It's blackberry season here in the South, and lucky for us we have blackberries growing all along our fence line. Today, the humidity has been low and it's not too hot, so we all went out blackberry picking this morning. Rhyne and Jake did real good and only picked the black ones, but somehow none of them ended up in their bags - they ended up in their mouths or on the ground. Anyway, we got a good little mess of them the morning, and hopefully we can go back out this evening and pick some more. I'd like to have enough to make some blackberry preserves or at least enough for a cobbler, yum!

Sitting quietly pounding away at the keyboard today at work and all of a sudden my phone rings and it's the daycare. Uh oh! Who's sick or hurt this time? This time it was Jake. Apparently, he has this new fondness of jumping. Everytime he stands up on something, he yells out, "I juming!". Well, the little daredevil jumped out of the chair at school and bumped that ever famous spot on his forehead! He's hit it so many times in that same spot, he doesn't even cry anymore - I guess it's permantly numb!! We've joked that he keeps hitting that forehead because, bless his heart, it sticks out there like the front-end of a Lincoln, and will probably be one of those kids that has to wear a helmet!! Poor baby.

Anyway, they called just to let me know in case I wanted to come by and take a look at it and not be shocked when I came to pick them up. Well, I knew they already had ice on it and by the time I got there he would be cradled in someone's arms, receiving TLC and thinking (like any man would), "this is the life for me", and the knot would be down. I knew right and then that I was running out to Targets at lunch and finally buying him that t-shirt that says "I do my own stunts". It just describes him to a T (he he).

New phrases R & J are saying -

"Hey Baby" - and just give you that cheese grin

"Just Wet" - when I ask who has a stinky on, they'll say "just wet". Too clever!

"I sorry" - will say this then lay their head in your lap and bat those baby brown eyes

Billboard sign of the month - I was driving to work one day and almost ran off the road from laughing so hard!! The red sign only read "I POOTED" - nothing else. Some may not find this as funny as me, but in our family, it's become a running joke. Well this week, they finally put more on the billboard, and I just had to pull over this morning and take a picture!!!

Just look what my good friend Elle did to the blog!!!! Isn't she just the greatest!!!

Throughout this whole adoption journey, I have been so fortunate to meet (or virtually meet) some of the nicest and kindest friends (YOU ALL KNOW WHO YOU ARE!) that I probably would have otherwise never crossed paths with. Elle is one of them. She has a talent of tweaking the ordinary boring blog to something beautiful and special. She has just captured the image that I had in my head while waiting in between Trip 1 and Trip 2 to bring our babies home - "I see the Moon and the Moon sees me. God bless the Moon and God bless Me".

Since hubby traveled alot during that time, I had most nights to sit and think, and CRY alot! But somehow, looking up at that beautiful Moon, I would think - " I am preparing to turn in for the night, and our babies are just about to wake to another day on the other side of the World, without their Mommy and Daddy" - wondering if they would remember us or if they had a 6th sense that we were yearning to fly to Russia to bring them home.

Family and Friends were supportive, but only did my Adoption Friends (AF) truly understand what agony one will go through in this journey. It felt more comforting when AFs would say, IT WILL HAPPEN. I guess because they had actually been there or were going through the waiting game the same as us. You have to be prepared for anything in this journey because each adoption is different and it can have you saying over and over "why me/us", especially when you throw foreign politics into the mixture. However, NEVER under estimate the power of a bunch of Mommies (and Daddys) gathered together on the internet rooting each other on, to press fowared during those darkest days. Plus, the knowledge that one gains from others who have gone before them is priceless. The Agency can give you a "template" to go by, but the insights and tips that I gained from reading all the boards was so much more in depth and accurate - from what gifts to take, to what clothes and items to pack, to which airline seats to try and book, etc. I only hope that I can pass a few tips to others that are starting this journey.

From the bottom of my heart, Thank You ALL!! And a special Thank You to Elle for this wonderul gift, and the gift of laughter that you put into your blogs to share with us.


Tip of the day -

Frugle Diaper Wipe Warmer - Place 1 pack of your favorite wipes directly ontop of your dryer (go ahead and clear a spot off). After the loads and loads of laundry that you are (or will be) doing with the addition of your little precious little one(s), presto instant diaper wipe warmer. Your dryer will run not stop, causing the wipes to stay a toasty warm for those little buns.

Do you remember the first object your child could correctly recognize? For Rhyne, it happened to be the Moon. About a week after we put them in daycare, I was trying to wrangle both kids into the car (I'm sure everyone was glued to the windows dying of laughter at this new Mom of 2!). When all of a sudden, Rhyne looked up and pointed to the sky and said, "Moon, Moon". If you read the little paragraph to the right, you will understand why the Moon holds a special place in my heart.

Well, equally amazing is the first object recognition from Jake. Not sure if everyone knows, but we live on a small dirt farm. Yes, it's a dirt farm because that seems to be the only thing that we can successfully grow! Anyway, Jake's first object that he could successfully say and recognize was his Daddy's tractor - Dadda's tractor. Jody also works in the rental contruction business, so he is always around the big bulldozers, etc. It seems there is always some kind of contruction going on in county. So, little Jake thinks that every piece of construction equipment - aka "tractor" belongs to Dadda. For a few months he was constantly calling every backhoe, bobcat, bulldozer, etc. "tractor". Then it progressed into "Dadda's tractor". Now, he just makes sure to point out every "tractor" that we pass to and from the daycare (only 20 -30 a day!).

It's so funny, because the first book that I bought 6 months before we even received our referrals was Dr Seuss' "Are You My Mother?". My friend and I just love to quote movies and books and she is always joking that she could use one of those "Are You My Mother" snorts (backhoe) in her yard.

I have been reading this book to the kids, so I am just waiting for the day for one of them to point at a construction site and say, "Are You My Mother?"!!!