Leo's Sealing

Sealing

An ordinance performed in the temple eternally uniting a husband and wife, or children and their parents.

For LDS families, an adoption is not complete at finalization.  There is a kind of spiritual finalization as well.  We call it a sealing and it means that Leo is now a part of our family, not only on this earth and in this life, but in the world and life to come.

Saturday was a very special day for our family, Leo was sealed to us for eternity.

Many members of our family traveled from Utah and Oregon to be at the Seattle Temple with us.

Leo was adorable, a perfect angel, and seemed pretty darn happy about the level of attention he was getting.

John Henry looked dashing dressed all in white.  He had been talking about going to the temple to seal Leo to our family for a few weeks now.  He was so excited to actual go.  He was reverent in the temple, and having our children in the sealing room was a sacred experience beyond description.

The Boys and their Toys

Tonight Link and I were making jam and canning it in the kitchen after the boys had gone down for bed.  About an hour after John Henry was (supposedly) asleep, I walked around the corner in the kitchen to where I could see into our living room.  Then I heard a "Hi, Mommy!"  I looked up to see John Henry, holding his triplet kitties and standing on the opposite side of the baby gate.
He had woken up, come downstairs, climbed the baby gate, found his kitties, played with a puzzle, and heaven knows what else before he revealed his sneaky ways to us.  He was very pleased with himself.

John Henry fell in love with this Kitty on a trip to IKEA when he was about 18 months old.  We once lost the kitty and a huge tragedy followed.  I then purchased three more kitties to be sure that never happened again.  Those kitties have been John Henry constant friends for the last year and a half, and really the only toys he has ever been emotionally attached too.

Leo has taken to screeching when he wants attention, which is pretty much any time someone isn't paying attention to him.  This kid LOVES people.  In the car this can be difficult to deal with, as he is facing the rear of the car and the rest of us are facing forward.  Today in an attempt to keep his screeching to a minimum I made his Sophie Giraffe dance above him, play hid and seek, give him kisses and squeak each time he did something.  Leo thought this was the most hysterical thing ever and the screeching turned to peals of laughter.  This little boy's laughter fills the world with happiness.  So much fun!  We'll keep Sophie close for when we need to hear that very happy sound.

What? You think I should actually post something?

The last four months of our lives could be entitled, "Oh the places we'll go."

April: Portland
May: Utah
June: Texas
July: Oregon again

We are just now starting to settle down into a regular schedule. Summer is nearly over and it feels like it's just started.

Here are a few pics from our adventures.


Our trip to the Oregon Coast we enjoyable, if not as enjoyable as usual due to all of us being sick.  Of course John Henry recovered before all of us, because that's Murphy's law.  He had a ball with his old and new cousins!

Leo charmed everyone in the family.  I mean, all you have to do is look into those darling eyes and it's all over.  (Also, this photo totally cracks me up- I think it looks like he is trying really hard to hold in a big hearty laugh!)


On our way back from Oregon we stopped in Astoria to let John Henry climb the Astoria Column.  We figured the 125 ft (38 m) climb up 164 steps might help wear him out for the drive home.  So he and I climbed to the top.


Link and Leo, being much more reasonable people, stayed at the bottom and relaxed.  Leo entertained and flirted with everyone there. 


When we got back to Seattle Leo had his first swing ride.


Which he LOVED!


John Henry loves being a big brother and was thrilled to get to push Leo on the swing.


The 19th of July was a big day for our family, Leo's finalization.  It was a very simple, quiet and lovely moment in what has been a complex, sometimes messy, and rocky journey.


Last week I took the boys to their first parade with some friends.  They both had a ball. 


And true to his style, Leo was an ultra cute and charming baby.  Especially when I took off his clothes to change into pj's, a ritual he finds hysterical.  He laughs every time I take his clothes off.  (I sense this may be a problem in the toddler years. . .:)

Father of Two

This year for Father's Day we took the boys to The Museum of Flight's American Heroes Air Show.  John Henry was in heaven, Link wasn't far behind, and Leo was certainly interested.


John Henry in flight gear, he didn't care for the helmet. That could be a problem, little man.


Father and Son Flying Aces



Leo wants to see what all the excitement is about. 


John Henry points out a helicopter taking off FROM a helicopter.  (Did I mention he was in heaven?)



Could it be more appropriate that our first family photo as a family of four is on a helicopter. Yep, this is a family of boys. . . and I love them!

On the Move

This one is moving out of one size of clothes and into another - very quickly!





This one is moving in any way he can find go "go fast!"





Boy are they cute!

Taking the Playground by Storm

John Henry is adjusting somewhat better and somewhat differently to having a baby brother than I expected.  He loves to read his books about being a big brother, he loves to give Leo kisses, and, if asked, will claim he loves baby Leo.  It is clear, however, that he does not love sharing his Mama's attention with baby Leo.



Feeding times for Leo have become a bit of a troublesome time here, John Henry does not appreciate being ignored (for those of you who know his personality, this should come as no surprise- we were recently discussing what the male form of DIVA would be.)  His solution to this problem is to do something naughty enough to require my immediate attention.



Examples. . .

Bringing his sand from his sandbox inside the house to play with.
Giving himself a bath, fully clothed.
Using his own body, kitchen table, or windows as his art canvas.
Filling his toy trucks up with loads of baby lotion.
Watering the plants, unassisted.



Yes, our days can be, well, interesting.  But I can always count on him for a good story to tell Lincoln at the end of the day. 

 

And I can usually count on one of his heart breaking and charming smiles to make me forget just how crazy parenting a two year old "Devo" can be.

Leo has BIG dreams

And I may love iMovie just a little bit!