Missing In Action

I have been M.I.A. this week. I mentioned on Monday that I have had the flu, and unfortunately I have still not fully recovered. I am also just feeling plain old grumpy this week. I am hoping to be back to my usual self on Monday. I have some posts planned... :)

The Power of Prayer

A few weeks ago I had one of the most horrifying experiences a mother can have. Brisbane is learning how to feed himself as much as possible. As part of this learning process he tends to shove as many pieces of food into his mouth at a time and at a rapid rate. We were having blackberries for dinner this particular evening. (Blackberries are Reese's favorite food and he asks for them regularly.) I probably should have cut the blackberries up some more for Brisbane but hindsight is 20/20.
I looked over and Brisbane was not breathing. I panicked. We have had lots of choking false alarms at our house because I am super paranoid. But usually Mack is around to calm me down and deal with the not-really-choking child. But this time he really was choking. We had a choking scare on Brisbane's birthday when Brisbane got too excited about the string cheese. Mack was home then and he did the heimlich and it was ok. I was alone this time. Brisbane was choking.
I whipped him out of the high chair and started doing the heimlich. No luck. I started praying that I would be able to do the heimlich right and Brisbane would be able to breathe. I kept doing the heimlich with no luck. I then told the kids that they should start praying. Reese had no idea what he was praying for but he said the sweetest (and shortest) little prayer. I told him to keep praying over and over. In the meantime I had dialed 911 and was about to call when I felt inspired to move Brisbane a certain way. I put the phone down, moved Brisbane around, and he coughed up that dang blackberry. I fell to my knees crying. I was so grateful that he was breathing and alive. I had blackberries and snot all over me but I didn't care. Brisbane was ok. I hugged all of the kids and told them I was so thankful that they say such good and faithful prayers. I explained to them that Heavenly Father heard their prayers and answered them so that Mommy was able to help Brisbane. I was a crying mess the rest of the night.
Of course Reese regaled Mack with the story as soon as he got home about how he saved Brisbane's life. I am going to let him take full credit for that one. We have had lots of great experiences with our sweet little ones learning to pray and this was certainly the most dramatic.
I also should note that when Jessenia prays for the food she blesses each item by name. Classic. Reese is best known for being thankful for things that I would never even think of. I love my children, their simple faith, and the wonderful lessons they teach me each day.

Ambulance

I have been in bed sick with the flu since Saturday. It's the pits. That meant that I missed church yesterday. Mack told me this cute story though and I had to share.
On the way home from church, they saw an ambulance and Jessenia said, "Look! A firetruck!" Mack told her that it was actually an ambulance. The kids asked what an ambulance was and Mack explained that it is a car that takes really sick people to the hospital really fast. Then Reese said, "Why doesn't it come to our house to get Mom?"
Is that not the cutest thing ever!? Love my sweet little boy.

Just Try It?

The Giggler:
The Adventurer:

The Observer:

We had lunch at the park again with Mack today (yep, it's Friday again). I took these three snapshots to remember my kids at this age. This pretty much sums up how each of them approach any new situation.

Brisbane: Smiles and laughs. He is a big flirt and knows that he. is. so. cute.
Jessenia: "Push me faster!" She isn't afraid of nothing or nobody. She goes full speed ahead. If you need one of the kids to try something new. She is the one to ask. For. Sure.

Reese: He will NOT get on those swings. He is definately my shy little boy. Sweet as can be. And even more shy. I love him for it. It reminds me of me when I was a little girl. And also how I feel most of the time as an adult. We are 'fraidy-cats together.

Bottle Free

Woo hoo! We are bottle free and loving it at our house. Mack and I have been counting down the days until we didn't have to prepare, clean, and repeat any more bottles. The bottles that we used for Brisbane had six pieces that had to be taken apart and cleaned. Ugh! Now they are hidden, never to be brought out until the next baby.
Brisbane is loving his sippy cups. Mostly, he is loving the milk inside.

PBJ and milk? Yes, please!

You want some, Mom? I am too busy with my big kid cup!

Fashion Statements

I think my children got their fashion sense from me. They must take note that I run around all day in pajama bottoms and a t-shirt. But if they had known me in my former life (aka pre-motherhood) they would know that I actually have quite good fashion sense. Meaning, I can at least get my socks on and match colors.
The following pictures were taking on Brisbane's birthday and were just too good not to share.
Really, Jessenia?

Putting socks and shoes on is a constant struggle for this girl. She hates doing it. She cries every time that we tell her she needs to put her socks and shoes on. Well maybe not every time, but at least 90%. It isn't that she is averse to socks and shoes, she just wants us to do it for her. (Tells you what her previous foster parents were like.) We have never done it for her. Usually after crying, screaming, and eventually landing in time out from hitting us or throwing something at us, she will do it. I have now taken to telling her to put them on 30 minutes before we have to leave in anticipation of the meltdown.

As I was getting the kids out of the car to go into the library I noticed that Jessenia's sock wasn't quite on correctly. Now, the sock was at least tucked in to the shoe (that seems painful for her scrunched toes), I pulled the sock out for the effect of the picture. I don't get it. She CAN put them on. She just doesn't want to. To each their own, I suppose. If you would rather wear them like that, go right ahead.

Reese came up to me at some point during the day and asked if I would tie this blanket for him. He had it tucked under his chin (I helped him stuff it in his shirt) and he wanted it to go behind too.
I obliged and then took a picture of how cute he was.

Then I wanted a picture of the back so I could show Mack how we tied it on. I asked Reese to turn around so I could take a picture and he gave me this...

Straight off the red carpet, over the shoulder pose. LOVE it! I started cracking up and snapped the picture.

