Happy Birthday little one!

Speaking of relational opportunities, we celebrated baby I's first birthday yesterday. This little guy's story is an inspirational one involving tons of love between two families and adoption. His bright blue eyes are mesmerizing. God must have big plans for him because he's already made it through so much. His story makes me think of Dr. Seuss's book "Oh the Places You'll Go."And his big sister adores him...The rest of the cousins...A good time was had by all the the hay ride was a hit!

Disney on Ice

My precious little girl and I had the wonderful opportunity to go see Disney on Ice, and what made it even more special was that it was enjoyed by four generations. My mom and grandma went also. What a blessing! I am so fortunate to have my mom still living within half an hour and my grandparents moved here about 6 years ago from NC. I didn't see much of them growing up so it's fun to spend time with my silly grandma now that I'm older (and I do mean silly).Katherine enjoyed the lights, music, dancing on the ice, pyrotechnics and mostly the princess characters. Her first view of the show and some of the princesses:

My ultra-sappy-self got teary-eyed when I first saw Katherine's face as the show started. I saw it as such an extraordinary opportunity and privilege for me as an adult and certainly for a 3-year-old. As much as I struggle with it, money does provide opportunities and those opportunities provide tools to expand knowledge. Finding the happy medium between not over-doing it (leading a child into over-stimulation resulting in unrealistic expectations) and providing a healthy amount of age-appropriate experiences is difficult for me. Many times, the decision is made for me because of cost. And to lead my decisions even more toward the "doing less" corner of the ring; my definition of poverty is drastically being challenged (thanks pastor T).

Here's what I mean: Our society has defined poverty as having not enough money. How you arrived at not having enough money is up for a heated political debate on both sides. But, is the lack of money more of a by-product or symptom of a bigger problem? I'm leaning more toward, yes. Poverty is certainly lacking of some "thing" and is it possible that the core "thing" lacking is interpersonal relationships?

We are not near poverty-level, but the discussion in SS stirred up some pretty strong feelings and made me evaluate once again what our goal is as parents and where are we building our road for this family to travel on? The funded opportunities we partake in should be nowhere near as important as the relational opportunities.

It felt good to see Disney on Ice, no doubt, and I am so glad we went. I'm glad it's only offered in this area once a year.

New look

So I bit the bullet and decided to update our look & name. Not sure I like the name so don't be surprised if I change it again.

This time it took me much less time than the first. I think I might be getting the hang of this.

Elbow Genetics

My mother came over today and took me up on the offer to stay for supper. While I was attempting to assemble something closely resembling a meal, she so patiently was playing with Katherine and Nathan. There are some things only a grandmother has patience for and today she used her jumbo-sized plastic pencil (attached to a string necklace around her neck) and "wrote" all over Katherine. She "wrote" on her feet, arms, head, face, legs, back, neck, everywhere. Now she wasn't really writing and the plastic pencil's tip was about as hard as an eraser, but Katherine loved it.

As I was chopping broccoli, my mom called from the office where they all were playing:
Mer: Mekelle, she has my elbows. (She's referring to Katherine's elbows)
Me: What? (as I scrunch up my eyebrows, squint my eyes and look to the side; perplexed)
Mer: My elbows. She has them.
Me: What makes an elbow look like one person's or another's?
Mer: Watch, she can do this...

She held out her arm in front of her with the bend of her elbow and palm facing up, then she twisted her wrist to face her palm down, while the bend of her arm stayed facing up.

Mer: Can you do that too?

Well of course I had to try, and I succeeded.

Mer: Is that something everybody can do?
Me: Who knows. I'm not familiar with elbow genetics.

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My little lady has literally picked up on my language. Lovely. Some comments she's made lately:
"Oh great. Gracie is going toward the road. Lovely." - with a disgust-sound in her voice
"Mommy, it's such a lovely day outside."
"Mom, literally these shoes don't fit." - very matter-of-fact

She's picked up on the tone, definition and context ALREADY!

