All Caught Up Now

Hi all-

So, here it is already October and I am still playing blog catch-up from this summer.  Let me give you the lowdown on August and September (which counts at summer ‘round here since it’s still in the 90’s and the mosquitoes swarm me the second I step outside).  Sometimes I hate VA.

August brought us our wonderful yearly journey to the beach.  It is one long trip, but the boys entertained themselves quite nicely for the 10 hours or whatever it was to get there this year.  Thank goodness for the dollar store is all I gotta say. 

A few little toys, a few little treats, a movie or two and then we were there- toes in sand, sun on bodies, smiles on faces.  Ahhh.  Well, for everyone except for our sweet high maintenance (when it comes to new textures) Bek that is.  The entire week, we spent trying to get him to tolerate the sand but it wasn’t until the very last morning that I had the brilliant idea (light bulb over my head) that I could leave his stinkin’ shoes on.  Duh.  And he walked around like he’d been doing it all week. 

Oh well, at least we know for next time.  But, as usual, the water was a big hit.  Rin boogie boarded, Bek floated, and a good time was had by all.  It was a week of castle building, bonding with extended family, puttputting, Bek falling asleep eating (not once, not twice, but THREE times), and lots and lots of fun.  I can’t believe it’s going to be another whole year before we get to do it again. 
Sigh.   

But back to reality and our own little part of the world because it was time for Rin to start his new school soon after we got back.  And he was so excited.  Already this year- I am writing this a month after the start of school after all- I am blown away by how much he is learning.  I mean really.  This is what my 4 year old is working on.  Can you believe my baby is writing words?  I mean, yes, I helped him sound them out and told him o+o says “oo” and s+h says "sh" but still.  He was so proud of himself.  And I was almost jumping up and down myself.  And, I have to admit, maybe a little bit sad that he’s growing up but that’s my job, right?  Raise him up right and then send him out into the world to live his life hoping that I've done all I can to prepare him.  My sweet baby (er, boy).   

And as for my other sweet boy, he just keeps getting sweeter and spunkier and more adorable every single day.  I am seriously obsessed with kissing him.  And he doesn't seem to mind too much.  At night, after their baths, the boys play upstairs rolling around on the floor being silly and just generally laughing nonstop.  It’s my favorite time of day.  And the other day, Bek decided to play the kissing game.  He would run to me and kiss my cheek, then to Peter and kiss his, and then to Rin and kiss him, and then back around to me again, Peter again and around and around.  He did this for a good 10 mintues or so while Rin continued to play 'jungle gym' with Daddy.  You would think that Rin would protest but I think he likes it just as much as we do. 

Our boys are amazingly close and I wish with all of my being that it stays that way.  They seem to have some sort of understanding between each other.  Some closeness that I can’t even begin to touch.  When I find myself losing my tempter and shouting at one of them (yes, it happens- don’t judge) the one always come to the other’s rescue from mean mommy with kisses and hugs and, on Rinat’s part, a toy offering to make our little guy stop crying.  It gets me every time.   

What a blessing these boys are.  They are full of energy and love and every single day I think about how different our lives would be if we have not ended up together.  All four of us were somehow put together by the universe and it couldn’t have turned out better.  I am counting my blessings each and every day. 

I hope you all find a reason to count your blessings today too.
Love to all, -m

The Days of Bek

Hi All-

It’s been a year.  An entire year since a little boy turned our world around.  There we were in on the other side of the world discussing how long we could wait it out before we gave up on three years of hoping and went home baby-less to start over. 

And then we met HIM. 

In a little room, filled with strangers, Rinat was playing quietly with toys from the baby house director’s shelves.  The adults were chit-chatting but I was silent, nerves taking over my body, brain going a million miles a minute, waiting to meet a boy- the boy who could be ours.  They warned us he would cry.  “He is not good with strangers,” they said.  But they brought him in, all tucked into the arms of his nanny and covered head to toe but for his little round face.  She turned him to face us and I prepared myself for the tears.  But they didn’t come.  From either of us.  I was too happy.  He was too scared.  They asked if I wanted to hold him and I reached up to hold this bundle of cloth with a face.  He looked down at me and I looked up at him and I took him gently and put him in my lap while they told us his life story.  In his short life he had already lived in two different cities and been taken care of by countless numbers of people.  I was hoping (if all the stars aligned) we would be the last in that long line.  That we would be the people he could call his family.  Time stopped as I tried my hardest to look at his little face with out jostling him, without pushing too hard to know him- so as not to scare him- and all of the other people in the room disappeared.  I looked into those beautiful dark eyes like deep pools and I just wanted to jump in.  I came back to reality and realized Peter couldn’t see his face and so before they could take him back to his room, I turned him to look at his beautiful Daddy who said “Hi there!” and it was too much for him.  His little face screwed up into the pre-cry face that I have now learned to know so well and they whisked him off before it became full blown.  But we were left with the afterglow of the promise that we would get to see this sweet little one again tomorrow.  And our life as a family of four began. 

Our little boys are lucky.  Not only do they have the day of their birthday to celebrate them but a whole series of days- the day we met, the day the court said yes, the day we took him from the Baby House, the day we brought him home.  And when the weather begins to change and the days turn colder, we begin The Days of Bek.  Days when we remember all of the steps along to way to becoming his family.  We have special treats, lots of telling and remembering the story, some gifts, and lots and lots of hugs and kisses.

