My First Hand Me Downs

Tagg, January 2009, 6 months

...from my brother. Sorry, girl! You thought you were out of the woods on hand-me-downs what with being the only daughter and having a mother with a bit of a shopping addiction. Not so lucky!

Sloane, January 2011, 8 months

My favorite Aunt Kris gave Tagg these darling jammies when they met him for the first time in January of 2009. Of course, I saved them thinking they might have some sentimental value...more for me, than him I suspect but whatever! Sloane has been wearing these same jammies since she was about 5 months, and a couple of weeks ago I realized she was about to grow out of them and we needed a picture! She can't even straighten her legs! So it's a little forced, sure, but I wanted a photographic memory of those jammies on my babies. Because every time I put them on and snapped them up and laid them down in their beds in those green p.j.'s, it felt like my Aunt Kris was here, giving them a big hug, and a sweet kiss, and one of her boisterous oh-so-joyful-I-love-you laughs.

And, let's face it...it's kind of perfect that NEITHER of them will bust out a freaking smile for the camera. Seriously? Seriously!!

The Star Quilt

When we met Sloane's baby mama and grandma today, they gave her a very special gift...a star quilt. Apparently it was supposed to be for Christmas but it took a little journey around the country to get completed. Well worth the wait!

Sloane's birth father is half Sioux and these quilts are a tribal tradition that started in the late 19th century when the tribes were relegated to the reservations, the buffalo herds had disappeared and the missionaries taught new ways to express their art through quilting. My mother is a quilter and I knew that there must be a story behind the design so I did a little snooping online and the stories are beautiful, and they make the meaning behind this lovely gift so much more rich and layered.

The triangular points of the star symbolize the quilter's reaching out from the middle star, which forms a circle. They reach out to loved ones, drawing them back to the sacred circle. When you are given a Star Quilt it is truly a gift of warmth and honor. Star quilts hold several symbolic representations of life, spirituality, and community for the Native Americans. It represents that it takes a community to make a whole.


The star quilt tells a story, just like the painted buffalo hides. The colors red, black, white, and yellow are symbolic to the Lakota. Black Elk is quoted as saying, “Black is for the west where the thunder beings send us rain. White is for the north, where the great white cleansing wind comes. Red is for the east where springs the light and the morning star. Yellow is for the south, where summer comes along with the power to grow.”

"Arise!  Arise!  Come see the morning star."  This centuries old call from the camp crier, as he rode through the Indian encampment, awakened the people to their day. For the Northern Plains Indians of the Dakotas, the sighting of the morning star still heralds a new beginning, a new day dawning.

And they sometimes hide little
messages in the fine needlework patterns
in the quilt. Found it!

I love that. Sloane's adoption was a new beginning for our family and for Bella and Jacob and all of us, as a community, will create a wonderful and whole life for her.

Apparently the women of the tribe often bestow these star quilts as gifts for a new baby, welcoming them to the family, so it's especially sweet that this one came from Bella and her mom and her mom's mom, and that they place so much value on Jacob's Native American heritage and want her to be proud of it and want it to be part of her. I love that Sloane gets to have some of this history and culture to weave into her life. We have a lot to learn, but it will be fun to do it together!

Of course, this also means I'm going to have to redecorate her room to match because it's so lovely. Great!

A First Anniversary

This might be the cutest picture ever. Look at those smiles!

Today we went to meet Sierra and her mom for lunch to kind of celebrate the one-year anniversary of our first meeting. They hadn't seen Sloane in almost 3 months and after a little rocky start where she burst into tears when we first walked into the restaurant, she was really good, as was Tagg. She chewed on Sierra's necklace, ate a whole piece of corn bread and showed off her new teeth.

It was fun to reminisce about our first meeting and catch up on everything. It's nice to know that a year later, everything still feels so "right."

 It was a beautiful day for January so we walked down to the Starbucks and had a coffee and took some photos to commemorate the event. Amazing to think that just a year ago, we were so full of hope and nerves and today it was like seeing family. We have this joyous, lovely little girl to adore every day and this special relationship.

She finally sleeps.
Good day.

Tagg made the most of the trip...in the water fountain. In January. In his clothes. He had a BALL! I guess I can no longer mock those parents who pack up a cooler and sit and watch their kids play in this fountain in the summer. We did walk straight down to Baby Gap and bought him some new, dry clothes (I'll bet that place makes a fortune off of water fountain-suckers like us). He changed right in the store and we cut the tags off, stuffed his wet clothes in a Gap bag and off we went. The lady was looking at us like we were crazy!

