Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!  I hope you have a blessed day filled with fun times and great memories!

I am busy preparing some rolls for our Thanksgiving feast (well...actually for our Thanksgiving dinner, a dinner at our church for families in the area and for our Advent dinner coming up on Sunday).  The ones for Sunday will visit the freezer once they cool.  I don't know if I have mentioned these garlic knots before or not, but if not, you are seriously missing out on some completely wonderful dinner rolls.  Generally I follow the recipe and make eight huge rolls, but for today's sake (needing so many rolls), I used the dough to make 16 rolls each batch.  My second batch is about the come out of the oven, and I have one more to go.  Even dividing the dough up into 16, the rolls are quite large.  I may just do that in the future instead of 8 giant rolls.  Oh, and those of you scared of using yeast, this is super friendly recipe.  I am sure you will be successful if you give it a whirl.

This afternoon we will head to my family's house to celebrate Thanksgiving together.  This is a holiday we rotate families each year.  It makes it far less stressful this way.  I am bringing pumpkin cheesecake (made it for the first time), garlic knots, and some smoked salmon our neighbor brought us bake from his trip to Alaska (a thank you for watching his house for him).  It should be a fun afternoon together.

I am thankful...

I am married to a wonderful man who adores me and loves our children.
We have been blessed with three delightful boys who fill my heart with joy.
We have family that lives nearby.
I have the ability to stay home and raise my children.
We were able to refinance our home because not only will it save us money each month, but it will allow us the option to purchase a larger house for our growing family.
We got in contact with James' and David's older siblings and started a relationship with their families.
And much, much more!

Possible Visits AGAIN

I received a call from my agency worker today.  Apparently David's county worker called to inform us that David's birth dad has been calling her repeatedly about having visits with David.  Why the county worker waited until now to pass on the information I don't know.  Anyway...we are being told to set up visits twice a month for one hour of supervised visitation with the baby.

Last time birth dad requested visits, we set it up quickly and everyone showed up except birth dad.  Then we never heard from him again and he didn't attend the last court hearing either. That visit was supposed to take place in early September.

So far to date birth dad has not seen David once except perhaps if he was present at the hospital when David was born.  David is now five months old and has just hit the separation anxiety really well.  In fact recently we had two family members baby-sit the boys for us (each at a different time), and David cried almost the whole time we were gone.  Then this weekend when I put David in the nursery, I was paged within the first twenty minutes of service (if not sooner) because David kept crying and would not calm down.  He is definitely expressing the fact that he is feeling attached and bonded, and as an adoptive mother, I am grateful for that...even if it is not always convenient and even if David is hitting the separation anxiety far earlier than James did (James was closer to nine months).

I will be interested to see 1) if birth dad will show up to the visits he is requesting 2) if David will cry the entire or almost the entire time and 3) how well birth dad handles a crying baby and whether he wants to schedule any more visits afterward.

The court date to terminate parental rights is set for January, so it is important we get the visits rolling if the birth dad is requesting them, so they cannot be used as a basis for appeal...not given your right to visit your child. 

I do have those pictures I printed for birth dad back for his September visit.  Now I just need to decide if I will provide additional ones or just leave it at that for now.  Also I should probably pick up a disposable camera in case birth dad does show up.  It would be nice to have something to offer both David and James as they get older if they are curious about what their birth dad looks like.

I was quite frustrated when I first got the voicemail from my agency worker, but now that I have talked with her and realize the visits will only be twice a week, I am handling it a lot better.  I did give my worker fair warning that David will most likely cry the entire time.

Progress Report

It has been a few days since I have last logged on.  I am going to put together a quick progress report of the newest developments in our home.  I still have Disneyland to eventually write about as well as some adoption related thoughts, but for now I will just give a general update on our little boys.

James

James has really stepped up as a big brother lately...giving up a toy he is playing with because Sam wants to use it, comforting both brothers when they are upset, giving hugs away freely, etc.  Last night James even read a couple board books to Sam based off how James remembers the stories...it was such a sweet, loving moment to witness.

Swim lessons are going well.  James has gained a lot of confidence in the pool and has started pushing off all on his own and gliding out to his teacher with his head under water.  He really enjoys his time at swim lessons.

Sam

Sam is readjusting to his bedtime routine after our trip to Disneyland.  He is finally starting to settle back in where he stays in his room after being put to bed the first time. 

Thankfully Sam's eye that was injured was only a minor scratch...not in a location that could affect vision.  We have ointment to apply three times a day to prevent infection.

Sam continues to develop his vocabulary and can communicate quite well.  He also understand a lot more than some people give him credit for.  He is an amazing little guy.

David

David has started babbling a lot lately making the "da", "ba" and "ga" type sounds.  It is really adorable to hear.

I have restarted rice cereal with David now that he is healthy again.  He is eating a little bit more of it than before, but he still does push out some of the food.

Another assessment was done, and the verdict is still to refer David out to the county for a more thorough assessment to make sure intervention is not necessary.  David's problem solving area went from poor to good; however, his fine motor skills went from let's watch to poor.  Granted since David is older now, his assessment was for an older age range going up to six months, and he is just five months old today (the day of the assessment), so it may not be a concern at all.  We are going to have the county do their assessment.  I was told they may decide there is no need for services, or it is possible they will want to do some intervention activities to try to increase his development.  Honestly I am not concerned about his development thus far...he seems like any other baby his age, but perhaps there is a reason to be.  We will see what happens.

No Break for our Household

So...everyone is finally recovered or mostly recovered from the flu...Daniel still has the runs, but they are not that bad anymore.  Yesterday the boys played a lot during the day because they have been feeling so much better.  They were having a pillow fight, and one of the pillows accidentally caused James to fall into the wall giving him a bloody nose.  The pillow fighting was brought to a close, and it took awhile the regroup again.

Later on in the evening, James kicked his shoe off his foot, and it hit Sam right in the face.  However, it did not just hit Sam's face and make him cry...it actually hit his eye just right causing his eyeball to bleed slightly.  I put a call into the doctor's office this morning, and I am waiting to hear back on whether I need to bring Sam in to have his eye looked at.  It is possible his eye got scratched, and since Sam is not old enough to tell us if he has blurry vision, the doctor may want him to come in.  Since Sam is not having any apparent issues with his eye (excessive watering, rubbing it a lot, excessive blinking), the nurse is going to check to see if the doctor just wants us to keep a watch on Sam's eye or if he wants us to bring Sam into the office.  The doctor is all booked up with appointments for the day, so he would have to overbook himself in order to see Sam.  It has been a few hours, and I still haven't heard anything back.

This morning I woke up with a head cold, and I am having some minor abdominal pain.  We just can't catch a break in this household.  Hopefully everything will be resolved before next week since Thanksgiving and Christmas tree hunting (day after Thanksgiving) are all fun events taking place next week.

Thank You

Since today is Veteran's Day, I want to send out a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has fought for our country, is currently fighting for our country, or who lost their life fighting for our freedom.  Words cannot express the gratitude you deserve.  May God bless you and all your loved ones!

Increasing Sick Ones

Yesterday my husband came home from work about a half hour earlier than normal. At first I thought it was because it was Friday, and he was eager to get home.  Unfortunately, I was wrong.  He wasn't feeling well and left a meeting at work early in order to come home. By all outward appearances, my husband has the flu.  He was quite miserable last night.

At one point, my husband decided to get up and watch t.v.  It was actually while I was up feeding David a bottle.  I then put David back in his crib and was going to try and go back to sleep when I heard "Mommy!" called out from our oldest down the hall.  I went in figuring I would need to fix his blankets or he needed to use the restroom, but unfortunately, I walked into a poor boy who had thrown up in his bed.  I took him, washed him off, changed his pajamas and then sent him to the couch to watch t.v. with Daddy while I took care of his bedding and his favorite stuffed teddy bear (all of which were immediately thrown into the washing machine).  James was a little upset about his bear, but I told him I would return it once it was clean.  We supplemented another stuffed animal and eventually got him settled back in bed.  One of the following times I got up with David, I made sure to return a nicely cleaned teddy bear to James' bed.

