Our Little Pea

WE'VE MOVED!!!!

2010-11-20T00:48:00.003-05:00

Come join the fun at our new blog home:

This will be my last post on Little Pea.

Big NEWS!!!

2010-11-04T21:55:00.005-04:00

It's.....

a....

new....

BLOG!! What?...What did you think I was talking about? Tricked ya, eh?!

But. hopefully THAT post will be coming soon. And, with that in mind, it is time to move on to a new little spot in the blogosphere. I actually considered giving up my blog for awhile. Kinda lost my blog mojo and figured it was just time move on. During that thought process I was also feverishly working on some photobooks and found myself frequently referencing my blog in order to remember certain details and events. That is when I realized I really wasn't quite ready to throw in the towel. I still got some good bloggin' left in me! That is, if I can take the time to actually BLOG. I always have great ideas throughout the day and then...well...then I get tired and lazy and other things take priority. So, I just do the best I can at any given time so it ebbs and flows.

Back to the move...with the impending expansion of our family and the evolution of life, it is time to move on and make our mark in a new bloggy neighborhood. The new blog is still under construction, but come on over and join me in our new home!

Peas and Carrots

I will keep little pea open for awhile until we all get settled in our new place.

Come on over and leave me some blog love at our new home to let me know you found us!

Siblings and family connections

2010-10-29T23:03:00.005-04:00

I recently started reading some of the blogs in the Open Adoption Blogs network (check it out HERE) and there have been a lot of discussions around siblings lately through the open adoption round table. It was perfect timing because I have been thinking a lot lately about pea's birth family and the birth family of our future child. At this time, we do not have any contact with pea's birth family, but we do have some limited information, which is incredibly invaluable. But, it isn't enough. I want more. I have been feeling this sense of loss knowing pea's birth family is out there, somewhere. Knowing that there is an entire family, community, culture connected to my son that we know very little about is very painful sometimes. These are pieces of my son. Parts of his life story. And, there are others in this world who look like him. I find that so amazing to think about. I don't know why, but maybe it is because those connections seem so far away and out of reach. We really hope to find some of pea's birth family, but there is definitely a possibility that we may not, given some of the circumstances.

We are very lucky to have a few pictures of pea's birth mother. I look at her picture and I can see my son through her eyes. I often wonder if his siblings have the same eyes, the same mannerisms, and the same little quirks that make my heart smile. Perhaps one day, pea will be able to see a reflection of himself through his birth family. But, until that time, we just hold on tight to what we do have.

With that said, however, I can definitely see how a lack of information and connection can lead to the development of fantasies about birth families. I even find myself doing it. With no information, we create the story and image that feels the most comforting. So, how do we develop "realistic" images of birth families that we do not know? And, most importantly, how do we help our children do this as well?

How do you try to "fill the gaps" without creating a fantasy image of birth families? And, how do you do it in a way that is validating? As pea starts to ask more questions (specifically, why? why? why?), I sometimes find myself stumbling around trying to answer his questions in simple terms, but I struggle at times! I would love to hear your approach and any tips for having these conversations with your little ones.

FFF - Fall Fun

2010-10-22T23:55:00.001-04:00

We have been having a lot of fun this fall and definitely keeping busy! It has been all about pumpkins and Halloween around our house lately. Pea has visited three pumpkin patches so we are up to our ears in pumpkins!

The pumpkin fest started a couple weeks ago...
Pea probably would have taken home every pumpkin in the patch. This is his "cheese" smile.

Posing with Mr. Pumpkinhead

We also rode the pumpkin train which took us to a little pumpkin patch and then pea went on a field trip with his preschool class to yet another pumpkin patch.

Halloween also started tonight for us with a super fun Halloween party! My mom's group put on a really great Halloween party for all the kiddos and pea had so much fun. They played pin the nose on the witch, climbed in and out of tunnels, played tag, and went trick or treating in the "spooky" hallway. Pea especially enjoyed being on stage putting on his "show." He is definitely a little ham sometimes and knows how to milk it! Here is his little spidey pose before "spinning" into his dance routine.

He definitely took center stage!

Those of you on facebook know that pea initially wanted to be a booger for Halloween...then it was a snake...then it was the Masked Avenger (from Backyardigans)...then it was Mr. Cracker (????)...then it was a shark...a chicken...he finally said he wanted to be spiderman. After all that and he ends up being spiderman??? (Oh, you may also remember that last year he really wanted to be a giant clam.) Should I admit I was a little disappointed he changed his mind about being a booger?? How funny would that have been? I had a really great costume idea, too. Oh well! He makes a mighty fine spiderman!

