Pea Hugs

Awwwwww...I LOVE my Pea Hugs!!! Pea gives the BEST hugs! He usually gets a running start and then just jumps into my arms squeezing as tight as he can. He has almost knocked me over a couple times! But, I love, love, love it! I can't get enough of my pea hugs!!

Spring Forward

We are ready for SPRING!! This winter has just been ruthless, hasn't it? We have definitely been enjoying our little heat wave over the last couple of days. It has been sooooo great to finally get outside without the fear of frostbite!

Spring is by far my favorite season. I just love that the world seems to come alive again. Spring brings a sense of renewal and new beginnings. This spring is especially special for us as we have much to celebrate! Eli will be celebrating his first birthday at home, we will celebrate our first family day, and we will hit that very important milestone in which the scales will tip between the time he lived in Guatemala and the time he has been home.

And, as I have alluded, there are other changes happening for us as well. We are getting ready to put our house on the market! Now, I know most of you are thinking "big whoop!" Well, the big whoop is we are not exactly sure what will come next, but we are planning on some big changes. It is something we have been thinking about for quite awhile, but the time was never right...until now. We have no idea how everything will unfold so right now we are focused on getting our house sold, especially in such an uncertain housing market. Needless to say, this is a very transitional time for us, which is very exciting and also a little scary! But, we have faith that everything will fall into place, knowing that this is our heart's desire.

With that said, we have been busy with projects around the house to get it ready for the market. We have LOTS to do over the next several weeks and we have quickly learned that nothing happens fast with a very busy toddler around!

Goin' Crazy!!

I wasn't kidding!! Here is my first digital scrapbook page. So fun! I used a tutorial on The Shabby Shoppe, including the free scrapbook kit. If you are interested in giving it a try and you have some version of photoshop, just click on the shappy shoppe link and go to tutorials. You will be addicted!

Technical Difficulties

Soooo, some of my peeps are having some technical difficulties accessing the blog since I went private so I switched back to public for now! In the meantime, check out this other cute photoshop creation that I, again, stole from Pineapple Princess! Isn't this cute?!?! This was FREE. Check out her blog for the link and you can have your very own desktop calendar!

Pea Faces

My blogger pal, Pineapple Princess, inspired me to play around more with Photoshop. I have been trying to figure it out on my own and I just don't have the patience! For one, I am not a techy so it takes me a little longer to figure out "techy" stuff and two, I just hate reading directions! Not a good mix! So, Pineapple Princess posted an excellent tutorial on creating collages. So I decided to give it a try. It was SUPER easy! So, you may be seeing more experiments as I navigate my way through all the bells and whistles of photoshop. Woohoo!

Pinch me

I have been reflecting a lot lately on "this time last year" as we quickly approach some very special anniversary's. This time last year was probably the most stressful month of our entire adoption process. We were stuck in that terrible CNA registration mess and there were a few days in which we weren't sure our attorney was going to get our case registered in time, which would mean the unthinkable. It was simply terrifying and I think I held my breath the entire month. Jason and I clung to each other tightly and tried our best to distract ourselves as much as possible, but it was impossible. I suffered from terrible insomnia during the worst months of our process, but especially last February. I spent many anxious, sleepless nights on the couch knowing I had to stay strong for my sweet son, knowing that I would never give up until he was home...yet feeling like I was falling apart. Those were dark days.

What a difference one year has made. It seems like a world away, yet it also feels like just yesterday. As I watched little pea help us take wallpaper off today, I had one of those "pinch me" moments and that loud voice in my head kept chanting "MY BABY IS HOME." Thank God, my baby is home. To top it all off, Eli said his name for the first time today, "Eyi." So sweet!

And, the best of all....Eli said "uv you" for the first time when Jason put him to bed. My heart just melted.

Such a good helper!
He was also very eager to put the "papeh in the twash" after he peeled if off the wall.

6 month follow-up

Today we drove to Columbus for Eli's 6 month follow-up (it's actually been 8.5 months since his last appointment) at the International Adoption Clinic. He is up to 31lbs (95th percentile) and almost 35 inches tall (75th percentile). He's a big boy for his age! Our appointment lasted about 2 hours and included a physical, a developmental assessment, another TB test, and more bloodwork.

