December 2009
December 2008
December 2007
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Our Little Tongginator: An Attitude of Openness
I thought this was an interesting post an another "adoption blog." I really can't imagine not telling Elizabeth about her biological family. Our Little Tongginator: An Attitude of Openness
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Fall fun at the park 10/30/10
A bunch of the families from Elizabeth's Day Care got together and had a picnic at the park last weekend. So much fun! I love the other parents at E's school, they are sooo nice :)
Halloween 2010
Halloween night before trick or treating :)
Halloween parade 10/31/2010
Halloween Party on 10/30/2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
Columbus Day at the Pumpkin Patch
Here in Massachusetts, Columbus Day is a day off for both of us, so we headed out to a Pumpkin Patch to enjoy the fall weather. Gotta love 3 day weekends!
Not sure what that sad expression is for in this picture. She definitely loved that donut!
Not sure what that sad expression is for in this picture. She definitely loved that donut!Saturday, October 9, 2010
Fun at the farm
Today, Elizabeth and I had a great day with my friend Misty and her son. We hung out at Misty's for a while, then headed to nearby farm, which had pigs, sheep, cows, goats, bunny rabbits and delicious ice cream :)
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
I'm back, and thoughts about adoption
Hey, sorry for the absence. Things here have been busy but good. I am really liking our new place. I'm still unpacking, but have definitely made progress. Miss E is awesome in all her 3 year old feistiness :) She is continuing to cry when I drop her off at Day Care, but stops right after I leave (I know this, because she and her teacher cheerfully wave to me from the window when I get outside). She is getting very excited for Halloween, and says she wants to be a queen. (hmm, Queen Elizabeth....it fits!)
So...I do a lot of reading online about adoption. Lately, I've been reading lots of blogs written by adult adoptees. Many of them are actually quite anti adoption. As an adoptive Mom, it's not always easy to read about their hurt and anger about not being raised by their biological families. Most of them say that while they were growing up, they never felt like they could express any negative feelings about being adopted. They felt like were supposed to feel "grateful" and that expressing anything besides happiness about their adoption would hurt their adoptive parents feelings. They were given the message by society that they were "saved" by adoption from a life of poverty and neglect/abuse by their "unfit" biological parents.
Ok. It goes without saying that I don't ever want Elizabeth to feel this way. First of all, I have never felt like I "saved" her. She was a beautiful, healthy baby girl. If I hadn't adopted her, someone else would have. And what if she hadn't had to be adopted at all? I think about her birth mom (J), and wonder, was there a way that E could have stayed with her? Did CPS do enough to try to reunify E with J? What if there was something more that could have been done to help J so she could have parented Elizabeth? I look back at some of my posts during my first year with E, before the adoption was finalized, and I cringe. It was all about my feelings. My dream was coming true, I had a beautiful baby girl. I couldn't see beyond my fear that it would fall through, and I'd "lose" Elizabeth. In some of those old posts, I talk about my anxiety about E's visits with her bio parents, about trying to "survive" them. I didn't want J to succeed, because I wanted Elizabeth. Ugg...I sounded very entitled and just, uggg...I'm not very proud of some of what I wrote. I'd like to think I've learn and grown through this whole process, so that I can be the best adoptive parent to Elizabeth I can be. Will she feel sad, or angry that she was not raised by J and K? Maybe. If she does, I hope she will feel like she can talk to me about those feelings. I hope she'll know that I won't feel threatened or hurt if she talks about about wanting to know her birth parents. It would hurt me actually to know that she had those feelings and didn't think she could talk to me about them. I'm in this completely with Miss E. I will support her through all of it.
On a lighter note, my twin nephews are 11 today- unbelievable!! We're all going out to dinner tonight to celebrate. Pizza- yum!!
So...I do a lot of reading online about adoption. Lately, I've been reading lots of blogs written by adult adoptees. Many of them are actually quite anti adoption. As an adoptive Mom, it's not always easy to read about their hurt and anger about not being raised by their biological families. Most of them say that while they were growing up, they never felt like they could express any negative feelings about being adopted. They felt like were supposed to feel "grateful" and that expressing anything besides happiness about their adoption would hurt their adoptive parents feelings. They were given the message by society that they were "saved" by adoption from a life of poverty and neglect/abuse by their "unfit" biological parents.
Ok. It goes without saying that I don't ever want Elizabeth to feel this way. First of all, I have never felt like I "saved" her. She was a beautiful, healthy baby girl. If I hadn't adopted her, someone else would have. And what if she hadn't had to be adopted at all? I think about her birth mom (J), and wonder, was there a way that E could have stayed with her? Did CPS do enough to try to reunify E with J? What if there was something more that could have been done to help J so she could have parented Elizabeth? I look back at some of my posts during my first year with E, before the adoption was finalized, and I cringe. It was all about my feelings. My dream was coming true, I had a beautiful baby girl. I couldn't see beyond my fear that it would fall through, and I'd "lose" Elizabeth. In some of those old posts, I talk about my anxiety about E's visits with her bio parents, about trying to "survive" them. I didn't want J to succeed, because I wanted Elizabeth. Ugg...I sounded very entitled and just, uggg...I'm not very proud of some of what I wrote. I'd like to think I've learn and grown through this whole process, so that I can be the best adoptive parent to Elizabeth I can be. Will she feel sad, or angry that she was not raised by J and K? Maybe. If she does, I hope she will feel like she can talk to me about those feelings. I hope she'll know that I won't feel threatened or hurt if she talks about about wanting to know her birth parents. It would hurt me actually to know that she had those feelings and didn't think she could talk to me about them. I'm in this completely with Miss E. I will support her through all of it.
On a lighter note, my twin nephews are 11 today- unbelievable!! We're all going out to dinner tonight to celebrate. Pizza- yum!!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Moving...again!
Warning: Boring post ahead
Elizabeth and I spent our first night last night in our new apartment. I really like it, but OMG...the boxes and bags of stuff I have yet to unpack...Yikes!! And I still have more stuff at my parents' to bring over. No internet yet (I'm writing this at work) until Tuesday when Verizon comes to hook me up. When I placed the order over the phone, I was originally going to just have internet service intalled (cause I can't live without my Facebook and all the blogs I read), but the guy I spoke with talked me into a "triple bundle"- internet, phone and cable. I really don't need the phone (have a cell) or cable (as much as Elizabeth loves her some Nick Jr.). So I will probably end up just getting internet. Anyway, it's very nice to be in our own place, just can't wait to be all unpacked and settled in.
Work is good, Elizabeth is doing great at Day Care. All is well. Guess that's it for now!
Elizabeth and I spent our first night last night in our new apartment. I really like it, but OMG...the boxes and bags of stuff I have yet to unpack...Yikes!! And I still have more stuff at my parents' to bring over. No internet yet (I'm writing this at work) until Tuesday when Verizon comes to hook me up. When I placed the order over the phone, I was originally going to just have internet service intalled (cause I can't live without my Facebook and all the blogs I read), but the guy I spoke with talked me into a "triple bundle"- internet, phone and cable. I really don't need the phone (have a cell) or cable (as much as Elizabeth loves her some Nick Jr.). So I will probably end up just getting internet. Anyway, it's very nice to be in our own place, just can't wait to be all unpacked and settled in.
Work is good, Elizabeth is doing great at Day Care. All is well. Guess that's it for now!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Maine vacation
We had a GREAT vacation last week in Maine! 10 days of fabulous weather, family and friends...
The only downside to having a great vacation has been of course, the re-entry...Elizabeth has had a bit of a tough time readjusting to being back at Day Care. Some of the older kids in her room moved up to a different room, so there are several new kids now in her class. Also, one of her teachers is new to her room. So she has been clingy and crying when I've dropped her off this week, which is unlike her. But when I call later in the morning, I'm told she is playing happily. And she seems happy at the end of the day when I pick her up. Hopefully we'll get back into our routine. Of course, another big change is coming up. We are moving out of my parents' place this month into our apartment. I picked up the keys the other evening. I showed Elizabeth our new (still empty) apartment. She said she liked it :) She also said she would sleep "all by myself" in her new room all night. Ah...I wish I could believe that...
