Girls Just Wanna: Minneapolis

Keys Diner had the best banana granola pancakes!

Liked this lighting detail with the cords shooting through the wood panels. 

Girls just wanna have fun! And that's just what we did with Gramma Debby in Minneapolis last week! Ate dinner at the lovely French Meadow Bakery and Cafe in Uptown, Keys Diner twice, stayed at the W Hotel, and got our kitchen cabinets from Ikea. We had a blast until you (Little Hens) got  a fever of 103.5 and were totally sick. It was still a great trip. I would love to go back and explore the city more! 

Weekend Warriors: Kitchen Cabinets

Well, okay. So the real weekend warrior is not in the photos above. That would be dear 'ol Ababayeh who is plumbing our kitchen sink as I type on this fine Sunday evening in Kansas City. We are both exhausted and ready to get the water back on, clean up, and hit the hay. Still workin' though. His most recent quote was, "Hey! At least we aren't paying someone to do this!" 

The first photo is the assembled cabinets in the living room, but they have all settled into the kitchen now. The bright blue color is the film, too bad its not the color of the cabinets, eh?

Besides working hard we have had some fun. Saturday morning we took a family bike ride on Cliff Drive to this new coffee shop on the Avenue with friends. Best part being Tegegne riding his very-own-big-guy-no-training-wheel-bike the whole way and back! It was so fun to ride alongside him and see his deep concentration and little legs spinning so fast! 

We are so glad to have Taryn and Micah back from their honeymoon to Spain! I'll have them "guest blog" so you can see some of there photos! 

Love, 

WM (Warrior Mama)


P.S. Hensley, sorry your teething again. I really hope 2 am comes and goes tonight without notice! 

Need One?: Pocket Man Friend

If you're lost without a manly man by your side, here's your solution.

This pocket manfriend is called Eric. Graphic designer, bike enthusiast, vegetarian. Combs his beard. Collects vintage armchairs. 

Take him anywhere with you for moral support. Lend him to a friend in need of a bearded companion. All the best bits about a manfriend in a pocket-sized format for portability.

Don't be shy, introduce yourself to Eric's friends... Craig, Dominic, Nicholas, Ray and Kenneth are very sociable chaps who also hang about in my shop.


Purchase here! 


P.S. Also love this Boyfriend Girlfriend Pillow Set!


(I know...this is totally random. I just thought it was so funny. )

Our Guest Post: For Polly's Blog

Here is what we wrote for Polly's blog...a bit of a "what's-on-our-minds" update:


Hello there friends! 
We are the Joneses. Michael, Kristyn, Tegegne and Hensley. Polly asked that we blog-swap and share a bit of our story with you! Thanks for reading! We started our blog at the beginning of our adoption process and wrote letters to our son-to-be. Those letters to our son allowed us to bond with him before we knew him, just as a mother does with the child in her womb. Bringing Tegegne home (January 2010) was an incredible journey that we continued to write about. We thought we wanted to adopt all of our children, but decided to try for a biological child too. This past February, Hensley Ruth joined the family. Life is full and we love it!

(Tegegne is all boy...wild and adventurous...which explains the goose egg on his head!) 

Michael and I were sitting in church a few weeks ago and I could tell we were thinking the same thing. Afterwards we agreed that we both had adoption on our minds again. A few days ago, Tegegne randomly asked, "Mommy, are we going to adopt again?" (This threw me totally off guard!) "Well, we are thinking about it...why?" "I think we should because it's a new day and the sun is shining!" (What? It's a new day and the sun is shining? To me this response sounded like God speaking through my 4 year old...saying, what is stopping you? It's a new day...and the sun is out! When we started our last adoption process it was clear that God sent us on that wild journey. Michael and I are considering our next adoption the same way. Hoping to get a few "signs" that it's the right direction, because like most things we do...timing, finances, etc...don't always line up! God can be clear about something and it requires our faith to proceed. 

Anywho, we are still blogging about our day-to-day, pregnancy-labor-newborn-solid food...ya know the baby stuff, potty training, our adoption story and conversations with Tegegne, renovating our historic home in an urban neighborhood, and all the fun stuff we do in between! 

Here are a few more highlights:

Meeting Tegegne!

Meeting Birth Mom

Our Adoption (This was on of our first of many posts about our adoption. Either you read the journey backwards, or start here and go forward.)

And a few more photos:

Thanks again and have a lovely day!

Kristyn

A Guest: Learn and Go by Polly

Hey There Bicycle Basket Readers!

My name is Polly and I'm excited to blog swap with the Micheal and Kristyn! I'd love for you to swing by my blog, Learn and Go when you have a chance. I describe it as a "blending of creativity, frugality, home, life and family."

About four months ago, we had our first kiddo, Adelyn. (click here for the whole story) Every day has been an adventure... some more exciting than others :)

In my spare time, I like to sniff out good deals, be crafty, re-purpose old furniture, sew, and of course hop around in blogland. Here's a sneak peak of some projects you can read more about at Learn and Go.

