Daddy-o is on vacation all week and we started with a very busy weekend! We finally got to a pumpkin patch and I’ll have to share some pictures from that soon, but we didn’t get any that were perfect. 
I’m hoping to go have our family portrait done this week but we have two runny noses so it may not be a good time to schedule that. I’m thinking we’ll send out Christmas/Adoption announcement cards at the same time this year! Wouldn’t that be fun?
Speedy can now say the pledge of allegiance. We were talking about the flag and so I said it several times and he repeated me – now he can say the whole thing, when he wants to. It’s hilarious. It sounds something like this: “I pedge aeeegiance, FLAG, nited sates merica. the Wepubic which sands, ONE NATION, under Gawwwd, liverteeee jusice for all. AMEN!”
Today is the adoption staffing, where the files are officially passed from our foster care worker to an adoption placement worker. This will get the ball rolling, hopefully!
In order to finalize adoption, we first have to sign adoption placement papers. Before we can do that, we have to turn in paperwork (done this morning), have a psych eval for Speedy (done this afternoon – it is a standard requirement) and also read the files.
So, the only we have left to do is read the complete files which shouldn’t be a big deal, but legally, the files should be redacted before we are allowed to read them. In other words, all the names must be blacked out. This can take as long as eight weeks but I’m hoping that our worker will let this slide or get it done quickly. We already know all the names anyway so I don’t understand the point. :/
Once placement papers are signed, we’ll be able to finalize within thirty days. Our agency is pushing to finalize before the end of the year, possibly on December 29 which is the last day possible for this year. I’d be happy to take a late Christmas present, but we’ll see!
Filed under: Day after day
AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
I just felt like saying that.
Filed under: Speedy
Get over it. Penis is NOT a bad word. (though I’m sure I’ll get some interesting hits from google by having it so many times in this post.) Oh, and GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE GUTTER. Actually, it’s my mind that needs to get out of the gutter. I just reread my title and thought, Wow, that could really be misconstrued. Oh well.
Bedtime is exhausting. There has to be another way. Why is it JUST NOW occurring to me to pray and ask God to help us address Speedy’s betime issues? Hello! Sometimes I could just kick myself.
I had a whole post all worked out in my head about our bedtime saga but now it is pointless.
Anyway, I’m feeling better and oh so proud of myself. That’s right. I taught Speedy a new word. Yep. I’m that kind of a mom. Thought the “word of the day” around here usually isn’t one to write home about.
Yesterday, daddy-o was dressing Princess and he asked if her shirt snapped in the back. I said, “Yes, it snaps in the back and in the crotch.” Speedy immediately says, “CROTCH!” Nice, huh?
Today, we entered a brand new stage of learning and playing with Speedy. WHILE OUR CASE WORKER WAS HERE FOR HER MONTHLY VISIT, Speedy was in the playroom and got really quiet. I wondered what he was up to but knew there wasn’t much he could get into in the playroom so I didn’t worry too much.
Finally, after about ten minutes I said to our cw, “I better go see what he’s doing in there.” Then I had to have this conversation with him, within earshot of our caseworker:
Me: Speedy, please put your wee wee (aka penis) back into your pull up and put the toy down.
Speedy: confused look but follows directions
Me: Speedy, if you want to play with your wee wee, you may do so during bath time or when we are changing your diaper, but it isn’t nice to take your wee wee out of your pull up. Your wee wee gets pee pee on it and that makes it yucky to touch when it is in your diaper.
Speedy: It yucky
Me: Yes, Speedy. Let’s go wash your hands and the toy and from now on, we’re going to leave our wee wee in our diaper, right?
Speedy: leave wee wee in pull up!
Nice, huh? I don’t want to tell him not to play with his wee wee. Okay, yes, I do want to tell him that. But I know it is pointless. He’s curious and he is going to play with it but I’d rather him do it in private. I’m worried that he’ll start whippin it out at school when he gets bored. I have an idea that this is only the beginning of a very long wee wee saga.
Filed under: Day after day
Have you heard about The Home Office From Hell contest? I just found out and I am definitely entering. This isn’t a joke, it is real and I think I have ten good reasons why I should start renting office space instead of using my home office.
Number Ten: There is a printer to my left, a rack of purses to my right and sewing maching behind me – not an ideal work space.
Number Nine: My home office is the “catch all” room for anything we don’t have a place for.
Number Eight: The cable for my internet connection is about 50ft long and stretches all the way down the hall into my office.
Number Seven: I have a filing cabinet that hasn’t been opened in two years because I’ve run out of room.
Number Six: My “to be filed” stack is almost as tall as I am.