So far this morning my husband and David appear to be doing better.  My husband felt pretty good, but even though we just hung out in the living room together, he was quickly worn out.  David is drinking more of his bottles and seems a bit happier, but he does still have the runs that require changes of clothes.  James hasn't been hungry, and he has just wanted to snuggle and watch t.v., but at least he is drinking fluids.  Sam seems a little off this morning...much more clingy than usual, so I am waiting for him to end up with the runs or throwing up.  As for me, I am holding up okay.  I felt a little sick last night, but that could just from lack of sleep.  My throat is a little sore, but nothing overwhelming.

Hopefully our household can kick this quickly!  I was looking forward to the Veteran's Day parade on Monday.  I fear Disneyland contributed to everyone's illness.  I haven't even been able to post about the trip yet, but hopefully I will get a chance in the next couple days.

Cold Weather & Broken Heater

Our household heater stopped working correctly.  Basically it is still hot at the furnace, but it blows in tepid air through the vents.  This isn't too big of a deal considering we are thinking the heat exchange is broken, and that is still covered under warranty, so we wouldn't have to pay for parts, just for time.  However, since we are trying to get this refinance to go through, we need to hold off a little bit to get the heater worked on. 

Of course the weather has gotten much cooler to the point where it feels quite cold in the boys' rooms at night.  Granted we have exchanged James' and Sam's blankets for warmer, thicker ones, and we are using a sleep sack with David...not to mention warmer pajamas, but we are concerned it may still be a little too chilly for the young ones.  Because of this my husband ran out during his lunch break at work today to pick up room heaters for each of the boys' rooms.  Hopefully that will help us keep them warm while they sleep until the heater can be fixed.

In the meantime, I am trying to make sure to heat up the house by using the oven to bake.  Yesterday I made hamburger buns for our dinner, but because David wasn't feeling well, I wasn't able to use my usual recipe and had to use a 40 minute recipe (which I ended up not caring for).  I am getting ready now to embark on making some pumpkin muffins, homemade graham crackers and possibly even homemade granola bars...depending on how much time I get while the boys are sleeping and how long each recipe ends up taking.  I am thinking I will be lucky to get the muffins completed and will have to try the other recipes another time, but we will see.

David & "The Runs"

Poor baby David has a case of the runs.  He started off the morning by throwing up the contents of his bottle all over himself and me...a gross white mucus-filled mess.  He has slept most of the day away, waking for short periods...the first time to consume 1 oz. of formula, the next to consume 3 oz.  However, the worst part is the most foul smelling liquid poop I have had the pleasure to encounter (and keep in mind this is baby #3 in our home, so it is pretty brutal).  The first two diapers smelled horrible, but there was not much in the way of contents.  Immediately after I changed the second of those diapers, David smelled again.  I saw that some had leaked onto the carpet, so I moved him onto a blanket, wiped up the mess on the floor and then prepared to change the diaper...only to discover a sea of liquid poop spilling over the sides.  My goodness...it was a disaster!  Now David just drank another 3 oz. for me, but he smells horrid once again, so I believe I am about to re-encounter "the runs."  Poor baby...I may end up needing to take him into the doctor's office...we will see how David is faring come tomorrow.

No Guarantees

I received an email today about a family in our church that is suffering a horrible, tragic loss.  The mom and two daughters were in a car accident, and the mom did not survive the crash.  The oldest daughter has her arm in a cast and has a walking cast on her leg.  The other daughter is still in the hospital and having difficulty keeping food down.  I cannot help but wonder how the daughter will process this accident seeing as how they were able to walk away, but they lost their mother.

I am familiar with this family through our special needs ministry at church that I volunteer with.  The mom and dad loved each other very much...it was quite evident in the way they interacted with one another, and they had their hands full caring for their children.  This leaves the dad caring for their five children on his own, the two daughters and then three younger boys.  Two of those boys are autistic...one being higher functioning and one being lower functioning...neither one being verbal communicators though. They are going to struggle tremendously with this devastating loss.  Don't get me wrong...every family member will struggle tremendously, but for these two, they may not be able to express themselves well.  The youngest child is five and considered "typical".  He was still staying home with his mom during the day because he had refused to potty train yet.  The oldest daughter was also being home-schooled. 

Please cover this family in prayers.  I know they could use all the prayers you can muster on their behalf. 

I am so heartbroken for this family.  It reminds me there are no guarantees in life.  We need to strive to let those around us know we love them by telling them verbally and showing them through our actions.  Please take time to give your children or loved ones extra hugs and kisses today.  Tell them you love them.  Don't wait because life does not guarantee us a tomorrow.

Some Random Updates

We have been a little busy lately...just with our three little ones and then getting ready for our trip to see Mickey Mouse.  So this is just a quick update to let you know I am still around and in a little while I hope to be a bit more consistent in my efforts of posting on this blog.

**Sam has finally gotten down bedtime.  With this I mean the general rule is Sam stays put in his bed (or technically his bedroom) after the first time being put to bed instead of coming out multiple times.  This is great!  However, our trip will probably mess this all up for us, and we will start again at square one upon our return home.

**David was introduced to rice cereal recently.  We waited for a day my husband could be home because he wanted to witness the first feeding and also use the video camera to record the event.  David just cried and cried with his first couple bites of rice cereal.  It was the first time I have witnessed that...a baby crying at their rice cereal tasting.  He doesn't cry anymore, but he only eats a small portion...most of it is pushed back out again.  We have backed off rice cereal because David has a cold...AGAIN.

**James is loving his swim lessons!

Slightly Annoyed

I feel a little annoyed.  I don't know that I should necessarily be, but something this morning just rubbed me the wrong way.  Let me preface this by saying James dressed himself this morning...his clothes did not necessarily match, and he had his shirt on backwards; however, he was really proud of himself when he came into the living room to show me.  As I have mentioned in a previous post, I try to encourage James when he is proud of his accomplishments.  If I am in his room helping him get ready for the day, often I will give James choices of different clothes, so he can still pick out his clothing, match and feel successful in dressing himself.  On the times, like this morning, when James gets dressed all on his own and is so proud, I generally let him where whatever he has put on...unless there is a good reason he needs to change.

Well...we met up with some of our friends this morning at a children's gym for the open play time.  It is a really neat children's gym with two available rooms to have fun and play in.  Since I have three little ones (only two mobile ones), I am usually divided in my attention to each...focusing on the one most likely to get into trouble or the one most likely to escape.  It just so happened I was in the front room monitoring Sam while James continued playing with some friends in the back room.  Even though I know the other moms will look out for James, I will occasionally peek in the room to make sure James is doing well.  One of the times I glanced over, I saw one of the other moms assisting James in putting his shirt frontward instead of backward.  I saw her have him tuck his arms in, turn his shirt around and then put his arms back into the shirt. 

Now granted I was not standing right there and have no idea what words were said or what brought on the shirt reversal, but I have a good feeling it wasn't because James asked.  He was playing and having a blast...the last thing on his mind was whether he could see the picture on the front of his shirt.  In my mind, the other mom just couldn't stand the fact that James' shirt was on backwards and couldn't contain herself...she had to fix it.  This bothered me for a few reasons: 1) James probably felt self conscious having someone else fix his shirt. 2) Honestly, there was nothing wrong with how James was wearing his shirt and it wasn't harmful to him or anyone else. 3) I would never alter a child's clothing who is not my child unless they specifically asked me to. 

Perhaps I am taking the situation too seriously, but I didn't think the reaction from the other mom was warranted.  Of course I am not going to say anything or make a big deal about it, so instead I am choosing to vent here.

My Little Superheroes

Halloween is coming up, and we have already jumped into the holiday with a harvest party this past weekend.  Then we have a Halloween party with our moms group on Friday.  On top of all the parties, our family will need to make a trip to a pumpkin patch to get some pumpkins to carve with the boys.  As far as Halloween goes, our plan is to make homemade pizza, probably a salad or some other sides, a dessert and then trick-or-treat around the neighborhood for however long the boys can last.  We invited family members to join us for the evening.

Anyway...this year we have three adorable little superheroes for Halloween.  Our aunt gave us some costumes from her neighbor, and although they were a little big, I made some modifications, so the older boys could each wear one.  That was nice because we only had to purchase one costume at regular retail price.  James is Spiderman, Sam is the Hulk, and David is Superman.  They are the most handsome superheroes ever!  But, of course, I am quite biased. 

