Eyes Wide Open & Independence

A few random topics on my mind today.

A little while back, in the midst of our Home Study, Cuban Daddy & I completed some online adoption education courses.  They were required, but we were happy to do them, because we knew we'd learn a lot.  We plan on continuing to learn as much as we can, so we can be as prepared as possible when the babies come home.  We know that going into this, we should expect the unexpected.  We know that there will be many, many unknowns.  We know that we will not have all of the facts, that we will not know their entire (if any) medical history.  One of the courses- the longest- was called Eyes Wide Open & that. it. was.  It brought up a lot of interesting points that we had never thought about.  Especially in regards to helping the children transition from the orphanage to our home.  It helped us see things from their perspectives.  And, wow, I can't imagine what these babies have been through & what they will go through when we bring them home.  We know that they may or may not already be alive at this very moment.   We will not know who they are until we are 'matched' with them after the 2-4 year wait.  It is really, really difficult to think that our babies might be out there right now; going through who knows what.  If you think of us, prayers for our babies wherever they are are so, so appreciated.  

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So, the other day I was in a fairly busy restaurant with my kids.  A couple of moms, who seemed to be friends, were eating there with their young children also.  One of them had walked off & when she came back, I heard her, slightly embarrassed, say to the other woman of her own child, "Oh my gosh.  He looks like a little orphan."  I felt myself bristle & a lot of thoughts went through my mind all at once. I don't think this woman meant any harm by what she said.  I really don't think she gave it any thought at all. I'm certainly not judging her for saying that.   In fact, I've heard that saying several times before & never given it much extra attention.  However, ever since we have started this process of bringing two orphans into our family, we have begun to see things differently.  We hear things we had never heard before.  We see things we've never seen before.  We think of things we've never thought before.  We even say things we've never said before.    You get the picture.  This has changed us already...for the better.  I hope that in this process, we continue to be open to change, learning more about the world's orphans & what we can do to help.  I hope that we can help spread awareness to others as well.  Maybe then, more of us will choose our words a little more wisely.  ** Because, what really bothered me is that this same situation could occur 5 years from now, when I have all 4 of my children with me.  And then, what will happen to my babies when they overhear that?  Will it chip away at them inside?  Make them sad, embarrassed, hurt, angry? And how will I handle that situation?  Watching our words already... 

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Have you read the children's book, Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman?  My kids like that one, especially G. We read it tonight before bed.   If you haven't read it, it's about a baby bird who has just hatched & goes on an adventure looking for his mother.  He comes across several animals & types of transportation, and asks them all, "Are you my mother?"  Again, we are seeing things differently now that we are in the middle of the adoption process.  I don't know that I would have ever thought anything of this book, but now I do.  I don't know exactly what to think; it just makes me think- a lot.  Hmm...

And, yes, this is actually K's preferred position for storytime.

 "May I sit on you, pwease?" - every night.

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I had to share part of G's bedtime prayer a few nights ago.  At then end of it, she prayed, "...and God, protect us and our babies- you know, the ones that speak Spanish." L.O.V.E. it!!!

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Sippys 4 Siblings Update:

Over the past couple of weeks, we received 3 sippy cups from people (family & church).  The kids and I cashed them in at the change machine.  They totaled around $100!!  Yay!  Every single bit helps.  It feels so good to add that to the Adoption fund, knowing that when we need it, it will be there.  A couple of days ago, I received 2 more sippy cups!  I can't wait to take the kids back to the machine.  What generous family & friends we have!  And two of these five sippys are from people we don't even know!  Thank you, thank you, thank you, everyone.  


We still have Sippys 4 Siblings sippy cups if you would like to have one.  You can use them to collect your change & then send them back to us.  Every cent goes towards adoption fees & expenses!  *Some of you have chosen to just use a cup you already have- that works too!

