This is it...

I can hardly believe it where did the year go? This is the last day of 2010... I am spending the day painting our TV room and then later going to a small early party then coming home to get in my pjs with the kids and my Mom and Sister to watch a movie and eat junk food to ring in 2011.

It has been a while since I blogged... so sorry... but we got a new house!!!!!!!!!!!!! Its been a long journey and some hard work but were in. I LOVE IT, its the most perfect house ever, its like someone was taking notes of everything Shawn and I talked about doing to our old house and put it in this one. Our furniture even fits perfectly, this is it! We moved in 4 days before Christmas and I had the whole down stairs unpacked and ready for Christmas Eve gathering to be out our house (I know I amaze myself sometimes!) Our first Christmas with the girls was awesome, J was sick but it was still momentous. Friends and Family spoiled them silly and they loved it, something I am sure A has never experienced. I took tons of pictures just need to edit them and then will post a few (only of A sorry no J) I missed Shawn terribly but he pulled out his Knight in Shinning Armor and was the perfect husband. The day before Christmas Eve he had 3 dozen roses delivered to the house, they are sooooo amazing!! I have never gotten that many at one time, they are beautiful! He coordinated with my sister who bought some presents and had them under the tree from him... I got a 16 bottle wine fridge whoo hooo cant wait to stock that puppy, he also got me from A a diamond bracelet that says I <3 U and there is a diamond in all the hearts, and then the best for last... I got the new Silhouette machine... I cant wait to get that to good use!

Since Christmas we have been busy trying to settle in, were about 75% unpacked and I am almost done with the last little bit of painting. We had bushes torn out, a pool fence put up, garages painted, light fixtures put up, common areas painted, carpets and tile cleaned... one day I had 3 different workers here it was pretty crazy. Now its just putting my touch on the place and I cant wait to finish and post before and afters, I have never been so in love with a house before it truly is a home and I'm bursting to fill it up with kids. We had our home inspection for our foster license/adoption process. Because we closed on the house a week late we may no longer be able to wrap up the adoption in Feb as planned but more like March or April. As long as it happens were patient but excited. As of right now it looks like we will be keeping J thru April/May time so she will be sharing her first birthday with us! If her Mom keeps up the good work she will be reunited with her family... bitter sweet. But we are licensed for 2 so as soon as the adoption goes through we may very well get a 2nd and see what happens with J, its all a process.

2011 is filled with so many good things...  J's 1st Birthday, A's 9th (1st with us) Birthday, my sis is turning 21, I am turning 30 (aahhh) Tyler is turning 18 and graduating High School (O, boy. watch out world) We will be going to OR to see his big moment! Shawn should be home on R&R some time and then home before the end of the year, Shawn's cousin Al is getting married so a small trip to CO for that big day will be in order (should be able to meet my twin nephews then!!) SO MANY exciting things and this is all just what we know... last year I had no idea I would become the Mom of 2 kids and get a new home or send Shawn off on another deployment... each and every day is an adventure and holds so much in a single moment. I look forward to reflecting on 2011 cause 2010 has been amazing and life is only getting started!! Happy New Year everyone! Be safe out there. (Stay tuned for new house pictures and Christmas pictures!) Love to all from the Adams clan.

Hello pjs, sofa, flat screen & Chipotle!

So Nutcracker was great last night had a really fantastic time! "A" really enjoyed herself and thats all that matters. Shes getting so much better at picking up the proper way to behave in certain settings, she really blew me away with how awesome she was last night which always makes for a really enjoyable time. The pictures are not the greatest (cellphone pics) but here was our night... "A" before the show, us before the show and then us when we got home from the show my dad took the 3rd pic so...
I had Army drill today was up at 4am and was out on a almost pitch black high school soccer field playing some rough soccer with my fellow soldiers at 6am. One of my favorite movies a quote kept coming to me as I was driving in to "work" (I work one weekend a month and am earning a full fledge retirement-thats so awesome!) any way the quote "Bryce, Bryce (some knocking on a door and some mumbling from Byrce) cordial smiles are exchanged and Bryce says "whats that smell?" the female character responds with "5am" any takers on the movie...?? Ok, Ok, its Tomb Raider with Angelina Jolie (who I am madly in love with) thats my morning summed up 5am I am driving in. Anyway soccer was fun I rough housed right back withe boys and we even got soaked with sprinklers... the big boss said keep playing, so we did. Closed up shop after several training classes and got home around 4 to relieve my sis of baby duty so she could go to work. Now I am home with the kids going to run to Chipotle... in my pjs! To come home and watch a movie with the girls!!

Enjoy your weekend everybody!

Wow

So yesterday was a complete epic fail. I ate some Panda Express on Tuesday night and it was not good. I was hurling at 11:30pm until 6am, every 40 minutes. The rest of the day I had a slight temp and an upset stomach, the hurling showed its face again at 2:30pm. Talk about fun right? NOT.  I spent the whole day laying around trying to get my stomach to co operate with me and got nothing done in the house. I am now a day behind with my to do list and the big move is creeping up fast. Supposed to sign papers today but so far no word so my realtor thinks hopefully we can sign papers tomorrow and get keys on Monday. This sets my whole moving time line back too, had made appointments for painters and Merry maids to come on Monday... I am crossing my fingers I only have to shift those appointments by one day, I think I can swallow one day... I hope. So, today I dove back into packing and catching up on emails and house work. Its 12:30 and I am exhausted now. So, I fear I will have to take a nap. I got lucky and was given FREE tickets to the Nutcracker tonight, a show I have seen so many times and it never gets old. We girls in the family try to go every year but it doesnt always happen. I couldnt pass up FREE tickets so I am taking "A" tonight, she has no idea I will have to go sign her out a little early from school and then head home to get dressed up. I think this year the girls will still go the day after Christmas and we are thinking on making a sound yearly tradition. Speaking of, every year I host Christmas Eve and we usually do a dinner but are doing a lunch instead this year. Everyone seems to like it, that it will fit in there schedules so much better so it may be a new tradition! Kinda nice, Shawn and I always love being different! Ok, eye lids getting heavy, will post pictures of Mom and daughter outing later so be on the look out.

Ok how about Tackle Tuesday

So, Mission Monday was not an epic fail but it was not as successful as I would have liked. The day started out really well and I actually thought I would finish my to do list with time to put my feet. I made it to the Chiropractors for a 9:30am appointment when I came out my cell phone had been on silent and was on over load with missed calls, messages and emails. I zipped over to Dunkin Donuts to get some of there amazing coffee.. this was a little after 10. When I walked out I had set up an appointment for next week for "A", coordinated Christmas Eve plans with the family, got my schedule set for choir practice to sing on Christmas Eve, and had done some coordinating for my up coming drill weekend with the Army this weekend. Not bad right? I then went to go pick up 150 cards that were waiting for me at my Alumni High School Sunrise Mountain that the Honors Society had been kind enough to help with. I got home by 11ish and was feeling energized. I jumped on the internet to get some non-profit stuff done and that is where things kinda came to a screeching halt. I had some serious technical difficulties with Facebook and setting up and updating my non profit page... still not fixed because after 2 hours of sucked up time I threw the towel in. This was also about the time that my neck started hurting from the Chiropractor and I had a dull constant headache. I later found some re newed energy to do 2 loads of laundry, make dinner, do a few more Christmas cards and then was done for the day. So, today I try again... if at first you don't succeed try, try again!

In the world of the new house news, as of yesterday my realtor was told that we are still on track to close this Friday... today will be another phone call for a are you sure were on track cause she didnt really believe the loan lady. I am crossing my fingers. The house is now 75% packed and the remaining 25% could easily be done in less than a day. I am really getting excited for this journey ahead, having room to breath in a house with room to grow for more kids to be a part of our lives!! Maybe Shawn is right I have a giant heart and my sister too, that I am trying to save the world... its worth a try!!! Enjoy your Tuesday everyone!

