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Kids say the darndest things....

It's been awhile since I've posted funny kid quotes.  I've been storing a few up.

D'arcy typically sings in our church's Christmas cantata.  This year all the kids were going to be singing together, but D'arcy was eager for a solo.  She thought long and hard about what she should sing and came to me wth her decision.

"Mom, I decided I'm going to sing Santa Baby at the cantata."  She handed me the lyrics she printed from the internet.

It's February, and I'm still giggling at the idea of my ten year old singing Santa Baby after Silent Night and before Amazing Grace.

She also randomly asked, "Mom, what is the third Christmas color?  I know there is red and green, but isn't there a third?"  I told her that I wasn't aware of a third.  "Oh, yeah, I guess not.  But I think we should add yellow or purple as a third Christmas color.  That would be nice."

I shared this one on Facebook.  D'arcy asked who was singing a song.  I told her it was Ben Folds.  She asked if he went to our church.   I said no.

I love that D'arcy is still a kid and the she still says some of the darndest things.

We were listening to the National Anthem on some sporting event and Schroeder and Maggie ran down the stairs and asked, "Are you listening to George Washington music?!"

Maggie has lots of four year old observations to share.  For example, when Jesus' name came up one day, she said, "I really know there is power in Jesus' blood."

After the superbowl, Maggie asked me, "Is Katy Perry a real person?  Because we don't ever see her in person.  I guess that means Justin Beaver is a real person too.  D'arcy doesn't like his songs.  He's too cocky.  He sings too cocky."  In light of his recent Calvin Klein ads, this observation makes me totally crack up.

Her list of adjectives is growing.  That's one of the beautiful things about kids.  The simple addition and use of a new word makes you smile.  Maggie was writing her Valentine cards and wanted to draw a heart on Annie's.  I told her to do the best she could.  After making a pretty good attempt she looked up at me and said with a squished up face, "Grrrrr, it looks a little clumsy, Mom.  All my hearts look clumsy."

2014 looked like this.

I want to write about 2014 without boring myself.  So let's do this quick and to the point.

I went to cardiopump almost every Monday morning of 2014.  I walked on the treadmill.  I bought a bike.  I rode that bike up Virginia with fifty pounds of baby girls hitched to me.  I wore my fitbit and hit my ten thousand step goal a couple of times.  I lost nine pounds of that weight I put on when I was pregnant with Penelope and decided I could eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted.  I'm proud of myself.

I started this book club/dinner club that meets once a month.  We were only able to invite as many people as would comfortably sit around any of our dining room tables.  That way we can eat, linger, talk, and laugh.  Crying is allowed too.  As is true in most group settings, I talk too much.  It's been fun.

Penelope turned one.  Then she turned into a toddler.  It's been so beautiful to watch.

Stephen was working for a start up company, and then he wasn't.  He was told it wasn't a good fit.  But ExactTarget and he fit well together so he took a job back there.  We were relieved, at first, that we didn't get completely screwed by this adventure, but eventually there was some grief and disappointment to wade through.

I told Stephen not to spend money on Valentine's Day since he was, for a brief moment, unemployed.   He surprised me and took me to the City Market so we could renew our vows.  It felt silly standing there in our hoodies, holding our two little girls, repeating the mayors words with dozens of other couples.  Then all of a sudden it felt heavy, strong, and intense.  We both shed a tear.  Well played Stephen Williams.

I finally started that backyard garden.  We grew 500 tomatoes, 15 strawberries, a dozen bunches of basil, and three peppers.

Schroeder started kindergarten which led to a couple of conversations with the principal.  "Yes, he did attend preschool.  Yes, he has been five for six months.  No, he isn't a feral child."  We've persevered and his last report card indicated that despite having lots of days where he is "work avoidant", he is a lovely, learning child.

I painted the trim in our living room white.  I painted the trim in our front room white.  I painted the trim in our dining room white.  I painted................  I'm not done.  It's never ending.

Stephen's brother Joshua eloped.  And then they moved to California.  And now they are having a baby!  Shelly, his wife, has really pretty red hair.

