Stop growing so fast!

They're growing up way too fast.

For the last few months, Anna's needed me to lay down with her and "snuggle" in order for her to fall asleep at naptime.  The last few days, she's told me "I don't want to snuggle, I do it myself".  And she has.  And I'm sad that she doesn't need me that way anymore.

Anthony's speaking in sentences. Although he definitely still needs mommy all day long :-).  Super Mama's Boy right there!

Mya's using sentences too and speaking clearly all of the sudden.  Mya will no longer go potty if it's our idea, she tells us when she has to go.

Agnes is becoming more and more independent each day and is catching on to our lessons on manners and the way we're supposed to ask for things/speak to people. 

They're all just becoming so independent and growing up so quickly!  Some days I wish it would all slow down.  And some days, I wish time would speed up a little bit.  Such is the life with children I guess!

In just three months, I'll have two 3 year olds and two 2 year olds.  And come August I'll have a 4 year old.  And two of my babies will be marching off to preschool together.  And just one year later, all 4 will embark on their school journeys.  They're only little for a short time.  I'm trying to soak up every minute of it!

Paperwork

We've adopted 4 times in the last 3 years.  And yet I'm still amazed at the sheer volume of paperwork that's required.

I've lost track of how many time I've written my name, address, SSN, job, birthday, etc... 

And it's all worth it. 

But seriously, do you really need my name and address on every sheet of paper?

I'm ready to have these adoptions finalized.  I'm ready to not have to call the case worker to find out when they need check-ups, dental, etc..  I don't like calling the case worker to have to figure out the exact spelling, punctuation and all, of my girls' birth name for the most current piece of paperwork that needs filled out.  We can't travel without approval and paperwork. 

Currently we're working with the girls' foster care worker, our licensing worker, our adoption worker, and our lawyer.  And they all need paperwork. 

It's daunting and like I said, worth it.  I'm grateful to have my 4 beautiful children and I cannot wait until August (hopefully) to get that paperwork that says they're mine. 

Quick Takes (62)

I can't technically link up since I'm private, no one would be able to click on it anyway.  But it's an easy format for updates, so here goes!  I'm going to update by person :-).  And it's a long one... just forewarning you.  But there are pictures!

--- 1 ---

AGNES

Right now, she's absolutely loving preschool.  Her teacher is amazing and Agnes is doing great in her class.  She's been complimented for her direction following multiple times lately!

She also love Ballet!  She's great at listening and following directions in structured settings like school and ballet.  It's wonderful to see her excelling there!  

We've been working majorly on manners with her lately.  Apparently no one's every taught her such things...  So using kind words, not starting every sentence with "I want...", saying "May I please..." and "yes Mommy" when asked to do something.  I'd say 90% of Agnes' challenges stem from her overactive mouth.  She does get sassy and talk back and we're really working on that.  I keep telling Jeremy, if the worst challenge we're having with her is talking all the time and manners, I think she's doing alright!  The child talks nonstop during all waking hours!  So volume control is another thing we're really working on right now!

Reading and snuggling.  They're best friends.

Dance class!

She got to bring home her class "Take Home Teddy".  She thought it would be funny to feed him teddy grahams.

Take home teddy playing basketball at the gym.

We went to Monkey Joes for Anna's birthday.  Agnes absolutely loves it.  She could spend all day climbing and sliding.  Check out that smile!

One of my favorite sister pictures.  I just love her smile!

 

--- 2 ---

ANNA

She had a big birthday last week!  Anna turned 3!  I can hardly believe she's 3 already.  I was just looking at pictures even from 6 months ago and she has grown up so much lately.  It was like turning 3 hit a switch and she went from being a toddler to a little girl.  We had fun celebrating her birthday and look forward to her (and Anthony's) party next week!

Anna also loves ballet class.  She has great beat and really moves well to the music.  It'll be interesting to see if she is into music later in life, she's really into it now!  She also really loves our preschool we do one day a week at home.  She love to learn and knows so much already!  She really can't wait to go to "Agnes' preschool" and every time we pick Agnes up, Anna has to go in the classroom for a little bit to "pretend" and then she gives Mrs. G a hug, just like the preschoolers.  

