One year ago today...at 10:37 a.m....we receive the best gift ever!! At times it seems like it was just yesterday and then other times it seems so long ago. Murphy has been sick this week. She has a cold and has been home from daycare two days. The doctor didn't want it to get any worse. So I stayed with her yesterday and my mom today. Rob's dad came over mid afternoon and took over for my mom so she could head home. I'm sure she got lots of attention today!
We bought her a gift to celebrate her Gotcha Day. It is a pull toy, a turtle that was hand made in Colombia. I think she'll really like it. I also have a feeling that Riley will freak out and bark at it. We're also going to get ice cream tonight, although Rob is probably the only one who cares for ice cream right now. Murphy is sick and I'm not an ice cream lover. Maybe supper...we'll see.
A few weeks ago I was really homesick for Colombia. I don't know if it was the thought that what has transpired over the past year or the life we had there, or the fact that we got to spend all of our time with her. I just really missed it. Maybe not the spinach and cheese I got all the time or throwing my toilet paper in the garbage. But the overall picture. I miss going to the market. I miss Luz Mery saying every morning "Hola Maria Jose" while Murphy and I sat in the dining room alone because everyone else could sleep past 6:00. Megan, Juel, Maria, Benji: we miss you. (Rob and Carmen, too, but you left too soon for us to really get to know you!) Murphy is the same age that Carmen was at this time last year. I often wonder how you were able to be away from her for so long. I remember the day we got sentencia and you said "I just miss Carmen so much". I didn't know what it felt like then. But now, I can't imagine it.
I know I have lots to catch up on. My life has finally calmed down since the end of August. Everything that I've done has gone well, and I really feel a sense of accomplishment. But I'm also tired and ready for some lazy days. I'm not sure when those will happen! One piece of exciting news, the dragon was slewn. I think that's how you spell it. Now if only his sidekicks would get the ax, we'd be even happier!
Rob and Murphy are taking a nap. If you don't know Rob, you might be surprised to find that he's very sentimental. One year for our anniversary, he sent me flowers at work. I was working in Sioux City at the time. We went out to Applebees for dinner. He kept telling me "I'm sorry they didn't have irises". I had no idea why he was sorry so I finally had to ask. He said "Isn't that what was in your wedding bouquet?". I said "that was very thoughtful, but no, they were lilies". So anyway, he is wearing the same outfit he did a year ago. Not me. I wear jeans to work. Not skirts. So when they wake up, we'll take a family picture, eat our ice cream and whatever else we decide to eat, and I'll try to post the picture tonight. And then I'll get caught up soon.
Murphy, we LOVE YOU. You are a blessing to all of us. Our lives are wonderful because we have you. We thank God for your birthparents. We hope they know that you are loved and cared for. We thank Him for the wonderful care you received at Los Pisingos and at your foster mother's home. We thank him for year number one and look forward to all the rest.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
September update
Now that school has started, we're busy but it's mostly stuff in town. Which is fine. That way we aren't always driving. I don't mind drives there. It's the drive home that always takes forever.
On September 5, we went to Aberdeen to get Rob's hair cut. The barber has one of those dolls that dances if you push it's hand. It taught Murphy to dance. Now she dances to any music or at the mention of "dance". Ironically, the 5th was also the day she learned to say Riley, no no, puppy, and ball. No no Riley and no no puppy are heard a lot at our house. They usually go along with ball as in "No no, Riley. That's Murphy's ball".
We did get a big trip in though. My boss used to live in Denver and he has season tickets to the Broncos. We got his tickets and went to the Charger's game with Rob's sister and her boyfriend. The trip didn't start out well, though. I took Murphy to Aberdeen and met my mom. She spent the weekend with my parents. I think they all had a good time. I didn't have trouble leaving her. I had trouble leaving Riley. I dropped her off at a kennel near Aberdeen and it was terrible. Terrible, terrible. I don't know what I expected but it sure wasn't that. When I pulled up to the place, there was a sign that said "Animal Control Shelter". Hmm...you mean "place pets go before they're put to sleep"? It's not starting well. Then, there were two buildings. One with small dogs (which Riley is) and one for big dogs (which Riley is not). Guess which one she went to? The big dog building. So we walked through and there were concrete pens with poop and pee everywhere. The dogs were laying in it. And then when the pens were cleaned out, everything got shoveled to the center, where I was walking. The huge dogs there were barking and barking. Poor Riley was shaking in her paws. She would have been shaking in her boots if she had them. Maybe she should have had some to stay out of everything we were walking in. So the man had me put here in a cage and leave her. I said "should I leave her kennel or her food or bowls or toys?" He said "no, she won't need any of that". Not feeling good here. And Riley was crying. And howling. I have tears in my eyes at this point. I leaned down and told her I loved her and left. I went outside and called her name and looked through the little hole in the wall. I could see her standing up against the cage barking. She finally came out and telepathically begged me to take her out of there. I bawled and bawled. As I drove into Aberdeen todrop off Murphy, I called Rob and he didn't answer. So I called Jill, a girl I work with that has a dog and I knew would understand. She said "go get her and bring her to me. I'll watch her." That's not why I was calling but I sure took her up on it. So I dropped off Murphy and went back and got Riley. 45 minutes cost me $8. Like I said, I don't know what I expected but it sure wasn't that.
