Me(me), Nos. 10-11.

I've been struggling a bit to figure out what I should wrap this meme-business up with.  Organized people get it all done in one post, so there aren't these scraggly tail end items that cause everyone to yawn.  I'm also behind on my pictures, so will oh-so-casually drop some in from the park last weekend, to liven things up.

Lively!

10.  Not that we've had much occasion to travel without them, but Matt and I aren't allowed to fly together sans children.  If the whole family crashes, that's fine, but I don't want the kids orphaned because we flew off to Fiji for a weekend (because we jet off to exotic islands all the time).  I'm not sure if this was nature or nurture - when I was young I would fly as an unaccompanied minor while my mom & two siblings flew separately.  My dad, sitting out another trip to his in laws at home, didn't want to be the lone survivor should something happen.  I loved this rare, oldest child perk and considered myself quite the independent little jet setter.

It never struck me as odd till I mentioned it to a couple people who looked horrified at the dark, dark crevices of my psyche.  Almost everyone points out the most dangerous part of flying is getting to the airport.  That statistic always struck me as silly though, because two family sedans sideswiping each other, even at 65mph, will most likely not result in a fatality.  A jet going 500mph sideswiping the ground?  Different outcome.

Contemplating the Delta V of a landing plane

11.  Nothing new here, but I would love to adopt another kid or two.  Or three.  From domestic foster care?  International?  Reese's Rainbow?  How do you look through 100 pictures and pick just one kid?  Only offer your family to one child, knowing that the other 99 may never end up with someone who loves him best of all?  No one to kiss his boo-boos, cut his sandwich in triangles not squares, or rub his back during the flu?  I wouldn't even know where to start.  Should we go with the special need we know and love or be more open minded?  What about accessibility and our stairs?  If we adopt a child of color should we move into a more diverse neighborhood?  What about leaving all the cousins who live right next door?  What if we can't manage to bond?  What would be the one thing we really, really couldn't handle?

I spend a ridiculous amount of time thinking about these things and reading arguments for/against domestic/interracial/international adoption, but the truth is we're barely hanging on over here.  Squeezing money out of our budget for more daycare would be like squeezing a diamond out of charcoal - never mind the adoption fees or additional medical & therapy.  It also doesn't seem really fair to take someone "into your family" only to warehouse them in day care 10 hours a day.  I can't imagine that helps the bonding process (not that it's fun for our bio-kids either but it IS only 3 days a week and I doubt they worry much whether anyone's going to pick them back up again).  I also don't feel like I'm giving enough time to my current two, what with all the Saturdays and late nights at work.  Then again... doesn't having your own imperfect family trump foster care/orphanage?

All this would be solved if I could leave my job but soooo not happening.  *big sigh*

Siblings!

Well, that kind of ended on a down (ha!) note, didn't it?  Here's another picture of my girl climbing on her own - ever moving forward & up.  I should take notes.  

Climber!

Sunny Days

Just a couple quick

photos from the last weekend

before the Great Flu.

SOMEBODY does not 

want a helicopter Mom. 

Climbing ladders? Check. 

Clear blue skies. Brown eyes.

Dimples to melt my stony

heart.  Just don't fall please. 

Go forth, my child, to

climb, strive, seek, and not to yield.

But first, a cuddle.

2/31 for 21 Cheater Post

Only the second night and already slacking!  It was a good weekend - blueberry pancakes, time with the cousins, laundry, and I even broke out the vacuum cleaner (I only used it in one room but no need to get sucked up in the details).  I even spent an unheard of TWO nights out with friends, on Thursday and Friday.  Such a decadent life I lead! 

Today we went to the park but I was lazy with the camera.  This one would have been cute, had it been in focus:

And a couple more.  Slightly bedragged "park hair".  It was hyper cute 20 minutes earlier, I swear.

Surprised at the rocking bench

Busy!

She's getting so big.  She climbed up the straight ladder today at the park, mostly by herself.  And she's now officially in a toddler bed.  Which she refuses to actually sleep in so we'll move her sleeping hulk off the floor several times during the night.  We never hear any thuds though, which we attributed to the giant stuffed monkey next to her bed but tonight she confirmed my suspicions when I returned to her room exactly 63 seconds after putting her to bed to find her already on the floor - she lays down nicely, smiles at me as I leave, then scurries over to the door & tries to look thru the crack at the bottom to keep tabs on those with later bedtimes. Delightfully sneaky, she is.

It was hot, but there was water.

Prologue:  I once took a class on Middle East politics and the professor began by saying we were going to talk about religion, tribalism, imperialism, and oil politics but the real problem there is that it's hot, and there's no water.

~~~~~~

So… given someone’s friendly pressure to break me out of my social isolation, I leapt on a recent sweet offer and last Sunday, I am proud to announce, we had our first ever IRL (in real life) playdate with no less than the famous RK of Just RK and her incredibly cute kids.  They are all exactly as awesome as they seem to be on screen & a big thank you to RK for making the time to meet us after a long day at work.

HOWEVER, I had the great idea to meet at the park.  To wit:  outside  (Just in case that was unclear).  In the middle of heat wave.  Genius.  In my defense there WAS a splash zone, but the kids, being kids and immune to logic or heat stroke, quickly tired of the water and wanted to swing instead.  Five minutes spent pushing two kids and even my shins were sweating.  Which, yes, is gross but “it was a just a tad warm” just doesn't convey the same level of OMG - HOT!

So I suggested milkshakes to cool off so we could chat more without melting.  Except the milkshake place was not where I remembered it and I panicked a bit, thinking this was the saddest first introduction ever, and also a bit worried that RK, who was following behind me in her car, might be thinking I was driving her around in circles thru this maze of chain stores in some elaborate con, so I pulled into a different fast food/shake-like place.  Except I pulled into the only fast food joint in the history of America that doesn’t have indoor seating (Thanks, Sonic), where we had a lovely time - if you don’t mind sitting in the middle of a parking lot in 100 degrees with flies buzzing around your food.  A party planner I am not.

Nice going, Mom! 

Luckily RK was incredibly gracious and easy going about the whole thing, and I haven’t been served any restraining orders yet, so there’s that.  On a serious note, she said something that stayed with me – we were chatting about the NDSC convention and our hopes of going next year, and she said she wanted it to be something special for her daughter to look forward to every year.  It would be her thing.  And it suddenly dawned on me that as nice as these playdates might be for me, how fantastic will it be for my daughter to have that circle of friends and support available to her as she grows up?  THAT is enough motivation to get my shy awkward self out onto the dance floor.  ...Assuming there’s air conditioning, of course.

Sorry, only pictures of my kids today, taken when we first arrived, before they scattered.

Ruffle butt!

Sunday at the Park

It got down into the 30s overnight and we scrambled to get new winter jammies but it was back into the high 80s today.  Needless to say it was crowded at the park today. 



Summer ending

Last weekend for the pool & park sprinklers.

Joyfully waiting his turn

One to Four, or Five? - Such a ladies man

Last sprinkler run of the summer

Hot day at the park.

PT at the park

No smiles from the girl -PT is serious business- but the park first thing in the morning?

Right after pancakes?  Days don't start much better than that for him.