The challenges we've had with Anna lately aren't entirely new.  She's so dramatic about things.  We never know what will set her off, but she meltsdown with the best of them.  She throws some crazy tantrums and there's really no talking her down.  She's just got to work it out.  She also did her usual "pre-birthday sleep regression".  We were ready to ship her to her grandparents' for a week if she didn't stop that nonsense!  She was taking 2+ hours to go to bed every night and waking up 3-4 times a night.  It was exhausting but she's back to normal.  She always takes a while to fall asleep, but she's staying in her bed quietly now which is all we ask.  And she's not getting up except to go potty now.

My parents took her to get some 3 year old pictures taken.

She's so beautiful!

She's having a "Tiana" party, so my parents got her this beautiful Tiana dress.  She wears it all day everyday.  It's like pulling teeth to get it off of her!!

Anna and her Tiana cake!

The bike we got her for her birthday

Cheesing at Monkey Joes.  She picked going there for her birthday!  She had a blast!!!

Such a big girl.  Learning about the letter P. 

--- 3 ---

ANTHONY

Anthony turns 2 in a month.  I can hardly believe that either!  He's still a tiny little thing, but he's holding his own now!  He's still as social as ever and pretty much loves everyone!

 

Anthony is particularly fond of Agnes.  For whatever reason, when she's around, he follows her around and can't stop saying "I love you, Agnes".  She eats it up of course.  

 

He's still a great sleeper and a huge eater.  He's picky sometimes but he's sneaky and just throws it on the floor instead of making a stink about it like his sisters.  He's becoming ornery, though.  He's starting to hit once in a while and throw "tantrums" (nothing even close to what the girls throw, but still a tantrum for him).  Luckily he's still sweet through all of it.  He's so darn cute, it's hard to get frustrated with him!  One smile and you're toast!  He bats his huge eyelashes and could get away with anything!

 

He's talking up a storm and his favorite things to say right now are, "I love you... merry much!" and "Anthony Head!" and "Hi, how are you?" and "No" to any question, regardless of what his answer should be.

 

He's also obsessed with trains, cars, buses and any other vehicles.  He also LOVES books, he'll ask you to "read it" over and over and over again.  He's also totally a Mama's boy right now.  He doesn't handle it well if I leave his sight.  When I drop him off at the gym nursery (only 1-2 times a week), he cries for me most of the time.  It's hard, but he's almost 2 and I know he'll be okay, especially with his sisters there.  One of the ladies has a knack for calming him down and he really likes her, so that makes me feel better. 

 

Playing in the never ending snow

At the discovery museum trying to figure out this engineering thing

Mama's boy!

His biggest sister.  He just loves his sisters, Agnes in particular!

  

--- 4 ---

MYA

Last, but certainly not least, my Mya.  This little lady is my handful.  She is adorable and funny and totally sassy.  She's smart as can be and completely set on making me work for my title as "mom" each and every day.  She loves to climb, tear things up, touch EVERYTHING, open doors, read/rip up books, eat, and dance.

She spends a lot of time strapped to me, on my back when we're out somewhere.  She spends some time in the pack n play at home when I have to get something done.  She's curious and that's the biggest understatement ever.  But it's not always safe...  

Mya basically potty trained herself.  She's totally trained, and I hardly had to do a thing.  She tells me when she needs to go and she's dry at naptime and most bedtimes too.  She only wears a diaper to bed and we never worry about her having accidents.  She makes Anna's potty training experience look horrible, even though I thought she was pretty easy!  

Her verbal skills have exploded since living with us.  When we got her 5 months ago, she was hardly talking.  She grunted a lot and pretty much only said her sister's name.  Now she never stops talking and is clear as can be.  She certainly can communicate what she wants and sometimes I almost wish she'd go back to her silent days for a few minutes :-).  

 

 We also took the side rail off her crib recently, so she's now in a toddler bed.  She's done great and hasn't tried to get out.  She was starting to climb out of the crib and so to ensure her safety, we just bit the bullet.  It's been pretty smooth and I hope it stays that way!  

My beautiful youngest child, snot and all.

Always wants to be like her sisters.  Dressed up like princesses!

Not a fan of the snow...

Discovery museum!  She loves this car!

All pictures of Mya are blurry.  She never stops moving.

Her own creation.  She's wearing a pirate outfit with a leopard print skirt and butterfly antennas on her head... And proud of it.

Moneky joes was made for this climber.  She can climb even the tallest of inflatables.  We were impressed that no tower was to tall and she has no fear at all.

 

--- 5 ---

JEREMY

He's the best husband and daddy ever.  What more do I need to say?

He's also been working hard at getting in shape and he's lost a lot of weight (I'm jealous). 

