A 5th Birthday Party in pictures.

Here are some pictures from The Boy's birthday party. They are in reverse order, meaning that the first picture posted was taken last. I'll write up something later, maybe. I'm feeling kind of tired and distracted so I won't take it out on you all. I'll just let my photos, unedited for red eye and un-cropped, speak for me.

My Parents with my Beautiful little Niece.

My Beautiful little Niece looking at her Grandaddy.

I think the adults had more fun with the birthday presents than The Boy did.

Aunt Jessica reacting to the race track.

Opening Uncle Mark and Aunt Ellie's present.

Our sweet little girl with frosting on her face.

Blowing out the candles.

The birthday cake.

The train table he got ON his birthday.

Birthdays!

Our computer has a virus, Howard can't seem to make it go away with the usual methods, so we may have to wipe the hard drive and reinstall everything. (sigh) It sounds worse than it will be, because we have an external hard drive that is virus free so we can more the important files and programs over there. So if my posting is even more spotty than normal it's because we are still working on fixing the problem without all the drama of the hard drive wipe.

There are several February Birthday's that I meant to remember, but was too frustrated with this darn computer to actually get done. Sorry everyone.

The first, as far as I can remember and my calendar tells me, was my nephew Caleb, his birthday was the 8th. I think he turned 13, but I'm not sure.

Then Howard's niece, Atlantis. Her birthday was the 9th, I think she turned 12.

And then there was my dear friend, almost a sister ,who had her birthday on the 10th. She turned 33. (I know this one because it's on my calendar. LOL)

I wanted to wish all of my favorite February born people a Very Happy Birthday! I wish I could have spent the day with you.

Of course today is The Boy's 5th birthday. I'll probably write something for that later. He will have his party on Saturday, at noon. He wants to have a pizza party so we are having it at Garlic Jim's which is just up the street from our apartment. They are going to make him his own personal sized pizza, which they don't normally have on their menu but will do it for the Birthday Boy. He wants a pineapple pizza, so they will make it just the way he wants it. I'm going to make some cup cakes, chocolate with blue frosting and blue with chocolate frosting. I'm going to put some of them in ice cream cones for the children, The Boy likes them that way, and decorate them so they look more like an ice cream cone than a cupcake. The rest will be for the adults and to eat later, if we have any left over. They will have sprinkles on them. I don't know if I will put one candle in 5 cupcakes, or 5 in one cupcake, or get a number 5 candle for him to blow out. We will NOT be singing "Happy Birthday" however, because he doesn't like it and it makes him cry.

5 Maddening, and 5 Awesome things about a 5 (almost) year old.

I read an article on "Parent Dish" where the blogger listed 5 maddening and 5 awesome things about her 2.5 year old. I decided to steal her idea and use it here. In less than 3 weeks The Boy will be 5 years old so it seems appropriate at this time to think about 5 Maddening and 5 Awesome things about him.

5 Maddening Things About a 5 (almost) Year Old.

1. He can be very single minded when he has focused on something. (For example: He will say that he wants to watch PBS Kids, no other kids programming will do, not even Sprout which has all the PBS Kids shows. He won't even accept that the shows are over until next time.)

2. He is learning aggression from other kids his age. (I know that some aggression is good, it will help him not to be a door mat. But right now it's a little extreme at times.)

3. He STILL thinks that yelling about what he wants will get it for him.

4. Except for when he goes to school, he thinks he needs to be where ever I am all the time. Not attached or even in the same room, but if I go out he thinks he needs to go with me.

5. He can pick the exactly worst moment to want attention, like when I'm on the phone, or washing dishes or in the middle of a row of knitting that can't be put down until the end.

5 Awesome Things About a 5 (almost) Year Old.

1. He has a wonderful memory for stories.

2. He is starting to learn how to read. He has several sight words and is learning more.

3. He can play by himself for hours with his trains, cars, or blocks.

4. He often remembers to say "Thank you", "You are Welcome", "May I be excused", and "Excuse me" (when he burps or farts), less often he remembers to say "Please".

5. He will still climb up in my lap for a hug and kiss, or just to snuggle for a little while.

Quick Post with photos.

