Elizabeth Reilly at 5 years old...
1. What is your favorite color? Pink
2. What is your favorite toy? Elsa
3. What is your favorite fruit? Apple
4. What is your favorite tv show or movie? Big Hero Six and Octonauts
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Peanut Butter and Jelly
6. What is your favorite game? Candy land (She just got it for her birthday)
7. What is your favorite snack? Fruit Snacks
8. What is your favorite animal? Giraffe
9. What is your favorite song? Let it Go
13. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Swing
14. What is your favorite drink? Juice
15. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
16. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Rainbow Dash and Green Blankie
17. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Cinnamon Toast Crunch
18. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Pizza
19. What do you want to be when you grow up? Doctor
20. Imagine that you can become invisible whenever you wanted to. What are some of the things you would do? Whatever I wanted.
21. I am very proud because… I can ride my bike with no training wheels and swim without floaties.
22. If I were President I would… not sure.
23. I am afraid to ... I'm still a little afraid I'm going to fall off my bike.
24. Name one thing you do really well? swim without floaties
25. Describe what it means to be a good friend. Not taking stuff away from your friend.
26. What is your favorite time of day? Breakfast time because I get to eat cinnamon toast crunch.
27. Describe your best day ever? Sunday
28. Describe your favorite hobby. Swimming.
29. Climbing trees is… fun
30. I wish there were a law that said…..
31. What makes you feel sad? When people take stuff away from me.
32. What makes you feel happy? When they give it back. Having my green blankie and rainbow dash.
33. Pretend that you can fly whenever you wanted. Where would you go? The zoo.
34. If I could choose a different name, I would choose…Sparkles
35. Where do you want to go on vacation? Disney World and Mexico.
36. What is your favorite thing to do with Mom or Dad? Going to church.
I'm constantly learning from this precious girl. I am forever honored to be her mom. She brings joy and sometimes I feel so overwhelmed by my love for her. I don't remember my life without her. It seems like it would have been pretty boring. Not every moment is picture perfect, but she's a pretty easy kid. She is so much like me its scary sometimes and more often than not I fall short at parenting her. My prayer for her is that she continues to love others and continues to do her best! She is an incredible tiny human and I look forward to the many years to come!
*side note: before her fourth birthday Elle said multiple times and in different ways that she would not live to be 5. It scared me after she said it several times, but eventually I forgot about it. My mom however has been counting down the days until she turned 5. She made it. She's still living and we are so so grateful!
Saturday, March 28, 2015
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Happy hump day!
The best thing about today....
Watching Lorelai climb on top of the slide at chick fil a. She was scared, but she kept trying and did it all by herself! And then immediately wanted down.
Also, Traes discovered how to climb up and come down the slide.
Major milestones today. Major.
Watching Lorelai climb on top of the slide at chick fil a. She was scared, but she kept trying and did it all by herself! And then immediately wanted down.
Also, Traes discovered how to climb up and come down the slide.
Major milestones today. Major.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Beauty from Ashes....
My life has been one great adventure. Really. One day maybe I'll write a book. But, for now, a very long blog post will have to do.
First of all, if you don't know my adoption story refer to the following posts. It's a good place to start.
Adoption Story
(you're going to have to follow more links in that post to read the first few stories. But, I figured that was easier than posting all of the links again in this post. C'mon, I'm not a pro blogger)
Anyway, after you read those (or already know the story), it just keeps going.
About 3 weeks ago I arrived at my Parent's house to clean and my sister was crying. She informed me that she found our biological mother on Facebook and there were pictures of us as babies/toddlers. For those of you who don't know, I have waited my whole adopted life (20 years) to have baby pictures. It may not seem like a huge deal, but you probably have baby pictures. If you don't, you might understand. Anyway, I quickly went over to the computer to look at them. I wanted to cry. I was staring straight at my oldest daughter Elizabeth. It was crazy. Of course, it was really me as a baby/toddler. We continued looking at pictures and Reilly then informed me that she sent Renee (my bio mom) a friend request. OH MY GOSH! I was really angry at first because she didn't discuss it with me first and when we've talked about it through the years, we've agreed that we would do it together. Obviously, we process things very differently. I'm the overthinking, analyzing every detail, playing scenarios through my head type of person and Reilly is the impulsive, lets do this kind of person. I'm thinking about everything that friend request means. How it opens the door to a world I'm not ready to step into. Reilly is just excited because she's always wanted to meet her bio mom and she found her. Period.
