Today Might Just Be the Day...

What happens in the daily life of the family.. the drama of foster care, the adventures of parenting, & pictures to share with everyone!

Treats for You!

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Wanted to share our little cuties with you all!

I do have to boast on myself a little bit. On Halloween, I think I earned my MOTY (Mom of the Year) Award… I took all four out to trick or treat around our block. Then, I took just D & d out to hit the next couple blocks. Oh, and I made Bean’s costume myself!

Not only did I give them extra trick or treat time, I also (for the first time ever) took them to the gas station for a toilet break mid-TOT so the fun could continue.

*Then* when we’d treated as much as we could and we were all out of tricks, my little guy (well, the littlest of my bigs) was exhausted. We were about half a block from home when he was very tired. So, I carried him the rest of the way home…

And I begged him to remember this. There will be plenty of times of Mom throwing a fit or getting mad for him to keep in his memory bank. I hope that this will replace one of those!

Another Rite of Passage

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To be a parent, there are a few things that have to happen. Sure, having a kid is a good start…

But, until you’ve cleaned poo out of the tub or been thrown up on, are you *really* a parent?? If you haven’t stayed up all night with a sick kid, or toilet trained a stubborn two year old (aren’t all 2 year olds stubborn?!?), if you haven’t reached out to catch the puke to save your clean carpet…. are you really a parent?

Since we do comando parenting and have had lots of kiddos in a short period of time, we’ve gotten to go through all of these trials and tribulations at record speed.

But, there was one thing that I hadn’t done yet. Even though we’ve gone to the ER on four occasions and to Urgent Care too many times to count, I’ve never had a child with a broken bone.

I haven’t blogged at all this week.. And this was part of the issue.

Monday we went to the park with one of V’s new friends from t-ball. And it was only a couple minutes into playing when he fell off the top of the play structure.

Being the mean mom that I am, I didn’t think anything was wrong, so I calmed V down and told him to rest for a few minutes before he went back to playing. Well, after he calmed down, I encouraged him to go play again. That wasn’t happening. He started screaming bloody murder.

So, playdate was ended and we took off for Urgent Care.

Thankfully, our wonderful sitter was already headed in our direction, so she was able to pick up the other kiddos. Brian came and met us down at the UC. It took both of us holding V to ge the x-rays taken. And they didn’t see anything.

So, home we went with a very grouchy and sore kiddo.

Tuesday I called his pediatrican to see what we should do to follow up. V’s arm was swollen and he wasn’t using it anymore than he absolutely had to.

The pediatrican told us that they wouldn’t take a second x-ray for another week.

Then, Wednesday V woke up with a horrible sounding cough. It was almost like a seal’s bark.. poor little dude! So, off to the ped we went. Oh, and somehwere between when I called the ped. that morning and when our appointment was, David’s ear started leaking gunk.. so we knew we had an ear infection on our hands, too.

Anyhow, being the thrifty mom that I am, I got a two-fer and asked the ped. to look at V’s arm while we were there.

At that point, it was very swollen and V still wasn’t using his arm for much of anything.

So, the ped referred us to an orthopedic. I had no clue how hard it would be to get an appointment with an orthopedic. I think I called about 10 different offices and the fastest I could get him in was this morning (Friday). Wow.

Anyhow, we swung by the UC to pick up the x-rays this morning and headed to the other side of Phoenix this morning for our appointment.

Turns out that V’s left arm is broken right above the elbow.

He’s not a happy camper.

But, his poor arm is now safely healing inside a bright orange cast.

So, am I a real mom yet?

Ha! Ha!

Dora, Dora, Dora the Explorer

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We got to see Dora!

I think I might have been more excited than the Bean. We went to the zoo for a special event (every year Fisher Price brings out their toys for the kids to try out) and Dora was there.

And because I have cute kids, here are a couple other shots…

 

 

AAAHHH!

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And, no, that’s not a nice calm “Ahhh…. “, you know a sigh… it’s more of a, “What the heck was I thinking? Can someone please slow down time? How will it all get done?”, kind of scream.

I cannot believe that time decided just now to speed up. It’s so unfair!

Only 2 more days until court. I was talking to V about it on the drive to Head Start. And I started to cry.

V: Why are you crying?

Me: Because I’m so happy that you’re going to be all mine.

V: I love you, Mommy. You’re the best Mommy.

Then he reached out and we held hands for a bit. Oh, shoot, here come the water works again!

I updated my list of R.S.V.P.’s (I know nobody is surprised that I have it all on an excel file) and right now it looks like we’re going to have right around 60 people here to celebrate on Saturday. I am so excited to see everyone. It is something that *needs* to be celebrated. But, at the same time, that number is feeling a little scary. I really need to focus if I want to get the house clean & ready for a crowd. I can’t wait to see those of you who are local. And, for our farther away friends, I will be posting about a million photos very soon! I’ll be able to (finally) post photos of our cute little guy. And I will want to share our celebration with you via the computer.

******

In a totally different area of life (not that life can be divided–it completely refuses to when I ask it), I have gotten actual comments on this blog from people I don’t know “in real life”. And I’m so excited! I’m so honored that someone would read about us and our journey. I love reading other people’s blogs. But, I’m really bad about posting comments. So, a huge “Thanks” to anyone who doesn’t “know” me who’s chosen to learn more about us. And a huge “Thanks” to those of you who’ve passed along this site.

