Friday Night Lights

Well.... Blaine had his first Varsity football game this last week. It was an out of town game, so we loaded up the "littles", put the dvd player in the car so B could watch "Cars" and off we went. Almost 2 hours away, in the rain.

We got there, pulled into the stadium parking lot and B starts yelling "football, football, I want to watch football". It was precious! The baby had never been to a football game until coming to live with us. He doesn't really watch the games, but he obviously loves going! And I am so glad!

So we get in the stadium about the time the Varsity guys come out. They have the big "bulldog" head blow up thingy that they fill up with smoke and the guys run out. It was about that time that I got teary eyed. My BABY'S first Varsity game! The sounds of the band, seeing the drill team, the cheerleaders. I just got all sentimental.

Blaine didn't get to play much, which is to be expected for his first Varsity game. But he did get to play 6 or 7 plays, and did great. The last play of the game, he smeared the guy with the ball and I was so proud! :0)

We did our photo shoot, and headed back home. We didn't get home until after midnight. Blaine didn't get home until after 1:00. But it sure was fun!!!!

Blaine trying to look "mean".... he just looks like a teenager with a 'tude! :0)

Foster care funk....

Haven't blogged in a while, haven't had much good to say. While I LOVE the kids we are fostering and cherish every moment with them (good and bad), the IDIOTS working for the government make fostering soooooooo hard.

Thursday, B comes home from daycare with diarrhea. The WHOLE class has it.

Last Friday, this is what happened.... I get a call from the kids Dr. that the state assigned a Dr. in ABILENE (3 or so hours away) as the kids PCP. Until I can get that changed, they can't see LMRB for her appointment this week. Then I go to pick B up from daycare and am met at the door by the Asst. Director. The state is no longer paying for daycare and I can't bring B back to school on Tuesday. The Director/Owners are old Church friends of ours, but they are on a cruise and she can't authorize me to bring B back. Then I get home to a letter from CPS that they are inspecting our home. You know, the kind of inspection where they check your pantry for expired food, check your ceiling fans for dust, check your medicine for expired meds, totally nitpick everything, etc. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, but do they HAVE to pick football season, the busiest time of the year to do this? Yep, they do. Which reminds me the dogs need their rabies shots updated, I need to get our fire extinguishers serviced and we are due for our Fire and Environmental safety checks. UGH. More appointments.

Saturday, B's diarrhea is so bad... he has NINE diarrhea diapers. I am about to take him to the ER. Robert is mowing yards and working a side job. So Blaine (bless his heart) goes to the store and gets us stocked up on pedialyte.

Sunday, more diarrhea. But he is starting to perk up.

Monday, B is MUCH better. We take all 4 kids to the park. Robert took B fishing. We fed the ducks. The big kids played with B on the playground equipment. (might I say, I LOVE seeing my teenagers act like kids, and not be too "cool" to play with B and entertain him). Garrett chased B around the park, running and screaming. We had a bawl. We also talk to the Director and the Owners, and they will let us bring B back on Tuesday (THANK GOD!).


Tuesday I spend over 2 hours on the phone trying to get the Dr. situation fixed. I made SEVEN phone calls before it was all said and done. Twice I had to put the insurance people on hold, while I called the Dr. to confirm they would receive the fax confirmation of the correct Dr. being listed for the kids. Really???? They friggin' asked for the information. Nope, they have to have confirmation they will receive the confirmation. Oi vey..... And in those phone calls, they scold me for not having taken LMRB to the dentist yet. WTH, she is SIX months old! I also find out that not only does our government pay for illegals to have free insurance, but they also HAVE PAID EMPLOYEES TO GO TO THE DR WITH THEM TO FRIGGIN' TRANSLATE. When does it stop? Oh yea, and they will give gas money for them to get to their appointments as well.

Wednesday, I FINALLY get confirmation faxed on the right kid, so we can go to the Dr. on Thursday. Then I get a call that B is throwing up, come get him. My Lord..... I am about to lose it! Since I am working part-time, I hated to leave work. So Robert picked him up. The kid was FINE. He ate 3 plates of spaghetti that night for dinner.

Thursday, I keep B home with me, just in case. Can I say the boy was an ANGEL. Like I've never seen before. A...N...G...E...L... We take LMRB to the Dr. for her 6 month shots. He is still an angel. Y'all, I was in tears at how well behaved he was that day. I am hopeful for more of those to come, as he learns to trust us, and settles in more and feels comfortable with us. So we are at the Dr. The Nurse is giving LMRB her shots (one oral, 3 shots in the legs and a finger prick). The baby is SCREAMING. B runs up, hits the Nurse on the leg and yells "STOP ITTTTTTT". I don't condone hitting, especially a lady, an adult, a stranger. But it was so precious that he was trying to protect his sister. He has only known her for 2 months, but that bond is amazing. B continues being helpful, sweet, loving, just amazing all day. Robert takes B to Garrett's football game here in town and I take LMRB with me to Blaine's football game out of town. FOUR hours in the car to not get to watch my son play football, with a fussy baby from her shots, and in the pouring down rain. I left my debit card in my purse at home and needed gas, my phone hadn't charged in 3 days and the directions to the stadium were on my phone that was going dead. Yea.... I soooooo do not do good living on the edge! But we made it, LMRB wasn't *that* bad, it was just a stressful day. I did have a credit card with me, not sure if I put us over the limit, but I got my gas.

Today was just a normal day. TGIF! At one point B was playing with LMRB, he leaned down, hugged her and said "awwww, I wuv u". It was PRECIOUS. As hard as the days are, as tired as I am each and every night. That ONE moment makes it all worth it. I just hope we have some more, so I can get over the IDIOTS that work for the government. :0) The bigguns' went to the football game, I put the littles to bed and sat in the recliner and watched Urban Cowboy. Ahhhhh, serenity! A nice way to end a stressful week!

Tomorrow, we have a foster care training class. Fun. NOT!

I know that's a lot of griping. But seriously.... I never in a million kazillion years would have ever thought I'd have FOUR kids (even if it may be temporary). But we are getting in a groove. And I couldn't ask for four more precious, amazing, funny, smart, adorable kids. They keep me hopping, that's for sure. But at the end of the day, when the house is all quiet, I smile and sigh and think to myself, I made it through another day. Thank you God!

Makes ya' wanna' whistle the Andy Griffith tune, doesn't it!





FIVE THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR:

1. The rain/thunderstorms that we are having.
2. The four kids God has blessed me with.
3. My Mom. She is AMAZING. I love her and appreciate her so much.
4. My Hubby. For all that he does for us to make ends meet, to make everyone happy around here.
5. My freedom.

Just wanted to post an update on all the kiddos...

Blaine has been painstakingly looking for a job since the beginning of summer. He has applied to 45 places, and run into some real "doozies" that I call human existence. I can not believe how cruel some people can be, and how unprofessional. He is beat down. And as his Mommy, I hate it!!!! He broke up with his girlfriend while he was in Colorado. And he is just hanging out waiting for the phone to ring for a job offer.

Garrett has football camp this week. He has been hanging out with Mammaw and LMRB during the day, sleeping late and playing video games. Ahhhh the life of a teenager.

Super B is settling in. He had a tough time for the first few weeks. So tough that my spirit was broken for him. I went to bible study one night and asked the women to pray for him. I have to say, the boy woke up a different child!!! He has his moments, what two year old doesn't? But he is such a joy to have around. And he keeps me on my toes, that's for sure!

LMRB is growing like a weed, she is now 5 months old. She is sitting up on her own, scoots backwards (trying to crawl), eating cereal, belly laughing at her brother, and screeches and growls like there is no tomorrow. She is blowing spit bubbles as I type. Oh, and she is teething. She is in the "stranger danger" stage too.

Robert is working hard, hating the summer heat. And I am trying to keep up with all the kiddos and get everything ready for school to start in a few weeks.

That's it... the latest on all of us. :-)

The mud bogs

Yesterday we took the kiddos to the mud bogs. (insert rolling eyes here) Ever since B got here, Robert has been DYING to take him to see the trucks "play" in the mud. Robert's brother has 2 trucks that he races, so we occasionally join in on the redneck festivities. B is FASCINATED with anything with wheels. Most boys are. So Robert thought he would really enjoy the mud bogs.

It took a few races before B got into it. But man, when he did, he was alllllll about the mud trucks and the tractors. He LOVED it. And to make it even better, a little boy from his daycare was there, so they got to play in the dirt with their little trucks. It was so cute to watch them play and cheer on the trucks.

And Little Miss Ruffle Bottom enjoyed all the people doting all over her! She is such a trooper.

Here's a pic of B cheering for the trucks. (can't post his face on the 'net, so this is the best I can do). He is the one in blue clapping his little hands off. :0)

Wow, what a month!

I can not believe it has been almost a month since I last BLABBED (I mean blogged!). :-)

A lot has happened in the last month. The boys went to Louisiana with my brother and his girlfriend for a week and had a blast. Blaine left the same day they got home to go to Colorado with his bio-grandma to visit his half brothers. He has been gone over a week now, and will be gone another week or so.

But the biggest change is the addition of Prince B to our family. Prince B is Little Miss Ruffle Bottom's half brother. He is 2, and came to stay with us on July 3.

I am now the proud mom and foster mom to 2 in high school and 2 in diapers.