So we headed out of town and met Christy and Rob (yes another Rob) and started driving to Denver. We made it as far as Thedford, Nebraska where we spent the night. We drove the rest of the way into Denver on Saturday. We found our motel and decided we'd go to the Rockies game since we were there. It was really fun until it started to pour. They played the Dodgers so we got to see Manny play. He got booed every time he came up to bat. There were some drunk guys behind us and one was from Minneapolis and hunted every year about an hour from us. So it was kind of fun. The people next to us were originally from South Dakota as well. Sunday morning we all got dressed up in Charger gear except Rob who was a Charger fan for the day but really a Packer fan. He did wear blue, though. My Rob made up for it as you can see in the picture. We had one very obnoxious lady behind us and one obnoxious Rod Smith jersey wearing jerk in front of us. Otherwise everyone was pretty peaceful. Not like the St Louis fans. They were very nice. Also not like the Minnesota fans. They were not nice. So the Denver fans were somewhat in the middle. The game didn't start off well. The Chargers did terrible. And if you follow football at all, this was the game that Ed Hochuli made a very, very bad call that was discussed on ESPN for days after. The Chargers came back but still lost. It was still really fun, though. The drive home...not so fun. We got home around 6:30 Monday morning. We slept for a few hours then went to work. I went to Aberdeen after work to pick up Murphy. She was well rested. Riley had quite a weekend, too. She chased Jill's dog (tormented Jill's dog) and even got to go to a friend's house. I think Baby (the dog) was ready for Riley to go home.
While at my mom's Murphy learned about kitties. How to say the word and how to love them. Poor Louie. He just wants to be pet. So he thought he had it made when Murphy showed him her affection. He soon got tired of it and hid from her. Her word for kitty is "K". And she says it all the time.
The 15th, the day we got home from Denver, was also the anniversary of the day we got our phone call from Luann telling us we had a baby girl. It's hard to believe it's been a year.
On the 19th, Murphy got a new cousin! My niece had her baby, a boy named Gavin, that night. I don't think she knows yet that she won't always be the center of attention.
That next week was really busy for me. (And Rob, too I guess.) It was homecoming week. Tuesday was coronation. Rob's cousin, Morghan, was the queen from last year so we went to watch. Another cousin, Meghan, Morghan's sister, put lip gloss on Murphy and loved it! She was the entertainment of the night. For us at least. Wednesday I volunteered (or did someone volunteer me?) to help with the community clean up. I helped the senior class paint the spill way. I really did enjoy it but didn't exactly have the time to do it. Friday was the parade. The theme was "Olympics". Friday morning we came up with our float: The newest Olympic sport: Corn Husking. We had two of the guys husking corn in the back of a pickup while three of us girls handed up candy and stickers. We got done with that and moved on to the chili cookoff. The recipe for this was also decided on last minute. And then was changed by the time we got there. We didn't dress up or having corn in our recipe but we did get third place out of 15 teams. Next year I put it on my calendar to start planning earlier so we can win!
Murphy got tooth number seven on the 26th. She has four on top and three on the bottom.
Tuesday the 30th our school played in a special volleyball game. It was called Volley for a Cure and we all wore pink t-shirts in support of breast cancer. For those of you don't know, both my mom and her sister were diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age. My mom tested negative for the breast cancer gene but I know it's in my future.
Riley is still doing well. Calming down a little. Still peeing on the floor every once in a while. She can make it all night though now that she sleeps with us. She's only allowed under the comforter though otherwise her cold nose ends up touching us. She is quite the bed hog as she likes to sleep right next to you. For me it's not that big of deal. She keeps me warm. For Rob who is warm blooded, she makes him sweat. When Murphy wakes up the first thing she wants is a kiss from Riley. No one else wants one so she might as well get as many as she can.
On September 5, we went to Aberdeen to get Rob's hair cut. The barber has one of those dolls that dances if you push it's hand. It taught Murphy to dance. Now she dances to any music or at the mention of "dance". Ironically, the 5th was also the day she learned to say Riley, no no, puppy, and ball. No no Riley and no no puppy are heard a lot at our house. They usually go along with ball as in "No no, Riley. That's Murphy's ball".
