1) Is the Easter Bunny Real -- 2) Why didn't anyone tell me about the whole carrots at Easter thing? How cute...

Yesterday I had the pleasure of joining Ry for lunch at his school.  At one point during our meal two of his classmates got into a very heated discussion...about the Easter Bunny. 


"There is NO such thing as the Easter Bunny.  It's just adults dressed in a costume."
"No, that's not true.  The Easter Bunny came to my house.  I left a carrot out for him and he ate it.  He's definitely real."
"NO HE'S NOT REAL.  It was probably an adult in a costume that ate the carrot.  My mom told me the Easter Bunny was just a lie."
"Ryland's Mom, did you hear him?  Is the Easer Bunny real?"


My answer "Well, he's real at our house.  I don't know if he goes to everyone's house, but he came to ours."
Ryland had to chime in "He came to our house because we are so good and had good behaviors."


I was perplexed...how were these sweet, innocent kids already arguing about this?  I have the friends that don't lie to their children, so they have no Santa, EB, Tooth Fairy, etc... but we are not those parents.  And I can't even imagine being one of those parents.  I want to let my kid be a kid for as long as he possibly can.  I understand the other side though...I get it.  What I don't get is why if you were a parent that chooses not to believe...why...why...wouldn't you talk to your kids about not ruining it for the other children that do?  The children that still believe in something.  Why is it ok for you to take that away?  It isn't.  It's your business what you take away from your own children, but don't...I repeat...DO NOT take anything away from my child. 

In the famous words of Bon Qui Qui...

Easter Snaps

Ry & Pop @ Tyler & Leah's for Easter

Baby T

So proud of his eggs and I was so proud that he didn't make a mess!

Too much celebrating for Chand and Talon...

Confetti Eggs

Ryland & Nyah

The Stone's

Ry, Nyah & Grandpa

A few pics from yesterday

At the bank setting up Ryland's Savings Account!  His first deposit!

Signing his name on the back of the check

My sweet little nephew puked on me :(

I'm so over...

I know that most of you won't agree with me.  These are just the opinions of Cortney.  Hope I don't lose any friends over this...especially the Twilight comment, I know it's risky.  I'm DONE with the following...don't want to hear about it anymore.

Lindsay Lohan - Tired of it...don't want to hear about her anymore.  Gag.
Lady Gaga - Too much for me.  There is a time and a place to entertain and it's not 100% of the time.  There is just something disturbing to me about how whenever in public she is always in full-on ridiculous get up.  Please.  The whole idea of being different is cool, but you take it to an extreme - which is not cool...it's just weird.
Charlie Sheen - What can I say?  Total Train Wreck?  The whole #winning/warlock thing was pretty hilarious for a minute, but it's just sad now.  I feel for you, yes, but so tired of hearing about you.
Twilight - Please...please...no more of it.  I'm anti-vampires.  Period.  (Sorry Mom)
Octo-Mom - Again...total train wreck.  As the saying goes...you made your bed...
Miley Cyrus, well the whole Cyrus Family - Still not sure how you got so lucky to begin with.  Whether you like it or not (you signed up for this gig), a ton of little girls look up to you...straighten up!
DWTS - So over it...I hope this is the last season...
Chris Brown - Are you serious?  How can you be mad that people aren't just focusing on your music?  Sorry if your career is ruined, but I think it comes with the territory.  You beat a woman.  It's just not something we're over yet.

What are you so over???

-Cort

Sometimes you gotta live in the moment

Little man had a rough day at school yesterday, but had a great day today.  After school he really wanted us to play soccer.  He had already decided that he and I would be the "good" team, we'd wear blue and my number would be 7 and his would be 8.  Papa and Sadie would make up the "bad" team...numbers not yet determined.  Sadie is currently on the injured list due to her minor paw setback on Sunday, but she would be there, cheering Papa on.  Then the unthinkable thing happened...it rained.  Darn I was looking forward to the whole big socks with shorts thing...oh well, there's always tomorrow.  So we decided to head to the movie theater to catch a flick and grab some dinner.  Even though Ryland already saw Hop with his Oma & Opa, he just had to see it again.  After all, Easter is almost upon us!  We had a fun night, ate too much pizza, sang "I Want Candy" through the parking lot, got home late and missed bath time...sometimes you have to just live in the moment!  It nights like this that remind me of that.  My schedule, routine, policies and procedures will still be here tomorrow!

Take a look at my little EB!

Two Hearts For Hope - bringing hope to the orphans of Kazakhstan

Please consider helping save the earth while providing new windows for children in UST- Kamenogorsk. All proceeds will go towards the window redo project!

New Reusable shopping bags!

http://www.twoheartsforhope.org/shop.html

April Snaps

At the Frisco Rough Riders Baseball Game

Snack Time

He loves cotton candy

Ry and his friends from school

Family Day @ Great Wolf Lodge - Ready for some fun at the waterpark!

