Fav Foto Friday

Ash insisted on bringing his Elmo book in the car on the way to daycare this morning - and he actually sat and flipped through the pages and "read" it to himself for the entire 10 minute trip!

Child Friendly What?

I'm a firm believer that anything you enjoyed pre-child can also be enjoyed with-child. Period. Ok, maybe not ANYTHING, but just about everything. I mean, obviously we're not going to bring Ash to our friends housewarming that is mostly an appetizer tasting event with lots of people. Oh wait...we did that and he LOVED it. What I meant to write was, obviously we're not going to bring Ash to an art opening where there will be "breakables" or "no touches" on the wall and loads of adults out to have a good evening. Oh wait...we did that and he LOVED it. I mean, what I REALLY meant to write was... well, you get the picture. We're just not that family who redefines what life is simply because they're now 3 instead of 2 and 1 of those 3 prefers a bottle of milk rather than a glass of grownup grape juice.

I'll concede that our parenting strategies tend to lean towards the progressive side but we still enjoy being surprised from time to time as to how child friendly every activity could actually potentially be. For example, twice in the last week we've had absolutely scrumptious white tablecloth dinners at notable restaurants in NY. With Ashton. That lasted multiple courses. And are SOOOO the type of events that other parents have attempted to convince us are things we'll never get to do again because our entire life (with child) will now be COMPLETELY different. I beg to differ.

First restaurant, Landmarc (NYC, NY - Their Tribeca location)
The menu is a fabulous concoction of perfectly grilled meat daily fresh pasta specials and oysters and all other sorts of loveliness, but the kicker is... so is the kids menu! Ash ordered their pigs in a blanket which turned out to NOT be a plate stuffed with hot dogs fried in buns, rather a presentation of homemade sausages covered with fluffy phyllo dough. He devoured the deliciousness while mom and dad enjoyed a perfectly prepared steak salad and the day's special pasta paired with the most perfect Bordeaux. All while the waitstaff kept Ash entertained with crayons, coloring paper, and playfullness. And the creme de la creme? Every table dining with children automatically has a basket of cotton candy brought for dessert. Seriously. A nummy pleasant evening to say the least.

Second restaurant, Harvest Cafe (New Paltz, NY)
Much like the first experience the waitstaff seemed to really enjoy having children in the dining room. And as an added incentive they host "family night" on Thursdays where kids eat free and mom or dad get a complementary glass of wine with their meal. Sold. They welcomed us with crayons and a coloring book for Ash as well as their signature pumpkin bread which may have been the only negative of the evening. Not because it was bad, but because Mike finally realized that he now has competition for the good bread at the table - whereas before I would let him have it all, Ash isn't so gracious. He proceeded to eat the entire plate...Mike got none. Poor daddy... :( Anyhow, Ash proceeded to munch on a Manchego cheese quesadilla while Mike spooned a stuffing/fruit stuffed acorn squash and I drooled over every bite of my sage infused duck breast. Another nummy pleasant evening.

I'll admit there have been changes, but to be honest I couldn't name one that sticks out in my mind as having actually changed anything. After all, life is already very child-friendly, it's us who need to be reminded that children are life-friendly.

We're So Lame

We thought in advance, "hey - how about going out Wednesday night?" and actually followed through and booked a sitter. We thought we'd catch up on some cinema and go see Changeling and then head to a multi-course indulgent dinner after, and MAYBE be back by 11PM.

Ahem... Enter reality.

We got to the theater and realized that Madagascar II was a whole hour SHORTER than Changeling, and both of us (already yawning at the ripe hour of 7PM) decided that short and funny beats long and thoughtful, so we opted for the cartoon. After the flick (which didn't totally suck, but really wasn't that great) we headed to a sushi bar where we knew we could fill up on relatively healthy goodies without having to wait on courses... and we were home by 9:17. At least the black miso cod was delicious.

So, date night found us relieving the babysitter a bit earlier than planned and cuddled up on the couch enjoying the CMA's. And we don't even listen to country music... that much. Ahh, the difference a year makes.

Tonight was perfect.

