Sam and Me

This is a rare occurrence in photos - the presence of me! If you looked through the hundreds (if not thousands) of pictures on our computer, I think you would find exactly 8 that contain me with Sam. That's probably because I am usually the one to think to get the camera out..........thankfully, my mom thinks to take pictures of the two of us when we are at their house, which may have something to do with the fact there are about 3 total pictures of my mother and me together. I guess I should count my blessings that I am 5 photos ahead of her!

Another good picture

Sam and Anna both looking at the camera! (They had to share the chair to eat lunch.....there was only one "high" chair, and neither was willing to let the other one have it.)

Twister

Anna came over to my parents' to play yesterday. We let the kids go inside while we finished up lunch on the porch, but after we hadn't heard a sound for a while I went in to check on what they were doing. I found them in the closet where my mom keeps games, trying to figure out how to get Twister off one of the shelves. I got it out for them, though I was convinced they wouldn't really be able to play.

Here's the toddler version of Twister.



We did make the kids take a potty break in the middle of the game, and they both escaped the bathroom before the pull-ups got put back on, so for a moment, they were almost playing (half) naked twister. We managed to get the shorts back on before the game resumed. The dads would not have been happy with us had they seen two bare backsides in the video!

Da da da dahhhhhhhh!

We are in Cedar Falls visiting for the long weekend. I came home from a quick trip to the mall and found my mom and Sam doing this.........

We are going in October!

So - we have decided to go to China in October! We came to the conclusion it was better to take our chances on Chinese crowds and travel issues than to count on our immigration form being renewed with no problem. Well, the fact that every time I thought about waiting until November I started to cry probably helped too. We got our travel dates confirmed on Friday and now just have to book ourselves some flights! We will get Sadie on October 14th and will be home on October 24th.

Travel Approval

We finally received our travel approval from China yesterday. Unfortunately, there are no consulate appointments available in September, so we will not be traveling then as we expected. Our tentative travel dates are Oct. 10-24. However, there is a large trade fair in Guangzhou during that time, and our agency is giving us the option of traveling then or postponing until November. Along with the email about the dates, they sent an attachment outlining all of the things that would make travel during the trade show less than ideal - it was very discouraging to read. Any logical person (a term that would usually be used to describe me) would read through it and say "No way would I go to that city for 2 weeks during October! Just wait a few weeks!" However, I would classify myself as pretty far from logical at this point in time.

Adding to the dilemma is the fact that our immigration form giving us permission to adopt expires in November. If we delay travel we need to renew that form. Not a big deal, but if something randomly goes wrong with the renewal somewhere in the bowels of the Department of Homeland Security, our trip could be delayed further.

So - pray for us for guidance as we decide what to do. We have been looking at Sadie's picture since May, and it breaks my heart to think of deciding to postpone bringing her home. On the other hand, we want the first two weeks we have with her to be as good as possible. Yesterday I was totally fine with waiting, but today when I think about it all I do is cry.

Sam saw me crying tonight and came over and put his arm around me. Here's our conversation:

S: Mom - what wrong with you?
J: I'm just a little bit sad right now.
S: Because I yelled? (We had had quite the ordeal over having to go potty this morning.)
J: No, not because you yelled honey.
S: It's ok. You can have one of my trains.

(Then Joe comes over to distract him with a handful of chips. He eats one and then remembers my emotional state.)

S: Mom - what wrong with you?
J: I'm just sad, honey.
S: Why?
J: I miss Sadie.
S: (Lays down on floor and props his head in his hands, and pretends to cry.) I miss her too.
J: I know. We all miss her.
S: When you not sad anymore, you can have a chip, ok?

At least I have Sam and trains and chips......sure to get me through to October......or November.

Sprinkler movie

A movie of the sprinkler fun from the waterpark afternoon. Beware......lots of little boys screeching.

Their own private waterpark

So........I am WAY behind on posting about our many visitors this summer. This is why I wasn't going to blog in the first place - I knew I would never keep up. But I guess it's better late than never!

