Regular week, busy weekend

This past week was pretty regular. Mondays Shawn stays late after work for Teacher training. I use Mondays as a clean up from the weekend and prep for the week day. Like today... I have been chasing my tail with laundry, I have cleaned up the kitchen, caught up on dishes, and just a few minutes ago cleaned my baseboards. If that is all I get done today, I am happy with saying its a productive day. I set small goals for each day as well as weekly goals and if I get close to them then I am happy. I usually set them low so that I feel successful every day/week.

Last week was just Preschool Tue, Thur, and Fri drop off and pick up. No extra appointments so that was nice. Fridays are supposed to be a great feeling, but once a month for Shawn and I both we dread one. Mine was this last Friday. Drill weekend. Dont get me wrong I love the Army.... it has given me so much... a loving husband, a chance to see the world, two college degrees, a wonderful home, and a beautiful daughter. Without the Army I would have non of that. The Army however can be trying sometimes, the way its run, the people who are in it, the LONG days... you get the picture. I know these things exist in the civilian world but they are very much magnified with the Army. I have to continually keep my eye on the price... GUARANTEED RETIREMENT. Sometimes I have to pinch myself... I only work 2-3 days a month get paid for them and after 20 years of doing that I will earn full retirement!! I honestly dont know why more Moms arent doing it. People ask me how can I leave my kids to deploy... easy, me deploying = my children dont live in an oppressed, poverty stricken country where they go to sleep listening to gun fire, because of what I do along with my fellow soldiers. Plain and simple. I do love the Army, its a love/hate relationship at times, but mostly I love it. Its given me so much to be grateful for and then some. If I have inspired any of you stay at home Moms.... goarmy.com

Ok, so drill weekend was crazy and long. My unit actually deployed this morning, it was bitter sweet to say goodbye, I wish them safe travels, fun, and a safe return to there families. For the next year they will be in my prayers. While they are gone all those that did not go with will fall under a new unit... a year of adventures. I am hoping for some big things to come out of this next year to set me up for success and happiness in my next 10 years. I cant believe sometimes I have been in for 10 years, time flies. Shawn had all 3 kids for most of the weekend, and I hate to admit it cause I know it will only boost his ego that needs no further boosting, trust me. But he rocked it with the kids, he only had 1 temper tantrum while C the 2 year old had 5 in 2 days. He is just as stubborn as me sometimes lol! We really only differ slightly with tiny things with the kids, usually cause he is trying to cut corners whenever he can. But hes a great Dad and works hard to run the house and kids as well as I do everyday! This coming weekend its his turn to play soldier and I will have the kids 3 days sun up to sun down on my own. Yippy (insert sarcasm) I do think we are well over due for some adult time... we would both gladly take that to be a grocery shopping trip TOGETHER and KID FREE lol!

The girls continue to grow right in front of our eyes. Just last night we gave D a pillow in her crib to start prepping her for a big girl bed. She LOVED it and stayed on it all night. Usually she is all over the place in her sleep, not last night. Shes getting to be such a big girl. She spent the night on Saturday night at my Dad and Step Moms and my Step Mom told me that she caught her in her play pen with her piglet stuffed animal... burping it, giving it her empty bottle and wrapping him with her blanket, saying baby baba. Shes such a sponge lol! I am excited and blessed to be her Mom and see her grow in life. Norah turned 3 months on April 20th and I finally took a few pictures of her when she was 3 months and almost a week. She laughed for the 1st time, Shawn and I both were there to experience it! She can hold her bottle for a few seconds on her own and is trying for longer. We call her our little drama queen. Shawn says she gets it from me but sometimes I not so sure lol! She gets almost distraught when we take her bottle out to burp her, but its so forced and faked at times that its comical and we cant help but laugh at her.

Hope everyone enjoyed there weekends. According to the calendar we have a decently regular week ahead. I picked up a 4th kiddo last night that we are watching for 5 days for another Foster Mom. So now its C who's 2, D who is 1, S (temp new guy) who is 6 months, & Norah who is 3 months. Honestly adding a 4th has been a breeze we work really hard to get the new kids onto the girls schedule in as short a time as possible. Right now the house is silent... all 4 kids are napping!! We have talked about having 6 or more, so far we havnt thought we cant. Lets see what the future holds.