We have more activities this coming week, too. The Halloween parade, trick or treat night, and a fall fest. Hope you are having a fun fall, too!! Check out more FFF on Hannah's blog HERE.

Still waiting...

2010-10-17T22:12:00.002-04:00

for the phone to ring!! This adoption process so far has been very different for many, many reasons. For starters, the paperwork for this adoption was a BREEZE compared to Eli's adoption. Nothing really compares to compiling an international dossier! But, we were required to complete an adoption profile, which is a profile (kind of a like a scrapbook) all about our family. When we first started exploring adoption many years ago, the idea of creating an adoption profile really turned me off. I hated the idea of it, to be quite honest. I realize now I was just scared and very uneasy about domestic adoption for many reasons. And, it just did not feel like the right path for us at the time. We were so strongly drawn to Guatemala and, of course, now we know why!

Even so, domestic adoption still made me uneasy. There are so many misconceptions about adoption and about the women who make an adoption plan and I am sure that fueled some of my fears. I also felt very nervous about the idea of an open adoption. Would that somehow undermine my role as mom? Would it be too confusing? Too complicated? Too messy? What if she changes her mind? etc, etc, etc. It certainly is A LOT to think about and requires much soul searching. And, it is extremely important to explore these fears and concerns before moving forward.

But, now that I am a mom, an adoptive mom, and a mom in a multiracial family, my perspective has completely shifted and I am not scared at all. I realize that many of my previous fears were very self-centered, but that is because I did not have any other experiences to draw from. Now I know that it is not all about me. Why would I NOT want my child to know his/her birth family, to have answers, information, someone to resemble, and, most importanly, more love? Yes, it could be messy and complicated, but...aren't all families? One of the greatest gifts I can give my children is an open heart - open to the fact that each of my children has a family and a cultural history completely different than my own. It is part of who they are. I am certainly not naive to think it won't sometimes feel uncomfortable or be difficult, but navigating those waters is my responsibility as a parent.

We have no idea what the next phone call will bring. We have no idea what our relationship with the birth family will look like. What we do know is that our family will grow in ways we probably do not expect! It is very exciting. Of course, we are nervous, but our hearts are wide open and we are ready.

Waiting for Baby

2010-10-03T22:43:00.004-04:00

Waiting...waiting...waiting for the phone to ring. The phone call that will forever change our lives...again. The first few weeks was a piece of cake, but now I am starting to feel a tad bit anxious. I realize I have not written much at all about this process so far so that will be the next post. In the meantime, here are a few more before and after photos.

Baby's room BEFORE. Lovely calico carpet!

Post carpet

Just before the floor sanding commenced.

AFTER!!! What a difference

Ready to personalize for baby! We took the shutters off in order to paint them white. My brother is also in the process of recovering the cushion on the glider and ottoman.

Pea LOVES going into the baby's room. After the furniture was moved into the room, Pea announced he wanted to see the baby's room. He ran in and said "Awwwwww...this is a cute baby room! I love it!' Last week Pea went into the baby's room and said "maybe the baby is in here now."

Pea also asked me last week when we were going to Guatemala to get his baby brother. Yes, now he thinks he is getting a brother. I explained that the baby was not going to be born in Guatemala and he seemed very perplexed because, after all, aren't all babies born in Guatemala? :)

Pea Faces

2010-09-26T22:29:00.006-04:00

Pea has been learning about feelings this week at school (and he certainly expresses a lot of them!) so he had fun showing me all of his "faces." He took a break from building his firehouse and firetrucks for this game.

Happy face...so sweet!

Awwww...the sad face.

Mad face...he was trying really hard not to laugh so this is not really a true reflection of his mad face. Actually, his mad face is a full body experience.

Excited! This is the silly kind of excited.

He called this is "ferocious" face. I love the half chewed candy corn in his mouth!

His "empty" face. Not sure what to think about that description. Are they talking about empty feelings at preschool?!?!

Sleepy face.

And...the SILLY face. Fire hat, blinking glasses, and...dare I admit to this...a fart sound toy. Ahhh...the joys of being a boy.

Before and After

2010-09-23T21:20:00.005-04:00

Just so you know...we really have been working very hard on our house so here is a little taste. I need to take some more "after" pictures so I will post more later.

First of all, here she is!! We have done NOTHING outside so we are surrounded by a jungle right now. As you can see, there is a strip of grassless yard in the front...one week before our closing the water company discovered a leak in the main water line. The previous owners had it repaired right away and paid for it! We were so lucky! Plus, the initial plan was to tear up the driveway, but thank goodness they found a way around that.

