You Know Dancer and Prancer

The dance we did for our ward talent show yesterday.

Pretties

M Bug so loves the “pretties” all around this time of year. The first thing he asks to do when he wakes up is plug in our Christmas tree. He loves to point out the lights on all the houses as we’re driving around. He and Spence both have a special place in their heart for Christmas lights. Spencer is always talking about how he wants to have a more impressive display in our yard and on our house someday. So both boys were in heaven when we went on a stroll in Caldwell to see all the lights, even though it was FREEZING.  It was a pretty spectacular display; we kind of felt like we were in a postcard. We’re always on the hunt for good places to look at Christmas lights. Hopefully we can find a few more spots this year. 

A Christmas Visit

Last week, we decided to make a quick trip to spend some time with our Natalie and family. The weather was kind to us, and we were able to make it there and back without any delays or problems. We had so much fun, but then again we always do when we make these kinds of trips. This one was especially special because it was kind of an early Christmas celebration for us to get to spend time with people we love so much.

M was so enamored with this snow globe. He would say “again again” before all of the snow had even finished falling.

And OF COURSE we had to open presents, because there was no way we could have waited until Christmas. We love to tease Natalie because she cannot wait for surprises. Last year, she told us, “You guys I got M the cutest thing ever, you’re gonna love it but I’m not going to tell you what it is.”

Two seconds later…

“It’s a sweater!”

Haha. I love her so much. She is always doing things like this and it makes us laugh every time. We quote, “It’s a sweater!” all the time in our house.

M was more than happy to open presents. In fact, he went from lap to lap opening present after present whether or not they were for him. Oh man, Christmas day is going to be SO fun this year! I can’t wait!

Natty got M a Singing Elmo for Christmas and M was rather in love. Though he has actually played with him a lot more since we got home than when he first opened him. I think largely because he was too excited to be opening presents to enjoy his new toy to the fullest. But he is particularly fond of feeding Singing Elmo his microphone. As I think I’ve mentioned before, Elmo is his current obsession. 

Nat and I both got each other scarves this year!

Matchy matchy photos :). Though I wish the lighting was better, I still love them so much. It’s so hard to take good Christmas-lighting photos. 

We got to help decorate the Christmas tree and Spence was less than pleased to discover a UTAH ORNAMENT! GASP! He refused to put it on the tree.

Nat pulled this hat out of the closet, or maybe M did and we bribed M with pretzel goldfish to take his picture wearing it. He will totally say “cheese” if it will earn him a treat.

Of course we took a thousand pictures. As per usual.

This one is one of my favorites:

I love that they are making the exact same face! Natalie’s roommate pointed out this other face that they both make where they kind of roll their eyes and tip their head back and kind of growl. It’s sort of an exasperated expression. I have seen both of them do it, but I had never realized the similarity until Nat’s roommate pointed it out. Somehow I’ll have to get a picture of them making that face too.

M enjoyed sooooo much attention. We spent most of our time sitting around just watching him play.

The next day we took the train up to Temple Square to see Nat again and to look at the lights. But when we got off the train it was snowing pretty hard, so we didn’t get to see the lights after all (M was less than pleased with being snowed on, poor kid). But it all worked out because we got to have dinner together at Kneaders and just visit and we had a lovely time.

The day after that, we got together with Spencer’s family to watch the Christmas devotional. It was so fun to watch Mason playing with his cousins. He’s lucky to have so many cousins his age. The kiddos all piled into a play tent for a picture.

We also got to meet our future brother in law! EEEEE! I should have gotten a picture of the happy couple.

We’re excited to go back soon for a wedding!

The Best Part

My favorite parts of the day:

