Happy Adoption Day Dude

This past week marked Duder's 5th Adoption Day Celebration.  We make this day a "kinda" big deal for him so as to point out how extra special he is because of how God brought us together as a fam, but don't want to make it a big production in the same breath.  This year we decided cupcakes were the way to go.  And we scored big.  Dude was tickled pink with his 3 balloons, streamers and sprinkle coated cupcakes from a box.  We invited the Sheas to pop over (literally) and join in the cupcake festivities, which of course made it all the more exhilarating for Dude.  Tim bought the little man a water paint book, which provided tons of excitement (more than one would think).  He walked around all night saying (in his most pip squeaky voice), "Tanks for all the special surprises Mom, Dad and Rea!  Doption Day is SUPER fun!" 

We sure do love our little Dude.  Adoption Day is just a reminder of how blessed we are to call him ours.

Cousin Time

Cousin time doesn't happen often, so we soak it all in when it does.  We were pumped to spend a whole day with my brother, sister-in-law and nephews, D & Hudson on Saturday.  We played.  Hard.  And went home to Nana and Papa's house exhausted and full of sweet, sweet memories.  We celebrated Hudson's birthday while we were there and gave him a "cousin cape."  Dude L-O-V-E-S his cape, so naturally, his cousins have to have one too.  It was a heart warming day all around.  Thanks for hosting us and feeding us Kira and Ross!

We braved a breakfast out and survived.  The boys chowed down 2 pancakes the size of my face.

 The 3 caped crusaders.

 Our creative Nana had us decorate Hudson's birthday box with paint and feathers.

 Dude found a friend at the park downtown on Saturday.

 Nick, Caylei and cute little dude Chase met us at the Lincoln Park Farmer's Market for a quick "hello." 

Kyle & Becky work at this awesome farmer's market every Sunday.

Baby Blues

Don't have time or brain power to do a lengthy post, but I did have to share these shots of my blue eyed not so baby boy.  I got a new camera body (super pumped about it's capabilities - including in camera video) and it took some beauties of my Dude with front yard brilliant yellow foilage behind him. That's all I have.  Good night all.

If I had to pick the perfect day...

Dude and I packed our bags last weekend and hopped on a jet plane.  Just the two of us.  It was a much needed Mama, son weekend to go bond with our fam in Chi-town.  And bonding we did.  It's amazing how laid back and angelic my little man is when I stop and give him some QT.  Little sis doesn't allow for a whole lot of quality time, so he ate it up for 3 whole days.  We landed Thursday night after a smooth sailing flight (well, minus the fact that I left our boarding passes at the check in counter, left my coat at the gate and threw away Dude's dinner).  Dude did great, is what I was trying to say. 

Friday was the Best.Day.Ever.  My parents took off work and we headed to breakfast in LaGrange, where Dude chowed on 4 pieces of french toast.  Next we went to a trip down nostalgia lane to the Little Red School House.  I've spent many a field trip and family excursion to this quaint forest preserve destination.  I could have stayed there all day, watching my Dude walk the trails I spent my childhood walking.  He found sticks, leaves, bugs...and didn't even whine about how tired his legs were until we got to the last curve in the path. 

Best buds these two.  Love, love, love this shot.

 

I don't know what's happening with his cow licks in this shot - we'll blame it on the wind.

These two are also best buds.  My mom has such an amazing way with her grand kids.  They eat up everything she says and does - I guess that's the teacher in her.  The whole love part doesn't hurt either. 

The "little red school house."

After we left nostalgia lane we popped into Starbucks - what would a beautiful Fall day be without Pumpkin Spice Late and a Vanilla Steamer?  On our way to destination #4, we stopped in to say "hey" to my Aunt Lecia at work.  She's a loyal blog stalker.  Our outings concluded at Lake Katherine, which is this amazingly beautiful nature preserve within biking distance of my parent's house.  We napped in the afternoon (seriously, when's the last time I took a nap???) and I spent the night with one of my very besties from Kindergarten, Erin (Ernose).  We went shopping, got our nails done and had a late dinner.  It was a fabulous girly night that I'm sooo glad we got the chance to do. 

They weren't offering tractor rides, but we settled for a tractor sit. 

Their flower garden was a sight to behold.  Of course I went camera crazy.

 

I know, they're just ducks.  But Dude found them to be quite interesting friends.  So we had to take a picture.

 

And of course we had to take a picture of their butts. 

Bear with me on the nature shots.  This Heron flew in, 2 feet from where we were lounging in the grass.  He hung out with us for a bit before he started fishin. 

