Trying My Hand at a Standup

We are back to producing short segments called the City Minute at work. In the past, we featured a theatre student from the university. This time, it's all me baby! Ring-a-ding-ding. Who's that calling? The Today Show. (ha, ha).

"To properly load a potato gun..."

Practicing my wrinkle reducing facial exercises.

If I hold my head just right, my double chin disappears.

And it's back.

In the News

A month or so ago, Mike and I were interviewed for a magazine article on adoption. We hope readers will realize how much love it takes to make an adoption plan for a child. We are honored to have two amazing boys and their incredible families in our lives. Search pages 126 - 127 for our section in the article.

Brothers!

The Easter Bunny Downtown

Here is the video link to my Easter Bunny jaunt downtown:
 
Leisure Times, March 15, 2011

Playdate!

The "Real" Conversation

I was talking to a second cousin of mine this weekend. He was saying how he thought Liam looked like Mike. I grinned and proudly told him that we had finalized Liam's adoption a couple of weeks ago. "He's not your real son?" he asked. I was taken aback, although I'm not sure why. This isn't the first time someone has reponded this way, but I thought my cousin knew about the adoption. I'm pretty sure his mother knows. "He is our real son," I replied. "He is officially our son."

Mike thinks I make a mountain out of a mole hill when this type of question irks me but I can't help it. The love I feel for my sons is as real as any love parents may feel towards their biological children. When my son cries, I am there to comfort him. When he is hungry, I feed him. When he wants to play, I'm his instant playmate. In any kind of situation I am going to be there for him because I AM his real mother. He just happens to have two real mothers who love him very much.

Indecent Exposure

I saw a man relieving himself along the side a city building tonight. He looked around at one point and saw me staring at him in disbelief. It reminded me of the time in high school when I saw a classmate taking a whiz under a ball park light.

So, this begs the question: If you had to relieve yourself and there were no bathrooms and you weren't wearing Depends, would you?

A) Indecent Exposure
B) Pee in your pants

I think I'd opt for the later and tell people I spilled water on me but I don't want to influence your vote.

Weekend in Review

Boxes are so much fun! Liam looks so big here.

Jack, Liam and I went back home this weekend. First, we enjoyed a delicious fish dinner hosted by my hometown parish. It really is the best in the area. My parents and an uncle and aunt scope out the competition every year to see how we will compare. And let's just say we're awesome. Our parish doesn't skimp on the fish.

On Saturday, I had my hair trimmed and highlighted. I was going for subtle. A couple of days later and I still feel like this.

I would scream too if I saw me approaching.

I saw a friend whom I hadn't seen in many years. We went to the same high school. She has an adorable baby girl named Mari. Liam wanted to teach her a few things like how to crawl away then look back at mommy with an impish grin. He's good at that.

Liam loves feeding himself Gerber puffs and Cheerios. He usually has a smile on his face unless he's tired or you don't feed him fast enough.

Where Do You Work Again?

Tonight was the rededication of a city building. It's the building attached to the one where I work. So, what do you do if you don't want the public checking out your division's space? Put black paper on the door window and exchange the sign describing what you are with "Public Storage." Of course, there was little reason for alarm. I don't think anyone ventured down into our pit of despair (basement).

Brothers

Some classic images...

Getting Out of the House

Okay, I really don't like adjusting to Daylight Saving Time, but I am enjoying the extra light at the end of the day. We took a walk tonight. It was a little chilly but we were happy to get out.

Jack pointed out a plane to me.

Liam enjoyed the ride. Look at those two toothers!

Jack looks like he's boogying, but he's really running. He's like Forrest Gump. If he's going anywhere, he's running! Mike? Well, he regretted that he didn't wear a jacket. It was nice but not that nice.

Weekend in Review and What about China?

Jack, the serious driver.

