Mommy My Moon

Tonight as I was tucking Charlie into bed, we sang one of our favorite songs, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." As I covered him up, I said to him, "Goodnight, Charlie My Star."  In his sweet, sleepy little boy voice he replied, "Goodnight, Mommy My Moon,"  It was one of those precious, fleeting moments of motherhood that I wished I could bottle up and keep forever. 

He is growing and changing so fast these days, and I often find myself reminiscing about days gone by.  I do love now, but sometimes I just miss the simpler times from when he was younger.  Truth be told, we are all working hard right now, and our days are busy and sometimes overwhelming.  I often feel like my time with him is too full of all the things we have to do and not full enough of the things we want to do.

Tonight served as a powerful and precious reminder of how each and every moment we share with our little ones is special.  How each and every moment matters, especially to our children.  And...because I can't help myself, I'll leave you with a recent picture of the little man himself, plus his parents.  :)  See what I mean...he's growing up and changing so fast these days! 

Red Thread Friends

There's a beautiful proverb that's well-known in the adoption community:

An invisible red thread connects those destined to meet.
Regardless of time, place or circumstance.
The thread may stretch or tangle, but never break.

~ Chinese Proverb

I love that saying because it not only makes me think of our son, but also of a few special friends that I've met along the road of our adoption journey.  Wendy (from Our Story) and Rachel are two such friends.  Last week I was fortunate enough to be able to spend the day with these two amazing women, and their children.

All our kids are within a few months of each other age-wise, so they had a great time playing together, both at Wendy's house where we first got together, and at the splash park where we went to play.

We've had a lot of 100+ degree days in Michigan this summer, so all of us were relieved when our special play day turned out to be sunny and 85.  We really could not have asked for a more beautiful day!  There is something so special about being with people who just "get it," without any explanations needed.  We were able to talk while the kids played, and it was really nice to relax and enjoy our time together. 

As we walked out together, all the kids were giggling as we held hands in a big, long line.  It was music to my ears, and a perfect sentiment to the emotions I think we were all feeling as we left the park.  Great times!  

Peaches

This got such a strong reaction on Facebook that I decided to post it here, too. Sometimes when you live with a spirited little person like ours, you just have to laugh. After we went shopping, I put the peaches on the counter. He wanted one right then but dinner was being put on the table so I told him, "No peaches before dinner." We ate, took a bath and everything was good. As I was gathering his lotion and pajamas after bath (a two-minute job at best,) he busied himself sampling, not one, but ALL the peaches.

When my mom saw this she laughed and said, "That reminds me of Ramona and the apples." And indeed, it does! Which leaves me wondering...are we raising Ramona's male counterpart? Sometimes I'd like to think we are. In his defense, the peaches are absolutely delicious, as they often are this time of year. Besides, as another Facebook commenter put it, "The first bite's the best!" And indeed...who can argue with that? Certainly not our little boy!!

Custom iPhone Case from Shuterfly

I am in LOVE with this new product from Shutterfly. If I had the budget, I'd get a different phone case for every day of the week! Phones are such an ever-present part of our daily lives now...I love the option of having photos of my favorite little person on mine. Check it out:

Custom iPhone Case

View the entire collection of cards.

Father’s Day Treat: Buy a Frosty to help children in Foster Care

This weekend only!  Great reason to treat yourself and your family!!  

Father’s Day Treat: Buy a Frosty to help children in Foster Care

A Little More Love...

So today marked a special milestone for our family.   We had a much-anticipated appointment after work, with our adoption agency!  That's right, we have officially begun the process of adoption for baby #2.  We are excited and actually--not that nervous this time.

It helps sooo much having already been through this process and knowing what to expect along the way.  That, and...I feel happy and content where we are in life right now.  While I absolutely do want to grow our family, and I do want another child, I don't care as much when that happens, or how.  I'm not sure that makes a lot of sense.  All I can really say is that I am much more relaxed this time around than I was last time.  I'm sure there will still be moments when it's hard or frustrating or whatever...but overall, I feel a sense of contentment and peace about the whole thing.

Que Sera, Sera 

Charlie was so cute then we picked him up from daycare.  We asked him if he wanted a baby brother or a baby sister and he said, "brosher."  I high-fived him for that because, deep down, I have a special little place tucked away in the corner of my heart for the notion of a family of BOYS.  Not that I wouldn't completely welcome and adore a baby girl, mind you!  Then walking into the restaurant where we stopped for dinner, I explained that Mommy and Daddy had been to the adoption agency today and that we were going to adopt a baby again.  I said, "But this time, you get to help!"  I asked him again if he wanted to have a brother or a sister and he said, "Ummmm...a sisser!"  Cut to our conversation at the dinner table, where Michael asked him the same question one more time and, after carefully considering for a minute, he said, "I want a brosher AND a sisser!" Now that is a boy truly after my own heart - covering all his bases in such an important matter.  Oh how I love him so.  I know he will make an amazing big brother when the time comes, I can't wait for that!!

  

 

           



   

Birthday Boy

April 28th three years ago was not the best of days for me.  If only I had known then what I know now...well let's just say I would have spent that day rejoicing and being thankful instead of lamenting.  Now, three years later, April 28th stands in my memory as one of the best days of my life.  Though I didn't know it at the time, my life was about to change completely, for the better.  

Looking back now, it's actually hard to remember what things were like for us before he came home.  Happy 3rd birthday to our friendly, funny, feisty, fast, (sometimes) ferocious but always fabulous little man.  Charlie...I could not love you more if I tried!!