Some Wedding Pics

Day 1 of our babysitting Max went really well. Poor Max did not go to sleep well last night. So he slept most of the day for me, but Becky had to go to work on very little shut eye.

My keyboard is acting up again. I have had it fixed twice, both times after some water got on it. This time there was no water. I am trying to upload some wedding pics but it is slow going. I was able to get these three before frustration set in:

Last hug before going back to my room to get ready. She has been on her own for a long time, but she is still my little girl.

How do you keep a very rambunctious flower girl from messing up her hair?

I guarantee you have never seen such a happy couple newly married!

I will try to put up more tomorrow!

Mellow and Hello!

Today we made it down to Fullerton and checked into our hotel which we will be at for the next six nights. Our days will be spent mainly at Becky and Arek's watching little Maksym. We spent Thursday and Friday nights at Dar's house.

Mia has not been sleeping well and this shows up in some oppositional and hyperactive behavior. It is has taken us a few years to realize that when her behavior goes from sweet to crazy it is almost always a lack of sleep. And her lack of sleep can come from changes in our schedule to changes in her diet. She needs a really healthy diet, with little gluten, to sleep well. She also needs consistent routine. Needless to date the last few days haven't been conducive to sleep! Hopefully, six days in one place will help.

Dar has a new dog. Jack is mellow beyond mellow. Anna just loves him. She is mellow beyond mellow. At McDonald's (yes, fast food is contributing to Mia's sleep issues) the other day, Mia played and played in the play space with the other kids. Anna did this.

The chair was super fun to push around for this little mellow one.

Getting Mia's shoes out of the cubbies and putting them back again was also a blast.

Pretending to be mommy was the most fun of all.

And just to show us she did know how to climb on the structure even if it wasn't her favorite thing she smiled for a picture.

Anna and Jack...

...two peas in a pod.

Packing Again

Exactly one week after packing up our entire house and moving out, we were packing again! This time it was for a two and half week trip to California. We were originally going to fly, but decided to drive after a few things came up.

We had always planned to attend a dinner for Dan's work and then go to Palm Springs for a week where we would celebrate Thanksmas (Thanksgiving on Thursday and Christmas on Friday) with the whole family. But then I am having the privilege of babysitting my little grandson for a week as Becky returns to work. So it seemed silly to spend the money renting a car for two weeks when I could drive and the kids could have their own carseats and car, making one less change for them in this season of changes. I also got to load up my car with things belonging to Becky and Joey that I could get rid of relinquish and not have to move to storage and then to the new house.

The car was packed to the gills as Sheri and I headed out yesterday morning at 3:00 AM. Of course, in the world of make-believe Mia and Anna would sleep in the car until their normal waking time of 6:30 or so. I was in this world of make-believe at first, but soon succumbed to the real world where children wonder why they have been loaded into a car in the middle of the night and are way too excited to do anything like sleep! But, truth be told, the girls were EXCELLENT for almost the entire 16 1/2 hour car ride. Yes, you read that right. After only a few stops, I pulled into Dar's house in California at 7:30 PM.

By 8:30 PM, life looked like this:

Mia was her usual cheerful morning self at 5:00 AM. Seriously, really???? But at 10:00 AM I put them both down for a nap and they are happily sleeping away as I wash Anna's car seat cover from a diaper mishap very early on the trip. This happened at about the same time we were greeted cheerfully at the McDonald's window with, "May I interest you in an egg nog latte this morning?" I said no and then we ordered a very detailed breakfast and coffee. And we waited and waited and waited some more. Then we noticed there was nothing on the screen. So we drove up to the window. It was totally dark. We had fallen for the recorded voice!! I guess it was pay back for the hundreds of recorded voices I hung up on this past election season!

Election Day

So excited about today's election. Colorado is one of the swing states so my vote might actually count in the outcome of the election! This hasn't been the case in California for a long time.

Dan and I both voted absentee ballots. We were concerned enough about the economy of the country and who was president that we wanted to sell our house before the election. And you know what? It closes today, Election Day! So we're still concerned, but have a little less to think and worry about.

Happy Election Day!

Moved!

This has been a tough week, but we are done. Whoo hoo! Almost everything is moved out of the house and either in storage or in our furnished condo. The condo is very homey and the owners have thought of just about everything you might need. And the best part is that it is only three blocks from Dan's work. He has never had this short of a commute!

I asked Mia to take a few pictures of the condo for the blog. She took a nice one of our "veranda".

Then she got a little carried away. Or maybe she really thought you would like to see our doorknob.

Or our bath tub...

She was sure you would want to see this.

So then I took over camera duties and she became my model.

The girls favorite part of living in the condo is this:

Mia has had a very tough time with the move. She has been emotional about packing up all of our stuff. She doesn't really understand what we were doing and why we are moving. Today is the first day she said she wanted to go to the condo.

We have had a lot of help with the girls. Thanks Michelle, Gabby, Deirdre and Sheri for watching them and/or fixing us meals! Thank you Kid Town Drop-in Day Care. So glad you exist!!!

We will miss our great neighbors and got to say goodbye to most of them at a neighborhood party last week. Hopefully our new neighbors will be just as good!

Going to sleep has been tough for both girls here at the condo. The first night it took 2 1/2 hours. The next night it was 2 hours and we had to separate them with Dan taking one and me the other. Poor things. Once they finally get used to this, they will be going to California and living in a hotel for a week and then to a rental home where all the family will be there. Hopefully, the move will not be on Mia's mind with all the other vacation activities and she will go to sleep quickly and sleep all night peacefully. Haha, that's a good one, one can only dream...

November

November is National Adoption Month!

A picture paints a thousand words. So there's my four thousand words on the beauty of adoption!

We've Been Invaded by Bugs!

It was like summer with all the bugs flying about!

We spent Halloween at Sheri and Bob's again this year. Next year we'll stay home and trick and treat in our own neighborhood with lots of kids! Anna was a real trooper for trick or treat, trying her best to keep up with Mia, who ran from house to house! I'm sure they'll both be running next year!

Every year I'm reminded of the many Halloweens Dar's family and ours spent together. We switched houses each year and usually had hot dogs for dinner and pumpkin pie after trick or treating. There are many many funny memories of those nights. Once, Dar made Matt a mummy costume but nobody could tell what it was. They thought he was the Foster Farms chicken or the Michelin Man. One lady even said, "Your mommy made your costume, didn't she Honey?"

Another time Matt, Joey and Dani ran back from a porch with an entire bag of candy bars each. Danielle came back crying. She told us they ran out of candy! Our kids were the first to the house and a little boy had given them all of the family's candy!

I know a lot of people don't celebrate Halloween any more because of the pagan background. But the dressing up part was actually started by Christians in response to the pagan holiday! So I say keep it cute, not gory, and make some fun family traditions for Halloween!