November Roundup

our back yard cherry tree

Wow! This month has flown by. I just realized I have only published one post this month and December begins in a couple of hours. Here's a quick rundown of what we've been up to this month: 

Sam went to work peeling and sanding the logs he harvested for his parents banister. 

Cohen started using the toilet - very infrequently, but it's still a major celebration at your house!

Sam taught Cohen the art of tortilla making and Cohen became a master of glue while making our first displayed Christmas decoration (it's on the fridge behind him)

For the 3rd year in a row, we participated in the annual Adoption Walk With Me 5K to raise awareness of the positive outcomes of adoption in our community. BTW, Katrina is doing great on her mission. She's in a new area that she loves. We miss her TONS and can't wait to spend some time with her family who will be in town next month. 

Sam tried to use the shop-vac as a leaf blower. It didn't work very well, but Cohen had a blast playing with it. 

We discovered the joy of indoor camping. Cohen calls marshmallows "farfallows".

The newest member of our extended family was born last month. He was born 8 minutes after Megan's sister arrived at the hospital! Cohen calls him Baby Will and we can't get enough of him. 

Grandma (Megan's mom), Cohen and William on Thanksgiving.

We decorated for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. Cohen's tree ended up looking very similar to the way he decorated it last year. At least this year he hasn't tried eating any of the ornaments.

One night when Cohen was supposed to be in bed he got into the gift wrapping box and had a lot of fun with the ribbon.

And last of all, some stuff I've been thinking about A LOT lately, but I'm not quite sure what to say about it ...

We've only been approved to adopt again for a few months. Why does it feel like SO MUCH longer?! I obviously have yet to master the art of patience!

This month we've had contact with a couple of different women trying to find families for their children. This time is such a roller coster of emotions. Trying to be realistic while staying hopeful, faithful and grateful can be a struggle at times. Discouragement and doubt keep trying to rear their ugly heads. And trying to make sure we're doing all we can to help our next child find his/her way to our family vs. having faith that the Lord will bring us together can be a tough balancing act. 

However, as frustrated and powerless as I sometimes feel, I always think of those planning to  place their child for adoption and the task they have of trying to find the right family. Now THEY have the hard part in all of this. I cannot imagine the pressure that must accompany making such an important decision. I'm glad we can be a part of a few of their journeys. I truly feel blessed for the opportunity to do whatever we can to help them with their decision. We clearly experienced through Cohen's adoption that Heavenly Father has a way of working things out. I just have to be patient. 

Axel & Buzz

Happy Halloween!

This really is the first holiday (besides birthdays) that Cohen has really gotten excited about. It's been my favorite Halloween ever! 

Cohen dressed up as a character from his favorite movie, Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story. He does a great, "To infinity and beyond!" We went to the store today and I let him wear his costume (minus the wings) and he thought that was pretty cool. I'm such a dork--we were going down the escalator (Cohen's favorite part of going to this particular store) and I began thinking about how happy and blessed I felt. There I was at the store with my darling little boy, who was elated to be riding the escalator and even more excited about being dressed up as Buzz. I felt overwhelmed with gratitude. I totally almost started to cry--I had to put in some serious effort to keep a normal face and hold back the tears. I am so grateful for Katrina and our Father in Heaven for giving me the chance to be Cohen's mom. I am so blessed!

Sam stayed up until 2 a.m. working on Buzz's wings and then got up extra early in the morning to finish them. Also, when it came time to trick-or-treat (we went to my sister's house to hang out and trick-or-treat in her neighborhood), Sam and Cohen were the first ones out the door (seriously, Sam couldn't wait for the other kids to be ready). 

Our jack-o-lantern.

Our little family at my sister's annual Halloween party. Cohen as Buzz Lighyear, Sam as Axel Rose, and me in a costume I threw on last minute to put a smile on Sam's face (he was bummed that I didn't plan on dressing up this year)

Check out THE wings! 

At some point during the night I mentioned to my sister that I'd always wanted blue hair. Low-and-behold, she had this wig. What do you think?!

We let Cohen have free reign of his candy bucket on ride home.  The next day we found this. No wonder he now asks Sam or me to take off the wrappers!

Nap-time Project

I LOVE being a stay-at-home mom. It is definitely the best job I've ever had. It was dream job for years and it has lived up to all my expectations. I love being able to have time to take Cohen to the park and the library. I love participating in the little games Cohen makes up throughout the day. I love being available to help out family and friends who need a little extra help. And it truly don't even mind the house cleaning and cooking that comes with the job. One of my favorite times of the day is nap time. I love reading stories to Cohen (even if it's the same book three times in a row), singing him lullabies and snuggling with him. And I also love the couple of hours I get to do whatever it is I have a hard time doing while he's awake--like blogging, reading, and sometime I even get to take a nap myself. This week I was able to finally get around to finishing up a home improvement project; painting the front door. We've pretty much remodeled our entire house: paint, flooring (tile, wood, carpet), bathrooms, kitchen, yard, etc., but we still have a few project to tackle. Our front door has always been an eyesore, but we didn't do anything about it because we couldn't make up our minds as to whether or not to replace it. I finally decided to just paint it. If we decide to replace it later, at least it will be more inviting in the meantime.

