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. 

Time does not stand still in this house

Time does not stand still in this house. We are always on the go either just around the house after the little ones or actually on the go running errands, playing Army, hanging out with friends, the list goes on. The only time we rest is bed time, which every day can never come soon enough, lol!

This past week has been some what of a blur. Last blog I really enjoyed sharing our week with everyone in photos so I tried it again this week. Friday we enjoyed a lovely lunch date with our dear friend Andrea and my cousin who is in town from England. We then went to Cabela's to show D there giant fish tank.

We were informed that we are able to move on in the adoption process, we can not wait until its final. I plan on flooding the world with pictures of this adorable girl that has stolen our hearts!

Saturday was a pretty relaxed day, we stayed at home as a family doing this & that and just relaxing. Always a wonderful Saturday when there is nothing on the calendar! We went for a really long walk with my Dad & Step Mom D cant get enough of "Papa" which is what she called both of them cause she cant say Grandma. She gets extremely overwhelmed with excitement whenever they come over its so cute to see. It was Saint Patrick's Day, so Norah got to wear an adorable outfit we got from Shawn's Aunt & cousin.

Sunday was church. Sometimes Drill or the kids prevent us from going, not this Sunday. Norah actually woke up a bit earlier than usual so we went to the 9 am service instead of 10:30. It was kind of nice I felt like I still had a lot of day left when we got home instead of feeling like its 1/2 over. All week I had been looking forward to going to my friend Tabetha's for a candle party... until my Husband decided he needed to go do some work in his classroom & told me I had to take the Girls with me. I don't dread going out with my kids but would love a mini break every once in a while lol! What Mom doesn't. Luckily D is live entertainment and steals everyones hearts so she had plenty of people to hold her and give her attention. Norah slept thru most of it. It was a cloudy rainy day in AZ. Snapped a photo on the way to Tabetha's and then on the way home.

Giant rain clouds!

A FULL rainbow! I couldn't get it all in 1 shot.

Monday was my typical chores at home stayin pjs all day kind of day! While the rest of the world dreads Mondays I love them! I think the kids do too, laying around in pjs all day!

Tuesday I took the Girls for a run. I am LOVING my BOB stroller it is so awesome! I bundled up the Girls cause it was slightly chilly Tuesday morning, I crank up Pandora on my iphone and were off. Ran for a 1/2 hour felt sore when I got home but a good sore. The Girls apparently were worn out from the run too, which was good cause they take a power nap every morning for 45 min - 1 hour. We got back just in time for them to sleep it was perfect, I was able to take a shower undisturbed!!

 Tuesday, Miss Norah turned 2 months old. The time seems to be flying by, but we are enjoying every minute of it! Here is her Dr trip in pictures and videos.

Loving the paper on the table, she would actually get fussy if I picked her up she liked the paper so much, lol!

Top left is in the waiting room. Top right & lower left is waiting for the Dr. Lower right is Dr gave us a thumbs up now were waiting for shots.

Warning: the video is sad so be careful. I had to document the shot reaction for Shawn he wanted to see it. She took it like a champ because she stopped crying as they were putting Band-Aids on then zonked right out.

Shots during & after

shots video

She did really well when we got home too, she pretty much just slept the shots off. Not really fussy and no temp at all. Such a tough Girl!

Wednesday was just a typical day. Our morning routine is pretty much the same I try not to vary if I can help it. All the parenting classes we have taken for Foster Care and my weird obsession with reading Parenting books. Kids thrive off of structure and my kids know the schedule and behave accordingly, it makes my life so much easier and puts us all at ease 95% of the time. Since Shawn isnt here during the day during the week if I ever leave him at home with the kids he would just kinda do whatever which is fine but when hes calling and asking why 1 or more of the kids is fussy... So, I typed out the kids schedules by the hour so he or a babysitter/Grandparents can follow it. Its been really great. No more calls from Shawn while I am out. I have conceded that I am OCD about a lot of things but it works for us and the kids so for now we stick with my anal retentiveness lol!! 

Fo is becoming more and more tolerant of the kids. He still has his old fart moments where he just wants to be left alone. But this was a super sweet moment I was able to capture!

The Girls LOVE each other already. Norah is constantly looking at D watching her closely and cooing at her. D is obsessed with kissing her, helping burp her and today even wiped her mouth with the burp rag. Its utterly adorable to watch these two. We are hoping they grow up to be best friends!

Wednesday night I went out to dinner with my Step Mom for company (My Dad was out of town & Shawn had to work late) and she cant get enough of the Girls. 

Getting ready to go to dinner with Grandma. D seriously gives Norah a kiss at least once every 15 min.

