Random Pics and Stuff

OK, here are some of my fave pictures this past couple of weeks! The ones of Levi sleeping in head-slap position and the dog on the computer were on the camera when I uploaded. Micah must have taken them. Cracks me up.

So, I'm back from a long weekend at the coast with my fellow homeschool moms. All year long I look forward to our retreat. We shop at the outlet mall, play games, SLEEP, soak in the hot tub and talk. A fellow homeschool mom whose kiddos are nearly grown (and used to own a pizza restaurant) volunteers to cook us foods that our kids wouldn't dream of eating, like chicken pesto & mushroom pizza and broccoli-cheddar quiche. She's such a blessing to the moms who have wee ones and need a break!
This was the first year that I went to the outlet mall with a list of girl items our household needed such a headbands, tights and a few springtime shirts. Aaaaaah, so fun!


Nana volunteered to keep Rosie so Micah wouldn't be overwhelmed and everybody enjoyed their weekend. My hubby decided to take the boys to an Agricultural Festival and said, "I just kept counting to 4 over and over..." It CAN be a challenge having 4 little guys who are going in 4 different directions! But Daddy made sure they all rode a pony, saw a sheep being sheered, did lots of hands-on activities and got a souvenir. And, my favorite part....he came home with all 4 boys :) The pic with Malachi and his cat was taken while I was away - apparently my spot in bed was up for grabs.



Also, Rosie had a consultation for her little heart. I can't remember if I already wrote about this, but we found out that 2 siblings have severe heart defects and have had several open heart surgeries each. The docs decided that her EKG isn't worrisome at this point, but she may need to see a specialist, so they'll continue to keep an eye on that. Other than that, she's 100th percentile for weight and 50th for height and is doing well. I picked up a few things for her room, as well. I don't want to commit to a girlie nursery, but sleeping her in a Noah's Ark room is bothering me (oh, what truly important problems this American mom has, right?) so I found a way to use the blue and brown colors and got her a new crib set from Craigslist. I'll add a few accessories and call it good. Pics to come, of course :)



And, thank you all for the gentle and encouraging replies to my last post. Every one was so very appreciated, that you would have such confidence in me!
And, Jill, are you on Facebook or anything, girl? I keep losing track of you and I think of your family often! It's so funny, but when you've followed a blog through the challenges of the foster care system and adoption, you begin to see these ladies as fellow warriors and friends. My hubs calls them, "my wife's imaginary friends". But, ladies, we're in this special little sub-category of parenting together and it's priceless knowing that I'm not alone. Someday I know I'll meet most of you, even if it's after our journey here on earth is complete. Or when we retire and have an itch to travel in our pimped-out Winnebago.....

Quit Faking It

Alrighty. It Spews Forth inspired me with a very real, no nonsense post about real stuff. I'm going to follow her lead.
So, Rosie's Dad got out of prison. He's having bi-weekly visits with mom now. I asked if Dad was being considered as a possible placement. DHS said no. So far there has been nobody to step up for this child. Which leaves us. Only one problem: Rosie is a girl. We ALWAYS lose our girls. I had decided that we were a strictly boy household. Obviously she won't be staying. Our girls never do. Right?
OK, for the first several years we were open to either gender. All our girls left. Then we were blessed with a beautiful boy, our Levi. Who stayed. Then we opted to only accept boy placements. 5 months later we were blessed with our boy, Zephaniah. It seems to be in the stars.
Even when I called the breeder I had chosen to buy my Pomeranian. Only pup left was a boy. Malachi recently adopted a Guinea Pig. He decided on a girl and chose a pig from the female enclosure. We get the thing home and discover it's obviously a boy. Both cats? Boys. Same with our rabbit. There were 2 from which to choose, a male and a female. I chose the female. We got home and, come to find out, there was a mix-up. We had come home with.....the boy.
Over and over and over this happens. And I adore my boys, but I don't think I've given myself a chance to develop the desire for a girl. After Rayna left I constructed a sturdy wall against baby girls. They're cute, but not for this family. And I let my love for my boys absolutely take over and turn into a passion that hid any hint of a desire for a daughter. Eventually I may have to do something about this wall. IF this case evolves to look like she may be forever.
But I'm looking into the blue eyes of this beautiful baby girl with much speculation. Could I raise a girl successfully? It scares the pee out of me. I remember how I was as a teen, so emotional. Crushes on boys and crying when I started my period on my 10th birthday (sorry, TMI), lip-stick rules and rebellion and battles over too-short skirts and talking on the phone for hours at a time. It makes me tired just thinking about it.
I'd much rather deal with stupid pranks (embarrassing confession: I LOVE the Jack Ass movie and, although he has a potty-mouth, I find Bam Margera charming and funny) and wrestling and wet dreams and skateboards. I have a well-thought-out plan for those! I'm good! I know how to raise boys and seem to be good at it. And my hubby is the martial arts dude who loves camping and paintball and all things manly. What in the world was I thinking when I accepted this placement?!? She'll be doomed to grow up with a intimidated mom and a Dad that has no clue!!
So, that's my "Real" post. I will let you know if I have any epiphanies. Until then, I'm just loving this little baby who has stolen my heart against my will and is hard at work chipping away at my big ol' wall.

