Trysten Domination at Tic-Tac-Toe

Not much new to report, but had to make mention that we (the family) are sitting in our favorite coffee shop in Downtown Davenport. Trysten says, "Dad, will you play tic-tac-toe with me?" "Sure, Trysten" Zach says. 2 Seconds later "I WON I WON I WON". Now, keep in mind, Trysten's favorite game is "I won" and he says it wheter that's true or not. So I look at Zach and he says, "Wow, he actually genuinely beat me." I felt both excited for Trysten and embarrased for Zach. And the man calls himself a competitor.

Trysten also starts soccer tomorrow. One might ask who the coaches are. Well, I'll tell you, Zach and myself. Parenthood has officially started when we are coaching our children in sports. In just a few years I will also join the PTA. My 10 year plan now consists of PTAs, coaching, escorting and mini vans. Well maybe not the latter but certainly everything else.

Relaxing weekend ahead of us. Sunday will find us at the circus and the ladies heading out to see Nanny Diaries. Shall be fun. Happy Labor Day Weekend everyone!

Catching up

So it's been a long time coming, this blog. Unfortunately I have lots to say and limited amounts of time. I'm hoping one day in the VERY NEAR FUTURE we will be coming of age out at Camp Abe Lincoln and getting what some folks call "the intranet" until then, I'm down in my mom-in-laws sewing room for the zillionth day in a row with a 1 yr old talking on my phone and pulling at my pantleg. Ah the joys of motherhood.

So life has been great, really. This past weekend we spent a long 4 days at the lake with friends. It was so awesome and we made some fantastic memories, and I took some pretty great pictures, if I do say so myself.

The kids are wonderful. Miss Dailah is building her word library and can now talk and grunt with surpising clarity, she must get that from me. She is also FINALLY standing on her own (for a short while) so perhaps it's not too soon to say she MIGHT be walking by Christmas?

Trysten continues to love life and make me smile constantly. He starts preschool next week so that will be good for him as he just can't get enough interaction with his old mom it seems.

I have started personal training officially. It's going well and I'm enjoying just having a few hours of "work" a week. Still love hanging with the kids more often than not though.

AND THE ADOPTION!!! Looks like we might have our first homestudy appointment this Tuesday. Woohoo! So obviously my goal of being on the waiting list by September is not happening but can we hope October? We shall see!

Life is flying by and I couldn't be more in love with my life, my loves, my family and friends. I'm even getting used to the spiders in my house, though that does not hold me back from going medieval on their asses from time to time.

That's all for now me thinks, I promise (mom) I'll have pictures soon!

Rest In Peace, Grandma D

The kids and I took off to Altoona yesterday to go to the famous Iowa State Fair (quite the perk when you're a SAHM, you can come and go as you please) with my parents and brother. It was a wonderful time of food, people watching, biggest-you-name-its and fun. The kids enjoyed the food, though Dailah enjoyed it too much as shown by her vomitting in the car on the ride home, and I enjoyed showing them all the cool things the fair has to offer; including the butter cow and butter Harry Potter!

On our way to the car after the fair my dad's phone rang. It was late, about 9:30ish so my mom said it was weird someone was calling that late. As noticed in an earlier post, my Grandma Dawson is 95 and her health has been steadily declining for some time. So before my dad even took his phone out of his pocket he said, "I bet it's Uncle Larry (his brother) calling to say mom died." Sure enough, it was. My Grandma Mary Dawson passed away last night. She was old, no doubt, suffering from Alzheimers and various other things. Doctors have been saying she was dying for about 5 years so last night put us in a weird state of consciousness. I felt like I had been there before, but I hadn't. I think the hardest part was seeing my dad. Of course he had known it was coming, but he still lost his mom. I don't want to put myself in his shoes. Plus, we found out she died alone, which is ultimately one of the worst things we can hear of a loved one.

I love finding comfort knowing she's restored to the old Grandma D (maybe a teensy bit nicer?). I love picturing her ascend into heaven and have an awesome reunion with my Grandpa, who died 20 years ago. These are all beautiful things, that she gets her reward for her lifetime of service to Him. These are all reasons to be happy, and I really truly am. Just a bit sad maybe.

On a lighter note, it is my favorite hubby and my 5 year anniversary today. I'll hopefully post on this soon but I must make a note and say that these past 5 years have been the absolute happiest I've ever been. Thank you, dearest Zachary, for being the absolute best person in the world and for loving me despite myself. Can't wait for the next 75! Love you hons.

Ode to Joy

So my days have been going so quickly! I must admit, I have always been hesitant about the stay-at-home-mom life. Hesitant meaning I just didn't think it was for me. But alas, it is and I'm LOVING it! Perhaps the only thing that could make it better was if a) my washer and dryer were hooked up, b) our water wasn't chlorine again or c) we had internet at home. I'm hoping all three of those will come in the next few months! :)

Not much new to report, really. I've been waiting for our SW to call regarding setting up our first homestudy appointments. Supposedly it was to happen a week after homework was turned in (we turned ours in a week and a half ago, but who's counting?) So I had my adorable hubby call. THEY WERE CALLING MY OLD CELL PHONE!!!! AHHHH. I'm hoping to hear from them TODAY on the new phone when our first meeting is.

Anyway, off to cook some lunch. Have to get the house ready because our lawyer/notary/friend is coming over to do the dirty deed that is making a will. Oh the good stuff!