While we were at dinner I got a call asking to take a 2 year old little boy. This was the 5th call in 5 days, we had turned down the others because of my cousin visiting. But we went ahead and said ok to this guy. He was dropped off late Wednesday night. He is adorable, smart, kinda shy but very well behaved. He's struggling a little with nap time and bed time but each time is getting a little easier. I say give him a week and he will be adjusted. We found out he has an 8 mo. old brother so we are trying to get him too, he's currently at another Foster home. Hopefully they will bring him here this weekend and the boys can be together and the 2 year old might feel a little more settled with his brother here. Will keep you posted. Yes, we may seem crazy but if the Dugar's can do it well then so can we and we are giving a good home to kids who are victims and desperately need a safe, loving home. 

Yesterday, My childhood friend Laura was brave enough to watch all 3 of our kids with her own daughter here at our home while I went to volunteer at Shawns field day. She did great, the kids had fun and were all tired after a long play date. Field day was fun, I got sunburned and almost lost my voice and today my allergies are now kicking my butt :-)

Squeezed in a little snugging time before I went to field day.

Zonked after her play date!

I came home with an awesome sunburn, this picture does it no justice. In person its just about as red as the shirt I am wearing. 

Its finally Friday and were hanging out in our pjs good way to end the week. Norah is asleep in her swing, D is at the tail end of her power nap and the little guy is watching Cat In The Hat cartoon on PBS. Which allowed me to blog and have a cup of coffee I cant ask for more. Hopefully later my Sister will come over while the kids are napping and be here to respond if they stir so I can tackle some serious homework. We are anxious to see our friends Alaina & JD this weekend who are in town and had a baby Girl 4 months ago. Alaina & I went to High School together and its going to be so cool for our Girls to meet!! Hope everyone enjoys the weekend ahead.

Full steam ahead.

Didn't March just start yesterday? I could have sworn it did. Its already the 15th I cant believe it. We have been enjoying Spring Break this week (Shawn from teaching and myself from school). We were even adventurous enough to start a little Spring cleaning. We cleaned up the whole backyard the other day then spent the night on the patio enjoying a fire in the fire pit, well deserved, very enjoyable. My 2nd cousin Paul who lives in England came in last Friday and we have been spending lots of time with him. Shawn took him shooting for the first time just yesterday, they had a great time! Even though we have company in town, have been doing some Spring cleaning and I have still been working on school work... we have managed to have plenty of relaxing down time together.

Just yesterday little Norah started cooing and slightly audibly laughing... I have experienced firsts with Jessica and D and was worried it would not be as exciting with my own... not the case. Its just as memorable. It was even more awesome to see Shawn experience it since with the other 2 girls he was deployed. I am certain now it will never loose its appeal, it will be an unmistakeable moment every time. I have noted with each child Im more and more relaxed. D falls down all the time and is always getting hurt while horse playing with Daddy. I get less upset at him, and less concerned that she is injured and I just react with an ice cube for her to suck on and a kiss or two lol. I have no doubt Norah will be nice and tough, D is well on her way. I see D fall and simply ask "are you ok?" and she just gets up and laughs. If they fall and you freak, they will freak. If you have that shake it off attitude with them thats how they will respond to. Kids feed off of our emotions and are constantly taking mental notes of our behavior and reactions to things. Shawn keeps saying lets have all Girls but I am not so sure he understands... my theory is Girls get harder as they grow up and boys get easier. His theory is boys are punks, funny cause he is one and has an 18 year old son both of whom drive me bananas, always have so not so sure on his theory. I think we will just take it one day at a time and see what's in store.

We are on the list to accept more Foster Kids and in the last 4 days I have received a call everyday being begged to take a kiddo. It breaks my heart to say no but with company in town and Shawn and I actual able to spend some time together this week, we decided to not accept any this week. Its so sad to think that there are that many kids being displaced from there homes. I wish with all my heart more people would open there homes to Foster care. I think to many don't really fully understand what it means and how it all works and are afraid to ask questions thus forming there own wrong opinion as why not to do it. (If anyone is interested or even just wants to ask questions feel free to ask away I would love to share with you.) I cant see my life without it. We have touched the lives of 8 children in almost 3 years now. About to adopt our 1st one and she is the Sunshine in my life I cant imagine my life without her I love her as much as I love my own biological child, there is no difference and there never will be. We actually found out this week we are another step closer to making the adoption of D finalized... I can not wait for that day to come. Should be no later than August, so everyone say a little prayer for us that we encounter no speed bumps and can have this little Girl forever in our home.

Some how with Shawn working Mon-Fri, Me going to school full time, running around after the Girls, keeping up with the house and Army for us both I have still managed to do a few more little projects around the house. I hope to share those soon, more of my OCD organizing and my obsession with seeing things online and re creating. The Girls room is all done we just need to get them a bunk bed. The one I am in love with is from Pottery Barn and will probably take a year to save for but it will be the icing on the cake as far as there room goes, and well worth the wait I am sure.

Not a ton new going on mostly same old same old, but we are full steam ahead with life. I am trying to do a weekly post if I can so that you can at least hear how the Girls are growing. Hope everyone enjoys there weekend. I am looking forward to ours, we have nothing planned which is always nice. Last weekend I had to play Army so it didn't seem like a weekend. 1st one away from the Girls in a while and I missed them a TON. Thank goodness for apple and facetime. I actually got to see D say Mama for the 1st time!! It was A-dorable! Have a great weekend everyone!

