Happy Halloween

Roar!

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He’s 10 Months Old Today!

Holy cow is time flying.  Zach is 10 months old today, I’ve had him almost exactly 1/2 of his life.  Amazing!  Oh, we are having so much fun with him.  The last couple of days his curiousity has been completely turned on.  He can point to stuff and he is pointing at everthing and wants to check everything out.  He wants to touch it, taste it, look at it, anything to totally absorb everything around him.  We are pulling things off the walls just so he can examine them.  All of this turned on right before we break out the Christmas decorations . . . this should be interesting.

Giving him a bath is no fun anymore, at least for me.  He’s having a blast and totatlly ignoring the words “no” or “sit on your butt” or “if you don’t sit on your butt I’m taking you out of the tub!”.  You get the idea.  He is all over the place in the tub.  I seriously understand why I see things to completely pad your tub in magazines because Zach needs that.  He won’t sit long enough to wash him.  I will hold him down, he’ll sit there and smile at me and as soon as I let go he’s off and running.  Maybe he needs new toys for the tub?  I don’t know, the shampoo bottles see to be most interesting to him.  Well, that and pulling himself up and standing at the spout.  Or trying to drink out the spout even when no water is coming out.  He’s a crazy man!  Suggestions are always welcome.

Last night we carved the pumpkin.  Well, we gutted it, we didn’t actually carve it.  I just wanted him to play in the guts.  He didn’t like it.   The whole thing kinda scared him.  He didn’t want the guts on him, he didn’t want to look into the pumpkin.  He was much happier playing with the newspapers on the floor.  We’ll try it again next year.

Carving the Pumpkin

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It’s All Beginning

I don’t think I’ve updated in awhile on how the whole adoption process is going.  Well, it’s going and I’m learning more about “the system” than I ever dreamt I would need to know.

Well, 2 months ago all parental rights were terminated so now we can proceed with the adoption process.  Two weeks ago this Friday our adoption case worker came to our house to do a home visit and explain the process to us.  We now have an adoption case worker, a social worker and Zach’s attorney that all have to come to my house on a regular basis, by the way.  Steve and I have a stack of paperwork we need to fill out (really need to get that going), we have to go get finger-printed, have physicals and attend 27 hours worth of training.  Honestly, I’ve been procrastinating.  Why?  I don’t have time.  Yes, I need to make time.  I have scheduled my physical and I just looked up the number to call and schedule and get finger-printed but I haven’t actually called yet.  I haven’t filled out the online applications because I’m really hoping that Steve will get a job and I don’t have to leave his employment part blank for fears that they will say that we can’t afford to adopt Zach on just my income.   Hopefully he’ll have a job soon and then I’ll not hesitate any longer.

Our 27 hours of training began yesterday.  When did we find out?  We found out at 5:05 on Monday that training began on Tuesday at 5:30.  Training is supposed to be every Tuesday from 5:30 – 8:30 and one 6 hour long Saturday until the first part of December but the next two weeks training will be on Monday because I guess State buildings are closed on Election day and the next Tuesday is Veterans Day.  That’s fine, I’d rather go on Monday.  The training seems like it’s more for people that are going to be regular foster parents and much of it won’t apply to us but quite a bit will.  It will be informative and we’re going to learn stuff that most people don’t talk about because who wants to talk about such sad stories.

She did say a couple of things that I hadn’t thought about.  One being that no matter what age you get a child they have baggage.  It doesn’t matter if you get a newborn, they have baggage.  If you are born and your mommy doesn’t want you, you have baggage.  That’s one of the things I was thinking we were “lucky” about, we got a 5 month old, he should be fine.  No, he has baggage.  Part of this training will be on how to deal with this baggage.  We are being trained by all foster parents, not just someone who went to school for 8 years, someone who has “been there, done that” and I like that.  I don’t care, you can only learn so much from a book.

Now I’m back to my time issues, I just lost one day a week with Zach.  But, as a friend pointed out to me on another site, to loose him for one night a week for 6 weeks to get to keep him for a lifetime, it’s worth it.

