After Christmas

I am still digging out. Thank god it was garbage pick up today so we could get rid of all the boxes!!! Yesterday I spent the whole day with those damn twisty tie things...boy do I dislike opening kids boxes. There are still things under the tree. Games I have nowhere to put. Not in the mood to organize yet. I need help!

Well we spent Christmas Eve at my moms. J was very well behaved. I was shocked actually. I thought the excitement would have gotten to him. He didn't beg too bad to open them during dinner. From Thanksgiving on when you asked him what he wanted he said a red and green train. (GeoTrax). So when he opened up the green one he was so excited he held it over his head, got up and ran down the hallway in excitement. However, he thought every present after that would have been the red one so when it wasn't he said "oh bummer". When he was done with all his presents (and didn't get the red one) he was truly so sad. I really think he was about to cry. I wish I would have captured the face on camera. They way he always answered red and green train it was as if they were a package deal. He was getting the red one in the morning. We really had to sit him down and explain that Santa was still coming. Also after we were all done with presents he went up to EACH person and said "did you buy me a present?" if they answered yes he gave them a big hug. We were all shocked because I didn't ask him to do that. I had told him maybe 2 days before that about thanking people. Oh my god he listened to me for once!!

Since J was up until 11:30 on the eve he slept until 9 Christmas moring. We opened our gifts at home. He was so happy to get his red train! We didn't get the running around like the night before..this was more like a "thank god" look. LOL Then we headed over to my SIL house at 2. He was asking a lot more to open gifts. There were two little ones there so a bit more excitement. Overall it was all good.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

I just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. I hope it is filled with joy and love. Have safe travels if you are going out. Loce you all!

Ali

Jack did great with Santa. He wouldn't stop telling him what he wanted. He went on and on! Got some really cute pictures. They one that I "had" to buy was really so good. I always look at those Christmas frames and think...why would you put up a frame just for christmas....DUH...how about a cute pic of your child with Santa. What is more christmasy that that!





The best part is we parked by Macy's cause he was in front of that store. As soon as we walked up to it...there was NO LINE!!! AWESOME!!! It was great. The funny thing about the rest of my day was that I really had no lines to wait it. One store..but there was only 1 person in front of me. I didn't really need to buy much. I was buying more things for my friend Stacey. A bunch of us pooled out money together to buy her a cozy robe, fuzzy socks, cozy hoodie and some Godiva chocolates!!! I was happy to go shopping for it all.

I have been running around all week trying to get things done. Nothing exciting though...oil change, dry cleaner..boring stuff. Today is wrap day. I thought I would TRY and let J help me with a few. Then I will do the rest tonight. I organized them all yesterday in the spare room. Why is it that each year we say we aren't going to buy or spend much and then you end up with this huge pile of stuff.

I am pretty excited about Christmas this year. J is so into it. He just can't wait anymore! Some of his gifts this year like the Leapster I am sure he will take one look at and toss to the side. Plus all the games with it. He'll be like what is this? Although he has seen it on TV so maybe something will click. But once he opens the trains...forget it. That is all he will want to play with. We go to my Mom's for Christmas Eve and then to my SIL for Chirstmas day dinner. I love Christmas morning at home.

Hope you are all enjoying yourselves!!!

Say goodbye to naps

I know a while back I posted that we were trying the no nap thing. It didn't really work at that time. Then he got sick and he was taking them again. Well then when he was up there tossing and turning and calling me every 5 min for about an hour and half after we put him down, I realized I had to do something. So we are on week 2 of no naps. He is still adjusting. At about 5:00 we get what I call "No Nap Jack" This is the cranky tired guy. He is crabby, mean and very sensitive. Then by about 7:00 we get "Crazy Jack" This is when he gets that last burst of energy and you swear he was just sucking on a sugar stick. He bounces off the walls when you are trying to get him to sleep. But after his 2 books and a song from Mamma, it is lights out and he is O-U-T!!!! Yeah! His body will adjust to the no nap within time. But I love that he just falls right to sleep. The nights were just getting so long. Calling me up there 3 times and just playing every game in the book.

Hey do you like the new Alicia Keys song? It is on right now and I just love it!

J had his little program today at school. Now at the Halloween show he had his fingers in his mouth the whole time and didn't sing a note. I told him this time that Santa was listenng. He yelled out the first song (great!) then finally quieted down a bit and sang the rest just great! I was a proud mamma. T has the video camera with him or I would try to attempt a video. I still have to figure out how to do that. Thursday is his little party. I am going to be a room mother for the first time!!! Hopefully he doesn't hang on me the whole time. I tried to explain that I am there to help everyone have a good time.

Tomorrow is the big day to see Santa. He is excited to go so hopefully he will go thru with it. Bad mommy didnt even take him last year. But he was in the I don't do strangers so I figured why torture the poor kid. He said he is going to ask Santa what is taking so long to make all the toys. The wait is so long! He is having a blast with his Advent calendars. He has one that counts down the days. You hang ornaments on a tree. Each ornament is in a pocket with a date. It is really helping with numbers too. He has a hard time with 11-19. Its not eleventeen??? LOL Then he also has the chocolate advent calendar. I always advent calendars growing up so they will always be a big tradition in our house.

Life keeps going

How strange to go about my busy day of Christmas shopping, bringing my son to school and preparing for a party. My day and life continues. My friends Stacey is laying in a hospital bed. Just lost her baby and now is diagnosed with Luekemia. I know her life isn't over but life must go on for me as well. I feel like I should be more sad. I am really sad...but taking care of a 3 yr old during the day doesn't let you really be sad when he is talking about Santa and Christmas parties and just so excited in general. Then as the day quiets down and I sit with my thoughts I feel the sad creep back in. What kind of Christmas is she going to have? Will she even be home? Her two precious boys asking where their mommy is. Her laying in that bed just wishing she can snuggle with them to help the hurt go away.

