Warped Mommy Humor

Got this youtube link from a friend. It's funny, in a warped kind of way. Enjoy.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NnzF772EkI

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Hi Readers - If you're a regular reader, or a semi-regular one, post a comment. Sometimes I think I'm writing to myself, and its fun to know that there are actually people out there who are reading what I'm writing.

Another update from the Sleep Deprived

Baby has figured out the eating thing. She's now past her birth weight. Hooray! She's turning towards my voice and decided that if she's really mad only mom will do. This is great news on the bonding and attachment side of things. It's less fabulous on the mom gets two seconds to herself side of the equation.

My kids are watching too much TV, and and my floors are a disaster. But overall we are hanging in there. Bub had a melt down in the library today, and he brought his pillow and blanket to sleep in our room last night. I know his life just got a little more complicated. Just after dinner he suggested to me that when Baby Girl's mommy gets better that we should really give her back. I don't think he's excited to have Baby be a permanent fixture in our family. He'll adjust, but I do feel sorry for him.

Quick Update from the Sleep Deprived

I wish I could post pictures of our baby on the blog. I can't for legal reasons, but let me just say she is sooo BEAUTIFUL. I am smitten. I am also tired. Baby Girl eats like a preemie and has a very unorganized suck. It's hard work for her to eat and hard work for us to feed her. They are watching her very closely to make sure she's gaining weight and that means we've been to the doctor a lot lately. Yesterday I took her to the Occupational Therapist at Children's in Denver. Those therapists are my heros. They've made such us difference for both E and Baby's world. I'm pretty sure the techniques I've learned from the OT will help her get the food she needs to grow. Otherwise a feeding tube is something that will have to be considered. I DO NOT want that for my sweet baby.

My other kiddos are doing well, but I can tell they are missing me. Still I love how they dote on their new sister. They always want to hold her and kiss her, and are quick to help if I ask.

E had his awards ceremony at OPTIONS school yesterday. He got 3 awards; the most exciting for me was the presidential physical fitness award. At the beginning of the year E was in the 30th percentile, now, after his therapy he got an award for being above the 85th percentile. YEAH! Have I mentioned that I love Children's OT/PT? Have I said how proud I am of my son? He's had to work hard on his exercises, but it is definitely paying off.

I'm starting to zone out, and I should rescue Eddie. He's trying to work on the sprinkler system in our yard and he's had quite a few helpful pointer from our own "peanut gallery". Those, "maybe you should just..." comments our 3 year old is making are not going over all that well.

mexico - enough said

Unexpected Blessings

So this week has been an exciting crazy blur, and I’m not quite sure where to begin. I probably should scroll back to last Tuesday. I was doing laundry, and get ready for our weekend get-away. Eddie’s company was paying for us to go on a long weekend to the Mayan Riviera, a trip that was much anticipated. About noon I got a call from our social worker - they had a baby for us. She was at the hospital and needed to be picked up as soon as possible. Were we interested? “ Uhhhhh….. well…. Uhhh…. Sure”. I called Eddie, interrupting him from the middle of the meeting, to drop the bombshell. By 2:00PM we decided that Babyness was to be our girl, and by 5:00PM we left for the hospital to pick her up. What a surreal experience. There was no time to get ready. No diapers, no bottles, no formula - plenty of adrenaline.

We met the social worker at the medical complex, car seat in hand, and headed up to get our girl. When we got there we found our baby in the nurses station being loved on and held by the nurses there. The nurses took pity on us and gave us bags of diapers, formula, and bottles. They were quick to give us pointers. “She likes to be swaddled; she doesn’t like to be patted; she’s been fussy, and doesn’t like to eat”. One nurse actually teared up as she gave Babyness one last hug. Eddie signed all of one piece of paper and we left, baby in hand.

I’ve got to tell you about our Sweetness. She’s beautiful; dark hair, dark eyes, and so tiny. I’d forgotten how very small a 3 day old baby is. The kids love her. Even Bub – who generally is not a fan of babies, or girls, likes her – kinda. E and M cannot get enough of her. Wednesday morning, I woke up sleepy, and snuggled up with our newest addition to the family. She is so precious, so tiny and amazing and I just stared at her in wonder.

Back to Mexico. Believe it or not, we went. One and a half days after we brought our daughter home we left her and her siblings with my sister for the weekend. Not an easy decision, but the right one, I think. I was emotionally “strung out” from the process of deciding to take the sibling group of 2 babies, and then not having them placed with us. I was looking forward to our time in Mexico to recharge, and reconnect. The adoption process is straining and the fost-adopt process particularly so; our marriage needs to be protected and nurtured. It, along with our faith, provides the foundation for our family. And, by golly, if that means we need to go to the Mayan Rivera for a weekend, then that is a sacrifice that we will just have to make. As I am writing this we are on the flight back to Denver, and I cannot wait to get home. I miss my kids, and I want to be there for my new baby. But God blessed our days away as a couple, and I had surprising peace about leaving our little ones, even the itty-bittiest, in my sister’s care.

The resort was lovely, and lavish. The beach was better. I was amazed by the beauty of the Caribbean waters. So blue. And only the Creator could make something so beautiful, and so dynamic. Eddie and I swam out to a reef and snorkeled there; it is teeming with life. We saw schools of tropical fish that nearly glowed. They are under water, nobody sees them. God made them for his own glory and his own pleasure. I think most people at the resort were most interested in the frozen margaritas (which were great) than they were about the beauty that surrounded them. How could they miss it? God’s handiwork was displayed in all its glory, and they didn’t even see it.