Our friends Allison and Ryan and their kids Landon and Brynn (Allison......are there 2 N's or 1?) came in August. The boys had a great time creating "their own waterpark," as Landon dubbed it. They filled (and dumped and refilled and dumped and refilled and dumped....) the water table, made their own waterslide on the swingset, and flooded the sandbox to swamp consistency. They also had some sprinkler fun, which Brynn wasn't quite so sure about.


Sam getting ready to dump water on Landon, I am sure.


The boys figured out the slide would be WAY more fun with a little water added.


Landon gets Sam.............


Sam gets Landon..................



YIKES!


Wouldn't you like to know what they're talking about.....looks like a deep conversation.......or maybe Sam is just peeing in the water and telling Landon about it.


You're really going to let me stand up in this!


The swamp.

Ready for winter

We recently got a box full of little girl clothes from a friend of mine for Sadie. Sam and I were unpacking it and putting clothes away when he discovered this hat. He asked if he could try it on, and I said sure, not thinking he would actually get it to fit. (Sorry, Cindy, it might be a little bigger when you get it back.......) He then proceeded to tell me all about how it was going to snow since he had a hat on, and we would need shovels, and mittens, and coats, etc. Here is my attempt to recreate the conversation.

At least 3 years ago.......

was the last time I saw my cousins, Nathan and Katie. So, when they both happened to be in Chicago this week, we met them for supper. Sam was very excited to meet them. I had told him that we were going to meet my cousins earlier in the day, and he wanted to leave right away. I told him we had to wait until they called to say they were ready. Later, Joe called as he was leaving work, but Sam assumed it was "cousins." He demanded to talk "I WANT TO TALK! I WANT TO TALK!" (Some of you have heard that in the background when I am on the phone with you.) I told him it was Daddy, but he apparently didn't believe me, because when he got the phone he said, "Hi cousins!" When he realized it was Joe, he handed the phone back to me and said "It's not cousins."

Anyway, eventually they did call, and we had a nice time catching up over pizza. Sam was decently behaved, until he realized that the booth seat could double as a trampoline. After that, it was all downhill. By the time we got the check, all four adults had wet pants from drinks being knocked over by the toddler.

Here's some pictures:

Sam with a very forgiving Nathan and Katie, since the water he dumped on them was quite cold.


All of us (minus Joe, who was assigned to camera duty). Notice our pants are not in the picture.


Sam playing follow the leader with Nathan and Katie.

Sit-n-spin?

One of my most vivid "toy memories" of being a kid is getting to play on the sit-n-spin at my piano teacher's house. I LOVED that thing, but we didn't have one, so while my brother had his lesson I would spin myself silly.

So, when I saw one for $5 at a consignment store, I immediately bought it for Sam. It even had lights and music - technology had advanced since the 80s. (Only later did I discover that I could not find an off button on the thing and I am now growing to despise it.) I hid it in the basement when we moved, but Sam discovered it the other day and we had to drag it upstairs. The only thing that is saving it is my own memories of loving to spin and spin and spin and see how fast I could go.

Of course, as the obedient child that I was, I only "sat" and spun. It would never occur to me to do something else. My son, however, figures out how to do everything on it other than sit. Here's a couple videos displaying his talents. (If I were a better mother, I would make him sit, but it's just too funny to watch.....and he hasn't had any major injuries.........yet.)

Both kids looking AND smiling

We recently met my best friend Jen and her daughter Anna in Galena for a couple days of fun before school starts for Jen. We are notorious for getting lots of pictures with one of our children looking and/or smiling, while the other one looks the other way. This trip I managed to get TWO with them both looking and smiling - quite an accomplishment given Sam's recent aversion to having his picture taken.

Sam loves "his" new stuff

My awesome playgroup and church friends from Muscatine had a shower for Sadie on Sunday. It was wonderful to see everyone again, and they were very generous in all of their gifts for Sadie (and Sam, too). One of the items we got was a double stroller.