It has been an adjustment, that is for sure. A 2 year old has a lot more emotion when his world is completely changed than a baby does. Although moving to a new home is traumatic and stressful to both children. We are settling in, getting a routine down, and getting used to each other now. The first few days were rough. He had a lot of anger and did a lot of testing. He is a beautiful child. He is funny, happy (most of the time), energetic, and VERY talkative! (fits right in here!).

So, to say things have been crazy around here is an understatement. But in a good way (most days!). I love that LMRB and Prince B are together. I love that LMRB's first belly laugh was to her brother. I love how he kisses her on the forehead goodnight and when we leave for school. I love how he says "awwww baby whassa matter, don't cry" when she is crying. I love when he wants to be held and snuggled on. I love it that he and Grace have become the best of friends (she is such a mother hen dog!). I love it that God has blessed me with more than I could have ever imagined... and I love it that he carries me through the days I don't think I can do one more thing for one more person or dog around here.

So... we aren't sure how long Prince B will be here with us. But we are sure enjoying having him around, and truly thankful that he is here.

FIVE THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR:
1. God... his blessings.... his carrying me on days that I need it the most.... his grace and his favor.
2. That the "littles" are in bed, sound asleep so I can blog.
3. Naps... oh I sooooooooo miss my naps.
4. Baby belly laughs and snuggle hugs from a precious little boy.
5. The rain we received last night.

Happy Father's Day

I would like to wish my Hubby a Happy Father's Day!!!

To the man that has done so much for everyone.
To the man that, when we had been seeing each other for 2 weeks, after working 18 straight hours putting out sand during an ice storm, drove 35 miles each way to bring Blaine (who was an infant at the time) some Tylenol and Pedialyte when he was sick.
To the man that, when I was pregnant and had insomnia, would play his guitar for hours at night until I fell asleep.
To the man that, when Garrett was a baby and was fussy, would play his guitar to calm him down.
To the man that, stepped up to be a Daddy to my son when he didn't have to, and treated him fairly and loved him as his own.
To the man that, helped bathe, feed, take care of his children.
To the man that, helped me fulfill my dream of having a daughter.
To the man that, coached soccer, attended every football, baseball, soccer and basketball game, attended awards programs, went to school parties.

To the man that, spent 2 days putting together a swingset for Blaine for his 3rd birthday.

To the man that, worked 3 jobs so I could stay at home with the kids when things were really tough for Blaine.

To the man that, taught my kids to throw a football, throw a baseball, swing a bat.

To the man that, puts the needs of his kids before his own.

To the man that, does so much for his children.

Any man can be a father, but it takes a special man to be a Daddy.

It isn't near what he deserves, but for Robert's Father's Day present he went fishing last weekend. He didn't win any money but he had a good time so that is all that matters. The boys got him some shorts and a hat (lame, I know!) and Princess Ruffle Bottom made him a handyman work apron thingy (or should I say the daycare lady made it). We took him to Razoo's for dinner (his favorite restaurant) and had a blast. We laughed, we talked, we cut up, we acted silly, we ate way too much.... we had a great evening.

Here are some pics...

from dinner (couldn't post the one with Princess in it for privacy foster care reasons)

and Princess Ruffle Bottom's present to her Daddy....

little bit of everything

I haven't blogged in a while. I totally feel like a songwriter or REAL writer these days. When things are good, you just don't have that creative spark to write anything interesting (not that anything I wrote before was interesting! ha). So I wanted to take a minute to update on us....

My Mom is in Maine with my Aunt. I was supposed to go on this trip. I had the flights picked out, prices, waiting on Robert to let me know when I could book the trip... and then we got the news that Ruffle Bottom was coming. Well, I used about all my vacation time when she got here, so I am not in Maine right now. :-( (major pouting going on right now) My Mom sends photos of the beautiful places she's visited... and I pout some more.

Soooo, with my Mom being gone, Ruffle Bottom is in daycare. She is in an in-home daycare that my good friend's daughter is in. The first day was torture... Robert was out of town, so I was here by myself to drop off this precious baby with a stranger. Lord, I don't know HOW I did it with my boys. Oh yea I do.... that is why I spent my lunch break for 6 months visiting Garrett in his daycare next door to my work! :0) Well, back to Ruffle Bottom, she is really enjoying the daycare. But she told me the other day she would rather be in Maine with Mammaw. hehe She has 2 more days of daycare left and Mammaw will be back to report for duty. I miss my Mom so much, it was nice to get to see her every morning and to get to chat with her.

Robert decided he wanted to finish laying the flagstone we bought two years ago under my pergola. He picked today, the hottest day of the year, to start. Ugh. Anyways, the poor man worked for 8 hours in the blazing sun and heat to finish what we started two years ago. Ummmm, the month of March or April comes to mind... Oh well, it is done and it looks great. My Man is wayyyyy sunburned, and I am lathering him down with aloe vera lotion. But anyways, here is a pic of the pergola....picture the grass growing through the sand (eventually) and don't pay attention to the faded stain on the fence please.

So, the boys are doing good. They are both in football conditioning throughout the summer. They are enjoying it. Blaine is still looking for a job. And Garrett is just enjoying being out of school.

FIVE THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR:

1. My Hubby that does all the back breaking work around here. I love ya' man!

2. That my kids are happy and healthy.

3. That my Mom will be back in a few days. I miss her!

4. A nice peaceful place to sit and enjoy my back yard.

5. To have a home to do updates to. So many are losing their homes, losing their jobs, I am so thankful that I have a place to call home.

Our visit with B this last weekend

I finally have time to sit and write about our visit with B and Grandma this last weekend.....

I was a nervous wreck near the end of the week. The enemy was putting all these negative thoughts in my head about this meeting, about everything to do with Baby Girl, about meeting the bio family, etc.

So Friday night, I stay up until 1 packing and getting everything ready. Baby Girl decides at 2:30 she wants some "mommy time". She wasn't hungry, she wasn't cold/hot, she just wanted to babble to me. Ugh. I LOVED it, but I was soooo tired. She finally went to sleep at 3:45... I had to get up at 4:30 for our trip Saturday, so I just stayed awake.

So the trip started off with me having AN HOUR AND A HALF of sleep. I don't do well on no sleep. Put that on top of my nerves... and.... well..... let's just say I had to work really hard to not bite anyone's head off on the way down there.

So we get to San Angelo a little earlier than expected. And it's a good thing. We had just enough time to go through a drive-thru for lunch, change in the car and get to the CPS office.

We got to the CPS office and met the Supervisor, the CASA worker, Grandma and little B. We introduce, shake hands, exchanged gifts (I had brought stuff for Little B and she had brought about 20 outfits for Baby Girl) and I hand the baby over to Grandma for her to hold her. Baby Girl did NOT like that. She screamed and screamed. After a few minutes, Grandma handed her back to me and she immediately stopped crying. So I got her comfortable and handed her back to Grandma. I didn't know it, but this was the first time she got to hold Baby Girl. That made me sad. She was not allowed to hold this precious baby in the hospital.

Meanwhile, little B is stuck to Robert like glue. It was cute. Little B and the boys played with the toys there in the CPS play room while we talked and got to know each other a little.

I have to say, I was very impressed with Grandma. I had all these "ideas" of her in my head, and she is exactly the opposite of what I had expected. And that's a good thing.

So, after our meeting, we went back to the hotel to unload the car. (we had to so we could fit B's carseat in the car). We got in the car to take him to the park and he fell asleep. I mean a DEEP sleep, slumped over in his carseat, snoring, we COULD NOT wake him up. So we sat at the park for almost an hour.

Then it was time to meet my cousin and some family for dinner. We went to a pizza place (kind of like Chuck E Cheese) so the kids could play games. We had a nice time with the family. Little B WORE ROBERT OUT. :0)

After that, Grandma met us back at the hotel room and took B home. She hugged me too many times to count, she thanked me for taking care of Baby Girl, she gave me her cell # to call in case we ever needed anything. She was really sweet. If we get to adopt Baby Girl, I will definitely maintain contact with this sweet woman.

And Little B.... he is absolutely adorable. He is 2, all boy, it was his naptime, he was wayyyyyyyy overstimulated, probably nervous about these strange people he was with. I would love to spend some time with him that isn't so rushed, and where we can gauge his true colors.

Then I took the boys swimming and we called it a night. Got up the next morning, went to the visitors center to take pics and got back on the road.

In Dallas, we met some friends I had met online through the adoption support forum. It was so nice to finally get to meet some of these ladies (and their kids) in real life!

Then we finally got home about 7:45 Sunday night. A quick, EXHAUSTING, and fun trip.

I haven't heard from the caseworker or anyone about the visit. I'm not sure if no news is good news. I just worry so much that she fell in love with this baby and that she will want her. I am praying that is not the case, but I just don't see HOW she wouldn't want her. I find myself jumping everytime the phone rings, just imagining the caseworker calling to say they are coming to get her (like they did to us with T&T).

Ugh.... But I signed on for this, whether it be a season or a lifetime.

