Recovering

I’m home from surgery.  All in all everything went pretty smoothly (aside from the hospital staff losing my file while I was in recovery and refusing to give me more meds until they could find it to see how much I had had already).  So far recovery hasn’t been too bad either.  I have been sleeping a LOT and am so glad that my mom is here to take care of the little dude.  But it is killing me not to be able to hold him.  I miss cuddling with my little man! 

I was next to a total WEIRDO in pre-op.  I could hear him in the next partition over from mine hassling the nurses and just being an annoyance.  He kept refusing to sign his paperwork and questioned every single thing his nurse did.  He was such a strange cookie that I asked Spence to write down some of the funny things he was saying to share with Mom when we got home.  And no, he had not been given any medication yet.  Here are a few of my faves:

“You want to know how long I was in jail?”

“To quote that Sound of Music that’s a capital T and that rhymes with P and that stands for pool.” (Um, that would be the Music Man buddy). 

“I’m LEAKING!”

“But I want to wear my own underwear to the surgery!”

“My ex-wife is driving me home today.  We haven’t hugged in eight years, but we get together all the time to do criss-crosswords.”

Nurse: “Are you allergic to any medications?”
Strange Cookie: “Trout”

Strange Cookie: “Are you married?”
Nurse: “Yes.”
Strange Cookie: “Happily?” (Yes he really said that!)
Nurse: “Yes.”
Strange Cookie: “Are you sure?”
Nurse: “Yes.”

It was nice to have some entertainment to distract me.  I was a little nervous. 

In any case, I’m glad to be home now feasting on Jell-O and sipping on Gatorade.  This is the life. 

Little Ones

They are just about the same size these days!  Actually, Baby finally just surpassed Puppy in weight. 

I tried uploading a video of Baby petting Liz on the back.  And I was so excited to share it with you guys, because it is so dang cute.  Lizzy is kind of looking at the camera like, “Um guys his sticky little hand is kind of pulling my fur.”  And Mr. M is wide eyed like, “I have never felt a puppy before!”  Lest you fret, I should let you know that we thoroughly washed Mr. M’s hands after he pet the pup.  Alas, after multiple attempts at uploading that video, I threw up my hands and declared that the computer won.  This time. 

So instead of a video of the our cute little man, you will just have to settle for my new desktop background. 

To Share or Not to Share

I recently read a blog post in which the author expressed her distaste for those who share the details of their adoption story.  Her reasoning was that an experience so personal should not be shared in a public place.  I can see where she is coming from.  And I can respect her desire to keep her story to herself (she is an adoptive mom).  It was interesting to read her perspective because it is so different from my own. 

I have felt very strongly that some of our story is meant to be told

I feel so grateful that we have been able to share our experiences with adoption.  Some of our story is private.  There are some details that we are saving for our little guy alone to know.  We have been very prayerful about what to share and how and when to share it.  The words we have written were written carefully.  We asked permission from our sweet birthmomma to include her in our story.  I don’t know how to tell it without speaking of her.  After all, if it weren’t for our Natalie, we wouldn’t have an adoption story to begin with!  

You see, our lives have been so immeasurably blessed by the miracle of adoption!  How could we possibly keep quiet?  It seems ungrateful to do so.  What if there are other individuals whose lives could be similarly blessed?  Besides, I like to think that we can be a force for good in sharing how adoption can be an amazing, positive, experience.  There is plenty of inaccurate/negative information out there.  Maybe our story can help refute some of those damaging misconceptions about adoption. 

But maybe even more than that, our son’s birth was a cause for celebration!  I wouldn’t want to keep the way in which he joined our family a secret from him or anyone else.  He came to us in the way he came to us for a reason.  His little life had meaning and purpose before long before he was ours.  And I want him to be proud of his story someday. 

I love to share how we feel about open adoption.  I know that openness isn’t a possibility for everyone, but I am so glad that it works for us.  I share a lot about why we have an open relationship with our baby’s birthmomma because it is a big part of our lives.  It is important to us. 

