Can my first blog post in almost a month be a link to another blog? Well, it's my blog so the answer is yes. I couldn't have said it better myself!
http://adayatthebeauchamps.blogspot.com/2010/08/not-ok.html?spref=fb
xoxo
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Happy Birthday Dear Makeeeennnnnaaaa
Makenna's 6th birthday was Thursday. And I truly think she had a fantastic day. First of all, The Nana was here. (cue harmonious music). We love love love when The Nana is here. Makenna woke up around 5:30 to go to the bathroom. Side note, why must that child come into my room in the middle of the night to announce that she needs to go potty. I leave a light on. She takes herself every freaking time during the day without an anouncement. Why must it be note worthy at 5 am. Anyway, I walked her back to bed and dragged myself back to sleep. Safiya woke up around 6:30 and suddenly I was tapped ever so energetically and the first course of "Happy Birthday to me" was sung in my ear. After that we all went to donuts. A Foster Family tradition on any birthday. Another side note. Our donut shop is run by a very nice couple. We have yet to decide if they are brother and sister or husband and wife. When we first brought Safiya home the woman said "I didn't know you were pregnant". Cue crickets. After donuts we got ready for the day and picked up Makenna's bestest friend Ireland. We spent 5 fun filled hours at the boardwalk. Ate loads and loads of crap food, rode on loads and loads of rides, and watched the Brazilian circus perform. Um, I also forgot the sunscreen so she earned her first sunburn. 1 in 6 years ain't bad right? Then we came home and prepared her menu for dinner: hot dogs, carrots/celery/peppers and dip, chips and dip, crackers and dip (the girl likes her dips), ambrosia, berries, grapes, and macaroni and cheese. Oh, and the most kick ass cake ever made in my house. But, um, remember The Nana was here so I can't take all of the credit. We opened presents and every human in my house crashed early. Oh, the kick ass cake took until midnight to make. All in all, a great day. And I can't believe my oldest baby is 6. Countdown is 2 weeks until kindergarden. Oh what a mess I will be.
xoxo
xoxo
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Roller derby girl
Makenna decided months ago that she wanted to have her party at the roller skating rink. Which is crazy because the girl is not known for her coordination. She roller skates. Only in our kitchen. Because I won't let her outside with the wheels of death on. She'd come back broken and bruised. So, I figured she would change her mind. Nope. 3 weeks ago I made the reservations and today we spent 2 fun filled hours in the roller skating rink straight out of the 70's. Seriously. Same decorations and color combos. Some of the photos look grainy. They aren't. It's carpet. On the walls. Plus it was dark in there. Mood lighting? For 6 year olds? Either way, Makenna says it was awesome. And her ear to ear smile says so.
She was a little shaky in the beginning.
But by the end she was all on her own.
Safiya had a great time watching the big girls go. And she even made a run for it a few times.
Benjy took her out for one lap and got yelled at over the loud speaker because "all children must be wearing skates in the rink." Party poopers.
In the car on the way home she was singing "Iiiiiii'mmmmm siiiiiiiixxxx". To which I responded "No you're noooooot". Turns out that when she asked when her birthday was and I responded "after your party", she took me literally. Thought she turned six after her party. Note to self, explain the various stages of "after". We then explained she had 4 more days.
All in all, probably the easiest, cheapest, and most fun party yet. Who knew?
xoxo
She was a little shaky in the beginning.
But by the end she was all on her own.
Safiya had a great time watching the big girls go. And she even made a run for it a few times.
Benjy took her out for one lap and got yelled at over the loud speaker because "all children must be wearing skates in the rink." Party poopers.
In the car on the way home she was singing "Iiiiiii'mmmmm siiiiiiiixxxx". To which I responded "No you're noooooot". Turns out that when she asked when her birthday was and I responded "after your party", she took me literally. Thought she turned six after her party. Note to self, explain the various stages of "after". We then explained she had 4 more days.
All in all, probably the easiest, cheapest, and most fun party yet. Who knew?
xoxo
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Wiggles....crack for babies
I don't know what kind of subliminal messages these guys put in the music but kids fuh-reak out for it. Makenna loved it when she was little. Some of my clients are crazy for them. And Safiya heard some of their music the other day and could not stop shaking her little bootie.
Dinner time at our house is rough. Actually dinner prep is horrible. Because, well, it involves food. And she can see it. But can't have it. And she screams. I've tried everything. So I decided to add a little bit of Wiggle crack to the evening and see how it went. And I totally would have rocked it if they sang and danced the whole time. But they put stupid little skits in between songs and she lost interest. I did get one dance on video though. Enjoy. Oh, and please ignore my incredibly messing living room. A tea party was had at about 7 this morning and the guests were quite messy.
xoxo
Dinner time at our house is rough. Actually dinner prep is horrible. Because, well, it involves food. And she can see it. But can't have it. And she screams. I've tried everything. So I decided to add a little bit of Wiggle crack to the evening and see how it went. And I totally would have rocked it if they sang and danced the whole time. But they put stupid little skits in between songs and she lost interest. I did get one dance on video though. Enjoy. Oh, and please ignore my incredibly messing living room. A tea party was had at about 7 this morning and the guests were quite messy.
xoxo
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Remember me?
I'm the one who wanted to do 365 days of photos this year. I'm the one who failed from the start because I started the middle of Jan. I'm the one who has been missing for a month.
