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.

olypmic national park!

holiday

We just returned from a week of vacationing in Washington State. It was mostly fun with brief moments of hell, as all vacations with a 3 and 1 year old must be. Here is a recap of our adventures.

Day 1 and 2:
Driving...we ate lots of candy, drank lots of Mountain Dew and listened to lots of cartoons on the DVD player. Can you imagine a 15 hour drive without once turning on the radio or the ipod? I can. It was funny putting Jacob in time out in the car- he would get so upset even though he was still just stuck in the car...in his carseat...watching a movie. At some point we would say, "OK, you are out of time out" and he was so relieved. It cracked me up. After one time out for hitting Eddie, I explained to Jacob that he can't hit his brother. Jacob, in his sweetest voice asked...

"Mommy, can I kick him?"

"No"

"Mommy can I push Eddie, please...please...please"

"No, you can't push him".

"Mommy can I take away Eddie's puppy? Please?"

I had to turn around to hide my laughing. "No, you can't do any of that!"

"Mommy can I be mean to Eddie?"

"Jacob, no...just watch your movie!"

Another fun tidbit was that Jacob had some mosquito bites on his face that got progressively more swollen throughout our drive until he looked a little like Quazi Moto. We gave him Benadryl every six hours but this did not seem to make him tired, or help his face. I even gave Eddie half a dose in one desperate moment but no sleeping ensued. The kids finally fell into a restless doze around 11:30 pm and we only lasted a few more hours until we stopped for the night in whateverville, Oregon. We finished our drive the next day and arrived happily in Merrilyn's home of Bremerton, Washington. Sigh...

Day 3:

We slept in, recovered from our drive and visited with Dr. Merrilyn Nelson. Shes a butt kicking, beautiful lieutenant in the US Navy and a beloved aunt to our two boys! And she is single...hello fellas! We went to church...yes we did, where our kids made a spectacle of themselves in Merrilyn's single adult ward. Then we explored the waterfront in beautiful Bremerton. Yes, I actually took this picture. Should anyone get to live in a house this beautiful?

We also went on a tour of an old Navy Destroyer ship, the USS Turner Joy, which the boys really liked. You can still see some swelling left on Jacob's little mosquito bitten face.

Day 4:
We woke up early (only because we have to...our kids won't sleep in) and headed for the ferry to take us and our car to Seattle. Jacob couldn't believe we drove our car onto a boat and he was even more in love when he found that the big boat had a cafeteria! This was our first of many ferry rides across the Puget Sound.

Once we made it to Seattle, we spent the day at the Woodland Zoo which was very fun. Dave was a little grumpy, to be honest, because lunch was too expensive. But the kids loved it and we even got to leisurely stroll around for an hour or so while they both slept in the wagon. Jacob couldn't stop talking about the gorillas and Eddie loved ducks and saying "quack, quack". This trip was a requirement for us because one time, about a month ago, I mentioned there was a Zoo in Seattle and that is all Jacob has remembered about Seattle since that fateful day. The Woodland Zoo has lots of fun play areas and activities for little kids and a cute little farm with animals, a barn and tractor. I highly recommend it, as far as Zoo's go.

Day 5:
Merrilyn had the day off so we drove to Port Townsend and took a whale watching (or in our case...bird, seal, sea lion, otter and anything but whale watching) tour on the USS We Don't Really Know Where The Whales Are. The scenery was crazy pretty and we enjoyed exploring the area very much. It was the captains birthday so our boat was overtaken just off the San Juan islands by a "pirate" ship full of the Captain's family who wisked him away and replaced him with another captain for the rest of our excursion. It was fun to see this ship up close because it was a beautiful sailboat (commissioned and owned for 25 years by Neil Young apparently). Jacob is still talking about the pirate ship and about singing Happy Birthday to our Captain. I'm still talking about the no whales (bitter, anyone?). We also had a few hours to play in Friday Harbor on the San Juan Islands where we had an awesome lunch and visited the overpriced Whale Museum. Friday Harbor is so picturesque and beautiful. It was a great day with the family and Merrilyn even though no whales were seen! Boo...is it so much to ask in life, seeing a whale?

