Together Wing to Wing and Oar to Oar

It is hard to believe that it was only six years ago that we said our vows...

...or that I was ever that skinny!

Love, respect, trust...

We have it all and I am grateful to travel this life with you by my side. 

Happy Anniversary, My Love.

The Master Speed by Robert Frost

No speed of wind or water rushing by

But you have speed far greater. You can climb

Back up a stream of radiance to the sky,
And back through history up the stream of time.
And you were given this swiftness, not for haste
Nor chiefly that you may go where you will,
But in the rush of everything to waste,
That you may have the power of standing still-
Off any still or moving thing you say.
Two such as you with such a master speed
Cannot be parted nor be swept away
From one another once you are agreed
That life is only life forevermore
Together wing to wing and oar to oar

The Father of My Children

I met Mark nine years ago at a weekend getaway in VT. Very quickly it became apparent to all of us that he had a way with children. It was one of the many reasons I fell in love with him.

To my surprise, it took awhile for him to come around to the idea of becoming a father himself. Children continued to gravitate to him, and he to them, but in spite of what everyone else thought, he wasn't sure if he would be a good father. I thought it was a reflection of how seriously he took the responsiblity of fatherhood and hoped in time he would come around. He did agree to become a Doggy Daddy and proved himself to be a patient and nurturing father figure to our furry children.

Obviously, and thankfully, he finally did come around. He agreed to start our family almost three years ago to the day, and he officially became a father this time of year last year. As with all big things in life it feels like it was just yesterday and a hundred years ago all at the same time.

Over this past year, Mark has proven himself to be the father I knew he would be and more. It has not always been easy but sometimes he makes it look that way. When he puts our children to bed they fall asleep faster and sleep longer and sounder. He keeps them from harm in spite of their fearless and sometimes reckless natures. They share his love of spicy food and steak and already appreciate and imitate his terrific sense of humor. Most importantly, he makes them feel safe and loved.

Watching my husband grow and blossom in his role as a father has been a great joy for me. I have heard other people say this and it is true for me too--as my husband's love for our children has grown, so has my love for him. I am so proud of the man and father that he has become.

Happy Father's Day, Mark! As were your sons, you and your timing for fatherhood were worth waiting for. We love you and all that you do for us!

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Surviving and Thriving

It’s 5 PM and I am already sitting at our dining room table, thanks to a work-from-home day. I am encircled by a large and impressive IKEA wooden train track, and two happy boys are drawing on either side of me.

Taye’s drawing is a controlled, multi-colored composition. Each color is drawn in a different style, and each style represents a different object. The long orange zigzag is a slide. The small green swirl is a swing, as is the purple line, connected at either end by solid ovals. The yellow and pink circles are circles. He tells me this with a look that says, “Momma, you should know that!”.

Dash’s drawing started with small, faint circles, then exploded into a mono-chromatic swirl that engulfed the page. He says it’s, “Mommy, Daddy, Dash, Taye, Portsie, Lucy, Duncan, America.”

This is still a favorite topic.

I love how their drawings reflect their personalities, and the things that are on their minds. I love that my job allows me to work from home sometimes so that I don't have to miss this stuff.

I have been back at work for almost six weeks now. The first couple weeks were pretty hard emotionally for all of us but here we are, six weeks later, and I can honestly say that not only are we going to survive this change, but in spite of it we continue to grow happier and happier as a family. I attribute this to five things;

1) my amazing husband who has become an incredible stay-at-home dad

2) the fact that nothing could possibly be as tiring or as challenging as our first month home, so this pales in comparison

3) the fact that activity at work has been ramping up slowly, which means I have been able to work from home two or three days a week

4) my incredibly smart, beautiful, sweet sons who once again have adjusted amazingly well and

5) the fact that Mark has carried 100% of the house cleaning burden, leaving me to spend 100% of my non-work time with the boys. Did I mention that my husband is amazing?

Not sure how I got so lucky, but I am :-)

Sunshine after a Cloudy Day

A Day in Pictures

Evelyn posted this challenge on her blog and I thought it was a fun idea and a good excuse to play with my new camera, plus I just love Evelyn! If you are reading this and would like to participate, leave me a comment so I can link to you.

March 20, 2010

In spite of it being a Saturday, I set the alarm for 6 AM because there was a kid's tag sale happening and I had read that there was an early bird special if you showed up at 6:45. I am linking to it here to prove to my husband that I did in fact read this and was not just finding an excuse to get him out of bed early! People line up around the block for these things. If you're going to get anything good you have to get there early, so up we got.
 
