It's A Girl!

That's what I've been telling folks. It's a girl! We have received (and accepted) the referral of a beautiful 3 year old from China. I cannot share much about our little one right now as she is not officially ours, but we will soon be parents again.

I have so much I want to post about her and will as soon as we get the official word from the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs, but as far as we know, she ours.

Now....what the heck do we do with a 3 year old?

Just kidding. It's going to be interesting bringing a really small one into the house again. We have so little to do and so much time! Wait. Reverse that.

Truly, though, we are so excited. Nathan has been quiet and is digesting it all. We are just coming through getting moved into our new digs and are still trying to get settled. So, I don't think it has really sunk in. But, I can tell you that we all look at her photo many times a day and I'm really connecting in such a heartfelt way.

I spend a large part of my day imagining meeting her and introducing her to Noah for the first time. So, it's finally here and we are finally going to be parents again and we are truly grateful.

Peace Out.

Dana

The Answers

We don't always have the answers, we parents. It's too bad, really, and often quite stressful. Sometimes we don't have the answers because we are the problem. The problem: 1 pair of stressed out parents who have been trying since June 26th to close on their home and move the family to a new home; one home stood on its head - mostly packed up - often a disaster zone; things breaking all over the place and having to be repaired; 1 bored kid; 1 babysitter who is also the aunt who has not been given clear instruction by the aforementioned parents on how to take care of the 1 bored kid. So, a recipe for disaster.

Now, we are in recovery mode. We are attempting to recover any sanity and peace that once existed in our home. We are attempting to keep the peace during the next 24 hours when we find out once and for all if we are going to have someone buy our home and close on the new home.

To reconcile the issues within our home I have been burning lavender candles and sage like crazy. I am attempting to give the 1 bored kid - the Sun - more attention and have been attempting to keep the home clean and clear of clutter, a sure stress builder in any home.

To be truthful, he's been a real trooper. We have shown our home, looked at countless homes, packed up the majority of his toys and books and he's really hung in there. This week, though, this final week when it all comes down to the end, he has sort of lost it.

We are now the meanest parents ever and he does not like us, or so he said before bedtime. Hold the phone! It's family meeting time. I find when we are in these situations with Noah the best thing to do is to give him room to cool down and realize what has occurred, then sit down and ask him why he is behaving a certain way and what we can do to help the situation. Don't get me wrong, there are those times when I'm the Mom and you'll do as I say, or else. But, there are these times which we recognize and we make a huge effort to find the underlying cause of bad behavior because for the most part, he's the best kid ever.

I know I'm rambling at this point, but it is so hard. As parents we are expected, by ourselves, to know the answers, but truthfully, we are just winging it most of the time.

Happy Parenting.

Bloom Where You Stand

What I'll miss from our house are my glorious flowers. Well, the gladiolas are actually Nathan's but I get all of the benefit from them. Can't wait to see what blooms at the new place! Even Hammie likes the flowers.

Avast Ye Matey, It's My Birthday

Well, another year is marked today. I have hit the age of 37. I was not really happy about the approach of this day, but now that it is here, it is fine. Yesterday was delightful. I received 2 gifts of $25.00, one in check form, one as a GC to Panera. Then, after work I went out with my oldest and dearest girlfriends. I cannot express enough the joy of being connected to these women after all of these years. One I have been friends with since the age of 12, one since 13 and one since 15. Due to my work schedule, they met and had dinner and then I met up with them and we scooted over to Dan McGinness - an Irish pub. We stayed for 3 hours just talking and catching up. We had a great time. I do wish we could do it more often, but life happens. Perhaps we will begin to see one another more regularly, that is my birthday wish. One of them anyway!

After a scant 4 hours of sleep I met with the chair of the parent alliance and we discussed the upcoming school year's volunteer duties. I returned home and the rest of the day was so wonderfully relaxing and organic. After a short nap, Nathan, Noah and I snuggled in bed, then left for one of our favorite places, Moe's for lunch. We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping for mattresses. Once we returned home, it was more of the same, lounging around the house.

The high point of this relaxing day was brownies prepared by my guys and having sandwiches in the living room. Here are some photos of Noah from tonight. Well, the high point may not have been the brownies. Seeing Noah in the mustache he painted on with eyeliner may have been the highlight!

Bonnaroo

Well, we attended Bonnaroo again this year. We only went for one day this year. With all we have been doing I decided one day was enough. Usually when we go in for the day we arrive before 10AM, so the entire place is very subdued. None of the booths are open and most folks are still in the campgrounds. There was no one we wanted to see until noon. So, we headed over to our beer both, sponsored by the Millenium Repertory Company in Manchester. Nathan's folks and some of their good friends were there and we set up and went to work.

