Ethiopian Playdate

Here we are having a fabulous time at our monthly Messob meeting! Michael was MIA as he had a softball game, so Marley and I had a good date and caught up with friends!!

Halloween Preview

Here's a sneak preview of the cuteness that will be his first Halloween! I think a pumpkin is quite appropriate!! Beware: the following photos could cause cuteness paralysis!!

Swing Batta'

Michael plays softball on the weekends at our local parks. The name on Dad's jersey is "Marley's Dad" and his number is 85...the month and day he and I were married! Although Dad is the one who scores the points, Marley is always the big hit at the game....oh God, that was even a little pukey for me!!

Ethiopians for Obama

And that my friends needs no explanation!!

Fun with Julie

We went to Julie's house on Friday after a long day at school...what's better than friends, muffins, dogs and music??

Everything's a Drum

Our little drummer boy loves to drum...

Recycled Plastic Apple Hat for the Whole Family

We decided to support Marley with his headware obsession...

Birthday Party

As I mentioned, we went to Princess Gracie's 1st Bday party last weekend! The evite touted "The biggest party she will never remember!!" Appropriate...it seems that Bday parties for infants are more for adults and older kids...no complaints here! I am all for bouncy houses and Corona with a lime...perhaps not together, but I think you get my drift!! It was Marley's first bouncy house experience, which of course should be expected since he has been standing upright and walking for only about 6 weeks now! I think Dad got a bigger kick out of it then Marley did!!

There were quite a few older kids there, you know the mature 3 and 4 year olds who were sitting around talking about mutual funds and the impending financial bail out...we noticied many from this crew under a great deal of stress, perhaps it was the imminent VP debate, or maybe they were still realing from the Obama smack down on Friday night...who knows....but they all seemed to want whatever it was that Marley had in his hands, and they never shyed away from stealing said object from him. Our little trooper just looked at these kids, perhaps with a glimmer of symapthy, for they must be very deprived to continiously prey on our little man, and then delight in the disovery of anew toy...until he finally found something the other kids didn't want!

One of the many great things about Marley is that when the above mentioned would happen, he wouldn't cry. He justs looks at the toy thief, who is usually screaming "MINE!!!!" for a few seconds and then goes and gets something else to play with. It used to make me sad (this isn't the first time I have witnessed such behavior), but now I am thankful and proud. My friend Kelli pointed out how blessed we are to have such a low maintenace, mellow happy child!! I guess if he isn't upset by it, then I shouldn't be either! I just don't want my little guy to ever get taken advantage of...but I have seen his stubborn side as well and know that when it is something important to him, he will fight (or scream) to get what he really wants...

If anyone out there in bloggerville can tell me how to rotate a video I would be much obliged!

A New Question Asked...

On Sunday we went to Grace's first Birthday party (of which there will be more pictures!)

Our friend Kelly was there with her 11 week old daughter Emma! She is the tiniest little thing and Kell has settled quite nicely into motherhood! Mike and I had talked about having bio kids, actually one bio child, but once we came home with the little man, that idea rapidly flew out the window! Neither of us was in love with the idea of waking every two hours to feed or change...totally selfish, maybe..but at least we can be honest!! So instead, we will be adopting another Ethiopia beauty...but an older one...after we pay down our monsterous debt and save for the adoption...no more refinancing!!

But this still brings up the question of how Marley will react to being a big brother and sharing his mom and dad with another person! I got to hold Emma yesterday and I think he did ok! When he first discovered cute little being on Momma's lap he came over, stared at her and gave me a hug...very cute, but I was undecided as to how he felt about the whole idea!

So I pulled them both on my lap, and I have to say I was pretty good at multitasking two babies (at one point I was feeding Emma and pulling Marley up on my lap at the same time)! But, Marley then began to "pet" Emma...I am not sure from where the petting came: curiosity, jealousy, friendship...so the topic is still a mystery and I suppose we will have plenty of time to let unfold before we really start preparing for a new family member!!

I just love this guy!!

