Not OK

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bruiser

Maglite:1  Makenna:  0  (With help from a cousin)

This one was taken this weekend.

xoxo

Shark in the Water

There are no words for the cuteness.

xoxo

Kindergarden here we come

Miss Makenna graduated from preschool tonight.  It was a very sweet little concert, as usual. Can't wait to see what next year brings.

These two amazing women have supported both her and us so much this past year.  It will be a sad day when she moves on to another school.  Thankfully, she'll be there all summer
xoxo

Fashionista

If Peter Pan and Snow White had a child......

at Mardi Gras.
xoxo

One

Been loving this lately.



xoxo

Happy Birthday Ally

Today was Ally's birthday and she chose to have it at the bowling alley.  The up side is they did everything.  Her parents just had to provide the cake.  The bummer is getting 5 year olds to wait in between their turn (3 other kids).  The natives got a little restless.

xoxo

Channeling her Jewish heritage

xoxo

Talent

Not quite the level of talent as the last post, but still, we're proud.

xoxo

This kid isn't mine

But man he kicks ass.  Oh yeah, he's 12.


Here is Lady Gaga with her version.

xoxo

Happy Mother's Day!

For the past few years, Makenna and I have flown to my parent's house for Mother's Day.  Because Benjy would be in the middle of final projects and it was just best to not be around him. Now those are done, and traveling with Safiya seemed difficult, so we stayed home.  We had lunch with his mom, sister, and her family.  It was a nice day, minus the fact that I caught what the girls had so I've been alternating Tylenol and Advil every 2 hours so as to be able to stay vertical.  Taking Safiya out to eat is a serious nightmare.  Who, WHO designed restaurant high chairs with a bar just at foot level?  Because that is just an open invitation to stand yourself up.  We need to remember to have Makenna stand on something for family photos.  I feel like they look like she isn't part of our family.  Otherwise, a nice photo I think.

The restaurant had an incredible balloon artist.  You could seriously go up to him and request a purple elephant balancing on a piece of celery and you would get it.  Exhibit #1:  Makenna wanted a pegasus unicorn.  That she could wear.  Side note:  she is very into pegasus unicorns right now.  She and her best friend play pegasus unicorn every day at school.  But I thought you were either one or the other.  I didn't think you could be both.  But who am I to argue with a 5 year old.

Hope everyone had great Mommy's Day.

xoxo

She's legal!

Safiya got her passport today!


Which means she is now legally a citizen.  They even sent back the paperwork they were supposed to keep....like her green card.  So now she has all of her original paperwork documenting her adoption process.  Hopefully she'll think that is cool someday.

And this will make our trip to Europe so so much easier.  Cuz let's be frank, Benjy and I traveling through three different countries with a little Ethiopian, um yeah.  Could cause some serious problems.

xoxo

After

And here we are enjoying it the next day with new carpet and a new sand table.

Sassy pants.

Love this hat!

Happy Daddy

Happy Bubba

Happy Kiva

Happy Mommy.

xoxo

Before

We don't have a yard.  So we LIVE on our deck in the summer.  Here is the winter clean up mess.

xoxo

How many fish have died unnecessarily?

This fish is not dead.

This fish is constipated.  Gave her a few peas and she is right side up again.  I sh*t you not.  (pun intended)

See, here she is getting some of the peas off of the bottom.

xoxo

Dancing machine

The toddler bootie bump has begun when she hears a song she likes.  It's hard to catch, tho.  Here is a little sample.

xoxo

Riding a sea horse

We give our nieces a date instead of a gift for their birthdays each year.  Maddie's birthday is December 26th.  We made it to the aquarium today.  Yay for us.

xoxo

Princesses and their dad

Watching Princess and the Frog.

Not sure what the pirate "arrgh matey" face is all about

xoxo

Happy Feet

I don't know about anyone else, but in the fall, when my flip flops and sandals go away, I take the polish off of my toes and let them be.....um....well kind of funky to be honest with you.  But, it is time for them to see the light of day again.  I think they are happy about it.

xoxo

Nothing like a love note....

to make me feel like crap for having a day of walking the line of losing my patience.  Safiya is having some issues.  I'll blog about them later when we have it ironed out.  No use explaining it now when I don't know what I'm explaining.  And poor Makenna, bears the brunt of my frustration.  Tomorrow is a new day.  And she is at school which is good for everyone.  Oh, and she sounded it all out on her own.  Miss Smarty Pants.

xoxo

Makenna made dessert

Doesn't everyone love bouncy balls with a helping of packing tape?

xoxo

Growing up

I went through Safiya's toy box today and got rid of all of the baby toys to make room for the big girl toys. The stacky rings, shape sorters, ball toys.

xoxo

Effing dogs

I was at a conference and Benjy had both girls to himself for 2 days and 1 night.  And because that wasn't hard enough....he came home to this.

 Gosh I miss them.  Just kidding.

xoxo

Independence

One year olds like to do things themselves.  Like feed themselves.  And only eat what Mommy eats.  So the plain pasta Safiya usually gets doesn't work anymore.

xoxo

Side Job

Makenna's sensory issues are again at an all time high.  Which means hair combing/ doing is a nightmare!  That's actually an understatement.  She finally agreed to go to my stylist if she didn't have to put her hair in the shampoo bowl.  Whatever.  But then I forgot to budget for it.  And I thought, how hard can it really be?  So, I chopped it off.  And I think it looks pretty darn good if I do say so myself.  And no more pony tails, piggie tails, clips, or tears.  Just a comb through it.  Sigh.


xoxo

Happy Birthday Dear Benjy

Today is Benjy's birthday.  And I suck so much as a wife that I didn't take one single photo of him.  He took this one of his birthday dinner:  meatloaf, mashed potatoes, drop biscuits, and lemon pie.

xoxo

Gonna Party Like It's my birthday

Cuz it is.  Although today sucked.  I'm planning on a kick ass weekend, tho.
Dinner is pizza, garlic bread, and salad.  I didn't eat the salad.  Who eats salad on their birthday?

I don't like cake.  So we have Tuxedo apples. Green apples dipped in carmel, then dipped in white chocolate, then dipped in milk chocolate, then the tip is dipped in nuts.  I know, right.


This was my rocking chair when I was little.  Then it was Makenna's.  And now it is Safiya's.  Kind of cool.

xoxo