What a weekend!

Last weekend brought many reasons to celebrate... Erin came for a visit while taking a break from her work in Mexico, Aunt Rita and Uncle JR celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary and Mother's Day was spent together with both sides of the family.

Mehandis surprised me with wishing me Happy Mother's Day spontaneously during our car ride home... the night of Mother's Day. Very nice gift :)


Here we are at Lilac Park... in Illinois. I think they should rename it as Tulip Park.

Mehandis loved exploring this park with his Aunt Erin. It was right next to Metra train stop and I think at least 10 trains came by in the hour and a half we were there. His aunt allowed him to get close to the water fall and stick his feet in the flowing stream. They had lots of fun together.

Later in the day we met my parents for a get together at Lake Ellyn. We had a nice walk around the lake and Mehandis enjoyed his sliding time. Quite a find was had curb side though, where I spotted a Little Tikes car. Mehandis drove the car home and we then piled it into our trunk for Wisconsin.

More outdoor fun was had the night before at Kathy and Eric's. Mehandis actually "borrowed" their neighbors' Little Tikes car and had a blast with back yard slide and buffet array.

He didn't think the entertainment, his Nanni, Bampa and Aunt D, were too bad either. Cheers to Rita and JR on their 40th anniversary. The party brought many memorable cheers as well

It was great weekend... time with family, sunny walks and fire side chats. Good prep for summer!

Walking, Talking and Sleeping

This past weekend Mehandis and I participated in the Walk-a-Mile (actually 3K) event for the Guest House. This organization has housed and fed thousands of homeless men in downtown Milwaukee for over 10 years. About a month ago Michael and I participated in one of their meal programs and then learned of the upcoming walk. Since Michael was out of town for the weekend, Mehandis and I represented our family and enjoyed the event. Here we are pictured below with some other walkers from our church.



Although Mehandis more "strolled" than walked during the previous event... he continues to talk up a storm! Some funny recent quotables:

As riding by McDonald's -
M: "McDoughnut's!"
Mom: "McDonald's?"
M: "No! McWaffle's. McPancakes. McDoughnut's!"

When giving me a high 5- "Rocking!"

While waiting for Dad to come home-
M: "Daddy at office?"
Mom: "Yes, he'll be home soon."
M: "Daddy in Mexico?"

As I type this Mehandis is narrating this portion of the blog. He is saying "That's my new bed! I see my new bed. Look at choo choo's". Yes, he is correct. No more crib for our 2 year old. He has successfully transitioned into a toddler bed. We tried to make it as enticing as possible for Mehandis so we also Incorporated a new Thomas the Tank blanket. Worked like a charm the first night... laid him down, read a book and he slept the whole night through. Michael even got him out of bed in the morning.

Since that time, Mehandis celebrates his new freedom by bringing 3 to 5 books from his bookshelf into bed with him. He has learned that he can get out of bed and go downstairs on his own (until we learned to lock the door at the top of the stairs). Only one night did he climb out of bed in the middle of the night. Thank goodness that I wake up as soon as I hear his door knob turn. Can't imagine waking up to a little face staring at me.

And yes, there are days that he makes multiple attempts at getting out of bed... right after being put down. As seen above! But although he looks determined he easily gives up after checking the immovable door knob one to two times - thank goodness he doesn't know that it takes one of us on the other side of the knob to make it immovable!

Next step potty training. Hmm...

Hallelujah, look what Easter brought!

Although we could not share in singing "Jesus Christ Has Risen Today...", due to volunteering for nursery duty during our church service. And Mehandis missed out on doughnuts following church (no treats on Easter Sunday since brunch is served by the youth). We joyfully celebrated Easter together.


Michael's parents were kind enough to bring the fixings for most of the Easter Brunch I served. They also were quite generous in the Easter Basket department!

While Michael and I continued our 10 year tradition of an egg hunt for each other, this was the first year Mehandis joined in on the fun. He was excited to look for the colorful eggs that showed up in our front yard.

While egg hunting lasted only that morning, his hunt for "W's" continues... as in BMW. You can see his grandparents "W" on our driveway. He can spot a BMW from yards away!

It was a very happy Easter that brought very happy bellies!

Spring Break '09

While this past spring break was a little different than those of college years in Cancun and Padre, I was super looking forward to Spring Break '09 in Chicago! Mehandis and I took the train to Union Station early in the week and then had my friend Dara come in on Wednesday, to join my parents and I.