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Time, There’s Never Enough

Periodically I have these “freak-outs” that there simply isn’t enough time and right now I’m in the middle of one of those.  I feel like I’m running around like a crazy woman, spinning my wheels and getting no where.  There are all these things I want done and no time to do any of them.  Since I don’t have time to get this stuff done I’m feeling completely unorganized which is causing me great stress and not making me a very fun person to be around.  I want my basement cleaned, to find more cabinet space, Zach’s bedroom painted, the stuff stacked in my bedroom moved to the basement once it gets cleaned . . . the list goes on.  I want more time to spend with Zach and Steve, time that isn’t me running around trying to get 5000 things done in the 2 days a week I have to do them.  Plus, in those 2 days I’m also trying to have a life and visit family and friends while trying to squeeze in all the “stuff” that has to be done every day anyway.  It is impossible for me to sit down and relax when I know that stuff has to be done.  I can’t do it.  I’ll try to sit there and knit knowing that bottles aren’t washed, laundry needs folded, the bathroom needs cleaned or whatever and I can’t relax.  I sit there and obsess over the stuff I’m not getting done and it stresses me so I may as well get up and do it because I can’t rest until it is.  Steve doesn’t understand the level of stress it causes me and will say “I’ll do it tomorrow” well, that’s not fast enough for me so I do it now.  He doesn’t understand that it’s impossible for me to let it go until tomorrow and I’ll do it now.

Why can’t I relax?  Why can’t I take lessons from Erma Bombach?  Why can’t I be one of those people who does not require sleep?

I seriously need to take a vacation . . . to get organized.

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Birthday Wishes!

I’m behind!

Last Thursday, October 23rd, was my sister, Mary’s birthday.  Happy Birthday!!!

Saturday was my dad’s birthday.  Happy Birthday, Dad!!!

Today is my niece, Shelbi’s sweet 16.  Sweet 16 and never been kissed???  Happy Birthday!!!

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The Pumpkin Patch

Sunday my family made their first ever “Griswold’s Go To The Pumpkin Patch” trip.  Ok, that’s kind of an “inside” joke, Steve calls my family the Griswolds because we do everything together.  It’s not a bad thing.  Well, a couple of months I mentioned us all meeting at Uncle John’s Cider Mill because it’s sort of in the middle for all of us.  After I said something nothing more was said but Jamie suddenly decided her family was going Sunday and everyone was able to go.  Cool.

This place was huge!  They had all kinds of stuff: corn maze, inflatables, wagon rides, train rides, cider mill . . . all kinds of stuff.  It was perfect for Kirsten and Braxton but Zach was just a little bit too little.  Give him a couple of years and he’ll be ripping and tearing around that place.

I wanted him to wear his pumpkin hat that a girlfriend of mine knitted for him and he did.  If I had $1 for every time I heard “aaawwwwww, look at the pumpkin” she and I could BOTH retire.  It is adorable!  I tried to work an outfit so it matched but that didn’t really happen.  Oh well, he was still cuter than words.

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BSM ~ $.30 A Pound

Can you figure out which pumpkin I picked?  The price was well worth it.

Pick A Pumpkin

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Two Tooth Tuesday!

I have no idea what this look is on his face but you can clearly see that we now have 2 teeth!

Cheese!

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Zach’s First Hockey Game

Friday night we took Zach to his first hockey game.  The Bulldogs had their home opener, we lost, but it was still a good time.  I was curious how Zach would do at a game and he did amazingly well.  Then again, the bag of supplies I took with me weighed more than he did.  He was well set with clothes, blankets, food, bottle and a sippy cup.  I thought he would fall asleep be he made it until the end.  Of course he was asleep by the time we were out of th parking lot but he stayed awake for the whole game.  Sometimes I think he even watched

Drop The Puck!

He loved standing at the board and watching the Zamboni

Watching The Zamboni

Daddy had to try and show him the ropes “this is how you pound on the glass”

See, this is what you do.

It was a good time and this is just the first of MANY games he’ll go to.  If Steve’s dreams come true, in 3 years Zach will be out there playing.

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BSM ~ Fiber!

The stuff Kashi bars are made of

Mmmm!

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