We've been a little busy lately, and I've been a little tired out. On Friday the Eleventh, we met with the EI teacher, a speech therapist, The Boy's teacher, and the "home educator" to discuss any assistance The Boy might need at school to help him work through and learn ways to handle school and it's stresses. The Speech therapist will see him three Thursdays a month, and the EI Teacher will see him for half an hour twice a month. An occupational therapist will come in and observe him while in normal class room activities and do whatever tests he/she feels are needed to determine if The Boy has a Sensory Processing Disorder or anything else that might be behind some of the problems he is having in class.

The week end was normal, which means that not much happened around here. Monday after The Boy got home from school we discovered that he had lost a tooth while in class. No one knows when it happened or what happened to the tooth. There wasn't any blood or a fight or any kind of bump to the mouth that might have hurried it along. It looks normal for a naturally lost tooth. It probably came out while he was eating lunch or snack and he probably swallowed it. Here's a picture of his now slightly toothless grin.

And another one that you can see the empty spot better, but I caught him with his eyes closed and looking kind of silly.

I can't believe that he's lost a tooth already! he isn't even five years old yet! Isn't it more normal for a child to loose his first tooth around six years old? Oh well, I guess we are just lucky.

We did some shopping after school yesterday, because we filed our taxes the day before and got an anticipation loan for our return. We looked at lots of things we were thinking of getting, but decided to wait until next week to make a decision. I did get a sifter and a set of nice knives, not to good professional ones Howard wants but they will do until we can afford the others. And we had a nice dinner out, with a taxi ride home.

Today it's been kind of cold, and foggy. I'm not sure it was freezing fog when we were out waiting for The Boy's school bus to come pick him up but I got these interesting pictures of what appears to be frozen droplets on spider webs.

So that's what's been going on with us for the last few days. I hope that you all are doing good.

Happy New Year!

I know, I'm a bit late. I've been going through some weird illness since the 21st. It started in the afternoon with a sore spot on the left side of my throat. When that got better I got so congested that I felt like I couldn't breath. Then the middle and back of my throat started to really bug me. After that went away I started coughing almost non stop for a couple of days. It got so bad one night that I threw up. Two days of that and then the cough stopped but the right side of my throat started to hurt. Off and on through all of this I had a fever, but there were hours, even days when I felt almost normal. Now I have a little bit of a cough left but other wise I'm feeling normal again.

The Boy was sick on Christmas Eve, and Howard developed some kind of stomach thing that sent him to the bathroom regularly. Both of them got better quickly and were their bright active selves. However, neither of them did on bit of clean up through all of it.

We had a nice Christmas, just the three of us. Howard got a new job and was able to be home for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

New Years Eve was quiet, just The Boy and I. He tried to stay up to give me my first kiss of the year but crashed in his bed (He went in and covered himself up) around 11:30. I waited the last 30 minutes and sent out text messages to people I knew were okay with getting text messages. Then I went to bed.

New Years Day The Boy and I made cookies with a mix that my "step" sister Jessica gave us for Christmas. They were good, a bit on the thin side because they spread out all over the pan, but they crisped up nice and we just finished them today.

The Boy is back in school. He wasn't sure he wanted to go back after being home for so long, but decided that the bus ride was worth it and is now happy to be back with his class.

I don't have any resolutions this year, I don't have a good track record of keeping them anyway. I'm way behind on my picture taking for one of my Flickr groups, but that's okay. I've got most of the house cleaned up, just dishes left to get done. Now we can plan for The Boy's birthday, hoping that we will get our tax return in time to get him a few nice bigger tag items, but I've heard that tax returns may be late this year so we will just have to wait and see.

I want to wish all of you who are reading this good things for 2008. Thanks for coming by and checking in on my family.

Updates, or what's been going on around here lately.

I was gently reminded that I haven't had a new informative post in a while. (Thanks little brother) I've had a bit of a cold, it's the kind of cold that makes me feel sluggish. The kind that makes even getting out of bed seem like running a marathon. Other than that, we are doing pretty well.

Aidan really likes going to school. He is doing pretty well, but is having some issues with transitions and controlling himself. The few days I've been at school with him I've noticed that a lot of the kids have similar issues, so maybe he's just a normal 4 year old. We are working on helping him find ways to work through some of it. He also may have some sensory issues. For example he doesn't like having his hair cut, or his fingernails trimmed. He screams as if we were beating him when we try. He has the same problem with brushing his teeth, but he is getting better because he doesn't want to have his teeth pulled out.

