Thinking It Through...

Caleb has one seriously loose tooth. His very first one. It has actually been loose for while now... But since it has gotten really wiggly, he has had some second thoughts about this whole 'teeth falling out of your mouth' thing. And really, it is pretty disturbing until you are able to process that it happens to everyone, and yes, new teeth do come it to replace the ones that fall out. Each night, we wiggle the tooth a little more, and check on it's progress... and each night, tears well up in Caleb's eyes and he says "Mama, I'm just so worried about my tooth!" It just breaks my heart. So to ease his anxiety, while we were tucking all the boys in bed last night, I informed him that the Tooth Fairy has told me that she has a new Thomas the Train engine to give him, BUT he will have to switch her. He gives her his tooth, she give him a train. Last night, as we were discussing this magical transaction, Caleb seemed to perk up a bit. But as I explained it I also noticed that the Twins were listening intently to this impending deal, and Noah, well, he had some concerns about the logistics of how it would work...

Me: So, once your tooth comes out, we'll put it on your shelf, and the Tooth Fairy will come and leave you a train!

Noah (4): Will she drive her car here, Mama?

Me, very matter-of-fact: No, Honey, she'll fly.

Noah: Will she use wings, or an airplane?

Me: She'll use her fairy wings.

Jonah (4): That's pretty silly, Mama.

Noah: Ya. I think she should just drive.

I Don't Just Love You...

As I was leaving to go out with friends the other night:

Caleb (6) sniffling a little, and tearing up: But Mama... I like you!

Noah & Jonah Turn 4!!

I think I may start every birthday post with "I can't believe"... Another year passes, and these little men that came to us through the miracle of adoption continue to grow, in height/weight and personality & character. When God blessed me with Motherhood, I knew that being a mother included the obvious... pouring of myself into these new lives and raise them up to be, by the grace of God, not just people that we love dearly, but that those around them can love too. I think what I seriously underestimated is how much I would grow from them.

Noah and Jonah, Mama always tells you that you are our gifts from God. And you so totally are. We love and adore you more than words can say.

The boys' birthdays always lead my heart back to their birth mothers. Andrea, we love you so deeply. The gift you gave us when you dedicated these boys to us will forever overwhelm my heart. I love you, not only for all you have done for us, but for all of who you are. You are an incredible women, and mother.

______________

I have to say, that the rest of this post is a long, wonderful story of Noah and Jonah's birthday. It was such a magical day, and I am so excited to finally be sharing it here...

Birthday morning started, as it always does, the night before. If you have read any previous posts on birthdays, you know that they are so special to me. My mother always had, rather-has, a way of making a birthday ridiculously wonderful. When your day comes, you have no doubt that you will indeed be celebrated. I treasure this, and have wanted to carry on that tradition with my kids. So I spend the night before their birthdays decorating the whole house with balloons and streamers, "Happy Birthday" signs and gifts. We are so abundantly blessed to celebrate our babies.

Grammy had a plan to get the Twins Big Boy Bikes from months ago, and we had those set up and ready to surprise the boys when they woke up, along with the wonderful mountain of gifts from Nana Jorgens. As I finished getting everything ready for their birthday surprise, I told Matt how I sure wish my Mom could be here... I said "I know I would do her proud." Hahaha.... We went to bed, and rested up for the party to come the next day.

Morning came quickly, as always, and the boys got up and jumped into our bed for morning snuggles. At about 7:30 we heard a light knock upstairs... then we heard another knock... the knocking continued, and Matt headed upstairs... I really didn't think anything of it... People stop by the house for one reason or another all the time. But I heard a little rustling upstairs, and about 5 min. later, I hear a most familiar voice say "Hey! I hear there is a birthday party today!!!!" IT WAS GRAMMY AND RONPA!!!!! I jumped up out of bed and just started crying, I was SO surprised and elated! My Mom is SO the BIRTHDAY QUEEN!!!! She and Ron had driven the day before and reserved a hotel for that night, all so they could show up on their birthday. It was incredible! I was SO excited to have my Mama there to share in the fun, and of course, the boys were all thrilled that Grammy and Ronpa came to their birthday party!

A day of setting up, and all the Pirates Arrrrr ready to Parrrrty!

(Yes. We had a pirate party. ;o)

Lot's of friends from the boys' pre-school came to share in the party fun!

And Caleb invited his best friend, Maci and her brother to come to the party, too! Caleb was SO excited to have her there!

Several of our young adults group came to celebrate with us, they spend so much time with the boys, they are all like family to them.

Birthday boy Jonah enjoying his pizza.

Silly Birthday boy Noah!

Grammy and Ronpa enjoying the party.

Mommy and Grammy help the boys get close to blow out their birthday candles! 4 Each!

Mmmmm!!!! Birthday cake is a treasure. ;o)

All the kids are excited for cake!!!

Noah checking out some stickers.

Maci and Micah, Jonah and Caleb enjoying cake.

