With Fear and Great Joy

Tips for a Magical and Affordable Disney Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 04:57:00 +0000

We are fresh off our much-anticpated Disney World vacation. And it was everything I had hoped it would be... and more. It was wonderful.

We booked our Disney trip only a few months prior to traveling, and as soon as we booked it I started reading up and planning as best as I could. I'm not usually neurotic like that about planning our vacations, but I was excited about the trip, and reading and prepping gave me something productive to do with my excitement. I think the planning paid off, because our trip turned out great. We had fun, did everything we wanted to do, didn't spend a fortune, and came home with wonderful memories.

I wanted to share some of our photos from the trip and figured I would share some tips too for those of you maybe planning a Disney trip sometime in the future.

Turtle Talk with Crush (Epcot) was one of our favorite things. Giggles all around.

1. Look into Disney's Youth Educational Series (YES) Program. Your child(ren) attend a three-hour class during one day of your trip. There are quite a few classes to choose from, and they are taught with Disney fun! With enrollment in the YES Program, you then get special, deeply discounted Disney tickets for your entire family. We saved probably 40% on our tickets this way. You can choose what kind of tickets you want (Park Hopper, Fun Your Way, etc) and how many you want (2-day, 5-day, 7-day...). It's an awesome deal, and well worth it. Mel enjoyed the class. Mary not so much (she mostly didn't like that she was the oldest in her class), but again, it was well worth it.

2. Read some Disney Guide books. This made the anticipation of the trip that much more fun, and helped optimize our enjoyment of the trip. I learned the best times to get to the parks, the rides and attractions worth visiting and those not worth bothering with, what might scare my youngest and what he would love, the yummiest snacks to get while in the parks, how to avoid crowds, etc. You can find guidebooks at your local library or Amazon.

Dole Whips from Aloha Isle in Magic Kingdom - a must!

I also did research online and found tips on what to pack for in the park, fun t-shirt ideas and things for us to make for our trip, fun and thrifty souvenir ideas, etc.

3. You can download software and/or apps to help minimize your wait time in lines, and to help maximize the number of rides and attractions your can make it to. We used touringplans.com, though we didn't end up following any specific touring plans. I had read enough books to know which rides to hit first, and which ones we wanted to make it to most, so we used the app to track wait times for the rides and attractions we wanted to make it to and created our own custom touring plan while we were on the go in the parks each day.

In addition to the touringplans.com app, my husband put a Disney World app on his phone that helped us track where the characters were at in the park each day. It also included maps and wait times.

Riding the teacups with no wait and hardly any other people.

4. Get some of your fun stuff BEFORE you get to Disney. We saved money by making our own autograph books for the kids before we left. I bought little photo albums at the dollar store and some Disney stickers (Dollar Tree too) and customized a cover for each kid's book with their name on it. Then I hot-glued scrapbook paper to alternating pages in the book (on top of the plastic that you slide the photos into) and put some stickers on the scrapbook paper pages in the corner. These were the pages that the characters signed, and alternating them with empty pages in the photo album gave us a place to put a photo of them with each character they met. I wasn't sure they would care so much about meeting the characters, but they couldn't get enough of it. It was one of the most precious parts of our trip, I'm really glad we made time for it... And I'm really glad I didn't wait till we got to Disney and have to pay $15 a pop for their autograph books.

We also ordered a set of Disney trading pins on ebay and divided them between the kids, so they could put them on lanyards and trade pins while in the park (a fun little Disney thing that's new since the last time I visited 5 years ago). We bought Disney lanyards at our local party store for $1 each, but were disappointed when we discovered that the pins fell off these lanyards WAY too easily. We ended up buying new lanyards in the park (a splurge) and the pins stayed on much better (though there were still a few that didn't seems to ever want to stay on)! Weird. But the kids enjoyed trading with Disney cast members as we toured the parks. They probably didn't enjoy it as much as they enjoyed the autograph books though.

Pin trading. Cast members will always trade with you, up to two pins.

I know some people buy Disney souvenirs at Disney outlets and dollar stores and such before their trip and then give their child a souvenir each day of vacation without spending the big bucks on souvenirs in the parks. A great idea! We didn't want to create the expectation in our kids that they need to get something everyday of vacation. Instead, we put their lanyards, autograph books, some pens, a Mickey stuffed animal, and a few small trinkets in a gift bag and left them out for them to find the first morning of vacation. The rest of vacation we had clear guidelines on what we would and wouldn't be spending in the parks, and the kids had their own spending money they had saved up and brought along to use. This worked great for us.

5. Get to the parks at opening. It's true what everyone says, you will get on tons of rides with hardly any wait at all if you get there when the park opens. We visited at the end of July, which is one of THE busiest times of the year to visit, but we hardly waited in any lines. No lie. It felt too good to be true. It really wasn't till about lunch time when lines would start to get longer, and by that point we had already had a solid 3 hours of riding stuff line-free!

6. Utilize Fast Passes and Rider Share! Be sure to get a new Fast Pass as soon as your previous Fast Pass allows you to (which is usually only about an hour or two after you get it, even if you have to wait longer than that to use the fast pass). Send one person into the park with everybody in your group's tickets. Let them run ahead and get Fast Passes and then meet up at the first ride you all want to go on. You only ever need to send one person in your group to get the Fast Passes.

Rider Share allows you to get a Fast Pass for 3 people in your group for a ride or attraction that a child in your group is too little (or too scared) to ride. The idea is that someone waits with the child while the rest of the group stands in the stand-by line for the ride. Then when they get off, you can use the Fast Pass for the person who waited, plus two other people in your group, to get on the ride without having to wait in the stand-by line again. This helped our big kids get to go on some rides multiple times with no wait. I'll admit, we milked the Rider Share thing and this cut down on our wait times in a big way!

It felt like we always had a Fast Pass or a Rider Share and never had to wait in any lines (it helped to be able to check-off a lot of our must-dos early in the day when there were pretty much zero lines)! I think the only big line we waited in all week was to meet Buzz and Woody, and that was because it was a spur of the moment decision by the kids, and there was no Fast Pass on that.