Much better!!!

Here a few pumpkins from my friend's and our garden. I adore this time of year!

FHE

Lately we've been doing a much better job of planning and implementing Monday night Family Home Evening. We've started writing letters to Sam's grandmas who live out of state, having simple lessons that Cohen can understand about things like the temple and prophets, and of course, we participate in fun recreational activities together. Yesterday we went on what will probably be our last canyon campfire cook-out of the season. I'm crossing my fingers that it will stay warm long enough for us do this at least once more.

I think they're having fun!

Jr. Prom Revisited

Sam and I were recently invited to attend the The Leonardo's Opening Gala.  (Back in my pre-mommy, arts education administration days, I was somewhat professionally involved with The Leonardo. Also, my sister Lisa has worked with them all long they way.)  The gala was a black tie optional event. For days I wondered what on earth I was going to wear. My black-tie-optional wear is slim-pickins.  I had resigned myself to being a little under dressed and wearing something I already had. Sam, on the other hand, was very excited to finally have the chance to wear a shirt he's had for ages. I don't know exactly what it's called, but I call it his Dumb and Dumber shirt. I knew the quirky, artsy crowd attending that gala would appreciate it.  

I figured the last time I went to such a fancy event was probably my Junior Prom. I went to high school during the height of grunge, so even formal school dances weren't very formal. But Junior Prom was the exception. The event was held in our state capitol's Rotunda. Everyone who planned to attend had to go to several early morning promenade practices where we learned a very formal group dance. We also rehearsed how everyone would enter the Rotunda (our state capitol building's ball room) by walking as couples down a long, marble stairway (very scary when you're not used to high hills!)  For this dance I had a very specific idea of what I wanted to wear, but I couldn't find anything like it. Luckily my mom is a very talented seamstress and she made it for me! 

Because it's the only dress that my mom made for me (she made tons of them for my older sisters and even made one of my sisters a wedding dress), and because I still LOVE it, I've kept it all these years. I didn't really think I'd ever have an occasion to wear it again, but here it is 15 years later (I added the short jacket since it is sleeveless). 

My handsome husband and me in front of the very cool Hylozoic Veil exhibit. 

Thanks for the invite, Lisa. I had a blast hanging out with the fam, visiting with  old colleagues, eating yummy food (including donuts flambe and prosciutto-wrapped watermelon), seeing the neat-o exhibits, and most of all, being on a hot date with my hot husband!

Dinosaurs & "Timber!"

We recently took a weekend trip to see dinosaurs and cut down a few trees. Obviously the dinosaur thing was for Cohen. Sam made the mistake of telling Cohen our plans a few days before we left. The next few days it was all he could talk about, accompanied by several tantrums. Three days is WAY too long for a two year old to wait to see "real live" dinosaurs! He was pretty excited about chopping down trees, too. The lumberjack portion of the trip was to find enough lodge pole pine to finish the stair rail in Sam's parent's log home. The town we went to also happens to be the place Sam's great grandparents lived, so we also spent some time tracking down their house. 

Staying at a hotel just isn't complete until you've jumped on the bed!

Excavating some fossils.

Picking out a present at the gift shop to send to our favorite sister missionary.

Then up to the beautiful mountains we went. I don't think I've ever been to this particular part of the Ashley National Forrest before. I can't believe how thick the trees were in some spots. Seriously, in some places they were so packed, I don't think I could have walked through them without a chainsaw handy. I thought we'd be finished in no time, but we could only cut down dead-standing trees, and those proved to be a little harder to find.

Cohen "helping" dad haul logs through the woods.

Here's Cohen and me practicing our funny faces while Sam was hard at work:

Okay, so I'm totally embarrassed to have this photo of me out here on the web, but Cohen's face totally makes it worth it.

Just as we were getting ready to leave we found this darling little thing. I was so tempted to bring him home with us, but with Cohen's bug squishing skills, I don't think it would have lasted very long.

I have to give serious props to Sam. I spent most of the time playing with Cohen and napping in the car. I hauled a few logs back to the truck, but Sam pretty much completed this task by himself. He's a stud!!

A trailer full of logs and a very happy little boy. Mission accomplished!

Little Climber

I'm a little behind in getting to his post, but better late than never, right? We spent Labor Day weekend with Sam's family at his sister Marci's house. We enjoyed a lot of the same things we did on the 4th of July with a few additions: Sam's sister Charlsia who lives in Colorado and her family joined us this time, giving us a total head count of 24; we actually drove the four-wheelers this time; we set up a projector outside and watched a late night movie under the stars; and we went hiking and rock climbing. We brought our camera with us but didn't take a single photo the entire time. Sometimes it's nice to just sit back and take it all in without thinking about the lighting or which lens to use. 

Charlsia took a few pictures of our climbing adventure, which is a good thing since it was Cohen's first climbing experience (not including the climbing wall in our garage). 

All ready to take on the wall. Notice the tape around his hands--that was his idea.

Taking a breather and enjoying the three foot view. 

Gotta love the juxtaposition of his taped left hand and diaper peeking out the top of his pants.