CARS........the movie

What is it about taking a picture of your child with their new school lunch box that makes them look so old? Will has become a fan of CARS and LIGHTENING MCQUEEN and you can often hear him walking around the house saying phrases like, I AM SPEED, or KA CHOW! Or he'll say mama,,,,,Mack says.......pretty music..... Mader says......and he makes a sound of what the tractors make when he is tractor tipping. A whole new world of boy things have opened up for me. It rained tonight and Will and I were walking the dog walking paths in our subdivision. When we came to the road there was a big puddle. He was of course curious about it and asked what it was. I told him a puddle and he proceeded to check it out. He wasn't sure if it was deep or not by the look on his face so I told him it was not deep. That was the invitation he needed to jump right in.... Then he stuck his hand in the puddle and pulled up some mud and grass clippings and had a good ol time with that. It was pretty priceless watching him jump in the puddle. His lunch box went with him on the walk too. He put it way to the side before he jumped in the puddle. He sure did not want any mud getting on his newest prize possession.
On another note, Will had more immunizations today. 3 of them. We pulled up to the building and he knew exactly where we were. He did not want to go into the dr's office. Well, Jacklyn and I got him into the lobby and we played as we were waiting. Then Jacklyn took him in the hallway bathroom and he pulled an escape artist on her and headed back out to the parking lot straight to our van........clever little guy. After the crocodile tears from getting the 3 shots(he didn't mind the first 2 times getting shots, but now I think he realizes what is going to happen and pretty much is not happy about it) Jacklyn and Mommy went to Target which is across the road and got him a Mack trailer truck to add to his CARS collection. He thought that was pretty cool.

Wordless Wednesday

cupcake creations

I had bought some icing dispensers from pampered chef for a fund raiser a few months ago. The kids and I got them out last week to create the creations above and below. I was actually pretty impressed with them, and they were kid friendly so the creations were all theirs. It was nice way to pass the time for the afternoon since the weather here in WI has been not so summerlike! We'll keep waiting for some tropical days!

HOME 5 MONTHS

We waited exactly 5 mo. from referral until Will was in our arms.(9/17/08-2/17/09) Today marks 5mo that he has been home with us here in the states! Time sure goes by a lot faster when your little one is home with you!

A couple of updates and interesting facts relating to Will....

Will no longer screams out in his sleep! That actually stopped when he was home for about 3 mo. He sleeps very soundly now and is very happy cuddling up with whatever warm body is near.

I'm not sure if it an Ethiopian thing or not, but will points at everything with his middle finger instead of his pointer finger...hmmmmmmmmmmm....not sure how to curve that, maybe he will figure it out on his own.

Will continue's to love lights. He especially likes to turn the key on our scooter and then play with the button that turns on the brights. Often when we get into out cars you can tell Will has been in the drivers seat pushing all the buttons because the hazzards are blinking, the radio will be on full volume, the lights will be lit on the dashboard and ceiling of the car and the wipers will move when we start the car.

Will can dance! He grooves with whatever tune he hears and really has some good moves. He even does a little break dancing on his hands.

It is hard to believe he was scared of dogs when he first arrived home, just the other day he was at my sisters riding a horse.

If we had a two wheel bike that was his size, I bet he could ride it with no training wheels in no time at all. He is amazing on this scooter. This kid is strong!

another zoo photo

Another zoo photo.... It was wierd being on this train that I remember riding when I was a little younger in my youthful days! And there I was riding it with my 3 kids! We are actually heading there again on Thursday to go spend some time with the birds again. Notice my shoeless child! He just will not keep shoes on! I guess once it gets cold again that will change! Jeffrey left for Boston on Sunday so the kids and I have been without daddy! We are heading to go see ICE AGE in 3D today. Well Jacklyn is taking her sister and her friend and Will and his little buddy and myself and another friend are heading to monkey joes to bounce around in the inflatables. That should be a good work out!

Slick Will

The girls were getting ready to leave to watch their cousin in a play and they got Will ready to go play golf with Jeffrey. Since they were all clean at the same time, I thought I'd get a quick photo. Getting Will dressed and ready for the day is something the girls really enjoy doing. He also likes getting pampered by them. They gel his hair, put cologne on him, and hoot and hollar the whole time at how handsome he is. He just eats it up! Yesterday I thought Will was downstairs in the basement playing with the girls. I went to go check on him and he was sitting on a bar stool at our bar watching the British Open. His eyes were just glued to the golf ball. I asked him what he was doing and he said..."Watch golf Mom" "I lika golf"

Dodger fan?

