Day three of CA trip

The last day of our quick trip to CA was spent hanging out with my family at Balboa Island.

Tessa enjoyed being buried, as all kids do!

Phoebe loves Gramma. No doubt about it.

I love MY grandma. An enjoyable lunch at Wilma's Patio with mom, dad, grandma, grandpa and Uncle Brent.

Tessa thought this dog was hilarious because he jumped with excitement at the visitors on his beach. I think his name was Fred?

Tessa met a little buddy named Oden. His mom Michelle and dog Wolfie were fun to hang out with. Tessa talked about Oden for weeks and even remembered him when she returned to Balboa later in the summer.

More Memories in CA

In the past year, Phoebe's birthmother, Melissa, has been in direct contact with us rather than going through the agency like we used to. I have really enjoyed this new stage in our relationship. It's not necessarily more casual, but having occasional, direct contact feels more natural and puts our relationship in a dynamic like others that we have more experience with, such as close friends and relatives. Melissa coincidentally made a comment about wishing we lived in CA so that I could take some portraits for her, right as we were planning our trip to CA. We talked about the possibility of meeting up and when the weekend arrived we both decided that it was a good idea. We met Melissa and her husband and three boys at O'Neill park, not far from where we used to live in RSM. The portraits came out pretty good and the kids had a blast playing with each other. Melissa made peanut butter cookies as a bribe for the boys to smile for pictures, so they were all on a little sugar high. Tessa is just a little older than Cody and they were pretty funny together. Ryan, 5, was able to show off a little more prowess on the playground but Phoebe got tired after just a few rides on the slide. I love the picture of Tim and Phoebe at the bottom of the slide, and all the other kids who slid down and ended up in the pile. They were cracking up over that. It was a fun couple of hours, and I really enjoyed spending time with Melissa for the first time since Phoebe was tiny. She said it was a good experience for her too. On the way home I was inspired to talk to Tessa a little bit about adoption, and explained who we had just played with at the park. She actually listened (previous attempts to broach the subject went in one ear and out the other). She repeated back some of the words I was saying and several times during the following week she would bring it up again, talking about babies in tummies, and birthmothers. She would always talk about Phoebe's birthmom so I made sure to clarify that she has one also. She has a long way to go before she will really understand what adoption is and why it makes our family special, but I am just laying the foundation for now. The current view in the adoption world, which I totally agree with, is that children will better understand and accept adoption if they are aware of it from the beginning, and not have a "big reveal" moment at some point in their adolescence or adulthood. I think adoption has changed for the better in recent decades and there is a new attitude about the whole thing. In an age where being a single mom is totally accepted and supported by society, the women who choose to (temporarily) sacrifice their own happiness for that of their child is a true hero in my opinion. So, here's to modern day heroes (and heroines).

First time at Disneyland

We were suddenly inspired to take the kids to Disney when we saw the commercials for a free ticket on your birthday. After reviewing the calendar, it appeared that the best birthday to coordinate a trip to Disney around was mine. Yippee! We left Friday afternoon, picking Phoebe up from school along the way (she's 45 mins north of us) and arriving at Tim's parents around 11pm. Up at 7, but still didn't get to the park until 10. I couldn't believe how long it took just to get in the gate. Then we still had to get lockers (it was supposed to rain so we brought coats) and get a wheelchair pass at City hall. Once we finally got all that settled, and precautionary trip to the restroom, we were off to have fun! Pat and Julie came along and it was Jaleina's first trip as well. Dad came with us too, but mom stayed at Balboa with her parents. So, we hit Fantasyland first and the girls loved it. Tessa shrieked with delight when she saw the castle and wanted to put on the princess dress she chose to bring from home. She twirled around Main St. with glee and we hadn't even been on a ride yet. Phoebe liked watching the horse drawn carriages go up and down Main st. Our first ride was Dumbo, which they both loved. Tessa asked for it all day and we did go for a second time eventually. After a crazy bathroom break/waiting in line fiasco we did get to meet some of the Princesses. Not Tessa's favorites, and she had to go again when we were taking pics with them, so I don't think she really got the full enjoyment of that moment. Oh well. Phoebe's favorite ride was Small World, thankfully, since even the wheelchair line was half an hour at that point in the day. After Pirate's broke down, Julie and Pat decided to go home since Julie has an annual pass now. We however, intended to milk our day for all it was worth. We stayed until the kids fell asleep, right after fire works at 9, but by the time we got all our stuff, found the right train ride, etc, etc it was 11 when we got home. We were ready for a leisurely day on Sunday! Tessa won't stop talking about California, Disneyland, Sleeping Beauty's castle, etc. We definitely created some memories that day!

