Pre-Christmas Chaos

In the few days spent before Christmas, baby's transition graduated to the "Let's see if they still love me when I'm a stinker" stage. Rules were tested to prove their steadfastness (they held true), limits were pushed and pressed to confirm their position (they remained) and naughty of all sorts was performed, all with eyes looking right at Mommy to gauge her reaction and see her response (a bit hard not to smile at those big mischivious brown eyes!). Teeth were used as weapons and only abated when a brother decided enough was enough and retaliated in kind. He seemed shocked that his brother had had enough and finally bit back!

**********

Hand-washing and getting strapped into the car seat was met with flying fists and a hollers. I know that his age has a share of the blame, but that coupled with a sudden, major move and new family left my little son struggling for control. He's beginning to settle in now, though, and we're seeing more of those gorgeous smiles as he becomes secure in his world. I know these days will come and go and that the trick with him is to not give an inch. It's so hard to put him in the corner when he's already upset and I remember all he's gone through, but I have to teach him that he can relax inside his safe boundaries. When I do, we're all happy.

That having been said, I'm just so incredibly lucky that he's here with us. Most of the time he's such a sweet and loving little guy. And the rest of the time? Well, he is almost 2 after all!

Bath time is one of their favorite times!
Daddy playing some x-box with his boys after a long day at work.
I don't know why I like this picture. I just do. After I set out their clothes for the day I stepped back and looked at them. Then I took a picture. It just makes my Mommy's heart happy.
Here's my beautiful little boy. Nana bought him this hoodie that's made out of the same type of material as his blankie. He's very bonded to his blankie and it was one of the few things that came with him from his previous home. He wears his blankie coat everywhere and it seems to soothe him.

**********

Christmas pics to come!

A Little Christmas Miracle

On a cold night about 4 years ago a pregnant Mama kitten was chucked from a car going 55 mph down Cordon Road. The family living nearest to where the kitty landed heard the "thud" and ran out to see what was going on. There lay the Mama cat, stunned and hurt. The family wrapped up the poor thing and brought her inside. Luckily her injuries weren't life threatening and no bones were broken.

**************

2 weeks later she gave birth to a littler of fluffy tabby kittens, all who were healthy and undamaged. They were avaeage-looking kittens but there was 1 who was special. After the family placed an ad in the paper I took my 2 small sons, just 18 months and 3 months old, to see the kittens. They were to be sold and the profit was to be used to spay Mama cat who had won a place in her new family's home and hearts. Little Solomon toddled over to the kennel and plucked out a kitten by it's tail. The kitten squealed and Sol dropped him in surprise. Determined to hold one of the squirmy fuzz-balls, he reached back in and found another tail. This kitten didn't mind and as a matter of fact, purred profusely at the attention it was receiving. While his Mommy chatted, Solomon drug that poor kitten all over the yard. The kitten was so forgiving and never used his claws on my baby's skin. We brought the kitty home in a laundry basket held by Solomon and named him Furgus.

***************

As you all may remember about 9 months ago Furgus mysteriously disappeared. It was a hard blow to our little boys. They had all been babies together. Furgus was so kind to them and always willing to chase string or cuddle up with a boy while he sucked his thumb. For the last 9 months one or the other of my boys would pray, "for Furgus to please come back home". Just last week I gently prompted my sons to move on. I wanted them to retire the prayer request because I felt it was best if they let go and stopped dredging up the pain for themselves. After all, there was no way the cat would be coming back.

**************

Oh, me of little faith! 2 nights ago we got a call from the Humane Society. A lady had found our cat near Silver Creek Falls in Silverton, 15 miles away. How he got there? No idea. What he's been doing all this time? Not a clue.

All we know is that he's home. And the persistence and faith of a child can cause miracles.

Merry Christmas, Furgus!

"So, how's he settling in?"

Baby continues to do really well over here.

Night time is less traumatic and he's now laying down with only a few wimpers that a back rub and soothing words will relieve. He's eating more conguently to his age and taking only 2 bottles per day. I'm almost certain that the previous placement layed him down with milk bottles which was part of our difficulty getting him to sleep. He didn't know what to do with food and had no interest in it. We were able to get him to try the Gerber cereal poofs that dissolve quickly in the mouth and once he grew accustomed to them he was more willing to try other things. Now he'll eat soft food and today was the first time I got him to eat an apple slice.

