Lydia is 10 months old!

Lydia is 10 months old! She has been a very busy girl. She is cruising all over the place, standing independently, climbing stairs (scary!) and even crouching down from standing and standing back up again! With all these new skills, there are constant bumps and bruises, and even one black eye.

She is also pointing, waving, and smacking her lips!

Lydia loves to eat just about everything, and we've expanded her options to include broccoli, melons, grapes, cheeses, and even a little meat.

She also likes to dine on leaves, dandelions, sand, and rabbit poop (almost, Daddy came to the rescue).

new bedroom

Lydia and Brett have a new bedroom! It was our old guest room - now we have no room for guests! It is on the first floor attached to the living room and I am enjoying the convenience this brings. Before, the kids didn't play much in their room because it was on the second floor. Now they- and their stuff- can be in their room while we are in the living room or kitchen. The room got a fresh coat of light green paint, new more kid-friendly blinds, a new ceiling fan with light, and safety outlets. We've finished arranging the furniture since the pictures were taken. It still needs valances, wall decor, and a bright area rug.

Huh???

Since bringing Reggie home, we have discovered a whole new level of reactions from the public when we are out and about. We are quite the amusement!

I can't pass up sharing one particularly comical interaction I had yesterday. I tried out my new-found independence with stroller #6 and went to Micheal's for a picture frame solo +3. Brett and Lydia were loaded into the stroller and Reggie was in my front pack when two older ladies were also walking into the store.

They started out with a typical, "Wow! You're busy!" and then started telling me about their kids, etc. They asked the ages of my children, and I told them.

That's when one of the ladies smiled and asked, "Do you need me to tell you how this happens?" with a chuckle.

Huh???

stroller #6

I purchased our sixth stroller this week. I was going to line them all up and take a picture for this post, but I've been a little busy lately...plus Bryan got sick of tripping over them and put a few of them up in the rafters of the garage.

Here's the run-down:

The first stroller I purchased was the huge "travel system" variety that comes with a carrier car seat. It is the only stroller I purchased new, but I ordered it on clearance for $100 including the car seat.

We also have two umbrella strollers, both purchased at garage sales for a total of $5.

Last summer I purchased the Combi side-by-side double on craigslist for $80. I love this stroller because it is light-weight and small for a double stroller. But Brett is going through a hitting phase, and he likes to pick on Lydia. And Reggie doesn't like anything that involves not being held, so the Combi is currently in the rafters.

Early this summer, we purchased a double bike trailer/stroller off craigslist for $65. It is also in the rafters : ).

It was apparent that we needed a tandem stroller that seated 3. Shopping for a triple stroller was tricky because there isn't enough of a market for them for stores to have them in stock for you to test drive. We also are not planning to replace our car any time soon and there is no such thing as a small triple stroller. We decided on the Joovy Big Caboose if we could get it in our car. It has two regular size "stadium" seats that face forward, and then in the back there is a bench seat for your toddler to sit, or has the option to stand.

It retails new for $376, and I was thrilled to find one on craigslist for $150. I told the lady if we can get it in the car, I'll buy it, and we figured out a way to get it in! It is not exactly easy to maneuver, but it gives me the freedom to get out and about on my own.

That's $400 that we've invested in strollers. Not bad, considering we could have spent that on just one.

the "twos" have arrived

I fear the "terrible two's" have arrived. What makes me think that?

Let's see...three time-outs before breakfast, all related to terrorizing his sister.

Then, I come downstairs to a guilty-looking face saying, "no no", standing in a puddle of water - someone was playing with the water dispenser on the frig.

And again, I enter the room to a guilty-looking face saying, "no no" - this time the broken rule was playing with the DVD player.

And just shy of noon, I catch my oldest feeding the middle child a dandelion (she was happily eating it...)

Lord, give me patience....and my kids need some, too.

Brett's Adoption Day

One year ago today, Bryan, Brett, and I went to court to officially become a forever family. We are so thankful for adoption! Not only has it brought our two sons to us, but it has truly been this amazing experience that has deeply impacted our life. So today we celebrate Brett's adoption.

Families celebrate this "anniversary" of sorts in many different ways. Some don't recognize it at all and some throw their kids big parties. We, having a bio child sandwiched between two adopted children, are definitely going to recognize the day, but there will be no big celebrations. The plan is to have it be more of a day of celebrating our family as a whole, and allow, in this case, Brett, to choose what he wants for dinner.

Brett "chose" lasagna and garlic bread. He kept saying "um" (yum) as he ate it, so I must have guessed the right meal! At bedtime, we read "We Belong Together" by Todd Parr and thanked God for adoption and prayed for Ms. April, as we do quite frequently.

I'm sure there will come a time when Lydia says, "No fair!" But there are lots of ways to help our kids recognize how special they are to us and how much we love them.

My two sentence review of the book is this: It has been criticized for making it sound too much like the child needed a family and we were SO gracious to give him one. I get that, but my one year old loves the pictures and can't read yet, so I change some of the wording.

three

Tired.

Found the Doritos!

Having a treat at the mall.

Learning to walk behind push toys!

Just reading a book to Brett, snuggling Reggie to sleep, and giving Lydia a snack.

At the zoo with Grandma Judi

Attempting a revised family shot...

After 9 months, I finally figured out how to upload/download videos from our "new" camera, so now you can see us in action!

Reggie is 1 month old!

Reggie has been in our arms for just under 2 weeks, but it seems like he just belongs with us. Even with a short (18 days) time of "expecting" him, he instantaneously was ours.

Reggie eats...a lot. Maybe close to 40 ounces of formula a day. Don't know his current weight. He is wearing 0-3 month clothes. He sleeps much of the day and night away - and we are happy about that! But when he is awake, he pretty much wants to be held continually. Once again, I am making good use of my baby wearing gear! He holds his head up pretty well. No social smiles yet!

We love our little boy!

1.75

Brett is 21 months old!

He is full of energy and full of ideas. He is tenderhearted and an awesome big brother. Some of his favorite things to do are reading books, vacuuming and sweeping, swinging, sliding and climbing, playing with play doh, playing with water, swimming, and music, singing and dancing!

He doesn't talk much, but is doing well at learning his family's names, animal sounds, and body parts, and has a very strong receptive language vocabulary.

He is a tough kid who will bust a lip up and skin a knee and not shed a tear, but cries when I leave him in kid's church. : ( Last week when he was staying at Grandma's, he brought her a surprise - a live snake!

Our oldest son is so amusing and such a delight to us. What a blessing it is to be his Momma.

I may have misspoke

I should say that many people have been very congratulatory and supportive of our decision to adopt Reggie. A few are not supportive, and that's okay. And people who are close to us - our close family and friends - have expressed some legitimate concerns and yet support our decision.

Maybe I am alone in this, or maybe other adoptive mothers can relate to me. But I feel a very strong sense of loyalty to Ms. April. After all, she created two of my three most wonderful treasures. And when anything even slightly derogatory is said about her, I get very defensive.

the most common reaction...

... to the news of our latest adoption and how it came about is in some format this:

"What about the next one she has?"

Can't say we didn't think about that. And it's interesting what kind of emotions that stirs up in me. Maybe I will post about it on a day when I'm feeling like being more vulnerable on the world wide web. But for now, I will just say this:

We're not doing this for her.