Family Reunion

We just returned from a family reunion with my mom's brother's and sisters and their families. We reunite every three years. This year it was held in Reno, Nevada, which is sort of the center point of where everybody lives. We stayed at the University of Nevada in the dorms. It was nice to have the entire building and cafeteria to just ourselves. It helped us feel pretty safe, not to mention the security system of just getting in the buildings. Actually we were REALLY safe. It reminded me of my time working in the youth detention in SLC. Too many doors to unlock or get through can be cumbersome, but that's OK.

We were together for two days and spent most of our time eating. The all-you-can-eat style dining catered particularly towards the kids, but we adults definitely overate too! It brought back some great memories of living in DT. We also played relay games, visited, went to a great park nearby, and honored my Uncle Joe who passed away last October. All in all it was a great time, and I'm looking forward to seeing everybody again in three years.

Here are some pictures. No permission has been asked, so if you are family and see your picture here but would like it removed, please let me know!

The first four are of "Amelia" and Edana, who are three weeks apart. None of us could get over how similar they looked--surprising, of course, because Amelia is not a blood relative! Amelia is the one wearing the strawberry.

We Are...

No, I did not finally become a Fertyl Mertyl: we still have the apparent Fertile Hurdle. BUT we are expecting now to adopt "Amelia"! She is officially out of foster care (which is why I can show her face now). Her mom has custody again, but she is allowing Amelia to remain with us. We are beyond excited and are hoping that it will all work out. We won't know for another month or two, but we can't keep quiet about this.

When we started foster parenting we never dreamt the opportunity to adopt a baby would come this way instead of through the adoption agency with which we are registered. Someday I will relate the whole wonderful story of how we got to this point with Amelia, which started to get good back in November. Its a pretty neat story. But for now, please join in our excitement! We hope it all works out. We will be praying for the judge to execute wise judgement!

I will conclude with some pics of the little star, who has just discovered a love for sunglasses!

Mmwaahahaaa...

Just because I can now! Please enjoy a few recent pics of "Amelia".






You've got to admit that she really is the world's cutest one year-old!

Happy Birthday, Amelia!

Amelia turned 1 on Tuesday! It was very exciting and there was much celebration in our family. We held a party at Chuck E. Cheese's (not my first choice of places to hang out, but was a suitable neutral location) with Amelia's birth mom and family and our family. It turned out pretty well. We also took her to the zoo! Here are some pics--sorry I have to blur her sweet face!



She was quite the brave one riding the monster truck. There wasn't an ounce of fear in her little body as she rode, often holding on with only one hand. My nervousness was enough for both of us. The girl's a little dare devil!

On a more philosophical note, I've been wondering why we sigh with relief when babies finally turn 1.

Is it because they can now drink cow's milk?

Last month at our playgroup I saw one of the moms feeding cow's milk to her 9 month-old. "Yes," she said, "I've started her early", looking semi-guilty. (She's the same mom who told us at yesterday's group, with the same sort-of-guilty shrug, that she also shares her Frappacinos with her baby!)

Is it because babies can now eat honey?

A few weeks ago someone told me that their relative, in line with our mothers and grandmothers, still dips her babies' pacifiers in honey before giving it to them, long BEFORE they are 1!

Did I pass judgement on these mothers? At first, yes, because the two above-named rules are such ingrained no-no's for me. And while I draw the line at Frappacinos, are there other ways that are OK and work? Yes. Moms have been raising babies for thousands of years, and while we can't ignore experiences and studies of others, amidst all of that we need to eventually pave our own way. Don't we?

The longer I parent, the more it becomes clear. The rules that you read about or think most people follow are not necessarily "rules". People do what they want, how they want in raising their kids. We should take what we hear that has worked and then try other things for ourselves (within reason) to become our own style of parent, whatever that may be.

That's what I think, anyway.

One last thing. I went in to check on Amelia before going to bed a few weeks ago. It warmed my heart to see her lift her sleeping head groggily and pat the mattress all around her, in search for her binky! As I helped her out, I was amazed to realize that this is a trait that comes with us--and not something we learn. Who'dve thunk!?

On My Honor...

This one's for all you den leaders who think the boys aren't really picking up.

I was taking out the trash yesterday afternoon in the breezeway between the garage and the shop, unseen. As they were walking home from school, I overheard two siblings from my ward talking. The older brother (age 11) said to his little sister (age 7):

"I shouldn't have done that. I'm a cub scout! I shouldn't have DONE that!"

I was dying to lean over my fence and ask what he shouldn't have done, but I didn't. I have been chuckling with joy ever since.