Tomorrow is Mission Monday, says I

I am designating tomorrow as Mission Monday... I am on a mission to complete, yes I said complete my TO DO LIST. Dun, dun, dun..... Laundry is out of control at my house I swear "A" is wearing 2 outfits at a time cause I seriously thought I just did her laundry 3 days ago... apparently not cause she is out of the essentials tonight I discovered when I went to lay her clothes out for tomorrow. Bleh. I sat on her floor sorting her laundry and I said "I am going to run away to a far away island." She says "Mom, which island?" I told her I cant tell her cause I want to be alone so I don't have to do chores lol!! I did not accomplish hardly anything today and realized time is ticking away quite quickly. I hope to make a post tomorrow night boasting of my accomplishments... we shall see. Today was Church which is always nice and my Mom drove an hour to come with us, the girls always love seeing Nanny. We went to lunch with "A's" biological sister and brother as required by the case worker. I know its not nice to be judgmental and I work really hard not to be but her siblings who are being raised by Grandparent (not blood related, just tagged as Grandparents... long story) are just not good people for "A" to be a round, they bring her down without even knowing it and hold her back from moving forward. She desperately needs to move forward and she tries but these visits can set her back some times. I had been dreading this visit all week. I even suffered some serious panic attacks late last night, something I have not experienced in years not since my divorce way back in the day of bad decisions. Lets just say I am glad the day is over, the visit was not as bad as I imagined but it was not enjoyable at all. My Mom and sister were amazing enough to come and be my support, they did great. I think it was a good call too for "A" to see that support. "A" her self did amazing I was worried at her decision making process being affected but she truly proved me wrong, I am so proud of her and the way she handled it all!! Hope everyone enjoyed the weekend, I am anxious for Christmas and am hoping for some good news on the house this week so that I can get into the spirit of Christmas a little more. As weird as it sounds cause I know thats not even close to what it is about, but without the house decorated I am just not feeling it this year. It could very well be because I am so pre occupied with the girls and Shawn being gone, who knows. This could be proved if we get into the new house and I can get the tree up and a few strands of lights outside, then see how I feel. I have been doing the Christmas music thing since Halloween... as I do every year. Christmas is my favorite and its been fun sharing things with "A" we watched the movie White Christmas with Bing Crosby... she loved it, which is good cause its a family favorite and a tradition to watch it every year. We watched Christmas Carol with Jim Carry tonight while drinking hot chocolate which was fun! I am dying to decorate though... fingers crossed I will complete my Mission Monday with success and we will get great news on the house and all will be well in the life of the Adams family!!

Christmas cards.... EVERYWHERE

It is one of those things that gets put on the list of having to do every year for Christmas. I am considering an alternative but with kids now I am not so sure. Everyone wants pictures of them and since they are children with a story everyone wants to know it. So, yet again I am working on our yearly Christmas letter, addressing envelopes and stuffing them with said letter and our family picture cards. On top of these 40+ cards I currently have 300 Christmas cards sitting on my kitchen table. Me and my giant heart Shawn would say, or my sister would say there I go trying to save the world again... last year I did a Christmas in July Christmas card drive at our church. I asked the congregation to bring in any un-used Christmas cards that would then be filled out by our young adults group and sent over seas to deployed soldiers. The church blew me away and I collected over 1,000 Christmas cards. We sent about 250 last year along with 250 empty ones in the same box so the soldiers could send some to there families back home. This year the congregation filled out 300 cards on two different Sundays in between services. I also got the Honors Society from my Alumni High School to fill out 150 which I will be picking up on Monday. Then I am headed to the post office to mail out 450 Christmas cards to our selfless troops over seas. I am so excited but it does put some weight on my to do list. More Christmas cards... I have to help my Mom fill out 50+ cards for my Army unit since she is the Family Readiness Group leader (FRG) for my unit and they do thing to support the troops and there families here and abroad. I some how became the FRG leader of Shawn's unit so I have ANOTHER 20+ Christmas cards to fill out for his guys. Dont get me wrong these are the things I love to do, just some times when you are in the middle of it all it can seem to be a tiny bit overwhelming. I am surprised I have not turned into a Christmas card at this point.

Baby "J" is gone all day for a visit with her family so I decided to make a break for it and run a marathon of errands. Its so much easier to do with out a baby in tow. It is still a bit sluggish for my liking since I did have to bring "A" she can be the pokiest 8 year old ever sometimes. But, mission was accomplished. I finished our angel tree gift shopping, I decided since baby "J's" family is living in a shelter with 2 small girls to get a bunch of things for them... almost like an unofficial adopt a family, so I finished up that shopping today too. Helped "A" finish her shopping, she saved up her money and wanted to buy something for my sister (her Nanny lol) baby "J" and me... what a good kid! I also did a little shopping for myself... had a stack of gift cards from my BA graduation from family and I decided to finally spend them! Now I am at home blogging when I should be doing Christmas card somethings, FRG stuff for Shawn (so he will stop bugging me about it), Army planning since I have drill on the 11th and I am the training NCO, and I have a GIANT pile of laundry to tackle. It never ends, no matter how hard I try. I am praying for a miracle cause I need to complete all these loose end projects so that I can finish packing cause if everything goes on schedule we will be moving in about a week. AHHHAHAH!! I think I can, I think I can....

I am considering, after the holidays, maybe running off to a remote island for a little while to do a whole lot of NOTHING!! That sounds so wonderful...

Hope everyone is enjoying there weekends. I do have to say how nice it is to be home on a Saturday I try really hard to make this happen. They are rare but I love them. I would so much rather be at home cleaning, or doing nothing that being out and about.

Be sure to keep an eye on my photography blog: todaytomorrowforeverphotography.blogspot.com
I have some posts coming up of "A" after we make it thru the move and Christmas. I also have the family session I did with adorable nephews coming up!! So, be sure to add our crazy life blog and the fun calming photography blog to your favorites!

Turkey Day

Thanksgiving Day! Us girls dressed in Brown and pink theme!

Time is ticking away

This happens to be the story of my life as well as the title to a Christian song by DC Talk a group I grew up listening to. I am bitting my finger nails down to the skin almost waiting for word on the new house. We are just about packed up and ready to go, I cant wait to not be tripping over boxes and my house looking like a Uhaul store threw up in it. I have seen the new house enough times that I have a furniture lay out plan and all the boxes labeled down to the corner of the appropriate room, the rooms of course will be labeled as well. We have so many things ridding on this move 2 being a Foster license has to be renewed and they have to do a home inspection. It would be dumb to have them do it on this house cause they would just have to do it again when we move. The adoption of "A" requires a home study they call it, a fancy name for a home inspection and the two cant be done simultaneously either, two separate. My sanity as well is ridding on this move, I just need a little more breathing room in the house now that we have kids and all that they come with. I am praying hard that everything goes according to plan and on the original time line so we can get settled in before Christmas!! It will be nice to start the new year settled into a new home!
The kids are growing like mad and they keep me very busy these days. I try to set some me time aside as often as I can, this being said I thought it would be nice to take a nice hot bath on Sunday and relax. Well, I  was apparently much more worn out that I thought and I fell asleep in the tub. I woke up in cold water and a GIANT kink in my neck. I tried to gut through the pain of the kink and let it work itself out but yesterday I couldnt do it any more. I had a constant headache and I could barley turn my neck to look left or right to be able to drive = dangerous. So I had to give in and go to the Chiropractor. Its not that I dont like Doctors I just prefer to let nature take its course and try to remedy at home with good old fashion tea, water, hot pads, orange juice whatever the situation may call for. This was not the case. The kink was so bad and Dr couldnt even pop my neck on the first try it was pretty painful. But, today I feel like a young spring chicken again it so wonderful!! No plans on the calendar this weekend and I am actually happy to just stay at home doing nothing with the girls! Hope everyone getting into the Christmas spirit and not losing the true meaning. Only about 22 more days til the big day. I will keep everyone posted on the up and coming move... plenty of pictures to share when it all happens!

Made it out alive

Went to the mall today to catch a GREAT sale at New York and Company... 50% off the whole store! Holler! I have not gone on an all out shopping spree in that store in years. My favorite purchase a red wool peacoat!! It was love at first sight! Took a pit stop and a second hand store called Other Mothers where you can trade in kids clothes and you get credit in the store, I am a digger and this time I think was my BEST trip there ever. I found so many cute things from Children's Place, Old Navy, an upscale dress store and so much more. Our girls are going to be SUPER CUTE this winter. Second place best purchase of the day... a jogging stroller that looks like it was maybe used once if that... only $50.00, yes you heard me only $50.00... a steal!! I am so excited to use it in the mornings, "A's" school is 1 mile away and if I take the long way back home... can you say HOT MAMA for Shawn to come home to!! ;-)
Still in shock a bit that tomorrow is Thanksgiving already, this year has zipped by, I think one of the fastest yet. I am so excited for 2011, I think it will have some amazing things in store for this family. We will be in a new home and so bless to be able to purchase with the way the market is, Tyler is graduating High School (bitter sweet), Shawn will be coming home to us and we will all be together for 2011 holidays!
Tomorrow morning is the Parade to be viewed in our PJ's, I have cookies and cupcakes to make to head over to my Dad and Step Moms to then stuff ourself and hang out with family. Hope everyone else has a fabulous Thanksgiving Day.

Another photo session posted on todaytomorrowforeverphotography.blogspot.com

Its finally cold outside!

