Happy Halloween!

OWEN IS ONE!

Oh, bittersweet, bittersweet! I can't believe I am the mommy of a one-year-old! No longer can I say, 'He's 11 months.' He's ONE!

Saturday we went to my parents', where we played all day and ate grilled burgers, made by his Grandpa. My grandma was there, too--she turned 87 on the 17th, so we had a joint bday party. After lunch Owen got his very own banana creme pie, which he dug into quite voraciously! His Grammy and Gramps got him a new winter coat (it's awesome! I wish it fit me), and his Great-Granny got him a sock hat and mittens to match, as well as an SUV complete with a mommy and baby and stroller--not that he likes those much. He's into the CAR part of that toy! :) His mom and dad got him a fire engine!

Sunday we celebrated at Shannon's parents, where he got his very own little cake, and a big cake for all of us. He got VEHICLES! A dump truck, a race track, a big mixer...he loved it! His Aunt Shawnna's friend Julie also got him pop-up books--a big hit. He shared this bday with his (older) cousin John, who turned 14 on the same day as Owen turned one.

I spent most of the weekend being amazed at this little person who has filled our lives with joy. He's only been home 3 months, and yet our lives are centered around him and the happiness we find in raising him. He's ONE--which came too fast, but I also love knowing that we'll be with him for all his birthdays to come!

WE...ARE...DISTRICT...CHAMPS!!!!!!!!!

Woohoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!! Yeah, BLACKCATS!!!!!!!!!

YouTube

Owen now has 3 or 4 videos on YouTube, is anyone is interested...! My username is platyneuron. :)

Birthday coming up!

I can't believe in 5 days I'll be a 1 year old's mommy! My little sweetums! I miss him all day...although when I left him w/the sitter this AM, he was happily crawling from one length of their big playroom to the other (while the other 2 kids watched TV--I'm proud of him for not being interested in that!). He gave me his cold and now mine's progressed into sore throat and achey. He seems to be lacking those symptoms, thankfully!

MAKE THAT 8 - 0.

Oh yeah.

New coaching outfit: $50. New coaching shoes: $65. Gas for driving to scout other teams: $300. Being 7 - 0 your first year as head coach: Priceless.

YEAH BLACKCATS!

FUTURE BLACKCAT STAR

GETTING PSYCHED UP

LET's GO CATS!

BLACKCAT WARNING

I'm gonna get you!

This is what I told Owen as we started a new chase game tonight. He started crawling into the kitchen, and I followed him on my own hands and knees, and said, "IIIIIII'm gonna get you!" He went NUTS and giggled and started crawling just as fast as he could to get away from Mommy! I tell you, there is NOTHING cuter than a little baby boy's behind as he scrambles to crawl away! He was hysterical with laughter when I'd 'get' him, and wanted to do it all over again. Of course, he's lighter so it doesn't hurt HIS knees so much! :)

Tired already this week!

Last night we all fell asleep on the bed (and when I say 'all,' I mean all 3 humans and the cat and 1 dog, the other dog on her bed at the foot of our bed) at 8:15! Woke up at midnight to O's crying. He cried every couple of hours after that till time to get up; I think he was developing a cold, because this morning, he was couhging a little and was snotty. I had to dress him one layer at a time and hold him and snuggle in between each one, poor little squirt!

As for school, it's good. I really do love teaching, and I love the structure of my day. I need some structure. Anyway, I still haven't gotten the timing down and so haven't gotten to give O breakfast at home yet, because we're always running late. Tomorrow, I'll get up 30 min. earlier so I can spend that meal w/him!

One hour and 56 minutes till school's out and I can go get O.

Day 2 of being back at work

Yest. afternoon, Owen was SO excited to see me when I went to pick him up! He said, "Aaahhhhh," over and over and snuggled into his carseat. We went to the store (even this is more fun w/him around!) then he slept HARD on the way home then for another 40 min. when we got home. His sitter said he just slept for 30 min. all day Monday! Usually he has a 2 hr nap! But he and another baby, who is 8.5 mo old, played all day and even crawled around together.

I also bought Owen a toy bus yesterday. Why?

Because he CAN SAY BUS! He loves them!! At the game Friday night, he pointed at the visiting team's 2 buses and said, 'Bu!' over and over! That counts as a word! He also says 'momma'--but only when he's ticked at me for being too slow w/his pacha. Heh heh...just like his mommy. Grouchy if the food's slow in coming.

So, Owen has 2 words in his vocabulary now. :)

First day back

Well. Here I am...it's 2:56 and I can go get Owen in just 19 min.!

