black history month

I probably should have posted about black history month at the beginning of February rather than the end! Anyway, we recognized black history month in our family by watching a few documentaries and purchasing a couple of books for Brett.

Movies:

The Untold Story of Emmett Till (2005)

From Netflix: When he set off to visit family in Mississippi in 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till never imagined that he wouldn't be coming home. But that was before he met Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, who, along with a dozen other white adults, savagely beat and killed the black Chicago youth for allegedly whistling at a white woman. This absorbing documentary from director Keith Beauchamp ultimately moved the U.S. Department of Justice to reopen the case in 2005.

I give it 4 stars. It made me cry.

Dr. Martain Luther King Jr.:A Historical Perspective (2004)

From Netflix: An hour-long documentary that concentrates on the Civil Rights leader's many groundbreaking accomplishments. Footage covers Dr. King's war on poverty and his staunch opposition to the Vietnam War. Also included are his stirring "I Have a Dream" speech and details of his involvement in the Memphis sanitation workers' strike in March and April of 1968.

I give it 5 stars. It made me think.

Africans in America: America's Journey through Slavery (1998)

Broadcasts on pbs.

From Netflix: This documentary series recounts the history of slavery in America. The four episodes -- The Terrible Transformation, Revolution, Brotherly Love and Judgment Day -- span the years from 1450 to the end of the Civil War. The series explores the paradox at the heart of the American story: that a democracy declared all men equal but enslaved one group to provide prosperity to another.

I give it 3 stars. Great information, but a little dry. This one made me angry.

Books:

I can't rate them because I am still waiting for them to come in the mail!

I've been "tagged"

Okay, so I usually don't participate in these little blogger games, since my target audience is family and friends rather than fellow bloggers, but, since Ruth tagged me, I'll oblige.

With this particular "tag", I am required to share 7 weird facts about myself. So, here we go:

1. I wash and reuse ziplocs. My mom did, and so I do. Evidence that I will stick with cloth diapering (which my mom also did)!

2. Give me the salty, I'll skip the sweet. My favorite snack (or sometimes lunch) is cheetos and milk.

3. The desire to open our homes and families to those in need runs in the family. My grandparents fostered many troubled teens. Growing up, my parents welcomed many folks in times of trouble into our lives. One of whom, after he left, the police kept contacting us to see if we knew where he was, as he was the prime suspect in the disappearance of his landlord. A homeless lady who stayed with us with her newborn ended up running up our phone and internet bills and then intercepting the mail so my parents wouldn't know about it. She also stole my mom's good silverware and hid it in her room, and gained access to my checking account. She was up to the same scams with the boyfriend who pressed charges, and she ended up finding a home in jail, pregnant again.

4. I was in my first horse show when I was 18 months old.

5. I don't have the attention span to read or study more than 10-15 minutes at a time. It's a miracle I made it through grad school!

6. I have seen every episode of Survivor.

7. I hate it when there are doors with handles in public restrooms. I always use a paper towel to exit. The worst is when there isn't a trash can by the door. When faced with this dilemma, I will litter before I will touch the door handle. Now, that is weird!

growing, growing, growing!

A few days ago we had the opportunity to visit our friends who just had a baby. We just couldn't get over the difference between Nathan (new baby) and Brett! We had a hard time remembering Brett being so tiny, but he was. How Brett has changed in such a short time!

As part of our adoption agreement, we send progress reports and pictures to the agency every month (for the first 6 months, and then every year until Brett is 18). I'm really glad this is required, because it disciplines me to reflect on how Brett is growing and changing and also order prints of pictures every month, rather than the pictures just sitting on our hard drive! So, I got the idea to take a picture of Brett with his sleepy football each month to show how he is growing:

2.5 weeks
7 weeks

Almost 3 months

(notice he's wearing his cloth diaper!)

Sadly, you can also see from the pictures how Brett is loosing his hair! We have nicknamed him "Mr. T."! Here's a closer look:

And another cute picture just for fun!

baby talk

One of Brett's favorite things to do right now is to carry on "conversations" with his momma and daddy. He's exploring lots of different sounds and seems to be really amused when we repeat it back to him. This clip is the best we've got to date; Brett also really likes to stare blankly at the light on the camera, so the camera always has to be out of view.

For some reason, it's not working for me to embed the clip in the post, so it can be viewed at the top of the blog or here.

breakfast and a show

Thought I'd share a little story about how life has changed since Brett entered our world. Last weekend, we traveled to Milwaukee to our niece's baby dedication. Bryan and I stayed at a hotel with his parents. Sunday morning we needed to be ready for church and checked out of the hotel by 8:30. Before Brett's arrival, we would have had plenty of time to enjoy a liesurely cup or two of hot coffee.

