Cheer Up Weekend

Well, it's a different post than some of you guys might have expected--no baby this week. The adoption fell through the day we were supposed to bring him home. There were some, um, mistakes and bad advice so we're going to be making some choices around whether to continue and with what agency. You can read more here.

Autumn was, of course, heartbroken. But, she is much better this weekend. My mom came back to the US from the Philippines on Wednesday which was great. I called her to ask her if she'd come over Thursday even though she was probably jet lagged but Autumn was so very sad. When I got her on the phone, she said, "I'm 5 minutes from your house!" Lainey was also at Lindsay's so between family and baby Ellie, Autumn was smiling again before the end of the night.

Friday, I took lunch to her at school. We had a great visit. And, her teacher is super sweet. I talked to Mrs. B, who cried when she found out, and told her some of the words we're using with Autumn.

That afternoon, we went to Bed Bath and Beyond because Santa brought her the wrong bracelet kit. We found the right one and she saw these Flipeez hats. She saw them on some friends and has been wanting one so I told her she could use her Christmas money from Nanny for it. So here we are!

And, um, she made me try it on, too. And took a picture.

Saturday, we went to the zoo with Lainey, Pd, Lindsay, Ellie, and papa. We had a good time but I think I'm still tired from teaching aikido and a strength class and then walking the zoo for the afternoon.

It's hard. And we don't care for it much. But, we have each other. So, we keep smiling. :)

Pre-Christmas Fun!

I am a huge baby in the cold. It's currently 24 degrees with a windchill of 10 and that's like 10 degrees warmer than tomorrow is supposed to be!!! I know some of you guys live like that for several months a year but this is Memphis. The South. We aren't ready for this!! I'm typing this wearing two layers, a Hello Kitty snuggie and a blanket.

Anyway, if you've seen the Pinwheel blog, you know that we went to Disney last week and had a blast! I'm probably going to recap that on the Pinwheel blog so I thought that I'd cover some pre-Christmas fun here! Also, please continue to pray for us while we work on the adoption and make some decisions around that.

Back to December, we had our community group party in the middle of the month. Mike and Rob did this.

Ha! They didn't do it the whole time but they did play a game that was probably fun but sounded very silly. Speaking of silly, these silly monkeys were very silly.

The next photo in that series is this. I love it.

I corralled her to take a picture with me. She's like a jumping bean I'm having to restrain.

Later that week, Ellie came to visit. She wasn't feeling great but she loved it when Uncle Mike swung her like a pendulum.

On the last day of school, I got to go to the holiday party. The kids were so fun. They played a game and then made donut snowmen. Autumn used her pretzel to make arms. I love it.

We have to have Kiri in the shot. I let her bring Kiri that day. Mrs. B had heard a lot about Kiri and mentioned wanting to meet her.

MORE FUN: After the party, Aunt Penny came over for lunch and we had our Christmas together.

Penny's mom gave Autumn a sweet good luck gift, a snowflake necklace. Autumn loved it and carried it in her bag to the Nutcracker performances.

That Saturday night, my mom came over for an early Christmas celebration because she left for the Philippines on the 23rd. Autumn has been counting the days until my mom gets back.

Donnie and Liz got her a great gift--she loves her chef hat and wore them when we made gingerbread cookies this week.

We made Mike a mug at Paint a Piece and gave it to him Monday night when we did our gifts to each other. On the back, there's a picture Autumn drew. It's funny because I told her to draw big. She didn't. So, it's this teeeeeny tiny little family drawing but it's pretty cute.

We got Autumn a magic set!! I was so excited because that afternoon before we opened gifts Autumn set up a magic show. She's had a great time learning to do her tricks. I only regret not getting her a cape! I meant to but never ordered it. Oh, well. She can use her Wonder Pets cape from Halloween.

And that's pre-Christmas! Fun times. And more fun times over the rest of the break. Well, other than the flu. And the cold weather.

If there are any adoption updates, you can keep up with them at Passing Pinwheels!

December Adventures

This is what we've been up to:


Ha! It's Elf on the Shelf time. If you don't usually read Passing Pinwheels, this is a great time to glance through. We're in week 2 of our 25 Days of Kindness Project. We also have some adoption news! Nothing really concrete yet but we're tentatively moving forward with a birth mom due later this month.

In slightly less momentous news, Autumn got her first haircut in a non-family salon. AND YES MY MOM KNOWS. She was out of town so we had to take alternate measures. :) Autumn was not a fan of the camera.


Last Thursday was the book fair! We didn't get to go last time so this was pretty fun! It was also open house and we got to see her class, go on a school scavenger hunt, and see a bunch of her friends. That day at school, they had book character day. Autumn chose Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons. We were going to do Pete the Cat Rocking in My School Shoes BUT we couldn't find her ukelele. I decided to take an old stained dress shirt and I put the bright buttons on there. Pipe cleaner shaped into a corkscrew served as the button popping off. She had the blue leggings, shirt and ears aaaaaand voila! Pete the Cat!


We didn't have blue ears BUT we did make some droppy whiskers.


Anyway, we had the snow day that wasn't on Friday. A few people got ice but we didn't except on the trees. Autumn got to watch PBS kids and eat Golden Grahams. She said that Kiri was sick and kept her up alllll night coughing. I think Kiri is feeling better because Autumn took her to see Santa. That's for next week!