• M’s head perking up when he hears the garage door open, followed by the pat pat pat of little feet running down the hall to meet daddy at the door.
• Everyone piling into our bed after M wakes up from his nap and is still juuuuust sleepy enough that he’ll hold still and cuddle for a gosh darn second.
• When M grabs a book from his bookshelf, and then backs up and plops right in my lap. I can’t even tell you how much I love that he wants to sit in my lap to read stories. Even if he’s just reading them to himself, he wants to be with me.
• When M calls me “mommy.” I loved being called “mama” for sure, but “mommy” is just my favorite.
• Dance parties around the living room. I never get tired of watching M prance about/prancing along with him.
• Watching M waddle.
• When M wraps his little arms around my neck and rests his head on my shoulder. I’ve noticed that M amps up the cuddling around naptime/bedtime as a stalling tactic. Totally works every time. He thinks he’s tricking me into letting him stay up later, but really I think I’m tricking him into cuddling longer. Win-win really.
• Hearing M say “Elmo.” I don’t know why, but that one word is absurdly cute when he says it. He’s obsessed with Elmo and I’m obsessed with hearing him say, “Elmo” so it all works out.
• Holding M’s hand through the crib slats for a moment after I tuck him in.
• Holding hands for walks around the neighborhood.
• Hearing M sing along to the radio from the backseat of the car.

It’s interesting how the mundane things are often the most memorable. Each night when I write down my highlights of the day, the simple little exchanges are usually what stand out to me the most. So much of what is special is routine. I don’t want to ever forget any of it.

Gooooooooooooooo Cougars!

This video is so cute I have watched it a dozen times. I love that M is so desperate to do EVERYTHING that daddy is doing. It is hilarious that he is so excited just because daddy is excited too. Haha!

Spencer would probably want me to let you know that the reason he is not wearing his BYU shirt is because he came straight from work and only caught the second half of the game.

I hope these two always love watching football together. It will be so fun to watch them do real manly things together as time goes on.

Celebrate Adoption Day

(Us at M’s finalization over a year ago)

Last weekend we got to go to the courthouse to celebrate adoption day! We weren’t expecting to have room in our schedules for the event, but ended up having an opening in our day. Spencer was actually asked to be a guest speaker last minute since the previously arranged speaker was sick and wasn’t able to attend.

Though it wasn’t part of our original plan for the day, I am SO glad we were able to be at the celebration. Hearing Spencer share our adoption story with those in attendance was a very special experience. Though of course I know it as well as he does, I never tire of hearing his version of events. He doesn’t write about adoption as often as I do, but he is just as passionate about the subject as I am. We seriously jump at the chance to share our enthusiasm for adoption.

It was neat to be at the courthouse where we finalized M’s adoption. It brought back so many memories. Looking at that picture of my chubby baby, I can hardly believe the energetic toddler he has become.

And boy was he energetic at the celebration. M was given a balloon, and was absolutely delighted. He danced all about the room (and kept crashing into people because he was looking heavenward at his balloon). It was rather funny to see a blue balloon bobbing about in a sea of people, but not be able to see who it was attached to. M was so excited by his balloon and the cake, that he didn’t want to sit still for daddy’s part of the presentation. I was only able to contain him by showing him pictures of himself on the kindle. He was just too wound up to sit still.

We were also excited to see that our family was mentioned in the newspaper the next day in relation to the adoption celebration. It’s kind of funny that we were so excited about this since Spencer is on the news every day. News is news after all. But, it was kinda fun to see our names in print.

My Everything

I realized that I haven’t written much about adoption recently. And not because I don’t still feel as passionately about it as ever, but just because I sometimes feel like I’ve said it all before. But since November is National Adoption Month, I have wanted to jot down some of my thoughts on the subject.

Adoption is always at the back of my mind. Spencer and I sometimes have this conversation, but it’s kind of difficult for us to articulate even to each other, how adoption can be so important and yet so unimportant at the same time.

I’ll try to explain. Adoption is one of the best journeys I have ever taken. I am SO incredibly grateful for adoption, for Natty, for Mason Bug. I think that adoption has made me a more grateful Whitney than I might have been without it. It changes the way I look at each and every day. Like those sweet and priceless moments when Mason is cuddled up in my lap, his head tucked under my chin, while I read him stories. Every so often, he’ll look up at me and smile his biggest smile and a rush of gratitude just overwhelms me. Or every night, I sneak into Mason’s room and watch him sleep for a little while. Sometimes his bum is cutely in the air. Sometimes he has a whole armful of stuffed animals wrapped tightly in his arms. Always, his angelic expression makes me forget the harder moments of the day. During those quiet minutes, I can’t help but think, “There was a time when I didn’t think I could have this moment.”

