Blog Union 2008 - Hermosa Beach

It's probably high time I post about our exciting weekend now that we're all back in the swing of the day to day again. This past weekend the four of us spent a couple of nights in Hermosa Beach for the first annual Blog Union! The blog union was for Ethiopian Adoptive families that have blogs and have come to know one another virtually through them. A face-to-face meeting for friends that have become like extended family through our blogs. It was an INCREDIBLE weekend, all made possible by Drew and Carey. Thank you so much to both of them, as the weekend could not have been any more perfect.

Ok, it COULD have been more perfect is Ezra and Olivia would nap anywhere, anytime so there would've been zero crankiness on their parts, but I think we got off pretty easy despite some of that. :-D They both did great at the hotel, and slept like rocks in their PeaPods. They did later nights than their used to, but also slept in later than normal in the mornings so that made up for it. Our BOB stroller was as wonderful as ever, carting the kids up and down the hill to/from the strand and our hotel. Not only did it carry Ezra and Olivia, but it also did great with all the extra gear we piled on it, crammed under it, etc. LOVE the BOB!

There were a few people, in particular, we really enjoyed meeting. I've come to know and love them over the last year. I had the great pleasure of picking up Katie and Isa from the O.C. airport and spending much of the weekend with them. These two are some seriously FABULOUS gals. Can't wait to see them again. Isa is such a doll! I think Katie and I share a very similar parenting style, so it was great to see it working so well for her too. :-D Tara and Malak - it was a PLEASURE. Wish we'd had more time to chat... but I love ya both and all your greenie-ness. The G diapers with homemade cloth inserts are working so well for us now too... thanks for all the tips! Porter, Elsa is a cutie patootie. I can't believe how big she's getting and how great she's doing! I wish we could've enjoyed more time with you and actually had a chance to chat a bit. Something about having two babies constantly wanting to move around and have all my focus seems to have kept me from talking with EVERYONE as much as I'd have liked! Those that we did have a chance to talk to we loved meeting you!

Oh, and to all those of you calling me Super Mom Friday evening... let's just say I was paying for my super-heroness the next day. ;-) To those wondering what in the world I'm talking about, Joe was REALLY late getting to the dinner on Friday evening. So late that we were at the restaurant almost 2 hours before he arrived. This led to me having Ezra strapped to my chest in our Lascal carrier and holding Olivia on my hip. Thank goodness she's still pretty small. :-D Thank you to the wonderful people that helped me out and loved on the her a bit for me... the break was wonderful for my arms. I wish I could've accepted more help, but she was being pretty clingy and not letting me share her too much! :-S Good sign of attachment, no doubt, but exhausting!

To those with upcoming travel, court dates, or still awaiting referrals - good luck and enjoy every minute of it. Time FLIES once they're home. I can't believe we've had Ezi & Livi home for almost 4 months now... that's crazy to think about. I can't imagine life without them and am excited to cheer them through each milestone, but have begun to grieve the passage of time and their infancy. They'll be walking and talking tomorrow at this rate and I just can't believe it. My little babies have gotten sooooo big!

I definitely did a TERRIBLE job of taking pictures this weekend, which is a bummer. however, I allowed myself some laziness since Drew and Carey had actual photographers running around taking photos all weekend long. It was so cool! I'll share a few of those photos with you for now, since the few I took are still on the camera! :-O

All you Ethiopian adoptive bloggers... be at BU09!!!

Thank you to Drew, Carey and their wonderful photographers for the pictures below: