Ben-The Duck Whisperer

Today we walked from our house down to the neighborhood playground.  Along the way, Ben stopped to talk to the ducks.  They all started following him and stayed right behind us until we left the area near the pond.  Then on our way back home, they spotted him again and followed us all the way out to the street we live on!  They kept getting right by Ben and quacking at him.  It was the funniest thing because they totally ignored the rest of us.  I guess my son must speak duck!

AHHHH!!!

"It has been two whole months since Mom/Aunt Leenie posted anything about any of us???  Unacceptable!"

April Pictures

April was a busy month, so I somehow managed not to post even one of the boys' pictures we had done!  We did spring pictures of both boys in their adorable suits for church.  April was also Ben's birthday, so we had birthday boy pictures done of his as well.  There are about 70 really great shots, but I'm only going to post 2 because the boys will be waking up soon!  Hope you enjoy!

Mother's Day

Here it is, May already.  And time to celebrate another Mother's Day.  I have to say that this is a bittersweet celebration for me every year.  First, I am overjoyed that I am Mommy to 2 amazing sons and Aunt/caregiver to 2 wonderful nephews.  I am blessed beyond measure with a mom that I love dearly and who would do anything for me.  But then I start to think about the fact that my amazing blessings came from someone else's loss and I can't help but feel sad for those other moms.  For my sister, who was a great mom to my 2 nephews because she died far too young and never got to see what handsome, smart, and loving young men her sons have become.  For R, Ben's birthmom, who has never seen his beautiful smile or heard his captivating laugh but who loved him beyond belief and wanted so much for him.  For J, Nico's birthmom, whom I love and who I see in my son's eyes every time he smiles and who loves our son so much that she wanted more for him than she felt she could provide. For my own mom, who lost her daughter and granddaughter when I lost my sister and niece.  And perhaps most of all for my sweet Ariana's birthmom, M, who may not even know about the loss of our mutual daughter.  So many losses wrapped up in our Mother's Day.  Some losses through death, some losses through adoption, all losses and all painful for some or all of us.  So, today on Mother's Day, I want to say thank you to each and every one of these special ladies-Mom, Gayle, M, R, and J.  All of you are amazing moms in your own way.

I read a quote on another adoptive mom's facebook that has really struck a cord with me, so I'd like to share it in honor of M, R, and J on Mother's Day:

He is mine in a way that he will never be hers, yet he is hers in a way that he will never be mine, and so together, we are motherhood. ~desha wood

Without those 3 amazing ladies, I wouldn't be a mother, so I am forever blessed for having their lives touch mine.

Haircuts, again!

Last week the boys got their hair cut-AGAIN!  Their hair grows soooo fast that I joke with our stylist that we could keep her in business just with our haircuts.  You'll have to excuse Nico's dirty face-it's impossible to keep him clean now that he is walking and into EVERYTHING! Also pay no attention to the half naked brother in the background reading a book :-)  LOL

No, Nico's curls haven't disappeared, I just combed it straight and let it dry that way in this picture.  His curls are alive and well with the help of a tiny amount of gel and a water bottle!

Notice that Ben is half naked in this picture?  You can thank my nephews for teaching him to run around with no shirt on.  The funniest part is that when Tony or Drew comes downstairs without a shirt on Ben always says, "I do not want to see you naked!  Go upstairs!" And yet he wants to run around half naked himself.  If the big boys see him, they always tell him they don't want to see him naked either but Ben just laughs and tells them too bad!  This boy cracks me up all day long.

More funny things with Ben...

Conversations overheard between Ben and his cousin:
Ben: (while hanging from the back of the couch) Ayduame!  Ayudame!
Cousin: Ben, there's no ayudemes here.  It's not the rainforest.
Ben: Ayudeme means help me.
Cousin: Oh.

At the playground:
Cousin: Ew!  I am never going down that slide again.  There's a giant bug crawling at the top.
Ben: Hmm...I better go take a look.

If laughter is the best medicine, I should be super healthy around here.

Big Boy Bed

It finally happened.  My sweet boy figured out how to climb out of his crib.  Nothing in this house is safe again and my peaceful sleeping days are done!