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My little man took 53 un-assisted continuous steps by himself yesterday. Yes, I counted them all. This video was from another walking trip.


He's also shown a "frogs, snails and puppy dog tails" fascination with lizards (the next Kamikaze creature around our house). This baby lizard was on his own as far as I was concerned. It was cool just to see how close Nathan could get to touching him.

Mommysaurus

It was another morning where my children woke up when the clock started with a 5. It was very close to starting with a 6, but nonetheless, it started with a 5.

During breakfast, I reiterated to my child who understands my words and can talk back, that it's really not a good idea to wake up so early.

Me: So, do you understand that when you wake up so early, there are no good cartoons on for you to watch, you wake up brother too early, he cries a lot and I'm in a bad mood for the rest of the day? Then nobody really has any fun.
Katherine: Yeth.
M: What should you do next time you wake up and I tell you it's too early?
K: Go back to bed.
M: Well, that too, but you really need to go back to sleep.
K: But I not tired.
M: Then reading books quietly would be the best option.
K: OK, Mommy.
M: Please don't do this to me, I get in a bad mood for the rest of the day.
K: Yep, and you sound like a dinosaur when you get mad.
M: A dinosaur? Do I look like one too?
K: Yeth 'cause your face looks like this (she makes a growling face showing all her teeth)
M: Well, that should be scary enough to not want to wake up early again.
K: Um, I'll try to read books.

Kitty-cat George & Labor Day

George, our precious kitty, received a not so good diagnosis last week. After many tests were performed, the veterinarians are 90% sure that he has lymphoma. He has a mass growing in his abdomen that is about the size of a golf ball. Sonograms show that he has two enlarged lymph nodes and the mass has spread to his intestines. Chemotherapy and radiation are very expensive and emotionally draining (for pet and owner) options, though not ones we have opted for. Although, one drug used in the chemotherapy cocktail is a type of steroid, similar to what Gracie is on already for her skin allergies. We are pursuing the steroid option which is supposed to shrink the mass and slow its progression.
George has been the surprisingly kid-friendly pet in our house. He would go out of his way to be in the same room as Katherine when she was younger and hasn't once hissed at, swatted at or scratched rough-playing children. Most of the time he doesn't even move after he's been rough-housed either; I end up making him leave to protect him.It was a lot of information to take in while at the vet's office by myself. It didn't help that after one of the first tests were performed, the costs and extent of testing were explained to me while the song "I can only imagine" was playing on the sound system. I quickly stalled in order to call Jim and the emotions overcame me. We got "Gigi" when she was about a year old. Yes, I'm still talking about George. Our neighbors found Gigi stranded in one of our city parks with a bowl of food and water and knew that at the time we only had a puppy. They asked us if we wanted a cat/kitten and we agreed. 'She' wasn't fond of our crazy, rambunctious puppy but was very friendly to us. I took Gigi to the vet to get her updated on all her shots and the vet tech. kept referring to our cat as a 'he'. After three firm suggestions to the vet, he reluctantly took a closer look through the spectacles perched on the end of his nose, glanced over the top of them and said, "Well, Mrs. Boyer, I believe you have yourself a neutered male." That was when Gigi became George. (He hates it when I tell that story)George doesn't act like he's in pain or sick. We've heard anything from 4-6 months to who knows, it would only be a guess. We'll cross that bridge when we get there. This is new territory for me. ALL the animals we ever had were killed on the road. Not one of them ever died of old age or disease. Katherine has added George's tummy to her nightly prayers and Nathan still likes to chase him down and grab whatever he can.
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We had a wonderful labor-less day at the lake with some of my family who we haven't seen in a while.

Katherine got to ride on the tube, with Daddy, behind the boat. While Mommy's watchful eye wasn't far away.And Nathan got to splash himself and anyone within 5 feet. Sometimes I really think he's out to try make-it or break-it swimming at 10 months old. Guess that's why God put these guys in charge of providing and watching over their families. Fearlessness at any cost.

