Missy712's Blog

In Preparation of a Move

missy712 — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:42:00 +0000

In the next day or two, I will be making the transition to a new blog – new look, new address. I love this blog – this is where it all started, and it is a comfortable place for me…so, the decision has been drawn out and, as far as decisions like this go, difficult for me……..

When we first came home with Iliya, I had toyed with the idea of creating an entirely new blog. I struggled with what to do, because, for me, “The Road Home” was the story of how Nathan & I became parents, and I wanted to create a blog that was the next chapter in our life together as a family of 3. However, every time I thought about creating a whole new blog, I was faced with one problem in my mind: I feel that our life is just that — our life. From the moment we decided to adopt… until this very moment…and continuing through any subsequent life changes we may undergo. And I decided, then, that I didn’t want to have to refer back to old blogs in order to keep up with things that happened in our life as a family.

Fortunately, waaaay back in 2006 (wow!) I had chosen a “Bl0gger address” (child-of-mine) that helped me make a very easy final decision: my blog was simply went from “The Road Home” to “(Life With This) Child of Mine.”

It was perfect & has served us well for the past 2 years!

But…

Ever since I started a photography blog, last year, and was introduced to W0rdpress, I have felt severely limited by Bl0gger (I suspect this only means something to those of you who blog)…….so, I have determined that it is finally time to make a move.

But…

You know how I mentioned that – a couple years ago – I hadn’t been a fan of keeping several different blogs in different places? Well, I still feel the same way, now…I would like to have it all in one place. So…I am in the process of actually transitioning all of my posts to the new blog. Everything from April 2006 will be there, to make the transition easier for all of us (well, at least for me). Some of my posts have lost their formatting – and I will slowly work on fixing that – but they will all be there.

Lest you – (and I) who don’t like change – worry,

This blog is actually not going anywhere. It will close to any new posts – so to follow us, you’ll have to go to my new site. But if you’re like me, and just need to look at it sometimes, it will be here for you come back in for a walk down memory lane.

I have an October Recap post almost ready to go, but I’m going to save it…so, I guess the next time you hear from me, it will be an announcement of my new blog address. So hang on tight…the wait won’t be long!

Hello world!

missy712 — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:33:38 +0000

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!

‘Tis the Season…!

missy712 — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:06:00 +0000

Parenting tip of the week: Give choices

missy712 — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:48:00 +0000

For instance, on Tuesday night, Iliya was t-i-r-e-d. We had taken him to a fall festival with friends, and he was worn out, but sticky from a big bag of cotton candy. When we got home, I told him we needed to take a quick bath….for which he expressed a huge amount of disdain.

So I had an idea. I said, “you don’t want to take a bath, right?” Right. So, I followed that with, “well, how about a shower, instead? A bath or a shower, tonight?”

He typically likes showers much less than baths, so he chose a bath. No more crying, and definitely not a battle.

Of course, this doesn’t always work. Because he’s learned that he actually has one more choice that I don’t give him. And that choice is…“nothing! I want to do none of those!” Which is what he said last night, when it was time to bathe.

But hey, it’s always worth a try!

I Love This Blog

missy712 — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:25:00 +0000

I keep this blog in my feed reader. It gives me a daily laugh…so I thought I might share it with you, so you can have a daily laugh, if you so choose.

The Cake Wrecks Blog

Around Our House

missy712 — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:56:00 +0000

Once upon a time, this blog started out as a simple way to keep close family and friends updated on our adoption process, since all of our families are so spread out. I never had any intention of writing anything other than the more superficial details to keep everyone in the loop. As time progressed, though, and we became more steeped in the adoption process, and subsequently, parenting, my readership expanded and I found that this blog was an excellent outlet for me as I worked my way into my role as a mother.

I feel like I’ve had some pretty good, thoughtful posts over the years (years?! wow…) but things are so busy, these days. I still have the occasional great idea come up…but between work, my photography business, and all of the other things we do (and Iliya is not even involved in any extra-curricular activities yet!), I’m really doing good to sit down a couple times a week (or every other week ) to post photos. So, despite my best intentions to get around to actually write a meaty post (you know, about potty training, sleeping, and other relevent topics), this blog has come full circle, and now seems more like the blog it was in the beginning.

A way to give family and friends (old, new, IRL, and virtual!) quick, snippet insights into our life as a family of three. And though I’m tempted to, I will not apologize for not having the time to make each post the most riveting thing you’ve ever read.

Which is okay by me, if it’s fine with you.

There. Now that we have that taken care of.

———————-

And I have to tell you that I am VERY behind in updating on our life. I have virtual mountains of pictures from our life that I need to post, so I figure I won’t waste any time in getting on that task.

So, I’ll start with Nathan’s cousin, Justin.

Justin is one of Nathan’s youngest cousins, who graduated from highschool in May. All through his senior year, he was busy deciding on a direction for his life…perhaps military….perhaps college. When we lived in Tuscaloosa, he came to visit us one weekend, to try talking out a few of his plans on fresh ears. Despite a shoulder injury, he’s a great football player and – long story short – actually ended up being recruited to play for a small college, all the way up in Illinois.

Of course, his absence is difficult on his parents, but I think he is thriving away!

