Moving...again :)

Sleepy Angel. Little Dude is waking up from a nice long nap during our Easter trip to Canton, Ohio! I am already excited to make the trip again sometime next year because I just found out about Stan Hywet (Old English for "hewn stone" that has an ornate oil painting of the Canterbury Tales travelers all around the dinning room....I MUST see it! Oh, yea, and we have family there! (Just kidding; you guys come before a painting of my FAVORITE book....barely...)

OK, so it has been awhile since I posted...sorry! Bill and I are in the process of getting all our stuff back to Raleigh! I want to say I enjoy packing; it is a great way to purge clutter! We will be back home a lot more now that Bill's company is starting a job in Charlotte. Yay! We had a great time this week catching back up with our neighbors!

Anyways, there may be long periods of time between posts while the move is going on; also, we are getting a new roof here soon, so finding a good company for that project will be keeping me busy for a bit! It is also amazing how many different roof colors there are! I am having fun looking at different samples. We are hoping, once we are done with the roof, to get new windows and replace the sliding glass door with a french door....but since we aren't going to go into debt for them, and we don't want to use all our savings, we may just have to put the windows/door off til next year.

In other news I am excited the ban on partial birth abortion was upheld. Hurray for the Supreme Court! YAY!

Also, in other news, I can't believe what happened at Virginia Tech... it is so sad and shocking I don't even know what to say.

In happier news, here are some more pics!!!

1 Here is Little Dude and Grandpa Zeren!! 2 Here he is on Easter playing with our cousins.

3 Playing with Grandpa's toys. 4 Three generations of Zeren men!

The Adventures of Little Dude

Wow. I just want to say that there is nothing better than being a parent. I used to think there were other, better, things to do, but now I realize, parenting is the best experience. Why? Because Little Dude just tried to stand up in the tub so he could get to the faucet and inspect it. You should have seen the amazement on his face, the fascination with the falling water. Figuring out the faucet was just a joyful experience for him. I want to live every day with the joy and wonder he sees in everything....that is the first lesson I have learned from my child.

We had a WONDERFUL Easter in Ohio with extended family. Our cousin Monica was the cantor for our Easter mass and it was like hearing an angel sing. I swear no one was singing along because we all wanted to listen to Monica! It was just so beautiful I wanted to cry. She is a wonderful, amazing, thoughtful 14 year old. I will have pictures of Grandpa, the cousins, and the lovely snowfall we received Easter Sunday posted soon.

Bill and I have come to a decision about Adoption: We are going to do it; however, we are going to wait to start the process once Little Dude is about 3, then we might get a toddler/3 year old, around the time he is 4 or 5. We are going to start reading some books suggested by A Special Family. (Thanks!) That way we will feel pretty informed and "ready" for the responsibility and work the adoption process will take. Also, I think we are leaning to international adoption from Lithuania (Bill's Grandfather was born there). Our name Zeren is Lithuanian and I found out if you can prove you are of Lithuanian background then you get priority in adoption and a much cheaper price for completing all the paperwork and legal fees on their end. NICE. Also, the wait period for a girl is 6 months -12 months a boy is 9 months -18 months. Every so often I will give you guys an update and I will let you all know how the books work for us!

Little Dude has become so mobile that I now have to put him in his crib if I need to do laundry, take a shower, or do any other chore that might get me away from his play room (our living room) for more than a few seconds. The other day (April 5th) I took a quick shower, as usual, and left Little Dude busy with his toys on the floor. Though he has been mobile, he has not been very fast and still stayed put if enough distracting toys were around. That day; however, I got out of the shower and couldn't hear him . Knowing that he usually babbles up a storm, I rushed into the living room, dripping wet and wrapped in a towel, trying to find the reason all was so quiet. He was NO WHERE to be found. I looked everywhere in the living room, but couldn't find him. Next I searched the kitchen, but still no Little Guy. At this point I started having flash backs to a Lifetime movie where a kid had been kidnapped while the mom was showering. Silly, I know, but I was scared!! I started calling for him (like a 7 month old would answer?) But then, yes, I heard a babble. Coming from my room. Soooooo, I went back into our bedroom and looked around. No baby. Where was he? After standing there for a moment and making a pool on the carpet, I heard another babble, coming from THE CLOSET. Yes, he had rolled/crawled from his play area in the living room, through the kitchen, down the hall, into our bedroom, into our closet and was enjoying the chewy quality of my sandals. WHOA. So, now, he throws a tantrum whenever I have to do something where I won't be able to keep an eye on him because I put him in his crib(I think he thinks its bed time and is protesting the early hour of it) Does anyone have any ideas on what to do? Anyways, the adventures keep getting better! Now, I'm off to take a nap!