After I got over being frustrated and mad at Reilly, I started to get excited for her. FOR HER. I hadn't even really begun to process through my own feelings. Part of me didn't want to. Part of me didn't really know how. I wasn't prepared for this. I didn't want to find/meet my bio mom. I remember/know everything that happened during the first 4 years of my life. Reilly knows, but it didn't happen to her. It's hard to get it unless it happened to you. She has just always had a longing to meet her bio mom. I understand that, but I still didn't really know how to process (honestly, I'm not sure I've figured it out yet). I did, however, know it meant more than just meeting our bio mom. It meant an entire family that has been waiting to find us for years. A family who only wanted what was best for us and couldn't take care of us. Somehow, I've always known that. I knew there would be tons of people, not just one person.
Renee accepted Reilly's friend request, but didn't respond to her message. After a few days, Reilly wrote on her wall to tell her to check her messages. The next morning, at 5:30 am, Reilly texted me to call her ASAP. Elle happened to have woken me up around that time and I knew it meant Renee had responded. She was so excited to hear from Reilly and didn't respond sooner because she didn't really know who Reilly was and didn't know Reilly sent a message. She told Reilly to call her that afternoon when she got off work. After she messaged back and forth with Renee on Facebook, several family members started sending requests and messages. Reilly started to feel overwhelmed. But, not in a bad way.
Reilly called me later that morning not sure if she should call Renee or not. She had started to realize what this meant. Now, she was processing more like I do. I told her the door had already been opened and if she wanted to meet Renee, now was the time. She called Renee and they talked for quite a while about different stuff. Renee invited us to Heather's (cousin) house for Thanksgiving that Saturday. When Reilly first told me I was thinking "HELL NO", but told her I didn't know if I was ready to meet that many people at once. It might be overwhelming. Well, of course it would be overwhelming, but after thinking and processing some more, I decided it might be better than 20 different meetings. So, I told Reilly we could go if she wanted. But, Scott was coming too.
I got on Facebook and had requests and messages too. I still hadn't processed. I wasn't sure what to say or do. I accepted the friend requests and wrote back, but was still in a big fog of feelings. Seriously, for these last few weeks I have been in a fog and not myself. Just ask my friends. I started to get excited about meeting the family. These are the people I have always wondered about. The people who had to let me go, so I could have a better life. I can't imagine doing the same. We made plans. We RSVP'd. This was really happening.
You can take a coffee/tea/snack/water break if you need to.
Oh, I forgot to mention, I have 3 brothers. 3 BROTHERS! I was only some what excited to meet them though. I was having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I had 3 brothers. And, now, as I type this tears fill my eyes because I have 3 brothers. Anyway, the day to meet everyone came around and we all packed up (my parents too) and drove to Little Elm. I wasn't ready to meet anyone. I was going to support my sister. I still had barely begun to process my feelings about all of it, much less having brothers. When we got there, Anthony, my youngest brother, was standing outside. I immediately felt overwhelmed with love for him. I had felt nothing before that moment. Nothing. As soon as I wrapped my arms around him, I couldn't help but cry. I was holding my brother. MY BROTHER! He is absolutely precious (I can say that because he's my little brother). We went inside and met everyone else. My bio mom, bio grandmother, Aunts, Uncle, Cousins. All of them. It was wonderful, overwhelming, scary, and a whirlwind of other feelings I can't even begin to describe.