Playing Catch Up

Since I have several family members who receive my posts automatically I thought I'd explain what might be coming your way soon. I am planning on going back through my photos and posting about past events, using the backdating feature on my blog. I have not managed to "scrapbook" in exactly 7 1/2 years (gee, wonder why that exact number....) and don't see myself getting caught up real soon. I know that there are companies who can turn a blog into a book, so I hope to do that at some point, thus creating both a journal and album in one. I think I will still scrapbook the kids baby days and events in separate books, but for the family in general, the blog is so much faster (being digital) and easier to just get something in writing right now. I hope you enjoy the trip down memory lane....

All this Beauty and Brains too?!?

What can I say? My girls are smart and talented. Despite lots of coughs and sniffles, both have thoroughly enjoyed being back at school after the holidays.

Phoebe had her debut musical performance, playing the xylophone and tambourine in a school concert. Despite a mostly full auditorium, well-lit for some reason, she didn't have even a touch of stage fright. She was all smiles before, during and after.

After the concert, her teacher, Ms Jen, met us in the foyer and asked if we would mind waiting while she got her husband to come and meet Phoebe. As we all stood chatting in the hall, Jen accused Miss Devon, the aide, of having Phoebe as a favorite. They also joked that even if Phoebe could see perfectly they would lie to keep her in their school (for the blind). I guess if a teacher is going to have a pet, it might as well be your kid!Tessa enjoyed the evening in true annoying little sister fashion, by stealing the hearts of everyone around when she yelled out Hi Phoebe! when she came on stage. She also announced to the auditorium when daddy reappeared from the bathroom, Daddy! We're over here!!! Then after the show, climbed on the back of Phoebe's chair and rode it like a chariot. Tessa is a fast learner but I admit that there are some things I have not wanted her to learn, like cutting with scissors. Too bad for me that after a couple days of school she became proficient at it. There was, however, a teacher's evaluation that came home in January surprisingly off from what I would expect it to be. One example is "shows an interest in books and reading" was checked as "not yet". Huh?!? She has half the books on her shelf memorized, she "reads" (recognizes letters or shapes of entire words) everything from street signs to video jackets. I think the problem is that in the school setting she doesn't behave the same as she does at home (which can be both good and bad). The teacher reads to the class during Circle Time, so if Tessa doesn't like to sit during circle time the teacher may think she isn't interested in the book. My plan is to wait until the next evaluation, and if the same concerns are there, I will approach the teacher on how to make the classroom a more effective learning environment for her. This is exactly why I wanted her in preschool to begin with - to learn how to use her energy and intelligence to an advantage without her getting bored and consequently falling behind in grades where it will count. She does do well behaviorally, as she brings home a card with her name on it and three happy faces every time. She proudly pulls the card out of her backpack to show us. A couple of nights ago she had the card in her hand and was showing me her name. I asked her what each letter was and she read her name off the card. She then saw a pen (usually in hiding in our house) and asked to write her name. I turned the card over for her thinking she was about to scribble meaningless doodles, but she drew one line across, one line down and proudly announced she had drawn a T. (center of photo) She then drew a few more lines as she said each letter of her name. Before the T disappeared, and being a little shocked it turned out so well, I turned the card around and asked her to draw another T (appears upside down on left). She did it! My three year old is a genius! Seriously, though, the girls' got some mad fine motor skills.

Is it pure, natural giftedness, spending a few hours a week in preschool, or spending a few hours a week on her Leapster?!?She has been totally addicted to it since she got it for Christmas. It is a great bribe (after we do X you can play your game) and a major source of meltdowns (turn it off now, now, now, okay I'll turn it off - result - screams). I am relieved she actually gets the games though, because they are recommended for ages 4-8 and I was worried it would be a waste of a gift. I had to watch over her shoulder to believe it, but she really plays the games and gets the answers right most of the time. Like I said, genius! My beautiful, amazing girls!

Is it Over Yet?