Its finally truly chili outside and I couldnt be more excited. This means I get to bust out all my boots, I have a weakness for shoes but an even bigger weakness for boots. I also have a scarf obsession and a jacket obsession. Today I was out shopping and found a purple wool blazer jacket with giant black buttons... I am so in love. Its on my Christmas list! Speaking of Christmas... Thanksgiving is only 1 whole day away. I usually am first in line to host events and holidays at my house but not this year, I am so glad to not have to worry about hosting. With the girls I can sit back and relax and spend some time with them. We will be going to my Dad and Step Mom's this year. I am still on the list to host Christmas though and I feel it creeping up. Were still knee deep in the process of buying our new home, lots of paper work, emails and waiting... I just want to move already. It looks like as of right now I will be spending my 12 days of Christmas moving and unpacking. Thinking I am going to make a nice hot cup of tea and will dive into the adventures of packing. Tomorrow I am heading to my old work which is still my sisters work... New York and Company to do some shopping. She has given me a heads up on an amazing sale and I can not turn away from it lol! If you dont hear from me for a while I will be lost in the mall, no worries you dont need to come find me, when I am broke I will find my way out. "Happy Thanksgiving everyone" I am thankful for my family and friends, my good health, my hero of a husband and all other soldiers who are true heros putting there lives on the line for our freedom and I am thankful for the 2 beautiful wonderful daughters that are in my life! Be safe, eat tons and "Happy Thanksgiving!"

**put up another post on Adams Photography** todaytomorrowforeverphotography.blogspot.com

Catching up to real time

I posted some more photo sessions on my photography blog. A Senior session of Tyler and a mini session with Tyler and Shawn. I have several more to come to stay tuned I hope to post everyday this week until I am caught up to real time.
todaytomorrowforeverphotography.blogspot.com

Get me off this roller coaster

What a crazy wild ride I have been on these past several days. Its been a little over a week since my Nan passed and yesterday we drove up to Sedona to spread her ashes and truly say our goodbyes. For me it was a slightly stressful trip I was truly trying to play Mom and Dad. Shawn typically is the truck packer, checking drivability and route, while I pick appropriate clothes, snacks, and things for the kids to do. I had to do both and was a little flaber-gasted, I forget a few things but over all did well. "A" likes to think she is the parent sometimes so the car ride up was a little touch and go when the baby would get upset, she would try to do her own thing instead of listening to my instructions. I took good notes on the whole event though and hope the next time goes much smoother. We drove 2 hours and hiked a good 30 minutes to get to the same location we spread my Grandpa's ashes so many years ago. Having an 8 year old who has never hiked before and was a little over anxious considering the somber setting, with a 14 lbs baby strapped to my front and my 10 year old Jack Russell was quite interesting to say the least. My patience level has grown so much over the past 8 years thank goodness or yesterday could have turned out so much differently. It was a long, emotional day but we all made it through and now we can start the healing process. Props to our wonderful Nanny for helping through out the day!

TODAY, was an interesting day filled with many challenging parental moments. Shawn called this evening and re telling him the day I was actually able to laugh so I guess thats a good sign in some aspect. Baby "J" woke me up nice and early so I decided we would go to the 9am church service instead of 10:30am, it felt refreshing to be up early and moving. Not sure if that is why my girls both had meltdowns and were acting like a full moon was out. It started with "A" freaking out that the white jeans I gave her to wear were not skinny jeans... really? I gave her a serious pull yourself together could you be more selfish talking to. She has one pair of blue skinny jeans but apparently thats not enough, I told her she better stop pouting or we would go empty her closet stuffed with clothes and donate them to kids who need them... then she would have something genuine to pout about. I told her look I was an 8 year old too once and I know it seems like in the moment with certain things you think the world is coming to an end but we need to be more sensible about that and that being able to say you own a pair of skinny jeans is better than saying you dont own any at all. So, I thought that would be it... NOPE. We get to church and its jam packed, it the Thanksgiving service apparently and there is hardly any room. We had not had breakfast before leaving so I had told "A" that she could get a breakfast item from the food table. Well my sister thought it would be better to have "A" sit and she would got get food for her and bring it to her, brilliant idea so she went. But, "A" flipped out and kept saying I want to go, why cant I go get my own food. I told her to chill out that there was nothing worth getting worked up about, does she really think that Aunt Trista would bring her a pile of poop or food she didn't like? She didn't have an answer. My sister ended up coming back with a GIANT chocolate chip muffin and a deviled egg, I made her apologies to my sister for throwing a tantrum and for not trusting her judgement. Thinking we were on 8 year old lesson over load and that we would have a good day... SO WRONG. We go to Starbucks inside the Barnes n Nobel to get some coffee with my Mom. My sister and I are looking at a magazine and we turn to a page that has some good looking actor and my sis and I both say "he's cute!" what came after that from my 8 year I am still in a bit of shock about. "A" shoves her chair away from the table, crosses her arms, puts her famous death glare on her face then proceeds to yell out loud for everyone to hear..."Why don't you just marry him then, you don't love Dad any more so why are you married to him?" WOW... um yeah WOW, seriously... I look at her in SHOCK and am like, what are you talking about? We go into one of the weirdest conversations I have every had with her, she was seriously freaked out that I could not call another guy cute without wanting to marry him. These misconceptions have to be in thanks to the horrible adults that have existed in her past. I finally calmed her down to include putting her in a corner for 5 minutes of timeout IN Barnes and Nobel, I told her hey you think Justin B. is cute and you don't want to marry him... she proceeds to tell me she doesn't like him any more. I find this hard to believe... she's obsessed with him. SO, I pull out a great one... I say well I guess you wont be needing the Justin B. CD and t-shirt I got you from Christmas... she then totally retracts her 3 times repeated statement of I don't like Justin B. I tell her too late I am taking the things back and you are grounded for lying to me. Shawn loves to instigate her and when we got home I totally pulled a Shawn, I dug out the box that is packed with Christmas presents and buried in the garage and pull the said items out and make sure to prance them in front of her. I tell her look I want you to understand that when I say something I mean it when it comes to being your Mom and putting you in your place. I know that her bio Mom went thru a lot of boyfriends so we had a talk about some of that. I hope I don't see this rear its ugly head again.
Baby "J" must have been taking notes because as soon as I had "A" under control, she lost it. She was super cranky and took a short nap with no luck in convincing her to go back to sleep. So I decide to feed her rice cereal, she turned 7 month old on the 17th so this is the next step per her doctor. She wants nothing to do with it, she's pushing the spoon out with her tongue and gagging and dry heaving every time I try to give her a spoonful. I am at my max with "A's" behavior  and am almost ready to throw my towel in. I put her down to have a scream it out session and get on my email and facebook for a few minutes... quick response to my full moon status. My really good friend Andrea who lives like 10 minutes or less away was over in the blink of an eye to take over and give me a chance to cool out. "J" of course starts eating her cereal with no problem. The best part for last... she has some serious gas for Andrea and starts to grunt... NEVER a good sign. Several times Andrea and I thought she was done with her business when she would surprise us and start up again. Finally, she's done and I take her from Andrea, holding her at arms length telling her she smells, at which time she smiles followed by something warm splat-ing on my foot. No not spit up like I was hoping for, but POOP. One nice drop of green liquid poop on my FOOT. No where else on the floor or on the baby or on Andrea whom she had been tooting and grunting on... only on MY FOOT. By the time Andrea got to me in the hallway to help I had no choice but to cry and laugh at the same time... I wasn't sure what else to do. If she had not have been here I would probably by laying in the hallway crying. Thank goodness for wonderful friends! I thought she wasn't eating and so cranky cause she could feel my tension but Andrea is also a NICU nurse and has a wealth of knowledge in the baby department... baby "J" is teething!! Whoo hoo what a way to cap off my day. When Shawn called tonight and I told him all this... if he WAS missing home he WAS NOT any more LOL! I am just glad that the day is over I don't know that I could have made it much longer. Interested to see what tomorrow holds. I have heard that God does not give us more than we can handle... I think I was standing on the threshold of that limit today ;-) Hoping everyone else had a much better day than I did. I am off to bed to detox and turn my brain and body completely off.

New photos

Posted an older but fun photo session with my sister... were actually out the door in a few minutes to do a photo session for her for Christmas! Adams Photography hard at work!

                                           todaytomorrowforeverphotography.blogspot.com

Veterans Day 2010

Waking up every morning there are a slew of thoughts that go through my head. Today was to make sure I thanked the heros in my life because today was Veterans Day. My Husband and siblings are my heros, I have met many heros in my Army career and my life would not be the same without them. Thank you to all those who have served and sacrificed so much and those that are serving and sacrificing. My heart goes out to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. I have so many people who I have met that say "I could never do what you do, I couldn't leave my kids of my family." My kids and my family are WHY I leave. I would rather my daughter be told that her Mom died a hero willing to give her life for people she doesn't even know. I tell "A" all the time she is so lucky to be a young girl in school, many countries don't even let there girls go to school. I want her to know she can do anything she sets her mind to. Growing up with brothers for most of my life and several bachelor uncles I tend to want to do what the boys are doing. I swell with pride knowing that I can keep up with men at war its a great feeling. My hear truly bleeds red white and blue the girl in me gets very sappy at anything patriotic. "A" now has parents she can be super proud of and an Aunt and Uncles who are selfless beyond belief.
This year many more places were honoring Veterans and many events were planned. My sister took "A" to a Veterans Day parade, we were able to eat at Subway for free for lunch, and Applebees for free at dinner. It was a small nice gesture.