Stacey I wish you could feel my hugs. I know you need them. Feel my tears as they fall down my face. I am sure you are all cried out by now. I wish I could make the pain go away. I wish I could help you feel less scared of what you are about to go thru. However, I know that you will get thru it. You are one of the most optimistic people I know. That alone puts you ahead of the rest. I will be here for you if you need me. I love you! Now get well soon!!!!!!

Sad

I just wanted to send out my love and support for my friend Stacey. Due to an illness that she has (not determined yet) she lost her baby at 32 weeks. I don't even have words for it but just pure sadness. I am so sorry sweetie!

Here are some prayers that you find out what is going soon. I will be here for you!

Referral Time again!

Only 6 day this time. There is nothing to say but to give it a big ole rasberry with my tongue. I know last month was 7 days but it was in the right direction. We need to get to 14 days at least!

Secret Pal Gift

I forgot to post my picture of my secret pal gift for December. It is an Winnie the Pooh outfit with matching socks. Holiday hair bows, a christmas book, an ornament that you can put a photo in, a bag of reeses peanut butter cups and a spidey toy for J. I just love getting these gifts for my little princess. More to add to the closet!! Thank you Secret Pal!!!

Snow Snow Snow!

Well we got about 5-6 inches last night. It was pretty, but not fun to clean up. I got lucky though. My snow blower wouldn't start and my neighbor was out so I went to get help. He got it started for me and said he would do it. I said no, no I got it. I just have to go get J all dressed. He said I will start it while you get him dressed. Well he did do most of it. I did the walkway and sidewalks. Then had to do the patio. So Jack had a blast. Then we went in the back and he had even more fun. The pooch came out too! He had little balls of snow all over his legs!

I got his picture last night for the Christmas card. I am not going to post it though. You will just have to wait to get it!

We are all feeling much better. J was back at school yesterday. I went out and got some of my shopping done. I still have two more small trips then I will be done. I suppose I should venture to the mall so he can see santa. Last year I didn't even take him because I knew how it would turn out. I think this year he will be fine. I asked him if he wanted to go and he said yes!

Thats about it!

Just a thought came to mind a few cute things my son has said.

While laying in bed the other morning. He started commenting about skin. This has been a topic before. Especially in the summer when I was more tan.
J: mom you are tan like me. well actually a little white and tan. I am tan, but some people are black.

M: well yes they are sweetie. Like Little Bill (TV cartoon)

J: ya little bill is black and so is his family. There are black people in the neighborhood.

M: People are all different colors. Black people are also referred to as African American.

J: oh ya like American cheese!

M: (me laughing) No sweetie, like you are Chinese, they are African American and mommy is Swedish and dutch and daddy is.....(no he is not listening and jumping on the bed)

That lesson didn't go over so well.


Last night I go in the powder room to go to the bathroom. Door open of course because can you ever go alone with small children? Then in he walks with his juice and a bowl of grapes. He says

J: Oh I have a little snack. (puts it down on the stool and closes the door) I needed an appetizer while I watch you pee.

Good thing I was already on the toilet...that was too funny. What 3 yr old knows what at appetizer is

I know there are so many funny and smart things he says but I usually forget them right after becuase that is how my brain works. I really need to start writing them down right away. He is starting to feel a bit better. I don't think he coughed as much yesterday. He just can't run around much or he starts to cough like crazy. Hard to tell a 3 yr old not to run. Last night he started the coughing and almost threw up again. I saw the gag. Made him drink some water and sit. He has watched so much TV this week. I can tell he is so bored too. We will decorate the tree this weekend. So that will be something fun to do. Or it will be horrible because I have so many breakables.

Dr. for me too!

So I did go to the Dr. today as well. I got the famous Z Pack. I don't have pneumonia but between the ears, nose and swollen nodes she thought I better take something. We had a party tomorrow night I was looking forward to. Looks like I will be staying home. I was going to send Tom alone...but he tells me he thinks he is going down now too. Great the whole house will be sick. Fun! Yuck. I think the antibiotics are already making my stomach funny. Bleech!

This goes down as a very bad week! Not the way I planned on kicking off the holiday season! Oh well what can you do. Maybe next week it will begin to look a lot like Christmas (say like the song. cheesy..yes..I'm trying)

The Mommy Guilt sets in

So I took J to the Dr. today and he has an ear infection and walking pneumonia! Nice. Now I feel horrible that I was so mean to him yesterday. I knew he was sick but the word pneumonia just sounds so much worse! Sorry baby, mommy wasn't herself. The NyQuil made me nuts. I vowed when I woke up today to be more...nice... no matter how crappy I felt; which by the way is pretty crappy. If he has pneumonia and I got sick from him what the heck do I have? My lymph node on the left side of my neck is actually sticking out. Maybe I should go to the Dr too? I'll have to call tomorrow.

Looking for a hole to crawl into

Yes, I know..I wanted kids. But can't they just go away when I am sick? Why can't a mom be sick by themself. When you are sick you just want to be alone and crawl into a hole and rest. But no...I have a sick 3 yr old as well. What does he want to do? Well he wants to be ON his mommy...all day. Ok, so I say lets snuggle. But he doesn't really snuggle...he climbs all over me. On my back, on my head. Usually elbowing me a few times in the head, kicking me in the gut then there is the occasional bump in the nose. This feels great when your nose is already throbbing. He can't sit still. I feel bad for the little guy, I really do...but I feel like crap too! He has literally been climbing me all day and I am so done! I am being more mean that I need to be but I am so crabby. Sorry J.

Sick again!

