Can't Shrink Me

My brilliant friend in Australia just taught me how to make my pictures bigger on blogger. I am a happy girl. Here are a few of our last visit to our local Botanical Gardens. The roses bloom for Mother's Day... how sweet is that? We took our friend Seba along who had never seen the gardens. It was a fun day for all.

They have the whole world in their hands.. the whole world in their hands.:)
If you are thinking this face says trouble... you are right. Nati has turned into little Mr. Mischief lately. I am always saying, "It is a good think you are cute buddy." He really can make you fall apart laughing one minute and drive you up the wall the next minute. His language has taken off and with it comes a whole new wave of personality.

Lessons in Motherhood

As we just had Mother's Day I have been thinking about all sorts of Mothering things. Some good, some bad, some neutral. I am going to just throw some thoughts out there.

Things I have learned in the last year

* the love you feel for your kids just gets bigger every day

* bickering siblings is seriously annoying

* lighten up and keep a sense of humor - it can diffuse many a tense family situation

* little boys have way too much energy

* hugs and kisses are my paycheck

* potty training is hard work.. tried the pants off method last week only to have Nati pee on his snack and eat it without even noticing. (don't worry he didn't get sick... I almost did but he survived)

* kids grow up way too fast - which is why I am home schooling Yared next year. I want him near me for at least one more year.

* no one will raise their kids the same way you raise yours

* out of control kids are annoying to be around so we don't want ours to be like that.

* early mornings are now a part of life until teenage years hit us

* you will second guess your parenting skills all day long.

* seeing Daddy's car drive up can make all three of you yell with joy.

* cooking is not as much fun with kids in the kitchen

* cooking is so much more gratifying with little hungry boys who tell me "mmmmm mmmm good food Mommy"

* weekends will become all about the kids unless you deliberately decide to fit some grown up time in there.

* a family dance off is sheer bliss

* I don't know how single parents do this job

* you really do see how selfish you are when you are a parent

* when you see your little boys laughing together you think your heart will burst

Things that I have learned about being an adoptive Mom.

* I love it and I wouldn't change the way we became parents

* That people will always stare at us because we have gorgeous brown boys calling us Mom and Dad

* Being rude or yelling at said people will not help the situation - be full of grace and patience with them. (I haven't actually ever been rude but in my head I have a list of little things I would like to say.)

* strangers feel free to ask you very personal questions - yes our boys are brothers why is that your concern?

* People of all ages and races will react positively to our family - in this you get to see the beautiful side of the world.

* People of all ages and races will react negatively to our family - in this you get to see the ugly side of the world.

* We all need to work on our racism and stereotypes - how many friends do you have of a different race? What group of people do you talk badly about?

* Our boys WILL face racism. People are going to hate them for their skin color - our job is to prepare them on how to react to this without growing up resentful and bitter.

* I find myself aching for those years I missed when the boys were small.

* Making adoption a positive wonderful story in your home - something the boys can be proud of is a top priority

* people are really intrigued with adoption

* somedays you wish you could blend in and be "normal"

Motherhood is more wonderful, challenging and exhilarating than I thought it would be and I LOVE it.

First Major Owies

I have a confession to make, I have lived in fear of the first major owie that either of the boys would get. I somehow knew it would be Nati. His personality is much less cautious and he wants to learn by experience. He is very obedient if you are in the room or looking at him but I swear he plans his attack on a major no no and goes for it the second you aren't looking. That is what happened this weekend. We were doing yard work and he was watching the lawn mower. He loves the lawn mower. He loves any lawn mower or 'mow mow'. He kept trying to get to the lawn mower and we kept telling him to leave it alone. Ben turned it off to empty the bag and before we could stop him he ran over to it and touched the hot engine. He burned the skin on the inside of his arm. I was actually proud that I handled it as calmly as I did. I ran with him to the faucet and got the burn under cold water and then had ice on it within two minutes. The sight of it still makes my stomach turn. Just writing about it makes me want to gag, not because of the actual burn but because of the pain I know it has and is causing him.

Well I survived that and I KNOW it was rather minor and there will be worse ones ahead. Then today I took him to his second dental check up. They gave me great points on brushing and proceeded to find two cavities in his two year old molars. He hasn't even had these teeth for a year. He did fine for most of the visit but when the squirted water in his mouth without warning he lost it and couldn't calm down. He was calling Mommy and reaching out to me, it was breaking my heart as tears streamed down his face. This was all before I knew I would have to take him back for the real torture. Now I have to take my two year old to get two cavities filled...something I dread having done myself. I felt awful like we had failed him with nutrition or oral hygiene. The dentist assured me it is probably genetic or the fact that his molars have super deep grooves. Either way I felt bad. I came home and googled it to find out that the birth mother's nutrition plays a huge role on strength of the teeth. Poor little guy has to take prescription strength medicine before he goes in to keep him mellow, then they give him laughing gas and finally they numb the area with a shot. I feel queasy thinking about it and I have to take him two times to have this done as they are on opposite sides of the mouth. I think I will need prescription strength wine to recover from these events.

It is ironic as I am not one of those moms that let their kids eat junk all day but I am also not one of the moms that bans all candy. We drink water not juice. We eat fruit for dessert. We do eat some candy once in a rare while. We do have cakes or cookies on special occasions. I feel if you say no to all good stuff that is all they will crave and when they get older they will be bitter that you deprived them the joys of yummies as kids. I want my boys to learn to monitor for themselves that you can have a little bit of everything as long as you watch your portions.

These are two small major owies so I continue to live in fear of the big one. I'll let you know how I handle it. Some may say I am being pessimistic, but I think it is pretty realistic that there will be major future events. Let's face it, I have two boys who love adventure who have one crazy dad who pushes all boundaries.

bits and pieces

The last few weekends have been filled with Birthday parties. The boys have been in soaking it all up. We are also enjoying great warm weather so lots of adventures to be had. I have noticed that warm weather means long naps. Well longer naps.

Of course I say this but yesterday as I hauled a soundly sleeping Nati out of the van a fighter jet went over and woke him up. He went back to sleep only to be woken up 10 minutes later by the neighbor kids playing basketball at 2:15 in the afternoon. I wasn't sure why they weren't in school. I brought the boys back downstairs to have some TV time. By now I was grumpy with life and when the previously mentioned basketball players began swearing up a storm that we could plainly hear while trying to watch Curious George, I put on my best teacher voice and told them I was sick of the language I was hearing and that my 5 year old and 2 year old did NOT need to listen to it. A day later I feel slightly repentant. I should have calmed down, walked over and THEN politely asked them to lay off the cuss words. We really like our neighbors and their kids so I don't want to be the granny next door who yells out the window at them. That is what happens when you mess with nap time. It is sacred and should be honored by Navy planes and teenagers alike:).

I noticed some funny shots on the camera and I am adding them to this random blog post. I had to laugh when I saw the boys playing in extreme weather choices of flip-flops and ugg boots.

Nati continues to grow in his love for animals of all kinds. The cats understand this and are very tolerant of him. They seem to know he is the kid they can trust.. of course feeding Baci cans of tuna is a sure way to win her over.
The last Birthday party we went to was at the Botanical Gardens where we often go anyway to play at the water fountains. Ben was on camera duty and caught these shots. Yared finally learned to plug his nose before jumping through the high pressure one.

I volunteered to make the Birthday girl's cake as I won't get to make princess castles in my house.
It even survived the heat.... just barely.
Ben got this shot in mid flight on manual focus. I ALMOST took credit for it but decided I had already been bad enough yelling at the neighbors so I give full credit to my husband.
The Birthday girl came over this week to show us her new princess outfit. Nati loved it.