Amazingly all the boys handled being dressed in their costumes the whole party long this weekend.  Granted they didn't wear the masks, but we really didn't expect them to.

Night Time Wakings

In our home there are a few different reasons we are woken during the night.  The most common waking is due to David needing a bottle. I was told at David's four month appointment that he really should be sleeping through the night without needing a bottle, but David hasn't gotten that message.  I am up with David at least once but sometimes twice throughout the night.  Granted, there have been two times David did sleep the whole night through.  I am hoping once we start rice cereal (which we were given permission for), David will last longer between feedings, but we will see.

A second reason we are woken is for James to go potty.  I am glad he knows he has to use the restroom, and generally he does that all on his own, but he does like someone to tuck him back in, so there are not any "holes" in the blankets.  James wants his blanket to cover the entire sheet...if any sheet can be seen, it is a "hole" James wants fixed.  It may seem ridiculous but it can seriously stress out the little guy.

Then this weekend we discovered a new reason we are woken from restful sleep.  My husband and I went on a date Friday night...just dinner, getting my rings cleaned and dessert.  The boys were all in bed sleeping when we returned home.  Well...Sam happened to wake up, and he had to make sure we were back home, so he came out of his room and hunted us down.  It then took us about a half hour to get Sam to stay in his bed and go back to sleep.  I hope this isn't a continuing trend on date nights in which Sam is put to bed before our return...although it is kind of sweet all at the same time.

Sleeping Styles

Both my husband and James are the type of sleepers that pretty much stayed in the exact same position all night long, and they both also fall asleep fairly quickly.  The exception to falling asleep quickly are the days James takes a nap.  Right now he is in an in between stage where some days he desperately needs a nap and other days he does just fine without one.  However, the days James takes a nap, he then stays up at least a couple hours later than he normally would.  I mean...we still do the bedtime routine, and he is put in bed, but he will come out several times to use the restroom or just be talking all silly in his room.

Sam and I, on the other hand, take awhile to fall asleep and we toss and turn a good amount of the night.  I cannot stay in the same position all night, and I know Sam moves a lot because each time I enter his room to get David or put David back in bed, Sam has shifted around.  Also today Sam woke up from his nap and was snuggling me and fell back asleep, and he moved around like crazy trying to settle in.

Thankfully so far none of us snore!  : )

David's 4 Month Appt.

Today David had his four month check up.  Everything was pretty normal as far as pediatric well child visits go.  However, David did receive a breathing treatment to see if it cleared up his raspy breathing.  It made a significant improvement externally, but internally the improvement was only slight...which could just be from the steam clearing away mucus.  We are going to just watch and see...perhaps the raspy breathing will go away on its own, perhaps it will get worse or perhaps it will stay the same.  David also got two shots and one liquid vaccine. 

We did discuss the fact David should now be sleeping through the night without waking for a bottle feeding.  I was given some information to help progress towards that direction.

Height: 27 in. (99th percentile)
Weight: 17 lbs. 6 oz. (86th percentile)
Head Circumference: 43 cm. (87th percentile)

Our little boy is growing like a weed!

A Family Renunion of Sorts

This Saturday we were fortunate to meet and spend several hours with the two families that have James' and David's adopted brothers.  The other two families have been in relationship for a few years now, so they know each other quite well.  We were not only new to the group, but we are also the family with the most and youngest of all the children...as well as the youngest set of parents which the oldest set felt the need to point out.

The night before our meeting, we sat with James after Sam was in bed and talked to him about his brothers and how we would be seeing them at a park the next day.  We used the term "faraway brothers" to help with James' understanding.  He liked looking at their pictures of his brothers, and he wanted to see where they lived, so my husband pulled up a map and showed him.  We left plenty of time to ask questions, and mostly James wanted to know why his brothers lived faraway.  He said it wasn't nice that they lived far away.  James is excited that one of his brothers has a farm though.  Some day in the future, we will have to try to visit them at their home because James would really enjoy that.

At the beginning on Saturday, it was a bit awkward all the way around.  Here we were trying to converse with the families that have our sons' brothers and at the same time trying to pull James and Sam out of the shy shell they had hidden in.  I would say for the first half hour or so, James just did his own thing and didn't care to interact with any of the new people. 

Thankfully we had thought to bring along the boys' two Tonka dump trucks and one cement mixer because this is what bonded James and his older brothers for most of the day.  It was amazing to see them all interacting together.  James didn't want to leave when we finally said goodbye, but it was getting late, and nap time had passed a long time ago.

James has already been asking when he will see his brothers again.  He recounts part of their day together, and it is very sweet.

I am so happy we have been able to establish a relationship with these other families.  I know it will be beneficial to James and David as they get older.  We have essentially increased our extended family in a way only adoption can do.  Adoption is beautiful in so many ways, and this is just one of them.

Pregnant Belly

One of my friends is pregnant with her second child.  We saw her and her daughter today, and after the children had played for awhile, I went to change David's diaper while my friend watched over my other two (she had offered, so I took her up on it).  When I came back, I discovered James had asked her "What is in there?" pointing at her pregnant belly.  I am happy with how he phrased his question because it could have been quite awkward if he had asked the same thing differently.  She explained to him that a baby was in there...Anna's baby brother.  My friend even let James touch her belly.

I expected more questions to come up regarding babies in bellies, but for the most part James let it rest.  In the car he asked again about her belly, so I told him that a baby was in there...Anna's baby brother...babies grow in bellies.  Then James asked "they take the baby out of the belly?"  I told him, yes, when the baby is ready, they would take him out of the belly.  I didn't have to explain anything regarding James growing in a belly (or any of my kiddos for that matter) although I was prepared to answer those questions once James took notice and was asking about my friend's pregnant belly.

Overview of our Week

Life has kept me a little busy as you can tell by my lack of  blog postings.  I figured while I have a spare moment I will come on and give a quick update of our week thus far.

Saturday:
My husband did a mud run with some coworkers.  My parents, my brother and nephew joined us (my boys and me) for a local fire station community event.  There was a pancake breakfast for a nominal fee, and all the kids were free.  Then there were several activities (fire station tour, allowing kids to use the fire hose to put out fire on a wooden house (the flames were wooden and fell down when the hose blasted them), allowing the kids to use a fire extinguisher to put out fires, allowing the kids to sit on the fire trucks and fire boat, etc.)  We had a blast!

Sunday:
We mainly stayed at home and worked on stuff around the house to get ready for our home appraisal.

Monday:
We continued working on the house to get ready for the appraisal.  Monday night my husband and I attended foster care training on FASD.  The video that was shown was actually pretty decent and informative.  In the past some of the videos have been quite lame, for lack of a better word.

Tuesday:
The appraiser came out, so I took the boys to the kids gym to play with some friends.  They had a blast on the gymnastic equipment.  James also had his first group swim lesson that evening.  Only one girl was in his class with him although one more child could add in as well.  He is doing a great job putting his head in the water and getting accustomed to everything.

Wednesday:
Today was James' day to have lunch with Daddy, so we had a low-key morning at home.  James and Daddy went out to lunch.  Then in the evening I took James to see "Finding Nemo" in 3-D (we got free tickets via some Disney DVD's we had purchased).  This was James' 2nd time to see a movie in the theater.  Daddy took him to see Madagascar 2 a few months back.

Thursday:
Another low-key day at home because I needed to make some chocolate chip walnut cookies for my husband to take into work tomorrow...it is their last day with their current manager (whom everyone loves).  My husband asked, and his manager's favorite desserts were either chocolate chip walnut cookies or lemon bars, and I needed to make enough for 20+ people, so I went with the cookies...not to mention we had almost everything on hand to make those.  Today is the first day we purposefully allowed James to stay up and not take a nap.  Last night was so rough with getting him to finally go to sleep, so we decided perhaps he is ready.  Today is our trial run.  So far James is handling it really well.

