Well, as you guys may know, I have been trying out American Sign Language with my son. Finally, I have some progress to report! After months of endless signing to him, he finally has started to return signs; letting me know what he needs or wants. We started with "more", "eat", "water" and "finished". About 3 weeks ago Little Guy started to do "more" but we were not quite certain he was doing it to receive more food/drink/etc or if it was just him mimicking us and not understanding that he was making a request. Well today I gave him a little of my ice cream and he did "more". So I gave him more. Then he did it again. And again. And then, out of the blue, he requested water! I thought I was going to faint. So I gave him the water and then he did "eat". I was so shocked I just looked at him....and then he made a grunt, and did "more eat" TOGETHER. TO-GETH-ER. Whoa. I now feel a whole new dynamic to our relationship...he suddenly is intelligent enough to let me know what he wants....and when he wants it....now I have to be diligent enough to keep learning more signs myself. You can find out more information about Baby Signs here! There are also tons of great books I have used from your local libraries. One I highly recommend is called Sign With Your Baby by Joseph Garcia. I have been doing signs with Little Dude since he was 3 months old....so anyone that starts, just have patience. I have heard that if you wait til a little later (like 7-9 months) the children have the motor skills in place to quickly pick up the signs so you don't feel like you have been endlessly signing with no results; however, I have had a blast signing. Also, any of you concerned about signing delaying speech, the book I recommend covers that concern. In my experience, signing makes me speak even more to my child, as I describe everything orally while signing. I am having great fun with it all!
Also, I have found the perfect stay at home mom job! Some of you know I was trying to find something to give me an extra hobby to keep me busy, as well as extra shopping money. I tried getting into some kind of editing, but none of my efforts panned out (its hard to prove you could do at home editing worthy of pay when your only post graduation work experiences are teaching preschool and managing for Starbucks). But wait! My brother in law, John, called and said his website company, DAKNO, needed a VA (virtual assistant). So, now I get to work with maintaining websites by updating and inserting computer code where needed and get paid for doing it in my own free time! Also, the pay is AWESOME and my hours are whatever I want them to be. My plan for now is to just work while Little Dude is napping, which will give me a solid 15 hours a week to work...that will be a nice little shopping nest egg!! Heehee! My first item I want to by is a Dyson. I am in love with the one make for picking up animal hair.....I am planning on getting it with my first two paychecks. YIPPEEEE! Though, if anyone has had a bad experience with their Dyson and recommend a different vacuum, let me know. So far from my research, I think the Dyson rocks. Hmm...What does being excited about buying a high power vacuum say about me? That I am suddenly old *gasp* and that I am a clean freak taking on the wonderfully dirty job of MOM. :)
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
I'm Back!
Yay! I have Internet and cable again! For those that don't know, while Bill and I were in Oak Ridge, TN for his work, we canceled unnecessary things (like cable and Internet) back here in Raleigh, NC. So, I just now got around to having it all hooked up again. I am super excited to watch Oprah again. I LOVE Oprah! And I am super excited to get back to all my blogging friends!
Well, new news for us is that I have finally picked out a paint color for the living room and hallway, so that project will be getting underway soon! We are also getting a new roof, so I have been spending time interviewing potential roofers...I think we finally found someone we like, trust, and who has a decent price, so that project will start soon as well! Now my next project is to interview people to replace our windows with those nifty vinyl ones....can you imagine how much easier it will be to clean all the windows in my house? They fold in for easy access to the outside of the window! YAY! I love light and all the windows in our house are huge and great, but SUCH a PAIN to clean....am I too excited to get "easier to clean" windows? I wonder if that means I am old now....hahah!
Little Dude is starting to pull up on stuff, but no steps without help yet. Also, he has figured out how to go from on his tummy to sitting up, a feat he had not mastered til yesterday! Very cool!!
I have been reading some great books lately (I have not updated my reading list yet, I will do that later) on child rearing and adoption. I want to suggest a great one that I just finished and now I have Bill reading. It is called Siblings Without Rivalry I can't think of the authors right now (it's by two women) and Bill has the book in his car, so I will just have to let you guys know about the authors names, but I'm sure you could find the book without their names. Anyways, the book is great for bringing up conflicts that children AND parents create, leading to rivalry. There are great pointers on how to have the children figure out disputes without making one or the other resentful. Wonderful ideas and very quick to read; I highly recommend it. Bill and I are thinking of trying for a second this fall, so we will let you know in a few years if it is working for us. I think it will.
Well, that is all the time I have for today to update, I will do more later.
