Visit to Nana and Pop-Pop

Let me just start off by saying, there are too many pictures to post at one time. So come back again later this week and I'll post some more.

We had a great time in Alabama. The children had a great time playing together. Judson went fishing with 'just the guys' and he caught the most fish with his new fishing pole. (However, he was not real happy when he found out what happened to the fish. He has a very tender heart.) Sawyer loved their dog and the their lawn mower and their tractor. He just might be a country boy?!?! Ansley was scared of the dogs but loved the 'animals'. (aka, COWS) She also ate up all the attention but you could tell she wasn't 100% comfortable in the situation. I'm not sure when that feeling will go away with her (IF it will go away). It made me sad sometimes to see the lost look on her face, as if she didn't understand this was just a visit and she was going to come home with the rest of us.

Enjoy the pictures! (you s/b able to click on the image to make it larger)

That's the expression on Ansley that made me sad.

Judson and Abigayle playing.Judson and Pop-Pop.
Sawyer, The Lawn Mower, and The Dog
More pictures later.

Orphan Update

A few months ago I told you about 2 orphans in need of adoption. They have found their forever families.

Louinard, from Haiti, will be moving to Minnesota! His new mommy and daddy have been able to visit him. They sent back pictures (I am not able to post them) and let me tell you, that little boy is one handsome guy. He was sick while they were there but they were able to keep him in the hotel with them. The downside to visiting your child before the court has approved the adoption is, you have to leave without your child. To top that off, Haiti's court system is not fast. It could be 6 more months before they bring him home. In a country like Haiti, where money and health care are in short supply, that can be a very scary wait.

Naum, from Ukraine, is coming home! His family is over there right now going through the courts. The Ukraine court process can take about 4 weeks. The family will be there the whole time. Then they can bring that beautiful boy home.

Anyway, I love happy endings and thought I'd share these two wonderful stories. Keep your fingers crossed that Louinard can get home soon. And visit www.reecesrainbow.com to see pictures once they get home. (Under the HOMECOMINGS tab).

HELP, I've been tagged.

OK. I've been tagged. In the blogger world, that means I have to now tell you 8 random facts about me. Here are the rules (which I must post prior to writing my facts):
Here's what I have been "tagged" to do:

1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they have been tagged, and to read your blog.

Facts:

1) I used to talk like a yankee. It's true. (Or so I'm told) When I was younger, we lived in Illinois and when we moved back to the dear old south, I had a northern accent. So, you don't believe me? Ask my parents.

2) in a million years, I would have never said I would be a stay-at-home mom and be enjoying it. Never. Didn't really care if I had kids or not. Now, OMG, I cannot imagine doing anything else. It is the perfect job. (Okay, so they aren't teenagers yet. Let me enjoy it while I can)

3) I'm terribly afraid of heights. I absolutely hate looking out over the edge of mountains. I never go to the edge to look down into valleys. Don't care if I ever see the Grand Canyon. I also hate balconies. It doesn't bother me to fly though. The irony is, I love vacationing in the mountains much better than going to the beach. Go figure.

4) My husband and I have a 'mixed' marriage. Yep, he's and Auburn fan, and I'm a Tennessee fan. Somehow, we make it work. We just keep our fingers crossed that our children don't become Georgia or Florida fans!

5) I can't dance, sing, or play a musical instrument. I have no artistic abilities. I really don't have much athletic ability either. That bothers me. Now, it's not the worst thing in the world but geez, you look at my family and you wonder, how could you not get any of those things? Ahhh. but life goes on.

6) The best thing I ever did was leave Tennessee. I would have never met my husband had I not left. He is my soul mate!

7) Favorite food: Corn

8) I hate chain letters. So don't worry, I won't be 'tagging' anyone else. Just thought I'd share a few odd facts about me.

Good Week

Not much going on. We are getting ready to go visit Nana and Pop soon. That will be exciting! The pics are of our favorite afternoon past-time, watching Curious George (or Calliou) and eating popcorn. Also, Judson has a tomato plant (no one in this family will eat tomatoes). It has not produced many tomatoes but we check it everyday and water it too. We cannot fertilize it or put bug spray on it, since it could harm the wildlife and pollute the ground water. Yes, he's been reading the Eco-Kids website.

Dog Days of Summer

Can you say H-O-T? Whew! It is definitely summer time in the South. Lots of iced tea and banana popsicles are being consumed. Thought you'd like to see the pictures.

As usual, Ansley has on 3 layers of clothing.









Also, we are slowly getting the backyard 'kid friendly'. We were setting out stepping stones leading to the swing set and decided to add a personal touch. Whatcha think? Cute, ay?

