It's a Roller Coaster

Well...lovesandboy is about to become lovesandboyandgirl...wow that's really long!

About a month ago I got a call from my sister and the conversation went as follows:
Bekah: Hello?
Steph: How serious are you about adopting?
Bekah: (silence)
Steph: Hello?
Bekah: Ummmm...why?

She proceeded to tell me that she had gotten a phone call from someone who knew someone else that was wanting to give up her baby. She was 20 weeks pregnant, a single mom already and just couldn't raise another child by herself. It threw our whole weekend for a loop. After the phone call there was a lot of contemplative silence. And it lasted all weekend. We felt like we needed to take 72 hours to pray and when that 72 hours was over I looked and Steve and asked him what he was thinking. He said he knew we were supposed to take this baby the minute she called and I said, "I felt the same way!" but neither of us wanted to be the first one to say it. That day we told our liason that our answer was yes and we heard back that night that our baby mama also said yes to us.

Steve and I have been trying to have another baby for about 2 years now but have had a complete peace about the whole thing. For some reason I have wanted to have a baby in February, maybe mostly because I would avoid the enormousness in the heat of summer. So when the time came and passed for us, I was a little sad but held on to Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you..." He has never failed us! Well...ironically, but not coincidentally, our baby GIRL's due date is February 20th. God is hilarious! :)

We are very excited and looking forward to this addition to our family. The boy is going to be a big brother, and although he doesn't fully comprehend the fullness of that, he is very excited!

When all of this came down I struggled with the fear that I might not be able to love her as much as I do the boy but God spoke this to me. That He was the one that decided who this little girl's parents would be just the same as he decided who the boy's parents would be. That they belong to Him anyway and we are just lucky enough to get to take care of them for a while.

We pray for our baby mama every day and know that God has put her in our life for a reason. She will forever have at least 2 people praying for her.

We are so thankful to God for this opportunity to expand our family and can't wait for all that's to come! We're on the adoption roller coaster now...so here we go :)

Lovesandboy,
Bekah

Car Conversations Part 1

So yesterday the boy and I were on the way to school and I told him that my birthday was coming up soon. Below is the conversation that followed.

Mommy: My birthday's coming soon!
The Boy: Oh...
Mommy: Are you gonna get me a present?
The Boy: Yes!
Mommy: What are you going to get me?
The Boy: A Hulk
Mommy: A Hulk?
The Boy: Uh huh...a pink hulk!

I laughed so hard and then I wanted to cry because it was so sweet of him to think of getting me a girl superhero. He just blesses my life more and more each day. We have the best time together. I love when I get to have those moments like that with him in the car. It's quiet. It's just me and him most of the time. And he we have funny talks. More car conversations to come I am quite certain :)

Lovesandboy,
Bekah

Older Kids are Just a Bad Influence

This last Monday some good friends of ours came in from out of town and stayed at our house. It was so good to see them and their kids (we missed you though Kyle!) Anyway, their son is 3 and the boy is 2. There is only about 9 months difference between them so they had a blast playing together. The 3 year old's vocabulary is slightly more advanced than the boy's and this was where the age difference was apparent. He was putting sentences more completely together, you know, with the nouns the verbs and conjunctions? I don't know, I'm not that good at grammar. For instance the boy will say to me. "Mommy, going?" and Myles (the 3 year old) would say, "Mommy, where are you going?" It was fun to see the differences in age and fun to see what was to come as the boy nears 3. 

It was fun until Myles started telling his mom, "I don't want to." I noticed this right away because this is not a sentence the boy has used yet. Don't get me wrong...Myles is an incredible, very well behaved kid! He's just 3 and he wants what he wants and he knows he has an opinion.  It was very funny to me but not so much to my friend. Again, it was funny until later that night when both boys were in the bath and when I told the boy it was time to get out he said to me, "Mommy, don't want to." It was evident to me that older kids are just bad influences. Obviously my kid is a perfect angel and would have never said that had he not heard it from an older one. Say what? That's crazy town...oh man, I crack myself up. I am most positive that the boy would have started it soon enough on his own. So that's his new sentence. Love you Bean!

