A Tale of Running...

So last winter, I decided to start trying to run. I took it slow by following a walk/run routine & had built up to running probably about a mile during a 30 min walk/run. I loved running in the cold weather, but once it started warming up again-I let myself stop-no good reason for it either except laziness, I guess.

So a while back, I went shopping with my sisters & mom & my sister, Emily, mentions that she has started running.

I said: "Oh...I used to do that & keep thinking that I need to start up with it again-I've been walking, but not running yet. When do you find the time to run, you can't take all of the girls?" (If you're new or just don't remember-she has 3 girls ages 3, 2 & 8 1/2 months so she is VERY busy :)

She replies: "I run at night after Eric gets home, 8:30 is about the only free time I have."

Me: "Run at night? Yeah, I tried that for about a week last winter(only I was running in the morning when it was still dark), but then I let my imagination get the better of me, imagining all of the different things that could happen-deer running out of the woods into me, a skunk coming out of nowhere, possums-need I say more..."

She said: "So, in other words, you chickened out?" (Have I mentioned before that we only have a 16 month age gap, so we have always been a bit competitive ;)

And that is where this story will have to just sit & wait until another post so as they always say on TV...

TO BE CONTINUED...

Fun Friday!

The video itself is really not that exciting, but oh how I love this song! :)




Is confession necessary just for listening to it? ;)

It's that time of month again!

Umm...not that time of month-I mean ICLW week :)

So welcome back if you've been here before & WELCOME if you are new to the place, please feel free to stroll around for a bit!

Here is a "quick" introduction of some things you might like to know...

10

It's October, which means it's fall & my favorite time of year!

9

Is September (my birthday month & is now the official last number in my age-29)

8

Is probably my favorite number-no reason why though

7

Days each week that our son keeps us on our toes!

6

Years of marriage to my wonderful husband, Scott

5

Months until I am blessed with another niece or nephew

4

Days of working at school this week-Yippee! :)

3

Adoptions that we have attempted-1 successful, 1 failed, 1 in progress

2

The age of my super son, Luke

1

Month left until baby's due date!

Bet my mother never had to say this!

Tonight I said something that I was pretty sure that I would NEVER hear myself say as a mother.

Oh sure, I expected the "Get your finger out of that!", "Don't eat that-it's poop!" or even "Put that cat back outside!" But never what I heard myself say tonight...

[Get ready, now insert your best "mother/teacher/any authoritaryish figure" voice]

"You better sit back down in your chair if you want any more lettuce!"

Yep, you read that right "lettuce"-I swear the kid thinks that stuff is candy :)

To All My "Blogstalkers" :)

I like to refer this song as the "Stalker Song" so in honor of any of you "blogstalkers" out there (myself included because I do just as much of this myself too) :D here it is...the Stalker Song...

Weekend Get-away

This weekend we traveled many hours via minivan for a quick trip to the South...

The Highlights:
*Having our first ever face-to-face visit with Luke's birthmom since Luke's birth, needless to say, it went very well & has helped to ease some of the apprehension that we had been left with from Luke's birth/hospital stay
*Getting to visit with Scott's sister, Mary, & her main squeeze, Dan
*Finding out that Luke is way NOT scared of people in big animal/mascot costumes
*Watching Luke try to coax a cat (who is quite frightened of children apparently) out from under a bed
*When the 2 year old in the vehicle repeats things he hears in the adults' conversations & the phrase he continually repeats is "the roof, the roof" & at least 3 adults in the said vehicle then think about & discuss teaching the 2 year old to say "The roof, the roof is on fire!"
*Luke & his Aunt Mary looking for monkeys in her closet
*Aunt Mary & "uncle" Dan setting high standards for the nephew by trying to encourage him into a career of table dancing (BTW-thanks for trying to help out with the college fund ;)

Surprises:
*Luke did AWESOME with the super long car rides both ways (we're talking 9ish hours) AND that is without any forms of electronic entertainment (unless you count the Toddler Tunes CD that got played only a couple of times on the van stereo!) It was just good old fashioned fun-naps, watching the scenery, looking for semis, reading books & just plain old goofiness on the parts of everyone in the car :) It is nice to know that all of the "stuff" we people need to keep ourselves entertained just really isn't that necessary sometimes, plus it made for lots of great bonding time! ;)
*I was not surprised about being nervous for the meeting with Luke's birthmom, but I was surprised at the immediate relief/lack of nervousness that I felt once we were all actually face-to-face. It was almost surprising to believe that it had actually been over 2 years since we had all seen each other & it surprised me at just how unbashful Luke was towards all of them (especially since he has a tendency to be that way when meeting new/different people.)
*That all of a sudden I realize that this baby is due in only 6 1/2 weeks & could most likely be here right around a month from now & CRAP I have done absolutely nothing yet to prepare for a baby to actually come home with us!!! Maybe I should start thinking about that :)

The Grapevine...

