If a picture is worth a 1000 words, are two pics worth 2000?

In this corner, (on your left) you see Danny having his first taste of bananas in 2007 and in the other corner (on your right) you see Benji having his first taste yesterday. (Oh, and guess who DEMANDS a "mana" for breakfast every day now? Hint: it's not Benjamin!)

Thank you classic TV

So this weekend while flipping through cable, Danny and I caught an episode of Full House. You remember that 1980s classic where Danny Taylor raises his 3 little girls in San Francisco with Uncles Jesse and Joey? It was an early episode when Michelle was pretty small and Danny loved it. So hokey, but so sweet right? Well, we got to talking about the show and our little guy thought it was pretty interesting that Michelle had a dad but no mom.

I didn’t go into the details about how the mom had died, just that their family was the three men and the kids. I could tell this intrigued him.

Then the very next show to come on was the Andy Griffith Show. As Andy and Opie whistled down the path in the opening scene, Danny asked me where the little boy’s mom was. Hmmmm…after some explaining about Aunt Bea, I had a sudden realization that television is filled with non-traditional families.

You got your My Three Sons with grouchy old Uncle Charlie, The Courtship of Eddy’s Father, My Two Dads, the Brady Bunch, Sister Sister with Tia and Tamika, you get my drift. These shows all ran at different times spanning the 1960s through the 1990s.

So thank you Classic TV for making it easier to explain to my children that all families are different. But in the most important ways, (like how we love and nurture and care for each other) we are all the same! -Monica

P.S. And Family Affair! How could I forget Family Affair with Mr. French!

I want apple juice! I want apple juice! I want apple juice!

These dog days of summer have us all a bit cranky around here. Danny really felt like he had scored when he scaled a step ladder and, with much drama, presented this "apple juice" to me. You gotta love a three year old.

He settled for some water with ice. And we settled for putting the canola oil just a little bit higher up in the cabinet.

Did I really complain bitterly about those itsy bitsy blizzards back in February? -M

What ever did I write about before we had kids?

I mean I must have had some deep and witty thoughts right? Maybe I wrote more about how much I love Susanne? Or maybe I commented more on political events and social issues?

This prompted me to take a look back in the archives. Mystery solved. I wrote about our cats. Here is an excerpt from October of 2006:
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"A few months ago Susanne spotted a fabulous sale at Best Buy on a cool DVD/VHS mini-surround sound system. So this weekend one of the final steps of our basement renovation involved connecting the wires she'd put into the walls and ceiling before we completed the drywalling.

Anyway, we got all of the speakers to work independently but were still trying to get the full "surround sound" of all the speakers together. We realized that we needed to play something that was created in Dolby Surround Sound and one of the few DVDs that we own is Winged Migration. For those who haven't seen it, it's a gorgeous documentary. The reason it's blogworthy experience for us is that we have two cats named Harley and CJ and when those multiple speakers kicked in, you've never seen two more confused cats. The sounds of birds everywhere! Outstanding for us, confounding for them. Next time we'll take pictures! -Monica"
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I think I'll stick to writing about our kids. I can't wait to try the surround sound on them with the tinkling music of ice cream trucks everywhere! Have a great weekend everybody. Stay cool! -M

Benji's first day away from home

As I mentioned, this week Su headed back to work and so now she drops Danny and Benji off in the mornings at Jenni's house (at least until Danny starts Pre-K 3 next month.)

Jenni reports that Benji is totally enjoying all of the action at the Casa Oscarelli and it warms our hearts to hear that he's been napping, eating and playing with gusto.

Apparently big brother Danny has been letting Jenni know every time Benji makes a sound--you know, just in case she didn't notice. He takes his responsibilites as "big brother" very seriously ;-)

Our two guys are so cute together, and I think that together with Jenni's two, they are going to be a formidable force for fun.

No need to worry about Benji's voice being drowned out by all the other kids by the way. As you can see from this photo Su snapped last week, he's showing great leadership skills at the ripe old age of 6 months.

