Stay tuned, we are improving.....meaning, one year ago, Mason-Kate sadly screamed in horror as the jolly red suited Santa made his appearance in her life for the first time at a church Christmas party. It was sad. This year, he came in and MK watched from her seat with her big, bright eyes....she never moved, she never smiled, she just watched. When he left the room, MK looked at me and said, "I not sit on Santa's lap with my boys. I sit on Santa's lap with you." Ok, so that is how it went, she sat on my lap, the boys with Santa, and Ryan ran to jump in too. How she sat on my lap was the funny part. She sat facing me, hands gripping my arms, her head tucked into my chest. This is improvement, yes. She didn't cry, not even one little tear. And she told Mrs. Claus thank you when it was all said and done.

Our elf, Matthew, is back and wreaking havoc on our holiday decorations. Seems he has gotten a bit more mischievous this year. He is into rearranging our decor and then he perches himself next to his mess to keep a watch on the behavior in our home. Silly elf. Pryce is so excited about Matthew; MK can't figure him out and asks at least once a day "who dat is?"; Colin has deemed Matthew a "decoy"....
Yesterday we made our annual trip to the Christmas tree farm. We typically spend a few hours there, first selecting the tree of all trees for our home and then drinking hot chocolate, eating baked goodies and visiting with friends that we run into. To fight the cold yesterday, I layered myself with first a t-shirt, a sweater, then Colin's heavy jacket and topped it off with my coat....layering is the style, right? Our day was wonderful, our tree is beautiful and now the boxes can be put away. Yay.

During the hayride, P spotted a ladybug. Ladybugs are a popular good luck sign among those in the Chinese adoption community. For us, it symbolizes our hope and dreams to go back. To find this "needle" in a haystack, during this holiday season, assured us to hold onto our hope.

After our wonderful day out, we ventured back home to begin the afternoon of decorating. Last year, we did this same thing....we visited the farm, got the perfect tree, came home only to realize that the tree was too big for our stand....back to the farm, got another perfect tree, back home, decorated. This year during our drive home, Ryan and I talked about our plans for the afternoon, football, and dinner. The entire drive, I kept thinking how pleasant the day had been and how easy the tree selection had gone....good thoughts. We arrived home, drove into the garage, the usual. After I turned the car off, I looked into my rear view mirror only to see this tiny little evergreen hanging down from the back of my car....it was the top of our tree! We had driven into the garage with the 9 ft tall Christmas tree on top!

**Click on the pic of MK with Ryan to make it larger. Notice her little eye peering back at me.....

A Seabrook Thanksgiving

Ryan's family tradition as a child on Thanksgiving was to visit Seabrook Island. We were fortunate this year to be able to unite with everyone, 21 family members, to celebrate the holiday. Ryan is the youngest sibling in his family. His brother and two sisters were teenagers when he was born. We have 7 nieces (and a niece-in-law?) and nephews on his side of the family. Our children are the babies of the bunch and make up the 8, 9 and 10 of the grandchildren.

We are thankful to the aunts, uncles and cousins who openly included the youngest three in their games.....favorites of the weekend were Apples To Apples, Scattergories and 21. P will tell you that his favorite part of Thanksgiving was playing 21.

And we are thankful for G-Mom and G-Dad. G-Mom and G-Dad are very dear to our family and have saved the day on many occasions over our almost 12 year union. One of the most notable saves came when P was born. We were living in Massachusetts, just outside of Boston. No family around. My parents arrived shortly after P's birth and had to leave the day I was released from the hospital. I had some complications following his birth. G-Mom arrived when P was just 6 days old. G-Mom walked into our house, placed her bags on the floor, the two of us loaded P into the car and off we went to the dr.'s office. This was about 3 in the afternoon. Ryan was at the airport waiting on a flight to interview for a job in Florida. Colin, then only 2, was being watched by a friend. The doctors appointment did not go so well and I was told that I would be having surgery that very night. Frantically, we called Ryan, who was boarding a plane, and he rushed home to be with me. And then there were my two precious boys, just 2 and 6 days old. G-Mom didn't know what she was walking into when she came to visit but fortunately she was up for a surprise overnight babysitting adventure. As we were leaving to go to the hospital that night for the surgery, I remember Ryan's mother asking me in a desperate voice, "Beth, what am I going to feed the baby? Will he even take a bottle?" G-Mom handled it well, they all three survived and P has had a special bond with G-Mom ever since.

And we are thankful for Seabrook Island. And the beach. We can't seem to get enough.

And we are thankful for modern technology. C's weekend included numerous football games with the cousins and computer hopping. If C could not be found on one computer in the house, he was on another.

And we are thankful for rest we were able to enjoy. I was able to take numerous photos of P sleeping. He plays hard and crashes harder - this pic was taken around 7:30 one evening, can you tell which one took a nap earlier?