I hope there will be more bloggable moments to come from this. I hope that God works some great miracles through all of this happening. In case you didn't realize it, this is kind of a BIG deal. I'm still having a hard time realizing what has happened. It feels so surreal and movie like. It doesn't seem like my life. But, it is. I hope that God uses me through all of this. That he will continue to bring beauty from the ashes of my life. I have no doubt that he will.
Also, I finally got my baby pictures. They are on Facebook. But, here is a pic of my brother and I...
First of all, if you don't know my adoption story refer to the following posts. It's a good place to start.
Adoption Story
(you're going to have to follow more links in that post to read the first few stories. But, I figured that was easier than posting all of the links again in this post. C'mon, I'm not a pro blogger)
Anyway, after you read those (or already know the story), it just keeps going.
About 3 weeks ago I arrived at my Parent's house to clean and my sister was crying. She informed me that she found our biological mother on Facebook and there were pictures of us as babies/toddlers. For those of you who don't know, I have waited my whole adopted life (20 years) to have baby pictures. It may not seem like a huge deal, but you probably have baby pictures. If you don't, you might understand. Anyway, I quickly went over to the computer to look at them. I wanted to cry. I was staring straight at my oldest daughter Elizabeth. It was crazy. Of course, it was really me as a baby/toddler. We continued looking at pictures and Reilly then informed me that she sent Renee (my bio mom) a friend request. OH MY GOSH! I was really angry at first because she didn't discuss it with me first and when we've talked about it through the years, we've agreed that we would do it together. Obviously, we process things very differently. I'm the overthinking, analyzing every detail, playing scenarios through my head type of person and Reilly is the impulsive, lets do this kind of person. I'm thinking about everything that friend request means. How it opens the door to a world I'm not ready to step into. Reilly is just excited because she's always wanted to meet her bio mom and she found her. Period.
After I got over being frustrated and mad at Reilly, I started to get excited for her. FOR HER. I hadn't even really begun to process through my own feelings. Part of me didn't want to. Part of me didn't really know how. I wasn't prepared for this. I didn't want to find/meet my bio mom. I remember/know everything that happened during the first 4 years of my life. Reilly knows, but it didn't happen to her. It's hard to get it unless it happened to you. She has just always had a longing to meet her bio mom. I understand that, but I still didn't really know how to process (honestly, I'm not sure I've figured it out yet). I did, however, know it meant more than just meeting our bio mom. It meant an entire family that has been waiting to find us for years. A family who only wanted what was best for us and couldn't take care of us. Somehow, I've always known that. I knew there would be tons of people, not just one person.
Renee accepted Reilly's friend request, but didn't respond to her message. After a few days, Reilly wrote on her wall to tell her to check her messages. The next morning, at 5:30 am, Reilly texted me to call her ASAP. Elle happened to have woken me up around that time and I knew it meant Renee had responded. She was so excited to hear from Reilly and didn't respond sooner because she didn't really know who Reilly was and didn't know Reilly sent a message. She told Reilly to call her that afternoon when she got off work. After she messaged back and forth with Renee on Facebook, several family members started sending requests and messages. Reilly started to feel overwhelmed. But, not in a bad way.
Reilly called me later that morning not sure if she should call Renee or not. She had started to realize what this meant. Now, she was processing more like I do. I told her the door had already been opened and if she wanted to meet Renee, now was the time. She called Renee and they talked for quite a while about different stuff. Renee invited us to Heather's (cousin) house for Thanksgiving that Saturday. When Reilly first told me I was thinking "HELL NO", but told her I didn't know if I was ready to meet that many people at once. It might be overwhelming. Well, of course it would be overwhelming, but after thinking and processing some more, I decided it might be better than 20 different meetings. So, I told Reilly we could go if she wanted. But, Scott was coming too.
I got on Facebook and had requests and messages too. I still hadn't processed. I wasn't sure what to say or do. I accepted the friend requests and wrote back, but was still in a big fog of feelings. Seriously, for these last few weeks I have been in a fog and not myself. Just ask my friends. I started to get excited about meeting the family. These are the people I have always wondered about. The people who had to let me go, so I could have a better life. I can't imagine doing the same. We made plans. We RSVP'd. This was really happening.
