Stepping on Toes

I am a little frustrated right now.  I don't know if it is because I am not getting as much sleep as before although I feel fairly rested in that regard; however, I do know when I have less sleep I can take things more sensitively.

By posting this I will most likely be stepping on toes whether it is intentional or not.  Part of me feels like my toes have already been stepped on, so I would just be returning the action...not that that would make it right.  However, venting a little will help me feel better.

1) Please let me be the parent of my child.  I am the mom; my husband is the dad.  We are in charge of how our family is run as well as correcting behaviors that we feel are inappropriate.  If either my husband or myself are present, it is our job to be the parent, so please back off and let us do our job.

2) Please speak to my child in a kind way.  Do not raise your voice and speak harshly with them.  I cringe when I hear my child spoken to in a overbearing manner.  There may be a circumstance where danger is imminent, and one must raise their voice to get a child to stop (running into the street, for example); however, if it is a simple, small infraction, please be more gentle.  My child is precious to me, and I hurt for him when I hear him talked to in a way that might make him feel belittled.

3) Please make us feel like our family is important to you.  My husband and I may not always want to attend family activities, but we do because we love our extended family and we want you to know you are special and you matter to us.  Please show us the same respect and make a big deal out of moments in our lives that are a big deal to us.

4) Please don't boast or gloat when you can do something better than us in the category of parenthood.  You have been here before...we are still learning.  Our children are the world to us and we are trying our best to raise them into wonderful young men.  If we ask for advice, feel free to offer some, but there is no need to give your opinion about every single little matter.  Everyone parents differently and that is okay as long as the children are being cared for and their needs are being met.

5) Don't be surprised if I say something that comes across harshly when it involves you being critical of my parenting style or my children.  I can only keep my mouth closed so much.  It is easier to do when it is about me (although it still is hurtful); however, the Mama Bear comes out when I feel my children are not being treated/spoken to respectfully.

Anyway...besides these little issues that relate to parenting and my children, life in our home is amazing right now.  All three of my boys are doing wonderfully and adjusting to each other.  Next week will be the true challenge when my husband returns to work, and I am completely on my own; however, I have confidence that God will give me the strength to be a great mom to our precious boys.

Family Nap

Apparently we were all tired yesterday.  While my husband put Sam and James down for their naps, I snuggled with David on the couch.  My husband didn't end up returning from James' room, so I knew he had fallen asleep while snuggling James which happens on occasion.  I was starting to fall asleep myself on the couch with David who was sleeping on me.  My husband came out, and I offered to allow him to snuggle David while I worked on the kitchen, but he ended up going to bed instead afraid he would fall asleep and drop the baby.  I ended up staying on the couch taking a snooze with baby David.  The nap was wonderful, and even though I had to take care of kitchen duties at a later time, the rest was well needed all the way around.

The funny part is...I got less sleep last night, and I feel just fine at the moment.  James and Sam are fast asleep, and I think David and my husband are asleep on the couch.  I have taken care of washing bottles and getting the kitchen back in order. 

We are expecting a round of company...two different sets of visitors to meet baby David this afternoon.  I guess I better get back to straightening up and doing some laundry, so there is less to do later.

Best Anniversary Gift

Today my husband and I have been married for seven years.  We went out for dinner Friday night to celebrate.  This morning we drove over to the county office and picked up baby David, James' sibling.  He is such a tiny little thing!  To most people he may seem like a bigger baby weighing in at 8 lbs. at 9 days old, but to us, he is a small baby.  Our point of reference are James who was 2.5 months old weighing 12 lbs. and Sam who was 1.5 months weighing 12 lbs. when they came into our home.  Baby David resembles James so much...they share a lot of common features...it is so neat to see that! 

David is a very calm baby so far...granted it is only his first day in our home; however, today has gone about as smoothly as we could have hoped for.  David slept a lot waking up to eat about every three hours.  He did have some portions of time where he was awake and looking around, but for the most part, David was content to snuggle and sleep.

