I love free stuff!

So, a buddy of mine told me about a rug she had, that she wasn’t using. Spencer’s room is a stars and moon theme. This rug just happens to be a stars and moon theme. She just dropped it off today. . . and Boy Howdy! It is awesome. It matches his bedding perfectly and Spence loved the textured stars and moons and kept running his fingers over them. I love free. . . and fabulous stuff!

Blessed

Today Spencer was blessed. It was great to hear those wonderful blessings and promises for his life. We have one special little boy.

Bluetooth Daydream

Yesterday I couldn’t get my Bluetooth* to turn on! I was in the middle of trying to make dinner when my mom called. The stupid thing just sat there and wouldn’t power up, no matter what I did. I was so annoyed.

(*For my grandma. . . a Bluetooth is a wireless headset to talk on a mobile phone. It is not connected to the phone and you can walk around without any cords connected to the phone. It is so wonderful!)

So, there I am in the kitchen with my microscopic cell phone pinned between my ear and shoulder trying not to let it slip as I am cooking up some chicken and watching Spencer eat puffs in his high hair. I could feel the muscles in my neck stiffening at an alarming rate.

My cell phone is quite small. We use WiFi (a specific type of technology for cell phones) and it only has a couple of phones that it works with. This hasn’t really been a problem, but when I went to pick out my phone there wasn’t really any choice. I just got the one that works with WiFi.

Anywho. . . . . so my phone doesn’t have a jack to plug in a headset, you have to use Bluetooth or else no headset. I have been using Dave’s old Bluetooth that he got a few years ago when he was driving and traveling a lot for business. I have gotten accustom to the ease and wonderfulness of wireless headsets and can’t imagine my day without it. So you can imagine my horror and annoyance at not being able to use it.

However, mixed with my horror and annoyance I had a little happy thought. . . .If my headset is broken. . . then I can get a new one! This little thought was swirling in my head and pretty soon all the annoyance was gone. I have had my eye on “The Jawbone” for quite some time. It is this amazingly cool headset that has the clearest sound and filters out background noise. Ahhh. . . I was wondering what color I should get and if I could find a good deal on Craigslist.com and how my new wonderful life would be with my new noise-canceling-mega-cool headset. I thought, “Oh well, this Bluetooth is old and should be replaced anyway. . . it’s had a good life.”

I was almost positively giddy with excitement by the time Dave got home from work. I said, “Well Dave, it looks like the Bluetooth is broken. No matter what I do it won’t power up.” Dave says, “Well, let me take a look.”

Within 30 seconds he had the thing on and working. “There you go, it just needed to be power cycled.”

“Thanks hun.”

Jack is back!

Well, it has been several months and now we are done watching “Lost”. . . at least the first three seasons. Now we are checking back in on Jack Bauer for the 4th season of “24”. I have LOVED the series “Lost” and can’t wait for the 4th season to come out of DVD. I just can’t watch it on TV with all the commercials. I think they should release it next fall. . . don’t they release the previous season right before the next one starts???

At any rate, we love “Lost” and can’t wait to see what happens in the fall. But for the time being we will settle for our super agent who gets the job done and for whom the rules don’t apply.

Welcome back Jack!

Family Portrait

Yesterday we got our first official family portrait with Spencer. We originally had an appointment with a local photographer who participated in “Celebrating Adoption.” Celebrating Adoption is a group of photographers all over the US who will take a family portrait and waive the sitting fee if you have adopted in the last 12 months. Our appointment was set, then the week of the appointment she told us she was moving the Louisiana, THAT weekend. She said they planned on moving but the timing got accelerated. . . so poof the only photographer in our home town was gone. We could drive an hour and half to the next closest. . . .hmmmm . . . thinking.. . . . Spencer in a car seat for 1 1/2 hours. . . then take a picture of it. . . *shudder*

So we called up the old standby. . . JC Penny. During the photo session, Spencer was in stranger mode. He was not interested in smiling, he just had that look like, “Who are you and why am I here?” Even with the deer-in-the-headlights look we managed to get some nice pictures. I was going to post some here, but apparently they charge a fee to view then online. . .I thought I can wait the two weeks and scan them for free.

So our prints should be here in about 2 weeks. The only gripe I really have is that they didn’t have a mirror handy, you had to got down the hall to some secret James Bond room that looked like a closet. . . but it had a mirror. Odd, I know but what can you do?

Billy-Ray

Dave just looked at Spencer and paused. . . “Well,” he said “a baby doesn’t care what their hair cuts looks like.”