December was one very long month. In the beginning it was the usual stress of the holidays, made a little more frantic because we had company for Thanksgiving and Tessa's birthday is so close. Then it became stressful in a more worrisome way, as one by one family members were sick or injured. My sister's MIL started it out by reentering the hospital for yet another complication. She's had a very rough year. My mom's cousin (a identical twin with dwarfism) was experiencing complications from a surgery that was necessary but risky. My grandmother went in for a planned knee surgery and ended up contracting pneumonia, which made her pulmonary fibrosis much harder to live with. We were quite afraid we were losing her and I spent every day wondering if I should pack my bags and be ready to travel to Utah with a moment's notice. Then my MIL was injured while babysitting her grandbaby and caring for my SIL's horses. The horses were spooked by a neighbor's dog and one knocked her over and the other stepped on her. She has a broken shoulder and crushed finger. Of course we couldn't escape injury at our own home, so Tessa got the sniffles and Phoebe ended up with a trip to the ER, a UTI and the flu. She shared the flu with us, but thankfully it was a fast moving virus and we were all functional by Christmas. There were quite a few people who didn't get cards this year (sorry!) and a few presents I have yet to send (really sorry!) but everyone is home and alive and getting well, which is the best present any of us could ask for. (Grandma is still in a rehab home but out of the ICU and the hospital). So here are a few pics from our crazy Cmas and now I'm off to shop for those last few gifts!

Photos:

My dear friend Heather came to visit us for a few days and this is the best picture I've got. I am blessed to have a few very close friends, all of whom live far away, but all make an effort to stay "close" and visit on occasion, despite the high cost of travel these days. Unfortunately I tend to enjoy their visits so much that I forget to take photos. Note to self: don't rely on husband or friend to capture the moment. This photo was taken at the "company" Christmas party from across the room, thus the red eyes, fuzziness and weird cropping. Tim and his friend Gregg avoided photos all together so I have none of them. Oh well.
We tried to visit Santa this year but it was not going to happen. This photo is when we were ready to leave the mall, since she didn't want to talk to Santa anyway and we were done. I really captured the emotions here.

Tessa decorated our tree with her dress-up jewelry. I was not in the decorating mood and we would have needed unbreakable decorations anyway. It turned out pretty cute and very low stress!

One of Tessa's favorite gifts, a three wheel Razor scooter. She also loves her new Leapster, and it's funny to see her enter a video game trance when she doesn't even know how to play most of the games.

Phoebe looks so tall standing next to Grandma Jo.

She wanted to try out Tessa's scooter.

It snowed the day after Christmas so we headed up the mountain to play a little. We had a picnic at the start of Madera Canyon, where it was slightly warmer and lower elevation. Along with lunch, Tessa got to eat an icicle. We then went a little higher and got to play a bit before Tessa was crying because her hands were numb and we all needed a nap. Another fun day with the grandparents. We went to Colossal Cave County Park and had a picnic. There were stables in the park and the girls got to enjoy a ride on Rambler, the appointed kiddie horse. Tessa does not have the same passion for horses that Phoebe does, but she has never been nervous around one. Maybe it was because she used to ride on my back while I took Phoebe for her weekly lesson in Texas. I don't remember how old she was for her first ride but it was younger than Phoebe, for sure, and that was age 2. Maybe someday we will have the time, money and energy for horses of our own. Phoebe would think she died and went to horsey heaven.Her helmet was too big and kept sliding down but it never effected her smile. Since the cave was not wheelchair friendly, Phoebe and I enjoyed the last ride of the day at the stables and watched the horses get fed. Tessa and the grandparents went on to catch the last tour of the day. Apparently Tessa was terrified to go inside and cried for a while, even though she got to ride on Grandpa Jim's shoulders. The cave looks much bigger than I expected and they spent an hour exploring it. Tessa's fears subsided slowly and by the end she was ready to get down and walk. It was an eventful day and we finished off with dinner at Texas Roadhouse.

Tessa's Three Year Portraits

People ask me why I take my kids to a studio, when I am a photographer. I enjoy taking photos of my kids, and have more than a few shots that I totaly love of them, but they are usually "lucky" shots, or moments where I was just having fun and so were they. There is something about MOM telling you to do something that is different from a photograher giving direction and it just invites defiance. My brain works chronologically, and it is important to me to have an annual photo of my kids as they are growing. I don't like to leave this event to chance. If possible, I plan the photo sessions for when my mom is visiting so that she can help entertain, or wrangle, the child in question. Even with two or more adults the sessions are typically comical to those around us. Out of 30 shots taken of Tessa here are 5 that I thought were decent (to no fault of the photographer).

And on a different day (it would have been ludicrous to think we could handle two photo sessions in one day) we tried to take photos of the girls together. I finally jumped in to try and keep Tessa in one spot and that ended up being the best one of the girls, unfortunately. When I decided to use this shot for our Cmas cards Tim was worried that people would wonder why he's not in the photo. I told him they would just have to be in suspense until next year's photo. :)

And the winner is....

(Notice the treat in Tessa's hand - I am not above bribes!)