Tonight

I finally had some time to myself. While attempting to clear out the DVR, I rolled my eyes that Dez was still awake in the other room. Sighing, I filled the baby tylenol syringe hastily, grabbed some fresh milk and thought, "Make it fast, kid, I have stuff to do."

He was standing in his crib crying. At first glance I assumed it was his new teeth trying to come to the New Tooth Party (that's a real thing?), so I quickly gave him the medicine and scooped him up to give him milk to wash the meds down. He drank some but pushed the cup away and immediately snuggled into my shoulder.

He was so peaceful, so sweet that I gave in and walked quietly over to the rocking chair we got as a wedding gift. He didn't get fidgety like he normally would, but seemed to settle in with a big sigh.

This was a rare moment and I wished so badly to have a picture or video of it. That's my immediate reaction to anything I want to remember. I thought of Mary treasuring things in her heart and wondered how she really did that. I'm so dependent on photos, blog entries, and video.

His breathing deepened and each blink seemed to last a bit longer than the last. We sleep-trained him so well, it's been months since he fell asleep with anyone holding him. He's never this still. Never this content to be so still.

Rocking him to sleep brought up a strong feeling from last summer. For a month, that's all I did with him at the residential facility during visiting hours. Hold him, rocking back and forth, listening to him breath. Except last summer I spent that time wondering what would happen with us, with him. Having sometimes gentle, sometimes aggressive conversations in my head with God. I so wanted this baby.

I know better than to bargain with God, making promises if He comes through on something. But I also felt so fragile from the previous few months that I found myself scared of wanting him so badly.

Desmond broke my stream of consciousness by sighing deeply. I looked down and realized he'd been staring at me. I squinted my eyes, looked hard through that perfect squishy toddler face to find the tiny infant face I remembered so well and said, "It worked out for us this time, Dez, we get to keep you forever." He started some giggles while I wiped away my own tears.

This might sound odd, but more than not, I forget that our boys are adopted. They are just my boys, plain and simple...and oh-so-complex.

The status of Eliot, vol 2.

I thought it was time again, since I can't seem to stop myself from using social media to record my son's ridiculousness. Here's any Eliot-related status updates from my FB page.

*"I just got Love & Logic'ed by my 5 year old. "Mom, do you want me to watch cartoons or play Wii?""

*"Not only did Eliot find the girl scout cookie stash, he moved it to his snack shelf."

*"An Eliot Mohr original, sung to the tune of Take Me Out To The Ballgame: take me out to the bathroom, take me out to the poop, buy me some toilet paper, mommy, mumble mumble, for its nun-ber 2 right now in the ol bathroom!"

*"Little bit jealous of how easily Eliot makes Dez laugh uncontrollably."

*"Dear Eliot, for your 6th birthday you get to climb an active volcano with 20 sorority girls. That's just the kind of parents we are...happy birthday."

*"E woke me up this morning by asking for a mohawk and a pool in the back yard."

*"In the middle of watching a cartoon after school, Eliot sighed and said, "Ah..it's great to be home." I mean, really?"

*"Cutest thing I've heard today: "Mom, can Dez be Mayan so we can make him a cape that says Flyin Mayan Baby?""

*"Yesterday while walking to school, Eliot slowly kept moving his index finger along the palm of his opposite hand. When questioned, he said he was using Google maps to get to school."

*"I know you've gotten a lot of Eliot quotes lately, but he just came to me and said, "Mom, I have to tell you something. I'm going to wear socks with sandals today. It's going to be okay, Mom.""

*"Fav part of the trip thus far: while chillin' after climbing to the top of a hill overlooking Antigua, Eliot spontaneously and quietly started singing "He's got the whole world in His hands""

*"Eliot: Mom, God likes mohawks.
Me: really? How do u know that?
Eliot: Cuz He made zebras with them."

*"Me: Eliot, can I have one of your goldfish?
E: Yep, here you go (as he hands me a tiny crumb)
Me: Uh...hello, I'm your mother! Don't I get a bigger one? (I teach entitlement as soon as possible)
E: here you go, sorry! (hands me a bigger broken piece)
Me: Eliot! Really? Why aren't you sharing a whole fish?
E: (whispers) because the broken ones are my favorite..."

*"So far today, Eliot has reprimanded me for never putting away my shoes and for still being in my pajamas and it's almost 10:00! #whendoessummerschoolstart?"

*"To let you know what parenting issues we have ahead of us: Eliot just casually mentioned he had a dream about Wonder Woman."

*"Yesterday I had "The Chat" with Eliot. Didn't see that coming so soon. I explained how great facial bone structure doesn't excuse you from being honest with the world. That kind of dishonesty not only hurts you but cheats everyone out of a second album. This after I caught him humming along with Blame It On The Rain."

*"Eliot has started calling Russ Mohr "RussBucket"."

*"Reason #352 to have two kids: while one stresses you out the other is quietly singing "Ice ice baby... too cold, too cold" off in the distance."

*"Yes I'm wearing a tutu and tiara while making dinner. My 3 ninjas are protecting their princess, duh."

*"Fairly certain Eliot is the only person on the planet still singing "Pants on the Ground" on a regular basis."