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We still have lots of T-shirts to sell!  All money made on our ADOPT: Words with Him T-shirts will go towards our adoption fees & expenses.  We have Green & Purple.  Adult sizes are $20, Child sizes are $15.  We are sold out of Adult Smalls & Mediums - in both colors, I believe.  We have Large, XL & XXL.   We have Child sizes in both colors available, XS, S, M, L.

These shirts support us financially & help spread awareness about the need of orphans.  Please comment here or email me at peachzyo@hotmail.com if you would like one!  

Those of you who already have one, feel free to continue to send pics of you wearing them!

We wear ours ALL the time!!!

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Hope you had a wonderful 4th...we did!  

Honestly, there's hardly a day that goes by that I don't think about how grateful I am to live in this country.  I cherish our freedom.  I am so thankful to those who have served and made our freedom possible.  Thank you, God, for Your favor.  

The night before, we had a little pre-4th cookout w/ some of our best buds!  

A great time was had by all!

You should have seen them afterwards.  Note to self: Popsicles in nearly 100 degree temps MELT a lot!

We love going to one of the local parades.  We met some of our best friends there too! 

HOT, but so fun!

                                                                                       Let freedom ring, baby!!!

And a holiday wouldn't be complete w/o a big family get together!  An all American cookout:

And because 3 celebrations weren't enough, we headed out to watch 

a big fireworks display nearby!  

*I LOVE community events like this.  Cuban Daddy makes fun of me.  But, I'd attend things like this daily if I could!*

* This reminds me I need to video K singing some 'American songs' & post.  G too.  So cute.

  

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I guess that's the end of my random rambling tonight...

Have a good one!

~ 6 in Love ~

June Family Vacay

Cuban Daddy had another week of vacation he needed to use by August; 

so, about 6 weeks after our last beach vacation, we were able to go back!

 (Thank you to my grandparents for the use of their condo again!)

Happy 8th Anniversary to my handsome husband!

Pure joy:

Our sweet 4 year old, G: 

Our funny 2 year old, K:  

 

We also celebrated Father's Day!

This is K's "surfer/ninja/soccer star" hairdo, as we call it: 

  

What a gorgeous day!

 Brave G & Cowboy K:

They LOVED the pool too!  

  

 I was so excited that one of my great friends from college was vacationing with her sweet family, in the same place at the same time as us!  Besides each other's weddings, we hadn't seen each other in 10 years!

20 minutes of blissful sleeping during the day of driving 

We had such a great bonding time as a family.  

It was a fantastic few days!!

Tan & well-rested, 

~ 6 in Love ~ 

Vomit, Slushies, & Beluga Whales

Ahh.  My Saturday. 

 I just thought you might enjoy hearing about this more than I enjoyed enduring it:

It all started before dawn w/ our early risers.  I gave 2 year old K a sippy of milk in hopes that he'd drink it & fall back asleep for a bit.  A few mins later, he had to go to the bathroom (go figure) & wanted more milk.  Desperate for sleep, I gave it to him.  Bonus: he actually fell back to sleep until almost 7!

Our good friends had passes to the GA Aquarium & invited us to come along.  We were SO excited!  Cuban Daddy had had a late night, so he kept snoozing while I rushed around getting G, K, & myself ready to leave by 8.  We were out the door just barely on time, but w/o breakfast & w/o gas in the car. We were supposed to meet our friends about 1/2 way so we could drive together to ATL.  I was calculating the miles to see if I thought we'd make it w/o stopping for gas; we were going for it!  We stopped to order breakfast in the drive thru before meeting them.  Right before I pay & receive the food, I hear something.  I turn to see K spewing tons of curdled milk EVERYWHERE.  It kept coming.  It was nasty.  I barely even like fresh refrigerated milk.  This was bad.  I turned to the lady, "Can I have lots of napkins, please?  My son just threw up."   6 napkins. (Thanks?)  