Pea's room BEFORE. Lavendar walls and lovely purple carpet! You can see the "after" in my previous post. We ripped out the carpet and had the hardwood floor refinished. We painted the walls and the woodwork. My brother is also currently working on some super duper cute valances for pea's room and I can't wait to see them! You may remember that he also made pea's crib skirt and a matching valance. We are reusing those in the baby's room.

Our lovely, lovely dining room...BEFORE! There were three layers of wallpaper, ugly paneling, and hideous carpet. We ripped out the carpet and had the hardwood floor refinished. It is BEAUTIFUL! We took down the paneling and all of the wallpaper. Painted the ceiling (including the beams), walls, and woodwork. Then, my brother worked his magic, yet again, by designing and installing the custom wainscotting. He is a genius. Seriously! He and my brother-in-law can do absolutely ANYTHING house related from custom window treatments to major renovations. They have been more than generous with their time in helping us with some of our projects. Oh, and the wall to the right will eventually be opened up into the kitchen. AFTER...we still need to paint the wainscotting (white), but it is already a huge improvement! (don't worry, the curtains are gone!)
There is still a lot of work to be done, but we are slowly making it OUR home. It really is a great feeling! Yes, the work really sucks and we are a little tired of it, but we have a lot of the major stuff done for now so we can slow down for awhile, especially when the baby arrives. By the way, the nursery is painted, the crib is ready, itty bitty onesies and sleepers are in the dresser...all patiently waiting.

FFF - Jump!

2010-09-03T22:56:00.003-04:00

Okay, this is not a "literal" jump...but, our family is definitely jumping feet first into some big changes! We recently finished painting pea's room and he was finally able to "jump" up into his real big boy bed. He is very excited and even told me the next day I was not allowed in "his" room. What?? I thought that didn't happen until the teen years?!?!

Next is the baby's room! We will be painting that room this weekend and we have to get it set up ASAP because....we are officially APPROVED! Woohoo!!!! So, that means we could get a call any any time and that call could be "can you be at the _____(fill in the blank) hospital in 24 hours" or we could get a call to be matched with a birth mother due in 8-10 weeks. According to our adoption coordinator, there is a high probability we could receive the first kind of call so we have to be prepared. This process has been so completely different so it is a little hard for us to wrap our minds around everything! One question a lot of people have been asking us is if we can choose the gender of the baby and the answer is no. So it will be a big surprise! How fun is that?! Pea is convinced he is getting a sister...time will tell! Nothing like "jumping" right in with no idea what that next phone call will bring!

See more FFF posts at Hannah's blog HERE.

Bargain Hunter or Hoarder?

2010-08-21T14:54:00.004-04:00

You all know from previous posts that I love a good bargain! So, I have been taking FULL advantage of some pretty amazing diaper deals to get ready for our newest addition! I have been carrying around all of these diapers in my trunk for about 3 months and finally decided it was time to take them out (the nesting has begun!). Pea decided to take full advantage and built himself a diaper house. I counted up the diapers and figured we are stocked up for about six months! Isn't that crazy?!?! Seriously, I got these diapers either free or under $5.00 a package. Who can pass that up?!

So, we are finally starting to settle in more at our new house. All of our floors are either newly carpeted or refinished (hardwood) so we have been able to start unpacking a little and arranging our furniture. Before the floors were finished, we were basically living out of one room! It feels so great to be able to spread out and really start to enjoy our house. We still have a lot of work to do, but we can relax a little more now.

Adoption news...we had our final home study visit last Sunday and we are almost ready to go "active." That means we will be ready to take a call at any time. Our agency has been informing us that we could be matched very quickly so we have to be prepared. Consequently, we had to delay our process a little bit due to our move (unthinkable, I know!). We could be matched with a birth mother who is due in 10 weeks (generally no longer that that) or we could be given a 24 hour notice to be at the hospital. This process has been completely different and the idea that it could possibly happen quickly is a little mind boggling! Of course, we all know that the adoption process is unpredictable so anything is possible. Even so, we are excited and nervous about the possibility of welcoming another child into our family in the next few months.

Pea is also starting preschool next week so that will be a very big change for him. But, I think he is going to love it!

This summer has been about big changes for our family...new house, new day care, and preparing for a new baby. Very exciting stuff!

Work hard, play hard

2010-07-22T21:49:00.000-04:00

We really did not intend to buy a fixer-upper, but...that is what we fell in love with! And, it is A LOT of work. We will be spending the rest of our lives fixing up this house. Thank goodness I have a handy husband and some REALLY handy and creative family members! We have not really been able to unpack much, yet, but we should be able to settle in more over the next few weeks after all of our flooring is done. We also have our second homestudy visit on August 15th so we really need to get a bit more settled before then! Right now, our house looks like a construction zone.

