When Did This Happen?

Today was just one of the days when I almost did not recognize Alex. He seems to have kicked on the "Big Boy Switch" (and I thought he was too short to reach it--dang!) In a single day, I witnessed my "baby" pulling down his pants and underwear, climbing up on the potty BY HIMSELF and going POOP!!! Does it get any better than this!!!?? I am sure that high school graduation will pale in comparison to this achievement.

THEN, we got up the big boy bed and, you got it, HE SLEPT IN IT FOR NAP LIKE A CHAMP! I tucked him in tonight, and all was quiet....for a little while. I soon started to hear the quiet rattle of legos coming from his room. Upon inspection, he was on the floor preparing to build what looked like a major city. Our eyes met. My lip snarled. He lept back into bed covering himself up midair. HILARIOUS!! And all that was in a matter in 13 minutes. It has now been 26 minutes, and I will have to go check on him again to see if he is starting any more civil projects. From the look on his face when I caught him, I think he may stay in bed until he's 18.

One more thing: Last night as I was tucking Alex into bed, he said it....unprompted...uncoached...he just said it: "Lub you, Mommy." Boom...there it was ....the first I LOVE YOU. Now I know why God put our hears inside a rib "cage...."otherwise mine would have lept out of my chest and soared around the greater Indianapolis area!

My baby is really growing up....sigh. I lub you, Bug!

Love,

Mommy

Me? Political?

For those of you who know me, you know I have never really been into political issues. Maybe it's because I now have two boys whose livelihood depends on me, but lately I have been paying more attention (and getting increasingly annoyed!). I got the following picture, and I just HAD to post it:You may have to zoom in to read the fine print....it's worth it!

Wordless Wednesday

To My Boys

Dear Alex and Noah,
You both noticed that today was a special day because the T.V. was on all day. I tried to explain to you what we were about to witness, but I knew you would not understand. Still, I wanted to share as much of this with you as possible...because someday, when you are reading about this day in history class, I want to be able to tell you that you saw it as it happened. The greatness of this day was not only the swearing in of the first African-American President in hisory...the true magic of this day was in watching millions (yes, MILLIONS) of people from ALL walks of life gather together and commit themselves to making the world a better place.
So, Alex, although what impressed you most today was footage of Air Force One ("Mommy, aiwpwane!!!!"), I pray that as your mommy, I will impress upon you the importance of service to others. That is my committment to you.
And Noah, although you spent a good deal of the inauguration coverage running from room to room hugging your stuffed puppy, I pray that as your mommy, I will guide your intense passion for life so that you may ignite a similar fire in those you touch.

History

Tonight as I peaked at my sleeping boys, I prayed that tomorrow will indeed be a new day--that the spirit of hope that has filled this Inauguration Day will continue to propel us forward through the challenges that this country now faces. I pray that my boys will grow up in a world where the color of their skin will be as irrelevant as their shoe size. I pray that my boys will always strive to make the world a better place-one person at a time. Tonight I am filled with hope. Hope for this country. Hope for our future. Hope for my boys. Hope for a better tomorrow.

Congratulations, Mr. President...and thank you for challenging us to be better than even we think we can be.

Dear World:
We, the United States of America, your top quality supplier of ideals of democracy, would like to apologize for our 2001-2008 interruption in service. The technical fault that led to this eight-year service outage has been located, and the software responsible was replaced November 4, 2008.
Early tests of the newly installed program indicate that we are now operating correctly, and we expect it to be fully functional beginning tomorrow, January 20, 2009.
We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the outage. We look forward to resuming full service and hope to improve service in years to come. We thank you for your patience and understanding.
Sincerely,
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Shoe Fly Shoe!

During a routine trip to Walmart this weekend, I saw a shoe flying through the air. This particular shoe hit a poor unsuspecting gentleman on the head, bounced off and landed in his cart. The man picked up the shoe (now starting to look a little familiar to me) and stared at the ceiling as if someone had chucked a shoe at him from above. A quick glance at Alex solved the whole mystery....my darling child was wearing only one shoe. Yes, my quiet little man took off his shoe and hurled it across the meat aisle at Walmart and then looked at me like..."uh....how'd that happen?" Fortunately the man had a sense of humor and complimented Alex on his throwing arm.

Snuggle Puppy

Noah LOVES his "dogdog"
Alex and Queequee (Formerly known as Mr. Giggles)

Opa teaching Alex another useful trick.....great.

Last week when Alex was sick, we got LOTS of snuggle time.

Noah has an aversion to socks....even in the dead of winter!

I Have a Dream

"I have a dream that one day....little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers."

---MLK

Hi/Lo Thursday

This post is part of "Hi/Lo Thursday" on Riggs Family Blog (www.riggsfamilyblog.com):

Our highlight from this week was definitely Sunday Dinner at Casa Willis, where we had yummy food and great friends! The Guateposse got to play for a nice long time. Only three boys can turn a HUGE blow-up-soccer-field-ball-pit thing into a wrestling ring/horsey and mosh pit all at once!! I WISH I had had my camera with me....next time!