Everything is new so it's fun to watch his reactions to things like cookies and grapes! He's learning words daily and we're all learning more basic sign language.

He's just learning more every day!

Shaggy, Blondie, Curly and Spikey:

We've decided that we'll be calling our new baby Levi. Levi is a Hebrew name which means, "joined in harmony". He definitely has joined us in harmony. Except for at bedtime. There's very little harmony involved for Levi at bedtime. But, at all other times it fits very well, indeed! Here he is with his brothers and his little cousin, Brielle.

Welcome home, little son!

All I Want for Christmas is my 2 Front Teeth

This is my poor son today. He's still exhausted but sporting a (swollen) smile even though he had a horrible day yesterday. He was running around at Nana's house with Solomon as I was searching for the boys' old crib for the baby. All of a sudden there was a big "THUD" and a blood-chilling scream. I ran in to see my son's mouth gushing blood. I scurried in to get paper towels and call Micah to run over. As we opened his mouth we saw that we needed to get to the hospital immediately. Malachi had a gaping hole through his tongue and his right front tooth was MIA. It also looked like the left front tooth had broken off. He was gagging and choking on blood and screaming.

We rushed to Silverton Hospital and they saw us right away just like always (take note, those of you who go to the Salem ER). They released him later on with narcotic pain killers, slightly less bleeding and directions to go to the pediatric dentist for X-rays first thing next morning.

So, today we found out that his teeth didn't break off but were shoved back up into his jaw ( Shutter). No surgery will be needed and his jaw looks OK. His tongue will have scarring and we were given instructions of watch for symptoms of infection and keep his intake limited to cool soft food for a while (the kid deserves a few heaping bowls of ice cream anyway). As for the teeth, they expect them to descend back down to where they were all on their own but can't say exactly when.

It's amazing how quickly accidents happen. We're thanking God that he's OK today and praising Him for our wonderful little son.

Introducing.....

Our new foster/adoptive son! The State called at 8am to inquire if we interested in a permanent placement. Today. We picked him up at 4pm and he's now running around with Solomon and Malachi just like they've been brothers all along.

Isn't he just so beautiful? You should hear his laugh.

I'll not go into the specifics of his case but it looks like this little guy isn't going anywhere. The State has said that he'll stay with us and we'll move into a current care-taker adoption.

This is going to be my new problem - getting a decent picture of all 3 of them simultaneously.

PS - Name to be announced (now where did I put The List...)

Headlines, anyone?

As always, these are yanked from Jay Leno. Thanks, Jay!

"Yum."

I wonder how many folks actually responded to this ad?

Who else would pay $20 to hear this message?

Bureaucracy and irony! Who could ask for more?

And a couple of choice wedding announcements:

What better way?

Well, you gotta feed those little beasts!

Oh, this is too good. Check out the quote from the older brother!

It's good to see that someone's finally stepping up and taking care of the underprivileged population.

....and my favorite for the day:

Her name is actually Chick. Hilarious.

We Have a Committee Date!!

(drum roll please)...January 10th at 1pm! It's a Thursday. A Thursday that I'll spend wringing my hands and gulping peppermint tea to easy my nervous stomach.

Sheesh, it's like taking a pregnancy test. Except the stupid thing takes 6 weeks to give a result. And instead of peeing on a stick you put a complex family scrapbook together to be judged by a panel of caseworkers. But other than that it's just like taking a pregnancy test.

Also new news is that DHS decided to have Committee for both boys (Tristian and his brother, Eligah. And, yes, that is actually how their names are spelled). So, we would be getting 2 new sons! Our children would be aged 5, 4, 3 and 2. But, as you can see, I tend to get ahead of myself. There are 2 other families that were chosen, as well. Probably really great folks who are just as excited as we are. It so sucks that 2 families have to come away disappointed. That's the worst thing about adopting through foster care, I think. 3 great families are chosen for each case. Only 1 will win adoption rights. The other 2 either write DHS off forever or keep applying for children and get to Committee again. Our worker says that she's never seen a family go to more than 3 Committees before getting placed. I really don't want to go through this twice more but I know we won't give up. We have kids out there who need to come home to us. We will find them.