7. Stay at a condo near Disney. We rented a very affordable, three-bedroom condo that was literally right down the road from Disney. It took us only a few minutes to get back and forth from Disney. We had plenty of room to spread out (the kids had a room, David and I had a room, my mom had her own room). There was a fantastic pool, waterside, and playground at the resort where our condo was, although we ended up barely using any of that. There was a full washer and dryer so we could pack light and didn't have tons of laundry to do when we got home from our trip. And most importantly, it had a full kitchen! We saved tons of money eating breakfast at home each morning before we headed to the parks. And we usually packed a lunch to bring into the park with us, and/or came back to our condo to cook dinner. So we usually only ever ate a maximum of one meal out each day, sometimes none!

8. Bring a lunch into the park, as well as plenty of drinks. Did you know you can bring a soft-sided cooler into Disney? You can! We brought two coolers each day; one for our lunches and munchies, and one for drinks. We would freeze juice boxes and water bottles (Gogurts too!) and so we always had plenty of cold refreshments throughout the day. And bringing munchies saved us money and avoided meltdowns in those moments when the kids would suddenly utter, "I'm hungry!" And we discovered that finding a bench or table in the shade and unpacking our own lunches was much easier and more relaxing than battling the lines and crowds in the restaurants at meal times. Plus, we found that most of the restaurants in the parks had pretty limited menus (like only pizzas, or only chicken), and so packing our own lunch was more of a guarantee that everybody would be pleased with what they ended up eating.

9. Know when to leave. There was only one day that we stayed at the park the entire day. The other days we usually headed back to our condo in the late afternoon to cook dinner and get to bed at a reasonable time. It was never a battle with the kids, because by getting there at opening, we had plenty of time to go on everything they wanted to go on (and more) by afternoon. Still, they were thoroughly EXHAUSTED even with leaving the park early. I think on our next trip we will plan a longer stay and work in more rest days, or just plan less days at the parks so we can work in more rest days.

10. Sanitize! We did not make a point of doing this well. And I think all the germs at Disney, coupled with not enough sleep while on the trip, and grueling days at the park, was why we ended up with two sick kids in the car on the way home. I have heard from several other people that their kids were sick by the end of their Disney trip as well. I don't know if sanitizing our hands better during the trip would have helped avoid this, but it couldn't have hurt. Maybe upping your vitamin in-take for the week preceding your trip, the week of your trip, and the week after your trip might help your kids avoid the sickies too. It wasn't a fun way to end the trip, but they did OK with the car trip (it was actually a pretty quiet trip home) and we all felt the trip was still awesome, despite the sickies at the end.

11. Bring Grandma with if you can! Ha! My mom came along on our trip and it was so fun having her there. Logistically juggling the various wants and needs of our three kids (each 4 years apart in age) was much easier with another adult there. And I loved getting to spend time with her all week, since we live eight hours away from each other. She let David and I have a date night at the Magic Kingdom one evening, and a movie date night another night. And then David let her and I have a girls' night out together at the Magic Kingdom on another night. So special!

Post Disney crash

Summer Update

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 05:59:00 +0000

I remember being terrified of that first summer after our older kids came home from Ethiopia. I had no idea what I was going to do with them all summer or how it would go. That all seems so silly now that we have almost two full, fun summers under our belts. Last summer was good. And this summer has been even better. We stay busy, but not too busy. The kids have been doing summer school, and then we've been swimming, going to the library, playing at home, and in a week we head to Disney (I might be singing a different tune after that about how "fun" summer is)!

A couple weeks ago we went up to Chicago to visit my family like we always do for the 4th. It was a great visit. The kids do better and better with each trip up there. We actually stayed an extra day because the kids wanted to, and that was a sign of some HUGE progress. We plan to go back in the fall to celebrate Mary's birthday with the family (per her request). She is already planning out her list of family and close friends up there that she wants to make sure we invite. :)

Here are some photos from our visit. Notice all the smiles. We've all come a long way.

Summer Marble Jar Update

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 17:51:00 +0000

I know some of you wanted to know how it's going with our marble jar system (read my original posts explaining it here and here).

We just did our first "trade-in" for prizes, so I thought I would let you know how it's going.

I keep all the marbles to be earned in a jar on top of the fridge. Nobody gets to put marbles in the jar but Mommy or Daddy. Nobody gets to touch any of the marbles in anybody's jar but their own. They're not even allowed to count anybody else's marbles (because ya know, they always want to know who has the most).

I decided to let them trade in once the to-be-earned jar was empty. This gives them incentive to keep earning them and helps them to know how much longer it will be before they get prizes. It also gives them some control over when they get their prizes. The faster you earn marbles, the sooner you get prizes.

Their prizes to choose from this time were Disney dollars, some bags of candy (15), gum (10), a few little toys (lip gloss for Mary to choose if she wanted) (10-25), and then coupons. The coupons were for:
- Sonic Happy Hour drinks (15)
- Staying up late one night (30)
- No chores for a week (30)
- Mom folds and puts away a load of your laundry (they usually have to do that themselves) (15)
- Unlimited Media day (40)
- Choose what Mom makes for dinner one night (20)

I might be forgetting one or two, but you get the gist.

My two older kids both had 48 marbles in their jar. My youngest had 35. My oldest son decided to "save" his marbles, which didn't make a lot of sense to any of since he had enough marbles to get even the most "expensive" prize. Go figure. My daughter traded in for lip gloss and a Sonic coupon (and still has some leftover to go toward the next trade-in). My youngest traded for a couple of the toys.

My kids were a bit disappointed by my "prices." I guess they assumed I would just be giving the prizes away for practically nothing. I reminded them that the prizes aren't going anywhere, that they have ALL summer to earn marbles and prizes, and that they are in control of how many marbles they get every day. I already have some idea for new coupon ideas for our next trade-in.

My kids definitely lost momentum quickly with earning marbles. The majority of their marbles were earned in the first few days of summer, and hardly any this past week. We'll see how many they have at the next trade-in...