J is sick and I am sick! YUCK! My boy who never got sick has now been sick 3 times since the beginning of Oct. He of course gave it to me. I did find out that about 16 kids were out sick in preschool today. That is like half of the kids (two classes). Man there must have been some really sick kid last Tuesday that gave it to everyone! Oh no........(15 min later) OK, ewww....So J was running around with his dump truck. Running makes him cough more....he coughed so hard he threw up....his green (watermelon) yogurt he had at dinner...EWWWWW. You have to know that I am not used to this. This is a kid that hasn't gotten that kind of sick yet. I haven't had to clean up the gross puke in the bed or elsewhere. EWWW

So before I started to feel like complete crap I thought I better get my decorations up. Plus my cleaning lady is coming tomorrow and I would want her to vacuum up all the glitter from everything. So while J was napping, I turned on my Christmas music and got busy. It is officially Christmas when I hear Barbara Streisand's "Jingle Bells" song. I know what you are saying.... Barbara Streisand?????? Come on we all grew up with her. My mom LOVED her and actually I always liked her music. But her Christmas album is really good. She sings Jingle Bells like no other. If you haven't hear it before, check it out. I tried to figure out how to put it on here but it was too complicated. I have to go lay on the couch now. I am beat and my nose is running way to much.

Happy Thanksgiving

I just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving.

I am thankful for my wonderful family and the love and support they give.

I am thankful for my son. Without the miracle of adoption he wouldn't be here today. As much as I get irritated, he is the joy of my life.

I am thankful for my husband. He is loving, caring, supportive, and understanding. I love you!

I am thankful for my health

I am thankful for my beautiful home

I am thankful for all my friends. A woman needs her friends.

I am also thankful for all my cyber friends. Many of you I have had for years and you are big part of my life. I am so lucky to have found you.

Now I need to go finish getting ready!! Don't eat too much!

Wet Wednesday

It has rained now non stop for 2 days, only to follow up with a bunch of snow tonight! Happy Thanksgiving. We didn't finish our yard work yet. What were we thinking? The grass still needs one more cut and there are leaves everywhere. Hopefully it will dry up next week for us to do it. It will be cold though. Dummies!!!

We would have done it on Sun but we went out of town. We took J to Timber Ridge Water park. It is one of those indoor places. My BF came with also. We only went for one night. We had a blast. J loves the water. They even have those big tube slides there. They said J could go down if he went on an adults lap. It was the kind with the big innertubes. OMG! he loved it. The couldn't go on it enough. It also had about 60 stairs to the top and his little legs went up it every time. Of course he thinks we should go back every day now. Silly me forgot my camera so I had to use my BF's. I only got a couple of them coming out of the tube. I will post them when I get them.

I am having Thanksgiving so I was cooking today. My mom makes a few things so it is easier. We are only having 8 for dinner then my BIL and SIL come at dessert time. This year my sister has to go to her inlaws. I wish she was coming here.

T has the whole week off. I feel like I don't know what day it is since we were gone Monday felt like Sunday and since he is home it feel like the weekend. I am all turned around. We don't have anything planned for the weekend. I guess just taking out the Christmas stuff!!

One cute thing. Tom was putting together a metal cart tonight for his business and Jack was helping. Check out how....

Ok how excited am I that I learned how to do that slide show!!!!

Babies Room

OK I had a post a while ago when we couldn't quite make up our minds what kind of adoption we were doing. I had picked out a pattern for the girls room. My mom bought it. Then when we were going to do the domestic adoption I sent it back. Silly me!!! I still love it, so my mom ordered it again. To refresh your memory here it is.

I only got the bumper pads. Didn't need the blanket and didn't like the sheets. I will find some sort of dust ruffle that goes with it. The pottery barn one was striped and didn't like that either. When it gets cooler out I also got these sheets. They are the white ones.

OK and I had to make a little splurge. I follow this review site (which could become potentially bad down the road cause there are so many cute things on there) http://mamaslike.com/ When I saw this I just had to get it...mostly because they were having a veterans day sale for $15.00 It is a hair bow holder. You clip the hair bows on the ribbons on the skirt...how stinkin cute is this!!!! to see a better picture you can go to http://bambinaballerina.com/ I am a sucker for ballerina stuff.

OMG I was at Kohls last night and just walking past the section where they had the girls Christmas dresses..AHHHHHHH I can't take it. I have to buy girls clothes!!! One of my friends that had her 3rd girl about 10 months ago called me yesterday and said OK either you take these clothes or they are going to good will. Ummmm bags of girls clothes...yes please! Oh the fun I will have going thru them and hanging them all on the little hangers. Yes I know..I have a problem.

Uneventful Happenings

Well there really hasn't been much going on around here. I didn't leave the house this weekend. I was outside a bit working on yard clean up, but I didn't go anywhere. Sunday T took J out for quite a while and I SO enjoyed my time in the house just doing things for me. It seems during the week I am either doing business work or things around the house. Sunday I had the laundry done and the house looked fine. So it was me time. I have gotten a little bit of a bug up my butt about working out. I don't enjoy it, but I have gotten on the tread mill a few times. Hopefully I can keep something up. I am just so out of shape from doing nothing. So not flexible. It is really SO sad. So if I can just do a little something a few days a week hopefully I can feel a bit better about myself. We shall see!

J was still whining this morning about not wanting to go to school, but the teachers said he did just fine. I have his conference on thurs. I am so curious to see what they have to say. I know he is well behaved because he comes home with his stamp every week. I just want to see what they have to say about his learning.

Oh tomorrow I am taking J to the eye Dr. One day last week we were in the kitchen. I won't go into the story but what came out of it was he couldn't see the green numbers on the stove clock. Then I did a bit of a test and I think he is nearsighted. (frowning) I want my baby to be able to see, but glasses at 3.5 yrs old??? Poor kid. I called the Dr to talk to her before I made the appt and she said that when she first saw him last Sept. she noticed a bit of farsighted. (scratching head) But then she said it isn't uncommon for it to switch...really? Seems odd. But I guess we will know tomorrow. T just went to the eye Dr. too. Great...spend money on glasses for both of them. We just got done spending hundreds of dollars on new clothes for T. Who does this all at Christmas??? Oh ya and he needs to bring his car in for brakes to. UGGH

Let see...what else...well, ok, how is Thanksgiving next week? I am having it like always. I haven't hardly begun to think about it. I do have my turkey though. We are going to an indoor water park on Sunday for a night with my BF Karen. It should be so fun. We haven't done anything much as a family because of the business. It will fun to be with another couple too!