I mean really...how could anyone not? Not that anyone I know doesn't love Marley, in fact everyone I meet comments on how happy and fabulous he is! We met with our social worker yesterday for our 6 month post placement visit and I was again reminded of what a fantastic little child we have. When asked how Mike and I are dealing with the exhaustion of being parents, we both kind of looked at each other and said, we aren't really exhausted! The kid sleeps at least 11 hours a night, most nights 12 or 13. He is almost always alseep by 7pm, affording us some "adult time" every night! And he hardly ever cries, and when he does he looks like a Cling-on from Star Trek, so it's super funny!

Every morning when he wakes up he is in such an amazing mood! I will have to get some video of it, because it's pretty entertaining! He is still throwing himself around the crib in fits of laughter much like he did in the Surgery Day video! He gets so excited to see me when I pick him up from the clink...that's daycare! As soon as he sees me he starts waving goodbye to everyone!! He's growing so fast and changing so much everyday! His latest hobby is practicing the art of escape!

Now that he's a walker, he wants to walk everywhere and is of course discovering new things. The latest attraction are the Buddha statues we have on our front...porch...stoop...cement area...I don't know what you call that part of a condo! When he first noticed the happy Buddha he bent down, looked him right in the eye and started laughing...perhaps he sees a bit oh himself in that statue!! You be the judge!

When I was putting ear drops in his ears the other night, which he hates, I put my head on his little chest so I could be right in his face to soothe him...it was the first time I had ever heard his heartbeat! Of course I cried...it was beautiful! I started thinking about Zenebek, his birth mother, and wondered if she ever did that...listened to his heart beat...I know she was never able to hear it while she carried him in her body, but it just struck me while I was laying there that his is part of her heartbeat too! It made me happy to know that he gets to carry that around inside of him forever! I have a picture of Marley's birth parents on a shelf in his room, and I can tell he knows who they are! I am happy he does! We pray for them and his brothers every night after story time and I hope as he gets older he will know who we are praying for and why!

I love this little man and I am so grateful that MIke and I have been given the amazing privlege of being his parents and watching him grow! I never knew how much my heart could expand, but it seems I wake up every day just so much more in love with him!

Thank you universe for this gift! I will cherish every day I am blessed to have with him!!

I HEART MARLEY!!

Longing...

Marley has been sick this week, a fever, runny nose, coughing and general mallaise ...he hasn't even smiled in the past couple of days! Michael is at the urgent care center with him right now...letting me catch up on some sleep (Just called, we have a double ear infection folks)! We both took Thursday off after being up all night with the little guy and Mike stayed home with him Friday morning while I taught 3 classes and then came home!!

I miss being home with him terribly!! I NEVER thought I would miss it as much as I do!! Teaching was always my passion, staying up late reading about new pedagogical strategies, writing grants for new projects, even bringing lesson planning materials on vacation to France last summer! But I am just not into it at all this year!! I don't hate it, and I don't dread going; thank God I am ony teaching until 12:30 and have great, high performing students this year, but being home with him the last couple of days really made me miss it again! I was so fortunate to be able to stay home with him for 6 months, but it just wasn't long enough! And now we are desperate to get out from under the $30K credit card debt we racked up while I wasn't working (which shouldn't have been that high except Mike was told by our district he was going to be getting $7K that he didn't! Three days before we were expecting it, they told us they made a mistake!!).

I never saw myself as the stay at home Mom type, but I guess, I never had such a wonderful son before!! Only three weeks into the school year, I am already longing for summer vacation!! I do have a new friend Sandie who is helping me realize my goals of paying off our debt and making enough money to quite my job!! So I thank her for that awesome opportunity, which is already going better than I expected!! And, of course, I thank my fabulous husband for allowing me to stay home and not freak out about the highest credit card payment we have ever had!!

Here are some pix of happier times!!

And a video of the future: Marley and Mom working from home!!

Video to come soon....

AHOPE for Children Fundraiser

I have been asked to inform my loyal followers, of which there is 1...thanks J-Lo, that AHOPE for Children is currently seeling t-shirts and bracelets to raise funds to support the orphans in Ethiopia who are living with HIV/AIDS!! This is a fantastic organization who does nothing but good for these amazing little fighters!!

Ethiopian Play Date

Fun with Friends!! Every month we get together with friends in Little Ethiopia...this was the first time Marley was standing!! We had fun!!

Fun With Cousins!!

We were in Tucson last weekend while Dad was fishing in Mexico! Marley tried to make friends with my sisiters cat!