! But, unfortunately, I don't have any good pictures to show how really great it is! So, here are a few token pics.


Pea was spent by the end of the picnic. It was a long, overstimulating day! I am sure he was wondering why all of these crazy strangers knew his name and why they kept trying to talk to him! Even so, we headed back to our hotel to rest up for the next activity!

Not only was our agency's picnic that weekend, but also A Gathering of Our Hearts at the Holiday Inn/Caribbean Cove water park. We missed most of the activities scheduled during the day, but we went to dinner Saturday night with, what seemed like, a gazillion people! I was a bit worried about going to the dinner, because like I said, pea was done, very done. In fact, right before dinner he had a major meltdown over a bath. I am sure the entire second floor heard him screaming! But, once he got that out of his system, he was great! I was amazed.

Our group filled up about half the restaurant and the staff were amazing! I was so impressed with how quickly they took the orders and delivered the food. It seemed like mass chaos, but they must have had a good system! And, of course we all had separate checks, too!

Here is one view of our group in the restaurant. Luckily, we brought pea's stash of cars so he and several other boys were kept entertained while we waited. In fact, he and the boy across from him thoroughly enjoyed crashing the cars together. I swear there were cars flying in every direction!
After dinner, the kiddos took over and started a dance party. It was very cute!

We walked back to the hotel with Nicole and Dominic. We know them through our agency and spent some time at their house last summer. Pea and Dominic were so cute on the way back. Pea would point to things with great excitement, like "look at that sign!!!" and Dominic would echo everything he said. So adorable! This is such a fun age!




As if we had not had enough excitement, we headed to the Indianapolis Zoo the next morning.

Checking out the sharks. Last year, pea reached in and touched the sharks...this year he acted a bit scared (even though he had been asking over and over and over and over to see the sharks!).
Hanging around at the zoo playground. He was a little wild man at the playground. He kept running up to random kids growling like a bear! He would spread out his legs, hold up his "bear claws," and start growling. It was pretty funny! (Hey Bobbi, this was such a Reese thing!!)
Waiting for the train ride.
And......after a much needed nap back at the hotel, we headed to another friend's house for dinner. We met Karen and her daughter on our second visit trip. Another family, Beth and her daughter, also joined us for dinner.

Pea and S. coloring.

Phew! It was a busy, jam packed weekend! But, we had so much fun. We got home Monday afternoon and received a phone call from Beth informing us that everyone who was at Karen's house the night before had the stomach flu. UGH. Jason and I both woke up that night with it. Somehow, pea managed to stay healthy through it all! I am just so glad we didn't get sick in Indy!

We are already looking forward to next year's picnic weekend!

Zippin' through the jungle

Check one more thing off of my "before I die" list: Zip-lining!! It is something I have always wanted to do! We signed up for an all day tour through this company HERE and it was awesome! Definitely the highlight of our trip. Our guide was wonderful and we had so much fun. We not only zip-lined through the jungle, but also went bike riding through a Mayan farm, tubed in a cenote, snorkeled in another cenote, participated in a Mayan ceremony, had a DELICIOUS homemade traditional Mayan lunch, toured the Mayan Ruins of Tulum, and then swam at the beautiful beach in Tulum. All in one day! Needless to say, we were TIRED! But, it was that deeply satisfying, sense of accopmlishment kind of tired. Here are the zip-lining pics. So fun!

What a stud!


Zip-linin' diva


Flying over a cenote


Flying over a cenote


The "Tower of Death"


It was almost like climbing up a ladder to get to the top!


Yeeeeeehaw!!!!!


Woooooooohooooooo!!

We're baaaaack!!

We had such a GREAT time!! Here is a little sneak peak into some of our adventures!

Leavin' on a jet plane

Jason and I are celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary this year (in September) and, after much encouragement from some good friends, have decided to take a trip...without our little pea. We are heading to Mexico this Saturday for six nights to relax on the beach, snorkel, zip through the jungle, and more! We are very excited! Yet, I am also so nervous about leaving my sweet boy for 6 nights! That is a looooong time. He is staying with my parents, whom he adores! So, I know he will have tons of fun being spoiled by mawmaw and pawpaw.

But...sniff, sniff...I will definitely miss my crazy sweet pea terribly!


Even so, it is going to be great and I will have lots of pics of our adventures to share when we return.

Ridin' in Style

Deal of the week!! Jason found this fabulous bike trailer on craigslist for $15! Isn't that great?!?! Jason was so excited! So, of course, we had to test it out. (I know, I know, we need to get pea a bike helmut. That is next on the list.) Despite the look on his face in this picture, Pea had a great time in his new ride.



It was so fun to ride my bike again! I used to ride my bike all the time. When we lived in Boulder, Colorado, I rode my bike everywhere. There were times I would not drive my car for a couple weeks at a time. It was so great! (Especially compared to now...I spend about 1.5 hours in the car every day commuting to work.Hate it!) Of course, Boulder is such a bike friendly town as there are bike paths throughout the city and designated bike lanes on the roads. I really miss that! We want Pea to have an appreciation of the outdoors and fun activities like biking, walking, hiking, etc. So, that means we need to get back into the habit ourselves. Hopefully, pea will continue to enjoy hangin' out in the bike trailor so we can go for lots of bike rides this summer. As soon as we got home from our first family bike ride, Pea jumped out of the trailor wanting to ride his little bike! So, hopefully, we are off to a good start. Though,this momma jumped off the bike and almost fell over from spaghetti legs!

Taste of Summer

Another thing I LOVE about summer is fresh produce from our garden! Jason is the master gardener at our house, but I am usually in charge of doing something with the bounty! We almost always grow basil or cilantro and what is better than garden fresh, homemade pesto???? YUM! I always make a huge batch and then freeze portions using an ice cube tray. After they are frozen, I transfer the pesto cubes to a freezer bag and vacuum seal the bag. Freezing the pesto in small cubes allows us to pull out a couple cubes at a time, as needed. Our pesto supply typically lasts well into winter. We use it on pasta, mix it with mayo for sandwiches, add it to scrambled eggs, etc. I have a really easy, yummy lasagna recipe that uses pesto mixed in with the cottage cheese. mmmm...I may need to make that soon!

So, I discovered that we have a little bit of last year's pesto left in our freezer so we used it tonight on pasta with mushrooms and red bell peppers. Very simple. Sometimes I will mix in tomatoes, artichoke hearts, chicken, or any other vegetable. So delicious and EASY!!! Who doesn't love easy AND delicious?!?! Pea ate two bowls of this deliciousness. I know, this picture doesn't look that appetizing, but trust me...
We have tried store bought pesto and it just doesn't compare to homemade. It is sooo easy to make. This is the basic recipe I use (keep in mind that I typically don't measure so, these are approximate):

• 1 bunch of basil or cilantro
• 1/3 c. walnuts (You can also use pine nuts, but I always use walnuts because they are cheaper and very, very healthy)
• 2 cloves of garlic (more or less to your taste)
• 1/3 c. olive oil
• 1/2 c. Parmesan cheese (sometimes I add cheese, sometimes I don't.)
• salt to taste

Throw it all into a food processor and blend until finely chopped. You can use it right away or freeze to use later. ENJOY!

Happy Father's Day!

Boys at play

I love summer! We spent the evening at my parents house eating pizza, playing in the yard, and just enjoying the beautiful weather (at least before the big storm hits tonight!). Pea had a blast playing with his cousins and I think they had fun, too! My mom and I were the official photographers of the evening. She also recently purchased a new camera so we were having fun snapping pictures left and right. I took a lot of really great shots, but unfortunately I was messing around with my settings and I somehow reduced the exposure too much! So, most of my pictures turned out very dark. I am not sure what to do about that other than maybe play around with them in photoshop. Any ideas for working with WAY underexposed pictures? Clearly, I have much to learn! These are the ones I didn't screw up too much! :)

Pea watching Jason and cousin D run wild around the yard.


Cousin J just being his crazy, silly self!


Pea practicing his fast pitch. Note the look of fear on D's face...you never know where pea will throw the ball!


RUN!!!!



Look at that sweet face!


Another sweet, silly face


A boy and his truck


Life is good!

Pool Time

Yesterday was a great day for a little pool party. Jason set the pool up for pea and they decided to go swimming together after naptime. Pea lasted probably about 10-15 minutes before deciding he was too cold, which is actually pretty surprising. So, it was a lot of work for a very short lived pool party! Well, after dinner we were out playing in the yard when pea decided it was time to get the party started. He started out playing with the hose, then dipped his arms in the water, and before I knew it he was climbing over the edge. No, he didn't have his bathing suit on, but he sure had a great time! I love these spontaneous moments of fun! Who cares about wet clothes and a wet diaper...these are moments of day to day life to treasure.

Here he goes (he even has blue chalk on his butt! hehe!)....


Look at me mommy! He thought he was pretty funny!


Big splash!


An even bigger splash!


1...2...3...(he counts before doing anything big!


JUMP!


He loves dumping water over his head.


Brrrrrr...it's cold! He's teeth were starting to chatter at this point, but he wasn't ready to get out this time.