Rock on baby boy, rock on! -Mommy

Hope you had a great 4th of July! We sure did!

234 years old??? Really?

I couldn't help but notice that this 4th of July will mark the 234th anniversary of the birth of this nation.

Wow. I was 16 years old when we celebrated the bicentennial 4th of July in 1976. Together with two friends I did a really radical thing--we hitchhiked down old highway 61 in the Twin Cities area to go to a big event on Harriet Island. It was an exciting day of fun and fireworks, except perhaps the most memorable thing to me was that the yellow car that slowed down to pick us up was driven by another friend's dad. And although he took us down there, he also yelled at us a lot. Didn't we know hitchhiking was dangerous? In my defense I was with a very strong 6'6" high school buddy (Mike Jorde are you out there?) so I wasn't feeling too afraid. Ah, those were the days eh?

Yes, I never was very good at being a rebel. Some in my family used to call me "goody two shoes". I wonder if they still do?

But as I was saying, I was just not good at being a heck raiser (see, I can't even say the other "h" word.) Case in point. My senior year in high school, two really good friends talked me into, can you believe it, SKIPPING OUT OF SCHOOL for a few hours. I'm pretty sure I was a nervous wreck the whole time. This brilliant plan got even worse though. We snuck (serpentine like) down to our local McDonalds where MUCH to my dismay, my oldest sister happened to be working a shift.

Yep, she saw me and totally busted me to my parents. And I'd always been goody two shoes remember? Ugh, this was not fun.

In retrospect maybe this is why it took me more than 35 years to figure out and come to grips with the fact that I was gay. Maybe on some deep level I thought that my rebellion just wasn't going to work out for me.

Glad to say, I had nothing to fear. Does this make me a rebel now? Anyway, have a wonderful 4th of July everyone. We sure plan to! -M

If we don't write 'em down we'll forget 'em...

Scenario #1 - A few days ago I was carrying 3 year old Danny somewhere and he leaned in for a big hug before announcing "Mommy, you smell like a princess!" 

How sweet! Or was it. After all, our neighbors have two little girls and when it's time to go to the potty their mom and dad always ask "who's ready for princess time?"

Hmmm... I guess I've never put a lick of thought into what a princess must smell like so I'm just going to take this as a compliment.

Scenario #2 - Some mornings when we are getting ready to head out the door we let the little guys watch Curious George. But some mornings we either forget or don't have time. So yesterday Su is driving Danny over to Jenni's and suddenly out of the blue yells "Mama, wait a minute! I have to watch Curious George!" This kid cracks us up.

But Scenario #3 which happened this morning really tickled us. I'd woken Danny up to explain that I needed to leave a bit early to go to the doctor. Just some routine annual tests. He sleepily gazed at me and wondered aloud "Mommy, are you going to have baby?"

I guess with Susanne's recent romp through pregnancy, Danny internalized that moms who go to the doctor have babies on the way.

We assured him that, no, I was not going to have a baby. But just for fun we asked if we were going to, would he want a boy or a girl.

His choice? A "grill".

Love that boy.

Why am I suddenly craving a cookout??? ;-)

P.S. Next week Su returns to work and Benji will start joining Danny for fun and games with Jenni and company. How did this time fly????

Swingtime!

Web site madness I tell you!

Hi there family and friends. Have you noticed our new look? Susanne had the great idea to choose one of the new templates Blogger is offering which will allow us to enlarge our pictures a bit as it uses more "real estate" in the middle than our old template did. I must admit that since mint green is my favorite color I'm pretty excited about our new look!

And another thing I love is that Susanne set up a smaller site (on our side bar) called Susanica in Pictures.

You see, when I blog, I usually grab one photo to help tell a story (or show of our gorgeous boys) but truth be told there is usually a whole series of pictures that my talented wife has taken. Now, she's not committing to anything, but she'd really like to try and post to that site pretty frequently.