So, she made Kiri a healthy breakfast and some warm apple juice. And then Kiri slept on a pillow under a blanket all morning. So sweet.


I hope everyone has had a great weekend!! If you have any 25 Days of Kindness suggestions, let me know!

'Ventures and Memory Lane

Well, for those of you who haven't heard, our adoption officially fell through. It's a long story I might share sometime but for now, you can read some of the details here. On a happier note, I posted some of our Valentine crafting on Thursday. I used up most of my fun photos in that post! Not much foresight on my part there. But, I do have this.


On Sunday, as soon as Autumn got home from church, she changed into pajamas. And a hat. And house shoes. She also had a suitcase, binoculars, and sunglasses because she was "going on a 'venture." Part of the adventure involved...sitting by the window? I don't know. Wilderness watching?


Whatever it is, she does this pretty often. I'll find her just sitting by an open window, watching the world. :) Mike does this, too, so it's extra cute when I see Autumn at it. I like to imagine what she might be thinking about.


I am so very, very proud of Autumn. She's worked super hard this year at school and at home on her skill development. She did some occupational therapy for a while but, unfortunately, our insurance decided not to pay for it anymore. :/ To ease the transition out, her therapist gave us ideas on how to continue working together at home; between our work and her fantastic school teacher, Autumn has rocked at kindergarten! They do quarterly skill tests that are required by the state. The first set that came back, Autumn tested at average. Which is fantastic considering we thought about keeping her home an extra year to let her catch up more. Well, I tell you what. She's just been growing by leaps and bounds. This recent set of tests? She scored in the advanced level!! AND she read every single page (all 62!) in the Green Eggs and Ham book to me this week! Nice job, little ma'am!


Speaking of Autumn and her development, I decided to look at pictures from her first February. SO FUNNY. I love this picture so much!! Look at those chubby cheeks! Another school thing, they did health screenings some time ago. I got a letter from the school saying she got flagged for low bmi. >.> I took her to the doctor so he could fill out the "we aren't starving her" paperwork and he said she's completely fine. He's not even sure how they came up with a low bmi because his calculations have her in the normal category. She's grown some--last year Autumn was in the 3rd percentile and now she's in the 10th for weight and 15th for height.


Oh, and Autumn has been like *this* since, well, forever. Hahahaha. She's a varied little thing, though. I also have some pictures of her looking absolutely filthy (she's a messy eater, much to Mike's dismay) but I'll spare you the grossness!


I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day and a good week in general. We're hanging in there pretty well. We miss Grant (whose name is now, I believe, Kingston) but at the same time, we feel some peace now that we know he doesn't get to come home with us. It's not limbo any more. Thank you so much for your prayers. I know I say this all the time but how would we get on without you?? Anyway, I'm off to do some of this, although probably not as soundly!!

Bright Spots

Hello, friends, and thank you so much for all of your prayers and messages and calls this week. Seriously, you are part of what is holding us together through this tension. If you want to check out the latest on the adoption click here. And if you want to see what I made Mike for Christmas, click here.

Today is Mike's birthday! We actually had a good day and I am glad! My mom, Nanny and Boppa, Lainey and P'd and Lindsay all came over for Mike's Epic Mexican Meal of Happiness: Steak Fajitas, Mexican Rice (both from Cook's Illustrated) and Spicy Creamed Corn. I have absolutely no photos of this so you'll have to take my word for it! He and Autumn were adorable today. Autumn has, truly, kept our spirits up!


I took a nap after everyone left. When I woke up, I heard Mike helping Autumn read a book. So sweet!


Autumn's class did Famous Americans day on Thursday. After going through a few ideas (Helen Keller, Hilary Clinton, Louisa May Alcott, Laura Ingalls Wilder, etc.), Autumn picked Amelia Earhart! We had a blast. I went to the library and got a book about Amelia Earhart and read it with Autumn who was so excited. The best part? The only thing I had to buy was the hat! I got it on Amazon and, um, I like it so much I might wear it myself.


It was so cute. I got to go take photos of the kids at the beginning of the day when their costumes were fresh. I love getting to see Autumn in class. She's so funny!


Here she is being studious. :D


This is her friend Garrison. His mom and I are the room moms! Garrison was Charles Lindbergh. How fun is that?


One other fun thing. I am SO PROUD of Autumn! She was fantastic at the dentist! Autumn's always had trouble with people looking too closely at her, noise, and unusual textures. The dentist office is not a fun place for her. But this time around she was super duper brave. She let Mrs. Stephanie clean her teeth AND let Dr. Chip count how many she has. And he totally made her day by telling Autumn that she has a couple of "almost loose" teeth.


Survived!


By the way, in case you were wondering, Molly is doing well.


That's it for today. Please, please continue to pray for us. I would so love to be able to show you photos of our newly expanded family next Sunday. If not, I pray for peace on our hearts--and yours. I know we have many friends around the world whose hearts are breaking for us. And thank you so much for your love and care. The internet is an amazing thing sometimes.

Not a Great Day

I don't have the heart to really post anything today. Check out passing pinwheels for some posts, as well as the latest development with Grant's adoption.