Lovesandboy, 

Bekah

My Treadmill and I are Now on a First Name Basis

So...I got a treadmill from a friend of mine probably 2 months ago. I was very excited and very eager to lose all of this baby weight that has been clinging to my butt and thighs for way too long. So we got it set up in our bedroom which was not my first choice but I also didn't want it in the Living Room all huge and staring at me all the time. The garage wasn't a good choice either because it gets like a million degrees in the summer and let's be honest, who wants to work out in the garage? So into our bedroom it went. It was an exciting and timid day all at the same time. Was I going to use it? Would this be the motivation that I needed? I asked myself with excitement. 

And so I used it. I loved it and it loved me. I think the first week we had it I used it 4 times. Not bad for a fattie! :) By the 4th time I had gotten a blister on my precious little pinky toe. It might have been the shoes or it might have been the fact that my feet weren't used to all the walking. You know how when you do an activity that you don't normally do and you get sore in places that you didn't even know there was muscle? I am pretty sure this was the same type of problem with my toes. At any rate I had to take a couple of days off. So the next week I was back at it. And I used it 3 times. And then the next week 2 times. And then the next week no times. And I haven't been back on it since. 

Why? I ask myself. Why? I actually enjoy it once I am on there and I feel great after. So why is it so difficult for me to get my lazy butt up and get on that treadmill and walk it out? I think I have come up with a solution.  The treadmill is cold and sterile and doesn't have a name. It has no feelings and could care less if I use it or not. And maybe that's the problem. Maybe we need to be friends first before I get so intimate with it. Seriously, how many friends ask you every time you see them how much you weigh and which friend of yours would you be comfortable enough telling? Yet every time I get on that treadmill it says to me, "how much do you weigh" and I willingly punch in those dreaded numbers. And then the next time I see that treadmill it asks me the same question and I totally tell it...again! It's just plain rude. So I decided that being on a first name basis would be a step in the right direction. 

So Bella is her name and now I can start rebuilding a relationship that is so intimate that I will tell her my weight every time she asks...I know my secret's safe with her. 

Lovesandboy, 

Bekah

Mommy Vacation Fun!

We just got back from a 2 week vacation and I could not feel more amazing. It was the first family vacation that the boy was old enough to really process what was happening. It was so fun for us to see him enjoying his time as a family and all of the activities that went with it. During the first part of our 2 week adventure we went to Disneyland with some good friends of ours who have a son close to the boy's age and an amazing 8 year old daughter. It was crowded but we had such an awesome time running around from ride to ride and pushing our way through the people who totally invaded on our Disney time...how rude and how dare they! We decided to skip the "parade" because we found out that it was some dumb "celebration time" thing with a guy that stood on top of some float and sang a million songs while some of the Disney characters danced around on the ground below. That is not a parade and I'm pretty sure that Walt Disney would not be amused. Remember the electrical light parade? Twirling lights and techno music is always a fantastic spectacle to see!

After our Disneyland adventure we headed up to North to visit some friends of ours whose son was turning 2. The 3 boys love each other and we miss our friends who moved away from us deeply so it was great to spend time with them.

Next it was on to San Diego for some beach and relaxation time. It felt so good to be in weather that doesn't make you feel completely sucked dry of all moisture. My skin felt amazing and my nose wasn't constantly dry and full of crusty boogers...I know it's gross but it's true. Dry Las Vegas weather wreaks havoc on my skin and nose! Thank you desert dryness!

The boy was hilarious at the beach. He loves the sand but not so much the ocean yet. This is something that will be remedied because gosh darn it...no son of mine will be afraid of the ocean! :) By the end of the week he was much more daring and willing to go in the water. Thank goodness! The boy was fascinated with all the people skateboarding down the boardwalk and eventually started "skateboarding" himself. He would turn sideways and sort of scoot on his feet and then he would jump and fall down on the ground...this was his "trick" and he was always very proud of himself when the trick was over and he was back on his feet skateboarding down the boardwalk. He would look back at me with a huge smile and say "see mommy...skateboarding." I mean...it doesn't get any better than that.