Attention Janna (tweenage neice). Your responsibility now, should you accept it , is to bring your wireless laptop to wherever Grandma is sitting and show her the latest pics of her grandsons. Not just on this site, but on the Susanica in Pictures. Okey dokey?

Have a great day everybody. -M

Great times!

We got together with our good Peace Corps buddies last weekend to go to the Annapolis Irish Festival and Danny and Benji had a great time. It worked out great that Danny's Godfather David came. So instead of celebrating Father's Day, our little guy got to have Godfather's Day. Not sure which of the two had more fun. I think it was a tie! -M

Flashback...

Here are Danny and his buddy Oscar when they turned two in the spring of 2009.

We knew what we were in for then--yes, the "terrible twos".

They did not disappoint for the most part as I look back on the year (although both still as lovable as could be.)

Here they are both reaching that 3 year milestone in 2010.

We are quickly realizing that there is no adjective commonly used to describe the "threes". I wonder if that is on purpose? After all, if you get through those "terrible twos" it's supposed to be smooth sailing right? Would we all just quake in despair if we knew the "terroristic threes" were on the horizon?

Okay, "terroristic" is not really the best choice of language. My suggestions for the threes thus far include: stubborn, selectively deaf, clever, imaginative, willfull and, well if truth be told, hilarious. Most days.

Can't wait for the "fabulous fours". (Or is it the "frenetic fours?) Oh dear.

Love,  Danny's Mommy

Umm... something's wrong here, Mama...

Hear ye, hear ye...

After yesterday's adoption hearing the judge invited us up to take few photos and graciously offered Daniel her seat. We were just waiting for him to say "you may proceed".

Even more memorable though was the look on baby Benjamin's face. We like to think he was really happy about the outcome!

On an unrelated note we got a call today that Danny got into the public charter school that we were really hoping he would get into. It's fabulous--he'll be in a Spanish immersion which is awesome since Su and I both speak Spanish..

My gosh! That means in two short months Danny will be going to Pre-K 3 which is sort of mind boggling to us (wasn't he just born the other day? No?) And as a huge added bonus though, since Danny is in his brother Benji will be too in a few years, per the law here.

It's been a very good few days. Your futures looks bright dear sons. Bright indeed! -M

Signed, sealed, delivered, he's ours...

In a perfect world I wouldn't have to adopt my own children, but I do. This being said however, I prefer to look at the bright side. We are blessed to live in a place where it is possible to create this legal tie.

After a long wait of six months (required age for a child to be adopted in DC) Susanne, Danny, Benji and I went to the courthouse this morning and the judge signed an order finalizing Benji's adoption. His legal connection to me now is exactly the same as any other parent to his or her child.

Come to think of it, forget what I said about this not being a perfect world. Look at this son of ours. Perfection seems like a pretty good word now that I think of it! -M

Asked and answered.

"What's that sound Mommy?"

"That's the sound of your voice asking me for the 53rd time today "what's that sound Mommy?"

They say this too shall pass. -M

How sweet it is!

Last month my brother Paul flew in from Minnesota for Danny's birthday, and when we were out shopping, we saw this pretty cool framed picture of racecars (alright technically muscle cars) that Danny really liked and I thought would look great in the boys' new room. But I figured that I'd best check with Susanne first before buying it, and then basically forgot about it.

Then yesterday Susanne called me to say that a UPS driver had just brought a really big box to the house addressed to the boys from Uncle Paul.

Yup. You guessed it. He'd bought the picture and shipped it out to us. We were very touched and as you can see by the smile on Danny's face, he is really happy. So thumbs up to you Uncle. You're a superstar around these parts right now (and always.) We love you. -M

Can it really be six months? Really?

Happy six month "birthday" little Benjamin. Thanks for keeping it real sweetheart (real busy that is ;-)

Love, Mommy, Mama and big bro Danny

P.S. Sneak peak from his 6 month slide show ...

Boys at work (and rest)...

