Blogging to Improve Mood

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Finally the county has said they approve of our file and paperwork. No more driving forever to our old stomping grounds every week for this piece of paper or that. We have our courtdate to readopt/refinalize.......finally after what is almost a year. Can you believe our whole Et adoption process took less time (9 mos) than CA (1yr). What is up with that?? Anyway, fingers crossed the actual court date goes well. It is Tues. July 29th. Anyone who would like to celebrate or lend their support, feel free to email so that I can give you the particulars. Family and friends are very welcome....hope to see you all there. (Ms. Heather Bean.......it would be captain fantastic if you would drag yourself over here and give birth in the middle of the process....how cool would that be, really?....as long as we didn't have to postpone the process any longer I suppose.)
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Hi All. It hasn't been all too long since my last post, but I had some pictures sitting around in the ole camera and it always cheers me up so I will put pen to paper....or finger to keyboard in this case just to keep on keepin on. So, I sit here tired out of my gourde - my own stupid fault. I got all 3 netflix movies yesterday. Watched 10,000 B.C. (Mike's pick) and it was good. There was a little time left before bed and so I popped in Californication Season 1. Didn't know much about it going in but the title entrigued me and Showtime and HBO shows are the best so I figured I'd watch a few episodes and decide whether I liked it or not. Well, I liked it a little too much and didn't stop watching until I had seen the entire season. This took me into the wee hours of the morning. Not too smart.

Little did I know that I would get an uber headache and the fun from the arrival of my endometrievil today. As if that wasn't enough, the boys decided to get the poops and be super terrible two-sy as well. I am miserable and if that wasn't enough, I found that two of my bills got lost in the mail last month and so I was trying to straighten that mess out during naptime. So, I need to look at my pictures and blog a little to take my mind off things. Hope this works, otherwise I will be hittin' the liquor. No need to front right. Not that it is the perfect fix, but when the advil might as well be a gummy bear......what can I do.
Here are my boys watching racing. Since we have the DVR up and running Mike tapes every race on the earth. Usually I would rue the day. What is so exciting about cars going around and around in circles unless if you are actually the one racing, but even then I hear it is hot and uncomfortable which sounds not so fun to me. But, on the bright side, the boys love watching the cars with their dada and I can get some stuff done as they wind down for the evening.

Rock stars in the making. They love their keyboard, a gift from their Ninang on Xmas. We finally have it set up and they love to make sweet music......not so much together.......then it becomes a shoving match most days......but they are pretty effective solo artists. Seb is quite interested in instruments thanks to Little Einsteins. Now, when his bro plays the piano, he pretends to play the violin. Here, Seb has the super fake cheese goin' on and Ben is either Jerry Lee Lewis or needs to take up the air guitar in a metal band. Of course, Seb wouldn't let go of his new sippie cups for the picture. Chalk it up to the Cars characters, of course.

Awww....the more gentle side. Ben losing the hard rocker in him and Seb, well even if Seb won't share with his brother, he will share with his cow. From the dollar bin at Target, it started with dinosaurs and now he is absolutely crazy about the farm animals complete with sound button. He only has the cow and ram so far, but we look in the bin for more to add to his collection everytime we go. His animals go everywhere. In the car, out to restaurants, outside in the backyard....I try to keep them out of the little play pool though even if cows need a bath in this heat. They go on his little bus and enjoy rides around the backyard. He gives them water from his sippie cup, pushes them down the slide. He moos and baas at them. He makes them kiss and kisses them. With all the expensive toys....cheap little barn animals make him the most happy.

Awww, I feel better already. I think I can wait for my drink until after Mike gets home now. Well, time to make dinner for my crazy dudes. Seb has gotten into quite a love affair with shrimp and so I gotta get to work so it will be ready in time. Last week was pepperoni and pineapple pizza. But, hmmmm, Shrimp....who woulda guessed it??

