Homestudy date

Got word today that we are doing our homestudy update on April 13th!!!! Our worker has to have the homestudy written up by the end of the month but has already invited us to an "adoption event" next week...not sure if we'll attend or not. Wow things are really moving fast now!!

I've been praying a lot lately for peace and guidance as the nervousness and doubts begin to take over my normally crazy but level headed mind :) I know this is what we're supposed to be doing right now and I know that our next family member(s) will be a perfect fit for us so I just have to trust that everything will work out just the way it's meant to be!

After a couple of months of telling us that she didn't want anymore kids in our house, Lexy told me out of the blue at the doctor's office yesterday..."I want a brown baby sister...and I want another brown sister that is between the ages of 4 and 2" Yes her words, Hmmm maybe she knows something the rest of us don't yet :)

Adoption Update!!!

Got a phone call from Angela whom we've been working with so far with our adoption agency. She told me that she staffed our family with our adoption worker, Natasha this morning telling her what she knows about us, what we are looking for and what she feels our strengths are. Angela said that she really feels that we will be matched soon with all our foster/adoption experience and the fact that we are open to a sibling set and any race. She said that once Natasha does our homestudy update that she will begin to e-mail us child profiles of children that they are looking to find an adoptive home for. She said these kiddos are usually the younger ones that don't get put on waiting child websites (like I've been looking at) because they are easier to place. If we are interested in any of the children's profiles sent to us then we can ask for more information and to be considered as a family for them. A team will narrow the possible families to three and then there will be a best interest staffing to pick the one family.

I'm getting SO excited and, I'll be truthful, nervous...we could be adding to our family VERY soon! Every time I start to freak out about everything I just remember that God is in charge and he has a perfect plan.

oh the butterflies...

Weekend

We had a fun but pretty uneventful weekend. Friday evening Brooke had two friends (Kenzie & Cassie) over for the night to work on cheer jumps, etc. It was fun watching the three girls plus Lexy out in the front yard playing monkey in the middle for most of the evening! We all ended the evening with some homemade brownies topped with ice cream, yum! Saturday we headed up to "the city" to do a little clothes shopping...since Brooke has truly outgrown every single item she owns!! Sunday we had our usual cleaning day. I spent most of the day deep cleaning Lexy's room...how does one child collect SO much junk???? She is definately the hoarder of the family :) Actually I really need to redo her room with more storage but I'm putting it off until we find out what ages/gender/how many kiddos we'll be adding since that will determine what will be needed in the way of room switching and storage!

My plans this week? I have a list of deep cleaning I want to get done in the next couple of weeks before our homestudy is scheduled...woo hoo fun! Plus I need to schedule a check up for Lexy, shots for/licence both dogs, find another home for the cat (really bothering Lexy's allergies), oil change for the van, bills and TRY to figure out our insurance since we have bills that are piling up :( Oh gosh and I almost forgot I need to help the Easter bunny finish up his shopping for the weekend :)

It's going to be a FULL week with all the things that I need/want to accomplish plus two soccer games for Lexy and this week starts a two week practice schedule for Brooke before she tries out to be a high school cheerleader! It's amazing how much these girls have to learn and perfect in such a short amount of time!!

Soccer and Adoption

Lexy has really been enjoying soccer this season! I'm so proud to see her maturing in her game play. She watches the game (even when sitting on the bench), cheers on her team, listens to her coach and loves to kick the ball and especially make goals :-) She still gets a little winded and her cheeks get bright red when running around and she comes over for drinks of water but her speed and attention are awesome!

Adoption Update:

We got word today that our fingerprints came back!!! At this point we will be staffed with the adoption unit and then our new adoption worker will contact us to complete our homestudy update YAY!! Hopefully there's not too many families ahead of us for homestudies and it can be done quickly! I have continued looking at the waiting children websites but haven't found any kiddos that have caught my attention and pulled at my heart like the three girls did a few months back :( But I'm sure we'll know when OUR CHILD(REN) are revealed to us...God has a perfect plan :)

Spring Break - Part 1

Saturday

Today we went roller skating. Lexy was invited to a classmates birthday party at a skating rink in a nearby town so all of us had fun skating...except the part where I fell over Lexy after she fell down and I landed on her skate OUCH! This evening Robin and I went for a much needed girls night out, we saw "Dear John" and then ate dinner at 54th St. Bar & Grill...what a great time!!