I've been knitting hats for Aidan. Trying out some recipes, mostly using lemon because I've developed a craving for lemon flavored foods. The lemon bars turned out okay the first time, but I think I may have over cooked the lemon topping. The second time I didn't cook the cookie part long enough so it was kind of doughy, and the topping was runny. The flavor, however, was wonderful both times.

Aidan would love for it to snow. But so far we've been close but not close enough. He's making his list for Santa. It includes a V-Smile pocket and games, and Thomas the Tank Engine stuff. He also asked for a game for his Daddy, but he wasn't really clear on what kind of game. We saw Santa at the Mall the other day, and Aidan just ran right up to talk to him. Luckily there weren't any other kids in line because he might have ran right past them I got a fairly good picture of him with Santa, and plan to scan it so I can post it here for you all. Other than getting Aidan's presents I have get something for my Dad, and finish up a couple of other presents. I need to get some wrapping paper and ribbon. OH! I need tape too. I'll be done after we go shopping the 18th or 19th. I have to wait until the last moment, partly because of paying the bills and rent and such, but also because if I get things too early I tend to give them early too. LOL Making gifts has helped slow me down some, I just wish I could make more of them. Maybe next year.

Photo post.

I couldn't think of anything to write about right now. I have a cold that is fogging my thoughts a little bit. So I decided to do an other photo post.

Here are some pictures of purple foods. The Boy and I loved the cauliflower, the potatoes weren't as big a hit. They had an oddly sweet taste when mashed.
When made into mashed potatoes the purple potatoes turned more blue than purple.

The color in the raw potatoes was so much nicer than the end color. No one liked them all that much, I had thought I'd make them baked next time, but they aren't worth the extra money. I wonder why they are purple and if they have different nutritional value than russets. Hmmm I guess I'll have to look them up.

Now for a few of The Boy.

Things I'm thankful for.

Today was Thanksgiving. The Husband, The Boy and I had our big dinner yesterday. I made enough food to feed 6 or 7 people, which means that I'll have plenty of leftovers in the freezer so that we can have turkey and/or ham a few times in the next few months.

I am thankful for having plenty of food to eat. To be able to feel my son when he is hungry, even if all he wants it macaroni or potatoes.

I am thankful for having enough money to pay the bills every months, even happy to live in a place to be able to run up those bills.

I am thankful for my family, all of them. Even the ones that I can't get along with for more than a couple of hours, and the ones I have nothing what so ever in common with, and the ones who's beliefs are very different from my own. They are still all MY family and I'm very lucky to have them.

I am thankful for my friends, they are really pretty wonderful people. Strong and supportive.

I'm thankful for the Internet and having this blog to be able to put my thoughts into words, and to keep track of things that are important to me.

Updates, Thanksgiving, and Knitting project.

Well, I haven't been keeping up with posts here have I? I caught a cold and haven't been feeling very well lately. I've let most things slip by without bothering to do much about them, only doing what I have to in order to keep things from totally falling apart. I think I'm on the mend now, however.

Howard, The Boy and I will be staying home for Thanksgiving. Actually Howard has to work that day so technically he will not be at home, but we aren't going anywhere for dinner. So I decided to make dinner on Wednesday so we can all be together. I'm planning on roasting a turkey, and making a ham. Howard doesn't like turkey. I'll make mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, green beans, and probably baked yams. We will have cranberry sauce, and maybe a pie of some kind, or maybe a pumpkin bread.

The Boy is still loving school, even though he had to have 4 shots in order to stay in school. (which reminds me, I have to go to the doctors to pick up his health evaluation form for school) He's getting big! He's 43.5 inches tall, and 43.75 pounds. He's catching up with the few things he was behind on, and seems a bit advanced in a few areas as well. He's showing signs of early reading skills, he's known all his letters, colors, shapes and numbers for a couple of years, and is starting to recognize words he's seen before. He is learning how letters go together to make words, and can spell a few such as stop, toy, and dog. He still prefers fruit over other sweets, but wants noodles over everything else. He's not much into eating meat most days. All of which helps him keep from getting overweight like I am. He's also a very physically active child, but not in a ADHD way. Over all the Doctor is happy with his growth, health and development.

