More Happenings

The past two weeks certainly have had their ups and downs. It was a busy time here, both good and bad. We had the funeral and get together for Mamie on Thursday. Although it was a sad time, I did get to see many people that I haven't seen in a long time. And they finally got to meet Colby. We left him with my sister-in-law, Jocelyn, during the church service but then Mike brought him up to Mamie's house for the dinner.

Last Tuesday was my mom's birthday, age kept secret! On Monday night, most of my aunts and uncles, a few cousins, and my brothers, Mike, Colby, and I went out to dinner to celebrate. We went to "On the Border" a great Mexican restraunt. It was nice to get together again to just relax and have some fun. It was Colby's first experience with Mexican food and he loved it! He ate his whole dinner- soft taco, rice, and refried beans!

I have to admit that last Tuesday was not a pleasant day. Colby and I did call my mom to wish her a happy birthday. However, the rest of the day was awful. Colby was a little more mischievious that day, getting into everything. Spilled milk (a whole cup worth), toys everywhere, climbing in the closet and tearing it apart, and of course not wanting to go down for his nap. I was so tired and frustrated. Naptime became a crying fest. I broke down. I guess after a week of running around and keeping busy, by then it truly hit me that Mamie was gone. I laid down and just cried. Colby was crying because he was overtired but wouldn't nap and I was just crying. The one good thing, Colby stopped at one point and came over to me. He threw his arms around me and said, "Love you Mommy!" That snapped me out of it and we just hugged for a long time. Thankfully, Colby and I both calmed down and he went for a short nap. I tried to nap too.

Saturday we had two parties. My brothers and sisters and families all went to our parents' house to celebrate September birthdays. It was my sisters Kristin and Karin, my sister-in-law Jan, my nephew Alex, and my mom's birthdays. Wow! We went there for lunch. Then we all went to my Aunt Doone's house to celebrate my cousin Jason's wedding. He and Linda had a quite ceremony together at Mamie's house by her garden. Then everyone went to Aunt Doone's house for a picnic to celebrate. Colby had a great time at both parties playing with his cousins Max and Alex and many other kids. And we were able to get a good photo of Colby with his four cousins at Mom's house.

Yesterday the excitement continued! Mike came home around lunch time. I was trying to clean the front closet, with all my craft supplies and games (job to continue), Colby had finally gone down for his nap, and Mike was outside mowing the lawn. Next thing I knew, Mike came running in the house and said he was going to wake Colby up. I hadn't even heard the sirens. We hear them at least once a day so I guess I had tuned them out. Well, there was a small house fire about five houses down our street. We have a fire hydrant in front of our house so one fire truck parked right in front of us! There were about five trucks in all, a police car, ambulance, and lots of flashing lights. Colby was amazed! It took a minute for him to wake up but once he did his eyes opend wide! He wasn't sure where to look first. We walked down the street to check out the trucks. The fire was already out when we got there. Most of the firemen waved to Colby and a couple of them came over to say hi. Colby was even invited to sit in one of the firetrucks! He was awestruck I think. I asked him what he was doing and he just said, "Touching firetruck." Of course, after all the excitement he wouldn't go back for his nap and wouldn't relax. It was a tough night, throwing food and a broken glass included. I really enjoy seeing Colby experience new things but the excitement seems too much for him and he becomes overwhelmed.

So, now it is nap time and I finally have the chance to update my blog. Hopefully the rest of the week be calm. This Saturday we have another birthday party. Always something fun to do. I'd also like to bring Colby to a corn maze and there is a Halloween costume to buy. Busy, busy, busy!

Mamie

I was hoping to get on here with photos of our trip to the Bethlehem Fair but those will have to wait. I am not sure who might remember reading an entry on here about my grandfather, Poppy. He is my mom's father. He passed away 3 years ago this THanksgiving. He left behind a big family which included his wife, Mamie. They had been married 64 years. Well, now they are together again.

Mamie is an amazing woman. At only 4'9" and about 90 pounds she was a little spitfire. She and Poppy raised 5 children and enjoyed 19 grandchildren and now 12 great-grandchildren. When I was younger I can remember Mamie having heart surgery but you would have never known it. She loved going in her garden, taking long walks, and baking brownies. Every day as a little girl my mother would ask what I wanted to do. I would simply tell her we had to go to Mamie's house. It is there that I learned how to bake. Brownies were our specialty. We spent hours just talking, playing, and baking brownies. The house was always full of laughter and that rich chocolatey smell. When I went away to college, she even baked a batch of brownies for me and had my mom ship them to me. Nothing says home like brownies from Mamie!