We weren't surprised to learn that Eli has exceeded all of the developmental milestones for his age, especially in speech and language. He is doing great! In fact, the assesor actually asked us how confident we were about his birthdate, suggesting he could be a couple months older. Well, we are 100% confident with his birthdate based on the information we have. And, he now gets very shy and quiet around people he does not know so he did not show off all of his good stuff today!

His shyness and quietness around strangers actually makes me quite happy and relieved right now. When he first came home, we had some incidents of him approaching strangers in public and hugging their legs and/or grabbing their hands. One time, he grabbed a woman's hand at the park and started leading her away from us. When we redirected him away from the woman, he got very upset and wanted nothing to do with us. We were mortified! We definitely believe this was an attachment issue as he was transitioning home. These are the seemingly little things that no one really wants to talk about, but most of us experience them in one way or another when we bring our little ones home. But, it was huge to us and reinforced that we needed to continue practicing attachment parenting. It has certainly paid off because that would never happen now! He definitely knows his mama and daddy.

After the physical and developmental assessment, we were off to the lab for more bloodwork. It was just routine repeat bloodwork from his first visit just to make sure nothing shows up a second time. Unfortunately, little pea had to have both arms pricked. The lab tech started drawing blood and then the vein blew so he had to prick the other arm. Eli was such a trooper. Of course he cried, but he was more upset that he couldn't hold his whale/dolphin book!

After we left the clinic we hit our favorite store, Trader Joe's, to stock up! You gotta love Trader Joe's! Apparently pea does too. He had his own shopping to do. A boy on a mission...
"Ummm, excuse me daddy...where is the peanut butter?"

Hangin' out while we were checkin' out.

Just me and my peeps

Ahhhhhh....;)

I have been thinking of going private for a few months and it finally felt like it was time for a number of reasons. My number one reason is I just feel much more protective of my family and not as comfortable anymore having so much personal stuff available to just anyone. Of course, I am not naive to think going private eliminates that, but it at least gives me the illusion of privacy! On the other hand, as you can see from my last two posts, we have made some wonderful connections through blogging! Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined the number of connections we would make when I started this blog a year and a half ago. I could just go on and on about how we met this person, which led to this experience, in which we met this other person, who connected us to this resource, etc, etc, etc. Life changing. That is also why it took me so long to make the decision of whether or not to go private. Ultimately, at least for now, it is the right time to draw the shades. I love that so many of you are continuing this journey with us. I feel much more comfortable already! It's all good because I get to stay in touch with all my favorite peeps while keeping all of the creepies out! ;)

And, I have had so much on my mind lately because we are embarking on yet another big life change and now I feel like I can talk about that more. (no, we are not starting another adoption...yet. I know that is what you were all thinkin'!)

In the meantime, I will leave you with some cuteness! Eli has been so stinkin' funny and adorable lately. I think our trip to Maine cured him of the lil' monster phase he was in for a few weeks because he has not had any tantrums, throwing, or hitting since then. It is sooooo wonderful to have our sweet, funny boy back! Lately, he has been starting to repeat almost EVERYTHING we say. Seriously. And, he really pays attention! For those of you who know us very well, this could be a problem! Needless to say, we really have to watch what we say anymore. We even have to spell things out now so that he doesn't get all worked up about something like m-i-l-k, s-n-a-c-k, or his most recent obsession...N-E-M-O.

I am also learning to use this to my advantage. For example, Eli loves to drink water out of a regular cup. I mean, he LOVES it. So, he wanted to drink out of my cup tonight. I told him that he could drink out of my cup as long as he said, "mama rocks. " It worked! It sounded a little like this..."mama wocks. mama wocks. mama wocks." That's my boy!

Here are some more cutie pics from last weekend.

He was so excited when we got off the plane in Columbus that he was literally running around in circles! He also loved looking at all of the "panes, panes, panes." (planes)

More weekend fun

I am still reeling from all of the fun we had this past weekend in Maine. It was so special to finally meet Beth, Bobbi, & Donna and their families. I felt so connected to them even before we met and now even more so! Some may find it very strange that we would hop on a plane to visit and stay with people we have never met in person. Well, I suppose it was a risk! But, we all clicked instantly, just as I knew we would. When I saw Beth waiting for us at the airport, it was like she was an old friend I just hadn't seen in awhile. It felt so normal!

Eli had a great time, too, even though I think he was a little overwhelmed by all of the excitement! He not only met some new friends for the first time, he also had his first sled ride and his first trip to the ocean!