 

--- 6 ---

ME

I've also been working at getting in shape.  We joined a gym recently and I've gone every day for two weeks now.  It's actually nice quiet time for me now.  I used to hate exercising but with 4 toddlers, I now look forward to the peace and quiet to work out my frustrations. 3-4 days a week my sisters, mom, and MIL take a day and come watch the kids for me and the other day or two I just drop them off at the childcare at the gym.  I don't know if I've lost any weight or not, although my clothes are fitting better.  We don't have a scale, so I'm not even sure.  

 

Along those lines, when I went for my yearly exam, I had high cholesterol.  The doctor was a little surprised, because I actually eat a very low cholesterol diet and I'm pretty active with 4 toddlers.  But I'm going to work on getting it down with more exercise and I'm taking her recommended 2 Tablespoons of fish oil daily (YUCK!).  Hopefully my recheck in April goes well.  Hopefully I'll shed some weight and that will help. 

And as embarrassing as it is, I'm going to post my "before" picture to keep myself accountable and for my own personal "records".

 

--- 7 ---

 And finally, if you read all that, I'll treat you to some fun pictures :-).

Dinner and a movie!

Doing puzzles with my big girls

Taking a water break at Monkey Joes

Everyone in the tractor at the discovery museum!

They orchestrated this all on their own.  Anthony climbed right in Agnes' lap, as he often does, and Mya followed suit.  I couldn't resist the picture :-)

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Lent

I intended to have this up yesterday and I just seem to be behind all the time.  I have found it fruitful to look at posts from past Lents to see how God has used that time in my life.  So here's a little rundown of what Lent will look like over here.

1) Typically during naptime I veg on the couch.  Usually from 1-3 I have quiet time to myself and generally I take that time to catch up on shows on my DVR or watch whatever's on.  Not super fruitful or productive. But very relaxing.  After taking care of my kids all morning, I need some time to veg out and not have to use my brain.  So for Lent, I'm going to allow myself 45 minutes of TV time.  That's one DVR'd show.  The other hour plus of time I have, I am going to spend doing other things.

2) More Spiritual Reading being one of those things.

3) More blogging being one of those things.  I know a lot of people who fast from blog/social media for Lent.  I don't have much time with four toddlers, so I check FB, IG, blogs during naptime while vegging and sometimes when they go to bed, but beyond that, my phone is usually in my coat pocket ready to head out the door whenever I need to (which is why I'm bad at answering the phone...). Blogging is so fruitful for me, it allows me a stress release.  It also allows me to have a digital scrapbook of my thoughts, feelings, pictures, kids' milestones, etc...  So instead of fasting from it, I'm hopefully going to be posting 2-3 times a week.

Those are my personal Lenten goals.  I think giving of my time is definitely what my spiritual life needs right now.

As far as our family goes, I'm behind on the prep work, but what I'd like to do is:

1) A friend gave me a Family Lent book about Mother Teresa.  So we're reading that daily.

2) I printed off a Lenten countdown for the bigger girls and they're coloring in the days as we go.

3) I'm taking Catholic Icing's idea of a Lent candle cross, lighting a new candle each Sunday.  The kids really loved that during Advent and it was a great chance for us to talk about what Advent meant.  So we're going to do that through lent as well.

4) I'm going to make a crown of thorns with playdoh and toothpicks for the kids.  They can take a toothpick out when I catch them being helpful, making good choices (walking away from someone bothering them being a big one right now), being kind,etc... Reenforcing the good behaviors that we've been very diligent about instilling in the kids.

All in all, I'm trying to keep it simple, prayerful, and down to my kids' level.

Also, last weekend I went through closets and purged big time.  I was feeling overwhelmed by the clutter and Lent is a great time to get rid of it.  I dropped off 4 garbage bags of stuff at the Mission and it feels good to have organized closets.  I'm also selling a bunch of (big) baby things online.  Almost all of it sold quickly.  I kept my favorite and most used baby items but realized I had A LOT of stuff from Anna and Anthony.  If we're blessed with another baby, he/she will be just fine with the few items I kept :-).  I haven't gone through baby clothes, but they're neatly organized by size and gender, so I will hold onto them in for a while.

Contentment

Life at our house is crazy.  No one's surprised by that I'm sure. 

I fall into bed at night completely and totally exhausted and ready for an uninterrupted night of sleep.  That doesn't happen.  Ever.  I spend my days doing anything and everything.  I fix meals, clean up toys, scrub toilets, do laundry, wipe noses, clean bottoms, put kids on the potty, take kids off the potty, etc...  I don't sit down, I don't rest. 

