My froat is still hurting....

Kailin was down with some kind of a bug this week. I think it's going around because more than one mom I know has seen this one rear its ugly head. Kailin rarely gets sick, so when she spiked a fever and complained of stomach and throat pain, I knew we were in for the long haul. In the end, she only missed one day of school and then was fine - although she did say her "froat" hurt for a couple of days afterward. She doesn't have many mispronunciations these days, but "froat" and "wif" are two of them. I probably should correct her, but I don't. I figure she'll grow out of them soon enough and one day I'll realize that they're gone and be a little sad. So for now, I'll hope her froat feels better soon.

Colby told me yesterday that his "fwoat was huwting weal bad" so I bet we're in for another round...time to make the jello and chill the apple juice!

Wish wipers and watermel...

A couple of weeks ago, yes, I'm again woefully behind on my blogging. I was up against some serious deadlines with my digital scrapbooking, and all else fell to the wayside while I tackled those projects. Anyway....a couple of weeks ago, I took the kids bowling. It was raining when we finished and we were driving home when Kailin asked, "Mom, how come those wish wipers look like they're chasing each other??" WISH WIPERS!! Wipe your wishes with these handy dandy wish wipers for a scratch free shine! "My wishes have never been cleaner!" I can see the infomercial now! I asked her if wish wipers cleaned wishes and she giggled and said, "what are those really called?" I told her and she elected to continue calling them wish wipers. I'm kind of glad.

Colby is in love with watermelon this year. He'd eat his weight in it daily if I let him. He's such good friends that they're on a nickname basis. He calls it "watermel" as if there's just no earthly reason to bother with that last syllable. Saves time and shows your loyalty at the same time. Makes sense, I think. Ha ha. That kid kills me.

five wonderful Family days to celebrate

Five years ago today my house was clean and my table was fit to eat on. Today my house is rarely clean, there are toys strewn about in nearly every room, and my table is often covered in drawings of Smurfs and robins, writing practice, crayons, and probably a smear of grape jelly. The windows are smudged with fingerprints and there are tiny jackets littering the floor. Five years ago today our lives were missing a piece without which we are not complete. Well, at least for part of the day.

I remember nervously making my way through breakfast at the Dolton Hotel before returning to our room to collect the diaper bag that I'd packed and unpacked at least 12 times in the two days before we finally met Kailin. The nervous anticipation in the bus we were on was palpable as ten families prepared to be changed forever. When we arrived at the civil affairs building and got off the elevator, we lined up in the hallway. Being tall, I could see into the room we were about to be led into. I saw a beautiful little girl being held by a young man and it occurred to me to videotape her. She was someone's daughter and I knew they'd love to have the footage of her before they knew she was theirs. We filed into the room after everything was in order and organized ourselves at one end of the room, facing the babies, nannies, and orphanage personnel on the other end. We had four Chinese speaking people in our group -- two of the soon-to-be parents and two soon-to-be grandparents. They began inquiring as to whose baby was whose. When they pointed at our little girl, we were shocked - her hair was chin length! We'd never have guessed that was our baby - we had her pegged as two other little girls. It wasn't too much longer before she was in our arms, but it was months before I realized that the little girl I filmed turned out to be our own.

Those first days were filled with uncertainty -for us and certainly for her. Kailin latched onto me for dear life and wasn't about to let go. She wanted nothing to do with Steve - which was wearing for both of us, and she was engaged but clearly not really there. I look back now at the pictures of her and realize how much light wasn't in her eyes and I'm so thankful that her eyes sparkle and shine each day of her life now.

She is a fiery, spicy girl who knows what she wants. She's tenacious and tender, silly and sensitive. She is a perfect match for our family and I wouldn't trade one day with her for anything in the world. She is a blessing in my life and the lives of many, and it is a privilege and a joy to be her parents.

We spent the day together today - bowling and going out to dinner. As I told her for the umpteenth time that I am so glad she's part of our family, she said, "I'm glad you're my mom, too. Now could you stop saying that?" That's my Kailin.

A dandelion Mother's Day

After church on Mother's Day this year, the kids ran around our yard picking dozens (in batches throughout the day) of dandelions for me and forming them into bouquets. I remember picking dandelion bouquets for my mom and thinking they were the most beautiful things I'd ever seen with their rich, vibrant yellow. We used to run around and "save them" before my dad would mow the lawn. My kids joyfully presented me with their beautiful bouquets and I graciously accepted every one.

I celebrated my first Mother's Day five years ago on the eve of our Family Day with a delicious meal, beers with new friends, and the nervous anticipation of gazing longingly at the empty crib in our hotel room for the last time. I had no idea what to expect as a new mom, and in the past five years I've learned that I will never know what to expect as a mom - the kids are always throwing me a curveball.