Mom's Musings

Just thought I'd write the thoughts going thru my head:

1) Every mom needs a Krystal Kompanion. I mean, who wants to eat Krystals all alone? Well, I have mine in the form of Sawyer! Yep, the little bugger likes them. Of course, his have to be plain. Between Sawyer's heart issues and my weight issues, we don't eat them too often but it sure is nice to have a cohort.

Speaking of Sawyer, he had his Early Intervention 6 month review. Can you believe the little guy had already met his yearly goals? So we set more goals for him. He's a wonderful little boy who loves to learn. He is always trying to keep up with big brother and little sister too.

2) Every mom needs a bossy little girl with an exceptional giggle.

Speaking of Ansley, why is it both Randy and Judson are constantly calling me Ansley? Don't answer that question! I swear she can't help herself. Sawyer will be on the potty with Mom saying, "Come on Sawyer, put poo-poo in the potty". Then little miss bossy pants, will say (while making straining sounds for demonstration purposes) "Sawyer, poo-poo, potty, okay?" Now she has not once EVER poo-poo'd in the potty but she feels qualified to give instructions! It's like that constantly with her. But then there are times when she starts that giggling and you can't help but smile. She is so happy and proud that it just bubbles out of her.

3) How is it Judson does not have to go potty when he wakes up in the morning? He absolutely cannot go to the bathroom when he first wakes up. Sometimes it might be an hour or more before he goes. What is his bladder made of?

He is such a wonderful kid. From the time he wakes up, till the time he goes to bed, he never stops talking or asking questions. Questions like: "why can't you touch the sun at sunset" (when it looks like it's sitting right on the horizon) "why did Christopher Columbus not know that N. America was there" (On his way to find a new route to the Indies) "when did Abraham Lincoln die" "do we need green rain or red rain" (ever looked at a weather radar. he does.) One of the cutest questions of today, "when you dream, do little bubbles come out of your head" (As in cartoon drawings showing someone's thoughts).

Have a good day! I certainly am having a good one.

4th of July and other stuffs (lots of pictures)

Here's a mix of 4th of July pics and some other everyday pictures also. We took the kids to the parade this year. They had a great time as did Mom and Dad. Judson and Mommy made the coordinating shirts!

Judson was completely amazed at the guy on stilts. This guy bent over backwards almost into a back bend position. (I was too amazed to think to click a picture of that trick.) I couldn't get a good read on Ansley. Not sure if she liked anything or loved everything. I think she was overwhelmed by the people and activities. Sawyer LOVED the bands and music.Mom loved the National Anthem. The guy who sang it did an awesome job. I also loved the bagpipes.

Dad loved all the old cars.

I can't say enough about the many veterans who were marching in the parade. Thank you for serving our country.

I'm also including pictures of Judson building a wind mill and riding his bicycle as well as Sawyer and Ansley just being Sawyer and Ansley. What you need to know is that Ansley's wardrobe ensemble includes her 'day clothes' covered by 2 night gowns. She is constantly going thru her dirty clothes putting on several layers. (I swear it goes back to the old country where they always layer clothes on the kids) As you can see, Sawyer was trying the layered look also.

More Swimming

Today was the last day of swimming lessons. It was a free swim day and we all went. Judson LOVED the slide. He'd go down feet first and then head first. He would have stayed all day. Sawyer is not afraid of anything. He took off into the water. Of course, he is not strong enough to march as fast as he wanted to go. So he'd fall down, face first. We had a life jacket on him. However, that was probably worse than nothing. It prevented him from turning over on his back. He consumed mass amounts of swimming pool water. It did not deter him in the least. He, too, would have stayed all day with that fair skin turning a nice shade of red. (doesn't matter how much sun screen or how strong the SPF, this kid has at least 1 or 2 freckles pop out every time he gets out in the sun) Ansley was ready to go home after the first splash of water on her face. She did okay but she REALLY does NOT like water in her face.

Judson really enjoyed the lessons. There are no more openings for lessons this year though. Hopefully, we can get him in the pool some more and help him retain what he learned and maybe by next summer, he'll be really swimming.

Swimming

Judson has been taking swimming lessons this week. What a trooper! He's never really been swimming in his life. (Bad Mommy!) Several of the kids in his class are quite skittish but not Judson. He's always raising his hand to try something new. He REALLY wants to learn how to dive off a diving board like his cousin CJ. We told him he needed to be at least 8 years old and know how to swim. (Actually, I told him he needed to be 12 but he pointed out that CJ was only 9 and he was diving last year at the ripe old age of 8) You can tell by the pictures he's a bit tense but he keeps on trying and he practices in the bathtub each night so he'll be ready for the next days lessons.