Road To Readoption

We're finally moving forward to make everything A-Z 100% NON-reversibly FINISHED. I'm actually quite stunned that it took us this long (a whole whopping 5 months) but I suppose there were better things to do with our time over the last nearly 1/2-year that may justify having put this process off. In NY the process involves hiring a lawyer, filling out and notarizing a ton of forms, fingerprinting (AGAIN! Seriously, this is the 3rd set of fingerprints we've had taken - why are our digitized federal fingerprints that we had taken for our I-171H not suitable?), and a few other paperwork lovely experiences like physicals, marriage certificates, and the like. It's like recompiling a dossier for the purpose of just recompiling your dossier - because nothing has changed, they just need it all to be redone, again. I don't get it, but I'll happily do it, because it's what needs to be done.

And regardless of how long it takes us to complete the readoption the fact still remains that at the beginning, middle, and end of each and every LOVELY day we already have a very precious document - his Ethiopian birth certificate that lists the names of his parents...Ours.

As of today we've submitted all of the necessary documents to our lawyer with the exception of our medicals. Ash's pediatrician is working on his and Mike and I go in to our doctor tomorrow to have ours filled out, so hopefully we'll have the remaining docs in the mail by early next week. And then we wait, again, for a court date. Only this time court will be in NY and the possibility of not making it through due to lack of electricity or water or any number of events should not be an issue. The court date we receive this time should be pretty set in stone.

Once completed we'll have Ashton's US birth certificate which will reflect his name change, his Social Security Card (and number of course), and the ability to file for a US passport. Yee-freaking-double-haw. We'll finally be able to book that trip to Hong Kong we've been planning and hopefully bring our son overseas a few times before he turns 2 and full-priced airfare kicks in ;)

Happy date night Wednesday!

On Health And Date Night

Back in the "babywait" days I used the excuse that we were anxious and waiting therefor deserved to indulge in the occasional (or frequent...) high calorie meal. My weaknesses:

*Plates of fried chicken (buffalo, spicy, battered, and dripping with hot sauce)
*Cheese
*Anything dipped in cheese
*Anything with cheese as a topping

But hey, I was babywaiting, so it was ok! So now what's my excuse? I blame butter. Pre-Ashton days we were very strict olive oil and nonfat cooking spray users, and pretty much everything (other than olive oil) was purchased in the fat free version. With a one year old, however, things have obviously had to change - because he actually needs fat. I haven't quite hammered out the details of how I can cook healthy meals for Ashton that include the "real" ingredients (butter, full fat dairy products, etc...) while still maintaining a healthy diet for myself (nonfat sprays, light or fat free everything) so to help the process along... we joined the gym. Thankfully I have weaknesses in this area as well:

*Angelina Jolie
*Jonny Depp
*Childcare for the cost of a cup of coffee

Some might wonder how these three items could be considered gym "weaknesses" and why I'm actually thankful for them. Well, our gym has a room called Cinema Cardio where there are a bunch of treadmills, eliptical machines, and bikes stationed in front of a giant movie screen. They show high action flicks that don't require headphones so that you can sweat to the likes of Angelina Jolie and Jonny Depp. If I had to list the top two images that would inspire me to work just a little bit harder it would definitely be those two. Last weekend they showed Tomb Raider and I swear the fight scene where Anglina swings from a bungee cord while beating off an entire team of intrudors logged my fastest running speed yet. And then there's the gym's almost-free childcare so that while mom and dad are being reminded of the exact location of every musscle in our body our sweet child can spend some time jumping off the walls in a neon color foam padded room. He wins.

Tonight we're taking him swimming, because quite frankly no amount of Angelina or Jonny could possibly override the stinging pain caused by "first weekend back at the gym and I'm in PAIN" syndrome.

On another note, with the economy in the tank and a very busy two months ahead with birthdays and holidays we decided the most fiscally responsible way to prepare would be to hire a babysitter and go on a date. My goal is that I'll have put in enough hours at the gym by date night to fit into an outfit from my pre-butter days, so that we can then go to a restaurant where there will inevitably be... lots of butter.

I Love Sundays

And the reason is clear, I'm mom to this little boy. This perfect adorable little boy. A little boy who is already doing great things, and will one day do things even greater. He is hopeful, he is inspiring, and he trusts his mommy and daddy that he's in good hands. And THAT trust is something more coveted than I could have ever possibly imagined. He looks at us as if to say, "Ok guys, you're it - now do it well". We will, we promise.

