Adoption Day!

What an awesome day we had yesterday! We finalized the adoption of our second son, Luke. Adoption court is always so great. It is a relaxed atmosphere and everyone is happy to be there. We were first up. We went back to the judge's chambers. He greeted us from the middle of the room. He said a few things to us and to Luke. Then he talked with Aidan about being the big brother. Then we signed the papers and it was official. We took pictures with the judge and he told us this is the best part of his job. I should hope so! We left the judge's chambers and got copies of the adoption papers. Then we were led to the table of stuffed teddy bears. We let Aidan pick one out for Luke. He chose a very soft brown bear with a bright red ribbon. Neither boy had any real idea what we were doing there, but Jim and I were thrilled. We celebrated with pancakes at the Original Pancake House. Luke stayed awake and was just giddy. Kind of how I felt. Our first adoption was a long drawn out process, so to finalize before Luke turned 6 months old was a huge relief. We spent the rest of the day relaxing at home, enjoying a day home with daddy in the middle of the week. Jim grilled steaks for dinner. They were awesome. It was a great day and would have only been better if our families had been able to join us.

Changing my blog name

I really think I need to change the name of my blog to "what am I freeing my child's body from today?" Again on Saturday my three year old, Aidan, needed my help. This time we were on our way to the local fire station for a community event. I had just parked and hear Aidan whimpering int he back seat. I look back and he has a finger deep in his nose. Mind you, this is not all that unusual, but this time I knew it was different. He had that look. I immediately knew what was wrong. Unfortunately this is not the first time this has happened. He was eating some fruit snacks. Not the large character shaped ones, just plain naturally flavored small square ones. He put one in his nose. Then proceeded to try to get it out by sticking his finger in, which only shoved it up farther. He did this over a year ago and I thought he learned. At first I wasn't concerned..he is a pretty good nose blower. However after several attempts he wasn't making any progress and I saw blood. I just told him to blow as hard as he could. I seriously thought we were going to have to go into the fire station requesting help! He finally blew it out. I didn't bother asking why he did it. I knew the answer would be of the "because I'm a boy and I could" variety. Of course when we got home and I told my husband, he just shook his head and laughed. People assure me I will survive these boys, but I am not so sure.

Raising Boys

Everyday it seems that I am laughing at my son and the crazy things he does. I have three sisters and no brothers. All this boy stuff is foreign to me. Today, of course as we are trying to get ready to be out the door for a doctor's appointment, I hear Aidan yelling/crying. I come into the living room to find him laying on the floor under a rocking horse. Upon closer look, he is not under it, but his head is stuck between the front legs. I figure I just need to help him slide his head out. Wrong! The more I try, the harder he cries. I had to take the whole thing apart to get his head out. Of course a 3 year old can't tell you why he does something, but I had to ask. His reply is the usual one....I wanted to put my head in there. My husband assures me these things are normal and will continue for a long time. He just stuck his head in between the legs of the rocking horse because he could. At least there was no blood and I didn't have to call the fire department, which is what I was sure was going to happen. I'm sure the day will come. Luke is only 5 months old and once the boys are able to put their heads together I'm sure the fire department will have to be called. For now, I'm just off to reassemble the rocking horse. Maybe I shouldn't. Hmmmm

Mom stuff

Today has been a day of just fun mommy stuff. My three year old has been giving me attitude lately and so our days have been filled with time outs and discussing his disrespect. My 5 month old has not been the greatest sleeper, ever, so I'm pretty exhausted most of the time. However, today was a much needed fun day with my kids. We started off with a quiet morning of reading books while I got laundry done...way overdue. Luke napped for a solid hour and a half. This is a major feat for him! Then Aidan and I played with his puzzles. He is just amazing at them. Once Luke woke up we headed to the park. He was in a good mood in his car seat and stroller, not always the case. Aidan rode his scooter around the park while I got to walk at a faster than usual pace. I am in desperate need of some exercise, so this was fun. Aidan listened and obeyed the first time I called him each time! We ran around together and played soccer for a bit. Again, loving the little exercise I got. Not to mention it was a beautiful cool sunny day. When it was time to go, Aidan came without a single whine! yaaaaaaaay!

We did our normal lunch, read books, nap routine. I got more laundry done and talked with a friend. Luke slept for only a short while this afternoon, but at least he woke up happy and not the usual screaming. Now I am trying to do too many things...get dinner started, play candyland along with listening to Aidan read books, and finish up laundry. Luke is trying to nap again.
Aidan is looking through the book "Love You Forever". He is cracking up at the pictures. We have read this a ton of times, but not lately, so it is new again. The first thing is a mommy rocking a baby. He started singing rock a bye baby, then got to the really not so nice part of the song. He has this great look of concern where he wrinkles his eyebrows and forehead. He obviously just thought about the words about the baby falling out of the treetop. He says, "hey, the baby will fall?!" I just laughed and said it really isn't a nice son, huh? Why do we sing that to babies? Then he tells the toddler he is NOT to put watches or toothpaste in the toilet. That will be a time out. Then the teenager is making a big mess in the kitchen. He is going to have to clean that up. Then the adult man is making dinner, but Aidan thinks he is making a mess, too. It is funny to hear him repeat me and our conversations after discipline. At least I know he is listening.

Nothing profound or serious, just a day enjoying being a mom. I don't do that enough lately.