Sunday

Brooke, Mammaw (my mom) and I went shopping for some new summer items for Brooke (b/c she has outgrown every single item from last summer!) and for Brooke's 8th grade promotion dress (they have a formal dance). Brooke made out like a bandit getting several new things including her promotion dress, shoes and earrings to go with it. Her dress is beautiful and she looks so elegant and grown up in it. I SO want to put a picture on here but Brooke made me promise to wait until after promotion. She is always worried about being dressed the same as someone else so she won't tell anyone what her dress looks like or where it came from :)

Monday

Today Robin and I took all the kids to Coco Key Water Resort (an indoor waterpark inside a hotel) for the day. Mike and I have taken the girls there a few times and it is one of their favorite places to go! We got there at 10am and left at about 5pm...we were all exhausted! Brooke loved having Kenzie there to go on the 2 person raft slide with and Lexy loved climbing all over the play structure and going down the slides with Ryan and Molly!

Tuesday

Today Mike and I took the girls to an indoor play place called Power Play. They have a great buffet and lots of games and attractions for the girls to have fun on/with. Lexy especially loved the swing ride and getting prizes from the tickets won but wasn't too sure about that spinning apple ride :) Brooke liked winning all the tickets and was a very good big sister playing with Lexy and giving her piggy back rides!

Spring Break - Part 2

Wednesday

Today we started out the day with green french toast and milk for St. Pat's Day. We stayed in our pj's for most of the day and then headed to the mall to watch a movie (Spy Next Door) and then ate out. When we got home we had a family game night, staying up until about 11pm!

Thursday

Today the girls and I went and ate our favorite lunch - chinese and then played at a local park since it was beautiful out. This evening we all played out in the front yard. Before we left for lunch Lexy got all dressed up, purse and all and asked Brooke to straighten her hair...oh NO not a mini Brooke :)

Friday

Today we spent the day at home and then this evening we went bowling with Robin and Sean and kiddos (Kenzie, Molly, Ryan) and then we all went to Pizza Street for dinner.

On our way home from bowling on Friday night we stopped off at the store to stock up on "keep us warm" foods b/c the weather man was calling for snow all weekend. Sure enough it snowed all day on Saturday and we got several inches of the white stuff. So we snuggled in and stayed in our pj's, snacked, took naps, had chili and cake and watched movies. By Sunday it was better out so we decided we better prepare to get back to "real life" so we cleaned and grocery shopped :(

This morning Lexy was up by about 5:30am, too excited to be heading back to school...Brooke on the other hand was not all that excited to be getting up when it was still dark :)

Busy Busy

This week has been full...

Brooke has had to stay after school until 5pm each night to teach the cheer & dance to the 6th & 7th graders that are trying out for cheerleading tonight! She was so nervous for them this morning!

Two soccer practices for Lexy. I haven't gotten even one picture yet because I somehow got nominated to be the assistant coach...I know NOTHING about soccer!!! Lexy coach is so sweet, she brought cupcakes to practice last night to celebrate Lexy's b-day.

A trip up to the movies with school for Brooke.

A school dance for Brooke.

I gathered pictures and made the picture book that our adoption worker wants from us. I'm putting it in the mail to her today!

I made a few hair accessories for the girls, I'll post pictures later.

Lexy's picture day yesterday. I was asked to help with this so I spent the day at Lexy's school corralling preschool and kindergarten kids, cleaning faces, combing hair, making sure they held on to their little "picture papers" and protecting the picture set from bouncing, jumping, kicking, goofing around kids :-) Lexy loved that I was there all day and was excited that I got to eat lunch with her.

Today is Brooke's picture day...she wouldn't let me help at her school :-(

Tonight Brooke has a sleepover b-day party to go to and tomorrow Lexy has a skating b-day party to go to.

WHEW I'm wore out!!!

Starfish

I've been questioned several times recently about why we are choosing to adopt again versus trying to conceive another biological child. I came across this poem today and thought it tells perfectly why we feel led to adoption...

THE STARFISH POEM

Once upon a time there was a wise man

who used to go to the ocean

to do his writing.

He had a habit of walking

on the beach before he began his work.

One day he was walking along the shore.

As he looked down the beach,

he saw a human figure moving like a dancer.

He smiled to himself to think

of someone who would dance to the day.

So he began to walk faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he saw that it was a young man

and the young man wasn't dancing,

but instead he was reaching

down to the shore, picking up something

and very gently throwing it

into the ocean.

As he got closer he called out,

"Good morning! What are you doing?"