2 Dental Cleanings

This morning James and Sam had an appointment to get their teeth cleaned.  Yesterday I got a call from the dental office saying they had checked our insurance and Sam wasn't listed on it.  They asked for my husband to contact the HR department to get it sorted out. Originally my husband was told it would be 3-6 months for Sam to be added to the dental benefits, so I went ahead and rescheduled Sam's dental appointment three months out.  Later that afternoon, my husband got a response saying the HR representative had contacted the dental insurance directly and had Sam added to our insurance, and he could see a dentist any day now.  After that I contacted the dental office again and rescheduled Sam for this morning.  What a fiasco!

So...anyway...this morning we walked over to the dental office, and the boys had fun playing while I signed some paperwork and gave our adoption order to the dental office, so Sam's information could be changed on his file.  James had some x-rays taken of his teeth, and both boys were allowed to pick out a sticker.  James choose a Cars 2 sticker while Sam went with a Disney princess (even though the lady had tried to hide the princess stickers under other boy type stickers).

James had his teeth cleaned first followed by Sam.  Both of them did an amazing job!  Then we waited for the dentist to come and inspect their mouths.  Both boys have nice, healthy gums and their teeth look well cared for.  It is not always easy to get the boys' teeth brushed, so it is nice that our efforts are noticed. 

I am proud of how well my two boys did at the dental office.  I was also happy that David stayed content in the Bjorn the whole dental visit.  After the dental visit, the boys and I walked to a nearby store, and I allowed them each to pick out a toy truck for doing such a wonderful job.  They also got their new toothbrushes, toothpaste and a balloon at the dental office, so they were happy boys.  I was a happy mom to hear their mouths looked good.  : )

Swim Lessons

Last night I took James to a free trial swim class at a nearby indoor swimming school.  This was a thirty minute one-on-one swim time to allow the child and parent to see if they want to invest in lessons.  James was so excited about his swim class, he insisted we left immediately after Daddy came home from work although we had time to spare.  It probably wasn't too bad getting there early because it allowed James a chance to check out the facility and watch other children having their swim lessons.  James kept asking "Is it my turn now?"

When it was James' swim time, I walked him into the pool area to meet his teacher.  She asked some questions about his swim/pool experience to get an idea of where to start.  Then I exited the pool area (parents are requested not to be in the pool area during swim time, but there are plenty of windows surrounding the pool area to observe the lessons from) and took up a seat with a good view.  It was fun to see the delightful smiles cross James' face during his swim time.  I could tell a couple times James was telling his teacher "I want to do that" and pointing at a child who was doing the backstroke on their own or diving off the edge of the pool.  You could see the teacher laugh and tell him something.  She did let him jump into the pool before his time was over, and James was super excited about that.  He talked about "making a big splash" afterward.

James had a blast and wanted to return for more swimming, so we went ahead and enrolled him in swim classes.  He will have a half hour time block once a week for eight weeks.  We signed him up for group lessons (3 students max) because it was more financially affordable.  Also we opted for once a week instead of twice a week because we feel that might be a little much...not necessarily for James (although that may be true to) but for us transporting him and giving up those evenings each week.  If for some reason, James is not retaining what he learns at swim class, we may have to consider increasing his lessons to twice a week, but we are hoping once a week will be plenty.

Sam's 18 Month Check Up

This morning I took Sam to his 18 month check up.  This is the first time Sam has gone to the doctor since his adoption was finalized, so we got to go to the pediatrician in town who our oldest son sees.  That was nice because the doctor's office is only a five minute drive from the house.  Unfortunately, the doctor's office was a little more backed up than usual, but Sam and I entertained ourselves looking at the pictures of animals on the wall and practicing their sounds.  The doctor was happy with how Sam is doing and didn't have any concerns.

Height: 2' 9.5" (73rd percentile)
Weight: 26 lbs. 14.3 oz. (77th percentile)
Head Circumference: 48 cm. (61st percentile)

Sam did get the last of his Hep A shots today, but we opted out of the flu shot since last time our whole family ended up with the flu afterward.  Poor Sam wasn't happy about his shot (who can blame him!?), and he called out for "Dada" when it was all over.  I imagine if the roles were reversed and Daddy was there helping hold him down, he probably would have called out for me instead.  I am just glad he only had to get one shot.

After Sam's appointment, we stopped at the bank to deposit some checks and get some grocery money for the month.  Then we made a quick stop at a store to get overnight diapers for both Sam and David.  I am hoping overnight diapers might help David sleep better because when he wakes up, his diaper is quite full, so I wonder if that is waking him up over actually being hungry.  Either way it is worth a try to see if it helps or not.  I also allowed Sam to pick out a treat at the store for doing so well at the doctor's office.  He wanted pretzels, so I let him choose, and he picked out a box of Annie's Organic snack mix, and I was fine with that.

3 Parties, 1 Day

Yesterday was a busy day which consisted of three parties.  The day started with a birthday party for twin boys who we have play dates with.  Technically we met this family through our old Bible study, and it just happened that our kids play pretty well together.  It was a home birthday party with a big monster truck bounce house set up in the backyard.  There was a breakfast spread to eat and lots of adults and small children to talk with or watch.  We got to see some people we hadn't seen in a long time, so that was really nice.

Then shortly after naps we headed over to our church for the 25th anniversary neighborhood block party.  Once again there were more bounce houses and inflatable slides for the little kids and several other options for older teens and adults as well as food vendors.  It was a HOT afternoon though, and the lines were pretty long, so we only lasted about an hour before our boys were ready to leave...which actually worked out well because we were able to grab some dinner before going to our aunt's house to celebrate Grandpa's birthday.

Thankfully the last party was a small family get together to celebrate Grandpa's birthday although technically my birthday and cousin Josh's birthday were also mentioned.  The boys were able to run around and have fun and then have some cake and ice cream before getting ready to head home to go to sleep.

It was a rather busy day, so today we are having some down-time at home to recoup. 

Surprise Mud Puddles

Yesterday morning James and Sam each pushed a dump truck along the path behind our house.  I had David in the Bjorn, and I also pulled along a wagon because I figured Sam, if no one else, would need a break eventually.  We happened to stumble upon the back path as a truck was spraying the sides of the road with water...my guess is as a fire precaution since there is a lot of tall, dry grass back there, and it is used by a utility company.  Because of this, though, all the potholes were filled with water, and the boys had a blast running, stomping, and pushing their dump trucks through the puddles...as well as splashing and sitting in the muddy water.  We hadn't expected there to be puddles considering it has been hot weather here, so it was a fun treat for the boys, and boy, did they have a blast!

Upon our return home, I turned on the front sprinklers for them to run through to try to wash some of the mud off of them.  This seemed to work fairly well, and once again they had a blast in the water.  It was a nice break from the expected trip down the back path this morning.

Boys will be Boys

Or should I say kids will be kids?  That is probably much more appropriate and true.  : )

This morning was a whirlwind for a little while.  I had to run to the restroom, so I set baby David up on our bed in the master bedroom, so I could monitor him and intervene if his brothers came in a little too wildly.  I was only gone a few minutes, but it was long enough to walk into the living room to the following scene...

James was standing halfway in/out of one of the living room windows.  He had pushed the screen forward and began to climb through to get outside.  His legs were standing on the bark outside while he torso and head were still in the living room.  Sam was sitting on the speaker right next to the window cheering James on.  James managed to squeeze the rest of the way out, and I tried to pop the screen back into place, but my husband will have to fix that when he gets home because I could only get so much to settle back into place.

Then a short while later David needed a bottle, so I put one together and sat in the rocking chair with him while James and Sam were playing nicely in the other room.  After the bottle I had to change David's diaper, and then I went to check on my two adventurers.  I thought they were in James' room, but it turned out they were playing in the master bedroom (a habit we are trying to break them of).  They were sitting on our bed playing with their toy farmhouse, and they appeared to be playing so nicely, so I was going to allow them to continue playing until I realized there was a puddle on the sheets in front of them.  They had found a container and dumped almost all of the liquid out.  The boys got sent to the living room, the farm got put in the bathtub to wash off later, and the sheets (my brand new sheets I was given for my birthday that I hope won't get stained due to this) got pulled off the bed.

Thankfully the boys were able to reign it in a little better after those two incidences...or perhaps I reigned it in a little better.  Either way the rest of the morning has been running fairly smoothly.