The water damage is done. Tagg's new threads...cute and on sale!

Happy New Year!

Well, I'm only three weeks late getting the New Years blog up. I think that means I've broken a resolution! Or maybe that I never started any. Hard to tell!

We spent the night at Mark and Jenny's which was awesome. We had a ball playing with the kids and trying out our new Wii games. Dance Party is a riot. I'm not sure the video of us ladies rocking our Ke$ha is worthy of prime time, but watching Nikelle and Tagg mimic the dance moves behind us on the pool table is priceless!

Tagg managed to make it all the way to midnight, with a certain amount of encouragement from Nikelle who ran laps with him around the living room till midnight, after the dance party! Where do they get the energy?! Sloane didn't quite have that kind of staying power, thank goodness! And for some crazy reason, me and Tiff who are usually the first ones to sneak off to bed were on a tear that night. Must have been all the Wii-drenaline or something but we just kept going and going. Jenny finally called it at about 3:30...no more Wii, girls! Your babies are going to be up early! She was right. Like clockwork, they were wide awake at 7:30am. Luckily they were both up for family nap time that day! A pretty great way to start the new year!

Sloane snoozed through her
first New Year's Eve but she got kisses
from mommy and daddy and big brother.

Tagg's still learning how to "cheese."

Tagg & Nikelle take a break
from running laps in the living room.

Nikelle loves baby Sloane.

Perfect Christmas

christmas - part one (the harmers' house on Christmas Eve)

Sloane's big gift to us is
learning to crawl. She's
mastered laying to sitting and
is just minutes away from the
full crawl. Watch out people!

Santa Baby...hurry down the chimney tonight! Sloane had two cute Santa outfits for Christmas. I bought one (obviously) but so did Scott! So this is the one she wore to Christmas Eve festivities at his parents' house. Tagg and his cousin Ashley dove into a few presents on Christmas Eve after the traditional ham and potatoes dinner, then they put reindeer food out (oatmeal with sparkles) and lured Rudolph into the back yard. Tagg totally knows all the words to Rudolph the Red-nose Reindeer, his favorite Christmas carol, but he wouldn't sing louder than a whisper so we don't have any good video...bummer!

Tagg got a bunch of Lightning McQueen stuff including a car that he got to race with Ashley. He gave Ashley a princess outfit and a Purplicious book (her favorite color) and he and Sloane gave photo books to Auntie Leese and Grama and Bompa.

christmas - part two (our house, Christmas Day)

Tagg woke up late on Christmas...8:30 and we had to wake him up! Scott and I went to bed at 1 and woke up at 7:30 mind you. I suspect that will change as he gets older! Nana and Papa and Aunt Tiff came over at 8, packing cameras and mimosa fixin's. He was a little grumpy at first but then realized that Santa had come and ran downstairs. I wish I had a real picture of the awe on his face, but I'll keep the mental picture forever.

The basketball hoop was a huge hit. He was working on dunks and long shots from the get go, with a little help from Papa. Not bad for a kid wearing Lightning McQueen jammies that were about 4 inches too long! Tagg's baby family sent so many darling things for Tagg - clothes, a Cars Etch-a-Sketch that he adores and a new WVU jersey. They also sent Sloane a cute outfit. How awesome is that? I'm always so amazed by the love and generosity that these families share with us.

Sloane seems to have acquired my penchant for clothes and shoes...with a little help from her birth mom! She sent a cute pair of Ugg boots that Sloane may be able to wear in a few months and a gift certificate for Tagg. Again...how adorable! Even her grandma sent some artsy stuffed animals. It's a great reminder of how incredible these relationships are. We hope the kids cherish it as much as we do.

christmas - part three (the harmers' house)

We headed off to the Harmer homestead around 11 for Bompa's famous breakfast - monkey bread, french toast, bacon, eggs, sausage and veggie sausage which he accidentally bought because he didn't have his glasses on. Not bad tasting but the texture was...ick. It's kind of funny but Bompa's breakfast tastes a little different at a real table with real silverware. I'm not gonna lie, it was awesome but I think I like it better at Lake Powell!

The Girls.
Kayla (5 mo), Ashley (4 yrs), Sloane (7 mo).
All smiling in one photo!

