Names on my mind

Since first starting the adoption process we have had our future little girl's name firmly chosen . We chose "Mia" because Dan always liked the name "Maria" and when I quickly vetoed it "Mia" seemed like the perfect compromise. Mia also means "mine" in Latin. Silly as it sounds, it starts with an"M" and ends with a "a" like my name. Perfect choice! Or is it?

Three years is a long time to have a name and still be waiting to use it. Lately my mind has been wondering to all the different girl's names that I like. There are so many and unlike the "n" trend we unintentionally used with the boys, most of my girl's names follow the "a" trend. So why would I want to change names at this point? Am I bored with the name "Mia?" Do I need something "new" and "fresh"? Truth be told, this is my one and only chance to choose a name for my daughter and I want to make sure we choose something that we will always love. I don't want to regret her name choice.

On the other hand, the boys refer to her as "Mia", we refer to her as "Mia". Our blog is "Mia makes 6" not "Emma"! I have countless baby items waiting to be used with "her" name on them. I have Christmas ornaments with "her" name on them. What would I do with all this stuff? Would I regret not using our first name choice and end up mourning the name "Mia"?

I can hear a few select people yelling at the computer screen now shouting "are you kidding me, you can't change her name!" Most likely she will remain "Mia" but if I have to wait too much longer my mind could wonder again and "Mia" could end up "Emma".

Patience

Haven't I been patient long enough? I am not a very patient person by nature in regards to waiting. Before I had kids I would say I wasn't a very patient person period. In fact my lack of patience was one of my less endearing qualities. However 3 kids later and an adoption that feels like it has taken an eternity I have certainly had to put patience into practice. Now I just wait for that patience to pay off and I know it will in a big way but oh how I hope it comes soon!

5th grade farewell~a quick look back(in no particular order)

The end of the school year is quickly approaching and preparations are being made for the "5th grade farewell." Every year a special "farewell" party is planned for the 5th graders. This year the kids are going to a local rec center that offers indoor sports and swimming. The school is also making a DVD for the 5th graders of any school activites of the kids and each child will receive a copy. I have been looking through my pictures(most of them are sadly still on the computer) and have found a few to send in. Unfortunately I won't post them here because other kids are in the pictures with Ethan.

It is amazing to me that "six" years(including kindergarten) have passed so quickly and here we are at the end of his elementary school years. As I collected pictures for the DVD I found myself in one of those moments of "where did the time go?" It seems like only yesterday that I was putting him on the school bus (tissues in hand and tears in my eyes) to send him to "real school." That seemed like such a huge step. How did this shy little kindergartener that I felt such a need to nurture and protect from the big 5th graders at school now turn into one?

I will say at the begining of the school year I was in no way prepared to even think of Ethan going to middle school. Is homeschooling an option(not for us)? Tears would well up in my eyes every time I thought about it. I would watch previous 5th graders at their end of the year awards ceremony and I would start to tear up thinking about Ethan one day being at that point. Of course then it seemed so far away and I was just glad it was somebody else's child and not mine moving on to middle school. Well here we are. In what seemed like a blink of an eye. It is OUR turn. OUR turn to prepare and move on to the next stage in life. I am ready(at least most of me is). We are ready(I know Ethan is). Though I am sure when the last day is finally here not only will the tears well up but they will be flowing because this is MY kid.

Easter egg hunt

Does this ever happen to anyone else? Every year my mom counts the eggs, hides the eggs, and even writes down where she hid the eggs~all 43 of them and yet there are always a few that remain "lost." We eventually find them but it takes 4 adults and 3 kids to find the "missing" eggs. Leaving the eggs unfound is not an option because these Easter eggs do not contain candy. Nope these eggs contain money! After an hour or two(just kidding~it only seems like it) every egg is accounted for and every last quarter is counted.

Before Easter service

This look never lasts very long (see previous post) but they did look nice for Easter service.

Coloring eggs

Last night we went to my parent's house to color eggs with the boys. Before coloring eggs we went to church. As we were getting ready for church I had told the boys that since it was Easter service that they were going to have to dress a little nicer for church. Logan said "okay I will wear my jeans and a nice shirt." In his mind this is "dressing nicer" since he wears t-shirts and wind pants EVERY DAY. I told him he had a wear a nice pair of khaki pants and a casual shirt. This was my compromise with him and I thought it was very reasonable. It wasn't like I was asking him to wear a dress shirt and tie! I also told him he would only have to wear his outfit for church and he could change as soon as we got to my parent's house. Honestly you would have thought I was putting him in a dress because of the fit he threw! I have mentioned before that my boys are totally casual and it is quite a feat to get them to ever dress up! In the end Logan wore his "dressier" outfit complaining all the way. As soon as he hit my parent's door he went straight to the bathroom and changed into his "comfy clothes". All was right in his world and mine too!

*Notice the family photo with my boys in their casual wear.

18 months

and still no word. Unbelieveable! Over on the yahoo boards there have been some matches this week and there is also some confirmation from our agency that things are moving at a steady pace. I know we are so very close and that is what is making this process and wait that much more difficult. Not that it has ever really been "easy." My hopes are set for a referral by June but of course sooner would be a welcome surprise. My sanity is at stake here~lol!

Baby news!

The happy couple and the cousin that may be sharing his birthday with the new baby!

No not "our" baby news but definitely as equally exciting! My brother and sister in law are expecting their first baby! My sister in law is due Nov 7 which just happens to be Christian's birthday~another "holiday" baby! When I told Christian his new cousin was due on his birthday he said "does this mean I will still get my birthday card and money from Uncle Chris and Aunt Dana?"

I talked to my brother earlier this morning and we talked about all things baby! Strollers, car seats, the Boppy pillow(remember Chris this is a must), baby poop and even breast pads! I told him I felt strange talking to him about "breast pads" and "leaky breasts" and maybe this is a conversation I should be having with my SIL but he just replied "why?". I figured I might as well give him the low down because he will discover this soon enough!

The parents to be do plan on finding out the gender of the baby at their ultrasound. My brother is insisting that the baby is a boy and I am hoping for a girl. Out of my two siblings I am the only one with children and we all know that my family is full of testosterone for now. We need some PINK in this family! Congratulations to Chris and Dana! I am blowing some PINK baby dust from Ohio to California! Did you catch it?

Spring soccer at its best

Need I say more? It rained all day Friday and the soccer fields on Saturday were a complete muddy mess! We started the morning early with Christian's last indoor game at 7:00am, followed by Logan's first outdoor game at 9:00am, and finally Christian's first outdoor game at 11:00am. What a long and muddy morning! Not to mention that the wind blew nonstop! Where oh where is spring?