Friday Quick Takes (31)

 

--- 1 ---

I just can't take enough pictures of these two.

 

 

 

--- 2 ---

I think we can officially say Anna is potty trained.  She did fantastic while we were gone last weekend and didn't have any accidents in the car.  She only had like one the rest of the weekend.  So far this week, she's been pretty much accident free!  She's now telling us when she needs to go and she throws a fit when I have to put a diaper on her for naptime or bedtime (usually she wears a cloth trainer, but when they're in the wash, she has to wear a diaper).  It took about a month, but at 18 months, I'll take it!  She knows how to hold it for a long time and we can now go out and about with just underwear and without 8 extra outfits! 

 

--- 3 ---

I started my new "job" this week.  I have a 2 month old that I'm watching.  I was a little apprehensive as to how Anna would do with another baby in the house.  I shouldn't have worried.  She LOVES him.  She wants to hold him all day long and has been so good.  She's been so much better at playing independently and following directions when I give them to her.  This is going to work out well.  And Anthony will have a little buddy his age to play with! 

 

--- 4 ---

We went to the pumpkin farm twice this week.  The first time, we only lasted a few minutes, Anna was having meltdown issues that day...  The second time we went she had a blast.  She could spend all day in the payhouses and on the jumping pillow.  We have passes for the season, we can't wait to go out there all the time!

 

 

--- 5 ---

Anna's a little baby obsessed lately.  She especially loves her cousin Cecelia.  Here's a fun picture of all the cousins!

 

 

--- 6 ---

 I had a really wonderful  birthday yesterday.  It was relaxing, we didn't really do much, but Jeremy cooked dinner and cleaned up after and that was enough for me :-).  And celebrating with these two crazies is just so fun.

 

--- 7 ---

Anna loves to wear her giraffe around the house.  I find it completely adorable.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

27

Today is my 27th birthday!

I've always loved birthdays.  This year is no exception.  And now I have 2 more reasons to love birthdays.  I LOVE being woken up on my birthday by a little boy blowing raspberries and a little girl singing "Row Row Row Da Bow" in their rooms.  I got sweet hugs first thing and I've received endless hugs and kisses all day.  It's not much different than any other day, but looking back over this past year in my life, it's all different.

I am so blessed to have 2 beautiful children at 27 years old.  I'm blessed to have a wonderful husband of 4 years who I can't wait to grow old with.  I'm blessed to have such wonderful extended family with both my family and inlaws.  I'm blessed to have a new beautiful niece who can grow up with my own children.  I'm blessed to have an adorable Godson who will be one a week from today, Happy Early Birthday Theodore!  And I'm blessed to have a birthday buddy who is one year old today, Happy Birthday Matthias!

Last year I got the most wonderful birthday gift, Anna's Adoption Day.  So Happy Adoption Day (yesterday) to my Anna, you're the most precious gift we could ever ask for.  And hopefully soon we'll have a court date for Anthony's Adoption Day and I can have another day to celebrate near my birthday!  It's really neat that both kids' birthdays are right near Jeremy's birthday (all 3 are within a month) and then their adoption days are right near my birthday, 6 months later!

Warranty

Thank goodness for warranties.

First our diaper sprayer broke.  This is the second time we've had one break, the first one we didn't even think to check for a warranty.  This last one was a different sprayer, but still under warranty (we had one month until the warranty expired).  They shipped us a new one for free.  It stunk to be without one for a week, but it's fantastic to have it back!

Then, our Beco Gemini carrier broke.  It still functions perfectly, but the strap to hold up the headrest broke.  So when Anthony falls asleep, I can only prop up one side.  I didn't realize how often I used it, but I use it a TON apparently.  And thankfully, it's still under warranty (we again, had one month until the warranty expired).  So they're going to repair it or replace it for free.  It will STINK to be without it for a week or two, but I'd rather not have an almost new carrier that's broken.  My mei tai and I will have to become super good friends this week...

Now, if everything else could just stay together, I'm tired of being without baby essentials...

Zoo

We went to the St. Louis Zoo this morning as a family.  We had an absolute blast.  It's really our first trip to a major zoo with just our little family.  We've been to our local zoo, but it's extremely small and doesn't really count :-).

