{29/365} And then there were four

Yesterday we had our yearly dinner with Ted, Trish, Hannah, Hailey and this year, Taylor (and their big brothers too)! Trish is a friend I met with my first agency. Hannah and Hailey are from Vietnam. She used to live up by me before heading south to sunny Florida. Last year when we met, she was getting ready to leave for China to pick up Taylor. As always, we had a great time. It's amazing how fast the kiddos grow!

2008


2009

2010

The kids drew a lot of attention, the girls especially. I got a glimpse into what it is like to go out in public with three adorable girls that are close enough in age to look like triplets. Several people asked if Aiden was the little brother. He would love that- you can see that he loved the girls!

{28/365}

It was the beach photo shoot that almost wasn't. Aiden didn't want anything to do with having his picture taking. I had such grand plans and he wanted nothing to do with any of them. I even brought this outfit especially for some beach pictures. They are actually pajamas I bought at Nkids in Saigon last year.

I finally just let Aiden run and got some pretty good pictures. Sure it took over 100 to get 20 shots I was happy with. The best ones always happen at the very end, don't they? Here are a few. Keep in mind these are straight out of the camera. I haven't done any editing whatsoever.

{26.27/365} Fun in the Sun

A day at the park before I arrived....

Today was gorgeous. Not a cloud in the sky. Aiden has no fear of the ocean. No fear at all. Kind of scary but he's having a blast and so am I!

{25/365} My Other Baby

Someone is definitely enjoying this little break from Aiden. Tess is enjoying being an only child.

I bought her a new toy today- Tess acted like a kitten again instead of the grumpy, angry, resentful cat that she has become. Aiden loves her so, but the feeling is most definitely not mutual. Maybe some day....

In just about 24 hours, I will be in Florida. Yeah! Ready to leave the cold weather and snow that moved in today. Sounds like Aiden had a great day at the beach. Can't wait to enjoy it with him!

{23.24/365}

It was a lazy Saturday....gym*boree in the morning, home the rest of the day and then Chinese for dinner. No excuse for not posting, other than the fact that I was trying to stay busy not thinking about the fact that tomorrow (well, today) Aiden would be leaving for Florida with my parents. After Aiden went to bed I went through all of the clothes he has outgrown (which is basically 6-12 months in shirts and one piece outfits. He is finally in 12-18 month and 18 month shirts, but still wearing 12 month pants). I filled 2 tubs of things to keep, have a bag of hand me downs I need to return and have 2 shopping bags to take to a consignment shop. I also went through all of his new clothes. I have all of the shirts he will need for summer, fall and probably winter. He may need some pants, depending on how he grows. I have lots of 18 months that may actually get Aiden through the winter. Such a slow grower! I used gym*bucks last summer to buy stuff for this summer. I was SO off. At this point I'm concerned the 18-24 month shorts I have for this summer will be too big. I even have two summer outfits (plus several hand me down summer outfits) that are 24 months/2T. I don't think he will be wearing 2T until next winter and hopefully into the summer. I guess time will tell. What an exciting Saturday night I had, huh?!

I drove Aiden and my parents to the airport this morning. I did okay- and feel better now that I know they made it safely. I will say that The Lovely Bones is not a great movie to see when you are anxious about being apart from your child. Great movie, but I may have enjoyed it more at a different time. Now I am packing, doing laundry and watching this nail biter of a game. I am going to dinner with a friend later. Gotta enjoy my "me" time. Less than 58 hours until I see Aiden again :).

{22/365} C is for Cookie...

...and for Chasing the Cat. Poor kitty...

{21/365} Ice Day

School was cancelled today- total shock. It started with a 2 hour delay but they closed by 8:30...right when I was getting ready to walk out the door. Kind of a bummer because we lose our day off after President's day. I love me a 4 day weekend :D. I think Aiden was surprised to see me. When I went in to get him (he slept until almost 9!) he said "good morning" and kept saying "mommy" over and over. Forgot to mention I have become mommy in the past few days. He still says mama some, but mommy is getting more and more frequent.



First smile of the morning!



We had a pretty low key day. I did get a workout in while Aiden napped. That was a good thing, especially since I went to a Homemade Gourmet party tonight. Lots of yummy food. I ordered several things, hoping to expand our dinner menus! It was nice to have a mommy's night out. Aiden had a new babysitter. She lives right down the street and everything went great. I don't get babysitters a lot, but it will be nice to have someone that is so close when I do need one.

{20/365}

I know several of my fellow adoptive mamas/bloggy friends were following the news stories of Haitian orphans coming to Indiana this week. I heard about it this morning. I was sick to my stomach over it for much of the day. I read tonight it was a rumor and I couldn't be more relieved. I completely understand people wanting to help. Adoption seems like a great option. And it is- if the children are legitimate orphans. I am sure there are thousands of legitimate orphans in Haiti. But proving that amidst the chaos of such a terrible disaster would be difficult to do. I imagine it could take years. I am thrilled that the DOS granted humanitarian parole and/or visas to children that were already matched with adoptive families. I hope this happens for all children who are paper ready and matched with families who have dossiers logged into Haiti. But airlifting hundreds of children to the United States and doing so quickly raises so many red flags. So much could go wrong with something like this happening so quickly. And adoption should not be the first resort.

I think the US could help foster these children. But it should stop at fostering...until it can be proven that they are legitimate orphans. Can that be done ethically? I think so, but it would take lots of planning and lots of safeguards would need to be in place. Carissa did a great post on the subject of Haitian adoptions- definitely worth reading. I share many/most of her thoughts, especially the last 2 or 3 paragraphs.

It's no secret I want to adopt again- well, I have been teetering lately, but this week I am teetering towards a second child (a post on that someday). But that won't be for a few years!

I am so lucky to be a mama through adoption. It's something I hope many other mom who desire to adopt can experience. I am lucky to see this precious face every single day...even when he is begging for a "hucker" (um, sucker) that he saw in a cabinet way up high.

Will jump for candy

And when that doesn't work, sign and say "peeze"- works every.single.time.