Saying "Farewell" to our summer vacation

I am so sorry I have not posted in awhile. I have been pretty anxious about all that is going on in my life, and I have not felt like sharing my worries just yet:) However, this coming week is my last week off and my anxieties are starting to seem small and pointless. I just wish that I could get over my "NEED" to worry and give it to God. That is, after all, the best way to go. I just have a major weakness in this particular area. I was watching an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition last night, and I had to kick myself for all the little stuff I worry about. There are so many families out there who have less than we do...who have more reason to worry than I do. After this particular episode, I was able to really sit down and see the many things God has given me and my family throughout this year. Surely He will continue to provide!

Moving on to more exciting things...I hope you all like my new blog design. I was so excited about figuring out how to change my background that I had to do it several times before I was happy. Its been fun though...my trying to be artistic and all. I was not blessed with extreme talent in this area;)

Also, I have next week off. I have a kind of sadness/excitement when I look towards this week off. Sad because its my last week off before starting the wonderful August through November stretch with nearly no breaks. Excited because I get to spend another great week with my wonderful kids. They, of course, have no idea that this is our last week off or that summer is almost over. Kids have that advantage of just loving life no matter what! I wish that I could somehow get across to them that being a kid is truly something to be happy about. My Miracle can't wait till she is all grown up. Oh well, I never listened to my mom when she said to enjoy it either! I guess we all did that....wished away our childhood and then want it back when times get tough!

We have nothing but fun things planned for next week aside from my unpleasant appointment to see the dentist. I have a tooth that is really bothering me. I hope it is just a cavity and can be fixed on a low budget:) Aside from the dentist apt, we are just going to have fun. I will be cleaning and getting my house ready for a long stretch of 'quick cleans' as I so fondly call them. You know...the ones where you just hurry up and put stuff away and cannot find the energy to dig deep and scrub down everything? I figure if I get everything scrubbed down now...I wont have to stress too much about my 'quick cleans' knowing that the underneath is not too bad:) One thing I can be so happy about is...I HAVE NO MORE CLASSES TO TAKE!!! This is truly an accomplishment in my book. For the last two years, I have been taking classes, taking care of kids, teaching full time, taking care of kids, taking care of my house, taking care of kids, cooking healthy dinners, and taking care of kids:) Please don't get me wrong...I have loved taking care of my kids and all of the other craziness of the past few years. However, I am plenty ready to be able to enjoy my kids a little more...and enjoy my job a little more!

OK...I have to end this hodge -podge of crazy thoughts so that I can get some much needed 'quick cleaning' done right now! I hope you all are enjoying your days with your loved ones and not worrying them away like I tend to do. I like to remember one of my favorite old hymns that has a line that goes like this: "oh, what peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear. All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer".

changes

Ok. As you can see I have been trying to figure out how to remodel my blog. I have tried several different backgrounds and am still not completely satisfied with this one. Keep in touch for the finished product....

This is a little poem given to me by a fellow adoptive parent. I love my girl so much and this explains most of my thoughts and feeling towards the many thoughts and questions directed my way throughout this entire process.....


Yes, I have adopted from foster care.

"Please...Don't assume that I could not become a parent in any other way- or wanted to become a parent in any other way. This was my choice and I am pleased with it.

Don't ask if I plan to have any "real" children. This one IS real: I have crayon marks on my wall, little muddy footprints on the carpet and lots of hugs and kisses to prove it.

Don't ask about her "real" parents. A real parent is there through thick and thin. I AM her real mother and will be for the rest of her life; she just wasn't born to me.

Don't ask why she was in foster care. Some people do very terrible things to children and Social Services must intervene. These details are private and for my child to share. If you are a medical professional, realize that she CAN hear and let me tell you some things out of ear shot.

Don't ever think she did something wrong to end up in foster care. She was a victim.

Don't ask if her birth parents were punished. If I know, I will only answer "yes, that they lost her".Don't feel sorry for her. SHe does not need your pity. Just treat her like any other kid.

Don't call her birth parents horrible. She may look just like one or have the personality of the other. I love my child and she came from them. I do not like what they did, but I am happy for what I have.

Don't tell me how lucky she is to have been adopted by me. I am the lucky one to have her.

Don't call me noble or kind since I have "taken her in". She is not a stray puppy or a charity case. I became a parent for the same reasons most other people do- I wanted a child.

Don't compare her progress to other children her age at this time. She did not have the best start. She is catching up and working hard. I have only had her a short time.

Don't jokingly ask if she will go home with you. Realize that she is actually afraid that you might take her away. Remember I was a stranger to her a year ago.

Don't ask about her baby pictures or toddler years. I don't have any pictures or memories. The only details I know of those years relate to her arrival in foster care.

Do congratulate me. The happiest day I've had is becoming her mother.

Do realize that we are a "REAL" family. My name is on her birth certificate and she is mine.

Do throw a baby shower if you want to. Yes, she's five, but she's my baby and I would like to celebrate.

Do listen to my stories about her. I am as proud of her progress as you are about your kids.

Do talk to her and treat her like every other kid.

Do talk to me and treat me like every other parent.