Shannon dropped him off for me at the sitter's this morning. I just couldn't bear it. I got him up and dressed, though, and bless his heart, I woke him from a sound sleep at 6:40am, changed his clothes and he was just all smiles. Happy as usual. :) Shannon said he seemed excited that Daddy was there at the sitter's w/him, and a little confused when he left (usually it's Mommy leaving!).

I've done ok. I just got teary-eyed once, when someone gave me a little card and scrapbook to welcome me. You know how it is: when you're holding on but feeling vulnerable, and then someone's nice to you...and the tears roll! But that was short-lived. I'm doing ok.

HEY! The bell rang! I'm outta here! ;)

My grandpa's legacy and love.

My father's father was a woodworker, and a wonderful one at that. He made tables, chairs, wine bottle stoppers, lamp bases, and toys. Several years ago, after Shannon and I had been married for a while, he made some wooden toys for our future children. He made a little pull-toy rabbit, and little man whose legs and arms pop up when you pull a string at the base, and this wooden horse for riding. I got it out for Owen a couple of nights ago. He sat on it and tried to push it forward (he can do rocking toys, like rocking horses), and I pushed him around the kitchen on it for a long time. He also likes to push it around the kitchen.

Every time I see him with it or on it, I get teary-eyed. My grandfather was one of the most amazing, loving men I've ever met. Everyone loved him, in the way that you can love someone who is genuine, funny, kind, and laughs easily. Kids adored him. Some of my best memories are of spending summers at the house w/he and my g'ma, and laughing and laughing at his jokes and teases. I still miss him so, so much. He would have loved Owen, and Owen would have thought he just walked on water. I was so lucky to have my grandfathers till I was more than 30 years old, both of them...they died within 2 months of each other. I still miss them terribly. My grandmothers are still around, still active and quite feisty...and they are such a blessing.

But oh, I miss my grandpas. But the love they gave to me, I will pass on to my son, their great-grandson.

Wild baby!!

Owen really likes the slide at the park, we know that. BUT--last night we sat him on the back of the couch and let him 'slide' down. He did this a few times, and each time Shannon would catch him and set him back up there.

After a few minutes, he started literally JUMPING off the back of the couch the SECOND Shannon sat him up there! S would put him right back up there, and he'd open his mouth and eyes really wide and JUMP off into S's arms! Totally fearless! Crazy, craaaaaaaaazy baby!

PRAISE GOD--BELLA is coming HOME!!!!

Some of you have heard me talk about my friend Sharon, who has been living w/her adoptive daughter Bella in Guatemala for 14 months now. Her older daughter Irene joined her this summer, while her husband Greg held down the rest of their lives in the US. Most of the time spent down there was waiting to be resubmitted to PGN, which happened approximately 9 weeks ago.

And Monday, 8 October, THEY WERE APPROVED and let OUT OF PGN. They are going home!!!!

God is truly good. We love you, Sharon, Bella, Greg and Irene!!

That cutie-patootie!

Owen was at the sitter's most of the day today...

He woke himself up at 6:15 this morning, so he must've known I was planning to rouse him at 6:30 to get him used to getting up early. We ate breakfast, he played while I got his lunch packed, and we got to the sitter's by. (Not really fast enough, but I had to get myself ready too, which I'll do before I get him up next week, I guess.)

She said he did fine, and only cried once, when another kid cried. He only slept for 35 min., and so when we got home about 1:30, he crashed for 2 hours! And then he sort of rested (read: wanted Mommy to hold him on her lap) for another hour. THEN Daddy came home and the games began!

I worked at school, did the grocery shopping and made my (weight-gaining) self run for 30 minutes, in the woods w/our dogs. I missed him, but the time went quickly, and honestly, I was around some kids who are in my first hour class (I haven't met most of them yet!), and it was good to hear their goofy banter and laughter. I unabashedly love high school kids...and love my job. Owen loves his sitter, and so I think it'll be ok. After all, I'll be going to get him at 3:15 every day! It's not as if I work till 6!

Oh, but how I MISSED HIM!!!

Link to the petition--please sign this!

It's the simplest thing you can do to help Guatemalan children and babies who are in the process of being adopted by American families COME HOME. Remember, this petition is for OUR government, which is threatening to halt all Guate. adoptions, even those in process. Can you imagine if OUR U.S. government had told us, in the middle of our adoption of Owen, that we had to stop and we could not adopt him? Try to imagine that...and then please, please sign.

http://www.petitiononline.com/foafoa1/petition.html

HAVE YOU SIGNED THE PETITION? Faxed anyone? Passed the word along???