On a side note, he just came in and asked if he was growing fur on his back. I asked why, to which he replied he'd been in the dog pen for "one whole hour" and he was trying to be a dog. He even sat in the dirt hole, like the dogs, to keep cool. He barked at me when I went out to check on him and his dad earlier. This kid is a riot! (And I don't think I've ever seen a dirtier kid in my life.)

Our Friends

What a wonderful group of friends we have! We are truly blessed with one of the best group of friends ever. We put out the word that we wanted to celebrate Ansley's Gotcha Day anniversary and they were ready. They even suffered through some major heat (what else is there in the South?) since we decided to have the party outside. We just wanted to say Thank You to our friends and tell you how much we appreciate your friendship. We also wanted to share a few pictures. We actually didn't get too many pictures because we were having so much fun chatting that we didn't get to take many pictures. (Dad, remember to click on the collage to bring up a bigger picture!)

Daddy

Daddy is very nice to me. He likes to play games with me. He lets me work outside with him. He reads books to me. He takes good care of my brother and sister . He takes me places. I especially like going to work with him and riding in the car with him. He teaches me alot of things, like math and geography. Another thing I really like is when he lets me type in the bills in his Excel spreadsheet. He teaches me about the plants in our backyard. He also lets me wash the car with him and he let me help build our swing set.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy! I love you!

Judson
(As told to Mommy, with minor editing)

Happy Gotcha Day Ansley! (June 12th)

Can you believe it has been a year? One year ago, Randy and his mom got to meet Ansley face-to-face for the first time. A very emotional day for them and Ansley. Ansley was suddenly flung into a whole new world with new people who looked, smelled, talked, ate, etc nothing like anybody she had known. She was flown thousands of miles away from all she had known in her short life to begin a brand new life. She was and still is a very brave little girl. She is a survivor in the most basic sense of the word. She landed on her feet and she is thriving.

Our family has changed too. For the better, I might add. She keeps us on our toes, for sure.

Ansley, thank you for being our little girl!

Little Einstein

Okay. Don't have any new news. We're just trying to get back into our routine. I just walked downstairs where Daddy and Judson are putting together their 600 piece world map puzzle. Judson asked his Dad, "is this the way it should look". (They were putting together Africa.) Dad said, "looks good to me". Judson asked, "But where is Burkina Faso?" Don't know where Burkina Faso is? Just ask my 4 year old. He'll tell you.

Our Adventure

Whew! What a wonderful time we had on Rocky Top. We visited with family, ate LOTS of food (Hey, that's what you do here in the south), and saw the sites. The kids had such a blast playing with each other. Judson wants everyone to move there so we can always be together. The only thing we would change would be the location of the cabin. The term the rental agency used was 'secluded'. The term I would use would be 'boonies'. The access road wound its way up the side of the mountain. My brother said it best when he said, "the road was so curvy, he saw his own tail lights". We hope to make it an annual event. Wouldn't my Grandmother be happy!

Sawyer playing with the new sprinkler ball we got. The other is him sitting in the produce bin from the refrigerator.


Judson and Daddy riding GO Karts. The 2nd picture is of him at the Aquarium, inside one of the tanks.

Ansley and Abbey in the fish tank. Ansley, Abbey, and Aidan showing off their matching dresses that Abbey's mom made. Aren't they too cute?

Favorites

Enough 'serious' stuff....let's have some fun. Here are pictures of the kids doing their favorite things:

BUBBLES!!! (That bubble wand makes the BEST bubbles)


EATING!!!! (Fruit is our #1 food)










PLAYING OUTSIDE!!!! (Riding a Big Wheel, helping Daddy, Getting Dirty)










Have a Safe and Happy Memorial Day!

Adoption-1 year anniversary

As we are approaching the 1 year mark of Ansley's Gotcha Day, my thoughts are turning towards adoption and topics associated with adoption. Many folks on my Yahoo Adoption Group say adoption is not for the faint of heart. Truer words have not been spoken. SO excuse me while I ramble abit.

No one asked me for references when I was pregnant. Nor did they ask for FBI checks or police clearance letters. No one questioned my 'parenting philosophy'. No one came into my house to inspect it to verify it was adequate and safe to raise a child. And no one came to inspect my septic system to make sure it was in working order. For adoption, I was asked for all of that and more.

When you make an addition to your family (by birth or adoption), adjustments have to be made. Everyone in the family gets rearranged. Husband and wife, suddenly become parents. Or maybe, they become parents to 2 or 3 kids instead of 1 or 2. Siblings suddenly change in pecking order. And the newbie suddenly has a whole new environment to which they must adjust. (How do you like it when you are the only one that doesn't know all the rules to a game/first day of work where everyone else knows everyone but you?) Adjustments are never easy. For us, child #1 was by far the hardest adjustment. Upside: Usually, once the adjustments are made, everyone says, "I can't imagine it any other way". Downside: Those adjustments don't happen overnight.