James absolutely adores baby David!  He is so sweet and gentle with David, and it is so precious to witness.  James is always checking to see where David is, gently touching David's little feet or hands, gently rubbing his cheek against the top of David's head, or trying to share some of his favorite cars with David.  James has also been eager to help hold David.  He is an amazing big brother!

Sam, on the other hand, hasn't quite figured out the new baby brother.  He does point at David and say "baby" every once in awhile or sometimes Sam will get close and touch baby David.  For the most part, Sam doesn't seem overly concerned, but Sam is quite fascinated with David at the same time.  If David starts making noises, Sam is transfixed just staring at David for a few moments.  Sam has been a little extra clingy, but we expected that.  We have made sure to give time to both of our older boys throughout the day as they are adjusting.

Thankfully my husband has the week off work, so we can tag team all the boys and their needs...not to mention we have family stopping by to meet the new little one.  The week off allows my husband more time to spend with David as well as allowing me to develop a routine for when he returns to work.  We ran an errand as a family this afternoon, and it is different with three small children but manageable.

We couldn't be happier than to add David to our home on our anniversary.  What a pleasant surprise!

Busy Preparation

This weekend has been a whirlwind so far!  Since we have a newborn baby coming on Monday, there are all sorts of preparations that need to be made.  Last night and today we took care of the major items leaving just smaller things to work out as the time goes on.  We now have another crib set up in Sam's room, baby clothes washed and organized according to sizes, the car seat installed in our new eight passenger vehicle, and other various tasks. 

I am glad we are ready for the baby's arrival.  It will make the first few days much easier, and it will allow us to enjoy our hike tomorrow without being worried about getting more tasks completed.  Now we just have to call Monday morning to see what time and where we will meet the baby.  The plan is to have my mom watch James and Sam while my husband and I go pick up the baby.  That way we can spend time talking with the foster mom who has been caring for him without having our boys be a distraction, and the boys can meet the baby on our home turf which I think will make it easier on James.  When we arrive home with the baby, we plan to introduce him to each boy individually and give them each a little time with the baby.  In all reality, both boys will see the baby when we arrive home, but we will ask my mom to entertain one or the other to give each child time to see the baby more up close.

We have already been talking about the new baby, showing the boys the baby's things (like the crib, bouncer, and other items) and trying our best to prepare them.  Hopefully this will help make it easier when the baby comes...mostly for James because Sam doesn't understand what is going on really...on the regard, James probably doesn't either, but he has a better grasp on it.

Big, Exciting News!

We will be expanding our family by one newborn baby boy within the next few days!  I know we had decided we were done after two children, but we never expected James to have siblings come into care.  His mom gave birth to a 8 lb. baby boy last Saturday, so he isn't even a week old yet.  I have never cared for a child so little!

It is a complicated drawn out story, but the just of it is we thought two siblings were coming into care: the newborn and a two year old (the one born when James was 11 months old).  We had to discuss and pray a lot about our decision mostly because we were concerned about the two year old and what issues he would have and how that would impact our family as a whole.  Finally we felt ready to commit to taking in both boys, so we let it be known to all the key people today.

Long story short, it is just the newborn baby.  At first we were told it would take about 30 days before a decision of where to place the baby took place.  Then twenty minutes later we got a call asking us to have the disclosure meeting tomorrow, so we could take the baby home on Monday.  I am hoping we might be able to convince them to send the baby home with us tomorrow, but we will see how that goes.  In the past we picked James up the day after his disclosure meeting, and we picked Sam up the very same day.

We are so excited about this little one and can't wait to meet him!  I am making necessary preparations for him.  We are also preparing our boys (mostly James since Sam doesn't understand) for the baby's arrival.  Tonight my husband took James out for dinner and a movie.  It will be James' first time at the movie theater.  It is a special outing before the baby arrives.

God has the perfect timing...this couldn't have worked out any better.

Oh, and by the way, tomorrow we will find out Sam's court adoption date!  What a busy, wonderful day!

Big Decision

My husband and I have a big decision to make.  It isn't a simple yes or no type of decision.  There isn't a right or a wrong way to handle this decision.  It just requires lots of thought...weighing our choices and making the best decision for us at this point in time.