Here is a short video clip of Jason and Eli sledding down Beth's backyard.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

And, here are a few pics of his first visit to the ocean. Granted, we were not basking in the sun and digging our toes in the sand, but it was still amazingly beautiful! THANK YOU Beth, Keith, Sam, and Lucy for a wonderful visit!

Sneak Peek...

into our FULL weekend.

It was full of...


blissful chaos...

outdoor adventures...

several attempts at a kiddo group photo...

hugs from new friends...

absolute pure sweetness (this will be on the wedding invite)...

and a rare, uninterrupted adult dinner with friends while the kiddos played in the next room.

We had such a GREAT time!! More photos to come...

Leavin' on a jet plane

I am so excited!!!! We are going to Maine to visit some very special friends this weekend. Friends we met through our adoption journey. Friends who, on many, many, many occasions carried me through while we were waiting for Pea to come home. I first "met" Beth when she was my Secret Blog Pal in the summer of 2007. I met Bobbi through Beth and somehow Donna found us all! I cannot begin to tell you how amazing all three of these women are and how they touched me in so many ways. I am so grateful for their friendship and support and cannot wait to meet them all in person this weekend! We all talked about getting together "one of these days," but it took one e-mail from Donna informing us all that she was going to be in Maine and we all had our plans made within a couple of days. How great is that?!?! So, we are busy getting packed and ready to finally meet in person, what feels like, long time friends. Just wish us luck on the plane...I have a bad feeling we are going to be THAT family that everyone hates. ;0

I plan on going private by the end of next week so if you haven't commented, yet, and still want to continue following little pea's adventures, just leave a comment with your e-mail address. Moderator is still on so it won't be published for all the creepies to see.

Here are some pics of Fireman Pea. He LOVES fire trucks and he LOVES his snow boots. And, he is a little speedster on his car. You should see him take the corners in our house!

New Makeover

My familia was giving us a hard time yesterday because little pea needs a haircut in a big way. I think pea may have been listening and took matters into his own hands.

Long bangs? No problema! Pea found some hairclips. And some barrettes.

Or, how about a headband?

Two is better than one. (I know, the laundry is piling up.)

No makeover is complete without a little blush.

Notice the wall in the background? That is a hint...

DON'T FORGET!!!

Tomorrow is the deadline to purchase a cookbook to support Across All Borders!!! ONLY $15!!! That includes shipping. The cookbook contains about 250 recipes from adoptive families and a special section of Guatemalan recipes. It supports a wonderful cause. Just click on the link to the left to place your order. HURRY!!! Time is running out!!!

And, don't forget to let me know if you want to continue following our blog. Just leave me a comment with your e-mail address so I can send you an invite once I go private. I still have comment moderator on so your e-mail address will not be published.

I think it's time

I have been thinking about going private for a couple months and I think it is time. I have connected with so many wonderful people through blogworld and this blog has also enabled us to keep our friends and family informed of our adoption journey and life at home. I don't want to disrupt any of those connections so please let me know if you would like to continue staying in touch with us. Leave a comment with your e-mail address and I will add you to the "A" list. Don't worry, I turned on comment moderator so your e-mail address will not be published online for the world to see. I will probably go private in the next week or two.

A week in review

Just a few of this week's happenings in the life of little pea.

He is really getting into his megablocks lately. He has a megablocks car and he stacks the blocks on the car as high as he can before they all topple over. Then he throws his hands in the air and says "UH OH!" Repeat.
Porter trying to get some little pea lovin'. He really thinks he is a lapdog.

Silly faces!

He is also really getting into puzzles or "puggles." This particular puzzle has been sitting on the very top of his bookshelf out of sight. He has not seen it since summer. Well, the other day he kept pointing to the top of the bookshelf saying "puggle, puggle." I finally figured out what he wanted, but I couldn't believe he 1) remembered it was up there and 2) even knew what it was. So, I pulled it down and he immediately went to work.

Some big changes are happening around our house so we will be very busy the next couple of months. Stay tuned for details....

If it's too quiet...

trouble is brewing. A couple of nights ago, I started Eli's bath and was picking up toys as the tub filled up. Usually Eli is very eager to help put toys away, but this night he was not helping and it was very quiet. Too quiet. I went into the bathroom and found him leaning over the tub playing in the water. No big deal, right? Well, somehow he had managed to turn on the shower and, of course, the shower head was cocked to the side so that water was spraying all over Eli and the bathroom floor. Eli thought it was the funniest thing!

