Genius!

I know, every parent thinks their kid is a genius. I'm not suggesting that Lilly will go to Harvard at age 8, but I just have to do a little mommy bragging on her.

We have a set of letters and numbers for the bathtub. Lilly enjoys playing with them in the tub and also when we're drying her hair after the bath. She's been very into numbers lately and can usually count to 20. The past 2 nights while drying her hair she has done something that I think is pretty remarkable. On her own, she will find the numbers to make 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 and put them together on the counter. I can hear your gasps of astonishment. I know!!!!

Maybe she IS ready for Harvard. On second thought, we should probably work on potty training first...

A little confusion

Lilly's Nana (my mom) recently taught Lilly to answer, "Fine, thank you," when asked, "How are you?" This afternoon while reading books Lilly burped. I said, "What do you say?" and she responded with, you guessed it, "Fine, thank you." I guess so after that burp!

Pictures

Ooh. Two posts in one day. I'm feeling ambitious!

Just thought I'd share a few pictures.

The first is a sneak peek at Lilly's halloween costume and her fairy grandmother who can sew much more than her dear old mom can. The others are from our trip to Apple Hill this morning. We left early enough to avoid the biggest of the crowds and had a great time! Not pictured: the apple donuts and pie we consumed.

Engineering marvels

The other day I took Lilly's car seat out of the car so I could wash the cover. What was under there could have fed a small country for quite some time. I didn't realize that crackers, cheerios, raisins, peanuts, an acorn(!), etc. could pass through the seat cover via holes for the seatbelt and then apparently breed under the safety of the car seat. That is design genius.

Ranks right up there with the high chair straps that can't be removed to wash. Clearly the engineers behind these good-name products never had children, especially children who vomited in their high chairs. Twice.

Goofy girl!

Pretty Please

Part of our teaching Lilly to use manners has included the phrase, "How do you ask nicely?" She knows that means she needs to say, "Please." So today, when a time-out on her bed was over, I went in to ask her if she was ready to come out and act nicely. Her programmed response??? "Please."

She is too funny!

This chaps my hide!

If you've already heard this from me via email, forgive the repeat...

Yesterday I put up one of those "Yes on Prop 8" signs on our grass, as did our neighbor. (If you're not in CA, this supports the protection of marriage between a man and a woman only.) This morning, both were gone. I've heard many accounts of these being stolen, vandalized and/or destroyed, but having it taken from my own private property has me steamed!

This angered me, but mostly at the enemy of God who is showing his hand too clearly by the opposition that is out there. We as Christians need to fight this very spiritual battle with the best weapon we have, PRAYER. Our prayers are powerful and effective, and we can not take this lightly. Pray for righteousness to overcome evil.

By the way, I got another sign today and have put it inside my window.

For more information check out http://www.protectmarriage.com/. To get a yard sign, go to http://www.protectmarriage.com/action/yard-sign.

FWIW - this is the 3rd time I've tried to post this. Never had any trouble before...

Miss Manners

Yesterday was a day that warmed my mommy heart. Not only did Lilly say "ess ew" after I sneezed, but she answered "elcome" after I thanked her for something. Now we just need to work on that sharing thing...

Some of my favorite adoption related posts

You'll notice on the sidebar a few of my favorite bloggers that I read regularly. The types of blogs vary from those adoption related to ones that make me laugh on a daily basis and others that make me stop and reflect on my walk with the Lord.

Early in our parenting journey, I struggled with my role as Lilly's mom, and with some of the aspects of parenting through adoption. What did I do? I began searching online for others who had experienced the same, and in that, found so much wisdom and help. One blogger in particular wrote/writes many posts that leave me thinking, "I could have written that... except not nearly as articulately!" Her descriptions of some feelings/emotions/experiences I had brought clarity to my own jumbled thoughts, and allowed me to then process and move on. The blogger is Heather at "Production, Not Reproduction." http://unproductivereproduction.blogspot.com/

Really, I have no reason to share this other than the fact that these posts are a little "window" into some of the challenges of parenting through adoption. Please do not hear that parenting through adoption is any less wonderful than parenting by birth, there is just an additional layer of life that exists, whether adoptive parents want to aknowledge it or not.

Okay, on to some of the posts...

http://unproductivereproduction.blogspot.com/2007/03/half-formed-thought.html

http://unproductivereproduction.blogspot.com/2007/10/reality-doesnt-always-bite.html

http://unproductivereproduction.blogspot.com/2007/10/19-hours.html

http://unproductivereproduction.blogspot.com/2007/05/what-i-didnt-say.html

http://unproductivereproduction.blogspot.com/2007/07/earning-rights-receiving-grace.html

http://unproductivereproduction.blogspot.com/2007/04/love-eventually.html

If you know of anyone who has recently adopted, or is considering adoption, pass these links on to them. I hope they'll be as helpful to someone else as they were to me.

That's all for now. And if Heather at PNR gets word of this post... thanks.

Is there room for Lilly?

Lilly has recently taken to bringing stuffed animals to bed with her. It started with one Care Bear and the crew grows nightly. Here she is tonight as I tucked her into bed.

Politely declined

Lilly has been really testing some boundaries lately. A few days ago, she did something she knew was not okay, and when faced with her consequence, tried three clever attempts at getting out of it. The first was to offer me a kiss. The second was to tell me in a sweet voice, "No thank you." The third was to ask for a hug.

I think I was successful in burying my smile in my shoulder while recomposing myself. Despite her great attempts at diversion, Lilly was still disciplined, but I got a great story to tell.

New here

So I've been semi-blogging over on our web page. But it just occurred to me, why don't we set up a FREE blog on Blogger, put all of our pictures on here (or link to them via Flicker) and stop paying a monthly fee for Lilly's Pad? We'll have to change something anyway when we have another child.

The problem? I know nothing about setting up a blog. I'm following the obvious on this template, but am going to have to do some homework as far as linking and adding photos. I know it's possible. I can do this!

And the bonus for you will be that you won't have to wait for quarterly photo updates from us. Let's face it, not only do you have to wait for the quarter but you have to then wait for us to get our rears in gear to upload all of the stuff. That usually takes another month.

Oh yes, I am hopeful that this genius idea of mine is going to benefit us all...