I promised pictures of some of the knitting projects I've been doing, but I have pictures of only one of them right now. Most of the others were for The Boy, and he has them in his room somewhere. I made him several socks, 1 gold one, 2 moss green ones, and 1 red one so far. I have another red on on the needles right now, and will make the other gold one eventually. He wants me to make blues ones next. I'm using some yarn I got at Value Village, it's probably acrylic for the most part, not very quality yarn, but good enough for play socks. The gold one and the green ones are probably too thick to wear with shoes, so he can wear them around the house instead of slippers. I'll find them someday and take pictures for you all, just in case you are interested.

Here are the socks I make for my Mom. I hope she isn't reading this blog, I don't think she knows how to find it at this point so I'm probably safe. They are made from some nice brown virgin wool that she gave me. I think she said that she got it from the Thrift shop at the Senior Center where she works. She didn't know it was wool until we were looking at it and saw the label.

They have a lace panel down the back, the were done on double pointed needles and inside out. Meaning that I knit every row, except for the lace panel and the heel. When I finished them I turned them right side out, so the main body is purl while the lace and heel are knit. Some of you won't know what that means but that's okay.

Here is a close up of the lace, it's a tad blurry, but I think it gives you an idea of what it looks like.

Photo entry.

I don't have much to talk about right now. The Boy is enjoying going to Head Start. I'm knitting a lot, but some of what I'm doing are going to be gifts or at least might be gifts. I'll get around to posting what I've been knitting sometime soon. I hope. I've been using my slow cooker quite a bit, I'm going to try baked beans in a few days. I have been craving lemon curd so I'll probably make some of that soon. And ... hmm I miss The Boy more than I thought I would while he is in school. He doesn't miss me at all, however.

So, I'm 48 now.

A couple of days ago it was my 48th birthday. We rented a car, did a few things around town, got The Boy registered for Head Start, and then drove out to the Casino where Howard works for dinner. We ate in the restaurant that Howard works in, they comped our meals, which added up to be something like $70, and they got us a room! It was a nice room with a king size bed, which was good because we had The Boy with us and he takes up A LOT of room in bed. LOL We took The Boy out to Play World for an hour so we could do a little gambling. I lost $20 at the slot machines. I'm not all that excited about gambling so I was happy to leave to go get our son. We then went to the room and watched some TV and went to sleep. All in all a good day.

The night before my birthday Mark and Eileen paid for my dinner when we went out with Mom and Snowanna (and her two kids and fiance). It was nice to be with family.We went to Rocking Rogers a 50's style dinner.

Happy Birthday Cody.

Today my brother Cody turns 45. Wow, that seems old when applied to my little brother! I don't remember much about him as a baby, I was almost 3 when he was born after all. In later years we got along pretty well. These days we don't have a lot in common, except for having kids about the same age.

Cody is a good Dad to his 5 kids. He is a hard worker, and I believe that he is a pretty good husband to his wife of ... could it be 21 years, 22 in December?!

I remember When Cody started first grade. Several of my class mates had siblings in his class, so I got to hear all the gossip about him. I heard how he was always chewing on his colors and pencils. I heard that he and eaten all the erasers on his pencils, and I heard when he got in trouble for eating paste. It seems he couldn't keep things out of his mouth. LOL

I can remember one time, while riding our bikes with the neighborhood kids (if the kids from the house across the field could be called neighborhood kids), when Cody had a spectacular crash. He and one of the other boys were riding in a figure eight, going the opposite directions, and had a head on crash. Yes their front wheels crashed into each other almost perfectly! Up they went, in a reverse version of a wheelie. And I swear they smacked their backs together before they crashed to the ground in a big tangle of bikes, arms, and legs. Except for a couple of scrapes and bruises they escaped injury.

Cody seemed to be a fairly social person, he always had friends. We didn't travel in the same circles, but then we were 3 years apart in age so that makes sense. In later years I didn't pay that much attention to Cody, he seemed perfectly happy and able to take care of things for himself. He married a wonderful woman that I'm happy to call "sister".

So, I'd like to wish my little brother Cody a very Happy Birthday, even though he doesn't read this blog.

Socks.

I've been knitting again. I got some blue self striping yarn while waiting for CLGN's birthday party, The Boy picked it out himself, to make socks out of. I got a set of double pointed needles and a steel crochet hook as well. I had this pattern for kids socks from Lion Brand Yarn, it's free to download. It was easy to follow the pattern, and I liked the way the stripes turned out.

Here is the bottom/sole of the socks.

A view of his feet from the top.