Ry & Pop

Ready to eat

from Ry's angle

Ryland LOVES watermelon!

Air Hockey with Papa!

Ry loved, loved, loved Great Wolf Lodge!

Family Day

For Ryland's "Gotcha Day", we've decided to celebrate April 15th (the day we first met Ryland) every year and call it Family Day.  This is a VERY important day and the first day things 'got real' during our adoption journey.  We found him.  We found what we had known was there.  Granted, he came in a totally different package than we had thought...you know, because we thought we knew it all!!

This kid is flat out amazing.  When you think about what he has learned, experienced, embraced, loved, ate, etc. in a year it's almost ridiculous.  Dustin and I couldn't be any prouder!

On April 15th, 2010 our lives were FOREVER changed.  We met our son.  A quiet, shy boy who quickly blossomed into a healthy, happy not quiet or shy AT ALL, slightly bigger little boy.

Beaming with Pride,
Cort & Dust

One year ago...our first day of bonding.

A year later!  Happy Family Day!

Avoidance?

I have been overwhelmed by all the Facebook posts I've seen this week about the Dateline special "The Boy From Baby House 10".  The posts say that it is a moving piece that will jerk at your heart strings...you will cry your eyes out.

As I am intrigued, I'm avoiding it like the plague. 

Why?

Is this a normal process that I'm going through?  It doesn't seem like it.  Seems like every other adoptive parent that I know watched this and was forever moved by it.  I can't.  I just can't right now.  I'm not strong enough.  It's just too fresh in my mind.  Although I feel terrible for even admitting this...  Right now, it's just easier for me to stay in a bubble.  A "Happy Adoption Stories Only Bubble".  I can't think about all the orphans around the world, near and far.  I just can't.  I want to.  I want to help.  I want to advocate.  I want to make a difference.  But I just can't right now and I don't know why.

On to the next one...or not?

It’s that time again…time for Dustin and I to figure out what the best move will be for Ryland next year. There are pros and cons to each option. Being a parent is mentally, emotionally and physically exhausting. We think about it constantly. It rears its head in everything.


Here are the facts:

• He’s adorable.

• We met Ryland almost a year ago.

• He spoke NO English when we met him.

• He knows all his letters & all his numbers.

• He can orally count to 100 and can write all numbers to 100.

• He knows the sounds of all letters.

• He knows tons of sight words and is starting to sound out words.

• Can read easy books with assistance.

• Starting to write sentences on his own (of course his fave is…I like to play hockey.)

• He is a very young Kindergartener…one of the youngest.

• He had no structure before Kindergarten…no pre-school, daycare, etc.

• He’s silly, goofy, funny and a cut-up in general. He loves to run, dance and be on the go.

• Did I already mention he’s adorable?



He’s right there…he’s right on the cusp. We’re just not sure what to do. Do we push him into 1st grade and continue to work hard at getting him caught up? We know it will be a struggle and challenge for him. Or, do we let him repeat Kindergarten and get a firm grasp on the fundamentals? Will he be bored? What will this do to his behavior during school?

These are the thoughts swirling around in our heads constantly.

Everybody lide biiiiiiiiiikkkkeesss

Things have been going pretty good lately. I can't complain. The last 5 days have been fun and drama free at the Stone house. Ry has been doing better at school (I hope typing this doesn't jinx us) and we've been having a blast. Lately his most popular request when he's had a good day at school is to have a family bike ride. My favorite part is how randomly at some point during our adventure he loudly says how much fun he is having and how much he loves "my family". It amazes me how much this kid can love. It's overwhelming. He is a mountain of love in this small, little body. He's going to change lives with that heart of his; he's changed Dust and I forever.

Ok, ok...enough of the sappy stuff. He's still a total crack-up and says something funny about every 30 minutes. I really need to keep track of all of this. Today's winner was:

A song that he sang to us in the car. The first time he's sang a song with his own made up lyrics....of course it was about hockey. Something about hockey, goalies fighting, penalties, power plays, crossbars, refs fighting, pull the goalie - pull the goalie and scoring goals. He could talk day and night about hockey...and now he can also sing about it.

- Cort

The Stone Fam

I came home from work last week and the house was quiet!  I found Ry and the babysitter sitting at the table.  He had fallen asleep during snack time!

I can ride my bike with no training wheels...no training wheels!

I'm faster than Mama!

Dustin with our new nephew

Baby Talon

Great day at school today - so, we celebrated!

First time on Go-Karts with Papa showing him the ropes

I got this!

No hands!  I guess he thought it was a roller coaster!

Mini-golf...was a challenge.  He kept trying to hit the ball like it was a hockey puck.  Happy Gilmore!

Round 2 - Ryland & Mama

D&C