This morning, once again, the house suddenly got quiet. Too quiet. Eli came out of the bathroom and Jason found him like this. Eli decided to experiment with Mama's mascara. He actually tried putting it on his eye...and nose...and cheek...and his hands.

ACROSS ALL BORDERS

A fellow Guatemama, Terry, has started an amazing organization, Across All Borders (AAB), to help the children of Guatemala. Terry's journey to this point is so beautiful and inspirational. You can read more about her personal story here. And, my dear friend, Bobbi, is serving on the board of directors and taking her family on a mission trip for AAB this summer. How cool is that?!?!

Terry offically launched her organization this week, which includes a great fundraising campaign! Across All Borders is selling cookbooks full of recipes all submitted by fellow adoptive parents, including yours truly! The recipes include family favorites and some traditional Guatemalan dishes. The cookbooks are $15.00 and the proceeds benefit the work of AAB. Please consider helping out by purchasing a cookbook and telling all your friends and family to purchase a cookbook. Buy one for yourself and give a few as gifts!

You can purchase the cookbooks with a credit card or a check. Just click here or the link on the side of my blog to purchase a cookbook using your credit card. If you prefer to pay with a check, just leave me a comment with your e-mail address so we can make arrangements. If you are not interested in a cookbook, please consider giving in other ways. You can read all about AAB and the ways you can help out on their website. Thank you for supporting this wonderful organization and the children of Guatemala.

Another one done, one more to go...

Some of you may recall when I wrote last year that I am the queen of unfinished projects. It's really true. I love starting new projects...the ideas, brainstorming, creativity, etc. But I often get bored when the tediousness sets in and then I am off to something else. Well, one of my unofficial New Year's Resolutions is to finish some of these projects, including this quilt. Now, this one did not sit around as long as Eli's, but it probably has a good 3 year shelf life! No more. It is done. Woohoo! I have one more unfinished quilt in the basement and it is a doozy. It is a queen size bedspread. I'll be honest, that one will take awhile. I may need a few kicks in the tush later on to finish it!

An Historic Day

What an amazing day. I am really having a difficult time wrapping my heart and brain around the HUGE significance of this day. It is much bigger than I think any of us can imagine at this moment. I feel so hopeful and inspired that perhaps, just perhaps change is possible. Just the fact we elected our first African American president is proof that change is possible. As President Obama (doesn't that sound awesome????) has said over and over, change will not happen overnight, but...it will happen. It has already happened...the face of power has changed in this country.


I am not only hopeful and excited about how these changes may affect our nation and our world, but also about the significance of this day for my family and for my son. We do not take the fact lightly that we are a multiracial family. That we have a huge responsibility to deal with racism not just as members of this society, but as parents raising our son in a culture that does not value the color of his skin or his heritage. How do we raise our son to be strong, resilient, proud, and confident in the face of racism? I don't know, yet. But, what I do know is that the arguably most powerful man in the world is paving a path. Paving a path of breaking down power structures, challenging stereotypes, and redefining the opportunities available for people of color, for my son. Obviously, there is a lot of work to be done, but this is a beginning and, for that, I am so hopeful, so grateful, and so proud of our country for taking a stand for change.

And, never before have I been soooooo relieved to say goodbye to someone...GOOD RIDDANCE, George W. Bush. It is a new day.

Interview

My blogging buddy, Aimee, sent me an interview! And, I know you want to join in on the fun. So,
here is how it works:

1. If you want to participate, leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.” (And your e-mail address, please or let me know on facebook if that is easier.)
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Okay, here are the questions Aimee asked me:

1.If you could solve any world problem, what would it be?
Yikes! This one is tough because I strongly believe that most, if not all, of our world problems are interconnected so where is the starting point? There is none, I suppose. After deliberating for a little bit, at this moment I would eliminate capitalism as we know it today. Capitalism in it's purest form certainly has the potential to create opportunity and equality, but it has not evolved that way. Unfortunately, capitalism (along with racism, sexism, etc) has created a system of "haves" and "have-nots" and the "haves" stand on the backs of the "have-nots." It is pretty evident in today's economy that the backs of the have-nots have broken down. It's quite shameful, really. On Christmas Eve, we were driving around looking at Christmas lights and drove into a particularly obnoxious wealthy neighborhood and I just couldn't help thinking how different our world would look if even just a fraction of the wealth was skimmed off the top and equally distributed. I just have to believe there is a better way. A better way that would easily eliminate many of the world's problems. As an example: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090118/ap_on_re_us/mlk_economic_equality