We refilled our to-be-earned jar and my daughter has already earned a few new ones to add to her jar today.

Summer Survival

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 05:07:00 +0000

We're off to a great start this summer. I didn't have anywhere near the anxiety about it that I had at the start of last summer.

Some great things fell into place with the kids being offered a spot in a new (FREE!) summer tutoring program at school, and it fits around our summer travel plans perfectly. I also got a free year subscription to a computer, reading tutoring program that the kids can work on over the summer (I will be reviewing the software soon on my Literacy Launchpad blog). I was planning to purchase one, so it was awesome to be offered one for free!

I came up with a summer bucket list that we can look to when we want something to go and do. I also have some other ideas at-hand for when we might have some free time. Basically, I have more ideas of things for us to stay busy with than we actually have time for. BUT I'm also letting them figure out how to entertain themselves, and giving them opportunities to be bored! *Gasp!*

We are doing Disney later this summer! We're all psyched, and so we've been trying to watch as many of the classics as we can (none of my kids have really watched many of them). We've checked Disney books out from the library and we're just having fun planning and dreaming and looking forward to our trip. I know there will be stress and meltdowns and all that, but I also know there will be fun gosh darn it!

Our neighborhood suddenly feels FULL of kids. It's been wonderful because my kids have actually been playing outside! Like ALL day! They pretty much stay right in front of our house, or in our garage, so they're always close by and I can keep an eye on them and not wonder if they're into trouble. The downside is that ALL the neighborhood kids are ALWAYS in our yard, garage, driveway... ALWAYS. If we leave for the day, we come home and find them all sitting in our driveway waiting for us. It's weird. And now our yard has become the place they all dump their trash, our doorbell is ringing at the start of every day, and I'm expected to be handing out popsicles to a dozen kids on a daily basis. I think the neighborhood kids aren't going to like me much here pretty soon, because I'm going to need to lay some rules down for hanging at our house.

We also have a marble jar system going that is working out wonderfully so far! You can read a little more about that here.

What's working (or not working) for you so far this summer? Would love to swap ideas!

Some End of the School Year Happys

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Thu, 24 May 2012 05:05:00 +0000

This school year has really flown by. It feels like last summer just ended, how can this summer already be here?

Our first born had his first, little preschool program, and our oldest graduated from 5th grade (I love getting to say weird sentences like that). Our daughter also received the President's Education Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement! What a neat surprise for us all! We were so proud of her, and she was pretty proud of herself too. Another neat thing was getting to see her with all her buddies, taking photos and laughing together. I know she struggles with wanting to fit in (even more than your average 5th grade girl), and so I'm glad she seems to have made some good friends this year. It's been a fun week!

First is the worst, Second is the Best

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Tue, 15 May 2012 05:18:00 +0000

Before our Ethiopian kids joined our family, many people told me that one of the joys of older child adoption from Ethiopia was that adoptive parents still got to experience many firsts with their adopted children, even though they have missed such a significant portion of their life.

We have found this to be true. There are so many experiences that my adopted children didn't have till coming to America. BUT experiencing these firsts with them is often not blissful... for them or for us. People assume a former orphan coming form a third world country into a family in a first world country will have a certain reaction to all the firsts they're exposed to. You look forward to these moments, anticipating how special and wonderful they will be. But there are so many messy emotions (theirs and yours) that try awfully hard to steal the joy from all these first moments. And usually they win.

At first that was really disappointing (which was my own issue). I was putting an unfair expectation on my kids and myself.

But now we are getting around to experiencing things together as a family for a second time. And what a difference time makes! In my experience, doing things together as a family for the second time is what I anticipated the firsts would be like. Fun, joyful, and special.

It's certainly not all sunshine and roses. What family is? But if you're in the midst of the firsts, and it's hard, hold on. Time helps. And joy can come!

Do Something Special for YOU.

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:04:00 +0000

Mother's Day is coming up, and instead of it being the wonderful day it often is for most typical moms, for trauma moms it can mean lots of backlash and acted out feelings from our kids.

Other moms have suggested, and I think it's a wonderful idea, to celebrate birthdays and holidays like these on a day other than the holiday itself. You could surprise your kids and celebrate on an unexpected day so they aren't prepared to sabotage it. Or you can have your own little solo celebration with the kiddos (maybe just with your spouse).

Holiday or not, it's important to treat yourself well and do special things here and there for yourself when you can.

I had the pleasure recently of someone else doing something special for me. Fresh Produce offered to send me a product from their online store to review here on the blog. And I'm all about some swag (on the rare occasions that I'm offered any as a blogger), so I took them up on their offer.

They generously allowed me to choose anything from their online store, so I had fun "shopping!" The contact person I worked with was very sweet and accommodating, so I would assume their costumer service in general is probably pretty great (something I highly value in an online shop).

A little bit of info on the company: Fresh Produce is co-founded and still run by a mom entrepreneur, Mary Ellen Veron and is primarily made in the USA. You’ll find the clothing sold in Fresh Produce stores ’and more than 500 specialty retailers throughout the US and Caribbean.

I was in the market for something to keep me warm inside this summer. Ya know, the time of year when every building you go into is blasting their AC? (It's a wonder our bodies don't all go into shock from constantly transitioning between the blistering summer heat outdoors and the subarctic, AC-generated temps indoors.) Anyway, I decided to browse their women's cardigans. Tough choices. All cute styles!

I ended up choosing a light weight cardigan that could be easily paired with my casual tops, as well as be dressed up when the occasion might call for it!

I wore this to church on Sunday and was in love. It's easy to carry with you, because it's lightweight. It's super soft and comfy. And because of the style, I can kind of drape it over me like a blanket when I'm sitting indoors (freezing).

Fresh Produce has tons of cute things, all great for summer! Definitely worth checking out and perhaps treating yourself to a little something special, because let's face it, we rock!

Meet My Three Year Old!

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 06:32:00 +0000

... He's a tiny little bundle of crazy fun!

"Look, Mommy! I'm like Harry Potter!"

