The closer we get to leaving for Colombia, the more I start to measure time in the things I use rather than the clock on the wall or the calendar on my phone.
We are leaving soon. I know this because I will only drink 17 more cups of coffee before I board the plane. I will still be using the same bottle of shampoo. I will fill the gas tank three more times. I will eat two more loaves of bread.
That’s how close I am to giving Diego a big hug and calling him my son.
We went to my mom’s house tonight to hang out with the family. It was a short visit, right after dinner, and we only planned to stay for about an hour. Near the end of the night, we were getting ready to take a family photo with all the children and grandchildren and then we were going to head home. Monica quietly came up to me and asked if we were going to have any ice cream. I said no. “Or cookies?” “No.” “Not any dessert?” “Huh-uh.” “Then why did we come to grandma’s?” she asked. It was cute and we all laughed. And yes, we let her have a cookie.
The girls and I went on our first hike of the year today at Winton Woods. It was just us and the dogs. Zach was home sick. It’s been a beautiful break with lots of snow and silence. Our family loves to hike. We dragged Kelly and Monica along with us when we first got them 3 years ago. I remember having to carry Kelly quite a bit because she was so little and couldn’t walk that far. But, over the years they have built up quite an endurance for going on longs walks and hikes through the woods.
Our walk around Winton in the snow today reminded me that this is only the second season that Kelly and Monica have experienced snow. The year we brought them home there was enough snow to build an igloo at our neighbors house. Last year, I bought snow suits and snow boots for the girls and they didn’t have a chance to slip them on even for an hour. This year, the girls had their first real snow ball fight behind snow walls that they built up with Ava and Jesus. And, they got to build a snow man with a kit that our neighbors gave us.
Even so, snow etiquette is still new to the girls. For example, today I had to tell Kelly not to wash her mittens off in the mud puddle. She was trying to get the snow off after picking up huge snow mounds and dropping them like bombs along the path. Of course, it did get the snow off. But then she had wet, muddy mittens. So much to learn.
I love so many of the things Kelly says. She makes me smile and laugh.
Yesterday I picked Kelly up from my mom’s house. It was about dinner time. Kelly wanted to know what we were having for supper and if she could eat it right when we got home because she was so hungry. I said, “Didn’t you have a snack at Grandma’s?” She said, “Yes, I had a laptop.”
“What did you have?”
“A laptop.”
“For a snack?”
“Yes, mommy, a laptop.”
“Kelly, a laptop is a computer.”
“Oh, (giggle giggle). It was a laptart.”
(smile) “You mean a poptart?”
“Yes.”
Last week she was giving me a big hug and we were telling each other how much we love one another. She said, “Mommy, I love you soooo much.” I said the same. “Mommy, I love you so much but I only have one heart. I wish I had two hearts so I could love you even more.”
Go back 3 more days when we were at the YMCA for gymnastics. Monica was practicing with the team and Kelly is in a lower level gymnastics class. If you know Kelly, you can imagine how she talks the entire time, and acts like she’s on the stage instead of in a class. She I usually hyper-aware of what Mommy is doing on the sidelines than the instruction her coach is giving her.
I sat watching the girls and trying to get some work done for school while a little 2 year old girl kept throwing a penny at my feet. This went on for about 15 minutes. Honestly, it was driving me crazy. Finally, the little girl looked at me and I said, “Do you want me to show you a trick?” She smiled. So I took her penny and flicked it in a very magical way 😉 Kelly has seen me do this a hundred times. But the little girl was dazzled and kept giving me the penny so I kept doing the magic trick.
All of the sudden I hear Kelly shout, “My mom is SO COOL. She can FLICK a PENNY!!!” Everyone stopped and looked at me. Kelly had the biggest smile on her face. And I felt wonderful. Man, if that’s all it takes. I’m set. If not, I’ll remind Kelly when she’s a teenager that it only took a penny to make me cool.
Someone just asked me to recommend good picture books about adoption. We have the ten books listed below and about once a month we read at least one of them to the girls. My favorite on the list is I wished for you by Marianne Richmond. It makes me cry every single time I read it! I just love it. And it gracefully approaches all the difficult questions kids ask about their adoption. My second favorite is Little Miss Spider by David Kirk.
The girls’ favorite book is Mishka. I think that’s kind of funny because it’s about a Russian adoption which is very different from our experience. But I think they really like the part about the bear getting adopted too.
Food for thought. If you have any friends who are going through an adoption, any of these books would make a great gift.
