Too Young?

So I am trying to raise my children to have a social conscience, to understand we are fortunate and others may not be and part of having things is sharing with others. So I wanted to have people that are invited to her birthday party to make a donation to the local animal shelter and for her to take the donations and see what it was going for, this instead of getting 15 more toys she does not need. But.... she will only be 3, so does she even understand the concept or will she take it as being forced on her- my husband says let her get presents have her party and we can do this on the side- I dont know what to do- I should- but I dont. So any input would be fantastic

crazy summer!

First hello to all the comment leavers!! If it is your first time to my blog then real quick- I am 37 married, 2 kids through domestic infant adoption, one very open adoption and one very closed. So.. It has been crazy the past month and won't be slowing down until August! We found out brother bear has a peanut allergy so any tips on that would be awesome! We go for tests next week! I am also picking up Goldilocks(Baby bear's bmom) next Sat. At the airport for a visit, she is staying with us for a week, I will post pictures when I can!! Well hope everyone is having a great summer!

Happy Father's Day

Just wanted to say Happy Father's Day to my husband and Dad!! Thanks for providing,caring and loving us!! We love you!!

Happy Fathers Day

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Brother Bears Birthday!

So Brother Bear turned one today! I honestly can not believe he is one, the year has flown by!!! He is just so amazing and sooo apart of our family! I love him so much and I love having a son!! Yesterday I started thinking about his birthmom, and today I really have thought about her. I hope she is ok, I know her heart must be hurting today thinking about her son. We never got to meet her and I wonder so much about her and my heart hurts that she doesnt know him. Well just wanted to post a few pics, one of the first day we meet him and one I took today - he has changed so much! We love you big guy and are so happy you are our son!

Lying or just leaving out details?

So I have had this thing since I have adopted my children that I feel the need to tell others and not take credit for "having" my children. Not sure what it is with me, maybe like I am disrespecting their other moms or I want to be honest or I am not sure but I decided that I also do not want to subject my kids to the ignorant remarks that come back and I want to respect my children's privacy of their own story and be able to be in charge of who knows and who does not. This actually is very hard for me to do - VERY! As a matter of fact I was sure I was not gonna be able to stop -but recently in the past two weeks I have chosen not to share in two different conversations that I normally would have before. I was at the dentist and I was talking about brother bear and me and another mom where sharing pics and comparing notes and sharing birth weights and current weight - well before I always felt the need to share I did not actually birth him but this time I didn't' I just shared how much he weighed and left it at that. Well the next time I kinda felt like I was a big fat Lie! we were at Wal-mart and we always have stalkers talking to Brother Bear - usually older women, he is so chubby I think he attracts attention and these two ladies that had been following us ended up behind us in the check out line and he was in the front of the buggy with me unloading, and they are talking to him and keep asking "where did you get those brown eyes from"? so I try to ignore but they keep asking then looking at me and they wanted an answer - they were probably about 75 ish in age - so I just said oh he got them from his daddy - he looks just like him, and they were like yeah we could tell it wasn't from his mommy! (actually we are told his birth mom has brown eyes) me I have green eyes, blonde hair. so anyway, sure they never gave it a second thought and brother bear well he had no clue but for me I have thought about it so much- did I say the right thing - either way I go I always wonder if I say the right thing, if I am honoring the right person, and most of all am I being honest? well thanks for listening ..

Being a Mom....What helps you?

I love being a mom! Sometimes I feel like I have lost my mind though---- today started with two bottles of lotion being squeezed and rubbed all in the bathroom floor - which this goes way back we have done vaseline, powder, you name it--- then I left the syrup by her at breakfast and you guessed it! Also brother bear has major mommy issues! He wants to be held all the time and if I leave his site- he freaks! So anyway tonight after about 11 hours of this fun - i think i finally lost it - i turned on music and started singing and dancing in the kitchen while they were eating --- but it was a major stress relief for me and they just thought it was the funniest thing! So what are some tricks some of you use when it has been one of those days - oh another weird thing I do that helps is put something funny on my kids so when I look at them I laugh - needless to say brother bear has had bows in his hair and a pink swimsuit on lately! mom or no mom- we all have those days- so please share! I will try to dig up some of my pics of baby bears messes and brother bears cross dressing days! oh and him in the swim suit well he had it on for awhile (which helped so much) but I forgot and he had it on when hubby came home - umm he was not happy!