Enjoy some pictures from this past week.

3 months!

We go for walks a lot at night at different times and different places. This night was at the city park. the 2 big kids were in the double BOB but wanted to get out and walk with Daddy for a bit. Who was wearing Norah in baby carrier. This was a kodak moment I couldnt miss. 

Norah laughing

Holding her bottle like a big girl, only for a few seconds but she insists on holding it when we feed her. Should be no time at all that shes holding it herself for the whole feeding.

Nice full belly, sleepy snugs with Mommy while watching Awake on NBC.

Drama Queen, while Daddy burps her. She can only have 30ml at a time then needs to burp or she will just puke it all up. Well, she wants to just chug the whole bottle and gets upset when its time to burp lol!

Here are two from last week that I forgot to post:

A little Daddy time. Each night Shawn spends a few minutes with each kiddo before putting them to bed. Norah, LOVES her Daddy!

Caught her sucking her thumb! Just like Mommy used to when she was little :-)

Summer is right around the corner.

So here I am blogging for two weeks again. Not so bad only the second time this year. To be expected I suppose with 4 kids, not to mention all the other things we have going on. I have to stay grounded and count my blessings. Last year Shawn was deployed and we only communicated via email and phone. Yes, he may now work 45-50 hours a week and just recently had drill and had to work 12 days straight... but he is safe in the states and we at least get to kiss each other good morning/night. We are both very much looking forward to a summer together. Its the 1st one in this house TOGETHER!! Shawn is super anxious and excited to get in the pool. He gets 8 weeks off and I am taking the summer off from school my self. But, the Army is sending him to 3 weeks of training so he can get promoted sooner. Stinks it cuts into our time together but a promotion early isn't bad so cant complain to much, instead we plan on making the best of the 5 weeks we do get to be together.

We will be going to Vegas begging of June, accompanying Shawn to several days of training. Thankfully Vegas is only a short 4 hour drive away, for a change in scenery. I will hang out in the hotel during the day with the kids, maybe poke around on base a bit, but then at night we can head to the strip so see the sights, sounds and eat some really great food! Then later in June we will be going to Disneyland. This trip I can not wait for. It will be a celebration for Fathers Day, my Birthday, and early celebration of the adoption and our first time experiencing it with kids. My camera may break from all the pictures I will be taking!! We had originally planned on going in April in conjunction with some Army training for Shawn but when that fell thru, we pushed the trip to June. Shawn says there are only 2 things I will willingly get out of bed early for... Camping & Disneyland!! Trips are fun but time consuming. There is the prep for the trip, the trip its self and the detox from the trip. These 2 small trips are more than enough for the 5 weeks we have together, the rest of the time will be spent pool side, and in the house finishing up projects that have been shoved aside due to lack of free time.

So, what have we been up to the past two weeks... what havent we been up to is more like it. We started last week off with 3 kids still and in a really great routine. C the 2 year old boy has settled in nicely and he is a sweat heart, really well behaved. He and D started preschool last Thursday and they both LOVE it! Here is a picture of one of D's daily reports.

She has learned the color purple by finger painting, a Bible verse each day and this last week as seen above was learning how to count in spanish! She really does love it and she plays so much better with C at home now that shes being socialized with other kids 2 days a week. C actually cries when I pick him up cause hes having so much fun :-)

Last Thursday I got a surprise in the mail. (I dont know about all of you but we have all our bills on auto pay and statements can be seen on line so we hardly ever check our mail.) On a whim I had decided to check it last Thur when coming home from picking up the kids from preschool. Inside was my old wedding ring. Ok, ok here is the wedding ring story:

When Shawn proposed he had picked the perfect ring. It was perfect... until we went to find a band. The engagement ring had a small part that stuck out on the side and no band was going to be able to be saddered to it. I felt horrible having to look at other rings, but Shawn assured me it didnt bother him and it would still be the same diamond. So I found one I liked a tiny bit tall for my liking but I liked how it looked and it had a great band to go with it. So that is the one I got married with... and deployed to Iraq with. Of course against Shawns advising. He ended up being right as usual. The ring took a beating and finally one day getting out of my humvee I smacked my hand against the humvee door and the prongs holding the diamond rotated. So, I convinced him to buy me another band to wear alone. He did. I got it and hated it lol, it looked so lonely on my finger. So I mailed the crooked wedding ring with attached band and the loose band to Shawn's dad to fix and attache them all together. I loved how it turned out. I am such an active person and have never been a jewelry person that I ended up smacking the ring again. So we searched for a new ring. I got a black & white diamond band... that only lasted a week lol, some of the black diamonds fell out. So we went ring shopping AGAIN. Then I found the perfect ring and have been in love with it ever since. It has held up to my active life style wonderfully. So we mailed the ring I got married with along with the engagement ring and had the diamond put back in the engagement ring. The bands from my wedding ring were turned into earrings and Shawn had his birthstone dropped into the wedding ring. Which is what I unexpectedly got in the mail on Thursday. I joked I should check the mail more often if things like that are going to be in there :-) Its a ring to be worn for special occasions other wise I will end up breaking it again.

So, what else... Shawn working Mon-Fri basically from sun up to sun down cause he teaches then comes home and helps me. I work from sun up to sun down tying to keep up with these kids, get them to and from appointments & preschool. I volunteer in Shawns class room & grade his papers at home. Plus trying to keep the house clean and attempt to do homework. Pretty much go, go, go in this house. We like it that way, I would go stir crazy doing nothing.

So here are a ton of pictures of Norah... I promise you I take just as many of D, I just cant share them with you. 

Trying to figure out who she looks like more... were leaning towards Daddy these days.

Top left: hanging out with Fo after a shower with Dad. Top right: chilling later on.

Bottom left: loves her swing & Bottom right: trying out the bumbo for the 1st time!

Top right: running errands with Mommy. Top left: tummy time is tiring

Bottom right: watching Dateline with Mommy while Daddy was away at drill.

Bottom right: running errands with Mommy again.

Before Shawn left for drill weekend before last he surprised me with roses! He can be awesome when he wants to be lol!

Before his drill weekend I managed to complete two small projects!

In out TV room where spend most of our time we have 4 giant windows. Curtains for the kids to get into was a no go so I was trying to think of something to break up the overwhelming look of blinds. I came up with this.

A collage of A's for Adams! I made the wreath, painted the frame & did Shawn's silhouette. I still need to do my silhouette & will add more A's over time. I love it.

The Sunday Shawn was away at drill, my Mom was nice enough to watch C & D for me while Norah and I met up with a Mommy friend of mine to go to a crafters market. It was downtown at a cool kids consignment shop we both love going to, so it was a double whammy of shopping!!

Norah ready to go shopping with Mommy.

Some of our finds. Ordered a custom skirt for Norah and a custom dress for D with similar prints! Going to get Mother's day photos taken with my girls in them! Also found a bag full of cute clothes for the kids.

Last week I got sick... I dont know from where. I am sorta a germaphobe, not crazy but close. I just dont like being sick and with kids if one gets it they could all get it. I caught something I dont even know what I thought it was allergies cause I was super stuffed up but then it moved to my throat and I ended up losing my voice I am actually on day 3 of no voice right now... Shawn loves it lol!

This is me not feeling good hanging out on the sofa with the kids watching a Disney movie. I love Disney anything and we own every Disney movie made. Apparently my daughter takes after me lol! We were watching Finding Nemo, she loved it!

It seems like each kiddo grows up faster than the last, or maybe its just me I dont know. This girl is on her belly & loving it. She's so close to rolling over in both directions and can almost hold her bottle. Today she is 3 months and 4 days. I am a little behind and need to take her 3 month photos. 

Love this one!