I can't believe I will be putting out Christmas decorations in two weeks. UGGH! I love it and have gotten excited seeing some of the stuff in the stores. But I am already starting to feel the x-mas stress build up. I am having our large group over for holiday dinner. We usually all go out but this year I came up with the idea to have it at a house (my idea..my house) then cater it and everyone bring what they drink and their share of the catering cost. We will have to see how it goes.

Well I guess I need to get something on the table for dinner!

What's up with him?

Driving into the preschool parking lot today I get:
J: I don't want to go here anymore
M: Why
J: Because there are not enough cars here

Ok, we drop off in front of the school and the teachers come out to get him. Some mornings there is a line and some not. this morning, not. So I pull up in front and unbuckle him by leaning into the back. The teacher opens the door and he jumps out of his seat and goes in the opposite side of the car and balls up on the floor crying he doesn't want to go. HUH? He had to be pulled from the car crying. Nice way to start the day. However when I picked him up the teacher said he had a good day. I said what about this morning. She said he was fine inside. Whatever! He has been acting so strange lately. He was sick the beginning of Oct for a whole week. Since then everything has been different. He has been strange with school, eating (not that this was good in the first place), sleep. I seriously don't understand him one bit. He is like Jeckle and Hyde.

What does this mean? It means this month they did 8 days of LID. Hey this is an improvement from the 4-5 they have been doing. The other part is about the review room. This is where our dossier get reviewed before being able to be matched. Most make it thru review without questions, but sometimes they will contact your agency with question. They are on Sept...so they are almost to us. At least it is is something, right?

Congrats to all those that are getting matched this month!!!!

Happy Day after Halloween

We had a good day. The trick or treaters started around 3:30. They weren't supposed to start until 4 but the kids got out of school early yesterday and some couldn't wait. It ended up being about 60 degrees so it wasn't toooo bad. It was very windy though so it felt colder. Our neighbors had people over for pizza after. Nice that I didn't have to think about dinner! J did really well. He did get tired at the end and T had to carry him for a bit. His little pumpkin got so heavy! So here is my boy.

These pics were actually taken at a party he went to a few weeks ago when it was warm. He had on a shirt and a sweatshirt last night.

Last Sat we went to a fun Halloween party at T's cousin house. They had ponies, and a haunted house and a mechanical bull! It had rained the night before so we put J in last years Bob the Builder costume.

It is going to be hard to take down the Halloween decorations. He just loves them. We have a lot of just nice pumkin around the inside of the house. I told him we can keep those up for Thanksgiving. They are just fall looking. Cute thing he said last night in bed.

Me: Halloween is over sweetie.
J: Why
Me: Cause it is only one day and now it is over.
J: (with a grin on his face) is it Christmas?
Me: No, sweetie, it isn't Christmas yet.
J: Is it Easter
Me: No, we have to have Thanksgiving first, then Christmas
J: I really want Santa to bring me that red train and green train mommy
Me: Well you have to wait to see if santa brings it to you.
J: Oh I will be good and then he will bring it.

It was just too cute. I have a feeling he will be driving me nuts with the "is it Christmas yet" question.

I have to get these for my baby sister

We were at Toys R Us today by the shoe section. I then got a phone call. I could hear him say something about baby shoes. Then after a min I look in the cart and say what are those? He said they are for my baby sister. AWWWWW This was so out of the blue. We haven't even been talking about it. Well they were not these pictured above, they were a navy and tan pair for a boy. So I told him that those were for boys and our baby sister wasn't coming for a long time. He was extremely persistant that he was going to get a pair of shoes for his baby sister. How could I resist. He just came up with the idea all on his own. So we ended up with these! Aren't they just the cutest? There was something the other day he was saying about her too but do you think I could remember? Mommy Brain!

I am dying to buy more girl stuff but I try to resist as much as possible. I am sure once in a while I will buy something. I still try to stay out of the girls section. I just don't know what age she will be so sizing and season is hard.

Having fun with Halloween

I have been busy the last week but with nothing exciting. Just trying to keep my sanity around here.
Fall things we have done so far. We did got to the pumpkin patch last week. Of course it rained the night we went, but not too bad. We still had fun.




We got a nice big pumpkin there. We carved it last Friday. Jack was excited, but he wouldn't tough the guts. He did help pick out some of the seeds, but otherwise after a few minutes, he was done. Here is is with his pumpkin.



Lets see, we also went on a leaf hunt. Looking for all different shape leaves and colors. Then we came inside and made pretty collages on colored paper. He had fun. Of course he keeps asking to do it again. On Mon, we made our halloween butter cookies in different shapes with sprinkles. I have no pictures of those since we ate them all. Of course my picky son won't even taste one. He is so strange. He even had fun making Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies a couple weeks ago, but again wouldn't even taste them. Who doesn't like chocolate chip cookies, especially tollhouse!!!

This weekend on of T's cousins is having a huge Halloween party for all the kids. Pony rides and everything (loaded) Although it is suppose to be 57 and rainy. Gotta love fall weather!

J is obsessed with pumpkins. We have 3 bigger ones and he has 7 of the tiny ones. He puts them in the back of his dump truck and rolls them around the house. I finally had to use the "take the pumpkins away" to get him to stay in bed last night. It worked! He 5 of them taken away the night before because he gave me the "I have to pee" excuse to get out of bed. I told him so I took 5 of them. He was not happy yesterday when they were on top of the fridge. So I said if you stay in bed tonight you can have them back he next day. So this morning I was in the bathroom getting ready when he got up. He didn't even say good morning...I got "I stayed in bed all night, do I get my pumpkins back now?" How funny! I said, "well good morning" he said "good morning mama, can I have them back now?"