Our Adoption Support Group

It finally feels like our adoption support may be starting to come together.  I am talking about the one my husband and I started at our church.  The meeting in September included three interested families, and after talking together and setting up an email group for us, I have a feeling these attendees will return in the future.  They seem to desire people to connect with, share with and offer insight to.  It is good to see the group coming together.  It was great to hear other families' experiences and stories.

At first it seemed like our idea to start the group was a flop.  The first month two interested families came...one that does emergency foster care and one that is interested in adopting through foster care, but I forgot to get contact information, and we haven't seen any of those people since.  The second month no one came at all.  Now, though, we are seeing families who seem genuinely excited about the prospect of the group, and I think we will grow and learn together over the next several months.

We (my husband and I) felt called to start up an adoption support group at our church, and we stepped out in faith, and finally a group is being formed.  It is amazing what God will do when you listen to what He is asking you to do.  : )

2nd Night in a Row

Tonight was the second night in a row that Sam has stayed in bed once he was tucked in for the night without making a single attempt to come out and join us.  This is great to see especially so early in our transition to his toddler bed.  I am happy bedtime is going so well.  I only wish nap time was showing the same results.  Unless Sam happens to fall asleep on the way home from an activity, it takes anywhere from 15-45 minutes before he gives up on leaving his room and finally allows himself to pass out in his bed.  I am not surprised because this is the child who has always fought going to sleep, and it is hard when it is light out and he is eager to continue playing.  I know Sam will get nap times down soon as long as my husband and I stay consistent in putting him back to sleep when he comes out of his room.  I am proud of Sam's progress this far though.

Self Confidence

Self confidence is an important character trait, at least in my opinion.  It is wonderful to encourage your children especially when they are particularly proud of an accomplishment...whether you are thrilled with the end result or not.  Now I am not referring to the amazing artwork that adorns your hallway when a child gets carried away with some crayons...that is not the time to sing the child's highest praises.

James often will show off a new trick he can do, tell jokes to make us laugh, and impress with his ability to run fast, do somersaults and all sorts of other activities.  Although these tasks may not seem like a big deal, they are a big deal to James, so we try our best to praise him and cheer him on in these endeavors.

For awhile now James has been dressing himself.  He can put all of his clothes on and take them off...only occasionally needing help with a pesky button or because his arm gets stuck.  It used to be James would help choose his clothes from some selections I showed him and wear those items, but most of the time now, James runs into his room, closes the door and comes out dressed and so very proud of himself for doing it all on his own.  We hoot and holler and make a big deal out of these successes.  This is not the time to tell James "your clothes don't match" or "your shirt is on backwards."  Those details are insignificant in the overall accomplishment.  We want James to have self confidence...not to think badly about himself or discouraged.  He is still learning, and with time, he will get the hang of it all.  So...when I leave the house with a boy wearing plaid shorts and a striped shirt or a boy wearing his shorts and shirt backwards, I am not bothered by it.  James doesn't seem to mind at all, and he will proudly tell people he dressed himself (which sometimes they know without his announcement).  Much of time, though, James' clothes match, and his shirt is on the right way.  For me, this clothing mismatch is not worth a battle...especially when it might dampen James' self confidence.

Forced Transition

So...I mentioned how Sam crawled out of his crib twice on Saturday during nap.  Well...again on Sunday during nap, Sam attempted to climb out; however, we heard cries of "Owie! Owie!"  In the attempt to escape the confines of the crib, Sam had gotten one of his feet stuck, and the full weight of his body was being held by that foot as the rest of him dangled over the other side.  Thankfully Sam didn't seriously injure himself!  We pulled off the side of his crib right then and there making a toddler bed for him to take his nap in.  It took an hour and half of us putting Sam back into bed before he finally fell asleep.

Before bedtime, my husband installed the small wooden planks that came with the convertible crib across the open end making it more toddler bed like and allowing Sam to be able to rest against the side without falling out.  We were concerned that bedtime was going to be horrible, but Sam only had to put back to sleep one time before he passed out.

Yesterday I lucked out because we had a play date at a park with some friends, and Sam fell asleep on the drive home, so I was able to transfer him into his bed to finish his nap.  Last night we put Sam back to bed four or five times before he fell asleep.

Today was the first day I had to attempt nap time all on my own without the aid of a car trip to lull Sam off the sleep.  It took about twenty minutes of putting Sam back to bed before he gave up and allowed himself to fall asleep.  Towards the middle of the time, he would open the door, see me and then turn around and crawl back into his bed.  Then towards the end, he would crack his door open, see me and then close his door, say "night night" and I could hear his feet shuffle back towards his bed.  I waited awhile to look and see if he was actually sleeping.  He is asleep in bed, but he left his quilt over by his bedroom door.

Granted, this is not how we would have chosen to transition to a toddler bed...at the age of 18 months, but it could be going a lot worse.  I am glad it seems to be getting better, but I am sure worse days will crop up as well.

Proud of my Little Man

This weekend my husband took our 3.5 year old, James on an overnight backpacking trip.  They went with a coworker and his son.  James is such a trooper!  He hiked the whole 1.25 miles to the lake, and the next day, he hiked the 1.25 miles back without whining, asking to be picked up or being upset about it.  I am so proud of him!

They had a blast on their trip!  They were the only ones camping at this lake, and everything went well...tent set up, meal preparation, smores, playing in the water, and just having fun together.  James did have some trouble settling in to fall asleep, but part of that was brought on by the pitch black night, and James mentioned to my husband that there was a scary lady outside.  My husband took him over with a flashlight to show him no one was out there, and they looked at a tree that made a creepy shadow.  James still couldn't shake his fear, but eventually he fell asleep.  Poor little guy is getting to that impressionable age.  The crazy part is this was brought on by Curious George of all cartoons because there was an episode where George was scared of all the shadows in the dark, but once he was able to shine his flashlight on them and see they were normal objects, he wasn't scared anymore.  I know this because James told my husband that George saw monsters.

I am glad they were able to share this special moment together, but I also missed having them at home...especially when it was time to go to sleep.  Sam also missed them and kept asking for "Dada" and "James" both days.  My husband is a wonderful father, and I love he got to take James on this little trip.  James is an amazing boy and quite the excited outdoor enthusiast.  I sure do love my boys.

Crib Climber

Well...today marks the first time Sam has succeeded in climbing out of his crib.  I do not know if he has tried in the past or not, but today he actually did.  He should have been worn out...we ran to the bank, walked all over the farmer's market and played like crazy upon our return home.  The first time he climbed out of his crib, I put him back and told him it was nap time.  When he repeated that activity, I kept him out because I am afraid he will end up hurting himself.  I am thinking Sam will need a toddler bed much sooner than anticipated.  As we know, every child is different.  I am afraid Sam will not nap or sleep well at night once he transitions to a bigger bed, but we will see.

Court Trial Results

The court trial for David was yesterday.  Neither birth parent showed up, and the judge went with the advice of the county and by-passed the birth parents for services (meaning they cannot work a case plan in order to regain custody of David).  The court hearing to terminate parental rights is set for January 2013.  Since David will have been in our home six months on Christmas Eve, we will be able to set an adoption date as soon as the appeal period has passed.  All things considered we are not expecting an appeal with this case, but you never know.  It is possible our adoption will take place as early as March 2013.  It is crazy to think David's adoption will likely take place before he is even a year old.  Boy, were we relieved to hear the court's decision, and we look forward to making David a permanent, legal member of our family.

Update on Me

I am thrilled to say surgery is not on the immediate horizon for me regarding my abdominal pain.  Apparently after my appendectomy (removal of my appendix), adhesions (scar tissue) formed pockets in my pelvic region that collect fluid.  The pain seems to coincide with ovulation because that is when the body produces more fluid.  For now I am choosing to wait and see if/when the pain returns and how bad the pain is.  I may have to start using progesterone birth control to prevent my body from ovulating...shots every three months or an implant that lasts three years.  Personally I am not a fan of having a foreign object in my body for that length of time, so I will probably go for the shots if they become necessary.  I did talk to the doctor about that option because I used to get ocular migraines on birth control, so eventually I had to stop taking it altogether.  Supposedly that is not a concern with the progesterone only birth control.  Surgery would be a last resort if no other options allow me to be comfortable and to live life without severe pain.  I am in agreement with surgery being a last resort...especially at a 30-50% success rate...meaning these adhesions usually return...rarely does surgery actually eliminate the problem.

