Sunday fun

I can't believe the winter Olympic games are over. With a 2-year-old running around, I haven't seen very much of the games this year but what I saw was very special. I loved seeing Michael J. Fox tonight. But what was up with the Mountie back-up singers? When they first came on the stage, it looked like an adult film ready to happen.

We spent a fun day at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We visited a family friend who had surgery a few weeks ago. My mom brought her communion while Jack and I walked outside. She had several ceramic animals and a couple of what I call worry stones. After passing by them several times, Jack said, "Don't worry."

I bought the Elefun game. Jack decided to put the butterfly net on his head. Silly boy. He called me, "Silly momma" tonight and I thought, "Look who's talking." Butterfly nets make great hair nets.

Meaghan and Garrett loved playing with the Elefun game today.
Jack was still groggy from his nap and not in the mood.

Cute shot of Jack and Garrett in Grandpa's recliner.

Playing in Grandma's curtain is also fun.

Boo!

But nothing beats an ice cream cone.

Just like having twins!

A tisket, a tasket. Grandma's basket.

Meaghan made Grandma a pirate eye patch. Aye matey!

Garrett tore off one of Grandpa and Grandma's towel holders.

I asked mom to pose for a "Clue" picture: Miss Scarlet did it with the towel holder in the bathroom. She and I have so much fun together.

Funny Jack story: I made pancakes this morning and Jack was licking off the spoon. (It was the powder kind in the bottle - so no worry about eggs.) Anyway, he said, "Once more," took a lick and said, "Once more, again."

A Hail Mary Pass

Church with Jack is always fun. Tonight was no exception. It's very hard for a two-year-old to sit somewhat still and be quiet in church. After all, priests, lectors, etc. are talking. I ended up sitting with an "old" MPA friend tonight and his son. Jack loved meeting a new friend but he also wanted to do what four-year-old Joseph could do except be relatively quiet. :)

When we went up for communion, I tried to hold Jack's hand but he said, "I walk myself" twice. I heard some snickering. Jack is pretty amusing. My friend and his son left after communion so when Jack and I returned to the pew, my little boy asked, "Where guys go?" That also earned us a couple of snickers.

It's so hard not to laugh when Jack is being, well, a two-year-old.

Life with my little man is always an adventure.

Give Me Your Best Offer

I'm a mostly positive person but there's something that easily turns me into a Negative Nervous Nelly. I hate, hate car shopping. In fact, I hate it with a passion. Nail biting, ulcer inducing passion. I've been negotiating with a salesperson this week. I think they're going to drop the price on an overpriced car (more than they have - a drop in the bucket), but it doesn't matter how much they drop it, I'll still feel like I've been bent over.

And even if the car's record is clean (mostly), it could still end up being a lemon. I have a few good things on my side though. I have wonderful credit and an awesome interest rate offer from a local credit union. And I think one of my brothers is checking out the car tomorrow. He's much more mechanical than me.

So, the car buying game has begun which means I will soon be faced with car payments (groan). On the upside, I'll have a nicer car with lower mileage. I just need to feel that I've been able to negotiate a good deal when this is all over, you know, before buyer's remorse kicks in.

If anyone knows how much a salesperson can drop a price on a car, on average, please let me know, you know, before the ulcer kicks in. :)

You Happy?

Jack has such a lovely soul. He's truly my little love bunny. Sometimes he asks, "Momma happy?" And sometimes, out of the blue, he'll say, "I happy." I always tell him the truth when he asks about momma's state of mind. I'm happy when we're together.

Ring Bearer Prepping

Some things never change. Notice that Mike's eyes are closed in the above picture. Although we're a few months away from our anniversary, I thought I'd throw in that picture along with the next one.

This is a picture of my nephew who was 3 at the time he served as ring bearer in our wedding. Jack saw the picture this morning and said, "Me. That's Jack." Maybe Jack is making the connection that he'll get to dress like that for his birth mom's wedding. We were told that Christopher didn't want to take his tux off after our wedding. We'll see how excited Jack is about the tux and fancy shoes.

Dreams

“Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”

Shel Silverstein

Jacque, the Artist

Jack and I attended a Painting Party today, one of the city's preschool programs. The first thing he asked about was the snack, although he couldn't wait to do something with that paint brush.

My co-worker, Karen, filmed the class to use for a future video segment.

I have a confession to make. I did most of the painting in an attempt to show Jack what we came to do. He seemed more excited to dip the brush in and out of the water and bang the lids together.