The only downside to having a great vacation has been of course, the re-entry...Elizabeth has had a bit of a tough time readjusting to being back at Day Care. Some of the older kids in her room moved up to a different room, so there are several new kids now in her class. Also, one of her teachers is new to her room. So she has been clingy and crying when I've dropped her off this week, which is unlike her. But when I call later in the morning, I'm told she is playing happily. And she seems happy at the end of the day when I pick her up. Hopefully we'll get back into our routine. Of course, another big change is coming up. We are moving out of my parents' place this month into our apartment. I picked up the keys the other evening. I showed Elizabeth our new (still empty) apartment. She said she liked it :) She also said she would sleep "all by myself" in her new room all night. Ah...I wish I could believe that...
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Wow, it's been a while...
Ooops, I hadn't realized how long it's been since I've posted...Things are good here. The summer is passing way too quickly, but Elizabeth and I have been having a lot of fun on the weekends. And next week, we're on vacation- yay!!! Friday night after work, we are driving up to Maine and not coming back until Labor Day. I'm so psyched for a whole week off!!!
Elizabeth is doing great. The girl has more energy than this 42 year old Mama, that's for sure...Especially at bedtime, unfortunately. That's one reason I haven't blogged in so long. Lately, it's been taking her a long time to settle down and go to sleep at night, and so by the time she's finally asleep, it's late, and I'm too tired to do anything but go to bed myself. Often, in fact, I fall asleep with her in her bed, and wake up at like 1am, and crawl off bleary eyes into my own bed. And then at around 4am, Miss E wakes up and comes into my bed, where we both sleep until I have to get up for work. I don't mind her coming into my bed. I have no problem with that at all. What makes me crazy is it taking so long for her to go to sleep initially. Her being awake until sometimes 10 or 10:30 leaves me no time for myself in the evenings. I've thought about cutting her nap, but she still seems to really need it, even if it's just a quick 30 minutes. And all the kids nap at Day Care so I can't take away her nap during the week, anyway.
In other news, I've been looking at apartments this weekend, and found one that might work for us. We've been staying at my parents' condo all summer, but we will need our own place this fall when they return from Maine in October.
I guess that's all for now. 5 more days til vacay :)
Elizabeth is doing great. The girl has more energy than this 42 year old Mama, that's for sure...Especially at bedtime, unfortunately. That's one reason I haven't blogged in so long. Lately, it's been taking her a long time to settle down and go to sleep at night, and so by the time she's finally asleep, it's late, and I'm too tired to do anything but go to bed myself. Often, in fact, I fall asleep with her in her bed, and wake up at like 1am, and crawl off bleary eyes into my own bed. And then at around 4am, Miss E wakes up and comes into my bed, where we both sleep until I have to get up for work. I don't mind her coming into my bed. I have no problem with that at all. What makes me crazy is it taking so long for her to go to sleep initially. Her being awake until sometimes 10 or 10:30 leaves me no time for myself in the evenings. I've thought about cutting her nap, but she still seems to really need it, even if it's just a quick 30 minutes. And all the kids nap at Day Care so I can't take away her nap during the week, anyway.
In other news, I've been looking at apartments this weekend, and found one that might work for us. We've been staying at my parents' condo all summer, but we will need our own place this fall when they return from Maine in October.
I guess that's all for now. 5 more days til vacay :)
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Day at the zoo
Today I took Elizabeth to the Franklin Park Zoo in South Boston. It wasn't quite our beloved San Diego Zoo, but it was pretty cool. They even have a merry go round so Elizabeth took her very first carousel ride :)
She isn't smiling in any of these pictures, but she really did have a great time, I swear!!
She isn't smiling in any of these pictures, but she really did have a great time, I swear!!
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