After dinner last night, I was sitting on the floor in the living room, facing James and Nathanael, who were waiting for the Elmo tape to remind. I was trying to chat with them and James said I was in his way, he couldn't see. I told him there was nothing to see bc it was rewinding and just be patient...
My sweet baby James says to me "I want you to go in the kitchen and clean."
Oh, hell no. I didn't know whether to crack up laughing or beat the kid. I calmly stood up, and told him that I was not his maid, and that if he wanted the kitchen clean, he should clean it. He, of course, wanted to watch Elmo and started to cry. Uh-uh. I had that boy load the dishwasher one dish at a time, showing him what direction they should go in. I had him put boxes, etc back in the cupboard, and had him wipe off the dinner table. I thanked him for cleaning, and he asked "now can I watch Elmo?" "Sure" I replied, "but remember, the next time you want the kitchen clean, do it yourself or keep your mouth shut." "Yes, ma'am"
I told Ken about that last night and he just busted out laughing!!! Very funny!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Potty Trainng
Strange computer malfulnction...some of the letters dont work and I switched leyboards, and it's intermittent. Weird. Seems to be working right now.
So...today was a victory!! Nathanael went to daycare with big boy underware and did not have a single accident!! Saturday was literally his first day in big boy underware, and he had no accidents. Sunday, he did well until the babysitter came (1st time leaving the boys with a babysitter!), and he had several accidents, so I was going to have him wear pull ups this morning, but he was not into that idea. I took extra clothes for him, but when Ken brought the kids home, he was in the same outfit! I hope it lasts, we'll see. The only thing that triggered it is that he had a physical on Thursday and the doctor asked if he was potty training yet. I lied and said yes...but then later I said to Nathanael - 'did you hear the doctor say you should be going in the potty?' He takes great stake in what 'the doctor' says. Whatever works... I'm so proud of him!
So...today was a victory!! Nathanael went to daycare with big boy underware and did not have a single accident!! Saturday was literally his first day in big boy underware, and he had no accidents. Sunday, he did well until the babysitter came (1st time leaving the boys with a babysitter!), and he had several accidents, so I was going to have him wear pull ups this morning, but he was not into that idea. I took extra clothes for him, but when Ken brought the kids home, he was in the same outfit! I hope it lasts, we'll see. The only thing that triggered it is that he had a physical on Thursday and the doctor asked if he was potty training yet. I lied and said yes...but then later I said to Nathanael - 'did you hear the doctor say you should be going in the potty?' He takes great stake in what 'the doctor' says. Whatever works... I'm so proud of him!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Last Visit
Tonight, Ms Reed came to make her last official visit as the boys' social worker. She is now transferring our case to Jim, the adoption social worker. It was a fun visit, the boys love her to death. I had the boys tell them their 'new' names (they are so excited about them!!), and she cried when Nathanael told her his middle name. It was real sweet. Nathanael has self-proclaimed himself "Nate Reid" at daycare. He walks around saying "I Nate Reid I Nate Reid".
I decided I need to start recording some of the funny things the boys say. Here's a recent one...Ken and I had been talking about giving Cooper Tylenol because his teeth were hurting him. So, James has a real big, hard stinky. When he got off the potty and pulled up his shorts, he grabbed his butt and said "my hiney hurts, I need some Tylenol". He said it so matter-of-factly, I had to laugh!
I decided I need to start recording some of the funny things the boys say. Here's a recent one...Ken and I had been talking about giving Cooper Tylenol because his teeth were hurting him. So, James has a real big, hard stinky. When he got off the potty and pulled up his shorts, he grabbed his butt and said "my hiney hurts, I need some Tylenol". He said it so matter-of-factly, I had to laugh!
Friday, July 18, 2008
Vacation
I will soon post pictures from the week, but wanted to post a quick note about our week at the River. We had a great time! For those of you who do not know about the river...it is a long-standing love of my family. My aunt Phyllis has a cabin there in WV and it is peaceful and beautiful beyond description. Ken and I took the boys and my mom and step dad (Jim) stayed the week with us. My aunts Phyllis, Kathy, Suzanne and uncle Mike came on Sunday to celebrate Taylor's 1st birthday!! It is hard to believe he is one! I'm so glad the boys got to spend some time with my aunts and uncle. Now Kathy is more than just the lady who "gave us the carrot cookies at Easter." Later in the week, aunt Betsy came and spent the night and met the boys fir the first time. They thought Betsy and her dog Angus were great. They are now completely spoiled and getting them back into the 'real world' sans Mimi and PapPap is gonna be tough.
Some adventures of the week: swimming in the river, canoeing (our dog's name is Canoe, and this was the boys' first canoing experience, so they were a little confused!), fishing, taking a bath and washing their hair in the river, walks and a picnic on the river trail, lots of bike rides, frisbee/baseball/soccer/waterbombs in the backyard, long naps, and general river activities. Although amazingly fun, taking the boys to the river was such a hugely different experience from adult only trips. I am used to waking up in the morning at my leisure and drinking coffee in the rocking chairs on the porch and just enjoying the peace and quiet. THIS week, the rocking chairs were all turned sideways to form a choo-choo train...James as the engineer and mommy as the caboose. As a non-parent, I never thought about the dangers of the river either, but we were constantly keeping an eye on each child. I was so scared one would fall off the 2nd story deck. The only real injury was James falling down the full flight of indoor stairs and rug-burning the right hand side of his face. It was a nasty fall, but no blood or broken bones.
The most exciting (I think) thing about the trip was we told the boys their new names...bc of where we are in the adoption process, we can start calling them by what we will change their names too. James and Nathanael will keep their first names - we just couldn't change them (Although James' name was actually Junior when we got the boys). Anyway....here they are:
James Conrad. Conrad is Ken's middle name and his mom's maiden name.