Danny helped Mama and our neighbor Greg tighten things up on his loft bed while Benjamin just enjoyed the view from his new crib. This sharing a room idea? So far, kid tested and kid approved. ;-)

What's that sound Tante?

Danny saw his first Rolling Thunder Parade on Memorial Day and shared his thoughts extensively with Susanne's mom's sister Christa visiting from Germany. They both thought it was pretty interesting to watch! -M

P.S. Danny must ask us about a million times a day "What's that sound Mama?"

The thanks I get...

No seriously. Case in point...

The other day Danny and I were talking about his best friend Oscar's birthday, and I mentioned that Oscar's Mommy was going to make a dinosaur cake.

In utter despair Danny cried "no Mommy, no! I want a dinosaur cake. Not Ocar Mommy, not Oscar!"

To which I replied, "It's okay honey, I hear that Oscar is going to give you one of the biggest pieces." (Whether true or not, I like to always point out the possibilites.)

Upon hearing this news Danny broke out into a huge grin. I nearly went blind from the dazzling brightness of this particular smile.

"Oscar will give me big piece Mommy? Oh thank you Mommy, thank you!!!!"

See what I mean about the thanks I get? I wish everything in life were this easy.

Oh, and Oscar, when you are old enough to read this, I want you to know that Flag Day will never be the same for me. It's now Oscar Day okay? Happy third birthday sweetie. You are an amazing little guy.

Love, Monica and the rest of the bunch

P.S. Operation move the boys into the same room has been pretty darn succesful. Except for Danny crawling into his brother's crib to snuggle up. Not a good best practice!

Our little co-conspirators!

I’m becoming more and more convinced that our three year old and six month old are conspiring somehow.

Not sure if they have a secret language or if they are doing it telepathically, but I do know what they are talking about.

If I may…

Danny: “Hey there Benji. I was up at 5:15 this morning so why don’t you take tomorrow?”

Benji: “No problem bro. Should I do the quiet chatter first or just go for the loud wail?

Danny: “Oh definitely the wail. Isn’t it hilarious when Mommy jumps up?”

Benji: “Sure is big brother. Oh hey, I've been meaning to tell you how much I admire that crying out in the middle of the night thing you do. You know, the one where you scream and then fall right back to sleep? Love how she jumps up, and stands there frozen like a statue waiting to see if you'll do it again. And the best part is that she can't get back to sleep for a while.”

Danny: “Yeah. That’s funny! Mama doesn’t jump up but I know we wake her up too! Hey, let’s mix things up a bit. We’ve been taking turns getting up at 5:15 for months now. What do you say we shoot for 5 a.m. from now on?

Benji: “I’m on it Danny!”

Not that I’m tired or anything. ;-]

The beds--they are a changing...

This weekend will mark yet another milestone in the lives of our children. Danny's big boy bed will be disassembled and put back together again in the big blue room that has served as our guest room/office, and as a special door prize, also moving in will be his dear old white crib--complete with baby brother.

Benji has spent his first 5+ months in our room in his travel pack and play, and for the most part sleeps very soundly once he is down for the night. But now the time has come for him to move on over to his new "crib" (pun intended) where if all goes well, both boys will have many years of sleeping and playing until one of them pulls a "Marsha Brady" and demands his own room. Maybe in 2022 I say. ;-)

We'll move our office into the small room Danny has been in, and guests can either sleep in our basement or on an inflatable matress in the office. We are not too worried about this.

When we traveled to Germany for a few weeks the boys did a pretty remarkable job of sleeping through each other's crying jags so we have high hopes for this transition.

Susanne's been doing an amazing job of clearing off bookshelves and otherwise readying the big room for its new arrivals.

It's funny to feel happy/excited about this big change while at the same time feeling twinges of sadness at how fast Benjamin is growing up.

We'll post some pictures of our happy (hopefully sleeping) boys over the weekend. Wish us luck! -Monica

Now you're getting in the swing of things son!

On a recent trip to NY, Benji enjoyed his time at the playground immensely. Our baby is almost 6 months old now. Can you believe it? -Monica

His left arm...

