New Years Eve

Dave and I went on our very first date on New Year's Eve, ten years ago. Little did we know then what our lives would be like today. This year, we spent the evening with our friends, the H family. We met the H's during our parenting classes that we took as part of our certification to become adoptive parents. The H's adopted their two boys a few months after we adopted Valentino and Victoria. Mama H and I spent a good bit of time marveling about how our lives have changed so much in the past year. Our journeys really have been very similar... Wanting to become parents, going through the process of becoming certified, the long and agonizing wait, and then the joy of being chosen, the scramble of preparing to become a family in just a short period of time, and the wonder of experiencing instant parenthood. Mama H made a nice dinner for us at her house, and then we stayed up until midnight. Well, almost all of us made it to midnight. Little H (age 3) crashed around 10:30 and his brother (age 5) lasted until about 11:45. Tino and Victoria, amazingly, were still going strong when the ball dropped on TV for the third time. But Tino melted down when we told him it was time to go home. Both kids were asleep within minutes of being buckled into their car seats. Victoria, 3 minutes. Tino, 7 minutes- took a little bit longer because, as Dave commented, he was "really committed to his crying."

 In retrospect, I'm a bit incredulous that we let the kids stay up until midnight. Thankfully, it only took one day to get everyone back on a regular sleep schedule. When my sister and I were kids, we really, really wanted to stay up to ring in the new year, but year after year, we would always fall asleep. Then the next day, we would complain to our parents that they hadn't awakened us at midnight. They would always claim that "we tried but you guys wouldn't wake up." I'm pretty sure they never tried. Heck, if I were in their shoes, I wouldn't have tried. I think we were probably 14 and 16 years old before we made it to midnight. But my boy and girl have some serious stamina. I'm not sure whether to be proud or frightened. 

One thing is for sure, though. Those four kids looked darn cute snuggled under a blanket on the couch, watching Scooby Doo. I had a really wonderful evening and a great start to 2011.