Deja Boo

Lily was so excited about Halloween!! She just couldn't wait to be Thomas again. Yes, you read that correctly. Lily was Thomas...again...and as cute as ever!!!



I really thought once Lily heard all her little girlfriends were going to be princesses or fairies she would change her mind. Nope. She never once waivered. I even tried to gently suggest other possible costume ideas. Lily looked at me as if I were crazy!

In fact, it seems for Lily that Halloween has become synonymous with Thomas. She's already mentioned wanting to be Thomas again next year...or maybe James. Hey, I can always paint Thomas red. Right???



Years from now when Lily says, "Mom, I can't believe you made me be Thomas two years in a row." Please come to my defense!

Happy Birthday, Dad Dad

Today is Dad's 76th birthday. Happy birthday, Dad!!!

It literally feels like just yesterday we were celebrating Dad's 75th. I can't believe how fast the days fly by!!



This morning Mary Beth, Lily, and I had breakfast with the birthday boy. In case it's not immediately obvious ;-)...that's a "birthday crown" Lily made for Dad Dad. Isn't he a good sport!?!

It may not have been love at first sight :^)...



...but it sure didn't take long for Lily to become absolutely crazy about her grandfather!

My Heart And My Head

During Lily's field trip to the pumpkin patch I was talking to one of the other moms. Sandy and I have been neighbors for years and have become really good friends since I became a mom. Sandy has 3 children and her youngest is Lily's age.

Sandy was lamenting that this would be her last time on a preschool pumpkin patch field trip. Then, it hit me...this would be my last time on a preschool pumpkin patch field trip. As silly as it may sound, Sandy and I literally sat in the back of the hay wagon with tears in our eyes.

For more than 35 years I was "child-free" and perfectly happy. Then, something happened. "It" happened. Almost overnight I went from being child-free to child-less. It truly was as simple and as complicated as that.

When I began to see myself as a mother I thought we would have 2 or maybe 3 children. I never really thought about having an only child. Never.

I am absolutely CRAZY about my siblings. For me, having sisters and a brother means I have built-in best friends. Friends that really get me. Friends that share my past and my memories and friends with whom I look forward to sharing my future.

I definitely wanted my children to have that same experience. I wanted them to have childhood playmates and adult confidants. One day I wanted my children to be able to call each other and say, "Isn't Mom crazy??? Can you believe she wore that outfit out of the house??? What was she thinking????" You get the idea.

For a few years we have looked into different options to grow our family. Changes in China's adoption program, our increasing ages, the uncertainty of fostering to adopt in our state, and lots of praying has lead us to believe we are meant to be a family of 3.

Trust me, I know just how blessed we are. Lily is truly a dream come true. She has made my experience as a mother so much more than I ever dared to believe it would be. I also know that if we had more children it doesn't mean that they would have the same relationship I share with my siblings.

I think it's just going to take some time for my heart to accept what my head already knows.

The Pumpkin Patch And Young Love

This week Lily's preschool class visited the pumpkin patch. I was able to join Lily and we had a wonderful time.

Much like Lily's recent horseback riding experience, what made this trip to the pumpkin patch even more fun was that Lily's new best friend was there.

These two little girls are absolutely precious together! It's young love at its very, very best. They are positively giddy in each other's company.

Riding a school bus, finding the perfect pumpkin, and a visit to the little country store were a lot of fun...but the absolute icing on the cake for Lily and Rebecca was sharing such a great day together.

Horses And Friends

Last week Lily went horseback riding again. Our girl seriously loves, Loves, LOVES horses.

The only thing that could possibly make a morning of horseback riding any better is finding out that your new "best friend", Rebecca, is riding, too.



Lily and Rebecca literally squealed when they saw each other and then ran up and gave each other the biggest hug. It was very sweet...even when they knocked each other over from the intenisty of the hug! They hopped right back up and the smile never left their faces.

Pumpkin Party

On Sunday we had a little Pumpkin Party at our house. Three of Lily's friends and their parents joined us. We all had such a nice time.



The girls had a blast painting pumpkins, playing together, running around and screaming...I mean shrieking...their heads off. My goodness they do have some healthy lungs. I guess I can't say, "Girls, please use your inside voice" when they're running around outside now can I???

I think the parents had almost as much fun as the girls. The girls all played together so nicely that the parents were actually able to talk and get caught up.



There was some mention at the end of the party about making this an annual tradition. Sounds good to me!

Love's What Makes A Family

My cousin Stevie's granddaughter, Charlotte, is in Lily's ballet class.

The other night I was trying to explain to Lily how she and Charlotte were related. When I told Lily that Shannon's (Charlotte's mom) grandfather and Dad Dad were brothers you could see the light bulb go off over Lily's head.

This conversation lead to a fairly detailed conversation about our family tree. I was shocked at all the questions that Lily asked and even more shocked at how much she understood.

At one point Lily asked me if Paul, Katie's boyfriend, was family. Before I had a chance to answer Lily said, "Love's what makes a family...right? Then Paul is definitely family!"



I think Lily's got this whole family thing down pat.

Conductors And Friars

We spent this positively beautiful day riding the mini trains and visiting a Halloween Train Garden at the Franciscan Friary.









Lily's love affair with trains has provided us with so many fun family days. Today was no exception!

Oh, And The Biggest Reason...

I wanted a blog facelift is so I could post bigger pictures of this beautiful child...







Pretty good reason don't you think?!?

A Face Lift

As a little girl I remember watching my mother look at herself in the mirror. She would tug and pinch at her skin. I thought it was such an odd thing to do.

Now, that my eyebrows have slid down my face and rest...not so comfortably...on my eyelashes I find myself doing the exact same thing.

Since we can't afford the face lift I so desperately want/need ;-) I thought I would settle for the next best thing...a Blog face lift!

I don't know about you, but I was so sick of looking at that old format.

So, what do you think of the new look???? I LOVE it!!!

Goodnight, My Love

Every night since I became a mother I've sang the same song to Lily at bedtime. It's the song that my mother sang to me.

It's not something that I planned to do. In fact, I had long forgotten about the song until the first night I held Lily in my arms. Suddenly I found myself singing these words:

"Good night, my love.
Sleep tight, my love.
God bless and protect you from above.
And sleep the sleep the angels wove.
Good night, my love, good night."

The other night I went to book club and wasn't home to put Lily to bed. The next morning Lily reported to me (she absolutely loves to tell Tony and I what we do differently) that Daddy sings the "Shushy Night Night" song differently than I do.

Lily told me that Daddy sings, "Sleep and sleep while angels sing..."

I liked Daddy's version and confessed to Lily that I wasn't sure if I remembered the words correctly.

Later, I decided to look up the lyrics. I searched on the Internet. I googled every iteration of the lyrics. I wasn't prepared for what I found. Nothing. N.O.T.H.I.N.G. This song does not exist.

I think my mom may have modified the lyrics of a song written in the 50's to suit her mothering needs. Somehow, that makes this special song mean even more to me!

Oh, and I checked with my sisters and they remember the words being "sleep the sleep the angels wove". I like that Daddy has his own, slightly different, version of the Shushy Night Night song.