 

Mark takes the dogs downstairs for their breakfast every morning, so this is usually the first thing I see upon waking. Yeah, I know. You probably didn't need to see that, and, yeah, I know. They are spoiled! In their defense, Lucy's legs are too short to get her safely down the stairs and Duncan was very, very sick when he was a puppy and he just never learned how. I've tried to teach him but he is terrified and...well...ok, they're spoiled!

 

The other two can't wait for their breakfast and usually wake us up before 7 (good practice for when the boys are here, right?) but Porter won't get up without some prodding so that's usually my first task of the day.

 

He always sleeps with his tongue sticking out, which I always think is so cute. Poor thing probably got taken away from his mother too early or something. At least he can get up and down the stairs with some dignity!

 

Then we headed off to the tag sale, hoping to score a car seat or two since we are going to need FOUR of them (one of us will be dropping off and the other picking up in different cars once the boys start preschool).
 

 

When we got to the tag sale all the lights were off, the door was locked and the sign said the sale started at 11! Oops...turned out that there were two kid's tag sales at two seperate churches with the same exact name but in different towns. Unfortunately I didn't figure that out until today! We went and got coffee for Mark instead, which cheered him up.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day in the 70's, so I wasn't upset about being up early.

I decided to do something productive with the morning (probably should have brushed my hair too!)

Mark got to work as well. Our house was built in 1930 and has the original plaster walls. We love how they look but after a few years they start to crack so Mark has been repairing this room, which was particularly bad. He did an amazing job!

At ELEVEN we went back to the tag sale.

 

 

 

No car seats but we got some clothing. I think you have to volunteer to help out with this sale to get any of the really good stuff cause it was pretty picked over in spite of being some of the first through the doors. Oh, well...

We went to get some brunch at the diner next door, because Mark needed cheering up again, since the only reason he had to come with me to the sale was to help carry all those car seats we didn't even get!

Then we got ready to drive into New York City to attend an adoption shower for this lovely person. Tamara and her husband Kai are also adopting from Ethiopia through our agency and we met online almost a year ago. We have gotten together in person a few times after work and Mark and I were delighted to meet Kai and their family and friends. I hope this is just the first of many celebrations we share together.

Here we are. If you are wondering what that thing is behind us, it is an enlarged replication of the Venus of Willendorf. We are hoping she brings good luck to adoptive parents too!

Mark and I took advantage of an evening in the city to use a gift card that my sister and brother-in-law gave us for Christmas eons ago! Mark was quite taken by the tiny Tabasco that came with our oysters.

Looking a little sleepy after a nice meal!

Mark was also quite taken with the fact that he could read the Fox News ticker from our table! It would have been a perfect night for him if a game was also playing on a big screen above my head ;-) Just kidding, Honey. Mark's attention was on me and we had a great dinner. Thanks MP and DAP!

Walking back to our car we had a minor celebrity sighting. That's Mike Huckabee at Fox News in the red tie.

Driving by my favorite NYC building on the way out of town.

This billboard summed up how I was feeling...

...until we hit a traffic jam in spite of the late hour! Shortly after this I fell asleep (fortunately Mark was driving!).

It was a great day, and it will be fun to compare this day to the same day next year. Hopefully things will look very different!!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

My One Wild and Precious Life

First, a belated Happy Thanksgiving to all! Here are a few things I am thankful for...

This guy...

And these guys...

And the little guys or gals that will some day wear these. Truly, I am so thankful that life has led us to adoption.

And, of course, I am thankful for all of you!

I found myself feeling not only thankful but actually quite grateful for the long holiday weekend and took it as an opportunity to step away from the internet, the phone and all fantasies of getting the call. Four days without even the possibility of that call was not only refreshing but it made me realize that I have become a little too consumed with all this waiting, resulting in a tendency to live in my head and in the future instead of the here and now. My Thanksgiving Resolution (maybe this one will stick better than the New Year's kind!) is to not waste these next few months of waiting merely waiting, but rather living in the present where I have so much to be thankful for :)

The Summer Day

by Mary Oliver

Who made the world?

Who made the swan, and the black bear?

Who made the grasshopper?

This grasshopper, I mean-

the one who has flung herself out of the grass,

the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,

who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-

who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.

Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.

Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.

I don't know exactly what a prayer is.

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down

into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,

which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?

I interrupt this adoption blog...

...to wish my husband a happy 4th wedding anniversary! You are my very best friend and our years together have been truly wonderful. May we share many, many more!

All my love,

Heidi