First off, YAY! for tummy-time!! When Micah came home I would lie him on his tummy and he would just lie face-down and SCREAM! He was not a fan. Looks like Lia is an old pro! And, how about those cheeks?! You want to smooch them too, right? I know. If all goes well (pleasepleaseplease) we'll be smooching those chunks-a-love in 2 weeks and 3 days. EEEP!
PS - Her shirt says "Input" pointing to her mouth, and "Output" pointing to her bum. NIIIIICE. :)
(Don't forget to enter the contest for a free tee shirt!! My first Give-away!)
I won, you win! Last week a Kim held a contest to win this awesome tee shirt...
The only thing I had to do to enter was repost this video... (I probably would have re-posted it anyway, because I love it.)
And... I won! But, I had already purchased my shirt! So, you win! Giveaway! All you have to do to be entered is re-post the video with a link back to my blog. For the next week, I'll be selling the "Love is Not a Color" tees here on my blog to help raise funds for our trip and lots and lots of orphanage donations. Kim is SUPER AMAZING and is allowing us to do this and is basically doing all the work! Thank you Kim!!!
So, here's how to win: 1. Post the video & link to this blog on twitter, FB, or on your blog 2. Let me know about it with a link to your tweet or blog or FB post in the comments here! (Please only tell me in the comments here to make it easy for me - we're leaving for Ethiopia SOON and I get confused easily.) *Tip: For those of you on twitter - just click on the date/time stamp of your tweet and it will show you the tweet on a separate link.
I'll draw from the entries next Wednesday the 26th, so you'll have until noon that day to enter!! Good luck! Tee shirt sales for fundraising will go through Thursday, May 27th.
And, if you have a favorite quote about LOVE, leave that in the comments too! I'll post some when we announce the winner!
Speaking of LOVE....
**Update: I've had two people say, "Your shirt will not fit me!" so I want to point out that you will get to pick the shirt size if you win! I don't actually have the shirt in-hand, so don't worry! And, Kim has mentioned that the sizes run really small on the women's shirts - so order BIG if you buy a tee! **Also, you'll get one entry for every place you post, so if you blog and FB about it, that's two entries! Blog, FB, tweet - three entries! Yay!
Okay, so... we've probably all posted about this before - the "Why Not Adopt From Here?" post. But, I've been thinking.... So, grab yourself a glass of wine and sit back if you're not too scared of what my come out of my... erm... keyboard.
What really grinds my gears (<--Family Guy reference!) initially about this stuff is the whole ethno-centric idea that is behind it. It's the same idea behind the facebook groups with names like, "I shouldn't have to press 1 for English when we're in America," crap. Yeah, I said it. It's crap. Don't even get me started on the status update about "Why are we helping people in other countries when people need help here." *shakes head, rolls eyes*
I don't know about you, but last time I checked we were ALL HUMAN. Regardless of the language spoken, or country of birth, or color of skin. And if you're a spiritual person (like myself) then maybe you also believe that we're all God's children. Just because I was born in America doesn't make me more deserving of privilege.
Okay, but I'm not here to talk politics, so let's turn back to adoption, shall we?
Here's the thing. I've been thinking about how some people adopt from "here" and some from "there" and some adopt older children and some adopt infants. And the somes question the other somes for not doing it their way. (Not all the somes, mind you, just some of the somes.) And there is shame involved. "Shame on you for not adopting from here. Those kids need homes too," or "Shame on you for not adopting an older child, they need homes most." And then there's even the, "Why adopt a white baby when there are so many children of color who need homes," question. It's never-ending.
And here is what I think. Adoption is very personal. You have to know what your family can handle. This isn't easy stuff we're talking about. You have to attempt to be mentally and emotionally prepared for things that you can never truly be mentally and emotionally prepared for.
So, why would anyone ever shame a family for choosing their own adoption path? Would anyone really want a family to choose to adopt trans-racially, even if they felt like they couldn't handle it? Only because there are more children of color who need homes? I know I wouldn't. Would anyone really want a family who feels unprepared for the challenges of emotional and behavioral disorders to take the chance of adopting a child with those issues - just because they felt like they should? And what about the children? Think about that.