I am trying to keep the "let's wear Xmas jammies all day" tradition alive and cooking but I am meeting with some resistance. Apparently I need to buy Scott some less gay pajamas and not go anywhere public all day to make this work. Come on! I think it's cute...and comfortable! Of course, neither baby was interested in performing for the camera at all but at least it's captured in pictures - squirming, screaming, the works! And, for the record, Scott cut about 4 inches off the bottom of his pajamas when we got to his mom's...no worry about how jagged or crooked or wrecked they were. That should probably tell me something!

The Girls. All smiling again...and Tagg.
Refusing to be part of the moment.

The kids all got treated royally (again!) at Grama and Bompa's Christmas. My favorite gift? The calendar Sandy made of the whole family - complete with all the birthdays and a Lake Powell trip countdown! Very cool! Tagg's favorite gift? Cars Band-aids. Sloane's favorite gift? Wrapping paper, and anything Tagg had.

christmas - part...ah, who's counting (the comptons' house)

We got to Mom, Dad and Tiff's about 2pm with 2 snoozing kids in the back of the car. Of course, our kids don't "transfer" at all so they promptly woke up and it was off to the Christmas races! The house smelled like turkey (mmmm!) and there was a Wii tournament in progress.

Sloane and Harper were dressed in identical outfits. It was so funny - totally unplanned, swear! But they looked so cute in their little twinner outfits! They even puked on them the same! At one point, Sloane was officially Christmas and pictured out. Done! So done!

Marc, Dad and Scott entertained the kids with Jingle Bears while we finished up a lovely dinner. We had a fabulous time opening presents - more stuff than those kids will ever appreciate! Mom and Dad got the kids a very, very generous donation to their college savings accounts in addition to some fun things and Marc & Becky went overboard as usual. Some day, I aspire to be that good at gift giving. The skull Xmas pj's for Scott? The Blindside replacement DVD for me? The princess scooter toy for Sloane? All perfect and awesome.

In the spirit of our family tradition, we got ornaments for the kids - one for every year - but mom and dad got them, and so did we. I like the eclectic Christmas tree where every ornament has a story. Makes me feel like I'm home!

So Christmas...it's a lot of work, and a lot of money, and a lot of stress but it's more than made up for by the the joy and the memories and the sharing of love between family and friends. It's so worth every little bit of everything. As you can tell by the length of this blog post...too many great moments to leave out a single one! I'm a little sorry it's over but still basking in the glow!

Tis the Season!

The first big snowstorm of the season and we were so outside! Tagg loved it! Stomping in the snow in his new snow boots while Daddy shovels the driveway? Uh, yeah!

Sloane was not happy about being
left out of the snow activities!

We built a snowman - Frosty - who had two eyes made out of decorative black rock (apparently you need something with more texture to really stick), a nice hat, a carrot nose and an onion smile. Yep, that's a red onion carved into that snowman smirk!

So today, a few days after the Frosty-building experience and six "let's-fix-Frosty" events because the rain and the warm weather broke that beautiful snowman down, Tagg was standing in the front window looking at the sad remains of his first snow creation, looks at us and says, "Frosty's not looking too good, daddy." Awwwww...

We started cramming in the holiday fun, early. Made a gingerbread house with Nana and Papa and the family (Papa watched Sloane while Mommy photographed and tried to keep Tagg from eating all the candy decora and glue-like frosting). We jacked up construction on the roof and ended up with a sunroof...with some stale M&Ms cemented on for kicks.  That will probably be a bigger hit in a year or so but it was still kind of fun. Especially for Tagg (candy is always a hit).

Do not tell the kids, but this is kind of what Santa's
workshop looks like at our house on Christmas
Eve. It's all the family presents, really. ;-)

So I pulled a few all-nighters getting ready for Christmas - photobooks, Xmas cards, and present wrapping. Whew! Apparently I got bags under my eyes for the Christmas! And we didn't even have a lot of put-it-together stuff. I am so amazed by all the wonderful people I know who always have their gifts done early, wrapped perfectly and are just jack-wagons for making the rest of us feel inferior.

The Purple Christmas Tree

It was nap time...hence
the crabby face. Tagg perked up
when Santa coughed up the candy cane.

