A MOMMY & BRODY WEEKEND

Rick left early Thursday morning to fly to Portland for our friend's wedding. Brody and I were lucky enough to have an awesome weekend just the two of us. We began a little early on Wednesday night making some freezer jam and then some Citrus Sugar Cookies. I got the recipe from another blog and thought it sounded good so we tried it. The intent was to make them for my visiting teaching ladies, but too much goodness and they got eaten up. Whoops. Brody was a big help measuring and tasting. He loves to scoot the barstool up to the island and be my helper. I hope that never goes away.

One of my treasures from growing up was a green backpack filled with Strawberry Shortcake dolls and Star Wars figurines. Now, these aren't your dolls or figurines from the second go round of these items coming out in the stores, these are the original ones from the early 80s. I wasn't a big doll girl when I was little so my Strawberry Shortcake dolls, for the most part, are in pretty good condition. Most of the dolls still have that plastic thing around their head and the little tag that holds the hat on. I mostly played with the Star Wars toys. Well, they've been hidden for a while and Brody found them. I am totally secure with Brody's masculinity -- if you have such a thing at two -- so I indulged him and he played with them for a while.

(Brody is trying to ride the little bike ;)

Friday I didn't have to work and I just had few errands to run, so we headed into Prescott. I was driving by Peter Piper and decided what the heck. Brody was so funny. I'm not sure who came up with the idea of having arcade games and tokens with prizes at a place where kids are supposed to eat. After a little bribery, Brody ate a couple bites of cheese bread and some salad(This kid will not eat pizza) and so we headed to the games.

Brody indulged me with the skee-ball. Must be from my Show Biz days or something. I decided he is a little too young for it because after a couple times of him rolling the ball up and it coming back, he decided he was going to climb up and huck it in.

(Brody's loot)

We ended our day with a little Sonic ice cream run and Brody's favorite movie, "Bee Movie." He never has been a big tv watcher, but for some reason he is infactuated with this movie. He's is getting to the point where he says the lines. "Breakfast is ready." I think my favorite is "Lookin' Sharp." He is really turning into a little boy.

Saturday was just as busy as the rest of the weekend. The summer library program came to an end and they had a big party at the park where if you read 15 minutes a day or read to your child 15 minutes a day, they would receive free books. They had a band and a magician, hot dogs, chips and soda. Brody was so excited and kind of methodical about choosing his books. Three of the five were about dogs.

Kristi and her kids were there and they love to play with Brody. They always get him all wound up.

I think this was Brody's favorite part of the day. He loves babies.

Today in church -- I survived by myself -- I had a lot of thoughts running through my head. It didn't help when we sang Come Come Ye Saints. Since the trek last summer, everytime I sing that song or hear it, my emotions just get the best of me. Brody has been talking a lot about a baby sister. Sometimes adoption is hard. I feel so very blessed to have adopted Brody. I'm so grateful that his birth mom had the courage to place him with us and I love being his mother. I do wish sometimes that I didn't have to wait for people to choose us so that we can be parents. It's a little hard. Tonight, as I put Brody in bed and we were reading stories, he picked one up called Jesus and the children. Our conversation went as follows:

Me: Who is that? Brody: Jesus. Me: Do you know Jesus? Brody: Yeah. Hold me. Jesus hold me. Too tight. Me: Jesus held you too tight? Brody: Yeah. Hug. Me: He hugged you? Brody: Me. Baby sister.

I tried to get a little more information but by that time he was ready to move onto Goodnight Moon. I know that the Lord is aware of my desires and my aches. I'm grateful for this little boy and the wonderful time we have spent one-on-one this weekend. I know he is a special spirit and he is such a great kid. I really feel blessed. I look at my life and know that the Lord loves me and wants me to be happy. I'm grateful for the gospel. I don't even want to think of what my life would be without it. I know in due time we will be able to adopt another child. Sometimes you just want something now instead of later.