Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Getting Ready For Daddy's Birthday

Luke just loves excitement.  He reminds me of me.  If you need a pick me up or a general giggle at something silly then we are your 'GO TO' people. 

We were making Daddy's birthday present and Luke was so excited he just couldn't stop quivering.  (When he gets excited he shakes his body and it is horribly cute..... and he has done it since we got him which makes it even better).  He couldn't concentrate on the project at hand for gabbing (a gift he got from me) about Daddy's birthday. 

He than asked me "Mommy, do you think Daddy wants a carrot for his birthday like you did?"

I told  him I was pretty sure that daddy didn't want a carrot  (cake) but would probably love a chocolate cake.  He then told me I better buy one instead of trying to make it because Daddy would like it better.

Ok... so off to buy a cake for tomorrow's BIG DAY!!!

....and here I thought I could at least BAKE and not offend!!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Riding in the Car

Luke was looking out the window and had his hand on the side of his face just really taking it in.  I asked him what he was doing and he said "Just watching the city go bye". 

Monday, March 21, 2011

A PROUD Mommy Moment

I get an e-mail from our company banker and I gasp.... "OH NO... did I do something wrong? What did I mess up? I do everything "AUTO" so it gets done and gets done "RIGHT" so I am just dying while opening the e-mail. I open it and this is what she says:


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You are not going to believe this. Today I was at Mellow Mushroom for lunch and all of a sudden these 2 gorgeous kids come running in and it was Luke and Maran. I would recognize them anywhere. They are so beautiful and were so happy. Anyway, I thought it was funny that I recognized them.
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A PROUD moment for me --- after I caught my breath!

Here's hoping to the beauty of kids being noticed at any time and any place over the tantrums and unmatched clothes.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Remembering our First Gotcha Day July 26, 2007

(I am not sure why this never posted but I found it in draft form and wanted to post it... it was PRE-MARAN).

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To say time flies is so blah but oh how much truth this saying holds.  It's hard to believe that three years ago today we got our son Luke from Guatemala.  A day we will ALL remember.  It was emotional, exhausting, scary, and incredibly happy.  We will never forget him being brought into the hotel to us.  I will never forget my first glimpse of him or the smile he had when he was put into his daddy's arms.  Along with those memories we won't forget how scared he was and how he cried when his foster mom wasn't near his side.  Boy did he cry.  He had on many layers of clothing.  There were five of us waiting for him.  His new mom and dad, his Tia Lisa who made the trip with us (THANKFULLY SO) and our two attorneys. (Actually our attorney's daughter and son who were young and very nice to have around).  He (Luke) smelled like pancake syrup.  His large chocolate eyes were piercing and he had such a serious look on his face.  So serious that it was almost like we shouldn't "COO" to him or do any of the baby things.  He was 10 months old. We were told he weighed about 18 pounds but he really weighed about 12.  We were told that he had eczema.  When we took him to our room I stripped him down to his diaper.  He didn't have eczema he had a severe heat rash.    He came to us with :  three layers of clothing of which the undershirt was extremely tattered and you could tell the foster mom had clearly used it for many babies.  Booties that had Winnie the Pooh on them.  Socks that had some blue in them.  Blue striped pants and a few other shirt layers.  He had no bottle - only a toy and a blankie we had sent to him and a nasty ear infection.  He was hungry.  We had been left with him and had no idea what kind of formula to get or what to try to feed him.  We were told to buy the baby food from the area and we did.  My sister took a cab to a few different places and with her knowing some Spanish she was able to communicate to the cab driver who then took it as a personal mission to find us this special formula for our new child.  He loved the milk.   We mixed the antibiotic that our Pediatrician THANKFULLY had sent to us and started trying to make him happy.  Meanwhile the new Daddy comes down with the flu and goes into quarantine for 24 hours.  Luke screams because all he wants is daddy so Tia and I had to try to calm him down.  Meanwhile Tia Lisa is having what we find out later to be a flare up of Multiple Sclerosis (she was diagnosed 90 days later with MS).  I paced the room holding him in my arms for about 3 1/2 hours straight.  We strolled him up and down the hall.  I realize that I had forgotten almost all the nursery rhymes and quickly learn one from Tia Lisa that I still sing to him today --of course my own version that is.  He was screaming bloody murder the entire time.  We finally get him to sleep and I then can't sleep because I am afraid he will stop breathing.  We made it through the first day.  It was happy, scary, tiring and one of the best days ever.  Now 1096 days later (add Leap Year Day) we are at it again.  As we wait for Maran we relish the memories from our FIRST GOTCHA DAY three years ago. 

