Mother's Day 2008

What a wonderful day!
Gale joined us for church, as Olivia sang with the other children from ages 3 through 8. It was a special presentation for Mother's Day. The 3 and 4-year-olds didn't remember the words, though they've been practicing every Sunday for weeks. Regardless, OG manged to mouth the words wonderfully, only milliseconds after they were sung by the older kids (hehe). SO CUTE!



Then we headed down to Cindy's mom's house. It's been almost 1 year since she passed and I can't belive how the time has flown by. One of Cindy's brothers is living there and everyone thought it would be nice to gather there and be together for Mother's Day, as we've done every year. It felt so warm and comfortable to be there, as if she wee there with us. I think I even felt my mom drop in. MWAAAAAA! - love you, Mom and Pat!

It was freezing out! None of us were prepared for this weather, but, of course, the kids didn't care. Alex and Olivia ran around outside and played for hours. Uncle Stephen got in the act as the big bad monster and chased them around for a while to warm up.





Jake and his Godmother, Jacqui. He spent almost the ENTIRE day sitting on her lap and next to her and just hangin'. He's quite attached and she loves him to death.

The 3 troublemakers and little Ava, showing off her tumbling prowess.

All in all, it was a wonderful day filled with love, family and friendship. I couldn't ask for more.

What a Day!

FINALLY! The mercury crept above 50. It was a whopping 70 today and we took advantage as soon as we rolled out of bed (well...almost). We spent a total of 6 hours outside today just playing and posing.

Actually yesterday was pretty nice too and we went to the 1st town street fair of the season.

I've been a lazy blogger lately, and I still am, so I leave you with some pictures until I have more energy and I can write something witty.

OG rode Winnie the pony at the street fair (AGAIN), though she complained the pony was too small ans wants to ride a real horse for her birthday. We'll see whether she gets on when she sees the size of it!

Emma discovered the fun of opening and closing the windows on the playhouse, Jake jumped in and we ended up with lots of laughs.

Bump, what bump? Emma took a header out of the play area onto the driveway She was up a at 'em again in seconds. She's a real trooper.

OG jumped into the baby swing, which is about 3 feet off the ground. I have no idea how she did it, but she was pretty proud of herself.

You'll notice which car each one chose. No gender stereotypes around here.

BEEEEEP! BEEEEEP! A tough call for Jake. Eventually he sided with Emma for fear of being beaten up.

Max, too, fears for his safety as Emma tortures him with an animal cracker. He is such a good dog! He could easily swallow the cracker AND Emma without even breaking a sweat.

Happy Earth Day

Darcy, Mare, Callie, Olivia and I went to the Pitsburgh Zoo today and I was reminded of just how in love I am with Mother Earth and all her beautiful creatures...

If I only had a neck like this...

The majestic lioness

If I keep eating the way I am...

Poor Giant Octopus. After I flashed the pic, I read the sign saying "No pictures" because light bothers their eyes. Oops!

This baby gorilla was such a mush...

Big Daddy Silverback was "airing out".

Callie and OG (the real beasts)caught in the Polar Bear trap

Callie and her beloved seal

OG loved this boy statue. The girl in pink was a stalker - she kept creeping in to all the pix we took of the girls. I had to ask her to leave.

Darcy and Mare - how cute are they!

SO proud of OG. She climbed the ropes, which were about 30 feet high, like a champ. NO FEAR!

Where Have All My Children Gone?

******UPDATED WITH PICTURES*******

My brother's puppy, Anabelle. She's a real pip - all personality.

At the mall, we met an elephonkey and rode the carousel and the train - several times.

The 2 princesses - chillin' on the couch, exhausted from their long day at the mall.

Callie and OG bowled for the very 1st time - they were FABULOUS! Notice the excellent form...



I'm in Pittsburgh helping out my brother. He had emergency abdominal surgery last week and is limited in what he can do for a while.
Cindy is working from home for the week and taking care of the babies (they are also in 1/2 day care, which is a whole other anxiety for me to deal with) and I brought OG with me so she could spend some time with her 1/2 sister Callie and her moms.