And sharing our story has given our family some special opportunities.  We have made friends who also have connections with adoption.  These individuals have been an awesome support.  We have gotten a few nice comments or e-mails from people telling us that they were touched by some part of our story.  Those kind words make all the effort it takes to write it all out worth it. 

A Visit From Nat!

This week we got a special visit from our Natalie!  It was so much fun and we are a little lottle bummed that it’s over!  Thank goodness we will get to see her again in a few weeks for Mason’s sealing!  And then again a few weeks after that!  HOORAY for Natalie time! 

Nat came with her parents and cousin.  The are the most AWESOME. FAMILY. EVER.  Truly, some of the kindest, most genuine people you will ever meet.  We think the world of them. 

And we made the most of our time together.  There was much admiring of the Mason Bug.  And lots and lots of kissing those fat cheeks of his.  There were more than just a couple of rounds of Nertz .  And one day we went to the Lake and had a BBQ and let Mason dip his toes in the water.  I was even super prepared that time and brought a little kiddie pool to fill up with water and set in the sun, so it would get all warm.  (The little Mr. prefers his water warm please and thank you.)  Alas, some kids got ahold of it and filled it with cold water before Mason got to take a dip.

Thanks so much for coming to visit us guys!  We love you so much and we’re excited to see you again soon! 

Hi Caitlyn!

Mason’s cute cousin Caitlyn sent him these adorable little stuffed animals.  Mason loved his Winnie the Pooh and Tigger so much he asked if I could take his picture with them to show Caitlyn. 

He had so much fun playing with his Winnie the Pooh and Tigger tonight.  I would make Pooh Bear kiss Mason on the cheek, and Mason would smile so big and reach for him.  He hasn’t figured out how to grasp things with his fingers yet, but he reaches for his toys like he wants to hold them so bad.  And he had lots of fun watching Tigger bounce all over his tummy and up and down the couch.  It is so fun to watch Mason learn how to play.  Thanks Caitlyn for the fun toys! 

The Keeper of the List

When I go grocery shopping, I usually take my boys with me.  Grocery shopping is just one of those things in life that I don’t really love to do, so it’s nice to have the company.  And we have a couple of games that we play to make our shopping trips more bearable. 

We play this game where we guess the price of all our groceries as they are being rung up at the register.  The person who guesses closest without going over wins.  I always win this game.  Always.  Spencer, who is reading over my shoulder as I type this says: “That is NOT true, I am usually way closer to the total than you are!!! HMMMF! SNORT!”  Don’t believe his lies.  I am the Grocery Price Guessing Champion.  And he knows it.

We also like to play the “guess the gender of the cashier game” when we shop at Wal Mart. 

Plus, we have developed a system that makes our shopping experience run much more smoothly.  We each have a certain job to do, and with our three powers combined we can get in and out of the grocery store in record time.    

Spencer’s job is to man the cart and point out those XXXLarge shirts with wolves howling at the moon on them (with or without people inside said shirts).  Mr. M’s job is to sleep fatly in his car seat and use his cuteness to draw lots of attention.  My job is to hold the list and check off each item that makes it into the cart. 

But as it turns out, I’m not very good at my job because I am always setting the list down somewhere in the store.  This happened on our last shopping trip.  I was bagging green peppers when I realized with alarm that the list was nowhere to be found.  Spencer found it as I was retracing my steps.  There it was, right where I left it.  Nestled safely among the nectarines. 

So we started giving the list to Mason to keep track of.  He never loses it.    

And now I’m out of a job. 

Fabulous Fourth

Our family had a pretty dang fun Fourth of July, if I do say so myself (albeit a low key one)!  Baby was very excited to don his patriotic apparel and head out for an afternoon on the town. 

First up, the chalk festival! 

There were some really awesome drawings.  We each got tokens to vote for our favorites.  Below are some of my selections. 

I love how you can see the drawing she is working from in the above photo.  Pretty cool huh?  I wish I could have seen the finished product. 