Some of you know that Sam is not a big fan of being strapped in a stroller (and his protests usually get him out of having to ride in one), but once Sadie gets here I figure there is no way I can chase him and keep an eye on her, so he is going to have to get over his issues with being restrained. I decided the double stroller would be my best bet......and I was right (at least for now)! We opened up the box Monday night and Sam "helped" Joe put it together. He then decided he needed to eat his supper (a hamburger from Culver's) while sitting in it. Then we HAD to take it when we went to the park later that evening (I am sure everyone who saw us was wondering what kind of crazy women uses a double stroller to push ONE child 3 blocks, but oh well!).

Here Sam is, happy to be strapped in!

A few more Tahoe pics

Here's some more pictures from Tahoe, so I can finally move on and get on to blogging about the rest of the summer.......2 weeks later and I still haven't moved on!

Uncle Carl would be proud!




For some reason, this picture reminds me of our godson, Mason.



We wanted a cute cousins shot - too bad the 2 of them couldn't coordinate their smiles. I also have some nice ones with Molly smiling and Sam looking dazed, but since this is MY blog, I picked the smiling Sam. You'll have to see Stacy for a smiling Molly one.



The boys having fun rolling around on the golf course.



Sam and Molly swimming. David is under the water, in case you were worried we stuck them out there alone.



Granddaddy hurt his ankle (something about tripping over his pants while putting them on one morning, but you'll have to ask him for the whole story) and spent a good part of one afternoon sitting on the deck with his shoe off and ankle elevated. Sam took a break from picking up pine cones to empathize. I couldn't figure out what he was doing, so I went over to him to ask what was going on.


"My ankle hurts. I have to sit here and rest," he told me.

Fishermen (and woman)

One of the other fun things Lana got for vacation was a fishing pole for Sam (and one for Joe, too). We decided not to put a hook on Sam's line, and although Joe was allowed a hook, he was praying not to catch one, for fear he'd have to do something with it once caught.

We were quite the sight around the pond the first night - me with my camera, Lana with a glass of wine in one hand and her camera in the other (which she obviously put down for some of the photos below), Dave, and Joe - all trying to get Sam to have a grand time fishing. We were a bit noisy and felt slightly badly for the fisherman down just a little bit from us - he seemed like he really was trying to catch fish. Then we noticed the bright yellow and blue plastic-looking pole he was using, along with the matching tackle box - both quite obviously Fisher Price of Little Tikes. He must not have been THAT serious.

Here's Lana showing Sam how to cast.


And more lessons from Lana.



Granddaddy and Sam having fun.


Joe helping Sam.


Don't they look serious.

My Grandmommy is the best!

She bought me the BEST popsicles on vacation - can you see all the yummy drips on my tummy? My mom made me take a shower each time I ate one!

Everybody needs a Bob and Juice

When Sam gets tired or upset, he always asks for "Bob and Juice." Bob is his little stuffed dog/blanky thing, and in these circumstances his cup of juice gets treated as its own being, deserving of a capital letter at the beginning.

One of Sam's favorite activities in Tahoe was "picking up stuff." The stuff usually consisted of rocks and pine cones. He started lining up his findings on the ledge near the hot tub. Soon he was telling me that one rock was Mom, one was Dad, and one was Sam. Then he had to find a Bob rock and a Juice rock for the Sam rock. Next, he found a sister rock. Later, he was outside with Grandmommy and added a rock or pine cone for everyone in the extended family, as well as Bob and Juice rocks for everybody.

Here's some pictures of the "family," each with a Bob and Juice.

I need to save some

The other night Sam woke up and didn't feel good. I brought him to bed with us and gave him something to drink. He took a few sips, put the cup down, looked right at me and said, "I better save some. For the airplane."

"For the airplane?"

"Yup, (with a quick glance over toward Joe) Daddy might take me on an airplane tomorrow."

Good luck with that, kid.

Lions and tigers and .............

Sam and Joe go to the zoo just about every Saturday. I usually stay home and work on a math book. I always ask Sam what animals he is going to look for. Usually his answer is a simple "tigers" or "monkeys."

Today he said, "Lions, and tigers, and...

(he paused for a moment to think of what to say next -my jaw was going to hit the floor if he said bears,because I swear he has never heard that phrase before -however, I didn't need to be impressed)

... and ice cream!" he finished. "And then I'll look for a bench to sit on so I can lick it."