My brother adopted a baby girl.  Katie is my third niece.

My sister delivered a baby boy.  Ryan is my third (sixth) nephew.

I worked to implement a children's lesson each Sunday at church using my Worship Woodworks toys.  I've collected lots of these toys this year with the hope that they will help me share my faith with my kids.  Hoping that my children will use them to share their faith with their kids.

This summer, I got these sores on my feet from walking around barefoot.  I couldn't walk or stand without pain for literally five months.  Around month four, I finally walked into a CVS to try to find a medical cure for my ailment.  Five dollars and three weeks of steady application, my feet our back to normal.  This story should indicate that I'm stupid and ridiculous.  Also, I'm not going to do well as an old, ailing person.

I took a lot of pictures with my iphone this year.  I feel continually guilty that I have abandoned my trusty, high performing dslr for this cracked, pixelated tool.  #southeastindyhouses #thosewilliamskids #williamstimestamp

Our travels took us to Washington DC and our beloved Edisto Island.  Stephen and I drove Zuzu to Story, Indiana.  Stephen went to San Francisco for some work related mission and I to Louisville for a MOPS conference with my friend Christie.  I am a professional mom.  I feel like I'm always hungry to visit new places.  But I'm also hungry to have a life here, uninterrupted by constant travel, to explore our home, our city and state.  Thankfully the sheer cost of moving seven persons anywhere for too long helps me balance those two desires.

My grandpa died.  He was ninety and beloved.  He was my last surviving grandparent.  It's been good to reflect on the relationship I had with him even if he was a quiet man and difficult to know very well.

Stephen and I spent some time envisioning our future.  Most of what we had written down during premarital counseling has come to pass.  We've moved.  We've had kids.  We've bought a house.  But what's next?

I think we came to the conclusion that we could make a list of to dos.  But if we are busy completing this to do list, we might not have time or energy to do the unexpected that pops up in our life.  We have an open road in front of us, and we've decided to travel it with open eyes and hearts.

Oh, and also, I got to be mom to these five kids everyday.

Penelope had a half birthday.

I neglected to write anything about Penelope on her first birthday so I thought I would jot a few thoughts down as she turns 18 months.

She is at one of my favorite ages.  She is big and independent, but still a baby.  She talks but doesn't talk back.  She's discovering new things each day, and it's wonderful to watch.  At this age, she has a way of diffusing tense situations.  Stephen and I will be frustrated after disciplining a child or frazzled from trying to walk out the door in a hurry, and she'll walk by and just be cute.  We'll look at each other and smile and say, "I don't know what went wrong with those first four kids, but we made this one and she's adorable."

She is so pleasant in the morning.  As I yell for the school kids to wake up from my bed, she mimics me from her room.  "D'arcy!"  "Julian!"  "Schroeder!"  If the big kids are being particularly difficult to wake up, I'll take Penelope out of her crib and lay her on top of them.  She'll pat their face and say "UP! UP!" which makes them giggle.

Penelope likes hats and pointing out people's features...nose, mouth, ears, eyes.  She likes walking around in other people's shoes.  She likes Frozen and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood.  She loves baby dolls and feeding them a bottle.  She LOVES dogs.  She gets giddy and giggly when she sees one.

She hangs out with me in my bathroom as I get ready for the day and pretends to put makeup on with my blush brush and an old blush container.  If she's hungry, she goes to get a plastic bowl from a low cabinet and brings it to me to be filled.  Basically, all her food must first be placed in a bowl before consumption.  She has standards.  No eating off the table or carrying your food around like an animal.

I had all intentions of weaning P at twelve months.  Then, I just never wanted to say that this was our last nursing session.  So I nursed her when she asked, and she asked often.  At first, a couple times a day, and then a couple times a week.  I felt like I didn't need to mourn the end of this stage because I didn't really know when it would end.  Even now, we'll go a whole month without her asking, and then she'll come sit on my lap, pull on my collar and say, "nurse" in her tiny voice.  Most of the time, I offer her some milk in a cup, but sometimes she insists and I let her.

