Blog Slacker

We have a 16 month old!? That just seems cRaZy! In FIVE days we will have been a family of 3 for SIX MONTHS! That just seems like a huge milestone. In some ways, it seems like she has been a part of our lives forever, but then I stop to remember that she has a 10 month history without us. At six months with us, we still have not been her longest placement. She lived in 3 other 'places' with many, many caregivers in 10 months. That is STILL mind-blowing to me. We are her final stop, but that isn't something we can be communicated without showing her. She is definitely showing the signs that she understands that we can be trusted, and we are so thankful for that. She comes to us when she has a boo boo. She actually will cry/whine when she has done something that hurts. After the first few weeks, it was obvious she is a happy girl, but it was also obvious that she was either, afraid to complain, or she just didn't see the point. For example, she would smack her head on something. She would get a startled look and then she would just rub her head for a minute. In many ways, parents try to teach their kids not to cry over every little bump. We shrug it off, so they learn not to make a big deal about it (the "walk it off" mentality). Well, there were some pretty loud, hard smacks around here, and she was almost afraid to react. She still doesn't cry or whine about everything, but we are confident she understands we are there to kiss the 'owies,' because she does cry when something truly hurts. She reaches for us and wants to snuggle. I don't want her to be hurt, but it is the best feeling in the world that she trusts us to comfort her when she needs it most. We are also starting to throw some pretty interesting tantrums, but that is a whole other 'can of worms.'

There are things she lived and overcame without us. She has such an amazing spirit. She is so silly. She is incredibly beautiful. Amazing. Just amazing. We are thankful for her everyday. 

So, to conclude this update, I picked a "few" photos of December... 

Nana and Grampa with their 4 granddaughters

"Dad, quit taking my picture. I want to play with the camera."

My cousins love to dote on me.

I love this. They are having a little cousin huddle...

I'm impossibly cute...

We could not get a great family photo...

Another attempt...

Struggled with how to wear the reindeer antlers. Still, so cute.

Still trying to take a family photo. Even in our Christmas morning pj's.

Still not happening...

Just another attempt.

It's pretty safe to say that my Grandpa thinks Cupcake is the Bee's Knees. She likes to pull the stuff out of his shirt pockets. She is clapping for herself for putting his comb back.

I had to post this to prove that it is possible for her to smile in a picture with 2 adults. I think Kevin or I have to take the picture, which means we can't be in the picture. Sigh. Oh, Well.

Nana begged us to get a picture with Cupcake smiling with her...

I have a special bond with my Uncle. Love him...

My bro and sis on Christmas. My other brother was getting ready to take his 3 girls to Disneyland. Lucky!

This just cracks me up. What a nut.

Auntie K made me a tutu. To reward her, I gave her a snuggle. Love!

This is my Auntie Corinna. She lost her battle with cancer the day after Christmas. I miss her and still cannot believe she is gone from this world. I was thankful for a reminder from my cousin, Callie yesterday that she isn't in pain. She is free from the disease. She is in heaven. I'm so thankful for that promise.

Re-Run

**I wrote this last year, but all of it still applies. The only difference is, no snow day and our daughter is napping upstairs...definitely more than a concept now!**

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! I haven't given as much thought as maybe I should have about this man, this topic. Having a snow day today gives me the opportunity to think about how MLK Jr. and the other civil rights leaders, in essence, made it possible for my family to conceivably adopt an African child. Mind-blowing, right? While I've always considered his works for equality through non-violence an amazing work and life, I've not been as grateful for it as I feel today. The goal of today should be to at least reflect and make a plan of action about what acts of service can be done to honor this life and his work.  If you need a little extra inspiration,  I'm posting the "I have a dream" video below, but I also picked out a few quotes from him that I really connect with, and show his brilliance.

"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."

"Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal."

"Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but your refuse to hate him."

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is, "What are you doing for others?"

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."

"That old law about "an eye for an eye' leaves everybody blind."

"The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character- that is the goal of true education."

"The Negro needs the white man to free him from his fears. The white man needs the Negro to free him from his guilt."

"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

"I have a dream that on day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers."

"And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, 'Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"