What is it with poor Danny and his left arm? This weekend he fell on an old tree stump and scratched the heck out of his elbow. It's the same arm he burned a few months ago. My poor little guy.

The way he was walking around with his arm hanging listlessly at his side after the tree stump incident I couldn't help but think of Monty Python's Scene with the Black Knight. You know. "It's only a flesh wound you know!" -Monica

Word to the wise...

When you take your child to his or her 3 year old well baby checkup, DO NOT confidently stress to him or her that he or she will not get any shots.

I know. I know. You've read all the info. You know that this is an "easy peasy" visit where they check that all systems are go, and then do a few developmental tests like have the tyke draw a circle or two, identify a few colors and try to stand on one foot with their arms in the air. All the literature says that there are no vaccinations due at this visit, so you are easily drawn into a sort of happy go lucky complacency.

That is until the doc informs you that there is some new improved vaccine of some sort that they are now recommending all 3 year olds get.

So now, not only are you now a liar, you're basically an evil, pain causing liar.

Thank goodness there is a McDonalds right across the street from the doctor's office. For all my efforts to be "that mom"-- the one with organic goodies and lactose free whatever, when the going gets tough, this woman scoots into Micky D's for a sure to please Happy Meal. (Only 7.5 times in his 3 year old life, but it it sort of becoming a pattern for me.)

Will he ever trust me again? Will I ever regain my self respect? Stay tuned. This could be something that comes up in therapy somewhere down the line.

Sorry Danny. I'll keep my huge mouth shut next time. At least I'll try. Love you. -Mommy

Chuckle for the day

So I had a fun lunch with some friends from work today,and as we talked about everything under the sun, the topic of pets came up.

Jan had us in stitches as she talked about a very unusual pet that her son begged and begged to get for Christmas.

A hedgehog.

True to his word he has been a very devoted hedgehog owner. In fact, likes to take it with him pretty much everywhere he goes.

In a Moby Wrap.

I don't know her son but I would LOVE to see that.  I thought at first that her boy was a little guy, but he's 14. I hope the other kids don't give him a hard time. I guess if they do though, he has a little hedgehog he can stare them down with.

Have a great day everybody! -M

Birthday Blast!

On Memorial Day in 2007 an AMAZING event occurred. This little boy came into the world.

I really don't think there are words in any language that can truly describe how he has filled our world with unimaginable joy.

Happy 3rd Birthday Daniel. Love, Mommy and Mama (and your little brother Benji)

 Danny adored the 3-D Rocket Ship cake Susanne made for him.(He especially liked the 3-2-1 Blast Off part.)

This picture shows us two things. One that Danny keeps growing, and two that I don't paint very well! -Monica

"Can we go back to Germy Mommy?"

"Well not for a while baby, and actually the country is called Germany."

Danny still asks after his favorite cousins Jannis and Jonna. Their names are pronounced like "Yannis and Yonna" (rhymes with Mona).

Next time we go, little Ben will be able to take part in all the adventures! Sounds Spaß to me! -Monica

And so it begins...

Eating us out of house and home that is. Welcome to the world of solid food Benjamin! ;-)

I guess you could say that's true...

We just had a great weekend, taking a trip to NY to celebrate our cousin Briana's Bat Mitzah on Long Island. It was great fun and I loved witnessing the beauty of this Jewish right of passage that is not that familiar to me.

In addition to the Bat Mitzvah we spent two days in Manhattan with a dear friend of ours who has a 17 month old. Gerri's husband was out of town so although we missed seeing him, we had a fantastic (albeit tiring) time with the 3 little ones. The hit of the weekend was probably our trip to the NY Aquarium on Coney Island. Danny was mezmerized by the shark sand loved the sea lion show. The best part was that kids 2 and under got in free, so even though he's been practicing saying he's "3" his birthday is not until Friday so we were hoping he wouldn't bring his age up at the ticket counter. (He didn't and no one questioned his age anyway.)

