July 2006 Update
Okay … where to begin? July has been a CRAZY month, and we’ll
all be happy and relieved once August 1 (moving day) comes and
goes. We truly enjoyed our vacation last month and are now
working very hard to get ready for our big move to Tallahassee.
Much of our belongings can now be found in labeled boxes
throughout the house, garage, and storage shed. We still have a
lot to do over the next few weeks, but we’ll get there. Items we
use daily (like toys, bedding, books, dishes, and clothing)
cannot be packed up until the last minute. The good news is that
for those of you who don’t know Rob well, we WILL be unpacked
and completely moved into our new place inside of a week after
arriving in Florida. He doesn’t believe in putting off until
tomorrow what can be done immediately.
We have a new goal for Zoe this month. It’s called, “You are a
big girl now and you need to walk, rather than be carried
everywhere.” You know all the photos of her in the carrier we’ve
posted? This is the LAST month of those. No more carrier … no
more carrying … period. For the first three days of walking, we
had a real tyrant on our hands. EVERY time I tried to walk
anywhere she would stand between my legs, cling to me for dear
life, and scream to be picked up. I would maneuver her out of
the way, and she’d scoot—still screaming mind you—back between
my legs. Boy was that fun! By day three, I called my Mom (don’t
we all, when we need a little help?) and said to her, “Okay Mom,
you raised 4 two year olds. How do I handle this?” She suggested
time-out and affirmed us in our decision that Zoe is ready and
needs to start walking more and be carried less. So we had a
family meeting with Mommy, Daddy, and Zoe. We explained in no
uncertain terms that she was to start walking, stop screaming,
and if she threw a tantrum, she would sit for 2 minutes in the
time-out chair. Well, she sat in time-out a couple of times
(don’t worry, we stay in the room with her, but ignore her
tantrum) and then … VOILA! She now walks places. When she
scrambles between my legs, as she does occasionally for old
times sake, I ask her if she needs to sit down with Mommy for
some snuggle time. We call that “filling our love bucket.” She
usually does and will say to me, “love bubet” – it just warms my
heart to take MANY times each day to snuggle with our precious
daughter. And about the walking … would you believe she has now
WALKED almost a mile rather than ride in the stroller on several
occasions to the coffee shop, Hyvee, McDonalds, and the outdoor
pool? Such a big girl!
About our adoption … moving mid-adoption is turning out to be
somewhat of a headache. I’m trying to get my brain around how we
can have our file transferred from Minnesota to Florida prior to
our home study expiring on October 6. The problem is there is NO
NUMBER where a person can be reached at the Minnesota CIS
office. All I’ll say is that I had a meltdown about it
yesterday. Today is a new day, and I’ll resume making my calls
to see if I can come up a plan of attack that will prevent our
home study from expiring. (*** Update, I just talked to our MN
home study agency and it looks like everything is going to be
fine. Pshew!!! ***)
About the wait … who knows? Could be next spring, could be
summer of 2008. There is no telling. So for now, I’m going to go
fill up my love bucket. Zoe? Where are you? |
Out on a family hike.
Zoe must have her "beebies" when we travel.
Bathing beauties.
Zoe's new bike helmet ... so snazzy!
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