Coping with Pre-Cupid Explosion

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The boys are jazzed, they know it’s just one more goodnight before Valentine’s Day. We worked diligently on our Valentines cards last night and I have to say they are pretty damn good. I can’t say it was a fun project, with 3 control freaks all trying to run the show and Dee and I struggling to get a finished product that actually looked like a Valentine, there were battles. Levi wrote his name on ALL the ones for school and the homemade ones (for the cousins, grandparents and godmas) and I was highly impressed with how legible it was. We did the “I write in yellow, Carlos writes over the top” trick and got Carlos to sign all of his. Dee wrestled and tried to guide Trey’s hand to write his name but that lasted all of 2 cards and we just wrote his. Seriously, 2 year old giants have NO interest in signing their name on a Valentine’s Day card. The cards came out looking like a heart sticker factory exploded on them, but that’s what it’s all about.

We may be getting a new foster baby (Baby X) in the next couple days. We’re waiting for him to be release from the hospital. He’s older but preemie so newborn size and I went to visit him yesterday at the hospital. What an angel. It was a treat to hold him and feed him, a nice quiet break from the chaos that is our lives. Thank you Nana for hanging with the boys while I got some baby time.

Busy day today with speech, taking Trey to the pool, coffee with Maymay and a conference with the boy’s teacher this afternoon. Oh, and making our Valentine’s cookies…yum…gotta have those!

Things That Make You Go Hmmmm

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So Levi is really into writing letters and drawing pictures. He has a little magnetic doodle pad that he’s always writing on and asking us to write his name. Saturday afternoon he wanted me to write his full name on the pad, and I could fit only Levi Dominic. We started talking about his name and how Mama K and Mama Dee picked “Levi” because we really liked it and it really fit his personality. We also talked about how his middle name came from his birth family. I asked him if he remembered when Dominic was his first name and he said “yes, that was when I was at the other family and then I came back home” I was FLOORED. He was only 1 year old when he left our house, left to live with a relative and then came back home. I reassured him that he would live with us forever, he would always be our boy. He seemed really good with it and even talked about how his birthmom was the one who kept him under her shirt when he was really little. How sweet is that?!
Levi is our super sensitive guy, and he’s been a little stressed out lately since he heard me talking about Las Vegas. I’ve been trying to have some extra one on one time with him, letting him talk about his feelings more and just get some extra hugs and reassurance. He’s worried about the Vegas trip, though and he thinks that Dee and I are leaving for good. Seriously, we have only left overnight once since we’ve had the boys, so this will be hard on us all but Levi has some abandonment issues (not a surprise!) so I really worry about him. I won’t get started…on one hand I’m so excited to go on the trip and have some grownup time and who doesn’t love Vegas, but on the other hand I’ll miss my boys terribly. I get sad just thinking about it. Weird, I know, I’m insane.

Little Boys, Big City

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Friday morning, my mom and I took the boys to Seattle to the Tiny Tots Symphony. It’s pretty cool, actually, they have a few of the instruments featured and it all geared down to a kids level. Levi took a minute before it started to give Papa a call, Trey and Nana cheesed for the camera and Carlos stole my hat but looked so darn cute in it I couldn’t fight him. Trey gets so into the symphony, claps along and really enjoys the music, but late mornings are tough for Trey, as it’s naptime and he just couldn’t stay awake for the whole performance. As a treat after the symphony, we always go across the street to get gelato. Cute pic of the guys enjoying their treat!
Friday night Dee and I went on a date….gasp!…..and saw “Fools Gold”. Pretty good, it was mindless entertainment and nice to have a break. We don’t get a ton of us time so when we do we really cherish it.
We did a little shopping before heading home (Children’s Place was having a half off their clearance sale, got some new jean for Trey, pants and a shirt for Levi and Carlos got a new tie). Also picked up a Valentine’s shirt for Levi.
This weekend we’ve been lying low….Mary made us a yummy breakfast and she I took Levi and Alice to the Democratic caucus. I haven’t seen so many cars parked along the road at Woodward since the Rotary Auction. Levi was bored, hell, I was bored but it was all important to get my vote to count. It was overwhelmingly Obama supporters, I figured it would be a closer race with Hillary. I’m still not sold….anyhow, no politics here!
Nana and Papa brought dinner on Saturday and that was a treat! The boys hadn’t had hard shelled tacos before and they loved them. Dean came to visit as well and we had lots of laughs as we always do with Dean.
Today I woke up coughing, fever, sore throat….yeah, pretty much feeling like I’d been run over by a truck. Life goes on, though, in this house and Carlos and I ran to the store to grab some breakfast and much needed coffee before the others woke up. Got home, ate and just let the boys play around for awhile. We had a memorial service to go to for a friend’s mom, came home and headed out to do my Sunday shopping with Suzanne. Just had a lazy evening, trying to feel better and get some laundry done, boys through the bath and tucked into bed. Needing some sleep here and hoping to feel human again in the morning. Either way, there will be 3 needy boys ready for me to be functioning by the a.m.

Reflections on What Was

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Today I had my MNMs group and as always, one of the things that I love about it is that it gets me thinking. Some days I wonder if I “think” or just bumble along and control the chaos day in and day out. I’m no idiot, my college degree didn’t come out of a cracker jack box, but I’m not one to seek out learning experiences. Anyhow, having this place to go and turn on my brain is a good thing.
Today one of the moms had written a list of things she had before kids that she doesn’t have now. Examples were sleeping in on the weekend and being able to go to the bathroom without company. I can relate 100%, it’s been AGES since I peed in peace. As I understood and saw all the things that she listed, I too realized that it wasn’t so much that I missed these things. I have so much more now that we have a family and we are truly blessed. Sounds cliche, and believe me there are days when I fall into bed exhausted and can’t wait for that day to end, but for the most part life is good.