One of the funniest things that happened on our trip though might gross you all out but I'll share anyway. We stopped at a very empty Den*ny's restaurant on the way home and I guess the many hours of traveling caught up with Danny. Before our food arrived, he started coughing and before we knew it, he was--um--sick all over.

Fortunately we had our suitcase of extra clothes and in short order had him cleaned up. He told us he felt better even though he'd never mentioned he wasn't feeling well. So we proceeded with our dinner. On the way out I took him back to the bathroom where I'd changed him earlier and as he began to wash his hands, he looked at me and said "that's mine!"

"Huh?" I said, "what's yours Danny?"

"In the sink, that's mine from my tummy when I got sick".

Sure enough, in the drain where I'd rinsed off his shirt was a miniscule piece of something of his. (And I might add I had cleaned it out earlier.)

We recleaned the sink and the rest of the trip went fine. I do think that he's taken toddlerhood to a whole new level though. ;-)  Have a wonderful day everybody! -Monica

That's good...

Apparently we praise Benjamin quite liberally for all the wonderful things he does. His smiles, his rolling over (and over and over)--even his fledging attempts to sit up (with a little help but he can sort of do it.)

I know we praise him a lot because whatever we say, Danny says.

And apparently we talk to our five month old a bit like one might talk to a four footed friend. And by this I mean we seem to say "good boy!" an awful lot.

The funniest thing is that Danny, being the clever almost three year old that he is has taken to smiling mischeviously and patting people on the head repeating, "good boy, good boy!"

He does know the difference between boys and girls but no matter -- "good boy!" he smiles.

Our pastor, his grandmothers, our cat, his parents, basically everyone he's come into contact with lately has been treated to a pat and a "good boy."

He even says it to Benjamin, but just this morning when Benji was rolling in a direction Danny did not approve of he yelled "No Benji, no!"

Where in the heck did he learn that one? ;-) -Monica

Benji is 5 months old today!

Can you believe it? We can't. Anyway, this means that it's time for a slide show. The pictures speak for themselves. My goal was to get these up on May 17th and it looks like I made it with a half hour to spare. Better late than never! Have a great evening everyone. -M

P.S.  A sneak peak at our little charmer!

Benjamin's baptism on May 9, 2010 -- a beautiful day for a beautiful boy

A happy 90th birthday it was indeed

One impetus for our trip to Germany in April was because Susanne's paternal grandfather was turning 90. His wife passed away around a year ago, and it's been a time of transition for him. He didn't want a big party but we spent several days visiting--going for walks and enjoying the gorgeous weather, and had a nice dinner in town.

I think that the pictures here will attest to the fact that Opa was delighted to see his us (and in particular, his great-grandsons.) Clearly the feeling was mutual! Happy Birthday Opa!

Still going and going and going...

Wonderful two week trip to Germany - check

Arrive back home as family members fly in for Benjamin's baptism - check

Have a beautiful baptism ceremony on Sunday (host brunch and shuttle family members from hotel to church to house and back again) - check

Get ready for trip to Chicago for work tomorrow -check

Discover that the flight is actually not tomorrow, it is today in about 3 hours - check

Fortunately lovely niece lives in Chicago and they are delighted I can stay the night with them (cuz, I kinda forgot to get a hotel room for tonight since I thought I was flying tomorrow.) - Check

I am known for this kind of thing. - check

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Yes, it's been a VERY BUSY 3 weeks now but now I must stop typing because I have to get on an airplane! Bye! -Monica

Forget Paris in springtime...try Köln

A week ago today, we were able to catch one of the first flights to leave the US for Europe for our long planned trip to Germany. Thank goodness the flight restrictions because of the volcano were lifted. We were pretty anxious about whether we'd really get to go or not. In fact, the day before we flew Su's dad's flight here was cancelled which made us even more nervous.

