Now A Family of *gulp* Six.

There are some definite moments, days, events in my life where I can see - nothing was the same after it. Some are the usual - first days of school, school graduations, first day at a new job, wedding, kids. Some I don't see as turning points until much later - a run of the mill decision that ends up being life-altering (accepting a sub job, saying "yes" to a date, etc.). This Wednesday is another one of those days, and one that I thought I was going to take in stride but am getting emotional about already. Simultaneously I return to a "regular" day of work, Charlie begins "regular" daycare schedule, and Roman has his first day of kindergarten. I have felt like I've been living a special kind of life for the last 8 months. True, it hasn't all been wonderful... having a baby in the NICU and being a SAHM of 2 for 4 months (which was not the original plan) has been trying some days. But it was like a vacation from real life. I didn't have out...

I love PhotoShop Elements. I have been playing around with it this evening, tagging photos & importing older ones from 2005. I figured out how to call up photos in the "organizer" by tag, and then import them over to the "scrapbook" area. I'm pretty thrilled with that. There are some pictures that I can't remember what folders I've put them in; and some pictures are under a general heading, such as "Food," that are in multiple folders. Now I don't have to write it all down. And that's very exciting. I also discovered I don't have a real adorable photo of the 2 boys together that I would frame for school, so I played a bit with cropping & pasting my own 3.5 x 5 photo together. And then I printed it out on my HP Photosmart printer. No big deal, but I think the pictures are the epitomy of cuteness. So now I'm officially ready for school.

I have a love-hate relationship with election season. I love watching it unfold, but I hate the tv ads. I love deciding who to vote for, but I hate the media for trying to influence me (and you know they do!). I have to teach about it, on top of everything else, so I try not to get too involved early on. I am very apathetic this year, yet at the same time excited to participate in such an election. For the first time in my life, I am truly torn about who to vote for (yes, Dad, I admit it! Don't shun me!). I have noticed that having kids has changed my views on a lot of issues, and not all in one way. For example, we here in MI will be voting about stem cell research on human embryos. I used to support it, until I had Charlie. Now I am against it. For education, I lean left. For foreign policy, I lean right. For "family values" I used to lean right, now I'm kind of in the middle depending on the specifics. Regarding the environment, I go left. Regarding health care, I ...

I get these fun emails sent to me, but now I think I will blog them so the whole world knows about me. Three jobs I have had in my life: 1. waitress at an elderly-care retirement home 2. medical transcriptionist 3. teacher Three places I have lived: 1. My hometown 2. K-zoo 3. Metro Detroit Three TV shows that I watch: 1. Survivor 2. Heroes (although I dropped out last season) 3. Extreme Makeover, Home Edition Three places I have been: 1. Russia 2. Scotland 3. London Three people that e-mail me regularly: 1. Doug 2. Starla 3. Wendy Three of my favorite foods: 1. Steak 2. Spinach 3. Almost anything other people cook for me Three things I am looking forward to: 1. Sept. 13th (afternoon with my grandma & mom, friend's bachelorette party) 2. Sept. 20th (My grandma's 90th bday party, also a friend's wedding) 3. The school year starting

Roman is sick. He crawled into our bed around 5:30am with a fever, his body was so hot. Whenever the liquid Tylenol wears off, up pops his temp again. He's very emotional and not very hungry either, which is a definite sign of things not being right. He's at his Grandma & Papa's tonight and we hope he gets a good night's sleep and feels much better in the morning. Doug and I are tired. These darn kids of ours have us up almost constantly throughout the night. It's to the point that I felt physically ill myself today, lightheaded and just not firing on all cylinders. I grabbed a 15-minute catnap and felt a little better. Charlie is getting better about his wakings; last night was 1:30am but I soothed him right back to sleep; 5am was much more demanding and he got a bottle, then slept until 8am. We don't mind 5am bottles; if he would just sleep straight through until then! In the great food experiment, we've moved up to Stage 2 food which is a little cream...

Weight Watchers really makes you obsess *more* over food since you have to count points and pay attention to every little thing that goes in your mouth. I am taking 3 days off from counting points. Today was Roman's and my afternoon together and I wanted to snack right along with him and not say "hmm, Nutri-Grain bar or Twinkies?" I wanted the Twinkies, darn it! (actually I had a Suzy-Q). Tomorrow is our Gen-X meeting of church people, and everyone is bringing a dish of their favorite childhood food. Again, who wants to worry about points when I expect mac & cheese, PB&J, and we're doing s'mores for dessert? Saturday brings a family picnic on my Dad's side: pool party & cookout. I am bringing something very low in points, but if I want a hot dog and a piece of butterscotch pie, darnit, I'm having it. And then I will return to my regularly scheduled weight loss on Sunday. Speaking of, I made my 10% weight loss goal today. I will probably re-ma...