Belated Thanksgiving Pics

It's been a bit crazy around here (I'll explain next post), I'm admittedly late with posting my favorite Turkey Day moments and even later with wishing you all a blessed Thanksgiving.


But they say, "Better late than never!", so here are some of faces that truly made me thankful on Thanksgiving day:

A boy and his puppy.

Lexx watching the annual dog show that comes on after the parade. He was very concerned about what this groomer was doing to his fellow dog. And, yes, he actually did watch amazing long portions of this competition with ears perked up and eyes wide. He also made funny noises throughout which cracked us up.

These next 2 shots are my boys watching Home Alone. Remember that movie? I had forgotten how ridiculously funny it is to the under-6 population. They laughed their little heads off and I got just as much entertainment by watching them giggle.

The Name Game

We've been playing the name game around here. With the impending Committee date (which our worker assures us is soon) it's beginning to sink in that we may soon have another son (or 2). Now, the question: Tristian is 3 years old. Do we change his name? Our first line of business is to assess if we like the name itself and if it goes well with our other children's'. Nope. Then we move on to the meaning of the name. Do we like it's meaning? "Cry of sorrow". Absolutely not.

So, we've now established that the name is going. I was considering leaving it in, but the whole, "cry of sorrow" thing has me anxious to get it off him.
Now, to The List. The List has been around for ages (the first names on the list were put there by our teen aged selves). The List holds some of the coolest names on the planet, if I do say so myself. Names laying in wait for our children to claim, giving them one of the aforementioned coolest names on the planet. These names are carefully chosen not only for the name itself but for symbolism and meaning. Most are Hebrew.

So! To The List, then! We hold his picture next to The List and begin.
We eventually reach the end of The List. Our potential son still smiling back at us from his spot on the Waiting Children Bulletin. He's not on The List. None of the coolest names on the planet are his. I can't understand this! Surely one of these must suit him! Can we make one fit?
Nope.
None of them are this child.

After days of consternation a few arguments we came across a name that we had never considered before. We hadn't even really liked the name until now, but...it seems right. It sounds different than it ever did before. I went to get his picture and was surprised at the rightness of it. How can you argue with who your (potential) child is? We just looked at his smiling face and said, "Well, look at that. That's him, alright. That's who he is. Huh."

It's a good name and it continues to grow on us as we look up it's meaning.....Yes, that's who he is! It's perfect. Absolutely perfect. That's his name....
one of the coolest names on the planet.

Lexx Gets a Buz

From Mommy: My dog is so strange. He'll be quietly watching the boys play in their room, just laying on the bed. Suddenly something catches hold of him, we don't know what, and he'll explode off the bed and grab one of the boys' favorite possessions. The targeted boy will pop up and pursue the dog who usually takes several laps around the house flying off furniture and skidding across the laminate floors before bursting out the dog door. At this point the boy runs to the sliding door and stares at Lexx, eyebrows knitted together. Lexx stares right back with with the stolen treasure wedged in his mouth. And they stare at one another. The boy may laugh, or in the case of torrential rain, boy may grumble. Finally the boy will find his boots and run outside to reclaim what's rightfully his. By this time the remaining members of the family are there at the door, cheering them both on. Finally Lexx tires and the boy takes his item back into the house. The dog trails after, finds a comfy spot to lay and resumes passively watching both boys play.

Pomeranians are weird.

Another Gold Start Moment...

Mommy: "Solomon, here's your worksheet. The directions say, 'Billy is at the park! Color the things in the picture that rhyme with rat. Then think of another word which rhymes with rat and draw it into the picture.'"

A few minutes later...

Solomon: "Here, Mom, I'm done."

Mommy: "OK, let's see. I see you colored a mat, a cat, a hat and a bat. Real nice! Now, I don't see what you drew, though. Remember, you were supposed to add something into the picture that rhymes with rat, as well?"

Solomon: "Right there - on the boy's arm!"

Mommy: "Oh, uh.... what is that?"

Solomon: "A tat."

Same day, different kid:

Mommy: "E says eh, eh, eh! Like..."

Malachi: "eh-eh-elephant!!"

Mommy: "Good! Can you think of anything else that has the 'eh' sound?"

Malachi: "What the... h-eh-eh-eck!"

Oh, Happy Day!!

While unloading groceries from the van this morning I noticed my eldest open the door and proceed to heave a rather large bag out and into the house. I was proud. I noted to myself what a big boy I had. How quickly he was growing.

