I must be crazy...

I love long weekends such as the one that we just had...but this was exhausting. 

WEDNESDAY
Wednesday morning started with a trip to Gus' doctor.  Poor little guy has a little infection.  (Got a prescription for it and it is starting to clear up.)  Gus, Joel and I stopped at Home Depot to buy our Christmas tree stand.  I met Sarah at Hannah's preschool and then whisked my adorable niece off with me for the rest of the afternoon.  She went with me to entertain Gus while he and I got our hair cut and then she and I made Thankgiving desserts.  She and I did this last year, too.  I hope this little tradition continues.  We were supposed to go get our Christmas tree that evening but it started to rain.  :(

THURSDAY
Sarah and I kicked off our Thanksgiving Day traditions with a trip to Meijer to check out any deals they have on Thursday before racing back to her house, meeting up with Joel and Jason and going to the Lions Game.  Gus was decked out in his Lion's gear for the day while he stayed home with Grandma Jo, Papa Scott, Brendan and Hannah. 

That night Sarah and I decided to go to Toys R Us at midnight.  They were opening early and were supposed to have some good deals at 12 am.  We ended up standing outside from 11:30PM- 1:30 ish...in the spitting rain and cold.  We finally got inside.  I immediately went and got in line to check out while Sarah ran around the store and brought the items back to me.  We didn't get home until about 3:30.  Crazy I know...but I loved it!!

FRIDAY and SATURDAY
Sarah and I went scrapbooking in Chesaning.  I was finally able to start Gus' baby book!!  Joel and Gus came to pick me up on Saturday night and on our way to my parents house we went to meet up with Joe Maly and Jane Wong.  So excited that Gus got to meet them!  We finally got to my parents house after midnight.  Whew!  Did I mention that Gus wouldn't ride nicely in the car unless the interior light was on?  If we turned it off, he screamed at the top of his lungs.  So, I sat in the backseat with the light on trying to entertain him.

SUNDAY
We went to visit my grandmother, Mamie, and then went to the Otto Family Christmas.  We weren't able to stay very long because we had a very sad little baby.  So we hit the road and traveled home.  It was a long trip around the mitten we call Michigan.  And I am SO glad that we are home!!!

Psst....

"Psst....I want to tell you something..."

This picture just makes us laugh out loud!  Gus must be trying to tell us something.

Goofing around with Aunt Annie. 

I left my parents for an hour and Aunt Annie kept Gus occupied and entertained him.  They both made sure to get in plenty of "tummy time".

"This lady is so silly..."

Gus is in awe of his Aunt Annie.  She is so silly that he barely ever takes his eyes off of her.

Me and two of my favorite guys in the whole world doing one of my favorite things in the world....hunting for the perfect Christmas tree for my parents house.  This was my 30th year on the tree hunt with my parents and I am beyond excited to pass this tradition on to my son.  This is one of the best parts of my year and I hope that he grows to love it as much as I do.

We let Daddy and Papa do the hard work of cutting down the tree and hauling it to the truck.  My sister and I love trying to find the fattest, roundest tree for my parents house.  We found a pretty good one.

It may not be for his house, but Gus took home his first Christmas tree!!  Our little family will get our tree for our house tomorrow, but I love that Gus' first Christmas tree hunt was with my family.  The tradition continues.  Now I can't wait for Gus to see the trees all lit up and decorated. 

I am so pumped for Christmas this year!!  All I wanted for Christmas the past couple of years was to be a mom...my wish finally came true!  I can't wait to celebrate my first Christmas as a mom!!

It's in the mail!

Finally!! My thesis is in the mail! What a relief! Now I can play with Gus-Gus!  Who wouldn't want to play with this little munchkin?!?

Bipolar Wednesday

Today was such a weird day.  We had our cheerleading tryouts today.  It is a day full of emotion for all involved.  The girls are nervous when coming into their tryout, the coaches are stressed out making sure that everything is just right and it all collides at the end of the night.  At the end of the night we tally up the scores and write up our rosters.  We then invite the girls to come back into the room.  When they enter they see that the floor is covered in paper lunch bags and each one has their name on it.  Inside their bag is some candy and a little note that tells them that they either made the team or that they should try again next time.  It is fun to watch the girls run into the room with so much excitement.  For some, that excitement continues.  For others, it is crushed and they leave the room in tears.  My heart leaps for those who made the team are so excited and my heart drops for those who didn't make the team.  It is just such a strange day to experience. 

I came home tonight and collapsed on the couch and snagged up my little boy to cuddle with.  And for only a few more hours I am care free.  I get to relax and take a deep breath before my season begins.

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit...

Augustus John Martin Stapleton was baptized into the Catholic church on November 8th.

I'm not really sure why, but I cry at every baptism...even if I do not know the child being baptized.  (In fact, I am crying right now, just thinking about it.)  I just think that it is so exciting that these children are being welcomed as a member of the church.  It is such a huge day for these little ones and they have no idea!  But as a parent of a child who was just baptized, it hit me that there is an enormous responsiblity placed upon us as parents to be strong role models to our son and to help build his faith.  WOW!  Just amazing!

After the baptism, we went to celebrate at Funtastic.  Lots of food and lots of play time for all of Gus' friends and cousins.  We were so blessed to have so many friends and family there to celebrate Gus' big day!  He is a lucky little boy!

