Happy B-day to Me

Another year older, another year sexier. That's how I'm trying to look at my progessing life.

I spent most of the day back home, enjoying a smoked turkey lunch where I saw my friend Sara, uncle Henry, aunt Carol and cousins Bernie and Pat.Later, we celebrated with pizza and blackberry pie, my favorite.Being able to see part of my family was the best present today. But the nap I took this afternoon...priceless.

Church Adventures with Jack

Church going with Jack is becoming more interesting. Tonight, he discovered the kneeler and proceeded to slip off of it once. He also wanted to go out into the aisle during mass.

Jack is never full. Mike and I spend the entire mass feeding him his puffies and milk. Half serious, half joking, I'd like to ask our priest if a child can receive communion at age 1. In John 6:35, Jesus describes himself as the bread of life who satisfies our spiritual hunger and thirst. It reads “Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”

If we could just give Jack the Body of Christ before mass, he might make it through church without constantly stuffing his face. Wishful thinking. I guess he'll have to wait until his First Communion.

Jack is so funny. Even though I cringe when he gets a little boisterous (loud) in church, I sometimes can't keep a straight face. When the priest dismissed us in prayer tonight and said, "Go in peace to love and serve the Lord," Jack vigorously shook his head no. He cracks me up.

I hope everyone is keeping warm this weekend. Feels like winter is already here.

Finally...

Jack is officially our son in the eyes of the government. We took him to court this morning, swore on the Bible and now he's our little man. This day has been a year plus in the making and we're more than a little esctastic about it. The picture includes my mom, Guardian ad litem, Judge, our lawyer and social worker.

By the way, I've started listening to Christmas music and there are a couple of songs that are especially poignant. Jack was only two months old last Christmas and we weren't sure if we would be able to adopt him. "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" and "I'll Be Home for Christmas" were bittersweet.

However, I never lost faith in God. I constantly told myself and others, almost as if to reassure myself, that God wouldn't lead us down this path unless it would lead to something wonderful. That turned out to be the case for us but I've known others who haven't had such happy endings and it pains me. They are in my thoughts tonight and I hope that their dreams of a family will soon be fulfilled.

Three Wheelin' JD Style

My father resurrected three tricycles from the shed and is fixing them up for the grandkids. Jack was able to enjoy a ride in the beautiful fall weather we had today. Besides the wind, we enjoyed a gorgeous day, hanging out with cousins, Meaghan and Garrett.

Trick or Treat!

We celebrated Halloween with Aunt EE and the gang. Mike, Jack and I had a great time as we walked the neighborhood with our group. Jack even received a little candy with the help of Griffin and Reilly. I just love Halloween. Kids get to be kids and adults even join in on the fun.I wish I could say the above photo is of me but it's really hip, 80's hair flying, Heelys wearing, snake charmer, bling loving, tie dyed EE. Peace out!A couple of funny sights/sounds last night. One group of kids were driving around on a golf cart. We kept hearing them buzz around the neighborhood. My crew grumbled that it was unfair. After all, where's your Halloween spirit if you don't walk for your goodies? I bet those cheaters made a haul.

Second funny...Griffin kept saying how much he wished a guy with a ski mask and chainsaw would jump out at us from the bushes. We never saw that creep but put up with this good natured one instead.

Celebrating Adoption

Last week, Mike, Jack and I attended a book reading at Barnes and Noble. Luckily for us, our family photographer, Aunt EE, was there to take pictures. Although an employee read "Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born" and Arthur the Aardvark stopped by, Jack was more interested in food.That was the day I started feeling sick (head cold) so the next picture pretty much sums up the day. My nose was running; Jack was crying; it was the longest carousel ride ever. With my foggy condition, I did try to jump on the back of one of the animals, then somehow reason kicked in and I remembered that you actually have to be a child to ride. That's when we hopped on the sleigh.Oh, and a local reporter interviewed me for a November story. With my foggy head, I just kept saying that adoption is incredible, wonderful. I hope I did a good job representing the adoption community. I hope he doesn't make me look silly.

Mashed Potato Face

.Jack and I attended my hometown's Fall Festival today. We had fun as long as Jack was allowed to run.

On Saturday, we took the photo that we'll send with our Christmas cards. Hopefully, I'll be able to post it in a week. It's ironic that Jack laughs and enjoys watching others take their pictures but when he gets in the room, he's a different boy.I just had to post the above photo too because Jack looks so cute in his pjs.