You can take a coffee/tea/snack/water break if you need to.
Oh, I forgot to mention, I have 3 brothers. 3 BROTHERS! I was only some what excited to meet them though. I was having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I had 3 brothers. And, now, as I type this tears fill my eyes because I have 3 brothers. Anyway, the day to meet everyone came around and we all packed up (my parents too) and drove to Little Elm. I wasn't ready to meet anyone. I was going to support my sister. I still had barely begun to process my feelings about all of it, much less having brothers. When we got there, Anthony, my youngest brother, was standing outside. I immediately felt overwhelmed with love for him. I had felt nothing before that moment. Nothing. As soon as I wrapped my arms around him, I couldn't help but cry. I was holding my brother. MY BROTHER! He is absolutely precious (I can say that because he's my little brother). We went inside and met everyone else. My bio mom, bio grandmother, Aunts, Uncle, Cousins. All of them. It was wonderful, overwhelming, scary, and a whirlwind of other feelings I can't even begin to describe.
I hope there will be more bloggable moments to come from this. I hope that God works some great miracles through all of this happening. In case you didn't realize it, this is kind of a BIG deal. I'm still having a hard time realizing what has happened. It feels so surreal and movie like. It doesn't seem like my life. But, it is. I hope that God uses me through all of this. That he will continue to bring beauty from the ashes of my life. I have no doubt that he will.
Also, I finally got my baby pictures. They are on Facebook. But, here is a pic of my brother and I...
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Poop and standing on her sister
Poop. Poop. Poop.
Everywhere.
In her panties.
In the bath.
On her legs.
On the carpet.
In the toilet (yay!).
On Lorelai*
At the park.
In the pull up. Twice.
Everywhere.
The odd thing is, she didn't seem to notice it. Ever. She usually does, but this was a different kind of poop. She wasn't bothered. Except by the multiple changes of clothes.
And, to top of the wonderful (said sarcastically) week we've been having. She stood on her sister with both feet and bounced. Luckily Lorelai didn't seem bothered either.
Yes, daddy is at the station. But, tomorrow they are all his. For a little bit anyway.
*just to clarify this was Lorelai's poop. Elle's never made it onto Lor. Although there is always tomorrow.
Friday, May 4, 2012
3.5 years later...
3.5 years ago 3 friends were laying on a bed watching the tv show FRIENDS on DVD. Laughing historically. Tonight, they finished the series.
During the time that it took us to get through the entire series, we each had two kids (that is 6 total in case you needed help with the math). When we first started only one of us was pregnant.
It was definitely bittersweet to finish. Sad because it's over, but grateful to be sharing life with these two women and their families. It is so easy to take your friends for granted and as cheesy as it is, ending the series tonight was a great reminder of how blessed we are. And, a friendly reminder that none of us is allowed to move away.
It took us 3.5 years to get through the series, but it was 3.5 years of great laughter and fun times together. Also, goes to show you how much kids change things. It might have taken 1/3 of the time had we not become baby making machines.
Thank you FRIENDS for the entertainment and the reminder of the importance of living in community together. Thank you Mindie and Maggie for being such great friends and living this thing called life with me. You guys definitely make me a a better wife, mom, and overall person.
Also, in case you didn't know...the title of my blog is inspired by the titles of all the FRIENDS episodes...
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Her favorite princess
Elle and I had a mommy/daughter date tonight. We went to chick fil a and Target. She got some princess stuff from the dollar spot and the check out lady asked who her favorite princess is. After asking several times she finally replied "Mommy".
If that doesn't make this motherhood thing worth it, I don't know what would.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Going to the doctor...
Elle: I'm leaving guys (with her nap-n-go on her shoulder like a purse, and milk in her hand)
Me: where are you going?
Elle: the doctor
Me: okay. Let me know how it goes
Elle leaves and enters again
Elle: I'm home
Me: what did the doctor say?
Elle: no more monkeys jumping on the bed (pointing her finger as she says it)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)