They don't waste too much time worrying about who's friends with whom, or what the others might want to play - they just get down to business wrestling, running, lego-making, and ultimately crashing in a big pile on the couch to watch a movie together. Any effort to find out what the other boys were like is met with complete confusion. They have no idea what the boys they just spent 4 hours playing with are like, they just know they had fun doing things with them. What things? They don't remember now, since it was already 20 minutes ago. Ah well, such is the male mind.
As we drove home, the snow was picking up, and by the time Matt and I went to bed it was a nice, soft blanket quieting our little house. Of course, the boys woke up early and had their (inappropriate for the weather) clothes on to go sledding by 8 am. It was still snowing, but we walked down the street to a hill to try it out. Unsurprisingly to me, the boys' sweatpants were soaked after about ten minutes and they were both crying after fifteen minutes. After Matt made fun of them (I know, mature) for a few more minutes, their crying and whining intensified to a level that was starting to really annoy us, and we trudged back home to cozy up in the house, drink hot chocolate and watch a movie.
After a lazy but awesome day, we headed over to our neighbors' for a baby shower they had organized to help us get ready for the trip. All of our neighbors brought things for our humanitarian donation - baby bottles, ointment, and clothes. I had already bought the diapers and wipes we have to bring over, but this saved me about a million trips to Target and a ton of money! I have no idea how we are going to get everything to Ethiopia, but I know it will be so appreciated. We are so lucky to have such fabulous neighbors - I feel like we are bringing Ruby home to a big family on our street. There's me in pink trying to figure out where to start!
On Sunday we cleaned the house like crazy, had a great time sledding (no tears this time), and then our Ethiopian Triad Adoption group came over for a wild Ethiopian dinner. I could not even begin to count how many kids were here - here is a picture of some of them eating spaghetti on the floor since we don't really have anywhere for people to sit once the tables are loaded with food. And there is Gus showing Finn how strong he is! 
While the kids enjoyed good old Italian fare, the adults sampled various authentic Ethiopian dishes. Luckily, a wonderful Ethiopian family joined the party, and they brought lots of different things to try. It was so fun to see some new little faces of families who have brought their children home since the last time we got together. I think it helps to be with people at all different stages of the adoption process because it reminds you that it's all a process, and the result of the process is a family. All of the stuff you go through to bring your baby home from the other side of the world seems to fall away once you get home and start just living life - making meals, doing laundry, playing on the floor and reading stories. The excitement and adventure part of it helps you get through the waiting, but it's great to see it replaced by the mundane. These kids are just kids, sneaking extra brownies, learning new words, fighting over toys and having fun with their friends.
I remember that after I had Finn, I was a little sad that all of the excitement leading up to having him seemed to have dried up while I was in the hospital, only to be replaced by what seemed like an incredible amount of work and physical discomfort. Where were all of the lovely blue cupcakes and beautifully wrapped baby booties? Instead of shopping in beautiful New York City baby boutiques for adorable, tiny things, I was stuck in our (tiny) New York apartment with a screaming baby who wanted to attack my breast every twenty minutes. So that was the opposite of exciting, and I was a little sad about it all for a while. I wasn't exactly disappointed, but I felt like someone had gotten me all dressed up for a fancy ball and then dropped me off in the middle of the desert. Now, almost seven years later, I have a hard time remembering what life was like before it was taken over by the day to day demands of little people. Daily life is such a reassuring collection of little, unexciting moments - a bowl of Cheerios, bath time, a trip to the grocery store - that I don't miss the excitement, or even notice its absence. Going through the whole excitement of preparing to bring Ruby home has been wonderful, and it's great to have people to share it with, but I'm also looking forward to the day when she is just our daughter and life is just back to life.
So today is a snow day, no school for the boys, and all my little plans of getting things done are not working out, so we've spent the morning in pjs and now it's off to sled. Could be worse ...
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