The title is what Doug proclaimed when I actually fell asleep at the table after dinner. My response - exactly. I haven't worked in 7 months, of course I'm tired! Today was emotionally exhausting. It was an unofficial, official "back to work" day - seeing kids as they came to collect their schedules, talking with coworkers, catching up from the summer. It's a different "on the go" than as a SAHM, and it truly wiped me out. Plus, ol' Charlie spent his first afternoon in daycare. It was absolutely one of the hardest days of my life. It was harder than with Roman, for a couple reasons. Ro was older - 15 months - and plus Ro was used to spending time with many kids in the baby home... it made my guilt a little easier to think he was returning to an environment he was comfortable with. I kept seeing Charlie's big grinning face in my mind all afternoon, and I did have a good quick cry after I walked out the door. He did fine, of course, taking 2 big bo...

Our suitcases are put away for the summer. The next time I will need one is Sept. 13, and then again Sept. 20, and then... hopefully a blissful reprieve. At least until the scrapbooking weekend in November. This trip to the "west side" was just as enjoyable as ever, but the 3-hour drive there & back again gets a little weary. The trip home today was made worse by the fact we had to stop no less than four times. We made it to the 2-hour mark, and then all heck broke less. Roman had to potty (stop #1). As we drove back to the highway we noticed a backup and decided to drop farther south and take Business-94 and avoid the construction for the next 12 miles. Charlie began to scream, and we decided he needed a bottle (stop #2). He refused to take said bottle. We began to drive again, making it through Jackson-town & back to the highway, when Charlie began to scream again. Executive decision made to switch drivers, Doug got in the back to feed Charlie while I drove (stop #...

I was referenced on someone else's blog ! Well, because she wants me to fill out the SAHMBOSS (super awesome hot mama blogger or some shit) question thingy. And I love filling them out, partly because it's great for scrapbooking later. So here we go! A. Attached or single? Attached, but not in the clingy sense. B. Best friend? Doug. C. Cake or pie? Cake, actually. But I prefer homemade cake. D. Day of choice? Saturday. E. Essential item? Camera. What used to be a laptop but is now a desktop. F. Favorite color? Orange. G. Gummy bears or worms? Bears, Haribo brand please. H. Hometown? SJ, Michigan. I. Indulgence? Cherry Garcia ice cream from Ben & Jerry. J. January or July? July, although January is just fine with me too. K. Kids? Two boys. L. Life isn’t complete without? Allergy medication. M. Marriage date? 5-6-00. N. Number of brothers & sisters? 1 older brother. O. Oranges or apples? Apples - oranges are too messy. P. Phobias? Probably being in the ocean. Like deep-wa...

Tomorrow marks the end of my official summer. Next week I report to school for only one afternoon officially; but my mind has been turning more and more to the start of the school year. I am forever stuck believing that the New Year begins in September, not January! I have been taking time in the evenings to do little school related things; I now have a plan book (with first week planned!), my Moodle classroom set up (an "Internet classroom"), & links to the 8th grade online textbook set up as well. Next up will be letters; the parent letter, the Open House letter, and pulling out the sheets for the first few days of activities. In grad class news, I met with the professor who will be overseeing my Independent Study class of "Best Practices." She laid out what work I need to do and then said I was allowed to make my own timeline, as long as it's all done by the end of the semester. I only need to check in with her once more in person to do an oral presentati...

Now, to post about my other boy. Every day we see a personality bloom from our little one. He loves interacting (constantly, please!) with others, and his toys. He watches Roman like a hawk, and you can tell his little mind is thinking "just wait until I can do that!" We have confirmed bananas as good, sweet potatoes as pretty good, & next up will be peas. His spoon-feedings are still pretty hit & miss; he will take half a container sometimes with barely any on his chin; and then the next try he'll razz it all out and try to gum the spoon. He consistently will only take about 4oz of formula with feeding. We have found the best approach is to give about 3-4oz of a bottle, then do the spoon, then let him take a little more formula if he wants. I had to put the bumper in the crib last week. I had put Charlie in for an attempt at nap (more on that in a minute), and his screaming really began to ramp up. I went in to find he had wiggled all the way into the corner of t...