Number Five: Various holiday decorations line elfa shelves but somehow never manage to leave this room, even when the holiday is approaching.
Number Four: Even when someone is here watching the kids while I work, I can still hear them and it makes it very hard to concentrate.
Number Three: At least once a day my two and half year old pokes his head in my office and screams while I’m teaching an online class.
Number Two: The same two year old tried to color a pretty picture for me – on my monitor.
And the Number One reason why I have the Home Office from Hell is because that same sweet two year old got into my briefcase and opened the tampons and spr
The Grand Prize winner will receive 12 months of rent (up to $12,000) at any location posted on Offices2Share.com plus a paid trip to New York City to have lunch with Donald Trump’s right-hand man and former Co-Star of The Apprentice – George Ross.
Filed under: Day after day
of being sick and tired.
Picked up a little bug last week which means the kids will probably have it this week. The good news is that we should all be healthy the week after so we’ll be able to go visit my sister! Woo Hoo!
Speedy has learned that saying “I love you” can sometimes get him out of trouble. It’s hilarious. Prin
Filed under: Uncategorized
I went back to court today for the final order for TPR and the case wasn’t even on the docket. I was a little confused at first, then I talked to the caseworker who had just found out that the Judge was going to sign the order today but there would be no hearing since there was no appeal.
So that’s it. Termination is final. Now we move on to adoption placement. Please pray for the adoption placement worker who gets our file – pray that she will work very quickly!
.
Okay, you know I had to add a picture for the post below! Doesn’t she look proud of herself?
BTW, I had to cover her up – there are just too many pervs out there and I didn’t want any of them to stumble across my n#kd baby pics.
Filed under: Princess
My dear sweet Princess,
Today, when I put you down for your afternoon nap in nothing but your diaper, I worried a little about you getting cold. But you were so sleepy and the clothes you had on were much too hot to sleep in so I gently laid you down in your crib as you were.
I wondered why I kept hearing you babble and play when I knew you should have been sleeping. Much to my surprise, when I peeked into your room about fifteen minutes later, I saw you standing in your crib completely naked. I’m still not sure how you got your diaper off but you must be feeling pretty clever. There you were, giggling so hard your little butt dimples danced.
Knowing how adorable each phase you go through is, I went to get daddy and the camera. Daddy told me to hurry lest I get back and find a surprise in your bed, but you already had that covered. Turd mashing really isn’t acceptable behavior, especially for a Princess. When I went to get you out of bed, I saw you standing on a turd with a huge smile on your face. You really seemed to like the feel of it mushing between your toes.
Daddy ran for cover and left me in charge of clean up – so as I gagged and tried not to vomit, I went to get some wipes to pick up your poop. Daddy finally came back and picked you up out of the crib but couldn’t put you on the changing table because you had a turd hanging from your sweet little bottom. Oh, and you also had one foot covered in poop.
We finally cleaned you up and changed your sheets and got you back down for you nap. I realize it had been a while since I changed your sheets, but was it really necessary for you to crap all over them to give me a message? Really, that kind of behavior is just unbecoming for a Princess.
But thanks for the laugh.
I love you,
Mommy
When I think about how much we have been blessed I become overwhelmed with gratitude. A year ago we were anxiously waiting for the phone to ring, telling us we’d been selected for a child or children. Two years ago we were anxiously waiting on two thin pink lines that never showed up. Today, I couldn’t be happier that we never saw two thin pink lines and that our phone did not ring last October.
Our lives have changed so much in 8 1/2 months.
Motherhood is not what I expected it to be. Although I knew it would be hard, I didn’t realize how hard it would be some days. I had no idea how much joy I would receive from making peanut butter sandwiches and playing with play dough. I thought I knew what it would be like but I don’t think anyone ever can.
I think what surprised me the most is how much I don’t like being a mom on some days. No one really tells you how much you won’t like that job and how much you’ll sometimes wish for the days of less responsibility. Why don’t other women warn us of those feelings? I know most people have them because I’ve talked with several friends who have small children and they all agree – sometimes is sucks to be a mom. There are days when you don’t like your children, moments when you want to just run away. Then you get a quiet little, “I lub you in my hart, mommee” and all the negative emotions fade away. Or you hear your baby’s giggle and suddenly you can’t remember what it was you wanted to run from.
I wonder if those of you who have grown children just forget? Is that why you don’t warn us? It has to be. Why else would you send your daughters and grand-daughters into battle without the weapon of knowledge? Have you really forgotten how much you sometimes didn’t like being mommy?
Some of you who don’t have kids yet might be shaking your heads right about now. “I can’t believe she is saying that, after she prayed and prayed for God to bring these kids to her.” Sisters, you just don’t know. I imagine all of you moms with small children are nodding your heads and saying, “yes! I’ve been there!” Parenting is not an easy job.
