Adoption Update

Really no new information except that we have submitted our homestudy on two more sibling sets.  We are now being considered for five different sibling sets...

1.)  Our original three (B-4, G-3, B-almost 2) - Won't know anything until late January court date.

2.)  Other agency (G-5, B-4, G-2) - BIS not set yet.

3.)  Our agency (B-2, B-1) - BIS should be set soon.

4.)  Other agency (G-2, B-1) - BIS will probably be the first one but don't have a date yet.

5.)  Our agency (G-8.5, G-almost 3) - These are another set (like original 3) that have been back and forth on finding a home.  These poor girls desperately need permanency but I still don't think it's close since their still waiting on paperwork from another state about a relative for the oldest. :(


I couldn't stop myself from buying a toy that I have had my eye on today (on clearance).  It was just a simple wooden boy with magnetic clothes but I just know that whomever God plans to place in our family will love it! :)

Meet Brandy...

Lexy, who has never really played with dolls, BEGGED for an American Girl doll for Christmas this year!  She started talking about it a couple months before and truthfully I thought she would lose interest and move onto something else but she proved me wrong!  She looked through the American Girl catalog about 100 times a day and chose which doll looked just like her...#23 if you're wondering (she would quiz us on this number!).  She was so very happy when she saw an American Girl bag show up under the tree and it drove her crazy that she couldn't open it early!  She did open it first on Christmas morning though!!

Lexy had been thinking of names for her doll but wanted to wait to "see what she looked like" before naming her.  The name she finally chose was "Brandy"...a mixture of Lexy and Brandon (yep he's still her "boyfriend").  Brandon's mom, Sheresa, had a good laugh when I let her know that she was a Grandma!!

Friends Day

Brooke, Kenzie, Ryan, Lexy and Molly

On Monday we went with Robin and her kids for a fun day.  We started out at Golden Corral for lunch, then headed to see a movie (We Bought a Zoo).  After the movie we went to the mall (which was SO packed) and then went to Denny's for dinner before heading home.

Christmas 2011 :)

Christmas Eve 2011

Merry Christmas to all!!

As we are waking up early, opening our gifts, eating our blueberry muffins and bacon and enjoying our family, we want to take time to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!!

Lexy & Brooke's Christmas jammies 2011

Past trauma and holidays

For the past week or so I've noticed that Lexy has been having an increasingly harder time regulating her emotions.  She's having a harder time getting to sleep, nervous/anxious acting and upsets easily.  I decided to go back and read my posts from this time last year and discovered that she had the same issues last year.  I've read that children/people with trauma in their past have a harder time at holiday time but I really didn't put two and two together for Lexy until now.  I think that all the excitement, waiting/anticipation and change of routine is just more than her little body and mind can deal with.    I'm hoping that as time goes on and she matures that this will become easier for her but the reality is that times like this may always be a struggle for her. :(  Hopefully as things settle down after Christmas she can relax again, I hate to see my sweet girl have to deal with all this!

The cousins

We watched the kids (Ashley, Toby and Johnny) so CJ and Jess could do some Christmas shopping.  Lexy and Ashley played board games and dolls all evening, Johnny was his cute self sleeping, eating and smiling and Toby had us cracking up!  He is a funny little guy :)  Love those kids!!!

The Homeless Man

On our way to the mall we saw a homeless man sitting on the side of the road on the exit ramp (he's way up there by the sign).  The girls and I talked about him the entire time we were at the mall, we live in an area that we don't see many homeless people.  When we left the mall it had begun to snow and Brooke and Lexy were concerned that the man would be very cold and hungry sitting out there. 

They asked if we could buy him some food and coffee (Lexy offered her money).  It turned into quite the ordeal after we got the food because of where he was sitting.  The only way we could get back to him was to backtrack about five miles and then take the exit again...so we did. 

When we pulled up on the side of the road the older man jumped up and walked over to our car.  I handed him the sack of food (McDonalds) with $5.00 inside and a large coffee and we all said "Merry Christmas".  With tears in his eyes he brought the cup of coffee up to his mouth and kept saying "God bless you all".  As we drove away we were all crying...definately a lesson in what this season should be all about! 

A dog massage

Don't all dogs get shoulder massages while watching TV? :)

First Day - Winter Break

We found Jingle the Elf on the kitchen counter this morning pretending to roast marshmallows with Santa!  Lexy wanted to try to actually roast the marshmallows so we lit the candle and used toothpicks and mini marshmallows...she has been roasting all day long!

We didn't have any plans for today so I got out the plastic pellets that I bought for a project and Lexy had fun pretending it was snow...

Winter Party

Lexy's gift to her teacher (peanut butter fudge) and classmates (flavored tootsie roll banks)

After the Winter Party, school let out early and Avree came home with Lexy to exchange gifts, play and have dinner together...