And, this is what happens to a regular diaperwhen submerged in water...it swells and explodes. It was so funny watching him walk in this swollen diaper! It was more like a waddle.


Believe me, sometimes bath time is not much different!

Does it get any better?

We had a very exciting weekend! Friday night we went downtown for the annual "Boogie on Broadway" to hear some good music and dance on the street! This was our SECOND year attending this event with Pea. I love being able to say that! Pea had loads of fun dancing and running wild. And...Pea and Jason made the newspaper! Well, we are all actually in the picture, but all you can see are my hands clapping and my fuzzy hair. This isn't the first time pea has made the news. While we were waiting for pea to come home, we were interviewed by a TV news station about our adoption process and they showed pictures of pea we took on our first visit trip. So, we have a little celebrity in the making! Unfortunately, our newspaper did not post the picture on their website, so this is the best I could get.
The next day, we got to see our town's NEW ladder fire truck parked right beside our house! Talk about excitement. Hehe. They actually raised the ladder all the way and it was pretty cool! I must admit, I really enjoy living by the fire station!
Then, Jason and pea discovered a nest of baby bunnies in our yard.
Pea checking out the bunnies.
Covering them back up to keep them warm. I didn't realize Jason and pea were having such adventures in the yard until dinner time. Jason asked pea to tell me what they discovered in the yard and he said "baby bunnies!" He was so excited!
And, my little heart breaker.

Savings Roundup

So, I have always thought of myself as a good bargain hunter. I rarely ever pay full price for anything. For several years, I have taken advantage of all the great rebate freebies through Rite Aid and Walgreens. I don't think I have paid for shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, or toothbrushes for probably three years! I get excited when something is on sale AND I have a coupon! Garage sale bargains get me jazzed and I love shopping at thrift stores. But, I have recently discovered that this is all child's play for some. There is a whole world of couponing that I never even knew about. How did this happen? :)

I admit that I have become a bit lazy in my bargain hunting over the last few months and our budget has been hemorrhaging a bit. So, with a tip from my friend Sally, I decided to venture more into this very serious world of couponing to get back on track and to revive my love for finding the best bargains! So, I spent this weekend getting all of my coupons organized because I have learned through my couponing research that you need to acquire a large stash of coupons in order to take advantage of the best deals. I then scoured over all of the ads and came up with my plan of attack. Check it out:

ALL of this together was FREE. In fact, I actually EARNED money. $1.52, to be exact! The toothpaste (both Aquafresh and children's orajel), razor, and contact solution was all free after rebate. I had two $2.00 coupons for each of the contact solutions, which meant I earned $4.00. The deodorant deal was buy 5 and receive a $10.00 from Rite Aid. Each deodorant was regularly priced $3.48. Well, right beside the deodorant were coupons for $1.00. So, I grabbed 5 of those coupons for an additional $5.00 in savings! All of this would have cost me $49.35 if I had paid full price. Woohoo! Everything came from Rite Aid, except for the Razor (CVS).
Here are my best deals in this picture:
Aunt Millie's bread $0.30
4 boxes of cereal at $0.75 each
2 boxes of cereal at $1.45 each
2 salad dressings at $0.50 each
2 boxes of playtex at $2.00 each
5lbs of ground turkey at $0.90/lb
2 bags of organic carrots at $0.90 each
Total for everything pictured: $25.97
CVS had an incredible deal on Pampers. They were on sale for $8.99 with an additional $5.00 in extra care bucks (basically a gift card for CVS). I also had three $1.00 off coupons, which made these $2.99 each. Unbelievable! I also purchased these lithium batteries for $10.00 after extra care bucks. The batteries regularly cost $8.99.
So, how did I do? Granted, I did purchase some other items at the grocery store, but I saved so much money overall! The key, I am learning, is to stock up on on these deals. I also never really paid much attention to the rebate program at CVS, but there is a system! They offer several products every week in which you can earn "extra care bucks." Once you earn a few, then you use those to make the extra care bucks purchases the next week, virtually paying nothing out of pocket. Stack the extra care bucks with coupons and you can find some serious deals!

I would love to hear how you all save money. Any other couponing junkies out there? What else should I know?

Wild Child

Pea has a little wild side and he has been particularly wild as of late. We often get comments like, "wow, he is a very busy boy!" Most days it is cute and endearing...other days, well, not so cute and endearing!

For example, we attended a graduation party the other night and pea just ran wild! He and his older cousin were running around all of the tables, playing in the water fountain, and nearly crashing into the very expensive audio/visual equipment. We thought it would be a good idea to take pea outside to run around and burn off some of his energy. Well, he quickly discovered the little pond. It wasn't long before he ran right into the water almost up to his knees...in tennis shoes and jeans. That was a little cute and endearing.

Fast forward to today. Jason took pea to the library to browse around. According to Jason..Pea. ran. wild. He was pulling things off the wall, taking books and videos off the shelf, and then managed to crawl under the computer table and turned off the power strip. Yep, turned off all of the computers in the area. And, yes, they were being used. Not so cute and endearing.

Jason lured him out of the library with a firetruck DVD. On the way home, pea opened the DVD case, pulled out the DVD, and started chewing on it. Needless to say, they were unable to watch firetrucks. We now own a chew up firetruck DVD that we cannot watch. Really not so cute and endearing!.

It doesn't help that he has some molars coming in right now and he puts EVERYTHING in his mouth!

Just another typical day in the peapod!


Here are some pics from our attempt to let pea burn off some energy at the park last Sunday.

Blogger's Bloc

We're still here! But, I have been in a bit of a blogger rut for awhile and tonight is not any better...just some cutie pics. I recently splurged on a new camera and have been trying to figure it out! I definitely need some more advanced instruction than the 1000 page manual that came with the camera! ;) Any photography book suggestions? Preferably one for "dummies?" Okay, seriously, I need a book that says "if you want to take a picture that looks like this...here is what you do." Nothing too techy at this point. Of course, I have the most adorable subject (though, not always a very willing subject!) on which to practice my up and coming photography skills!

Rock Kisser

Pea LOVES being outside, which is where we spend most of our evenings since the weather has been warming up. He loves pushing his bubble lawn mower around the yard, smelling the flowers, picking up sticks, throwing rocks, digging in dirt, squashing ants, watching for the firetruck, etc, etc. Most of all...pea loves going on walks, which makes me very happy! I love walks, too.

Pea definitely has his favorite spots along the various routes we take and he often takes charge on which way we go. "dis way, dis way"

One of his favorite stops is this big rock along our neighbors yard. For some reason, every time we pass the rock he has to stop and give it a big kiss! I think he is simply our budding environmentalist. Perhaps "rock kisser" should be the new "tree hugger." ;0)

A Taste of Summer

Year in Review

We marked a very important milestone this week. One that is significant for many adoptive families for a variety of reasons. We have been together as a family of three LONGER than pea was with his foster family. Obviously, pea's time with his very loving foster family is an essential part of his story and they will always be considered family. But, that time was only temporary. During that time, they provided so much love and care until he could come home where he belonged where we all belonged, together.

Our first year home was amazing, challenging, and, at times, overwhelming in many ways. I certainly still remember the stress and heartache of waiting for pea to come home, but it also feels like he has always been here. And, the memories of waiting definitely make me appreciate the life we have today. Life is good and I am one lucky momma.

Here are some pics from our first year home as a family. It is amazing how much pea has changed!

May 2008 - A couple days after arriving home.
June 2008 - Look at that little chub! He was definitely a "husky" boy when he came home! ;)

July 2008 - This is a terrible picture, but I love it! Pea hangin' off the monkey bars.

August 2008

September 2008

October 2008

November 2008

December 2008

January 2009 - Fashion icon...he still LOVES to wear his snowboots.

February 2009 - note the boots, again.

March 2009

April 2009

May 2009 - My handsome boy!

Embassy Day

One year ago on May 9th was our embassy day!! The final step in our adoption process, which turned out to be quite uneventful. My friend Lynn described it as waiting at the driver's license bureau! But, it was great! We were so happy to finally be there!

Here we are at 5:15am just before our ride arrived to take us to Guatemala City. We were clapping in an effort to get pea to look at the camera and smile. As you can see, he wasn't really impressed. Oh well!!
We went back to Antigua after our appointment and ate lunch at the Bagel Barn. After a much needed nap, we headed out to explore Las Capuchinas, an old convent. It is so beautiful and one of my favorite places in Antigua. Perfect for exploring, relaxing, or having a picnic on the lawn area. Oh, it also appeared to be a hot spot for young love. Lots of secret hiding spaces for making out. Though, they weren't so secret because we interrupted one or two couples! hehe




We were pretty hungry after exploring Capuchinas so we tried out a pizza place and it was delicious! But, I cannot remember the name of the restaurant! I do remember it was next to a coffee shop on a street right off of 1st Avenida Norte (I think!). Anyone know where I am talking about?

Pea and daddy after dinner. I am pretty sure we also treated ourselves to ice cream, too! It was such a perfect day.

