My Favorite Parts

Today was such an incredible day--and an emotional one. I was so excited to watch the inauguration and, most of all, to watch it with my children. They asked questions and we discussed. They watched and really listened. What an incredible day. What an incredible country. What an incredible change.

I was so moved by each piece of the inauguration, from the beautiful composition (including YoYo Ma) to Aretha Franklin to President Obama to the millions of people who had come to watch. It was incredible.

Some of my favorite parts were:

From President Obama's speech (we went to see him speak when he came to Fort Collins prior to the election--amazing public speaker. AMAZING.):

"Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task. "

From the benediction given by Rev. Joseph Lowery (who was a key civil rights figure who worked along with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.):

"For we know that, Lord, you are able and you're willing to work through faithful leadership to restore stability, mend our brokenness, heal our wounds, and deliver us from the exploitation of the poor, of the least of these, and from favoritism toward the rich, the elite of these.
We thank you for the empowering of thy servant, our 44th president, to inspire our nation to believe that yes we can work together to achieve a more perfect union."

And from the inaugural poem, Praise Song for Day, A Poem for Barack Obama's Presidential Inauguration, written and read by Prof. Elizabeth Alexander (a friend and former coworker of Pres. Obama who now teaches at Yale):

Praise song for struggle; praise song for the day. Praise song for every hand-lettered sign; The figuring it out at kitchen tables.
Some live by "Love thy neighbor as thy self."
Others by first do no harm, or take no more than you need.
What if the mightiest word is love, love beyond marital, filial, national. Love that casts a widening pool of light. Love with no need to preempt grievance.
In today's sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun.
On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp -- praise song for walking forward in that light.

It made me want to echo the signs that were posted all over the north side of town (where we live) and throughout our neighborhood for so many months, "Si se puede!"

This is the way we library!

Just a little glimpse into our Tuesday routine. :)

Step 1: Find a parking spot. Some days this is trickier than others. If it's warm out, we always ride the bike. If we're running late then we literally run from the car to the library.

Step 2: Always stop to say "hello" to Annie the Railroad Dog. (She was a dog who greeted all of the trains/passengers coming through Fort Collins in the good ol' days.) Also, ask your mom if Annie is "dead under here" or if "she died at the library".

Step 3: Return your books. This should, apparently, always be a race against your sibling and should sometimes involve a meltdown.

Step 4: Get your nametag for storytime. Tell the librarian your name and then spell it for bonus points. Sadly, Isabel has grown out of saying "My name is ISSY. (pause) I-S-A-B-E-L" Many a priceless confused look as the librarian tried to reconcile the name stated and the spelling provided.

Step 5: Attend "4 Years and Older" storytime ALL BY YOURSELF (well, with your twin). Even though they are almost five, I can hardly believe that they go to storytime alone. Sniffle.

Step 6: After storytime, pick out some excellent books. Isabel always picks out some old faves (Berenstain Bears, Madeline, Toot & Puddles, Angelina, anything by Kevin Henkes) and Milo is always on the hunt for something about animals or a new Dr. Seuss book. I try to pick out some real "quality" books while they are in storytime. Recommendations from friends are awesome (thanks Anna--just got the Mercer Mayer Beauty and the Beast).

Step 7: Check your books out and wander dangerously back to the car as you are unable to pry your cute little nose out of your new books long enough to look where you are actually going. This is my favorite part. They really do get that excited and I love it! :) It brings back memories of me waiting for the Bookmobile (town was way too small for a library) and then running home with my new finds, so excited to read them and smell them (yes, I love how books smell).
Step 8: Spend a good amount of time in the car and on the living room floor perusing your new books. Lately, we've been spreading out blankets and having a "popcorn party" while they "read" their new books together.

Adoption Update

Just your regular old run of the mill pirates waiting for a sibling.

So, many have asked but I'm sure more are wondering; what's up with the adoption stuff?

Well, not much to tell you the truth. We left our profile "inactive" for a period of time after the loss of J's baby. We felt like we need that time to grieve and to support J through everything. We've been reactivated for a few weeks now and have seen some activity on our profile (it was pretty dead over Christmas but picked back up after).

How do I know this you ask? Simple, I stat stalk myself. ;) Similar to blog stalking, only different. Parent Profiles provides statistics on the views that each page of our profile receives and also allows us to see when a birthmom adds us to their "favorites" list. I also have some stat tracking set up for our profile on LDS Family Service's site and on our own website. For those who have a link to our profiles and sites on their blog, THANK YOU!!! I can see where people are coming from and most of the views that our website get are from your links! :)

LDS Family Services is also in the process of revamping their profile site. (About time right? It's a little bare bones at the moment.) That revamp has involved us having to redo much of the paperwork (approximately 1 bajillion pages worth) that we did when we were going through the approval process. It will all be worth it in the end though as the new site will be MUCH more interactive and user-friendly. It will also allow birthmoms to see most of our profile online as opposed to seeing limited information online and having to go in to see a caseworker to see the rest.

