Aunt Molly was here for much of it, "enjoying" the kids. After a little better than a week of sleepless nights, I think we've given Molly a pretty good idea of what it's like to have kids. I'm telling you, if we, as a nation, want to take teenage pregnancy seriously, we need to establish some sort of outreach program where high schoolers spend a couple weeks living with someone who has an infant. I guarantee, after having to stay awake with those kids for two weeks--and then go on to function in the real world after--these kids will realize exactly how much they DON'T want to have a kid yet.
So, here was our last week.
It started with Adoption Day. Hurray! As far as I'm concerned, this is the end for me. No more kids. Unless we're cursed . . . I mean blessed, to have one of our own, we're done. I'm ready to move away from the baby raising stage of life. While babies are cute, they really don't have much else going for them. Toddlers are FAR more interesting.
But, with this adoption day, we made Norah an official part of the family, which is fantastic. The day itself went fairly well, too. We started off at the courthouse. From what we've been told, they start the days with the adoptions since they are the bright points for most of the judges and they like to begin on a high note. So, as soon as things were up and running, we were hustled into the courtroom where we spent something like five minutes doing the last little bit of stuff that needed to be done to make things official. It took far longer for us to take pictures than it took to finish any of the legal proceedings.
Us with the judge. I think his name was Dredd. Or maybe Judy. Can't remember.
Norah with her new bear. Our foster care provider (or maybe it's the court system) gives adopted children a teddy bear on Adoption Day. Gabe got a little black one that we named Burgess after the judge. This one will be Parker (there's an obscure newspaper comic reference for you folks) or Roy Scream (followed up by a Six Flags over Texas reference).
I've never seen a small child look so smug before.After court, we went to breakfast (where we took no pictures) and then to the zoo. Because Kansas' weather is becoming more unreasonable every year, it felt like mid-July at the zoo that day. The temperature was only in the 90s (ha! I said "only"), but the humidity was somewhere around 85%. It was miserable. But we endured the zoo, for a little while anyway--right up to the point where the kids started melting down because they were missing nap time. Then we called it a day.
We really hoped to get a picture of her hamming it up in front of the big monkeys with this hat on so we could have matching pictures of her and Gabe doing the same thing, but she hated the hat (and, because her head is so big, the chin strap was nearly cutting off the circulation to her chins), so we just took one picture of her in it before we left the car and called it good.
Near the end of the day, Libby arranged for a friend of hers to give a little demonstration in the education center at the zoo. She read a story then let the kids pet a pair of rats. One of them was hairless and looked (and felt) like a scrotum. Education!
We really hoped to get a picture of her hamming it up in front of the big monkeys with this hat on so we could have matching pictures of her and Gabe doing the same thing, but she hated the hat (and, because her head is so big, the chin strap was nearly cutting off the circulation to her chins), so we just took one picture of her in it before we left the car and called it good.
Near the end of the day, Libby arranged for a friend of hers to give a little demonstration in the education center at the zoo. She read a story then let the kids pet a pair of rats. One of them was hairless and looked (and felt) like a scrotum. Education!And that was Adoption Day, more or less.
Other things happened, too, over the week, and we took pictures whenever we thought about it. I'll post them and comment as I go because, frankly, I can't really remember what all happened, exactly, over the past two weeks.
Showing uncharacteristic resourcefulness (probably because Molly was here), we actually managed to use some of the fruit that grows naturally on our property. Here, Molly and Gabe gather up mulberries from the big tree in our back yard.
Gabe with his mulberries. These were the ones that we managed to bring inside. He ate at least this many more as they were handed to him.
Once the mulberries were picked, I took them inside to make muffins, which meant that Norah had to come outside to play (since she hates sitting in her high chair watching me cook). She's quite taken to the sandbox over the last month.
Though she's taken to the sandbox, she still hasn't learned that she shouldn't eat the sand. Every time she's in there, at least one handful goes into her mouth. Libby was kind enough to get the picture of her disgusting, snotty, gritty face for all posterity. Later that night, as I got her changed for bed (and AFTER a bath), I spent about five minutes and used a handful of wipes to wipe the sand out of the folds of her neck. Ugh.
Finn came over for a playdate, too. Libby and Molly took them shopping before playing and bought them both hats. Gabe actually kept it on for awhile, which was unusual. Want to know something funny? Gabe's hat is a 2-4T size. Finn's is a 5-7. Kris said that he's given Finn one of his old hats already, and it pretty much fits. Big heads are funny! I feel safe pointing this out as I already made fun of my baby's massive melon earlier in this post. Oh, and what you can't see in this picture is the plumber's crack both of them are sporting.
While Molly was here, we went through pretty close to three cases of Diet Coke. It was like she and Libby were having a contest to see who could drink the most. Gabe, apparently, likes it too. I've tried to steer him clear of anything soda-like for three years, but now he's getting old enough that he doesn't have a problem finding our drinks and making them his own. Now we have a choice--give up soda so he doesn't get it, or live with the fact that he, too, will likely end up a soda junkie like his parents (especially his mother--I try to restrict myself to about one can's worth of soda a day, but I pretty much ALWAYS have that can's worth). It's a tough call.