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

"Rosa sat so that Martin could walk.
Martin walked so that Barack could run.
Barack ran so that my children might fly."
-Author unknown

Happy 18 month birthday Ashton!

History

The United States of America has elected an African American male as their President. My mind is at a loss right now and couldn't possibly add anything of greater meaning than that which has just happened. History people, HISTORY. Some pretty freaking fabulous history.

Cheers to a new America.

VOTE!

The original plan for today was to bring Ash to daycare, vote, work, then pick up Ash and head to a friend's home to watch history being made. Plans changed around 11:40 when daycare called to inform me that Ash's temperature was 104 degrees... I rushed to pick him up and am now home (though I was still able to vote before the daycare call) with a sick boy in my lap. So, instead of conference calls and frequent trips to nytimes.com for election updates the afternoon has switched focus to Children's Motrin and Finding Nemo. His fever has been going down steadily and now I'm starting to wonder if this all wasn't just his way of getting out of daycare so that he could be glued to election coverage... The McGregors voted, have you?

Clueless But Certain

I have no clue why many readers couldn't read posts under the recent redesign, or why the problem is magically solved now that I've gone to a stark white blog background. I have no clue why Ash has decided that food is now the enemy and prefers to be on a purely liquid all soy milk all the time diet. I have no clue how to perfectly handle the multiple back and forths to the city this week and which ones should take priority, justify staying the night in Brooklyn, or even justify utilizing the newest potential SOLVE ALL OUR PROBLEMS drop off daycare center less than a mile from our apartment. I'm clueless, and I'm so OK with that.

I'm clueless as to how tomorrow will turn out, but I'm 100% certain on what I'll do to impact the outcome. VOTE.

These two adorable boys can rest assured that their mom's will vote

This Is What I'm Talking About...

Halloween kid-style: First a parade (with lollipops) then goodies at the village firehouse (including lollipops) then trick or treating at the local shops (more lollipops), and let me tell you, he caught on to the trick or treating concept QUICKLY! We ended the evening with dinner at Rock Da Pasta (awful name, GREAT PASTA) and then headed home for a bath. And somehow, despite his obvious sugar high he still managed to defy all odds and fall asleep at a somewhat normal hour. Our little Clifford the Big Red Dog dozed off leaving his pail of goodies on the kitchen table...now the true test, how strong are mom and dad? Today rocked.

Happy Halloween From Clifford The Big Red Dog!

VOTE

And just in case you missed the version released earlier this month aimed at encouraging voter registration:

Oops...

During the blog redesign I lost all of my sidebar information. The links to other blogs are what I'm working on rewriting for now, so if you notice your blog no longer appearing in my list please comment or email with your URL and I'll add it back in. Thanks!

Dessert

Tonight we enjoyed a special dessert thanks to Ashton's fan club (his grandmas) - a Halloween cookie and a Halloween book! He didn't even see it coming and then all of a sudden we were clearing the table after dinner and he had a delicious cookie and a cool new book on his highchair - he's definitely sharing this fabulous story with all of his daycare buds tomorrow. Way to go Grandmas, thank you!

In other dessert news, Ashton will be attending his first art opening on Thursday. For the first time in over 7 years it will be HIS wardrobe and HIS shoes that I fuss over instead of my own. Definitely a good dessert realization. After all, it is him that people notice now days...they expect me to look disheveled and slightly crazed. Yeah! The pressure is off! He looks gorgeous in pretty much anything we dress him in so I'm really digging the new change of focus - I get to relax a bit about my own attire and ride on the heels of my adorable son. An unexpected yet appreciated perk that I'm totally going to run with. I'm thinking pajama bottoms and slippers should be suitable. The only potential negative is that I may no longer posses the ability to blame new shoe purchases on social event requirements... may need to think that one through a bit more.

In any case, cheers to dessert tonight!

Months

I've never in my life been more sensitive to the changing of months. The only possible comparison would be from back when I was teaching and April rolled around and everyone starting counting down the days until summer. But still, I've just never been so in tune with the passing of each and every month. We first saw him at 11 months, met him at 13 months, then counted and celebrated every month since. And next week - in 9 days - he will turn 18 months. One and a half years. And my heart stops each and every time I think about it.