Our lolight from this week is that Alex has been running a fever and has just been generally pathetic. Still no visible cause, so we are just going to call it a power surge!

The Heat is On

I knew it. I could just FEEL it coming. Could it be that I actually have Mommy intuition!????

For the last two days Alex has been out of sorts. He has been playing just fine, but he has just seemed a little...I don't know....off. Something has definitely been lurking inside of him. Today that something manifested itself in a fever of 102.4. I am SO glad! That sounds odd, but I am glad I now have an explanation for his behavior. As to what is causing this fever, no clue. The kid is not "sick"....just really hot. So, one mystery solved only to reveal another one. He actually WANTED to go to bed...now THAT is not normal. We shall see what the morning brings......

Buenos Noches!

Zeum

Tubby Time!???

The boys LOVE to dig dig dig!!

On Sunday we met Auntie Katie, Ben, Rick and Baby Cai Cai at The Children's Museum--also known as the "zeum" in Alex Speak. After a little lunch, we were off to the dinosaurs, choo choos and Science Works. The boys had a blast running all over the place. Alex gave me about 4 minor heart attacks when I could not find him....he seems to have a comfort zone with the museum and has no problem running off to explore on his own. It never ceases to amaze me how fast those little legs can move.

Whad-eh-mama

If you ask Alex where he is from, he will now proudly inform you that he is from WHADEHMAMA. I have started talking to him about his beautiful birth country, which apparently is not that easy to pronounce. I don't think he understands what I mean yet, but it's good practice for me for (what I am sure will be) the many adoption "talks" that are in my future. I tried to show him Guatemala on a map, and he proceeded to jump up and down on it--not quite the reaction I was hoping for.

In an effort to keep the "guatemalaness" in our home, I am venturing into some ethnic cooking. Ok, so by "cooking," I mean crock pot. Tonight: Rice and beans! The Willis' gave us some SUPER YUMMY tamales over Christmas, so we have had those a few times (thanks again, guys!!!). I am also trying out a recipe for "Guatemalan Ice Box Cookies"--they have chocolate, cinnamon, cayenne pepper and black pepper in them.....not a combination I would have come up with! Will let you know how they turn out.
For those of you who have heard me rave about the Gallo beer in Guatemala: I have found a close second here in the states!!! It is called Monterey and is sold (of all places!) at Aldi's!! 5 bucks for a 6 pack!!!! Gallo is sold under the brand "Famosa" here in the states--if you can get hold of that, GO FOR IT! (Oh, and let me know where you found it!)

Salut!
Caren

Wordless Wednesday

Happy New Year!

No, we have not fallen off the face of the earth.

Somehow these last two weeks just flew right by without blogging! So much has happened, and I kept saying to myself, "I GOTTA BLOG THAT." Now I can't seem to remember what "THAT" was....it's hell getting old!

SO, I can sum up the holidays in a single word: AWESOME!!! I will try to capture the festivities/general cuteness in a TOP 10 LIST. Get ready....

The 10 Most Memorable Things About Christmas/New Year 2008(9) [no particular order]

10. Alex, Noah and Eduardo eating all the decorations BEFORE putting them on the Christmas cookies (and then drooling on the cookies for a little extra je ne sais quoi!

9. Munchies at Casa Willis on Christmas Eve and trying to prevent Alex from opening all THEIR presents under the tree.

8. Noah clocking my dad in the head with a tambourine that ended with a Diego Band Aid right in the middle of his forehead. (he's so proud of it still!!)

7. Having my dear friend Katie and the WHOLE FAMILY over to our house for a Christmas Eve Breakfast--TOTALLY relaxing. So much fun to finally have "Baby Kaykay" in the mix of all the boys!

6. Seeing the choo choos and lights at the zoo!!!! I will try to scan in the picture we got with Santa with two screaming boys!!! It is one for the ages!!!

5. Having the Willis clan over to our house for Raclette--ok, so were only 4 chairs short....still, we all made it to the table and no one starved!

4. Pee pee on the potty!!!!!!!! Yes, Alex is doing well....getting more consistent and having fewer accidents! The only problem is that Noah wants to "help," and he gets REALLY mad if you lock him out of the bathroom.

3. Watching Mamma Mia New Year's Eve with Coici Pam and getting a wee bit tipsy!!! The boys were sad to miss it especially since they LOVE Abba music!!! GREAT MOVIE!!!!

2. Staying in our jammies ALL DAY on New Year's Day and not leaving the house at all!!!

1. Alex's dear sweet words: Mistmas tree (Christmas tree), singing jingle mells (Jingle Bells)--when he first started singing this, it sounded like "Diego Bells." Go figure! I think my favorite memory from this Christmas is the Moose. Yes, the Mistmas Moose! No matter how we tried, we could not convince Alex that Santa's sleigh is pulled by reindeer.....he INSISTS they are moose! SO, whenever we saw a reindeer, he would happily point and yell: MISTMAS MOOSE!!!! Finally I gave up....who knows....that sleigh IS pretty heavy!!!

Happy New Year to Everyone!!
Con Amor,
Caren and los ninos!