Does Will have a choice on who his favorite major league teams will be? With Jeffrey's influence, I doubt it. So.......those lucky Dodgers, Trailblazers, and Cowboys all have another dedicated fan!
Luckily Will looks good in Dodger Blue!

Wings down Under

We took a trip to our awesome Milwaukee Zoo yesterday. Wings down Under is currently there and it is an exhibit from Australia where you are able to get in a large cage with different exotic birds and feed them with seed sticks. We spent an hour in that cage and it was not a pretty site when we had to let Will know it was time to leave. Let's just say he could have stayed in the cage wtih the birds all day. It was a really fun exhibit and I'm sure we will go again. Will lured the yellow bird to his stick. He was pretty proud!

She's a natural. If she could have stayed all day, she would have too! Maybe I'll just drop them off there next time and go read a book while they interact with the birds.

These beauties were loving Jaymies arm!

Nice Jaymie. She put the stick on her head so they would nest up there. I think she still has seeds in her hair.

More up north photos

Some more "UP NORTH" photos. Here's Jacklyn and her friend Natalie along with Will sneaking in the pic. It still amazes me how flawlessly Will has blended into our family. His relationships with Jacklyn and Jaymie are really amazing to watch as they develop. Will in a way brings Jacklyn and Jaymie closer together as they do more together as a threesome than Jacklyn and Jaymie did when it was just the two of them. Thanks Will.

Here is Will driving the boat with my girlfriend. Can you tell by his smile that he could have done this all day long.........?

These two have formed quite a special relationship. She has treated him like a brother from the get go. Jaymie has no pity for him. She lets him know how it is and fights with him like he's been here forever. (We're going on 5mo now) She also loves him to death and can be quite the nurturer. When Jaymie is not around, Will misses her dearly. That goes the same for Jacklyn. It will be interesting to see how Will does when Jacklyn heads to NC to visit her cousin for 2 weeks in Aug.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

zip,zero,nada

Yesterday was dentist day for my children. Both girls had a good report with no cavities:) It is time to bring Jacklyn in for an ortho consult though. Of course this was Will's first trip to the dentist. I had him watch Jacklyn get her teeth cleaned and he was just fascinated with it. I had to hold him back while waiting for his turn. I was pretty concerned there were going to be some cavities as I have heard from other adoptive families that the children they brought home have had some extensive work done. I was not looking forward to another medical bill as we have paid more than our fair share towards Wills medical issues. When Will came home with us he had a lot of build up on his lower front teeth by the gum line. It was pretty dark and over time I have brushed it away. Still, some color remained and I thought that was going to be a problem spot.... but I was wrong. They scrubbed it away, not one cavity, and he sat like a little trooper in the chair as comfortable as can be. The hygenist wanted to take him home. Can you believe I forgot my camera? I did snap a photo with the cell phone though:) We are thrilled with the good dentist report!

Wordless Wednesday

We're back

We're back from a 4 day getaway up North. No time to type about it now, but thought I'd do a quick post of some pics with more to come. Will even went tubing!

Will and Jaymie relaxing in the hammock swing. Arn't they adorable???

Alem Ethiopian Village

We kidnapped Jeffrey from work today to go to lunch in downtown Milwaukee at the Ethiopian Restaurant we try to frequent. Will had been asking about his injera bread, so we finally fulfilled his craving. He was so excited. It is just so darn cute watching him eat the food from his country! Jacklyn is giving the injera bread a try.......

Here's Will showing us how it is done!

He is a natural pro when it comes to eating! We ordered some injerra to go so we could have it on hand for the next few days!

A photo before they all dig in. I love that they have vegetarian portions, so we all get to enjoy his country's food. Looks different heh? I encourage everyone to give it a try. It is really healthy for you and a nice change from the common family restaurant. Go support the great cooks from Ethiopia and visit your local Ethiopian Restaurant if you are lucky enough to have one near by. Be prepared though... no forks/spoon/ any type of silverware allowed!

Here is our little man just waiting for his food. He left with a full tummy and fell asleep on the way home!

Wordless Wednesday