Part of me is hoping if the pain returns that it will be bearable and I won't have to try pumping my body with progesterone, but only time will tell.

Protective Older Brother

This morning we saw my husband off to work as we do most mornings.  James and Sam raced out of the garage and to the driveway to wave goodbye and chase the car as Daddy drove off to work.  I always go out with the boys and make sure they are out of the way, so my husband doesn't have to worry about accidentally hitting one of our little ones.  Today James was taking Sam by the arm and carefully moving him to the other side of the driveway telling him they had to be careful so they didn't get hit by the car.  James then proceeded to hold Sam back, so he couldn't slip away and run behind the car anyway.  It was so sweet to see James taking such a protective stance for his younger brother.

Although James and Sam have their share of conflicts, you can tell James really does care for Sam and wants to protect him.  That, in my opinion, is a wonderful quality to have in a brother.  Hopefully it lasts into the future.

Sibling Connections

Since James' adoption we have been trying to get contact information for his two older brothers (who were adopted...each by a separate family...who we knew had contact with each other).  It wasn't until Sam's adoption worker got the ball rolling that anything became of it though.  I am so grateful to her for that!

Just within the past couple days we have began an email communication with the two families.  Seeing the pictures of James' and Daniel's siblings is amazing!  There is such a resemblance between them.  Each of the families is spread out a little but definitely close enough to set up visits when we feel ready for that.  They already meet together and consider one another extended family.  All of their boys call each other brother.  They did say it was up to us how soon we wanted to meet in person and what we wanted our boys referred to by.

Anyway...this is all so very new, but I feel like it is a wonderful connection that will allow James and Daniel to know their older brothers and develop a relationship with them.  We will have to see how it all works out.

Camping Photos

James loved looking at the maps and pointing out where we were going and how to get there.  It was so cute to watch him!

James and Sam peering through the rails together on one of our hikes.

Beautiful view of some of the mountains

Another scenery view of the river and mountains

Our little explorers having fun in the river near our campground

Sam especially loved chasing the birds and squirrels around camp. This bird happened to snatch a piece of honey wheat pretzel Sam had dropped on the ground.

Having fun driving their dump trucks through the water

Grandma taking a walk with Sam

Daddy, Sam (he is in the backpack carrier), and James on the walk back from our hike

When I get some time to actually sit down and think, I will tell you more about our camping trip.  For now, though, these photos will have to do.  I couldn't share any of David because all his pictures show his face.

30 Years Ago (and one day)

Yesterday was my birthday, so thirty years ago and one day I was born, a healthy eight pound baby girl.  We were still camping on my birthday (I will post more about camping later), so we (my husband, our three boys, my mom and of course me) went out to eat at a fancy hotel at the national park we were staying for breakfast on my birthday.  It was a nice way to start my birthday, and they even brought out a decorated plate saying "Happy Birthday" on it with a cupcake which we split between us all.  The drive home wasn't the most fun because Sam and David had a hard time being cooped in the car for so long, and I cannot blame them in the least...not to mention James needed us to stop multiple times for a restroom break, and the younger boys got anxious whenever the car stopped.  One of our neighbors invited us over to roast marshmallows last night, so we joined them for a little while since it was nice to be invited, and we wanted to get to know them better, but because it was late (well...right at the boys bedtime), we couldn't last very long, but I imagine they appreciated us stopping by.  We took over our extra chocolate and graham crackers from camping to share.  It was nice to sleep in my own bed again.

Today I am making a birthday cake because I told James we would have one today.  It is a devil food cake (from scratch), and it will have a chocolate pudding (from scratch) filling with a from scratch chocolate frosting.  I plan on letting James and Sam both put some sprinkles on top.  I will try to post a picture of the completed cake later.

I know a lot of people dread their 30th birthdays, but to me, it was just another day...although special since family wished me a happy birthday and we had a fancy breakfast together.  I don't feel especially old or anything like that.  So far my birthdays haven't really affected me in that manner, so I am grateful for that.  I look at my life right now, and although it can be tough at times with our three little ones, I wouldn't change anything.  I am happy and content with where I am in life...married to a wonderful man and mother to the most adorable and loving boys.  I sure am blessed!

First Visit Attempt

Today was supposed to be a visit with birth dad.  Thankfully my husband had the day off work, so I left the older two boys at home with him and just took David with me to drive to the visit.  We arrived about fifteen minutes early, and my agency worker was already there.  She went inside to see if the birth dad was there, but he hadn't arrived yet.  She got a call from a friend of birth dad saying he was on his way.  When my worker asked more questions she was told he was currently in the shower.  My worker asked to have the birth dad call her when he was done.  He called, and it was decided there was no way he could make it to the visit in a reasonable amount of time, so I was free to head home.  We will try again next week.

Little Trash Can Helper

Sam is fascinated with trash cans.  He will point them out wherever we go, he loves to watch the garbage truck collect trash, and he loves putting things into the trash cans.  When we are out at a park and Sam sees some trash on the ground, he picks it up and immediately starts looking for a trash can to put it in.  At home Sam likes to help throw away his diapers and anything else that can go in the garbage.  He especially likes helping Daddy collect all the trash bags from the restrooms and dump them into the big trash bin to take out to the curb for garbage collection day. 

The other day Sam found a small plastic bag on the floor and brought it to me saying "trash can".  I happened to be feeding David a bottle at that moment, so I told him we would put it in the trash after David was done with his bottle.  Next thing I know Sam disappears for a little while to return with the full small bathroom trash bag.  I end up helping him throw that away, and later when I return to my bathroom, I see he has stuffed the plastic bag he found inside the bathroom trash can.  What a good little helper!  Too cute!

Chopped Liver

Sometimes I feel like my older boys are considered chopped liver to other people around us.  Now granted, if you were to ask these people if they felt that way, they would assure you up and down that depiction is inaccurate; however, actions speak louder than words.  Just be grateful James and Sam are not old enough (although they may be getting there) to understand the whole measure of affection and love poured out on baby David and how little they are getting in terms of attention.  I am well aware there are times when David requires more assistance (feeding a bottle, changing a diaper, etc.), and sure, most people love to hold an adorable little baby who smiles, coos, giggles and snuggles you.  There is nothing wrong with that.  I am not asking you to stop loving on David...of course not!  I am asking for you to create more of a balance between the affection you pour out so willing to baby David and the attention you begrudgingly (or so it seems to me) give to my sweet older boys.

It is okay to put the baby down and spend some time with the older boys.  David enjoys watching his brothers play from the bouncer or swing, and he also enjoys spending time on his tummy watching the world and rolling over.  If nothing else, hold David while interacting with the older boys...take the baby outside to watch James and Sam dig in the dirt.  Show them you do care about them...I know you do, but I also know sometimes you get too wrapped up in the newness of a precious baby and you forget about the two whom you have already formed bonds with.  If David falls asleep on you, hold him for awhile and then set him down, so you can love on James and Sam.  They also desire your attention.  They ask for you to play with them.  They ask you to give the baby to Mommy or to put him down and play.  They ask because they care and they want to spend time with you. 

If you always turn them down, eventually they will stop asking, and there will come a time you truly regret that.  I honestly believe so.

Living Room Forts

This morning after playing outside for awhile, the boys and I came in and built a couple forts in the living room.  One is an extremely basic drape sheets over the train table and call it a fort.  The other one was given to us by a neighbor with older kids, and it is a magnetic fort...kind of hard to explain...basically there are foam poles with magnetic ends that stick to this directional balls and bases to form a maze like fort with some clips to attach colored sheets as walls or pass-throughs.  The boys had a blast making and destroying the magnetic fort a few times.  We also read some stories together under the train table fort.  A rewarding bit of time with my two older boys (David was napping during most of this fun).

Cheddar Bacon Scones

My husband had to do another early morning firewall change this weekend.  Poor guy had to be at his office at 4 a.m.  He asked me to make something for him to take in and share...well, technically it was more like "Would you like to send something in to work with me?" which can be translated into "I really want you to make something for me to take in."  One of his coworkers had mentioned bringing in donuts (although I don't know any donut place open that early personally), so I decided to go with a savory item instead, so it wasn't just a bunch of sweets.

