zoo train project

 Ages ago, when Lydia was tiny and slept often and didn't move much, Oliver and I made this awesome zoo for his trains to drive through.  He loves these kinds of projects, messy ones.  

Anyway, here is what we used...

-the bottom of a large sheet cake box (we happened to have some left from a baking project)

-paint and paint brushes

-pencil

-rocks

-low temp glue gun and sticks

-tubes of little animals from different places around the world...we got our tubes at Joann's with a 50% off coupon, but you could also find them at amazon

-air dryer, just to speed the process along

plan out a place for the train to go
a place for the people to wait
and spaces for the animals to live

paint and outline with rocks
we used the glue gun to stick the rocks down

speeding the process along

set up the track

get everyone moved in

give rides to all the zoo visitors

been here before...finally

Jim's been asking, are we there yet? 

When Lydia was born she was a second child, but a first baby.  People would assume we'd done this before just because we had an older child, most of the time I suppose it's safe to assume, but we were surely first time parents when it came to that little newborn.  Clueless, baby nervous, is she broken, sleep deprived, first timers. 

As Lydia progresses into the depths of toddler hood Jim keeps wondering, have we done this yet, is she at the age Oliver was when we got him, are we no longer first timers?  Yes!  Oliver came home just over 20 months old and that's where Lydia is now.  We've been here.  Well not really. Siblings were not made for comparing.  One is not a measuring stick for the other. 

The biggest thing that strikes me about this little milestone is that when we adopted Oliver at age 20 months we thought he was so young.  Soooo young.  How lucky were we to have only missed 20 months? 

Only 20 months! 20 months is an eternity! Do you know how many photos I've taken of Lydia in the span of 20 months?  How many hours she's been cuddled and loved?  How many kisses she's gotten? How many people love and adore her?  How many books she's been read?  The numbers are too great to be calculated.  A lot can happen in 20 months and it makes me sad for the time I missed with Oliver.  Not sad that I missed the time, but sad that he missed out on  the wonderful advantages of being a new baby in a family....though we've made up the difference the best we could.


However, regardless of the path or time of arrival to our home we simply adore them both.  They are the best for us and the best for each other and they both got here at just the perfect time for them.

Oliver, 20 months, in Moscow a few days
after leaving the orphanage

Lydia, 20 months, hanging in Bermuda

They both got passports when they were 20 months old....

welcome back

::hangs head in blog shame::

sigh

I can't believe I haven't written since June. 

Just hear me out...it was becoming such a chore.  See I write posts using my laptop.  Well my laptop took a turn for the worse this summer.  I tried just keeping it on always, because if it happened to turn off it would take HOURS to get back on..mama don't have that kind of time.  Then the battery died so it could only be plugged in, that's useful. 

Later this summer it wouldn't let me log on.  Can't do anything if it won't let me type in my password.  Google and YouTube talked me through that issue.

Last week, complete death.  A warning stating my hard drive had reached the end of it's life.  It stated I'd better save everything NOW.  I threw my documents on a jump drive, rescued as many videos as possible and managed to get my 4,441 photos on to 10 CDs (wish I had an external hard drive).  I haven't seen 3am since Lydia was an itty bitty, but if I wanted proof my children existed before last week I needed to get it done!  Note to self...get better at backing stuff up.  I realize that my laptop could still be saved, a new hard drive, but instead I pulled the plug and banished it to the office...where all old technology goes to collect dust until I figure out would people do with dead technology. 

So, what am I typing this post on?  Oh, just a shiny new and functional MacBook Air!

My birthday was last week.  Jim got me a rain barrel.  Rain barrels are awesome,  well I assume they are it hasn't actually rained yet...  Anyway, rain barrels are awesome and I did mention that I wanted one and he did install it while I was away in Boston with the kids, all very wonderful things.  I totally love it.  However, I mentioned that the rain barrel was a great family gift and maybe not a gift special for me.  Then my laptop died, so Jim was so kind to get me a new HP, some hybrid thingy that's a tablet and a laptop.  It looked pretty interesting, online, I didn't actually open the box.  I said I really wanted something that was going to last longer and I felt like a Mac might be a better option.  I suggested we return it and save a bit longer for something a little better.  Upon returning from yoga Jim said, "we have a surprise for you, but you need to find it"  Adorable Lydia kept looking under the couch, that's my girl.  A huge thanks to my husband for dealing with my crazy and taking both kids with him while shopping for two different computers.  

In conclusion, we're baaaaack, get excited.  Vacation highlights, kid projects, recipes,  laundry conquering, and more, that's what you get to look forward to.