Conked out after a long day. This used to be the only way we could get pea to sleep! Oh wow. That seems like so long ago! We did many laps around our apartment in Antigua and the little courtyard right outside our door.

Please pay attention to me

Pea and I ran to the store for about 30 minutes and came back to this. There was dog bed stuffing everywhere! Porter has not done anything like this for a LONG time and usually only when he is feeling anxious. Poor dog. I think he has been a little lonely lately. He just doesn't get as much attention anymore. This picture makes me feel really guilty! He looks so sad and OLD! When Pea saw the scene, he said "Porter mess!" He then grabbed a dish towel and tried to "clean up Porter mess." The dog bed cover was in the wash...guess we don't need that anymore!

Lake Atitlan

Not only did we have the opportunity to explore Antigua during our pick-up trip, but also Lake Atitlan. We spent a weekend in Panajachel and took a boat tour of some of the small villages surrounding the lake. This was my second trip to the lake (visited in college) and it was just as beautiful this time and even more special because I was able to share it with my family. The rainy season was just beginning so the lake was very hazy and it was rainy most of the time we were there. Luckily, the rain and haze lifted during our boat tour! We had such a grea time and the staff at our hotel were incredible!! They were so nice and they adored Eli! Not to mention the coffee at the hotel was THE BEST!! Oh, I am definitely ready to go back! Here are a few pics. Again...enjoy!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The Beauty of Antigua

During our pick-up trip, we stayed in an apartment in Antigua since we had no idea when we would be returning home. So, we had lots of opportunities to explore the beauty of Antigua. It is impossible not to fall instantly in love with this very special place. The sounds, sights, smells, and people are etched in my heart. Here are a few photos from our explorations. These are a mix of photos taken by us, my parents, and Jason's parents. Who's ready to book the next flight out? Enjoy!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

First Family Day!

One year ago, our sweet boy was placed in our arms forever. There really are no adequate words to describe the emotions of that day! Such joy! We were so incredibly happy to finally be together as a family, yet there was also a deep sadness watching Eli's foster family say goodbye knowing Eli was losing everything that was familiar to him and they were losing a son, a brother. At the same time, our hearts were also with Eli's birth mother. The finality of our adoption process was a whirlwind of deep joy and sadness. To say it was overwhelming is an understatement! One year ago marked the beginning of our life as a family of three, but with that beginning also came loss. That is just the reality of adoption and, as adoptive parents, it is so essential that we acknowledge and honor all of its complexities. In that sense, this day for us is not only a huge celebration of our life together as a family, but also an honor to the journey that brought us together, Eli's birth mother, and his foster family.

With that said, we had a lowkey celebration this evening. We spent time playing outside and watched our video from this day last year. Pea was very intrigued by the video and actually sat on my lap watching it for quite awhile. (He rarely sits still for anything!) It's so hard to know if he recognized his foster family, but he certainly was interested! We were so lucky and blessed to share that day with our parents, who joined us for the first week of our trip. They took lots of pictures for us and my dad was the videographer. The pictures and videos are priceless and something our family will treasure always.

We also left for Guatemala not knowing when we would return. We had not received our pink slip, yet, but we just couldn't be away from our pea any longer. We expected to be down there for a month, but it only ended up being 2.5 weeks. We had such a wonderful trip! I am sure this post will be part I over the next few days as I pour over the photos from our trip!

Family Picture April 27, 2008

Family Picture April 27, 2009
My favorite silly fellas!

Daddy attack!!

Me & my pea
My sweet, sweet boy

The Scary Tractor

Pea and I made an unplanned visit to the playground today. We were in the garage deciding which "outside" toy to play with when Jason started the tractor mower. We assumed this would be pretty exciting for the little guy since he loves climbing on the mower and "driving." Well, it didn't go very well! The mower freaked him out a bit and he started crying. So, Pea and I decided to go for a little walk to the playground while Jason mowed the lawn. Pea kept saying, with the most serious look on his face, "scared of tractor." I think he will get over it quickly once daddy takes him for a ride. ;)

On another note, is there some sort of crazy, emotional switch that is activated once our kiddos turn 2??? These days, Pea seems to have the highest of highs and the lowest of lows...and sometimes all at the same time! He has perfected the word "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO" and has the most pathetic pout, sticking out his lower lip and teeth while huffing and puffing. He has also mastered the art of whining. Oh, I hate whining! And, he only does it at home! WHY?? He is a perfect angel at the babysitter's and at my parent's house, but he saves all of his best tricks for home!

Super Saturday

Today was such a BEAUTIFUL day!! Mid-70's, blue sky, and nothing on the schedule. What a perfect combo. Even so, we were full of energy and managed to pack our day pretty full.

We started off at our local YMCA. They were having an open house which included FIRETRUCKS! You know we had to check that out. (Never mind we see the firetruck everyday beside our house! hehe!) Pea LOVED it. He literally ran circles around the firetruck. It was great.
Riding shotgun in the firetruck.
Next stop...the ambulance. Then we headed indoors for a little 1:1 basketball.
After lunch, pea decided we needed to go visit the neighbor...AKA the firetruck. We typically walk to the station and he has to look in the window to see the firetruck. Today we were invited inside for our own personal tour. Of course, I did not have my camera! But, he was so excited! He got the firetrucks all to himself. He even helped the firefighter clean the fire truck. Too cute. We are now on a first name basis with our neighbor firefighters!

We also decided to clean out the garage this afternoon and pea found my very old bike helmet. He wore the helmet for a couple hours. And, yes, he was wearing the helmet when we visited the fire station!

Time for a juice box break.

"Driving" daddy's tractor.

And...back to "cleaning" the garage. He enjoyed sweeping the dirt back IN the garage.

Look Who's Two!!

Little Pea turned TWO on Saturday and celebrated his first birthday at home! We had such a great day and it was so special to be sharing this day together as a family. We celebrated with a special breakfast, a visit to the park, and then a family party in the evening. I think pea had a lot of fun!

I tried my hand at a 3D firetruck cake. It was really cute until gravity started taking affect! I just didn't set it right, but it lasted just long enough for us to sing "Happy Birthday!" Pea loved it and that's all that matters! He woke up this morning saying "Firetruck cake gone?"

Cake and "cream."
Our little birthday clown!
Piñata time! Have you noticed a theme, yet? Seriously, I never thought I would be one of those moms that did themes, but...well...it just happens! Pea loved the firetruck piñata. Waiting to do some smashin' with his cousins.

Ready to go.
SMASH!! He did such a great job smashing the piñata. Should I be worried? :)
His new "big" firetruck.
Pea and his cousin playing with his new Little People garage.
Finally, his "cachow" face. Pea just recently discovered the movie Cars.
Happy Birthday, baby! We love you so much!!!

The Next MVP

Take a look, baseball fans...the next MVP!

Walkin' to the plate.
The warm-up
Swing!
It's outta here!!!!!!!!7th inning stretch? How about the 7th inning bubble chase.

One Year Ago...

We received that long awaited call that we had finally been released from PGN. A day I will never forget! All day I had the urge to call PGN, but resisted. Finally, at around 2:30, I broke down and called. I couldn't believe my ears when Francesca (I think that was her name) informed me we had been approved and our file was ready. I asked her several times, "Are you sure? Are you sure?" She was sure. Of course, we had been told this before only for it to be another kickout. But, I was amazingly calm. I called our adoption coordinator and she promised to follow-up with our attorney. I did not expect to hear anything for at least a day. Around 3:00pm, our coordinator called me back and said "There is just one more thing...I am looking at your PGN approval right now." Of course, I instantly burst into tears and, again, kept saying "Are you sure???" It was real this time. By the time I hung up the phone, my office was full! It was incredible! Our baby was finally coming home. Here is my post from last year:

http://journeytoeli.blogspot.com/2008/04/do-you-believe-in-miracles.html

What is this thing, mommy?

The mop made a rare appearance today and it didn't take pea long to figure out what to with it. He immediately picked it up, said "clean," and off he went. I think he has heard me complaining about our nasty, ugly kitchen floor and thought cleaning it would be the solution! (at least the really ugly wallpaper is now gone!)

Doesn't everyone wear snowboots to mop?


And, despite our ugly kitchen floor, we have a potential buyer for our house. It's not even on the market, yet! We're just working on an offer. Fingers crossed.

One of those evenings

Tonight was one of those evenings that started off feeling a bit hectic, but ended perfectly! Hubby had some school work to do so pea and I spent the evening hangin' out together without a care in the world. Aren't those the best?

We started off playing outside. I noticed that our first daffodils bloomed! Spring is near! Of course, it's April and snow is in the forecast for Monday. BOOOOO
Trompin' around the yard acting like a goofball.
Back inside to play trains. He is really starting to get the whole train track thing and putting them together.

Next stop, doodling. Look at my little leftie! He even has his hand curled over! Pea now makes doodling requests of mommy (yes, he is starting to call me mommy instead of mama) and daddy. The most popular requests include a fish, house, and bus. Lucky for me, he thinks my doodles are fabulous!
Lastly, a banana snack before bedtime. Yum!
These are the days and they are going way too fast!

