An Unexpected Tuesday

Earlier this week I saw a post on our social workers Facebook page. "Looking to find a new home for an artificial Christmas tree." I noticed "J" had commented in the post that she knew of a house that needed one. Unfortunately, the tree in the post had already been spoken for. We had purchased a new tree on Black Friday and had an old tree that we could donate so I texted "J" and offered her the tree. (I am the crazy one has 3 trees up in her house. One real, two artificial. We certainly did not need a fourth!).

Yesterday I got a text back from "J" that said, "Thanks for the offer but I can't find a way to get the tree from you." I had already taken the day off work to go to Gus' preschool party and was going to spend the afternoon as Santa's helper and get caught up for Christmas. So I responded and told her that I could drop it off on Tuesday afternoon....just needed to know where to take it. She gave me an address and told me that she would meet me there.

That got me thinking. Was she expecting Gus to be with me? Did she want to see him? Would she prefer not to? She hadn't seen him since the day she left the hospital. We send pictures and texts and Gus had a FB page just for her to see but she has never asked to see him. So did she even want to? Would she be disappointed if I showed up without him?

I quick called up Joel and asked what he thought. Should we offer? Or should I go alone like I originally planned? We decided that we would offer. We let her know that it was okay either way but that the choice was hers. She quickly responded, "that would be great to see him!" So there you have it....Gus was going to meet his birthmom the next day!

Joel and I talked to Gus about it and told him that we were going to go see "J". When we explain adoption to Gus we tell him that he grew in "J's" belly and then she gave him to us to keep forever and ever. So when we talked with Gus about what was going to happen he asked, "is she gonna take me back?" As I struggled to breathe and answer him, I quickly questioned whether or not I should take him the next day. I panicked for a moment before taking a deep breath and explaining to him. "No. In fact, he was gonna stay with me and Dadoh and Penny forever and ever." He seemed very content with that answer and bounded off to play. But what a huge question from a 3 year old! I was a little nervous about how he would react the next day but decided that we were gonna go anyway.

Gus and I spent the morning at his preschool for the Christmas party. I love that I am able to take time from school for things like that. I think it is really important to share the love of learning with your kids! Afterwards we headed north to "J".

We got to her house and unloaded the Christmas tree and then went in to chat. We got to meet her roommates and Gus ran around like crazy checking out all of their Christmas decorations and found a coloring book to play with. He talked to all of them and told them stories. He "read" them a book and was a little show off. "J" and her roommates all chatted for a bit. Got a few pictures of "J" and Gus and got ready to head home. Overall it was very relaxed and I was surprised at how easy it was.

I am happy that it went so smoothly and would be completely fine with meeting up again sometime. I knew that when we chose adoption, days like today would happen. I just didn't know that it would happen so unexpectedly on a random Tuesday.

100!!!

TA-DA!!! 

My 100th blog post!!!  That seems a little bit crazy to me that I have posted so much!  Thanks for reading my ramblings.

Remember how I mentioned our fuss-a-lup-a-GUS?  Well, I finally figured out why.  Turns out that he is cutting MORE teeth!  Before school got out he had 4 front teeth and 3 bottom teeth.  He now has 6 on the bottom, including his molars. And as of this week, he cut the 2 top molars so he now has 6 on the top.  That's 12 teeth!!  This kid is going to be gnawing on steak before we know it!

In bigger news, my mornings with Gus took a turn today.  I have talked before about how much I love my mornings with my munchkin.  Today I heard a little voice bright and early.  I needed just a few more minutes so I brought him back to bed with me.  He snuggled so sweetly with me like he used to when he wasn't yet mobile. 

That only lasted a few minutes and I was just "resting my eyes" when I felt a little monkey start to move.  As I opened my eyes, I saw a little face peeking back at me with a giant smile on his face....and then it happened.  Two little hands moved to my tummy and started to wiggle around as the owner of those hands said "tickle, tickle, tickle!!" (or something that sounds pretty close to that) and let out a huge belly laugh!  So apparently he has learned to tickle me back.  Sneaky little monkey!!  So of course I tickled him back.  This continued for about 20 minutes but it was totally worth waking up early for it!

What?!? No way!!

This week has been kinda rough but today there was a bright spot.

Joel was being interviewed by a 9th grade English class for their biography unit.  One student, MC, raised his hand.  "There are people going around saying that Gus is adopted....so is he?"  Turns out MC, who is one of Joel's players and knows the two of us pretty well, had NO CLUE that Gus was adopted.  It was pretty funny.  He felt pretty embarassed and kept apologizing to us.  I explained to him that that is no big deal.  "Adopted" does not define who Gus is.  I don't ever want one word to define who he is.  I explained this to MC...but he still felt bad and was completely shocked!  But when I think of it, he is a freshman.  He didn't see that I wasn't pregnant last school year.  How would he know?  Poor kid is mortified.  I did explain to him that I am sure many kids were happy that he asked that question because it was something that many of them, I am sure, wanted to ask.  It certainly opened up a wealth of questions for Joel.  One thing is for sure...those 9th graders learned a lot about the Stape Fam today!

What a fun surprise!

Tonight as I was relaxing on my squishy, purple couch enjoying a DIY show on HGTV and skimming Facebook, I stumbled upon a fun little article.  I follow a site called http://www.detroitmommies.com/.  They had an article about traveling with an infant.  I was intrigued since we will soon be traveling with an infant to Florida.  I did pick up a few tips...but that is not what made my day.  At the bottom of the article was a small bio about the author.  She just happens to also be a first time mom to a son that was born last summer.  But to top it all off...she is an ADOPTIVE mom!!  So immediately I went to check out her blog that she writes about her adoption journey.  She and I have so many similiarities.  I wish she was my neighbor!  We would have so much to talk about!  It was so refreshing to find someone else out there who is so excited to share their adoption journey as we are.  In the past hour, I have read her entire blog...so great! Check it out if you want...she writes so much better than I do.  http://www.openheartsopenminds.blogspot.com/.  She also has two children books coming out.  One just came out to purchase in December.  It is called Wally One Sock about a boy who always seems to be missing a sock.  What other little boy do we know that always seems to be missing a sock or two?

All in all, a delightful surprise to my evening.