PRESENT TIME!

Fun treasure from great friends!

Maci helping out. Me, wondering why I still have an eye patch on my head.

Jonah and Ronpa are sparring.

Swings, pool, pizza, cake, and games. Doesn't get much better than that.

Noah is checking out some of the birthday loot.

It's been a very long day. Very fun, but very long. Noah snuggled up and just went to sleep. But as I look at this picture, I can't help but think Mommy looks pretty tired, too.

Jonah is spending some time coloring with Grammy.

Grammy was telling Jonah how very good he is at coloring in the lines. He worked so hard, and did a great job! Proud Jonah!

It was a very magical day. Thank you to everyone who celebrated, near and far, the 4th birthday of our miracle babies. We celebrate all of you, for the gifts you are to our family. I am filled with gratefulness for the bountiful goodness that fills our lives.

Happy Birthday, My Sweet Babies.

But, Mom?!

Noah (4), comes in crying to me: MOMMY!!! Jonah hit my head with my feet!!!

Me: ???

Jonah (4) running in: BUT MOM!!! I was just trying to make him into a pretzel!

Jonah

Of all of my children, Jonah keeps me on my toes the most. Matt has likened him to Peter from the Gospels. He is the first one to speak or act. Sometimes he is right on the money and others, well, he just needs some correction. But without a doubt, our Jonah is a man of action. He is the most likely to disobey, destruct, and give me sass. But he is also often the more likely to share love, concern and empathy for others. He gets into so much stuff, but is so independent. As challenging as Jonah is, we are ridiculously thankful for his depth of spirit. He is always saying and doing things that I try to remember to write on here... mostly for myself. As a record of all the great things the boys say and do. I imagine myself old and grey, drinking a glass of Merlot, wrapped up in a leopard print snuggy, reading all of these posts and crying tears of pain, that it passed so quickly, and of joy that I have had the gift of raising these amazing young men.

All of that is to share a couple little adorable Jonah moments that have squeezed my heart this week...

We went to the circus on last Friday (which is a post all it's own with adorable pictures to follow, stay tuned)... We have been looking forward to the circus for approximately a year. Since the last one packed up and headed out of town. Last year, Jonah was enamored by the elephants. He really wanted to ride one, and we were ready to let him... but as soon as he stepped in line, and realized the size of the giant creature, he promptly said he did NOT want to go through with it. I let him know that that was just fine, and that next year, when he was 4, he may just be ready then to ride the elephants. I kid you not that all year he has been talking about it. All.year.long. I have heard about how when he is 4, he will be big enough, and brave enough to ride the elephants. As circus time grew closer, so did Jonah's confidence. And, I might add that confidence is certainly not something that Jonah lacks. Our time came last Friday to see the annual circus... Oh, Jonah was delighted!

We parked the van. Unloaded the boys, and feasted our eyes on the grander of red and white strips and the festive smell of dung and sugar, all in one whiff... it was here. It was time. Jonah held my hand, looked up at me with his gorgeous chocolate eyes and said...

"Mama. I think I need to wait until I'm five. Or... the elephants need to get much smaller."

_____________________

I worked this morning, and I have to say, I have a mound of laundry in the laundry room that would rival that of a Motel 6. Can I just say, I think my laundry is like a bunny farm. What is it about laundry, and how it is never, ever really done. Matt would have a great solution to this... I KNOW he would tell me, in the quiet of our own home. Church members not present. Children in bed.... "Well, Christine, you know... if you just stopped wearing clothes, we wouldn't have such a laundry problem." He would. I bet money. And lots of it, cuz I know I would win the bet. Anyway, Matt called me today while I was working to say that he was SO proud of Jonah (I knew by the sound of Matt's voice that Jonah was listening to every word his Daddy was saying. 'Cuz Matt spoke in that amazing Daddy way, that makes my heart swell. You know, the one where you know he made the call more for Jonah, than for me.) But he was so proud of Jonah... Jonah had gone down into the laundry room, emptied the clean clothes out of the dryer into a basket, and cleaned out the lint catcher. Then got his Daddy to show that he was helping Mommy.

Another side note:

Dear Jonah's Future Wife,

I want you to know that I love you. I have waited a long time for a daughter, and I just know that you must be amazing. But in truth, I want you to love me too. I want you to think of me as your Mom. And because of this desire, for you to love me, I want you to know that I am dedicating myself to honing this skill of Jonah's. He has obviously shown an aptitude for household chores early on, and I recognize that it is now my job to nurture those skills.

You are in my prayers, even now.

Love,

Mom.

Okay.... with that said, once I got home, I praised Jonah for helping me, and thanked him for being such a Big Boy Helper. To which he responded:

"Well, Mom. You didn't come home right away. And since you didn't do it, I wanted to get it done for you."

This has been a super long post. Very wordy. You think I am done, and then I'm not. I have another story... But now I really have to go because Jonah has just gotten into the cupboard and is trying the make the cat a sandwich.