SAHM = The Awesomest

So I am enjoying being a stay-at-home mom (SAHM) more than I ever thought I would. I commented to my sister-in-law that time goes by so quickly when you're playing with your kids! AMAZING! I love that I'm feeling like I get to play with them more rather than "just" raising them, I have more time for interaction and things like that. Instead of a sprint to the door; take off your shoes, sit down at the table, get in the bath, get in bed, I get to fingerpaint, go on walks, go the farmer's market. It's great! I think I can speak for both kids by saying we are all enjoying ourselves tremendously!

Still waiting to hear from our social worker. It's been exactly one week and one day since we turned in our homework and no word! I am hoping we'll hear Monday! I'm ready to get the homestudy process underway!

I am now Strength and Conditioning and Group Exercise certified for the Y. I go on Tuesday to sign some papers and figure out when I want to work and which classes. This fall I will be teaching an Outdoor Pilates class and a Bootcamp class out at Camp which will be really great. I'm really looking forward to it.

Hopefully next post I'll have some pictures, quite bizarre having no time for internet! Thanks for tuning in!

Homework, Check; Last day, Check!

So exciting stuff in life. This morning I woke up knowing it would be my last day (for awhile, at least) putting on a suit and high heels. It would be my last day throwing breakfast at the kids while running out of the door. It would, in fact, be my last day at Estes. Ahh, this is what it feels like to breath. So pleased am I!

Perhaps better than that? WE FINISHED OUR ADOPTION HOMEWORK!!!!!!!!! I am SO excited about this. Just dropped it in the mail, actually. It should arrive at the CHSFS offices tomorrow. Either Monday or Tuesday we should be hearing from our Social Worker out of Cedar Rapids. We will set up our first homestudy appointment that will take place in the CR offices. Since we are both fairly flexible with our schedules, that should be fairly soon! After that is complete, we book our 2nd (and hopefully, final) homestudy appointment. I'm hoping to get homestudies done by the 3rd week in August. This would mean it is feasible to get our dossier paperwork in by September. Go baby go!

It might be a couple days before my next post, camp isn't hooked up with what one might call "quick internet" yet so I will have to be heading to coffee shops with wireless with the kids in tow. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Prayers for MN

Again with the eyes!

This is what we call Dailah's "crazy face".

Seriously.

My brother, myself and my two kids all on one tube, AMAZING.

Trysten after his first attempt at skiing.

Trysten decided he wanted to try skiing. My brother was so kind to get all his skiis, life jackets, etc on and once all gear was on, Trysten decided he'd take baby steps and be done for now. Perhaps next time he might just get in the water?

So I got to work today and heard about the bridge collapse in MN (we still don't have our TV hooked up at Camp so I'm a bit behind with news). As most know, this is where our adoption agency is, actually just a few miles from that bridge. I was relieved to hear most of my forum friends are accounted for, but we are still waiting to hear how the staff at CHSFS fares. I am praying for, of course, all of my forum friends and CHSFS staff, but also everyone directly or indirectly affected by it all. What a horrific experience! Please keep them in your prayers as well.

On a lighter note, my dearest daughter takes after her brother in more than one way...her first official word (after momma, dadda) is "ball". We were playing water basketball in the pool the other day and she said it! It was pretty cute and reminds me oh so much of her brother. I'd be lying if I said Zach and I didn't take it as the smallest of hints that they'll be superstars in all things athletic. No pressure there, right? (And for those that don't know, I truly am being at least a good portion, sarcastic.)

Anyway, blessings to you all. May you turn to the ones you love and tell/show them just how much you love them today and every day. Thanks for tuning in.

2 More Days and 42 Spiders

Trysten is notorious for picking flowers/weeds, sometimes from other people's gardens, to give to me. That yellow flower in my ear is one such example. But look how happy we both are!

My baby boy looks so big in this picture!

Told you I can't find a picture when she's not eating! Looks like she loves my mom's potato salad ALMOST as much as her mom.

This was Trysten's idea of dessert. That is a chocolate donut on top of a cookie. I say, as long as it's not going straight to his hips, why not? I'd do it if I could.

Look at the things people come up with. A water totter? BRILLIANT I say!

AWWWWWWWWW.

2 more days of work. Hard to believe, really. I've been looking forward to that day for so long I still feel like I'm going to come Friday and someone is going to tell me I have another year to go. I was reflecting today as I walked in, box in hand, that there really is going to be a few things I miss about working here. I'll miss my colleague, Kathryn, who made lots of otherwise boring/misearble situations, bearable. I'll miss working downtown. I'll miss walking through the doors and seeing patrons of the coffee shop starting their mornings with me. I'll miss surfing the internet so frequently (ha!). I will miss being out in the community as often and getting a first glimpse into what new attractions and buildings were going up around the QC.

But I'll get to spend lots of time with the people shown above and really, I couldn't ask for more. Today as I was walking up to the Lodge to do some laundry (our washer and dryer have yet to be hooked up at camp) with my favorite son and I realized this was going to be an every day occurence. I wouldn't have to wake up at the butt crack of dawn to get our unmentionables out of the laundry, I'll be able to wait until a decent hour! I'll be able to cook them a fine lunch of spagettios and mac and cheese (yes, I have no doubt I'll resort to that once in awhile) and will have more time to make interesting dinners. I'll be able to read to the kids and go on walks with them. I'll be able to donate more time and effort to various non-profits I enjoy working with. And I'll get to do some personal training, watching people reach their fitness potential. I can't say enough how excited I am. Oh yeah, and I'll get to go to coffee shops with my sis-in-law and nephews. (Zach, you KNEW I couldn't leave that one out!)