As you can guess, I gave Spencer a hair cut. His mullet was just getting longer and longer and something had to be done (a la my college roommate.) So I put Spencer in his high chair and “evened out” the long hair in the back. Well, maybe the word “even” is too liberal.

Spencer had his head shaved by the nannies in the first few months he was with them, so his “first hair cut” happened long before he came home. At any rate, the “Billy Ray” look (as Dave called it) is gone. It looks better, and now I just need to learn some techniques so the next time it will not look so . . . obvious.

Mission Accomplished

We left for Utah last Friday morning. As we boarded the plane I was just thinking about all memories we have made with Spencer in the last 2 months and how great it would be to share more memories with grandparents and aunts & uncles. Spence did great on the flight, he slept for about an hour of the 3 hour flight and was content to investigate the window and play with some toys.

Our plane landed and Aunt Janelle was the first to meet Spencer. He warmed up to her right away. After being on the plane in someone’s lap and then strapped in the car seat I was worried he would be fussy when we arrived to hang out with the rest of my family. True to form Spencer was a 100% charmer. He played with Grandma & Grandpa and we all had a great day. The house was stocked with goodies for Spencer (including a big round blue ball and some biter biscuits) he must have thought this was heaven.

We spent all day Friday with my family and then drove the hour to Dave’s parent’s house to spend the night. It was so great for Spencer to meet his other grandparents. Four loving and devoted people to goo and gahh over.

Saturday was THE day, the whole point of our trip. We went to the temple to be sealed. We arrived at the Jordon River temple at noon and when we arrived we had to drop Spencer off at the nursery. This was the first time we had left him. . . ever. We knew it would only be a short time, and he would be in the sealing room soon. . . but still it made me a little nervous. We changed into our white clothes and the temple worker told us we could sit in the celestial room until it was time. It was great to be there. This was the same room, in the same temple where we sat 18 months ago and felt that there was a child in Vietnam who was meant to be part of our family. We felt that yes, we should pursue an adoption from Vietnam.

I was filled with love and gratitude, knowing that Spencer was part of our family and this is the plan Heavenly Father has for us. Now we would be sealed forever and Heavenly Father has so many blessing in store for our family.

The sealing was a very special and surreal experience. I was touched by the strong spirit in the room, it was a feeling of love, peace and assurance. I will always remember that moment.

After the sealing we were able to get some pictures and celebrate together with all our family. We had a wonderful luncheon and ended up staying and chatting for about 2 hours. Spencer sat at the head of the table, as if he was holding court. He enjoyed some rice cereal and got to drink from a glass (one of his favorite things to do!)

By the time things were winding down we decided to go and look in on our home in Herriman. (It has been on the market 11 months, and we pray so fervently that it will sell soon.) The house looked good and I may have had a few deeps sighs for my lovely stainless steel double ovens with convection heat. We hope a family will fall in love with our home and buy it, and then we can finally settle in and find some permanency here.

The rest of Saturday was spent with Dave’s family. We had a wonderful evening and Spencer loved being with Grandma & Grandpa. He also loved the new tub. Dave’s parent’s tub is deeper then our and I think he liked the jets (we did not turn on the jets of course, but he liked to touch them and investigate.)

Sunday was another family day. We went to church and had a lovely meal together. Wynn grilled up some steak and I made Peach Pudding for dessert. We also got some pictures of Spencer playing with his cousin Kenzie. Before you knew it Cousin Kenzie had to go home (a long drive to Veags) and it was bedtime. He had a great weekend!

Monday morning we flew back home and Spencer slept for 2 hours on the plane. When we arrived home it felt so good to be back and knowing that Spencer is sealed to our family. It makes this whole process complete! We love our little guy and it was so great to see that our family loves him just as much. It was a great weekend: Mission Accomplished!

Here are the pictures from the weekend:

The Weekend

We had a wonderful weekend. I will write more later about all the fun we had, but wanted to get some pictures up.

Spencer got to meet his Grandmas and Grandpas, and his aunts & uncles. (As you can see the boy was mauled with love!)





We had a perfect and wonderful experience at the temple.



After the temple we had a family meal to celebrate and we all had a wonderful time.






Spencer warmed up quickly to his new found admirers and loved bathing in the new tub!


Spence also got to meet his cousin for the first time.



I have more pictures that I will upload to our album and I’ll put a link up.

Our flight leaves soon and we will be home for dinner. Thanks to everyone for your well wishes and love. It was a truly remarkable and special weekend.

Hello Grandmas!