Visiting the Tulips

Rosie:
























Solomon:

























Malachi:

























Levi:

























......and Zephan. Sigh.

























He is The One. The One who will bring my gray hair. The One who puts my stomach in knots near bodies of water. The One who causes the most mischief. The One who tests me. The One who drives me to my knees in prayer, "Lord, give me wisdom!". The One who manages to find my buttons. The One who makes me shake my head in amazement at his antics.
He's also The One who can melt my heart with a look. The one who causes me to belly laugh. The One who says, "Mommy! I missed you when I sleep!" The One who has an infectious giggle. The One who keeps me flexible. The One who likes to be rocked. The One with a killer sense of humor. The One who wrings his little hands and looks worried when Rosie cries.
He will be The One. The One who's a really big man. The One who's fiercely protective of his family. The One who has an amazing testimony. The One who's boisterous laugh reaches the sky. The One who leads his family with faith and commitment and compassion. The One who will reach the hurting for Christ. The One who will STILL be a mama's boy. The One who can reach the person that no one else can. The One whose smile will light up the whole room. The One I tell unbelievable stories about to his kids. He will be a great man.
The One I loved, love and will love. My boy.

Birthdays, Hospitals, Easter and Pneumonia

Sorry it's been a while! Things have been...eventful. Shortly after my last post (on Solomon's birthday, actually) Rosie began to be fussy and drink less of her milk. Now, if you know Rosie, you know 2 things about her: 1. She's not fussy, 2. She loves her groceries. By the end of Sol's birthday party she was running a temp. I tucked in my birthday boy and his brothers and we were off to the ER for what I was sure would be an in-and-out appointment just to ease my conscience. By the time we got there, she was at 101 degrees. Because of her hazy medical history, they decided to admit her. She had an IV put in, urine samples, an RSV test and even a spinal tap. By 3:00am we were both exhausted and fell asleep in our room. We were there for 3 more days and, ultimately all the tests came back negative. It was just a nasty virus. The one complication (other than Daddy unexpectedly having the boys by himself for a while) was that I was exposed to and contracted Bacterial Pneumonia. This TOOK. ME. OUT. folks (I'm still on antibiotics and hacking up blood).
Not to mention, in the middle of all of that, we all (except Zephan) got a fantastic stomach bug. Our Spring Break was filled with coughing and puking and fevers. I was so lucky that Nana took one look at us and packed Rosie an overnight bag and took her home. She even took days off work to keep our delicate girl away from all those yucky germs so she wouldn't have to go back to the hospital.
In other news, Rosie is now sleeping through the night!! WOOT!! She's recovered nicely and I've just cleaned out her drawer of all the 3-6 months clothes. It's all 6-9 months for my little 2-month-old! Dad had criminal court on April 1st, but I've yet to hear what happened there. There's a Family Court Hearing this Thursday and I'll probably get the scoop then. So far, Mom is making all of her visits but DHS isn't willing to place Rosie with her as she's, "Low functioning with an IQ of 59." So far, maternal grandma has come forward as a resource, and they're considering placing Rosie in her home with Rosie's mom living there, as well. But Mom would have to have some sort of "wrap-around support system in the home in order to place with Mom". We don't know that Grandma is up for this magnitude of a commitment, since it would be an 18-year arrangement to caring for both Rosie and her Mom. I'm also wondering where she was during the open cases of Rosie's 3 older siblings who are now adopted?
As far as we know, Dad will be serving some time "for thuggish-type crimes". I'm wondering what he was doing with Rosie's mom, seeing as she's obviously developmentally delayed to a fair degree. His parents are estranged and really didn't raise him, so it doesn't look like they'd be a resource for this case. I could really see this case going either way, but feel sympathy for Rosie's Mom and wouldn't mind working with her in the future.
Easter was fun for us all! I got all the boys in shirts and ties (the above pic is the best one we got, even though Malachi looks like he's about to puke and the littles look feral). There was a surprise baptism at church, a teen-aged girl who we usually sit in front of. Her grandparents are real sweethearts and they were so proud. Grandpa wanted to baptize her himself and our pastor was pleased. Grandpa and Grandma cried as their Granddaughter professed her faith. It was beautiful. Afterward Nana made a whole lunch spread with baskets for the Grandkids from "The Nana Bunny".
Rosie's first portrait session is coming up now that she's smiling and cooing up a storm. She looked so pretty on Easter with her little dress and tights and I even found a newborn bracelet with pink pearls for her tiny arm! So fun!
Well, I better get some schoolwork done with the boys. Our virtual school called with concerns that Sol & Kai are finishing the school year early. They want the boys to slow down even though they enjoy their work and make their way through it quickly. This is leading us to a schooling change for next year. They need something they can truly go their own pace and something accelerated. I'm thinking of the ACE system. We'll see....