Dear Sweet tarts,
We had a great time checking out the Zink Berry Farm with Bahboo and Grandma P. The Zink's are a super warm and welcoming couple that invited us to see their animals and to take all the time we needed. We got to pick ourselves. You (Henry) flitted about with buckets swinging; it took a couple of reminders to keep the bucket steady so the berries didn't fly all over.
You and Bahboo took liberty with tasting and as I was picking, your grimy hand would shove into my face with a juicy half eaten berry screaming, "OH this one is GREAT! It is so awesome, you have to taste it Mommy!"
Hazel enjoyed riding on Daddy's armrest reaching out around her, smashing red goo in her fingers and licking her tart sweetie fists. 
We picked just enough blueberries to make some wonderful pancakes...Daddy's last bite was a super charged tart one that made him pucker like a fish!
After breakfast was cleaned up we worked on making two pies and a cobbler. Bahboo could hardly wait! You helped cut the strips to create the perfectly imperfect basket weave top. The timer sounded and it was time to eat! Mommy plated the bubble mess on the pretty plates Mamaw Mergie got us for our open house. It was a special occasion. I made my first pie, ever!
I will say it tasted delicious! The recipe for the cobbler pretty much tasted like it had a sugar cookie on top. Just recounting it is making me feel like I will have to go and have some more, I bet you will join me. What a nice relaxing evening.
Love, Mama
ps I loved these so much I had to post these too.
PSS Poor baby Hazel is teething HARD CORE while I type and hold you. Your second bottom tooth is working hard to stay popped out and a tooth next to the top middle is breaking through too. You don't scream! Or at least you didn't. Poor baby mamacita.Tylenol is on deck. and Henry just walked up and said, "I'm feeling sweaty hot, I think I'm getting a little sick." Doh!
Dear Hazelita!
Last night, it happened! You crawled, three little crawls, but it was movement! We've been working for months with the OT trying to teach you to be on all fours and alternate picking up your hands off the floor, to sustain staying up longer, and building strength. In one weeks time after one PT appointment and two pool visits you did it. You also said duck, duck, duck as you went after one of the little foam duck stickers Grandma P gave you. You've been sitting up and pulling to your knees in the pack and play. Saturday you were not going to go to sleep. You played and played with me on Daddy's office floor trying out the new things from PT. The next day you were a little ball of weak. Your body just melty and tired. It took a lot of energy for you to do all that moving. We went swimming Wednesday and you grew weak quickly there, but you enjoyed it. Then, today you were sitting on the floor digging through my jewelry box in front of me (using your left hand and right hand fairly equally) and I saw you quickly crawl across the floor right there! I screamed out, "Hazel crawled!" Daddy and Henry rushed into the room. This time it was four or five crawls before you crashed or opted out by sitting up. That was before big brother got involved and started cheering you on with a megaphone.
When he discarded the megaphone in the bathroom and ran down the hall you laughed and went after it...and got it!...and tried to use it like he was. You explored the different floors and seemed very satisfied with yourself.
So exciting! Henry is such a great motivator and has you laughing your head off as you come closer to him. He has been waiting to play with you more. We are all so proud of you. What a great cheer block you have.
Now only 9,999,980 more first to go! I am so honored and grateful I get to be there for them.
Love, Mama
Dear Kidlets,
Well, it goes without saying that this year's picnic was not as eventful and fun as last year. I mean jeeze! It is hard to to top linking up with a woman looking to make a plan for their baby and matching a week or so later. So the 4 of us were there last year, only Hazelita was still growin' warm and snug inside of Wendy! So grateful for the opportunity to be your mama. This was a great picnic, complete with lots of playground time, your best buds the twinks, and a big sugary Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cake. We had a great time laughing at the kids watching the animal show, hanging back with hesitance at first then crowding in for a closer look by the end.
The presenter from Silly Safari's was sensational with the kids keeping them engaged the entire time. The twinks got to handle the gator!
Henny, you were able so feed a kinkajou a fruity snack but was not down with silly guy making kinkajou's tail a mustache on your face!
Nick, Hazel's birth sib, got to touch a giant, powerful looking owl! So much fun! We enjoyed visiting with WW! and the McKeon's too. There were many new families and newly waiting families there this year, which made it very exciting and you quickly found several new kids to play with.
WW gave Hazel lots of snuggle and kisses but we need to visit soon as we didn't get to talk to each other a lot and I missed that part.
