Sponsored by "S"

Slacker - Since the "birth" of my blog, I don't think I've ever gone 8 days without writing. No wonder I've felt this odd sense of...loss...lately. I've missed my blog and yours if you have one that I know about. (Speaking of which, if you have a blog I don't know about, please enlighten me! I love following other people's stories). I'm guilty of not only being slacker writer, but a slacker stalker as well.

I do have good reason though, because "S" is also for:

Sick - really, really sick. Me, not Cubby - although he has had the sniffles a few times and has had to do his breathing treatments again. I've mentioned in a few posts that I hadn't been feeling well but what I didn't say was that this has been going on pretty much nonstop since the day after Ilya's baptism (September 28). The past 4 days is the longest stretch of feeling somewhat human that I've enjoyed since that beautiful September day, so I really hope it lasts!

Stress and Sleep - one I've had too much of, and the other I'm seriously lacking. Can you guess which is which? :-) Some of the stress is self imposed, most I have absolutely no control over but both I need to "get over" if I want the blessed (and much needed) sleep to return!

Okay, those were a few of the negatives. If you've followed my blog for awhile, you know I say there is something positive in every situation. To honor that, "S" represents...

Surprise! Earlier this week, Norm had a huge surprise in store for me. Ilya & I got home expecting to go through the normal routine, only to find out daddy had other plans in mind. He had drawn a super hot, melt the skin off your body, bath for me and let me relax as long as I wanted/needed while he cooked dinner and enjoyed Ilya duty. He called me on the way home to get my ETA, so he would know exactly when to start running the water for me. He even went so far as to dig out the aromatherapy candles and have them lit when I walked into the bathroom to change. Very nice, much needed and truly appreciated.

Super Sweet Moments - Cubby surprised me with some really sweet moments this week as well. Adoptive parents wait for moments like these, and hold tightly to them when they do happen. I hope I can give these moments the justice they deserve, because they really are very special.

The first happened when Cubby surprised me with an unsolicited, non bribed hug. He was sitting in my lap watching TV, and all of a sudden he just turned and looked at me straight in the eyes. We stayed like that for a few seconds, and I told him I loved him and gave him a little peck on his nose. He threw his little arms around my neck and latched on more tightly than he ever has. It was very, very sweet and I got tears in my eyes. But the best part was that he didn't just squeeze my neck and let go. No, instead he stayed like that for a full 5 minutes. (I was watching the clock because I was waiting for a call.) I thought for sure he had fallen asleep but he was wide eyed the entire time. Wide eyed and content just to be in his momma's arms. I held him in that hug until he leaned back and looked me in the eyes again, and this time he gave me a peck on the nose, then snuggled back into the crook of my arms and started watching TV again.

The second happened when I dropped him off at daycare yesterday. I rarely, if ever, wear a skirt because of this lovely tatoo I have on my right ankle. (When you're 20, you really don't have a concept of just how long "forever" or "permanent" is!) I digress...for whatever reason I did wear a skirt to work yesterday. When I dropped Cubby off, his classmates kept coming up & touching my legs while I was trying to take his coat off. Ilya was NOT happy at all with their interest in me. He started yelling "No No No! Me Momma!!" Then he politely (not so much!) pushed the other kids away from me and latched on to my legs, all the time saying "Me Momma! Me Momma!" This is the first time he's identified me as his, and I soaked in every minute of it. Today the first thing out of his mouth when he saw he classmates was "Me Momma!!" followed by a huge hug!

Sap - Yeah, I am a sap because reliving these two events with my son has me all teary eyed again!

There's more to share with you after taking an 8 day sabbatical, but I'll sign off for now. I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season! I'll do better writing and blog stalking everyone!

Toodles!