Later on, having finished school time, I moved through the house taking care of the unappreciated little things that need done. As I was putting up a new toilet paper ("how hard is it to do this, my men? Seriously! It's like they would rather wipe with their hand than put up a new roll.") I noticed that the trash needed taken out. Again. Sigh ("where does all this garbage come from, anyway? It, like, accumulates exponentially out of nowhere. Nowhere!"). Now, of all the irksome household chores, garbage duty is waaaay high on my list. I just don't like doing it. It's not time consuming or horribly messy or strenuous. I just don't like it. I'd rather do almost any other chore. Now, as I was standing there I suddenly had an epiphany: Ohmigosh! Solomon! I can make Solomon do it!! Oh. This was just way too sweet. I called my kiddo into the bathroom and, in one of those moments a parent will never forget, joyfully explained to my son that he was inheriting garbage duty.

I'm rid of the thing for a good 14 years to come.

And after that we'll just have to have more kids.

Solomon: "Sure smells bad."

(Evil) Mommy: "Yeah? Wait 'till Thursday. This bag will smell like roses compared to the ones with Brielle's diapers in them."

Solomon: "Ugh!"

(Evil) Mommy: Insert diabolical laugh.

Another Call for Committee!!

Well, our adoption worker called to let us know that our family was 1 of 3 chosen to go to Committee for a little guy named Tristian!! Also, Tristian's little brother may be placed with the "winning" family. He isn't quite legally free at this time, though. A high-risk placement may be needed for him so he can stay with Tristian until all the legal stuff going on with his case is resolved. At that time he may be adoptable and able to stay permanently with Tristain in the adoptive home, or he may be moved to another resource within his biological family. Our worker said that Committee will be held around December.

Please pray for guidance for the Committee who will decide the fate of these 2 darling boys. Again we find ourselves in the place of wanting God's will, but we're feeling our will pushing in. They're just really cute kiddos. We have their pictures here, and it would be nice to see those smiles in person! We'll keep y'all posted...

Oh, and we still haven't heard when we go to Committee for little Michael. After a family wins Committee for a child, they must withdraw their name for any other children they applied for. So, if we win Committee for Tristian, we're ineligible for Michael, and vise-verse. It will be interesting to see whose Committee date comes up first, eh?

I'd just assume have both of them, but I guess that wouldn't be fair to the other waiting families.

Bummer ;)

Maybe we've been watching too many Jet Li movies?

SUBTITLES: I am Ninja! I run crazy through village and yell to bring fears to my hidden adversaries! My enemies shall now cry with tears of defeat and shame! All will know me! I will bring honor for my father with my skill and cunning!


SUBTITLES: Behold my hidden weapon! It holds power of life and of death! It holds many victory for me! Brings many annoyance to brother who is older but less skilled!

Cousins

Happy Birthday, Ava!

From Solomon: Yesterday we celebrated our friend Ava Lily's second birthday at Bauman Farms!

Ava opened a new winter hat and matching gloves and put them on straight away. Then she opened our package, a stroller and a baby, and immediately set off toward the gardens sporting her new accessories and pushing her new charge through the scenery. It was very cute. Mommy fixed the picture to look like an oil painting: After the pinata and cake, us big boys and our daddies went off to tackle the 4 acre corn maze. Half way through, a corn battle spontaniously broke out between the boys and the daddies who had taken different routs within the maze. Ears were flying back and forth overtop of the field and smacking not only members of our group but some unsuspecting teenagers completely unknown to us. The lot of us hid close to the ground and stifled laughes as we heard the surprised grunts, gasps and groans of perplexed victims who had intercepted our ammo. Things eventually evolved into a full-scale corn war as the teenagers took their revenge. By the time we emerged, out of breath from laughing, some of us (namely poor Ocean) were bruised and a bit bloody but the war had been won.

Caspian and me enjoying the battle from atop the bridge.

Kai taking cover.

Zion and me watching the action!

Cayman, Me, Malachi and Zion.

BFF!

Playing in the corn husk!

Amanda and Zion burying Caspian.

"Bombs away!!"

"Gotcha!"

Secrets & mischief...

The handsome daddies.

The beautiful Lunde and Lewis kiddos getting ready to call it a (big) day.

Good times. Good, good times.