The Trevino 3? A little blathering by Wendy...

Lilly was 2 1/2 when we turned in our paperwork to adopt again. At the time, Elliott and I said to each other that if she turned 5 and nothing had happened that we would take it as God's answer for us to remain a family of 3.

Well, that time is coming up quickly! I've gone back and forth in the past couple of years between really wanting another child and being perfectly content with having just one. For me, it has boiled down to a huge area of trust with God. Living in the "in-between" is hard. When I'm feeling fine with having just one then I worry, "What if we do get chosen again? Does the fact that I'm not sure mean that we shouldn't have another? How fair is it to others to adopt if I'm going back and forth?" And then I'll see a baby somewhere and I think, "Oooo. Baby. It all went by so quickly. I'm not ready to be done." But then, Lilly has a big fit and I think, "Oh my gosh! Do I really want the sleep deprivation and the teething and the potty training and the tantrums all over again?? I'm 37 now and tired just thinking about it." Are you dizzy yet? Welcome to my head.

In the end, it's good that the decision is not really up to us. It is up to God. If he wants to add to our family he will give us what we need to parent 2 and not totally lose our minds. If he knows that Lilly is the one and only for us and that we're to be a family of 3, then I trust that he knows best. I just keep praying that he will align my feelings with his plan.

Meanwhile, March 26 is like a ticking time bomb on the calendar. I think I will be glad to be out of the unknown, whichever way it goes.

Sledding

Elliott had 2 weeks off around Christmas and New Year's. It was great! We so enjoyed hanging out together at a relaxed pace and doing some fun family things.

One of the fun things we did was go sledding up in Tahoe. Lilly had a great time, as the pictures to follow show...

That girl is definitely a thrill seeker and more brave than her mama! That might have something to do with the fact that SHE has never flown off an inntertube across a road and landed head first into a snow bank. May it always stay that way! Suffice to say, Lilly loves the snow and next year we plan to take her skiing for the first time.

Banjo and Books

Toward the end of November we got a cat. We weren't planning on getting one until after we go to Disneyland in June, but one fated day we wandered into PetSmart. Lo and behold they were doing kitty adoptions (lets just pass over the whole adopting a pet vs. adopting a child discussion). Going in to the store I said something to Elliott along the lines of, "Don't even think about it." Well... it turns out that he should have been the one warning me. I fell in love with a sweet 4 month old orange tabby named Banjo. He was so docile and snuggly and just as sweet as can be. It didn't take much to convince Elliott and Lilly that we should take Banjo home.

Banjo was indeed a sweet and cuddly cat, just as he'd seemed. He'd crawl up in our laps any chance he got, including at story time before Lilly went to bed. Lilly LOVED him.

Sadly, about a month after we brought Banjo home we realized that he was sick. Upon taking him to the vet he was diagnosed with Feline Infectious Peritonitis, a fatal cat sickness. He was suffering so we decided to have him put to sleep the next day. Lilly went with me and we kissed and pet Banjo as he peacefully passed away. We brought his body home and Elliott buried him in the backyard. Explaining death to Lilly was much more challenging than we'd thought, but she'll continue to understand more as time goes by. For now, she's counting the days until we can get another cat... or some fish... or a turtle.

Halloween... a little late

Obviously I've been a little flaky on the blogging. Today though, I intend to make up for it. If not in writing substance, in pictures anyway. I finally took pictures from before Halloween off the camera. Scary how those can pile up.

So... for our first stop: Pumpkin Carving.

This was the first time we carved pumpkins with Lilly and she was looking forward to it for weeks prior to Halloween. She didn't care too much for the squishy pumpkin guts but sure loved the finished product, AND the roasted pumpkin seeds.