Dread.

 The definition of dread, according to Mr. Know-it-all Google:

      Verb - Anticipate with great apprehension or fear.

 

 

Oh, it's not something that I've thought about every waking moment, or even all that frequently - but when it would pop into my head, dread would be the perfect word choice. 

 

The question I've dreaded for 8 years has finally been asked.

 

We were driving home from somewhere last weekend, and for whatever reason, we were in two cars - little man rode with his Dad, while I drove alone.   As we gathered our things from the cars to go in the house, Greg pulled me to the side and told me that Ben had asked who his Birthparents were.  My first thoughts were:  Ooh, thank goodness he asked his Daddy and not me!  And, oh dear Lord, what brought this on??  Why now?  What do we say??

We huddled in the garage for a minute, deciding finally that:  if he asked, he's ready to know.

(nobody asked me if I was ready!)

 

We've had the adoption conversation before - he knows he's adopted, we use the word adoption freely - but he's never asked about Birthparents.  My baby is somewhat naive about the whole birds and the bees thing; he hasn't been around many pregnant women, so the whole idea of where babies come from is waaaaay off his radar.  Thank goodness.  So, for him to ask - out of the blue - about Birthparents?  (we found out that he'd watched an episode of Wizards of Waverly Place featuring an adopted character, who referred to their Birthparents....go figure.) 

 

So, we put all our things away and called a Family Meeting.  Ben hopped into my lap, happy-go-lucky, while I felt my stomach start to digest itself.  My sweet husband took the reins and brought the subject up again. {Because of privacy, I'm not going to go into specifics  - the folks that read this blog (most of you, anyway) know us and our family story personally, so specifics aren't necessary.}  

 

After a few minutes, with all his questions answered, the subject was closed and he was satisfied.  That, which I'd dreaded for so long, was much easier than I could have dreamed. 

I know this won't be the end of the questioning, but I think the groundwork has been laid nicely. 

Now, I'll have to find something else to dread.....
 

 

 

Cody

You, my dear, smell. 



Not in the, "Oh, you smell like roses!" smell. 

No no no....you smell like a dog.   Your blanket smells like a dog.  The rug smells like a dog.

Your chair....wait.  MY chair!  When did it become your chair?  Oh yeah.  It became yours when YOU GOT YOUR SMELL ON IT!  


You're a big, goofy, wild, hard headed, smelly dog. 

Want a treat?  :)










 

Mother's Day 2012

Thank you, my sweetest boy for my 8th Mother's Day as your mom. 


You are my precious angel and I love you more than life itself.



Mom

Eight

8

Eight. 

EIGHT!!


1) What can I give you to make you as happy as you have made me? Years and years we waited for you - praying, hoping all along. You were - and are - truly a gift from God.

2) Your energy is off the charts and I'm so envious.  You are always up for the next adventure; always ready to gogogo, run, play, and fight bad guys.  Keep fighting those bad guys, baby.  Always have fun!    

3) Try your hardest. Don't give up after stumbling. You'll truly learn from your mistakes - no matter how bad you may feel.   Don't stop trying - and don't stop learning.

4)  Those blue eyes just kill me - do you know how powerful they are? You'll probably break a thousand hearts with those baby blues.   Right now, though, you can just use your powers on Mom and Dad....

5) Be good.  Be kind.  Be strong.  Stand up for what is right, don't go with the crowd 'just because'.   Make up your own mind about what you will and won't do, don't allow someone else to change what you know is right...listen to the feelings in your heart and you'll always know you've done what is best.  

6) Do you have to grow up? I know, in just a few short years, you'll be driving. Driving!
Every year I think, oh I love this age - but every year it gets better. I can't wait to see how you change into the man you are meant to be. Just don't do it so fast, k?
7) Trust God.  He always knows what's best for you and loves you more than Mommy and Daddy ever could.

8) Eat your vegetables.  :)



Happy birthday my sweet boy.  I will always always love you, no matter what. 

Growth.

Sheesh.  My baby is growning up and I'm not too sure I'm all that happy about it! 
The boy has just about outgrown every pair of jeans that he owns!  This morning, I helped him get his clothes out for school -  as he pulled the jeans on I could tell they were a bit snug.  He couldn't snap them...."Mom, can you get this for me?".......let's see.....ok, suck it in......uh, no.  Too short and too tight!
To make matters worse, they were semi-new!!  (read: they didn't have holes in the knee)
Did he have a growth spurt that I missed?! 

Speaking of growing up.....

We took our new camper out for our inaugural camping trip this weekend!  We didn't go far, just up the road 20-30 minutes to FDR State Park.  Lovely place, lovely weather.  We hiked, biked, fished and roasted marshmallows over the fire.  Oh, and the boy found a girlfriend. 

Our campsite was across from the play area, so my Social Butterfly son spent a good bit of time over there playing with the other camp kids.  When he wasn't at the playground, he was whining that he wanted to go play with his new friends at the playground.  We soon found out why. 
Her name was Abby.  Or Addie.  Or Allie.  Something like that.  Anyway.  I believe it was love at first sight.

After breakfast Sunday morning, we heard the sound of kids on the playground, so he asked if he could go over to play.  He got dressed, then asked if his hair was still sticking up (he had a bit of The Bed Head going on).   I told him yes - did he want me to fix it for him?  Yes, please.
So, I moistened it a bit and tried to make it behave, which led to nice flat wet hair.. 
I asked him if he wanted me to dry it a little with my hair dryer.  Yes, please.
A few knowing looks over his head to the Daddy and we were done.
"Is it ok, Mom?"
"Is it flat?" 
Yes, baby.  You're perfect.

And just like that, my baby grew up.  He wanted to be sure his hair was ok before he went out to meet his 'friends', particularly, one girl.  As we watched through the camper screen, he walked toward the playground and the kids flocked to him.





We were thinking, though.  Our Social Butterfly who worried so much about whether his hair was flat, never thought to brush his teeth. 

Maybe I've got a few more years yet?

Finally!

Well, it finally happened.....

Ben lost his first tooth yesterday -  at church.  Pulled it himself, and boy, was he proud!
On the way out, as we were visiting with folks in the lobby of the sanctuary, he had to tell everyone!!   (And thanks to our sweet church family, they acted properly impressed with the show and tell! )   :)  

I wondered if he'd ever lose the first tooth, to be honest!  Most of the kids in his class have already lost several teeth - they started in kindergarten or first grade - and here my sweet boy is, with all his baby teeth intact, nearing the end of second grade!   Our crazy dentist told us last summer that the permanent teeth were there, and they'd come out when they were ready, but sheesh! 

So, he's a snaggle-tooth monster now.  Oh!  Almost forgot!  We had a visit from the Tooth Fairy last night too.  We weren't too sure of the 'going' rate for her services, but it seems that $5.00 is pretty popular around here, so that's what we did.   We put Ben to bed last night with his tooth safely on the bedside table so she'd be sure to find it.....the kid can NOT be still when he's in the bed and I could just imagine her search and rescue mission in the middle of the night looking for a lost tooth!  

He was thrilled with the surprise this morning.  I think he's already wiggling the next tooth so he can get another visit from the Tooth Fairy! 

What a kid.



Question:   Um.  Where does one store a slightly used tooth?