Meet the boys

Our weekend: (Pardon to those of you who've heard the story in person
already)

We pulled up to the Foster home and both boys were looking out the storm
door at us. They had their faces pressed up to the glass as they tried to
get a good look at these people they’d been referring to as Mommy and
Daddy. When we got inside, they immediately gave us hugs and wanted to
show us where they had been staying. They showed us their room and where
they had hung our pictures on the wall.

The Foster family has been so great to them. They were always honest with
them. The boys have always known that mommy and daddy would come get them
when the time was right. This particular foster home has had many kids
come through and they have seen many kids go home with their own mommies and
daddies. In the past, some of these parents have had to explain to him
that they weren’t his mom or dad and that his parents would come for him
soon. When we arrived, DJ kept saying, “This is MY daddy.” He was so
proud to finally have one to call his own.

When it was time to go, DJ was ready. He had no qualms about leaving for
the weekend. DW, on the other hand, wasn’t so sure about all this.
He’d been with his foster family since he was 1 yr old and they were all he
knew. He kicked and screamed for a bit, but G sat next to him and
talked him down and gave him toys to distract him. Five minutes down the
road, both boys were playing with the toys we brought them. A police
motorcycle for DJ and some Matchbox cars for DW.

Our first excursion was to see an aircraft carrier. The boys (& GA) had to
climb into every cockpit they saw on the aircraft carrier. They were
already calling us Mommy and Daddy. “Daddy look at me! Mommy pick me up!”
We picked out favorite airplanes and had several bathroom emergencies. One
of those emergencies being we left the bag with DW's pull-ups in the
car. Lovely! So GA and I took the kids to the bathroom while Jaime ran
all the way back to the car (which was not close) to get the diaper bag.
GA totally stepped up as a big sister. She helped them with everything
from lifting them on to benches so they could see better to showing them
how legos worked.

We ate lunch afterward (cop-hubby had all the Whataburger employees oohing and
aahing over our story) and then stopped by the Harley Davidson store so the
boys could see the motorcycles. They are completely enthralled with the
fact that Daddy rides a motorcycle, so this was cheap and easy fun. DJ
brought his toy motorcycle in and within minutes, he had all these big
tough Harley guys following him around. I swear we almost brought those
guys to tears with our adoption story.

We had planned to go to the movies, but cop-hubby and I were worn out, so a
movie back at the hotel worked out just as nice. The kids played and played
until bedtime. It was right out of an American Express commercial. Leggos -
$15.00. Princess Monopoly - $8.00. Playing with the balloons from Lubys –
Priceless. When it was time to lie down, DJ started crying crocodile
tears (so totally fake) and DW followed suit. I ended up lying in bed
with them, patting backs and singing lullabies until they fell asleep. I
don’t quite recall, but I’m pretty sure I passed out in the middle of brushing
my teeth that night. I can’t remember the last time I was so tired.

The next morning AT 5AM the kids were awake. Lord, help me. If anyone is
looking for a job as a waker-upper, I’d like to hire you to wake the boys
up from 2am-5am every night so they’ll fall back asleep until at least 8am.
I will pay you well! Trust me. My sleep is very important to me. I was
never a napper in my life, but now I am officially turning to the dark
side. Oh, the things I won’t accomplish now that I’m a napper.

Of course, the next day at breakfast, cop-hubby was telling the waitress about
the adoption, who told the rest of the wait staff. I think they wanted to
adopt all of us by the time we left. Next on the list was the aquarium.
Let me say, I have always been the type of person to see something and move
on. Whether it was work or fun, it was something to be checked off on a
to-do list. Dolphins? Check! Otters? Check! Now, I totally get why some
parents can sit at an exhibit for an hour at a time. That is how you build
your energy reserves back up. We sat in the room with the underwater view
of the dolphins & practically had the place to ourselves. While cop-hubby and I
sat on the bench, the dolphins swam back and forth along the glass totally
playing with the kids. It was hilarious to watch the kids chase them. I was
convinced even the dolphins knew our story too. Do you think that wore
them out, though? HECK NO!

We took DJ&DW back to their foster home late that afternoon and hung out for
a while. The family pulled out baby pictures for us and we compared notes
on the kid’s personalities. DJ is the talker. He could be a sports
commentator one day. That child gave us a play by play of every minute of
the day. DW is the strong silent one. When he got mad, he just walked
away, pushed his lower lip out and sat by himself. DJ is a momma’s boy.
He likes to sit in my lap and put his cheek on mine. DWwants daddy to
hold his hand, fix his toy, carry him, etc. DJ is very outgoing. He’ll
talk to anyone anywhere, but as far as activities, he’s a little unsure of
himself. He’s afraid of swimming pools. DW is the opposite. He flies
into the pool with wild abandon despite the fact that he can’t swim, yet.
DW is quiet for the most part, but when he does talk, you better
listen because it is something important to him.

When it was time to go, DJ didn’t want to get out of my lap. He kept
saying he wanted to go home with us. He said it over and over again.
DW, who is pretty attached to his foster-dad, whispered in cop-hubby’s
ear, “I want to go home with you, Daddy”, and then buried his face in
his shoulder. This was huge. We were worried about when the time would
come to pull him away from the foster home, but he is showing signs of
being ready, so we feel much better about it. As we pulled out of the
driveway, it hit me for the first time how bleak the weather was all
weekend. It was fitting for the drive home without our boys. I was
physically ill all night that night and have barely eaten since.

Due day is still Dec. 29th, but fear not. We’ve waited this long and we’ll make it 14 more days.