My Changing Table Makeover for the Nursery

A Dinky Dresser that I Snazzed Up

Some Sewing Tutorials I've Put Together

Yummy Recipes

And of course, lots of baby and mama stuff...

Hope you can follow along as we Learn and Go through this crazy life!

Saturday Morning: Hensley and the Boys

Hey what's up out there? It's Hensley here. Just hanging with my dad and bro this mornin'.  Dad likes to take us to soccer games on Saturday mornings. That way he gets us to himself, and mom gets to chill (ya know, blog, drink hot tea, read a book in bed...) We also get to stop at the donut shop on the way to the games. Too bad no one ever offers me a donut. Someday, someday. 

Whelp, check ya later. Have a great weekend. I'm headed to the Twin Cities with my mom and Grandma on Sunday. Can't wait for our girls trip!

Love,

Hens

Friends: Adopting & Selling

1. So these dear friends of ours are near the best part of their Ethiopian adoption...traveling to bring their son home! It's also the hardest part because their timeline to travel has changed and is still not concrete. They have met their son in Ethiopia, got to feed him his first solid food, and had to come home and wait. If you would please, pray for Aaron and Heather and dear Baby Arthur! May they reunite soon!

Adorable Baby Arthur...in pink!

2. On a bittersweet note...they are also moving out of Kansas City back to their homeland of Texas. We are seriously sad about this, but I know that as new parents they will love being near their family. So, here's another way we can help them...


3. Buy their cute house in the darling Brookside neighborhood...OR tell a friend who may!

More photos here!

4. Did I tell you that Arthur's nursery (or Stateside Vintage Suite) was published on Apartment Therapy's ohdeedo? (Aaron is a musician and artist, and Heather is a graphic designer and artist too!)



5. Lastly, you have to check out Aaron and his pals' band: The Himalayan Adventure League!


We love you Hales!!!

Halloween: Costumes

book.

We are reading Ant and Honey Bee to get us psyched up for Halloween this year! It's a cute little book about a pair of friends getting their costume ideas and trick or treating. So Tegegne, last year you asked to be a cow, so you were a cow that made chocolate milk. This year you have asked to be a horse or a bird. We thought a cardboard airplane would be fun too. While wrestling with Ababayeh he noticed that you have quite a good growl with a rolling tongue and all, so that makes me think you'd like being a monster. I think Little Hens could be a monster too.


How about something along these lines...

pottery barn kids.

My two favorite costumes as a child were Rainbow Brite and Punky Brewster!

Do you remember yours?


More cute costumes for kids:
1. Super Hero (kids can make!) 
2. Gnome
3. Joker
4. Scuba diver

Baby costumes:
1. Little Lambs
2. Spring Chicken
3. Max 

Hensley Ruth: What Just Happened?

Hensley Ruth, you are seven months old and you just peed and pooped in the big potty! Holy cow! This has your mother so excited and proud! You peed in the big potty last week too!


So, am I crazy? Maybe. (Crazy for the midwest, but if I lived in San Francisco, I may be normal!)  I've been sitting you on the big 'ol toilet just after you eat (because I noticed that is usually when you go) and after the second time I sat you there, you went pee. It was quite interesting to see your little mind and body work. 


I just ran into this article from the NY Times on infant potty training and I totally need to read more! Wish I would have heard of this stuff earlier. Watch out, this mommy is full speed ahead and going to be finished scooping poop out of those cloths before we know it! 


Some tidbits from the article:
For many parents in the United States, the idea of potty training before a baby is able to walk, or even before age 2, is not just horrifying but reprehensible - a sure nightmare for parents and baby, not to mention a direct route from the crib to the psychiatrist's couch. But a growing number of parents are experimenting with infant potty training, seeing it as more sanitary, ecologically correct and likely to strengthen bonds between parent and child.


As with breastfeeding, a turn toward infant potty training would represent a leap into the past. Before the 1800's, babies in Western societies were swaddled, which restrained them and contained their wastes, Laurie Boucke said in "Infant Potty Training" (White-Boucke Publishing, 2002), one of several books she has written that advocate the technique. When cleanliness became a virtue in the 19th century, Ms. Boucke wrote, infants were regularly held over a chamber pot until they learned the habit of using it.

"When I started doing this, I got to start seeing him as a little person with abilities," she said.


At two recent meetings of support groups, mothers and one father shared signals their babies gave: kicking, nose-rubbing, getting loud, getting quiet, hiccupping, feeling warm to the touch, shivering.

If you or a friend have done this please comment and let me know! I'd love to learn more. Or if you have a baby and want to try it together contact me!

Chocolate Me! : By Taye Diggs

Thanks, Taye Diggs, for writing this book. Our family will most definitely be purchasing it. We also use the words chocolate and vanilla. As a "white" mom, it is tricky sometimes to know how to talk about differences and how often to do so. Tegegne is going to love this book!