So, Grandma and Grandpa Ardie come over to our room with breakfast around 7:45 and Brett is just waking up. They sit back with their hot coffee and enjoy the show...

"Bryan, will you take the playard down while I get Brett ready?"

"Sure..."

(3 minutes later) "How do I take this thing apart?"

I start to tell Bryan, then, "It'd be easier if I do it, how about we trade jobs?"

"Okay."

I tug and pull at the playard, Bryan tugs and pulls at Brett's jammies. "Hey, you didn't tell me he'd pooped when we'd made that deal!"

"I swear, I didn't know!"

G'ma and G'pa smile at the opportunity to get to watch their son gag and wrestle with Brett as he squirms. Brett squirms enough to get poop all over his clean diaper. Daddy calls for backup, "Joy, do I still use this diaper?"

I look at the diaper. "No."

I find another diaper and give it to Bryan. I search for a trash bag to contain the stink that is quickly permiating the room. Back to the playard, I fight to get it to fit in it's carrying bag.

And right when G'ma and G'pa think the show can't get any more entertaining, Brett pees! Pee goes everywhere! All over Brett's face and big tummy, all over his blanket, all over the hotel bed. Fortunately, he misses Bryan, who was all ready for church. I am called away from the playard a little more urgently this time. "JOY!!"

By this point, we are both breaking a sweat. I rip off my sweater. It's -10 outside and feels like 110 in our room. G'ma and G'pa cannot hide their amusement. G'ma dotes, "Can I help?" as she enjoys her fresh hot coffee. I grab a wash cloth and we give Brett a sponge bath.

And 3 diapers later, Brett is dressed and the playard is packed up. "Bryan, did you put lotion on him?"

"No."

No lotion today.

I know you are wondering. I did get a cup of hot coffee. At the church. I discovered the pot when I went to change Brett. He'd soaked through his diaper. And his outfit. With no spare change.

Happy Valentine's Day!

What should I wear?

So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
Colossians 3:12-14 (The Message)

showers, shots, and shops

This past week has been a busy one. It started out on Friday night, when my friends gave Brett and I a shower. We had so much fun! Brett was completely over-stimulated by all the fun things to look at and excited ladies eager to make over him! My friends really went the extra mile to make everything so special, and it was wonderful to catch-up with some of the ladies I had not seen in a while.


Brett was so stimulated, it took him a long time to unwind! I guess he is like his momma that way, but he outdid me. I finally put him down in his crib around 1 am and fell asleep to the sounds of him playing happily. (We're so lucky he's not a crier!)


Then, we had a brunch shower on Saturday. A family from Bryan's work put it on, so it was not your traditional kind of shower. We had a delicious brunch. Brett was recovering from the late night-he was so sound asleep it was nearly impossible to wake him up! The best part of this shower was the family has a thirteen-year-old daughter who has a really boisterous personality and is also deaf. She was just going crazy over Brett, holding him, playing games with him, and feeding him. After she was done feeding him, she told Bryan he should pay her for her services. Bryan gave her a dollar, but she doted back that his bill was $5! I don't think we could afford to hire her as a baby-sitter!

Here's a pic of Brett with only SOME of his loot! He doesn't realize how spoiled he is...

Tuesday was Brett's two month doctor's appointment. He weighs 10 pounds 3 ounces and is 23 inches long. We actually expected that he weighed more than that. He had to get 3 shots. And it was very traumatic for me.


Brett didn't like it either.


On to shops. Really I was just trying to come up with another word that started with "sh" to make for a catchy title to this post. I have to share my excitement about cloth diapering, and I have been cruising many shops-mostly online-to make my purchases. So far I received one Happy Heiny one-size as a gift. Then I found that I could order "repairable" bum genius one size 2.0 for $6 each (regular $15-$18), so I ordered three. I also ordered a package of five Kushies Ultra all-in-ones. They are about $8.50 each, but they don't adjust in size. I couldn't resist also ordering Brett a swim diaper! Then, yesterday, Brett and I went to Peapods, an interesting little natural parenting shop in St. Paul, and splurged on a bum genius one size 3.0 ($18), and also bought biodegradable liners. So, I have spent $87 (according to my calcs, about equivalent to 2 months of disposables) and will have 10 diapers to give it a trial run -hopefully next week. We will see if I am still excited about cloth diapering then!