I know.  Birds have to eat too, but it was rather awesome to have a front row viewing of his lunch.  You can image Dude's reaction to it all.  He walks around doing a Heron imitation regularly now and says, "Da fish says, Get me outta here in dis heron's belly!  I'm stuck, I'm stuck!" 

That concludes our perfect day.  The next 2 days were great too - we'll reserve a separate post for those.  Stay tuned. 

The Mind of a 4.5 Year Old

Dude spotted a tow truck on the highway... I say, "What does a tow truck do?"  "Dat's a easy one Mom.  It tows stuff."  "What does it tow?"  "Um..it tows toys and stuff."  "Where does it take the toys?"  "It takes dem to a kids house dat doesn't have any toys." 

It snowed about an inch this morning and Dude went to sit in our window to watch.  It was like he had never seen snow.  I knew this was dangerous to show him the white stuff.  Sure enough..."Mom!  Dad!  Let's go tell Rea Rea dat it's Christmas time now!  Let's go make snow angels!  Let's go frow snow balls!  Let's make a snow man!  Yeah for Christmas time!"  He's outside as I type this, throwing snow ball at every window in the house. 

We're having a Mom, son date with another mom and daughter combo today to the circus.  This has been a long awaited event, so he tells everyone he sees about it.  Yesterday, at Starbucks, he tells two older gentlemen that we're going to da circus.  They ask, "What will you see there?"  He says, "Well, da monster trucks and da elephants are gonna race REAL fast."  The last show he saw was the Monster Trucks, so naturally these two events will be combined.  The gentlemen said, "Now THAT event would definitely sell out!"
 ....he just walked in the house and said, "Look!  My circus pants got all snowy Mom!  Isn't that hilarious?  Am I gonna need my head plugs for the loud?"

His new response to getting scolded is, "Awwww Mom.  You're da best Mom in da whooooole world!"  He follows that with a very delibarate thumbs up. 

After work one day last week he walks up the stairs, looks at me and says, "SOOOOOO Mom. How was your day at work today?"  I knelt down, clutching my chest and said, "It was good buddy, thanks for asking."  He said, "You're welcome Mom.  I had a grrrreat day too."   

9 Month Squirt

Look at our pretty girl:)  Our little squirt is a whole new girl these days.  She's a crawling maniac and can no longer be trusted without baby gates and bathroom doors closed.  Wherever the action is, Squirt is guaranteed to be there in a hot second.  If there's a mess, she's likely in the midst of it or responsible for it.  If Dude is doing something remotely interesting, she's on top of him, giggling.  If there's an electrical socket, she's licking it.  If there's music, she's bobbing her head to it.  If there's a meal happening, she's covered in baby mush, head to toe.  If there's someone to wave at, she's waving.  If Dad is in the room, she's smiling, ear to ear. 

Hard to believe that she's creeping up on a year already.  Every morsel of our little princess is irresistibly lovable.  I know, sappy mush.  But I'm pretty crazy about this baby girl (as is her smitten Dad).  

Heaven from a Little Dude's Perspective

There's been a lot of heaven talk round here lately.  We introduced the concept of dying and heaven when Grandpa Jerry passed away and just recently, Dude has really become quite taken with the idea of this magical place.  He talks about it multiple times per day and expresses his eagerness to go dere some day.  We try not to wince at the thought of it -we don't want it to become a sad concept, but we do try to stress how much we love having him on earth with us.  Below are some of his recent heaven related conversations...my mom told me I need to document the stuff that makes you grab at your heart.  And this stuff makes me grab.  Really hard. 

"Mom.  How was your day at work today?"  He looks at me with wide eyes and genuine interest in what I have to say.  I squeeze his cheeks and kiss him.  "Mom, maybe can I take my bed and my jungle sheets to heaven wif me?  Do you fink I can have my blue puppy dere too?  What about our house Mom?  How will it get to heaven?  Will it fly dere?  Will we drive our Honda Pilot dere Mom?  On da roads or da clouds?  What about slug bugs?  Will da leaves fall on the trees dere?  Should we tell Rea Rea about heaven when she gets old?"  I just let him talk and watch as his mind sorts through all of the practical things he's making sure will be in heaven for him.  Our little thinker.

Another day...I say, "Dude, I want you to always remember that we don't talk to strangers if Mom or Dad aren't with you.  If a stranger talks to you, you come find Mom or Dad first."  "Ok Mom, but if I see Jesus come down from da clouds, I will run to talk to him.  Because he's my friend Mom.  And I know him."

He associates "old" people and things with going to heaven.  Doesn't quite understand that God takes young people to heaven too- those lessons will come later. We picked up an old book to read one night.  I explained that this was a very old story and he says, "Mom will dis story go to heaven soon because it is sooo old?"

