Tot School

(check it out at 1+1+1=1)

Tot School went soooo amazingly well today!

Jaida (31 mos.) laced beads onto pipe cleaners. She worked so tediously doing it and was completely enthralled. She figured out that as she was putting the beads on and neared the end the beads were being pushed off the other end, so she does what all baby geniuses do and bent the end to keep 'em on.

Nick (46 mos.) worked for only a moment on the lacing. He is meticulous. He spaced each bead the same distance and wouldn't have it any other way. He would much rather the sound of the beads dumping into the tray. We cleaned that and he looked at me as if to say, "give me a real challenge."His mind is so active and he is too darn smart for that "baby stuff" so he built a helicopter using trio blocks. He got these for Christmas and I have been a little hesitant, with the big move coming and all, to take out yet another toy with pieces, but hey, it was school friendly so we did. He had to follow directions using the right color, length and placement to make it happen and the clickey sound they make was entertaining in itself... and he did with a little help from big bro Ryan who, deep down, really wanted those trios. :) Would you believe my camera died before I could get a pic of it?

Oh well, good reason to do it again.

Taking the heli apart to put things away was NOT an easy task...Snap into action Mom! Uh, character building, work on keeping a positive attitude.... what are those things I'm always saying??? He was in a full out fit and it was ugly. I started with a simple thing I call ignoring him. It's the quickest way to get his attention is to give him no attention when he is being negative. He stopped and wiped away his tears and said, "Ok, Mom? It's ok." I told him his behavior was not ok and that he was a distraction to others and he (on his own) told the others he was sorry. Yay.

Wouldn't be right if I didn't give you a shot of our Big girl doing her Phonics on her Leap Pad.... Emalee Joy loves school and has made so much progress in just the 7 1/2 months she has been home.... Poor thing had NO educational foundation. She didn't know any of her alphabet, didn't know her age, now my girl can tell you her address, her age, birthday, spell and write her name. She is 5, should be further by most scales, but considering all I know - she is right on track :)

Lookin' back...

I have found myself living in retrospect lately. Pondering things I should've, would've, could've done, but didn't. Like, I should have taken more pictures of my big boys when they were little. I didn't think about it until I'm grabbin' the camera to take a picture of every imaginable thing the little ones are doing. #2 gets frustrated sometimes like he thinks they get more attention than he does or ever did... not. Four, five, and six have only been with us since June 09, I missed many of their firsts. But, that is for another time.

Our God is an awesome God!

It's been awhile and I do apologize. I invite anyone complaining over to my house to see where my time is spent though :)

We're a full house and getting fuller by the day. We have been blessed more than anyone deserves and can't find the words to adequetaly express our gratitude to those whose hands have touched our lives.

A dear friend who worked with D when he was doing real estate is a Sunday School teacher at her church. Well, she has been sharing our journey with many and bring prayers to us in abundance. Well, she petitioned her class for hand me downs from their children and grandchildren and well.... people are awesome! People who serve an awesome God are very very awesome! This week our home was blessed with a large lego table and may legos, a kitchen for the girls (tho N loves it too), a tool set and kids craftsman tool chest, dolls, strollers, dvds, stuffed animals, you name it! We went to bed that night thinking, God, can it really get any better? Well, yes- it can and has. The same lady called to tell us she will be back with an outdoor playset and a swingset. Can I mention again how blessed we are? I cannot tell you the number of people who have said to us how happy they are for us and how they cannot adopt but want to help us do it.

One day I will be able to write about it without tearing up... I promise. Night for now

Our God is an awesome God!

Loving my life !

I miss my boys. I have been fine until last night my mom said my baby boy wanted to talk to me. It dawned on me, my baby boy is 10 now and since moved from his ranks.

