true story

Jacob has hit the age of wonder - and by that I mean he is interested in boobies. In the last month, he has asked me on several occassions "Mommy, what those"? After I tell him, he has made one of the following requests...

"Mommy, want to feel them"

"Mommy, want to tickle them"

and

"Mommy, want to see them"

After the last request I told Jacob, "No, buddy you've seen them before"

Jacob "Please" - in his most adorable beggar voice

Me "They are just like Daddy's and yours and Eddie's but they are just bigger on girls"

Jacob "Oh man!"

About an hour later, I was in the shower and I heard the bathroom door open. Then I heard Jacob say "Mommy, it's just me". (I had figured)

He then opened the door to "say hello" and ask what I was doing. Let's just say that during our little chat Jacob didn't make a whole lot of eye contact with me. Time to start locking the bathroom door.

PS: I know I am a horrible mother for sharing this story and that Jacob will temporarily hate me for it one day, I'm OK with that.

things that made me laugh this week

1. This crazy picture and caption from our local newspaper "The Sun Advocate". Someone please help me figure this out. I kept looking for an accompanying article like, "New research shows animal emotions mirror our own" or "Local cat has a bad day", but nothing! This was just in there to be in there. What the...? Apparently, I could be a newspaper editor, because I could fill 6 inches of empty publishing space with something at least this interesting. To me, this just looks like an ugly cat. Or maybe a fly just flew up it's nose? Maybe it has rabies, or is about to sneeze? I don't know. But I'm sure glad it made the Thursday edition.

2. My new neighbor mowing his lawn with his "riding lawn mower". Look again. Yes, that's right. This was the funniest thing I have seen in a long time. You can't tell but he was going mach 60 around the corners, grass blades were flying everywhere and the lawn mower would wheeley and nearly tip over on the turns. Loved it, loved it, loved it.

PS: I know how things work in this small town and I want to preemptively apologize if you are related to or personally know my new neighbor or an editor at the Sun Advocate.

oh no he didn't...

This Monday, I put Dave in charge of the Family Home Evening Lesson (a little reluctantly) but I shouldn't have been worried. He gave a great little lesson about how we should love and accept everyone no matter what they look like or if they seem different than us. This point was driven home with a stirring movie clip from "Teen Wolf". My children, as expected, were shocked and repulsed when Scott Howard turned into a werewolf in the middle of a high school basketball game. Jacob even plugged his ears which means he was a little scared. But the boys were cheering Michael J. Fox on and chanting "Wolf, Wolf" along with the rest of the kids from Beacon High School by the end of the movie. Jacob asked for "More wolf please" as soon as the lesson was over. It was a wonderful night for our family.

i'm back...

As a follow up to my last entry and in the mother of all unhappy, anticlimactic endings...our home sale fell through at the 11th hour, literally. And I wrote that stinking poem and everything! So, sadly, we did move out of our happy, little home only to watch it sit empty whilst we pay RENT. Fortunately and thankfully, we have the hottest (and cheapest) little house in Westwood, and we are now in our 3rd contract and scheduled to close within a month or so. Phew! We were just getting ready to start moving back home. Let's hope this third time is the charm. We are not loving the idea of having a mortgage loan, a construction loan and rent in the same month. At least, for now, my ulcer will have time to heal and Dave can take some time off from his daily nervous break downs. Did I mention we are never going to move again?

It has all been a bit confusing for my kids. A few times a day, although less frequently than a week ago, Jacob will look at me and ask "Mommy, where are we?". I tell him we are at our house in Spring Glen, and he says "Ohhhh!" as if now it makes perfect sense. Eddie is very happy here because there are no child proof cupboards or drawers in the house. And seeing as how I don't really feel at liberty to screw latches into the cabinetry that's not going to change any time soon. Eddie can now easily amuse himself with unlimited access to my makeup and, even more fun, household cleaning supplies.

In other, non house related news, Jacob started preschool at Creekview and he loves it. I love dropping him off for a few hours of guilt free child socializing, cognitive stimulation and school lunch. He has been getting sick of being home anyway. Especially now that we don't have our big back yard with our two dogs to provide endless hours of entertainment, I have really been getting on Jacob's nerves. He has been telling me in his cute little, sweet voice "Mommy, go away!". And I can't even be mad at him because I am bored of myself too. Why is it so hard to feel productive when you are renting a house? I miss my yard work and gardening and lists of repairs and touch up painting and organizing of the garage and most importantly my TV. Did I mention, dish network cannot hook up our TV until September 16th? And we will have lived here for over a month by then! Crazy, is this South America, or the North Pole, or Herriman? I didn't realize how hard it was to get a technician to drive 4 miles outside of Price. I would probably pay the aforementioned technician hundreds of dollars in tips if they could come, say, before Prison Break is on next. Alas, I am forced to watch crappy internet TV but at least I know that Sarah is indeed alive. This ends my long blogging drought. I hope I'll have time to write again soon!

we sold our house....again

So, it seems that we are officially moving out of our house...after our first contract fell through it doesn't seem right that this one is really going to happen. But, the plan is that we will be moved out in two weeks! Holy crap!Thinking about leaving has made me so nostalgic about our first home and the only home Jacob and Eddie have known. I'm not normally one to write poetry (as will soon be painfully obvious), but the sappiness of the subject matter made it most apprope. And since I have absolutely no time to be updating my blog much less tackeling anything remotely creative, I am officially a moron. But here goes...