The whole trip I felt a little self-conscious about being there. Eddie’s entire company knew we had just brought home a baby. They also knew that we have three bio kids. I know some of them were thinking that we are crazy and irresponsible to bring another child into our home. These folks are career driven, and several have chosen not to ever have kids – they’re inconvenient. The ones who weren’t thinking we were crazy for adopting were thinking we were crazy for leaving our baby. Still others offered platitudes like, “That is such a great thing you are doing.” I know they are trying to be nice, but they haven’t held Baby Girl in their arms and kissed her sweet baby shampoo scented head. She a precious gift and she feels like our daughter - not this “great thing” we are doing.

Enough for now…

Lessons from my almost garden...

The kids and I started some of our garden seeds indoors this year and I'm feeling rather impressed with my home economics-ness (its a word...). Anyway, the beans are really taking off, the peppers have decided not to germinate, and our basil was getting over-croweded. I had to thin out our little basil sprouts this morning to one or two sprouts per container. This is what the back of the seed pack says to do, and I know that if I want to grow healthy basil plants that they must have room to grow. But still , I felt a little sad about having to pluck out perfectly healthy little basil sprouts. They're cute.

There is a life lesson to be learned in all of this: Sometimes you have to pluck the good things out of your life so that the best things have room to grow. We all know that sometimes our lives get cluttered, and we have to clear out the "stuff". We, or at least I, think that the "clutter" is usually bad stuff, or weeds. And this is sometimes true. More often, I think, I just have too many good things going on. I then have to thin out the good things in my life, so that there is room for the best things to flourish. This is a discipline. And this makes me sad. I can only say yes to a few things, otherwise my life becomes anemic and nothing that I do bears fruit.

My Mom and My Sisters

Here's a picture of my sisters and my Mom at Manda's baby shower. Aren't we cute? I love these ladies.

The Bible is Not My Textbook

So I was on this homeschooling website and happened to read the Statement of Beliefs. One of the "statements" went something like this, "The Bible is the inerrant word of God. It is God's only revelation and our textbook for living." I found this totally irritating. Here's why:

-A good case could be made for the Bible as literature, or poetry, or erotica, or history, or even prophesy, but the Bible is certainly not a textbook. It is not a book of "tips and tricks" for successful living and it wouldn't be found in the Self-Help section of Barnes and Noble. Its just not as tidy as that. I do believe that God reveals himself to people through the Bible, but sometimes I think that the Bible poses more questions than it provides answers. It causes us to search for Him.

Why did God choose Jacob and not Esau? Why does the Bible talk about Creation happening in 6 days? Did it really happen that way; is it literal or mythical? (and before you get your panties in a wad, please understand that I'm using the word "mythical" to mean "figurative" not "untrue". ) And why did God get Paul's attention by a blinding light, but apparently leave me in the dark about whether we should switch county agencies for adoption?

You get my point...

- The second reason I find that "Statement of Belief" totally annoying is that it's crazy to believe that God only ever speaks to us through the written word in the Bible. What about, "The heavens declaring His glory."? What about those sunsets, and mountain vistas? What about the song that comes on the radio while your driving to pick up the eggs you forgot to buy at the store when you went the first time? What about nursing my newborn babies?

In fact, the Bible is full of stories of God revealing himself to people in very personal ways. Remember Samuel, and Moses, and Noah (God even gave him the dimensions for making a big boat - a little weird actually) . And don't forget the girls, there's Mary, and Deborah and Esther. God speaks, and he is not limited to the canon.

So there. Take that - you, oh publishers of homeschool propaganda! God does not neatly package Christianity into a "textbook" for living. Faith is MESSY!

Slacker-dom - The land of zero productivity

I cannot muster up the gumption to be productive these days. It's spring and my mind simply won't focus. So we've hit every playground in a 5 mile radius in the last couple of weeks. Gym class right? We've gone on walks to collect leaves and flower buds. Science. We've visited the library and read books aloud. Reading and Language Arts.

I wipe down the bathroom counters, and sweep up the big chunks of dirt on the floor. Clean right? My kids love beans and weenies for dinner so I toss a salad to go with it and we call it dinner. Hey, hotdogs are a legitimate source of protein.

I know the life of a slacker is not maintainable but there is certainly something to be said for the lifestyle. Slackerdom cannot be my permanent home but when spring fever hits its a great place to visit. The view is nice from here. I've noticed a momma and pappa bird build a nest. And some of those children's books have fabulous pictures. Besides after the emotional roller-coaster our "almost adoption referral" my heart is a little raw. I could use a little white space to heal before we jump back into life.

A Mud-Pie kind of Mom

I'm a mud-pie kind of mom, and this is unfortunate for me. I think that making mud-pies is a childhood right of passage and that every kid should be allowed to get really really dirty from time to time. The unfortunate outcome of this strongly held belief is that I end up with a ginormous mess. But if you can't squish a little mud between your toes when your a kid then, really, what's the point? I want my kids to get the chance to enjoy the wonder of wiggly earthworm, and the innocence of a day at the park. We all know life is not so simple, and sometimes there is unexplainable heartache, but for today I can give my kids their childhood - and that is worth a mud lined bathtub, and a stained shirt or two.

We Forclosed On Our Son

If you have no idea what the title is about you need to read the previous post. Therein lies the context.

Alas, we had to foreclose on my son - and what's worse, he seems relatively unaffected. I thought my idea was brilliant (actually I still think its pretty good), but I'm not sure that my brilliant parenting will have any lasting results. Sorta sucks, frankly. I'd like to know that my shining moments make a difference. Oh well - we still have 11.5 years before he leaves home - there is still hope.