Back to Halloween. He keeps pulling up all the blinds to look at the lights in the windows. He want to keep opening the front door to look at the big pumpkin outside. This morning he had to go say goodbye to it before he left for school. He tells me everyday about 3 times he is just so excited for Halloween. Although I think he thinks we are going back to a pumpkin patch on halloween.

Well I guess that is about what we have been up to!

Tired of Listening to Myself

I am giving myself a headache just listening to me. J is just out of control with the non-listening. How many times to I have to repeat myself. How angry of a tone do I have to have to have him even act like he hears me. I get absolutly no respect from him. I know he is only 3 but come on! He can't listen, ever? I keep telling people that he never listen to me. They shake their head like, oh ya I know. Do you? Do you really? When I say never I really mean NEVER EVER EVER! It isn't selective, it as if I don't exsist. Who am I? Oh ya, I am just the one who feeds you and bathes you and loves you...but that is ok...you don't have to listen to me. I just love to talk to myself. I really have to stop jumping off couches and standing up in my chair and getting down from the kitchen table every time I am sitting at it just so I can stop telling myself to stop doing these things. AAHHHHHHHHH! I am an irrate bitch right now cause I can't take it anymore. Even my mom, who thinks he is just cute and adorable was like, "what is his problem?" today when we went over there. Oh and the best part is that now his favorite saying is "I don't like you!" This is when he doesn't get his way. I know it doesn't mean anything...but it just stings a little. Thank you very much!

I always knew that toddlers were hard, but this one is just a pistol. I see some of my friends. Ya their child may not hear them on the first or second try, but usually the get it. My son would rather throw down and see who is going to win this battle. I am just tired of fighting all day. Does anyone have any advise for me? HELP!

If you got this far...thanks for reading my rant. Just needed to get some of it out. Now it is time to go get the little shit up from his nap....thank god he still naps!!!

Why it is so hard sometimes

Last week J was sick so his schedule is all messed up and he was "allowed" do get away with a few more things. So now it is time to button down and get back to the way it was. So I have had two days of fighting with him. He won't go to bed. He is getting out and playing games. "I'm not tired" "I'm hungry" (well if you would have eaten anything in the last week you might not be) but of course he is only hungry at 8:30 at night and not the rest of the day. I told him the other night if he got out again I would spank him. That was after 4 times. Last night it was 3..I gave in and gave him yogurt. Tonight I thought it would be better. Got him up earlier this morning so he could go down for an earlier nap. So 8:30 night time. Thought he was tired. All I am getting is games. He got out twice and I finally had to do what I have been saying all along. I gave him two wacks on the bare butt. He is up there crying and I feel awful. I know many of you don't spank. I really don't either. But this kid is such a hard head nothing works with him. I don't hardly ever cry and this made me cry. The only sound I hear right now is him saying mommy over and over again and saying I am hungry......... Ok I just went up there to console him a bit and try to explain it to him. He is the type of child that needs things explained fully to have them sink in. He did stop while I was up there but is crying again. Man does he know how to push buttons. I am not going up there again. I just told him that if he is so hungry maybe tomorrow he will eat all his dinner. That night time is just that. No games, food, drink allowed. Should I put that on his door like a retail store?

The best part of this is that I am always the bad guy. T is never around. He is usually at the warehouse..or tonight...he had felt so left out of Monday night football at the neighbors he had to go. Could he have stayed around for a few min since I told him he has been playing these games? Oh no...he had to work out and leave. So again I am the bad guy. The only guy! So I am left completly irrate and spank my kid. Thank babe!!!

Change in Plans...again!

You are all going to think we are nuts…but we are NOT going to do the domestic adoption now. I have too much time invested in China and I want my little China doll more than anything. Even if I have to wait 2 more years for it, that is what I want. There were some other personal factors involved in this decision as well. The one exhaust business just started taking off and come spring we think it is going to be so busy. I wouldn't be able to handle all that work and a newborn. Getting the debt down these businesses needs to be firt priority right now. So financially it would be very irresponsible. There were so many different reasons why we thought we wanted this domestic adoption like the age between kids, our age, etc, but there were parts of it that never felt right. After Jack was born I had a picture of how my family would look and it was us and our two Asian children. I know that I have a bond to a daughter in china and one day I will go and get her. My red thread (read the chinese proverb to the right of the blog) I dont know why it took me so long to figure it out.

Now I just have to convince my attorney to refund at least part of our retainer! LOL She wasn't thrilled when I told her and she wanted to think about things and call me next week. She was busy trying to wrap up a few other things. If you knew her you would know that this is her excuse all the time. We gave her $1500. Even if she gave us back 1000 I would be fine. This is only the 4th week we are with her and she hasn't even shown our book that we know of so she really hasn't done anything. So we will see.

Today is a holiday

Happy Crisstaliss Columbus day!!! His teachers taught him that in school. When we corrected him and told him it was Christopher. He just said "No, it is Chrisstaliss!" Well alrightly then

Happy Crisstaliss Columbus Day!!

Me: What did Chrisstaliss Columbus do?

J : he discovered new land.

Me: How did he get there?

J: In a big ship

Pretty good! At least I know he is learing in preschool. Even if he doesn't agree with his name.

Speaking of which I have to keep him home from tomorrow. He has had an on and off again fever since Sat. Last night he threw up a bit in his bed and never woke up. I went in at 12:50 AM turn off a light and was like PU! Oh no...it smells like throw up. Mind you my child has yet to throw up. I have been blessed. It wasn't much and just liquidy. But it was enough to have to strip the bed and the blanket and throw him in the shower because he was laying on it. Eww! DH wasn't home so I was doing it all solo. J just wanted to know why I was changing his truck sheet when it was dark outside. he just kept saying can I go back to bed now? He was a trooper and went right back to bed. Hopefully this passes soon. He isn't acting too sick.

