Learning Curve

Well, the Mama wishes to apologize for the lack of posting. For about two months, the downtime was due to business within The P-Pod. We had some lovely people move in with us, some major time commitments through our church, and The Papa was in the "busy season" at work.

But we have settled down a bit, and now the problem is related to Mama's new iMac. As a former PC person, Mama has been confounded by the photo editing and storage system - the edits are only visible through the program, but are not able to be saved separately. Thus, Mama cannot figure out how to load edited photos onto the blog. Also, Mama does not yet have Photoshop for the Mac, and cannot figure out how to make a picture smaller for quick web loading.

Mama did buy a one-year coaching plan through Apple for just this sort of thing, but hasn't had the time to write down all her questions and go into a tutorial session.

Alas, dear readers, you will have to wait a bit longer for photos. Soon. I hope.

Ride the Carousel

BenTV 008: A Case of the Giggles

So, Mama got an iMac last week and decided to try out the video camera on Little P. Watch him get all self conscious and hammy. Silly boy!

Holy Pronouns, Batman!

Little P is onto pronouns, among other things. I do not try to teach this kid these things, though as a grammar fanatic, I am well pleased by his natural inclinations! So here are a few of his latest pronunciations.

As we pulled up in the driveway and saw the kids next door shooting hoops: "They playing basketball." (He's obsessed with watching them practice.)

As we watched his cousin playing: "He riding the bike."

_____

LP: "Thank you, Mama."

Mama: "You're welcome."

LP: "I welcome."
_____

As he attempts to skip down the hall: "I skipping!"

As a plane flies overhead: "I hear a airplane."

As we walk past a picket fence: "I touch the fence?"

R-Town: The "V Family" Visit

After spending some time with Emma's side of the family, we got to hang with Kevin's family. Grandma made us blueberry muffins and helped Benjamin ride all over on the bike...much to his delight.

Grandpa had to get in on the action as well.

Benjamin with Kevin and Emma. Do not take his expression as evidence of his mood - this photo was taken at the end of a long, exciting, fun, jet-lagged day and this is what he looks like at the end of such a day. Evidence of such fun lies ahead.

Ah, here we are. Mama must apologize. There are few to no photos of the adults present this day because the house was filled with COUSINS! And as handsome or beautiful as the adults may be, they pale in comparison to the fun had in photographing cousins. I mean, really. Looking at this photo of Abi, Benjamin's older cousin by about six months, could you blame a Mama?

Goodness, gracious. One of Mama's favoritist photos.

Oh! Being pulled around by Abi's big brother, Alex.

I did have to hold my breath a few times when Joey careened over the lawn with Little P in tow. He's a fast one.

Secrets, secrets. It's already begun.

And now for The Comic Adventures of the New Rascals. Or something like that. These are all the cousins in one place. And this was our attempt at getting a photo of them all.

And this...

and this...

and this. Whew! We had a wonderful time with the V Family and friends. Aunt Lori so graciously opened her home to a crowd, and Grandpa grilled some delicious food. We felt welcomed and loved!

R-Town: The "I Family" Visit

While I am embarassed to admit this, it has been two months, almost exactly, since Little P and I flew east to hang with his dearest birthfamilies. One auntie, who shall remain unnamed, has been breathlessly awaiting the photographic evidence of this trip. And finally, it is here. Hooray. I'm sorry, auntie, for the delay.

Twas a lovely visit. We stayed with Emma's folks and got lots of family time.

Little P with his sweet Grandma. Can you perchance catch the family resemblance?

On Sunday afternoon, people dear to Emma came over to visit with our young celeb. The gentleman to the right of Grandpa is a pastor who was present during the entrustment ceremony where Emma and Kevin officially handed Benjamin over to The Papa and me. (I just realized I have still not posted the story of that special event, nor the Bonnie and Clyde getaway across the Interstate. Oh, ya'll are missing out! *adding to to-do list*)

Back to the pastor at hand. Eric was a great comfort to us as well as to Emma and Kevin at the time, and it felt like I was seeing an old friend.

Oh, Kristin is a funny story. She and her husband are friends of Emma. When Emma was considering choosing us to adopt Benjamin, Kristin wondered if her friends in our town (4 hours away) might know us. She asked. Turns out we went to the same church. I got an email one day from Tara (our mutual friend) saying how all these people were praying about this adoption, and then, lo and behold, we had friends in common who could vouch that we were "cool", as in, not scary weirdos who would R-U-N-N-O-F-T with their baby. OK, we ran off to the other coast, but we didn't run off. I mean, not technically. I don't think.

Auntie Liz was a big hit. She's the music teacher in the family who is passing on info so that we can appropriately encourage Benjamin's interest in music. Everyone should have such an auntie in the family.

Dear, sweet Liam. He and Benjamin played with various forms of vehicles the entire afternoon. Mister Liam is a few months older than our Little P and every bit as smart and charming.

And finally, Tony. He and his wife were also part of the journey with Emma as she considered adoption. They brought Benjamin a book - The Bellybutton Book - which is now solely responsible for his calling his bellybutton "Bee-bo!"

There were a few others who came to visit and we enjoyed them all! Due to camera setting, movement, blinks, weird movements or poses, and so on, not all the pics turned out. But they are all fondly remembered. Thanks so much for visiting and being so supportive of this open adoption we have!