He was pretty impressed that mommy could make
dinosaur tracks with the paint brush.

Finger paints can be a little messy.

The reward for being such a good boy? Cookies and punch. Yum.
(He shared a little with me.)

Cheese! I mean, cookies!

Weekend in Review

It's been a busy but fun weekend. Jack would tell you about it but he's busy making calls on his phone (mom's solitaire game). So, you'll have to settle for an update from me. After going bonkers on Saturday, Jack took a nap before we headed to a Chinese New Year festival.

Jack colored the Great Wall.

And saw beautiful traditional Chinese dancing.

But his favorite was the martial arts.

He also liked the dragons.

A very nice man wrote Jack's name in Chinese.

Jack even won a ladybug on a stick.

And we had fun at Grandpa and Grandma's house today.

Grandma bought Jack a Mickey Mouse jacket. He really likes it and

wanted to wear the jacket inside the house with the hat on.

A special thanks to my mom and dad who replaced a couple
of lights in my car. God bless them. I hope dad feels better soon. 

Going Bonkers

We went bonkers at a local activity center this morning. But first we made an emergency stop at Wal-mart to pick up some pants because someone went wee wee through his diaper. Ooops.

We hope to hook up with some friends at this place in the future. Jack's first experience was so-so. He got into it just about the time we needed to leave for his nap.

Jack sat with the monkey until I put quarters in the car. When it started to move, he wanted out.

His favorite activity was building a tower with blocks.

A Case of the "No's"

Jack woke up in a good mood this morning. It didn't last long. Guess what someone wanted for breakfast...a cookie! But I had to be the strict momma. Well, he didn't like that. I offered fruit and some other things, but he said "no." Then he started saying no to everything. So, I asked him things like,

"Do you want to jump?"
"No."

"Do you want to fly in the air?"
"No."

And then, mean ol' momma got slick, like a detective looking for a crack.

"Do you want to say no?"
(Silence)

Expiration Date 2/19/10

There comes a time in every woman's life when she has to save pictures from a department store before they "expire." So, here's a glimpse at a few of our Christmas pictures that didn't make the cut this year.

What are these?

This is something you don't see everyday, especially at our house. I walked into the kitchen last night and overlooked these dozen roses. "I guess you didn't see this," Mike said. I walked back into the kitchen slowly, looking for the obvious. Mike had been cleaning so I checked the floors, etc. I think he finally had to point the roses out before my mind registered that they were there in my house. Beautiful!

Putting Feelings to Paper

I've been asked by Lutheran Family Children Services to write an article for their May newsletter. In the article, I will do my best to describe how it feels being a mom on Mother's Day and every day. Well, it feels awesome!


Adoption has been the most incredible journey for us, one I never imagined I would be blessed to travel. There are still times when my life seems surreal...when I put Jack to bed at night or look in my rear view mirror and see his awnry face. I remember all those years looking back and seeing nothing but an empty seat. I can recall the terrible longing that pierces a person's heart. That sounds dramatic but how else can you describe such a deep longing?

And I remember my first Mother's Day because I almost forgot it. I had been so busy preparing for Jack's baptism that I didn't realize it was Mother's Day weekend until we were in church and the priest asked all mothers to stand up and be blessed. I got to stand up that year. Another memory that is also embedded on my heart is the first time I could call Jack my son. Incredible.

I am excited and honored to be asked to write an article for the agency. I hope words won't fail me. It will be hard to describe in a few paragraphs what Jack and adoption mean to me when it means everything!

Things I Love Doing with My Boy

Before Jack goes to bed, we spend time on mommy and daddy's bed and read books. I love reading books with him and it's a way to get him to unwind and hopefully instill in him a love for reading. Tonight, we had a See and Spy book and he pointed to the numbers and said, "Number." That's a first and pretty exciting. He doesn't know which number is which on paper but he'll learn. And I love when he counts. He'll say, "1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10."

We have a routine that we keep with Jack so when it gets close to bedtime, I help him brush his teeth. Routines are good for children but, because Jack knows what's coming next, he's less than cooperative. I was wishing for a mini Jaws of Life tonight so I could pry the toothbrush out of his clamped teeth.

My boy loves bouncing on his bed. Maybe he's inspired by the Olympics, Skippyjonjones or it's just another stall tactic. Anyway, while I was trying to pray with him tonight, he got all bouncy and then he'd fall down. Of course, Jack was okay but to reassure me he'd say, "I ok, momma."

What a stinkbug!