Thursday I dressed her in this cute outfit to go see Daddy at work. (then she puked on it and I had to change her) They were having a volunteer get together to celebrate all the volunteers at the school... ME!! Shawn said something sweet and cheese about me, lol! His classroom would not look as cool as it does if it wasnt for me. I tell him all the time hes lucky I love him... grading papers, cutting things out, helping him come up with new creative stuff. I was 9 months prego crawling on the floor in the hallway of his school setting up his hallway display. So, yes hes lucky I love him! ;-)

We got a 4th foster kiddo on Thur so things have been a little more crazy than usual. Hes 4 and the MOST HYPER KID I HAVE EVER MET. Hes actually going to another foster home tonight because hes so hyper when he plays and has not regard for the little ones. He needs to be on his own or around bigger kids. So they found him a home with bigger kids. Whew cause we have had some close calls. 

Saturday it was hot enough to go in the pool. It felt awesome, Im actually quite picky about outside temp and pool temp combo but it was perfect this past Saturday. The only thing about it being hot this early in the year usually means its going to be a nasty HOT summer... we will see. It was Norah's 1st time in the pool and D's 1st time in not being a baby any more. Shes growing up way to fast. Here are some pictures of our pool adventures!

Fo and D waiting for Daddy to let them in to swim. In the picture you can see we have this awesome big ledge that the kids can hang out on. On me its only ankle deep. Fo loves to walk around there with the kids.

Not so sure to this is cold and wet lol! She later calmed down and loved it, I think she will be a fish like her sister.

Yesterday 2 of 4 kids were gone and my sister was awesome enough to come over to watch the girls so I could start my 12 page paper that I thought was due today. When I sat down to work on it I realized it was due yesterday... I spent the whole day working on it.

D was hanging with my sister and Norah wanted Mommy... so this was me yesterday lol!

When Shawn got home, after he made dinner (yes girls my hubby cooks... sort of but he does try to make dinner one night a week :-) ) We went the park to try and wear the 4 year old out. Ha, that didnt work super crazy wild at the park and didnt slow down for a second. This was my view at the park:

So I cranked out a 12 pager and turned it in by 10 PM... 2 hours to spare. Not bad. I have another one due Saturday but have been working on it off and on. So wont be pulling a day of on that one.

So tonight we go back down to 3 kids. This weekend I have drill so Shawn is on Daddy duty! I think D might do a sleep over at Grandma & Grandpa's though Saturday night. Then its back to the grind Mom-Fri. Then Shawn has drill the following weekend. Yuck. 2 weekends in a row no time with the hubby. I think we need to find time for a date night soon. Really looking forward to June, it cant get here fast enough if you ask me.

Un eventful

An un-eventful week last week. I cant complain. Does not mean that it was quiet or slow. Each day I tell myself I will actually sit down for more than 10-15 minutes... it never happens. Im not complaining just longing for some more me time I suppose. It can get a little groundhogs day like around here and when Shawn gets home at the end of the day I sometimes am chomping at the bit for his adult conversation and company. A friend on facebook or pinterest posted this and I thought it was extremely appropriate.

The only story I have to share this post is last Monday C our 2 year old foster son had his first visit with his bio Mom. I had been dreading it a little afraid of his behavior afterwards. Never did I imagine what would be in store for me. He came back crying, totally to be expected and I talked to him saying he would see her again and it was ok to be sad. I fed him lunch then put him down for his nap. When he first came to us naps were very foreign to him and there was a lot of crying, screaming and yelling involved with naps and bed time. He has adjusted really well 3 weeks with us now. This time he was a little cranky and whiny which I couldnt fault him much. He took a nap and when it was time to go get him, 3 steps away from his bedroom I heard him say "Mommy poop" I instantly was dreading what I call a "nap bomb" where they have gone poo during nap and its been roasting and the room smells so bad you get the wind nocked out of you when you walk in. Well I wish thats all it was. I open the door and hes holding his hands up that are covered in poop. He had decided to finger paint with his poop. It was not all that bad, but it was bad and gross. I just stood there and gasped and said "C this is bad, o my gosh this is bad." I did not call him bad cause again I sorta couldnt fault him. He was acting out. So as hes soaking in the tub I told him "bud, next time when you are sad just say I am sad, dont play with your poop, cause thats icky."