Referrals

To clarify referrals. Referrals are when you get to see your baby for the first time. It has the pictures and any related information. Referrals are given out by your LID (log in date in china). My LID is 12.25.06. When they send a batch of referrals they do them by LID's So the big question every month is how many LID did they do at a time. in 2003 they were doing 30 days worth. At one point from getting your LID it was an 18 month wait. Then they started doing 60 days at a time and the wait went down to 6 months. Then, kinda like the supply and demand theory, everyone and their brother decided to adopt from China. So the paperwork got worse. less babies, etc. 2005 ended up being so huge for LID's that it has taken forever to get thru. They have been working on Nov. 2005 LID's. They had so many LID's that it has taken them 6 months just to get thru Nov 2005. Referrals only come once a month, usually around the first week of the month. One month only 2 days of referrals were sent. This last time 5 days worth. LID's 11/26/05 - 11/30/05. Everyone is hoping that once they get thru the 2005 dates that there will be a speed up and we will hopefully be seeing more days in a batch. There is a site with all kinds of rumors on it. The woman who runs it takes polls of LID so that is how we get our ideas of how many people are logged in one month. Only time will tell.

Hope that helps!!!

That kid!

Do you remember from school that there was always that kid in class that got bloody noses all the time? That is my son. He mostly gets them while he is sleeping. I think he gets them when he is sleeping with is butt up in the air. Therefore his face is smashed down in the bed and the blood is rushing up toward his face. (kinda) This is always a lovely mess, some worse than others. Of course there isn't much I can do at 5:15 AM (like today..of course he also didn't go back to bed) What's a little dried blood? Last time there were only a few marks so I just left it until sheet changing day. Too gross? Nah!

Referrals are in for China. 5 DAYS! Nice. There were actually pretty good rumors that there was going to be 10 days, but that wasn't true of course. Also heard that there was one agency that had LID's in this group that got skipped. That sucks.

I shopping today to get some outdoor halloween decoations. It is not my favorite holiday but Jack is starting to really get into it. He loved all the decorations one of my neighbors had so I figured I would get some. I got those light up things you can put in the windows. Also strings of lights with pumpkins on them that you put in the ground along your walk way. I still want to get some sort of light up pumpkin, but haven't found one I like. I don't have to get it all this year. I like things simple! I have a few decorations for the house. They are more fallish than halloween. Gotta love window clings too! I'll have to see if I can get a pic of what it looks like at night.

My mind is blank

I am posting, but about nothing. Just have those days that you just go thru them. Nothing exciting happens, you are crabby. You just wish it was over so you can go back to bed or relax quietly in front of the TV. It is early and I already want to day to be over. No reason really. My monthly friends is coming and I am just a crank. Plus all I want to do is eat but feel SO fat. So I am trying to put it out of my mind which is making me more crabby. Aren't you glad you decided to read this today!

Nothing happening with the adoptions. Referrals are due any day now for China. It may be 5 days or 10 days. There are all kids of rumors out there. China also has a review process for your dossier. The only good news with the whole thing is that they just finished reviewing thru Aug. 2006. So with my Dec 2006 LID my review is getting closer. What is the review?... they just look over your file and make sure that you acceptable to adopt. So it is a good step to get thru.

I called my attorney today and she was finishing up a few things and said she would get back to me in a day or so. I think we might run an ad in the paper. I didn't get to ask her how things were going. She has been busy with a few births.

Thats all for now. I have to go pick up the little man from school.

Ten thoughts for Thursday (copied from Stacey)

1. I wish my husband was home more this week. He has been very busy and has missed dinners and nite nite time.

2. Jack fell asleep on a shopping cart the other day. He had woken up very early for him. When we were at the grocery store he started to get crabby..then rubbing my arm. Then he started to put his head on my arm. When I moved it to put the stuff on the belt he just fell asleep. I couldn't get him up. I got him all the way home to the couch and he slept for 2.5 hrs. I had to wake him up!

3. The leaves are starting to turn. I don't want winter to come, but I love fall.

4. I really need a vacation. My friends are leaving for Disney tomorrow. I am jealous. The closest we are going to get is a 2 night stay at an indoor water park after the first of the year. Why then? We are asking for the money at Chirstmas

5. My butt is getting bigger! Do you think it is the handfulls of M&M's I keep eating?

6. Going back to #5...I thought when J went to school I would come home and do a work out and shower and be on my way! I really want to read blogs and I have a lot of business work to do. So..so far...the butt isn't getting any better.

7. No news on the adoption front. Hmmm maybe I should call the attorney now......ok just did and got her voicemail

8. I need to dig out the halloween box from the basement. I don't really have many decorations. It is not my favorite holiday. I am trying to buy a few new things though. I don't do the spooky stuff!

9. We have no plans for the weekend. T will probably be at the warehouse most of it. FUN for me! NOT

10. Oh the best thing of the day. J's teacher said as she was putting him in the car..."you must have a smile on your face all day becuase he is the most enthusiastic child!" Well if that doesn't make you feel good! I think! She said it with a happy face.

Super Froggy!

I have always looked at these cute towels for kids. I can't tell you how many times I have wanted to get one. I finally bit the bullet and got one. So we were playing super froggy after our bath.

Yes I got him to cover his privates!

don da da da...super froggy to the rescue

here I come to save the day

I don't know what happened to these pics. I switched the camera over to "sport" since he was running and it got all grainy. Maybe you are suppose to be outside???

Then this one...isn't it just too sweet. This is my big froggy.

It reminds me of my little froggy. This was his 2nd halloween. He is about 18 months

Secret Pal Gift

I just wanted to post about my last secret pals gift. This swap is over. They are doing another round with new pals but I have decided not to do it because of the domestic adoption.

She sent me an outfit that could go on either sex since she knew we were doing a domestic also. A trick or treat bag, a bag of reeses (yum) two little halloween tattoos, a pumkin flashlight and The Moon lady book (chinese). I just love getting these! I am sad I am not doing the next one, but since there is a chance we won't do the China adoption then I wouldn't feel right.

I just wanted to post this one. Typical kid that can't just wait 2 min for you to take a pic. "I have to have it mom"

Why is it...