FIVE THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR:
1. That for the last 2 days, EVERYONE in this house has been happy. Robert is going fishing this weekend, so he is not so stressed right now. The boys are getting along great (and that is RARE). The baby is happy. And when THEY are happy, I AM HAPPY.
2. That the meeting went well.
3. That we had a safe trip.
4. The free tickets to Hawaiian Falls that an old high school friend gave me today, I have the day off Thursday for my summer day and was trying to find something free/cheap to do with the teens and the baby. This was a true blessing, $60 worth of tickets for FREE.
5. My boys helping me out when I get a little overwelmed. Little things like doing the dishes, vacuuming, putting the pacifier in the baby's mouth when she is crying and my hands are full.

Our week

Well, I can finally say.... that drama reahearsals/play is over.... soccer is over.... spring football is over.... and school is almost over! Hip Hip Hooray!!!!!

We had a great weekend. Friday, Blaine's girlfriend came over and we watched movies. She seems really sweet. She isn't drama filled like the last one, she is even keeled, she is respectful and quiet.

Saturday was supposed to be an easy day that ended up being kind of hectic but it was nice anyways. We were supposed to JUST have a soccer game and football game that day. Faith ended up having to go to the Vet again (and another follow up tomorrow for her dang ears), after that we got ready, left to go to Garrett's soccer game, met a lady off of Craig's List for a carseat, met a lady at 7-11 to give away free formula we received and can't use, then Garrett's soccer game. This was the last game of the season and they played so good, the best they've played all season. Garrett was AWESOME! Then back home to eat a bite, and then off to Blaine's football game. Back in time to bathe Princess Ruffle Bottom and put her to bed.

Can I say, this girl is a trooper!? She was awesome all day! She REALLY enjoyed the football game, watching the people (she and I will get along GREAT!), watching the cheerleaders, watching the movement on the field. She dozed a few times here and there, but she was great.

Sunday, I cleaned baseboards, doors, light switches, swept, mopped, vacuumed.... FUN!!!!!! I felt like Cindarella all over again. I know, wah wah wah.... I just wish I didn't have to spend my one day at home all day CLEANING. But that's life, right! I also did my own photos for PRB's 3 month pictures. Last month we went to Walmart, paid $60 for a few CRAPPY photos, had to deal with a weird, uncooth man... and it just wasn't worth it. So I did my own and they turned out GREAT! Sent them online to Walmart to print and $29 later I have three times more pictures. I pick them up tomorrow, so we'll see if this will be our monthly photo option.

Monday evening we had an appointment with ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) for Princess Ruffle Bottom. She is on target or advanced in all areas (like I KNEW she would be)! You go PRB! She is rolling from her belly to her back, she can scoot a 180 degree turn on her belly, she is shrieking when something makes her happy, she is discovering her feet, she is trying to roll from her back to her belly. She is going to be running around here before too long! And she gained 2 pounds this last month and 2 inches in length!

Now we are getting ready for a visit with PRB's 2 year old half-brother and maternal Grandmother on Saturday. I am excited, nervous, scared, anxious, happy, and unsure all in one. This could go so many ways, so if you feel compelled, please say a prayer for us. We are fine no matter what the outcome is, we just need some prayer for clarity, direction, wisdom and strength. We are driving to San Angelo early Saturday morning and coming home Sunday. A quick trip, but one I hope will be great just the same.

FIVE THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR:
1. My Mother, the love she pours out to this baby each and every day, the fact that I leave for work with peace knowing the baby is in good hands (I remember dropping my kids off at daycare just crying many days), the sweet things she does for us, the sweet person that she is.
2. That school is almost out, that drama, soccer and football are over. They are fun, I want my kids active in things, but near the end of it I am sooooooooo ready for a break!
3. The antibiotics I found in our medicine lockbox. I am fighting a horrible sinus infection, and these will help until I can get in to the Dr.
4. That summer days start next week at work.... My boss is awesome, he gives us a day off each week during the summer so we can do something with the kids. Awesome I tell ya'!
5. The kids, dogs, Hubby that keep me so busy around here... I get frustrated, I get tired, but life would be sooooooooooo boring without them!

My $14 WIC incident....

OK, this probably isn't as funny reading it as it was in person....

When I went in for baby's WIC appointment, they gave me all her formula except for 1 can, that 1 can they put on my WIC card. Well, it is near the end of the month and we are out of formula so I went at lunch to get my 1 can.

Now I will be completely honest and say, that when I had Blaine, I was on WIC. But back then, they gave you these HUGE color coded paper cards that you had to lug around. Now it is so discreet, on a "Lone Star Card" that looks like a debit card. So I'm thinking this neat little debit card they gave me will be AWESOME!!! WRONGGGGGG!

I am checking out. Keep in mind, this is all over a $14 can of formula....

They run this card through 4 times, everytime it was denied. The line is building, 6 buggies deep now and this is the express lane, my neck is getting red and I'm feeling a little faint. People are staring, people are judging, the cashier is being so rude, she gets frustrated and goes to the next cashier over.... whom looks up at me with this COMPLETE AND TOTAL look of judgement, looking at me, looking at the card, looking at me, whispering to my cashier......

My dear friend (who is VERY) outspoken, announces loudly.... "SHARON, I AM SO GLAD THE STATE GIVES YOU FOSTERRRRRRRRRRR PARRRRRRRENTS A SUBSIDY TO HELP PAY FOR THE CHILDREN YOU SO LOVINGLY TAKE INTO YOUR HOME".

I just about passed out. But, I am sooooooooo glad she did it, because it changed the cashier's attitude, and she realized this was WIC, not food stamps so it had to be rung up differently.

We get back to work and share the story with our co-worker. She says "you KNOW why they did that don't you?".... No, why? She says, people sell those cards for drug money. They are looking at you thinking you bought this Lone Star Card illegally!

oh to be so naive.... I've got a lot to learn!

Just a few things

Today was another great day. Back to work after a long holiday, and back into the groove of things. Man did I enjoy the time off, but I missed my co-workers too... so it was nice to go back to work (well not the work part but the co-worker part!)

Blaine came home from football practice with these HUGE golf ball sized blisters on his hand. I said "what in the world happened to you". Seems his Coach (in his INFINITE wisdom... rolling my eyes right now), decided that since he was hurt and couldn't participate in football drills and he missed yesterday, that he would make Blaine do "seal crawls" across the hot turf field. A "seal crawl" is where he pulls his body by his hands.... he had to do it so long, and the turf was so hot that it blistered his hands. Not little blisters either, HUGE 2-3 inch across blisters. I am FURIOUS.... after the incident we had earlier this year, enough is enough. Blaine does NOT want me to say anything because he wants to play varsity ball soooooo bad. But this coaching staff needs to know when enough is enough. So tomorrow, I am emailing the head coach to let him know that maybe "seal crawls" on hot turf in 90 plus degrees is NOT a good idea, and I promised Blaine I would be nice about it this time... but I HAVE to say something. I am sure the coach didn't mean to, but that is bordering on torture in my eyes.... it was so bad the trainers were even mad about it. And it wasn't just Blaine, a few other kids had to do it too.

Garrett got COMMENDED on his Social Studies TAKS test. I am so proud of him! His phone quit working, so he is a soon-to-be 14 year old with no cell phone..... gahhhhh the horror! Don't worry though, we ordered him a new one for an early bday present, so he is excited about the new phone but oh so upset that it takes a couple days to get here. Patience my friend, patience!

Little Miss Ruffle Bottom.... she amazes me every day. Today she started this new thing... "scooching" is what I call it. I put her on her tummy and in a couple minutes time she had scooched around 180 degrees! It was AWESOME!!!! I just sat there and watched her and laughed. She puts her legs up under her like she is going to crawl and pushes until she moves. She can only do this if her arms are down. If she is pushing up on her arms, she can't get the legs up under her. She has now rolled from her tummy to her back 8 times, so it isn't a fluke. This girl is smart I tell ya'.... SMART! :-) She is now starting to "eyeball" the dogs when they are near... it won't be long and she'll be crawling after them pulling on their tails! haha

Things are starting to slow down now. Drama rehearsals are over. This is the last week for soccer and spring football. Hopefully tomorrow is my last massage appointment for a while. Next week is the last week of school and the last week of carpool. So I am to the point where I can breathe a deep breath and relax a little. THANK YOU LORD!!!!! :-) Now I will have time to start working on my continuing education for our foster license!

Oh! And I just booked our room for our visit on June 6th to see LMRB's half brother, B and Grandma. As soon as I booked the room, I got this feeling of "I'm going to pee in my pants". I WANT to meet him, but I'm scared at the same time. What if Grandma falls in love with LMRB and decides she wants to keep her? What if she doesn't like our "ethnicity"? What if she likes us so much she wants us to take B home with us"? I keep telling myself that is the enemy talking, and that things are going to be fine. I am kind of anxious to meet the family, to see what they are like, and to meet B.

Today at work I got the official "worst employee EVER title". My Boss is a great guy, but he is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo long winded. Yea, if *I* say he is long winded, you can only imagine, right!? haha So today he is telling me a story. I totally space out for a few minutes, looking at him nodding. When he gets done, I ask him "did she tell you what she was going to do?" He says no, what. So I tell him...... IT IS EXACTLY WHAT HE HAD BEEN TALKING TO BE ABOUT FOR THE LAST 5 OR 6 MINUTES! I about died. It was hilarious. I imagined myself looking like the cartoon characters with big "x's" over their eyelids while he was talking to me. I swear, I don't know how I spaced for that conversation, but it sure made for a lot of laughing AT ME in the office today! :-)

Well, enough blabbing.... I need to get some sleep!