Rockin' the junk in his trunk... rocks he found at the park.

"It's the cross Jesus died on."

"Treasure" he found in the street.

Kicking back with a good read.

Digging for dinosaurs at library story time. Don't you love the protective goggles?

It's an Easter basket/hat.

Playing the part of the "hare" in our Literacy Launchpad "Tortoise and the Hare" race.

Legos and Star Wars... his two great loves.

Kickin' butt at the brain game at the science museum.

So much going on in that little head, that it couldn't even stay on the screen.

Isaac: "Help, Mommy! My hand is stuck!"

Mommy: "Let go of the bath fizzy."

Problem solved. (So much for those brain waves, huh?)

How is a Trauma Mom is like a CIA Agent?

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 04:50:00 +0000

In the midst of a less than fun parenting moment this past week, I sent my husband a text that said, "This is torture. I feel like Jack Bauer. Only I don't get to kill anyone." It got me to thinking, if any of us trauma moms are ever looking to start a new career someday, perhaps CIA agent (or CIA "officer" as I discovered they are actually referred to) is just the job for us? We're currently getting all the right training (according to what I've read, and see on TV).

OK, so perhaps I myself feel far from knowing the ins and outs of being the amazing moms that so many of you ladies are, but I'm learning. I hope this list gives you wonderful mommas a little giggle, and reminds you that you are awesome and amazing (despite how the rest of the world might make you feel sometimes)!!

According to the CIA's website, some of the job skills necessary are...

- Must be able to deal with fast-moving, ambiguous and unstructured situations. - Check.

- It is essential that they be physically and psychologically healthy, energetic, and able to cope with stress. - Check. ... (OK, maybe not "check" on the physical health part for me)

- Their judgment in practical matters tends to be sound, and they have good insight into character, motivation and the potential of other people. - Check.

- Equally critical is their need for accurate assessment, because only one who is genuinely conscious of his or her own personality can establish the kind and depth of personal relationships needed for CIA Operational work. - Working on it.

- A "normal" workweek, on a 24/7 schedule, can sometimes run between 60 and 80 hours. Pressure to balance these requirements requires an ability to establish priorities and focus on what is important and promising. Prioritizing, Check. 60-80 hr work week? We wish!

- Success as an Operations Officer is impossible without flexibility, a sense of perspective and humor. If there is any profession in which "Murphy's Law" can apply, it is certainly, that of Clandestine Operations where so many elements are unknown and uncontrolled. - MmmHmm, Yup, and Got it.

- Arrogance, egoism and inflated self-importance will soon see you dropped from training. - Learned that the hard way. Check.

- If you apply to be a spy and the CIA thinks you might have the right stuff, the CIA is going to spy on you. So, get ready to bare the skeletons in your closet. - Be prepared to be closely observed and scrutinized, even by strangers. Check.

- See life's gray areas. If you see life in absolutes ("he is wrong, I am right"), then it's likely you're not going to be a good choice for the CIA. Inquiring minds, openness to discussion and possibilities, and the ability to see the more nuanced and complicated elements of every situation are an essential trait when you need to analyze things. Check.

- You'll need to know how to feign interest in other people's interests and hobbies in order to build friendships or relationships with them to obtain information. - Baaahaahaa! Check.

- It may be difficult for family members not in the industry to cope with the fact that agents are required to keep significant amounts of information from them. Ability to keep some family members in the dark about what we really deal with day to day? Check.

If I am to believe what I see on TV (and right after the internet, that's always a reliable source of info too, right?), then here are some other tidbits that qualify us mommas:

- We can endure slow, drawn out torture.
- We're used to being interrogated for information.
- We're skilled at operating under various aliases.
- We have learned to disconnect emotionally when necessary, and not take things personally.
- We can feign various emotions, some of us more convincingly than others.
- We are versed in mind games.

While there may be endless similarities between a trauma mom and a CIA agent, I imagine we all dream of a much more relaxed lifestyle when we dream about the future... One that includes lots of naps and chocolate, perhaps? Teehee.

Spring Break Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 06:23:00 +0000

I spend a lot of my time in THIS little world. :-) It makes me happy. Yesterday I shared about a fun, little, spontaneous outing I took the kids on. Here's a peek at what my crew has been up to over spring break:

In February Literacy Launchpad did an author study on Mo Willems. So how serendipitous that my local independent bookseller, Parnassus Books, was hosting an event with him today in promotion of his new book The Duckling Gets A Cookie!?. Did you know today was the book's official release date? Or as Mo refers to it, "The first day you can legally read it!"

(See Parnassus Books get the Colbert Bump!)

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I only found out about the event last night, and spent this morning emailing the parents of my students in hopes that some of them might be able to make it to the event as well. At lunch, my kiddos (and one of their friends) made some Mo-inspired art (Literacy Launchpad projects from February) to bestow upon the author when we met him.

We made it to the event on time, bought a copy of The Duckling Gets A Cookie!? to get signed, and even got pretty good seats.

Mo came out and wanted to get the photo-taking out of the way so we could all spend our time "experiencing the event, instead of documenting it." Love that! So he did a bunch of goofy poses for us all. Us moms got our photos. The kids got some giggles. He even did a booty-shot pose for us (Which I missed with my camera, darn!).

Mo was very funny and extremely entertaining. He read us Listen to My Trumpet, which he explained is an "easy reader," but a "hard writer." And he of course also read us The Duckling Gets A Cookie!?.

Both books were big hits with the crowd.

Mo also took questions. Did you know...

Every night when Mo's family sits down together for dinner, they put a big sheet of paper down the middle of the table and they all draw during the meal. "Elephant Gerald" came into being as a dinner doodle originally. "Piggie" followed shortly after.

Mo used to be a writer for Sesame Street. Do you know what "Elmo" means in Spanish? It means "the Mo!" TeeHee!

Mo gets all his ideas from Belize, because they have to be "belizable."

Mo's newest book is excellent! Laugh out loud funny (but I'm sure it helped that Mo was reading it to us). I'm really glad that all three of my kids were able to be there for the event. My older ones were talking with their friend that had come along, after we got home, and I overheard them saying that they thought the event was going to be "babyish", but that it was actually "really good!"