EUGENE MARATHON 2010!!!

Last winter I decided that I really wanted to do another Marathon, and I really wanted to do one close to where my Mom was, so she could come, and be a part of the experience. Ok... and I just really wanted to race 26.2 again. ;o) I was so nervous to race again for a couple of reasons... I have chondromalatia in both my knees, and it really acted up right before Missoula, so I was not sure how my knees would hold up. But mostly because I had trained and raced my first marathon with Emily, one of my closest friends. I was very nervous to do this one solo. But I didn't have a choice, since Emily is GOING TO HAVE ANOTHER BABY!!! YAY! Thankfully, although I trained through winter, the weather was super mild, and was very kind to me. Matt also biked with me on most of my long runs, 14+ miles, which was so amazing!!! The end of the journey brought me to Eugene, Or on May 2nd... and I felt very ready, and very excited!!!

Loaded up and ready to line up at the porta-pottys!

Taking my place at the start!

My boys finally found me at around mile 14. My pace was much faster in the beginning that I had anticipated, so Matt had a hard time finding me. Once I finally saw my Boys, and My Mom, I just started crying! It had been a wonderful first half, but I was VERY ready to see them! Once he found me, and knew my pace, they ended up being at MANY different places along the course. Would you believe that I even ran next to a woman who had ran the Missoula Marathon last July also, and remembered the boys in the bright t-shirts! I was right next to her, and she shouted, HEY! I remember you boys from Missoula!!! It was SO cool!

They encouraged, not only me, but all the runners! They just kept shouting to everyone "WAY TO GO! KEEP IT UP! GOOD JOB, GUYS!" It was priceless!

Whew... Noah thought it was tiring just being on the cheer leading squad!

Rolling around and playing in the one of the many parks we ran through.

My boys had on their, now famous, On a scale of 1-10 shirts... Mom and Ron had t-shirts made that said "My Daughter Kicks Asphalt" They were GREAT!

Just after the finish! Since we finished in Hayward field, all the spectators were in the stands, and only racers were on the track... so, it wasn't really possible to get a crossing the finish line photo... But I do have some on order from the race photo place... hopefully I can post those later. But I love this one Mom got as I was headed down to find all my cheerleaders!

I finished the race in 4:49 min., 2 minutes faster than my last time. I was REALLY wanting to do a 4:45, and I was poised for that time for most of the race, but I gotta tell you, those last few miles kicked my butt. I had to stop and pee, and just. got. so. tired! Hahaha... Overall, I was very excited about my finish.

Check out the look on my face. Ya. Those stairs hurt. Hahaha!

My sweet girl, Shana Bug and Sue came to see me at the finish! It was SO AMAZING to see them! They were the first ones I saw as I came around the track to my finish line.

Big hugs from Sue!!! I was so happy that they were able to come!

Shana and Sue, thank you so much for being there! That was such a gift!!!

Mom and Ron, it was AWESOME to share this with you both!

My ultimate cheerleaders! I love you boys! Thank you so much, Matt for supporting my craziness! I love you!

Friends and Family

The night before the marathon, we had a big party with friends and family that I have not seen in years. Ron's son Chris and his wife Shannon stayed with us while we were there, and it was such a joy to spend that time with them, and get to know them even better. Aunt Shannon was a BIG hit with the boys! She is so much fun, and they just bonded with her! We also saw my Grandpa, who has never met the twins, and dear friends, Terri, and my Aunt Lorrie and Uncle Albert came out for the festivities. It was such a joy to see everyone and have them share in the joy of my upcoming race!

Aunt Shannon took the boys down to the pond, where they found a salamander, and Noah FREAKED out! But other than that, they had SO MUCH FUN!
Checking out the pond.

Aunt Shannon is checking to see if Jonah has any loose teeth. ;o)

Aunt Terri, Ron, Mom's Ron, Grandpa, and us!

Mom, Grandpa, and us.

Our Family with Great Grandpa Bryant

BEACH FUN!

Before the Marathon, we headed to Newport to enjoy a few days of beach fun. Mom and Ron rented a beach house with us, and I must say that despite the first day of rain, we had a delightful time! As soon as we arrived and unpacked the car, our Hawaiian boys were begging us to head down to the beach. Caleb, especially, was SO eager to get into the water! It makes no difference to him that it is much colder, he just goes for it! We figured that we had driven all that way, we were going to just going to brave it!

Our Family, heading out to the beach!
This says it all for me!

My Gifts

Ron found a star fish out in the sand... He was still soft, so we were hopeful that we could toss him back into the ocean to save him... But, of course, before we did, we enjoyed the up close and personal encounter with one of God's amazing creatures.

Noah checking it out.

Beautiful! Caleb and Daddy

Yes, it was raining. And Jonah was ready!

SINGING IN THE RAIN!!!

Cold and rainy, but we are all smiles!

Cutie Boy, Noah!

Daddy and his boys