It was so much fun to see the zoo through a child's eye.  Everything was exciting.  Not only that, but Anna only had one accident and was in underwear the whole time.  The one accident was on purpose because she wanted daddy to take her, not mommy.  We got to enjoy the carousel (it's free the first hour) and the children's zoo (also free the first hour).  We rode the train around the park and saw all kinds of animals.

She was incredibly excited to ride the giraffe.

Petting the goat.  We were surprised she actually would touch it, usually animals scare her this close up!

Just adorable.  He enjoyed all the sights and people :-)

Family train ride!

She has such an obsession with giraffes.  Her face says it all!

As we pulled back in to our hotel today, our kids had fallen asleep in the back and the song "You're Gonna Miss This" came on the radio.  We were both in tears.  We are SOOOO blessed to have our two sweet children.  We are so looking forward to the future and hopefully adding more to our family.  I am so grateful to my kids' birthmoms who selflessly gave us these precious children.

I could not be more thankful today for my family.  My husband and my children make my heart overflow with happiness.  My 27th birthday is on Thursday (the main reason for our trip :-)) and it's most definitely my best birthday ever, already. 

Mini-vacation

After a super busy few months, countless doctor appointments, and next week being my first week with another baby (2 month old), we were ready for some family time!

So we're currently taking a little mini-vacation.  We had free hotel nights and since my sister goes to St. Louis University, we thought we'd come see her.  Oh yeah, and it's my birthday next week, so it's my birthday present.  We just checked in a few hours ago, wrestled with the kids to get them down for a nap, and now we're relaxing. 

We're headed to the Balloon Glow (hot air balloon festival this wekeend) and Spaghetti Factory tonight.  Tomorrow we're checking out the zoo, the arch, Union station and doing some shopping.  Then Sunday we'll go to Mass with my sister and meet some of her friends and see her campus.  It should be fun and the kids will enjoy it for sure.



On another note...  We had Anna's orthopedist appointment this morning.  She's always had very bowed legs but recently one has looked way more bowed than the other.  She also walks with her toes in (and one leg appearing worse) and often on the side of her foot.  So our pediatrician and I decided it was time to have it checked out.  I was concerned about it and everyone who sees Anna comments on it.  However, it was not impacting her development and didn't seem to bother her at all.

So anyway, at first the doctor assumed it was Blount's disease (common in African-American children who are on the chubbier side and walked young).  For this, she would have to wear a brace at night.  It affects the lower leg.

However, after x-rays, he was surprised to see that it looks to be just bowed legs, nothing else.  Both her femur and her tibia are curved and equally on both legs.  He said bowed legs will correct themselves, it will be years before they look normal, but nothing is needed to "fix" them.  He said she'll probably be knock-kneed around age 4 when the femur straightens out and the tibia hasn't yet.

So we were very happy.  We don't need to do anything different, just keep her in supportive shoes (which we've always done) and see him again in 3 months for more x-rays to make sure they're getting better, not worse. 

That was a huge relief.



And... We saw Anthony's pediatric dermatologist this week (lots of travelling for us this week).  His diaper area was STILL red (it's been red for his entire 5 months) and I wanted to see if there was something else they could do for him.  We saw the nurse practicioner, the dr. wasn't available.  However, she'd never seen Anthony before and didn't know what his skin usually looked like.  She was shocked by how red it was and immediately mentioned a staph infection. 

I quickly told her that it had always looked like this, even after his staph infection went away.  It was irritated too, by the carseat since that's where the buckle sits.  Any kind of pressure makes his skin super red.  So anyway, she took a culture of it (I haven't heard back, but I'd be surprised if it was, in fact, a staph infection). 

I asked for a different steroid, since the one we were using wasn't doing anything.  She gave me a different one and the next morning, he woke up with zero redness.  It's gone completely.  His skin looks fantastic (the rest of his body has for months now, I'm' super diligent with moisturizers!).  I'm glad I went with my gut and asked for what he needed.




Now all I have to worry about health wise with my kids is Anthony's upcoming opthimologist appointment for his strabismus in his eyes.  The likely outcome is glasses for my little guy. 