This summer had been a difficult one. Mamie was going to the hospital and doctors more often. It seemed like her body was just giving out. After Poppy passed away she just didn't seem like the same person. I am happy that she at least got to see Mike and me bring Colby home. I know that made her happy. Colby and I went and visited with her last Thursday during that trip to the hospital. Her eyes just lit up the room when she saw him. She was excited to see him and enjoyed feeding him her lunch, even though I scolded her for not eating it herself. We even got to see Luke, the therapy dog. Colby told her, "Mamie...booboo....all better.". It almost broke my heart. He gave her a big kiss and said, "Luh you!" as we left. I will always remember that day.

Today Mamie passed away. She leaves behind 5 children and spouses, 19 grandchildren with many spouses, and 12 great-grandchildren. She will be greatly missed. There is and will never be anyone like Mamie and Poppy. Colby will never see a Thanksgiving or Christmas with Mamie, he only had 6 months with her, but I will make sure that he remembers the special moments that they did share together. And I know that she is telling Poppy all about my crazy little boy. Goodbye Mamie. I will love you and Poppy always! And try to stay out of trouble you two!

The Cutest Thing!

Colby loves the phone. He loves to talk to everyone and has become quite adept at holding the phone and can just about hold a conversation, well about as well as he does face-to-face. Which is amazing lately. He now uses 3-5 word sentences and knows so many words I have long since lost count. Anyway, Colby loves the phone so much that he often gets mad if we don't let him say hello. I have always been with him during these phone calls so I have seen him get quite excited saying hello and trying to explain what he is doing. So cuute in person!

Today I went ot my friend Sharon's baby shower. She is awaiting a phone call to go get her son from Russia. We hope to hear something within the week or so for a court date. Fingers crossed!!! The party was early afternoon so I had put Colby down for his nap and told him Mommy would be out when he woke up. As I was leaving the party I called home to let Mike know I was on the way. Well, what did I hear?? The biggest, cutest, most energetic, "Hi Mommy!". And he said it a bunch of times. Then he told me all about his dinner and the mess. That "Hi Mommy!" just made my day! What a treat! Since I am home with Colby I don't often leave him. It was nice to hear the excitement in his voice to say hi to me, the same excitement Mike hears every day when he comes home. It almost makes me want to leave more so I can get that excitement more! Almost, but no. I love being home! And boy do I love when Colby says, "Hi, Mommy!" either in person, or on the phone!

Goshen Fair

This was a busy holiday weekend. Mike's sister was in from Ohio and we had a great time. We had a family picnic on Sunday. Of course, I had the camera but we seemed to have left the card for it at home. Oops! On Monday we took Colby and Mike's sister, Trisha, to the Goshen Fair. It was Colby's first fall fair and we had a blast. He loved seeing the animals, listening to the music, and riding on a few rides. Wow! Colby's first Merry-Go-Round ride, first time petting some farm animals, and so many other firsts. Both Mike and I were a little emotional about it as we watched him ride on the little cars. And Aunt Trisha seemed to have a blast too. We can't wait to have her home again!

So, enjoy a few fair pics! We hope to go with Mike's parents to the Bethlehem Fair this coming weekend and maybe we'll go to the Big E in Mass! Wow! So much to do.

Paradise Found and a New Cousin

We have certainly had a whirlwind of a few weeks here. I can't believe that September has already found us. I'm not quite sure where July went. Colby and I spent much of our time outside and visiting with friends. I also became the proud aunt of a beautiful little girl named Elizabeth, or Lizzie. I have 4 nephews already but now I finally have a niece. She was born in late July. Colby seems to really like here, although he keeps telling her, "No, no Lizzie. No cry." Way too cute. Mike, Colby, and I went to visit Mike's brother David and his wife Jocelyn shortly after Lizzie was born. Colby spent much of the time playing Baseball on Wii with David. David succeeded in hitting Colby on the head and Colby hit the dog, Benny, on the head. All in good fun! We can't wait until Lizzie gets a little older and then she and Colby can enjoy playing together. We have a picnic scheduled at Mike's parents' house on Sunday to celebrate both Lizzie and Colby and jsut to have fun with family.

Last week Colby and I enjoyed a visit with our friends Jill, Nicholas, and Sharon. We went down to Hamden to visit with them and there we found "Paradise". It is a country club that Sharon belongs too and Colby had a blast playing with Nicholas and going swimming. He is still talking about it. I enjoyed the time with friends, the warm sunshine, and swimming too. There is a pool but they also have a swimming area more like a small lake. You walk right in and it slowly gets deeper, like at the beach, except no sand. We had a nice swim and enjoyed lunch together before both Colby and Nicholas showed signs of needing a nap. We can't wait to go again. Colby loves playing with "Nichotin" and I really enjoy our friendship with Jill and Sharon. Nicholas is Jill's little boy, he's about 11 months younger than Colby. Sharon's little one, Sean, is about 6 months younger than Colby but he is still waiting in Russia to come home. We hope he comes home soon.

