Electronics Restriction

The dude was on electronics restriction this week for some bad choices at school. Nothing too major, but we need to keep his behavior in the positive direction. It turned out to be a good weekend. He was tuned out of electronics so he played a lot. He also decided that he was going to play more with the girls.
Friday, he did get TV because he had a babysitter. Saturday he ran errands with me and helped me clean the house. He wiped down the stair banister (his idea) and cleaned the blinds (my idea) and then emptied all the trashes and took recycling out (one of his chores). He got out his race cars and built a complex track in his room and played cars. Saturday night we had friends over for dinner and made home-made Valentine Cards that I found on Pinterest. We made some for the girls and some for him that he picked.
Sunday, he went grocery shopping with Hubs while I did M's hair. Then he read, went to the store with me, helped me make dinner, and then played more with the girls.
He was playing a dodge ball game with them. They would run and giggle and he'd throw the ball. He said, "Mom, I am missing them on purpose cause they are babies but when they are older and I'm like 16 and they're 10 I am not going to miss on purpose." They were so cute giggling and running from him while he threw the ball at them. Of course, a few times M dragged the baby while she was running away from him, but no tears were shed.
I like the idea of tuning out of electronics some and letting them just play, may have to do it more often. Not on Friday though, he has plans this Friday to come home and watch TV to celebrate being able to watch TV again.

Family Day

Family Day, also known as Gotcha Day, Familyversary, and many other names. Whatever an adoptive family calls it, it is the special day where a baby comes into your life. It is most commonly celebrated in International and Foster Care adoptions where the birth day and the day the child comes into the family are usually not the same.

Miss M was 5 1/2 months on the day she came into our family. We didn't get to be there for her birth or when she was taken home by her first foster family or when she was moved from Charlotte to Raleigh to be with another foster family, but we are her forever family. 2 years ago, Miss M came home to us. I have been very nostalgic this year even more so than last year. Not sure why.

Last year we celebrated by having some of our best friends over for dinner and having a special dinner and cupcakes. This year, I knew it was coming but didn't have anything planned. It all came together though to make it a special day. We had breakfast with some of our friends and went to the park and played. Then we met up with our other friends and Miss M's bff for swimming. She loves to swim, so it was perfect. This afternoon she wanted cupcakes so tonight I baked cupcakes right before dinner and she had a cupcake after dinner. It wasn't anything over the top (and it really shouldn't be) just a simple celebration of our family.

The day Miss M came snow had been predicted all week. I was so worried that the snow would interrupt her move from her foster family to us. She was scheduled to come at 10:30 right after her visit with her bio mom. I cannot imagine how hard it had to have been for her foster mom to pack all her belongings and hand her off that morning. (We do sort of keep in touch and she knows she is doing well). That morning it was only lightly snowing and the Social Worker brought her in. We really didn't know anything about her, but as soon as I laid eyes on her, I fell in love. She was beautiful, huge round cheeks, beautiful expressive eyes, and she smiled such a big pretty smile. She was so bundled up. I couldn't wait to bring her in the house, unbundle her and hold her. She sat in my arms then daddy's arms while we sorted through the paperwork. Hubs and I just looked at each other after the Social Worker left like "They really just gave us a baby!" in shock. It did end up snowing that weekend, but thankfully held off until she was safe in our house.

Here is Miss M on that first day. I loved going back and looking at the pictures.

First Time in Bouncy Seat Day 1:

Big Brother proudly holding her Day 1:

Big brother and Miss M holding hands Day 1:

Her now BFF meeting her for the first time Day 2. Really bad pic of me and of course the dogs were enamored with the new baby:

The dude's K teacher coming over to meet Miss M Day 3 (he was then in 1st, but we kept/keep in touch and she was one of our references for foster care):

Merry Christmas Part 2

We had a wonderful Christmas with the kids. It was very low key and we just got them a few things each. We had a nice dinner the five of us on Christmas eve. After the girls went to bed, me, hubs, and dude read twas the night before Christmas and the story of Jesus' birth together snuggled in his bed.
Then I got to wrap presents and put together toys. I only had two this year, a plasmacar and a doll house. The doll house took me a good hour to put together.
The kids got up Christmas morning and we opened presents before breakfast and then headed off to my in-laws. We spent the afternoon with my MIL, FIL, and my sister-in-law's family. The kids got more presents of course and got to ride their bikes and play outside.
We then headed to friends' house for a few hours for Christmas dinner. The kids had such a great time and it was nice and low key.

Here are a few pictures from the day. 

With Grandma and Grandpa: 

Christmas Girls: 

With cousin: 

The NC State Fair

Against better judgment we went to the fair on a weekend. I dreaded the experience, but it was the only time we could go. I was sure it would be wall to wall crowded and just a mess. But, it actually turned out really well. Remember, we live in the Bible belt so we ventured to the fair at 930 am on a Sunday morning with the rest of the heathens.