So this is just me leaving my mark in the cyber world for all who come after me – sometimes is SUCKS to be a mom. Consider yourselves warned.
I love my children more than I could ever describe and even on the worst of days I would lay down my life for them without a second thought. The good days outweigh the bad (most weeks) and it only takes one smile from Speedy or Princess to turn my day around. I wouldn’t trade my life with anyone.
Unfortunately, I still feel the need to defend myself on this. Why is that? Why is there so much guilt when we don’t like parts of our jobs as mommys? I stand in fear of being condemned for speaking the truth – a truth that many moms hide deep within their hearts. Lucky for you, I’m not one to keep my mouth shut on much of anything. And I write this on a morning when I’m feeling good and looking forward to the day ahead. If it was a bad morning, I probably wouldn’t have the courage.
Filed under: Day after day
As a child, what did you want to be “when you grew up”? A fireman? A policeman? A Dallas Cowboy cheerleader? I realize that last choice is a bit out of character for me, but that’s what I wanted to be when I was little. I even had a shiny jacket that looked just like the ones the cheerleaders wore.
As I grew my interest in cheerleading faded (Thank God) and I moved in other directions. I think I wanted to be a veterinarian (which you’ll notice i can’t even spell) for a while; then I decided I should be a lawyer instead. I didn’t become any of those things, but I still have a desire to be “something” when I grow up.
I’m slowly learning that I may never grow up. If I do, I think I’ll be one of those people whose house is always clean and ready for company. I’d also like to be someone whose laundry is always clean and put away, whose home cooked meals are always delicious and whose children always look neat and clean. I’d like to be the mom who always has creative ways of getting her children to mind and fun projects for them to work on. The wife who makes her husband’s lunches and who still has time left over to volunteer in the community and lead Bible studies.
Sigh.
Growing up sounds like an awful lot of work.
Filed under: Uncategorized
I’m such a good mom. Really, I am. I’m so good, that I decided I should intentionally do some things to automatically void my nomination for the Mother of the Year award.
I’m at my wits end with naptime. Really, it’s just not worth it anymore. I get so frustrated and sometimes even angry that it defeats it’s purpose because I’m not enjoying any part of my “break”. I have tried EVERYTHING I can think of and many of the suggestions made by others. Rocking him to sleep works occasionally, laying with him does not work, positive reinforcement worked for a few days but no longer works, removing all toys from his room does not work, putting him back in bed without saying anything to him does not work, scolding him does not work….. today, I got so desperate I ate his cupcake.
Yup, there goes my award. He was sooooo excited about a cupcake that Brigitte brought over for him and I told him he could have it when he got up from his nap – only if he stayed in bed until I came to get him. He stayed for about 10 minutes. Then he got into the butt paste and it looked like he was getting ready to shave, it was all over his face and very thick – all over his arms and legs too. It was funny. Clean up and back to bed and brought the cupcake in his room and asked him if he wanted it. Told him I really wanted him to have it but he HAD to stay in bed in order to get it. I told him I was going to eat it if he got out of bed again and this was very upsetting to him.
20 minutes later he was in the hallway with his blanket wrapped around his waste. So I took two bites of his cupcake, much to his dismay. He didn’t cry, but was not happy with me. I told him I’d save the rest of it and he could have it when he got up. But when I checked on him ten minutes later he was out of bed again so I’m throwing the cupcake away. I don’t have the heart to eat it and I can’t give it to him, no matter how much I want him to have it.
I wonder how many times I miss out on good gifts God wants to give me because I am disobedient to Him? How many of my “cupcakes” grew mold before I could receive them?
I know, I know. I feel terrible for eating half of his cupcake but I had already told him it was the consequence. I had to follow through. Guess I better watch what I threaten next time.
By the way, if anyone comments and suggests that maybe he isn’t tired I’m going to scream. He IS tired and still needs a nap to have a good afternoon. And i just noticed it is quite again so I better go see what he’s doing. I wonder if he found his cupcake.
EDITED TO ADD: 2 1/2 year olds really enjoy “playing” with chapstick – I’m laughing, really I am. At least I’m trying to remember to laugh….
Filed under: Speedy
Speedy now asks on a regular basis for daddy-o to take him to the “man store”. This could mean Academy, Home Depot or any other outdoorsy/construction store. This afternoon, Speedy comes running up to me and says, “we go man store, peas?” asking if he and daddy could go to the man store.