Today did take an unplanned turn. I have two widowed Grandma's and have had such for years. They are both getting up there in age and age has been kicking there butts. My Mom's Mom gave in today and departed this world at 1300. She was surrounded by family, she was un responsive after a while, but we are pretty certain she knew we were all there. I struggled with letting "A" into the room but she was such a big girl today, she was upset, she has formed a quick bond with my Nan her Great Grandmother. She was so brave though and held her hand and even kissed her goodbye. She had made a bracelet for GG as she called her and she insisted the bracelet stay on her. It was all so bitter sweet to see my daughter with my Grandmother and my Mom surrounded by family holding hands and supporting each other in a difficult time. The Chaplain came in to pray for and with my Nana and family, after he said Amen she took a few more breathes and left us. I know she is now with my Grandfather who she has missed so much for several years. My Nan was born and raised in England and met my Grandpa while he was there during World War II, she became a war bride and rode a ship with my Uncle as a baby to the states. She had my Mom and they lived in Pennsylvania for some time before moving to AZ and made this a permanent home. She was a stubborn very outspoken woman but she will be greatly missed. I am glad she is in a better place and without pain, in the arms of my Grandpa. Thank you Nan for being a awesome Grandma.

Rest in peace Emil and Joan Spacek we love you both...

3 days

Shawn got to come home this past Thursday for 3 whole days on a pass. It was a nice surprise. I knew he was supposed to come in Friday morning but he called me Thursday afternoon and said he was coming in that night!! I picked him up around 7:30PM and we went to pick up Krispy Kreme... Shawn woke "A" up Friday morning... she flew out of bed and said "How did you get here?" She was so surprised and excited, plus Shawn had brought her Krispy Kreme, so he was the hero of the day! It was nice to spend Friday together while "A" was in school. Saturday morning we went and got family photos done. Something I had been pushing for, I wanted "A" to have family photos to look at to solidify that we are her family now! She had a blast! Saturday night we stayed home and ordered pizza and snuggled in to watch newly purchased Toy Story 3 as a family, it was a perfect Saturday. Sunday we went to the state fair for a couple hours, "A" claims she had never been to one so she had an awesome time. On Sunday we also did a walk through for an inspection on our new home. The sellers bank has accepted our offer so we are moving forward, we hope to close beginning of December and will most likely be spending our 12 days of Christmas settling into our new home!! Sunday night was spent at home together but with a somber tone knowing Shawn had to leave Monday morning. Goodbyes are never easy, but Shawn & I have agreed that whenever the Army gives us time to go home we go home. Any minute or hour with family at home it worth its weight in gold. We are an Army Strong family and we will make it through this deployment!!

I have now turned back to our daily routine and preparation for a move, lots of paperwork to do and then packing. This week I am not in a huge rush though... I have drill this weekend and drill weekends are always rough... physically, mentally and they wreak havoc on my sleep. Thank goodness we have a Nanny, she is watching the girls, keeping up with house chores and making meals this weekend!! If you don't hear from me this weekend it is because I fell into the black hole of the Army (not a good or bad thing per say) Everyone enjoy your weekend!!

World, meet our daughter Alexus!

This is a sneak peak at the debut of our daughter! The adoption should be finalized by February and that is right around the corner, we are all so excited. Today we froze a moment in time, a moment to commemorate a family in the making. I found Ace Fanning photography through a friend and I could not be happier... he is AMAZING. He was awesome enough to send us a sneak peak only hours after our photo shoot. I am only posting this on my blog for the time being, once we get more pictures from him you can all see more on facebook. Enjoy...

Time flies when your... Busy.

Busy is an understatement. Today is the first time in days that I have actually had more than 5 minutes to myself and as much as I feel a little guilty its more important to take advantage and go with the flow. I finished a book I have been reading, got to take a nice relaxing bath and have been doing a little of this and a little of that around the house. Thursday I completed my Chemistry class, of course the teacher decided to make the final the longest and hardest test all semester, but I made it through and am still pretty confident I pulled off a "C". As long as I did that means my BA should show up in the mail before the end of the year, I cant wait!! I feel like this weekend I was a pre programed robot. My mom stayed the night Friday night and Saturday night working on "A's" Halloween dress but this meant more people at the lunch and dinner table so I felt like if I wasnt cooking I was cleaning up a ton of dishes. My poor dishwasher is still trying to keep up and help me catch up today. In a small way this is good cause we have a ton of left overs... which will be what we are having for dinner tonight!

Saturday "A", myself and my sister went and volunteered for almost 3 hours for Angel Tree, we filled out tons of cards with kids names and the presents they want as well as help set up a warehouse to store all the toys and clothes in. We are probably going to go back when its time to deliver the gifts and help get them to the people who need them most. It was a great learning experience for "A" and it was good for me knowing I am teaching my daughter great values. My sister says that I am always trying to save the world... I do what I can, when I can. Helping others is truly a great feeling. I managed to get some baby shopping done too, "J" has become an avid bouncer now when you hold her so I had to finally give in and get her a bouncer. Initially I wanted a walker but the one I wanted I would have to have shipped and "J" needed something asap. I settled on one for $40.00 at Walmart of all places and its so far the best money I have ever spent. She loves it which means I can now walk away from her and actually go get things done around the house, its awesome!!

Sunday kids were encouraged to wear there costumes to church, so mine did and they got to do some early trick or treating there. It was fun. We cam home and ate some lunch... Halloween shaped mac n cheese, then all took naps to rest up for the nights events. We went over to my brother and sister in laws house so the boys and "A" could trick or treat together. It was a decent gathering of some family and several friends. I got some pictures of "A" in her costume out trick or treating so that we can show Dad through email. We called it a night around 7:30 so we could go home and pass out some candy at our house and enjoy that side of the night as well as get kids into bed on time. "A" got to hand out some candy to several older kids that were still out. My Mom got a really great picture of me and the girls in our costumes as well as the dog in his. I found myself looking at that picture this morning thinking about 1 year ago last Halloween. Last year Shawn was home, we went to my sister in laws cause my brother was deployed, we watched the nephews trick or treat then went home to pass out some candy and dress up both dogs. This year sadly we are one dog shy, I am a husband shy but I have 2 kids. Sometimes its so se-real. I have not been a parent long but one day I am not and then next I am, to an 8 year old and a 6 month old, just like that. It makes me wonder what next Halloweens photo will look like??!! I am excited to find out!

Today I am relaxing before jumping into a giant to do list the rest of the week with a few appointments for the girls. It will be nice to not have school on the schedule this week, and I can only continue to hope for some news on the new house so that we can pack up and get this move behind us already. Hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend as we did. I look forward to a relaxing weekend this up and coming weekend, then I have a drill weekend which those are always tiring but the following weekend will be Thanksgiving and before we know it Christmas will be upon us. Hope you are all done Christmas shopping. I am almost done, just need to tackle our Christmas cards! Enjoying today first!

Giving it a go

So, I started a second blog! One to post my photography on that I have fallen deeper in love with since Shawn bought me a new camera this past year. I have been using family as testers and I am pretty impressed with myself and my photos. I will slowly start posting all the sessions I have done this past year and then hope to in real time post all the new ones to come! So far I have not made a penny off this hobby but am hoping to soon, very soon. So stay tuned to see how it goes. I struggle with a name so suggestions are welcome, I have been going with Adams Photography with a line of Today Tomorrow Forever but have considered calling it Today Tomorrow Forever Photography as well. Beyond that I have nothing else, so bring on the suggestions. I have a session this Saturday to take family photos of my Older brother, Sister-in-law and my nephews!

Really good weekend!!

The Adams family had a really good weekend, we wont be having any awesome weekends till Shawn is back home. But being a single parent I will take really good weekends over bad weekends. I personally did a whole lot of nothing and it felt really good, granted I am feeling a little behind and overwhelmed today but thats ok. "J" is feeling much better, super cranky though from being totally thrown off her schedule. Today has probably been more rough than when she was sick, but we will figure it out.