Having daughters is a whole new world for me. "Fix my hair bows, Mommy" "Paint my fingers and toes, Mommy." I LOVE IT. They're both so sweet. Emalee wants to go "wis Daddy" everywhere he goes. Jaida says Hi to everyone everywhere. We're having a great time. We're tired, but having a great time. Nicholas is precious too and if you read the last post you'll see what a doll he is. Emalee has been very motherly to the others their whole life so she is quick to tell me how to do things and I appreciate it, but I want her to enjoy being a little girl and relieve her of her responsibilities. We've let her stay up a little later than the babies and she thinks she's all that now. She seems to have never been entitled to her privilege of being the oldest. Though she won't be in our home, she is of these siblings and there's something special about that. Jaida- well, she's a princess in all ways. She has attitude and is not afraid to use it. She's a bright eyed little thing with a walk that is soooo cute!

Yesterday and today we had visits with the Foster parents. Whew, the last final goodbye is at 8am. We're feeling like all these meetings aren't really the best thing because the kids are getting a little confused, but we also have to put forth the effort to make this transition smooth.

Post later....

My Only Sunshine...

This will be the first of a series tonight as I try to catch up on current events here. I had hoped to post each night and add pictures to our album, but having toddlers and laptops in a small hotel room is a recipe for disaster any way you slice it. I hope to add a video to this if my technological side will kick in and I can figure out how.

Nicholas is our 3 year old who is "supposedly" diagnosed with autism. I say this because we've yet to witness autistic characteristics in him. He is precious. My first close moment with him happened shortly after we got to the hotel our first day meeting them. We had played and laughed together, but this moment was the moment that holds our future in place. Nicholas fell and bumped his head and I ran to his aid like Mommy's do. Instinct #1, kiss the bo0-boo. #2, sing a song. I sang You are my Sunshine and his stiffened body molded to mine, his head went on my shoulder and we were connected....just like that. Now, every time a boo-boo happens or a "moment" when he is upset and nothing works, no matter where or what or who is around, it I sing You are my Sunshine, Nicholas melts. That isn't the best part if you can imagine. He now takes my face in his hands and starts the song himself. And I melt. This little guy has been locked inside himself waiting for someone to connect. They call what he speaks 'his own little world', but D and I understand him; comprehend him. He knows we do and we connect. Sure he's babbling in both English and Spanish and some gibberish to boot, but we speak the universal language of love and we've got this thang! I had D video it. You have to see it...

Dad's eye view

Today started out with great anticipation, we really didn't know what to expect. We were so excited just knowing that we were finally going to get the chance to meet our children. We prayed that all would go well.

We left our hotel following the caseworker to the their house, which is just a few blocks from the hotel. When we arrived, we made our way in to the kitchen and sat at the table with the foster parents. The girls were in the living room and seemed shy at first. As we began to speak with the girls and break the ice, I noticed that Nicholas was playing outside by himself. We had brought each of the children a small travel size Magna Doodle, so I decided to go outside and bring Nicholas his and build a rapport.

The first thing that I did as I observed Nicholas playing was pray. I asked God to heal Nicholas and allow him to open up to me and trust me. I began playing with him and he seemed to warm up to me quickly. I then held my hand out and he placed his hand in mine at first, then began to rub my arm. I thanked God for this wonderful opportunity that we have been given.

A few moments later, K came out with E and J and E allowed me to hold her. J was still a little shy, so I figured that I would just give her some time. After about an hour or so at the house, we decided to take the children to the park. We loaded the three of them up in their new car seats and off we went, two proud parents with 3 new little angels. We spent a short time with them at the park, then a fun trip to McDonald's. They all did great.

We decided to come back to the hotel and watch a movie or something and just spend some quality time and get some photos as well. It was recommended by the caseworker that K and I refer to one another as Mommy and Daddy and see how the children adapted. Soon E was calling me Daddy and I must tell you, there is something very different about a little girl calling you Daddy, than a boy calling you Dad. The word "Daddy" when spoken from the lips of a cute little angel like E makes your heart melt and instantly makes you see how it would be easy to give in at times. This is unfamiliar to me but I already love it.

