Livvie's Reality

Last week was Livvie's 3rd birthday…her first birthday with us and her first birthday outside the orphanage walls.  It's only been two months, but sometimes I forget that she spent the first three years of her life in an orphanage.  But then something will happen that brings that reality to light.  Like when we gave her the first wrapped birthday gift to open, she didn't know how to do it.  Reality check:  This sweet little girl is 3 years old and has never been given a present to unwrap.  Really think about that….she's three and never had anyone give her a gift.  She shared clothes, shoes, underwear, food, and toys with hundreds of other children and never had anything to call her own.
 
That small reality check started my brain down the path to the reality of her first three years.  It's something I believe most adoptive parents don't really want to think about too much.  We want to close the door on that part of their life and move forward.  Mostly because when you really think about it…I mean really think about it, the sadness is overwhelming and crushing.  Because when you admit to yourself that this sweet, funny, innocent little girl never got a present, you also have to acknowledge all the other things she never got.  She never got tucked in with a hug and a kiss, she never had anyone tell her how beautiful she is, she never had anyone tell her how proud of her they are, she never had anyone to tell her it's okay when she woke up scared in the dark, she never had anyone clap when she took her first steps or say her first words, she never had anyone baby her when she was sick, she never had anyone take her shopping for a new dress or a new pair of shoes, she never got a bubble bath, she never had anyone whose face lit up when she walked in the room, she never had anyone tell her they would love her forever.  I think you get the point… 
 
So now that I've probably succeeded in making you cry (or at the very least, depressing the heck out of you), what's my point in this Debbie-Downer blog entry?  My point is that the universe gave these kids a really raw deal, and we shouldn't sit on our butts and shrug our shoulders.  Do something...anything.  Could you open your heart and family and adopt a child?  Could you foster a child?  No?  You can still help by donating to adoption charities like the Dave Thomas Foundation or Half the Sky (http://www.halfthesky.org/).  I read this quote on a fellow adoptive Mom's website and it's stuck with me everyday since:

 

"Sometimes I want to ask God why he allows poverty, suffering, and injustice in the world when he could do something about it, but I'm afraid he might ask me the same thing."

 

So anyway, we got off our butts and did something and I think these 2 pictures say it all....

 

Princess Lucky

This is what happens when the neighbors give you a trunk of dress up clothes and you turn your back for 5 minutes....

 

Turtle-ism's

Turtle whispering to Livvie while they were both on a time-out for hitting each other:

 

"You better be good or Mom is going to send us both back to China...you don't want that do you?"

 

How can you not laugh???

 

The picture is the mandatory hug I make them give each other when they fight. 

Lucky and Livvie

Class

I love my family and my life, but every once and awhile I look around and say to myself, "what the hell happened?". I mean I used to have some sophistication and class in my life, where did it go? How did Pottery Barn and Martha Stewart get replaced with plastic sporks, Lightning McQueen dinnerware, and Winnie-the Pooh window cling-on's?

For those of you who don't have kids yet and have convinced yourself that it won't happen to you, BEWARE! It's happens slowly and stealthily. First it's that Dora cup that accidentally came home from Grandma's, then it's the Elmo plate that came with the DVD, then the "home-made" decorations from daycare, then it's the ugly screen-print Cookie Monster t-shirt (you don't know where it came from, but he insists on wearing it every day), and then BAM...one day you look around and your house (and kids) look like a white-trash rummage sale.

I know I'm fighting a losing battle, but here are 5 things that I consider small victories in getting some class back in my life:

#1. Enforcing the "Underwear is not optional at the dinner table rule". He can run around naked the other 99% of the time, but dang-it, our meals are going to be "wiener-free".

#2. The fact that both kids say "excuse me" after they fart. Yeah, they fart at the dinner table and at church, but at least they say excuse me. That's classy right?

#3. Buying .99 cent clear plastic, "faux-glass" cups at Wal-Mart for the kids and using them at meal-time to give me the illusion of matching dinnerware. Seriously, the cups actually make me happy...sad huh?

#4. Making them clean up ALL the toys in their bedrooms before bed and then making their beds every morning. At least for 5 minutes each morning, their rooms look cute and it makes it almost worth the hours and hours and hours I spent choosing furniture, coordinating bedding, decorating, and painting with faux-finishes. Because for every other waking hour of the day you would think their rooms had been decorated by monkeys on crack.

#5. .... Crap, I don't even have 5!! I need to go cry now.

We Be Jeepin'

Our wonderful neighbors Crystal and Jerry gave us Syd's old Barbie Jeep so Livvie would have a ride-on toy too.  The first day we had it out the kids spent over an hour riding around the back yard together laughing their heads off.  Lucky doesn't want anything to do with his tractor anymore since the Jeep is SO much cooler because it has 2 seats.

 

So from a Mom who got a ENTIRE hour to relax on the deck and read a book...thank you Crystal and Jerry...you're the BEST!!!

Random Cuteness

The Cheese Factor

I believe that boys are born with a microchip embedded in their brains that activates at age three and commands them to clench their teeth, squint their eyes, and yell "CHEESE" at the top of their lungs whenever a camera is present.  There is no other rational explanation for why every picture I have taken of Lucky over the last year looks like this....

Random Cuteness

Turtle-ism's

At bedtime prayers:

Me: "Thank you Jesus for this fun day..."

Lucky: "Thank you Jesus for fun today..."

Me: "and thank you for Mama and Daddy..."

Lucky: "thank you Jesus for Mama and Daddy..."

Me: "and for Livvie.."

Lucky: "ummm mama....is it time to trade her in yet?"