Check out this trailer for The Duckling Gets A Cookie!?

In the Meantime...

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 04:59:00 +0000

As it is for many families, it feels like we've always known what's next. Get married, establish a career, buy a house, have a kid, adopt another two kids... David and I have followed a fairly typical life path. Sure, many of the steps along the way haven't happened quite the way we planned, but we always kind of knew the general direction we were heading.

The past year or so (life post-adoption) has turned our world a bit topsy turvy. Now that the dust is settling some, we find ourselves looking around and wondering which direction we're supposed to be heading next. There are choices to be made in many areas of our life, and we don't feel like we're hearing a clear word from God concerning those choices. There are things we're waiting on, and wondering about... Changes that we are still hoping might come to pass. And it all just makes us restless and kind of confused. Honestly, it all stresses me a bit; I'm a planner.

Maybe I'm over thinking it all because I've just hit one of those milestone birthdays... Life has been good to us. Many of the things we have dreamed have come to pass. Now we need God to give us some new dreams... Or at least grab us by the shoulders, point us in the right direction, and give us a swift kick in the butt.

Perhaps I should be careful what I pray for! So in the meantime, I'm going to do my best to be thankful for the lull, and go take a nap!

Terrible Twos + Tweens

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 01:54:00 +0000

Yesterday I posted about how the kind of parenting we're doing 'round here feels like trying to build a ship in the middle of a hurricane. This week, I've been thinking a lot about this awkward kind of parenting we're trying to do. Trying to pin down exactly why it is so awkward.

One thing we battle regularly is being asked for things constantly (a dog, a cell phone, a Kindle Fire, sometimes all in the same day, or same hour). Yes, I wanted things I couldn't have when I was my kids' ages too, but I don't remember constantly asking my parents about it. I just knew, I accepted, that we weren't a dog family, or we weren't going to ever have a swimming pool in our yard, etc. (Maybe my mom remembers more whining than I do?)

I think a big part of this issue is that our older adopted children didn't grow up in our family culture. Not only are they trying to figure out, and fit into American culture, they are trying to figure out our family culture in relation to that American culture. They're only a year and a half into it. So we're dealing with a lot of the developmental milestones of a toddler, combined with tween junk too.

My kids haven't come to accept all our rules and limitations yet. They are testing the waters, seeing if we will cave if they keep pushing, seeing if we really mean what we say.

"Look for new signs of assertiveness from your toddler. Hallmark behaviors to watch for: He may insist on doing exactly what you've told him not to do or throw himself down on the floor in a fit of temper if he doesn't get his way. His demands may alternately frustrate and amuse you. At times, for example, he'll likely ask for something that he doesn't even want, just to see if he has enough power to get it." - from Babycenter.com

Yes, that's my kids. They are trying to figure out our rules and limitations like a toddler, while simultaneously trying to rebel against them with full-blown tween attitude.

I don't know if time will remedy this, or if I'm just going to be dealing with a strong-willed child forever. But I pray my kids will soon accept the culture of our family, even when it's different than the American culture they are surrounded by.

Building a Ship in the Middle of the Hurricane

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 01:31:00 +0000

Parenting a tween is hard. Parenting a child from trauma is hard. Parenting a tween from trauma can be brutal.

Many of the behaviors we deal with here in our family are typical tween behaviors. If you are the parent of a tween, you know the stuff I'm talking about. BUT if you are the parent of a typical tween, you have had 10+ years to establish a firm relationship with your tween before having to navigate the tween turbulence.

I imagine it's much like heading into a big storm on the ocean, maybe even a hurricane. A typical family has spent years building a strong ship that can keep you all safe and survive the beating from the harsh storm. You still have to go through the yuck, your ship will likely get tossed, take a beating, and come out banged and bruised, but the storm was much easier to weather than had you been on a rickety raft. When you emerge from the storm you can mend your ship and keep sailing on, stronger and better from the experience.

Jumping into parenting a child from trauma, right as they head into their tweens (or teens), is like trying to build a ship in the middle of the hurricane. It's a daunting task that feels near impossible, crazy even. You might manage to miraculously piece some parts of your boat together, only to have a wave come out of nowhere and leave you with nothing again. It can make you want to simply give in to the wind and the waves. Especially when you see everybody else passing by in their sturdy ships.

Some days I have to simply rest in the assurance that I serve a God who can calm the storm with a word. I serve a God who invited me out of the safe little boat I used to live in, and asked me to walk on water with him. Perhaps if I could stop worrying about this ship that I'm frantically trying to build... Heck, if I could simply stop flailing about, in my desperate attempts to keep my head above water, I might see Him reaching His hand out to me. I might hear Him saying, "You of little faith! What's the problem?" I might feel his mighty protection and be able to thrivingly declare "You are God for sure!"

(Matthew 14:22-33)

Baptism!

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 05:17:00 +0000

Mary was baptized this past Sunday. We were so proud of her!

But Mary's acceptance of Christ has nothing to do with David and me, and everything to do with God! This is a girl that told staff at the orphanage in Ethiopia that she wanted to be a pastor when she grows up. The orphanage staff also sent us reports stating that Mary's favorite things to do were go to church and pray.

Mary has a good heart, and God has big plans for her, I'm sure of it! I remember walking through the parking lot at the Bole airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Our group was approached by a beggar woman, as is very common any time foreigners are out and about in Ethiopia. We were all in a rush to get our bags and get into the airport and checked in, none of us paid much attention to this woman. But Mary stopped, dropped her stuff, and rushed over to her backpack. She had been hoarding snack food in her bag all week, and she pulled out one of her coveted granola bars and took it to the beggar woman.

We have seen this tenderness many times since that night. I can't wait to see how God uses this gift of Mary's as she grows up. Mary has told us that she might want to be a missionary, a teacher, or a nurse. She has also told us that she wants to run an orphanage and make sure there's a good school there to teach the children.