Comfy!

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Dee and I are happy as clams with our new couch. It’s still missing the one long piece, but that had to be special ordered so we have most of a fancy new couch and then our crappy old one attached to it.

Carlos is such a little business man these days, everyday he makes sure he has pants with pockets so he can carry around his money and keys and he always wears his “seatbelt” (his belt). Honestly, he puts on his belt over his pajamas after bath, takes it off to sleep then puts it away in his special drawer and puts it back on the minute he gets up. Yesterday he asked if he could wear a tie to school, of course I said yes and he was adorable. I thought he’d take it off once he got to class, but he wore it ALL day, even to nap! he’s already planning on wearing it to speech tomorrow.

Here are the boys last night on a phone call to Patti and Jeanie. We got all three phones, dialed and handed one to each of the boys. They were so excited to be chatting but had a hard time not getting distracted by hearing eachother talk. They love talking on the phone, feel free to give them a ring whenever you need someone to talk to. Oh, but they aren’t the best listeners though.

Also, for your viewing enjoyment….tonight’s pajama races!

Love/Hate

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So Levi’s sleepover….hmmm. Apparently it didn’t go as planned, not so smooth sailing this time around. We got a call from Mary this morning seeing if we wanted to meet up at the park to let the kids run and burn off some energy. We were getting food for the Superbowl so Mary just met us at Safeway for the drop off. Seems Levi and Alice had spent a little too much together time and the minute Levi saw us he burst into tears. Mary was at wit’s end and said poor Levi got the brunt of some anger from Alice (I’d say it was probably 70/30). It has to be tough for her to have to share all of her things and her special time with her mama with someone else. So we got Levi calmed down and shopped, then I took the boys out to the car and asked Levi what had happened with Alice. Poor little guy burst out into tears again and could barely talk and all I got out of him was the he broke a tea set cup when he was sitting on the bed and it fell off. I hugged him and my heart just broke for him, it was an accident and his world was completely rocked. He told Mary that he “just wasn’t good at doing their house”. He’s a sweet souled little guy, and changed in his environment just throw him for a loop. He’s had lots of extra hugs and kisses today for sure. This is one of those times when I don’t see him as the “oldest” boy but my baby boy.

The picture is from this afternoon….Levi and Alice watching a movie. Like I said, love/hate.

Did anyone watch the Superbowl? Lame game…oh wait, up until the last 4 minutes and then it was edge of your seat exciting! Commercials were a disappointment for sure this year, though. Why bother paying millions of dollars for a :30 spot when you don’t even bother putting together a decent ad?

A Smile

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I got a very pleasant suprise this morning in my inbox. I honestly wasn’t quite ready to get up, but the boys had had “movie night” and their matresses were out in the living room and Dee and I heard them up and about so it was time. Still groggy, I sat down to check email and had a new friend request on Myspace. Opened it up to find a old friend (Shane, we both grew up on the island, then dated for a short time but it wasn’t meant to be). He honestly has to be one of the nicest people I have ever met, and he’s married now and has a new baby girl. So sweet! It’s great to see his family and that such a great person found such happiness. Anyhow, it was a nice way to start off the day.
Yesterday morning we decided to endulge and go to Bainbridge BBQ for their amazing brunch and all you can eat bread pudding (life’s simple pleasures). We were so disappointed. They aren’t doing the buffet anymore, the service was just about non-existant and the food was just ok. They did make some bread pudding special for us which was above and beyond, but it wasn’t like the last time we had it. I think it’s a great business, but was bummed out with the experience when the last time we went we couldn’t say enough about how great it was.
After brekfast Levi got to go with Mary and Alice for the day, then they had a sleepover so he was the happiest boy around. Dee and I took Carlos and Trey to Home Depot (hey, they love going there!) and came back home to get naps in and we actually got to watch Carolyn’s baby “X” for about an hour. Love that baby so it was easy and it felt good to be able to give her a break (this is the first time ever in the last almost year that she’s had a break at all).
Had some something unexpected come up and I took off to help Carolyn and Dee stayed and hung out with Carlos and Trey. They had fun, lots of movies and popcorn and I got home just in time to watch the end of Ratatouille and tuck them into bed.
We are meeting up with Margaret for coffee, then heading to the store to get what we need for Superbowl!

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Hi Family and Friends! I am asking a favor from all of you. One of our former softball players, Larkin, and her friends
have entered a contest with a Portland radio station and they are in the final 4. They prize is tickets to a Jonas Brothers Concert and an opportunity to meet them. These girls are crazy for the Jonas Brothers and it would mean a lot if you could vote for them. Click on the link below and view the final four photos. Their’s is the first one. Larkin is on the left. Vote by clicking on the circle below the photo. You will get an email to confirm your vote. Thank you very much and feel free to pass this on to others. Let’s get Larkin some votes!

http://www.z100portland.com/pages/pages/just_like_jonas_vote.php

Peaceful Easy Feeling

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There is a time each evening just after the kids have just been tucked into bed. Usually I’m out in the living room alone, as Dee is lying with Carlos. This time of the evening, when it’s silent in the house, is amazing. It’s not because they aren’t there, it’s because there is true peace to it, knowing that those sweet souls are busy dreaming. I still feel the weight of motherhood, that I’m responsible for these boys, that doesn’t stop when they are sleeping. This is one of those time and it’s a peaceful, easy feeling.