Very quickly, Noah was bored and the smell of corn dogs began wafting through the air as the small city of Bonnaroo woke up for the day. We were not yet busy with customers and I gave in and got Noah a hand dipped corn dog with Applegate Farms organic sausage. This is one of my fave organic sausages so I was okay with Noah eating it (organic/nitrate free). He also had Sprite along with it, though I was less thrilled with that!

Noon came quickly and we were getting excited. On Thursday it was announced that Jimmy Buffet would make a surprise appearance and Noah, Tina (MIL) and I were going to the show. Of course, Noah wanted to eat again, so he and Nathan set out in search of a vegan pizza (no cheese). They found one and Noah ate it and drank a lemonade. I wasn't part of this food frenzy and really didn't realize what he was ingesting. In other words, he ate more between 7AM and Noon than he sometimes eats in an entire day, plus getting sugary drinks which he is not used to. So, a little while later we headed over to Buffett and after a couple of songs the little guy began to feel ill. So, he and headed back to our booth. Luckily, there was not a band playing on the stage by us so we could hear Buffett loud and clear.

We spent much of the rest of the afternoon serving beer and sodas to the masses though we did duck out for a little while to take Noah over to the kids tent. There is a kids tent each year that offers a respite from the sun, an inflatable, face painting, clowns, and more. Here are some photos of that portion of the day.





After the kids tent we finished our time in our booth and then set out with Nathan's parents to see the sights. We found out that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was appearing on the Solar Stage for some Q and A. We got drinks and headed over there.



Wow is all I can say. He is very passionate and has done the work. It is things like this that makes me glad to be a mom and glad that Nathan and I have exposed Noah to so many things. He was really impacted by this part of our day and told us he wants to help the environment by creating a natural habitat in the backyard to bring in wildlife. It gave me so much food for thought about my own life and how I do things. Probably the most important thing he said is that if you want to do something about the environment change your politicians and don't worry about the light bulbs. Of course, he also said that Obama has basically continued to screw the environmental movement over....so much for the liberals!

After seeing Kennedy, Nathan took Noah up on the ferris wheel. Here are some of the "arial" shots of Bonnaroo he took.



After that we headed over to the main stage to wait for nearly 3 hours for Bruce Springsteen. We sat with the in-laws and all had a lovely dinner. Wilco was playing which was a great show. Kennedy spoke again to the masses and then the sun slowly set on the little town of Manchester. Though there were many folks there for Wilco, the grounds quickly filled up as Springsteen's set approached. Very close to 9PM as Springsteen prepared to go on, Noah lay down on the blanket to go to sleep. he had on ear muffs (hunter style). He had a hard time getting comfy so eventually I picked him up and held him in my lap. Eventually, we both dozed off. Unbelievable I know! Luckily, we cannot find the cord to Noah's camera or there would be a picture of me here asleep with Noah on my lap, both with mouths agape! But, I woke up in time for the big hits, such as Glory Days and Dancing in the Dark.

Oh! And Santa Clause is Coming to Town. That was AWESOME! Someone actually brought a 3 foot tall poster of Santa and held it up to Bruce to request the song! We were sad that Noah was asleep as it is his FAVORITE Christmas song and when he hears Bruce singing he really belts it out. Bruce played an unreal 3 HOURS with no break. I have never seen anyone sweat so much in my entire life. But, it was a great show and I'm glad we were there. And now, I can add BS to my list of concerts. So, Bonnaroo is over for another year. Stay tuned for next year's tale of the most rockin' show on Earth!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Love It!

I love this!

AWOL

I have been SERIOUSLY AWOL the past few weeks. I never knew that getting a house ready to sell, selling it and looking for a new one, not to mention packing was so time consuming. Truly, I think finding our new home was the most intense part of all of this. That coupled with carting Noah back and forth to school, soccer and playdates. Compound that with working and all of my volunteer activities and you have one behind on blogging Mama.

Well, hopefully I'm back!

I was looking for a Lonestar song to add to my blog music and came across this really sad song they did about keeping the kids little. Oh, it was so sad. So, I'm now blogging again in a serious manner in further effort to document EVERY moment of Noah's precious life.

Goddess! The last 7 years have flown by. That's probably why he still sleeps with Nathan or I half of the time. We see the days and moments going by and we want to hold on to him tightly.

So, here are some snapshots from the last few months so as to catch you up.