Tantrums

I will never again judge someone for their toddler's tantrum while in public. 

We had an apple juice incident today when we went out for lunch (we were out of town at Anthony's ped. derm. appt.).  Anna screamed at the top of her lungs while flailing and squeezing a juice box.  All over the lady next to us.  I quickly said, "I'm really sorry for the apple juice that is now running down your legs."  My most intellegent apology ever.

The lady politely replied, "Oh, I didn't like these pants anyway."  I wanted to crawl in a hole.

Anna them proceeded to hit me, repeatedly.  I'm not sure why she thinks hitting or pinching is an appropriate way of expressing herself, but I'm at my wits end with how to deal with it.  At one point, she pulled my hair so hard, my eyes teared up from the pain.  We made quite a scene, let me assure you.

The cashier nicely gave us a new juice box which I promptly hid from Anna, she was not about to get a treat for throwing a fit.  She then sat in time out while watching the french fries she so desperately wanted to eat. 

Then she said she was sorry, ate her lunch nicely and got called "angelic" by two women who had walked in post-tantrum. 

I think she makes it her job to keep me insane.

And then on the way home, we were run off the road by a semi truck.  I ended up laying on my horn and driving on the shoulder until he realized his mistake.  He was inches from my children.  And I cried for miles.  I was no longer frustrated with Anna for her tantrum.  I was so thankful that my babies were okay and that we arrived home safely. 

No matter how many times she pushes my buttons, I am always thankful for my sassy, high-energy girl and my super-chill boy who sat calmly and quietly through all of it.

Weekend Fun

We had a really fun family weekend.

 

It started with random free tickets to "Whose Live Anyway?"  It was the "Whose Line is it Anyway" cast that did a live show here in town.  I wanted to go originally when I saw it advertised, but the tickets were expensive.  But a friend of my parents had tickets and couldn't go, so they gave my parents four tickets and they shared two with us.  I haven't laughed so hard in my entire life.  We literally laughed hysterically for two hours straight.  It's hard to even descrie why it was so funny, but it was.  And it was a nice date night, I can count on one hand the amount of dates we've had since Anna was born.  My sister watched the kids (they were already asleep) and we went for ice cream afterwards.  So fun and I'd actually pay to go see the show again.  And believe me, that's saying something :-). 

 

Then we had a birthmom meeting with J.  It was nice.  They're much nicer now that we only meet once a month.  We're hoping to stretch that out as he gets older, maybe every other month, but for now that's how it's going to be.  They came to our house and we sat outside in the beautiful weather.  Anthony showed off all of his new tricks for them. 

 

Saturday evning, we hung out with Nana and Papa (my in-laws).  Jeremy was helping them move dirt while Anna, Anthony and I played in the yard with Nana and the dogs.  We had a lot of fun and totally wore Anna out (quite the accomplisment!).  And had the most delicious blueberry turnovers that my MIL made.  Yum.

 

Then Sunday we had our usual family brunch after Mass with my family.  And since it was the Bears' first game, we all dressed accordingly (after Mass, of course).  Here's our family Bears' fans picture!

 

Daddn and Anthony ready to watch the game!

Anna loves babies, especially cousin Cecelia.  She wanted to hold her.  She's actually getting much better.  She's had lots of practice :-).  Shortly before this, she was kissing her and holding her hand.  Cecelia just hung out the whole time, she's already used to Anna being in her face!

Daddy and his favorite football buddies!

 Anna's very in to treating her Gee-Gee like a baby.  She wraps it in blankets all the time and pats it on the back or feeds it her baby doll bottles or puts it in the swing  She's a very good little Mama to her giraffe. 

Sunday aftennoon I got to nap through the Bears game while the kids napped.  Jeremy got to watch the game.  We all got what we wanted :-).  Then we played outside as a family and thoroughly enjoyed the cooler temperatures.  It was a very fun and relaxing weekend with the family.  I'm so blessed!

Friday Quick Takes (30)

 

--- 1 ---

We had fun attenting our city's Labor Day parade.  Anna enjoyed the sucker.  Both kids LOVED the marching bands.