I lurk a lot at a few other people’s blogs, especially, it seems, people who have adopted from Ethiopia. A couple have gotten involved in a new foundation called Ethiopian Orphan Relief and a few of these bloggers have recently met face to face and got their kids together, etc. A support group on many levels. It presents to me the guilt & challenge of continuing to stay connected with our agency & Russia. We talk about Russia often, and we talk about Roman’s adoption & homecoming often. We try to normalize Charlie’s arrival vs. Roman’s adoption by simple comparisons, made easier because Charlie had a stay in a hospital where we had to visit a lot before he could come home, just like Roman. And we stay in loose contact with the couples we made our first trip with; Christmas cards, maybe a phone call or email once or twice a year. But we haven’t stayed connected past that, and I feel rather guilty. Russia makes it difficult to remain friends. There are many challenges in ...

I love the magazine Family Fun , when I have the time to read it. I sometimes wish my kids were older (or liked crafts more) so I could indulge in a lot of their things. I'm still wanting to make their excavator cake . Anyway, I read awhile back about a woman who made a monthly calendar of dinner meals, and corresponding grocery lists for each week. So all she had to do was print off the grocery list, add the incidentals, and done! Well, Doug and I see the chaos that could be our life with school looming, and we've decided... to make a monthly calendar of meals. Is this a stroke of brilliance, or do I need a therapist for too high a need for organization? We took time today to list all our favorite "quick & easy" or "slow-cooker" meals. We came up with 28 of them! Throw in a couple leftover or frozen dinner meals, and we have our month. I'm going to match each main dish up with veggies & carbs, Point it all out for Weight Watchers, and my life wi...

I was showing Doug the short clips I had shot the past few days. To this one he said, "You want to post something funny - post that!" So here it is. A glimpse into my day. Crowded living room, mismatched jammies, loud noises, & oh yeah... a whole lot of entertainment.

Inspired by my friend Cat & baby tobo, I reapplied my energy to feeding Charlie by spoon. He was taking formula/rice cereal pretty well, so I thought I'd try bananas today. And something clicked, like he knew what to do! The first bite shocked him - his mouth froze up, he just looked at me - but I carried on with a big smile, lots of "oh, isn't that yummy!" in a high pitched voice... and soon he had eaten half the little container, and I believe he'd have eaten the whole thing. He was smiling, enjoying every spoonful. Now, in the video he spits it out, but most the time he sucked it right in. Life has just gotten a lot more interesting for Charlie, I think... but feeding will be a lot more time consuming for us!

Coming down the home stretch of summer, the summer where I attempt to improve all aspectsof my life, and things are going along quickly...yet slowly. I finally got the go-ahead yesterday to wear contacts again - I haven't since March due to an allergic infection. I have been using eyedrops every day since May. It's a bright summer when you can't wear sunglasses! I also had a tooth prepped for a crown yesterday. I've had 2 others, but they both had had root canals. This one has been a bit more painful! Dentist is not sure whether I will need a root canal in this one too, so we're going to cross fingers my tooth doesn't act up over the next couple weeks. So I'm dutifully taking Tylenol every 4 hours and hoping. Weight loss has stalled again too. I did great last week, but whenever we're "out" for a weekend I have trouble. However, I'm still down about 17 pounds. I took my favorite pair of dress pants to a seamstress to have them taken in. I h...

My happy little snowman, at Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland Charlie (with Grandpa) after a swim Me threatening to toss Roman Charlie (with Baba), happy to be back at a pool (for the 3rd time that day). Roman. Swimming. By himself. Doggy paddle. A visit to Michigan's Own Military & Space Museum before we go!

I am an emotional girl (surprise!). I experience every emotion with my whole being; sometimes a little too much, you know. Sensitive, would be the word for it. And I've had great highs, and low lows, and feel that to this point I've had quite a few "happiest days of my life!" Until today. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, better than the mixed feeling of joy, pride, & amazement as you watch your child accomplish something they've been struggling with. I have been on Cloud 10 (true love is Cloud 9, right?) since about 7:15 this evening. Roman. The boy who will be the cause of the rest of my gray hair, can now be called a swimmer. He doggy paddles. He jumps in, about 3.5 feet of water. By himself. He pushes off from the wall, face in the water. He goes underwater. On purpose. And comes up grinning. As I finally pulled him out of the pool at 8:00pm, he was playing with a new friend. They were diving from the shallow-steps to see who could go the farthest in ...