The young man paused, looked up and replied,

"Throwing starfish in the ocean."

"I guess I should have asked,

why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?"

"The sun is up and the tide is going out.

And if I don't throw them in they'll die."

"But, young man, don't you realize that

there are miles and miles of beach

and starfish all along it.

You can't possibly make a difference!"

The young man listened politely.

Then bent down, picked up another starfish

and threw it into the sea,

past the breaking waves and said-

"It made a difference for that one."

author unknown

We want to be the ones to make a difference to another child or children. There are so many children in this world in need of a warm bed, a loving home and a compassionate family...why would we NOT choose adoption?

Twos-Day

My most favorite Two-Some in the whole world! Even when I am in a bad mood and ground them because they are not doing as they are told and not getting ready for school in the morning!

I'm joining Debi over at Who Says 8 is Enough for Twos-Day this week.

SIX

Happy 6th Birthday Lexy!!!

Dear Lexy,

On your sixth birthday I want to tell you just how much I love you!

I love...

your laugh
your smile
your independence
your squeezin' huggin' lovin's
your beauty inside and out
your intelligence
your positive attitude
your love for all animals
your way of saying "Mommy I need you"
your jokes
your ability to make friends easily
your compassion
your love of back rubs when you can't sleep
and your love of only "mommy's spaghetti" (which I'll be making for you tonight!)

I love you all the way to the pluto and back and another half and not just the short cut the long way!!!! I'm SO lucky to have you as my daughter!

Love,
Mommy

Our Weekend

We had a fun filled weekend! On Saturday Brooke and her friend Kenzie and Taryn helped me set up for Lexy's 6th Birthday party in the morning by decorating and making a dog house from a box. Then from 1pm-3pm we got to entertain TEN 5-7 year olds (plus Papa & Grammy and Mammaw and Grandpa)!!! Lexy decided she wanted a doggy party so I made ears and collars for everyone and the older girls painted noses and then we played lots of doggy games like feed the dog (bones into buckets), dog trainer says, doggy obstacle course (one of the stops was to pee on a fake tree :-) and doggy doggy where's your bone. We had a picture cake made with a picture of Lexy and her dog Rex and then a friend at the bakery also made Lexy a little begging doggy cake of her own, thank you Roxanne! The party was a complete success and Lexy came home with lots of fun gifts! After the party we went out to eat with Papa & Grammy for chinese (Lexy's choice).

On Sunday it was a beautiful day so after we finished up cleaning around the house, I took Lexy outside to ride on her new scooter and play soccer and Mike took Brooke for her very first driving lesson...I can't believe she's old enough for that!!!

Dear Birth Mom

I've had adoption on my mind a lot lately. One of the things that I think about is that the next child(ren) that join our family may (or may not) have a different "story" of their time before they came to us. In Lexy's case it makes me sad that we don't have a sweet "she loved you so much that she wanted you to have a better life" story to tell her. It makes it more difficult to discuss adoption when the story is not all rainbows and unicorns. I want to try to spare feelings but not sugar-coat so much that Lexy one day thinks that we "took" her from a wonderful fabulous person and situation...because that's not the truth.

It's taken me a long time to come to terms with the emotions and events that surrounded the first few years of Lexy's life. With Lexy's 6th birthday coming up next week, I'd like to take the opportunity to write a therapeutic letter to her birth mom...

Dear Birth Mom,

Thank you for the MOST precious gift that I have ever received from another person. Without you I wouldn't have my smart, beautiful and funny daughter...you will always hold a special place in my heart because of that.

I have been blessed with cuddling, kissing, healing hurts, having that special bond and watching Lexy grow from a tiny four month old to a wonderful almost six year old. I truly appreciate that you chose to give birth and raise Lexy for those first four months until she came to us. I'm thankful for the knowledge that you loved Lexy as best you could at the time.

Your life circumstances and choices make it impossible for you to parent a child and I'm glad that you came to that realization when you chose not to appeal the court's decision to terminate your rights and allow us to adopt Lexy. I only wish you could have seen the pain you were causing sooner.

As I told you at our good bye visit, Lexy will know about you in an age appropriate manner. We will never hide the fact that she was adopted or that you exist. She will know the truth and will be able to form her own opinions. We will be here to help her understand and answer any questions that she may have.

Sincerely, MyLinda

A Girl and her Dog

Can you feel the love in this picture?? Lexy wakes up every morning to Rex licking her and says "he's the best dog EVER!".