But we got very lucky and our flight took off as planned. We have had a wonderful time in Germany thus far. We've all had a bit of jet lag but on the bright side, the first night we were here we all slept for more than 10 straight hours. Su slept some on the redeye flight but I did not so she was somewhat more alert than I was. I was sure that one or both of the boys would be up fussing but nope, everyone crashed. Alleluia!

The boys' great grandfather turned 90 yesterday and we had a nice time visiting him and now we are continuing our tour visiting the other 30 some cousins, aunts and uncles who are all equally delighted to see us (well mostly the boys of course!)

My German language skills are still horrible but it does not seem to stop me from talking (in German even :-) The food here is wonderful, the weather cool but lovely and overall on a scale of 1-10 this trip is about an 11.

I'll write more when we return. This German keyboard confuses me!! -M

Oops we did it again...

Got married that is. This time legally. It was very informal and great fun. More later! -M

Guess who is four months old today!

You are correct! The gentleman in red.

To see more cute pictures of our darling Benji (and some guest appearances by his sidekick Danny) click here. You don't have to have a log in or anything. Just click "View Album" then "Play Slide Show". Hasta la vista babies! -Mommy and Mama

We leave Danny and Benji alone downstairs for one short minute....

...and this is what we find. What does it mean? Does he want Benji to put on shoes and play with him? Was he trying to cover him up? I guess we'll never know. Just glad he must have placed them gently. If he hadn't we surely would have heard about it from Benjamin. Kids. Sheeesssss.

Random thoughts for a Thursday

Danny is on the mend we think—the burn cleaning and bandaging is the worst part but he is remarkably resilient.

Benjamin picked today to roll over for the very first time! We all know that kids have lots of milestones as they grow, but there is something very special about that first roll over. It’s as if this little being is saying “enough”! “I’m busting out!” I love it.

We will be leaving soon on a long planned trip to Germany to see Su’s family. The boys’ great grandfather will turn 90 this month and we’d promised we’d bring Danny back when Opa hit the the big Nine Oh. Added bonus point? He’ll get to know adorable little Benji now too.

And finally, before leaving for Germany, Susanne and I will officially “tie our knot” on Monday night. Our pastor will come by the house for dinner and we will become officially married. Maybe our dinner should have “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue”? Well, maybe not the something too old ;-)

-M

"I want this boo boo to go away"

“Me too baby, me too” I thought as my eyes filled with tears. He was exhausted from crying and fought me as I continued to awkwardly hold him to keep his burned arm under the water in the sink of our hotel bathroom.

It all happened so fast. Yesterday morning at around 7 am we were at a beautiful hotel on the Chesapeake Bay, a place my agency holds a conference every year. This year we decided to make it a “workcation” and Su and the boys came along.

I remember putting the single cup coffee cup into the little machine and letting him stand on our cooler to watch it drip. What was I thinking? That those hotel coffee pots always made tepid coffee so it couldn’t be hot? That at the age of two he would actually listen to me when I told him not to touch anything?

I was turned away from him putting something into a bag. Su was nursing Benji across the room.

His scream was blood curdling. I remember racing to him and pulling is long sleeved shirt off of him. That’s when we realized that the skin on his forearm was coming off too.

Ambulance, ER, Tylenol with codeine, changing the bandage several times, debriding the wound more.

The burn is the most painful kind—a second degree (in his case over most of the top of his forearm below the elbow to the wrist.) Thankfully the joints were spared.  I remember thinking in the ER that I wished he did not suck his thumb. All he wanted to do was to suck his left thumb for relief but as it was the arm that was burned, it was hard to do so without a great deal of pain.

With first degree the skin is not broken and yes it hurts but it gets better with topical remedies. Third degrees are by far the most serious but they actually burn so badly that the nerve endings are destroyed and the permanent damage is horrific. Our hope is that by cooling it under running water for the 20 minutes until the EMTs arrived we avoided that. So he has the second degree. Open, susceptible to infection, in a word—painful. Our job is to keep it clean and prevent infection.

