Going to the "house store"....

I last left off when we were going to take Bug to the hospital lab for a blood test. Well, on Friday May 8th, I took her up the street to the hospital for a blood draw. I wasn't so sure how that would go, but alas, my brave little girl did so well. She started to cry when they put the tourniquet on. When they actually took the blood, she had pretty much stopped crying by then. She was just so excited that she was going to get a Snoopy band-aid, and a Tinkerbell sticker. Good results too: Mono is negative, but her blood count was super low. Normal is between 8,000 and 10,000, and hers was 5,000. The doctor said also, that 71% of her cells were viral cells. Layman's terms: she has a nasty virus. As of today, her glands are STILL badly swollen. Not sure what is still going on with those...

Sunday brought Mother's Day. Every Mother's Day, we are greeters at church. DH got me a corsage, and of course made me a nice card. I thought for sure LM would tear the heck out of the corsage, but I only lost one petal on my rose, so not so bad. I always look forward to his handmade cards. Sunday night we had a yummy dinner at TGI Friday's.

Later in the week, we decided that we are going to buy a bigger house. Yes, just like that. Not "shall we go out for dinner tonight?", or "I think I need to buy a new pair of shoes..", but "I think we are going to buy a bigger house". We had actually been throwing around the idea, but nothing ever came of it. Well, we decided it made money sense, as the mortgage rates will probably be sky high next summer (when we originally had planned to move), so we might as well go for it, right?? We have met with two realtors, and have chosen one to work with. We have some things to do to the house (very minor), but our hope is to have it listed by the end of the month. So, on Saturday we decided to go "house shopping" and drive past some we had found that we liked. As we were getting ready to go, Bug asked where we were going, and I told her "house shopping". I proceeded to run around the house getting things ready, and I hear Bug yell..."Cmon Daddy, we are going to the house store!!!!" Too cute.

Next on the agenda was going to the pottery store to paint a plate for our Mom's for Mother's Day. We had an idea to hand print both of the kids on a heart shaped plate, then DH would take them home. It worked out ok...I was there for about four hours though--after DH left with the kids. I was exhausted by the end. Since I was there, I also painted a cake plate for LM for his first birthday. The plates turned out pretty good I thought.

LM didn't want to let go of the paint brush when his kind young lady helped us. She gave me a real cute idea for his cake plate too! Thanks kind lady!

Here is a cute picture of my curious LM....He realized that when he gets into the cereal cabinet, that tasty things are in there. He would eat some Lucky Charms, and then clap his hands.On Friday, we had some new friends over. They are a couple from our church who has also adopted transracially, a little girl. We had a great time chatting and letting the kids play. Holding their daughter, really made me want to adopt again. She was so precious. Saturday night, we headed to some friends' of ours, "Uncle" Dave and "Aunt" Jen. We had a yummy dinner, then just chatted and got caught up. It had been so long since we had seen them....I am pretty sure the longest span of time ever. I think it had been since February...we promised not to do that again!! We were there till about 11:30pm...and the kids didn't actually get into bed till after midnight. Bad parents... Cuddlin' with "Uncle" Dave"Aunt" Jen and Bug

Sunday brought me and the kiddos piling in the car and heading to DH's parent's house. We got to spend some time with the family, and my Mom actually came up for the day on Monday, so the kids got to see both of their Grandma's at the same time. We had a good time seeing everyone, and doing some relaxing. At home, DH was going to get some painting done in the house, and we thought it would just be much easier with no kids (and wife!). Not much ended up getting done in the house, as DH had to work alot more than expected. O-well...guess we will be getting it done this weekend. LM at the park...I kept saying his name to get him to look at the camera, but he refused. He was smilin' like crazy, but didn't want to look at me. Little stinker! My little Bug Aunt Kim and LM Swinging with Aunt Kim Snuggling with Aunt Tracy Bug being a goofball... My Mom, LM, DH's Mom and Bug, with the Mother's Day gifts. The plates read: "Grandma (Grammy) holds our hands for a short time, but our hearts forever". Both our Mom's loved them. Bug and her cousins at the park... My cute nephew....and I WILL be saving this picture for his first girlfriend!!

This morning, I took the kids and met with two other adoptive moms for a play date. We finally got to have our first Transracial Playgroup meeting. Yay! We had a great time, and was blessed with an awesome, hot day! It was so exciting to meet other Moms who have been down our road, to develop the support system, and of course to make new friendships too! We are planning on going to the zoo for our next outing. Tonight, I am off to a "preview" garage sale. This garage sale is a woman who has, literally, sales racks full of barely used or new kids clothes from Gymboree. Ummm, yeah, I will be taking some cash with me.

Have a good week!