Watch Out There's a Teenager in the House

I can't believe I am old enough to have a teenage daughter. I can't believe she is old enough to be a teenager. Hannah Banana ushers in what is sure to be a lloooonnnnngggg few decades of having a teenager under our roof. When she was born I remember being told to appreciate each moment because it would go so fast. I have honestly tried to do that and still it has gone by too fast.

While I am certain there will be more than a few difficulties as we journey these next few years together, every time she flashes me that sweet smile of hers I can't help but notice that in her eyes she is still that sweet Banana that stole my heart the minute she was born. I still remember the look on David's face as he placed this sweet child in my arms. He knew I was somehow changed with her arrival-- I was now a mom.

Now, that smile reminds me I am the mom of a beautiful teenage girl who still can melt my heart with her kind words, her willingness to be helpful, her desire to grow to become the young woman God is asking her to be. Sure, she has her moments. Still, I am incredibly blessed to be her mom.

To celebrate, we took a group of Hannah's friends and her sisters bowling after Catholic Kids Camp. I think she really enjoyed herself. Her gift from us was a week at Camp KRIC (Kids Rooted in Christ). I know she thoroughly enjoyed that week and can't wait to attend next year. She was blessed by that week as she learned to Shine for Jesus. It is bittersweet to watch her growing so quickly. I want her to stay little forever and yet I am so excited by all that is in store for this truly amazing young woman.

My Sweet Sophia is Seven

Continuing on with the where did the time go theme, how can she already be 7?

My very girly girl, my little mother hen, the shyest, the one that sometimes gets lost in the shuffle. This adorable little girl who never wanted to leave my side as a baby is now seven. As a baby none were more attached than little Bophie. She wanted nothing to do with anyone else, even Dad. She was never more than a few steps away. 

While still Mommy's girl, she was the first to tell me she wanted to go to school. Though she is still happy to be home and with Mom, she's the one most excited to head back out to school on Monday morning. She's the only school-aged child in this house not counting the days to summer break.

She was the last to recover from our weeks of the flu which gave meant she had to stay home with Mom while Dad took the others to the Air Force Museum. Even though she was running a good fever, we had a nice time going out to breakfast. I realized that while she is quiet, she'll talk your ear off if given a chance. She had so many stories to tell.

This year Bophie has really blossomed. She caught on to the reading thing and has become an avid reader like her sisters. She also has begun to learn the beauty of offering up little things for others. She will often give her sweet treats to a younger sibling and choose something lesser for herself. She also has a mother's heart and is the first to tend to a fussing baby. I love having her around because she so enjoys spending time with the little ones. 

Happy Birthday Dear Sophia!

Juju Turns a Fabulous Five

In the midst of flu season, this little one had another birthday. Her birthday, in particular, sneaks up on me. It is the middle of our five early year birthdays. Every three weeks there is another birthday. This after just finishing up Christmas, and while trying to get a jump start on lent. This year not only did her birthday catch me off guard, so did the realization that she is growing up so quickly. Ask her what she wants for breakfast and she no longer answers yo-yo-yo, she now clearly says cereal. 

It seems just yesterday she was placed in my arms, sigh. How could that moment be more than four years ago? How anxious I was about adoption. How worried about how she would fit into our family.

Now those worries and anxieties seem silly. She is such a joy to our family. Her smiles light a room. She always wants to please. I still look at her small hand and wonder about all the little ways God's providence worked to bring her here to our family. How blessed we all are. 

I know all children watch their parents, but Juju seems to be particularly observant. She's very interested in Mom and Dad's affection. She even told me I need to kiss him more :) She also watches all the little things I do. She told me yesterday that sometimes she sneaks into my bathroom and pretends to put on my makeup. She knew just how my morning routine goes following each step I take. What a reminder to be a better mom...

Finally Gabriel's Birthday

This is my Gabey Baby. He's a nut. Yes, of course a Buckeye, but also just a nut in general. He says the funniest things, he has a wacky sense of style, and everything is all in with him. 

I'd be lost without his bear hugs, his crazy questions, his constant chatter. Last week while in the bathroom he tells me he needs me to call Dad. He chatters on about how Dad just needs to come home early today. When I ask him what he needs, he just tells me that he has a few more important questions to ask him. I tell him he can ask me, but Gabe insists only Dad knows the answers to his questions. The boy is only three. I know I'm in for it as he gets older.