Megan

This is my friend Megan. At one point I supervised her at Head Start. Megan loves kids and is great with them. She is one of the best preschool teachers I've ever met, and I've met a lot of them! Megan is going to leave her job as a preschool teacher this June to be a missionary to urban children at Beechpoint Christian Camp near Chicago. She has done this for six summers, but will now work there full-time. Below is a picture of her with the girls (ages 8-14) that she has worked with in the past. Aren't they beautiful?
I will miss Megan when she goes. She is a bright light in my life. She is one of the most expressive, loving people I know. She also loves and cares for the foster children that have come to our home, and is continually affirming to me that foster parenting is a great thing to do. Megan sends notes in the mail just because, and actually brings blank note cards for me to write in so she can take them to people who miss me at work! Who does that?? Megan, that's who. She truly is one of the best people I know.

On another note, Megan and I love to chew gum when we get together, so we have given each other gum in the past. The photo below shows her most recent offering--the best one either of us has done!! What I want to know is who will bring me gallon-sized bags of gumballs once Megan leaves?? No one--that's who!I love you, Megan! My jaw really kills from trying every flavor today, but I love you!! :)

Blog-iatus

Do you sometimes get bloggers block? I did. For quite awhile. I haven't posted anything for 8 weeks, for no good reason. Maybe I just haven't felt like I've had anything clever to talk about. Or maybe its because my sign on user name and password are both way too long. Or maybe its because I really just want to post about "Amelia", but can't freely. Who knows. Here's what I've been up to...

First, we still have Amelia with us. On Saturday she will be 11 months-old, so that will mean that we have had her for six months. We have a justifiable hope that we won't have to say goodbye to her for awhile (YEAAAAAA for us!!!!!!!!), but more on that in May. No sooner.

It has been so fun to watch Amelia hit the various developmental milestones that babies reach. She got her two bottom teeth in December, and her two top teeth were not far behind. Just kidding. Those are actually two pieces of rice that landed there just like that, so I luckily was able to capture it. Ray's mouth dropped open when he came home and I showed him this photo, explaining that Amelia's two top teeth grew in over night! It was funny!

Amelia has also gotten very proficient at crawling in this past month, and has just started crawling to other rooms where we are not. There goes the old strategy. I've learned that you don't get too comfortable in parenting. Nothing stays the same. When you finally get into a good pattern (napping, feeding, you name it--where you feel like you can read them and they you) suddenly the baby says "No way. Now I want it this way...!" Wow. Who knew? These are things I didn't hear about before. If I heard, I didn't listen. Dang it! :)

Here she is discovering her shadow.


I "spraypainted" her face out in these next photos with Paint in order to show off her cute outfit with boots and ears. Forget the outfit though--what a total cutie pie. She's always smiling or laughing. She is so enthusiastic about whatever we're doing. She is thoroughly delighted with every visitor we have, any age, and is a total people-person.



Here is an irresistable one of her with the binky in upside down. I don't know why but it never fails to make me laugh, especially when she turns it upside down intentionally.
Here's the new "rig" (as they call them here in ID) that I drive. Its one of Ray's dream vehicles, and he drove it for the last month, but now I "get" to drive it because I drive about 1/10 the miles that he does each day. Gas conservation. Lucky me. No, its actually really nice, but I am such a fan of the smaller vehicles. Ones where you don't have to plan in advance where you'll park or how you'll get out of the parking space. Ones that also conserve fuel. You know? I guess I am just grateful I have something to drive.




This past month we also said goodbye to an old friend: Ray's '56 Corvette. I've always liked this one of his collection of cars, but nothing lasts forever, does it? Here are some pictures of it:

Some guy in Virginia is driving it right now!

In August I read an Ensign article about Family Search Indexing (here's the link).
http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=22af44584a204110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1

I wanted to sign up to do it then, but finally did only this month. Its basically data entry of old census records and the like. You see the actual record on your computer and then type the info in. Its easy--except when you can't read the old fashioned handwriting. But it does feel nice to feel like I'm doing something to help with family history, since I basically slack on it in most other ways.

Here is the link if you want to check it out. http://www.familysearchindexing.org/en/index.jsp

I'm going on my third week of being sick. Poor Amelia had it and passed it to me. Now I get it when I hear parents moan about how hard it is to be sick when you have little ones to take care of. Its so hard!!! Anyway, I feel pretty miserable and am surprised at how long its hanging on. So my parting words are these: Take care of yourself because you don't what want I have!!