We had a baby in our house this weekend! No, we didn't steal her. (Although it is tempting. You should SEE her! You'd want to steal her too.)
My best friend since forever ago came to visit for one quick night with her husband and beautiful baby girl. (Melissa, I think it's been 17 years since we first met! Sometimes I don't even feel like I'm 17 years old, let alone have had a friend for that long!)
At one point during the evening, Cody was being especially wild and crazy, so I let him out into the backyard. We don't have a fence, but Cody usually listens well, so we're comfortable letting him out to do his business while we keep an eye on him.
The key part of that sentence being: "while we keep an eye on him." After I let Cody out, I got distracted and ended up wandering into the bathroom to talk to my friend while she gave her baby a bath.
About five minutes later, Jonathan looks at me and says "Where's Cody?" AGHH!! I left him outside! To run the streets! In the middle of the night! We both go tearing off, me out the back door, Jonathan out the front.
And there he was. Sitting on the front stoop, patiently waiting for someone to remember that he exists and let him back in the house. And my friend just laughs and says "That's what happens when you have a baby!"
Poor Cody.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
Nanny Lesson #3: Enjoy the... detour?
There we were, in a mess of construction and traffic, trying to find our way to the Children's Museum. When I realized there was a detour for the road we were about to get on, I must have said something that showed my disappointment.
(No, it did not consist of four letter words! I'm a teacher. I have lots of practice voicing my frustration in creative and appropriate ways.)
The older girl said "What's wrong?" and I explained that the road we were supposed to take to get to the museum was closed, so we needed to find a different way. Meanwhile, I'm all wound up inside because I don't know this part of the city AT ALL and all I have are very specific Mapquest directions which are now useless and traffic is horrendous and those stupid orange cones are way too far into my lane and if we don't get there soon we won't have much time to enjoy the museum because if I don't get this four year old home in time for her nap things will not be pretty and...
The older girl looked out the window and sighed dreamily. She said, "I love going different ways to places. I get to see so many new things!"
Amen to that.
(No, it did not consist of four letter words! I'm a teacher. I have lots of practice voicing my frustration in creative and appropriate ways.)
The older girl said "What's wrong?" and I explained that the road we were supposed to take to get to the museum was closed, so we needed to find a different way. Meanwhile, I'm all wound up inside because I don't know this part of the city AT ALL and all I have are very specific Mapquest directions which are now useless and traffic is horrendous and those stupid orange cones are way too far into my lane and if we don't get there soon we won't have much time to enjoy the museum because if I don't get this four year old home in time for her nap things will not be pretty and...
The older girl looked out the window and sighed dreamily. She said, "I love going different ways to places. I get to see so many new things!"
Amen to that.
Friday, July 4, 2008
"Why Adoption?"
Why are we adopting? Well. Selfish reasons, really. We want kids! From the drool and the diapers to the giggles and the tears. We want it all!
That's why we're adopting. To add to our family. I do know, though, that when people say "why adoption?" that's not exactly the answer they're looking for. Every adopting couple has a story about why adoption will be the way that they form their family. Here's ours.
When I was 16, I still had not had my period yet. Up until that point, it hadn't been a major concern because I was physically active and my older sisters had gotten their periods relatively late as well. However, 16 is more than a little late, so we decided to get it checked out.
Several vials of blood, a few exams, and one MRI later the doctors discovered that I was born without a uterus. It is just plain missing. So, since the uterus plays a fairly important role in carrying a child, it was clear that I would never be able to get pregnant. Jonathan has known this since the beginning of our relationship and has been nothing but accepting, loving, and supportive.
That's the very (very) short version of our answer to "why adoption?" Am I sometimes jealous of the beautiful pregnant women in my life? Yes. Do I grieve the fact that I will never be able to feel life growing inside of me? Of course.
One thing I do know, though, is that my life so far has turned out to be so much more than I could have possibly imagined or even known to wish for. Why should this be any different? Here we go...! =)
That's why we're adopting. To add to our family. I do know, though, that when people say "why adoption?" that's not exactly the answer they're looking for. Every adopting couple has a story about why adoption will be the way that they form their family. Here's ours.
When I was 16, I still had not had my period yet. Up until that point, it hadn't been a major concern because I was physically active and my older sisters had gotten their periods relatively late as well. However, 16 is more than a little late, so we decided to get it checked out.
Several vials of blood, a few exams, and one MRI later the doctors discovered that I was born without a uterus. It is just plain missing. So, since the uterus plays a fairly important role in carrying a child, it was clear that I would never be able to get pregnant. Jonathan has known this since the beginning of our relationship and has been nothing but accepting, loving, and supportive.
That's the very (very) short version of our answer to "why adoption?" Am I sometimes jealous of the beautiful pregnant women in my life? Yes. Do I grieve the fact that I will never be able to feel life growing inside of me? Of course.
One thing I do know, though, is that my life so far has turned out to be so much more than I could have possibly imagined or even known to wish for. Why should this be any different? Here we go...! =)
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