For weeks I heard of nothing else but his Fire truck party. His cousins had both had fabulous parties, one monster themed and the other school bus themed. Gabe decided then he was having a firetruck party and talked of nothing else for weeks. Every day I was asked if it was his party yet. The day finally came and he had his fire truck party. Then a few days later he was asked by a friend how his party was. He responded in typical Gabriel fashion and began, "The problem was..." then went into a monologue about how he had to share his party with Peter. Oy that kid...

On his actual birthday he got his own cake. I even tweaked my frosting recipe to make it peanut butter flavored. I think it was a hit and he didn't even have to share it.

For Christmas Gabe wanted Buzz Lightyear, then for his birthday he wanted Woody. We watched Toy Story 3 last night and I couldn't help but see my little guy in the character Andy. It made me think how quickly time will fly. On those days where his little boy antics wear me out, I needed the reminder that one day I will miss them. So today I gave him an extra big bear hug.

Happy third birthday little guy!

Pumpkin Eater Turns Two

While this is Peter's second birthday, it is probably the first birthday he's been able to celebrate. It's hard to believe that it was just a year ago that we were gearing up for our trip to bring this little guy home. We've seen that serious look on his face quite a bit this first year, but every day it's there a little less. For the most part we get smiles now unless he's somewhere unfamiliar, or if everyone is looking at him. 

Each day we see more of his personality emerging. Yesterday while trying to dress the crew of boys, he had already been changed and dressed, but when he saw the changing pad out and heard me call Joseph he came running and quickly laid down. When he heard my reaction he gave out the most mischievous little laugh. He's going to be a little prankster. He's also a little climber and has some serious flexibility to go with that little build. He and Juju have some incredible gymnastic skills. Unlike Juju, Peter has little fear.

As the third little boy, he's going to need these skills to negotiate with his older brothers. This threesome certainly keeps me on my toes. 

Peter is all about food. He doesn't tolerate being hungry and boy is he ever particular. He especially likes sweets and snacks. He wants to be just like his brothers and often asks to sit at the table at meal time. It was amusing to watch him try to tackle pizza. 

How blessed we are to have this sweet, quiet, special boy. He melts my heart with his infectious laugh, his desire to be loved, and his crazy antics. I am so thankful he was given to our family. What an amazing gift. 

Birthdays and Braces

Today my oldest little one turns twelve. TWELVE. One more year and I have a teenager. How is this possible?

For her birthday, we had a special mom 'n daughter morning of ridiculously overpriced, but fantastic iced coffee drinks followed by a trip to the salon for manicures. We ended with a round of shopping. It was a wonderful morning. In some ways it is fun to have a child beginning to enjoy some of the things I do, in other ways it is scary. I'm realizing again how important it is for me to keep my own vices in check, but that's another post...

My Banana is becoming quite a young lady and she makes me very proud. She is chatty, chatty, chatty, and always inventing some new way to accomplish some task. Ask her to help unload the dishwasher and you will most likely get a look, but pretend she owns a cleaning company and hire her to empty the dishwasher and she goes above and beyond. As I count down the days to the arrival of our newest child, I'm even more convinced that we are so blessed to have Banana as our oldest as I know she will be such a big help. She already is. More than helpful, she is learning to grow in virtue. Sometimes I wish those lessons came more quickly, but she is teaching me that I also need to grow in patience. It is amazing to watch her bloom.

In the midst of the trial of Peter's surgery and recovery, Banana got her braces. I think they make her look even older and I was amazed when I saw how much she no longer looked like a little girl. She carefully chose colors (purple and green) for the braces. Her careful color selections, her new short hair cut, the beginnings of primping, and she just is entering a new phase. Still she will always be this sweet girl to me.

Six Years Old

Now We Are Six 

--A.A. Milne--

When I was one I had just begun

When I was two I was nearly new

When I was three I was hardly me

When I was four I was not much more

When I was five I was just alive

But now I am six, I'm as clever as clever;

So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.