Day 6:

The best Day! Definitely my favorite day...we went to the Olympic National Forest. This is one of the most beautiful placed I have ever seen. We went on a beautiful hike inside the park to Falls. The weather was beautiful and the scenery was ridiculous. Then we went to see Crescent Lake, which was lovely and surrounded by beautiful glacier covered peaks. The kids were sleepy so we drove a few hours into the park to see the Hoh Rain Forest, which is full of giant, moss covered trees that are hundreds of years old - we saw an Elk only 10 or so feet away, drinking from a stream. It was beautiful and a great little hike. We left the park momentarily to drive through La Push and Forks (I didn't see any vampires) and I got my picture taken on the worn out hillside that welcomes you to La Push. We went out to eat at a burger joint that offered a "Bella Burger". Who knew Bella liked pineapples? We ended the day visiting First Beach and Rialto Beach on the Pacific Coast fun sunset. It was beautiful and worth all the driving. Next time we go to Washington, I think I would love to camp in the Olympic Forest the whole time - I wish we could have seen more! It was amazing. (See slide show post) .

Day 7 -

We rode the Ferry back to Seattle. Dave took some great pictures of the skyline from the boat. We took the boys to the Seattle Aquarium and strolled around Pike's Market for a while. We had lunch at Ivar's - a tradition when visiting Seattle and took a last Ferry ride back to Bremerton. Grandma and Grandpa Nelson flew in later in the evening and we got to visit with them.

Day 8 -We got to go into the Puget Sound Naval Hospital grounds to attend Merrilyn's graduation from her 1st year of residency. She is now heading to Pensacola, Florida for flight surgery training. We are all so proud of her. I'm a raging sap so I cried. The boys went insane during the ceremony but we survived. We left strait from the Naval Hospital and headed back on the road. It was a beautiful, but long drive. Jacob and Eddie kept sleeping, so we kept driving and made it back to Utah in one long stretch.

It was a great trip! We had a lot of fun with Merri and it was great to be together as a family for so long. I enjoyed it especially when Dave lost it with the kids because he can understand a little better how they wear me out lately. It was nice to be able to double team them all week. I loved seeing Dave so much and I am going to miss him next week when we are back to real life and working. I think we crammed about as much into the time we had as possible packing our two little guys with us. The only dissapointment (besides the whales) was that Josh and Amy were in Utah the whole time we were gone so we didn't get to stop and see them in Portland. I sense another trip to the pretty states in our future.

happy summer

This is a picture of the dishes I let stack up over the beginning of the week! Notice how intricately the stacking became the longer I put off cleaning. It took a few days of neglecting chores, but, hey, at least I was putting them in the sink. All this because unloading the dishwasher just didn't sound fun. And before I could load these in the dishwasher (what is hand washing and how do you even do it?), I had to take a picture to document my crappy home making.

And because I still don't feel like cleaning, I would rather blog about the non cleaning than actually start to work. Both my little maniacs are sleeping, and this just seemed like a better use of my free time. Jacob and Eddie are only wanting to be outside now - especially with the addition of the Gagon's old powerwheels to our arsenal of outside toys! So the yard gets more attention than the house these days, because that's where the boys are, and by default, me!

why this was my first and last yard sale...

So, I went against my inner voice (sorry Oprah) and had a yard sale this week. I've always known yard sales were not my thing, but somehow I kept ignoring that screaming protest in my head long enough to actually plan one. If only I could go back a few weeks and do things differently. So, in case, I ever start considering a yard sale again, here is what I have learned.

The top 10 reasons for not having a yard sale.

10. People who think your bath mats are priced too high (3 for $10.00) will assume you must be the most evil, heinous person on the planet.

9. You will only make $45.00 (or $.36 cents an hour).

8. Some crazy lady will argue with you when you tell her the half-used bag of Costco baby wipes are not for sale.

7. It's going to be 40 degrees outside even if you do it in June.

6. You don't own enough ashtrays to have a real yard sale.

5. You like your friends too much to do a "Multi" family yard sale.

4. Kids from the Price College Stake will come around with sob stories and Dave, the pushover he is, will sell them all your nice stuff for $5 bucks!

3. Your 16 month old will walk around eating price tag stickers off yard sale items. Later, his poop will be a crazy shade of orange.

2. You can't post your classified ad in the Sun Advocate online. Blerg!

1. Do you really want people to know some of the movies/CD's you have bought in the past (i.e., MC Hammer "Please Hammer, don't hurt 'em")?

So, I implore myself and my readers. Do not think your crap is worth any money to other people. Do not think this will be as easy as hauling stuff to the DI, do not think you need $45.00 so badly that you will sell your self respect and dignity to get it.