Memorial weekend

It has been an extremely busy but fun weekend!

I don't even remember what we did Friday night... isn't that sad!

Saturday was a full day. We had both boys' football physicals, a follow up vet appt for Faith, a follow up eye appt for Blaine, a soccer game, drama rehearsal at 2, drama musical at 7 and a drama after party at 9. I don't think my butt hit a chair until the play that night. Let me just say Princess Ruffle Bottom is a trooper!!!!! She just goes with the flow, sat through the musical intrigued by the lights overhead, and dozed a little bit.

In the middle of all of this stuff to do on Saturday, Robert decided he needed to mow the lawn because it might rain. Brotherrrrrrrrr..... Really? Mow, weedeat and edge the yard when we have a zillion things to do? Do you need to organize the garage too? :-)

Sunday, I got to sleep in. And I needed it! I got up and made pancakes for the guys and we got ready and went to a redneck crawfish boil. Princess Ruffle Bottom was the hit of the party! She was so good too, she only got upset once when she looked up, someone new was holding her and she got this huge pouty face... Robert moved so she could see him and you could just see the relief in her eyes. Yea, she is getting to the age where she knows us from strangers. Awwwww! She was so cute too.... she wore a camo dress with "princess" in rhinestones on it. I figure when in redneck country, do as the redneckians do! I had to dress it up with a pink bow though... we don't have a camo bow for her yet! She was just adorable. I wish I could post pics of her!

Then today, Monday, the boys were supposed to go to school. I must admit, I am a bad Mom. I had a huge problem with them going to school on a holiday, and a day we were off from work. So I let them stay home. Blaine went swimming with a friend. Robert went in and worked a few hours and came home. Then we took Garrett and Princess Ruffle Bottom to the movies, to the candy store to get some chocolate/fudge/candy and then out to dinner. We went and saw Night at the Museum. It was really cute! I normally fall asleep in kids movies, but this one kept my interest. That and Princess poopie pants making a HUGE poop during the movie. Ewwww it was nasty! :-) She did good in the movie though, she is FASCINATED with tv, so she just watched the movie, dozed a little, ate and watched the movie some more. I covered her ears the whole time, because the movies are so loud.

So tomorrow is back to work. Wahhhh! I have really enjoyed the long weekend and am so thankful to have a family and kids that keep me busy. Life would be so boring without them.

So.... I can't close without paying my respects to the many men and women in the military, the ones that have fought and lost their lives, the ones continuing to fight, and the ones that serve our country so that we can have the freedom that we have.

I also want to pay my respects to the loved ones that are no longer with us. I know Memorial day is about the troops, but I also think about the ones that I miss so much..... my Grandma Wilson, my Grandma Brown, my Pappaw Brown, Uncle Bob, Uncle Jimmy..... I miss you all so much and can't wait to see you on the other side one day.

FIVE THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR:

1. The men and women that fight for our country, the men and women that have lost their lives fighting for our country, fighting for our freedom.
2. Kids that keep me oh so busy... I get stressed sometimes but without them, my life would be so boring. So I am thankful I have them to keep me busy.
3. An extra day off work... it was so needed and so appreciated! Now I don't want to go back!
4. Air conditioning!
5. God's many many blessings.... from the sunshine, to the flowers, to the kids he has blessed me with, to the Hubby he has blessed me with, to the family I have, to the friends I have.... I am so blessed and so thankful!

What a great day!

After quite an overwelming week, we had a great day today. Garrett, Little Miss Ruffle Bottom and I spent the day with my Mom and had a great time! (Blaine was out having a "social life" and didn't go with us)

We went to Cracker Barrell and ate lunch. We shopped in the store. We showed the baby off to her co-workers. We were there for 3 hours but we had so much fun it didn't seem that long. I got Little Miss Ruffle Bottom a cute princess sign for her room, a princess night light, a precious outfit and with my Mom's discount I spent $20.

After that, we went to her house and worked on pillowcase dresses. She got one made and it is precious! I have a HUGE bag full of vintage pillowcases so we have a lot of dresses to make. I felt kinda' bad though, she did all the work. So I think I'm going to bust out the avacado green sewing machine and try to make some myself.

But we had so much fun. Garrett was a HUGE help, he carried the baby in her carrier and the diaper bag since my neck/shoulder are hurting and when he got done eating, he offered to hold LMRB so I could eat (yea... on his own, he offered, what a sweetheart!) LMRB was good all day. Well, except for the explosive diaper incident but that wasn't her fault! :-) I tell ya', princesses do NOT poop like that! blehhhhh

It is days like today that make an overwelming week worthwhile. Thank you Mom, Garrett and LMRB!

FIVE THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR:
1. My Mom
2. My kids
3. The rain (but enough already! not EVERY weekend!)
4. That Robert ran two of my errands today so I could spend time with my Mom and the kids.
5. That this stressful week is over.

Happy Mother's Day!

Well, another week has gone by and no blogging. Just no time. Between the pinched nerve and shoulder/back spasms this week, Garrett's soccer, Blaine's spring football, having a precious newborn, all the caseworker visits and appointments for Little Miss Ruffle Bottom. I probably won't be blogging very much... but I'll try to update at least once a week.

Now on to the topic.... MOTHER'S DAY!

I just wanted to say I am sooooooo very thankful to be a Mother. Not just on Mother's day, but every day. My kids are my world, and I am so thankful that God has blessed me with and trusted me to care for these kids! Every fiber of my being loves being a Mom.

I also wanted to say how much I appreciate my own Mom! She is the sweetest, kindest, most thoughtful, unselfish person I have ever met. I am so thankful for the Mom that God blessed me with. I am thankful for every moment I have with her, every moment my kids have with her, every gingerbread party, every shopping trip.... I LOVE YOU MOM AND I AM SO THANKFUL FOR YOU, THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT YOU DO, ALL THAT YOU ARE..... I love you soooo much!

FIVE THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR:
1. OBVIOUSLY, My MOM!!!!
2. Being a Mom!
3. The zebra flip flops that Robert bought me for Mother's Day and the family photos we are having made for my Mother's day present.
4. All my friends that are Mothers. All my friends that want to be Mothers.
5. My kids..... I am thankful for each and every day with them, every laugh, every tear, every joke, every experience that I get to share with them.

Review of the week

I haven't posted in a while, so I'm warning you..... THIS WILL BE LONG! Just wanted to update on everything that has happened this last week.

Start with Saturday. Blaine met his "girlfriend" at the movies for their second "official" date (rolling eyes). We were at Walmart getting Little Miss Ruffle Bottom's 2 month pictures taken when Robert gets a frantic phone call from Blaine. His car won't start and he is beside himself because this girl is waiting at the movies for him. We are 20 minutes away and in the middle of a photo shoot with a not cooperative 2 month old so he can't use my car. A neighbor kid gives him a jump and he is on his way. He is supposed to be home by 11. We get a call at 10:15 that his car died in the middle of the road and it won't start again. Ugh.... it was his alternator, so his flashers wouldn't work. Thankfully, his girlfriend saw him and her Mom pulled up behind Blaine and waited there for Robert. As a Mom, I love that woman for doing that for my son! So I call a wrecker, and over 2 hours later Robert and Blaine get home with the car on a flatbed wrecker. $120 part and $87 towing bill later.

Sunday was spent trying to find an alternator for a 20 plus year old Nissan. I finally found the part, and Robert and Blaine worked on his car all day long.

Then Sunday, Little Miss Ruffle Bottom started having watery diarrhea. By Sunday night I was totally wondering WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO? I'm still trying to learn all her quirks and was beginning to think we had another difficult baby on our hands. The prior foster home said she was always happy, and I began to wonder why she wasn't liking us.

Monday, called the Dr. and they think she got a virus while she was there in the office for her 2 month shots, there is something going around. They put her on soy formula for 4-5 days. After 2 bottles of soy formula, her diarrhea was gone. And we have a NEW child. She IS always happy! Thank you God!

Monday was supposed to be my Mom's first day of "Granny daycare" here at our house. I get a frantic call around 6:45 that my Dad had totalled his car on the way to work and she was running late. So I call Robert and he turns around and comes home from work. He took a vacation day and stayed home with the baby while my Mom tended to my Dad. And thank God my Dad wasn't hurt in the wreck.

Phew.... what a week so far.

So Tuesday... can't think of anything too exciting, other than soccer practice was cancelled because of the weather and swine flu. It was nice to not have that one extra thing to do.

Wednesday, we had our FOURTH Caseworker visit since Little Miss Ruffle Bottom came here less than 2 weeks prior. She ended up being really super nice, so it wasn't all that bad.

Thursday, my cousin, Adrianna, had her baby via c-section. He weighed in at 6 lbs. 12 oz. and is totally healthy. She lost a child last year, so this baby has a special place in my heart. Congrats Adrianna and Jonathan and welcome baby Lucas! And soccer practice cancelled once again.

Friday morning, my friend Yolanda had brain surgery. She had/has AVM and a blood clot ruptured in her head, they had to go in and remove the blood clot/veins from her brain. Got word about 2:30 that surgery was good, and she was on her way to recovery. Thank you God!

