We've got Cabin Fever!!!!

I'm pretty sure we're all a little bonkers after this week.  We had  a snow day on Monday, which just about killed me.  The roads were horrible and we had to take 5 up to St. V's for a visit with his grandma but she wound up not showing because, shockingly enough, the roads were too horrible.  And then it's been a crazy week ever since.  Chad took a bunch of time off last week and this Monday so it was weird not having him around to help me keep my sanity.  On top of it all, the groups I go to two days a week are on a Christmas break so I haven't even had those adventures to look forward to.  Add to that a Christmas party, a Holiday concert, a visit with only one parent (the other one was not permitted to visit this week), and freezing cold temperatures that are keeping us indoors, and we're all ready to pop!!!  On the upside, I got a really awesome manicure last night with shellac polish and it's not supposed to chip for two weeks.  My sister's lasted almost three and she even cooked Thanksgiving dinner with hers.  I'm excited :)
2 is currently next to me at the counter singing the Hot Dog song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  He's headbanging and I'm mildly concerned he's going to get a concussion.  He won't leave my side this morning because he's convinced he needs to eat everything in sight and he thinks the way to achieve that goal is to remain plastered to me.  I was mildly concerned he was dehydrating himself this morning because of all the tantrums he was throwing.  He's hit that unique phase where everything is horrible.  He told me about ten times he didn't want his milk and he wanted to get down and he didn't like it and so I finally said "fine" and threw it in the sink and then he screamed "I want my miiiiiiillllkkkkk!" as if I'd ripped it straight from his shaking, milk-loving hands as he was about to take the first sip of a much desired cup.  It was epic.
He's had a bit of a rough couple of days.  He was hitting his dad during his vist this week and the hitting rolled over into yesterday.  In a two minute period, he hit his sister, the dog, and me.  He's not much of a hitter usually, that's more like 5's line of work, but after a visit, he gets so worked up.  Especially on a week where he only gets to see one of his parents.  It's crazy to think of how much this is affecting him.  He's 2 and he's got all this inner turmoil going on.
Ya know, I get a little aggravated sometimes when people only want to adopt babies and only want to adopt from other countries.  When Chad and I first found out that we couldn't have kids, I was pretty set on getting a baby.  I wanted a child from birth who would know only me as their mom and who I could raise from the beginning so they wouldn't have all these past traumas and hurts.  And then we started doing foster care and I realized that no matter what the ages of the kids, I loved them like they were my own.  And once you look into the eyes of these kids and see how sad they are....you just can't help but want to help them.  I just don't feel right about telling these kids that we would never consider adopting them because they're too old.  How selfish is that?  And I would never tell these kids that I won't give them a mom and a dad because they live in America and so therefore that's enough....that I'm going to take a kid from another country because that's "better" somehow.  A kid in need of a family is a kid in need of a family.  Regardless of their country of origin or their age or their race or their needs...all the want and need is a family who loves them.  What good is America to a kid of they're deprived of their basic needs?  I get feeling like you're obligated to have your own child or even that you deserve to be choosy since you're paying so much...because I felt that way too.  But when it got right down to it, more than anything, I wanted to be a mom.  And being a mom means not always (seemingly) getting what ya want ;)  It may not be conventional, and we may not get to keep every kid that comes through our house, but we get to love on some kids and raise them, and teach them right from wrong.  And if God is willing to let us keep some of them forever, then we get to break the cycle of drugs and abuse for them.  And that's pretty awesome.  That's a gift!  I just...I hope people will consider other options.  I hope people will really sit down and ask themselves why they "need" a baby and why they "need" to do foreign adoption.  Just consider an alternative.  It's been magic for us :)
Alright, it's time to find something fun for us to do today.  I think loud music is in order to get me going because this coffee sure isn't helping much.  And at least if I'm working with my hands today, I can admire my nails on the sly ;)