A Preschool Memory

Today has been far better than yesterday. I feel safe writing that since both kids are currently passed out cold.

Before bed tonight we ran around the house singing this song. I don't know why I remembered it all of a sudden, but the kids thought it was funny and I found myself laughing too.

I am slowly going crazy...one, two, three, four, five, six. Switch

Crazy going slowly am I...six, five, four, three, two, one. Switch

For best results, repeat the song several times and a bit quicker each time.

Try it. I swear you'll be laughing soon.

The answer is an enthusiastic YES!

In a few days, I'll be headed to Tennessee with Natalie to visit our Tracy and her new baby boy, Sullivan. Natalie asked me a few days ago if I was excited about our upcoming trip. As expected my answer was a "yes", but I'm a creature of habit and the thought of getting on a plane and out of my routine isn't normally something that gets me jazzed.

That is until today. Nothing, and I mean nothing, will get a gal more excited about a little trip than spending two torturous hours at the Social Security Office with two kiddos on their not-so-best behavior. Seriously, I thought I was going to go insane.

So, Natalie, the answer isn't a simple "yes", but a "YEEESSS!!!!"

Did you hear that?!

Spencer's Party

On Friday we hosted a late birthday party for Spencer. With all the holiday madness, we have the real party a few weeks late. Hopefully, he doesn't resent us in the future :) I'm a Christmas baby too, so I think I'm fairly sensitive when it comes to recognizing his birthday.

So, we had seven kids over for a pirate treasure hunt. We had a blast! It was the first year we asked for the kiddos to be dropped off solo and we acted like complete goof balls which probably would not have happened had the moms been here too. We had four treasure maps ready and one by one, we recovered the booty. Our poor pirate pinata didn't fair too well as I still see various pieces of "him" in our front yard.

After the hunting, we had a crazy sword fight. It was us against the kids and because we're the adults, you can probably guess who got hurt in the mix (and if you don't have a guess, the picture above will probably explain well enough). At one point, I was cornered by all seven kids. And yes, I did scream...loud.

Our re-adoption hearing took place a few days ago. In the case of international adoptions, this is more a formality than anything (not that it isn't a special event). After the hearing, Mia is now recognized by the State of California as Mia Gloria. In some ways, the hearing does reflect the change taking place in our household. There's a sense of cohesiveness more and more each and every day.

Before we learned of Mia, we already had the name as a favorite. We never talked much about a middle name, and I'm glad we didn't. Gloria was the name given to Mia by her mom and I think the combination of the two is amazing. In case you're not familiar with Spanish, Mia translates to "my" or "mine" and the meaning of the name Gloria is "glory to God".

From the time we decided to add to our family through adoption, we received praise for "rescuing" a child. At first, I wasn't uncomfortable with that mindset, but that changed quickly. Now that Mia is home, I realize we were never the ones made brave through this process. Although our choice to adopt wasn't the catalyst for her loss, it still hurts to be praised when I feel a deep sadness for all Mia's lost: her mom, dad, family, culture and foster family. And that's why her name is a perfect fit for all the glory and praise for her life belongs to God.

This is the result of, "Mia, make your funny face!". What a little ham! And another pic to show her *NEW* pigtails.

I made it!

Before bed last night, I had a sudden urge to purge my hidden treasures (you might refer to this as "junk"). I'm fairly certain it had something to do with a conversation that I had with a group of ladies at MOPS. Us Moms are always trying to figure out how to tackle the monster that is our house.

So, with Spence in tow, we went into his room to go through his baby clothes. Obviously, I've been putting this off for a long while now. I just didn't want to say a final goodbye to those baby years. It was neat to go through the clothes together. I pulled out a premie size sleeper that he wore in his hospital pictures and said, "Spencer, can you believe you fit in this tiny thing?!" He'd pull out a shirt or a pair of pants and say, "Mom, will this fit me?". Sorry pal, it has been awhile since you wore 12-18 months clothing! He did manage to squeeze into a very small fleece pajama set and stretched one of his tiny baby hats over his head. I had to help with that one, but we got it on. It was quite a sight.

What I thought would be so painful was not. I didn't lose my little baby as I tossed clothes into the giveaway bag, he's been gone for some time now. Sure I miss his tiny toes and gurgly laugh, but I wouldn't trade our time now for anything. So as I packed away a few of my favorites I imagined the day I'd reopen this box for him when he has his own little one on the way and again say "Spencer, can you believe you fit in this tiny thing?"