David had the privilege of baptizing Mary, as was her request! She was nervous, but did great. We had family in from Memphis and Chicago. Mary's best friend came to church with her. We all celebrated with pizza and cake afterward! It was a very cool day.

How the Brain Works... And Ethiopian Musicians

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 06:34:00 +0000

I heard an interview on Fresh Air today with the author of Connectome: How the Brain's Wiring Makes Us Who We Are. The conversation was pretty interesting, and I know many of us adoptive moms wish we knew more about the human brain, how it works, and perhaps why our kids' brains are the way they are. Sounds like this book might be able to shed at least a little bit of light on that. I'm adding it to my Amazon wish list!

HERE's a link to the radio interview too!

Also, on Here and Now (yes, I listen to a lot of NPR), I heard a rerun of an interview with Ethiopian-born musician Meklit Hadero. She is starting auditions in April of 2012 for her Nile Project, which you can learn more about in the video below. I was very interested in her story as she is a woman that was born in Ethiopia, but raised in the states, and didn't really start connecting with her Ethiopian roots till pretty recently. I wonder is my children might feel a connection with her story? Her music is more jazz/folk sounding than Ethiopian, but perhaps my kids might decide they like her music too? She has a beautiful voice!

Time

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 06:36:00 +0000

What a funny thing time is. How much it can change things! For an adoptive family, time can be immensely powerful.

When you first become a family, it is hard. So hard. And everybody tells you, it gets easier with time. And they are right. It does. Amazingly. Little by little. Sometimes the changes are so little they go unnoticed till they build up into bigger, more obvious changes that baffle you and leave you speechless.

I am like most human beings though - impatient! When things are tough, or uncomfortable, or painful I want it better now! Waiting is one of the things I'm worst at.

I can recall having my cousin and his wife in town visiting last spring. One of our children had a melt down one evening, and my cousin and his wife were there to witness it. It meant so much to me for them to simply say, "Wow. This is hard. And I have no idea what I would do if I were in your shoes. You guys are doing a really great job. I think time is what will help change things. Time for them to see you're not going anywhere."

My cousin was right. There must be an assurance that comes with time. With simply repeating routines, knowing what's coming, and knowing what will never go away - family. Time makes things more comfortable. More familiar. More secure.

Time teaches. Oh, what we have all learned in the past 16 months. Thank you, Lord for using time to teach us all!

Time doesn't erase. And time can seem so slow sometimes. Sometimes some things take more time than others. Nobody in our family is who we were 16 months ago, or 12 months ago, or even 8 or 9 months ago. Hallelujah!

Our God is good. Faithful. And sometimes He just needs us to wait... and give it more time.

"God makes everything happen at the right time. Yet none of us can ever fully understand all he has done, and he puts questions in our minds about the past and the future." Ecc 3:11

Can I get some traction?

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 05:40:00 +0000

We had a fabulous January 'round here. And I had been meaning to put up a post bragging about all the wonderful progress that has happened.

And then February rolled around and we have hit a schlump. I feel like we've been stuck in the mud the past couple weeks and can't get any traction. It will feel like we're about to start cruisin' again, but then mud starts flying up and I realize we're still spinning our tires.

Last February was pretty awful. It's a month full of triggers: my birthday, Valentine's Day, and then a major traumaversarie. But January had me naively believing that we were just going to cruise right through February too. Wrong.

Granted, it's been nowhere near as severe as last February (knock on wood). It's just been unpleasant at times and frustrating. I see such potential in my daughter, and when she regresses (even a little) it disappoints me and makes me doubt all that potential. The potential I see can fool me into thinking that regressions aren't really regressions, that it is just all ornery pre-teen behaviors. And maybe some of it is. Sometimes though I worry that I just might be a bit too hard on her. I probably expect too much. She probably deserves more grace than what I give her on the bad days.

Praying for traction so I'll again feel like getting on here and gushing about the good stuff. Just not feeling it tonight.

Read this on the wonderful Dorothy's blog today and it made me smile (you might have to read the entire post for it to make sense). Hope it might you smile too:

"Today is Valentines Day. For all of you who are parenting struggling kiddos - some who may have a diagnosis and some who never will - know that you are precious. And that your kids are precious. That the same God who built your family knows far more than any doctor or psychiatrist and that on the hard days there are people out here on the blog-o-sphere who you can shoot off an email to and we promise....tongue in cheek...to ask if you have considered taking away their privileges. After which we will weep and pray for you - because regardless of the 'official' diagnosis this stuff is hard. Really blasted hard."

Purpose

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:55:00 +0000

God has given me a couple little tidbits of encouragement the past week that what I'm doing matters. And sometimes we moms really need that. Amen?

So I thought I would jot it down here in case it might encourage others too.

Last Wednesday I was hanging out at church (while my kids were in their Wednesday night classes) and was overhearing some of the James study by Beth Moore that was going on nearby (our church is a converted warehouse, so you hear everything, everywhere). Beth was saying that it's much easier to deal with pain in your life, than with purposelessness. This struck such a chord with me because I think as parents (especially parents of hurting children), the pain can be so overwhelming sometimes that we lose sight of our purpose. But Beth went on to say that pain always gives birth to new life. And we are finding that to be very true in this season of our parenting here in our family.

Strangely enough, whilst overhearing all these wonderful things from Beth Moore, I was reading Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell (a great read by the way), and the part I was at was talking about purpose as well. It talked about how purpose - or meanings, as he specifically refers to it - can bring joy to even the toughest of circumstances. Here's what he says:

"Hard work is a prison sentence only if it does not have meaning. Once it does, it becomes the kind of thing that makes you want to grab your wife around the waist and do a jig."

So that's it. I thought I had a little more to say on the matter, but that's all. Hope it encourages somebody today.

A Much Needed Vacation

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 05:12:00 +0000

So we're a year and three months into this adoptive-parenting/parenting-three-kids thing, and we were in desperate need of a breather. I know there are parents of larger families that go years and years without getting away together as a couple for a break, but my hubby and I are not ones that would survive that. What can I say; we're weaklings!