And, a couple weekends ago, it happened that his team traveled down to LaGrange, GA to play a game with the college there. Since we are within an easy drive, we didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to see him play. A side benefit was that we got to see a lot of Nathan’s family, too, who traveled down for the game!

Here is Justin in action…

Just after halftime, I took Iliya out to the car to rest. I ended up making him a little palette in the floorboard of N’s mom’s car, and laid him down for a quick power nap.

I had to wake him up to go back into the stadium, but the game was already overwith by that time. We got a quick picture with Justin..can you tell I have a tired boy in my hands?

And then, he realized that was a football field behind us, and that he could actually go ON the field… and we shut the place down. (Literally! The stadium manager finally had to come ask us to leave so he could go home!)

I think Iliya could have a strong future ahead of him…don’t you think?

More Precious Than Gold

missy712 — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:00:00 +0000

On Friday, I picked Iliya up from school, and his teacher met me at the door, excitedly telling me that Iliya had something special to give to me.

Earlier in the day, she had put out pipe cleaners and beads for a threading exercise, and the children were making bracelets.

She said that all the children were so excited to make bracelets for themselves. Every one of them, except for Iliya. She said declared that he was going to make a bracelet for his mommy…and he sat and carefully chose each bead, until he had the bracelet just right.

I challenge you…tell me what could be more precious than a pipe cleaner bracelet made by your almost 4-year old? For me, not even gold beats the thoughtfulness and love of a child.

I am so blessed.

The Boy and His Dog: Part 2

missy712 — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:52:00 +0000

Manipulation.

Iliya has become really good at manipulation…or, he’s trying to become really good at it. He has a good way to go before he becomes convincing enough. But I have to give him credit where credit is due…he’s very creative in his attempts!

Enter the dog.

Remember how I said there is a bond there? Well, sometimes that bond is sort of like a sibling bond in that Iliya tends to compete with Gracie….and sometimes, it’s the funniest thing ever.

Take for instance Iliya always wanting to take medicine. I guess there is danger in him always being such a good medicine taker (some parents complain about their children not wanting to take medicine, but so far, in our 2+ years with Iliya, we’ve never come up against a medicine he won’t take).

Earlier last week, Gracie was diagnosed with a UTI, and has to take 14 days of antibiotics. She is not a great medicine taker, so to make things easy on myself, I wrap her 2 pills in either ham or cheese…which makes her a good medicine taker. Since she has to take the medicine with food, Iliya is usually in there after feeding her breakfast.

Anyway, the other day, Iliya was watching me give Grace her medicine in a piece of ham…

Iliya: Mama, I not feel so well.

Me: Why?

Iliya: I’m sick.

(of course, with all the flu going around, my mama worry kicks in every time he says something like this)

Me: Well, what makes you think you are sick?

Iliya: I drank too much water.

Me: Oh, well, I’m sorry. What should we do about that?

Iliya: I think I need some medicine.

Me: (knowing where this is going) Oh really? What kind of medicine do you think you need?

Iliya: A piece of ham.

And of course, I’m probably wrong in rewarding him with a piece of ham, but I didn’t see any harm in giving him a piece. Of course, I made sure to tell him that he doesn’t have to fake being sick to get a piece of ham, he merely has to ask for a piece.

I don’t know that it sunk in, though, because after he devoured a piece of ham, he looked up at me and said, “Mama…I’m not sick anymore. I feel much better.”

More Wizard of Oz

missy712 — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:40:00 +0000

During the month of October, I got this bright idea to put out little Halloween treats for Iliya to find at the breakfast table when he wakes up. The treats are nothing special – just little things for him to find, so he can enjoy Halloween all month.

Friday morning’s treat was a little witch hat I had found at T@rget…given his enjoyment of the W1zard of 0z, I thought he might find the hat fun to play with.

And wouldn’t you know it…I was right!

The audio/video are a little off, but I thought it was a cute video nonetheless.

The Boy and His Dog: Part 1

missy712 — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:22:00 +0000

Gracie – our chocolate lab – has been in our family since 2002. She has been through several moves and – before Iliya came along – has been my companion whenever Nathan has had to be gone due to military circumstances. She’s a pretty flexible dog and thanks to my niece, had plenty of experience with children; nevertheless, I worried a little bit when we brought Iliya to the family…how would Gracie react?

And as most of my worries usually end up, they were for naught.

I think it helps that one of Iliya’s responsibilities is to feed Gracie. You’ve seen the video of him feeding her – and I think that one act (though it’s not AS fun for him anymore) has really brought them together. She sits by his door, waiting for him to wake up, and greets him with wagging tail in the morning, and he often hugs her neck as he walks down the hallway toward the kitchen. I’ve overheard him talking to her as he feeds her, saying things like, “now Gracie, just sit right there. I’m gonna feed you, now. I promise. But make sure you don’t tee-tee in the floor. It’s gross. You won’t? Okay…you promise? Okay, that’s good.”

Perhaps my favorite is a few weeks ago, we were on our way to church and out of the blue, Iliya interrupted a conversation I was having with Nathan and said, “I love Gracie so much. I love to hug her. I want to marry her.”

Of course, he won’t marry her, but he really does love her. I’m pretty sure it’s no longer “Us” and the dog…instead, I think Iliya has taken ownership, and it’s now officially, The Boy and HIS Dog.