After looking at everyone else’s artwork, we grabbed some chalk and created our own:

(YES WE DO, YES WE DO!)

I actually started drawing this really great masterpiece of two penguins holding hands.  It would have been epic.  Sadly, I didn’t get to finish it.  Someone (who shall remain nameless) was asking for a bottle.  So we went and enjoyed a bottle in the shade while Daddy worked on his drawing. 

Then we headed home after making a quick pit stop for Icee’s.  We have been in great need of shaved ice!  Sadly, our favorite shack didn’t open this summer!  So we got Icee’s and pretended our hardest that it was shaved ice.

Then, we BBQ’d.  Spencer grilled the most amazing meal of steak, veggies, and corn on the cob.  Annnnd we had fresh pineapple.  We have been eating those like they are going out of style. 

That man of mine does love to cook outdoors.  Cutie.  I love these pictures of him and his wee little grill.  It was his father’s day present.  He shines it every night.   

 

And for the grand finale, we FEASTED! 

I am drooling all over the keyboard just remembering it.  YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!  We didn’t watch fireworks or anything.  I like fireworks and all, but I am not the biggest fan of sitting in traffic for three hours after the show ends.

And this little stinker-doodle-dandy was all tuckered out after a busy day. 

So we cuddled up, read some stories, and called it a night.

Three Months Old Today

I can’t believe how old he looks in these pictures!  Big boy!  He was VERY cooperative for his three month old shoot with his lambie (from his Natalie).  He had lots of fun hamming it up for the camera and sucking on lambie’s ear.   

This kid is too much fun, I tell you!  He is developing such a cute little personality.  He is a little social bug.  Smiling at anyone who will smile back.  He is always a very cheerful little soul.  And he is a mover!  There is a reason they call them bouncing baby boys.  He bounces.  And wiggles.  And kicks.  And dances.  And fist pumps… Everywhere!  Even though he can’t roll over yet, he moves ALL over his bassinet.  He is never in the same spot he went to sleep in when he wakes up.  And when we put him in his bouncer he kicks his legs like he is bound and determined to take off.  That child is always on the go. 

The funniest thing is when he kicks around after he has been wrapped in his swaddle for the night.  I don’t know why, but when he doesn’t have any visible appendages it is hilarious to see him squirming about.  We call it “mermanning” because he just has this little fin that he flips (though he doesn’t get too far… 10 points…). 

Speaking of swaddles… this little chunk has outgrown most of his.  And we were trying to decide if we should buy larger ones, which he really won’t be able to wear that long anyway.  One night he fell fast asleep before he was swaddled (ALL of his swaddles were in the dryer), so I laid him down in his bassinet for the night thinking that he probably wouldn’t need it.  WRONG.  That kiddo would wave and jerk his hands about so much that he would hit himself in the face and wake up.  I would no sooner get him settled down and asleep again, then I would see a little hand slowly rise above the side of the bassinet only to start waving around.  Then he would inevitably whack himself in the head.  Then he would inevitably wake up.  Decision Made.  I guess we will be buying more swaddles :).   

Mr. M is getting better at understanding games.  I have tried to play peek-a-boo with him before, but he used to just look at me like, “What on earth are you DOING mom?”  Eventually it got to the point that he would watch my facial expression and smile after I did.  Like, “Oh okay, so this is supposed to be fun.  I wasn’t sure what to think, but since you’re smiling I will too.”  But tonight, it finally clicked for him that we were playing.  He would smile and giggle and coo every time I would pull the blanket back.  He was giving me his biggest double chin grins, my favorite ones!

He also likes going for “pony rides” a.k.a. being gently bounced on my knees.  He still isn’t sure how he feels about getting raspberries on his tummy.  Daddy tries it about every day thinking that one of these days Mr. M will like it.  But usually it mostly just startles him a little bit.  I don’t blame him.  I wouldn’t find it funny if someone blew a raspberry on my tummy either. 

We are so smitten with our three month old little chub, from his wee curl on the top of his head to his pot belly to his fat little toes.  Love. Love. Love.