We are on our way in a few minutes to see our pediatrician for follow up. Danny has been a trooper. The pain medication helps I’m sure, but for the most part he’s his usual self except when we have to change the dressing and wash the area before applying a special antibiotic crème, he cries and cries. I would too.
   
We are pretty shaken up too. It all happened in an instant. Hug your babies extra close today friends. We sure are.

Baby love

That's what friends are for

Act 1, Scene 1 : Danny playing in sandbox.

Danny - "I saw a kitty cat!"
Mommy - "You did! That's great sweetie? Awwww.... where's the kitty cat now honey? What sounds did he make? Meow, meow? Was he a big kitty or a little kitty?"...on and on ad nauseum.


Act 1, Scene 2 : Danny playing in the sandbox later that day with 5 year old friend.

Danny Danny - "I saw a kitty cat!"
Five year old friend - "Don't worry about it".

Caption this!

*Disclaimer - No infants were injured by the near "head butt" seen in the photo above.

See?

Here come the brides. Again.

Imagine that you had the wedding of your dreams. Virtually everyone you loved was there, and you just floated on cloud nine all day.

The weather was perfect (albeit a bit hot) the music was wonderful, the readings so touching, the toasts so loving, the reception such a great party--perfection. And without a doubt, the spirit of that higher power who brought this love of your life to you was everywhere that day.

Then imagine that this wedding was everything but legal. You were married for all intents and purposes but your marriage was not recognized as legally binding nor acceptable to your church or government.

Well, imagine no more. This was our wedding story that took place on August 6th, 2005. The most beautiful day of our lives. But because we are a gay couple, it did not "count" in our church nor state.

Fast forward 5 years and the times are changing. The church we now belong to has taken bold strides to be a welcoming congregation and after spirited discussions and back and forth with the larger body of that church structure has now said that they will marry us.  And in an amazing turn of events, the progressive city that we live in (which is not a state but a district) has jumped through all kinds of hoops to finally make it possible for gay couples to get legally married.

So later this month my beloved Susanne and I will be legally  married. To be clear, we will not have another wedding. That glorious event in 2005 will always be our wedding day. But in a simple gathering of just us, our little boys and our pastor, we will renew our vows and with a stroke of a pen become legally married.

I don't know which appeals to me more. Letting little Danny and Benji be a part of this monumental step? Knowing that the love Susanne and I share will be more widely accepted to the world around us? Or knowing that I won't have to try and fit into my wedding dress again? ;-)

We'll be sharing the original readings from our 2005 wedding with our pastor as we prepare to legally wed and as much as I loved them all, this is the one that now five years later sort of chokes me up. I think it's the mention of the children we might someday have. I could not then have imagined these beautiful sons that we have been blessed with. For those who don't know the "Blessing of the Hands" I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. -Monica

“These are the hands of your best friend, strong and full of love for you, that are holding yours on your wedding day, as you promise to love each other today, tomorrow, and forever. 

These are the hands that will work alongside yours, as together you build your future. 

These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, and with the slightest touch, will comfort you like no other. 

These are the hands that will hold you when fear or grief fills your mind. 

These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes; tears of sorrow, and tears of joy. 

These are the hands that will tenderly hold your children.

These are the hands that will help you to hold your family as one.

These are the hands that will give you strength when you need it. 

And lastly, these are the hands that even when wrinkled and aged, will still be reaching for yours, still giving you the same unspoken tenderness with just a touch.”

P.S. The words of this reading are so true. Except of course that last part about when we are old and wrinkled. Check back with you in a few years on that! -M

Happy Easter!

ummm...do I look like I work at Trader Joe's in this shirt?

I want to tell you something!

Oh wait. Can't talk quite yet. aaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!

So Proud - Our 10,000th comment just came in!

Yes, we've had our blog since right before Danny was born in 2007 and yesterday we logged our 10,000th comment!

April Fools! Maybe we've had about 100 comments on the blog by now.

But seriously, thank you to those who do drop a note from time to time. Your words always make me smile.  Have a great day everybody (and that's no joke ;-)

-Monica