Friday at lunch, my 2 co-workers and I went for a pedicure. They had bought me a gift certificate for one for my bday. It was soooooooo nice to go, sit, relax, laugh and be pampered together. And now I feel like a princess with my zebra painted toes. I know, it sounds hideous, but they look soooooooo cool! And they both got a good laugh when they busted out the Drimmel drill to sand down my horrendously calloused heels. :-) yea.... a woman should NOT let her feet get THAT bad. And tonight, Robert and I watched Fireproof. Good movie, horrible acting, but good movie! Blaine went to his girlfriend's house to meet her parents tonight. Ugh, I am soooooo not ready for this. I miss the days when he was 2 and throwing temper tantrums. Now he's 16 and throwing temper tantrums and dating too. How did I get so old so quick?

So my Mom and Little Miss Ruffle Bottom had a great week. It sure is nice to see her every morning, and to go to work and not worry about the baby like I would if she were in a daycare. I know she is in good hands, and I think my Mom is enjoying it a little too. :-) (at least I hope so!)

We got a call for a 9 month old little boy today. Awwwww, I wanted to take him so bad. But we may have Yolanda's 3 kids all weekend while she is in the hospital, and we aren't licensed to have that many kids in the house (yes, the state dictates how many children we can have here at any given time). Plus we are just now getting our routine down with the baby, and I don't want to overdo it. And I'm sure my Mom wouldn't be thrilled to know there are 2 infants to watch! But man did he sound precious!

Tomorrow, my Mom and I are going to Costco. I am so excited to get to buy stuff in bulk now! And to spend some time with her!!!! And Garrett's soccer game is cancelled because of the swine flu. Not to mention all field trips for the rest of the year.

So there you have it.... my week in review. We are settling in to a routine with the baby, and things are going great. I may regret saying this later.... but it isn't NEAR as hard as I thought it would be to have 2 teenagers and an infant at the same time. Did I just say that out loud?????

FIVE THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR:
1. My Mom, she is amazing!
2. Yoland's surgery going well!
3. Baby Lucas!
4. Pedicures!
5. Laughing and having a good time with friends!

Settling in....

Well, everyone has been asking how the boys are doing with the baby, so I thought I'd take a minute to update.

The first few days the boys HID in their rooms. They just wanted to "stay out of the way". I was missing them tremendously and had to have a talk with them that just because we have a baby in the house, we are all still ONE family. Don't hide in your rooms because there is a baby here. Come out and be a part of the family. Ever since then, they have been much more visible. But them hiding out wasn't all bad.... they actually got along and were enjoying each other. So it was nice to hear them getting along, laughing and being nice brothers. :-)

Blaine is still TERRIFIED of baby. He swears she doesn't like him. He has held her a few times and talks to her, but he just isn't comfortable with the baby yet. I hope it stays that way.... kids his age are HAVING babies.

He and I ran errands last night. I took him to Game Stop to get a game. In exchange, he went in WalMart for me and got some new nipples for the baby's bottles. He came out all red in the face. He said the checker asked him "how old is he?" Blaine says "what?". The checker says "your baby, how old is he?". Blaine said "oh it's not mine". The checker says "ahhh, I get it". He was MORTIFIED. Me, being the mean Mom that I am, thought it was hilarious. :-)

Garrett is doing great with the baby. He holds her, talks to her, offers to help when she's fussy, he opens the car door for me when I have her in her carseat carrier. I always knew he'd be a great big brother. Seeing him play the role of big brother is so sweet.

Robert... well, he was like a new dad the first day or so (acting like he didn't know what to do, etc.). Now, he is doing great... it is funny to see a grown man sing songs to a little baby, make up his own lullabies. Makes a girl fall in love all over again.

After she got her shots, she was real fussy. And it didn't stop. I was starting to think she was getting spoiled. :-) When we fed her, her bottles were leaking and I decided we needed to get her new nipples. Well.... she is a different child now! The nipples I was using were for older kids (discovered that after purchasing a whole new set), so she was getting her formula too fast, not getting enough and she was hungry. Using the right nipples has made all the difference in the world. She is back to 4 oz. a feeding, every 4 hours (instead of 5 oz. every 3 hours). Most of the formula was just draining out of her mouth. Rocket science I tell ya'.

Well, it's time to feed baby. And off to enjoy my last day off work. :-(

Baby Girl's 2 month Doctors visit

Well, Baby Girl had her 2 month check up today. She got 3 shots and one immunization by mouth. She slept until we got home and the BOTTOM FELL OUT. That girl screamed a blood curdling scream of pain for 4 hours! I have NEVER had a kid that hurt so bad from shots. She has had 2 doses of Tylenol and some Mylecon (from all the screaming she was sucking in so much air) and she FINALLY let me put her down around 8:30. FOUR hours of non-stop holding her, trying to console her. And don't I DARE to lay her down or it starts all over! But she finally let me lay her down and has been asleep for 2 hours now.

Robert went with me to the dr. I made him hold her while they gave her the shots. We were both teary eyed as she lay there screaming. I HATE that they have to get shots!!!!

So other than all the negative....

The dr said she was on target for everything. She can raise her head up, she grabs things when placed in her hands, etc. He said the eye twitching and lip quivering is probably from overstimulation. He said if it were drug effects, that it would be more often and she wouldn't be able to stop it if we held her chin. He said she looks perfectly healthy. I know the drug effects could show up at any time, but as far as not having withdrawals, etc. she is doing good. She is eating an appropriate amount, etc.

She is 10 lbs. 12 oz. and 22" long. And I did find out on her shot records that she weighed 6 lbs. at birth. So she is growing like a weed!

And as we were leaving, he said.... Congrats, I wish y'all the best, she is beautiful! I just smiled the biggest smile ever.....

Well, gotta' go... I just heard a loud TOOT over the baby monitor! hahaha :-) Seriously, I think that is the funniest thing I've heard in a long time! A TOOT over the monitor. Sleep deprivation is kicking in! :-)

what a birthday!

I think today has been the best birthday by far. Not just because of Baby Girl. It has just been a fantabulous day!

Baby Girl had a rough night last night. She got up 4 or 5 times. Her nose was stuffy and she wanted to sleep on her tummy. So I ended up sleeping with her on my chest in the recliner. So Robert gets up this morning, comes out yawning after sleeping all night. (rolling my eyes right now) He says "I haven't slept that good in years.... I didn't hear her all night, did she get up?" I just looked at him with that look of "I'd like to smack you right now". So he took over for a while so I could get a solid hours sleep. :-) Gawd, I love this man!!!!!

Robert invited his family over for my bday, and wanted to surprise them with the baby. He had to take Garrett for soccer pictures, so I got to clean house for my own birthday party for his family. Yippeeee! haha But he DID get the cake himself, got the ice cream himself and remembered to buy paper plates.... so I'm not complaining too much! :-)

So, they came over, ooohed and ahhhhed over Baby Girl. Then my friend, Sabrina and her kids came over to meet Baby Girl. When they left, we went out to eat for my birthday.

We went to eat mexican food. Didn't want to travel too far with the baby, not sure how she would do, etc. So it was us five and my nephew Jordan. We were all sitting there eating and Blaine gets up and goes to the karaoke guy. Blaine starts singing Happy Birthday to me in front of the entire restaurant. I was in tears. It was the SWEETEST, most precious thing this kid has done for me. He could have flung poo on me after that and I would still be proud!

Both boys have been so sweet today (even to each other!!!!!). They have been so helpful with the baby. They are really enjoying her. Robert (as always) made the day super special. My friends and family made the day super special.

I am the MOST blessed woman in the entire world. Thank you God!!!!!!

Whirlwind of a day....

Phewwwww what a day it has been! Last night when I went to bed, I had the most peaceful rest I have had in years. Got up, went to work and made time fly by getting my desk caught up for my week off work. Then the time came, to leave work and come home and wait for Baby Girl to arrive. I have waited for this day for soooooooooo long. And it was really weird to know that at 3:00 our foster baby would be dropped off at our house. My boss has been telling people, she's getting a baby at 3:00 on Friday, the stork is flying over her house and dropping off a baby.

So, 3:00 rolls around. I am like a cat in a room full of rockers. I walk to the front door (being the neurotic soul that I am) and THERE THEY ARE getting out of the car. OH MY GOSH ROBERT THEY ARE HERE!!!!!!! So Caseworker comes in with Baby Girl and 3 boxes FULL of stuff. They sent EVERYTHING imaginable. Clothes, socks, shoes, bibs, towels, washcloths, diapers, 5 big cans of formula, pacifiers, bottles, spoons, forks, a kajillion toys, diaper bags, baby wash, lotions, tylenol, motrin, diaper creme.... I could keep going. Oh yea, and COUPONS. If you can imagine it, they sent it.

So about 3:45 my Caseworker shows up. We sit down to sign papers. Baby Girl's Caseworker leaves about 4:30. At 4:45 my friend comes by. At 5:00 ish my Caseworker leaves. Then at 6:00 my Mom, Dad, Brother and his girlfriend come by. The phone is ringing off the wall, my text messages are going off non-stop, emails are coming in like crazy.