Nathanael Reid. 1. like the name 2. the boys' social worker's name is Ms Reed and if it were not for her we probably wouldn't even have the boys 3. their is a family at our church who has the name Reid running through it and they have been incredibly good to us and the boys.
Taylor is now Cooper Dawson. Yes. We are officially calling him Cooper as of his first birthday. He already responds to it. James and Nathanael were totally fine about us changing his name, although they are having a little trouble remembering. Dawson is my mom's middle name. Cooper is a name we liked, and well...for those of you who know the significance of this name, there's no need to explain, but the name Cooper Dawson just sounds right and feels right. (Robin - I saw Sarah Reem at Wolfcreek and she just laughed hysterically about his name).
Some adventures of the week: swimming in the river, canoeing (our dog's name is Canoe, and this was the boys' first canoing experience, so they were a little confused!), fishing, taking a bath and washing their hair in the river, walks and a picnic on the river trail, lots of bike rides, frisbee/baseball/soccer/waterbombs in the backyard, long naps, and general river activities. Although amazingly fun, taking the boys to the river was such a hugely different experience from adult only trips. I am used to waking up in the morning at my leisure and drinking coffee in the rocking chairs on the porch and just enjoying the peace and quiet. THIS week, the rocking chairs were all turned sideways to form a choo-choo train...James as the engineer and mommy as the caboose. As a non-parent, I never thought about the dangers of the river either, but we were constantly keeping an eye on each child. I was so scared one would fall off the 2nd story deck. The only real injury was James falling down the full flight of indoor stairs and rug-burning the right hand side of his face. It was a nasty fall, but no blood or broken bones.
The most exciting (I think) thing about the trip was we told the boys their new names...bc of where we are in the adoption process, we can start calling them by what we will change their names too. James and Nathanael will keep their first names - we just couldn't change them (Although James' name was actually Junior when we got the boys). Anyway....here they are:
James Conrad. Conrad is Ken's middle name and his mom's maiden name.
Nathanael Reid. 1. like the name 2. the boys' social worker's name is Ms Reed and if it were not for her we probably wouldn't even have the boys 3. their is a family at our church who has the name Reid running through it and they have been incredibly good to us and the boys.
Taylor is now Cooper Dawson. Yes. We are officially calling him Cooper as of his first birthday. He already responds to it. James and Nathanael were totally fine about us changing his name, although they are having a little trouble remembering. Dawson is my mom's middle name. Cooper is a name we liked, and well...for those of you who know the significance of this name, there's no need to explain, but the name Cooper Dawson just sounds right and feels right. (Robin - I saw Sarah Reem at Wolfcreek and she just laughed hysterically about his name).
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Relief
The 7 days of waiting are over!! As of midnight last night, the parent's rights were ended! We have our meeting to finalize the foster care paperwork in 2 weeks (we're going to WV next week), which will transfer us over to an adoption social worker. So, really the boys are sortof in limbo....not adopted yet, and still have their last name, but now we don't have to worry about any visits with any of the biological family, and don't have to worry about the parents really at all.
STRANGELY enough, the parents showed up at social services today. Our SW was like "what in the world?! They better not try and change their mind now!" Although legally, it was too late, they could've fought it. But no, they were there to show our social worker their new baby. How totally random. The only thing they asked about the boys was whether or not Ken and I knew they had relinguished their rights. Random...
But such a RELIEF. When I tucked in James and Nathanael tonight, I told them how much mommy and daddy loved them and how happy we were to be their parents and how proud we were of them. I think it was the first time I actually called them "my sons". I almost sounded weird to me, but good!
It will still be approx 6 months until the adoption is final, but we are well on our way!!
STRANGELY enough, the parents showed up at social services today. Our SW was like "what in the world?! They better not try and change their mind now!" Although legally, it was too late, they could've fought it. But no, they were there to show our social worker their new baby. How totally random. The only thing they asked about the boys was whether or not Ken and I knew they had relinguished their rights. Random...
But such a RELIEF. When I tucked in James and Nathanael tonight, I told them how much mommy and daddy loved them and how happy we were to be their parents and how proud we were of them. I think it was the first time I actually called them "my sons". I almost sounded weird to me, but good!
It will still be approx 6 months until the adoption is final, but we are well on our way!!
Saturday, July 5, 2008
4th weekend
Nathanael playing hide and seek at the pool.
He's not scared of the water anymore!
James prepares to be thrown "weally high!"
Mommy tosses James off her sholders.
He loves every second!
How adorable is our little snuggle bug! (That's our neice Heather in the pic)
James and Nathanael (red shorts) had a great time playing in the main water fountain at Depot Park in Sanford on the 4th.We've had a fun 4th weekend so far! We swam for quite a while at Ken's parents with our neices and the boys. Ken's dad took a bunch of pics. Perfect weather. The afternoon of the 4th, we went to Sanford's "old fashioned 4th" celebration. Playing in the fountain was the highlight. We also went into the historical railraod museum, where according to James, they have "stuff from a loooong time ago."
We had yet another intersting phone call from the boys' aunt Friday night. Long story short, apparently the parents left the 2 week old baby girl with the mom's 17 year old sister (who also has an infant) and didn't return when they said they would (don't know details, but it must have been a long time after), so the sister and g-ma called the police to get social services to come get the baby. In the meantime, the parents returned, hell broke loose and the parents said they were leaving the county... we thought they would've laid low for awhile. They clearly hadn't "abandonded" the baby since the police left the baby with them.
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