Looking back over this last year, I can see how much this family has changed. Three children is a totally different dynamic than two. The stress of trying to make sure 3 children are being nurtured properly is draining at times. I will say, I think this has made communication between the Randy and I, better. Maybe there's less time to communicate, so therefore we've gotten better at being more consise and exact. Who knows? Watching Judson going through such an adjustment has been tough. He's been thru so much in 4 years. But WOW, has he come thru with shining colors. He's amazing. He still gets frustrated but he's handling it better. (Little to no biting now) And Sawyer, what a kid. He figured out Ansley long before his daddy and brother did. He saw through her tantrums and just blew them off. Then there is Ansley. She has issues, as would anyone in her position. Her adjustment has had some bumps and probably has more bumps to come. But she is strong and with the proper guidance and lots of love, I do believe she will overcome these issues.

I say ALL OF THIS just to encourage those who are thinking of adoption or in the process of adoption. What, you're scared instead of encouraged? Sorry. Creating a family is never easy. And there will be trials along the way. So don't go into it with rose colored glasses. Expect there will be issues. Know this, Randy and I would do it all over again. Ansley is bright and sweet and loving. And our family would not be the same without her.

Legacy

Have I ever told you about my Grandmother? (that is her holding Judson when he was a baby) She died less than 2 years ago at the age of 95. What a wonderful legacy she left our family. She always made it clear how important family was. To that end, there was never a time when we were made to feel we were not welcome at her house. Whether she was entertaining or feeling bad, if we showed up, we were LOVED. Luckily when we were young, we lived close by along with my aunts, uncles, and cousins. We gathered at her house for Sunday dinner, birthday celebrations, and holidays. You never wanted to miss the gatherings. One, because you'd miss the food, fun, and festivities. Two, she might heap a good portion of guilt upon you. Because of this legacy, I have grown up to be very close to all my extended family. (as well as my immediate family) I KNOW I can count upon them anytime and they can count on me. So, we are planning a family gathering in Gatlinburg over Memorial Day. This is not our first endeavor but by far the largest coordinated adventure. We are celebrating my nephew's graduation. (Way to go Mack!) There will be my sister and her family, my brother and his family, my mom, aunt, and lots of cousins. I count it as a great blessing to have a Grandmother who taught me the importance of family.

Their Characters

Oh goodness, my children are developing quite their own little characters these days. It's fun to watch most days but a little frustrating sometimes too.Sawyer is changing the most. His little personality is really emerging. Anybody know the Stricklin Temper? Multiply that by 47 chromosomes and you have Sawyer, when he gets angry. He doesn't do it very often but when he does, he's a site. Take the nite I wouldn't let him watch TV. He screamed at me for 30 solid minutes. When I asked if he was "mad at mommy", he said, "MAD", crossed his arms and turned his back to me. He's also a little comedian, putting underwear on his head and saying "look", just to get a laugh. And smart, he knows all the sounds the letters make and he knows all the letters via sign language. He's beginning to recognize their symbols too. (Such as "A")Ansley is ever the little princess, expecting to be treated as such. She needs order in her life, almost to the point of being OCD. Probably due to such upheaval in her life, she's just trying to bring order and control to what she can. She goes to bed and has to have 2 covers. The 2nd cover MUST completely cover the 1st. She must have her prized possession. (Changes, recently it's a stuffed rabbit) She is also becoming much more loving as well as bossy. If she sees Mommy fussing at one of the boys, she comes right behind me, waving a finger, looking ever so stern, telling them what they did wrong, and demanding they say 'sorry'. She, too, is very smart. (Can I help it if all my kids are smart? Surely you don't believe I'm biased in anyway.) She knows her letters and their sounds and recognizes her numbers.Judson has become the sweetest and most loving little boy. (He always has been but it's just getting better) I think he's finally come to terms with his new sister. (Not that they don't fight but they are better) He tries to teach the babies their letters and numbers. He reads to them. He still wants to be rocked at night before he goes to bed. He's at such a wonderful age and is such a wonderful little boy.

So those are my sweeties. The pictures are from Physical Therapy day this week. The boys loved riding on the scooter. Ansley was content to ride on her own scooter.

Happy Mother's Day!

We took our annual Mother's Day trip to the zoo today. We thoroughly enjoyed it. We got to see the gorillas (my personal fave). We did not get to see Mei Lan (Baby Giant Panda). The lines were too long. Never fear, we can see her anytime via Panda Cam! Ansley loves birds, so she was excited to see the peacock. She also loved the elephants. Sawyer just loved being out and about. The animals were a bonus.