And yet, I've never felt this content in my life.  I feel such peace right now.

My house is full.  My hands are full.  My heart is overflowing.  My to-do list has never looked so crazy and I know it will only get crazier.  And yet when I sit down and they're all asleep, all I can think about is how blessed I feel. 

One kid talks my ear off all day long.  One kid melts down at everything, or nothing depending on the day or moment and refuses to just lay down and go to sleep.  One kid smiles and chatters happily all day long. And one child keeps me on my toes, protecting her from harm and trying to teach her boundaries each and every moment of the day.

And yet through all the struggles, annoyances, frustrations, and moments of surrender, my heart is happy. 

I've felt peace many times in my life.  Joy too.  But being the mom to these four beautiful children has changed me.  I still lack patience.  I still have trouble controlling my temper at times.  I still struggle to give up control.  And at the same time, I feel that God has transformed me in these last few months.  I've come a long way in patience.  I've learned more self control as I react to my children and their teachable moments.  I've given up a lot of control in a lot of ways.  And I've gained control in a lot of ways. 

This winter has been HARD.  The sheer volume of snow.  The fact that 10 degrees feels warm after months of negative temperatures.  The fact that school's been cancelled.  Getting 4 kids dressed appropriate and in and out of the car is nearly impossible at these temps.  We've been home bound for most of the winter.  And that's HARD for me.  And at the same time, our family has bonded.  Our kids are siblings through and through.  We have formed great attachments with our two newest girls.  Our family dynamics have changed and molded.  God has done beautiful things in our lives with the addition of Agnes and Mya.

And I'm looking forward to spring and getting out of my house :-)

In the Tundra

I haven't had time to blog.  Why?  Because the weather has been that bad.  I promise, this won't all be me complaining, but let me get it off my chest.  For real, it's so darn cold that we can't get outside at all.  The kids have nowhere to run off their energy.  I can't take them very many places because with the coats, carseats, strollers, running toddlers, we're all frostbit by the time we get inside.  So we stay home.  And we drive each other bonkers!  And preschool keeps getting cancelled for the cold.

3 of my children are very, very outgoing.  They have a need for getting out and socializing.  Agnes in particular is about to talk our ears right off.  She NEEDS preschool and the interaction with others aside from just us.  And consequently, I haven't done any preschool with Anna in a few weeks because I simply don't have time with all four kids running around!

Okay, end of rant.  The rest will be random updates...

- So we've been up to a lot of little crafts, we reorganized our basement (LOVE IT!), we've been baking and playing with playdoh and going to the Discovery Museum.  We've done about every winter activity I can come up with.

- Mya's also potty trained now.  She did awesome the first week, only one accident.  The next week was a disaster and I seriously contemplated putting her back in diapers.  But after that, she's been great.  She has an accident once in a while, although it only ever happens in her high chair when she's sitting still for an extended period of time.  That tells you how often she sits still...

- Mya also dislocated her elbow again last week, during Mass.  That was quite the fiasco.  Hopefully we can keep her from doing it again, but both times she did it by pushing us and twisting her arm at the same time.  So not really preventable, it's her own strength causing it...

- Related to all this weather nonsense, I'm sure, we're having some major bedtime challenges.  Mostly with Anna (what's new).  That girl needs to get outside to wear herself out!!  It's getting better, but man is she stubborn!

- I never update about Anthony.  My husband laughs when I tell him about the kids' day, I always leave him out.  Why?  Because he's good.  ALL. THE. TIME.  He's happy and friendly and helpful and loving.  His favorite phrases right now are, "Hi, how are you? I good", "Mommy, I yuv you", and "I goch you!"  He's just so darn sweet.  So basically, we can always assume Anthony's been my sweet relief each and every day.  He gets lots of extra snuggles and hugs just for being himself. 

- We registered Anna and Agnes for preschool in the fall!  They're going 3 days a week in the Pre-4 program.  They're both way excited.  I'm excited for them and also a little sad that my babies are growing up way too quickly.  The next year, they'll all be in preschool!!

- I had a lot of thoughts this week on the Roe v. Wade anniversary.  Maybe I'll get them written down.  Maybe not.  I have a lot of pictures I'd love to post too, so when time presents itself I'll get on that!