As they are walking away, daddy-o says, “tell mommy bye” and Speedy turns and grins and says, “bye bye mommy-o!” I said, “Bye, I love you!” and he said, “I lub you, too!” Then he turned around to walk away with daddy-o while holding his hand. He stopped, looked back at me and said to daddy-o, “lemme gib mommy a kiss.” And he ran and gave me a kiss.
That kid, I tell ya. Why is it that the simplest things matter so much?
Filed under: Speedy
Do you ever wonder how much your are screwing up your kids? I mean, once they get to an age they’ll be able to remember you are in deep doo-doo.
Think back to your earliest childhood memory – no, really think. I’m talking about pictures you’ve seen of yourself at an early age, I’m talking about your own memory. I have a few that are shotty before kindergarden but I think the clearest first memories I have are actually from kindergarden. Probably because I HATED it so much. (Sorry, mom)
Thinking about this has me wondering, how long do we have before we really start to mess with our kids? What, if anything, will they remember from this time in their lives? Not factoring in the special circumstances of Speedy and Princess, at what age will they start to file things away that they’ll be able to pull up years from now?
As hard as we try to be good parents and set good examples, sometimes we all blow it. I can’t help but wonder how long we have to practice before it really starts to count. I know it “counts” now, but you know what I mean. Will Speedy remember me sending him to time out when I was the one who really needed it? Probably not. But how long before he will?
This morning, he was a little fussy and was whining quite a bit. I’m the poster child for not being a morning person so I should be a little more understanding when he isn’t a morning person, either. But I’m not a morning person……ha ha ha Anyway, this morning I fussed at him for whining and he looked up at me with the sweetest eyes and said, “be sweet to me, peas.” Little turd. HOw can I stay aggravated when he is so stinkin’ cute? I told him that I would be sweet to him and that he needed to be sweet to me, too. And that it wasn’t sweet for him to whine over breakfast. As I walked into the kitchen to get his milk he said, “I lub you, mommy.”
Awwww…. I know, it’s just precious, isn’t it? Except that HE KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT HE IS DOING. You’d think it would take away from the melting heart syndrome I experience but it doesn’t. Gets me every time. I spend so much of our days together laughing at him. And when he catches you laughing at him, he has this infectious little grin that keeps you laughing. I’m smiling just thinking about it as I write this.
I can’t remember exactly what he was doing at dinner time the other night but daddy-o and I were both covering our mouths trying not to let him see us laughing. Oh ya, he had a piece of a hot dog weenie in his mouth – I cut them in half long ways – and he was pulling it in his mouth and pushing it back out again – it just looked funny. So as I’m telling him not to play with his food, I’m cracking up. Which causes him to keep doing it but he has a hard time making it work when he is smiling too.
Oh, and he has started eating his boogers which makes me gag. I’ve told him boogers are yucky and that they shouldn’t go in his mouth but I don’t make a big deal out of it. But one day I’m really going to puke.
I have a to do list of things I want to accomplish while Speedy is in MDO. So far, I’ve managed to get maybe one or two things from that list completed. I have a terrible habit of accidentally on purpose falling asleep while Princess is napping on those days.
Today, I slept for 2 HOURS! When i woke up I was afraid I had missed the pick up time but thankfully, I hadn’t slept that long! It seems I’ve been missing my naps more than even I had noticed.
I’ve decided to make Speedy and Princess’ lifebooks/baby books from scratch. Although I bought two of them, I never found anything that I really loved so I think I’ll just make my own. That way, I can include whatever I want and explain their adoption in terms that are more specific to their situation. I’ve gathered some ideas from others who have blogged parts of their lifebooks, but here’s what I’ve got in mind so far:
Page 1 – A big picture of Speedy with the title “The Story of ME”
Section 2 – Where do babies come from? A picture of a stork or two and a very BASIC explanation like “it takes a man and a woman to make a baby”….etc……
Section 3 – Photos of birthmom and birthdad along with some background information, family trees
Section 4Â - Pictures of Speedy as a baby (provided by Granny J) – some wording about how much babies are loved, etc,… stories I picked up from bios during visits, songs I know were sung to Speedy as a baby, etc….
Section 5 – more pictures of Speedy growing during that first year as I have them along with some background information/stories, hopefully I’ll have some holiday pictures, maybe pics of some of the toys he was given that came with him here
Section 6 – Introducing baby sister “Princess”
Section 7 – What happened when Princess was born – why Speedy was removed and where he went those first two weeks
Section 8 – Gotcha Day! The story of us first learning about Speedy and what it was like to get that phone call – pics from our lifebook and a little about the process we went through to get them …. Pictures from our first weeks together
Section 9 – Bringing home Princess!
