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!!

 

           



   



  

It's Been a While!

It's been months since my last update so I actually doubt if anyone is even checking this blog much after my lengthy absence.  My last post just happened to coincide with some fairly sudden significant life changes, namely that I was offered a job as a 1st/2nd grade teacher.  This is my first year teaching and I also have another part time mentoring job on the side.  I'm still occasionally doing portraits for friends when I can as well.  All that is to say, I've been extremely busy these past months!  In fact, I still am extremely busy and it's unlikely that I'm going to be jumping back into blogging regularly any time soon.

Still - the holidays are upon us and that always brings out my sentimental side.  I just ordered our family Christmas cards and that made me think of last Christmas when Shutterfly did their big "free photo card" promotion for bloggers.   At that time, I was blogging like mad.  There are no free photo cards this year, but (how wonderful it is to say!) that's OK because greeting cards actually fit into our budget this year.   

Additionally, we are speaking at the adoption agency again tomorrow and that always makes me think of blogging and the many stories I've related to...families I've connected with through this outlet.  Blogging is so powerful and I do miss it.  I think that some part of me will always be a blogger, even if I end up dropping that ball for the time being.  I need to take some time to let things settle in my life and then figure out what parts of my personal life can fit where.  As thrilled as I am to have found a teaching job (they are frighteningly scarce in my state,) it's still been a whirlwind that has left me in survival mode for the past several months.

I am exhausted and overwhelmed but happy and productive too.  I guess that's about the gist of things!  I hope all my fellow bloggers out there are doing well and I wish you all a happy holiday season!  


 
           

   

    

5x7 Folded Card

Bold Bright Joy Christmas Card

Seasons greetings with personalized Christmas cards from Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

To Blog or Not to Blog...

...that is the question! 

There was a time when I would've said blogging was in me - as in something I had to do, something about which I had no choice.  I'm no longer sure that's the case but I do still enjoy blogging, when I have the time.  I've been thinking about it a lot lately and I'm not sure exactly where to go with my blogging.  I love that I have so many followers, and I love (even more) the valuable connections I've made through this blog but...where should I go from here?

That's where you come in...

A fellow adoptive mom and good friend of mine, (see what I mean about the valuable connections I've made through blogging!) Wendy recently wrote a post and I've decided to follow her lead. 

If you read my blog...

Can you take a moment to leave me a comment and tell me a bit about yourself?  How did you find my blog and what has kept you interested in it?  Did you adopt or do you have plans to do so?  What other connections do you have to adoption?  Is there anything you would like me to write about or write more/less about?    

Thanks for the feedback!

 
           

   

  

When the Baby is Having a Baby...

That's right folks, the baby of our family, my little sister, is pregnant!!  I've known for quite some time but haven't really been prepared to share until now.  I am very happy for her as I know the journey to this place was less than easy.  While we definitely had a shared camaraderie in our experiences of infertility, I am so happy that her trip down that road has taken a different turn.  I love that our family is still growing, and I am so excited that my sister will get to experience the awesome ride of motherhood along with us now.

I had an incredibly special experience a couple of weeks ago.  I got to go to her prenatal doctor's appointment.  We heard the baby's heartbeat (nice and strong at 138-142) for a couple of minutes.  It was, quite simply, amazing.  I never got to experience that with my own son (and I am genuinely okay with that) but because of my sisters, I have been able to have small glimpses of what it's like to grow a baby inside your own body.  I'm so thankful to both of them for letting me experience, vicariously, some of the special moments that infertility tried to take away.  I felt very similarly when my older sister let me feel one of her contractions as she was beginning to go into labor with my now two-year-old niece.  All of the children in my life are extremely special to me and I love that our family is so close that I can be a part of their lives even before they are born. 

It's so odd for me, for the baby of our family to be pregnant.  She's always been the one we all looked out for.  Not that we don't/won't do that now but she's doing this thing - this amazing thing that's so much bigger than all of us, and that I've never done.  Pregnancy and preparation for motherhood requires her to be very much grown up and it's such a strange, yet beautiful thing for me to watch.  I love my family and my sisters more than words can possibly express.  This is an exciting time for all of us and I am so very thankful for the many blessings we have.

 
           

   

  

Reverse Terminology

I had an interesting experience at the lake a couple weeks back.  I was talking to a friend about his wife's adult-adoptee relationship with her birth family.  He was saying how she and her birth mother are extremely close and talk on the phone almost every day.  How they love to spend time together now that they've been reunited.  It was making me feel kind of melancholy--just thinking about our son and how he may likely never have that experience.  Plus, if I'm being honest, I was also thinking about the adoptive mom and what her feelings would be about her grown daughter having such a close relationship with her birth mom.  Then, in what was an interesting reversal of terms, my friend said, "Of course she's still really close to her real parents too--you know, the ones who raised her."  I thought it was kind of funny that he used the words, "real parents" to describe adoptive parents since there is such a stigma about that in the adoption world.  Oftentimes strangers will ask, unwittingly, about our son's "real parents."  I want to (and sometimes do) point out that we are right here--as real as can be, living life with our son day in and day out.  They don't really mean anything by incorrectly using the term "real parents," they just want to know our story and don't really know how to ask.  I do keep that in mind when such conversations arise, but I also think it's appropriate to do a little PAL (positive adoption language) education sometimes too.

Two Weeks Can Change a Child's Life

I received an email recently introducing me to the Fresh Air Fund.  If you've never heard of this, click on the link in this post or on my sidebar and find out more.  You'll be glad you did.  The Fresh Air Fund was created to help make a profound difference in the lives of inner city kids by giving them the gift of exactly that, fresh air.

The fund is still in need of host families for this summer but even if that's not something you can commit to right now, maybe you can help by donating funds or, like me, by simply spreading the word to others who may be able to help.  If you watch even one of the video clips posted on the fresh air site, I think you'll agree that two weeks really can make a difference!