I found these Cheddar Bacon Scones on Annies Eats and thought they looked and sounded tasty, so I gave them a try.  This was my first time ever making scones in general, but the recipe was a breeze to follow.  I used nitrate-free bacon and fresh green onions in my scones.  The scones were delicious!  I am not saying they are healthy considering you crumble ten pieces of bacon into the batch, and you get eight scones out of the recipe...putting the count of bacon at over 1 piece per scone, but they tasted wonderful.  Next time I will cook the bacon a little longer making it more crispy because it looses a lot of that in the scone.  I am also thinking this would make a terrific addition to a nice corn chowder or other similar soups during the summer.

Now that I have successfully made these savory scones, I am excited to start testing out some sweet scone recipes...especially since I have a read a tip that scones can be frozen before they are baked, and you pull them out the morning of and bake them a few additional minutes.  That sounds convenient, but it does take some prep work, so we will see if I get that ambitious. 

Selective Coloring

Yesterday I went to my doctor appointment and then did some grocery shopping without kids in tow while my husband stayed home with the boys.  Both James and Sam play nicely in James' room together quite often.  Well...my husband had run to the restroom and returned to the kitchen to begin dinner prep, and the boys were playing in James' room, so he didn't think anything of it.  It turns out they had grabbed a couple markers out of the junk drawer (I use them to mark items on our calendar...just regular Crayola washable markers) and had colored on items.  We lucked out that the entire walls were not decorated...instead they were very selective in their coloring.  They colored on their wooden play kitchen, their dresser, and the door to their bedroom.  James came out and said to my husband "Come see my drawing.", so in a way he actually tattled on himself.  He was proud that he drew on the door "like Daddy" (because my husband marks James's height on the inside of the door).  My husband handled the situation well...having them help wash off all the marker and then have a time out.  Later on we found a little marker on our bedroom door and some writing on the top of our toilet seat.  Like I said, we are extremely lucky they didn't mark up everything in sight.  Everywhere they colored was easy to wash, so that was a nice relief.

As we were getting ready for bed, we noticed there was also marker on the sliding glass door, but it is on the outside.  It must have happened under my watch when I was letting the boys color outside earlier in the day.  So both my husband and I were fooled by selective coloring.

Another Dr. Visit

I have a doctor appointment scheduled for myself this afternoon.  I am having some intense abdominal pain, and my doctor would like me to come in to be seen.  I had this problem a few months ago (maybe 3 or 4), but this time it is different as the pain isn't so centrally located.  Last time I had a CT scan and an ultrasound performed, and I have an MRI scheduled for next week.  I almost didn't schedule the MRI since I have been doing so well without any issues for awhile.  It took me a little while to get the appointment scheduled because baby David joined our family and life has been pretty busy.  I called a couple weeks ago and finally set up the MRI.  Now I am glad I did because hopefully it will shed some light on what is happening with my body.

I don't really know what to think...all I know is this is not pleasant, and I will be happy when it is resolved.  I am also hoping whatever is going on doesn't require any surgery as I already did that recently for my appendix, and I would rather not repeat the process.

David's First Camping Trip

This weekend we went on an overnight camping trip.  We couldn't have asked for better weather, and we had a wonderful time.  We were concerned that David's nighttime bottle feedings would wake up the older two, but that wasn't an issue at all.  We used our larger tent which allowed us to set up a play pen for David to sleep in.  The rest of the family slept on sleeping pads on the ground like we normally would when we go camping.  The older boys had a tough time initially falling to sleep because they were so excited to be in the tent and wired off their smores.  : )  My husband did have to get up and put the rain fly on the tent in the early, early morning hours because it was sprinkling, and we were worried about the possibility of good rainfall getting us all wet.  We didn't need to worry about that either, but if he hadn't gotten up and put the rain fly on, it probably would have poured.  The bug shelter was most helpful during our lunch before packing up camp because all the bees came to investigate.

Some lessons learned:

1) Toddlers and fires are unpredictable, and you must be right on them at all times.  I hadn't thought it through, so I didn't have David in the Bjorn but was instead carrying him around while the fire was prepared....meaning I only had one available arm.  When my husband made our little fire (only big enough to roast some marshmallows before bed), the older boys sat in their camping chairs, but then they started moving around, and we tag teamed them.  It was getting dark, and Sam tripped over a stump and almost landed in the fire pit.  Thankfully his nose just scraped against a rock, and that was the worst damage done.  That could have been a horribly terrifying situation.

2) Lighters and BBQs are not friends.  In the morning we had a simple breakfast of bagels and cream cheese.  My husband heats the bagels up on the bbq to make them more enjoyable.  He accidentally left the lighter underneath the bbq while we were eating, and we got a small show of a fireball during our meal.  Thankfully no one was hurt and no serious damage was done...we are just minus one lighter which is easily replaced.

I thought there was more, but right now my brain is not pulling any other lessons out.  If I remember something, I will add it to this post.

Another Court Update

A trial has been set for Sept. because birth dad wants services to be offered, and the court is going with the county's recommendation not to offer services.  With Sam's case, the same thing had happened, and the trial did not change the ruling not to offer services.  We are hoping the same will prove true in David's case.

The more worrisome issue is the courts want the department to assess placing the brothers together, David and Luke.  We are concerned they will decide to pull David out of our home and place him in a home with Luke in order to keep them together because we are unable to take Luke into our home...at this point in time it would be too much.  We already have three little ones who require plenty of attention, and adding a fourth that may have some behavioral issues is not going to be fair to any of the children. 

However, we do have a full sibling in our home, and we are willing to maintain contact with Luke, so hopefully that will sway the decision.  After all Luke and David have never met each other and have no relationship whatsoever; whereas James and David have developed an attachment (at least James to David).  James will randomly tell me throughout the day either "I like him." or "I love him." as he points to baby David. James is so loving with David and will purposefully lay next to him and admire him.  It is so sweet.

I would hate to see what would happen to our family if David is removed.  Both James and Sam are attached to the little guy as are my husband and me, of course.  I will tell you one thing with absolute confidence.  If the county removes David from our home, we are completely done with the world of foster adoption.  We will close up our home and not take another child regardless if siblings come into care or not.  It will be too devastating of a loss.  We already love David as our own and losing him will be unbearable.

If you are the praying type, please pray for our family as we await this decision.

David's 2 Month Check Up

David had his two month check up this morning.  I dropped James and Sam off at a friend's house while I took David to his appointment.  This worked out perfectly as the boys had a blast, and the mom said she would be willing to watch them anytime because they were so good and did such a wonderful job playing together.  I am always happy to hear good recounts from those who watch my little ones.

Here are the measurements from David's appointment:

Weight: 13 lbs. 9 oz. (79th percentile)
Height: 23.5 in. (73rd percentile)
Head: 39.75 cm. (70th percentile)

If you compare Sam's two month appointment to David's, you will see that David is aiming to be the biggest child of all three.  However, things may change over time.  It would be funny to have the youngest be the tallest, and it is not unheard of...after all my younger brother is taller my brother and me.

David's belly button is still oozing, so I asked the doctor about that.  Technically it should not be oozing still at this stage of the game.  There is a little bit of tissue left from the umbilical cord, and that is causing the oozing, so the doctor put some ointment on it to dry it all up.  The ointment will stain David's belly button skin black for a couple weeks.  That was good information because I would be pretty concerned otherwise.

Also I asked about David's cough and wheezing.  The doctor listened to his lungs and everything sounded good.  He agreed David must still be recovering from his cold.  If the coughing spells get worse or David develops a fever, the doctor wants me to bring him back in.  Otherwise it just needs to run its course.

David got his liquid vaccination which he was not fond of drinking.  Then the poor baby got five shots...usually it would have been three (there is a combo one that does three in one, but they are out of that at the moment).  He handled himself like a champ...screamed bloody murder during the shots and calmed down fairly quickly afterward.

The doctor is happy with David's growth charts and his overall health.  : )

Offering Comfort

The other morning Sam was upset because he had fallen down while he and James were playing.  James walked over to Sam, rubbed his back and said "It's okay.  Daddy will be home in a little bit.  You will be so happy!"  This was a totally unprompted and sweet interaction between them.  I had to email my husband at work about the encounter because I knew it would make him feel loved.