A Mini Vacation - a good time under bad circumstances

So, it has been pretty busy around these parts lately. I must say that the twins are really doing well. They still aren't much for talking beside the words they frequently use. We just keep on reading and talking with them and hope that the language thing will catch on. Although, Seb will have conversations with us, it is less of our language and more of his twin gibbering. But, he has progressed to the point where he will try to show you what he wants if he can't verbalize it. He takes you by the hand and leads you to whatever he wants done. Whether it be a snack, a toy or if he just wants you to sit someplace in particular. This weekend, at my parents house, he was cracking everyone up with this new skill. Beside scoping and tracking the cat in her various hiding places, when she jumped on top of the bookcase, he went straight to Papa, led him to the bookcase and motioned for him to be lifted to the cat. He rearranged seating arrangements by making guests stand and putting people where he wanted them on the couch. He also took a blanket off my mom and put it on his Papa. It is all about Papa for Sebastian.

A couple of weeks ago, the boys had their two year old check up at their new pediatrician. Unfortunately, they had a lot of shots to catch up on. They have to go back in a couple of weeks for more vaccinations even. Luckily though, there were no side effects. They had a slight fever the night of and were a little cranky the next day, but that was it. I was expecting a lot worse. When coming home, both boys were at about 5th percentile weight. Seb is now in the high 80's and Ben is in the 70's. The doctor actually suggested putting Seb on a diet where he was to get no juice and no snacks. This was surprising to me because although Seb has chubby cheeks and a thick build, he is not really fat. He is very muscular and I hate to use the phrase big boned as that is a usual excuse. Ben is very spindley comparatively, but has always been the one with the bigger belly, although that is still probably the effects from long ago and his preference for carbs over meat. I just couldn't bring myself to agree with a diet at their age. Maybe I spoil them, but I still give them their morning snack of Cheerios and afternoon snack of raisins. I have cut down on the juice and what juice I do give them is watered down. They do get an occasional sugary treat, but I try to keep those to far and few in between.
This weekend we had to travel up north for my grandfather's funeral. Mike took Friday off and so we drove up Thurs. evening. We did so with heavy hearts, but it would be nice to see the family and with gas prices the way they are, we don't see eachother as often as we used to. Friday morning we took the boys to my mom's school. She is a teacher's aide at a Middle School and it was the last day of school. Every body was anxious to meet the twins as my mom is very much the proud Nonny and so everyone in the school feels like they know my boys. Her class was having a smores party...you can't really do much on the last day of school.....so it was the perfect opportunity for the boys to sample the school atmosphere (they did not partake of the smores). The boys were passed around from counselor to teacher to aide and oogled by the students. They had celebrity status. The boys enjoyed meeting everyone and running around the classroom. They also enjoyed the fact that there was a party in every room they visited and each teacher let them sample the goodies. I saw some old friends from my days as a teacher and it was nice to catch up. The only part that the boys didn't like was the loud bell to change classes. I have never seen Seb jump so high into my arms and hug me tight around my neck like it was the scariest sound ever. Of course, he recovered quickly and joined in the festivities soon after the noise was over.
After a wonderful day at school we had to get ready for the burial proceedings. We dressed the boys up and made our way to pay our last respects to our Grandpa J. Sebastian stood like a perfect gentleman and took in the solemn occasion...of course not grasping what was occurring. Ben on the other hand was a fit of cries. Whether he sensed everyone's sadness or was just cranky we don't know. We all felt down that day, but returned to my parents house to share stories and spend time as a family. The boys took a long nap and woke up refreshed...ready for running around the house and playing a little ball. It kept us going. Everytime I looked sad or had tears in my eye that day....Sebastian hugged me in a way that instantly made things seem that much better. My tender Sebastian always knows what mama needs. He will come up behind me with a bear hug or put his arms up and hold me tight around the neck as I pick him up. He also has the soothing pat down, where he hugs around the shoulders and his little hands/fingers go up and down to console anyone needing a pick me up. I am lucky to have such a sensitive boy.
I must say that Ben has a few tricks up his sleeve too. He may not be the little lover that Sebastian is, but he is a ham. When someone needs some cheering up, never fear because silly Ben will know just what to do to make you laugh. Of course, I cherise this just as much. In fact, as we made it on Saturday to the church service for Grandpa J....Ben was in his element. Not to say that it was the right venue for his act, but it did keep me from getting a sinus headache as you can't help but not cry when a sweet comedian is doing his best to cheer you up (even if it is during a sermon). Seb was the perfect gentleman again, sitting quietly on the pew like a big boy, very intently listening to the service (or so it appeared). Ben on the other hand, swiped my moms reading glasses and put them on in a various amount of stylings. He made faces and spoke his language and gestured and people couldn't help but kiss him and smile. When we gave him the shoosh finger, he paused, pushed the glasses back on his nose and stood up facing the rest of the mourners. He gave a lopsided grin and made the shoosh finger and sound at the rest of the congregation. Of course, Michael who wants the boys to be perfect was very distraught at the whole scene. I don't know if the attendees were so old that they didn't hear or see, but many of the ladies came up to us after the service and said that our boys were so well behaved. The pastor also said that she enjoyed having them in church. Perhaps they were just being polite, but given their age, I think that they did a pretty good job sitting through a service where the overwhelming vibe was so sad.
After the service the church ladies put on a lunch which was much appreciated. We visited with family and friends that we hadn't seen in many years. Afterward, we went back to my parents and ate some more (grief = overeating in my family). We wish we were getting together under better circumstances. We were happy to get together with the family though. My brother Richard and his wife and new 4 month old baby boy were there. My sister Valerie came in all the way from New York and it was fun to catch up with her who we haven't seen in more than five years time. My little sister and her hunky husband came in from Texas. And all the local family was there too. Of course, we didn't let the solemn occasion interfere with our crazy sense of humor. We spent a good hour joking and hypothesizing about the pickle bread someone had made for the lunch. It looked to be pickle and cream cheese in the middle of bread. You can use your imagination on what us kids were joking about and at one point my brother even offered us money to give a piece a try which we all declined after the nasty joking of the day. Old times....Old times. The weekend was too short to say the least. I could have spent many more days catching up with everyone. We made it home on Sunday and were and are still absolutely drained. It is hard to recover from something like this even when you get to lean on family.