Everything in our life has taken a beating this past year it seems: our marriage, finances, mental health, physical health, relationships with some family and friends, our faith, even just having the time and energy for interests and hobbies. It's been hard.

The start of the new year has felt like the turning of a page, the beginning of a new chapter - agood chapter - in our family and our life. Things are beginning to feel, dare I say, kind of normal (more on that in a future post). There have already been some good changes (some of which I'm not even sure about how they came about) and I'm optimistic about implementing more, for the sake of my family, my marriage... myself!

So here's to a FABULOUS 2012 and beyond! This cruise was the perfect way to kick it off. So grateful for parents that were willing to take time off work and haul down to Nashville to watch our crazy kids for over a week. We are SO blessed!

Here's what we got to indulge in last week:

Fancy dinners, eaten at the appropriate temperature (not COLD), and with adult conversation to boot!

Being entertained, instead of entertaining (I wasn't the cruise director for a week!). Nightlife that didn't consist of folding laundry while watching stuff on Netflix. No putting kids to bed, and no worrying about having to get up early with them the next morning.

Fun in the tropics. Warm weather! Island time!

Doing nothing

Time to read! Uninterrupted!

Getting dressed up and having somewhere to go. Romance!

Having Silly Fun!

Fulfilling some dreams unexpectedly.

During a day at the beach David decided to seize the opportunity to go parasailing, which is something he has always wanted to do. AND I got to be in a flash mob on the cruise ship (Thriller-style)! I had no idea that opportunity would present itself, but it was so fun. I couldn't get the video on here, but it's on my Facebook timeline, which is linked on the sidebar, I believe.

Are We There Yet?

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 03:15:00 +0000

We had a miserable weekend. I had such high hopes for it to be a good one. My sister and her husband and daughter came to visit and what was supposed to be a fun outing on Saturday resulted in a major meltdown. One of the most major meltdowns we have had in MONTHS. It sucked. And it made me really mad.

Then Sunday morning rolled around and God spoke some encouragement to me through my pastor's sermon. I wish what He spoke to me was as easy to accept and believe as it was to hear. Because it's Monday evening and I'm not still not over what happened on Saturday, but perhaps sharing what was preached, and what was spoken to my heart in the margins, will help it actually penetrate my soul.

The message was titled "Expecting Salvation." My pastor started off by reminiscing about car trips at the holidays with him and his sister in the back seat fighting, and that immortal question of "are we there yet?" Funny because the height of the meltdown this weekend occurred in the backseat of our mini van. My pastor talked about Israel's, and our own, longing for deliverance. Oh, how I can sympathize with the longing for deliverance. A fellow adoptive mom and I recently talked about how we feel assured about our children's future, but she said it's the dash to that future that is SO hard. The now is tough, and I am often asking God, "Are we there yet?" ...Though I'm not sure what "there" is.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out by day, but You do not answer, by night, and am not silent. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy On; You are the praise of Israel. In You our fathers put their trust; they trusted and You delivered them. They cried to You and were saved; in You they trusted and were not disappointed. But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads; "He trusts in the LORD; let the Lord rescue him. Let Him deliver him, since He delights in him." - Psalm 22:1-8

I feel those words to my core. I am tired. I am weary. I am longing for deliverance.

This weekend (the day of the big meltdown) one of my kids, and my niece, were both upset that money wasn't being spent on them. They wanted to buy something, and they refused to have fun unless money was spent. My sister and I said later said to one another that if they could just get it in their head that they aren't having anything bought for them, if they could just accept that and eliminate the expectation, they could have been happy and had fun on this special outing that was planned for them. I don't understand the entitlement thing.

But what God reminded me of on Sunday was that I am much like my own child. I have major entitlement issues. I get bogged down in my current circumstances because I feel things should be different. Life should be easier. But God says, "If you would just get it in your head that you do have something special. I have ponied up and PAID the price for you. It's so much more than XYZ that you are longing for. It's eternal life!"

This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many people will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, so that we may walk in His paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD. - Isaiah 2:1-5

Simeon took Him in his arms and praised God saying: "sovereign Lord, as you have promised, You now dismiss Your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen Your salvation..." - Luke 2:28-30

There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshipped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. - Luke 2:36-38

My pastor pointed out that the call to salvation is this: I am saved. I am being saved. I will be saved. Maybe life isn't going the way I had hoped or dreamed or planned. But there can be peace, hope, joy, and strength in the midst of the meltdowns in the backseat of the van. There can be peace, hope, joy, and strength in the journey, in the dash, in the "are we there yet?" Because God is using it all to refine. There is fulfillment. There is a purpose. There is a destination: Jesus.

Christ has come! Hallelujah!

Christmas Crafting

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 05:02:00 +0000

I have been pinning away on Pinterest all fall, with plans of doing all kind of crafting with the kids this month. We have managed to eek out a few crafts in the midst of the Christmas crazies going on 'round here.

Aluminum Foil Icicles. So easy. We all had fun with these, and the 3 year old only needed very minimum help.

Tissue paper Christmas Trees - We made these over Thanksgiving and they were very tedious. We all lost interest fast, and we ended up cutting off the bottoms of these two puffy ones here just so we could be DONE. Mel decided gluing his flat on the tree would be faster. And my sister's was looking really cool, but she didn't even get hers halfway done.

I had this nifty idea to put the boys' train tracks around the Christmas tree, and then use empty food boxes and some inside-out wrapping paper to make a little village surrounding the tracks. The kids did have fun with this, but it didn't quite turn out as cute I was hoping.

Bubble Magnets! These were easy and fun. It did take a long time to make just a few of them, but I really enjoyed it. My older kids bailed pretty quick on the project, but my youngest helped me with a ton of these. We didn't have very strong magnets to put on the backs of ours, so they ended up being more about form than function. My three year old likes to play with them on the fridge though.

Beaded Ornaments. The kids were able to make these while I prepared dinner one evening. A simple, classic craft. I think my youngest actually ended up making a "wand" instead of an ornament.