That was quote on quote the highlight of my week lol. So this post I will just let the pictures do the talking. This weekend for us should be interesting, Shawn will be gone for 3 days out of town for Army training, so I am on my own sun up to sun down, wish me luck.

D's new favorite way of watching Veggie Tales... in her dolls wagon. :-)

Happy girl! She really only crys when she is hungry or tired... just like her Mommy!

The old man (12 years old this August) enjoying the kids nap time. Its quiet and the kids are not pestering him.

Enjoying some hand during tummy time.

Loved this picture of her so much I made it into a 5x7 and hung it in our tv room. I find myself staring at her, in awe that shes here, shes ours and was worth all the trials and tribulations. 

We have a park that you can see from our driveway, we walk to it at least 2-3 times a week before or after dinner to lay around on the quilt and let the kids play. Norah loves looking around at everything and the other 2 cant get enough of the slides or kicking the soccer ball around.

Exhausted after the park. 

Some how I found a little time to yarn wrap the letter "M" that had been undone for some time. I had started this project about a week before Norah arrived. I love how it came out, it will reside on our mantel for some time to come!

Another night at the park. This trip my Sister came with & took this picture for us.

Easter morning. I wish I could share the adorable pictures of D from the egg hunt the day before as well as her in her Easter best... Next year!! We went to an egg hunt & bbq at church on Saturday. Then Sunday I had to be at church at 6:45 am to sing for two services. My sister was nice enough to spend the night Saturday to help Shawn get all the kids ready to come to the 2nd service. They all looked adorably cute. D had a white straw hat on with her dress and when Shawn walked in with her, there was a lot of ooo's & awe's!! After church we decided on a whim to go to Red Lobster for lunch. Home for a 2 hour nap had by all. Then I decided to cook us an Easter dinner... Turkey ham, homemade mashed potatoes, string beans, rolls, & squash. It was all very yummy! No company this year, just my sister who we asked to stay at the last minute, us & the kids. It was perfect.

(This is my "Mommy" outfit lol, nothing I love more than Victoria Secret boyfriend pajama pants, I own them in tons of colors!)

Thats all folks... enjoy the rest of your week and the up coming weekend.

April already

Hello April. I swear each year seems to speed by faster than the last. Looking back on last year... this same time we found out we were pregnant, to then find out we had miscarried, but by Mothers Day were pregnant again. Now I have the most beautiful, healthy baby girl I could have ever hoped for. She is perfect, I may be a bit biased. We celebrated D's 1st Easter last year, now its Norah's turn and D's 1st as a big sister. I feel so blessed and try desperately every day to take a moment to focus on all that is good in our lives and enjoyed those gifts. I actually realized last night laying in bed that I had falling behind in blogging, just slightly thank goodness. I am really enjoying blogging our weeks with photos, I am certain it will help me soon when I finally am able to jump back into scrapbooking I wont have to rack my brain to remember what we were up to. I cant wait to start on the girls books!!

So, last weekend we had a reunion bbq at our house. Our friends Alaina and JD were in town with there new little baby girl. Alaina and I have been friends for a long time since highschool cheer and dancing days. He husband was the youth pastor at our Church and Shawn & I would volunteer with youth. They moved to Oregon and we hadnt seen them for a while. So, we had as many of the youth kids we could round up (who are not exactly youth any more, many are now in college) so that we could all hang out, everyone could meet the babies and the babies could meet each other. We had a really great time!

I had to jet away from the festivities for choir practice for Easter. But when I got home I found my hubby and one of the youth girls (Emily :-) ) had cleaned up! I decided to go run a couple errands and took D with me for some Mommy Daughter time... pre sickness of course. We went to Target, Ross, Barnes and Noble and Walmart. She loved the books... takes after Mommy!

We got home to find this:

A very common occurrence in our house.

Our week was MOSTLY un-eventful. Biggest thing being miss Norah turned 2 months old already. I managed to squeeze in a mini photo session with her. It was a lot of fun. I used my Nans dresser which is WAY older than me. I made Norah a onsie too, that says it all. For a while when faced with having to decide if we were going to do IVF or not, I was hesitant because of the $ factor. Not because we couldnt afford it but because I felt guilty that we could do so much good with that kind of money. But I finally decided we had to try knowing we had tried everything we could. It was worth it!!