Love, Mama
Dear Kids,
If there is any lesson we want you to learn at an early age it is self confidence in who you are and that you have a place in this world. Not everyone you come across will support this notion, some will even directly try to tear you down and pull that awareness from you. It is our goal to start young with the two of you establishing that everyone has a fit in this world. This is why we support the rights of others to be happy and share love with their soul mate, no matter what package he or she may come in. These first years of your lives our nation has been debating the rights of same sex soul mates to marry. Daddy and I can't really wrap our heads around why it is a debate. We have people we love who have found their soul mate in a same gender partner and we can't imagine them with anyone else. At the very least the supreme court recently decided to support unions of same sex partners in part to protect children and give their families equal benefits under the federal law. There are many mom, mama/ papa, daddy homes out there and if their parents' rights aren't protected than neither are their children's. Now it is up to the state debates for what they each will allow. Unfortunately, here in Indiana it is a depressing outlook thus far, with Mike Pence saying, "it is my belief that the traditional definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman should stand." There has also been the grave sadness at the idea a couple of the same sex could be fined up to $10,000 and taken to jail (up to 2.5 years) for filing a marriage license on grounds the license only allows a blank for a male name and female name, thus filing the license with two male or two female names could be illegal fraud, a class D felony. It goes further to prosecute a clerk or clergy member that would except the "fraudulent" license. Really you ask? Really! I hope that by the time you read this our federal attitude toward this issue trickles down to our individual states and your response will be, "REALLY Mommy?! People did that?"
All of this gave us cause when the IAC asked us to participate in the annual Indy Pride Parade we did! Not only was it fun but we were treated awesome and had a great time. Possibly demystifying how hard many same gender couples feel it is for them to become parents, we spoke with many couples about your adoptions. We walked in the parade behind the IAC banner supporting all families so that ours in turn could be honored.
Henry, you thought we were at circus, due to the super duper pink group behind us. You enjoyed collecting the necklaces and all the candy people threw at us. Hazel sat in the carrier on my chest smiling and waving at all the people yelling at her, "OH MY GOSH! BABY WITH GLASSES!" Hazelita, you really have a future in parades.
We ate lots of bad food and Henry got to jump on the trampoline contraption for the first time. So cool!
On returning from getting a snow cone I found Hazel surrounded by some adoring admirers from Ohio.
We were honored to be there and are excited to attend again next year. We want you both to be tolerant and loving toward other people. We hope this is a good start.
Love, Mama
Dear Peep,
We've had some great times with friends this summer. I've really enjoyed our times in the creeks around Bloomington. One day we hiked up the waterfalls at Cascades Park and you played for a couple of hours with a group of boys there redirecting the water down to the small stream. I felt like a kid along with you, helping with the heavier rocks and log moving. The boys, a few years older than you, thought you were really cool and puffed up your chest by commenting on how strong you are at only 4. Before they left the oldest requested you all get a picture together. We've spent a couple of afternoons in Sylvie and Etienne's creek with Keegs and Lily. That was a fun day.
You were all turning over rocks trying to find new creatures. Searching for tadpoles and little salamanders made you all hungry and tired.
You enjoyed making and sharing banana bread with your buds and playing crazy kids on the deck. I can't look at these pictures without smiling or laughing out loud.
We've also returned to Olcott Park a couple of times too.
We even bumped into JoJo, Tommy and Jacob, a birth cousin at Cascades one afternoon and you all played together in the water there. Luckily JoJo had an extra life jacket in her car.
I love these times of pure discovery and excitement. I am grateful we have such wonderful friends to enjoy it with, and when they can't be their you easily make some new ones.
Love, Mama
Dear Sweet tarts, 
We picked just enough blueberries to make some wonderful pancakes...Daddy's last bite was a super charged tart one that made him pucker like a fish! 
After breakfast was cleaned up we worked on making two pies and a cobbler. Bahboo could hardly wait! You helped cut the strips to create the perfectly imperfect basket weave top. The timer sounded and it was time to eat! Mommy plated the bubble mess on the pretty plates Mamaw Mergie got us for our open house. It was a special occasion. I made my first pie, ever! 
PSS Poor baby Hazel is teething HARD CORE while I type and hold you. Your second bottom tooth is working hard to stay popped out and a tooth next to the top middle is breaking through too. You don't scream! Or at least you didn't. Poor baby mamacita.Tylenol is on deck. and Henry just walked up and said, "I'm feeling sweaty hot, I think I'm getting a little sick." Doh!
