Adorable...(I am not biased or anything)

We were helping celebrate Little L's 2nd Birthday. She was so cute telling all of us that she is now "Twoooooo". Photo credit goes to her amazing Mama. Thanks, K, for sharing these photos.

You Gotta Have Friends

We were visited by my good college friend, former roommate, and sorority sister, C, with her son, M. They came up for a few days to enjoy our sunny weather. (Ha ha - they are from the Bay Area, which has been unseasonably wet so they did enjoy the dry weather while in our neck of the woods.) We spent time at the zoo and two local museums. The kids had fun with M - he'll be 4 in August so he fit right in.

Yes, this is "self" face painting at the local children's museum. Fortunately, it comes off.

Notice, G is wearing pants while the boys are both sporting dresses. We are all about gender neutrality, so if the boys want to wear princess dresses, who am I to say no? Granted, I made sure to get photos so that I can remind them of this later (maybe Prom night or their wedding rehearsal dinner...)

We were so happy to see C & M. Wish we lived closer and got to see them more often, but thankful for the fun times we have when we do get together.

Dessert in the Desert

While gone last week, we had the pleasure of spending some time with Pam & Don, our former neighbors and dear friends. We really miss seeing them across the fence out back or working in the yard out front. For the longest time after they moved, any time G saw a gentleman with white hair, she'd call out, "Hi, Don!" Oh, how we all miss them. They were the first adults (who weren't relatives) that B would really speak to on his own or ask to go say, "Hi." I know that friends like that are rare, and neighbors like that are one of a kind. They hosted us for the day in their beautiful new home in the California desert. Luck would have it that we got to help celebrate Don's birthday, including some delicious PB&J cupcakes.

Thank you, Pam and Don. We so enjoyed the day!

Catching Up

One of the magical connections made with international adoption is when you are able to spend part of your journey with other families a little bit like your own. Shortly after our referral for G, I started trading email with a lovely lady in Wisconsin. She received a referral for a beautiful boy, MZ, who is just a few weeks older than G. As we waited for the court in Ethiopia to make it all official, we traded messages back and forth, trying to make sure we both knew all of the latest details. Those emails were such a wonderful lifeline during those long days of waiting. We were given US Embassy appointments on the same day, which meant we got to travel to Ethiopia together. Not only did they have a baby waiting for them in Ethiopia, but they also had a blue-eyed blonde 3 year old boy with them at home. 

Well, 14 months have passed since we said good bye to this incredible family. When I planned our long weekend in Chicago, one of my main motivations was to be able to spend some time with this great family, face-to-face. Introduce our now 4 year old boys. Let the youngest play together.  It was a beautiful day of just chatting and playing. We were fed well and everyone was happy. I just wish we lived close enough to see one another more often.

Our lovely hostess, R with MZ.

Host P, with MZ

The glorious spread of fresh fruit and veggies kept us all well fed that day.
Playing at the park
I had a hard time getting a picture with B & Q facing the camera - because they were always working on something. Here they are singing or yelling or something else crazy.

Q set up a very elaborate "alarm" system for the gate, to make sure G & MZ couldn't get out and wonder across the driveway. B was happy to help keep the babies safe. 

Oh, no. Baby approaching gate.
Quick. Keep her on the patio.
OK. She is safe. Our job is done.

Later in the day, we kept the toddlers inside while B & Q continued to work on their alarm system. MZ is explaining to G some very important information.
Q was happy to pass out hugs to all of us. Here G leans in for a little extra. 

We were all as happy as their smiles!

Nature vs. Nurture - The New Spin

We were off to the park today to visit with some families who have also adopted from Ethiopia. Today, we had 6 families and LOTS of kids. I didn't take photos of the entire group, but took a few at the end as I was making a few observations with another mother. Our discussion revolved around Boy Energy and Girl Energy. I got a great set of photos to prove the point. 

Here is B. Posing for a nice happy photo. Notice the stick in his hand. 

Enter G. She wanted to play around the tree, too. 

She even wanted to play with sticks.

But when the option to play peek-a-boo with a friend comes along, she'd rather play.

As B attacked the tree with his stick, then decided it was a fire-shooting weapon, the girls started to walk around, hand-in-hand. So we have my little nature boy with his sticks and our little nurturing girls holding hands. Ahhhhhhh.

New Found Friend

As a happy coincidence, one of my sorority sisters came up from the Bay Area this weekend with her son, M. He's 2 1/2 and a sweet little man. G thought he was greater than sliced bread. I joked that G & M would always have a prom date! B was jealous that someone was in his house, playing with his sister, getting attention, etc. But other than really annoying his parents, he was ok and we all had fun. And we had, yes, for real, SNOW again. 

Welcome Girls

We wanted to send a welcome note to the newest members of our village. Our friends, Robb & Sambo, welcomed identical twin girls last week. They were early (delivered at 34 weeks) but each weighed more than 5 lbs. It's been a scary pregnancy, so we were relieved to hear they arrived happy and healthy. They will be in the NICU for a couple of weeks as they get a bit bigger and learn to stay awake to eat. (Similar to B's experience.) We can't wait to meet you (ONCE WE ARE HEALTHY) Miss W & Miss S!!!