So, we've had an increase in activity (it's all relative though right?), we revamped our LDSFS profile and we did receive an email from a birthmom and spoke with her briefly (but haven't heard from her since--she didn't seem like she was anywhere near making a decision but, instead, was just testing the waters). Other than that, we're just waiting.

Some days, the waiting is easier than others. Some days I wonder if this is really what we are "supposed" to be doing. Most days, I look at my kids and am incredibly and overwhelmingly thankful for them but also incredibly eager to have more children and to see Milo and Isabel as a big brother and big sister.

Still crossing our fingers (and folding our arms as Stacy said...).

Obligatory but cute nonetheless...

And so the Christmas post goes...

Isabel getting in the spirit with the help of a little preschool Christmas craft and some silly putty.

Spencer and the kids spent the night at my parents house along with my sister, my brother, and my nieces. I, on the other hand, spent both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day nights at work with my peeps. :) Someone's gotta do it.

Kiana, Isabel, and Milo showing off their Christmas Eve jammies and books (Kiana got a Barack Obama picture book--she is his biggest fan, Issy got Berenstain Bears and the Bad Influence, and Milo got I Wanna Iguana--one of the cutest illustrators ever.)

Our Christmas present "rules" are like so...Santa brings each child one big present and fills their stockings. Mom & Dad supply a book and jammies on Christmas Eve (to be opened with cousins) and one present on Christmas Day. Grandparents provide much additional spoiling and excitement. :)

Santa scored big with new bikes for both kids. Milo's had a bell (that says I HEART MY MOMMY) and a sweet horn. Isabel's has streamers and a basket. She also got a bonus doll seat for the back from Grandma Cathryn.

Just a wee little pirate putting together some Star Wars Legos.

Oh wow. Turns out, a 4 year old's life can be completed by the addition of 1) a Fancy Nancy Doll 2) a new bike with streamers that "blow like maniacs Mom!" and 3) a doll seat for the back of said bike.

Isabel and Milo both got handmade aprons from Grandma Kim. They've been used for everything from cooking breakfast with Daddy to playing restaurant for HOURS.

Fancy Brows herself.

I could do an entire post about our first encounter with play makeup. I mean really. Here's her attempt at mimicking Fancy Nancy's eyebrows and also attempting to channel the blue-eyeshadow-wearing clerk at Target whom she was admiring earlier in the week.

The next makeup encounter involved a little conversation like this;

Isabel: "Mom, I know you probably don't really know how to do this but...(dramatic pause)...could you maybe help me to put on some makeup?"

Now call me crazy but I read a little bit of "Mom, I know you're a stinkin' hippie and all but could you break out of your comfort zone for a bit and help me glam it up?" She is SO the fancy one in our plain family. (Refer to the Fancy Nancy books for reference.)

Cruisin'. Seriously, streamers and a basket? Awesome.

Milo on the other hand, preferred to live on the wild side.

He got a new skateboard (just his size), pads, and wrist guard things. I know, I know. Many of you are wondering if I, being the paranoid nurse that I am, really let him ride that thing. Well, I will have you know that I would have wrapped the kid in bubble wrap before letting him have at it. Or at least stuffed a bunch of TP inside his clothes. But, hey, skateboards and other such potentially damaging play equipment are what dads are for right?

The retreat. Also known as the frigid walk of shame.

The Saturday after Christmas we attempted to go snowshoeing as a family for my dad's birthday. After a long drive up and out of our beautiful sunny (and fairly) warm weather, we arrived at our destination to discover that a) it's 1 degree outside--without windchill and b) it's windier than an Oklahoma twister outside. It was easily 30 below with windchill. But, hey, we'd packed everyone up, bundled up, made the drive, and all these other people (granted they were adults in very expensive-looking layers of NASA material clothing) were getting out and heading for the trail! So, we tried. We made it all of about 50 feet. It was somewhere very far beyond cold.

Sadly, Spencer was apparently too cold to open his eyes for any of the 55 family picture attempts. ;)

All in all, a lovely holiday season. A few other highlights: learning about other holidays at preschool and incorporating some of those traditions into our holidays (we lit candles on our preschool-made menorahs through Hanukkah), eating yummy food courtesy of Grandma Kim, getting great gifts from far and wide (thanks fam!), reading all of your Christmas letters/posts and oohing and aweing at everyone's growing families in their Christmas photos, and being amazed at how often I&M wanted the nativity story retold and retold. Helped keep us in the spirit for sure! A lowlight: having family all over the darn country! We miss you all!