We have asked some friends and family members to be praying for us...mostly for God to give us guidance and wisdom...and peace with our decision.

I know I am being vague, and it is completely intentional.  If you are the praying sort, please add my husband and me to your prayers.  We would greatly appreciate it. 

Camping & Mosquitoes

For Father's Day weekend, we went on an overnight camping trip.  For us, we enjoy being away from all the noisy crowds, so we like to drive the Jeep onto different trails in the forest until we stumble upon a good camping site (one with an established fire ring).  We came up this spot and thought it would be perfect.  In the picture above you see the Jeep, our tent and then our bug shelter where we eat our meals or just hang out.  You cannot tell from the picture but to the left and down a little bit from our bug shelter is a little creek which the boys loved throwing rocks into.

When we first pulled up this spot, my husband got out to survey the area for mosquitoes since we have been bombarded with them by water before.  Well...at the time my husband checked, there were just a couple mosquitoes buzzing about, but little did we realize there was a gentle breeze that was keeping the mosquitoes at bay.  After we had set up the whole camp, the mosquitoes seemed to come out in full force, and it was quite miserable.  We actually played in the tent a little while, went for a walk to get further from the mosquitoes and hung out in the bug shelter. 

I can tell you James, my husband and myself all got bitten several times by mosquitoes on this trip...even after using some bug stuff although it was a little less at that point.  Poor James got bites on his forehead, the back of his neck, where his pants and shirt meet (along his waistline there).  For some reason they really love James.  Don't get me wrong...I got a lot of bites as well, but they were as clustered together as the ones James got.

Mosquitoes aside, we had a nice trip together.  Amazingly the boys slept wonderfully in the tent (this has not always been the case in the past).  It was great to finally get one camping trip under our belts for the year.  However, we did decide that next time we will find a spot away from water for the sake of the mosquitoes.

Adoption Stories

A few nights ago I was reading James his bedtime stories.  One of the books he had picked out was about a panda bear who was adopted and had to do a family tree project for school, and the panda felt sad because his family was different than everyone else.  The mother (brown bear) talked to the panda about how special adoption is and tells the panda his adoption story (the story of how the panda came to be in their home).  James didn't even let me finish the story before he was bouncing off my lap, running into the hallway, opening a cupboard and asking "Where's my adoption story?"  I went into the hallway and helped him locate his adoption story, and we quickly clamored back to the couch to read it together.

After James' adoption was finalized, I went online to snapfish.com and created a photo adoption story for James.  It is filled with pictures and tells James' adoption story in easy to understand language that can be elaborated upon later in life when he is more curious about all the background information.  James loves to sit and hear his adoption story and point out all the pictures and the people he knows.

We thought the photo adoption story would be an easy and useful way to talk about adoption openly in our home at an age appropriate level since we have such young children.  So far James enjoys looking through the pictures and asking some questions about the pictures.  This is just one way we plan to address the boys' adoption stories.  We want our boys to know they are adopted and to feel secure in the knowledge of their adoption stories.  When Sam's adoption is finalized, I will go online and create him a photo adoption book to add to our hallway cupboard as well.

Another funny tidbit...the other day (Tues.) we went in to sign Sam's adoption placement paperwork.  We talked with James that morning about what was happening.  James got upset and said "No! My adoption!"  We had to explain that yes, James was adopted, and we have already adopted him, and now we get to adopt Sam too.  It was just kind of sweet how James wanted to make sure he still had his adoption, and the whole concept is still a bit confusing at his age.

Teaching Generosity

One of James' friends has a birthday party this weekend.  She will be turning two, and James is super excited about her party.  I made the mistake of mentioning the party last weekend, and every day since all I hear about is Maggie's birthday party.  Today when we drove to the store, James wanted to know if we were going to Maggie's party.  I should have learned this lesson by now, and technically I have, but in the future I will try to be better about not talking too far in advance of upcoming fun events or activities.