Since I was already on the subject, might as well include another picture. This was from later in the week, and includes another of Gabe's friends--Mara. Libby liked this picture because they look like grown-ups enjoying a day at the spa. Libby (and Mara's mom, Libby--I know, confusing) sat there and humored the kids every request, allowing them the fantasy of enjoying a stay at a five star resort. Now, if I were to sit there like that, asking for drinks and service, she wouldn't think it was cute at all--and humoring me would be the last thing on her mind. Why is that?
Also this week, Gabe got new jammies. He had pretty much outgrown all of the novelty pjs he got last fall, so it was time for a fresh set. He got several pairs including this superhero costume (to replace his old one). This one even has a little cape that velcros onto the back (pretty much exactly like his stuffed dinosaur Soupie has). The sunglasses and hat were also purchased on this shopping trip, and he's shown an unusual interest in wearing both of them.
Molly flying Super Gabe around the room.
One of his other sets of pjs--the doctor. Libby tried to find out what kind of doctor he was last night, but he was reluctant to tell us--which means he's embarrassed about it, which means he's a proctologist. Oh well. At least he'll never hurt for work--everyone has a butt.
Other things happened, too, over the week, and we took pictures whenever we thought about it. I'll post them and comment as I go because, frankly, I can't really remember what all happened, exactly, over the past two weeks.
Showing uncharacteristic resourcefulness (probably because Molly was here), we actually managed to use some of the fruit that grows naturally on our property. Here, Molly and Gabe gather up mulberries from the big tree in our back yard.
Gabe with his mulberries. These were the ones that we managed to bring inside. He ate at least this many more as they were handed to him.
Once the mulberries were picked, I took them inside to make muffins, which meant that Norah had to come outside to play (since she hates sitting in her high chair watching me cook). She's quite taken to the sandbox over the last month.
Though she's taken to the sandbox, she still hasn't learned that she shouldn't eat the sand. Every time she's in there, at least one handful goes into her mouth. Libby was kind enough to get the picture of her disgusting, snotty, gritty face for all posterity. Later that night, as I got her changed for bed (and AFTER a bath), I spent about five minutes and used a handful of wipes to wipe the sand out of the folds of her neck. Ugh.
Finn came over for a playdate, too. Libby and Molly took them shopping before playing and bought them both hats. Gabe actually kept it on for awhile, which was unusual. Want to know something funny? Gabe's hat is a 2-4T size. Finn's is a 5-7. Kris said that he's given Finn one of his old hats already, and it pretty much fits. Big heads are funny! I feel safe pointing this out as I already made fun of my baby's massive melon earlier in this post. Oh, and what you can't see in this picture is the plumber's crack both of them are sporting.
While Molly was here, we went through pretty close to three cases of Diet Coke. It was like she and Libby were having a contest to see who could drink the most. Gabe, apparently, likes it too. I've tried to steer him clear of anything soda-like for three years, but now he's getting old enough that he doesn't have a problem finding our drinks and making them his own. Now we have a choice--give up soda so he doesn't get it, or live with the fact that he, too, will likely end up a soda junkie like his parents (especially his mother--I try to restrict myself to about one can's worth of soda a day, but I pretty much ALWAYS have that can's worth). It's a tough call.
Since I was already on the subject, might as well include another picture. This was from later in the week, and includes another of Gabe's friends--Mara. Libby liked this picture because they look like grown-ups enjoying a day at the spa. Libby (and Mara's mom, Libby--I know, confusing) sat there and humored the kids every request, allowing them the fantasy of enjoying a stay at a five star resort. Now, if I were to sit there like that, asking for drinks and service, she wouldn't think it was cute at all--and humoring me would be the last thing on her mind. Why is that?
Also this week, Gabe got new jammies. He had pretty much outgrown all of the novelty pjs he got last fall, so it was time for a fresh set. He got several pairs including this superhero costume (to replace his old one). This one even has a little cape that velcros onto the back (pretty much exactly like his stuffed dinosaur Soupie has). The sunglasses and hat were also purchased on this shopping trip, and he's shown an unusual interest in wearing both of them.
Molly flying Super Gabe around the room.
One of his other sets of pjs--the doctor. Libby tried to find out what kind of doctor he was last night, but he was reluctant to tell us--which means he's embarrassed about it, which means he's a proctologist. Oh well. At least he'll never hurt for work--everyone has a butt.And, finally, we topped off the weekend by getting rid of the kids for a night and having our annual wine party. No pictures or stories worth sharing, really. We had great fun and everyone got pretty well inebriated (AND we got to sleep in until like 9:00 the next morning!), so it was a resounding success as far as I was concerned.
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