"A" had one of her best weekends yet, I think. She had one small incident but she worked through it pretty well with some guidance from me. At one point I said "Honey, I am not trying to be mean, I am just trying to teach you a lesson to help you make better choices next time." She replied with, "I know" and later on after a long silence spell she ended up saying "Mom, thank you for teaching me a lesson, I am never going to do that again." I had to chuckle but I did tell her she was welcome. When I tucked her in last night I told her I was really proud of how she ended up handling herself when she was sorta in trouble, and I told her to keep up the good work. She said, "Thanks, I will" It was for sure one of those moments where I knew we were doing something right. What 8 year old says Thank you for teaching me a lesson, seriously, I was beaming with pride. I feel like she really is going to blossom into an amazing girl and overcome her crappy past and do great things because she is with us and not in a rotten situation any more!! I am so confident that I am like, "Bring on the next kid, we will help as many as we can!" One of "A's" favorite movies is Cheaper by the Dozen... as crazy as it may sound sometimes I think... we could do that... other times I think no way. After this weekend I was leaning towards we can do that, but time will tell...

This week SHOULD be pretty calm. The girls have a couple in home visits, I have a stack of homework but will be going to my last Chemistry class this Thursday! As long as I pass it they will mail me BA that they let me walk for already!! I am doing a super crazy out of control happy dance once this Thursday is over, I have a feeling I am going to pull off a "C" and I am perfectly happy with that!! We hope to hear some kind of news on the new house this week, which would be perfect timing. I can switch from school mode to moving mode and get us all settled in during the next 3 months that I will be taking off from school. If it is meant to be it will happen! So I look forward to taking this week one day at a time. Saturday we are doing some volunteer work for church which I am really excited to expose "A" to and then Sunday is Halloween. We will be Trick or Treating with my 2 Nephews then coming back home to give out candy and maybe let "A" go out one more time with my sister. My Mom has been working really hard to make "A" an amazing dress (she is going to be a vampire) its a period dress which we picked so that she can wear it to the Renaissance Festival in February, which is a huge family tradition to go all dressed up. Something else I am looking forward to exposing "A" to, she is going to do and see so many things with us, she will be a very well rounded young lady some day!

I am off to catch up on laundry which seems to never end with two kids now, and tidy up some other things in the house, maybe do a little packing to....

It never fails...

It never fails, Shawn leaves and things starting stressful and crazy. Thursday night when I got home from Chemistry class "J" spiked a 103 degree temp. Since she is foster and has a history of medical issues I was not taking any chances, I took her straight to the ER at 10pm. I figured it was from her shots but since she has never reacted to them I figured it couldn't hurt to play it cautious. Well, the ER trip was HORRIBLE. I told them she had her shots and clean bill of health just that morning from her pediatrician, but they apparently didn't really hear that. They proceeded to take chest x rays (I don't know why, she wasn't coughing or anything of the sort) They decided to try and put a catheter in her to take a urine sample (which by the way is the most awful thing to watch I was almost in tears, some how I kept it together but man did I want to punch the nurses) All this for a fever seriously? It took them more than an hour to even give her children's tylenol which I told them she has had before with no adverse reactions. Finally at 1am they come back and tell me she has pneumonia, I know the doctor went to med school and all but I asked him several times if he was sure. She had been perfectly healthy at home and only hours prior had received a clean bill of health from her Dr. He insisted she had it and they gave her medicine for it and prescriptions for me to fill. Something (the Mommy in me) decided NOT to get the medicine from the pharmacy because I swear the Dr at the ER was an idiot. I took "J" in to see HER Dr again the following morning who said she is perfectly fine its just a reaction to the shots and he politely in a round about way asked me to never take her to that hospital again (Banner Del Web on Grand & Reems) He said they tend to over care/medicate the kids that go through there. Thats an understatement they tortured poor "J"
Yesterday she continued with the 103 temp on and off, I gave her children's Tylenol, water, and cool baths and we finally broke her temp VERY LATE last night. At one point yesterday she decided to gag on her tylenol and barfed ALL over me. If you have ever seen the movie the Exorcist she did that to me, her clothes and mine. I managed to get her to the tub only keeping the barf on the two of us and had no choice but to get in the tub clothes and all the both of us and attempt to clean up... that was fun in a VERY sarcastic way. I hope I never have to do that again. Thank goodness A was at school!!
So, today is going much better. J has stayed cool thus far and I even gave her, her first bottle with rice cereal in it!! She has not spit up at all!! Its great! Not that she spit up a ton of spit up but just a little and rather often, the Dr said the rice cereal should help, plus they want to chunk her up some more :-) My mom spent the night last night so my sister could have the weekend off... she is over sewing A's Halloween dress!! She took A out of my hair for a little while to go visit my sick Nan (Mom's Mom) but before they left I took some truly AWESOME pictures of A in Fall/Halloween fashion, she stayed in her little outfit to go show my Nan, whom she calls GG for Great Grandma. I am sure it will brighten her day, not make her better but for sure bring a smile to her face. So I put J down for a nap and am editing pictures, blogging, catching up on emails, and tidying the house a bit. I hope to have a relax full weekend. I hope everyone else enjoys there weekends as well. I have to take it one day at a time, we sure are making memories that will last forever though!!!

Back from Dr.'s office

SO, before I forget everything or am too tired after Chemistry class... baby J weighed in at 12 lbs 8 oz. lower than I assumed she would be and lower than they would like her at this point. She has this really BIG grey area for everything because technically she is only 4 months even though she is 6 months. Over all they said she is continually progressing and they are happy with what they see. Her umbilical hernia is going away slowly but surely! She got 5 shots today, they gave her 2 before she realized what was going on and screamed till she turned purple and I thought she would never catch her breath. She is now fast asleep and will probably stay that way most of the day. She reacts well to shots thank goodness. To help with the weight they now would like us to mix in rice cereal with her bottles and in a month try spoon feeding her the rice cereal along with starting her on baby food, veggies first. She is growing up soooo fast and its sad that Shawn (well and her mom I suppose) are missing out on all these exciting mile stones. As long as she is with us, she is safe and healthy and we are blessed to have this opportunity of witnessing a miracle really. She was born 2 months early weighing in at only 2 lbs, at 2 months when we brought her home she only weighed 5 lbs. so she has come along way! Thats all I have for now, going to finish up my Chemistry homework while J is taking her nap.
On a side note: LOVING this cloudy AZ rainy weather the past 2 days. I have lived in so many places but AZ has the most amazing rain storms around!!

Friends and Family, check out...

Hey guys, be sure to check out Project Nursery OR The Tomkat Studio (both blogs that I follow, and both I am fans of on Facebook) They are promoting Operation Shower. A 3rd blog that I follow is the one who helps put this event on... a giant baby shower for deployed soldiers spouses who are expecting! What a great thing! You can download free printables from The Tomkat Studio with the intent of hosting a party of some kind and raising money to donate to Operation Shower. OFCOURSE the second I saw this I knew I had to take part. I know what you are all thinking... "Your plate is so full already" If hundreds of thousands of soldiers can leave there families for 365 days to possibly give there lives for complete strangers... than I can give a couple days to plan a party and 1 day for a party for a good cause. I have been planning on giving a Pampered Chef party as a house warming party once we get the new house, well now I have been inspired to bump it up a notch. So for those of you who live out of state check out these sights and donate to Operation Shower if you can, other wise locals stay tuned for party details.

In other news I spent my whole day doing laundry and homework... B-O-O! I dont know why I torture myself with school. Well, I do have a newer motivation... to set an example for our 8 year old in hopes she will reach for the starts and go to college and go out in the world and make something of herself!! But I do so dislike homework. I am REALLY looking forward to the Holiday semester off from school, I dont think you could even remotely feel the excitement I feel. I just have to focus a little bit longer. Oct 28th I can throw my Chemistry book out the window!! (not really just a figure of speech)

On the kid front. J had a really great day, shes so alert and VERY squirmy. I put her on the floor to make a bottle on her tummy mat and she flipped and rolled her way halfway across the living room... soon we will have to baby proof the house. She has her 6 month Dr apt tomorrow so I promise to update every one! A on the other hand, had a rough day. She just struggled to make good decisions, she started and ended her day in timeout. But, she is learning so quickly and is truly going to blossom into an amazing girl. She is fast learning you do the crime you do the time, sometimes more humbly that most 8 yr olds other times not so much... she is a character and keeps me on my toes. Maybe that is what I need over this next year of single parent hood.

Ok, well sadly my Chemistry homework will not do its self (darn it) and neither will the laundry. So, I must go wrap them up so that I can fall into bed utterly exhausted to wake up in a few hours for J's nightly feeding and then a few hours later to get A off to school. Then more homework, to then sit in Chemistry class for 4 hours (only one class left after tomorrow) then it will be time for bed again... One day at a time.

One day at a time.

