Shoowee! Of all the Februaries that I have experienced, this has been one of the warmest. (Boo, climate change!) However, we took advantage of the nicer weather with our first bike ride of 2017 and had a great time.
We also have been getting a little better about making time to sit down for family dinners on Sundays this month. You (and we all) love them! It's such a simple way to reset our week and I wish we would have gotten serious about starting them sooner. After one in particular, you asked if we could "get our giggles out" before bedtime and wanted to just all get really silly together. It was so cute. (And we did!) I just love our one on one (or three on three?) family time together!
Suzy is still plugging away at healing up after her knee surgery. The recovery is going painfully slow (no pun intended), but we're getting there. The snuggle time from you definitely helps.
Valentine's Day was a bit toned down this year. So many distractions that I have been dealing with personally have really bogged me down. However, given that it's a special day to celebrate how much we love our loved ones, I did leave a surprise of cards for you and Daddy on Valentine's morning. For you, I also left a tiny Beanie baby with a March birthday (because every time we see them you always try to find one with your birth date and March 12th was the best I could find). You loved the surprises and even made a special Valentine for me that night. I loved it (and you!) too!
Here is a picture of you with your special Beanie baby and one side of your Valentine box that you made for the school Valentine exchange. You came home with a lot of sweet notes and yummy treats. I'm glad it was a good day for you.
You also crafted some special cookies that night too. This is a picture of them before the oven because after the oven, they blew up into crazy blobs. But here, you can see a bit of the detail with a heart on the left and then a self portrait on the right. Not too bad!
Another one of my favorite surprises this month was the picture below. I found it on my phone and evidently it was something you had Snapchatted Courtney's girlfriend Vanessa the night before. Definitely made me smile. My little gangsta!
The following two pictures also make me smile and can probably be categorized as part of our newly established activity of "getting the giggles out"...what do you think?
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| Scotch tape pig noses! |
With all of the attention we have been giving to Suzy and her bum leg, GG has also been keeping us busy trying to cause trouble to take some of our attention back for himself. Exhibit A below...climbing our screen and getting stuck. Little stinker!
What did I tell you about it being a warm February? Kind of crazy to think that we had our screen door open this time of year, huh? You and Anabelle actually even tried to wash my car at one point. Crazy kids! You also were discussing possibly starting a money making scheme, a combination car wash and lemonade stand. I definitely see this business entreprise in our future, however I joked that you might only be able to charge half price for the car wash because you two can typically only reach about half of anyone's car. Ha. #shortkidproblems
How do we celebrate Fridays at our house? Well...one Friday we celebrated with DQ chili dogs and a vast amount of gigantic onion rings! Yummy!!
When it did happen to cool off for a quick second during February, I made you and Ana some hot cocoa during a sleepover. And of course, we always have the classiest mugs at our house. Right?
I do have to say, you have been really sweet and helpful since Suzy had her surgery. It's been a huge adjustment for us all this month and you have been very cautious and mindful of making sure she is gated off so she can't get into our bedroom to jump on the bed, that the gate above the stairs is locked too, as well as giving plenty of snuggles and helping me after school in taking care of the animals when we get home. You even have become a bit of a narc with Daddy and telling me every time Daddy will let Suzy go up the stairs without carrying her or when he let her outside without being on a leash. Basically, you are my eyes and ears when I am not home. Daddy may not always be a fan, but I certainly appreciate your help in looking out for Suzy. To be fair, Daddy has done an awesome job of caring for Suzy too. We are a team, after all.
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| Suzy's face says, "I just got busted sneaking up on the couch" |
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| busted again, in spite of our attempts at keeping her off with crazy chairs everywhere |
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| "sharing" your dinner with Abby ~ now *you're* busted! |
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| a silly morning text from you |
And finally, with your birthday so close, your birth family is on our minds even more so this time of year. It was interesting timing to realize that 3rd grade is evidently the year where you will begin to learn about inherited vs acquired traits, which can be complicated for an adopted child. On the 28th, you and I chatted at bedtime and you shared a little about this experience for you. I won't go into any details about what specifically that you shared with me since that was a private conversation. All I will share about that conversation is what I will share here...I want to make it known, remind and reassure you that all feelings are valid, every story is different, and most importantly, your story is yours so you can share as much or as little as you want. Or none at all. I also told you how glad I am that you felt comfortable enough to share something so personal with me, reassured you that Daddy and I are here for you, and that we always will be. I don't know how much you took in what I said or exactly how you interpreted it, but I hope that at least my open heart and listening ear helped a little. I hope.
I love, love, love you, Mali.
Love,
Mama
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