Happy NAAM!!

HAPPY NATIONAL ADOPTION AWARENESS MONTH!!!

November is dedicated to creating more awareness for adoption.  Obviously, adoption is a very important thing to me.  Adoption was an option that Gus' birthmom chose.  Adoption was the way that we chose to build our family.  Adoption made me a MOM!!  I couldn't imagine what my life would be like if adoption wasn't available to me.  I think that there are so many misconceptions out there about adoption.  Each year, as a family we will do something in November to help create awareness.  To do my part in helping to create awareness I wanted to separate some facts from the myths out there. So this year we are just starting by sharing what we have learned.

MYTH
There are very few babies placed for adoption.
FACT
20,000+ infants in the United States are placed for adoption each year.  This does not include the international adoptions.

MYTH
It takes years to complete an adoption.
FACT
The average time span is two years.  Yes, we were very lucky that it went so quickly.  This month marks 2 years from when we started the adoption process and 11 months since we first showed up on "the list".

MYTH
The birthparents can show up at any time to reclaim their child.
FACT
Once the adoption is finalized, the child is legally considered part of the adoptive family.  The publicized stories that we often hear about usually did not follow the proper process for adoption and therefore there are loopholes.

MYTH
When you adopt, you are just buying a baby.
FACT
Yes, adoption is costly.  But nobody "buys" a baby.  The money doesn't go to the birthparents so they are not selling their child.  The money that we pay helps to go towards the salaries of our social workers.  (And God bless Dawn and Louise!  They are fabulous!)  It also helps to pay the legal and court fees.  Plus a variety of other things.  I just spoke with a mother of one of my students who actually adopted this student (G.G) when he was an infant.  She told me how the adoption process was so different 16 years ago.  His birthfather tried to file for custody after G.G. was 6 months old.  They spent 2 years in and out of court and racked up $300,000 in litigation fees...but she said it was worth every penny.  (Later they found out that the birthfather did not actually share DNA with G.G!!)  If I was in her situation, I would give anything and everything to pay the fees needed to keep Gus.  Even if that means going into that much debt.  Those professionals can do things that I can't in order to help with the adoption.

MYTH
Birthparents are all troubled teens.
FACT
Most birthparents today are over the age of 18.  (Gus' birthmom is 30.)  It has been found that many teenage moms actually choose to parent their child.

MYTH
Parents can't love their adopted child as much as their biological child.
FACT
This one just makes me angry!!  First of all, are you kidding me?!?  Second of all, it will never matter if Gus grew in my uterus or in my heart.  I loved him from the day the social worker called to tell me that we were matched.  I love him beyond words!  I don't think that having the same DNA makes any difference to how much you love your child.  There have been a number of conversations at work among co-workers about pregnancy.  I remember one day they were talking about maternity pants and how much they love them.  One co-worker turned to me and said, "Just wait, Beth...you will love them."  I just smiled and kept my mouth shut when in reality I wanted to sob, "I may never have that opportunity."  Recent conversations have been had with two people who are pregnant with their second child.  They were talking about how this pregnancy was different, etc.  Or how this kid just keeps sitting on their bladder or moving or whatever.  Yes, I am jealous.  In my head, all I could think was, "Yup, I have given anything to have a kid sitting on my bladder or doing cartwheels in my stomach."  But then I remembered that it didn't matter...I am head over heels in love with my son and it doesn't matter that I didn't get to wear maternity pants.  I have been overweight for many years...I have had my share of elastic waist pants...no big deal.  Waiting for my son to arrive and even after he was here I had my fair share of "sickness"...I don't need morning sickness.  And I certainly don't need to give birth with that kind of pain.  (Gross!)  I had plenty of "pain" and heartache as we waited through that five week risk period.  So just because I didn't carry him inside me doesn't mean I didn't have my own sort of "pregnancy" and "childbirth".  Okay so I kind of ranted on that one...sorry...it has been on my mind lately.

Hope you learned a new adoption fact.  Sorry that you had to listen to some of my rants as well.  I'm going to go snuggle with my little chunky monkey...because he is all mine!!!!

Running my fingers through my hair

Right now I am able to run my finger through my hair.  I LOVE having my hair washed by someone else, cut and straightened.  It is so much better than when I do it myself.  (Kind of like when someone else cuts up vegetables...they taste so much better!)  Tonight, after 6 months of chaos, I finally got my hair cut and colored!!  WHEW!!  It was getting a little ridiculous!  Not only that but I think I only straightened my hair twice during those two months due to lack of time and energy.  It is so nice to have had someone do that for me as well.  My friend, Miranda, is a hairstylist and I went to her for the first time to have my hair done.  (Yes, she is also Gus' hair stylist!)  Not only was I so happy to have my hair done, but to my surprise when I went to pay, I was presented with a gift certificate for a cut and color...so it was all free!!  Apparently, Amy, one of my closest friends, had contacted Miranda earlier this week since she knew I would be there this week and paid for my hair.  I was so shocked!!  I think that I was still speechless (I know, it is hard to believe) when I left the salon.  And then I cried.  Between the two of them, they took care of my hair and just helped me to feel a little more human again.  In a week that has been so frustrating, this was by far the highlight!  Thanks, Miranda and Amy!!  What a surprise!