However, James has been especially sweet in regards to Maggie's upcoming birthday.  He wanted to go to the "remote control car store to get Maggie a school bus."  My husband and I both thought that was so considerate of him, so we took the boys to the hobby store and allowed James to pick out a toy for Maggie.  He ended up picking out a Volkswagen van that is decorated with flowers and hearts.  We purposefully put the van out of reach at home, but James has been eager to show visitors Maggie's bus he got her.  James also helped pick out the wrapping paper, a big bow and a card for his friend.  Then today he helped me wrap the gift (we got another something to go with the van James picked out).  I will have James help decorate the card and envelope on another day...probably tomorrow since the party is on Saturday morning.

We feel this was a perfect opportunity for James to be directly involved with picking out a gift for his friend, and in doing so, it is a little way to begin to teach generosity to him.

Royal Icing Flowers

Last night in our cake decorating class, we learned how to make three different flowers using royal icing.  This was my first time using royal icing, and I had never attempted to make it before.  Last week our teacher had told us royal icing is very stiff.  She described the process of making the icing, and using this information, I created a very matte royal icing, but unfortunately, my icing was too stiff, so I had to add water to all of my icing and mix it in at class.  The funny part is I had thought to myself that the icing was awfully stiff, but the teacher had said royal icing is stiff, so I figured it was supposed to be that way.  For next week I will know more what to look for in my royal icing consistency.

Apple Blossom

Primrose

Rosebud

 

 

I started off having a lot of difficulty holding the icing bag correctly with my hand at 3 o'clock and leaving it in that position as I rotated the flower nail; however, after some one-on-one instruction from our teacher (I am so grateful this is a smaller, more intimate class...only 3 students, so we get lots of help if needed, and I needed a lot last night), I was finally able to get the hang of it. 

We had taken other colors of royal icing, but we found it easiest to just stick with the same icing bag and just change the tips out for our practice.  Perhaps later this week I will pull out my leftover icing, bring it to room temperature, mix it up again and then practice some more of these flowers, so I can make sure to remeber the technique and hand placement.  That will probably help me for next week when we jump into much more complicated royal icing flowers. 

From last night's class I like the rosebuds the best.

Sam's 15 Month Check Up

Sam had his 15 month check up today.  Everything looks good, and Sam appears as healthy as can be.  The dr. did do a blood sugar test via a simple prick of the finger since Sam has what seems to be an unquenchable thirst at times.  There was no indication of concern...the dr. said Sam must just be a thirsty little boy. Sam did a great job at his dr. visit and only cried briefly after his shots.  Here are the measurements from this visit:

Weight: 23 lbs. 12 oz. (40th percentile)...if you go back to Sam's 12 month visit, you will notice this is the exact weight Sam was at that dr. visit as well.  Our little guy is starting to thin out from all of his high energy and activity level which is a good thing.

Height: 30.5 in. (25th percentile)

Head Circumference: 47.5 cm. (60th percentile)

I went ahead and scheduled Sam's 18 month appt. while I was at the dr. office; however, I will probably end up having to cancel that one since Sam's adoption should have taken place, and he will be added to our private insurance.  The dr. he sees now does not accept our insurance, so I will switch him over to James' dr. whom I love as a pediatrician.

Adoption Update

We sign the adoption placement papers (changing Sam from a foster placement to an adoptive placement) on Tuesday morning.  From there we will have one final visit with our agency worker, and then our worker will submit all required paperwork to the courthouse and obtain an adoption date for us. Both our county and agency worker seem to think we will get a date before the end of June, or, if not, the first week of July.  We are pretty happy about that.  : )  It will be nice to live life without having to schedule social worker visits, request permission for simple things like giving hair cuts, and not have to worry and document every little bump and bruise of childhood.

Needless to say we will not be making the Father's Day baby dedication, but we will get to squeeze in an overnight camping trip that weekend...please let everyone stay healthy for that.  I am a little tired of everyone being sick in our house. 