Lexy's gift to Avree - monkey earrings and BFF door pillow



Avre's gift to Lexy - puppy chow (yum!) and a BFF shirt like hers



Christmas Family Fun Day

We had a great family fun day - Christmas Style over the weekend.  We did a little shopping, had dinner, went to see a movie...

Alvin & The Chipmunks - Chipwrecked

 and then we headed out to look at some lights...

Adoption Update

I've been quiet on the "adoption stuff", not because nothing is happening...simply because we are choosing to fully enjoy our holidays!  But I want to remember what is happening during this time in our journey so...

We have submitted our homestudy on two more sibling sets...1.) G - 5, B - 4, G - 2...with another agency in our state  2.) B - 2, B - 1...with our agency.  Best Interest Staffings should be scheduled soon in both these situations.

In the case of the three that we thought were coming...we were told that the agency/SRS did the internal grievance review and still stand strong in their decision to not place with the foster mom.  We were also told that now the foster mom's lawyer has petitioned the court for them to consider removing the kids from SRS custody and placing them in the custody of the foster mom for adoption.  This is really the only way that the kids could stay with the foster mom so we understand why she is choosing to go this route BUT she would have to adopt without any assistance from the state and for these three kids (with multiple needs) that is HUGE.  Court is still set for the end of January, our worker says that this particular judge is very unpredictable so nobody really knows what will happen.

My hope is that by the end of January we will know who will be joining our family!

Brooke AND Lexy Dance

Lexy decided to attend the Little Girls Dance Camp that Brooke's cheer/dance squad put on this year where they learned a dance routine to a Michael Jackson song.  Last night the girls were invited to perform their dance at the basketball game.  They all got a hat and sparkly glove to complete their outfit.  It was so cute to see both my girls performing at the same time!  Afterwards Lexy said she loved doing the dance but she still doesn't want to be a cheerleader! :)

Cookie Making

Our Elf on the Shelf, Jingle brought the fixings for making and decorating sugar cookies one morning.  Both girls were excited to make and eat them!!

Slumber Party and Snowman Night at the Library

On Saturday night both girls had something fun to do. :)

Brooke had the annual Christmas slumber party with her high school sorority...

Lindsey, Suzy, Brooke, Katie, Audrey

And we took Lexy and her best friend Avree to a Snowman Night at the local library for crafts, stories and snacks...

President Obama's Visit

I'm not into politics in the least bit but this was amazing for our whole town.

The president came to visit us...ok so we didn't get to invite him into our home for dinner (that thought gives me anxiety), talk to him or even see him (except for through the glass of the car) but it was exciting all the same.

We could have stood outside (in the freezing cold) all night for a ticket to be in the building with him but we decided that we weren't that dedicated :)...now Brooke and I both said that if it were Ashton Kutcher we would have sat outside for days haha!!

I did go to Robin's with some other friends and we stood out on the sidewalk (we were told that if we went any closer to the street than the sidewalk that we would probably be either shot or tackled to the ground!) and watched the motorcade speed by before the speech.  We went inside to watch the speech on TV then we went back out to watch the motorcade leave town...much slower this time and we actually saw The President waving at us from the car.  Brooke watched the speech on TV with friends (her school was optional for the day) and Lexy's class watched it in their classroom (she said it was boring haha).

All in all this was a great opportunity for our town (we are now a part of history) and a great story that the girls will get to tell their kids and grandkids!



President Obama waving at us (back window)



President Obama - News crews - The Stage - The Motorcade

Presidential Helicoptor - Drew Needam (local boy who sung the National Anthem to the President) -
President Obama doing a meet & greet - President Obama's car

Security Helicoptors - President Obama giving his speech -
President Obama getting off the helicoptor - President Obama's signature

Toby & Johnny

I got to spend the day with my two sweet little nephews yesterday!  They got here early so Lexy got to see them before school and then because she had late start, Brooke watched them while I took Lexy to school.  We love those boys!!

Room Switch

We decided that since we already had ordered and picked up the bunk beds that we would go ahead and do the room switch (Lexy and us) and set up the new bed.  We figure that hopefully we'll be adding more kids to the house soon so this will be one less stress when that time comes!

BEFORE - Lexy's messy room :)

AFTER - Our very small room :)

Our room is now definately smaller but we're willing to make the sacrifice so our kiddos (and future kiddos) will have plenty of room! :)

I'm going to wait to show Lexy's (and future kiddos) room.  We still have a few wall things and accessories to finish up!

Mrs. Claus' visit

It is tradition in our house for Mrs. Claus to leave a note and new ornaments for each child in our home on December 1st of each year.  She must have been busy yesterday because she visited a day late this year!  This year along with the note and ornaments, Mrs. Claus left a snowman countdown and an Elf on the Shelf book and elf!! 

Lexy was so excited when I read the book to her.  She couldn't wait to name the elf (our elf had left a note saying that she was a girl and gave some name suggestions).  Our new elf's name is Jingle and we can't wait to see what funny, sneaky and naughty antics she will be up to while she is visiting!