Mailbox Fun

** This morning I woke up and found a sweet little note in the shape of a heart made out of graph paper. Cracked me up a bit....Jeremy and his graph paper!! So fun though. **

Target has these cute little mailboxes in the dollar bin along with the sticky letters. I actually planned ahead when I anticipated a snow day a couple of weeks ago and had these ready to decorate. It started out just three (one for J, C and A). I felt bad that B didn't have one even though he can't eat the treats or read so I picked up one for him and decided we can still write notes to him and put them in his little memory book. Well, it was so much fun I decided I wanted one and wanted to get Jeremy one too. So we had six!

Then......the neighbor boy came over and he said, "Where's mine??" OOPS. I acted like I had one for him all along and sent Jeremy on a quick run to Target. I love him and all the stuff he does for me like this. He ran to Target and got a box and extra treats and another thing of letters and now the neighbor boy has a box. I'm sure he will be here to get his treats too!!

I have been thinking a lot about what I want my kids to remember. Sometimes we have big expectations for little people. I want them to know that they are LOVED just because of who they are!! My goal is to leave them little notes that tell them different things that I love about who they are not things they do.

It has been fun to get special notes, hearts, and artwork in my box. Cara is especially into this!! She's a sweetie. Jeremy left me a snowball last night...I was hoping for some candy :).

While We are Talking about Cara...

In case you were wondering, Cara was delighted with her pillow and the $5 she found in it. We give $5 for the first tooth. She did say right away that her pillow did not have a ribbon to hang it on the door like Jake's. I offered to help the tooth fairy out and fix it. She was pleased with that.

From time to time Cara has a hard time going to school. We have to circle the drop off line because she gets nervous and won't get out of the car. It's frustrating because she really loves school and is FINE once she is in the room.  She had a rough time the week after Christmas and vacation.

Today she got in the car and said, "This was the best day ever."

"No crying and I walked in all by myself."

I said, "No way..."

She said, "WAYYYYY!!" and she tilted her head and smiled and sounded like she was a teenager.

Oh my.

Exciting News

Cara lost her first tooth this morning!! She is so excited and has been putting stuff through the hole all day. For example...her straw, an m&M, her tongue. Jake said, "Cara, the first time you lose a tooth the tooth fairy brings you a pillow and it will say Cara's tooth pillow." SOOOOOOOO.......I whipped this up after she went to bed. The pressure of being the tooth fairy!! Actually, I whipped up the pillow and Jeremy got to fill it because he always wants to do the fun part.

 

Am I the only one who loves being the tooth fairy this much??!! Get me some wings please :)!

So Proud of Little B

B and I headed to Children's today for his appointment with the Developmental Clinic. The first doctor we saw was the doctor who had taken care of him when he was in the NICU after birth. I knew when they told me who would be seeing him I recognized that name. When he walked in he had a big smile on his face and said, "I know you" to B. He remembered him, maybe because his name is not all that common. He was just so happy the entire appointment to see that he is loved like crazy, bonded to me (because baby's need to bond to someone early on even if they don't stay), and developmentally on track. He felt there was no need at all for any services. He was so, so nice. He spent a lot of time talking to me and asked me "what made you do this. What moment did decide you would foster." He was genuinely trying to understand why I would risk the heartache.

I thanked him for taking such good care of him and told him how much that means to me. These babies that some think are going to have lifelong issues (just from spending time in foster care) are precious to someone. B is precious to me and to so many others who are loving him.

Believe me when I say we have had some recent days when we have said, "what were we thinking." We have wondered if all the stuff we have said is really what we believe. I can say....it is. It is SO, SO hard to think that he might be going away soon. It is really breaking my heart in two, but I am so very thankful for the time we have been given with this amazing little boy. He does not have bad days. He is a delightful, sweet, laid back little guy who just lights up the room with his smile. I especially love his closed lip smile that he often saves just for me :)!

These hard days are helping me to learn that life is just difficut, but if we are intentional about looking for the good things, we will find them. I am reminded of the verse that says, "joy comes in the morning." It does. Sometimes we have to look really hard and sometimes I have to drag my bootie out of bed to find it (or as I often say, pray myself out of bed). It is there. Yesterday I found joy in two people who brought me a Diet Coke. Today, I found joy in getting to meet this doctor. I know it sounds small, but it was HUGE to me. I found joy in B clapping for himself. I love it!!! I found joy in Abby putting makeup all over my face and then looking in the mirror and realizing that she had made me into a cat, but as she puts it, "a nice cat, Mommy." Oh.......I love 4!!! She is so fun. I found joy in Cara reading me a whole book. I found joy in Jake telling me that his teacher told him that his Ninja lego guy had a good weapon...the sword of the spirit!!! Seriously....a good weapon.