Well, new news for us is that I have finally picked out a paint color for the living room and hallway, so that project will be getting underway soon! We are also getting a new roof, so I have been spending time interviewing potential roofers...I think we finally found someone we like, trust, and who has a decent price, so that project will start soon as well! Now my next project is to interview people to replace our windows with those nifty vinyl ones....can you imagine how much easier it will be to clean all the windows in my house? They fold in for easy access to the outside of the window! YAY! I love light and all the windows in our house are huge and great, but SUCH a PAIN to clean....am I too excited to get "easier to clean" windows? I wonder if that means I am old now....hahah!
Little Dude is starting to pull up on stuff, but no steps without help yet. Also, he has figured out how to go from on his tummy to sitting up, a feat he had not mastered til yesterday! Very cool!!
I have been reading some great books lately (I have not updated my reading list yet, I will do that later) on child rearing and adoption. I want to suggest a great one that I just finished and now I have Bill reading. It is called Siblings Without Rivalry I can't think of the authors right now (it's by two women) and Bill has the book in his car, so I will just have to let you guys know about the authors names, but I'm sure you could find the book without their names. Anyways, the book is great for bringing up conflicts that children AND parents create, leading to rivalry. There are great pointers on how to have the children figure out disputes without making one or the other resentful. Wonderful ideas and very quick to read; I highly recommend it. Bill and I are thinking of trying for a second this fall, so we will let you know in a few years if it is working for us. I think it will.
Well, that is all the time I have for today to update, I will do more later.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
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!
Monday, April 9, 2007
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!
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!
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
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.
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.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
The end of swim class
Here is our swim class! Left to right: Tracey and Owen, Missy and Ben, Mary (the instructor) and Little Dude, Rhonda and Nick, and Marlee and Isaac. Today was our last official class, but all of us moms are going to continue to meet at 8:30 am to swim with our little guys and then work out together. It has been such a fun group, we just all couldn't let it end!
Here is a pic of the others doing some swim kicks. Isn't our gym pool nice? There are two more outside and a fun baby pool!
This is my beautiful sister, Lisa. She came to see us Monday and it was SUPER fun hanging out with her. I love her new haircut too....now that Little Dude is pulling my hair, I am tempted to cut mine short too...it looks so cute!
Here is Little Dude with his Easter Bunny from Granny! Isn't it amazing how big he is in his car seat? When we brought him home from the hospital, he was almost to little for it!
Here is a nifty gadget made for shopping carts. It covers the handle, so he can't lick it the whole time you're in the store, and it adds nice soft cushions for him to sit and lean back on, so the ride is all comfy for him. He loves it and it makes shopping easier now that he is sitting up pretty well. Also, I am a germ-a-phobe...so this helps with my paranoia. :)
Little Dude trying his first bit of pizza. It is just crust with tomato sauce, but he LOVED it. I have a feeling pizza nights will be a must for him!
Here is another picture of Little Dude sitting up so well. It was such a cute picture I had to post it.Wednesday, March 21, 2007
New pictures and news
Here is a quick update:
Little Dude is now swimming quite well and even going under water for brief periods of time. All in all, the swim class has been amazing and I recommend anyone with kids starting them early in the pool. We have learned all kinds of songs and activities in the water for making it fun and easy. Very Nice!
We went to a rodeo with some friends and it was great fun! One of the Bull riders had his shoulder dislocated too...ouch! They also had pony rides for all the kids too and our friend's little girl LOVE it! Our Little Dude was too little...maybe next year....
We are going to the Zoo on the 31st and I can't wait!
We are having a big BBQ at our house on the 24th around 3pm.
Little Dude is trying to get his knees under himself so he can crawl on all fours...wow.
We are going to a Seder dinner at church on the 26th
I am counting down the minutes until the Discovery Channel (one of my top 4 channels) has "Planet Earth" on. Also, the same night and time (8pm est) the Science Channel (another top 4)has "Mammals vs Dinos" on....its going to be a race of flipping between the two channels...now is the time I wish we had TiVo! haha! I am a dork, I know.
Since some asked, here are my (Michelle) top four channels, in no particular order:
1 Discovery Channel. I have been excited about "Planet Earth" for months
2 Science Channel. "Survivor Man" has me ready to face any natural disaster. "How it's Made" rocks and again, I have been excited for months about "Mammal vs. Dino". Also, I love all the shows about the old and new testaments from a scientific point of view...funny, but those shows make my faith seem even stronger and more clear...they are awesome.
3 Fox News. Of the news channels, they seem the least biased and I love Bill O'Reilly, he is great at making people look like idiots when they try to support some immoral thing they are doing. Also, it is the ONLY news channel that shows a right wing side as well as left wing..it is more right than left, but since all the others are waaaaaaay left, I like Fox News.
