Trial Run

We made a quick weekend trip to our new country home for a job interview. (Fingers crossed.)  Within an hour we were geared up and headed out to collect eggs and close things up for the night.

Sara really wants to hand feed the cow but she won't get any closer than that.  She tried throwing grass to it but it wouldn't tetch (catch).  In all fairness, that thing has some pretty big horns.

Thursday morning found us hanging outside and doing a little gardening.  Life is just a little slower in the country.  


My dad got all Pinteresty on us.  Pretty much everything we need for summer salads.  Now if only we could grow avocados.  We'd could have some amazing guac.



Sara is reading her family book to Grandpa.  What could be better than a book full of pictures of her favorite people?  Thanks Gigi's Playhouse Tinley Park for the literacy tutoring.  She'll be a reader yet!


Cribbage.  A game learned at my grandparents' kitchen table.  A tradition we are carrying on at my parents' kitchen table.  I can't wait until the day that Sara can learn to play.



Sara has a new favorite store.  Target has been eclipsed by Tractor Supply.  After all, the carts are WAY cooler.  (And, of course, grandpa lets her ride standing up.)  She was very disappointed to learn that they don't sell baby chicks in June.  I guess she'll have to wait until next Easter to get some more.


Saturday morning brings farm chores.  My dad has some great ideas for marketing the little farm and our meat and eggs.  In order to make that happen, some major barn clean up needs to happen.  Dad, Rob, Sara and I spent a couple of hours cleaning out and shoveling up.  We got a lot done and set some goals for our next Saturday together.


This is what Sara put on when I told her we were going to work in the barn.  She even brought some gold fish out with her.  Clearly, we need to work on this new farm vocabulary starting with what "chorin' clothes" are.


The self-appointed supervisor.  Her break was definitely longer than her work.


She did do a little work.  She's actually pretty good with a shovel.  We might have to find her a smaller one, though.  (After these pictures she declared she needed a bath and headed inside to hang out with Nana.)  


My dad and I had a long discussion on the pick up truck and if Sara could ride in it.  (I still need to look up the laws.)  We decided she would be ok if she was in the middle where there was no air bag and she was in her booster seat.  She loved it.  She could see so much up there.  She also liked having easy access to the steering wheel and rear view mirror.  (We had to have a nice chat about how Grandpa doesn't really need help steering.)  She liked the front so much that when we returned to the truck, she snatched her seat and slid it over to the driver's seat.  She was determined she was going to drive home.


She's also a big fan of the hills in NY.  Every time she sees on approaching, she throws her arms in the arm and yells weeeeee!!!  She was definitely made for country life.

Moving On

So, I realize that I have not updated in forever.  Months and months.  Please tell me it hasn't been a year...

I really started to struggle with what to tell and what to protect.  I want to portray adoption honestly but I also need to keep my baby's best interest at the forefront of everything I do.  Especially since I stupidly used my name when I started this blog long before adoption was even on my radar.  I just haven't known what to share.  But, I'm going to try to resurrect the blog with a slightly different angle.  At least for now.

I grew up in a small town.  That's really where I'm most comfortable.  After college, I moved to Chicago and then left that for the suburbs about 9 years ago.  In so many ways, I've grown up here.  I am certainly not the scared 22 year old that moved here from small town NY and a corn field in OH.  But the time has come to move on.

In a few short weeks, little Missy and I will be moving here:

Definitely going to be different than where I've been for the last five years:

And nothing like where the munchkin spent the first 4 1/2 years of her life:

It'll be so hard to say goodbye.  My last day at my job is Tuesday.  My job is exhausting on every level possible but I love my students and my co-workers have been my family here for the last 13 years.  I still can't even process what life after E will look like.  

I worry about Little Missy's adjustment.  She has moved so many times in her young life.  She has bonded so well.  (Sometimes it feels like too well.  She stays with no one but my parents.)  I know that long-term this move will be so good for her but she doesn't really understand what the next few months hold.  She loves school and she is so loved there.  We have our Gigi's friends and a great babysitter.  She adores my friends here and they have all been unbelievably accepting of her.  So much change for a little heart that has already lost so much.  

Even though there are probably a hundred reasons to stay, I know there are a million to go.  Many of them being the tears that my daughter sheds when we pull into our driveway after a visit at my parents' house.  She knows that Nana and Grandpa are far away.  And she's not ok with it.  She loves them and their animals and country life in general.  Our reasons for moving:

The next step on Life's Amazing Journey is taking us to the country and my parents' small farm.  I can't wait to update about life in the country and how this little girl thrives with fresh air, animals and lots of space.  

And, who knows, maybe this move will lead to some other big announcements in the future.  Stay tuned....