We went to help my mom and dad get their Christmas Tree on Saturday. Scott had seen this local tree farmer advertising on Channel 2 the other day. They had reindeer, a Santa, a hot tub and they flocked the morning stunt boy like a Christmas tree so we figured that would be a good place to try out. It was, as billed, AND the big giant tree my parents got was only 55 bucks! I call that a screaming deal for a real tree!

While we were there, we found...a purple flocked Christmas tree. I don't know why, but it spoke to me and we ended up bringing home this flamboyant purple-flocked Charlie Brown tree. It's all of about 4 and a half feet high. I think it's cool! It totally fits with all the vintage ornaments I have from my childhood...these shiny, jewel-tone balls with santas and reindeers. And vintage ornaments seem to be all the rage this year. I found a bunch to match for 70% off...woot-woot! I never bargain shop for Christmas stuff! See, that's why I love the Purple Christmas Tree!

Beautiful Girl!

Dear Jodi,
You take the BEST photos ever! I know my baby girl is gorgeous and all, but these pix are amazing!  Can't wait to see the rest of them. I'm going to need a bigger house with more wall space for all the pictures of my kids!
Love,
Lisa

Check out Sloane at 6 months...you have to scroll down a little ways. She's the adorable naked baby with the bald head and big blue eyes striking a pose on a vintage white vinyl sofa. Jodi has a whole slew of fantabulous pictures on here. All very unique and fun. Definitely worth checking out the whole blog. You'll be inspired!

Happy 6 Month Birthday, Sloane!

Sloane's 6 month birthday was November 15th. She's so darling. Smiles all the time with those two cute little bottom teeth and chubby cheeks, and loves to giggle when you tickle her neck and armpits. She's sitting up really well now, which seems to have opened a whole new world of discovery. She's digging her fruits and crackers - green veggies, not so much. She hates shoes and socks (how is this my child?!) but still leaves her headbands and hats on. Which is good because the bald spot that turned into a bald strip, is now like bald acreage on the back of her head. She seems to be getting some light brown fuzzy hair on top but that bald patch is still, well, really bald. We have high hopes that now that she's not laying down all the time, her hair will have a fighting chance!

We have so much to be thankful for this year - amazing family, great friends, good health, solid jobs...and most of all, our two beautiful children. Sloane's adoption day was November 24th, the day before Thanksgiving. Perfect timing!

I starting playing around with iMovie and made a little video capturing some of the best moments from the last 6 months. It's actually pretty easy - once I took the time to watch the tutorial, anyway! I feel so powerful! Given that the video is over 8 minutes long, it seems that I need to work on my editing skills some. Or maybe there was just that much good stuff. I think that's it.

BTW, the first song - From God's Arms to My Arms to Yours - is from a wonderful album about adoption stories from all perspectives. Scott's sister Lisa, who is adopted, gave it to us last Christmas and it makes me cry every single time I hear it. I know it says "your son" but the sentiment behind it is so heartwarming and perfect, it had to be on here. So, yes, I know Sloane is not a boy.

Turkey Day...

For most people, one Thanksgiving dinner where you devour all the turkey, potatoes, stuffing and pie as your belly and pants can possibly hold is plenty. Think of the thousands of calories in that one, go-for-it meal and the countless hours on the treadmill to reverse the damage. Aaaahhh...gluttonous bliss. 

Our makeshift dining table - 2
picnic tables, 1 king size sheet,
1 tablecloth, 10 mismatched
chairs & wine glasses. Perfect.

For the past 10 years, Scott and I have had the pleasure of gorging not just once, but twice. In the same day. We always go to his parents' house for early dinner around 2 and then head over to my parents' for late dinner around 6. So technically, it's not even twice in 24 hours...it's twice in like 4 hours. I'm still not recovered!

The cool thing is that, unlike a lot of people, we actually like spending time with our families, especially at the holidays! If we could have 2 full separate days to celebrate with each of them instead of splitting the day, we'd be set.  

Whew!

Well, there's a whole family of folks wearing red who are pretty happy that we won! By one point. ONE!

Half the fam went to the game and froze their long-john butts off and the other half stayed home with the little ones. Some were frozen, some were thankful for Tivo so we could actually see what the heck was going on in the game.

Pretty stoked that the Utes pulled it out at the end. And, after that blocked kick and the Boise State debacle last night, also hoping there's some kind of sucky kicker support group.

