The Rocking Chair

For months before he came I home, I had visions of rocking Matthew in this cozy chair in his bedroom.

I would often go into his room, sit in the chair and smile (or cry) thinking of him and wondering what it would be like to hold him. I couldn't wait for that day to come!

And then he came home...and he hated to be rocked!

Yes, I probably had the only baby on the planet who did not want me to sit in a rocking chair with him before bed. In fact, if we even sat down before he was asleep, he would scream. Perhaps he was just used to being carried a lot by his foster mom. Maybe he often slept in a carrier on her back. Whatever the reason, when Matthew first arrived he would only fall asleep if we were walking with him.

I remember the first few days so clearly - the walking, the aching arms, the screaming back pain...the pure joy to have him home that thankfully made me not even care! I remember I would make up games in my head to keep myself from falling over or

dropping him..."Okay, count to 100 and then you can try to put him in his crib....one....two...three...." It was pretty brutal. And I felt sad that I couldn't just rock him in the chair.

Fast forward 10 months (has it really been 10 months already??). Matthew is a fabulous sleeper - we just put him in his crib, he talks a little or is silent, and he's usually asleep within minutes. He rarely wakes up in the night anymore except when he is sick (like last week). A few nights ago, I awoke to his crying and knew he needed something, so I went to get him. He needed a diaper change, so I took care of that, and then he asked for a drink, so I got him one and we sat in the chair so he could drink. After a moment he handed me his cup and pointed to my chest. I was confused and didn't know what he wanted until he turned to face me and laid his head on my chest. I asked him if he wanted to rock in the chair, and he signed "please".

And so it was another middle-of-the-night dream come true for this mama.

Love this boy so much!

Wordless Wednesday {Laundry Basket Fun}

Hello Monday...I'm Glad to See You!

First of all let me say THANK YOU for your thoughtful comments and for the idea to prop up the mattress - we got 12 hours of sleep last night! I was so thankful when I woke up this morning at 8am and realized he had slept through. It makes me feel like a new person!

Matthew seems a bit better today and we'll be starting him on a new antibiotic today, so hopefully that will help with the tummy troubles he's been having. He is still pretty clingy today but not screaming, so I'll take it :)

The weekend was pretty rough and we didn't leave the house much, but Brad and I both managed to go running which was a nice break. We are toying with the idea of running a 1/2 marathon in October (well, I am toying with the idea and trying to convince Brad to run it too!) and we started the training program for that this week. We both ran 30 minutes on Tuesday and Thursday and then 2 miles on Saturday. I was excited that my 2 mile run was done in 19 minutes and 36 seconds...faster than I used to be for sure. Brad and I have been taking turns going after Matthew goes to bed, so we don't run together, but that is okay since he is way faster than me anyway!

I think I'll leave you with some Korean cuteness...last week we got to meet some new friends who recently adopted a beautiful little girl from Korea. Seeing her got me thinking, maybe a little girl wouldn't be so bad... :)

Can This Weekend Just be OVER Please???

I feel like this weekend started last Wednesday, when Matthew came down with a fever, and just will not end. The poor little boy has been feeling rotten and we found out Friday he has an ear infection. Saturday was miserable and his fever got up to 103, and the medicine didn't get a chance to kick in since he threw it all up. On me. Do I sound like I'm whining? Maybe a little :)

Yesterday his fever finally went away and he seemed a bit more like himself. Nights are just the worst still, with him waking up 4 times last night. Nights with a sick baby are absolutely my least favorite thing about parenthood. It is so hard to see them feeling so awful and to not be able to fix it. Plus there is the tiredness...that's no fun either.

I'm thankful that he seems to be improving a bit and can't wait for the crankiness to disappear as well. I'm ready for a new week with a little boy who is feeling good!

Some good news from Friday...Brad and I were able to visit our doctor to get our medical forms filled out for the adoption! Making progress...

It's Not Wednesday...and It's Not Wordless!

After a day at home with a sick child, I'm afraid all I can manage are some bullet points and a silly picture of my dog :)

• Matthew woke up with a fever so we didn't make it to swim lessons today. I was sad to miss it but secretly happy that I didn't have to pack up all our stuff to go to the pool again.

• I was able to get to the eye doctor's this afternoon to pick out glasses...which is seriously hard to do when you are a person who can't see clearly past a couple of inches without glasses. I can never tell what they look like and have to press my nose up to the mirror, which makes it hard to tell which ones look good. Thankfully they let me bring a couple of pairs home so that Brad could tell me his opinion. And so that we could try them on the dog. I think she looks rather dashing...

• Our adoption paperwork is coming along sloooooooowwwwwly. I could write a whole post about how weird I am finding it to be in the process again, and the struggle I'm having with getting started, and the internal conflict I've been going through as I see hundreds of kids who are waiting for a home because of a special need or because of their age...but suffice it to say I think I have resolved most of the strange feelings and feel ready to move forward. I am excited to see where the Lord takes us with this adoption!

• Today was one of the hottest days of the year and we had chili for dinner. Why did we do that? So many deep questions.

• I need to go for a run tonight, but due to the fact that it is still super hot and I had chili for dinner...it's looking doubtful!

Water Baby

Just because inquiring minds want to know, I will tell a little about bread sauce (although I can't really put into words the total yumminess).

You make it the night before your meal by mixing breadcrumbs, milk and margarine (I believe the word my Mom used when telling me how to make it was a "dob". Nice and precise!) in a saucepan on the stove. You take an onion that has cloves stuck in it and put it in the middle of the breadcrumbs while you heat it up. Once it is nice and soupy (but not too soupy...) you take it off the heat and let it cool, then put it in the fridge overnight. It soaks up all the yummy flavor of the onion and cloves, and the next day you take the onion out, add some more milk, heat it back up, and get it to this lovely pasty texture. Then you devour it as quickly as possible along with your chicken and veggies.

Does it sound even weirder than you thought?? :)

Thank you for all the Korean recipe suggestions! I will be looking them up and figuring out which ones Matthew can eat with his food allergies.

And now on to the main point of my blog post today...swim lessons.

Tomorrow is our last day! We have had a blast (for the most part) and Matthew has loved every minute of it (except when he was crabby and tired and teething). I just have one question, though:

Who in the world would put a baby swim class at NOON?

It is probably the worst time of day to have these little ones swimming. You either have to feed them super early, when they're not hungry, or wait until afterwards, when they're...asleep. Not the best time for swim lessons. Matthew's nap schedule has been crazy and he was a very unhappy boy today, so we ended up leaving early. At least it is nice and laid back and they don't mind if you need to leave part way through.

Today Matthew went off the diving board! And by "went off" I mean he was lowered down from it from one lifeguard to another without making any splash at all :) He loved it and wanted more! My sister came today and took some pictures for me...here is the only one I am willing to post on the internet:

We are loving summer!