Technically we celebrated Bophie's birthday last Sunday so that Dad and Bear could be here with us. We couldn't let today go by without a few extra birthday wishes for our sweet Bophie. We went to the Target dollar aisle to pick out a few goodies, new gel pens, a notebook, and for our princess-- a tiara. Then with help from a friend we made a heart shaped strawberry cake, her favorite. This evening we also sat down to watch her favorite movie, Beauty and the Beast. Despite missing Dad and Bear, it was a nice birthday.

Juju's Fourth Birthday

Last year on Juju's birthday I blogged about how hard it had been to celebrate her birthday because it seems every year we are battling some bug. This year we were fortunate enough that everyone in our immediate family was for the most part healthy-- extended family, well not so much.

Grandpa was healthy and he stopped over for yet another yellow cake. This girl really has a thing for yellow, although purple is quickly gaining ground. Dh was kind enough to make meatloaf instead of the planned ham and asparagus dinner. Most four year olds I know would prefer meatloaf and Juliana certainly did, although if really given her choice I think we all would have had cereal (yo-yo-yo in Juju speak) for Sunday dinner.

I know this is a horribly out of focus picture, but I didn't get a good one of Grandpa. Although the picture quality leaves something to be desired there is a cute baby belly to make up for it. Plus you get a glimpse of Banana's new bangs...

She enjoyed the day and all the attention lavished on her especially by her older sisters. They each wanted to pick something out for her birthday. She got a new t-shirt, a new box of crayons, and a pair of pink sunglasses. All of which were a big hit with her.

On her birthday, I pray for those girls in her native country still waiting for families, for those who care for them, for those working to bring home a new child, for those involved in the endless paperwork, for those who shared our journey, and especially those who gave Juliana the gift of life. She is such a blessing to our family.

This sweet girl has grown so much this year. We call her our noisy cricket because despite her small size (Gabriel weighs more than she does), she makes quite the racket. She talks, and sings, and chatters, and makes noise. She lights up a room with her smile, especially when she sweetly says, "I love you very much!"

My Baby is Two

*Although not the baby for long, he will always be my Gabey Baby...

Gabriel's birthday caught me unprepared again this year. First trimester fatigue (which should be going away any day now), my dad's 60th birthday last week (again no blog post), and just the busy-ness that comes with a family of soon to be eight children left me scrambling to pull together a birthday. Thankfully, all our little two-year old was concerned with was a cake and maybe a present. While everyone else got their much needed Sunday nap, I went out at the last minute and got a cake and attempted to find a fitting present.  My Gabe is a balloon lover, but after last week's fiasco I decided to forego the balloons this time.

Little Gabriel brings such joy to our home. His smile lights up the room. He recently has taken to wanting me to hold him on the couch. He hugs tighter, pinches harder, and smiles bigger than any two-year old I know. He has a way of giving orders to his siblings that make them actually want to do what he says, I think he has us all under his spell.

He's my little airplane lover. While Joseph is a wheels kind of boy, Gabe is a wings sort of boy. He loves to read books and to run, run, run. I have a feeling he'll be the one to watch sports with me as last week we were watching a sports clip on the Internet, when it was over he continued to ask for more game, more game. He is also relentless in any request. He'll ask over and over and over again until he gets his way.

Two years have certainly passed so very quickly. Two wonderful and exhausting years with boys. How blessed we are!

Panda-monium Revisted

Banana was supposed to have a big birthday party last summer. Traditionally we have family celebrations for all birthdays and something a little bigger for 5th and 10th birthdays. Banana chose her theme last summer, a tribute to her favorite animal and the trip of a lifetime she had recently taken-- the trip to China to bring home a little brother. Last year we bought decorations, favors, and even made invitations, but I just couldn't seem to pull it off.

Thankfully, Banana is the sweet girl she is and understood and patiently waited until her 11th birthday for her "big" party. It worked out well for her though. This summer the girls attended an art camp. Each morning for a week they went to a local studio and made an assortment of amazing art projects. Banana especially enjoyed the camp. She is my writer, my creator, my artist. It was during that week she decided to have her birthday party at the studio. 

It was amazing. Juli, the owner, walked all the girls through painting their own panda (of course) or tiger (in keeping with the Asian theme). 

One of the things I most enjoyed about the camp and the party was that Juli was able to walk the girls through these amazing projects and showed them how to create paintings and projects that turned out so fantastic, far surpassing anything the girls thought they would be able to create. Yet they did all the work themselves. Even little Bophie walked away with a beautiful work of art she painted on her own.