Sloane and Harper were rocking their U red. Handmade hats. (Becky is like the queen of finding these things...honestly? hand-knitted Ute bandanas AND hand-stitched U hats? wow. just, wow.) We're getting one for Nana.

Halloween, part two.

It was a Halloween shipping miracle, but yes, the costumes arrived in time! Tagg could not wait to put on his Nemo costume, and once Sloane tired of her Nemo outfit, he wanted to wear that one too. That was pretty funny. This picture didn't really do the costumes or my kids justice...they were pretty darling and actually pretty happy!

Tagg finally got the whole "candy" concept about 2 days before the big day. He's never been much of a candy kid. I've had him convinced that fruit is dessert for over 2 years. I call that a moral victory! But it was time...so he dug into some M&Ms and thought he'd gone straight to heaven. I'm not sure what prompted his love of the Nemo costume - chocolate or the actual movie. Either way! He also likes suckers. We did some trick or treating at work and he did pretty good. Speaking of work, our little marketing team (roller derby girls...luckily recycled costumes from last year) lost the costume contest vote to KISS by one stinking vote. I blame Ty. If he'd gone drag as All Beef Patty we'd have totally had it. Christi pulled out all the stops with a big giant safety pin in her nose and the faux-hawk. Now that is commitment! The red wig was so fabulous I was this close to going red...if I could have grown another 6 inches of hair, I'd have been there!

So that was Friday. Saturday morning at 9am, I was standing a few miles and a few thousand feet above Sundance Resort in sub-40-degree weather dressed as a big-bang 80s chick with Nat and Lindsay, ready to run 13.1 miles down a hill to the scariest place on Earth...Provo, Utah (the race billing, I can't even take credit for that one!). The "ready to run" is a total lie...I literally off-the-couched this one. I'd probably run a total of 13 miles since July and hadn't been to the gym in 2 weeks. Ouch. Thanks, gravity, for making it do-able! (Reality Check: Must train for next race. I could not walk up or down stairs for 4 days after, and let's not even talk about sitting.)


The weather turned out to be perfect, the scenery was amazing, and it's hysterical to run with 3000 people in costume - you never get bored! Finished with a pretty good time, got a cool medal...and then walked for an hour back to the car because the bus line was so long. The best part? Lindsay ran in a thong leotard. Like a real one. Which she got at American Apparel and the sales girl was like "oh, every time I buy one I get a medium cause they run small." Every time you buy one? Seriously?! The thong got some comments on the run, for sure, but on the walk through downtown Orem on Saturday? We thought the cops were going to show up. Or the missionaries! So 16 miles under my belt by noon and then? Off to change for more Halloween fun!

We went to Mark & Jen's for Halloween night. Scott was Evil Knievel, and if it hadn't been a torrential downpour that night (like really, really raining!) he would have rode his motorcycle up. Luckily his helmet was covered with homemade decora made from a...garbage bag. So it was waterproof. And Tagg was dressed like a fish, so good for trick or treating in the rain! Tagg made it for about a block up and down and then he was done (remember, still new to the whole candy concept).

Here's a picture of us as a devil family for Halloween. What is up with our eyes?! I am The Missing Sock Fairy. See all the socks in my hair and on the dress? Yeah, no one else did either...kids pull a lot on that stuff and wings are really tough to maneuver at a party, I found out. It didn't last long. So glad I spent all that time stitching those stupid socks on everything! I could have just come as a sweaty, sore runner and been fine. Stinky, but fine. Sloane is a little ballet kitty in this picture. It was darling! She didn't last long either but mostly because the boa fuzzies were driving her bonkers, and it was 8pm, and she totally doesn't care about candy.

It was kind of funny that all the guys took the kids trick-or-treating while the U game was on. They won but it was definitely a focus of the evening. And only one person came as a Ute fan. Next year, I really have to think about the efficient costume!

Sloane's "Squirt" costume was really adorable. It would have been perfect if she was crawling because the back was the best part. Thanks, Tagg, for picking the costumes! You did good!

He loves his Nemo costume so much that I washed it and he pulled it out of the laundry and put it on last Sunday and ran around in that, his dud and socks all night long. We put it in the Halloween box, and he found it, brought it upstairs on Tuesday and wore it all night long. Put it away again, and boom! he's got it in bed as one of his cuddlies that night. Along with all of his other Nemos and Squirt stuffed animals. I guess we're getting our money's worth!