This past weekend, our little family of three traveled south to Jackson to visit some very special people. Russ and I decided to make a whole weekend out of it, and we booked a hotel room. We wanted to be sure (or as sure as one can be with a 17 month old) that Millie Janalee was well-rested and that we had time to unwind.
Saturday morning, we met our friends and, what I would consider, family at a local restaurant in the Fondren area. Then we had plans to spend the afternoon at the Children's Museum. It was a special day.
You see, it was a day we spent with Millie Janalee's birthparents.
We enjoyed a fabulous lunch at a table filled with Bethany babies, birthparents, and adoptive parents. A table filled with laughter. A table filled with smiles. A table filled with conversation. And a table filled with
love. So many ask,
"What's it like? Is it awkward? What do y'all talk about?" The answer is no, it's not awkward. We talk about Millie Janalee and us and them. Life basically. The only way I know to answer that is,
"It just fits." My adoption worker always told us when we asked questions about open adoption that no one really understands until they are in it. Every family is different. And by family, I am also talking about Millie Janalee's birthparents. Thank God for our family! We are blessed by them, and I hope they are blessed by us.
After a wonderful and long lunch of talking and catching up, we all loaded our cars and headed toward the Children's Museum. Wow! How fun! I highly recommend you visit if you are ever in the Jackson area. We were there until closing and we still never saw it all. Maybe not even half of it. We will have to go back for sure!
The thing about taking a 17 month old to a wide open area FULL of activites and themed areas and cars and building things and race tracks and gas pumps and balls and books and tunnels and...you get the idea. The thing about taking a young toddler is that they want to go see it all. Millie Janalee flitted from one thing to the next. There was so much for her little eyes to see and her little hands to touch. Ha! Russ and I wanted to stay and play, but we followed her lead most of the time.
She did have a few favorite areas. The race track was certainly one of them. She was fascinated by the fast toy cars zooming down the track. She even raced her own cars with a little help. Watching Daddy race cars was just amazing. Ha!
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| "On your mark, get set, GO!" |
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| "How fast will it go, Daddy?" |
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| "Wow." |
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| "Oooooh. That was super fast!" |
She enjoyed climbing in and out of the real life car by the kid-operated gas pump. The kids could jump in and "drive" if they wanted. There were no doors to catch fingers. Very kid-friendly.
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| "Hmmm. How can I lift my little leg in there?" |
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| "Unleaded please." |
Surprisingly, she loved the safety and construction area as well. She began putting her own little hard hat on, and I helped her with her safety vest. There was a crane nearby where we watched some kids lift huge foam concrete blocks from one spot to another. I'm not sure what they were building, but it looked official.
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| "Safety first." |
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| My little construction worker |
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| "Let's go build something!" |
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| "Or we could just walk around blindfolded." |
The big John Deer truck was a love/hate activity. She loved climbing the stairs to get to the top. Then, when she reached the top she would be literally shaking. Maybe she has inherited my fear of heights. Regardless, we spent several minutes going up and down and up and down the stairs while Russ scraped his elbow and scuffed his shoes going down the kid slide head first.
(No pictures. Sorry.) Oh my!
As we moved downstairs, we found a quiet little area with fewer distractions. Ha! She loved crawling through this little tunnel. It was also a little reading corner where she was able to read books. And the huge Scrabble board where her birthmother and I scrambled to find enough letters for her long name. Ha! And when we had finally finished, she would have no part in taking a picture sitting next to it. I managed to sneak one
(the first picture in this post).
We found more tunnels in the "cave area". It was a little darker, so I was surprised she even tried it. It took some warming up though. Warming up included watching herself pout in the mirrors just to make sure she was doing it right. Ha! This is where her naptime entered...or her usual naptime.
We didn't leave until 3 hours later. Ha!
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| Going under the tunnel with Daddy |
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| Silly Daddy! |
Another favorite area was the water station. There were water guns and underwater bubbles and fishing, etc. She couldn't reach it all, so she mainly just enjoyed putting her hands in the way of the water as it sprayed out. And I let her. Because it was past her naptime. And it was fun.
The huge digestive system. There's a story. It is this huge tunnel/maze type thing where you crawl through the digestive system. There are loud and disgusting noises as you pass from one part of the digestive system to the other. I went through it. And it was NOT easy! Thankfully a little girl behind me kept me going and gave lots of helpful advice like,
"Ooooh! Someone pooted!" Millie Janalee went down the slide with her birthmother, and I heard her squeals of excitement as she made her final descent. She and her little friend enjoyed the cushy mats at the end. Ha! We had to keep moving them as kids slid down the slide.
We continued our way around stopping here and there. I thought this was such a neat area. You ride a stationary bike watching a screen that shows what you are biking through.
(You know, like on The Proposal with Sandra Bullock?) As you bike, the skeleton next to you bikes too. I guess it's connected to the other bikes, because the skeleton bikes at the exact speed you do.
We neared closing time with our last two stops. These last two were certainly some of our favorites. Millie Janalee grabbed her grocery bag and went shopping. You could shop for your fruits and vegetables, scan them, and bag them. So cute. She had fun picking up the fruits as we called them out. And let's be honest. She had the most fun talking on her "banana phone" to her friends.
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| Picking up some pears for supper tonight. |
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| "Hello? Oh. Okay. Byyyye!" |
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| "That peach tastes good." Hopefully we won't be infected with flu germs from tasting the fruits. |
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| "Here's you an orange, Mama." |
Our final stop was the dance and music room! Oh, how I wish she had found this area before she got so sleepy. Right up her alley! She would have put on a major show! I could NOT believe that she didn't dance all over the place in the dance room filled with mirrors and great music. She did have a ball with all the instruments though. She has music in her blood and in her raising!
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| Little Drummer Girl |
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| Playing the pipes with Daddy |
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| Baby Beethoven |
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| Boom. Boom. Boom. |
It was a fun-filled Saturday that wore her out! It wore me out too. Ha! We hugged each other and said our goodbyes in the parking lot before loading up and heading out. She was sacked out before we even left the parking lot.
I am so grateful for the relationship we have formed with Millie Janalee's birthparents. It is amazing to see how God works through different journeys. How He brings people together. How he plans every relationship. I am glad that Millie Janalee will have these pictures and stories of days spent as a family...a full extended-like family. Days spent covered in love from everyone who had a part in her beginning. If she has questions, she will be able to have answers. She will never have to wonder. Her birthparents can see her thriving and see the love that surrounds her. They can see how much she's changed from
our previous visit.
And I know we are blessed!
Russ and I made plans to make a surprise visit to some dear friends. Pat and I planned to surprise Felicia with a visit from Russ and I...and supper. She is currently on complete bedrest at 26 weeks pregnant. She has a ways to go, but they are all in good spirits. With two little ones and a hard-working hubby, we were delighted to provide one meal during our weekend visit. Millie Janalee finished up her nap, and I finally woke her up around 7:00 so she wouldn't stay up all night. She was worn out! Ha!
Millie Janalee and the boys enjoyed playing around with boy toys like dump trucks and race cars and swords and such. And the adults enjoyed catching up and relaxing on the couch watching football. You know you have priceless friendships when you feel comfortable enough to take off your shoes and lay on the couch as soon as you arrive. Great friendships and future marriage?
I'm so thankful for these relationships. God is good!