Alas, this post isn't really for the readers of this blog. I know you all are with me on most of this stuff. I know that you've all been there, done that with the "Why not here?" question. But sometimes I've just got to get these thoughts out. Maybe start a discussion of something? I'm open to hear your thoughts - even if you're not with me on this stuff. It's good to disagree and I welcome your ideas!
It's been a whirlwind day in the emotional sense. I want to capture this day for Lia. This day when we became a family of four. This day when I let a bit more of the breath I've been holding out.
Waiting for the phone to ring on our court date was awful. The "what ifs" started stacking up and by 10 am I had to leave the computer (stalking my email) and go find something productive to do. I decided cleaning the mass of toys out of Lia's room might prove therapeutic. I was right. Soon I was gathering boxes for goodwill and moving things into other spaces, all to make room for the baby girl that I couldn't stop thinking about.
At 10:41 am I was in my room and heard my cell ring. The world stopped for a second and I thought, "Let this be it." I then realized I might miss the call and bolted for the stairs. I leaped (no kidding) over boxes and ran to my phone. I saw the number I'd been waiting for. "HELLO!" I yelled. Literally yelled at Ashley. She asked if I was okay. Yes, just running for the phone like a crazed lunatic, that's all.
And then I heard the words, "Congratulations you passed court." And I teared up, but with a beaming smile on my face. Hand to heart. Relieved. We are a family of four.
I called Kevin and said, "HI!" and he replied, "So, we passed?" YEP. We passed.
Let's be honest. We've all had those moments as moms when we laugh at ourselves for being that mom. I was that mom not once, but TWICE today.
First, I let my child do something I swore I'd never let him do. And this wasn't the first time. It was the third. I swore that I would never be that mom and allow my child to have this done...
That's right, The Full-Face-Paint. Why am I anti-Full-Face-Paint? Because it's freaky, that's why. But, as we know, Micah likes to dress up in costumes (Train Engineer, DJ Lance Rock, Spiderman, etc., etc.) so the Full-Face-Paint is like a dream come true for my little man. Of course I'm going to give in and let my child look freaky for a few hours. He loves it. And, if he's ever in the lead role in Cats, he'll have me to thank. *smirkbb*
To give you the full experience of my second time being that mom today, I'm going to give you some background. For weeks we have heard the tell-tale jingle of the Ice Cream Man's truck circling our neighborhood. For weeks the Man has not come down our street. For weeks we have looked for him, talked about him, discussing whether or not he'll finally show his sneaky face. Some mornings Micah would wake up and ask about the "Meeeyun," and I would explain that he only comes at night - after dinner.
Well, tonight was our night. After dinner Micah and I were cleaning up when Kevin heard the elusive jingle and the "ding-ding" of the bell. He yelled about the Man and I grabbed all the cash I had on hand ($52 to be exact because you never know how much you'll need if you actually find the Man), grabbed the kid and started down the street.
We walked by a mini-van with two kids inside listening to some pumpin' music (I giggled inwardly) and then we heard it. Coming closer. "Ding-ding." THE MAN. Holding my shoe-less child, I broke into a full-on run. No shame friends. I was running for the Man. We got to the end of our street and THERE HE WAS! THE MAN! I put my child down and, no joke, broke into joyous fist-pumping action (thank you Lori Rooney) and proceeded to hail the Man (who turned out to be a woman) down by waving my arms like a lunatic.
Micah chose a Batman Popsicle. Kevin had an Orangesicle. I had a big, proud smile.
Oh yeah, I was that mom today. And it was a good day.
First off, YAY! for tummy-time!! When Micah came home I would lie him on his tummy and he would just lie face-down and SCREAM! He was not a fan. Looks like Lia is an old pro! And, how about those cheeks?! You want to smooch them too, right? I know. If all goes well (pleasepleaseplease) we'll be smooching those chunks-a-love in 2 weeks and 3 days. EEEP!