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

I have so much on my mind right now and so much I could blog about, but all of my focus has been on getting our house ready for the market. We have been painting, organizing, cleaning, and still have much to do! I didn't think we had that much crap until I really started going through everything! It's amazing all of the "stuff" we carry around...bits and pieces of our lives represented by things like a book, a little note, pictures, music, etc. Some of it is easy to get rid of and some of it I will never be able to get rid of. So, I feel like I have been in that place of "taking stock." (Grey's Anatomy reference!) I have also been thinking A LOT about Guatemala lately with Eli's upcoming birthday and our upcoming first family day. So many emotions.

In the midst it all...we have still mananged to appreciate life's everyday adventures!

Eli's FAVORITE place: the fire station right beside our house. He has already been invited to the station by our neighbor fire fighters several times and I think we will all be on a first name basis very soon! I swear we talk about fire trucks all day. One of the first things he does every morning is run to the window to see the fire truck. He loudly announces every morning: "FIRE TRUCK! FIRE TRUCK!" We have 4 fire stations in our town and he knows if we are getting close to one. He has this super fire truck radar! It's very funny!
Enjoy the first soft serve ice cream of the season! We are ready for summer.

Having loads of fun with Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head.

Helping daddy in the kitchen. This is minutes before pea picked up a compact flourescent light bulb and chomped down. Needless to say, it shattered in his mouth. It was a little scary! Luckily, Jason saw him just in time to get all of the pieces out of his mouth. Of course, the other scare with CFL bulbs is mercury so we had to open all the windows and stay out of the kitchen for about 20 minutes. It is amazing how quickly accidents can happen even when we are right there.

My two fave fellas. Aren't I lucky? :)

Lastly, I am still in awe of how fast my little pea is growing. He was so excited about his new table (thanks to craigslist!) and insisted sitting there for dinner. Where is my baby?

Birthday Wishes

Can you believe my baby is going to be TWO in 2 weeks? Wow! I think pea also knows his birthday is fast approaching. We received a Little Tikes catalog in the mail last week and he has been pouring over it ever since! I think he is starting to narrow down his choices...maybe.

Carefully considering the swingset with the "curlie slide."

Then and Now...and a request

Here is another "this time last year" post! Last year at this time we were celebrating my birthday in Antigua during Semana Santa. It was AMAZING!! It was our 3rd visit trip and we were so incredibly lucky to be spending several days in Antigua during this time. Most hotels in Antigua are booked up to a year in advance for this celebration. Our dear friend, Kimberly, was living in Antigua fostering her son and she so generously offered to let us stay with her. At that time, we had never even met one another other than through blogging. This is, yet another, one of those very special connections we made through our journey. Kimberly was such a wonderful hostess and helped us celebrate my birthday, Eli's 1st birthday (we celebrated a couple weeks early), and gave us the opportunity to experience Semana Santa.

Here we are in Antigua on my birthday last year.



Me and my Pea at home on my birthday this year.

We not only connected with Kimberly that week, but also Brittney, Danny, and Kinsey. At that time, they had only been in PGN for about 3 weeks. Well, it is over ONE YEAR later and they are still waiting for their daughter to come home. They have endured so much and their hearts are very heavy right now. Please take a moment to stop by their blog (click on their names above) with some words of support and encouragement. We all know how much that means.

Dinner with Daniel, Brittney, and Kinsey in March 2008

Spoiled...YUM!!

So, my birthday is coming up and I decided to spoil myself a teeny bit. I stumbled upon this site that makes homemade Guatemalan sweetbreads and delivers them right to your door! Oh, my mouth started watering instantly and I just couldn't resist. Check out the site HERE. I just HAD to order the Champurradas and the Pan Mixto. We were spoiled with Champurradas on our first visit when we took a day trip to Antigua. Our wonderful guide, Alfredo, bought all of us a half dozen or so Champurradas from a local bakery and we thought we had died and gone to heaven! Delicious! We were also spoiled on our pick-up trip because our apartment in Antigua was right across the street from a bakery. We typically treated ourselves to a daily dose of deliciousness! Believe it or not, I didn't even get a picture of the bakery! Shameful. But, here is a picture of our street and the bakery is on the lefthand side.
My order confirmation stated that my goodies will be baked and shipped on the same day. YUM! I can't wait!!

Pea Hugs

Awwwwww...I LOVE my Pea Hugs!!! Pea gives the BEST hugs! He usually gets a running start and then just jumps into my arms squeezing as tight as he can. He has almost knocked me over a couple times! But, I love, love, love it! I can't get enough of my pea hugs!!

Spring Forward

We are ready for SPRING!! This winter has just been ruthless, hasn't it? We have definitely been enjoying our little heat wave over the last couple of days. It has been sooooo great to finally get outside without the fear of frostbite!

Spring is by far my favorite season. I just love that the world seems to come alive again. Spring brings a sense of renewal and new beginnings. This spring is especially special for us as we have much to celebrate! Eli will be celebrating his first birthday at home, we will celebrate our first family day, and we will hit that very important milestone in which the scales will tip between the time he lived in Guatemala and the time he has been home.

And, as I have alluded, there are other changes happening for us as well. We are getting ready to put our house on the market! Now, I know most of you are thinking "big whoop!" Well, the big whoop is we are not exactly sure what will come next, but we are planning on some big changes. It is something we have been thinking about for quite awhile, but the time was never right...until now. We have no idea how everything will unfold so right now we are focused on getting our house sold, especially in such an uncertain housing market. Needless to say, this is a very transitional time for us, which is very exciting and also a little scary! But, we have faith that everything will fall into place, knowing that this is our heart's desire.

With that said, we have been busy with projects around the house to get it ready for the market. We have LOTS to do over the next several weeks and we have quickly learned that nothing happens fast with a very busy toddler around!

Goin' Crazy!!

I wasn't kidding!! Here is my first digital scrapbook page. So fun! I used a tutorial on The Shabby Shoppe, including the free scrapbook kit. If you are interested in giving it a try and you have some version of photoshop, just click on the shappy shoppe link and go to tutorials. You will be addicted!

Technical Difficulties

Soooo, some of my peeps are having some technical difficulties accessing the blog since I went private so I switched back to public for now! In the meantime, check out this other cute photoshop creation that I, again, stole from Pineapple Princess! Isn't this cute?!?! This was FREE. Check out her blog for the link and you can have your very own desktop calendar!

Pea Faces

My blogger pal, Pineapple Princess, inspired me to play around more with Photoshop. I have been trying to figure it out on my own and I just don't have the patience! For one, I am not a techy so it takes me a little longer to figure out "techy" stuff and two, I just hate reading directions! Not a good mix! So, Pineapple Princess posted an excellent tutorial on creating collages. So I decided to give it a try. It was SUPER easy! So, you may be seeing more experiments as I navigate my way through all the bells and whistles of photoshop. Woohoo!

Pinch me

I have been reflecting a lot lately on "this time last year" as we quickly approach some very special anniversary's. This time last year was probably the most stressful month of our entire adoption process. We were stuck in that terrible CNA registration mess and there were a few days in which we weren't sure our attorney was going to get our case registered in time, which would mean the unthinkable. It was simply terrifying and I think I held my breath the entire month. Jason and I clung to each other tightly and tried our best to distract ourselves as much as possible, but it was impossible. I suffered from terrible insomnia during the worst months of our process, but especially last February. I spent many anxious, sleepless nights on the couch knowing I had to stay strong for my sweet son, knowing that I would never give up until he was home...yet feeling like I was falling apart. Those were dark days.

What a difference one year has made. It seems like a world away, yet it also feels like just yesterday. As I watched little pea help us take wallpaper off today, I had one of those "pinch me" moments and that loud voice in my head kept chanting "MY BABY IS HOME." Thank God, my baby is home. To top it all off, Eli said his name for the first time today, "Eyi." So sweet!

And, the best of all....Eli said "uv you" for the first time when Jason put him to bed. My heart just melted.

Such a good helper!
He was also very eager to put the "papeh in the twash" after he peeled if off the wall.

6 month follow-up

Today we drove to Columbus for Eli's 6 month follow-up (it's actually been 8.5 months since his last appointment) at the International Adoption Clinic. He is up to 31lbs (95th percentile) and almost 35 inches tall (75th percentile). He's a big boy for his age! Our appointment lasted about 2 hours and included a physical, a developmental assessment, another TB test, and more bloodwork.

We weren't surprised to learn that Eli has exceeded all of the developmental milestones for his age, especially in speech and language. He is doing great! In fact, the assesor actually asked us how confident we were about his birthdate, suggesting he could be a couple months older. Well, we are 100% confident with his birthdate based on the information we have. And, he now gets very shy and quiet around people he does not know so he did not show off all of his good stuff today!

His shyness and quietness around strangers actually makes me quite happy and relieved right now. When he first came home, we had some incidents of him approaching strangers in public and hugging their legs and/or grabbing their hands. One time, he grabbed a woman's hand at the park and started leading her away from us. When we redirected him away from the woman, he got very upset and wanted nothing to do with us. We were mortified! We definitely believe this was an attachment issue as he was transitioning home. These are the seemingly little things that no one really wants to talk about, but most of us experience them in one way or another when we bring our little ones home. But, it was huge to us and reinforced that we needed to continue practicing attachment parenting. It has certainly paid off because that would never happen now! He definitely knows his mama and daddy.