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Daddy "Mommy wants this for her birthday".....

A few weeks back we hung the birthday flag in honor of Daddy and Mommy's March birthdays.  I am always torn about the birthday flag because I LOVE ST PATRICK's Day and LOVE BIRTHDAYS all the same so the St. Pat's flag doesn't get it's fair share of time.  Since my day is the 16th and David's is the 30th the St. Pat's flag will fly only on St Pat's day and then we go back to another birthday flag for the rest of the month. 

I let Luke pick the flag for the first of the month.  He chose MICKEY BIRTHDAY.  I then told him that Mommy wanted something for her birthday and had to make sure that daddy knew about it but to not tell Daddy that I asked for it.  He then listened to me carefully tell him that I wanted a carrot cake.

Not more than 20 minutes later we get in the car and Luke announces to daddy that he has a secret and he tells me not to listen.  He says "Daddy, it's mommy's birthday and she wants a carrot".  I start to laugh.  I am picturing a CARROT for a bunny to eat and David immediately thinks of a KARAT for a diamond or some type stone.  David was very confused as he knows that the rule is to "NEVER EVER" get me jewelry.  For those of you who really know me you know why.  So David looks at me in question and I explain that I want a 'carrot cake'.  He was quite relieved.  Big bucks saved for him on that karat I might add.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

LUKE ASKS MARAN -- "DO YOU LIKE ME"

So Luke asks Maran the following questions:

"Maran, do you like Mommy and Daddy"

  • Luckily she replied "YES".

"Maran do you like me?

  • Luckily she replied "YES".

And a cute grin was on Luke's face.  Guess at times (AND ONLY AT TIMES) siblings should like each other. 

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

A letter I wrote to Jennifer about Kids.....

I wrote this to my friend Jennifer in early November.  We had just gotten home from China and I remember the feeling of  'IT IS ALL FALLING APART'.  Thankfully those days are a mere memory.  I can say that it has gotten so much better it is unreal.  I never thought we would reach a time where there was 'peace' in the house or two toddlers that would play with each other.  Each day brings on its new challenges and life is not always perfect but it is so much better.  AND THANKFULLY SO!

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Hello There....

 I can say that this is a beautiful sight to me right now  (picture below)
 It has to be horribly uncomfortable though! Today has been challenging
at best. It  makes me wonder if I truly was a bad child because all day long I
 heard my mother saying "Just wait till you have kids". Almost the
 whole day either one or both was crying. Maran hit an all time high of
 falling down and this time with wounds to show it. Luke tells her if
 she doesn't stop something then she will go to time out with a cukoo
 clock on the wall. You can hardly kick your way through our house but
 with pride I can say (my only accomplishment) that all the laundry is
 done! This will change after bath time tonight.
 Wow! Maran clearly has spent time with many other kids around her and
 is much harder to keep entertained than Luke ever was. (No surprise
 about the "always with company issue). She would be happy with a
 computer in front of her all day. She is a gadget gal who wants to
touch and explore all. She wants to figure out how it works and make
 it work better. She can now name most of her body parts and can easily
 tell me if something hurts. We are getting there! Hugs to all from
 the house of Mr Snickerdoodle and Miss Sassafras!

Hugs from Snickerdoodle Luke and Lil Miss Sassafras!

Monday, March 7, 2011

Luke asks -- "Mommy why is my skin a different color?"

Driving down the road we can get into some crazy conversations.  I try to talk to Luke and Maran when we are in the car. At times we do have the video on or we listen to Thomas Music, Chinese Lullabies or the soundtrack from Toy Story (which is pretty good by the way). 

Luke asked why Maran spoke differently.  I told him that she was a girl and that she is still learning English (oh and you can hardly tell the child has not been speaking English for years -- 4 months and she is Not BEHIND).....but this is about Mr. Snickerdoodle so back to the story. He then said "Mommy why is my skin a different color?"  I told him that his skin was a little darker because he is from Guatemala.  He then said "Yes and Maran is from China and so her skin is different".  I then said that my skin was a different color because I am from America.  He then asked where Daddy was from.  I said "America like mommy".  I told him that it didn't matter what color his skin was or anyone else's because the color of your skin is not an issue.  He said, "Yes mommy you are right and you and God loves me anyway".  Wow................at a loss for words.... I guess some things you say do stay with them (at least for a while).