My goal this week is to really be aware of the good things going on all around me. There really are so many.

Tampa 2011

It has taken me many days to get back in the swing of things since vacation. I am still feeling a little behind, but getting caught up.

Vacation this year was in Tampa instead of Orlando. We stayed in a very nice hotel with a super warm swimming pool and a wonderful hot tub. This was a big plus because the weather was not very hot. It was warmer than here though, so no complaining.

Sweet Little B is just so happy to be along :). He loves being with the kids and is such a good sport. They just carry him all over and he almost always has a smile on his face.

We spent a day and a half at Busch Gardens. The kids LOVED the bird house. You could buy some yummy juice to take in for $5 a cup and the birds would land right on your head or arm to drink it up. Jake especially loved this. He is sooooo into animals, reptiles and birds right now. Another highlight was the safari train ride. I don't know that I've ever seen animals that close. They were much closer than the zoo.

We also went to a fun place where the kids could feed and hold alligators. They thought this was very exciting.

The beach was lots of fun as well. The kids don't seem to mind the chilly water and love to play in the sand. So much fun!!

Thanks Dad and Mom for another great trip. 

Blog Break is OVER

I needed a break and some time to think about what to do to make this blog a little more private. Still working that out. It was nice to know that a few people actually read it :)

Here are some things I am happy about today -

1. Having my husband all to ourselves for 6 days!!!

2. Playing with my little people with very few distractions!!

3. Hearing them laugh and be happy loud :)!  Even though I will admit I get a little high strung at times about just how loud we can get. There are a lot of us, but I don't think the entire hotel needs to know!!

4. Watching the baby boy love, love, love the pool and beach. It sounds silly, but it still amazes me and touches my heart to see how God can put a little guy into a home and he can fit right in. I absolutely LOVE seeing my children, husband, and extended family love on him unconditionally. It is awesome. We are so thankful he could travel with us.

5. My FLIP video camera obsessed husband. He is making up for lost time. Makes me feel like I have to do my hair and put make-up on b/c he's constantly pulling that camera out :)! And watch what I say! Seriously, he's taken 19 videos in a day and a half. I love him for it though.

6. My Mom who plans our trips....I always hesitate but she always convinces me and I'm always glad.

7. My blackberry - - I know that's bad, but it really is a fun little thing to have. I am not a phone person anymore. I just can't balance kids in the background and trying to pay attention. I probably have a bit of ADD, but it is very hard for me to focus when I am on the phone and I have four little people who need something. I do love to text, send pics and email.

8. Abby sharing my love of all things peanut butter. She just came over to me and said, "mommy, if you dip popcorn in peanut butter, it is really good. Try it." She is right...it is really good.

9. I love that my 6 year old brought her cheetah print purse full of make-up and she wants to paint my nails.

10. I should have a ten. It would be strange to end at nine........so, I also love the book I read called, "Feather's From my Nest" by Beth Moore. I bought it on my kindle (which I also love).

And, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this picture and the two boys in it!!!

Fun Christmas Family Time

We are trying to be intentional this Christmas season about doing things together and making memories. Maybe it's because the last few years I felt disappointed that we didn't do more because I took orders up until a couple days before Christmas. Maybe it's because we have B. I don't know why, but we feel like giving him lots of experiences even though he won't remember...at least we can put pictures in his book.

Today we took all the kids to see Santa. The big three aren't into this. They get a little nervous. B enjoyed it, but did end up crying at the end. We got a good picture to send his birthmom and that's what I was going for. I figured she probably would have taken him.

When we got home we made Gingerbread houses together. That was very fun. Jeremy, as usual, was into this and took over. I got to take pictures. The kids really enjoyed eating while they worked :)!

We played a couple new games I bought for Christmas gifts but decided to open early. We watched a movie together and just had a fun day!

 Abby is all about a week long birthday celebration!! So funny :)

 These two - - I just love them!! They have such a special bond going on. 

Jake loves B so much and takes good care of him. B loves Jake and always happy to be carried around.