After the physical and developmental assessment, we were off to the lab for more bloodwork. It was just routine repeat bloodwork from his first visit just to make sure nothing shows up a second time. Unfortunately, little pea had to have both arms pricked. The lab tech started drawing blood and then the vein blew so he had to prick the other arm. Eli was such a trooper. Of course he cried, but he was more upset that he couldn't hold his whale/dolphin book!

After we left the clinic we hit our favorite store, Trader Joe's, to stock up! You gotta love Trader Joe's! Apparently pea does too. He had his own shopping to do. A boy on a mission...
"Ummm, excuse me daddy...where is the peanut butter?"

Hangin' out while we were checkin' out.

Just me and my peeps

Ahhhhhh....;)

I have been thinking of going private for a few months and it finally felt like it was time for a number of reasons. My number one reason is I just feel much more protective of my family and not as comfortable anymore having so much personal stuff available to just anyone. Of course, I am not naive to think going private eliminates that, but it at least gives me the illusion of privacy! On the other hand, as you can see from my last two posts, we have made some wonderful connections through blogging! Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined the number of connections we would make when I started this blog a year and a half ago. I could just go on and on about how we met this person, which led to this experience, in which we met this other person, who connected us to this resource, etc, etc, etc. Life changing. That is also why it took me so long to make the decision of whether or not to go private. Ultimately, at least for now, it is the right time to draw the shades. I love that so many of you are continuing this journey with us. I feel much more comfortable already! It's all good because I get to stay in touch with all my favorite peeps while keeping all of the creepies out! ;)

And, I have had so much on my mind lately because we are embarking on yet another big life change and now I feel like I can talk about that more. (no, we are not starting another adoption...yet. I know that is what you were all thinkin'!)

In the meantime, I will leave you with some cuteness! Eli has been so stinkin' funny and adorable lately. I think our trip to Maine cured him of the lil' monster phase he was in for a few weeks because he has not had any tantrums, throwing, or hitting since then. It is sooooo wonderful to have our sweet, funny boy back! Lately, he has been starting to repeat almost EVERYTHING we say. Seriously. And, he really pays attention! For those of you who know us very well, this could be a problem! Needless to say, we really have to watch what we say anymore. We even have to spell things out now so that he doesn't get all worked up about something like m-i-l-k, s-n-a-c-k, or his most recent obsession...N-E-M-O.

I am also learning to use this to my advantage. For example, Eli loves to drink water out of a regular cup. I mean, he LOVES it. So, he wanted to drink out of my cup tonight. I told him that he could drink out of my cup as long as he said, "mama rocks. " It worked! It sounded a little like this..."mama wocks. mama wocks. mama wocks." That's my boy!

Here are some more cutie pics from last weekend.

He was so excited when we got off the plane in Columbus that he was literally running around in circles! He also loved looking at all of the "panes, panes, panes." (planes)

More weekend fun

I am still reeling from all of the fun we had this past weekend in Maine. It was so special to finally meet Beth, Bobbi, & Donna and their families. I felt so connected to them even before we met and now even more so! Some may find it very strange that we would hop on a plane to visit and stay with people we have never met in person. Well, I suppose it was a risk! But, we all clicked instantly, just as I knew we would. When I saw Beth waiting for us at the airport, it was like she was an old friend I just hadn't seen in awhile. It felt so normal!

Eli had a great time, too, even though I think he was a little overwhelmed by all of the excitement! He not only met some new friends for the first time, he also had his first sled ride and his first trip to the ocean!

Here is a short video clip of Jason and Eli sledding down Beth's backyard.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

And, here are a few pics of his first visit to the ocean. Granted, we were not basking in the sun and digging our toes in the sand, but it was still amazingly beautiful! THANK YOU Beth, Keith, Sam, and Lucy for a wonderful visit!

Sneak Peek...

into our FULL weekend.

It was full of...


blissful chaos...

outdoor adventures...

several attempts at a kiddo group photo...

hugs from new friends...

absolute pure sweetness (this will be on the wedding invite)...

and a rare, uninterrupted adult dinner with friends while the kiddos played in the next room.

We had such a GREAT time!! More photos to come...

Leavin' on a jet plane

I am so excited!!!! We are going to Maine to visit some very special friends this weekend. Friends we met through our adoption journey. Friends who, on many, many, many occasions carried me through while we were waiting for Pea to come home. I first "met" Beth when she was my Secret Blog Pal in the summer of 2007. I met Bobbi through Beth and somehow Donna found us all! I cannot begin to tell you how amazing all three of these women are and how they touched me in so many ways. I am so grateful for their friendship and support and cannot wait to meet them all in person this weekend! We all talked about getting together "one of these days," but it took one e-mail from Donna informing us all that she was going to be in Maine and we all had our plans made within a couple of days. How great is that?!?! So, we are busy getting packed and ready to finally meet in person, what feels like, long time friends. Just wish us luck on the plane...I have a bad feeling we are going to be THAT family that everyone hates. ;0

I plan on going private by the end of next week so if you haven't commented, yet, and still want to continue following little pea's adventures, just leave a comment with your e-mail address. Moderator is still on so it won't be published for all the creepies to see.

Here are some pics of Fireman Pea. He LOVES fire trucks and he LOVES his snow boots. And, he is a little speedster on his car. You should see him take the corners in our house!

New Makeover

My familia was giving us a hard time yesterday because little pea needs a haircut in a big way. I think pea may have been listening and took matters into his own hands.

Long bangs? No problema! Pea found some hairclips. And some barrettes.

Or, how about a headband?

Two is better than one. (I know, the laundry is piling up.)

No makeover is complete without a little blush.

Notice the wall in the background? That is a hint...

DON'T FORGET!!!

Tomorrow is the deadline to purchase a cookbook to support Across All Borders!!! ONLY $15!!! That includes shipping. The cookbook contains about 250 recipes from adoptive families and a special section of Guatemalan recipes. It supports a wonderful cause. Just click on the link to the left to place your order. HURRY!!! Time is running out!!!

And, don't forget to let me know if you want to continue following our blog. Just leave me a comment with your e-mail address so I can send you an invite once I go private. I still have comment moderator on so your e-mail address will not be published.

I think it's time

I have been thinking about going private for a couple months and I think it is time. I have connected with so many wonderful people through blogworld and this blog has also enabled us to keep our friends and family informed of our adoption journey and life at home. I don't want to disrupt any of those connections so please let me know if you would like to continue staying in touch with us. Leave a comment with your e-mail address and I will add you to the "A" list. Don't worry, I turned on comment moderator so your e-mail address will not be published online for the world to see. I will probably go private in the next week or two.

A week in review

Just a few of this week's happenings in the life of little pea.

He is really getting into his megablocks lately. He has a megablocks car and he stacks the blocks on the car as high as he can before they all topple over. Then he throws his hands in the air and says "UH OH!" Repeat.
Porter trying to get some little pea lovin'. He really thinks he is a lapdog.

Silly faces!

He is also really getting into puzzles or "puggles." This particular puzzle has been sitting on the very top of his bookshelf out of sight. He has not seen it since summer. Well, the other day he kept pointing to the top of the bookshelf saying "puggle, puggle." I finally figured out what he wanted, but I couldn't believe he 1) remembered it was up there and 2) even knew what it was. So, I pulled it down and he immediately went to work.

Some big changes are happening around our house so we will be very busy the next couple of months. Stay tuned for details....

If it's too quiet...

trouble is brewing. A couple of nights ago, I started Eli's bath and was picking up toys as the tub filled up. Usually Eli is very eager to help put toys away, but this night he was not helping and it was very quiet. Too quiet. I went into the bathroom and found him leaning over the tub playing in the water. No big deal, right? Well, somehow he had managed to turn on the shower and, of course, the shower head was cocked to the side so that water was spraying all over Eli and the bathroom floor. Eli thought it was the funniest thing!

This morning, once again, the house suddenly got quiet. Too quiet. Eli came out of the bathroom and Jason found him like this. Eli decided to experiment with Mama's mascara. He actually tried putting it on his eye...and nose...and cheek...and his hands.

ACROSS ALL BORDERS

A fellow Guatemama, Terry, has started an amazing organization, Across All Borders (AAB), to help the children of Guatemala. Terry's journey to this point is so beautiful and inspirational. You can read more about her personal story here. And, my dear friend, Bobbi, is serving on the board of directors and taking her family on a mission trip for AAB this summer. How cool is that?!?!

Terry offically launched her organization this week, which includes a great fundraising campaign! Across All Borders is selling cookbooks full of recipes all submitted by fellow adoptive parents, including yours truly! The recipes include family favorites and some traditional Guatemalan dishes. The cookbooks are $15.00 and the proceeds benefit the work of AAB. Please consider helping out by purchasing a cookbook and telling all your friends and family to purchase a cookbook. Buy one for yourself and give a few as gifts!