*"Me: Eliot, we're eating salmon for dinner.
E: uh...who's Sam?"

*"Me: eliot, what are you guys doing in there?
E: Just teaching Dez how to do a cartwheel."

*"Me: Eliot, socks with sandals again?
Eliot: I'm sexy and I know it."

(Here's the Eliot status updates from Jan-Mar.)

7/12

July's date got trumped (ha! get it?) by a somewhat impromptu trip to my favorite city. Russ had a meeting there on Monday, we had a free place to stay and enough miles built up that everything fell into place for a few days getaway. I missed our boys like crazy but I don't often get to miss them, which I think is healthy. But we don't need to tackle that parenting issue on this post.

(p.s. our original July date was an outdoor activity and the STL has been host to 100+ temps all month, so it was a good date to postpone anyway...#planningfail)

We spent an afternoon at Coney Island.

Downtown!

30 Rock! (Hi Kenneth!)

We also spent way too much time at The Frying Pan and Pier Maritime 66. Who knew Hoboken would host such a beautiful sunset?!

Such a great long weekend getaway! We actually didn't get a whole lot of time with just the two of us (more NYC pics soon!) but couldn't resist time with friends and family.

For more peeps rockin' the 12 in 12 in '12, click here.

Eliot turned 6! (a couple months ago...)

Eliot's birthday happen to fall during our trip to Guatemala this year. So, for his birthday we brought him to his homeland with 20 sorority girls and let him ride horseback up an active volcano.(yes, the same volcano that kept us there last trip...)

Go big or go home.

His actual b-day started at &Cafe, then we headed to one of our ministry sites to freshen up the paint, which he was happy to help with...

"The World's Greatest Brownie" happens to be baked at a restaurant next to our hotel and one of our Baylor girls happens to love being a weirdo to people on their birthday.

A couple days later, we took the team to hike Volcano Pacaya. Russ and I have both been several times but have never taken Eliot. We decided he could handle it, since he's so very old and mature now. We also knew they offered "taxi" service for a small fee. Win/win.

Our guide took us to this spot in the volcano where you can actually climb into this small hole and it's crazy hot inside. Like a mini-sauna. Check that off the to-do list?

Happy birthday, Flyin' Mayan!

Wordless Wednesday

Putting a dollar in the Awkward Jar

Last week I discovered a large chunk of avocado from an appetizer in my side ponytail during a party at a friends house. No idea how long that was there.

Baby Book Entry: Dez.

*At the ripe age of 13+ months, Dez popped two teeth out! We've been on baby food since he was 4 months old so this is AMAZING NEWS! I might have painted my face Braveheart style, run into the street, threw my arms in the air and yelled "FREEDOM!".

*In unrelated news, our neighbors just moved out.

*Dez also started walking at 12 months, thanks to a need/desire/passion to kick the soccer ball. Click here for the vid.

*He's signing "more", "all done" and "please" regularly. Yes, he's brilliant. nbd.

*At his 12 month appt the doctor was less than impressed with Dez's height progress so we may look into some testing stuff at his 15mos appt next month. Meanwhile, I'm stuffing him full of as much food as he'll eat.

*In unrelated news, Dez really enjoys hanging by his ankles.

*Dez is already quite skilled in the art of sword fighting. Eliot has named him Ninja Baby.

*He's definitely a pistol around here. He's as silly as he is feisty. Gonna have to pull out a different kind of parenting on this one.

*Good thing he's ridiculously cute...

Neglected.

If my blog had a love language it would be "Quality Time" and if we were having a discussion about our relationship (DTR?), it would be all, "YOUR LOVE DOESN'T FEEL LIKE LOVE!" and I would be all, "I'm just going through a lot right now" and it would be all, "That's why you need me more than ever" and I would hang my head and promise to do better.

6/12

This pic made the night for me.

Originally this date was all about dinner. And the new outfits we were going to have. The plan was to head to Goodwill, each with $10 to find the "perfect" evening attire for the other person. Between early Goodwill closing hours, babysitter availability, and late reservations, we just went to dinner in our normal clothes. The outfit treasure finding will have to be moved to another date.

We went into this date with reservations.(da dum, chhhhh) We'd heard awful awful things about their treatment of Groupon customers and the reviews were terrible. We had friends who went and had a less than great experience as well. People's complaints had to do with the most expensive items all the sudden not being available, no bread on the table, etc. when other tables (non-groupon peeps) were getting those things and more. We went anyway, looking at it as an adventure. Crappy service? Lame menu choices? Adventure. Ya with me?!

It turned out to be awesome! They didn't have the filet but allowed Russ to substitute something from another part of the menu. Then they had run out of that by the time my dinner was ready to they brought him a totally different entre (similar-ish and yummy) and a $25 gift certificate. AND we got bread. The food was great as well as the service.

The restaurant was in one of our old stompin' grounds, the Central West End. We lived there our first 2 years in St. Louis. After dinner we walked the neighborhood and settled at a local coffee shop for ice cream and coffee.

We had a really great night, LOVING these little getaways.

For more people dating their 2012 away...click here.