Growing Family

Cornrows

Today I took Small Sun to have his hair braided. I finally found someone here who was happy to do it. She is a student at Hillsong College, and hails from Barbados. 

He did a great job sitting still, watching shows on the iPad. 

The farther into it she got, the more he pulled and cried. He can tend to have a tender head and certain spots really bothered him. We just made it to the end. Much longer and I think he would have taken off!

I loved watching the process. I was amazed that she did everything the same as when I've tried, but her fingers were just somehow much more dextrous. Where I get tangled and let the hair go and it ends up all lumpy and bumpy, she just flew through the stitches. The Captain asked if after watching I will be able to do it...heh, I think not. I'm trying to do just what she did, it just hasn't resulted in a wonderfully smooth braid like she turned out over and over.

He started off shy, but by the end he felt like a million bucks, and it showed. When we arrived home, Sprout was all adoring and exclaimed "You look JUST like 'kuwati' kid!" She thought he was AMAZING, and chased him around asking to touch his braids.

A couple hours on is another story. He is crying and scratching, saying the braids make him itchy. 

I haven't found a do-rag in Sydney, so I sent him to bed with the old pantyhose trick. I should not have been surprised when The Sprout insisted on having one too. Those two are thicker than thieves and she couldn't bear to be left out. Of course on her glossy hair the cap kept popping right off! She went to bed dedicated to having it on.

The girl who braided it said she hopes he gets two weeks of wear out of them. I'll be surprised if we make it to Christmas, at the rate he is wiggling, and scratching and whining. If he likes them and learns to leave them be, and his hair holds them, then we may go for a more extravagant style next time. I just loved watching "S" braid, and I loved when his hair was half braided, and still brushed out on top. I just imagined all the wild and crazy styles we could do if I could get my braiding down. I'm one of those moms that would say a fast yes to a mohawk, blue stripes, you name it. It's just all so much fun! 

Summing up 2010

It is certainly premature to sum up the year before Christmas, but as we approach the open door of 2011 I've been thinking back over what this year has held. I usually have trouble remembering things that happened, even a year ago, but this last year has continued to be very present as I go. Perhaps because of some of the shifts and changes that began with what we felt the year would bring, that we are still holding out to see realized.

Here are the highlights, off the top of my head:

• Resumed contact from Small Sun's Mom and the unfolding of that relationship
• Small Sun attending three days of preschool
• Volunteering to help run a new playgroup at church
• Celebrating my birthday with a chocolate fest
• A giant birthday party for the boys (5, and 1) that was supposed to be at the park but wet weather left me scrambling for a new location for 50+ people (Steve Irwin + turtle cakes)
• Wean Finch in anticipation of a trip overseas
• Have my cousin come from Philadelphia to take care of Sprout and Finch
• Travel to the US for two weeks with Small Sun to visit his birth family, see my family, and stand up with my BFF in her sweet Southern wedding (dancing till late at night with my son, sweat pouring down my back, with Small Sun in a 50s style plaid shirt, khaki pants, and converse sneakers - imprinted on my mind)
• Trip was the longest time The Captain and I had been apart, same for Sprout, and first time I'd left Finch. Everyone was sick and over it when I returned, but the house was spotless and the laundry was done
• The Captain's mother came to spend three weeks with us
• The Captain and I celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary with a trip to the Hunter Valley. I received the "big ring" I've been wanting for years 
• "H", our lifesaving live-in babysitter arrived and I began having consistent time away from the kids for the first time since moving to Sydney, as well as a date night once a week
• Took a three week garden class
• Finished about 8 months of Pilates classes
• The Captain took Sprout to Holland for two weeks to see his new niece and spend time with his family
• We took a long-weekend trip to Currarong with some American expat friends. Our first "vacation with friends" since having kids
• Remembered the one year anniversary of my Grandfather's sudden passing in a car accident
• We celebrated Sprout's 4th birthday, which was meant to be at the beach, but ended up at our house because of rain
• I vowed that next year we are having family dinner style birthdays, and will alternate a party every other year. 
• Small Sun and Sprout both had school orientation for Kindy, and preschool next year
• Attended a conference on Prophecy with a good friend from back home
• Spontaneously got a puppy
• Attended foster care training as one step in the process to become "first stop" foster carers for kids who have been removed for the first time
• Thanksgiving dinner with friends,  loving Sydney with people from about 10 different countries cooking "traditional" Thanksgiving dinner, with me and one other American eating our approval. 
• Sprout's first ballet concert (yes, I cried)
• Put up the tree, bought (am buying) cheap Christmas stuff to stick everywhere, sent all the overseas gifts, nearly finished buying the presents
• Spent most of the year hungering for a house of our own
• Eating dinners outside and squeezing every last drop out of summer Christmas: twinkle lights, blazing colors and delicious eats from the garden, walks at dusk, lazy days at the beach, Christmas bugs (June bugs), and a big long sigh as the year slips away

Still to come...

• Make the truffles for the teachers
• Children's end of year concerts
• Christmas Spectacular
• Christmas parties
• Sister arrives from Brooklyn to spend the holidays with us
• CHRISTMAS! NEW YEARS EVE!

I'm sure I've left some things out, but I wanted to get the bones of it down before we find ourselves in next year and there are no clear parenthesis around what happened this year. This year has held a lot and I find myself needing some quiet to settle all that is in my heart as we approach its close.

While the year will change, I think in many ways the season we began to articulate early last year continues. It is still time to say yes to Jesus, still time to be brave, still time to use encroaching darkness as a thing to jump on, in springing towards the light. We are still fighting for bigger things in our life, but also in our hearts. Thank God for Jesus, who came to do just that. 

Introducing....Frankie!

Amidst the madness that has been the last couple of months, I ended up falling in love with a puppy I saw on the internet, and despite being in the middle of one of the busiest weeks ever, and the fact that a puppy was supposed to be my 30th birthday present in April, I drove and hour and a half down to Wollongong to pick up this little darling.

He is three quarters miniature poodle, and the rest is maltese-shih tzu mix. I've always been a big dog person, and still miss my Weimeraner that we had to put down in 2006. This whole "lap dog" thing is new to me, but I have to say I'm loving it!

This little guy has such an eager, bouncy personality, but the minute you pick him up he just cuddles in and goes to sleep on your lap. He has adjusted really well, and has been incredibly easy to settle. The kids are really impressing me with him as well. Small Sun is quite the little responsible owner. Even Finch has quickly learned not to pull pup's tail or squeeze him too hard (most of the time). 

The only downside is that our landlord won't allow  little Frankie in the house, and he desperately wants to be in on all of the fun. It is good that we're into the wonderful Sydney summer and spend hours outdoors these days. Sometime in the future we'll buy a house and he can sleep on the kid's beds just like I imagined. In the meantime, all my doggie dreams have come true and we are really, really happy with this little guy in our family!