You can purchase the cookbooks with a credit card or a check. Just click here or the link on the side of my blog to purchase a cookbook using your credit card. If you prefer to pay with a check, just leave me a comment with your e-mail address so we can make arrangements. If you are not interested in a cookbook, please consider giving in other ways. You can read all about AAB and the ways you can help out on their website. Thank you for supporting this wonderful organization and the children of Guatemala.

Another one done, one more to go...

Some of you may recall when I wrote last year that I am the queen of unfinished projects. It's really true. I love starting new projects...the ideas, brainstorming, creativity, etc. But I often get bored when the tediousness sets in and then I am off to something else. Well, one of my unofficial New Year's Resolutions is to finish some of these projects, including this quilt. Now, this one did not sit around as long as Eli's, but it probably has a good 3 year shelf life! No more. It is done. Woohoo! I have one more unfinished quilt in the basement and it is a doozy. It is a queen size bedspread. I'll be honest, that one will take awhile. I may need a few kicks in the tush later on to finish it!

An Historic Day

What an amazing day. I am really having a difficult time wrapping my heart and brain around the HUGE significance of this day. It is much bigger than I think any of us can imagine at this moment. I feel so hopeful and inspired that perhaps, just perhaps change is possible. Just the fact we elected our first African American president is proof that change is possible. As President Obama (doesn't that sound awesome????) has said over and over, change will not happen overnight, but...it will happen. It has already happened...the face of power has changed in this country.


I am not only hopeful and excited about how these changes may affect our nation and our world, but also about the significance of this day for my family and for my son. We do not take the fact lightly that we are a multiracial family. That we have a huge responsibility to deal with racism not just as members of this society, but as parents raising our son in a culture that does not value the color of his skin or his heritage. How do we raise our son to be strong, resilient, proud, and confident in the face of racism? I don't know, yet. But, what I do know is that the arguably most powerful man in the world is paving a path. Paving a path of breaking down power structures, challenging stereotypes, and redefining the opportunities available for people of color, for my son. Obviously, there is a lot of work to be done, but this is a beginning and, for that, I am so hopeful, so grateful, and so proud of our country for taking a stand for change.

And, never before have I been soooooo relieved to say goodbye to someone...GOOD RIDDANCE, George W. Bush. It is a new day.

Interview

My blogging buddy, Aimee, sent me an interview! And, I know you want to join in on the fun. So,
here is how it works:

1. If you want to participate, leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.” (And your e-mail address, please or let me know on facebook if that is easier.)
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Okay, here are the questions Aimee asked me:

1.If you could solve any world problem, what would it be?
Yikes! This one is tough because I strongly believe that most, if not all, of our world problems are interconnected so where is the starting point? There is none, I suppose. After deliberating for a little bit, at this moment I would eliminate capitalism as we know it today. Capitalism in it's purest form certainly has the potential to create opportunity and equality, but it has not evolved that way. Unfortunately, capitalism (along with racism, sexism, etc) has created a system of "haves" and "have-nots" and the "haves" stand on the backs of the "have-nots." It is pretty evident in today's economy that the backs of the have-nots have broken down. It's quite shameful, really. On Christmas Eve, we were driving around looking at Christmas lights and drove into a particularly obnoxious wealthy neighborhood and I just couldn't help thinking how different our world would look if even just a fraction of the wealth was skimmed off the top and equally distributed. I just have to believe there is a better way. A better way that would easily eliminate many of the world's problems. As an example: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090118/ap_on_re_us/mlk_economic_equality

2.What keeps you up at night?
What do I choose? Actually, I am by nature a night owl. I LOVE that time of night when the rest of the world is asleep. There is something magical about it. It is the time when I feel the most grounded and the most creative. I would much rather watch the moonrise than the sunrise. Unfortunately, I don't get to enjoy that time too much because of my work schedule, but I sneak it in here and there for my mental health! Even so, I believe the question is intended to mean what "keeps" me awake. Right now, the thing that weighs on me heavily is work. More specifically, I feel like I am coming to a crossroads regarding my work life and trying to figure out which direction to go, if any.

3.Describe your typical day
We're all up by 6am (usually!) and Eli is at the babysitter's by 7:15am. Jason and I both commute about 35-40 minutes. The next 8 hours is work, work, work. I am in the social services field so my day varies. These days, more often than not, I am in front of a computer. But, my day also consists of meetings, home visits, lots of paperwork, and a little crisis intervention thrown in there from time to time. We are all home by 5pm. I try to cook bigger meals on the weekends so we have leftovers during the week. That makes dinner time much quicker! The rest of the evening involves playing, reading books, bath time, and bed by 8pm for pea. I spend the rest of my evening doing about 2 or 3 things at once, like watching TV, being on the computer, working on a project, looking at a magazine, paying bills, etc, etc. Exciting stuff!

4. What is one non-motherhood accomplishment you want to undertake in your life?
Refer to #2. Actually, I would love to visit Machu Picchu someday. This seems a bit boring, I know. There are lots of things I envision seeing myself doing, but it is constantly evolving and changing so I don't cling too tightly to specific goals, unless it is really tugging at my heart. It sounds like a cop out, but it really isn't. The only constant in life is change so it is more important to me to keep my heart open for new possibilities than to cling to something that may not serve me anymore.

5. If you were an animal, what kind of animal would you be?
I had to really think about this one. I decided that I would be a Sea Turtle. For one, I love the water and I especially love that feeling of floating on ocean waves. I love the rhythm of the water and listening to the sounds under the surface. It some ways it is kind of eerie and in other ways it is like being transported to a whole new world. I love it! The other thing about a Sea Turtles is the amazing phenomenon that she is able to travel 1000's of miles back to the beach where she was born in order to lay her own eggs. I love that the Sea Turtle is able to venture far, far away from the place where she was born, but she is always able to find her way home.

Okay, who wants to be interviewed next? Come on! It's fun!! I won't be too hard on you. ;)

Dada's boy

Eli and his "dada" having been spending a lot of 1:1 time together lately. Not only did they get to stay home together for two weeks during the holidays, but they were also home today due to the FREEZING temps and will be home tomorrow. Of course, mama had to drag her tookus out of bed and go to work while these two stayed at home. Sigh...so now, everything is about dada! It's very sweet, especially if Eli cries out at night for dada and Jason feels obligated to be the one to get up. Sucker. Heehee! No really, these are the days we longed for...

Their time hasn't all been about fun and games. Pea helped his dada out with the laundry today.

Let me tell you, we were so happy and relieved to see a smile today. Wow. The last couple of days have been a bit rocky. Eli has hardly been eating and just a tad cranky. We figured he was still getting over the icky sickies. Well, as I put him in the bath last night he just started SCREAMING and refused to sit in the water. No, no...the water wasn't hot. It was so weird because he loves to take a bath! But, he screamed all through his bath refusing to sit down. He finally calmed down and then went to sleep with no problem (phew). Well, this morning he pretty much woke up screaming and crying and we just could not figure out what was wrong. I left for work, feeling like I had the better end of the deal today, as Jason was giving pea some Motrin as a last desparate measure. Jason called about 20 minutes later to report that our sweet boy was back. Just like that. After further investigation, Jason also discovered that those darn 2 year molars are swelling up again. They still have NOT popped through! Man, these molars are rough! So, we are creating a shrine in honor of Children's Motrin. May it always be close. ;)

Busy Weekend

Despite being sick, little pea had a very busy weekend!

The weekend started off with some very important phonecalls on the latest new phone. You know you want one! The conversation goes a little like this: "Hi! jiberjaberjiberjaber...mama and dada...jiberjaber...boo (our dog)...jiberjaber...okay, byebye."

Next, pea ventured outside to see all of the "no." (snow)

Here he is testing the cold factor and depth.

Official taste tester.


Next, he ventured inside for a big 'o temper tantrum. This is after our trip to the store where he launched his sippy cup about 20 feet because I took away the bag of frozen peas so the cashier could ring them up. Bad mama! ;)

On Sunday, little pea needed to do a little more shopping.
And, most importantly, he let us know that Tyrone wanted to "eat."

All this in one weekend! Can you believe it? ;)

Go Steelers!

If I ever wonder how my son became a crazy football fan, just direct me to this video. ;)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Back to the land of the living

Oh, we got hit hard with the stomach virus this week! It started with Eli on Tuesday night. He woke up about 12:30am whining a little. Now, we had several nights of this in a row and decided enough was enough. So, we let him whine. After awhile, Jason ventured into little pea's room to discover he had puked EVERYWHERE. Ohmygosh. It was disgusting. And, the smell...oh my...the smell was atrocious. It hit me like a brick before I even went into his room. There was puke on the wall, the floor, all over the crib, his bedding, and of course, all over Eli. Now, let me tell you, I felt like the WORST mom in the entire world letting him sit in puke when I just thought he was being a whineypants. Sigh...but, as we cleaned everything up, Eli was acting as normal as could be. It was the strangest thing. Jason stayed home with him Wednesday and he was back at the sitter's on Thursday. Does this look like a kid who had been throwing up all day?