My Grampy and Nana live in San Diego too and it was so great to spend time with them. The boy doesn't really get to see them that much but he remembered them and connected like he gets to see them everyday. My Grampy has always had a knack for finding money behind kids ears. It still amazes me to this day :). Needless to say, he kept finding quarters in the boys ears. It's amazing how exciting a few quarters are! Now he rubs his ears and says "money? ears?" Thanks Grampy! :)

We had so much fun and did so much that I was pretty confident that coming back to normal life would seem like such a bore to him! Seriously, everyday we did something new and fun...how do you return to normal life after that? Can't we all just be on vacation all the time? Then that would be the normal and we would all want to be working...? So many unanswered questions. Regrdless, we had a blast and are now back in the swing of normal life...work, church, school. Blah! One thing I do know is that this vacation was needed in the worst way. Nothing can replace quality family time and we are working on reblancing our hectic lives to have more of that amazing family time that so easily gets pushed aside in the busyness of life.

While we were on vacation the boy kept saying "mommy, vacation fun!" I couldn't agree more :)

Lovesandboy,
Bekah

The Day I Smelled Perfume

So I got ready the other morning exactly as I always do. I showered. Blow dryed my hair. Put curlers in my hair. Brushed my teeth. Put on face lotion. Put on deodorant. Did my makeup. Took out the curlers. Fluffed hair with fingers and gave a spritz of hairspray. Put on my perfume. Got dressed. It was a completly normal and average morning.

Let's talk about the perfume. I have never been a perfume wearing type of gal, however I found a scent at Victoria Secret that I found most pleasant and very light and non perfumey smelling. You know the perfumey smelling kind that I am talking about. We all know the kind. It's the kind where you walk by someone and end up smelling their stank perfume all day because it has lodged itself in your nasal cavities. Or the kind where when someone gives you a hug they might as well have brought their bottle of perfume around and sprayed it all over your clothes because it rubs off on you that much! Their perfume becomes your perfume...thanks for sharing! So...why on this particular day did I smell like one of those stank freaks? I used my normal perfume. Same amount and in the same place.

I got to work and could not shake this strong perfume smell all day. I kept trying to figure it out. Maybe I grabbed the wrong bottle and the one I grabbed went bad? No...I didn't think so...is what I said to myself. Maybe I hugged someone and it was lodged in my nasal cavities? But I haven't really hugged any stanks today...I thought to myself. So I struggled through the day with this strong smell wafting all around me. It seemed to get stronger as the day went on too but I kept on ignoring it.

After work we ate dinner and played all the while I still smelled. So it was time for bed and the boy and I commensed with our usual nightime cuddles as I mentioned in my previous blog. We had sung our songs, read our books and the boy looked up with a puzzled expression and said, "Mommy, what's that?" I thought for sure he noticed the smell and was wondering where it came from. But instead, he reached inside my shirt and pulled out a dryer sheet. The mystery was solved and I cracked up laughing. Steve was gone so there was no one around that could fully appreciate this moment with me. The boy was cracking up but I knew he had no idea why and at one point looked at me with that sweet face and I knew he was thinking "mommy's finally lost it." And that was the day that I smelled perfume.

Lovesandboy,
Bekah

Nightime Cuddles

Bedtime is one of my favorite parts of the day for more than one reason. First of all, my husband and I have some much needed time together and secondly the boy is so stinkin cute when it's time for bed! The boy is so fun when it's time to go to bed. It's like something inside of him is saying "act as cute as possible and you'll get to stay up longer!" This happens to be true. We play and wrestle, dance, sing songs (that are completly made up by the way) and read our books. We sit in his rocker and give noses (eskimo kisses), butterflies and cuddle. Last night was no exception. I was sitting there with him singing him the Judah song that I sing to him every night when out of nowhere he started singing with me. This was the first time he has sung this particular song with me. What made it so amazing was that any time in the song that had his name he replaced it with mommy. Come on now! How cute is that and how could I possibly put him to bed after that? I am sure he planned this out. So we cuddled longer than usual until it was finally so far past his bed time that I knew I would regret it in the morning if I didn't force myself to lay him down so he could get some much needed sleep.

Oh man...I love the nightime cuddles!

Lovesandboy,
Bekah