That when you get your house clean (no I don't clean my own house) it seems that your child does more things to create a mess that he would on a given day. Example....as we are drinking grape koolaid lets spin around the kitchen floor as fast as we can so that it sprays out of the straw on the floor in a nice big circle? Its not like koolaid isn't sticky or anything. Does he do this often...no...just today when I pay good money to get my house clean and would like to keep it that way for at least 12 hrs. As my one friend would say...cry me a river...you didn't clean it.

What is going on with me. Well my cold didn't last long...thank god! I was able to go out on Sat night. We had a fundraiser to go to for a neighborhood kid with leukemia. It was a great turnout. Sunday we just had birthday party at BIL/SIL. It was fine. The girls still had the girls night and had fun. :( Guess I'll have to plan another one!

Nothing from the attorney. I figured I would give her thru the weekend then give her a call early next week to see if there is any action.

I am in the process of messing with Jack schedule. It was....I would wake him by 8:30 if he wasn't up. Nap from 2-3:30..then I would wake him up again. Bed at 9ish..which usually turned into 9:30 which he would talk to 10 half the time. That is too late for school nights. I really kept the naps because he always acted like he needed one plus I have the business work to do. So this week I am trying "rest time" trying to see if he can just rest and not nap ( if he does sleep fine) then I can get him down earlier...in hopes that he will wake up earlier on his own in the morning. How is it going you ask? Well it is just all over the place and I have a cranky child. I really do think he still needs to nap. I will give it the week to see what happens. I am hoping I can switch his schedule to wake up at 7:30 (on his own) rest/nap time at 1:00 then get him to bed at 8. So...wish me luck....this cranky kid thing isn't fun!

Thank you for all of you who are posting comments. I love it. Sorry I am not the best writer.

Freedom!

Just dropped J off at school. Then a friend is picking him up and taking the boys to lunch. I have about 4 hours to myself!!! WOO HOOO! Ok so now what am I going to do? I was going to start working out this week. (don't choke on your laughter) But when T was home on Tues, that threw me off. Then I have been fighting this sore throat. Then last night I had some serious belly issues that are still lingering this morning. So not really feeling up to it. (yes, more excuses) When J gets home he will go down for a nap! More time! Then at 6:30 tonight I am going out with the girls. What a day for me!!! I need it.

Do you ever get so stressed out and just crabby that you know you need a good cry....but can't. I need the release right now, but just cant seem to get it out. I even watched that 9/11 Oprah show the other day...not a tear. What is my problem. Why would that not make me cry. I am just not a crier. What can I do to relive all this stress?

Edited at 5:41......Well shit! Now I think I have a cold. At 3:30 I got so stuffed up and then my nose started the running thing. Sneezing a ton. Feel like crap..cancelled tonight. I am not a happy camper.

I am not alone

So now my son goes to preschool. Yeah, 2 hours two times a week to do what I want....oh wait.... DH has "work from home day" on Tuesdays. He is here, in my house..go away. This is my time. I want to be alone in the peace and quiet to do what I want. You have a warehouse to go to...leave. Please!

Is that too mean? Too bad. Mommy needs her time!!!! Love you sweetie!

On another note. Today is 9/11. Thoughts and prayers to all those to lost and suffered.

Mom...please play trains with me

Seriously, I knew I would have to play with my son a lot, but how much trains do I really have to play. We have different kinds of trains to play with. We have the Geo Trax that take up my whole living room floor. Yes, it is a very pretty room. Then we have the train table (not a wooden thomas one, it is plastic by Step 2) It is made for car and trains. For some reason it is SO fun to push the trains around in a continuous circle over and over and over again. NOT All I get all day is "mom come play trains with me" I AM SO SICK OF TRAINS!!! When I try and offer other things to play I usually get a no. If I do get him to do something else it is usually something that he gives up on and gets mad. He talks about trains all day. For example...he asked me why the ceiling fan was slowing down. I said because I turned it off so it gets slower and slower. His response was "oh just like trains do when going up a tall mountian" Well yes they do! He finds more ways that everyday things are like trains. Who knew! I have started thinking about christmas and am having a hard time coming up with things to buy because all he does is play with trains. Any suggestions? LOL

The mind of a man

Ok I just had to post this. It is too funny!

Our car insurance renewal was 8/17. I got the new cards. I figure that my husband can put his own card in his own car. So I put it by his wallet about a week and half before 8/17. I reminded him a couple of times that he needed to put it in his car. ( note: I never said it was expired, but put it in your car) and there it sat...right by his wallet. A couple time I even put it on top of his wallet before work. Nope..he left it.

Fast forward to today. He needed to pick up a trailer he was renting to go to his motorcycle track day (don't ask) He has done this before and you would think remember he had to show proof of insurance. He had to go borrow his dads truck that has the hitch on it. Drive to the trailer place. They needed the insurance. He had to drive back to his parents (only 12 min away) only to find that the ins. card he has is expired. Who knew! So he calls me ..I am at Kohl's. " Is the insurance card on the counter?" as I giggle inside I say "yesss!" He said he thought it expired 9/17. I say nothing...just thinking...are you kidding me? Now it is also 2:50 and the place closes at 3:00. He has a 12 min drive to home and another 7 back to the place. I only recommended that he call and nicely ask that they wait a few min for him to return. Needless to say he got the trailer, but come on. I have had numerous talks with him that if I put something by his wallet it means that something needs to done with it.

Fast forward to 5 min ago. Now he needs to come home from his parents. He has Jack with him. He need to drive his dads truck with the trailer so he needs to put the car seat in there. Now we have had a child for 3.5 years. We have always had to use the clip thing for his car. Which, mr. engineer that he is, can't figure out how to use it. The last time we put the seat in his car I gave him step by step instructions with visuals. That was a while ago. We haven't had to take the seat out. He calls me up to say they are on their way. It took him 25 min to figure it out but he didn't have the clip on. I now his dads car is older and there is no way that his belts lock. So I told him he needed the clip. Where does it go he asks. OMG how do these men function on a daily basis without us to guide them. I just can't take the stupidity of them anymore. I have a hard time dealing with my 3yr old and my dog...him too? Come one!!!