Painting the living room.

Three layers of beautiful wallpaper in our dining room. (There were four layers in the upstairs hallway!)

Lovely, eh? All of this wallpaper is at least 50 years old.

In spite of all the work, there has still been some time for play! Pea loves his new backyard. Our yard is MUCH smaller than our previous yard so that has been a little adjustment, but we love it. Oh, the bike in the pool is what happens when daddy is in charge. :)

At the kids fest.
The highlight of our week....meeting PABLO!!!! I made the "mistake" of mentioning to pea that Pablo was coming to town and he asked about it several times a day, every day, for two weeks.

Coming up for air

2010-06-30T21:39:00.004-04:00

The last few weeks have been caRAZY! Packing, moving, unpacking, ripping out carpet, tearing down wallpaper, and visiting with family! Oh, and throw a homestudy visit in there somewhere. :) We are TIRED and it has only just begun. We moved into our new house last weekend (FINALLY!!!) and we have A LOT of work to do. Jason's parents came in for the weekend to help out so Jason and his dad spent 12 hours ripping out carpet and then we had lots more help from my family the next day on the hottest day of the summer. It was brutal!

So, the next few weeks, months, years...will be spent working on our house. Even so, we LOVE it and we are going to be here a long time. Seriously. I am never moving again.

If you've got nothing to do this weekend, bring your scrapper and paint roller and come on over!

Ugly deer scene wallpaper...GONE!
Jason and his dad ripping up the living room carpet.
Pea running wild in the chaos.

A Rare Moment

2010-05-20T22:09:00.002-04:00

A good head shot!! Very rare these days! Most of the time pea sees the camera come out and yells "CHEEEEEEEESE" as he's running by, so most pictures end up in a blur. Or, he turns his head right when I click. So this shot is truly a rarity! But, I admit, I had to work for it. I sat with the camera ready for quite awhile just waiting...on the hunt for a good picture. Patience pays off!

It was love at first sight...

2010-05-11T21:31:00.003-04:00

three years ago today when I saw this itty, bitty sweet face for the first time.

I remember that day like it was yesterday! The long awaited call finally came. The call announcing the arrival of our son. At last! I remember trying to write down everything our adoption coordinator was telling me as my hands were shaking and tears were streaming down my face. Then, Jason and I took a deep breath and held hands as we laid eyes upon our son for the first time...in an email. Most people get to meet their child for the first time in a hospital room. They get to watch their child take that first breath and hold their bundle of joy within minutes of entering this world. We didn't have those first moments with pea, but his "birth" into our family was equally eventful and exciting. We instantly knew this was our son. No doubt about it. Of course, little did we know that this was just the beginning of an amazing journey that would change us forever and open our hearts and minds in ways we never could have imagined. It has shaped so much of how we view the world, how we parent, and our priorities in life. I wouldn't change a thing.

And, when I look at this face today, my heart still skips a beat and I sometimes wonder how I got so lucky.

3rd Birthday

2010-05-07T22:32:00.003-04:00

Pea had a great 3rd birthday on April 11th. We celebrated with a family party at our house. In fact, it was the last party at our old house! I still can hardly believe he is three already! What happened to my baby? Well, he's still my baby, though a very big one! He had his three year wellness appointment a couple weeks ago and he is 40" tall and weighs 38lbs. This places him in the 97th percentile on US charts. It's amazing to think that he was only in the 10th percentile for the first 6 months of his life. I am afraid of what my grocery bill is going to be when he is 14!

Pea has such a loving, sweet spirit and is so full of fun and adventure. He is so inquisitive about everything and his imagination has exploded! I love watching him explore and come up with new adventures. He keeps us busy catching sharks, climbing volcanoes, fighting fires, fishing, going on train rides, and more. Who knew we could do so much in one evening?!?! What a fun, fun age (so far!).

One of pea's many obsessions is sea life. He initially wanted a Barracuda cake, but...thankfully he changed his mind to a whale. (Remember when he REALLY wanted to be a giant clam for halloween?!?!?!)

Pea and his boy cousins. They have so much fun together running wild.

Checkin' out the birthday loot.

A bike!!! Doesn't he look GIANT on this bike?!?!

The bubble maker was a huge hit!

Playin' some birthday golf.

And...my mom and her broken elbow. She actually broke her elbow a few days before pea's birthday. She was carrying pea and tripped on the sidewalk. They both went down hard. Pea was okay though he went through a period of shock after the chain of events (possible minor concussion) and my mom ended up in surgery the following week. She is on the mend, but it will be a slow process. Can you believe it? (Well, given that pea is already about half her size, it's really no surprise he could take her down!)

