1,715 miles later, we are home!

Lessons learned and highlights from the first trip (as a family of four) to visit Grandpa and Grandma's farm.

• Don't weigh yourself when you get home.  Grandma is an excellent cook.
• Oklahoma sucks.  This was especially highlighted by our book on CD, The Innocent Man by Grisham.  We haven't finished yet, but I recommend. 
• G & G have a surprising amount of toys tucked away.  Sethers and Ol were in heaven with all the cars, tractors, and dump trucks.
• Aunt Joy and Uncle BJ are lots of fun.  You don't even have to be under the age of 5 to realize that. 
• For the most part, our kids are good travelers.  Some new toys and a portable dvd player to be pulled out at key times is crucial. 
• Even when your kids are awesome travelers, riding for 12+ hours in the car will give you a headache. Guaranteed.
• Jon's parents have huge, bountiful gardens.  Sethers loved talking about G & G working in their garden and playing in one of his own.  His garden consisted of him raking a thin layer of dirt over the sidewalk from a hole dug in the yard.  He was very, very proud of his "lettuce". 
• Ol strung his first words together, "uh-oh, shoe off".
• Our boys did a great job of adjusting to new people and situations.  We were very proud. 
• When you are three, little dogs are great fun and big ones are scary. 
• When you are one (or maybe you just have a dare devil personality) you like to provoke big dogs and like to stick your fingers in the eyes of little dogs.
• It's fun to shout every time you see Grandpa's tractor.
• It's tiring to be on vacation and everyone needs lots of naps.

Sunday

Hope the sermon you hear today will be more enthralling that Lil'O thought this one was. 

the Dallas Zoo

 

Celebrating Referral Day! Yum!

Farewell, RMcDH!

Giving the big clown himself a hug on our last helmet trip. This is significant for two reasons: 1) We are (hopefully forever!) done with doctors in Dallas! 2) Big Man S was super afraid of that statue the first few times we stayed at the House. This time he said, "Not scary. He stuck!"

The final appointment at Cranial Technologies was encouraging. We had such a hard time deciding if we should pursue a helmet in the beginning, since Cranial Tech didn't even recommend one since Little O was so old. Now that we are at the end, we feel it was the right decision. The before and after pictures, as well as the 3-D images showed a lot of change in his forehead and at the back of his head. He will still wear it for 3 to 6 weeks, and possibly longer if there has been change in that time span.

It was great to stay at RMcDH on our last trip. The last three or four times it has been booked, and it was nice to be back. We had lots to celebrate and enjoyed our last trip!

Remember when?

One year ago today we saw the faces of our sons for the very first time!
We laughed, cried, screamed (well, maybe just me), spent lots of time on the phone, prayed for health and peace for our sons, praised God, spent hours staring at a couple of pictures, prayed for a speedy court date, looked into plane tickets for the hundredth time, laid in little toddler beds imaging their owners, went over our packing and gift list, and couldn't sleep because we were too excited!  

Today, I'm feeling more battle-worn after spending 6 hours in the car with those very same boys.  Ah, parenthood.  When you are sweet, you are the sweetest.  When you are rough, it gives me a headache. 

 

diggers

Some of my other buddies from blog-land were talking about the amazing combination of little boys, rice, and diggers.  I agree.  I waited for a rainy week to bring this project out, and it did not disappoint. 

8 Month-iversary

Recent happenings

Big Man S...

• gets really, (really) excited by the idea of growing tall.  I'm not sure where he gets this from, but he must talk about being tall or having long legs or arms at least once a day.  Today I told him his shoes were too small and gave him some new ones and I thought he was going to lose it. 
• is so super sweet around younger kids.  It really does melt my heart to see him play and interact so appropriately with littlens.  Unfortunately, the only little kid that does not want ANY help is his moody little brother.  :/
• has a million times more energy than he did when we first met him.  It really did take many months of being home before we met our happy, super excited, son.  He now loves to laugh and to be tickled. 
• continues to love narrating his day in prayer to Jesus.
• loves to hear stories about Ethiopia.  Sadly, I don't think he remembers much, if anything.  I can tell that the stories and pictures he hears and sees are shaping his memory. 
• favorite show is Wild Kratts.  Much of our day is spent pretending to be the animals seen on the show.  (Side note... We also watch a lot of Barney who talks about imagination in probably every episode.  Barney always lifts his hand (paw? mitt?) to his head when he starts to imagine, so for days S-Man  was convinced imagine was a synonym for ear.)

Side Kick O:

• three favorite words are 1) no,no,no,no,no 2) NOOOOOO and 3) nuuewww He varies his dissent depending on the occasion. 
• is getting slightly less picky about what he eats and is willing to try new things.
• gets upset when his outfit has no pockets, therefore no place to keep his favorite cars.
• has followed in his brother's footsteps in a love for all things automotive.  See above bullet.  :)
• really wants to learn how to jump.
• is teething like a mad man.  He is up to 12 or so.

Ababa:

• currently off looking at a canoe found on craigslist. 

Mama

• finished two whole weeks of couch to 5K.  I recommend!

To the Rescue

BBQ!

Happy Mother's Day!

My first Mother's day was super sweet.
My weekend started off with a beautiful delivery,

a fun BBQ (which had nothing to do with mother's day, but was a blast), some sweet cards, and tickets for a cruise from Jon. 

I kid.

From what I gather, the conversation about Mother's Day with S-Man went something like this:

Jon: "Mother's Day is coming.  Can you think of something special that Mama would really like?"

S-Man: "ummm, maybe oatmeal."

"No, not oatmeal.  I don't think mama even likes oatmeal.  Let's think of something else.  Something that mama would really, really like."

"yeah, oatmeal."

"Okay...  What about if we think of two things that are special to mama.  Oatmeal and what else?"

"maybe brown sugar."

Yea for these boys who made me a mother!

I Helpa You

We've got on our hands a...

Gardener.  More like an expert in re-potting.  Imagine a certain one year old clutching a flower in his little fist, complete with stem and root mass a dangling.

Pest Controller.  That same little guy can somehow catch, kill, and occasionally eat house flies. 

"Play Finkfilor?"

"Do you mean sprinkler?"
(laughing) "I can't say dat word!"

Helping a Farmer out

Pictures, pictures

I love seeing my boys surrounded by books.  Must be the teacher in me.  Or the almost librarian.