- On the adjustment front, everyone seems to be adjusted to our new family of 6.  In fact, my sister commented that she was looking through pictures and couldn't find any of Mya and Agnes from last summer.  She then remembered that they haven't been here that long.  It feels like they've been here forever.  They are just a part of our family.  And Agnes reminds us regularly how nice it is to be a family.  It melts us and reminds us how right she is.  We're thankful for the blessings of our four beautiful kids and we're trying to enjoy our time with them (although, I'd still like to enjoy that time outside instead of inside...).  Our families have welcomed them with open arms and I really can't believe it's only been three months.

2013 Recap

One of my favorite New Year's things to do is go back and read some of last year's posts.  That's one of the reasons I love having a blog.  I love be able to recall not just what happened, but the emotions, joys and challenges that went with big events or the mundane days.

But first of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR!  We hope 2014 brings as many joys and fun family time as 2013 did!  We had a great year, filled with lots of highs, and of course a few lows.  Our New Years Eve celebration was a little dull, as I was recovering from the stomach bug (thankfully it was a 1 hour bug, the recovery took all day though).  So instead of the party with my family that we were planning on, we had a simple pj party and went to bed early :-).

The kids made hats to celebrate!  And they started singing "Happy New Years and you know it, clap your hands!"

They drank my family's NYE traditional drink, cherry 7up.  The kids called it "spicy soda".

We also played a family Wii game, and Candy Land for the first time with the big girls.  They loved it!

Overall, it was a fun night and the kids enjoyed our celebration.  All kids were asleep by 8 and I was out around 9.


And now for the recap:

January:  
I wrote this post about Life and how blessed we are that our children's birthparents chose life.  I still mean every single word and with the March for Life approaching in a few weeks, it's always on my mind.

February:
We celebrate Anna's 2nd birthday!

March:
March is always busy with lots of birthdays and Anna and Anthony's birthday party.  Jeremy's birthday is in March as well.  We also enjoyed the process of electing our new Pope and Anna still loves to talk about Pope Francis!

April:
We celebrated Anthony's 1st birthday!  I also wrote a few posts about Infertility as April is Infertility Awareness Month.  This one on Isolation in particular.

May:
Jeremy had a big job change in May.  It has been an amazing career switch and a true blessing for our family.  I'm grateful that he had this opportunity.  It has given us better financial security, more time with the family, less stress about job security, and a much more "family" atmosphere.   We also started PT for Anthony to get him up and moving! 

June:
I wrote a post about answered prayers and rereading it, I can only smile as God did it again.  He answered our adoption prayers with a big fat "yes" after asking us to wait a short time. 

July:
We celebrated our 5th Anniversary this month!  Apparently I had lots of time on my hands because I wrote a few posts that month about things going on.  I wrote about motherhood and hair, a topic I'll have to revisit soon, as my life with three girls and their hair is a little crazy!

August:
August brought some trials as my sister miscarried her second baby.  We know JP's looking out for all of us!  I didn't blog about it, but it definitely was a challenging time for our family.  We still miss him and know he would've been a great nephew and cousin to our kids.  I can't wait for the day I can see him in heaven! 

It was also the month of my niece's first birthday!  Cecelia's such a sweet little girl and I'm so blessed to be her aunt!  She's an awesome cousin to the kids and they just love her.  In fact, this morning Anna said, "I have 1 brobro, 2 sisters, and 1 Cici!"

I also posted about our adoption wait and how that was affecting me at the time.  If I'd have only known how soon our precious girls would be joining us!

September:
My birthday month!

October:
This was a huge month for our family.  In just a few short days, we found out about, met and brought home our two newest daughters!  They have adjusted so well in such a short amount of time and we feel so blessed to be their parents.  We can hardly believe that we're the parents of FOUR children!

November:
November flew by as we tried to adjust as a family of four.  We also had Mya and Agnes baptized.  We celebrated National Adoption month with our four adopted children and went to our agency's Adoption Potluck.  I don't think I blogged about it, maybe I was jut too shaken up, but that day there was an F4 tornado that went through a town about 40 minutes from us.  That same storm passed right across the interestate where we were driving.  Thankfully we were about 10 minutes ahead of it.  On our way home, we passed lots of destruction.  We were thankful that we were safe, but we said lots of prayers for the many families whose homes were completely destroyed by the tornado.

December:
We continued to adjust (it takes some time, that's for sure!).  We also enjoyed preparing for Christmas with the kids, as they're finally getting old enough to understand a lot more!  We celebrated Christmas as a family of 6 and we're still trying to get our house back in order after the influx of toys, clothes, and treats!