 

 

--- 2 ---

 

Seriously, I could melt.  She now kisses and hugs all Mary statues that she sees.  It's adorable.  This one is in my in-laws backyard.  Shortly after this picture was taken, Anna tackled her on accident.  Whoops.  No injuries occurred luckily!

 

--- 3 ---

I start watching the new baby in a week and a half.  Which means next week I crammed all of my kids' specialist appointments in so that I don't have to take 3 kids.  We've got a pediatric dermatologist (eczema), an opthimologist (strabismus), and a podiatrist (one severely bowed leg and toeing in and walking on the side of her foot now).  Seriously kiddos, stop having strange medical issues please or make sure there's a specialist in town if you're going to come up with something strange!

 

--- 4 ---

Anna turned 18 months last week.  I'm still working on an 18 month post :-).  She went from my baby to a little girl overnight.

 

 

And Anthony turned 5 months old this week!  Slow down!  I love my little giggly 5 month old!  I'll post a 5 month update for him too when I get a chance!

 

 

--- 5 ---

I am having so much fun learning to do Anna's hair.  I've gotten pretty good at twists and flat rope twists.  This week I tried some corn rows and puffs.  The corn rows were hard to get the hang of because I know how to french braid.  It's like french braiding but underhand.  I had to retrain myself to braid.  I'm sure some people pick it up quickly, but it took me quite a few tries to get the hang of braiding backwards!  Anyway, they look cute.  Her twists last week were probably my favorite but I try to switch it up every week to give her parts a break.  

 

I never realized that putting it in styles helps protect her hair from breakage, promote growth and seal in moisture.  I always liked her fro and didn't understand why people went to such lengths to do their kids hair.  Now I know :-).  Her hair was starting to loose moisture fast and I was finding curls all over my house.  Now her hair's protected and I can definitely tell a difference in growth.  It's getting really long!  And she loves having it styled, as long as she can still wear her headband.  She's such a girl!

--- 6 ---

They love being siblings :-)  And they're just so stinkin cute!

 

Here's Anna trying to change up the bunnie ears photo bomb.  We'll just put a giraffe on his head instead.  She thought she was hilarious. 

 

--- 7 ---

I have the best job in the world.

 

 

 

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

The Next Step

We had Anthony's final post-placement visit today from our case worker.  Which means our lawyer can submit all of our paperwork and file for a court date.  It cannot be before October 10 (6 months after surrenders were signed and we took legal custody of Anthony).  Hopefully it will be right around then.  I can't wait.  That's putting it mildly.  That's another post for another day, but it will be a wonderful day for many, many reasons.

So while we had our case worker here, we talked with her about our next step.  We know we want more children.  We know God is calling us to have more children.  However, neither Jeremy nor I is ready or willing to do another infant adoption right now.  We are very thankful for our two children who came to us as newborns.  I wouldn't change it for the world.  But at this point, we're not ready for all that the infant adoption process entails.  Namely the checks we have to write (yeah, it's a sad day when you have to choose between adopting again or putting on a roof, but that's reality!). 

At this point, we're feeling called to adopt children through foster care.  There will still be some classes we have to take (we're signed up for a four week 27 hour class in November).  And a homestudy meeting.  However, there are no checks to write.  And there are children waiting whose parental rights are terminated.  These children are in need of a forever home.  We still have one empty bedroom upstairs.  And two children who would be more than happy to share (because they don't have a choice :-)).  We are hoping for a sibling group with young children. 

Our caseworker said we would be a perfect fit in the AWC (Adopting Waiting Children) program.  She wasn't surprised when we wanted to discuss it.  Our caseworker loves working with us and is excited to continue doing so. 

So we're going to once again become homestudy ready.  We're hoping to add children to our family sometime in the middle of next year.  But if there's one thing I've learned in our infertility and adoption journeys, it's that my timing doesn't matter a bit.  God's timing is perfect.  We have spent a lot of time in prayer lately, asking God what he wants for our family after Anthony's adoption is final.  God knows I don't take subtle hints, He's making it crystal clear. 

So AWC, here we come.  And between now and then, I will pray for my future children, that may be (and probably are) already alive and in the foster care system.  I pray for their safety, their health, and for their hope.