She has one pacifier left.  We've lost all the others.  It will be misplaced for a couple of days, and then she'll find it somewhere and pop it in her mouth.  She's a fan, but isn't dependent on it for sleeping or comfort.

At night, the kids spend time upstairs playing before bed.  Penelope usually joins them, and they teach her things.  They taught her to say "Six".  And then they'll ask her any question like, "What is your favorite number?"  Six.  "How many fingers am I holding up?"  Six.

At Thanksgiving, my sister-in-law said, "I think I just heard Penelope count to six!"  I sort of shrugged.  If she did, she didn't learn it from me.  Isn't that what school is for?!  But, in fact, she is counting pretty well thanks to her siblings.

She's a master climber...our stairs, the couch, her little slide.  Her vocabulary grows daily, but the words I love hearing the most are Begbie, D'arcy, Maddie (aka Maggie), Breakfast, Stinky, Hello,  Thank You, and Mama.  The other day, I took something away from her and told her it was yucky.  She looked at me with a scrunched up face and yelled, "NO YUCKIE"!  I laughed out loud.

My sister and brother both have small babies, and she is pretty enamored by them.  I keep thinking how great a big sister she would be.  But that role isn't in the cards for her.  She's our baby even if her babyhood is fleeting.

Welcome to the family.

I thought today was the appropriate day to break my cycle of procrastination and publish this post about my new niece.

Towards the end of August, my brother called me.  My phone is typically on silent or on it's last bit of juice.  So, the call rolled to voicemail and Kyle asked me to call him when I got a moment.  I plugged my phone in and rang him up, fully expecting him to talk about some detail for an upcoming playdate.

The minute he said hello, my heart started beating a little faster.  He and his wife have been waiting for an adoption referral for over a year.  They have a little boy, Rogi, who they brought home from Ethiopia in 2011.  This process has been a bit different, though, because they are adopting domestically.

Kyle told me that they had just received a call for a little girl only a week old who was in the NICU at St. Francis and that after thought and prayer, they were going to accept the referral.  They expected to bring her home within the week.

The next day, I was invited to come and meet my new, very sweet niece, Katie Abigail.  She was so little, a full two plus pounds smaller than any of my newborns.  But, she had loads of soft, brown hair.

I'm so happy to have her in our family, but late that night as I was telling Stephen about my visit, I cried for her.  You know, I went to Ethiopia with Emily to pick Rogi up.  By that point, Rogi was big and chunky and nine months separated him from the moment his birth mother walked away.  But here was newborn, little Katie, and the whole of her situation just felt really fresh and raw.  So I cried for all she was losing, and for all the hard things she had experienced in her few days.  But I also cried for what she was gaining, a family that will wholeheartedly cherish her life.

Funny little side story.  Katie has Downs Syndrome.  Kyle was quickly connected with a lady who attends his church who also has two kids with Downs.  Kyle shared a little about Katie, and Tara was surprised to realize that she already knew about this baby.  A friend of Tara's also had a baby in St. Francis NICU, saw that this baby was going to be placed for adoption, and asked Tara to pray for her.
Kyle was telling me about Tara and this little story and he asked, "I saw you were friends with Tara on Facebook.  How do you know her?"  Tara and I both attended the same church in years past.  I had just suggested her to speak at our MOPS group on how we can support mom's with special needs kids.  I also realized that I knew the lady, Cyndy, who's baby was in the NICU.

These little coincidences are significant to me.  I just have a sense that baby Katie was surrounded by friends early on.  She was being cared about even before Kyle and Emily were notified she existed.

I've got to brag on my brother and his wife for a minute.  The adoption agency thought about them specifically when Katie's case came up.  They hadn't set out to adopt a baby with Downs Syndrome.  They just wanted another baby to love, care for, and raise.  A baby to fill their home and their hearts, and they were able to recognize that Katie's Downs Syndrome didn't disqualify her from being that baby.

I don't want to romanticize their decision too much.  Adoption is hard and hard work.  Tara spoke at our MOPS meeting a couple of weeks ago, and she made it clear that parents with special needs kids aren't super parents.  They'll probably have doubts and plenty of discouraging days.  They'll need lots of encouragement and support.  But...I'm super proud of them for being willing to do this hard, valuable work and for holding the crazy belief that the their life will be better for it.