Dara and I greatly enjoyed our sidewalk cafe luncheon. She introduced me to steamed oysters and the yummy broth they create. I was happy that the lemony dessert was a hit... as I always push for fruity versus chocolatey. We both were proud of finishing the bottle of wine :)

My dad actually joined us late in the week, Saturday evening. We fit in our share of fun though... with homemade Ethiopian cuisine, fireside chats and an outing the Museum of Science and Industry. Mehandis made a bee-line to the farming exhibit.

Mehandis wasn't quite sure where Grandma was taking him on this plane exhibit. But he was happy he didn't need to be buckled in!

Mehandis would be happy to go anywhere with Grandpa on the tractor (or the BMW).

We were all transfixed by the huge model train exhibit. Then Mehandis and I headed home on the real thing, reading our Gordon and Percy books while wearing a Thomas the Tank T-shirt.

Hooray for Spring Break '09. Thanks again to Kerbie, Jenn and Mom Wolaver who traveled into the city to make a visit. And to my roommate (for 1/3 of the time) Dara. As well as my parents who are extremely accommodating hosts!

Nearing to 2nd?

Okay... so it seems that I stand corrected in stating that we are half way done with waiting for the referral of Mehandis's little brother or sister. Yes, so far it has been about 8 months of officially waiting since our dossier acceptance. Yes, our agency did project 12 months as the anticipated "wait time"... but about a month ago they changed this to 14 to 18 months. In taking the conservative thought process I am now likening this to being between 1st and 2nd base. Home plate (traveling to Ethiopia) comes on average 3 months after receiving the referral. Guess I was trying to steal to second and the umpire caught me? Look at all I have learned about baseball since having two males in the house! Cute picture above of Mehandis, playing his favorite sport with one of his favorite cousins, taken a few weeks back.


The following photo series is on a completely different topic. It documents silliness in mom's robe. Mehandis kept asking me to put my robe on him... a little large for our little man but we made it work.


Kisses and cuddles!

Handsome in a house coat. Wish I looked that cute in it.

10 Years Already?

Michael and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary this year... on April 10th. Wow! The years have brought about so many changes, celebrations and joy. Our little family of 3 took time out of our business to enjoy our anniversary in Rio. No, not the hot spot that "Rio" brings to mind - but rather "Rye-oh" a small town near the Wisconsin Dells. Glad we quickly learned how to pronounce our vacation destination when we called for directions in order to get from Rio to Pardeeville (definitely pronounce Party-Ville), where we had dinner reservations our first night.

The picture below shows the Bed and Breakfast that we stayed at in Rio, the Mill House B&B. The host, Lisa, was wonderful. Mehandis quickly became enamored with Lisa since she not only shares the name of the little girl from "Corduroy" but she also made him decadent whipped cream topped breakfasts. The fact that her cat did not run away from Mehandis, like Chewy does, also was amazing to Mehandis.


We took a very chilly hike in a local state park. Mehandis enjoyed finding walking sticks, moss and puddles. Soon after the photos below our little hiker had mud covered pants, hands and shoes. We strongly encouraged him to walk it off until the mud dried some, prior to putting him into Michael's back pack carrier! Thank goodness for the offerings of the laundry facilities back at the B&B.

We took our mud-encrusted family to the fine establishment of Hooty's. No not the renowned wing establishment of Hooters. Michael and I have gone to Hooty's a number of times when we have cross country skied in the area, good salad bar but you really want fries and a good beverage when you land at Hooty's. Michael and Mehandis took their turns enjoying the Saturday Night Fever dance floor as I put quarters in the juke box to play Poison, Bon Jovi and other respectable '80's bands.

Back at the B&B we got to enjoy using the golf cart to explore some of their 40 acres. Mehandis was a little nervous about his role of steering.

Somehow his pants grew during the trip and kept falling down to his knees. Too many calories burned while hiking and dancing I suppose?

Cute photo opp's on the couch...

Lisa, our host, previously catered and really knows how to create a special dinner. She moved a table into the living room so we could enjoy a meal in front of the fire for the evening of our anniversary. She cautioned that there would be 5 courses but she would pace it right for a 2 year old. And guess what... it worked. Thank you Lisa and Mehandis!

We did take a pause before our second dessert to put Mehandis down... then enjoyed some chocolate fondue and champagne to ourselves. A very similar meal that we enjoyed the night of our wedding.

Happy 10 Years Michael!!! Looking forward to all that the upcoming years will bring...

Ketchup

Feeling so behind on blog postings! So want to give a little teaser regarding upcoming topics/events that will be covered.

Subjects to come:

• 10 year anniversary
• No, we are not 1/2 way there
• Spring break fun
• Easter
• Big boy bed

Keep posted, promise to post soon!!!