I had quite a bit of yarn left over from the little Jumpers/dresses I made for SLGN and MSLG, so I started some socks for myself. The Boy decided he wanted some made out of the "Orange striped yarn" as well, so I put mine aside (they are more complicated to make than his are) and made him a pair. This yarn is just a little bit smaller/thinner than the blue was so the socks are just a little bit smaller. Enough that they slip off his heel when he wears them around the house. He loves them though so I guess they are good enough.

Just the socks.

The boy and his new socks, well the sole of one sock anyway. the grey stripe should be on the heel not below it. (sigh)

I'll take a picture of my socks when I get them done and show them to you as well. I don't have any pictures of them right now, not progress pictures or anything. Hmmm I guess I'd better get the camera out and take a few pictures. :)

A picture post.

My Sweet little Grand-Niece, now known as SLGN. Such a sweet little baby face!

Here is My Mom and SLGN.

SLGN looks kind of shocked in this one. I love it!

My Cute Little Grand-Nephew, now known as CLGN, on his third birthday. He finally agreed to allow me to take his picture. Until then he just ran away or hid his face.

The Boy and CLGN eating Pizza at the Birthday Party.



Mark's Guide Dog, Cooper, getting in the spirit of the Birthday Bash.

Mark and his Granddaughter, SLGN, looking so sweet together.

My Sister-in-law, known as Ellie to Mark's grandchildren and Aunt Ellie to The Boy and Cody's kids, holding a sleeping SLGN. This was such a beautiful scene I had to get a picture of it. My photo doesn't show them even half as beautiful as they were in real life.

SLGN sitting with the help of her Daddy. Things were so busy around us I'm lucky I got one of her looking at me!

An other of a very beautiful little girl. Yes her hair is red right now, I hope it stays red but will probably go blond for a while during her childhood.

I've been away for awhile.

I've been up at my Mom's house since ... evening of the 18th. I helped her do some more canning, we did tomatoes, beets, carrots and green beans. It was nice being up there again. Aidan love being with his Grammy and Grandaddy. He just figured out he has to share them with some other kids, and adults too. But I don't know if he knows just how many people share them. LOL

It was time to come home though. Aidan needed to have his things and his space. He was starting to push things and act out to see how far he could go. So it was time to get him back into familiar territory and get him back into his normal routines and stuff.

Besides my Mom got the flu or something and wasn't feeling well the last couple of days. My Dad's vision is getting pretty bad these days, but he was still able to bring us home. He is getting glasses that should help some, but won't make his vision "normal".

It's so nice to be back home. I love visiting my parents, don't get me wrong. I just like being home too. I don't sleep as well when I'm not home, plus I had Aidan in the bed with me. Sleeping with a 4 year old is interesting to say the least. He moves around a lot, and kicks throws his arms around and even talks in his sleep. He also had his first ever accident and wet the bed. We were upstairs rather than in the RV this time, because there were people who were going to come look at it with the possibility that they would buy it. So anyway he couldn't get to the bathroom and didn't wake me up. Not a big deal, I guess, the mattress has a water resistant cover, and it wasn't a big accident. I cleaned it as well as I could and Mom will spray it with Fabreese or something to help if it smells. I might have to put him in a over night pull up next time we are up there. Anyway, It will be nice to sleep in my own bed, and eat the food we want to eat, and do the chores I need or want to do.

I have some new pictures, I'll get around to posting some of them soon. I have some of the new little girl in our family, but I want to ask her Mom before I post them. I have good ones of Mom's cats, and even Pepper, her dog. I'll post more soon I promise.

Happy Birthday Mark!

Today is my baby brothers birthday. He turned 39 today. It's interesting to think of what I remember of his life, I'm almost 9 years older than he is. He was a cute little blonde boy, sweet and very smart. I taught him how to play chess when he was about 4 or 5 and I quit playing about a year later when he started to beat me on a regular basis. (I stopped letting him win sometimes a couple of months after he started to play.) We used to sing at Christmas, Mark and I. I remember singing "Do you hear what I hear" several times. I'm not sure if my voice was any good or not, but Mark was pretty good.

Mark has a fantastic memory for details. I don't think it's a photographic memory, but it's pretty close. If I ever get on one of those shows where you can call someone to help you answer a question Mark will be my first choice.