With a little help from Betty Crocker, I too had a creation that turned out better than expected. After Joseph's monkey cake, and Bear's polar bear cupcakes, I was put on notice to plan a panda bear cake. This turned out much cuter than I thought it would a few hours before the party began when I was lamenting having begun such a process.

As her friends were leaving, Banana looked up at me with a big grin and said, "That was the best party ever!" It meant the world to me. It was totally worth all the cake tutorials, how to draw a panda you tube videos, and the general chaos of  party planning just to see the look on her face.

Thankfully I have a few years before anyone else turns 5 or 10!

A Labor of Love

My first labor of love ended on this date 11 years ago with the birth of this sweet girl.

 I would like to say it began on this day, but this little one's labor was 3 days long. Oy!

I am also not sure the labor has ended as I am frantic trying to put all the final touches on her Panda birthday party. You could say there is more than a little panda-monium going on here, at least more than normal. More is on the way too. Twelve tween girls painting at an art studio (thank goodness it isn't my house)!  Birthday parties certainly are another labor of love- at least for me. Cakes, ice cream, banners, favors. Oy!

I'll post party pictures later, but for now I'll simply wish the sweetest 11 year old I know a very happy birthday! We love you Banana!

Turning Three

This has been a busy week for us. I think five dentist appointments and eight doctor visits in four days qualifies for a little more than busy. Throw in piano lessons, first soccer games of the season, a trip to an indoor waterpark and I think I could call this week's schedule downright hectic. It doesn't let up over the weekend either. Despite the busy-ness yesterday we celebrated Joseph's third birthday.

Joseph loves anything with wheels so when I found this kit on clearance at the grocery store after Christmas, I knew it would be a hit. It was as fun to decorate as last year's monkey cake. Little Joseph didn't know what to make of it though, I don't think he realized it was cake. In the end I had to just give him a slice of the traditional cake I had also made.


Joseph is a race car kid. He falls asleep running them on his pillow, he wakes up and gathers them and tries to carry more than his hands will hold. He lines them up, he crashes them, and recently he has learned how to send them driving across the room. The first time I pulled out the race car jammies he wouldn't take them off. I think he wore the shirt almost three days before I decided it absolutely had to go in the wash. The race car ramp seems to be a hit too. He was up before the crack of dawn this morning ready to shoot the cars down the ramp. I'm pretty certain he's figured out that at 4:30 A.M. he can pretty much have the toys to himself. I've figured out that no amount of coffee will make 4:30 A.M. any easier.

Happy Third B-day Joseph!

Everything's been different,

All the day long.
Lovely things have happened,
Nothing has gone wrong.
Nobody has scolded me,
Everyone has smiled.
Isn't it delicious

To be a birthday child?
--Rose Fyleman

It's becoming rather standard for us to celebrate birthdays late. Today is no exception. Five dentist appointments, piano lessons, opening Spring soccer games, not to mention a full day of school, leave today too busy. Cake and presents tomorrow... still I think Joseph has had a fun-filled, if not hectic, birthday.

Bophie Turns Five

It is hard to believe this sweet girl is already five. For some reason it seemed she would always be my little one. Quiet by nature, she can get lost in the hustle and bustle some days. She is no longer one of the "littles" and yet not quite one of the "bigs" either. Somehow this suits her though. She enjoys playing quietly on her own and would rather not be the center of attention.

She has recently begun the task of learning to read. The only thing holding her back is Mom getting the time to sit down with her. Her love of reading is already apparent, however. Her one request for a birthday gift was a "kid Kindle" to go along with our Christmas theme. We found one, and she has been reading for days.

My girliest- girl, Bophie loves all things pink, pretty, and frilly. She has worn her new princess dress from Grandma every day I would let her. On other days it is always pink, pink, and more pink. Again, this suits this quiet, sweet, little girl. She is my sensitive one who cries at the slightest correction, doesn't talk to anyone she doesn't know well, and generally is happy being unnoticed.

Happy birthday Sweet Sophia. Thank you for blessing our family with your singing, your dancing, your love of all things beautiful, and just being you.

(Thank you Aunt Amy for all the beautiful pictures!)