Life in a box

2010-05-06T21:42:00.003-04:00

We are FINALLY done with move #1!! We are currently renting a duplex until we get possession of our new house, which will hopefully be in 6 or 7 weeks. So, everything you see in the garage is staying in the garage until move #2. We are living out of boxes and living simple right now. Hopefully move #2 will go a little smoother and a little quicker since most of our stuff is already packed. And, hopefully this will be our last move for a very loooooooong time. Pea has been amazing throughout this moving chaos! He has taken it all in stride and the transition has been virtually seamless for him. I think he is handling it much better than we are! Pea is a pretty laid back and easy going boy. I wish I could attribute these qualities to our amazing parenting skills (hehehe), but it is just his personality. He finds fun and adventure in whatever we are doing.

So now we are just going to take it easy until round 2 of the moving frenzy. We are also taking the next 6 or 7 weeks to get our adoption profile completed so we can move forward with the adoption once we are settled into our new house.

Hang in there with us! I may not be updating as often this summer, but I will do my best!

Crazy Times!!

2010-04-13T22:38:00.002-04:00

Hello???? Hello??? Hello???

Is anyone still out there???

Please don't abandon us...we're still here!!! The last few weeks have been CRAZY at our house!! As you know, we sold our house and then I was presented with an amazing opportunity that would have meant a new career and relocating across the state. It was an opportunity we had been waiting on for a very long time, but...after much stress and deliberation, I decided to walk away from it. We were so excited about the idea of moving to a new place and I was very excited about this career opportunity, but the timing just wasn't right. After the initial waves of excitement, we started to think about what we would be giving up...family, friends, great jobs, our community, and more. Being faced with the chance to walk away from everything we have right now, made us appreciate and value even more the life we have built. We're just not ready to give it up. It was an extremely difficult and stressful decision, but we made the right choice.

After making this decision, we frantically started the house hunt! That in and of itself was nutty! Our realtor found a house for us that was not even on the market, yet, and it is PERFECT for us!! We made an offer last week and it was accepted. The catch...we will not have possession until the end of June and we need to be out of our house by May 1st. AAAACK!!! At this exact moment, we still don't know where we are moving on May 1st. AAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!! We hope to have that all figured out in the next couple of days. If anything, we can always move in with my parents!

As if we aren't busy enough, we attended our state required two day adoption training this past weekend so we are well on our way! WOOOOHOOOO!!!! Life is crazy hectic right now, but life also feels better than ever. Life feels really, really good.

And...the highlight of our weekend...Pea turned THREE on Sunday!!!!

Happy Birthday, Eli!!!

Where to now?

2010-03-28T19:56:00.003-04:00

We sold our house!! Well, we haven't closed, but we are under contract. We are amazed and incredibly lucky that our house sold so quickly. We will be moving out by the end of April and, at this point, we have no idea where we are going. YIKES!!! A lot has been happening over the past month that may mean some unexpected changes for our family, though we are not sure how it is all going to work out at this point. We should have more answers over the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, the packing has commenced. We are excited, a little freaked out, and a lot stressed right now!

Movin' on up...

2010-03-21T21:59:00.003-04:00

to a big boy bed. Well, sort of. We decided it was finally time to take down the crib railing. Sniff. Sniff. Pea has been climbing in and out of his crib for quite some time now, but we just weren't ready for that next step! We have been very lucky in that he always stays in bed when it's time to sleep so why mess with a good thing, right? Well, I kept having images of a broken leg or arm so we figured it was probably time. Plus, we are going to need the crib for the new baby so we might as well get him transitioned out of it soon.

He was so excited to see his "new" bed. He kept sneaking in and out of his room on his tiptoes to look at it. It was very cute! Here he is right before he jumped off. Sigh...there still may be a broken leg or arm in our future with the way he jumps on his bed.

Getting ready to snuggle in for the night. And, yes, I am happy to report he has stayed in bed!

Now we need to start thinking about getting a real big boy bed!

FFF - Spring Forward

2010-03-19T22:25:00.002-04:00

In our family, the beginning of spring is marked by my birthday! Woohoo! Spring is definitely my FAVORITE season. Having been born on the first day of spring, I like to think of myself as a breath of fresh air! Hehehe! Actually, my parents claim it snowed on the day I was born. Definitely more fitting. :) We celebrated a day early at my parent's house tonight and it was a great party. My mom cooked my favorite meal and we topped it off with homemade tiramisu. Yum!!

Me and my pea (with his first sidewalk scrape of the season. check out his nose!)

Licking the candle ends. The best part!

Pea definitely thought I needed lots of help opening my cards.