A few pics of our week... lots of napping going on.

Norah taking a late afternoon nap.

This picture is worth millions... Shawn is not a fan of manual labor. But, we got some Spring cleaning done, the whole backyard is ready for Summer use!

After all that Spring cleaning a nap was in order. Napping seems to be the pass time of choice in our house right now.

We had dinner on the cleaned up patio with my Dad, Step Mom, the Girls and my Cousin. Then we enjoyed a nice fire in the fire pit, poolside. It was an awesome day!

It was Norah's 1st fire. I cant wait until we take the Girls camping for the 1st time.

Two peas in a pod, they both love to sleep, and they both sleep soundly.

Sleeping thru errands.

Busy is an understatement

Now 3 weeks into school and I am already behind. My kids seem to have this weird sensor... every time they nap and I do house work they keep sleeping, I try to do homework and they wake up lol! Yesterday I had my sister come over and sit around to respond to the girls if they stirred so I could get some serious school work done. It went really well so its going to be a weekly thing now every Wednesday! Not exactly my idea of Me time but it will do for now. Have to keep the finish line in mind which is that MA degree!!

This past week we had a 6 month old little boy in our care for Foster. He had such a sad back story I couldn't say no when they called to ask if I would take him. He had an infectious smile and a great disposition all things considered. It was kind of nice having a little boy around too. D loved having another baby around and he was mesmerized by her. After I said yes and hung up the phone I doubted myself for a little bit but it turned out better than I expected. So grateful for family, my Dad and Step Mom came over the night he was dropped off with homemade dinner in hand and extra helping hands. Which was perfect... My Dad took Norah, my Step Mom took the new little guy and Shawn had D. Which freed me to run to the store for formula, some boy clothes, and drop of a prescription for the little guy. The 1st day or 2 of his stay was a bit crazy but I soon got him on the same schedule as the girls and it worked out great. 1 hour power nap in the morning and a 2-3 hour nap in the after noon. I was able to work on homework in pieces and maintain the kitchen and laundry. We were sad to see him go but are now confident that we can take on a 3rd easily when they call again... cause they will call again. The need for Foster homes is so great. Its now near and dear to my heart. I have brought the topic to my church and they are going to give me the chance to bring the topic to the congregation, I am so excited. Good quality Foster homes are few and far between. These kids are the innocent victims in all this. The system may struggle at times but it does work. We raised Jessica for a year while her parents stepped up to the plate and did an amazing 360 with there lives, we are so proud and happy to be a part of that success story. We have seen other kids go live with loving family members, and children become adopted. I just wish more people would open there homes to these kids.

Shawn continues to be busy with school and will soon start playing Army again. I am actually going to play Army this weekend for the 1st time in 2 months. Anxious and not excited all at once. It will be nice to get out of the house and be with adults and I know Shawn can handle things at home. I am more not excited about the early wake time and the long day on my feet. Good thing its only 1 weekend a month.

I am so grateful every day that we are blessed for me to stay home with the girls, all while doing my part to help others doing Foster care, and serving my country. I hope my girls grow up knowing that they can do anything they put there minds to, it takes a lot of hard work but its all well worth it. Going to bed every night with a smile on my face is priceless. Shawn is always telling me that I have such a big heart and that I am on a mission to save the world... I don't know if I can save the world but I am sure going to try!!

Both Girls are growing right before our eyes. D LOVES to dance, every day she dances with or without music. She recently learned to spin circles she discovered it all on her own, last night she did a solid 4 or 5 circles before becoming dizzy. I am hoping to put her into dance next year and seeing where she goes with it. I don't want to be the Mom who forces my kids to do anything, if she loves it I will of course be on cloud 9 since I grew up with dance being 75% of my life. But if she doesn't I look forward to seeing what she does pursue.  Norah is a happy content baby she usually only cries when she is hungry. We are lucky to have such a well behaved newborn... well shes almost 7 weeks now. Shes smiling more, more alert and is trying to coo when we interact with her. D loves her "sissy" and showers her with kisses, literally cause her kiss is more like a lick lol! I know that they are going to grow up being best friends! D's adoption should be finalized by summer time and I cant wait to shower the world with pictures of BOTH girls. They are the sunshine of my life right now, making me laugh and smile daily. They have Daddy wrapped around there little fingers. When Shawn comes home from work every day D goes running to him while laughing it never gets old. I just hope she still does that when she gets older
;-)

Well the girls will be waking up from there power nap soon and it will be time for us to watch Kathy Lee and Hoda on the Today show while playing with toys... my living room looks like Toys R Us threw up in it. I used to clean it up every night but now only if people are coming over. Good thing our house floor plan is conducive to this, its in the back of the house out of eye sight! Cant imagine it any other way though.

Here are some pictures of Norah at 1 month old. Enjoy your Thursday and upcoming weekend!