Miracles

I never cease to wonder at how amazing life is. We'd been looking into adopting again for about two years. Nothing had come of it. Either we backed out or the birth mother did for one reason or another. I had told Nikole time and again that when the situation was right it would all work out just how we needed it to. And it did!
Here's the short version:
I found out about a "situation" that was available through an agency in CA on Friday, Nov. 20. It was a bit unique-he was 4 months old and still in the care of his birth mother. The agency gave me the address to send our profile directly to the birth mother in TX. We sent it off on Friday to arrive on Monday. We heard nothing the entire week of Thanksgiving. We were pretty saddened by this because we had chosen that if this didn't work out we were done. Nikole, typical Nikole, was ready to be done by the time Sat. arrived. I kept telling her that I didn't think it was over yet. We needed to wait a bit longer.
Monday, Nov. 30th, Nikole came walking in the house sobbing! I truly thought someone had died. She showed me the text from the agency. It read "She chose you. We'll call her tomorrow." It was amazing. We called her on Tuesday and spoke with her. It went really well. Then, the fun started. We sent applications (we hadn't even done that yet) and money to the agency-got FBI clearance-and told Jayden he was going to be a big brother. He was so excited. He said "Can I tell everyone about the kid now?" We figured out a plan for Jayden for the next week with LOTS of help from friends & family and jumped on a plane for TX on Sat., Dec. 5.
It was all so crazy that I don't think we had time to think about it. We had dinner with the birth mother when we arrived. I was prepared for it to be pretty awkward and it was. But not in the way I had imagined. She was very nice but very detached. We met on Sunday afternoon and spent time with her. She signed the custody papers on Monday afternoon. It actually did go that smoothly. Then, we spent the rest of the week waiting for the ICPC clearance. We got the call of Friday that we could leave TX and were able to catch a plane that night. We got home in the early morning hours on Sat., Dec. 12.
Jayden was so excited to meet Lucas. He "presented" him to everyone who came over. He's so proud. He told me today that he wouldn't trade Luke even for a Ferrari! (If you know Jayden at all-that's BIG.)

My best day EVER!

Adoption day. It was five years ago today that I had the best day of my life. I didn't know it at the time it was happening-I knew it was big but I didn't understand how big. I suppose that's how it is with the best day of your life-you never realize until after the fact.

I don't remember much about that first year. It was such a crazy experience. We met him on a Tuesday. I hadn't even seen a picture of him prior to that moment. We spent a few hours with him each day & then brought him home forever on Saturday.
Jayden always asks me about the first time I met him. I tell him it was the best moment of my life. I remember watching him play on the playground. I recall thinking to myself "Don't forget this moment." Then, he came inside the building to meet us. We shared a peanut butter sandwich and a yogurt. He was quiet and sullen. He wouldn't let me get too close to him. It was hard for me to say goodbye to him knowing he had to stay in the group home again. He was the youngest child they had ever housed.

Day by day, he started looking forward to us coming to visit. I made a small book to show him pictures of his room, house, and Zoe. I can't even imagine what that must have been like for him-so much change, not knowing what's next, wondering where you were going. The first night we brought him home I don't think anyone slept. I was so worried about him all alone in his room in this new house. He wouldn't ever get out of bed back then. He had been too scared. The group home had had alarms on the floors so that they would know when children were up.

I think I cried almost every day that first year. I think he did too. We were both trying hard to figure this out. I don't remember much about that time. I guess it's like childbirth-best if you just remember the joy & not how painful it was. It's always been two steps forward-one step back with this little guy.

Funny, resilient, daring, tenacious, honest, strong, independent, amazing. Just a few words to describe who he is. He still amazes me each and every day. No one makes me laugh like he does. We still cry when we both need to. He's like air to me-there wouldn't be life without him. Thank-you Jayden for just being you!

I'm Elvis Presley

Ok, Granny was at our house the other day and we were looking up some things on my computer. We stumbled across this video of JMU. We laughed so hard we were crying. He always asks to play with my computer ; I guess this is what he's been doing. Take a look...

Aahhh Summer!

I often wonder what JMU & I will do all summer. Is it going to be spent with me telling him "Time to be done with the wii", "I'll go for a bike ride in a minute.", "No, no one can come over today and play, we have things to get done." I wasn't sure what it would look like this year. Well, here it is July already! I'm not sure if we have just been busy but it's going by so quickly. We've had a lot of fun thus far. It hasn't been so hot that I thought I would melt. I'm not over the yard work yet. I haven't gone through 6 bottles of sunscreen (Yes Granny, we are using it!.)
NU had a business trip to the Northwest and we decided to tag along. We went to Seattle, Cannon Beach, and Portland. It was great! JMU was a rock star on the long drive. It was fun to visit these cities with him and watch him enjoy the new experiences. We stayed across from Lake Union, right where the sea planes took off. We had fun watching them throughout the day. We walked down to the waterfront and saw the houses on the lake. JMU thought it would be "wicked" to live right on the water. He wondered why we couldn't have a house on a lake. I picked up a real estate flyer and showed him the price. I think he got my point. We went to the top of the Space Needle. (All of the times I've been to Seattle, never done this.) He thought Seattle was great until we drove to Cannon Beach and took the ferry across the lake.
Cannon Beach-I love the Oregon coast. It was freezing!! We stayed at CJ's recommended hotel & got the VIP treatment because they "just love Carl, Kim, and those darling kids." According to Kim, CJ has made great friends with the owners because he gets ready each morning and then goes down to the lobby to visit with them. Kim isn't quite as close to the owners because she is back in the room getting all the kids ready for the day. We went to eat at Mo's in honor of Grandpa.
It was a great trip! We are off to NC soon for our annual trip & then the cousins from VA hit town. As JMU said, "this is the best life ever!"