On Saturday night, I enjoyed a rare girlie night with a group of fun ladies. After they finished scrap booking (I was happy to watch and not mess up their creative process), we played games. Let me tell you...I LOVE games. As a child, my requirement for a future mate was that he love playing games. Well, I fell in love with a guy who doesn't play games so I jump at the chance at doing so with family and friends. My girlfriends and I played the Bananagram game and a couple of other games that I had never played before. Lots of fun!

"Racing is hard work."

On Sunday, Jack and I went to Bonkers and met with a group of people who have completed international adoptions. One couple has adopted from Vietman and is going to Thailand to adopt their second child at the end of this month. Another dear friend of mine and her husband have adopted from China. As you may know, we have been waiting four years (it will be five in July) for a referral from China.

Infertility sucks. There's no reason to sugar coat it. But at the same time, God has given us such a wonderful way to start our family. This is how our journey began: a couple of years into our marriage, we talked with our wonderful social worker at Lutheran Family Children Services who suggested we look into China. The agency's domestic adoption program took a couple of years to get into the pool. At the time, China's adoption program only took a year or less. It didn't matter to us where we adopted from. We just wanted a child of our own so we decided to apply to China. 

When the China program began to slow down, God brought Jack and his wonderful birth family into our lives. As China's program continued to slow down, we decided to apply to an agency for domestic adoption. And now we are blessed to have Liam and his birth family in our lives.

So, where is China with its program now? Over the past couple of years, China has seemed to put an emphasis on its special needs program. In fact, special needs adoptions from China have increased while adoptions from the traditional program have slowed down to a trickle. China has placed children with families of log-in dates up to June 9, 2006. Our log-in date is July 7, 2006. This may mean that we receive our referral this summer and travel in the fall. We will see how things progess over the next few months.

In the meantime, we are enjoying life with the boys. Sometimes I feel like pinching myself and saying, "I'm a parent? Really? But it's so much fun!" Of course, it's hard work too but I have such a blast with my boys. Tonight, Jack and I made a snowman while Mike took care of Liam.

And as long as good health remains in my life, I get to continue to do these fun things with my boys. What a lucky momma!

The Many Faces of Liam

Speaking about adoption

We have told Jack about his beautiful adoption story since he was a baby and we are doing the same with Liam. Jack has some understanding of what adoption means. I know more will sink in as he grows older. Last night, we were talking about birth moms. I mentioned his birth mother's name. "Can I keep her?" he asked. His words were cute and bittersweet at the same time. Of course, I told him. She will always be Jack's mother. And he can always call and visit her. That is why an open relationship in adoption is such a beautiful thing. With this kind of relationship, adoption is not an ending but rather a beginning. The family tree becomes a family forrest with its branches intertwined, embraced by the love that beams from within.

I know there are some adoption situations where an open relationship might not work. We have been blessed to be on the other end of that spectrum.

Spring Fever

"I'm not freaking out now. This is fun!" Jack insisted on us pushing him higher and higher. We were informed that we need to buy him wings so he can fly.

Hello beautiful. Swinging is so much fun!

A Special Announcement

Yes, you read Jack's shirt right. Guess who's a big brother again!!!

We are so excited to announce the arrival of our beautiful son, Liam through the miracle of adoption. God has been so good to us. We are incredibly blessed to have these boys and their birth families in our lives. We finalized Liam's adoption and celebrated with his birth family today. Now, Jack has two little brothers - Liam and Eli, his birth mother's son.

We know God is present in our lives. I've keenly felt his presence during our sons' adoptions. I also feel that I have a couple of Grandmas pulling for us on the other side. Jack's birthday just happens to fall on my mother's birthday. Liam's birthday falls on my grandma Rose's birthday (my mom's mom). Sometimes, I think Grandma Rose (I'm sure Grandma Mary is a cohort) is up there looking down and saying, "Yes, I'm here. Did you think I'd forget about you?" Now I'll never forget my grandma's or mom's birthdays.

I would like to thank mom for tagging along with us on our adoption trip. She was a big help with Jack. She made the trip a lot easier for us. Mom and the rest of our families have been very supportive of us and our dreams to have a family.