My first mother gave me roots, my forever mother gave me wings. I like this statement - it is one that was posted on another blog, the blogger being an adoptee. Many days I honestly forget that I did not carry MK for nine months and actually give birth to her. Just like the boys, she is a part of me, no doubt. One day, Mason-Kate will ask about the lady that gave her life. She will be curious of how she came to be, whose tummy she grew inside of and the circumstances surrounding her first 14 months of life, her life before her family. Most everyone has a story they have been told about the day they were born. Mine goes something like this....on the day I was born, my father received his only speeding ticket ever while rushing to my mother's side. My mother, who was being driven to the hospital by a friend, got to one hospital and was told that they were out of room so she had to proceed to another hospital - me being me, I have always been the different one, the one who doesn't do anything like her brother and sister including being born in the same hospital as those two. My mother arrives finally at a hospital with room, they take her back and she gives birth to a strikingly beautiful (ha!) NINE pound baby girl with more hair than most teenagers. The nurses cleaned me up and very carefully tucked me into a hospital gown that was not made for strikingly beautiful NINE pound babies, I took my first real good deep breath and, POP, I busted out of the gown. That is my story. That is the one I have been told since I can remember talking about how I came to be. That is the one that I will tell my children. MK's story will be unique, she will ultimately have TWO stories. Her first story, the story of how a lady, one who lives a world away, gave her life. The second story, the one with endless details, the one with multiple parts including the adoption decision, the paperwork, the surprise call, the first time we were able to see her picture; the one where we tell her of how we heard her little voice as we walked off of the elevator, the one where she was "birthed" right into the arms of her family - the family that will teach her how to fly.....my first mother gave me roots, my forever mother (family) gave me wings.

Yesterday we thoroughly enjoyed a day at Riverbanks Zoo with our friends. The crowds were extremely small due to the weather being a little less than desirable. Check out the pics at www.popsiclesandpopcorn.blogspot.com . When we arrived home, Colin was tired and said he had a headache. He is well yet still trying to gain his strength back. I offered him Tylenol. He agreed. Mason-Kate asked if she could give the medicine to "her Colin". I said no. She asked in her sweet little voice, "Why?" and I responded, "Because mommies give medicine to their children and I am the mommy." She looked at me in a very stern way and said, "But I the Mason-Kate."

Celebrate and be Thankful! Colin is well! YAY!

Cough, cough, COUGH....yuck, yuck, yuck. The illness continues. Colin was diagnosed with pneumonia on Monday. He can control his cough with cough drops being continuously in his mouth but that leads to a hurting stomach, sigh. He WON'T eat ANYTHING. Well, that is, without bribery. Rarely do I resort to this as I really don't normally see the point. If I want my children to do something I believe they should know that they will do it because I expect them to, not because I am going to give them something. Alas, on that note, I have abandoned all good judgement, as sometimes happens, and we have recently gone into bribery mode. It works, he will eat for Star Wars action figures or a new toy gun and I am satisfied that he is not starving to death. Bribery at its best. In other news, we celebrated our last day of co-op for this semester on Tuesday. That evening, we, along with Ryan's parents, were invited to attend an art show featuring our little budding artists, Colin and Pryce. I love that the children have not only done art projects, they have also learned about the different artists, their styles and how their works of art came to be famous. MK's latest....she has been modeling for our babysitter who is participating in a photography class at ASU. Cute pics.

***Update....Colin has now been diagnosed with both pnuemonia AND bronchitis. So, onward with the meds and now we welcome the beloved nebulizer into our home as well! This little guy has had a time!

The Shot

Cough, cough, hack, hack, cough....tis the season to be sick in our house! And who is the lucky victim, COLIN. Colin, the one who rarely gets sick, the one who IF he does get sick it only lasts a day or two, Colin who has two projects to complete by Tuesday, Colin who is just plain old sick. It started with a simple cough. We pretty much ignored it due to the fact that someone always seems to have a simple cough in our home. Well, the simple cough turned into the constant simple cough and I finally realized the oxygen level in his lungs was lacking. So, off to the dr. we went. During the ride to the drs. office, Colin asked me if he was going to need a shot. I said I really didn't think so - he was sick with a cough, we weren't visiting the dr. for a check up. We get there, we are in the room waiting on the dr. to see us, in walks the dr. and Colin, in between breaths, asks the dr. if he is going to need a shot. Now, just know that Colin was asking this in a joking manner.....his dear mother had already assured him no shot was going to be needed :) HA! The dr. pulls out Colin's chart, runs his finger over it a few times, looks up and says, "Well, yes, you do need a shot - the second shot of the Hep A series...." Colin's eyes immediately darted over to meet mine as he mouths to me, "Is he really serious?" Unfortunately, yes, the dr. was serious, Colin needed a shot. I am not sure at what age children stop fearing shots but in our household, age 9 is not it. With tears streaming down his face, in went the shot. Ouch! With what we think will cure the simple, constant cough in tow, we leave and go fill the prescription. Three days later, no cure in sight, we switch antibiotics. I said to Colin, "I am sorry. Mommy should have taken you to the dr. sooner so it wouldn't have turned into this!" Colin replies, "It is quite ok mom. If you had taken me earlier, I would have had to have gotten my shot earlier. I am glad we waited."
And on an MK note. She is so unhappy with the fact that we will not allow her to have any cough drops. They are hard. She is not allowed. She thinks they are candy. She cries big tears when she sees Colin with one. I told her yesterday, "Mason-Kate, you do not have a cough, you do not even need a cough drop." Should have known better. She started coughing. On purpose, of course.