Garrett gets home from school during all this and comes running through the house to meet her. Blaine comes in later and comes over and says "she's cute". I guess for a 16 year old that's as excited as it gets. Garrett has been a rock star helping out. Blaine has taken pics of her on his cell phone so he can show her off. And Robert... he is the frazzled new Dad again. We finally got her calmed down and he just laid on the couch with her while she slept.

Baby Girl has had a rough day. She is absolutely precious! Even having a rough day, she is sweet as can be. She just seems so peaceful in my arms. She is beautiful. OK, I'm rambling now...

So... we made it through the first hectic day.

It is going to be a long year or so. Only God knows where her case will go. But I can tell you from the moment I laid eyes on her, she melted my heart. I have to keep telling myself she is a foster placement. While I hope she is here for a lifetime, and pray that God doesn't take her away from us, I have to keep in my mind that ANYTHING could happen. Now that she is here, that is harder to admit than I had thought it would be.

Thank you everyone for all your support, your well wishes, your being there for us in this exciting moment. Whether she is here for a season or a lifetime, we will love her as our own and cherish every moment we have with her!!!!!

Bible study story

OK, so I have a few minutes to type about what happened at bible study last night. It was so powerful to me, I HAVE to share!
So I joined this bible study a little over a month ago, and I love it. One of the first nights I was there, a lady talked about a situation in her life. She works for a daycare and one of her employees found out she was pregnant. She wanted to have an abortion. So prayers were lifted for this girl and for this baby in her womb, that God protect this child. She went to the Dr. and found out she was 6 months pregnant, and couldn't have an abortion. Thank you God! So she was looking into adoption. I wanted to jump across that room and cram my information in her hand to pass along to this girl. I felt myself jump in my chair! But I refrained. I thought about it all night, and went home and prayed about it. I woke up the next morning with this AMAZING peace about the situation. I didn't feel led to approach her about the adoption, but I felt led to pray for her and I have ever since that day.

Fast forward a few weeks. Last night I was at bible study. I gave my praise about our adoption situation. The lady that leads the bible study was in tears, and so was I. Absolute tears of joy, gratitude, gratefulness and appreciation for the gift that God is blessing us with. I look around the room and many of the ladies are teary eyed. But there is this one girl sobbing. I realized that I knew her (well know OF her through a friend of mine, it is her sister in law). So I say to myself I need to go talk to her after bible study.

This precious young lady has struggled with infertility for a while. I didn't know she was trying to adopt, but it got brought up later in bible study. I was asked to pray over her and gladly accepted. I know her pain, I know her struggles, I have walked in her shoes. But, I have been blessed with two beautiful sons, so I imagine her pain and struggle is greater than mine. She is a sweet young lady and I truly feel in my heart that God has a child picked out for her.

So, over the course of the night it was brought up that she is trying to adopt this baby. I was overcome with chills. Overcome with emotion KNOWING why God gave me such peace about that situation. This baby wasn't for me, it is someone else's. God had plans for me in the works, he has my baby picked out for me. And this absolutely precious young lady just might be the one that is able to adopt the baby that we had talked about several weeks before.

This post may not be for anyone but myself but WHAT A CONFIRMATION of faith, of listening to Him, of God's greatness and God's plan. I just sat there in awe of my Heavenly Father last night.

So after bible study this young lady and I talked for quite a while. She HAS a baby coming to her, I can feel it. God is working on getting that child to her, I know it. I just pray that it is this baby that should be here in the next couple months.

If you have a moment after reading this, and feel compelled to do so.... I ask that you please pray for Michael and Sarah, for this birth mom and for this baby.

FIVE THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR:
1. Miracles.... God given miracles.
2. Support of my friends and family. For everyone reading this that has been there through my pain, my sadness, my entire roller coaster ride that is adoption.... I THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!
3. Sleep... I won't be getting any for the next few years! :-)
4. Laughter
5. God's grace.

Final approval

Well, on Wednesday we got word that the placement had been approved for Baby A and that she would be coming on Friday afternoon. All I can say is PRAISE THE LORD, HALLELUJAH! I have been running on pure adrenaline this last week. Everyone is so excited! Robert is on cloud nine, he is nesting right along side me. Garrett wants to be there when they bring her so "he can help". Blaine just keeps asking questions, he's a typical teenager but I can tell he is kind of excited about it too.

She is a "legal risk" placement. Which means she is a foster child, with the goal being adoption.

Had an AMAZING bible study last night. When I have more time, I will definitely blog about it.

I am wrapping things up at work so I can take some time off. I don't get "maternity" leave where I work, so I am taking a weeks vacation.

Lord, I hope I can sleep tonight! :-)

And I haven't slowed down since Friday!

Friday was the consignment sale.

Saturday, I got up and cleaned for a couple hours then off to a make-up soccer game that we didn't know about until Friday at 9 pm. After soccer game, went home and took a quick nap, then took the boys and one of Garrett's friends to the concert. We went to see Saving Abel, Seether and Nickelback. It rained on us, it hailed on us. But that worked to our advantage. The boys LOVE Seether, and when it started raining and hailing everyone started leaving. Even the guards to the front seat sections. ;-) So... we moved up out of the lawn section to the seat section for all of Seether. The boys had a BLAST! And so did I! We had to move back to the wet muddy lawn section for Nickelback, but that was ok.

Sunday, got up and went to Church. WONDERFUL Easter service! Then to the grocery store, home to cook stuff for Easter dinner at my Mom's and immediately out the door to Mom's. We had a BLAST! The boys colored Easter eggs (and did it with a smile!), and then hunted the eggs with my brother and his girlfriend. We had a great time! Then off to Sabrina's to get the crib and changing table she is letting us borrow.

Phew.... I had to go back to work today to get some rest!

Today at lunch I went to 4 (yes FOUR) stores trying to find a diaper bag I like that doesn't cost $80-$400! STILL haven't found one I can live with. It shouldn't be this hard! And diaper bags SHOULDN'T be this expensive!

Tonight I got home and Robert had put the crib together already (Thank God!!!). He is getting excited about this. He texted me like 5 times today to see if I had heard the final word. Like I wouldn't tell him????? :-) So, I have busted my hump getting the room ready. We didn't have any idea what age child we would be placed with, so we had stuff from newborn to school age in there. Tonight, I bleached the crib and changing table down, got all the older kid toys/clothes/stuff out of the room, organized the closet by size, cleaned out the dresser drawers (was storage) and got the dresser drawers organized, hung pictures, made a bow holder for the bows I bought..... yea, I think that about covers it. The room is 98% ready for Friday. The only things I need are 1. a crib mattress (getting that tomorrow at Wally World) and 2. THE BABY! :-)

So yea, I am TOTALLY nesting! And I am TOTALLY worn out. So I am off to bed.....

FIVE THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR:
1. Energy.... (or adrenaline whatever it is that is helping me get all this stuff done)
2. My Hubby putting the crib together before I got home.
3. My bed... it is soooooooooo calling my name... yawnnnnn.
4. A WONDERFUL Easter with my family.
5. God.... his forgiveness, his grace, his wisdom and his answering prayers.

I shopped till I dropped, literally

Well, I was so hyped up about this consignment sale (and my new carseat bargain) that I couldn't sleep last night. I FINALLY crawled into bed at 1:30 this morning. And I had to be up by 7. That is NOT enough sleep for me to go on a shop till you drop excursion! And to top it off, as SOON as Robert left for work this morning (at 6:30), Faith started scratching me in the face, she needed to go potty. Ugh... damn dog! :-) How DARE you disturb my last 30 minutes of PRECIOUS sleep! I felt like Gollum on Lord of the Rings, begging for my precioussssss sleep. (guess I better get used to missing sleep, eh?)

So... we get on the road and head to Tyler for the sale. It was my friend, Sabrina, and her daughter, Audrey, and I. 3 girls on a MISSION! And we had a blast!

So, we shopped the consignment sale for a few hours. I only spent $40 something, but I got quite a bit. I got 2 outfits (one graciously donated by my Cousin that runs the sale), about 20 pairs of socks, 5 bibs, a pair of Stride Rite shoes, some infant noise toys, and my personal favorite..... custom designed hair bows. I walked up to the hair bow booth in awe. I've never had the pleasure of doing anything "girly", much less designing my own bows and I had no idea where to start. Sabrina helped me with my first one, and after that I was a PRO! It was sooooooooooooo much fun. I also got "little boy" 2 shirts and a firetruck bedding set.

I know.... you are asking.... why am I buying for the little boy?

Well, on the way to the consignment sale, the Caseworker called me. We talked for over 30 minutes. She gave me lots of info on the case. They are looking to place the baby girl with us on April 17th. I knew that, but hearing it from the actual Caseworker... well, it was surreal. The Supervisor has signed off on the transfer, the Guardian Ad Litem has approved the transfer, they just have to process the paperwork through the CPS placement unit. The boy, it's about a 50/50 chance he will come too, but it will be at a later date due to the status of his case.

And I am an anal retentive planner type person. So I'd rather have a couple things on hand and not need them than to have nothing. And if I don't get to use the stuff, I will know someone somewhere that can use it. So it's all good. I'm ALLLL about paying it forward.

Then we went to Mercado's and ate fajitas and headed home, absolutely positively exhausted. But man, what fun. And Audrey, she was THE BEST little shopper. She had the best time just people watching. And I got to see 2 of my Cousins, so that was nice.