We seem to be interested in many of the same things, and we both like to discuss things (sometimes with a bit of heat). If I weren't Mark's sister, and we had the opportunity to meet, I think we would have been great friends. I have always enjoyed his company.

Mark, if you are reading this, I want you to know that I'm very happy that you are my brother, and I hope you think of me as a friend as well because I think of you that way. I'm very pleased that you found a woman that helps you be happy, someone who you can talk to and you don't have to worry about her understanding "Flower Beds". (Inside joke, sorry.) I hope your day is a good one, although you are probably working today. You deserve to have a Happy Birthday.

I love you little brother!

Happy Birthday Allen!

Today my sweet little curly haired, blue eyed boy turned 25! I can't believe he's already 25. I remember his blonde curls and beautiful blue eyes looking up at me full of love. I remember hugs and kisses with grubby little hands because he had been playing and just needed some Mommy love. I used to tell him my Allen love tank was getting empty and needed a refill. That would always get me some more hugs and kisses, specially strong ones to last a while.

Now he is 25. His hair is in dreads not curls, but his eyes still look at me with love. (When I get a chance to see them that is.) He is living on the other side of the country from me right now, all grown up with a life of his own. He is getting ready to got to Angola soon to work with street kids there. I'm proud of my boy, I just wish he would have found something that inspired him closer to home.

I know that he doesn't read this blog, but I still wanted to tell him that I love him.

My dear sweet Allen,

Today you are 25 years old. The years have flowed past so quickly, you've grown up. I miss you every day. I love you always. I'm so proud of you for following your conscious and doing what you think is right. I wish I could hold you, give you some hugs and kisses, and tell you that I love you more today than I did yesterday, but not as much as I'll love you tomorrow.

Have a wonderful day.

Love Mom

I'm lucky to have the family and friends I do.

I've noticed a lot of discussion lately about two subjects that are rather important to me, Breastfeeding and Adoption. Maybe I was just lucky when I was born into my family, but neither of these subjects has ever been an issue. My friends have never been anything but supportive. Even 28 years ago, when I was breastfeeding Christopher, I never ran into anyone who told me to cover up, or that I shouldn't do that in public. Of course I wasn't out in public all that often, but if my baby needed to eat and we were out, I nursed him. Maybe I was more comfortable, or my clothing fit looser, or something because I don't think anyone noticed when I'd sit somewhere quiet and nurse. When it was cold out I might cover up with a blanket, but not in the heat. Christopher was born in May, I nursed him for just over a year, so we had our fair share of warm weather. I don't remember being worried about offending other people, or looking for someplace to nurse where others wouldn't see me, but maybe I did at least subconsciously. I know that I nursed in front of family members because I can remember talking to my little cousin and telling her what I was doing. Well actually she asked me "What is he doing?" LOL

I never ran into the over zealous breastfeeding women after The Boy came along. Since I didn't give birth to him and didn't know that I could do something to start lactation, I had to feed him formula. I've heard of women who have been actually yelled at for giving their babies bottles. Again I was lucky because I never ran into any of them. I can see both sides of this issue, because I've been there. It is better for a baby to be breastfed if at all possible, however it isn't condemning a child to ill health if for some reason the Mother can't breastfeed. Some people will say that using formula is the lazy way, but for me it would have been easier to breastfeed, I hated getting up in the middle of the night to make a bottle. Picking him up, he slept right next to me in a bassinet, and latching him on would have been so much more relaxing. Some Mom's don't have it that easy, I realise that, and I really respect their decision to continue nursing even through the pain and other problems.

I've also read discussions recently about adoption. That people still feel that it should be kept secret, that there is some shame in it somehow. Again, I've been lucky. My family and friends are all very supportive of adoption. No one seems to feel that adopted children are second best, or that they aren't "really" part of the family. I know that I love The Boy as much as I love Christopher and Allen. I love them each differently, of course, because they are all very different people. But I do love them all just as much as I love the others. I love all 5 of my brother Cody's kids, and think of them as family. Some of them are adopted, but that doesn't matter to me, or to the rest of our family.

So, I've been lucky. I haven't had to face the people who would try to shame me for my decisions. I haven't had to defend my choices or describe the circumstances that led to our situation. I am very grateful for that. I am also very grateful for my family and friends who have always been supportive of me. (Even though I didn't know some of my friends today back when Christopher and Allen were babies, the friends I had then were supportive and the friends I have now are supportive. Thanks you guys!)