We ate breakfast at the fair and it was so yummy, biscuits, eggs, grits, coffee. Miss M was too excited to eat, but dude and little lady ate most of the food. The baby ate half a biscuit, grits, and eggs. The dude ate every piece of egg that was on all of our plates. Miss M saw a clown and wasn’t afraid, even let the clown hold her hand and give her a sticker.

After breakfast we went to the rides and the kids loved the swing and a pirate ship. The two older ones went down a big slide. The dude rode this flying swing where he laid flat (he was afraid of this ride in years previous). It was then that Miss M wanted a snack. One of her favorite words, she asks for “snack” at least 50 times a day.

After a few rides we went to the petting zoo, the biggest hit with the two older kids. Baby napped during this. Miss M even fed the goats and a camel directly from her hand. Then, we went to the apple shack and got peeled, sliced, cored apples for the kids and a dumpling for us. Then got kettle corn (our routine) and headed to ride a few more rides. The dude went on two huge slides and then both girls got to ride the carousel and we were done. We did miss the stunt show that we watch every year and were kind of bummed about that. But we headed home about three hours after we arrived just as the crowds were piling in. Guess I would do the fair on a weekend again, but still would prefer a weekday so I could see some exhibits. We missed all of them.

The petting zoo:

The slide:

Baby D News

A few weeks ago we were told that dad wanted to relinquish baby D to us. They set up a meeting for the week we were in Hilton Head so we couldn’t attend. I think it is just as well as dad didn’t show up. He had decided that he didn’t want to relinquish anymore. I never really got my hopes up. The same thing happened with Miss M. Relinquishment was going to happen then it didn’t.

What I don’t get is that he doesn’t want to take the parenting class that is part of his plan. Both of them were dropped from the first session for no-shows and now neither wants to re-enroll in the class. If it is part of the plan, they need to take the parenting class. If they don’t, one of three things can happen:
1. They ignore that progress hasn’t really been made and they delay Baby D’s status change from reunification to termination at next court date (I think this is unlikely)
2. They relinquish
3. It goes to Termination of Parental Rights (TPR).
I have serious doubts that mom will relinquish so even if he did, it wouldn’t really expedite anything. It is already September so getting a sooner court date is unlikely, though I think that is what the social worker is pushing for. It may have expedited it in the sense that mom rarely shows for visits, so they could get an emergency hearing to review status for no-show of visits.

I am still trying not to stress over it too much, we have now had her over 7 months. We are now just 2 ½ months away from the court date that seemed so long from the last court date. She is going to be 1 in 1 ½ months. Hard to believe. Most days I don’t even really think about the status of the case, her permanency, etc. I just go on about a VERY busy life of being a mom to three, working full-time, wife, etc. Of course, several vacations thrown in and now the dude playing flag football and back in school has helped really speed time up and make it seem like it is flying by.

In other Baby D news, she had her nine month appointment a month late at ten months and her most recent stats are: 16 pounds 3 ounces, 27.25 inches, 42.5 cm head circumference. Healthy 5th percentile for weight, 25th for length and 8th for head. She is my tiny doodlebug. She was pretty good for the appointment, loudly screamed her protest of the doctor looking in her ears. She has an earwax problem, so usually there is lots of cleaning involved. But the doctor at urgent care the weekend before had cleaned them out really good. She was so tired by the end of the visit that she slept through her one shot. That is a new one for me; usually I have the loud fits for those. She then slept through a trip to Wal-Mart and the way home. Sweetie pie!

Family Vacation Hilton Head

Family Picture:

We spent the week in Hilton Head Island, SC for our family vacation. We rented a house in Sea Pines Resort. I love Sea Pines, it has beaches, pools, tennis, bike trails galore, petting zoo, shops, restaurants and of course the Salty Dog.

Trying to pack the car with a week’s worth of stuff, four kids*, two dogs, beach toys, stroller, pack and plays (2), etc proved to be a bit challenging for hubby. He had to get a canvas roof top carrier. He said he would upgrade to one of the plastic ones next time. He was sweaty and exhausted before we even left home at 8:15 am.

It is about a 4 hour car ride that we managed to turn into around 5 due to eating and bathroom stops. The kids did really well. Miss D decided that when we were all stopped to eat would not be the ideal time to drink her bottle so instead as soon as we got back on the road I had to wrangle my arm back to hold her bottle for her. The girls, dogs, sitter and I slept. The dude stayed awake playing PSP and DSi.

We got there before check-in and had some time to kill so we hit up Wally World for some wine/beer last minute necessities like sunscreen and snacks. Really to get hubby some flip flops cause he forgot his. They only cost a mere $95 by the time the six of us walked out of there.

We rented the house through a website called Homeaway which lets you search for vacation rentals by owners. They used a rental company to manage the house. The house was nice, clean, and spacious. Had some nice TVs, a wonderful sun room (that hubby spent a lot of time on), and the best part was our own pool. We rented some bikes and got them Saturday afternoon. Sea pines has so many bike trails that we probably rode at least 40 miles during our trip.

We spent the vacation riding bikes, visiting the petting zoo, going to the beach, eating, swimming in the pool, going to watch live music at salty Dog and a lot of relaxing. The kids enjoyed the trip and it was a nice break from work and daily stress.