Princesses and Firetrucks

2010-03-13T23:01:00.002-05:00

Little pea is definitely a rough and tumble boy. He loves all forms of trucks (especially firetrucks!), likes to get dirty, climbs like a monkey, thinks body slamming is funny, and already throws like a little leaguer.

But, my rough and tumble little boy also loooooooves princesses! He frequently asks to watch the Dora princess episodes and begged me to buy him a princess toothbrush last week. "PaLEEEEEESE, mommy! With a cherry on top?!" (whoever taught him that is EVIL!)

So, whenever pea pulls out the blocks, it usually involves building a princess tower. Today's princess tower had a super "cool" garage for the princess's car.

Mr. Cheesy. He is definitely into making a cheese face and immediately saying, "Let me see the picture!"

And, as much as pea enjoys constructing his princess towers, he enjoys destroying them even more. Thank goodness the firetruck was close by to "put out the fire" and clean up after the destruction.

Fun in the Snow

2010-03-03T22:39:00.005-05:00

We have had a lot of snow this winter! At least it has been sticking around for awhile. And, we have all been suffering from some serious cabin fever. I am ready for spring, how about you?

So, until spring arrives, we enjoyed a little time playing in the snow last weekend. It was finally warm enough to be outside without getting frostbite or windburn and the snow was perfect for snowballs and snowpeople! Pea LOVES being outside regardless of the weather so he had a blast.

He especially enjoyed body slamming the snow. No joke. He literally threw himself on the ground attacking the snow. He is extremely physical and he has definitely taken it to a new level lately! He especially enjoyed sticking his face in the snow. Is there a WWF for toddlers?

Snow angels.

Grrrrrrr....the Abominable snowman!

On top of the world! (or at least on top of frosty's body!)

It was a fun afternoon, but I am not sad to see the snow melting! Come on spring!

Finally...a decision

2010-03-02T22:54:00.005-05:00

Finally, after much searching and reflection, we have decided on a new domestic adoption agency and are moving forward! Initially, we had decided to stick with our first agency, but we kept putting off the application. I kept telling myself it was just because we were busy focusing on other things, but I did not have that pull, that motivation to get it submitted. Now I know that my heart was sending me a message and holding me back for a reason. Our child is meant to come to us in a different way. We had a notion of what our next adoption would look like, but that is starting to change. As I have said before, adoption is truly a journey of the heart. And, this adoption is already proving that as we are opening our hearts once again. Even though we have moved in a direction we didn't expect, it feels RIGHT. My heart feels at ease and that pull and motivation returned instantly after connecting with our new agency. I just know this is where we are meant to be. It is exciting and scary and full of unknowns, but our hearts are opening wide and we are ready!

The next step in our process is to attend our agency's training in April. At that time we will be matched with our social worker and our homestudy process can begin. I anticipate we probably will not be "active" until mid to late summer. We are excited and we can't wait to see what kind adventure and miracle is waiting for us this time around.

What do you think...

2010-02-16T22:27:00.003-05:00

The next Sid Vicious???

FFF Redo

2010-02-02T22:53:00.002-05:00

WOOHOO!!!! Thanks to some awesome advice, I was able to recover all 500 lost pictures!!! I used a card recovery program online and it worked wonderfully. I had no idea that was even available! So, let's redo this FFF thing...pea thought it would be a great idea to suddenly start coloring on everything but paper right before we listed our house. We were all in the basement cleaning when pea found a permanent red marker and started coloring all over a rug (thank goodness we were getting rid of it) and he colored on the panels of a cabinet. Jason took some Goop cleaner and the red faded a little so it is not as noticeable, but STILL. He just HAD to color on something right before our house was listed!

In this picture, you can see he managed to color all over his hands and face. He also colored on the carpet in our basement. Good grief. At least this time he was using a washable marker.

So, you think coloring on the wall is bad...

Pea enjoys "cleaning" in the basement with an old long feather duster. The other night I decided to exercise (what????) in the basement while Pea was playing. I was in the middle of this very important obstacle course when I heard some interesting noises behind me. I turned around and there was water all over the carpet. I walked over to discover that pea was dipping the feather duster down the sewage drain and sprinkling the lovely smelling water all over the carpet and the cement floor in another area of the basement. DISGUSTING. And, of course, this was JUST after we had finished cleaning everything up in order to be prepared for any short notice house showings. Needless to say, sewage is not really the smell we want to greet potential buyers when they walk in our house. Oh, I was mad! And, to be honest, I was more mad because I finally decided to dedicate some time to exercise and it was interrupted! Luckily we were able to get it cleaned up quickly and the house is back to smelling "normal."

And such is life with pea...always an adventure!

FFF Disaster!