So, we found Paradise, welcomed a new little one to our family, and are enjoying the nice weather. Summer flew by way too fast and now fall is here. Mike and I are looking forward to bringing Colby to some of the local fall fairs, Goshen, Bethlehem, and also to the Big E. So many new things to do. And everything seems more exciting when you have a 2 year old to experience it with you.

On another note, I want to thank everyone for the kind comments on my last post. I can't say that the change from being "Melissa" to being "Mommy" has been tough but there were a few bumps in the road. I am enjoying my time with Colby and I know that having this time together is priceless. I do miss work, but only in the sense that I miss the adult interaction and the sense of pride that teaching brought. Now my pride comes from watching Colby grow, learn, and thrive. What better accomplishment is there? As for adult interaction, that is why I am thrilled to have Sharon and Jill and their relationship. I lost many of my "friends" when I left my last job so their friendship means all the more. I hope that we can even grow our little play group even more!

Craziness and Happenings

Ok. I have had a moment to think about things here and now I can put them into words. You will all be happy to know that it truly had nothing to do with Colby. Just my mess. So, here goes:

Some of you might now that I was an elementary teacher for 8 years. I worked hard to complete my degree and looked for that job for 2 years before landing a part-time job teaching Kindergarten. After two years, I moved up to teach second grade. The last 4 years that I taught I bounced back and forth between second and third grade due to budget cuts. We had new administration come in during my last year of teaching in 2007-2008, both a new principal and a new superintendent. Things being as they were, quite a long story there, I left that job. I can't say I wanted to, but I did. Not much of a choice truly. So while Mike and I were going through our adoption, even before we met Colby, I lost my teaching job.

That year was quite difficult for me in many ways. The stress of the adoption and the nonsense at school really started me questioning if I was doing the right thing. I had always wanted to be a teacher. I love helping kids learn new things and helping them to succeed, especially those kids that are really struggling. So, while we waited to travel to get Colby I took a job as a school photographer. That was new and challenging and fun. Not much money in that though. Now that we have Colby, I am a stay at home mom. I love it but I do miss going to work and seeing adults, enjoying adult interaction. Financially we are ok. Paying for health benefits is, however, very difficult. Mike works for his dad and will eventually take over the remodeling business, hence he can't get health benefits. My teaching job was great because it gave us very good benefits. Now we are paying through the nose for very little and still we get bills for Colby's doctor appointments. Ugh! So, with that I decided to try to find a new teaching job.

I was, and still am, uncertain if I want to go back to teaching. But, I spent this summer sending resumes, working with an agency that helps teachers find jobs, and going on interviews. I must have gone on about 8-10 interviews. I lsot count. However, in the end, I found no job. Schools started this week or some start next week. Last week was a whirlwind with a couple last minute interviews, one for a long-term sub job, but still nothing. I just don't know why. Perhaps they see that I am tentative about going back, perhaps they see that year off and wonder what really happened, perhaps I just mess up on the interviews. I tend to think it is the last one. I stink at interviews. I am great at writing my feelings and thoughts but stink at talking to people about myself and "tooting my own horn" so to speak. Perhaps, this is someone's way of telling me that I don't belong in the education field anymore. But then that leads me to think, "Then what should I be doing?". Many people would die to be at home with their children. Believe me, I am thrilled that I can be and that we are doing ok without my additional income. Not great, ok. I am thrilled that I have these moments with Colby together and that we can go to the park, and spend time with friends, and just enjoying being Mommy and Colby. What a blessing. However, I have two college degrees that I worked hard for, I enjoy working and the feeling of accomplishment that I get from it, and I don't much like relying on others, even if it is my husband. I do know that raising our son and taking care of the house is a HUGE accomplishment but maybe I need more. I just don't know.

What's next? Where do I go now? Should I just be at home and enjoy Colby? If I shouldn't teach anymore, then what should I do? Is it ok to jsut be Mommy? These are the questions that I have been struggling with, and to date, I have no real answers. However, I have decided that for now, it is ok to be home. We need to sort out the health benefits mess but we will be ok. I'll have time to enjoy my son and even get the house in order. I'll even have time, perhaps, to get his Lifebook together, photos sorted and put on CDs, and other fun activities. Other ideas, maybe I'll try to get into tutoring somehow. We'll see what happens.

So, that's what's been happening. In the mean time, Colby and I had a wonderful summer. We went on many day trips to enjoy the warm weather, once it came. And Colby is really becoming a little fish. I can't wait to get him into some swimming lessons. I can't believe how much he is growing, learning, and exploring everything around him. He truly is my blessing!

Update Soon....Promise

Hi everyone. I'm sure some of you are wondering why nothign new is posted. Believe me, it isn't because life is boring and we have nothing new. On the contrary. So much is new and so much is going on that I'm not sure what to think about it all, much less how I feel about things now. I promise when I get a moment, I will gather my thoughts, and give them the time they deserve to write an update. Right now, I am so jumbled I just can't.