Miss M's favorite parts were attacking the ocean, dancing, swimming, and getting her first ice cream cone. She also developed a love of Dora because we brought our PS3 set-up with Netflix.

Baby D's favorite parts were eating playing in the sand, dunking her head under water in the pool, and trying a bunch of new foods.

Dude's favorite parts were playing in the ocean (after the jellyfish trauma** wore off), playing catch in the pool, and riding bikes. He also loved the Cookie Monster ice cream at Salty Dog.

Miss M guarding her toys, sibling rivalry already. D wanted every toy she had:

Cooling off after the Jellyfish sting**:

Thumbs up, he is okay and ready to go in the ocean again:

Ice Cream Cone:

Jake the Salty Dog:

*We brought our wonderful babysitter to help wrangle entertain the kids.

**Dude and the babysitter got stung our first day out in the ocean. It was a bad day for jellyfish and they stung a bunch of people. Luckily, the life guards were prepared with tons of vinegar spray called Jellyfish Ash.

New About Me

I know I don’t keep the blog nearly up-to-date as I would like. I started it as a way to let my family see pictures and really that is all it still is. I have met 1-2 other moms through blogs that may or may not read this. But, I thought I would still update my about me in case someone new stumbled in and wanted to know more about us.

I met DH in 1999 and we quickly became friends and then I moved away to Philly a few weeks later. I still had season tickets to NC State Football (man I hate that I gave up those awesome seats) and so I came down to NC a few times and DH and I slowly started dating, then we quickly moved on and he moved up to Philly in December of that year.

In 2001 we moved back to NC and bought a house in Holly Springs because we knew there were good job opportunities, housing was relatively cheap, and we wanted to be close to his family when we started a family. We bought our house in May 2001, got married in February 2002. We decided to start that family and quickly found out I had blocked tubes. I had surgery for that in November 2002 and we got pregnant with C in January 2003. C was and always will be my pride and joy, couldn’t have imagined loving someone as much I do him. He is such a great kid and can’t believe how fast he is growing.

We decided in 2005 that we wanted to have another kid and thought it would be super easy since the doctors said they fixed the problem and we had C. Boy, was I wrong. We spent the next 4 years trying every Infertility treatment possible. Clomid, IVF with ICSI and managed to get pregnant three times. All three times losing the babies. It was heart breaking to say the least.

We had always discussed adoption and Hubby really wanted to try the foster care system. We agreed easily on the plan, took our MAPP classes, then sold our Holly Springs home and moved to Raleigh, then finally got certified as foster parents. Miss M joined our family in January 2010 and was adopted in August 2010. She is such an amazingly smart, cute, sassy girl and so easy to love. We started fostering Miss D in Janurauy 2011 and who knows where that will go.

So ask away if you want to be nosy (I am nosy) and get to know more.

In Love with my new Canvas

In June, we got our family pictures taken by Katie McAnally. She was wonderful with the family and took some great pictures of the whole family and of the kids and even a really cute one of hubby and I. I bought her package with the CD and then she even added one more in there that I specifically could make into a canvas. I loved working with her, she was so great and gets back to you quickly.
I finally took that image and ordered a canvas from Canvas on Demand. It is a local company, but they ship all over the country. I talked with the customer service rep and she assured me that the canvas would turn out perfect and they would center the family picture on the canvas. I was very nervous just uploading the image and not getting a "preview" box. They do all the editing after you upload and decide how the picture will look best. Wow! I was so impressed when we got the package. I am so happy with it!!!!!

If you click on the canvas picture of us, you can get a coupon for Canvas on Demand. I will also have to post some more of the pics Katie took of us. She took the one on this post of me holding Maya that is black and white.

Wedding

We traveled to Maryland for a wedding of a friend of hubby’s from college. The wedding was outside of Baltimore in Ellicot City, MD at Turf Valley Resort. The resort was really pretty and had a pool, which was totally enjoyed by C. He also rode his bike on the paths they had around the hotel, played on the playground, and played ping pong. We drove up Thursday to make it in time for the rehearsal dinner, and then I worked while the boys played Friday. Friday night was the wedding and thankfully the weather was really nice. Very humid, but no rain or thunderstorms even though then had been predicted.
We got to get some family shots out by the golf course and C looked so handsome. He got dressed and said “I look like the President! The President wears clothes like this.” He did look like a little mini President or executive. He had a cool pinstripe Nautica suit with a lavender tie. I picked it up on clearance and it turned out lavender was the color of the wedding, so he matched his daddy nicely. Hubby had to wear a white Tux and while we had thought he would look super duper funny, he looked really good. My dress was purple with black sheer over it. So, while we hadn’t planned it, we all coordinated quite nicely. It was nice to get away for a few days from the stress of moving and packing/unpacking. Cal got to stay at home and we had someone come stay at the house and he enjoyed that so much, he decided to sleep on the bed with her.

Mr. President


Cutie Pie


Me and C


Family Shot



Wedding Party boys and C