I get a call at work on Thursday around 1:30pm from Jason. He's got it and going home. I don't think he left the couch until the next morning.

I woke up Friday around 4:30am. My turn. I did not get out of bed until 4pm and then I laid on the couch the rest of the night. How is it that Eli had the same level of energy through all of this and Jason and I were completely knocked out for 24 hours???

On to Saturday morning, I think we are all finally feeling alive again! Phew!

So, as we prepared for the day, Jason was getting pea dressed and went through 3 pairs of pants and 3 shirts before finding something that fit him. Sheeze! I swear all of these clothes fit him yesterday! So, we decided to go through his dresser as a good lowkey activity for the morning. Here is what we cleaned out.

He is growing way to fast! And, some of these things he only wore a few times. From now on, he is wearing one outfit until he grows out of it (which will be about a week.). ;)

Six years in the making...

and it is finally DONE. Six years ago my mom and I took a quiltmaking class together and I decided to start a baby quilt since Jason and I were at the very beginning of our journey to start a family. My heart was filled with so much hope and anticipation and I knew that this quilt was just the beginning of a huge change in our lives. Of course, little did I know where our journey to family would take us.

I was very close to finishing the quilt when we received the news that building our family was not going to be easy. Needless to say, we were stunned and heartbroken. So, the almost finished quilt got put away. It was just too painful.

I never forgot about the quilt. There were many times in which I considered finishing it and giving it as a baby gift, thinking someone should get some good use out of it. But, I. just. couldn't. do. it. I knew that quilt was meant for my baby and giving it away just felt wrong. It some ways, seeing that almost finished quilt on the shelf also gave me hope. I knew I would finish it some day. I knew that I would tuck my baby to sleep under that quilt some day. But, until that day arrived, that quilt had to sit unfinished, patiently waiting on the shelf in the basement.

Finally, that some day arrived and it was time. Time to finish the quilt. The quilt that was so long in the making, so full of hope, love, and dreams...that are now wrapped around my son as I write. So, that is actually how I welcomed in the New Year. Finishing that quilt for my son.

Happy New Year!

We had a very uneventful New Year's. In fact, for the first time EVER, we didn't even make it to midnight. And...I didn't care! Last year, we rang in the New Year in the parking lot of the Detroit Airport after flying in from Guatemala. It was snowing like crazy and our car wouldn't start! After about 30 minutes, it finally started and we made our way home in a terrible snowstorm. What a way to start the new year! This year came in much quieter.

In honor of the New Year, it's always great to reflect a little so I snagged this off of Aimee's blog.

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?
Where do I start?! 2008 was an incredible year marked by significant transition. I started the most important job of my life…becoming a mom. It’s still a work in progress! ;)
2. Did you keep your New Years’ Resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I have no idea! I don’t think I made any last year other than to find a way to get through each day as we waited.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? We had three dear friends give birth and have many friends who expanded their families through adoption.
4. Did anyone close to you die? Yes, my grandmother.
5. What countries did you visit? Guatemala
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? More balance. I know, that is vague, but I am working on defining what that means.
7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? There are many!
3/19-3/25: Our 3rd visit trip during Semana Santa. We spent the week in Antigua and it was AMAZING!!
4/8/08: The day we finally heard the news that we were out of PGN after 7 months.
4/27/08: The day Eli was placed in our arms forever.
5/14/08: The day we arrived home as a family.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? The relationship I have developed with my sweet son.
9. What was your biggest failure? I really hate that word as I believe that “mistakes” offer us the opportunity to grow. I was certainly challenged in many ways this year. I struggled with finding balance, but I also see this is a natural part of going through huge life transitions. So, definitely not a “failure” but also definitely something I am aiming to find in 2009.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Yes – I got sick in Guatemala and a few times after coming home.
11. What was the best thing you bought? A one way lap ticket from Guatemala to the US.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration? Definitely Eli. He makes us laugh and smile everyday and gives us so much joy. He is a very resilient little boy already. He reminds us every day of what is precious in life.
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed? Hmmm…unfortunately, terrible things happen everyday. All you need to do is turn on the news.
14. Where did most of your money go? No doubt about that! Eli.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Getting that call we were out of PGN. It still brings tears to my eyes. I will never forget that moment.
16. What song will always remind you of 2008? Hmmm…there are many! “The Wood Song” by the Indigo Girls will always remind of me of the last couple of years.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a. happier or sadder? happier
b. thinner or fatter? the same with fluctuations along the way
c. richer or poorer? Poorer financial, but richer in every other way
18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Reading and writing and sleeping.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Hmmm…worrying.
20. How did you spend Christmas? At home, with family.
21. What on-line users did you meet? Oh my gosh!! I met so many people online. It is amazing the friendships, support, and opportunities that came to us simply through starting a blog.
22. Did you fall in love in 2008? I fell deeper in love with my son.
23. How many one-night stands? Stupid. Stupid question.
24. What was your favourite TV program? Hmmmm…I certainly don’t watch as much TV and when I do, I am usually doing something else at the same time. But, I love LOST and can’t wait for the season premiere. I also love to watch baseball. That’s about all we watch during the season. I hope to be watching it through October this year!
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? No. (another stupid question)
26. What was the best book you read this year? Book? See #18. Actually, I read a couple of sleep books that really helped when Eli first came home.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery? I can’t think of any one artist, but I have really been diggin’ The Coffee House on XM/Sirius radio.
28. What did you want and get?My family at home together.
29. What did you want and not get? A winning lottery ticket. But, I also didn’t play the lottery, so…
30. What was your favourite film of this year? Well, I haven’t watched many movies this year. I recently saw Mystic River for the first time, which was excellent and I was very moved by Martian Child, which we watched on one of our plane trips to Guatemala.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I spent my birthday in Antigua during Semana Santa with my family and friends. It was great! I turned 34.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Less stress and worry.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? I don’t even know what this means!
34. What kept you sane? I am indebted to so many! Jason, my family, friends, and the online adoption community.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Barack Obama
36. What political issue stirred you the most? The Presidential Election
37. Who did you miss? I missed seeing all of our Westsylvania friends! It’s been too long.
38. Who was the best new person you met? Even though we “met” Eli in 2007, 2008 was definitely the year we bonded together as a family at home. Eli is definitely the light of our lives and inspires us everyday!
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
Oh boy…so many! This year has definitely been incredibly transformational in so many ways and has given me the opportunity to reflect and revaluate many things in my life. So, to pick just one valuable life lesson is tough! At the same time, life lessons are ever evolving so I am still figuring out what it all means. With that said, one lesson that stands out above the others at this moment is the importance of giving. We were simply astounded at the generosity of our family, friends, and complete strangers when we were in process. And, I don’t just mean financial generosity, but also generosity of the heart. This generosity affected me deeply and has truly changed the fabric of who I am.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
Indigo Girls “The Wood Song”

"No way construction of this tricky plan
Was built by other than a greater hand
With a love that passes all our understanding
Watching closely over the journey, Yeah
But what it takes to cross the great divide
Seems more than all the courage I can muster up inside
Although we get to have some answers when we reach the other side
The prize is always worth the rocky ride

Sometimes I ask to sneak a closer look
Skip to the final chapter of the book
And then maybe steer us clear from some of the pain it took
To get us where we are this far, yeah
But the question drowns in it's futility
And even I have got to laugh at me
No one gets to miss the storm of what will be
Just hold on for the ride"

Christmas from PA

Eli received a special delivery from his aunt, uncles, and cousins in Pennsylvania. He was definitely into opening his presents and even resorted to using his teeth at times to rip the paper. He is a determined little pea!

He loves listening to the alphabet song and we see lots of crazy dancing in front of the fridge now!

Opening his gift from Uncle Kirk and Uncle Noah.

Ooooooh...TRUCKS! This boy LOVES trucks. He gets so excited and says "trucks" in this really hilarious growling voice. If he wasn't so stinkin' sweet, the voice would be a bit creepy!

A new Steelers jersey! What more could a boy want...trucks and football. Or, as Eli says, "buttball."

The trucks from his uncles were a huge hit. He would not put them down tonight so I could get him dressed for bed. He kept running away from me laughing and growling "trucks!" In fact, he even sat on the potty and pooped while holding onto his trucks! We had to do truck hi-5's for pooping on the potty!

Seriously, what is it with boys and trucks? It is just fascinating to me! We don't feel like we have pushed trucks and cars and he has been exposed to a wide variety of toys. But, he loves, loves, loves his trucks.

I am also constantly amazed at how much he understands and remembers! The other day he was being Mr. Crankypants and I asked him if he wanted to go to timeout. Now, we were doing timeout for a very short period of time a few months ago when he went through a hitting phase, but he has not been in timeout for a least a couple of months. After I asked him, he nodded his head yes, ran to the timeout chair, climbed in, and then started crying. It was actually quite funny! After he put himself in timeout, he was in a great mood for the rest of the evening. He continues to talk more and more and is starting to put simple sentences together. It is so fun to watch him learning new things, but I don't want him to grow up! It seemed like time stood still while we were waiting for him to come home, but now I wish it would slow down just a little! It's hard to believe sometimes that he has been home for 8 months, yet it also feels like he has always been here. Amazing!