Section 10 – All of our family and friends – Speedy’s new family, pictures and descriptions of who came to meet him and what they brought for him
SEction 11 – Speedy’s Second birthday
Section 12 – Visits with birthparents and grandparents along with pictures from those visits and information provided during that time; photos and stories of time spent with paternal grandparents during this post-placement time as well.
Section 13 – Life with us as family: first day of MDO pictures, photos from places we’ve been together, etc….the process of court, termination, etc….
That’s just me brainstorming so far.
I have a to do list of things I want to accomplish while Speedy is in MDO. So far, I’ve managed to get maybe one or two things from that list completed. I have a terrible habit of accidentally on purpose falling asleep while Princess is napping on those days.
Today, I slept for 2 HOURS! When i woke up I was afraid I had missed the pick up time but thankfully, I hadn’t slept that long! It seems I’ve been missing my naps more than even I had noticed.
I’ve decided to make Speedy and Princess’ lifebooks/baby books from scratch. Although I bought two of them, I never found anything that I really loved so I think I’ll just make my own. That way, I can include whatever I want and explain their adoption in terms that are more specific to their situation. I’ve gathered some ideas from others who have blogged parts of their lifebooks, but here’s what I’ve got in mind so far:
Page 1 – A big picture of Speedy with the title “The Story of ME”
Section 2 – Where do babies come from? A picture of a stork or two and a very BASIC explanation like “it takes a man and a woman to make a baby”….etc……
Section 3 – Photos of birthmom and birthdad along with some background information, family trees
Section 4 - Pictures of Speedy as a baby (provided by Granny J) – some wording about how much babies are loved, etc,… stories I picked up from bios during visits, songs I know were sung to Speedy as a baby, etc….
Section 5 – more pictures of Speedy growing during that first year as I have them along with some background information/stories, hopefully I’ll have some holiday pictures, maybe pics of some of the toys he was given that came with him here
Section 6 – Introducing baby sister “Princess”
Section 7 – What happened when Princess was born – why Speedy was removed and where he went those first two weeks
Section 8 – Gotcha Day! The story of us first learning about Speedy and what it was like to get that phone call – pics from our lifebook and a little about the process we went through to get them …. Pictures from our first weeks together
Section 9 – Bringing home Princess!
Section 10 – All of our family and friends – Speedy’s new family, pictures and descriptions of who came to meet him and what they brought for him
SEction 11 – Speedy’s Second birthday
Section 12 – Visits with birthparents and grandparents along with pictures from those visits and information provided during that time; photos and stories of time spent with paternal grandparents during this post-placement time as well.
Section 13 – Life with us as family: first day of MDO pictures, photos from places we’ve been together, etc….the process of court, termination, etc….
That’s just me brainstorming so far.
Filed under: Uncategorized
So we are all sick again… at least Speedy and Princess are. Another ear infection and more nasty colds. Really, I think we’ll always be sick as long as Speedy is going to school or Mother’s Day Out.
Oh well, seeing as I have lots of days to stick around the house, I may as well share with you my new favorite way of entertaining myself. Talk about learning some crazy new trivia facts that you would never think of. You’ve heard me post of my addictions before – I’m afraid this is becoming one of them. I recommend all you blog readers go and check it out – if you are in the market for a new job, you should really check out the next to last post. Lots of fun ideas there. I highly recommend this site!
Unfortunately, I did not find anything there that told me how to keep my kids from getting sick or how to keep Speedy in bed. He’s doing better, but we still have room for improvement. Don’t we always?
So not much else is going on around here. I do have some new ideas for posts that I’ll be doing, but I don’t know how interesting they will be. Boy, if that doesn’t get you excited about coming back here and checking for updates, I don’t know what will!
Filed under: Uncategorized
So we are all sick again… at least Speedy and Princess are. Another ear infection and more nasty colds. Really, I think we’ll always be sick as long as Speedy is going to school or Mother’s Day Out.
Oh well, seeing as I have lots of days to stick around the house, I may as well share with you my new favorite way of entertaining myself. Talk about learning some crazy new trivia facts that you would never think of. You’ve heard me post of my addictions before – I’m afraid this is becoming one of them. I recommend all you blog readers go and check it out – if you are in the market for a new job, you should really check out the next to last post. Lots of fun ideas there. I highly recommend this site!
Unfortunately, I did not find anything there that told me how to keep my kids from getting sick or how to keep Speedy in bed. He’s doing better, but we still have room for improvement. Don’t we always?
So not much else is going on around here. I do have some new ideas for posts that I’ll be doing, but I don’t know how interesting they will be. Boy, if that doesn’t get you excited about coming back here and checking for updates, I don’t know what will!