Tomorrow morning we head out at the crack of dawn (6 AM) for the airport. This is going to be an exciting weekend. On Saturday we will be sealed as a family in the Jordon River Temple. This will be the perfect crowning event of the last 18 months since we started the adoption process.

I am hoping that Spencer does well on the flight. My awesome sister (who works for the airlines) scored us some great seat in the bulkhead with lots of leg room. I hope this makes the flight better for Spencer. If we all have a bit more room we will all be happier. This 3 hour flight should be a piece of cake compared with the nightmarish 11 hour flight + 8 hour lay over in LAX just 5 weeks ago. At least, that is what I am hoping.

This will be the first time Spence will meet his grandmas and grandpas, along with some of his aunts and uncles, and one cousin. We will only be there for the weekend, as you can imagine vacation days are at a premium around here. (But well worth it for this special occasion.)

I still need to pack and I plan to bring along some books for our guy. Spencer has found a new appreciation for books. Just this last week, he has gone from putting the book directly into his mouth to actually looking at the pictures and helping to turn the pages. It is pretty exciting. He still hasn’t caught on to sign language yet. Or at the very least he hasn’t shown any recognition of the few signs we use (mom, dad, bottle, and more.)

I have some great news about sign language though. Our ward is offering an intermediate signing class once a week! I am so chuffed! I have taken Beginning Sign classes more times then I care to remember. . . on the college level, community night classes, through church . . . you name it. It is hard because once you are past the starting level it is hard to get beyond that on your own.

I have a very good friend and she is deaf, she is my visiting teaching companion and she is SOOO wonderful. I love her so much and am learning lots from her. I really want to communicate better with her and also, as we visit with others, I want to be able to share what she is saying accurately and the other way around. This new class should be just the thing. It will hopefully help me go to the next level.

Well I better go to bed. . . tomorrow is a big day : ) I promise to post pictures from the weekend.

My Husband: The Mind-Reader

I know that some husbands complain that they are not mind readers. However my cute hubby has the gift. This past weekend I was feeling flustered and frustrated.

Because I spend most of week (Monday-Friday) looking after Spencer while cute-hubby is at work, Dave takes the lead with the boy on the weekend. Saturday Dave had church meetings to attend and some other commitments. So I ended up spending the morning with Spencer and keeping the home fires burning. Later in the afternoon I was feeling frustrated, I said. . . “Today was supposed to be my day off. . .” with some sulky disgruntled-ness in my voice. My husband asked if I was unhappy about his meetings. I said no. . . I was just feeling. . . “umph.” I didn’t know why I was feeling so. . . sulky/unhappy/frustrated. I totally support him in his church callings and I love spending time together as a family. But still. . . .

Dave asked me some questions about my feelings and I told him I wasn’t sure where these feelings were coming from. . I said maybe I was just being “emotional” and needed to adjust to things. Dave response was. . . “Remember when you went off shopping and I watched Spence?” . . . I said, “Yeah. . .” He continued, “Remember when you came home you felt so relaxed and you just enjoyed some time on your own”. . . I said “Yeah. . . ” He said, “I think you just need some time away, on your own. This week you have been off to vote, with Spencer. You went visiting teaching, with Spencer. You went to Activity Days, with Spencer. You went shopping, with Spencer. . . It is good to get out and have some time without Spencer.”

I felt like a little weight had been lifted off my shoulders. . . he was RIGHT! I didn’t realize it until he articulated it. That is how I was feeling. He then said, you should go out and do something you enjoy. I said. . . I should call Rae and do something with her! I was so excited, my little heart was racing! I was going to go out and talk with my friend! I have friends! It seems silly to be so excited about it but it all clicked. That is exactly what I needed. I called Rae and was at her house 15 minutes later. We went out for ice cream and it felt so good to chat. Ahhhhh!

Dave knows me so well, I feel so lucky. He said from now on he will make sure that I have time to do things without Spencer, whether it is a shopping trip to the grocery store in the evenings or having some time with friends. I didn’t even know when I married him that he was telepathic, I think I’ll keep him and sell tickets : )

New Clothes

Spencer is getting so big, according to our bathroom scale he is 20 lbs. This last week I have been putting him in some of his 12-month clothes. Some of his 6-9-month clothes are bit snug. His torso is long, and the 12- month pants fit better around his waist. However, the legs on his pants are still a bit long.

I was so excited to see him in this button down shirt for church today. I bought it last summer on clearance for $1.50 (as a 12-month size) and thought it would be a whole year before he could wear it. But he looks pretty darn snappy!