We have been requiring James to say sorry and do something nice for his brother after his time outs (the ones related to being mean to his brother), but we have also been encouraging James to help his brother feel better when he is sad, and apparently James has grasped that because he so lovingly reached out to offer his brother comfort...and it touched my heart.

Update on David's Court

Well...court was continued once again last week, but only until this week, so that is not too bad.  The reason behind this is so both David and his two year old brother, Luke, can have their cases combined since they are only in care a month apart from each other, and the plan for both is not to offer services and push for adoption.  My worker thinks birth dad will contest the decision not to offer services and will therefore push for a trial date which will just add more time to the process.

Birth dad has also recently (as in last week) requested visits with David.  My worker thinks he just got the results back from the paternity test, and since he is the father, he would like to start his visits.  The county worker is supposed to give birth dad the phone number for my agency worker, so visits can be set up.  So far I have informed my worker (this was all told to me on Friday), and so far we haven't heard from the birth dad, but I imagine we might by the end of the week.  The visits will be twice a week for an hour each visit, but birth dad will have to call and confirm otherwise I do not need to show up with the baby.

On top of that, sibling visits between the two year old, Luke, and David will need to be started as well.  I am not sure how often those will take place, but it will be interesting since David is 2 months old, and Luke is 2 years old.  Oh well!  We have done it before with Sam, so at least I have an idea of what to expect.

The good news is...we heard that Luke is doing extremely well in the family he was placed with.  He is the youngest one in the home, and the remaining kids are much older.  The family feels they would be willing to adopt if his case goes to adoption.  Both my husband and I were happy to hear this news, and it makes us feel much better about our decision because even to this day I don't think our home would be a good place for Luke because of all our young ones.

Cantaloupe & Blue Corn

Today at lunch I served peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with cantaloupe, and James also got the last half ear of corn left over from last night's dinner.  Sam went to town on the cantaloupe!  He kept asking for more, and once James saw Sam eating away at his third piece of cantaloupe, James decided he must be missing out on something incredibly tasty, so James gobbled up his piece and requested a second.  I ended up cutting Sam off at five pieces of cantaloupe because that is a lot of melon (between the two boys, they almost consumed an entire half of a cantaloupe), and I was a little concerned about how his stomach might handle that much melon.  I am glad they liked the cantaloupe so much.  I will have to make sure to buy it more often for them.  I cannot eat it myself...my throat gets all itchy and dry feeling after just a bite or two, but I don't mind getting it for my family to enjoy...especially if they enjoy it that much.

When James cleared his plate, I noticed his corn on the cob (which he ate very well) was blue, and I was a bit perplexed until I remembered James and Sam colored earlier in the morning with some markers.  James failed to just color paper and painted himself a little blue, so his blue hand had transferred to his corn.  James thought that was pretty cool, and who can blame him.  : )

Rolling Over

Yesterday afternoon, during tummy time, David rolled from his stomach to his back, not once but twice.  Granted, rolling over was a lot of work for the little guy.  First David leaned his upper body to the side, and with some extra effort, he was able to get his legs to push himself the rest of the way over.  I say extra effort because the legs did not instantaneously push David's body...instead it took David a little time to get his lower body to roll.  The second time was a little quicker than the first.  It was adorable to watch!  I sat on the sidelines cheering David on as did James who had just woken up from his nap.

David is rolling over a little earlier than expected.  Sam was the same way as a baby...in fact he first rolled from his tummy to back at almost the exact same age as David did.  What little troopers!

SOLD!

Today is a sad day in our household.  My husband sold his Jeep, and a part of him fears he also sold his hopes and dreams in regards to experiences he wanted to have with his sons.  This is not the first recreational vehicle my husband has had to sell, but it hits a little harder this time because there is not an immediate plan to buy a new fun vehicle.  Realistically the Jeep is not practical for our family now that we have grown, but I did try to convince my husband to hold onto it longer...just like I had the Bronco he sold years ago. However, his mind was made up because the money will help allow us to hopefully pay down enough of our house payment enabling us to refinance at a much lower interest rate.  The plan is to refinance and in about a year buy a larger home and use our current house as a rental.  We will see how those plans go.

James was sad about my husband selling the Jeep, and I think that broke my husband's heart even more.  My husband and James have special memories together in that Jeep.  That is always the hard part...letting go of something that holds such loving, special times.  I really feel bad for my husband this time around...you can just tell he is so incredibly bummed.  He reassures himself by saying he is doing it to make things better for our family, and I am sure that helps him, but not enough to cover the immediate pain of losing the Jeep.

After all of this sacrifice, I hope we can manage to refinance without any major hindrances.  If not, my husband will be crushed all the more for the loss of our fun Jeep.

Menu Plans

I used to do a decent job creating a weekly dinner menu which helped with planning and prepping said dinners.  Lately our meals have been more fly by the seat of your pants...mostly meaning I forgot to take something out or I didn't put any advance thought into our meals.  This makes life more crazy, so I am gearing up to restart weekly menus beginning today.  I checked the weather, and it will be HOT, HOT, HOT all week, so I used that to create a grilling dinner menu plan for the week.

Here is our plan for this week covering tonight through Friday:

Monday

Hamburgers
Corn on the Cob


**I already made the from scratch hamburger buns, so they could bake while it is cooler.  The corn on the cob was freshly purchased from the farmer's market this weekend.  I will add some fruit to our meal as well.

Tuesday

Crock Pot Roast (Mexican flavored)
Refried beans
Roasted Corn


**I will need to soak the dry pintos tonight, so I can cook them tomorrow morning, so we just have to heat up and smash them up.  Also I need to pull out the frozen roast we have.  Fruit or salad will be added to this meal.

Wednesday

Grilled Salmon
Grilled Zucchini
Rice

**Our neighbor went to Alaska, and he brought us back some fresh line caught salmon fillets, so my husband plans to grill them on a cedar plank.  The zucchini is from the farmer's market, and the rice is the microwaveable brown rice from Trader Joe's.

Thursday

Asian Chicken
Asian Rice

**This is our last meal my MIL prepared for us when baby David came into our house.  It is a good cook on the grill meal.

Friday

Grilled Pizzas

**Since it has been a few weeks since we have had pizza, and James loves to help prepare pizza, it will be a fun Friday night dinner.  I will make our pizza dough, and we will have to figure out what toppings we would like on top.

Now moving forward, I need to continue to plan our meals in advance to make the evenings run smoother.  It also helps with grocery shopping too.

Trying to Improve

After taking assessment of myself as a wife, a mother, and a Christian, I see huge areas of potential improvement.  My goal in life is not to be average, mediocre or just barely skating by.  I desire to have a strong marital relationship rooted in Jesus, children who grow up knowing the unconditional love of a mom which then directs their attention to Jesus, and a more intimate and personal relationship with Jesus myself.  Boy, do I have a lot of growing to do!  Here are just a few changes I plan on implementing in these life categories.

My Marriage
**Prepare little notes to include in husband's lunch more often (this has pretty much blown by the wayside with the arrival of David)
**Devote more time to cleaning the house, when possible, because a clean kitchen makes for a happy husband (aka...better time management)
**Initiate more loving touch such as shoulder rubs while my husband eats breakfast or mini back rubs while we watch television together
**Shower my husband with praise and words of encouragement
**Work hard at not letting a stressed husband get me all out of sorts, but instead take those moments and try to create a more relaxed state
**Pray for my husband more

My Children
**Get down and play more often...other things can wait until later...my kids will grow up too fast and I will have missed out on amazing activities and memories
**Be more consistent
**Shower my boys with praise and words of encouragement
**Practice using a lower voice when things get escalated
**Talk about God more
**Find ways to have individual time with each child
**Get James in the kitchen helping more frequently...he loves being included, and it would give him some individual attention while giving my husband time with just two
**Feed David his bottles without multitasking, when possible
**Pray for and with my children more

My Faith
**Make time for personal devotions and be consistent
**Read the Bible more
**Pray more...pray throughout the day
**Sing praise and worship throughout the week
**Try harder to give to those in need, when it is possible...for example people holding signs outside of stores, I can buy a bag of groceries for...practice generosity
**Act on what I know to be right