We did get a big trip in though. My boss used to live in Denver and he has season tickets to the Broncos. We got his tickets and went to the Charger's game with Rob's sister and her boyfriend. The trip didn't start out well, though. I took Murphy to Aberdeen and met my mom. She spent the weekend with my parents. I think they all had a good time. I didn't have trouble leaving her. I had trouble leaving Riley. I dropped her off at a kennel near Aberdeen and it was terrible. Terrible, terrible. I don't know what I expected but it sure wasn't that. When I pulled up to the place, there was a sign that said "Animal Control Shelter". Hmm...you mean "place pets go before they're put to sleep"? It's not starting well. Then, there were two buildings. One with small dogs (which Riley is) and one for big dogs (which Riley is not). Guess which one she went to? The big dog building. So we walked through and there were concrete pens with poop and pee everywhere. The dogs were laying in it. And then when the pens were cleaned out, everything got shoveled to the center, where I was walking. The huge dogs there were barking and barking. Poor Riley was shaking in her paws. She would have been shaking in her boots if she had them. Maybe she should have had some to stay out of everything we were walking in. So the man had me put here in a cage and leave her. I said "should I leave her kennel or her food or bowls or toys?" He said "no, she won't need any of that". Not feeling good here. And Riley was crying. And howling. I have tears in my eyes at this point. I leaned down and told her I loved her and left. I went outside and called her name and looked through the little hole in the wall. I could see her standing up against the cage barking. She finally came out and telepathically begged me to take her out of there. I bawled and bawled. As I drove into Aberdeen todrop off Murphy, I called Rob and he didn't answer. So I called Jill, a girl I work with that has a dog and I knew would understand. She said "go get her and bring her to me. I'll watch her." That's not why I was calling but I sure took her up on it. So I dropped off Murphy and went back and got Riley. 45 minutes cost me $8. Like I said, I don't know what I expected but it sure wasn't that.
So we headed out of town and met Christy and Rob (yes another Rob) and started driving to Denver. We made it as far as Thedford, Nebraska where we spent the night. We drove the rest of the way into Denver on Saturday. We found our motel and decided we'd go to the Rockies game since we were there. It was really fun until it started to pour. They played the Dodgers so we got to see Manny play. He got booed every time he came up to bat. There were some drunk guys behind us and one was from Minneapolis and hunted every year about an hour from us. So it was kind of fun. The people next to us were originally from South Dakota as well. Sunday morning we all got dressed up in Charger gear except Rob who was a Charger fan for the day but really a Packer fan. He did wear blue, though. My Rob made up for it as you can see in the picture. We had one very obnoxious lady behind us and one obnoxious Rod Smith jersey wearing jerk in front of us. Otherwise everyone was pretty peaceful. Not like the St Louis fans. They were very nice. Also not like the Minnesota fans. They were not nice. So the Denver fans were somewhat in the middle. The game didn't start off well. The Chargers did terrible. And if you follow football at all, this was the game that Ed Hochuli made a very, very bad call that was discussed on ESPN for days after. The Chargers came back but still lost. It was still really fun, though. The drive home...not so fun. We got home around 6:30 Monday morning. We slept for a few hours then went to work. I went to Aberdeen after work to pick up Murphy. She was well rested. Riley had quite a weekend, too. She chased Jill's dog (tormented Jill's dog) and even got to go to a friend's house. I think Baby (the dog) was ready for Riley to go home.
While at my mom's Murphy learned about kitties. How to say the word and how to love them. Poor Louie. He just wants to be pet. So he thought he had it made when Murphy showed him her affection. He soon got tired of it and hid from her. Her word for kitty is "K". And she says it all the time.
The 15th, the day we got home from Denver, was also the anniversary of the day we got our phone call from Luann telling us we had a baby girl. It's hard to believe it's been a year.
On the 19th, Murphy got a new cousin! My niece had her baby, a boy named Gavin, that night. I don't think she knows yet that she won't always be the center of attention.
That next week was really busy for me. (And Rob, too I guess.) It was homecoming week. Tuesday was coronation. Rob's cousin, Morghan, was the queen from last year so we went to watch. Another cousin, Meghan, Morghan's sister, put lip gloss on Murphy and loved it! She was the entertainment of the night. For us at least. Wednesday I volunteered (or did someone volunteer me?) to help with the community clean up. I helped the senior class paint the spill way. I really did enjoy it but didn't exactly have the time to do it. Friday was the parade. The theme was "Olympics". Friday morning we came up with our float: The newest Olympic sport: Corn Husking. We had two of the guys husking corn in the back of a pickup while three of us girls handed up candy and stickers. We got done with that and moved on to the chili cookoff. The recipe for this was also decided on last minute. And then was changed by the time we got there. We didn't dress up or having corn in our recipe but we did get third place out of 15 teams. Next year I put it on my calendar to start planning earlier so we can win!
Murphy got tooth number seven on the 26th. She has four on top and three on the bottom.
Tuesday the 30th our school played in a special volleyball game. It was called Volley for a Cure and we all wore pink t-shirts in support of breast cancer. For those of you don't know, both my mom and her sister were diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age. My mom tested negative for the breast cancer gene but I know it's in my future.
Riley is still doing well. Calming down a little. Still peeing on the floor every once in a while. She can make it all night though now that she sleeps with us. She's only allowed under the comforter though otherwise her cold nose ends up touching us. She is quite the bed hog as she likes to sleep right next to you. For me it's not that big of deal. She keeps me warm. For Rob who is warm blooded, she makes him sweat. When Murphy wakes up the first thing she wants is a kiss from Riley. No one else wants one so she might as well get as many as she can.
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