N allowed me to hold him and play with him more and more as the day went on. J finally allowed me to carry her and play with her, she is a fearless little sweetie when it comes to climbing and jumping. We then decided to take a trip to Wal-Mart and they all sat in the buggies and did great. I know that things will be even easier when we get home and have B and R to help out.

It was then time to bring the children back to their home. E was very upset and said that she wanted to stay with us. When we arrived the foster families home, E didn't want to get out, J was ok gettng out, but N blocked both buckles of his car seat when I opened the side door and didn't want to get out. I finally got him to unbuckle.

As we went to the door the children began to cry and would not let go of us. We decided to go inside for a few minutes and help them calm down. N ran around the house crying and refused to let his foster mother give him a tablespoon of his medicine. I then picked N up and he immediately stopped crying, at which time the foster mother handed me the tablespoon and N allowed me to give it to him. We left the house heart broken as the children were taken to their rooms crying. It was very very difficult to leave them.

We are looking forward to more time with them tomorrow and plan on having them stay with us here at the hotel. I can't wait to hug them again!

Well, that is a synopsis of our first day, there will be much more to follow.

God Bless,
-D

Mom's Eye View!

Well, today ranks among the top 5 most wonderful days of my life! We met the kiddos and they warmed up to us like sunshine on the hood of car. We are officially Mommy and Daddy. We arrived at the foster home around 10 am PST and saw them for the first time. They are so much more beautiful than their pictures! The girls immediately shyed away and I began the silent prayers that would fill the entirety of my day. I brought along with me some travel magna doodles that my mom picked up on clearance at Target. Today's value: priceless. I started my dialouge with E, addressing her love for drawing and opened hers up. I said, "Hi E, I hear you like to draw." She said yes, I handed her the magna doodle and our relationship began. I scanned the room for other opportunities to interact and there was a baby doll lying on a table. I waited til the time was right to use that. Meanwhile, J nosily reached for E's new toy and I intervened with one for her. She smiled. D made his way to the backyard to meet N with his also. E showed me smiley faces, flowers and a sunshine she drew. She walked over to SW sitting beside me and I made my move, asking, "Is that your doll?" She shyly said yes and ran and hid it saying You can't see her. I whispered then, oh is she sleeping... she caught on quickly and whispered back that she was. Two minutes later invited me over to see her baby who had no name. We played with her a bit and then went to check out how D and N were hitting it off in the backyard. E asked me to pick her up, I did and J wanted up too. So with a kiddo on each hip I walked outside to what was the most amazing thing... N and D were playing. Not D playing and N watching but a full blown interaction. I reached out to him and he reached back. We rolled cars back and forth, he asked up as soon as E and J went down.

A last minute doctors appointment Foster Mom had caused us to be able to take them and leave for the whole day! And what a day it was. We went to a park and played on the jungle gym for awhile, then to McD's for french fries and E an icecream cone. We were warned that if N saw the playground it would all be over... we tested the theroy and it's busted. He not only saw it, but did not play on it, cry when we said we weren't staying to play and he buckled himself into his carseat to leave McD's without a fuss. The three waved and said "Bye Bye playground" at my prompt and there were no hurt feelings. We came back to the hotel for an action packed afternoon. We took lots of pictures but the cutest thing is E wanting to talk on the phone to everyone. I started calling D Dad and he called me Mom and they picked up quickly. First in name only I suppose but I started telling E the truth about everything. We are adopting you. We are going to leave and fly on a plane far away to Florida and Mama (FM) and Dada (FF) are not coming. We are Mommy and Daddy now... she said forever? I said FOREVER.

We brought them "home" tonight and they all freaked out. N covered his carseat buckles and did not want out, E cried from the moment I said shoes on and J wouldn't let me put her down. We left there teary eyed and upset but tomorrow we plan to keep them from here on...

I'm exhausted so more later. Pics are uploading now.... love to all

~K