The best bike EVER!

Isn't this the cutest bike in the universe! I love it! If anyone has some extra $$ and would like to buy me a present, this is what I would like. I think I would want to bike everywhere.

It All Started With A Smell...

It was Saturday afternoon, nice & hot! I walked into the garage to help J-man get his bike out. An overpowering stench takes hold of me. NU & I figured something had died in there. We were hoping it might be a potato or something simple like that. After arguing with each other about who we could possibly call to come and find the source of the smell, we decided we would have to do it ourselves. So, here was our project for Sunday.
We got up early Sunday morning and started ripping everything apart. We pulled out all of the cupboards, with care, to see what was under/behind each of them. Nothing! We went through all the food storage to see if there was anything in there. Nothing! Once the cupboards were out we decided that some wire shelving would be a better idea. So, off to Costco. We got all the shelves put together and then the fun began.
Most people don't know this about me but I HATE to run out of anything! It is some crazy fear I have. I think it stems from being a poor student and thinking that I wouldn't have $$ to replace things once they're gone. Some might say that I hoard things-I disagree. I love to throw things out! I am all about purging and getting rid of the junk! I'm going to call it my "better safe than sorry" syndrome. ( Sounds nicer, don't ya think!) I just like knowing that when push comes to shove, I'm going to have what I need.
One of my sisters has this syndrome as well. I'm not naming names but she knows who she is. She will often call me from VA (oops!) and tell me that she bought something wonderful, i.e. a beautiful tray of raspberries, and she is going to save them to use in something delicious. Well, that time never comes-the raspberries go bad because she didn't use them and it was just a big waste of money. It wasn't that she forgot to use them. It was that she didn't want to use them because then they would be all gone and what if she couldn't get more. I understand completely!! Don't worry folks-we're both in a 12 step program for this. It sounds really crazy when I have to tell other people about it :)
So, back to the story. The garage is torn apart and the wire shelves are built. I start putting it all back together. It made me so happy! I organized everything! All the food storage is on one shelving unit, paper products on another shelf, and extra car wash towels and cleaning supplies on another shelf. I organized all of the food from the pantry and put all beverages on a shelf that the J-man can reach. I am able to see all of it at a glance and know what I need to stock up on. It made me so happy. It made the garage so clean. I had to call my neighbor over to look at it and admire my work. She appreciated it also-she has been in a purging state of mind as well.

We never found the source of the smell. It's gone now. Maybe it smelled just to motivate me to clean it all out and start over. Well, whatever it takes.

The Best Time of Day!

I love mornings! I like to get up early (sometimes I am better at this than others.) I like having a few minutes to myself before anyone else wakes up. I like the quiet of the morning. I enjoy that the whole day is still ahead of me. It's open to possibilities. I'm not bothered yet by a list of things that need to be done-haven't had to argue with JMU about playing his DS-I'm not worried about the things that went wrong that day. I love the sunrise. The color of pinkish orange that creeps across the mountains out of my front window. I so look forward to early summer mornings-crisp air, wet grass, a warm latte, quiet outside. I have started noticing that the sun is coming up just a bit earlier these days.
At our house, we are all morning people. Nikole gets up early to work before all the calls start coming in. Jayden, well he's an early riser as well. This is one of the best moments of the day! I hear his feet hit the ground and he comes down the hall. His warm little body climbing over and snuggling. He always professes his undying love in the early morning. It's full of "I love you" and "you are the best mom in the entire universe!" He and I have a little game we always play. We each try to think of a way to tell each other how much we love each other-I love you more than all the stars in the universe! I love you more than all the sand on all the beaches of the world! I love you more than all the grass in the world! I love you more than my DS and Wii! We snuggle together and he tries to wedge his warm little body as close as it can be. I know that the days are numbered as to how long this will last, but I'm enjoying every minute of it right now.
I loved running with Carin in the early mornings. It's time has come again. I have made so many excuses the past few years. It's time to pursue this again. I think I have put it off for so long because I know that the first few months of getting back into shape is awful. But then...hearing your feet hit the ground in a steady rhythm is amazing! I promised myself I would enter my 40's this year feeling good about my body. I have some work to do. I figure if I post this for the world to see I will hold myself accountable. My cousin & I (my sister's were supposed to be involved also but they are SLACKERS!) have chosen to do this together. We are going to be accountable to one another. We usually have some good laughs along the way. I think that will help.

Bring on the new year!

Well, we made it through the holidays! It was touch and go for awhile. I'm not sure what it is about birthdays and holidays but Jayden always struggles. We have tried for the past 4 years to figure out a better way but we've yet to come up with something. I've spoken with a few adoptive parents and birthdays are always a struggle. Jayden's seems to be worse because it's followed by the biggest holiday of the year. Next year, the beach!
It was fun to have everyone in town for Christmas. The kids had a great time the Robert's Winterfest 2008-sledding, snowmobiles, Wii, and cousins!