What to do with the Baby Room

My friend Stacey has got me thinking about this now. I am stuck in limbo with this room. Here is a pic of how it was painted for J. It had moon and stars bedding but he trashed the bumper pads so I had to throw those out. I have to get new bedding no matter what.

Now we love the way it is painted and when we were planning for our little girl I had picked out this bedding from Pottery Barn because it was simple and the colors would go. My mom even bought it, but I just returned it since we don't know what sex we are having.

I love poka dots

Anyways....since we don't know how long it will take to get matched that is why I returned it. If however we get matched with a girl and they still have this I will order it up right away. What was nice with Pottery Barn is all the stuff is separate. I was just going to get the bumper pads. I was just going to get a pink dust ruffle at another store because I didn't like the one that came with this set. It was stripes. Then just buy the different color cotton sheets from BRU. However...if I have a boy then what the heck should I get. Now I have to look for that. I think that BRU has the same bedding we had for J

But that is a whole set and I really don't need it. Anways..it is not a bad delima just thought I would have a chat about it!

Then the big question will be if we will know the sex before the baby comes. Silly me for just going on and on! Ahh the mind of a woman.

The Portfolio is Complete (posted 8/30)

I went to my friends house today. She is a fellow adoptive mom. She had all this computer scrapbooking software so we could create the pages for my portfolio to show to birthmoms. It turned out really cute. If I can figure out how to post any pages I will. She just has to email it to me first. I will send it out to my attorney tomorrow.
So here we go! Now what? I sit and wait. I wonder how long this will take? I mean anything can happen. She could get a call next week with the right match. Or it could take a while. My friend, who happened to use my attorney for her 2nd adoption, said she thinks we will at least have a bmom by the end of the year. Holy crap! I go from waiting until 2009 for a baby (which is most likely 2010) to with in 6 months maybe sooner. This is just freaking me out. I do think of a newborn and that smell, the squishyness of him/her. Just how they are so fun to snuggle. Then the reality of having 2 kids settles in and it quickly goes away. The messy House. Two kids talking back to me. UGGH Jack can't even handle people talking to me. How is he going to handle a baby. I know they all get thru it. But he is so difficult.
I know I am just rattling. This is just what is coming out of my brain right now. I am excited too, but I am just a pessimist at heart!

Update

Ok so what I decided today is to continue on with one blog. I also had a Yahoo one but since the China adoption is so long doing a blog just for that didn't make sense. I want to be able to post about my new adoption as well. So here it is. I am going to be taking a few posts from my Yahoo blog and posting them here since they relate to current things. Please leave me comments if you are reading...I love them!

Referrals

Well I know I haven't updated in a while. A lot has been happening with us. I just wanted to update that referrals are in. They only referred 4 days this time. They are thru Nov. 25, 2005. Just so sad. This horrendous wait has made us decide to do a domestic adoption. Our princess may turn into a prince. I will probably keep this site to update my adoption but will most likely be changing the name of it. We are still keeping our China adoption open so this will be an update on both of them. Wish us luck!

So our portfolio has been sent to our attorney with the retainer money of course. So we are officially on our way. I can't believe I may have a newborn again. This is crazy. I was so over that and was looking forward to my 10 month old. Goodness, back to sleepless nights. The constant feeding. What have I gotten myself into! But with the wait for China getting longer and longer we just couldnt wait anymore. That precious china doll face will forever be embedded in my mind and I hope someday that some special girl will be mine (of course that means 3 kids which is a whole different story). For now we will just see where life takes us and what child we get blessed with.

Congrats to those with referrals

I just wanted to say congrats to all those who received referrals this month. The cutoff was Nov 14th. That was a whole 7 days worth! Hey one more day that last month!

Secret Pal July Gift

The Secret Pal has struck again. Actually we do it every other month. The theme for July was "Coming to America" or obviously the 4th of July! First when i took the box out it was all wrapped in holiday paper

When I opened it up this is what was inside!!!!

The white outfit says little sparkler and it is a one piece with little bloomer pants. I just love all the hair clips. All the colors will look so cute in her dark hair. I sure hope she has some!
Thank you Secret Pal!

Little Fun things

I am not really starting to buy anything but I know my mom is. She showed me some bows she bought at a cute store in Hinsdale. I just know she is slowly getting a closet full. Then the other day she showed me this.

She thought it was so cute for the summer/4th of July. It says All American Girl! It is a 12 month. It has little bloomer pants too! The way the sleeves are you could also wear a t-shrit or even a long sleeve shirt under if it was cold out. I did take it home. It is the only think hanging in the closet.

Then last night I went out to dinner with my mom and MIL. We shopped a bit before. Didn't really buy anything but when my mom saw this she had to get it for me.

Looks a bit strange I'm sure. It is a ladybug magnet. The spots on it are hearts instead of dots. For those of you that don't know. Ladybugs are good luck in China. So now it sits on my fridge. Then we went into this other store called Land of Nod. We were just looking at bedding and stuff for my little angel. We saw this and my MIL just had to get it.

Isn't it just too cute! It is a butterfly that you can put anywhere..on a shelf or it comes with fishing line to hang it from the ceiling! I love the butterfly and flower look for a room. I have seen a few bedding things but I like things plain. We are keeping the paint from Jacks room. The walls are yellow and the ceiling is blue with white stars on it. Here is a bedding from Pottery Barn I like. I am not sure if I will get it yet. But I love the poka dots and how simple it is. I wouldn't get the sheets probably. The bed skirt is striped so I may just find a plain pink one or something.

This wait is just killing me and we just have so long still. I just want to buy, buy, buy! But not knowing how old she will be...how big...or what season it will be it is just so hard. So I am sure I will be picking up a few things here and there.