So, Vegas was a BLAST! We had a ton of fun on our first official family vacation. "A" got to see and do so many things she has never done before and was such a great experience just seeing her face or hearing her comments the whole trip. We stayed at the Golden Nugget in a suit for 2 nights and played in there newly renovated pool that has a shark tank in the middle of it, we ate pancakes at midnight one night, saw Freemont Street at night, the strip at night, and a Cirque show on Saturday night! It was a busy line up but we had a great time. We discovered (by accident) just how great having Grandparents come along on vacation can be. The Air Force Inn that Shawn had a room at informed us no kids when we went to check in so we put my Mom, her husband and "A" up in a hotel across the street from the base.... BRILLIANT!! We got to spend the day with them and "A" and at night we got alone, silent adult time together. We are completely sold on the whole idea of Grandparents on vacation and having a Nanny, I have never been so spoiled in all my life... Hollywood has it good! Now if I could just find myself an assistant we would really be rocking and rolling!! "A" went home with my Mom on Sunday afternoon so that Shawn and I could have our last day together, I had to watch him say goodbye to her and I started tearing up. He gave her a gift bag with stationary in it and a cool pen and said she needed to write him. She didn't shed a tear but only because she's experienced so many adults coming in and out of her life or she has no concept of how long a year really is, time will tell. I said my goodbyes to Shawn on Monday after I took him into work, I cried again... mind you not blubbering crying cause I have done this enough times, its never easy to say goodbye, although I am getting used to it. I had a nice 6 hour drive home that should have only taken 5 but hit some construction on the Hoover Dam and a rain storm in Kingman. I finally made it home, nice and tired and climbed into a quick hot bath then bed. My sis was nice enough to take baby "J's" night feeding so I could sleep. Speaking of "J" I am gone only a couple days and she is growing up so fast... she was attempting to roll back to front before I left and was very close but is officially doing it now and is doing a modified Army low crawl. She will be crawling in no time at all. She will squeal for you if you tickle her but today I officially got a real laugh out of her!! She turned 6 months on Sunday... time really does fly.
Today I had every intention of doing some Chemistry homework from class on missed on Thur and for class this Thur... but I got sucked into a good book and a nice long nap. So, tomorrow is homework and laundry (I did manage 2 loads tonight) I cant wait to get through this Thur night cause then I only have one more Thur night class meet after that and then I am done..... for 3 whole months. I am taking a semester off so that I can enjoy the Holidays for once, especially with the kiddos and also to get us moved since we have practically grown out of our house over night. Anxiously awaiting any word on the house we have an offer on, I really hope I hear something soon. I am packed and ready to go and starting to go a little stir crazy.... hopefully very soon!! So I am a to bed on time person now and better call it a day. Its been more relaxing than I had planned but tomorrow its seriousness no down time. I have to take this next year one day at a time and I will be ok.

*to tired tonight, but will try before bed tomorrow night to post a couple Vegas pictures!*

2 weeks come & gone...

I can not believe Shawn has been home for 2 weeks already. My stomach starts to turn when I really think about it. I wish I could keep him to myself for just a little bit longer, but the soldier and the soldiers wife in me knows better. Its time to start saying goodbye.

It has been a great 2 weeks but a very busy 2 weeks too. We managed to celebrate Halloween and this past Sunday we celebrated Thanksgiving. We had a total of 22 people over that I cooked a whole Thanksgiving meal for, family and some very close friends gathered around to send Shawn off with well wishes! It was "PERFECT" were the words Shawn used, as long as he liked it, it was a success then! We have had many appointments in the 2 weeks getting legal things in order for the just in case, as well as we met with an attorney and have officially started the adoption process for A becoming our legal daughter. Its all very exciting! Shawn is some how blessed with missing out on manual labor or any large extensive projects, he just signs his name on some paper and I can now adopt an 8 year old girl, as well as buy a 3,100 square foot house without him! This year I think will only be rougher in some aspects due to the fact that I have never been the one home... WITH KIDS. It is still so crazy to think that 6 months ago I only had a husband and 2 dogs to worry about. Sadly we lost Dinah and now it is just Fo, but I still have the hubby, plus a rabbit, some fish, a baby, an 8 year old, and a nanny... all we are missing now is the partridge in a pear tree.

We head for Vegas tomorrow for a small mini family vacation! Shawn, me and A, as well as my mom and her husband. We are going to enjoy the city, attend his going away ceremony for his unit and then the official goodbye for a year. Most soldiers get 2 weeks R & R in there tours but since he is the boss I keep in the back of my mind that it could not happen. So for 1 year I hold down the for while playing Mom and & Dad, being a soldier myself, attending college classes to get my Masters degree, run a non-profit organization and try very hard not to lose my mind. I say it over and over I am always up for a challenge, this may be the biggest one yet. So until November 2011 if I dont ever blog again it could be I have fallen off the face of the earth being over run with all that is my life. I know until November 2011 I wont fully feel like myself, Shawn and I complete each other, we are the only 2 people on the face of the earth that can stand each other... that means a lot!! (lol) So, friends and family if I forget to say it along the way I will say it now... THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU ARE GOING TO DO THIS NEXT YEAR IN SUPPORT OF SHAWN AND I, WE APPRECIATE YOU!!!

*I am getting really excited for this adoption to be done so that we can share A with you all* (6 months max and the world will meet our daughter)

Happy Halloween!

You read correctly, Happy Halloween! As a soldier deployed it is highly likely you will be participating in what is called the holiday gauntlet. Oct-Halloween, Nov-Thanksgiving, Dec-Christmas, Jan-New Years, Feb-Valentines, Mar-St. Patty's... Shawn is going to be going through this gauntlet soon. No matter how many times you do it its never easy. So, this time around I thought it would be cool to celebrate a few early, with him, before he leaves. Today, we dusted off our Halloween decor and placed it around the bare house (I am still chugging away at packing) I am a cupcake fan but Shawn asked for a cake so I made one, we made Halloween cookies, we had candy corn. I decorated the table super festive, we had one of Shawn's favorite meals, Turkey and potatoes and cheesy asparagus. It turned out really well, my mom came over to celebrate with us and we sat and watched "Its a Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown." Tomorrow we are going to carve a pumpkin. Not only did I think Shawn would enjoy celebrating Holidays early, but I thought it would be important to do this for A. This is the first Holidays with us and we have no way of knowing what her passed Holiday experiences were, so we want to give her a taste of our traditions and to re assure her of the family factor even though Shawn is leaving for a year.

This week is going to be insanely busy, we have several appointments for the girls. Many errands and appointments for Shawn to get him off for a year away from home with everything he needs and everything I may need without him here. Hopefully with my ability to juggle busy schedules and plan events as well as an obsession for ME time, we will have a good week... get everything accomplished, manage to relax and make some really great memories. This great weekend is a good sign that we can do this.

What a week.

Well first things first... Shawn came home last night!! He came in late so I got to go pick him up with no kids which was nice. We have been apart many times for all sorts of lengths the longest being 18 months, but this last 3 weeks felt like FOREVER. Its different with having kids this go round, Im running around like a chicken with my head cut off and sometimes just want to stand and scream throwing in the towel other times I want to be able to share the good stuff with someone who really understands me. He tried, bless his heart to do J's feeding last night but he's been out of the game for 3 weeks and a lot has changed with her. She has gained almost 3lbs AND... she's officially sleeping 7 hours only waking for one feeding now!! Its a great feeling and she was on and off with it for a while but this week solid shes falling asleep around 8ish or 9ish and sleeping 7 solid. Its soooooo wonderful!!

Shawn celebrated his 35th birthday on Monday (not the first away) but it always sucks being apart for things like that. This weekend we will celebrate! We are celebrating Halloween this weekend, early I know, buts its A's favorite holiday so were having our own little Halloween party. I will post pictures. We are also celebrating Thanksgiving early on October 10th. We going to have family and a few friends over and have a Thanksgiving meal together to say goodbye to Shawn. I fear these next 2 weeks will fly by, but we have a lot of fun things planned. I continued to pack this past week and house keeps looking more and more empty. The garage on the other hand is packed floor to ceiling with boxes. Crossing our fingers our offer gets excepted and that I can single handedly move this family from 1,900 square feet to 3,100 square feet. It will be pretty crazy but so worth all the hard work in the end.

Today was my last day of 14 days of Army training, I am so relieved it was really rough to work full time, parent and run a house all on my own. Thank goodness for the live in nanny to be able to watch J all day long. She was ready to bolt every day though when I got home to either go to work her self or go hand out with friends. I will be sleeping in tomorrow... maybe till noon :-)

A has officially been up for adoption for a while now. She finally got assigned an adoptions case worker who came over this week to start all the paper work with us. We will finish it all up while Shawn is home and then sit back and wait. They are saying it should be finalized in February right before A's birthday! We are all very excited! Today I caught myself crying on the way to work. I was listening to KLove and they were playing Cinderella, by Steven Curtis Chapman.... serious Dad and daughter song, (sappy already) but I kept thinking how we will now be doing prom and a wedding and some day an engagement.... not even some day.... in 8 more years A will be 19. It hit me that those things are all right around the corner for us, very scary, exciting and anxiety producing all at once. Its already bad enough that Tyler is graduating in a few short months. His mom and I joke were going to be 2 blubbering idiots that day. I cried when I let Tyler drive my truck for the first time cause I remember like it was yesterday when he was just 9 years old. Man time flies way to fast sometimes.

