Annual Zoo Trip

Every year around my birthday I like to drag Brad with me to the Como Park Conservatory and Zoo to take pictures of the flowers. You can imagine how I excited I was this year, with the new camera and all. So excited, in fact, that I had hatched an evil little plan - I wasn't going to tell our daycare lady we had the day off, and was going to sneak off to the zoo sans the Little One (insert maniacal laugh here). I kept the guilt in check by telling myself we wouldn't even go near the zoo portion of the park, and Tesfu wouldn't enjoy the flowers, right?

I thought I was in the clear, guilt was in check, the date was approaching, when our beloved daycare lady threw us a curveball - she innocently asked if we had MLK, Jr Day off. The guilty conscience took over, and there was no way I could utter the words 'why yes, and we are going to the zoo, but we ain't taken' no babies!' Nope. I fessed up. And Tes did not go to daycare that day. And she did go to the conservatory and zoo with us. And no, I didn't get a whole lot of pictures taken of the flora. But, I did get some extra-adorable pics of the kiddo, my mama guilt was zip, and we had a very good day.

In the classroom

Tesfu

Not Tesfu

Admiring the fish

In this Little One's mind - the absolute best-est part of the zoo.

Though, I have had to field the question of "Why do Simba and Nala have to live at the zoo?" more times then I would have liked since. The answer depends on the moment - today was 'Probably because they played with their food at the dinner table instead of eating!'

Oh yeah. I've got this parenting thing down.

Peace.

Dear Winter,

Dear Winter ~

We are done. Please go away now.

Thanks.

Time flies when you are with Tesfanesh

It was one year ago today, at 3:33pm, that we received a call from our social worker about a sunny little girl in a country halfway across the world waiting for a home. After we got over the initial shock of ‘wha- a daughter?!? Are you sure?!’ and tried really hard not to absolutely-balls-to-the-wall-freak-out so I wouldn’t alarm my co-workers, we raced home and (not-so) patiently waited for her pictures and medical info to arrive in our emailbox. And that was that. To me, even though no court neither here nor there had said so, no paperwork had been officially signed and stamped and sealed, even though I only had two grainy pictures to stare at and memorize every tiny detail, at that moment she was my daughter in my heart forevermore.

I just can’t believe how fast this year has flown – I still remember very well all the preparing that took place between this day and April 18th, the first day we met her. The excited phone calls to tell everyone, the preparing her room, the ever-important courtdate and birth certificate (and rally monkey!), the seemingly endless shopping trips to pick up travel (and new child!) essentials… it was a wonderful, magical time. Anything seemed possible. We were parents to this spectacular little girl, who we knew nothing about, so we were free to dream up anything. Of course, the reality actually turned out to be something totally different, but just as wonderful.

As I was rocking her to sleep last night, it hit me full-force on just how fast this year has really gone. Nine months ago, when I would rock my scared, tiny toddler to sleep, she fit nicely on my hip with one arm supporting her. Now, my gangly little girl can nearly wrap her legs around me, and giggles and requests for specific songs have replaced the tears and trembling.

She is amazing. I know, I know, every mother will say that about their child. But this child, my Tesfanesh, we have come to discover in the last year that she is seriously amazing. Resilient, energetic, clever, funny, and joyous. She can laugh so hard she cannot breathe. I mean really, when is the last time you laughed so hard you couldn’t even breathe? She can trick her Auntie into letting her watch The Lion King on the computer, because she is not allowed to watch it anymore on the tv for the day. She is sensitive, loving, cuddly in the mornings, and kind. Well, unless you ask our cat Fischer, who would insist he NOT a mini-lion as Tesfu thinks, and would really prefer not to be roared at.

So, I am very thankful for this day last year, because it was the start of something beautiful - My family.

Peace.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

The ends of Tesfu's hair were dry and beyond repair, no matter what I seemed to do to treat, moisturize, and love on them. Beyond hope. But, with such tightly curled hair I was terrified to trim it up, knowing if I cut too much it would look like she had no hair at all after it dried and shrunk. Then I read about trimming hair while it is in box braids - the very hairstyle Tes happened to be sporting this week. Not knowing when the next time I would have a chance to put her whole head 'braids and beads' - I seized the opportunity yesterday, grabbed the scissors, and closed my eyes.

There was two things I hadn't thought about, though, prior to my snipping frenzy.
1 - Her hair in the back of her head is the driest and most in need of the trim. But, it is also just naturally growing in slower, and it quite a bit shorter than the top and sides - so maybe I should have taken the length in mind when I started trimming instead of the condition of the hair.

2 - Cutting the braids straight across leaves a strange, blunt look.



(Was both the arrow AND the circle necessary? No, probably not. But, since I took the time to figure out how to make marks such as these on my pictures, I felt I should at least make it worth my while and add a few. Justifies the time spent cursing.)

I am going to be honest, I was a tad frightened to see what it was going to look like after I took out the braids this morning and washed it. But, it ain't too bad. Yep, the back is shorter. Yet, it looks a little healthier all around, too, so I guess it isn't too bad of a trade off. Looks like we will just be doing more 'free hair' in the back for awhile until it grows back a little.



Peace.

Almost There...

Stumbled across this on another blog - Thanks, Lucy's mom!

Tall Order

We arrived at daycare today to find one happy Little One very anxiously awaiting our arrival. She had something really big to tell us - and was nearly busting at the seams trying to spit it out. What did she so badly want to tell us? Well, you see, one of her daycare buddies just became a big brother a couple days ago, and his momma must have brought the baby in today to show the kids.

Tes' big news? She really wants a baby sibling.

It went something like this :

Tes : I want a baby like (friend's name)!

Brad : Yeah, right. No.

Me : I'll keep that in mind.

Tes : Mom! Dad! This is a real big idea! This will be fun! I want a baby!

Brad : No.

Me : Tes, (friend's Momma) didn't just go get a baby, she had to grow him in her tummy for a long time.

Tes : (Pondering for awhile...) Mommy, my tummy hurts.

Me : It does? We'll eat dinner soon, and it will feel better.

Tes : No, there is a baby in there.

Besides totally confusing her on where exactly babies come from and who can have them - I don't think we've totally put this to rest. She hasn't given up, more just put the argument on hold for the next time she finds another opportunity to attack.

Tell ya' the truth, kiddo, I think maybe your right. It is your father you have to convince. Oh, and the daycare lady who would have to take on another kiddo. And you'll need to get a job. But, if you can tackle those three obstacles, we are well on our way.

Bring It On!

Well, hello Monday. So we meet again.


All I've got to say is, bring it on, work week. Bring. It. On.