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!!!