Updates

I have come to realize that I am doing you a disservice, dear reader. I provide you all of these exciting tidbits about the lives of my beautiful family of four, but I never really provide you with follow-ups after the fact. Oh, pickles! I know this keeps you up at night, wondering "how has Ethan been doing in his big-boy bed? Did they ever get to see Abby's birthfather's family for Christmas?? Oh, I wish I could sleep, but my head keeps spinning!"

1. We've gotten two more bad haircuts from the cheap haircut place. This time, on both of the kids. And on the day before Easter. Notice how Abby's bangs are going downhill (and this was AFTER I took her back to have them fix it.)




2. I recently found out that my post on One Thought Leads to Another is going to be printed in our adoption agency's next newsletter. Cool!

3. We are still Expecting - waiting for a third adoption. Not much activity on that front, but we're not actually in much of a rush (especially since I still have my arm in a cast!)

4. Ethan made a clean break from his "bawa" (pacifier). And he has been doing really well in his big boy bed (although he has days where he comes out of his room - but definitely not as often as his sister). If only every aspect of parenting was this EASY!

5. I mentioned in this post that we had seen 2 out of 3 of our kids' birthfamilies for Christmas. We did see Abby's birthfather's family in February - they ended up babysitting Abby and Ethan for us while Mark and I went to the funeral of our friends' infant son. It was a really nice visit, and everyone said they really enjoyed spending time with Abby and Ethan. And they needed a nap after we left!

6. The neverending potty training saga: Ethan is doing REALLY WELL right now - he has days where he is dry all day. He is super-motivated by the candy he gets as a reward (an M&M). He loves to go pee at every restaurant we go to, at church, at the mall, etc. Abby, on the other hand, was doing a great job around 3 weeks ago, and lost interest (again). It is a struggle to get her to sit on the potty now, so we are backing off for awhile until she's motivated again.

7. Ethan is still fascinated with gas.

8. I now have 42 blogs in my bloglines list. The obsession lives on!

9. After several interviews, we decided on an awesome preschool for Abby. We found out that they also have a 2-1/2 year old co-op program as well that Ethan is eligible for (more of a playgroup than preschool). I am waiting to find out if they are going to have a 3-year-old program and the 2-1/2 year old program on the same day, so I can enroll both kids at once (and have TWO free mornings a week - my house may become clean yet!) If not, than just Abby will be part of a 2-day program next fall. My big girl!! The preschool is Christian (although not Catholic), and focuses on learning all of the basics plus learning manners and good behavior. They say grace before snacktime. And everyone we met is so kind and loving. It FELT perfect.

10. Our kids are still non-traditional. Ethan won't go anywhere without his baby (whom he says is named "one" - apparently we've been asking his age a lot lately!) Abby has moved on to a big, blue stuffed lion, but she still won't wear girly underwear.

11. Mark's new job has turned out to be more lemon than lemonade. The work he would be doing was misrepresented during the interview process. His title was changed when he was hired. He is doing the type of work he was doing 5 years ago, although his skill level is much higher. And he misses working from home. We joke (?) that taking this new job has been the raincloud hanging over me, since two people died, I totalled the van and I broke my arm shortly thereafter.

12. Ethan is still traumatized by the Dan Zane video with the lion. And he has suddenly become overly frightened of The Lion King movie, and especially Simba. "Simba scary!"

13. Our new van is awesome, but is not actually the same color as our old van (the salesperson made a mistake, apparently) But we like the new color just as well, and this year's van model has some great upgrades: 5 disc CD changer, side-curtain air bags, and an outlet to plug your MP3 player into to play it over the sound system. Now we just need an MP3 player...

14. My cast comes off in 9 days... the countdown begins!! I CANNOT WAIT to take a shower!

I hope you can sleep better tonight, dear reader!