I imagine this milestone is hitting me particularly pointedly because it's the first "age of notice" that he'll reach while in our arms. And also the first "age of notice" that he'll reach while not in his birth mother's arms. Which I'm just guessing is playing a pretty big role in my reaction to this milestone. Our son was fortunate to experience his birth mother's love and embrace for the first 11 months of his life. 11 months that I do actually look forward to dreaming about with him, albeit with the obvious challenges, my son will know how much his birth mother loved him. 11 months of learning to look and search and sit up and pull up and roll over and grab and so many other things. 11 months that I'm so thankful he was able to experience with his birth mother. But then come the following months, that of his relinquishment, his months in the orphanage, and then the frightening months of being introduced to an entirely new culture new look new smell new EVERYTHING that followed.

I'm in absolute awe of our son's ability to transition while still seeming to remain whole. I say whole because I really truly do believe that there have been times when we've shared glances that have said, "I get it. I love you, but I get it." Clearly I'm not expecting my almost 18 month old to understand and internalize the concept of international adoption, yet his looks and feels and day to day interactions absolutely reflect that fact that he gets it more than the rest of us.

We weren't there to witness his first attempt at sitting up or rolling over, and I don't know which of his teeth were the first to poke through. Hell, I don't even know where most of his facial expressions and sounds came from. But I count myself lucky to know that all of these things came from somewhere that I can one day tell my son all about - how he learned these things from a family that loved him so much. So much. And it's my internal hope that he'll then know how much he is loved, and how welcome he is to loving each and every month of his life - here in the US, in Ethiopia where we will travel with him in the next 5 years, and across the globe where we hope he values each and every month.

Because they're all just that cool.

BFF's

When asked by friends "how are things going" I tend to give a fairly transparent here's-how-it-is response. I've never been one to guard myself, rather I really respect just being able to lay it out there about how it really is. So, when the question comes along "hows it going?" I say: Beautifully. It sounds boring, but honestly I feel like we've reached a moment of normalcy. And now that I've written that publicly on the internet it's almost certain to come back to bite me. How DARE I assume we're in a PATTERN! But honestly, we've been home 4 1/2 months and it really truly and honestly feels...normal. And so so so so beautiful.

So, without further adieu, here is the most "normal" of "normal" and BEAUTIFUL of BEAUTIFUL of BFF pics, staring none other than Ash and his new Dude:

You honestly want me to smell EVERY flower on the block???

OK, you smell flowers - you must be OK.

The amazing duo solemnly swear to be best buds, forever

What do BFF's do over lunch? Mack-out, of course...here's how it is ladies.

It used to be J-J-J-J-Jenny on the block, but these days its O to the A to the O/A on the block sweet things... we're where it's at in the NYC.

A long day of being adorable can only end one way - Dr. Seuss and juice. Word to my sippy cup.

TGIF

It has never felt so good to be home. After being away on vacation for a week and then immediately diving into a full work week in the city I am finally back among the horses and the goat and the leaves and the pumpkins. I think I actually felt my heart rate chill out and my skin relax a solid 10% as I drove up the driveway. One week from tomorrow it will be November. NOVEMBER!

Check this out...a GREAT way to start your weekend:

Live From New York, It's Us!

We're home. Vacationing as a family of 3 was fabulous, but I must say that while landing at JFK last night all 3 of us let out one of those "it's good to be home" sighs. It's fall in NY and aside from the insane quantity of leaves in our yard that will eventually need to be raked I'm looking forward to every second of this season. Only 38 days until Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade... I'm such a sucker for New York.

Ash is a true New Yorker as well, and this week I finally found myself responding comfortably to an uncomfortable question that strangers often ask. The "where is your son from?" question. I know my son is from New York, because that is where he lives, but that answer always seems to throw the questioner for a loop. He was born in Ethiopia, but to a stranger that is really none of their business. Especially seeing as Ash is now understanding the vast majority of what is said around him, and the last thing he needs to constantly hear is that he is "from" somewhere different than us. He, along with us, is a New Yorker.

