Forever Family

Yesterday we celebrated the second anniversary of becoming parents. Two years ago, we received transfer of custody of Jack. That was the most incredible day of my life. And it truly was a celebration. Jack's birth mom and her grandparents were there. My parents were also there for us. I had never been in a courtroom before. I was nervous and close to tears the entire time. Of course, they were tears of joy. It had taken us all several months to get to that point and all those emotions were just bursting to get out. After our court session, I called work and told my boss, "I'm a mommy!"

Mike and I witnessed a miracle when Jack was born. There were so many elements that came together for his story, our story. First, an earthly angel reached out to us. Then we met the most beautiful young woman who loved her son so much, she wanted more for him, a mom and dad to love him. Everyday, we thank God for her beautiful soul and precious gift.

The song "These are Days" by 10,000 Maniacs was my theme song that year. Thank God for miracles.

These are days

These are the days you might fill

With laughter until you break

These days you might feel

A shaft of light

Make its way across your face

And when you do

Then you'll know how it was meant to be

See the signs and know their meaning

It's true

Then you'll know how it was meant to be

Hear the signs and know they're speaking

To you, to you

Saturday Fun

One of the longest St. Louis Cardinals games in history is on. I guess if you bought a ticket to tonight's game you got your money's worth. We plan to go to a MLB game with Jack this season. Oh, no. The Mets just scored a home run!

Jack says he's a little scared of his big truck. It's something he will eventually grow into. For now, he has plenty of other tricycles/big wheels to ride

or push.

Saying hi to a plane today.

"Why don't you ever say 'hi' back?" (Best Italian voice impression) :)

Playing with daddy.

Watch out Carl Edwards!

Flashback Friday

I was looking through photos tonight and noticed this one that I never posted. I really like it and I'm not sure why. Maybe because it seems so random. It reminds me of those behind the stage shots of rock stars, those quiet not staged moments. I think Jack is holding a sea shell and was trying to listen to the ocean that evening.

Big Fun

Watch out Missouri and bordering sidewalks! I bought Jack his first truck today. It was about time. He's already 2.5 and all his friends are getting one. So, he gave it a spin tonight. His F150 is super sweet.

He doesn't have a license to drive so please keep this on the down-low.

We also bought him a train table which he loves.

It has little buildings, little cars...

and little people. These guys decided to take a hike and then go swimming. Last one to the water hole is a rotten piece of wood.

Besides playing trains with my big boy, I also saw a movie tonight with my friend, Velvet. We watched "Date Night." That's a funny movie. I love Steve Carrell and Tina Fey.

The Colors of Spring

I love this time of year. Winter's solitude is gone. The birds are back and singing, leaves are unfurling on trees and the flowers are blooming. Our front trees are growing so tall. When we bought our house, the previous owner hadn't planted any plants - no trees, no bushes, nothing. It was a pretty sad yard but it allowed us to plant whatever we wanted, including two beautiful maple trees in our front yard.

I love lots of color so I found different plants to add some variety to the yard, incuding burning bushes and this next plant (name escapes me) that puts out tiny pink flowers in the spring.

Our young red bud tree finally has flowers on it this year. I love red bud trees. They are gorgeous!

And I planted this bleeding hearts plant in honor of my Grandma Rose. The bleeding heart was one of her favorite plants. I think of her often. This plant is another reminder of her beautiful soul and influence in my life.

Odds and Ends

Facebook suggested I befriend myself tonight. I passed. :)

I'm finding Jack a couple of things on Craigslist. He may be in for a cool surprise on Friday. Craigslist is neat, the spam - not so much.

A city employee visited our office today. He used the women's restroom. Not cool! Left the lid up and everything. What's up with that?!

Jack is a night owl and wants to stay up later than his bedtime all the time. About five minutes after I left his room tonight, he called out for me. I went in there and asked him if he hurt. Did his belly hurt? "Uh, huh," he answered, pointing to his belly. I sat with him on the couch for a little while, then asked again. "Where do you hurt baby?" "Right here," he said, pointing to his chest. Such a stinker! What's the next thing he's going to throw at me?

Making Friends

There are very few shy bones in Jack's body. He sees what he wants, then goes and gets it. We went walking last night past a neighbor's house and saw their beautiful swing and slide set. These new neighbors are wonderful. They have children who are Jack's age. Their kids said, "hi." Jack said, "hi." Then Jack started walking towards their swing set. Then Jack started playing with their tricycles. We were there for an hour.

Now, I'm the type of person who doesn't like to intrude on other people's plans, family time, etc., so I felt a little sheepish when Jack saw his new friends and decided that we needed to go play in their driveway tonight. I had wanted to take a walk but that paled in comparison to our neighbors' motorized kiddie car that looks like Grandpa's John Deere. If anyone has one of these they want to sell, please drop me a line. :) As for me, I need to find a way to get us past their house during an evening walk. I don't want to be pestering our neighbor every night.