Then on other big news... I have an acquaintance through a friend of the family does this amazing non-profit thing in WA where we used to live. Its called Stand Out Prom (standoutprom.com) Its so awesome and I have been watching them grow over the last 2 years and have thought how fun something like that would be. Well I email the gal who started it all and asked her permission to start something similar here in AZ. She spoke with her board of directors and they gave me the green light, so I gathered several of my very talented friends and we had our first planning meeting last Friday. We decided to go for it. So, I am starting a non-profit, pinch me I still cant believe it. We having been hashing out our own name this last week and I am so excited to soon share with you what we decide. I am spending the weekend doing all the paper work to file and make us an official non-profit. So stay tuned for all the amazing things and the awesome journey that lies ahead with this new endeavor. I am super excited!!

Well, I think I covered it all for the last week. These next two weeks will be jam packed with fun so I will try to keep everyone up to date as best as I can. I look forward to spending time with Shawn and the girls tonight, sleeping in tomorrow and soaking up every last second over these next 2 weeks.

Hello Wednesday.

Half way through the week! Only one more week till Shawn is home, I am very excited! Mostly so I can have a break from the girls and get a little time to myself before he departs leaving me a single parent for a whole year. I am looking forward to sharing that journey with you all ;-)
I have been doing Army training this week and I am extremely exhausted when I get home but somehow I am finding the energy to jump right into the parent role before going into complete shut down bed time role. J is still waking up in the middle of the night for a feeding... last night she was so kind as to let me sleep a whole hour & a half before demanding to be fed. Then I will excitedly say she slept for 6 hours straight... whooo hooo!! I hope this is a habit forming here it may be my salvation. Tomorrow is dreaded Thursday, it means up early to work, work, back home to pick up A from school, and then off to school for me to sit in 4+ hours of Chemistry class, to then race back home to get the baby to bed and then fall into bed myself. Hurry up Saturday and get here already. This Saturday we are going to go see a house that we put an offer in on because we realized we are quickly growing out of this one. Just waiting for the bank to say ok to our offer and we will be moving then. I have the house about 50% packed already. In the past 7 days I have been packing a few boxes before I go to bed. I am praying for a miracle that we can move while Shawn is home for 2 weeks in October but I am not sure if it will happen. If thats the case I will be single handedly moving us into a new house. I always say I love a challenge but sometimes I think the challenges take me a little to seriously. Well, other than J growing at the speed of light and A becoming more and more bubbly by the minute, me working and going to school while prepping for a move there is not a whole lot going on in the Adams family household.... haha, I wish.

Can't believe the weekend is over already.

I no longer look forward to the weekends like I used to. The girls are still young to be involved in activities all the time but I am not to old to still be involved in activities and I can never say no. I did manage to get a few things done around the house which is always nice. I am most happy with winning several rounds with the laundry... 5 loads a day!! CRAZY! Finally made it to Church this weekend, it was really nice to be able to go. My calendar is already booked into the new year with many events so any weekend that there can be some normalcy is most welcomed. Tomorrow its back to the grind, playing soldier Mon-Fri till the end of the month. Up at the crack of dawn, 45 min commute, work 7 hours, 45 minutes home, then put on my mom hat all night to then fall into bed... then repeat. O, forgot, insert at least TWO venti white chocolate mochas with an extra shot with soy!!! Talked to Shawn today who told me he is coming home a day early... whoo hoo, only 9 days to go then!! I think I can, I think I can! I think I will be having him watch the girls while I go get a mani, pedi and a massage... wow thats sounds great, brilliant idea if I do say so myself! O, I almost forgot the most exciting thing happened on Friday night... J rolled over!! It was so exciting! So here is to another busy weekend behind me and a busy week ahead of me, but only a few more days till the love of my life is home and I can run into his arms!

Early day from work.

Got released from work a little today... I find pleasure in the small things! Came home had some re-heated Taco Bell!! Decided to sit and relax for a few so I down loaded some pictures from a session I did with my sister and her cat "Pounce" as well as my graduation pictures. Still on cloud nine with the whole graduating thing!! So enjoy the pictures from the session and my graduation!!

Not enough hours in the day.

Things have been busy, busy, which is nothing new in this house hold. Shawn's in Californina doing some Army training, he has only been gone a week and I miss him terribly already. We have been seperated so many times before but I think the kids in the equation this time makes things a little harder than I had planned. Nothing I can't handle I am a pretty tough cookie, just see it being a really long, tiring year. They say parenthood is filled with so many moments... thats is so true. I think its just a little backwards for us... we went from not kids to 2 kids over night. I have over 20 plus years of child rearing experience in my back pocket but I dont think there is truely enough to cover parenting. I practically raised my younger brother and sister my parents left me home babysitting & cooking dinner at the age of 10 since they worked so much. I did baby sitting on the weekends, working in a nursery, taught Sunday school and summer Bible camps, assisted my mom with her daycare she ran from home, helped in her preschool classes.... all that has helped prepare me and arm me with tools to be a great parent for the kids that are in our home and that will in the future be in our home. At the end of the day though I am mentally and physically exhausted, almost incapacitated at times, more so without Shawn here. My sister has moved in as a full time Nanny but even with her help I can not escape the almost automatic shut down that hits me at the end of the day. I have been pumping myself FULL of coffee and false motivation thus far... it will be like a science experiement to see how that works out for me over this next year. Ofcourse it doesnt help that on top of parenting I am going to school full time (which by the way I graduated last Friday with my BA in Criminal Justice... I still have not come down off that high yet... what an amazing feeling... on to the Masters) I am crazy enough to have decided to pursure TWO, yes count it TWO Masters degrees. One at first but later moving to TWO at the same time. I will have my head examined when I can fit it into my calendar schedule. I have several projects in the works as well which as they unfold I will share with you all... I cant wait they are pretty amazing! Then there is Uncle Sam, I actually worked for him today and will be Mon-Fri till the end of the month. I honestly wonder how single parents do it and gladly will kiss the ground they walk on they have to be among the most amazing humans ever to walk this earth... kuddos.
So now that I have rambled and not truely shared what we have been up to with everyone... basically the day in and day out just trying to make it through that at this time. I am signing off to attempt to get 4-5 hours of sleep before "J" wakes me up and then if I am lucky possibly 3 more hours till I wake to start my day with Uncle Sam for 8 hours and then off to Chemistry class for an insane 4 hours straight (which should be illegal by the way) then home to push the reset button with a few appointments and such thrown into Friday for a little varity. This next year will be a huge test for me... I think I can, I think I can...

Weekend at home!

I can not really remember the last time I got to stay in my house for a whole day... today was that day (I am marking it on the calendar) With my sister moving in recently house cleaning has fallen behind because we were so busy playing the furniture tetris game. Furniture is complete but there are several misc. things here and there from the moving of bedrooms. So, I spent the whole day doing laundry until I thought I would throw up (I dont like doing laundry) and I went around trying to find a new place for all the misc. stuff laying around. As I type this, I am thinking how weird that my life has come to this, deffinatly not what I had planned... its the small things that excite me now. Ever since going from no kids to 2 kids almost over night I operate MUCH differently, at times I feel like a robot. Same routine every day... more for the kids and not me but still. I considered today calling my parents and saying thanks for making me do chores when I was younger because it seems like thats all I do now and I am so conditioned for them its like breathing. Since Shawn and I have been together I have struggled to do a load of laundry from start to finish, I can throw clothes in the washer and dryer like no bodys business but folding and putting away is whole nother story... I completed 8 loads of laundry today from hamper to hanger/drawers... AMAZING! I didnt even bat an eyelash at it. I have never really liked doing the dishes either, even with the invention of a dishwasher but now I find myself emptying and loading that bad boy several times a day with no problem... I still dont like it but hey the dishes are not going to do themselves... darn it.  Now that the day has come to an end and I can sit and relax, I look at todays accomplishments as really huge, like a corporation merging with another corporation... this is the real deal here, I have evolved into official mommy status. Its rewarding at times, SUPER TIRING, very trying at times (grounded 8 year old playing tantrum, testing my patience games today) but as long as I can lay down on my comfy sofa at the end of the night and feel at ease like I do now I suppose its all worth it. Tomorrow is only a few hours away, holding its own little surprises and I intend to soak up every one of them as I have today.

Busy, busy, busy...