No words or gesture can express how much love and gratitude we feel towards our sons' birth families. They treat us like family and have welcomed both boys in their arms. Our sons have so many people who love them.

Please say a prayer for women and men who choose adoption for their babies. Adoption is a tough decision but it is one made with so much love, a pure love that gives them the strength to put their child's needs before their own. I would also ask that you pray for women who are pregnant and not sure what to do with the life God has given them. Please pray that they feel God's presence in their lives and that they choose life for their precious miracles.

I'll post more pictures in the future. As you can imagine, I've taken quite a few of Liam over the past 7 months.

"To make something special, you just have to believe it's special." — Mr.Ping, Kung Fu Panda.

Tonight, after a thrilling (insert sarcasm here) trip to Cost Cutters, Jack was thirsty. I told him I had special water for him. To make it even better, the water was in a small plastic bottle. Big boy bottle, I told him. Later he complimented me on the water. It was so good. Snow water, he called it because the label has a mountain with snow on it. In reality, the bottle was an empty one I had at work and the water was tap water. But he believed it was special and that made all the difference.

Speaking of special, here's one big guy who is very special. Check out his new hairdo.

You Look Boo-tiful

I rarely get dressed up these days, meaning very rarely do I wear a dress or skirt. I have plenty of dress slacks and those are my preferred get-ups for work when we have interviews. Most days, I'm just happy if my pants fit and my zipper is up before I run out the door. So, when all the pants were in the wash last night, I resolved myself to shave (e-gads) and wear a skirt to church. Jack sweetly said, "You look boo-tiful mommy" when he saw me. I momentarily forgot about the razor burn. :)

The Mascot Experience

I spent my lunch hour getting hot and bothered in an Easter Bunny suit. Okay, so I received a lot more positive responses than negative so I wasn't really bothered but I sure was hot. Sweat running in my eyes, burning - and that was probably only 20 minutes into the experience.

I've performed as a mascot before - as the NBC peacock at a local affiliate and a baby tiger at a local hospital. I even performed with Red Bird when he came to town for a now defunct minor baseball team's game. It's really kind of fun to slip into a mascot costume and do things you normally wouldn't do like shake your groove thing in front of the city building.

Most people loved me. It didn't hurt that I was handing out candy as I walked. One person said, "You've made me so happy." I saw a couple of people I knew so I gave them hugs and even let this next guy "punch" me.

I was punched in the gut one time when I played the peacock at a station event. A small kid punched me while one of their parents stood by and did NOTHING! Excuse me?

Being around the children is one of the best parts about the "job." Thankfully, this little girl was sleeping because sometimes the wee ones cry and you just wave and walk away hoping not to upset them more.

These crazy girls were on a caffeine or sugar high. My co-worker thought they were high. They were stopped at a red light and wanted a picture. I ran over, gave them some candy and then they took a picture. The blonde was way too excited.

Who can ask for anything more? Really. (Had to hold the helmet so it didn't fall off!) Love that form.

Girlie Night and Mascot Madness

I watched "The Chorus Line" with my friend Velvet tonight. It was so fun to have a girlie night. Velvet, if you win tickets to see Mamma Mia and you need someone to go with, please give me a call. Love Abba!

Tomorrow, I will be headed downtown in an Easter Bunny outfit to promote an upcoming Parks and Recreation event. I think past late night television shows have inspired my latest idea. My co-worker is going to film people's reactions. After all, it's not everyday you see the EB walking around handing out candy. I also have a skit in mind that includes broken Tootsie rolls. Chew on that one for a while.

Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Amen

Jack is learning his prayers! We say the "Our Father," "Hail Mary" and the "Guardian Angel" prayers at night. I was so proud of him a couple of weeks ago when he said part of the "Our Father" during mass.

As Catholics, we begin our prayer with the sign of the cross, "In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen." Tonight, Jack was snuggling with his bestie, Piggy and his good friend, Kirby. After he made the sign of the cross, Jack reached over and gave Pig and Kirby the sign of the cross too. Awe...