Instead of doing a big adoption party like we did for James, we are thinking more a family vacation type celebration.  We are still making the plans, but it is looking like a visit to Mickey, Donald, Goofy and friends is in our near future.  : )

Flowers, Flowers and More Flowers

So...my mom and I signed up for a second cake decorating class.  This class is all about making flowers for cake design.  Our first class was Tuesday night, and we were required to bring some gum paste and fondant for the flowers we were introduced to.  The first flower we put together was the button flower which involved using a press to cut out and imprint the flowers, allowing them to dry and then gluing them together.  Next we worked on the pansy which was much more technical is design.  This one we rolled out, used a cookie cutter to cut the shape and then used other tools to curl the petals and curve them upward...gluing the additional petals and loops.  Amazingly this took up all of our class time.  Next week we will move into making flowers with royal icing.  And, fortunately, we only have to take a cake to class the very last week, so that is a nice change from the last class.

Speaking of flowers, earlier this week...on Monday, I believe, my husband brought me home a beautiful bouquet of a dozen red roses.  They were just because he knows it is rough taking care of sick boys who demand so much and are cranky too due to not feeling well.  Little did he know he would also be getting sick this week and feeling quite miserable.  I feel bad for him...his throat is incredibly sore (hurts to drink, eat, swallow).  He went to the dr. and they did a throat culture but ruled out strep in office although they did send the sample out for further tests.  The dr. did mention my husband's throat looked very "angry" (red and upset).

I love that my husband finds ways to show me how much he appreciates all I do.

Sock Monkeys

When Auntie Krissy was in town, she brought these adorable sock monkeys for each of the boys.  They aren't just your average, pick them up in the store, type of sock monkeys; these ones are of the homemade variety which makes them incredibly special.  Each monkey is a little different in their design although they share a large amount of similarities.  James received the first sock monkey Auntie Krissy made because he is the first little boy she has had in her life to spoil and love.  Both of the monkeys have the boys named stitched on the back of them...James' name is behind the monkey's ear, and Sam's name is located on the monkey's back above the tail.

Sam is in love with his sock monkey...so much so that it has replaced his stuffed giraffe as the animal that Sam sleeps with during his naps and bedtime.  There was even one night that we couldn't locate Sam's sock monkey, so we passed James' monkey off at bedtime, and it sufficed.  The next morning Sam's sock monkey was found tucked next to his car seat in the Jeep.

What a great auntie the boys have!  She takes good care of them...even from a distance.  : )

Ant Invasion

I hate having ants in the house!  They drive me absolutely crazy!  Lucky me...I went into Sam's room to change his diaper this morning only to discover ants had invaded his bedroom space.  Ugh!  Fortunately, there was a pretty clear path outside where they were coming from, so I rinsed off their pathway with the hose and set up two liquid ant bait traps (gotta love Terro liquid ant baits...they are the only ones we have been successful using) by the grass line.  Then I came inside and used a shop vac and regular vacuum to clean up Sam's room to the best of my ability...having to rearrange furniture and be creative in how I go around the whole room...it is a smaller room with a crib, twin bed, and hope chest (the closet holds the dresser, so that is not an issue).  Then I used baby powder to block off their access point inside and outside followed by putting another ant trap near the baby powder outside.  Now I need to vacuum Sam's room one more time before I feel comfortable putting him down for his nap in there.  I have already pulled his crib into the middle of the room without any sides touching a wall, so he should be safe from ants crawling on him during his nap...and there are not nearly as many ants anymore.

I am glad my husband is so willing to take care of the ants when he is home because they truly drive me insane.  However, on days like this, when I am the only adult home, I have to trudge along and do my best to remedy the situation.  I do a good job, but I greatly dislike the work.

Voting Day

Today was voting day, so the boys and I walked over to the fire station where our polling place was located.  I had Sam strapped into the double stroller, and James walked on his own on the way there.  I imagine we must have looked interesting, to say the least.  Poor Sam just looking exhausted and out of it because of his cold (croup) he is still battling, and then there is poor James with his recent bout of pink eye where literally one of his eyes is swollen quite noticeably.  I wonder what everyone running the polling place was thinking about our crew.