One of the things that was so interesting about the beginning of our foster careers to B & I was how little we really knew. We didn’t know how the system worked. We weren’t aware of parent’s rights, we knew nothing about the courts. We had a hard time finding services and figuring out what our role really was. And I started teaching PS-MAPP for that very reason. I don’t want anyone to go into fostering without knowing (at least a little) what’s in store for them. And, now as we’re nearing the end of this era… V will be our final adoption… I only hope that our experience will live on through another family that picks up the torch and decides that they are ready to foster. I hope that I can help at least one family along that road…

Gee-bus.. here are the tears again!

Thank you!!

The Good, The Bad, The Gross

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O.K. First, no news.

Alrighty, then!

This weekend we were busy. We had an event on Saturday and a party on Sunday. One event a day is plenty for us!

Saturday was the annual spring event for our foster care agency (tocallhome.com).  There was hat making, a cake walk, Ronald McDonald came to do a magic show… And then, the wave pool. At the *very * last minute Brian got invited to go see Conan O’Brien in Vegas so he left about halfway through. My plan was to stay at the pool for as long as I could handle all four kids. I have to say that they were so well behaved! They listened to me, they stuck together. They were being kind to each other. I am so proud! It was so nice being able to actually enjoy their company rather than fighting them to just behave enough to not drive me mad. I feel like they’re getting older and it’s a good thing.

Then came Sunday.

Or, maybe I should back up to Saturday night? Yep, better start there. So, the children wouldn’t settle down. It was frustrating because they were all exhausted from the long afternoon. There were no naps and they were very clearly ready for bed. Bean ended up sleeping with me (my bad). And the boys just kept chatting and playing. I had to go in and settle them down about 5 times. Once they were finally settled, I headed to bed early. But, sleep was not meant to be. Bean kept kicking me and playing with my hair.. and she loves to be right next to whomever she’s sleeping with.. I do *not* like anyone right next to me when I’m sleeping. Then, right around 2:30 David came into the room and turned the lights on.. I woke up to him very close to my head in tears. He’d lost a tooth and was very freaked out about it. I did manage to get him calmed very quickly and Bean didn’t even notice.

But, I was awake at that point and I had a hard time calming myself back down.

I have to say that there is a huge difference between 8 hours of sleep and 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. I get enough sleep, but it doesn’t give me the same energy when it’s broken up like it often is. What year will I get to sleep again?

So, I guess that after that I was a little grouchy on Sunday. And so were my kids. Nothing was done without a battle. Messes were made with nobody willing to pick them up. Attitudes were flaring.

We had a birthday party to go to and they did do surprisingly well there, but the ride over was a mess. And on the ride home I have to say that I was just steamed. They’d been given treat upon treat this weekend and they were complaining that I wouldn’t let them eat all of the candy in their goodie bags. Really?? Who raised them like this?

I guess this post is turning into a bit of a rant.

So, with that I’ll go onto the gross. Why didn’t anyone tell me that kids were/are so disgusting? Really!?

There are hand prints on just about every surface in my home. There’s toothpaste in the sink on a daily basis. I can’t keep up with it. I hate the fact that my home looks like this. Help!

Today while the kids were gone I got a chance to mop the kitchen and I got a few loads of laundry done. I feel like progress has been made. Brian was a gem and did the dishes for me last night as well as doing some general clean up around the house. So, I guess I’m on my way to minimizing the gross.

Now I just need to keep learning the skills of my trade & hopefully at some point we can minimize both the bad and the gross.

Here’s to more good!

What a b-b-o-o-o-r-r-r-i-i-n-n-g-g blog!

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Where are all the pictures?

Here are just a couple of the Bean. More to follow soon of my boys! I have a ton that are very cute that I can’t share because my little guy is in all of them. On that note, his *adoption* caseworker was supposed to be here today, but ended up running late. So, tomorrow she’ll be out and we’ll start on the next batch of paperwork. The end is near!

Happy Birthday, David!

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How did mamma’s little boy get so big so fast?

David has always been a cuddle-bug, although, lately, he just wants to wrestle with me. And, he has always been a mama’s boy. When he first came to live with us, I carried him everywhere. And, there are times I wish I could put him in my pocket and carry him with me now, too. He could help me with my spelling, he gets perfect scores nearly every week. He could provide comic relief, he’s good at that. And maybe some of his energy would rub off on me.

I can hardly believe how big he’s getting. I wrapped up a pair of shoes for him for his birthday (I don’t think he reads my blog, so I figure the secret is safe here) and I think that by next year we’ll be in the same size.

Oh, and the other really cool thing…. for the next 3 days I’m the mom of 2 3 year-olds and 2 7 year-olds 🙂

Are you ready for some football?

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Sadly, one season has ended. But, it was nice to have a playoff win for the Cowboys…

But, as in the circle of life (and equally important?), with the ending of one season, comes the beginning of another. Our older boys are now football players (well, sort of..). They started flag football this past Saturday.

Honestly, I know next to nothing about this league.

But, as I’ve learned to love the Cowboys, I’m sure I’ll also learn how to be a football mom. The mounting challenge now is how to get both boys to different places for practices at the same time in different locations (all while I’m at work–so I guess it’s really Brian’s challenge). We’ve been able to keep the boys on the same atletic teams up until this point, but I’m so glad that we started football this year. I think that had we waited, they’d be pretty far behind.

Next we’ll decide about a sport to try out for our little guy. So far he’s an expert at whining, pouting, and playing with trucks. Are those skills useful in any specific sports that you know of?

Oh, and as far as the girl child–she was very happily dressed up as Minnie Mouse this weekend as we shuffled the boys around. Are there any sports that involve makeup and dresses?