The other day I asked Rinat, “What do you love the most about Bek?”  His immediate response was to pantomime and then say, “Hugs.  I love his hugs the most.”  I totally and completely agree.  He gives the kind of hugs that let you know that he loves you with all of his little being, tight squishy hugs full of love.  He’ll be getting a whole lot of them back from his Mama.  Each and every day.

I swear our little guy just knew it was his day today.  I went to get him up and the first thing he did was stick his little fingers up in the air and shake his hips from side to side in a celebration dance with a big smile on his face.  I hope you all find a reason to do a little dance today.  I have many- but one big reason in particular today.  I feel a dance party coming on.

Love to all, -m

And Life Continues...

Hi all-  You know how sometimes in a movie, there is a calendar on the wall with today’s date on it and a breeze comes along and starts to blow the numbers off?  It blows off Aug 5, then the 6th, then 7th…and it blows harder and blows Sept 13, 17, 19 and keeps blowing to Jan 24, March 3, May 10 and ends up some time later and the story continues?  Well, so goes our blog.  A lot of time has passed but it is not for lack of subject matter that I haven’t written.  It’s lack of time and, honestly, lack of energy.  Once Bek started walking it sort of sped up my day by about 1000 times what it was before.  I’m so tired at the end of the day all I want to do is sit and stare at a wall and re-boot.  And before I knew it, it had been weeks since I have written anything about my sweet little bumpkins.  And they deserve to be written about because- lets be honest here- they are amazing and I adore them and I don’t want to forget any first anything or any cute story about them.  I’m not like my friend Carson who remembers literally every second of her life.  Nope, I am more of the ‘once it happens, it is forgotten’ kind of person.  So I write it down.  And I have been writing.  It’s on little scraps of paper around the house that I have been collecting in my desk.  So let me organize a bit and just start writing.  Let’s start way back in July...

As you know, we moved out of our beloved DC and into the suburbs and life is just a bit easier out here.  No mile long lines at the grocery store, no driving around the block twice before finding a parking spot to drop Rin at preschool, no drunk people walking home from Metro at 2am in front of our house.  Like I said, pretty easy compared to our life in DC.  One of the things that we loved about this house was proximity to the jogging paths that run throughout the city.  Most are wooded and it is heaven for a couple of nature loving boys.

And there is festival after festival out here.  I think we’ve been to four this summer and it just keeps coming.  Can you say scary face painting?  Yeah, no butterflies or unicorns here, it’s green faced superheroes.  And now we are into Fall festivals.  It is festival insanity!  There was a Taste of Reston Festival, Reston Festival, Asian Festival, International Festival, and those are just the ones I know of.  It’s so kid friendly out here.  We have made several trips out to Woody’s Putt Putt with Rin.  He doesn’t exactly play it but more like he gives it a go and if he makes it, fine, and if not, that’s fine too.  It’s all about the experience rather than the number on the scorecard when you’re four.  And should be when you’re 34 as far as I’m concerned.



 

We celebrated knowing Rin for four whole years with cupcakes this year.  A little more subdued than last year but full of love nonetheless.  And what could be better than cupcakes with the people you love the most?

This has been a blazing hot summer and so when Rinat asked one day “Hey Mommy?  Can we go explore a cave one day?” my answer was an enthusiastic ‘yes!’  We headed up to Luray Caverns and it was a wonderful day excursion for us.  We got out into the hilly part of the state and drove wind-y roads.  It wasn’t far but it was far enough to feel like we went somewhere.  And the cave itself was kind of amazing.  And nice and cool too.  Of course poor Peter was sweating his pants off hauling that stroller a million miles down the stairs to the underground but it was worth it. Even Bek thought it was amazing and didn’t even cry like I thought he would.  He’s still pretty unsure in new situations but he’s getting better by the day.  I like to measure the success of any outing by how tired the kids are after it's all over.  I'd count this as a rousing success.  These darling kids wore themselves OUT as you can see. It was a very quiet ride home for us grownups.  . 



And, because me and hot don’t get along so well, we’ve spent a decent amount of time at the pool.  Rin took a few weeks of swim lessons and is getting more comfortable with the water.  It’s hard though because they don’t allow floaties or life jackets except at lessons so he tends to just hang on me.  Bek, however, is a whole different story.  He could float and float for hours.  He will stick his little head in the water for what seems like forever holding his breath like a champ.  He’s going to be the little fish in the family I think.  Must be all that fat that makes him float- HaHa.

And other than that, we’ve just been hanging out and enjoying life.  Rin and Bek continue to get along like peas and carrots.  I don’t know why I like that saying but it just fits them.  But wait- is Rin the pea or is Bek?  Hmmm…  They laugh and laugh and roll around on the floor and laugh some more.

I have about a million more little pieces of paper tucked away inside my desk and a million more stories to tell of the adventures of the sweetest boys on earth.  But that’s for another day.  I am out of time (the boys are pounding the table and shouting for dinner) and out of space (Blogger only allows 20 photos per post).  So I’ll see you next time! 

Love to all, -m