Thinking about Adoption....

OK, here is a run down of all the new stuff that has been going on:



We celebrated my Mom's birthday on the 31st, which was very fun! We also met Lisa's new boyfriend, Robin. He is SOOOOO nice! So, we had quite a fun day hanging out in the Mountains with all my family and Little Dude got tons of attention from Grandpa. My Dad LOVED using the food processor to make meals for Little Dude and Little Dude LOVED Grandpa for all the tasty treats! We are making plans to go camping at some point this summer with Grandpa and Grandma at Big Creek, which is only an hour away from our temporary home, so in case it just isn't working with Little Dude, we can get back to the house pretty quickly. If anything, it will be a fun day cooking out in the woods and hiking with the Grandparents! It is amazing how, now that I am a parent, my relationship with my parents has taken on a much better and deeper connection...I must say I am loving the new depth to our relationship and theirs! Here is a pic at Mom's big day:

My Mom is so pretty! I hope I look that young when I am older! I think I have a pretty good chance since most people don't seem to believe I am old enough to have been married 3 years and have a child...looking like a 12 year old is finally working in my favor now that I am 1/4 century old....heehee!!


For Easter we are taking a road trip to Ohio to see Bill's Dad and family! Yay! I am super excited because Bill's Dad is fun and he is SUPER excited as well to see Little Dude! Also, our cousins all live next door to Phil (Bill's Dad) and they are just the greatest kids ever. Our youngest cousin just turned 3, so I am happily anticipating playing with all the kids and watching Little Dude with them. He loves the older kids in MOMS Club, so I can't wait to see what he thinks of his second cousins. Is that their relationship? Or is it Cousin twice removed? Or is that the same? I dunno.........something like that! :) On the other hand of the trip though, this will be the first time we have boarded Eddie.....I am scared he will think we have left him. (He is from the pound, so I don't know if he will feel like he has been abandoned again) BUT...I already have a goody bag of treats, toys, leash, and his food all packed for him so he will have familiar stuff around him. I would use the vet's food, since it is part of what I am paying for during boarding; however, I am scared he will have an upset tummy since he had one the last time we had tried changing his food....and the last thing I want is for him to be miserable while we are gone. So, I will report back how he does after our trip. I did a lot of research in picking a boarding vet, so I am confident he will get tons of attention and love....perhaps he will not want to come home....hahah!



Rain occured the day we wanted to go to the zoo, so we decided to put it off for another weekend. I can't wait to go...I really hope we can get there the sat. after Easter! One of the commercials had a baby panda on it....so I am assuming one is there and I want to see it! lol!



I have gotten into scrapbooking, but I have also discovered it is an expensive hobby....so I am now part of a scrapbooking club and we all share our tools...yay! I am making a scrapbook of Little Guy's first year. I will let you know if it continues to go well and if I finish it!



OK, now that we are caught up on the latest going on, now to the topic of this post: ADOPTION. I have the growing feeling that I want to adopt a child. I know I have Little Dude, and he is only 7 months (tomorrow! wow!) However, talking to many of my friends that are adopting, as well as a pro-choice friend (who for some reason seems to feel that giving a child for adoption doesn't mean he/she will have a good life), has made me want to give a good life to a child that needs it. I am starting to do some research on adoption, domestic vs international, infants vs children, etc. and I would love some input from people that might be going through adoption or thinking about adoption themselves. I have been looking at Bethany Christian Services, simply because I have 2 friends using them and I don't know what agencies my other friends are using. Bill and I have talked about it a little, but tonight I am going to talk to him about it in more detail. I have also learned that adopting is a little cheaper if it is done through Foster Care....which is actually another thing I have thought a lot about doing. I am a stay at home Mom and why not share the love and time I give my child with another that needs love, attention and stability? The only hard part would be letting the child go, esp if it was back to a parent they had been taken away from in the first place...but again, I have not looked into that option much more than talking to an online friend doing it. What do you guys think? I am not seeing many cons to the whole Foster Care/Adoption idea....in fact, all I can see are pros. Well, maybe a con would be the cost, but perhaps instead of going on a trip of Europe, Bill and I need to give a home to a lost child....Hmmm.....it is something to think hard and pray hard about. I am serious though, I just have this yearn to bring home a child that needs us...perhaps it is just the post-pregnancy hormones going crazy....but I just keep hearing a voice (not literally, that would be baaaad) telling me a kid out there somewhere needs our help.