The boys did a great job while I voted, and everyone got an "I Voted" sticker which was fun.  I was grateful we were the only ones in the polling place, so we didn't have to wait in line, and I didn't have to worry too much about James wandering around.  However, it seemed like we dropped in on the volunteer's lunch break because they were all munching away on pizza even though it still a bit early for lunch.  But as a volunteer, I imagine you eat the pizza while it is hot and don't wait around for it to become cold.

A lady at the polling place asked me if the boys were both mine, and I said yes.  I then went on to state that I was teaching them young about voting.  That made a few volunteers smile.  Of course that was mostly because my boys are so adorable...swollen eyes and all.  : )

I took pictures at home of my two little voters.  I just thought it would be a fun picture to have around.  Now the picture is not of them both together because they wanted nothing to do with that, but I did get an individual shot of each proudly displaying their voting stickers.

Dance Recital & Strawberry Cupcakes

Our niece had her first ballet recital on Sunday.  The recital took place at a high school theater and was estimated to last about two hours.  Since we didn't feel Sam could sit through that long of a performance (our niece's dance wasn't until the second act), and Sam wasn't feeling well, he stayed home with my husband, and I took James to the recital with me.  I was impressed with how well James did overall...even with him asking me twice in the first six dances "Is it over yet?"  James sat nicely on my lap and for the most part sat quietly throughout the whole performance.  We did leave after my niece's performance because my brother and sister-in-law were pulling my niece out and leaving at that point.  During intermission, I called my husband and notified him that plans had changed (long story), and he should head over to the high school with the cupcakes I had made for my niece as a special something for her recital.  After we had cupcakes together, my niece and her family left, and the rest of us had dinner together at a spaghetti place.

However, let's talk about these cupcakes for a minute.  I decided I wanted to make from scratch strawberry cupcakes for my niece because she loves strawberries, and she is also a huge fan of the color pink.  I used the recipe on Smitten Kitchen for Pink Lady Cake.  The only changes I made was to use fresh strawberries that I pureed (since they are in season right now), used all purpose flour (just reduced the amount to 4 1/4 cup instead), and made cupcakes instead of a layered cake.  I found my cupcakes needed to bake for 20 minutes before they were done.

I used the cream cheese frosting recipe listed for this cake except I ended up adding far more sifted powdered sugar to get the right consistency for piping the cupcakes, and I dyed the frosting pink as well.  I wanted to test out some of my frosting tips because I am unfamiliar with what they do, so I purposefully used multiple decorating tips to get a feel for them.  I kept the overall designs simple...going with the idea of creating tutus on the cupcakes.  This probably would have been more ideal with a butter cream type frosting because it is stiffer; however, the cream cheese frosting complimented the cupcakes perfectly.  The strawberry flavor was incredible, and the cupcakes were light and moist (the consistency you expect from boxed cakes).  My family thought the cupcakes were delicious, and I plan on using this strawberry cake recipe in the future for sure.

Plans Change Again

Today my husband and I were supposed to attend an empanada cooking class together as a date.  We had a baby-sitter lined up and were set to go.  We had already discussed Sam having pink eye with our aunt, and she decided she was fine with that; however, this morning we were awoken by seal coughing (croup) coming from Sam's room.  In fact the whole night long, Sam did not sleep particularly well...for a little while he woke up and was playing, but then when he would wake up it was due to coughing.  Poor Sam was quite miserable...my poor, little baby!  I held him in my arms in a hot shower, so the steam could help clear up his sinuses.  Then my husband took Sam outside for a little walk to allow him to have some nice, fresh, cool air.  Needless to say, we called our aunt and cancelled the date because our boy needed us at home...not to mention, it wouldn't be fair to leave someone else in charge of him in that condition.

I was a little disappointed about cancelling our date because we had both been looking forward to it.  We have never taken a cooking class before, but we have talked about trying it.  There will be other cooking classes that come up that sound interesting, I am sure.

I feel so bad for my boys when they are sick.  It isn't so bad when they just have a runny nose and cough, but they are their normal selves.  It is when they are extremely miserable, and it is obvious by their behavior.