Poor sweet baby, he was whimpering & just absolutely drenched.  G started w/ the questioning.  I whipped around the parking lot, kept the car running (It was already in the mid 90's), threw open all the doors (thankfully & by God's grace- not throwing up myself!) and got to cleaning.  Sopping up w/ every napkin & wipe I can find.  Stripped K down to his undies & Converse, making him cling to my leg as I cleaned (it was a busy parking lot!)  Questions from G still flying, "Why did he throw up his milk?"  "Are we still going to the Aquarium?" "Are we going to be late?"  "What's he going to wear?"  "Can I still have my biscuit?"  It was in every seat crevice, soaking every seatbelt strap.  It was simply unbelievable. As I'm finishing up, searching for any other napkins in the front seat, the air cuts out.  That's it. No air just like that.  You're kidding, right?  High of 107 expected for the day.  I decide not to call & complain about any of it to CD b/c he was slammed w/ work & I didn't want to give him anything else to worry about.  Put K back in the nasty seat, thankful we only had a couple miles left.  They struggled to eat their biscuits w/ the wind whipping in their face.  Pretty funny stuff actually.  I just had to (almost) laugh at this point!

We get to our meeting spot & I hurry and put K's "extra outfit" on him (I always carry one).  Thankfully it didn't reach his shoes & socks!  My friend & I balance the 4 kiddos & the circus act of loading up strollers, carseats, and her cold coffee (sorry, friend, I tried!).  I'm just thankful to be in air conditioning, I didn't run out of gas, & I was no longer smelling vomit.  (*Don't worry, I checked w/ her about us coming in 'his condition', but she trusted me when I said he wasn't sick...it was just the milk!)  

Skip to the Aquarium: We had an amazing time! Everything went smoothly.  The kids loved seeing the animals!  They mostly stayed in their strollers & were content w/ lots of snacks.  This was a treat for us to go!  We all loved it.

Most exciting part about being there?  Had to be me taking 3 toddlers to the bathroom, while J stayed w/ the baby & all our gear.  I knew I kept smelling something!  As I was taking K to the bathroom, I noticed his undies were soaked but that he hadn't pee'd.  It was pukey milk!!!  Poor baby, I hadn't realized it.  So, comando he went.  And the Aquarium restroom earned themselves a new pair of Oscar the Grouch 2T undies.  The rest of the trip was a breeze in comparison to the morning!  We ate lunch outside (yep, 106), but it wasn't too bad!  Hauled 4 kiddos, 2 strollers & 2 diaper bags up the stairs b/c we couldn't bare to walk the long route in the heat.  *Side note: Men, if you see this type of situation occurring in front of you, we will not turn down your offer to help.  Anyone?  We made it back to the car, thru the furnace they call a parking garage.  All in tact, bellies full, & in good moods!  A fun adventure w/ awesome friends.

  

I dreaded arriving back at my car.  Unloaded & loaded kids, stroller, bags, carseat...  Poor K back in the pukey seat (J had an extra seat in her car, so the pukey one stayed behind in mine! Whew.)  Smelly, sweaty, heat blazing, no air, no gas, and at this point, empty sippy cups.  Stop at the nearest gas station to fill up.  Seize the moment to make good on a promise to G & K.  They have seen the big gas station truck drive around w/ all the difft colored slushies on the side & always ask about them.  I promised them that one day this summer, we'd get one.  Could there be a better deserved day than today?!  So, in we go for their own watermelon slushies.  They were thrilled & had sucked 1/2 of them down before I could get them back in their sweaty seats.  What a great end to an *interesting* day!

Hope you enjoyed our day as much as we did! ;)  Honestly, through it all I had to remind myself, that there will be days like this.  Vomit, record high temps, no a/c, no undies, no gas, no water.  But all in all, we are blessed.  We are healthy.  We have great friends.  We have fun adventures  & exciting opportunities.  We have milk to drink.  We have clothes to change into.  

We can afford gas for our car... 

and slushies.  

It's all a matter of perspective.

~ 6 (rehydrated &) in Love ~