So quite awhile back I promised some announcements...

As far as "other people's news" that is related to me-I am going to be an AUNT again!!!
My 'little' sister Beth & her husband, Neil, are expecting a baby this spring-we're all keeping or fingers crossed for a smooth pregnancy & a healthy baby. She comes from a family of girls & him a family of boys-even all of the biological grandkids (aka my sister Emily's girls & Neil's brother's boys) so far in both of the families are following the same trend. It will be interesting to see, which "trend" will continue & which will be broken (And I sure hope they don't mind that I have shared this with the whole blogging world now!) :D

As far as news directly related to us, well...

We are working with another birthmother who is due towards the end of November!

Honestly, we have known about this situation since before "Baby E" was born, but were unwilling to act on anything related to it until we knew how that adoption would turn out. Unfortunately, that adoption did not go as we were hoping so we acted upon this one immediately when that happened-even so, the "Baby E" situation was probably the hardest thing that we have endured in our marriage to date. It was tough, but at the same time we were also aware that this particular birthmother was still interested in us as parents for her baby. It acted as a distraction from what had happened, but it definitely was no "magic cure" for our sadness from losing "Baby E". At the time though it did kind of feel like that's what people thought, since most would only ask about the circumstances surrounding the 'new' baby & would never dare to ask about what had actually happened up to that point.
But that is all in the past now, those feelings do still bubble up on occasion, but they have been replaced more & more lately with excitement as the due date approaches. They are very much mixed with apprehension-what if this happens again? Will we even be able to afford to try again soon if it doesn't? Why does it have to be so hard? Scott has already said that we are "heading to a beach for Christmas" if it doesn't go! :) Peace, Love & Joy~I'm not sure we would be feeling it at that point, but nothing has been decided yet so until then we hold on to Hope that maybe we'll have a baby in our arms & a sibling for Luke this year yet!

Things that are "important" to know about this adoption:

*Birthmom is Luke's biological mother so the baby will actually be Luke's genetic 1/2 sibling (please refrain from leaving any "neat" "cool" "so good for Luke" comments-they are making my ears tired in real life only because it makes me wonder about our society & the importance that is placed on "blood" ;)
*She lives out-of-state so (like with Luke's birth) we are looking at having to spend the first several weeks of baby's life living many hours away from our home & much of our family-still trying to figure out whether we should do this with/without Luke in tow for the entire time
*Scott doesn't have much time built up yet in his job, which means we can't afford for him to have many unpaid days off, especially with a newborn to care for
*Birthmom's story is definitely NOT the "rosy" picture that everyone always imagines-her life has been hard, therefore, the way she interacts with us/attornies/agency workers at times can be very trying/difficult-yet we know that she is only trying to decide what the best decision is for her baby. I do not judge her or her actions, but I DO hope that some of the things we are dealing with for her will all be worth it in the end...

BTW (Mom & Dad, I know you read this so those letters mean "by the way" ;)
The baby is supposed to be a girl! :)

"Make Me Think" Mondays

Question #1: "For a person you loved deeply, would you be willing to move to a distant country knowing there would be little chance of seeing your friends or family again?"

Yes, if the reasons for moving were very important. Now if the reason was "just because" then I would probably have to give it more thought.

In this day & age, with all of the technology at our hands-I think it would still be very tough to move far away, but as long as there was still some way to maintain contact with them-I think I could handle the move. I would also have to assume that eventually new friendships would develop in this new place so it might not be such a lonely move in the end, but those old friendships & family connections would still mean a great deal to me.

I also realize that I would not have these exact same family & friend connections that I would be leaving behind if my own ancestors & theirs had not made this very same difficult decision many, many years ago themselves.

So, what are your thoughts please :)