Our first little house in Westwood
We wouldn't change it if we could
It needed so much work
But we loved the neighborhood
Ripping out carpet, painting the walls
Buying our furniture without access to malls
Demolition and trips to the dump
Dave's truck ripping out that huge tree stump
Fast food dinners and late, late nights
Remodeling caused such stupid fights
Pinching every little penny
Laughing at dinner with Amber and Kenny
Golfing into Heugley's field
When there were garden boxes to build
Screaming fights and slamming doors
the monotony of daily chores
Music strummed on Dave's guitars
Only room to park one of his cars
Finishing our basement - finally
Rewarding ourselves with a freaking huge TV
Murray always laying on the deck
Misha escaping for another solo trek
Working, remodeling, dates and dinners together
We had so much time but those days I hardly remember...

Welcomed home our baby boys
Overnight, over run with toys
Mixing formala, setting up cribs
Changing diapers, putting on bibs
Never getting a change to rest
Jacob taking a nap on Dave's chest
Spilled milk in diper bags
Trying to figure it out with parenting mags
Baby cries and toddler fits
Carpet full of smashed up Ritz
Peanut butter, cereal, mac and cheese
Trying to teach them thank you and please
Panic attacks and sleepless nights
Jacob's tears and Eddie's bites
Toys and cups thrown off the deck
Noon and I still look like a wreck
Sticky fingerprints on the windows, wet nose prints on the doors
Little scribbles on the walls...breakfast, lunch and dinner on the floors
Giving high fives and big, tight hugs
Everywhere, pictures of their cute little mugs
Way too tired to have sex
Stepping on a plastic T-rex
Playing outside, climbing up trees
Putting bandaids on little, brown knees
Two baby boys playing tackle football
That sound of heads knocking into the wall
Loved pets buried deep in the ground
Tears dropped on a little, raised mound
Bedtime stories before a goodnight kiss
We're tired but it's too sweet to miss
Listening to our little boys giggles
Family prayer with all the wiggles...

We never knew when we were given the key
Everything that this little home would come to be
I couldn't bare to leave it, if it weren't for the fact
That no matter where we live, my little family is intact
So, I will walk away with a tear in my eye
But knowing that this is not really a sad goodbye
Our new home will have everything that matters to me
Not to mention a walk-in closet and a new flat panel TV.

jc penney catalog

I just had to give a shout out to my sister, Lori and her cute little family of models. It has been a running joke in our family that all pictures containing Lori and her children and husband (who we affectionately nicknamed Don Henley) look like they came straight out of a catalog. Thankfully, I have watched ANTM so I know the difference between editorial, high fashion, runway, commercial and catalog modeling, and it is obvious that Lori and her husband and kids were destined for JC Penney catalog stardom. Take one look at this picture I snapped with no direction or arranging of children. Her kids just put down their sparklers, ran in front of the camera and posed themselves resulting in this on the first shot.

What the...? I'm sorry but it is uncanny. The smiles, the eyes on the camera, the tilting of the heads toward each other. And you can see the older the Dillons get, the more skilled they become. Even baby Ella who is six months old has inherited the photogenic gene and model demeanor chromosome. Granted she could have been smiling a little more but I think she was just smiling with her eyes, which is really a more advanced way of smiling, as Tyra has demonstrated many times. She looks fierce!

Just to compare and constrast, I threw in a photo that was snapped of my kids, taken in much the same way. Only this one was with much arranging, prompting and coersion. I think Jacob looks especially cooperative.

crazy crap people have said

Everyone should get to experience walking around with adopted kids who are obviously adopted (like mine). People say the craziest crap! There is no end to the nerve total strangers will show in addressing your personal life. It's nuts. Dave and I are not the type to get easily offended, (although a couple of these comments have made me sooooo mad) so don't think I'm bitter or upset. I just wanted to share the ridiculousness of other people's commentary.

This month, on the Ferry in Washington, a lady who couldn't stop talking about how cute Eddie was... " I just love babies with chinky eyes".

Dropping Jacob off at Nursery where he was having a huge fit... "Is he crying because he misses his real mom?".

Checking out at the grocery store with Jacob and being stared at like crazy by the cashier... "He must look like his Dad". I had to smile, "Yes, I'm sure he does".

On our newborn baby..."Is he going to speak English or Marshallese?".

I have heard this or a version of it a hundred times from acquaintances or people in line at blockbuster..."So you just can't have your own?" Long, awkward pause. " I'm sorry, that's a personal question but you just can't get pregnant? Please elaborate...?".

People who learn we have open adoptions... "Aren't you worried they are going to come and take them back?".

A piece of crap guy who I don't even know but was all up in my business about adopting kids... "You'll never know what it's like to really love your kids. It's sad for you. No matter how much you think you love them, you will never love them as much as I love mine". OK sir, at least my kids won't grow up to be bigoted douche bags like yourself!

A non caucasian guy in our ward who pumps his fist in the air whenever he sees them shouting "Lamanite Power!". He is trying to teach Jacob to do it back.

Also a comment we have heard many times. On hearing we have adopted children... "That's so wonderful. The thing I can't stand is when people adopt kids from other countries".

At a softball game when both my kids and another adopted Marshallese kid were running around... "I thought this was America". SNAP!

An old guy and our friend, Pete, from Price who took one look at Jacob as a toddler "Go Carbon football, Wooohooo!" I didn't want to break his heart by telling him that Jacob will probably top the charts at 5'2".

A not to be named relative, on seeing baby Jacob at the hospital after he was born "Oh, I'm so relieved...he's darling!"

A total stranger, hearing of our upcoming adoption, "I hope the Mom doesn't have any diseases!"

A lady at church who meant well and was only saying this because she was thinking about a friend who might want to adopt "How much did that cost you?".


This blog will most definitley have a sequel "crazy crap people have said 2" that will be posted in 2011. I am guessing that 3 more years will give me adequate material for a follow up.