2.What keeps you up at night?
What do I choose? Actually, I am by nature a night owl. I LOVE that time of night when the rest of the world is asleep. There is something magical about it. It is the time when I feel the most grounded and the most creative. I would much rather watch the moonrise than the sunrise. Unfortunately, I don't get to enjoy that time too much because of my work schedule, but I sneak it in here and there for my mental health! Even so, I believe the question is intended to mean what "keeps" me awake. Right now, the thing that weighs on me heavily is work. More specifically, I feel like I am coming to a crossroads regarding my work life and trying to figure out which direction to go, if any.

3.Describe your typical day
We're all up by 6am (usually!) and Eli is at the babysitter's by 7:15am. Jason and I both commute about 35-40 minutes. The next 8 hours is work, work, work. I am in the social services field so my day varies. These days, more often than not, I am in front of a computer. But, my day also consists of meetings, home visits, lots of paperwork, and a little crisis intervention thrown in there from time to time. We are all home by 5pm. I try to cook bigger meals on the weekends so we have leftovers during the week. That makes dinner time much quicker! The rest of the evening involves playing, reading books, bath time, and bed by 8pm for pea. I spend the rest of my evening doing about 2 or 3 things at once, like watching TV, being on the computer, working on a project, looking at a magazine, paying bills, etc, etc. Exciting stuff!

4. What is one non-motherhood accomplishment you want to undertake in your life?
Refer to #2. Actually, I would love to visit Machu Picchu someday. This seems a bit boring, I know. There are lots of things I envision seeing myself doing, but it is constantly evolving and changing so I don't cling too tightly to specific goals, unless it is really tugging at my heart. It sounds like a cop out, but it really isn't. The only constant in life is change so it is more important to me to keep my heart open for new possibilities than to cling to something that may not serve me anymore.

5. If you were an animal, what kind of animal would you be?
I had to really think about this one. I decided that I would be a Sea Turtle. For one, I love the water and I especially love that feeling of floating on ocean waves. I love the rhythm of the water and listening to the sounds under the surface. It some ways it is kind of eerie and in other ways it is like being transported to a whole new world. I love it! The other thing about a Sea Turtles is the amazing phenomenon that she is able to travel 1000's of miles back to the beach where she was born in order to lay her own eggs. I love that the Sea Turtle is able to venture far, far away from the place where she was born, but she is always able to find her way home.

Okay, who wants to be interviewed next? Come on! It's fun!! I won't be too hard on you. ;)

Dada's boy

Eli and his "dada" having been spending a lot of 1:1 time together lately. Not only did they get to stay home together for two weeks during the holidays, but they were also home today due to the FREEZING temps and will be home tomorrow. Of course, mama had to drag her tookus out of bed and go to work while these two stayed at home. Sigh...so now, everything is about dada! It's very sweet, especially if Eli cries out at night for dada and Jason feels obligated to be the one to get up. Sucker. Heehee! No really, these are the days we longed for...

Their time hasn't all been about fun and games. Pea helped his dada out with the laundry today.

Let me tell you, we were so happy and relieved to see a smile today. Wow. The last couple of days have been a bit rocky. Eli has hardly been eating and just a tad cranky. We figured he was still getting over the icky sickies. Well, as I put him in the bath last night he just started SCREAMING and refused to sit in the water. No, no...the water wasn't hot. It was so weird because he loves to take a bath! But, he screamed all through his bath refusing to sit down. He finally calmed down and then went to sleep with no problem (phew). Well, this morning he pretty much woke up screaming and crying and we just could not figure out what was wrong. I left for work, feeling like I had the better end of the deal today, as Jason was giving pea some Motrin as a last desparate measure. Jason called about 20 minutes later to report that our sweet boy was back. Just like that. After further investigation, Jason also discovered that those darn 2 year molars are swelling up again. They still have NOT popped through! Man, these molars are rough! So, we are creating a shrine in honor of Children's Motrin. May it always be close. ;)