I know I emailed a lot of you, begging you to help make contact w/our reps, senators, anyone who will listen about the 5000 on-going adoptions that the USA is possibly going to stop--leaving 5000 kids and babies w/o families. (for no apparent good reason) Please please please see the links below, and visit 5000orphans.com, and help support families JUST LIKE US, who have adopted from Guatemala. If our case didn't just happen to get done in August, Owen could be one of those 5000 kids who could potentially end up w/o a home---even though we would have been here wanting him and loving him!

PLEASE HELP!!!

Sickos

Well, Mr. Owen and I are both sick. He has had intestinal troubles (I'll spare you the details) and I have some sort of infection, possibly strep. Bleh! So we haven't done much. However, this morning, as Owen was downing his 54th gallon of Pedialyte (so ordered by his Mommy), we watched an episode or 2 of The Muppet Show, from Season 1, which my bro got me for my birthday. I am EXTREMELY pleased to say Owen liked it!!!! With time, he will come to love it and revel in it as I do.

Let me also mention that I HATE TV-watching for babies and little kids...but when you're sick, you're sick, and there ain't much either one of us feels like doing.

PLEASE HELP! Gutemalan adoptions in jeopardy!!

I am cutting and pasting words from my good friend Katie's blog, because she has such a way with words, and has expressed this terrifying development eloquently. The point is to get babies and kids home to the adoptive families who already love them, and in many cases, have been fostering them for months and months in Guatemala.

You can click on the link to Katie's blog on the right, and see pictures of the beautiful children and their adoptive families who arew still waiting to be united.

From Katie's blog (katiemohr.blogspot.com):

If you hadn't heard by now, Guatemalan adoptions that are in process are in trouble. If you want to know the details from the state department here's a link to the article they recently posted: http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption/country/country_389.html and here's another article in response to the news: http://www.jcics.org/Guatemala%20Press%20Release%20(Sept%2027).pdf

You don't have to understand all the lingo or even what the Hague is to understand the bottom line. Basically all adoptions that aren't completed by Jan 1 will be stopped until further notice (if ever) while they get their act together on both the Guatemalan side and the US side. There is a desperate need for the system to be revamped (if you hadn't gathered that from our experience...) but to cut off all pending adoptions by a 'deadline' is ludicrous. According to the JCICS there's 5000 pending cases of children that have been referred to parents in the U.S., this means their biological parents have relinquished their parental rights, which leaves these children in a state of limbo. Please hear the urgency: This is a big deal and we can fight it.

Russ gave me the 'day off' today to work on some projects and I'm sitting in this cozy coffee shop completely unable to think straight. I've made the statement before that our adoption won't truly feel complete until Sharon, Bella, Irene, Melissa and Madi are home. Well, through the adoption cyberspace world, I've met the Wheelers (see blog link) who have barely started their process but are already so in love with their Guatemalan little girl and truly feel led by the Lord to adopt her. So on one hand a young couple is just sending off their primary paperwork and feels as though their heart is being juggled openly while the government figures out what they're doing. On the other hand you've got Sharon. She's been with Bella since she was 3 months old and is now almost a year and a half. Sharon has made countless sacrifices in order to live down there and raise her until the process completes. We also can look at Cheri, who's case has encountered the most insane roadblocks and should have been completed months ago.

These women are bonded with these children in ways only mothers can. They've "paid their dues" in the system and now the system threatens the worst. They simply just want to take their daughters home now, please.

Okay, here's the recommended ways you can help. The simplest is to follow this link and sign this online petition. If you're like me, you question the validity of any online petition, but what if it does make a difference? We need to at least take a shot at it. http://www.petitiononline.com/foafoa1/petition.html It's very simple and takes less than 30 seconds. So far there's only 6064 signatures. That's not enough, please add more!!

If you want to go one step further (PLEASE DO!!!!) here's a link to a list of sample letters you can send to your senators, congressmen, DOS, and UNICEF:
http://www.sunflowersandladybugs.com/blog.asp?ID=548 (Thanks Cheri, for organizing these!)

And please get the word out! Pass this info on to those around you.

Even if you're not the type of person to sign online petitions or write to your congressmen, I beg of you to climb out of that box just this once. This is the United States, where people rising up and taking a stand has made a difference. Let's take advantage of the system we have in place for when things aren't the way they should be.

As each of you have fallen in love with our Eliot, please think of the 5000 faces just like his waiting to come home. As you stood by Russ and I supporting us through the arduous process, think of the families, just like us, that daily plead that their own country won't deny them their children.

You can also go to http://www.jcics.org/Guatemala5000.htm, which provides a list of things you can do to help. All it takes is a letter, a phone call, a fax...or several of those, to several lawmakers! Please help, if you can. There are families waiting to be together forever!