(faux-hawk hair-do compliments of daddy)

Thanks Aunt F and Uncle G for the impromptu visit. It was good to talk to you and T and watch those kids grow up so fast. I have so many wonderful memories at that lake and hope to provide my children with a smidgen of the same. XOXOXO

Priceless memories & frogs

"Mommy, I'm ready to go to church" she said. I just had to get a picture.

plastic blue Cinderella shoes - $1
Mommy-made princess skirt - $20
cute plaid butterfly shirt - $15
pink bead necklace - party favor from BDay party yesterday
Cinderella wedding veil - $12
Disney Princess backpack - gift from grandparents
Watching my daughter's fashion expertise mature - Priceless

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Things I'm going to miss when my little ones grow up:

• Carrying my still-sleeping little girl to the potty at least once in the middle of the night, gazing at her petite face in the warm soft glow of the bathroom night light and carrying her to put her back in bed, totally oblivious of her nightly escapade.
• Having to very quietly tip-toe across the carpet to turn off little man's ocean sounds so as not to stir his wake-at-any-minute-sound self; and also lying my hand on his chest to feel him breathing.

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With all the rain here lately, we have a new adventurous animal that has invaded our side door at night: Kamikaze Frogs

One night last week, Jim got home late and as I was opening the side door to let him in, he unusually and quickly jumped back outside. At that moment, a frog about the size of the palm of my hand jumped off the outside of the door, into our house, straight toward my head (but over it) and landed on the wall directly behind me. Oh, approximately a 7 foot jump. I immediately did the ridiculously delayed scream and jumped, which frightened the frog perched on our wall and caused him to jump again, this time whizzing by my face. I screamed and jumped again, but the frog was safely hidden somewhere in our desk area. Needless to say, Jim thought this was HILARIOUS! It's not often I bring him to tears of laughter, but this was certainly one for the record books. He was laughing so hard, he said he was unable to find the frog and get it out. (Whatever, I think if he didn't have a wife that was so stubborn and intent on proving to the world that she's not a typical girly-girl, he'd find a way to rescue his helpless family from ferocious flying frogs, 5" black snakes on the back porch or an occaisional stray lizard in the house). So my brave and determined self calmly got a cup, trapped the frog, slid a piece of paper under the opening of the cup and released our Kamikaze visitor back into the wild of our camellia bushes.

That wasn't the end of it though. More rain and three nights later, Kamikaze frog's younger and smaller brother proceeded to jump from the outside of the door again, when I was letting Gracie outside to relieve herself, and this time the brave little amphibian landed in my hair. A crazy, possessed, stomping, head-flailing dance ensued until the frog was catapulted from my trying-to-hie-the-grey locks. After catching my breath while keeping an eye on the intruder, I again calmly trapped and released him outside in the bushes.

AND, the younger sister frog must live in our mailbox. She occasionally will land and latch on to my hand while I'm reaching in to pull out the mail. I jerk it out usually scraping or hitting some part of my appendage and do my best to watch my language because a little person is usually around.

I'm looking forward to it getting cooler. Don't they hibernate or something?

Best Mom

This little book was given to me and Katherine right after Nathan was born. I enjoy reading it for obvious reasons and it's actually very cute. It's a collection of sayings from kids ranging in age from 8 to 13, about their moms.

Some that were cute:

• She says she drives extra careful when me and my brother are in the car because we are precious cargo.
• When my mom gives me a sandwich she always makes the peanut butter go right to the edge with no bread showing because she knows that's the way I love it the most.
• When we go out to eat if I don't like what I ordered she trades food with me. It's lucky she's my mom or I'd starve every time.
  

Some that are painfully honest and I can see one of my children saying one day:

• I hope my mom could get her wish to be on Oprah, because she said she needs to express her feelings more. Maybe she could tell why she hates to cook.
• When I'm on the computer and she wants to use it she says she'll only be a couple of minutes. But it's always more like about 3 hours.
• When I'm a mother I won't sing along to songs on my daughter's radio when I don't know the right words in front of all her friends.

