And now we are 4!

Boy I knew that the adoption road had its twists and turns and you could be driving along and come to a screeching halt and have to make an unexpected detour. Well Friday I received a call around 3:20 that Wyman was on his way. Wyman is Grace's biological 1/2 brother who was in the process of being adopted by another family. We had met him, and actually spent an hour with him at Burger King for Grace's birthday in August. His current adoptive situation had changed and with us having his sister, we were the first call. This came in a week of a huge work project, barely sleeping from staying up too late, preparing my house for new hardwood and tile in the family, dining and foyer, and having to text the news to Michael while he was in pre-op preparing for back surgery next Wednesday. So just at a 3 1/2 year old to the mix, and you have a party!!

He arrived around...gosh I can't even remember, but he was with the social worker holding a stuffed animal she gave him, a McDonald's happy meal, and the clothes on his back. We welcomed him with open arms....and pizza! He was too busy playing with Grace and his friend Billy to really want pizza. We finished up around 8ish and I gave him a bath and got him into his borrowed pj's and we read some books in his new Cape Cod Baseball Room that I had to do a massive clean to remove all of Grace's too small clothes from the past year and a bunch of other stuff that had accumulated in there. All was going well until we heard in the monitor the sweetest voice..."I want my Grandma". Michael went in and read some more books and laid on the floor next to his bed until he fell asleep. I was trying to put up a baby gate that I bought a few weeks prior and I wasn't very successful...then low and behold the extensions were sitting against the wall just crying to be used.

The night was great and I awoke to nest around 5AM. I got up and went to the kitchen to clean and prepare for my first day of a mom of 2. Grace got up 1st and I gave her a bath and just stared at her in all her cuteness amazed that I now had 2 kids. Wyman woke up around 8:15ish and came down and we had some breakfast. The cutest thing was when Michael got up and Wyman and I were in washing our hands in the bathroom. We walked into the living room and Wyman just went over and wrapped his little arms around Michael's tall leg in a sweet hug. Precious! He was with a single mom at his last foster home, so for him to have a Dad now...and a really cool one who is a baseball coach and football coach is a slam dunk! We are already in training mode for him to be the next Red Sox and Patriots fan.

Here is a picture of Grace and Wyman - look how clean the floor was! It was never like that again...the whole day! OK, and it will never look like that again...I know.















This is breakfast...on our makeshift dinette set....Friday we were all hip and cool with a bar height bistro table with 2 bar stools...those days are over! Actually the table in this picture is the table I had in my kitchen growing up and 3 random mis-matched chairs. But we were a family and we have a table we can all sit at!

















I had a 10AM hair appt. and Momma's gotta look good, so I quickly met with the tile installers, took the carseat out of my car and got it all strapped in our new car (that we just got the end of July with room for more kids) and sent Daddy off with the 2 kids to Wesleyan to watch 7th/8th grade football game. I then went for my haircut and didn't worry about a thing! Except that the tile guys were placing the right pieces of slate in the right place!

I got home to Michael putting Grace & Wyman down for naps. I didn't think Wyman took a morning nap, but I guess Daddy needed a break. So I got him up when it was clear he was just watching the TV with no desire to snooze off. We had some lunch and then he proceeded to take all the toys out of the house and put them in the pool. Now this isn't the pool you are thinking of, this is a red-neck-can't-use-water-because-we-are-in-a-drought pool. Yes a blow up kiddy pool with no water. But it makes a great wrestling ring and keeps Grace in one area and no one gets splinters on the deck. Except for Daddy who didn't wear his shoes.


Poor Michael in this photo (and every other one I took today with him in it) looks like he is in so much pain...ouch!






















This is my favorite picture from when we met on Grace's bday. He is really, really sweet with her. He calls her baby Gracie or sometimes just baby....makes my heart swell!
















