AHHHH!!!!!

Today I scared the pants off a child at school today. Now, before you think I am mean teacher, let me explain. Yes, I scared him on purpose. But, no, he wasn't one of my students. He is one of my co-worker's sons. He is eight years old. There is an unspoken knowledge that we are in a scaring contest that shall last a quarter of a decade. The night I first met him was at the Christmas party we did this year. He scared me so bad, and continued to try to scare me throughout the rest of the night. I saw him today for the first time since that night. The first thing he says to me, "I remember you, I scared you really bad!" I knew I needed to scare him, and scare him bad. We were at the park and he was going down the twirly slide, I crouched down and waited. He had NO idea I was there. His mom was standing facing the slide, and she was excited to watch me scare him. When I saw his feet get to the bottom I popped out and shouted a loud quick, "AH!!" Oh boy was he scared! It was awesome! Probably one of the best scares I've ever done. I know to watch my back the next time I see him, though.

The Best Two Years

 Today is the 2nd anniversary of when I met Chris and Dani (Trae's parents).

I was terrified. I remember thinking, "What if they don't want a baby that looks like me?"

Well they were delighted when they saw him for the first time at the ultrasound.

And their families were quite thrilled, also.

I got to know Chris' sister, Ashley, and her kids pretty well.

And we went to an adoption conference. Dani got to feel the baby kick, after much effort on my part!

We went shopping, and apparently did a bit of modeling.

They visited me on and off in the hospital.

And even on the hardest night of my life they still got me laughing.

We then kept a friendship.

And continued hanging out.

They even let me take on some "mothery roles."

We play.

We take poorly lit photos, very rarely though.

And we go to Thanksgiving Point more than any other group of people I know.

Sometimes I envy them. Sometimes they make me cry. Sometimes they make me angry.

But I love them every minute, of every day.

They are my son's parents, and I could not have picked two people better qualified for the job.

They are two of my very best friends. And I am so glad they are in my life.

Preschool Portions

It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that many of my stories about my preschoolers are about the same children. There is a boy, Dylan, who has eyes that will melt your heart. He is quite tiny for his age, he's easily the smallest in the class, but not the youngest. He has an adorable little laugh and thinks everything is funny. He is the one who gave me the rose on Valentine's Day. Today he didn't feel like sitting on the rug for singing time. That is fine as long as they stand with a teacher. I was sitting in one of the miniature chairs we have for the children and he was leaning against, standing between my legs. He was bouncing his head on my chest lightly, which is very normal for preschool age children to do. Now, it is no secret that I am...well endowed in that area. After a couple minutes he turned and looked at me, held ten fingers toward my face, and grabbed my chest saying, "Squishy!!" I pulled his arms back saying, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. No, no Dylan." With a very shocked look opn my face. That only encouraged him. I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to redirect a three year old from groping me. Can't wait for tomorrow!

To the Point

Chris and Dani and Trae are going to be in Hawaii during Birthmother's Day for their 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!! (I know, right?!) So we celebrated a couple of weeks early. We went to Thanksgiving Point, our usual outing location. One of my Top 10 best days probably.

When they got there the first thing my little Trae did was look at me and put his arms right up for a hug. Isn't he adorable?! I love him and he was so excited to see me! He's finally comfortable with me all the time. FINALLY!!!

We went to see the animals.

Trae got more excited about the "BA!" (ball) inside the pen.

We got some adorable pictures.

Aren't we so cutie together?!

He did NOT want to touch any of the animals.

Or have me touch any of them.

The horse/wagon ride thing was fun. We didn't see any animals really. But we got to watch all the humans!

I love Dani. I can't imagine finding a better mom for my little one, or a better friend.

There was a cute little alcove area and Dani got a couple goo pictures.

But the cutest ones were over by the flowers.

This one is probably my favorite. Dani called it the "mini-me picture."

I love this angle.

Dani is really great at capturing the essence of my laughter face in the most hideous way.

At the end of the day we exchanged a couple gifts. I got him a little banjo from Hawaii. He likes it a lot. And he gave me a cute picture of us that he colored and a book of him.