2010-01-29T06:30:00.002-05:00

So, I inserted my memory card to find the perfect picture for this week's FFF theme. And, I found it! Pea had managed to color all over his face and hands with a green marker. It was priceless. And now...it is gone. Forever. Sniff. Sniff. Sniff. I have no idea what happened, but somehow I managed to delete my entire memory card. Gone in an instant. All 500 pictures. Luckily, I recently uploaded a vast majority of them, but I lost all of November, December, and the few I had in January. Yes, that means Christmas. I have maybe 3 or 4 pictures saved from Christmas Day at our house. How depressing!! Sigh....

So, here are two pictures from LAST January since I don't have any from THIS January to share. Sniff. Sniff.

It's amazing how much he has grown! These pictures were also taken with my old camera and they look awful compared to the quality of my current camera! Who knew?!?!

Check out more FFF on Hannah's blog HERE.

Here we go!!

2010-01-20T22:01:00.003-05:00

It's official! Our house is on the market and we already have a showing scheduled for Friday! Of course, we realize this could take awhile so we are not getting too excited, yet. We spent the entire weekend cleaning, organizing, and decluttering. My parents were a TREMENDOUS help! Our house looks amazing thanks to them! Now we just need to figure out how to maintain our clean and organized house with a wild two year old who enjoys destroying the house in under 2 minutes. So, we busted our hineys over the weekend and now we wait......

Adoption news...or really, lack of news. We are currently reevaluating our choice of agency. We have not been getting the warm fuzzies from them and we also received some negative feedback from someone on an adoption forum. Granted, that is one person's experience, but we have already been starting to feel a little uneasy about our choice. So, we're thinking our gut feeling may be pointing us in another direction. This feels all too familiar because this is exactly how pea's adoption journey started. And, it worked out perfectly. So, we are going to be calling a couple of the other agencies that were on our initial list and then make a decision. And so it begins!

FFF

2010-01-15T10:15:00.003-05:00

It's Friday! Woohoo! This week's theme is close-ups, but I am going to do my own thing. A couple months ago, my siblings and I arranged a family photo shoot as a Christmas gift to my parents. We all went to the park for the afternoon and the photos turned out great, though pea was not very cooperative so we only have a couple good shots of him. There was just too much space to roam in the park and he was not at all interested in sitting still, or even walking for that matter! Even so, it was a lot of fun and my parents ended up with a beautiful photo book of our photo shoot. Check out some of the other FFF posts on Hannah's blog HERE.

Big Decisions

2010-01-12T22:28:00.006-05:00

I know. I know. It's been pretty quiet and boring in our little corner of the blog world. But, a lot has been happening and we recently made some big decisions. Jason and I have been planning on moving for several years. Not just moving across town, but moving from our current town. Away from family. Away from the place where I was raised. In fact, I never, EVER, imagined that I would even move back to the town where I grew up. I couldn't wait to go off to college and get the heck out of dodge! And, I did for about 10 years. Then, on a whim about 9 years ago, Jason and I decided we were tired of only seeing our families 2 or 3 times per year, at the most. So, we moved back to my hometown, to the place I had vowed to never live in again. But, after a couple of years, we were feeling the itch. The itch to live somewhere else and that became our plan.

Then, suddenly, things started getting in the way of our master plan: jobs, graduate school, building a family, the timing just didn't feel right, etc, etc. Through it all, however, we always talked about moving and our conversations would often be, "well, maybe we shouldn't do x, y, or z because we may be moving next year." Consequently, we have never really felt fully settled where we are because we have always planned on leaving. What we have slowly started to realize (yes...I said slowly!) is that our master plan (the plan that never seemed to materialize) has been holding us back. We stopped pursuing other goals and plans because we were so focused on this other plan and uncertain of our future. It was keeping us from building roots, making connections, and feeling grounded where we are. And, we realized we were growing weary of waiting for something to happen that may not happen for a long time, or may never happen. In many ways this realization was a great relief, in other ways it was a bit stressful because this is something we have been thinking about and planning on for a long time. Suddenly, our "master plan" seemed to be evolving...significantly.

We have finally admitted that our "master plan" no longer feels right and it's time to let it go...for now. So, what does that mean? We have a new plan! Ha! We have decided to stay we where we are and settle in for awhile (notice the noncommittal time frame!). In fact, we are getting ready to list our house so that we can look for another house to build some roots, a house with room to grow. Truly, this has been a huge decision for us and one we have been deliberating over for a few months. As you may remember, we were going to list our house last spring with the "plan" of moving away. Well, the market just wasn't in our favor so we decided to wait. And, during that wait, we did a lot of soul searching and it led to this recent decision. With that in mind, we are ready for a different kind of change. Sort of like a new beginning.