My Gram has been sick and in the hospital (doing much better lately), so Dude and I made a card for her.  I always have him dictate what he wants to write in cards.  This is what he decided to tell Gigi...."Dear Gigi, I will pick some flowers from my house and bring dem to you cause dey will make you happy.  It is very far to walk to Michgan.  And don't worry, when you get some old you will just go to heaven to see Jesus.  And Jerry will be dere too.  It will be soooo nice!"  A clench your heart moment. 

What I wouldn't give to have the wonder and awe of my four point five year old son.  The never ending questions may get on our every nerve, but they come from a place to genuine interest in life and God and love and everything he has yet to learn.  If only we could package this short lived innocence.

A Whole Lotta Women. A Whole Lotta Faith

I'm constantly searching for ways to grow my faith.  To step outside of myself and my pre-determined schedule and ponder what should be important to me.  Given the fact that I'm typically looking for these opportunities with my eyes half open, they don't "pop up" very often.  This weekend I had an opportunity thrown directly into my lap.  And so I said yes and joined a group of women from our church to be part of the massive "Women of Faith" conference at the Pepsi Center. 

I'm gonna be honest - I thought I was in for a cheesy, "I love Jesus," fest.  That's just not me and so my expectations were moderate to say the least.  After 2 full days of listening to speakers, singing praise to God and being in the midst of 10,000 women of faith, women considering faith and women coming into faith, I'll admit openly that I've never been so off base.  This weekend was what I've been longing for.  It was emotional and inspirational and humbling and a reminder of just how good life is when you compute God into your daily equations.  Into your soul.  Into your actions.  Into your parenting.  Into your marriage.  Into your friendships.  Into your moments of change and your decisions and your desires. 

I've grown up a Christian all my life, which I sometimes find to be a detriment.  I take God for granted and fit him in when I have time and when it's convenient.  I don't know of the "fire" that's lit under people's butts when they first find Christ.  I envy people whose pants are on fire.  But I'll tell ya - after sitting at the Pepsi Center all weekend, eating $5 popcorn and drinking $7 soda, I walked out of there yesterday feeling humbled and calm and grateful and eager to start improving my oh so broken self. 

Every single woman in that arena had a story filled with brokenness and pain and joy and celebration.  Every single woman in that arena needs grace, both from God and from me.  And that means that every single human being I interact with or bump into or vomit out road rage upon in my day to day has a story filled with brokenness and pain and joy and celebration.  Every single person I interact with day to day needs grace.  From God and from me.  And if they don't feel it from God - if they're not in a place where that makes any sense to them, then they need it from me.  My actions need to represent the grace of God.  My actions need to show people that it's okay to be broken and that I'm broken too.  It's okay to be angry and sad or happy and joyful.  I am too.  We're all in this mess of life together and God put us here to extend his grace and love and joy to those around us.  That's what matters.  And if I don't stop putting the weight of the world on the things that don't matter in the least, then I'm gonna continue to miss all the opportunities for small miracles that will leave a lasting impact.   

I need to slow down.  I need to take deep breaths.  I need to look at my kids as little miracles and blessings rather than little rascals.  I need to smile at the unpleasant clerk behind the customer service desk.  I need to watch my tongue.  I need to speak when I'm afraid to speak and shut my trap when I'm itching to be heard.  I need to listen more.  I need to stop obsessing about having a clean house.  I need to stop rushing my Dude and be okay with being 4 minutes late.  I need to practice patience.  Oh do I need to practice patience.  I need to talk about God more.  I need to be proud to talk about God more.  I need to hold off on sarcasm when it's not productive - that's gonna be a tough one for this queen of sarcasm.  I need to ask forgiveness when my choices suck.  And I need to apologize when I make mistakes.  I need to pick up the Bible and learn why it is that I believe what I believe. 

This list is a good start for this broken 30 something.  When it comes down to the nuts and bolts of it, I just want God to look at me and say, "A valiant effort my daughter.  Keep growing."  Because if I can accomplish that, I know I'll be leaving a legacy with my friends, family and complete strangers worth leaving.  My non-fiery butt will be at that conference again next year.  Who knows, maybe I'll walk out in flames.  Any thing's possible.     

This was the line up.  Patsy Clairmont, a fiesty oldish woman who had me peeing my pants and crying like a babe, all in the same 10 minute interval.  Blair, from Facts of Life spoke (her real name is Lisa), Amy Grant perfomed a little Baby Baby and some newer stuff, Sandi Patty spoke and sang her little lungs off...you wouldn't believe the stories these women had to share.  Heartbreaking and humbling and inspiring.