We had a great day and at dinner it was so funny. I have no idea what this child likes to eat. So I say "Wyman, what is your favorite food?" "Chicken nuggets" he says. Figures! So I run out to the store and get all sorts of kid friendly foods and try to think back to what I liked to eat as a kid. Now I typically like to eat fresh...and not from a box, BUT we had to make due. What did I like to eat as a kid? Mac and cheese of course with hot dogs...and ketchup! So I made it for him...and where the heck was the Easy Mac when we were kids! I had to throw in some green beans to throw off the horrible effects of the other 2 fabulous selections I had made. "I don't like those" he said. OK, well we have a rule in this house (that I am making up right this very second, support me here honey) that says that we all eat our veggies...even Mr. Mike (we are going with that for now as to not shock him and I don't know how to transition to Dad...so any advise from other adoptive parents would be welcomed). "OK, he says". So he scarfed down the hot dog and asked for more and barely touched the mac and cheese. I do have to say that I had to "taste" the mac and cheese...to test for poison of course...and it was FABULOUS!! Then he asked for 2 more helpings of green beans! How amazing! My rules are working already!

Then we were off for movie night. Boy, you have all these great ideas, and to actually pull them off is another story. So, I am cleaning up from dinner, Michael is getting Wyman in his pj's and we are trying to get movie night off the ground. Basically, take a bunch of pillows and blankets and all lay around on the floor and watch Kermit's Swamp Years: The Real Story Behind Kermit the Frog's Early Years. I love having a 3 and a 1/2 old because you can spell things you don't want them to know you are saying. So I blurt out....this movie is SLOW! Well I am falling asleep (yes really at 7:30 PM) and I can tell Wyman isn't too excited about this movie. Kermit didn't have really exciting early years. Michael I am sure is dying to watch college football...so he just wants this thing to be over so he can get his big screen back from Kermit and get on with it! We ended up with Noggin and movie night was a bust. I did get some snuggle time with Wyman and Grace so that was worth it.

We brushed our teeth with our new Shrek electric toothbrush, got in our borrowed football pj's - thank the Lord for Abby my friend who has a 3yr old too and she came over with all the 3 1/2 year old boy fixins to get me hooked up for a few days...you are the best! We read some books and said our prayers and I asked Wyman his favorite part of the day and he said "Football Game!". I laid with him and rubbed his back until he fell asleep.

Wow! What a day...but I loved every minute of it!

Next week will be interesting. Michael has back surgery on Wednesday to correct a herniated disc that has been bothering him since a mission trip to the Dominican in March. So he will be out of work for the rest of the week and the following. It is actually great because he can be home for a week with us to do our family bonding. Our floors will be under construction for a good part of the early week, but we will make due! People have asked how they can help or what we need. I am still trying to figure out what we need. I am not even sure what size clothes Wyman wears. He came with 18 mo. shorts and a 2T shirt, but is wearing 4T borrowed stuff. So I need to try some pants on to see what size he is for fall. We have a clothing allowance, but I am sure that won't go far seeing he needs shoes and will need a winter coat. So if anyone has any hand me downs that would be great. Let me know for fall stuff and I will confirm his size, but I am guessing 3T or 4T. We need other random stuff, like 4matching chairs for our kitchen, some book shelves from Ikea so I can clean out my sewing room to make it into a play room, booster seat for the table, stools for bathroom. You never realize how important a stool is until they spit their toothpaste out on your vanity counter without even being close to the sink! People had been asking about helping out with meals while Michael has his surgery before Wyman even came into the mix and Jennifer Fithian graciously is going to coordinate the meal schedule, so if you are interested (and it would make life so much easier!) you can email her at FITHI5@aol.com. I have childcare set up for Wednesday and Thursday when Michael goes in for surgery and then he stays the night and I have to pick him up the next day. My mom will be coming down the 2nd week of October. I will update again when I can wrap my head around what I really need.

OK, I had to get a better photo of the Red Neck Pool, so a 10:45 PM shot, with most of the toys brought back in the house, but you get the idea.















Wyman with his GT bat from Tony Plagman & Michael Hutts, they brought it to Grace when she was an itty bitty baby. I am sure she is happy to share it with her brother.




















In regards to Grace's adoption DFCS wants us to wait and finalize them together in 4 months. We have waited this long, so what's another few months?

Enjoying the ride,

Michael, Jodi, Grace & Wyman