I spent tonight taking down the daybed in the princess room, vacuuming and getting out all the stuff I have stored to the top of the closet. I need to get the baby crib from Sabrina SOON and get it set up. And just in case anyone is wondering, a twin mattress DOES fit up in the attic through that little attic hole. Who'da thunk it?

Soooo.... it sounds like this just might ACTUALLY happen. I am preparing for the worst (until they show up on my doorstep and I hear that doorbell ring) and praying for the best.

For now.... I am off to find my preciousssssss sleep I lost. :-)

FIVE THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR:
1. A fun day shopping, eating good food and laughing with my friend.
2. I finally got the princess room cleaned out ready to make it a complete nursery (not a room stuffed with a twin bed, crib, rocking chair, dresser, all the needed infant stuff like exersaucer swing bouncy chairs, etc.).
3. A Husband that knows I need some "me" time and gives it freely. Now if he would just let the dogs out before he leaves in the mornings! haha
4. My new found love of hairbows.
5. My friends, my family, our health, our jobs.

Carseat heaven

I am in CARSEAT HEAVEN!!!!!!! I went to TJ Maxx on my lunch break today and found a carseat that I liked. I started to put it in layaway, but didn't for some reason. I REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted a Britax carseat, but they are soooooooo expensive.

Tonight I was on the 'puter and hopped on to Craig's List before I started working on the princess room and what did I find???? Yup, a Britax carseat, the next town over for a STEAL. I contacted the lady and in a matter of minutes I was on my way to get the carseat of my dreams. In my pajamas and all! Robert went with me and I chatted and giggled and blabbed about this carseat the whole way there. He is STILL rolling his eyes at me.

The lady was so sweet. She showed me EVERYTHING about the carseat and even told me about Costco's diapers (we just had a Costco open up here this week). She was heaven sent, I tell ya'!

Another thing heaven sent.... my Mom brought me some birthday money today to spend at the sale tomorrow. The carseat cost EXACTLY what my Mom gave me for my bday! And it is $40 cheaper than the one I found today at TJ Maxx. I'd like to think of that as divine intervention! I know, it isn't turning water to wine... but in my eyes a miracle just the same!

So now I am just giggling with glee at my new carseat find. This is the Cadillac of carseats in my opinion. And I'm so tickled about it.... I have to share a pic!

So tomorrow, we hit the consignment sale in Tyler. I can not WAIT. I have my list ready. I have almost everything imaginable, but there are still a few things I'd like to get. My co-workers/friends and I didn't get much work done today.... we were too busy making my list and checking it twice. I hope tomorrow I have some neat stuff to show you on the blog. :-)

FIVE THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR:

1. Miracles... no matter how big or how small, they are all appreciated.

2. I got my carseat I WANTED.

3. The sweet lady I met on Craig's List today.

4. A long weekend.

5. A slow day at work where we could giggle, laugh, and dream while making my list of the things I need.

Foster news

Well, I found out tonight from my "informant" that they ARE still planning on sending us the foster placement. Had talked about Easter weekend because one of the workers was going to be in the area that weekend. But that is 2 days away, so they are still saying some time in April. And yesssss... I am excited! (just in case anyone had any doubts! hehe) Can't remember if I gave any details before about her, but she is a newborn... 2 year old brother may be coming as well, but that will be decided later (due to the status of his case).

Easter weekend is going to be crazy for us anyways.... so while I would have made it work, it will be much easier after Easter. Friday a friend and I are going to Tyler to my cousin's HUGE GINORMOUS consignment sale. Saturday I am taking the boys to their first concert (Nickelback, Seether and Saving Abel) for my early bday present to myself. Sunday we are going to Church and spending the rest of the day with my Mom, Dad, Brother and his Girlfriend. After this weekend, I have absolutely nothing planned.

I have to get a crib set up (had just given away our crib the week before finding out about this placement) and get the twin bed out of that room so we can make room for the changing table and all the fun infant stuff that I have stored. :-) It will be fun.

So maybe by my bday, or soon after, we may have a foster daughter! wooooooohoooooooo!

Garrett had his math TAKS test today. Phewwww am I glad that is over! I HATE LOATHE DESPISE DISLIKE AND RESENT TAKS! He asked me last night to make him cinnamon rolls for breakfast this morning (whoever has TAKS gets to pick what is for breakfast that day). Blaine got him up this morning, this was their conversation:

G-where are my cinnamon rolls.
B-ummmm, there's not any
G-yes there are
B- (thoroughly enjoying disappointing his little brother at this point- ummmmm, NO there's NOT
G-Mom is MAKING me cinnamon rolls this morning
B-well I just looked and there aren't any dude
G-WELL SHE IS MAKING THEM FOR ME.....
(by that time I was in the kitchen making cinnamon rolls)

I know, boring conversation but it just made my day. My baby had faith in me. He KNEW that I would make him cinnamon rolls because I told him I would. Here lately I feel like NOONE in this house (or world) has faith in me.... so this just made my day. Awwwwww, proud Mommy moment.

FIVE THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR:
1. That feeling of KNOWING my kids KNOW they can count on me
2. Saving $35 on $111 worth of groceries at Kroger today
3. The strawberry shortcake I made my guys for dessert tonight (even though I almost got mauled trying to fix it... they are all having junk food withdrawals)
4. That we still may get this placement
5. The beautiful sunny NO WIND day we had today

no title for today

I haven't blogged much lately.... I just haven't felt like my chatty self. But today, I feel the need to blog about my friends. It seems today that several of my friends are going through so much (myself included but theirs seem to be so much more stressful).

It all started this weekend. Garrett had his first soccer game since getting out of his boot. Yay Garrett! One of his team mates needed to come over until his Mom got off work from her second job. He lives in the town next to us, and it dawned on me that one of my old friends (that I haven't talked to in several years) lives in that town. Since it is a small town, I asked him if he knew her son. He said "yea, we live next door to them". So we talked about the kids, and all that. And then he says "you know Yolanda has to have brain surgery, right?" Whaaaaaa???????? She had an aneurism (sp), can't use her left hand and has to have brain surgery. I was in tears. I immediately call her. When she answers I can hardly talk because I am so worried for my friend. She is the Mom to 3 kids, just the sweetest person ever. And she is 38 (or so) and has to have brain surgery! So we talked for about an hour, never skipping a beat.... it was so nice to reconnect with her. Her surgery is May 1st. She will be in the hospital for about a week if all goes well. She and I had talked briefly a while back when her Mom passed away. The day I called was the 2 year anniversary of her Mother's passing.

Then I get on FB yesterday and see a post from another old friend (Stacy) that her Mom passed away that morning. I just reconnected with this friend a couple weeks ago, and we had just talked about her coming to see us on her next visit to Dallas. Never would I have imagined it would be at a funeral.

Then I get on FB today and see a cyber buddy (from an old adoption site that I used to belong to). Jen. She posted a blog about all she has been through. In a weeks time (or close to)..... she found out her Dad has cancer, she was going through testing to donate a kidney to her cousin (and for my cousins reading this YES I would do that for you!), her Grandmother passed away, then in the testing she found out she couldn't donate her kidney because she has CANCER. This young, strong, wonderful woman has cancer. And had it not been for the testing, she probably would have never found it.

Then I get to work this morning and a GOOD friend and co-worker of mine, Kim, her Grandmother passed away.

And one of my closest firends, Sabrina, is struggling with her x-husband. I just don't understand how some men can be such selfish, rude, inconsiderate pain in the anuses.

My heart just breaks for all these precious ladies. I hate it when my friends hurt. I hurt when my friends hurt. So today my post is in tribute to these wonderful women, their trials and their suffering. If you have a moment to pray, I ask that you include these ladies in your prayers today.

I still haven't heard anything on the possible placement. I've been in this rodeo long enough to know when things don't look favorable. So back to the drawing board on that one.

But good news... Garrett made it through his first soccer game. They lost, but he had fun. And he is going to run in the district track meet next week.

And Blaine has a girlfriend. NOT the one that has caused so many problems. (THANK YOU JESUS!) So he is on cloud nine. He is so sweet. He took her out on a date Saturday. I asked him if he kissed her good night and he said "oh yea". I asked if it was a KISS kiss or a sweet kiss. He said "Mom, it was a sweet kiss.... I don't KISS kiss until the third date". Haha The kid hasn't been out on 3 dates with anyone! Thank goodness he doesn't know what I did by the third date when I was his age!!!!! :-) (I am kind of kidding, I only dated 2 people through high school! Just an attempt to make ya' laugh after reading my serious post.)

FIVE THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR:
1. Lunch with my Mom today
2. Each and every day I have to spend with my family and my friends
3. A quiet Monday. If you work in the insurance industry, you know Mondays are THE WORST.
4. God's forgiveness, God's grace and God's favor
5. Coffee.... I haven't had any in 5 days and I need some really really bad. Yes, I know I sound like a junkie!

Nothing exciting (as usual)

Well, I haven't blogged in a while. And my friend Erin is making me feel bad, so I figured I'd share some of my latest.

I am happy to say the new owner of the rat terrier (Garrett named him Killer), is so happy with him. He slept with the new owner the first night he was home. So I think it is going to work out.