This was a craft I did on my own, but kids could definitely help with it. I never appreciated how long a strand of lights is till I did this project. Phew! I did find that once I got the hang of it, it did go a lot faster. I did two strands of lights and the second one probably took me only half the amount of time as the first. Tedious, but adorable.

I have made TONS of recipes from ideas pinned on Pinterest. And I have made numerous Christmas gifts from ideas on there, but I obviously can't spoil any Christmas surprises by posting photos of that stuff.

Update

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 05:05:00 +0000

We had a great Thanksgiving. Almost unbelievably good. We spent it in Chicago with my side of the family and many family members and friends commented on how great our daughter was doing. It was a really wonderful weekend that I am so thankful for.

Then we came home from Chicago and our little bubble was burst. I had been so jazzed about the Christmas season, but so far, it hasn't been very jolly in our house. There are some changes that have come to pass, and that have yet to come to pass that have a certain child on edge. Changes, plus the Christmas crazies, plus some school stress, plus knowing that mom and dad are going away for a week in January (thank God!), all make for a perfect storm. And when the storm is in your family, in your house, all the time... well, it rains and pours on us all and it often feels like there is no place you can go to get dry.

I am praying that we are on the brink of another turning point. Satan seems to have it in for us here lately; my hard drive on my computer died, and then just as my husband got it all restored and back in order, my iPhone dropped on the driveway and the display shattered. There must be something good about to come because the enemy is trying to keep us down in the dust with one headache after another.

Thanksgiving Re-Do

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 03:22:00 +0000

Last Thanksgiving we messed up. Like one of those, we-read-all-the-attachment-books-but -still-tried-to-parent-our-child-with-traditional-methods messed up. I shudder when I think back on it. And apparently so does my daughter. She has been having a rough go this past week, thinking about the up-coming holiday. It's like she's having a post-traumatic response. You know it's serious when it's disrupting her school work and she's crying about in class. (Heap on some more Mommy-guilt.) Bless their ESL teacher, she has been concerned enough about her to help me brainstorm things we could do to ease her anxiety on the trip, even offering to loan some things to Mary that might help entertain her.

For a few days Mary denied it had anything to do with last year's events. Even when I said, "I wonder if you're thinking about last year?" But she's had such a good time the last couple times we visited Chicago that I knew she couldn't simply be stressing about this trip itself.

She finally came home from school one day and sat down and just bawled. Then she started going through exactly what happened last year, and saying "_______ is going to happen, and _________ is going to happen..." It provided one of those wonderful opportunities for me to model remorse and seek forgiveness (I did my best to channel The Great Christine Moers). I told her that mommies and daddies sometimes make mistakes, and that last year we made a big mistake. I told her that I wished we could go back and un-do it, but we can't. But that this year, we can re-do it, and things will be much different. My son was sitting there too and we all talked about how last year Mommy and Daddy still had a lot to learn. "Why?" they asked. "Well, because we had never done this kind of parenting. And just like it's been hard for you, it's been hard for Mommy and Daddy too. We've all had to learn a lot and adjust to a lot."

It felt like a big healing moment. And I have only heard one worry over Thanksgiving since that talk (as opposed to literally the constant anxious chatter and whining that had been going on previous to it). I know she's still anxious. And it will probably become more and more apparent as we inch closer to our trip. But I think there is more trust there now, and that seems to be providing her with some comfort.

Would love your prayers for Mary as we go through Thanksgiving here.

Thanksgiving was merely one of the first of many parenting mistakes I have made over the past year. And I'm sure there are many more to come. And all the trauma moms said, "Amen!" But we're always learning, aren't we? Anybody wanna make me feel better by sharing one of your therapeutic parenting screw-up moments? :)

Stuff That Hides

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 21:00:00 +0000

The past week or two has been hard. Things had seemingly been going so well and I felt it was time to wean off some medicine I was on. Big mistake. All the my old issues that seemed long gone came raging back... with a vengeance. I guess the medicine had merely been masking them.

Now that I'm back on my medicine, I'm remembering how long and hard the climb out of the deep, black pit can be. It feels like I'm never going to feel normal again. I am taking some serious steps toward working through all my STUFF though. It doesn't feel like it's going to change anything, but I'm trying to stay hopeful.

Depression and anxiety SUCK. They are the worst illnesses I have ever had to wade through. The. Worst. If you have never experienced them, I don't know if there are words to even describe it to you. Just consider yourself very lucky.

If you think of it, please keep me in your prayers.

Then and Now

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 06:30:00 +0000

Now that we are entering into our second year together as a family, we are beginning to celebrate events and holidays for the second time. And I can't help but compare then to now. Halloween was the first major event after our kids came home a year ago. Can you imagine how confused they must have been? They totally rolled with it though, and seemed to really enjoy themselves last year. And this year they were even more into it... and more opinionated about their costumes and such. (Although, I do remember a tiff last year when Mel was jealous over all the dress up clothes that Mary got to choose from for her costume. He ended up running around one afternoon in his Spiderman costume with fairy wings and beaded necklaces draped over the top.)

Here's us at a local fall festival last year:

I'm smiling on the outside, but on the inside I was a mess of other stuff.

Here's us, last weekend, at the same festival:

Here's us on Halloween night last year:

Here's the kids on Halloween this year:

We had a wonderful Halloween this year. The biggest differences between last year and this year probably aren't glaringly obvious from the photos, because it was a difference in how we were all feeling on the inside. There was more peace and joy this year. More carefree fun. Last year everything was just new, and uncomfortable, and scary... for all five of us.

There are also some changes that aren't so enjoyable, even though they are changes that signify growth, and perhaps even healing, they just don't give me the warm fuzzies. I will opt not to share those photos, but I do have them!

One trauma mom reminded some of us others this week of some words that were spoken to her about our trauma kids: The steps forward are permanent, the regressions are temporary. Tonight I am grateful for all the many, permanent steps forwarded we have taken as a family this past year; that have made for some beautiful, and lasting photos we can cherish.

I would love to hear in the comments if you guys can see the same differences I'm seeing in the two sets of photos?