4 Food Network. Most awesome channel ever. I have dozens of recipes now and I am a faithful watchers of Rachael Ray, Giada DeLauentiis, Paula Dean and Sara Snow. I always check what they are cooking online and if it sounds good I turn the show on. It is great to watch while folding laundry and cooking dinner. Just ask Bill...he is loving my new cooking skills. He said he would've gotten me to stay home long ago if he'd know it would improve my cooking. :)
O.K., back to updates:
We have multiple friends adopting
We have filled out and submitted our part of the adoption process for two of our friends (reference, essay on character and ect) The process was a little stressful because we knew the adoption agency would carefully consider all we had to say in determining accepting our friends applications to adopt. After many re-writes and edits, I must say we sent in one kick-ass reference! Now they have a few papers to fill out and send off, then the waiting begins until they are matched. How exciting!!! Here is the agency our friends are adopting through. I am so happy for them and all couples who are adopting.
I am also esp. happy for the brave, smart women who loved their child and cherished life enough to give him/her to adoptive parents. There is no greater gift to the child or the adoptive parents or even to the birth parents than to support life and adoption. Simply because a "mistake" was made and you may not personally want to parent a child, it does not mean that you need to abort; there are so many loving people who long for nothing more than to raise and love a child. I feel like everyone should support adoption over abortion when at all possible. There is a new law in the works in South Carolina that will now have women seeking abortion look at their baby through ultra sound before aborting...what a wonderful thing they are doing. For those that want the choice, they still have it, but they get an INFORMED choice...they get to see the tiny fingers, toes and heartbeat. They get the chance to turn the idea of being pregnant into a real image and perhaps that will end in more babies being put up for adoption rather than murdered for mistakes they never made. You can find more info on this bill here. Also, any of my pro-choice friends out there are free to give me their point of view on this law. Since I am and always will be pro-life, I suppose I am biased; it would be fair to peacefully hear the other point of view.
Also on the topic of protecting our children, here is a great letter for senators and governor's voting on the National Sex Offender Registry that we should all send out. You can get the letter (or ideas for your own) from Oprah (yes, she rocks). You can also find your rep's mail addresses at: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Governors.shtml and your congress' addresses at: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/
On a different, happier topic, here are some new pics I have been promising! Also, one of my friend's from swim class had her husband drop by to take some pictures of all of us, so as soon as she sends them to me, I will post them! That solves my whole problem of how to get pictures in the pool without getting my camera wet! Yay!
This is after a bath. Isn't his robe the cutest? Or is it him that makes it so cute? Hard to tell, I know...haha!! He normally has his bath in the mornings to clean up whatever poop/pee/spit up/drool happened during the night. Usually a combo of them...However, this day he decided to explode out of his diaper. Yes, I said explode. It was EVERYWHERE...up his back, down his legs...how did so much come out of something so little? So at any rate, this all happened while Will was home, so he decided it was a good time to take a pic of me and Little Dude together, since I am always the one behind the camera! I think we look quite nice too!
Little Dude is now swimming quite well and even going under water for brief periods of time. All in all, the swim class has been amazing and I recommend anyone with kids starting them early in the pool. We have learned all kinds of songs and activities in the water for making it fun and easy. Very Nice!
We went to a rodeo with some friends and it was great fun! One of the Bull riders had his shoulder dislocated too...ouch! They also had pony rides for all the kids too and our friend's little girl LOVE it! Our Little Dude was too little...maybe next year....
We are going to the Zoo on the 31st and I can't wait!
We are having a big BBQ at our house on the 24th around 3pm.
Little Dude is trying to get his knees under himself so he can crawl on all fours...wow.
We are going to a Seder dinner at church on the 26th
I am counting down the minutes until the Discovery Channel (one of my top 4 channels) has "Planet Earth" on. Also, the same night and time (8pm est) the Science Channel (another top 4)has "Mammals vs Dinos" on....its going to be a race of flipping between the two channels...now is the time I wish we had TiVo! haha! I am a dork, I know.
Since some asked, here are my (Michelle) top four channels, in no particular order:
1 Discovery Channel. I have been excited about "Planet Earth" for months
2 Science Channel. "Survivor Man" has me ready to face any natural disaster. "How it's Made" rocks and again, I have been excited for months about "Mammal vs. Dino". Also, I love all the shows about the old and new testaments from a scientific point of view...funny, but those shows make my faith seem even stronger and more clear...they are awesome.
3 Fox News. Of the news channels, they seem the least biased and I love Bill O'Reilly, he is great at making people look like idiots when they try to support some immoral thing they are doing. Also, it is the ONLY news channel that shows a right wing side as well as left wing..it is more right than left, but since all the others are waaaaaaay left, I like Fox News.