A Tribute

I have been really lucky in my life to have three great grandfathers. Unfortunately, yesterday we lost one of my grandfathers. Just as special and unique as the other two, Grandpa Jacobson passed away yesterday. Instead of taking this blogging time to talk about the boys' doctors appointment or their latest and greatest feat, I thought I would take the time to celebrate Grandpa Jacobson.
Grandpa Jacobson was the quiet grandpa. He was always there when you needed him and at every function to lend his support. He really was a man of few words who kept in the background of a crowd. He was of Finnish stock and started school with English as a second language. He worked hard and excelled to the point that in adulthood he graduated from UC Berkeley and became a chemist. Not only was he proud of scholastic achievements, he was very involved in the church. Even with his busy schedule, Grandpa Jacobson always had time for us kids. We spent a lot of time visiting Grandpa's house. We loved his big back yard in which deer always could be found grazing. There were always berries to pick and make into pies. He let us take old wood, hammers and nails to build a fort (which really was at best a couple of gate looking pieces when done). We played lots of board games. When younger, there was Mystery Date. When older, we would play one of those games where you have to guess the lyrics of songs. Gr. J was always a judge and a strict judge at that. What is more is that in his very stoic way, he would read the answer lyrics without a smile in a business like tone, no matter how silly the lyrics actually were. He attended all softball games. You could spot him standing by the fence or sitting in the bleachers quietly observing, always dressed in jeans, a long sleeved denim shirt neatly tucked in with a belt and a straw hat, chin strap in full effect. He gave me my first car.... a blue station wagon with AM radio only .....but still a car I could call my own. He made every graduation and every party. If there was an event in our lives, no matter how small or trivial.....he was always there, quietly observing and a very important part of the family.
Grandpa Jacobson hadn't been well for quite sometime. He had been struggling with Parkinson's and other complications that come with the disease and old age in general. It was hard to see him struggling in life, but it is also hard for us to know that he is gone now that his fight is over. We take comfort in the fact that he will be reunited with our Moo Moo and will no longer be in pain. We are glad that we were able to make it home for Christmas this year as it was the last time we would see this magnificent man. The boys got to meet their great grandpa Jacobson, but it is sad that they will never get to know him. As we go back home to pay our respects, we have nothing but fond memories of our Grandpa Jacobson.