But then, some I hope my children will say one day:

• When I get sick and have a fever, my mom washes my face with a cool cloth. And whenever I wake up, she's there.
• She sings to me when I'm going to sleep the ones she used to sing when I was little. They make going to bed nice.

The one about singing the wrong words is especially funny because just two days ago she asked me to sing the theme song to Diego in the car. I did quite a bit of humming (with the mom head-jive and shoulder bob included) with a random incorrect word tossed in here and there and then realized I was well on my way to being an embarrassment in front of her friends if I tried that again in 5 years. She didn't understand why I was laughing so hard and my explanation did no where near the justice it needed for her to 'get it'. She half-laughed to humor me, I'm sure.

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Speaking of Best Mom: I felt horrible yesterday. The back-to-school cold was brought home by Katherine, Nathan kept it going and I finally knocked it out of the park. When I woke up yesterday morning, I knew the day was going to be miserable, so I quickly tried to find a trustworthy college-aged girl (who might have a flexible schedule) to hire to watch kids who weren't sick, so I could rest up for a third night of taking care of 2 kids sans daddy. I tried 4 very reliable young ladies and their schedules were all booked. So, I pitifully called my mommy. She came to the rescue late that afternoon, gave up her supper and church plans, and took care of my babies so their heads wouldn't need to be re-attached late that night. What a mom!

• Sometimes when I'm feeling sick, my mom gives up her plans, comes to my house, plays with my kids and just talks to me because she knows I need 'adult conversation'.

Thank-you so much mom.

Random

Katherine has officially changed my title from 'Mommy' to 'Mom' or 'Mama'. Don't think I like it.

School is going great. She truly enjoys it and looks forward to it. I've decided that I shouldn't have spoken for what 'most' parents thought about on their child's first day of school. That's what I was thinking. I still wish I could watch her interact with the other kids. Also, with school starting it's a perfect reminder that our children turn into adorable petri dishes. I was the caboose of the 3-person train carrying the cold virus in our house. Daddy has been spared, so far.

Nathan is taking 6-10 un-assisted steps regularly. He still loves the Dora potty seat and if he's fast enough, he really likes to help the water swirl inside the toilet.

Thought this picture was funny enough to share: Nathan's faux-hawk (tears are because he only wants mommy at night and I was taking the picture)

Reunion re-do

This past weekend we were planning on going to a family reunion. It didn't work out so we decided to make the best of a not-so-good situation and have our own family reunion. After Plan A turned to Plan B, and Plan B turned to Plan C, we were on our way to Disney's Fort Wilderness Saturday morning with the grandparents, B & P, Aunt N, Uncle R and cousins R & J.

Katherine got to ride with R & J on the way down there. Need I say more. After we checked in, the 3 cuzs explored every nook & cranny in the cabin. We got dressed for the pool. Here's Katherine and R chillin' on the golf cart.
After the pool, they're still chillin'.
We decided to go to the T-Rex restaurant in Downtown Disney for supper. Our excursion started with a boat ride.
And on that boat ride, my little girl got to see Cinderella's castle for the first time. When Disney does it, they do it good.
And my little man was a trooper on the boat, it was pretty hot.
Then we got on the monorail.
The final leg of our travels was on a bus and we finally got there. I'm pretty sure the dinosaurs were a hit. The food was also good. Here's some pictures of the inside of the restaurant. This is a giant octopus hovering over a bar area, a solar system and us in front of a dinosaur.
I don't think these girls can get any cuter. Neither mommy planned on putting the girls in matching outfits either, it just worked out that way.
Can you see the love between these two? Katherine has started telling me, "Mommy, I really, really, really, really LOVE R & J.
That night we went to the Chip & Dale campfire sing-along and there wasn't one issue with Katherine going to sleep that night. We were all pooped.

The next day we took the munchkin-monkeys to see the Princess Ponies.

It was a great trip; one we will not forget.