Today, they hauled their sick family down to the courtroom to make it official.  So now she is legally Katie Abigail Clark.  Welcome to the family.

Julian is eight!

Julian turned eight.  One day a few months ago, he told me that he wanted to be seven and free forever.  He seemed pretty excited about his birthday and turning eight so I would guess that he would revise his life motto to be

  Eight + Free

  Forever.

Freedom to Julian is being able to play video games whenever he wants, as long as he wants.  By that definition, he is definitely not free now.  At this point, he has no plans to marry.  That would hinder his ability to do what he wants.  I suggested he find a lady who likes video games.  He's thinking about it. 

Of course, my hope is that he figures out what real freedom looks like.  

His birthday snuck up on me this year.  Do I say that about all my kids birthdays?  Probably.  On the second day of October, I looked at a friend and sort of gasped.  "It's October already, isn't it?"  It was.  I was headed to a conference in Louisville with a friend for the weekend, and I realized I had yet to plan anything for his day.  

But by Tuesday, I had arranged for Julian's good friend Leo to join us at Monkey Joe's in the morning.  With the help of Schroeder, I purchased a LEGO set that was sitting on his bed when he awoke.  I paid extra for "The Brick Bible" to be delivered in one day so it arrived on the afternoon of his birthday, and I made a cake for dessert and invited his Grammy and Poppy over to celebrate.  He seemed to feel special and he was completely in the dark in regards to my procrastination.

Stephen woke him up early for his birthday breakfast at City Cafe.  Birthday breakfasts with dad are a tradition Stephen started all on his own.  That makes me smile.

Julian spent several days reading his New Testament Brick Bible.  Basically, a man created the scenes from the bible with LEGO figures, took photos, and created a comic book like Bible.  The wording isn't altered for children which I like.  Julian kept coming up to me throughout the week saying things like, "Mom, I just read one of the parables we did at church.  The one about the great banquet."  "Mom, Jesus said that if you know me you know the Father.  I know what he meant by this."

Our faith is important to Stephen and I, and we want to share it with Julian.  I don't want to shove it down his throat or manipulate him into a empty decision, but I do want him to have exposure to Jesus' teachings and if LEGOs help it come alive to him, I'm all for it.

Immediately following his completion of the New Testament Brick Bible, D'arcy convinced him to begin reading the first Harry Potter.  Just thought I should mention that.

D'arcy has always plodded through novels at a amazingly slow pace, but Julian is flying through chapters.  I told him his teacher would be proud of his reading prowess.  He shrugs because he is keeping any regard he has for pleasing adults on the down low.

I told Stephen that I was writing this blog and asked him what he thought about when he thought of Julian.  He mentioned his dance moves.  Which are looking like this these days.

Julian has had a lot of sugar at josh and Shelly's reception. #edwardjuliantheodor.

A video posted by Melissa Williams (@melissa612) on Sep 9, 2014 at 5:42pm PDT

Julian ended up having to use some of his birthday money to buy his sister a new Rubix cube because in a moment of foolishness, he threw it down the stairs and it busted into a hundred pieces.  Foolishness happens often in this house.

But thankfully so do hugs.  Julian gives good hugs.  He'll come wrap his arms around you and then hang from you so you'll be forced to squeeze hard and pick him up.  I know that sounds horrible...maybe you just have to be his mom.

Here are the Fally Felkers.

I've been blessed with a couple of great girlfriends in this season of my life, and Christie is one of them.  She and her family are dear to me.  She asked me to take some photos of her family.  I sent her to the website where I go to get inspiration...tarawhitney.com.  Christie was cool enough to give me the freedom to attempt a really candid, low key session.  They dressed warm and hung out in the pretty awesome yard doing their favorite fall family activities.  If I were to get my family photos done, (which I must confess minus pictures friends have taken we haven't ever really done), this would be the type of session I would want....hanging out in our house or neighborhood.  Anyway, I liked these photos so much, I thought I would break some of my blog silence to post them.