So Big!

I haven't posted a recent picture of Luke lately. Here he is...so big. He is now standing up on the furniture, crawling more each day and climbing over stuff like a pro. I can't believe he is 9 months already. He and Aidan have such a great time together. I told Jim the other day while listening to them in the back seat of the car laughing hysterically, "this is why I wanted at least two kids." It is heart melting to hear them have such fun together. I know someday I'll wish they weren't so silly and loud, but for today, I love it!

Where does he get this stuff?

Last night's dinner conversation....Aidan, what are you doing? I am trying to get my head off (making a strained face and pulling on the chair). Why are you doing that? I think I need a new one. Maybe a blue one.
Life has been lots of fun lately with these kinds of interactions with our 3 1/2 year old. Adding to that is Luke's mobility. He is almost crawling, pulls up on the furniture and has a new perspective on life...much higher.
We have had a nice summer spending time with family and enjoying a slower pace. I'm ready for our fall activities, though. I enjoy the structure of planned activities...at least for our mornings. More pictures to come.

We are not taking the stroller

Today, as usual, Aidan asked where we were going after I took my shower. I told him we were going to the mall. He sat for just a minute with a smile on his face. He then said "we aren't taking the stroller." I asked him what we were going to do with Luke? Without hesitation, he said, "you'll put him in the carrier." Patting his chest. "And I will walk and we will all go on the escalator!" Brilliant! The way he presented this grand idea, you would have thought he had been working out the plan for days. Maybe he has. Actually it has probably been 7 months. That's how long it's been since we've been to the mall without the stroller. Every time we go, which isn't even that often, Aidan asks to ride the escalator. My answer is always, no because we have the stroller. The saddest part was that we went out to the car...got all strapped in the car seats...and nothing. The car was beyond dead. My door had been slightly cracked...must have been enough to leave a light on. Talk about a sad boy! They were real tears of sadness. Not even a real tantrum. He just sobbed there in his car seat. I must say he handled it all very well considering the excitement he had about finally riding the escalator after all these months. He pulled himself together and got out of the car. He rode his bike outside for a while. Without any pouting. I was a bit sad, too. It is such a fun part of my job, seeing my 3 year old get totally excited about stuff I don't think twice about.

I thought about the scene. That is me sometimes. Just really sad when my plans don't work out. When God says, No, not today. Sometimes I throw a fit and melt down, but sometimes it is just plain sadness because I thought it was such a great idea. I wondered if God gets that little pain when we cry over our sadness. But I realized that God sees the bigger picture..what's better because of the No. All I had to offer Aidan was riding his bike in the driveway instead of riding the escalator. I'm sure we will make it to the mall soon. Aidan doesn't give up on an idea very easily.

First Game

It has begun! Soccer is just the beginning I am sure. Aidan is a total sports nut. He started soccer last saturday and is loving it. Everyone we meet hears that he is having his first soccer game. I'm not sure how many games will go by before he stops this or stops referring to them as his first soccer game. Everyone is quite gracious and listens to him tell about it. His biggest concern at first, after the game, was that he fell. They are all 3 or 4 years old...there was lots of falling! He later realized he didn't make a goal and was also upset about that. It was actually a fun game to watch. For the most part everyone paid attention and tried to run after the ball. At the beginning, though, there were two boys, both named Aidan, who liked just to run and follow the lines on the field. After about 4 minutes into the game, they caught on and ran with the ball. I'm not sure he understood what the goalie was to do and before his game had said he wanted to be goalie. When the game started, the coach asked Aidan if he wanted to be goalie and he said an emphatic NO! We'll see. I'm sure there will be more stories to share.

Firsts

Some firsts are great. Others, not so much. Today was the first time I've lost my son, Aidan. We were at the grocery store. The very familiar, I only turned my head for a second, was me. Aidan had told me he needed to use the restroom. He loves to explore public restrooms. Yuck! Anyway, I told him he needed to wait one minute while I checked out the meat section. Bam, he was gone. He had been running back to make faces at the butcher, so I walked down there...no Aidan. Walked around the freezer...no Aidan. PANIC! I walked toward the restroom and what seemed like 5 minutes later, out he comes of the restroom! He was so proud of himself and I was fighting the tears. Two sweet ladies were sitting in the pharmacy waiting area watching the whole thing. One came up to me and almost hugged me. I guess I looked pretty pathetic. After the lecture to Aidan, I finally took a breath. If you've ever been there, you know how awful that feeling is. Needless to say, Aidan was not allowed to let go of the cart the rest of the trip. He loves the carts with the cars. I hate them. Not anymore!

A more fun first was tonight. Aidan's first soccer game meeting. His first game is Saturday. He is number 5. It should be pretty entertaining, since they are mostly 3 year olds playing and they only blow the whistle if someone picks up the ball and runs with it. The highlight, we've been told is snacktime after the game. Oh what fun. It's pretty fun to watch him be so excited about something.

There were several reasons I chose to name my blog Passing Through. Lots of things in this life bring me to the realization that we really are just passing through this life. Just before I started this blog, my aunt died. Today is my aunt's birthday. She lived in St. Louis and I am here in California. My mom's only sister, and the only aunt I was close to. Mother's day was always a big deal in our family as we also celebrated lots of May birthdays. Two of my sisters have May birthdays. My aunt and uncle shared birthdays only days apart. Then when my cousin married, of course he married a May birthday! There were many holidays we didn't spend with my Grandma and aunt's family, but mother's day was a rare one for us to miss. Since we moved to California almost 7 years ago, I find myself homesick two times a year. Early October, when leaves should be gorgeous shades of yellow, red and orange...and May. Several years ago, when trying to conceive, May was sad for different reasons. But I have always missed the big St. Louis gathering at Mother's day. This year I will miss it, but I know it won't be the same. It will never be the same. For that I am very sad. I miss Aunt Cathy so much. She loved with everything she had. She had such a great sense of humor and always made me laugh. She had the greatest stories. That was the best part of visiting....sitting around Grandma's big dining room table and eating tons of food and sharing stories. It was fun to watch mom and Cathy sit side by side and put their hands over their mouths while laughing hysterically. They had identical hands. They had the same look on their face when they laughed. I ache for my cousins who have now lost both their parents. I ache for my mom who has lost her best friend and only sister. I ache for my Grandma who has outlived most of her family at the age of 91. I sit here and as I list my aches, I know I should be listing my blessings...I know I have a gazillion. But, for right now, I just ache. It is hard to say goodbye. Death is just something so painful and yet, we will see so much of it on this earth. God never intended for this to be it. Hallelujah for that! I really can rest in knowing I will see these people again. It doesn't make today any less painful, but on another day I can rejoice in it. I know God has a purpose for everything he does and allows to happen. I stopped trying to figure it out a long time ago. For right now, I am trying to focus on knowing Him better on this side, so when I meet him face to face, he isn't a stranger. Hearing my aunt and uncle laugh together will just be a bonus.

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.