Garrett was able to take his boot off this weekend. He had just got new shoes before he broke his foot. So he is now wearing one BRAND NEW shoe and one dirty muddy shoe. It is quite comical. I guess if I was a good Mom, I'd wash his shoes for him. But come on, he's THIRTEEN... if he doesn't care, should I?

So today he had a track meet. Keep in mind yesterday was his first day back without the boot. And they asked him to run the mile in the track meet. WHAAAAA????? So, I reluctantly let him go. I have to wrap his foot everyday and I figured running a mile would be better than kicking a soccer ball at soccer practice tonight. So he goes to the meet. And they decide he shouldn't run. Brotherrrrr! So the poor kid was out past 9:00, in the cold in shorts (I TOLD him to wear pants today!), hadn't eaten since lunch at school (and if you have teenage boys, you know that is DEVESTATING!). After 9:00 I texted him to see where he was..... His response? "By a bunch of trees". I kid you not, that was his answer. Yup, that's MY kid. God love 'em.

I go to tell him good night when he went to bed and I hear Blaine on the phone giving a girl friend of his (not a girlfriend but a friend that is a girl), advice on handling parents, why they do what they do, and on not letting little things bug her so much. BROTHERRRRRR... is he listening to himself? Really!? So.... I got a huge kick out of standing outside the door evesdropping. Yea, I know, I'm a mean Mom. And Grace (my shadow that follows me everywhere) is standing in the hall with me, sniffing under his door the whole time... scratching on the door. Dang Grace, quit it, you are going to get us busted! :-) Luckily Blaine couldn't hear the commotion at the door over his lips flapping giving advice on how to not be so hormonal. A lesson he needs to learn himself! haha

Tomorrow is April Fool's Day. We ALWAYS do something to my poor Boss on April Fool's Day. (yea, I know, I need to grow up.... but it is so much fun!) He made a very nice warning yesterday that April Fool's Day is also on PAYDAY. wink wink So if we wanted our paychecks, we better not be playing any jokes on him on payday. So me, being the smartass that I am, played mine today. :-) Now I hope I get my check! I sure need it!

We may be getting a foster placement soon. It sounds promising, so keep your fingers crossed and say prayers for us! I am hoping to know more tomorrow. Now, if I have to take time off from work, my Boss is going to think it's an April Fool's joke!

Well, that's about it. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have some good news to blog about.

FIVE THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR:
1. Being a Mom. It is a gift from God and I am so thankful he has trusted me to raise His children.
2. A Boss that has a sense of humor.
3. Friends. The ones you can gripe to, cry with, laugh with....
4. A fabulous dinner at my Mom and Dad's this weekend with my brother and his girlfriend.
5. A good nights sleep.... I desperately need one!

Making laundry detergent

I don't know about y'all, but I spend a FORTUNE in laundry detergent. I am a fan of The Duggar's and I had seen how they make their own soap and save lots of money by doing so. So... I broke down today and bought the stuff to make my own. I had to buy the stuff to get started, but once it is all said and done it is supposed to cost $2 to wash 640 loads. Right now I spend $213 to wash 640 loads! It took me less than an hour to get it all mixed up.

Here is the "recipe" if anyone is interested.

4 Cups hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax-

Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled.

Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.-
Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.-
Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

I am also doing my own fabric softener. I am using option # 2 in the recipe below:

Inexpensive Fabric Softener Recipes
Recipe #1 Cup White VinegarAdd vinegar to rinse cycle. Works great. Removes residue and odors. Also helps to keep washing machine and hoses fresh and clean too.

Recipe #2 Container of Name Brand Fabric Softener4 Inexpensive sponges, cut in halfPour entire container of softener into a 5 gallon bucket. Fill empty softener container with water twice. (2 parts water to 1 part softener) Add sponges to softener/water mixture. When ready to use wring out extra mixture from one sponge and add to the dryer as you would a dryer sheet.

Doggy update

Well, I am glad to say I am an Aunt! A puppy Aunt that is....

My Mom's dog had her puppies earlier this week. She took a poll on how many and I was the closest. She had 7 and my guess was 8. Two of the puppies didn't make it. :-( My Mom was such a trooper. She stayed up all night with the dog. The first one born wasn't breathing. So I spent some time online looking up tips on how to get them to breathe. My Mom even gave the puppy mouth to mouth, she tried everything and nothing worked. The last one also didn't make it. But five survived and they are so cute! Mommy dog and puppies are all doing well.


And on our stray.... HALLELUJAH! We found him a home today! A friend of Robert's brother took him. I am so glad this sweet guy found a home!!!!

Dog karma

OK, so I posted a few blogs ago about the dog that my Mom adopted. And my "guilt" at getting my parents involved because she is now pregnant. Well, I've been getting updates all day, I swear she is going to have those puppies tonight. She is almost there.

So this is where the doggy karma comes in. Sunday after Church, we had a stray dog wander up. He had a collar on with a national id, so we figured it would be easy enough to find the owners. No problem, we would do our "good deed" to man's best friend and make some sad owners really happy that they got their beloved dog back.

NOT!!!!!!! We can't get the people to call us back. So now I am stuck trying to find this sweet little guy a home. He is too sweet and has been taken care of too well to just take to the pound, knowing he'd be put to sleep.

So now, we have FIVE dogs at our house right now. Two of them males, and we are having the total "alpha male" contest going on. Yes, Zeus and his whole THREE pounds is showing this stray dog who is the alpha.

Lord, please let me find this dog a good home!

FIVE THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR:
1. Encouraging words
2. The rain
3. My kids, my hubby, my family and my friends
4. That my Mom is still speaking to me after this whole dog pregnancy (I know, I didn't get her pregnant... but I still feel guilty because it was ME that sent her the doggy's info)
5. That a distant family member is helping us with the adoption process.

Phew I'm tired!

Well, yesterday was the first day of spring. Blaine went to work with me to help me out and on my lunch break, we joined all the spring fever people at Home Depot. I bought 20 bags of mulch, 30 plants, fertilizer, some plant seeds and lettuce seeds.

So last night, I planted all the plants out front. This morning, Blaine and I went to work on the yard. (he has been the HUGEST help!) We pulled all the old mulch out front and put it in the flower bed out back. We put out 20 bags of mulch. He treated the ant mountains that had accumulated in the yard. I fertilized. I planted seeds. I tied up my wisteria to train it on the pergola. He cleaned the back yard. I sprayed round up on the weeds. We cleaned out and moved the bird bath.

All the while, Garrett was at the mud bogs with Uncle Shannon and Robert was out fishing at his Aunt's house. Isn't that conveeeeenient! :-)

Needless to say, we are both exhausted! But man, do my flower beds look good! Now if the grass would just grow. I had to sit out back this evening, with a glass of wine, admiring how great everything looked.

Here's a pic of the dogs watching us work out front... they crack me up!




FIVE THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR:
1. Blaine's help! And bonding time with him.
2. Home Depot gift cards. Couldn't have done all this today without 'em!
3. Spring.
4. Hot showers!
5. The couch I am about to lay on and snuggle with Grace.

Spring break

So yesterday, I took the day off to spend with the boys. We were going to Six Flags, until Blaine told me he didn't want to ride any rides. Garrett is like me (bless his heart) and does NOT like heights, so he wouldn't be riding either. No way am I spending all that money to just walk around. And pay $15 to PARK to walk around... Not happening! I wanted to take them paintballing, but Garrett is still in his boot and I didn't want to ruin it. Can't rock climb... the boot again.

So, we opted for a fun day at Shenaniganz. It is a cool new place in town. They have bowling, laser tag, rock climbing, video games and indoor gokarts. We ate lunch there and the boys did all of the above except for rock climbing and gokarts. They were packed, so we got to bowl in the private lounge area. It was awesome... we were the only people in there and we all had a blast. Robert joined us when he got off work. So we all bowled (again, yes we bowled the day before too, different place though), we laughed, we totally had a blast.

Today it was back to work. My 2 Co-Workers are off today and tomorrow so that makes for stressful days!

Robert took Blaine to the Dermatologist today. This kid has acne that won't stop. We have literally tried EVERYTHING under the sun. So he gave Blaine an arsenal of prescriptions. He told him to stop using all the products he is using now and use Dove soap to wash his face. Are you kidding me???? DOVE SOAP? I have spent a FORTUNE on cleansers over the last 2 years and Dove soap is supposed to do the trick!? We'll see. I have about $200 in prescriptions to get tomorrow. Lord, I hope this works. This kid is miserable!

FIVE THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR:
1. The absolutely perfect, beautiful, couldn't ask for anything nicer weather that we've had this week.
2. Activities with my kids (and that they still WANT to do stuff with MOM!)
3. Blaine offering to go to work with me tomorrow to help me out, what a sweet kid!
4. All my plants that are coming up from the seeds I planted last year.
5. That tomorrow is Friday!!!!!!!

A great day with the boys

Well, today I took a half day off work to spend with the boys for Spring Break. I have been wanting to take the boys pics for quite some time now, but it has just been so dang cold. Today was sinfully BEAUTIFUL! So I HADDDDD to take some pics of them. They were both great sports and I got some fabulous pics of them.

After that, we went to lunch. Then we went bowling. And I beat both of them! haha We had a great time laughing and being goofy. Then to Braum's for ice cream. Yum!

I am off tomorrow too, but not sure what we are going to do. I hope it was as much fun as we had today!