4 Food Network. Most awesome channel ever. I have dozens of recipes now and I am a faithful watchers of Rachael Ray, Giada DeLauentiis, Paula Dean and Sara Snow. I always check what they are cooking online and if it sounds good I turn the show on. It is great to watch while folding laundry and cooking dinner. Just ask Bill...he is loving my new cooking skills. He said he would've gotten me to stay home long ago if he'd know it would improve my cooking. :)
O.K., back to updates:
We have multiple friends adopting
We have filled out and submitted our part of the adoption process for two of our friends (reference, essay on character and ect) The process was a little stressful because we knew the adoption agency would carefully consider all we had to say in determining accepting our friends applications to adopt. After many re-writes and edits, I must say we sent in one kick-ass reference! Now they have a few papers to fill out and send off, then the waiting begins until they are matched. How exciting!!! Here is the agency our friends are adopting through. I am so happy for them and all couples who are adopting.
I am also esp. happy for the brave, smart women who loved their child and cherished life enough to give him/her to adoptive parents. There is no greater gift to the child or the adoptive parents or even to the birth parents than to support life and adoption. Simply because a "mistake" was made and you may not personally want to parent a child, it does not mean that you need to abort; there are so many loving people who long for nothing more than to raise and love a child. I feel like everyone should support adoption over abortion when at all possible. There is a new law in the works in South Carolina that will now have women seeking abortion look at their baby through ultra sound before aborting...what a wonderful thing they are doing. For those that want the choice, they still have it, but they get an INFORMED choice...they get to see the tiny fingers, toes and heartbeat. They get the chance to turn the idea of being pregnant into a real image and perhaps that will end in more babies being put up for adoption rather than murdered for mistakes they never made. You can find more info on this bill here. Also, any of my pro-choice friends out there are free to give me their point of view on this law. Since I am and always will be pro-life, I suppose I am biased; it would be fair to peacefully hear the other point of view.
Also on the topic of protecting our children, here is a great letter for senators and governor's voting on the National Sex Offender Registry that we should all send out. You can get the letter (or ideas for your own) from Oprah (yes, she rocks). You can also find your rep's mail addresses at: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Governors.shtml and your congress' addresses at: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/
On a different, happier topic, here are some new pics I have been promising! Also, one of my friend's from swim class had her husband drop by to take some pictures of all of us, so as soon as she sends them to me, I will post them! That solves my whole problem of how to get pictures in the pool without getting my camera wet! Yay!
This is a hat I knitted for Little Dude...he is all ready to cheer on the Wolfpack. The shirt he is wearing has a red crayon on it and says: "My favorite color: Wolfpack Red" Isn't that the most awesome? Yes, I thought you would agree.
This is his St. Patrick's day outfit. It says "Little Good Luck Charm". Isn't his wild, red hair great?I LOVE St. Patrick's day and I cooked a bunch of Irish food and made everything I could green! Yay! You can find more info about Ireland's Saint and his good charities (also the fact he was once a slave in Ireland!) here.
Here are my two wonderful guys after a hard day of playing.
More busy playing with Daddy!
This is after a bath. Isn't his robe the cutest? Or is it him that makes it so cute? Hard to tell, I know...haha!! He normally has his bath in the mornings to clean up whatever poop/pee/spit up/drool happened during the night. Usually a combo of them...However, this day he decided to explode out of his diaper. Yes, I said explode. It was EVERYWHERE...up his back, down his legs...how did so much come out of something so little? So at any rate, this all happened while Will was home, so he decided it was a good time to take a pic of me and Little Dude together, since I am always the one behind the camera! I think we look quite nice too!
We went to a rodeo with some friends and their children as part of our St. Patrick celebration! (I know, not very Irish, but totally fun and American) This was Little Dude's first rodeo! He seems to like it!
Will, Little Dude, Jade and Cindy waiting for the rodeo to start. We got seats behind where the cows waited; it was so fun watching them play! As you can see, Jade loved the cows! Cindy is also expecting her second child soon! Cindy, her husband, Jim, and their daughter Jade are great friends and super fun to hang out with!
Well, that is about all we have been up to so far this month. We are getting ready for some weddings that are coming up; my cousin in Texas is getting married soon and we are super excited to fly down and see everyone! Then we have some friends getting married in Aug and another pair getting married in October! What a fun, busy year we are getting ready to have! I guess I better start looking at Travelocity soon! (I just want to add I LOVE the gnome in the commercials, I want one for my garden!) Bye!
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