Don't tell me that you could never do what I've done.

Have you NEVER truly love ANYONE who was not blood related to you? Remember, a marriage is more important than the wedding and raising a child is more important than how she arrived."

- Jean Williams, proud mother.

My baby boy is growing up!

This is a super cute picture I took on my phone tonight. My husband would kill me for posting this...but I just couldn't resist. (btw: my hubby does have shorts on...just in case you could not see them:) Josh really likes to get on the computer and enjoy u-tube videos. Well, he decided to do this tonight while dinner was cooking. JJ was stripped down to his diaper because he wanted to take a bath. Let me rephrase that. He was BEGGING to take a bath. With it being stormy outside, his constant begging to play outside never won out so he decided a bath would be fun. He figured that if he stripped for me, I would give in. It was too cute! Anyway...Josh was on the computer, and JJ decided to climb up with his favorite horsey and enjoy computer time with daddy. Cute isn't it?

I am so very 'befuddled' these days. JJ is still my baby, and yet he is getting so grown up. Being around his sister all the time is not helping to keep him a baby! He can now climb out of his crib with the mattress all the way lowered and the bar all the way up. He is starting to sit on his little potty every now and then to get used to the idea of potty training. He is no longer in a high chair. He can drink with almost no spilling out of a big boy cup. He says "love you". Thankfully he still likes to cuddle with mommy now and then. The scary thing is that my cuddle times are getting shorter and shorter. I am so happy to see him growing up...but I want him to slow down a bit!

Tonight we were looking at pictures on the computer to distract JJ from wanting to go outside. He was laughing at every one and excitedly yelling out 'JOSH' every time he saw daddy in a photo. (JJ calls daddy Josh. We have been working on this for awhile now. He does call him daddy most of the time now...but still prefers Josh sometimes:) He loves that man to pieces!

As JJ gets older, his little attitude comes out more and more. It's so hard to discipline every 2 minutes. I have to keep reminding myself of something my co-worker Wendy shared with me when JJ was first born. I was telling her about how sweet he was and how I couldn't imagine ever having to yell at him. She agreed that it would be hard, but she told me to ask myself this: are you raising a little boy or a man? This helps a lot. I have to remember that all of the 'No's' will pay off. Raising this little boy is already overwhelming at times. However, its the best experience ever, and when he is all grown up and on his own...I want to be able to say I raised a nice young man:)

Update on summer fun:)

We are still alive and enjoying our summer to the fullest! The other night, we had spaghetti for dinner. JJ loves this meal but decided he was way more interested in playing peek a boo with his bib than eating. It was too cute!

After dinner, we decided to spend some time outside with the kids. They enjoyed playing ball together and posing for pictures:) Our dog Jezzi also decided to enter the photo op as you can see in the together picture below:)

This morning we decided to take the kids to a little beach near Clemson. It was really fun. Miracle loves the water and enjoyed swimming with daddy. JJ, on the other hand, isn't too sure about the water these days. He decided he would rather play on the slides. We all had a nice time!

Here are some pictures from our trip to Michigan.

Here is Miracle trying to sleep during our long trip up, and JJ trying to look like Daddy.

Here is JJ after deciding to drink ice cold water from an outside fountain. He decided he did not like it:)
Happy Birthday Miracle:)

Josh and I with his sister and brother.

Pile Up! All the cousins on Josh's side having some fun with Uncle Bubba a.k.a. my hubby!

God answers prayers...even mine!

We are home! We have actually been home for a few days now...but I needed some time to catch up before paying any attention to my seldom read blog:) We had a wonderful time with our families, but it was time to come home--or at least the kids thought so! I could have stayed another few weeks, but JJ wouldn't sleep and Miracle was getting super crabby from too much play time with cousins. Our trip to Michigan was a nightmare. JJ started to break out in some sort of rash. He would not eat or sleep. He never ran a fever so I was totally perplexed. I am assuming it was hand, foot, and mouth disease. I probably missed the slight fever earlier in the week. He had some sores on the top of his mouth and a red rash on his body. I wanted to run straight to the ER but held back knowing how expensive an out of town visit could be. I decided to wait a few days until a pediatrician was open. After a few days of EXTREMELY fussy baby...the rash disappeared. After dealing with this for the first part of our vacation, we almost had to return to SC early because of some trouble with our dogs. Thankfully that worked itself out. The weather was pretty chilly (completely out of season even for MI), but we managed to enjoy ourselves anyway. Miracle had a great 5th birday and has decided she wants to move to MI. After our 13 hour trip home on Monday, we stopped at Little Ceasars to get a cheap pizza for dinner. This is when Miracle asked me if we could go back to MI after we went home and ate pizza. It was too cute:)

Though our vacation was a blast, there were two things weighing on my mind the entire time. The rising gas prices and our upcoming car taxes. They were almost $500 dollars last year! Well I decided to just quite worrying about it and let God have the burden. When we got into SC gas had dropped 15 cents and is still dropping. To make things even better, my car taxes are less than half of what they were last year. PRAISE THE LORD! It is so nice to know that God is watching out for my little family!

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