What's a Mom to do???

Lucy and I went to the hair salon yesterday when the strangest thing happened. There were 4 ladies that literally had us surrounded in a matter of seconds. That's when the questions started. Is she adopted? Where is she from? She is SO cute! Was it a hard process? She is SO cute! Oh, just look at those BLACK eyes! How long did it take? Then brace yourself.... How is her English coming along??? What the hell does that mean? I know people reading this will find it odd but this is not the first time I've been asked this question. I have a standard response (the only one evidently): How was your English at 17 mos? If you can believe it, that didn't shut them up and it continued for another 5-10 min. C'mon! Can't a girl just get her brows waxed? Does every outing have to be an adoption education session???? I know, now I'm exaggerating but sometimes that's how it feels.

I get it. People mean well. But is that enough to excuse rude questions? I also realize that this will not be the last time we're caught in situations like that. But it's one thing if I started a conversation about Lucy being adopted, or if I actually knew these people. But it really felt like Lucy and I were being pounced upon. I felt vunerable. I had this gutteral urge to pick Lucy up and run out of the salon. How do I protect her from things like that? Will folks have the good sense to stop with the questions when she is old enough to understand what they are talking about? I seriously doubt it. How do I prepare her for things like that? You know me, I'm direct. But in these situations I feel at a loss of what to say or how to respond. Mostly because I want to say just the right thing so that I ensure I'm a good role model for my daughter! Luckily one of the ladies had a dog with her (I know, that's a whole other story!) that Lucy was enthralled with so hopefully she wasn't paying attention to what was happening around her.

There are days that I look at that precious girl of mine and wonder how I could EVER be this lucky (pretty much everyday I guess). I just want to smell her and squeeze her and smother her with kisses. Yesterday was definitely one of those days.

PK

Chuck E Cheese anyone??

Last Sunday we met Lucy's cousins at Chuck E Cheese for some dinner and fun. Lucy and Lydia loved the rides and baby Nolan even got into the act.

Chicago Trip

We were just in Chicago to help celebrate our friend's birthday. Happy 40th Jerry! Welcome to the club! Included are some pics of Brent and Dawn's and Jackie and Jerry's kids. We had a great time seeing everyone. Thanks for a fantastic weekend.

Enjoy the pics!
PK

Milwaukee too

On the way home from Chicago, we had the opportunity to stop in Milwaukee so Lucy could see her cousins Eli, 3 1/2 and Solomon 10 mos. Notice how close Lucy and Solomon are in height!

We need your help

Please check out our friend's blog www.heut-n-holler.blogspot.com and consider a financial donation to China's orphanages. They are experiencing some of the worst weather and have little heat and food supplies for the children there.

Please help if you can.

Thank you
The Kern family

Some pics

Gotcha Day!

Happy Gotcha Day Lucy 1/16/08!

I can hardly believe that it's been a year already since Lucy made us a family. We celebrated by having the grandparents and godparents over for some traditional Colombian food that Kurt and I made.

What a change for us. Becoming a parent at 39! Not for long, I'll be FORTY on Friday. Holy shit! Being a Mom is not for the faint of heart. There is something to be said for having kids when a person's in their 20's or 30's for that matter! What I wouldn't do for 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep (LC is cutting 1 year molars at the moment).

But did I mention that she is SO worth it? I love her smell and her snuggles. It almost makes me cry when I hear that laugh. It cracks me up when I see her pretend to take some crackers out of her "snack trap" and hold out her hand for the dog. Callie falls for it every time, the beggar. That's a lab for you. Lucy loves to dance. She holds her hands in the air like she just don't care:) She even has a little pelvic thrust down. I'm not kidding.

I hope her Birth Mom knows that she is safe and LOVED. I pray every day that she does. What a gift she has entrusted to us. There is such an incredible feeling of gratitude.

I feel like we should be packing and going back to pick up our next little Colombian bundle of joy. I wonder what life has in store for us???? No news from our social worker...Sigh...oh well. My gut tells me we'll have at least a 2 year wait...

Lucy is definitely keeping us busy. We met our friends in Hudson for a play date this past weekend. Check out Hope and Lucy playing at the Giggle Factory.

Lucy and I started swimming lessons at the YMCA. SHE LOVES THE WATER! Lucy and Serik are total buds.