Conversely there are those more frustrating situations when M has a total screaming meltdown in the middle of the grocery store and my best efforts to remedy the situation only seem to make it worse. And as I flusteredly (and quickly!) try to make my way to the check out and get the heck out of the store, my mind is naturally reeling with thoughts of “Gosh, how embarrassing, I can’t seem to manage to even control my own kid!” and “Arrrggg child why are you doing this right now?” But often times, riding along on the tails of those less kindly thoughts comes, “There was a time when I didn’t think I could have this moment.”

I’m not saying that I am the most grateful mother out there. I wish I was. I do TRY to be thankful, though I know I often fall short. I think we all have unique trials or experiences that become the lens that colors our life. Those things that make us that much more grateful for the blessings we have been given. Adoption is one of mine. Adoption has changed the way I view the world. More significantly, it has changed the way I view MY world. So when I say that adoption is one of the most important parts of my life, I mean it completely.

But there are times that I feel like it doesn’t matter, or shouldn’t matter as much. Like when I hear M Bug’s sweet voice singing to himself from his crib in the morning. I patter down the hallway, burst into his room, scoop him up, and cover him with kisses. Mason will usually put his pudgy little hand on my cheek and say, “Mommy!” On those perfect occasions, I’m not thinking, “Man, I sure do love my adopted son.” I’m mostly just thinking, “Wow, I love him so much. I’m so lucky to be his mama.” It’s not that I forget how he came to be a part of our family. I could no sooner forget Natalie and her sacrifice than I could forget my own name. It’s just that in that moment I’m so lost in Mason, that I’m not focused on adoption,  

And I think that’s how it should be. I’m sure M’s birthfamily wouldn’t want us to love M tentatively. We shouldn’t love Mason Bug at arms length just because he didn’t come from us. He’s not just my son with a qualifier. He’s MY SON. My sweetheart. It doesn’t matter that he doesn’t share our blood. It doesn’t matter that I wasn’t the one to carry him for nine months. It does not matter. I couldn’t possibly love him more. I would walk through fire for that little boy.

In that way, I guess adoption is always on my mind and yet often not the first thing on my mind. It’s hard to explain how something can mean so much, permeate so many of my thoughts, and be such a big part of our family without being the whole focus of our family. Adoption means everything to me, but it is not my everything. These are my everythings:

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Calvin and Hobbes

Halloween Costumes Part 2.

Last weekend, we took M to Boo at the Zoo. It was SO fun (but SO busy)! They had trick-or-treating for the kiddos, games, and costume contests. Spencer and Mason entered the family costume contest as Calvin and Hobbes. I told Spencer that people better get their costume, or it will look like Spencer was the weirdo in the tiger suit who didn’t even dress up his kid! Luckily, they got lots of comments on their costume throughout the day, so I think people mostly got it. It helped that we were able to borrow our neighbors wagon. I think that completed their ensemble. 


Spencer was really excited about these costumes since we’d been talking about dressing M up as Calvin since last year. I love that Spencer was excited to dress up with his little boy. I kept giggling seeing him dressed up in his tiger onesie. I don’t know many men that would be excited to wear such a thing in public. Such a good sport that husband o’ mine. 

Silly Willy Nilly Ole’ Bear

Yesterday, we took M around the neighborhood for his very first time trick-or-treating. He sort of picked out his costume this year. A few weeks ago we popped into a thrift store to look at costumes and M spotted this Winnie the Pooh costume on the rack. He pointed to it and began clapping and hollering, “Pooh!!! Pooh Ba!!!” and clutched it close. He loves Winnie the Pooh. So Pooh Ba he got to be. Every time he saw his costume in the closet, M would get excited all over again and ask to hold it. So he was very happy when Halloween finally came and he got to don his costume.

It was hilarious how quickly M caught the hang of trick-or-treating. In no time at all he had it all figured out that if you knock on the door and say, “treat” some nice stranger will drop candy in your pumpkin. He was so eager to help knock on every door. And he had to be reminded a couple of times that if someone held the bucket out for him to pick out his candy, he only got to take ONE piece, not a whole handful.

Watching him waddle along in his Winnie the Pooh costume was the only good part of the week. All three of us had the flu right in a row and we spent pretty much all week on death’s doorstep. Luckily, M seemed to be over his illness the quickest. He bounced back and was happy and healthy again in no time. But Spencer and I were absolutely wiped out. We took turns writhing on the floor and moaning and weeping. It was honestly the sickest I’ve been in YEARS. Taking M trick-or-treating was the first time I’d left the house all week. And we only we able to make it up the street and back because Spencer and I were still feeling so weak. But I’m so glad M was feeling well enough to go. He was such a happy little Pooh Bear. 