Christmas at Home

We had a wonderful Christmas Day! It was so much fun to wake up at home with little pea, watch him discover all of the gifts around the tree, and to realize they were for him. My parents came over to enjoy the morning and have Christmas breakfast with us. It took Eli about 3 hours to open all of his gifts. He would open one or two, play for awhile, open a couple more, play for awhile, and so on. Santa was very good to Eli this year! What a joy.

The tree after Santa left our house. The ride on toy on the left was a gift from Jason's parents, oma and pop pop, that arrived just in time for Christmas Day.

His stocking with Tyrone peeking out.

Reading one of his new books. Eli got LOTS of new books!

He discovered Tyrone!!
Eli's new baby! Santa found this on a really great site: Dolls Like Me. This baby is so cute and cuddly! He has on little pajamas and carries a bear with matching PJ's. I think this is Eli's new snugglebunny. Playing with his Little People bus. He loves buses and was very excited about this gift!

We went to my parents' house in the afternoon to celebrate with my family. My mom always makes Christmas very special with every little detail. We stuffed ourselves, we laughed, talked, and made a huge mess of my parents' house! It wouldn't be Christmas any other way! ;) I even made Guatemalan Christmas Punch (Poche). Delicious!

Eli's cousins gave him the Little People fire truck and this was a HUGE hit!Mamaw and papaw gave Eli this Backyardigan's guitar.

Christmas family pic at the end of the day. Eli was wired by this point! It was a very busy and exciting day and I think he was asleep the minute his head hit the mattress.

One Year Ago...

We were busy packing our bags to spend Christmas in Guatemala while also reeling from the news of our 2nd kickout from PGN. As hard as that was right before the holidays, we were so excited to be seeing our little pea again and to spend his 1st Christmas together as a family. We had such an amazing trip. We had the opportunity to see more of Guatemala, visit the clinic where Eli was born, and to see Eli crawl for the first time! You can see the video here: CRAWLING.
As I am finishing up some last minute baking, wrapping, and eagerly waiting to see what Santa brings;)...I can't help but reflect on last Christmas while taking a long, deep breath knowing how incredibly blessed and lucky we are to be celebrating Christmas as a family at home this year. For the past few weeks, Jason and I have been really struggling with gift ideas for each other. "Stuff" just doesn't seem that important. We decided it seems really silly to buy each other stuff we don't need just for the sake of buying something. That is not what Christmas is about. We were discussing last night how our adoption process taught us many, many things (and continues to do so)...but, most importantly, that we already have everything we need and want. Of course, Santa will still be stopping at our house, but the greatest gift is being together as a family. That is something we will never take for granted.

Have a wonderful holiday!

Happy Holidays!

Yeehaw!!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

FINALLY!!

The tree is lit and decorated!!! Our tree decorating was delayed by about a week due to all of our sickies, well...mostly my sickies! :( I think we are finally getting healthy after waging war on the germs. We have officially become germophobes armed with lysol, hand sanitizer, and lots of hand soap. Now we are just hoping that Eli's 2 year molars cut through SOON. He has two coming in right now and nights have been a little rough.

But, the tree is decorated, our Christmas spirit has been revived, and I love it! I am slightly ashamed to admit that this is the first Christmas tree we have had in a couple of years. Really, we are not scrooges! But, honestly, we struggled with finding our Christmas spirit last year. And, most importantly, we spent Christmas in Guatemala and didn't want to leave a live tree in our house for a week without care. So, last year, we decided to stick with our little 2 foot table tree as our token of Christmas cheer. This year is a whole other story! It is so wonderful to have a nice, big tree in the house again and even more wonderful to be spending our 2nd Christmas with Eli, this time at HOME. Happy. Happy. Happy.

Of course, I had to get in a little photo shoot to celebrate! Here is my serious boy.Silly boy.
And melt-your-heart sweet boy. This smile can get him about anything. ;)

Getting into the Spirit

Let the season begin! Our weekend started with a visit to santa on Friday evening at the downtown winter wonderland. Eli was very intrigued by all the decorations and the people. And, he had no problems with Santa! Sat right on his lap without hesitation. Granted, he wouldn't look at Santa, but he certainly wasn't afraid. This kid is seriously so laid back and such a social butterfly.

Here is little pea with his cousin, D. They have such a sweet connection. The first time Eli met D, his whole face just lit up! And, D is equally enamored with Eli and so super sweet with him. I just love watching the two of them together.

Sitting on Santa's lap!


On Saturday, we ventured out to get our Christmas tree. It was bitter cold and snowing, but what perfect conditions for Christmas tree hunting! Eli LOVED the snow! He was not phased at all by the cold and had so much fun stomping around in his snow boots. He also quickly discovered that snow is edible.

Getting ready to go! Boy, going out into the cold, snowy weather is quite a production these days!

Daddy and pea looking for the perfect tree.

Ooooooooh

We found it!

Checking out the donkey.
Santa's reindeer.

Sunday was supposed to be our tree decorating party, but we have once again been plagued by the sickies. We just can't seem to get rid of it. Ever since I went back to work and Eli started at the babysitters, we have all been sick with one thing or another. In the last 2 weeks, we have had 3 doctor's visits, one urgent care visit, and loads of antibiotics/steriods. Eli is MUCH better than last week, but this week I got pink eye in both eyes and, to add insult to injury, the flu. Sigh...seriously, this is getting really old. Where can we get some lysol bombs???

Passing on traditions

As some of you may remember from a post last year, I am CRAZY about Chex Mix! I have been since I was a kid. Growing up, we made Chex Mix every year around Christmas time and it is just one of those crazy, seemingly meaningless traditions that is so important to me! It is really less about the actual food, than it is the memories and feelings it evokes. Every year, we would dedicate an entire day to making Christmas goodies. My mom, sister, and I (sometimes my brother, too) would spend the entire day cooking, baking, and decorating cookies. The kitchen would be a disaster with flour, frosting, wax paper, and tiny cookie decorations everywhere! We had so much fun and those times together helped define the meaning of the holidays for our family. And, let me tell ya, my sister decorates a mean cookie!

At some point over the years, I became the official Chex Mix chef and thus began a lifelong, glutinous love affair that only comes around once a year! It is pretty much the staple of my diet from Thanksgiving through New Years. No joke! In fact, I am eating it right now. ;) I especially love it for breakfast! Now, I am talking about the homemade stuff, not that bagged crap that claims to be the original Chex Mix. And, I am a hardcore ORIGINAL Chex Mix recipe follower. None of this bagel chip, mixed nuts, and garlic & onion powder nonsense. I suppose you could call me a Chex Mix puritan or, well, maybe a Chex Mix snob. Call me what you will, butI stand strong and proud by the Original recipe. ;)

What is the original recipe you ask? Well, let me indulge you. Okay, I admit, the recipe may not be exactly like the original, but it is pretty darn close. And, I always double the recipe.

6 cups Rice Chex Mix
6 cups Corn Chex Mix
6 cups Wheat Chex Mix (NOT the multigrain. I made this mistake ONCE!)
1 or 2 cups pretzels
1/2 to 1 cup peanuts (I like dry roasted)
5 tbsp butter (the REAL stuff)
4 tbsp Lea & Perrins Worcestershire (the best brand)
3 tsp Lawry's Seasoned Salt (best brand)

Mix dry ingredients together in large bowl. Melt butter and combine with worcestershire and seasoned salt. Pour over cereal mixture and stir to coat evenly. You can bake it in the oven or the microwave. I use the microwave because that is what I have always done. :) Cook for 6 minutes in the microwave, stopping to stir mixture every 2 minutes. Lay out on paper towels to dry and then ENJOY!!!

So, since it is my turn to be mom at Christmas time this year, I have the huge responsibility of passing on this sacred tradition to my family! And, well, I am so proud to say little pea may be just as crazy about Chex Mix as his mama. Sigh...so, so proud. ;)

Helping mama pour the cereal.

Dumping it in the bowl.

Already can't get enough. He would dump in a cup of cereal and say/sign "more, more, more." Stir it up!

First Thanksgiving

We had a great first Thanksgiving with our little pea. We spent the first part of the day at home watching the Macy's parade, cooking, and just relaxing. We then went to my parents house for the big turkey dinner. Eli thoroughly enjoyed his first Thanksgiving feast eating all of his turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry dressing, corn, etc. I can't help reflecting on this time last year... I have had many of those "pinch me" moments lately thinking of one year ago, resulting in spontaneous tears in the most unlikely places, like the checkout line! We have so much to be thankful for this holiday season, and always.

And, as is tradition in our little family, someone ended up sick before the weekend was over. For the past several years, Jason and I have alternated getting the yucks on Thanksgiving weekend. This year, it was Eli's turn to join in on the "fun." He is now on some antibiotics so hopefully he will be back to himself in a few days.

Here are some pics of our Thanksgiving Day fun.

Beep, beep. Comin' through.

Attack of the boys! Poor Jason...;)

Tryptophan setting in.

Family shot by the fireplace.