I wouldn't trade one day of motherhood for anything in the world. My children are the joy in my heart, the light in my eyes, and I am so thankful that God chose them for me. There are long (and sometimes frustrating) days, and (thankfully less frequently as the kids get older) sleepless nights. My buttons have been pushed, pressed, poked, prodded, mangled and become unrecognizable some days. Someone recently said, "The days are long but the years are short" and it couldn't be more true.

As I work on our family's scrapbook, I look back and see all the fun adventures we've had and feeling frustrated or overwhelmed seems so far away. I hope that the moments in the pictures are the memories my kids hold fast to - and not those moments when their mom loses her cool, or isn't so fun. In my next year as a mom my goal is to say yes more often than I say no and put aside my "other" jobs more often and make motherhood my priority. It offers rewards far richer than folded laundry or a clean bathroom. I can have folded laundry and a clean bathroom when our chicks have left the nest. I can't have this time back and I'm going to do a better job of treasuring it this year.

top secret - STAY OUT!......love, Kailin

Steve and the kids set up a project in the play room upstairs the weekend before Mother's Day. I was asked to refrain from entering the room. I was happy to comply (I'm not a peeker, and I don't like to open gifts early, either....). Just to drive the point home, the next time I went upstairs I was treated to a hand written sign that said, "top secret...stay out!" but it was signed "love, Kailin" so it was all good. Ha ha!! I loved it!! Colby made a sign, too. I'm not entirely sure what's pictured, but in true Colby fashion, the people in the picture have extra appendages and enormously oversized eyes - so rather than risk whatever mortal peril lay ahead, I kept out of the room.

The day before Mother's Day, Kailin and Steve set out to get some last minute supplies they needed. I later learned that they went to PetSmart. REALLY??? I became concerned. It turns out that my concerns were unfounded (thankfully!!). What I received on Mother's Day was a lovely fishbowl full of origami flowers that the kids designed and Steve folded. I was really impressed with his idea and their creativity. They were both excited to identify which flowers they had designed and I am excited to have flowers for the table every day! We are talking about adding more flowers to the bunch a little at a time until I have a very full everyday bouquet. I can't wait!

Saturday morning with the Schmoes

Saturday morning in our house is the once weekly chance to eat sugared cereal and/or Poptarts. AND you get to consume your sugar fix while watching cartoons! AND you get to eat as much as your heart desires (which for Kailin is frequently 3-4 servings!). This Saturday's cartoon of choice was "the Smurfs".

My kids seem to delight in watching the cartoons from when Steve and I were kids. I think it's because they are so vastly different from the cartoons of today. Can you see Dora and Boots loading Swiper up on a bunch of dynamite and sending him off into the wild blue yonder? Or Tasha pushing Tyrone out the upstairs window of a house? Perhaps a vision of Sid the Science kid blowing up Gerald?? It just doesn't happen.

Anyway, the funniest part of Saturday morning this past weekend was hearing that we were in fact watching "the Schmoes". Colby wanted more of "the Schmoes" and also wanted to know if we were watching "the new Schmoes" or "the old Schmoes". Soon Steve and I were doing everything we could just to get him to say it over and over and over. I know - we are mean, mean parents! At least it is with hearts full of love that we subject our children to tortures such as these....

death to the hillbilly!!!

I haven't kept up with my blog nearly the way I'd wanted to. I walked a hard road this winter and am just getting out of my funk enough to feel like a real human again. I'm going to try hard to get back into regular blogging. I know I'll be glad that I did.

Kailin's top two teeth were loose this winter. She yanked the first one out forcibly one day in February. We figured the second would be soon to follow. We were wrong. Like a child, that tooth set out to prove us wrong. It not only hung on in there, it MIGRATED to the middle of the space and stayed there. It was wiggly, but would not give up its purchase for anything. Kailin wiggled, jiggled, pulled, employed others to pull....to no avail. The Hillbilly Tooth was here to stay.

On Good Friday, the Hillbilly took a blow. The incident involved a microphone and a brother and a well placed backhand. The Hillbilly lost some blood and was, sadly, mortally wounded. He clung to life for almost 48 hours. He fought with all he was worth to STAY PUT. Near the end, he was nearly horizontal and almost backwards! It was TIME to put him out of his misery. Thankfully, it was Uncle Nick to the rescue after lunch on Easter. He suggested that maybe we could put some orajel on the battleground to numb the pain a bit. Kailin got a charge out of the funny feeling in her mouth and then as soon as I grabbed on, out it popped. The Hillbilly is no more!!

I always said that I wouldn't be a parent to force my child to pull a loose tooth, but the Hillbilly overstayed his welcome! It was TIME. In fact, the long gone tooth's replacement is still nowhere in sight, but the Hillbilly's is already poking through. Too bad - I think Kailin's ADORABLE with her big gap. She did ask me the other day if I would teach her how to blow a bubble with gum and I had to say, "I will be happy to teach you, but not today - you need some TEETH!" We had a good laugh.