Such A Big Girl!

So yesterday was amazing and weird. Gweny finally outgrew her rearfacing car seat. I know this doesn't seem like a big deal but it just seems like all of a sudden she's growing up. It was fun to look in the rear veiw mirror and see her face instead of the top of a car seat. Other parents warn me that pretty soon she'll be driving and dating...at the rate she's going I think they are right.

It's been so fun to watch her grow! Each new mile stone is such an event for us. When she started to say words...well, at least try to say them, we were enthralled. Then when she started to sign it was enough to make us squeal with job. Now she mimics us and so we are constantly trying to introduce new things for her to say and mimic. She's also trying to walk. She's standing on her own and will throw herself into our arms. It's comforting to know just how much she trusts us.

Being a parent is such a huge responsibility but I would NEVER trade it. She fills us with joy beyond measure. What a blessing to have her, and all her little accomplishments, in our life.

Revise, Revise, Revise

Most people hate that word...revise. When teaching I know my students get irritated when I talk to them about revising their papers. That the first draft is NEVER the final draft. Well, I'm finally understanding that. I'm working on a book and I thought it was done, but after soem time with some friends last week I/we came up with a new audience so now I need to revise. So did I dive right in? NO. I've procrastinated. It's daunting looking at something you've written one way and realizing you have to reformat the whole thing for a completely different type of reader. I know that by doing this it will help more people but it's still frustrating. There are simply other things I want to be writing about but I know this is an important project that I need to focus on.

If I compare this to a student writing a paper...okay so my paper is going to be about 100 pages. Well, I've completed the first draft and had some peer feedback. Now that I've done that I realize that I wasn't as clear about my intention in writing the "paper" so now I have to revise. How bad do I hate my teacher right now? Kind of a lot. :) Fortunately I'm not writing this for one person, hopefully I'll be able to help a lot of people with their pets...that's the only thing that gets me through it. Now if I can just find the motivation to start again...

Teaching Our Adopted Children About Their Racial History

It is interesting to me that over the past year I have seen more white families with African American children, and this makes me happy. Why? Because we are in the same boat - My husband and I adopted a beautiful brown-eyed, black haired, brown skinned GOREGEOUS baby girl last year. As she grew older and solidified herself into our family I have begun to wonder how I will be able to teach her about her racial history. As summer finally reaches Utah the festivals have begun in full-force. There are many different ones to choose from but I still haven't found one that caters to African American history. With this racial group growing due to the local colleges and the increased interest in inter-racial adoption shouldn't we provide this kind of celebration? Everyone deserves to know about their history, whether good or bad...are these children any different? No. So as loving parents what are we going to do about it? We owe it to our children to learn about their cultural history and then teach it to them. This way they can have an appreciation for all the histories that make them...them.

In our family this will include American History - including slavery, European History, and of course African culture. We also plan on teaching her about the Southern states, where she was born. We hope that this will give her a sense of identity, a feeling of belonging in this big wide world we live in. As part of her learning process we will also attend as many cultural events and festivals as possible, hopefully we will have an African Festival sometime in the near future...how fun would that be!