Wanted

Lately, one of M’s favorite things to do is ride his horsey. He even had cowboy boots, which he recently outgrew :(. I found the cowboy hat at the dollar store, and had to get it so he could dress up. Though he won’t be a cowboy for Halloween, he has certainly dressed up like a cowboy several times the past few weeks. He even asks for his hat and bandana when he gets on the horse. I think it’s so cute that he likes dressing up to play the part. I loved dressing up when I was little, so I hope to gradually collect some dress up hats and clothes for him to play with.

I’m excited to share pictures of his Halloween costume soon! I’ve changed my mind about a hundred times about what he should be, but I think we finally got it figured out.

Easiest Teepee

I’ve seen teepee’s popping up everywhere, and I’m sure there’s at least 100 different tutorials on Pinterest. After glancing over a few different DIY’s, I decided that I could do something much easier without making a bunch of measurements or even getting out the sewing machine. Not to mention, I could make a teepee with materials I had on hand. Granted, I know most people probably don’t have a bunch of wooden boards lying around (these were used to make signs for a YW event I helped put on forever ago), but those are easy and inexpensive to come by. And if you have an old sheet handy, well then you’re just good to go.

The result turned out even better than I expected! M spent most of the day in his new teepee, so I’d say the project was a success. He read stories in there, had his snack in there, and even carted a few of his favorite toys in there to play with. If you want to make your own super easy teepee, I wrote down what I did to make ours. There aren’t step by step pictures because I’m really not that kind of person and I don’t think you’ll really need them anyway. 

1. Take four 1x2 inch boards (mine were 5 feet long) and drill a hole about 6 inches from the top of the board.

2. Loop a ribbon through the holes and secure loosely. After setting the poles up to form the frame of the teepee, tighten the ribbon and knot.

3. Drape a twin sheet over the frame of the teepee and secure at the front top with a safety pin.

That’s it!

I know it won’t hold up forever, but it can be collapsed easily and stored without taking much room and the sheet can be folded right back up and stuck right back in the linen closet. Totally worth the effort for an afternoon of fun.

My Punkin

Our trip to the pumpkin patch is seriously one of my favorite parts of the year. As I’m sure you are already aware, I adore pumpkins. October is one of the best months, I just love everything about it! Fall leaves, pumpkin doughnuts, pumpkin patches, corn mazes, Halloween, golden afternoons… I just wish it could be October forever.

M had so much fun romping through the pumpkin patch! We went to Linder Farms again this year, this time with Aunt Jen. We had a grand time.


I so desperately wanted a picture of him perched cutely on a pumpkin. Alas… We are quickly discovering that the days of posed pictures are long gone. M can no longer be bothered to sit still for 2.2 seconds to have his picture taken. These days, we consider it a success if we can keep him in the frame, let alone get him to LOOK at the camera. And if we catch him smiling, well that’s just a bonus. Haha. He’s always on the go, that’s for certain.

He also kind of looks mad in any picture where we are holding him lately, because he doesn’t want to be picked up and restrained when there’s a whole world out there to explore. Even though M looks angry in a few of these photos, don’t let that scowl fool you, he had a blast.


(^What most of our photos look like these days.)

M especially loved the corn pit. He wasn’t the least bit bothered that he smelled like livestock the rest of the day. When we got him undressed at home to put him in the tub, a handful of corn came tumbling out of his clothing. He even had corn in his diaper. Totally worth it. M had the time of his life making corn angels.


He liked the little barrel train too. Perhaps his favorite part of the day, however, was the petting zoo. This kid loves animals and looooooves petting animals. He so enjoyed patting the goats, bunnies, and piglets and was eager to pet a chicken, but I didn’t really let him touch that one. The piglet was so dang cute. I contemplated sneaking it away in my purse.


M was so good about being very gentle when he pet the animals. It took him a while to learn to be soft, but after MANY reminders to be gentle to Lizzy he seems to have a pretty good grasp of it now. 


It’s fun to look back on our pictures at the pumpkin patch last year and see how much M has grown. You better believe I will keep stuffing him in that pumpkin beanie until it doesn’t fit anymore :).