So, we have been busy getting our house ready and hope to have it listed by next week! We are excited, though we realize there are no guarantees in this market. My parents are helping us this weekend with a power clean so that everything will be ship shape! Wish us luck!

Pea is ready to start packing up, too!

My Little Fish

2010-01-03T21:58:00.004-05:00

So, I am trying to clean off the video camera so here is another video of pea! He has been taking swimming lessons for the last few months and has come a very long way since our first day in the pool! You may remember he screamed and had a death grip on me for the entire lesson! No more! He absolutely LOVES the water. For the most part, he doesn't really care what the rest of the swimming class is doing. He just swims around doing his own thing most of the time, testing out his new skills (including beating daddy with the noodle). Enjoy!

Interview with Pea

2009-12-28T20:23:00.004-05:00

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!!

2009-12-27T10:43:00.002-05:00

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!

2009-12-10T23:01:00.004-05:00

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

2009-12-04T12:00:00.003-05:00

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

2009-12-03T22:31:00.002-05:00

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

2009-11-20T06:30:00.001-05:00

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

2009-11-18T22:41:00.004-05:00

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

2009-11-14T16:51:00.001-05:00

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

2009-11-13T23:24:00.004-05:00

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

2009-11-12T21:30:00.006-05:00

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

2009-11-11T21:11:00.003-05:00

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

2009-11-10T21:28:00.007-05:00

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

2009-11-09T20:10:00.007-05:00

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

2009-11-08T22:00:00.000-05:00

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

2009-11-06T21:58:00.001-05:00

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

2009-10-30T22:44:00.002-04:00

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

2009-10-13T21:05:00.002-04:00

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

2009-10-07T22:16:00.004-04:00

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?

2009-10-05T21:26:00.003-04:00

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

2009-10-04T20:58:00.002-04:00

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

2009-09-27T20:56:00.004-04:00

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

2009-09-16T22:57:00.002-04:00

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...

2009-09-14T22:49:00.004-04:00

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?

2009-09-10T22:27:00.003-04:00

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

2009-09-09T21:52:00.002-04:00

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

2009-08-19T21:27:00.002-04:00

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...

2009-08-17T21:48:00.003-04:00

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...

2009-08-13T21:02:00.004-04:00

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

2009-08-10T21:22:00.006-04:00

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

2009-08-08T14:10:00.005-04:00

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

2009-08-02T21:44:00.007-04:00

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

2009-08-02T20:44:00.007-04:00

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

2009-07-29T17:00:00.000-04:00

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)

2009-07-25T20:33:00.010-04:00

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

2009-07-15T22:07:00.002-04:00

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!!

2009-07-11T21:52:00.002-04:00

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

Leavin' on a jet plane

2009-07-01T22:21:00.002-04:00

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

2009-06-25T22:56:00.004-04:00

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

2009-06-23T20:41:00.003-04:00

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!

2009-06-21T21:41:00.001-04:00

Boys at play

2009-06-20T00:19:00.005-04:00

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

2009-06-15T17:01:00.014-04:00

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?

2009-06-09T22:16:00.003-04:00

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

2009-06-07T21:06:00.003-04:00

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

2009-06-04T22:48:00.004-04:00

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

2009-06-02T22:40:00.003-04:00

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

2009-05-22T22:43:00.005-04:00

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

2009-05-20T22:37:00.005-04:00

Year in Review

2009-05-15T23:55:00.011-04:00

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

2009-05-09T00:00:00.001-04:00

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

2009-05-06T22:32:00.003-04:00

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

2009-05-05T22:19:00.003-04:00

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

2009-04-30T22:54:00.004-04:00

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!

2009-04-27T22:02:00.005-04:00

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

2009-04-24T22:50:00.007-04:00

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

2009-04-18T22:33:00.006-04:00

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!!

2009-04-12T22:12:00.005-04:00

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

2009-04-10T12:57:00.003-04:00

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...

2009-04-08T06:30:00.000-04:00

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?

2009-04-05T22:20:00.002-04:00

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

2009-04-02T22:48:00.009-04:00

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

2009-03-30T22:35:00.004-04:00

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

2009-03-27T22:36:00.003-04:00

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

2009-03-22T22:37:00.006-04:00

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!!

2009-03-16T21:52:00.004-04:00

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

2009-03-11T20:34:00.003-04:00

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

2009-03-07T22:32:00.002-05:00

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!!

2009-03-04T22:20:00.002-05:00

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

2009-03-04T17:30:00.001-05:00

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

2009-03-02T18:47:00.009-05:00

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!