We all have a special family history that includes family born in the womb, family born in the heart, family born of struggle, family born of fortune, but it should always be the decision of the family member as to how they want to share their family history with the world. Ashton will know the origin of his family, both birth and forever. He will be raised to be proud of his Ethiopian heritage and aware of his birth country and culture. And, he will also be raised to be proud of his home and his family and where he is from. And it will be his choice when it comes to answering the question about where he is from, not some stranger in passing who, admittedly is likely asking out of pure ignorance, a very personal and defining question that goes so much deeper than just where you board a plane or park your car or call home for now.

So for now, we're from New York. And when people ask where my son is from, that's what I'll say too.

Winding Down

We're winding down on the Colorado portion of our vacation and will soon be in the air on our way to Minnesota. Ash can't wait to share all of his new discoveries with his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. We've had loads of fun exploring these past few days, here's just a snippet.

We took a stroll down Pearl Street in Boulder where Ash took a liking to one of the street performers. He loved the pedestrian mall where he could run back and forth side to side listening to locals playing music, but he liked the piano player best.

Is there a better way to rock out to music on the sidewalk than on a rocking pig? Seriously, he pulled himself up and began to rock out to the piano music. So freaking adorable.

Ash and dad have gotten up every morning this week to fish in the river outside of our cabin.

Dad, son, and fish.

They finally opened the pass over the continental divide from Estes Park to Grand Lake so today we took a drive. We stopped a few times to hike to a lake or a peak or a river, had a fantastic lunch in Grand Lake (honestly, the best fried chicken ever, and then a fabulous cappuccino to boot!) and then headed back to our now familiar little cabin on the river for our last night in CO.

Sometimes you're just SO TIRED from a day of exploring it's necessary to fall asleep in your car seat, half chewed rice cake in your mouth and lazily grasped Nalgene sippy cup in hand. Barely...

48 Hours In 45 Seconds

There's a little bundle of 100% adorableness waiting for me outside so I need to make this quick, but we've been having such an awesome time I couldn't help but share some pics. Off to make snow angels...

We're in the Rockies, It snowed the day we got here and the day after that and today. HUGE bull elk have been everywhere, and they actually had to close the main pass over the continental divide due to too much snow, but we wound up hiking around a lake at lower altitude that was stunning so no worries. Hopefully the pass will open up before we have to leave on Thursday, the drive is supposed to be out of this world. And then there was the wine and cheese bar just waiting for us to take over their dining room with our one year old... they truly loved him and we truly loved their wine and cheese. And the fishing (which is about 10 feet from the front door of our cabin...) has not exactly panned out the way dad would like it too, but Ash loves his Barbie fishing pole and can't get over the yummy white cold stuff on the ground so he sticks with dad and that big pole that he keeps throwing in the river for some odd reason. And then the babe goes to bed, and mom and dad crack open one of the many delicious options for CO microbrews and hop in the hot tub and watch the snow fall over Longs Peak. And that was just day #1. I guess you could say we're having an OK time.

First Snow

Family Vacation

I am now 100% absolutely and completely certain that I have passed one of life's major thresholds. How, you ask, can I be so certain? Fortunately for me this one is dead on positive - I just finished packing for our family vacation and realized that I packed more pairs of shoes for my son than I did for myself. I don't know whether to crumble in defeat or shout in glory that I'm apparently dedicated to "staying the course" of shoe supremacy via my son. He has a pair of cowboy boots, a pair of snow boots, a pair of rain boots, some really adorable (yet probably not weather appropriate, but what the hell...) Keen sandals, and of course - his sneakers.

OK, I admit - I'm bringing more pairs than that for myself, but still... he's 17 months old! I'd share a picture of our shoe packing extravaganza but to be honest it's a bit embarrassing...

We're off to cooler climates and higher altitudes and a cabin in the woods of the Rockies. Fishing, grilling, hiking, soaking up the love of the land and maybe even a hot tub or two when the babes asleep. I can't wait to be to back out west - it's been WAY TOO LONG.

National Fire Prevention Week

Ashton's daycare has been doing tons of activities the past few days to honor national fire prevention week, including a visit from the fire department and a ride on the fire truck!

Our little fireman (Just look at that face, we're so screwed)

Great Thoughts