I'm also the one who took one husband, one 5 year old, and one toddler to Europe for 3 weeks. Take a moment and ponder that. TODDLER TO EUROPE FOR 3 WEEKS! Yup. Everyone asks if we had fun and I don't really have an answer. It was hard. Really really really hard. Safiya is one. Safiya is still working on attachment and has major anxiety surrounding food. Taking her in public is hard but taking her to a restaurant is exponentially difficult. And although we had a small kitchen and bought a lot of food in each town we were in, we still had to eat out sometimes.
BUT, we also had an amazing time. We saw so many unbelievable things. I'll try to post a few of my favorite pics in the next few posts. Here are a few to start. How about my favorites from each city:
Barcelona: On the beach. I think everyone in the photo has a top on.
Paris:
London:
In other news, things are going well here. Makenna is getting ready for kindergarten. We buy her uniforms tomorrow. She turns 6 next week and she decided all on her own to stop sucking her thumb. Not before causing permanent, requiring braces damage. But we're still proud of her. It's a big deal. Benjy's contract at work was extended for another 3 months with the idea that he would be offered a full time position. That is so amazing. He has worked 2 years to get hired on at this company. Safiya is growing and become very independent. We're still fighting sleep with her. She wakes up a couple of times a week screaming and it takes a couple of hours to get her back down. Our social worker has recommended that we move her back into our room for the sake of sleep. I'm not loving that idea but we have taken it under advisement. My work is fine. I'm considering adding another day until the speech therapist on maternity leave comes back in January. Not my favorite idea but it may just need to be done.
That's about it. See, in 5 weeks you didn't even miss anything!
xoxo
I'm also the one who took one husband, one 5 year old, and one toddler to Europe for 3 weeks. Take a moment and ponder that. TODDLER TO EUROPE FOR 3 WEEKS! Yup. Everyone asks if we had fun and I don't really have an answer. It was hard. Really really really hard. Safiya is one. Safiya is still working on attachment and has major anxiety surrounding food. Taking her in public is hard but taking her to a restaurant is exponentially difficult. And although we had a small kitchen and bought a lot of food in each town we were in, we still had to eat out sometimes.
BUT, we also had an amazing time. We saw so many unbelievable things. I'll try to post a few of my favorite pics in the next few posts. Here are a few to start. How about my favorites from each city:
Barcelona: On the beach. I think everyone in the photo has a top on.
Paris:
London:
In other news, things are going well here. Makenna is getting ready for kindergarten. We buy her uniforms tomorrow. She turns 6 next week and she decided all on her own to stop sucking her thumb. Not before causing permanent, requiring braces damage. But we're still proud of her. It's a big deal. Benjy's contract at work was extended for another 3 months with the idea that he would be offered a full time position. That is so amazing. He has worked 2 years to get hired on at this company. Safiya is growing and become very independent. We're still fighting sleep with her. She wakes up a couple of times a week screaming and it takes a couple of hours to get her back down. Our social worker has recommended that we move her back into our room for the sake of sleep. I'm not loving that idea but we have taken it under advisement. My work is fine. I'm considering adding another day until the speech therapist on maternity leave comes back in January. Not my favorite idea but it may just need to be done.
That's about it. See, in 5 weeks you didn't even miss anything!
xoxo
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Referralversary
One year ago today, we saw this amazing face for the first time.
I was working and Benjy was at home. We had a message at home and on my cell phone to call the agency. When I finally got ahold of them she started asking me some book keeping questions and I remember thinking I was going to kill this woman for getting my hopes up. After all of the question she said "well, now that things are sorted out, I have a referral for you". Benjy and I had an agreement to not open any e-mails until we were together so I raced to my next appointment in tears, somehow explained that I would not be seeing her son that day and came home. And the only time EVER the road to our house has been under construction was that day. With no one else to keep me busy, I called home over and over and over again so that he could talk to me. She had told me on the phone that our baby was 2 months old and adorable. She was right. I stared at that photo for weeks and weeks, until we got another photo. Thankfully, some people were in Ethoipia at that time picking up their children and took some more pictures and video of her for us. I still remember that feeling I had in my stomach those first few weeks. Completely in love with this little body I had never met. Over the moon excited to bring her home. That quickly turned to anxiety and frustration at the process of international adoption. But one year ago today, all I had was excitement and love. I can't believe it has been a year.
xoxo
I was working and Benjy was at home. We had a message at home and on my cell phone to call the agency. When I finally got ahold of them she started asking me some book keeping questions and I remember thinking I was going to kill this woman for getting my hopes up. After all of the question she said "well, now that things are sorted out, I have a referral for you". Benjy and I had an agreement to not open any e-mails until we were together so I raced to my next appointment in tears, somehow explained that I would not be seeing her son that day and came home. And the only time EVER the road to our house has been under construction was that day. With no one else to keep me busy, I called home over and over and over again so that he could talk to me. She had told me on the phone that our baby was 2 months old and adorable. She was right. I stared at that photo for weeks and weeks, until we got another photo. Thankfully, some people were in Ethoipia at that time picking up their children and took some more pictures and video of her for us. I still remember that feeling I had in my stomach those first few weeks. Completely in love with this little body I had never met. Over the moon excited to bring her home. That quickly turned to anxiety and frustration at the process of international adoption. But one year ago today, all I had was excitement and love. I can't believe it has been a year.
xoxo
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
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