Things have been super busy here. My sister moved in this last week to be our live in nanny for the next year. Yes, a live in nanny, 2 kids is NO JOKE. We go from having no kids and nights of amazing 8 hours of sleep to.... an 8 year old who never stops talking, is always pushing/testing her boundaries, and always keeps us laughing PLUS a 4 month old who eats, poops and seems to rarely sleep which means we rarely sleep. The 2 weeks that Shawn was recently gone and I did the kid thing solo by the end I didnt even know my name or what year it was, I was seriously on auto pilot and didnt even feel human. With Shawn home this past week he has stepped in to take over the kid department in an attempt for me to relaxe but as sweet as it is, its just not realistic. I just now have un-inturrupted time to do laundry, cook, clean, go to school and repeat. I did manage the other night to take a bath, drink a glass of wine and read a book... sadly it only really lasted 20 min cause I couldnt keep my eyes open any longer. I am a very independant person and always up for a challenge but if I was wiped out after 2 weeks I had to be realistic with myself, there was no way I could make it a year without the end result being me locked in a padded room. So, we talked it over and offered my sister the live in nanny position... best decision ever! She has been such a big help and I am glad I admitted right away there was no way I could do this alone.

This brings me to the busy, busy, busy part last week was jam packed with appointments for the girls, Shawn, and me going to school. Even with 3 adults in the house and sharing the responsibility... I still feel like I live in my truck some times being a taxi driver. On top of that we have been playing tetris in the house. My sister took "J's" room so all that furniture was moved into our room and some into "A's" room then ofcourse we had to move my sisters in. We got a new bed, we down sized from king to queen for more room in our bedroom epecially since we now have a crib in there. "J" has grown out of the craddle and is now sleeping in the crib. As I blog I have 2 box spring mattresses in my hallway that need to make it out to the garage... the garage that still needs to be organized. All this before Shawn leaves in a week. I have to say I am doubtful but hopeful in getting it all done. He will be gone for the whole month of September, the same month that I am actually playing Army for 3 weeks Mon-Fri butt crack of dawn till late in the day. Just have to make it through September then things look up for a short while in October. Shawn will be home for the first half of October in which time we are planning a surprise trip to Disneyland for "A" (ok, and for me too :-)) as well as a trip to Vegas with "A" to see Shawn off. Then starts the 365 day count down (well 6 months then he gets 2 weeks of leave in which time we are meeting him in England to visit my extended family that lives there. An 8 year old and a baby on a 14 hour flight should be interesting... good thing the live in nanny is coming with us!) I am trying to look forward to the fun times but at the same time trying to take it one day at a time.

Side, totally of subject note, I hope everyone is fully aware that Christmas is only 117 days away. I started Christmas shopping about 3 weeks ago and officially am 25% done! I know, I know crazy right? Not really, every year I aim to try to be done by Thanksgiving, this year is no different but starting sooner than usually because we have so many things going on and my calendar is starting to bust at the seems. I will be gone part of Oct thru Nov for some Army training, "A" was upset about this cause I am missing Halloween but when I said "do you want me to miss Halloween or Christmas?" she didn't skip a beat with answering back "miss Halloween" shes totally our kid, very sensible!

This week is going to fly by, jam packed with more appointments and the task of trying to get the house back in order before Shawn leaves... it may be a while before I get on to blog again...

Back to reality...

So Vegas was a blast and I am so sad it came to an end Sunday night. We visited several amazing restaurants were I gorged myself with wonderful seafood... my favorite! We saw "O" Cirque show which was "Outstanding" and then we saw Phantom of the Opera which was a dream come true for me... absolutely perfect performance!! We visited Freemont street, Palms Playboy club, and of course on the way out of town we made a pit stop at the outlet malls. (I have officially been to 3 different Coach outlets in 3 different states just this year... I know I have a serious problem) We enjoyed our adult time, even if we did spend most of the time talking about the kids, but by Sunday we were ready to get home to the girls and the pets. We walked through the door and crept up on "A" which was pretty funny, she was excited to see us. My sister had the girls and had made us dinner (mac n cheese). It was 10pm by the time we managed to get into bed, after driving home and then being bombarded with everyday house & kids stuff, we sunk into bed. We barely had enough energy to kiss each other goodnight.

The dog slept with us (which he does off and on sometimes) he was so excited to see us when we got home that I fell for the big eyes when we were climbing into bed and I begged Shawn to let him sleep with us. Well I later ate those words. At 11:30 Fo (the dog) threw up on the comforter on the bed, so there we were at 11:30 at night cleaning up dog vomit and changing the bed sheets. I fall back into bed and 20 minutes later "J" woke up screaming for her bottle. I stumble out of bed and lay the changing pad we have for her on the bed to change her diaper. I failed to have the new diaper ready and waiting so when I pulled the old one off she proceeded to pee. She has become very wiggly lately and was basically taking a pee bath it was all the way up to her neck, I had to give her a wipe bath.  When I finally sat down to feed her I was thinking to myself this is like a really bad dream and I was hoping I would wake up. Then around midnight my little brother who lives in WA calls me and says "are you going to be home in 3 hours cause I will be at your house" wait, what? He had mentioned to me a week ago he was thinking about coming to visit but I never heard a word more, nor did I know he had even departed WA. I told him sure I would be up, I woke up about an hour later from a text from him, telling me he was tired and stopping to sleep for a bit.... I was seriously getting frustrated, was I not meant to sleep at all? Seriously the worst night ever. My brother ended up showing up at 6am at which point I had to make up a bed and tidy the hall bath for him. We currently have a king size bed and its about 500 feet off the ground and I have been complaining since "J" came to live with us that we need a new bed, a queen which is smaller and to set it up at normal height. I have back problems thanks to Uncle Sam so the getting in and out of a bed 500 feet off the ground 10 times a night does not make me a happy camper. So, we spent our first day home mattress shopping. I am now looking around the house thinking I should have been cleaning it all day and not out shopping. We have foster visits tomorrow and my house never truly made it to clean status before the vacation, so now I am pretty far behind. I did manage to get 4 loads of laundry done and we cleaned up and re arranged "A's" room so I cant complain to much. This week will be filled with appointments for the girls and a strict schedule of tackling the every growing to do list and honey do list. Wish us luck.

Will post some Vegas pictures tomorrow, its 9pm and I better attempt this bed thing in a different light tonight. Night all.

What a day.

Sleep... who needs that? Well I do, I am one of those girls who needs at least 8 hours to be working at my full potential. I am learning however to operate with less... not that I really have a choice, when baby calls I move. Today J had her 4 month Dr. appointment and it went really well! She is 9 lbs and 14 oz the Dr said this is probably what her birth weight would have been if she had not been premature. Then they were so kind as to give her 4 shots today. Shawn and I have numbered her levels of crying and she officially peaked at a level 8 today and even turned purple she was soooooo upset. Last time she got shots she slept through the day almost, today she has dozed on and off with some whimpering/crying in between. No temp so thats always good. Laundry, cleaning, emails, phone calls, more emails and phone calls and that pretty much sums up my day. I have recently learned a really great parental trick... I bought J a stuffed animal, the dog Lady from Lady and the Tramp (Disney of course) its perfect for resting her bottle on. She can drink about half and in that time I can do a few things then come back to burp her then back to to do list while she finishes the rest. Its amazing genius!

A got her self grounded again tonight. We have had a couple good days then bam out of no where as usual. I ran out to mow the lawn because it looked like it was going to rain, when I was almost done A yelled my name and was holding my iphone out the back door. Shawn and I have talked to her more times than I can count about doing this same exact thing. She has never answered a phone in her life (except one time when she shouldn't have at my dad's) anyway I have explained to her that phones these days have caller ID and said caller ID will tell you when you have missed a call thus I do not need an 8 year old running with my expensive phone to find me when it rings or yelling my name loudly like the house is on fire for me to come to her to only tell me my phone was ringing. As soon as I looked at her holding my phone out the door and I simply said "grounded" she was pretty upset. I told her the next time she does it grounded again then maybe she will finally get it. I told her that my phone is not a toy and not cheap so if something happens to it, it will take  a years worth of her allowance to pay for it. In typical 8 year old fashion she was more focused on doing the math to figure the money out than the grounded part sinking in, well it will next time, I have no doubt there will be a next time. I told her to tuck her self in for the night... she used a zinger phrase, I told her good night I love you and she said "I don't feel like you love me" I replied with were not having that conversation... her goal was to get me to come talk to her and reassure her and coddle her... not happening. I thought about it later and I should have said I am sorry you feel that way, I will next time, again there will be a next time she is full of zinger lines... some times she pulls me in but I am really working on it. Kids these days. LOL!!

Well I have packing to do for VEGAS in the morning, holler! I am so excited for an adult weekend! Take care see you back her after we get back!