Then the continual challenge of trying to find a good chunk of quiet time to be able to get my homework/studying done. Lastly, the suckiest part being when we got our new foster kiddo they brought him to us sick. He was so kind to give pink eye and a cold to D. She has had mostly high spirits through this all. She has only ever been sick once before she had a small cold when she was 9 months old. I cant help but feel a little guilty that its my fault for letting a sick kid into our home. But, him being sick by no means was his fault, so we make it work. He is better. Passed a well check up and got 3 shots with only a pouty lip, super tough guy. Then I started the process of de germing. Lucky for me my Mom had 3 half days and my sister was free too. They helped watch the kids & clean all the toys that they had played with, with hot bleach water. What a big task, so glad its done and super grateful for the help. I am happy to report that D is well on the mend and we successfully kept it from reaching Norah. Shawn and I also managed to escape it!

Little Norah was oblivious to all the action. She stuck with her normal , sleep & play routine.

She is becoming more and more interactive. It never loses its appeal either. I have been blessed enough to raise 2 other babies, Shawn missed a lot of there 1st but is catching Norah's. Its so fun to watch.

This weekend was nice, I am always bummed when they come to an end cause during the week we dont see much of Shawn. The kids love spending time with him. Even if he does get rough and someone ends up getting hurt lol. Friday my awesome friend Stephanie came over and chopped my hair! She lives in California but visits family through out the year, and when she is in town she comes and does my hair. She rocks it every time. I havent gotten a picture of it yet so next blog. Friday night I was able to get out of the house kid free for a little while. My Step Mom came with me to Daniella Jay Boutique for an Origami Owl party. I got the most amazing necklace ever that I am so in love with!! I also scored an adorable hair band for Norah by Royal Bowtique.

It looks gold in the picture a bit, but its silver. I love the necklace so much that I am hosting a party on April 22nd. They were missing a few charms I wanted when I went so now I will get them a little cheaper. I got an "A" for Adams, a heart that says "Family," the word "Love," two heart birthstones for the girls, and a "Key" clip on charm. I hope to get a round birthstone for Shawn, a clip on pearl charm for my birthstone and an infinity charm. It will then represent my life!! I LOVE IT!!

Saturday we spent the morning as a family, lounging around a bit. Shawn ran up to church to get a box of produce for $10 from market on the move. I now have 50 lbs of produce to use up. We munched on some seedless cucumbers yesterday and I made fajitas for dinner with bell peppers. D got a miniature wagon for her 1st Birthday from my Mom & Sister, she loves pulling her dolls around the house. Well I put Norah in it and let D pull her around, she was a bit heavy and needed help. But Daddy took a shot at it, so cute.

Saturday afternoon was a long and slightly rough day. We lost an Army buddy to a motorcycle accident. He will be greatly missed and our hearts go out to his family during this difficult time. We were brave and took Norah with us, she slept thru the whole thing, even the gun salute. She was great.

Sunday we slept in a little, had breakfast all together, streamed some Frank Sinatra and The Andrews Sisters thru our apple tv from my cell through the whole house. We all got showered and dressed for church. C did great for his first time in nursery. We kept D with us this time since shes just getting over being sick. Norah stays with us every Sunday anyway. After church we went to Babies R Us to get a new baby gate, my Mom recently broke ours. We of course could not leave with just a gate... darn consumer marketing for making cute kid things lol! Grabbed some lunch and back up to church for me to make choir practice. Shawn stayed in the car with the two older kids and they took naps while Norah came with me. She loves music, she used to dance all the time when I was prego. She dozed on and off during practice and got passed around for holding. I am so grateful she is so well behaved.

Now its Monday. Shawn back to work this morning, me home with the kids. Monday's I try to do all the chores I can stomach so that I dont have to worry about them the rest of the week. I just have to worry about keeping up with the kids and my homework. Hope everyone else had a decent weekend and has a great week ahead waiting for them.