We got here early Friday evening. 1st thing Saturday morning I brought OG to D and M's because they offered to watch her for the day while I did stuff around my brother's house.
Olivia has always been slow to warm, but not this time. We walked in the door, OG and Callie looked at each other for about 2 seconds, then ran off into the basement to play. Uhhhh...excuse me, aren't you going to miss me? He-llo-ooo? No reply. Gone. Fine. Whatever.
Darcy said later when I spoke to her that these girls seemed to have some kind of connection. It was immediate and lasting, though they'd only met once before - more than 7 months ago - a lifetime for a 3 and 4-year-old. She was amazed by their interactions all day long. I was, simply, jealous that I couldn't be there to see it all unfold.

I'm a little surprised, but so completely thrilled that these children, all of these donor sibs, have unexplained connections with each other. It was apparent, too, when we were in Utah. OG and Syd took to each other without a moment's hesitation, Olivia just adored Cam and Spence and Syd took over as Mommy to Jake and Emma. I look forward now to spending time with Hollie and Toni and seeing the same wonderful relationships blossom with Mikaela and Kyron.

Back to the story...
I called later to arrange to pick her up and they all had such a fabulous time that they offered to keep her overnight. OK, no problem. I get it. It's much more fun to be there riding bikes and playing with all the toys and watching movies and playing with Callie and her cool moms than to sit around here and help me clean.
So last night I just cried myself to sleep - lonely without all my girls and my little boy. Boo hoo.

This morning I woke up, showered, and got ready to go meet Darcy and the girls at the mall. We were going to eat, play, ride the carousel and the train, play some more, then I would leave, happily, with my little girl. Maybe not. It didn't turn out that way. Darcy offered to keep her another night because Callie and Olivia couldn't bare to part ways. They were convinced that it would be best for Olivia to live with Callie and I could come visit whenever I wanted. They used all their best arguments, but I am not sold. I want my little girl back! It's the 1st time ever that she would rather be without me. I'm not sure I can bare it.

I'll make another attempt at retrieving my daughter tomorrow and we'll see how that goes.

For now, I leave you, a lonely Mama in Pittsburgh.

PS - Darcy lost her camera, so I left mine with her to take pictures tonight and will post some pix when I get it back.

Video Blog

Just some videos that cover the last few days of our lives...

Emma and Jake are getting along splendidly...for now.

How do I make this thing go?

Play with me Sis, PLEEZ!

Dumped for a bubble machine

Confession

Sooooo, I've mentioned more than once and all my friends know that I don't have crushes on women like they do. They're always talking about "so-and-so is smokin' hot" and "if they could...".
WELL, I've seen the light! And her name is Jackie.
I was flipping through the channels while I was on the stepper today and I'd almost resigned myself to watching yet another rerun of Americ*'s Next Top M*del when I decided to keep moving down the guide. Hmmm, I've seen some previews for this program and it looked interesting, maybe I'll check it out. Brav0TV has a new show called W0rkout and Jackie is the owner of a gym/training studio in Beverly Hills. They follow her through her days and nights and all the drama, bla, bla, bla. I'm hooked.
Gotta go, I'm taking a short trip to L.A. (hehe)

Climb Every Mountain

I had to rearrange the room - AGAIN! These kids are freakin' monkeys. If there is a way to get on top of it, they will do it. All they really want is to get to the bow window and sit on the ledge and pound on the window and push (or break) it open so they can escape.

Hey, Emma! Check me out - c'mon up!


OK. Ummm, I don't really like it up here - I'm out.


Whatever. I'm goin' up and over and out. FREEDOM!


What? I wasn't doin' nothin'!




***********UPDATED***********


per KJ's comment - see below...

DUCT TAPE...

for Jake's button-pushing tendency


and his drawer-pulling fetish



bungee cords to come...