Down and Dirty

Sometimes you just want to be in your pjs and play in the dirt...

Shannon: One Inch of Grace

I'm so happy to have another guest here today. Shannon, from One Inch of Grace, is one of my adoption homies. Her family was created through the foster system and I'm honored that she is sharing part of her story here.

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Choosing Adoption

This is something that I’ve never discussed on my own site. To put it simply, my husband, J, and I chose adoption over pregnancy. I know the reverse is true for many people, even though they would never trade their adopted children for anything - even though their children are definitely not “a last resort.”

Most people have enough propriety not to ask us about our choices - but some don’t. They want to know about our infertility. But, as far as we know, this is not an issue for us. This is why, when we decided to adopt, we went the foster care route. Now, we’ve never been foster parents, but given our situation, we were determined to adopt older children.

Those who know about our choice, sometimes want to know about my “biological clock,” or what we would do if I got pregnant, since pregnancy always follows an adoption. To me, “what if” questions seem ridiculous, after all, who can predict the future? And, given our assumed ability to become pregnant, our children are deemed “lucky” to have been chosen by us. This is also nonsense. Although we’re going through a hard time right now, I have no doubt that in 20 years, I’ll be thanking them for making us even better. And, they are certainly not lucky - who counts losing one’s parents as something lucky?

Our family was formed by choice, that’s true - our choices, their first parents’ choices, but not our children’s choice. In an ideal world, we would never know each other, because children would never be neglected. We can only try our best today, and hope that someday, their first parents will be proud of the people they have become.

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Amazing right? I just think it's fantastic how many ways a family can be built and I love that Shannon shares hers with such honesty and grace...One Inch of Grace...if you will. Thanks Shannon! 

Wordless-ish Wednesday {Gorgeous}

Adorable skirt from Emily and Icie. You can see Pie opening the box it was in here, and read Emily's sweet guest post from while I was away here.

Unbelievable pictures from Maura Roberts Photography. Seriously...Georgia mamas...call her...it's the best money you'll ever spend!

And I don't feel even a tiny bit bad about saying this little girl is gorgeous because she is...and I can say so because I had nothing to do with it! :D 

Vacation Part 3

The rest of the week was full of...whatever we felt like in the moment. Completely perfect.

Sometimes that was playing on a scooter...

Sometimes it was playing with the awesome water hopscotch thing that Husband got at the dollar store on the porch in our pjs... 

 

   

Sometimes it was playing in the sand... 

Or watching the waves while sitting in them... 

And we all pretty much felt like this when it was time leave. Boo. 

Reason 9,124,246 I love Husband

I'm taking a quick break from vacation recapping to tell you about yet another reason I love Husband.

It's the romance...he says the most amazing, sweetest things ever. Here's a recent conversation we had as an example.

Back story: I bruise really, really easily. And I'm ridiculously pale, so bruises are super apparent on me. Add to that the fact that I'm a complete and total klutz and you get constant bruises...I blame every piece of furniture I've ever been around.

ME: You see those bruises down by my ankle...where did those come from?

HUSBAND: Clearly not from hitting your leg too hard with the razor.

...and scene...

In my own defense if I'm running late (which is a lot) the unnecessary parts of my morning routine gets axed and that equals shaving. And also he can shut up!

You're crazy jealous aren't you? You so completely wish your husband was even one tenth as romantic as mine. Feel free to swoon.

Vacation Part 2

Tuesday was all about lunch. Well for the boys any way...

The night we got to the house we hadn't had time to grocery shop yet so we ate at a place called River City Cafe. It was a few buildings away...very convenient. And they actually had a pretty good veggie burger. But they also had some straight up crazy business.

Just look at the size of those onion rings...

Doritos on the burger? What now?

Peanut butter, marshmallow and nutella on a burger? I think I just threw up in my mouth a little...

And then Big Brother and Husband came across this little number. Yup...you're reading that right...a HALF POUND of bologna. They decided this must be had for lunch at some point. Some point ended up being Tuesday.

Here's the actual sandwich...no grease or fat has been photoshopped in...that's all real.

They also decided to get this little number and split both things. I'm going to give you just a minute to fully take in what this "burger" has on it. Note how many times the word two is used...

And here it is...note the soda can in the background for size reference. This burger and its sides came in three boxes. Three. It couldn't all fit in one, or even two. It took three boxes and had to be assembled once the boys got back to the house.

Husband is working on a game plan here. I'm not sure he ever managed to get a bite that had everything in it...normal people's mouths just don't open that big!

After lunch Big Brother said he felt like he had a tremendous weight on his chest, and Husband took a two hour nap. We decided that those burgers/sandwiches should probably come with directions to the emergency room and the number of a good cardiologist.

Vacation Part 1

It was the kind of vacation that got started with a naked run through a hotel room...

...was full of mohawks and aviators (just ignore the pixelated kid behind Pie...hehehe)... 

 ...scary trips on giant ferris wheels while mama watched safely (read scared sh*tless) on the ground...

...walks on the pier with yummy handmade ice cream cones... 

...and lots of time with our toes in the sand... 

And that was all by Monday! Tuesday through Sunday had lots and lots of other fun...more to come tomorrow.

And thank you all for actually missing me and taking care of my awesome guest posters!!

Wordless Wednesday {Wave Stomping}

I promise real posts coming soon!!

amy: a good life.

Today's lovely lady (and final guest) is Amy from a good life. She is a adorable mama and gets to build up her arm muscles by carrying around her chunky monkey Parker (p-ray to his friends...we're totally tight like that). I want to squish his little round cheeks everytime I see new pictures! As a bonus Amy is a total sweetheart!!

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hi unofficial mom readers!


i’m so excited to be guest posting here today while sara soaks up the sun on the beach. lucky dog. i’m sharing one of my favorite posts with you today… i wrote it after our two week vacay in maui & i was going through some serious post-vacation-withdrawals. it always takes me right back to the beach & those amazing two weeks we had together as a family. vacations are THE best.

i hope you like it & maybe you’ll check out my little corner of the interwebz? yeah? sweet.

“maybe today I went tanning”


actually, i'm pretty sure i did.

also? maybe i closed my eyes & pretended i was laying on a beach. i needed that today. it was one of those days where you wake up & are ready for it to end before it begins. it was a marathon day. it was my day in the office. i realize i'm very fortunate to stay home as much as i do, & also have a great job. but the whole process of getting up, getting ready, & getting parker to the sitter’s was enough to make me pull the covers over my head.

so after work, i went tanning. i listened to jack johnson while i laid there & i pretended i was somewhere else. i didn't think about all the things i needed to do that night, i just listened to jack's voice & pretended the fans were the ocean breeze.

and maybe i pretended i was here.

yup. i did.

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Thanks so much to Amy...not only for helping, but for reminding me that I'd much rather be at the beach than heading back to work and for satisfying my Parker fix. Thanks Mama!!