To summarize: Reese is going to be a model and Jessenia is going to live the rest of her life in bare feet. Just remember, you knew them when.

One!

Brisbane's birthday was March 15th. You have probably already read about the mix of emotions I had that day. This post will just be about all of the fun we had celebrating. There are lots of pictures, because I just couldn't choose. So it will be kind of long.
I found this cute Monster Mask kit at Target on clearance last week and I thought it would be a fun craft to do with the big kids during structured play time. They chose the colors for Brisbane's masks and I made those ones. Then they got to decorate their own.
They did a really good job deciding where all of the stickers and eyes should go.

And boy were they adorable when it was all said and done. These are genuine smiles too...no bribery necessary. Of course, Jessenia's mask broke less than 30 minutes later and she informed me that she wanted to throw it in the garbage. I of course let her after confirming that is what she really wanted. When I then told her that she could not have Brisbane's masks she had a freak out. But we dug her broken one out of the garbage and nuclear disaster was averted.

Brisbane wasn't as excited about wearing his mask. He mostly just wanted to eat it.

Brisbane's favorite activity is playing with the dishes in the dishwasher. Dishes are always a total disaster at our house because they have to be done when Brisbane is sleeping or completely distracted (although he is very sneaky and has a sixth sense about when the dishwasher is open and comes out of nowhere). But for his birthday I decided to let him go at it (after removing all of the knives). That cutting board and all of the utensils had to be rewashed, but he had the time of his life.

Then we opened presents. I did a little photo shoot with him and his haul. I had to give him that package so he could eat the wrapping paper on it, otherwise he wouldn't have sat still.

Yum, paper!

My big boy!

The kids were extremely jealous of Brisbane's gifts. Reese asked me, "Mom, on my birthday, am I going to turn one?" It made me kind of sad. We don't know what birthdays were like for them before but I could tell it was nothing like this. I told him he was going to get to be FOUR and that he would still get presents and get to do fun things, get to pick where we eat dinner, and get cake and ice cream. He seemed satisfied though slightly skeptical.

We had to remind Reese and Jessenia lots of times that the presents were for Brisbane and if he wanted to play with them, they needed to let him. But he wanted to share them with them all the other times that he wasn't interested in them. They didn't get it.

A tradition of my family for birthdays, that Mack and I have adopted, is to let the birthday boy/girl pick where we go out to dinner. I have decided this is a perk of a large family. I have already accumulated five nights a year that I guaranteed don't have to cook dinner.

Obviously Mack and I had to choose for Brisbane. We choose Cici's Pizza. A cheap, not so great, but good pizza buffet. All of the kids we free. Reese doesn't like pizza (looney toon) and only wanted salad. Jessenia was in heaven (her favorite food is pizza) and Brisbane really liked it too. He especially liked the breadsticks and throwing things on the floor.

We had to kill some time after pizza to let the food settle before we ate cake. We put together some of the presents and let the kids go at it.

This was Reese and Jessenia's first test of letting Brisbane play with his toys whenever he wants. Jessenia only wanted a Little People Grandma and Grandpa with suitcase that Brisbane was not at all interested in. Reese however wanted that whole Little People train station to himself. Brisbane wanted to sit on it and push the buttons (still his favorite way to play with it). Reese didn't like that because then he couldn't play too. But he handled it generally well.

Brisbane really liked his farm.

But mostly he liked the farm animals. Since he refusese to walk, he has mastered the art of carrying things in his mouth while crawling. Including that sheep.

Then we had cake. You hear stories about kids who just poke the cake. And then you hear of those who get it all over. Brisbane generally loves to rub all food into his hair. But he was somewhere in between the extremes with the cake.

He certainly did more than poke it. And I even found some in his ear the next day. But he did not rub it all over his hair. He actually liked the ice cream more than the cake. (Definitely his father's son.)

Still a bath was in order. (Love how he edited himself with that cup. Good one Brisbane!)

It was a long and fun day. I was beat and had to leave the dishes until the next day. Bad idea.

First thing that Jessenia asked me the next morning, "Where's Grandpa?" I thought she was asking about her grandparents. But no. She was asking about that darn Little People Grandpa. Go figure. "You do remember that the Grandpa is Brisbane's right?" "Yeah. Sure. Whatever, Mom. Where is it?"

Zoo

As a new mother you have dreams of what your first trip to the zoo with your kiddos is going to be like. I was given a triple stroller shortly after we got Reese and Jessenia. Now a triple stroller brings tears of joy to the eyes of a mother with three toddlers/infants who get grumpy if they have to walk too far/can't walk. I thought with the triple stroller endless possibilities of day trips with my kiddos awaited. Well all that dreaming came crashing down in one day at the Phoenix Zoo.
One of my good friends, Nicole, invited the kiddos and I to the zoo with her son, Caleb. They have a zoo membership and so we were all able to get in for free. Awesome! (Ask Mack, I love free!) So I schemed as I was falling asleep the night before about all the things I would need at the zoo to make it the most awesome experience ever. Now I had no delusions that this trip was going to be easy with three little ones, but we were excited. I had the kids all pumped up, had snacks planned out, and even got up early to practice folding and unfolding my triple stroller for it's inaugural run.
We got to the zoo early so that I could load the kids into the stroller and make sure we were settled before meeting up with Nicole and Caleb. There were droves of people there as can be expected when going to the zoo on Spring Break. I pulled into a parking space where I would have lots of room to unload my triple stroller and load up the kids. As soon as I set up the stroller I knew we had an issue. Now I am the third owner of this stroller and it has been through the wringer. Something was wrong with the foot rest on the front seat so it got in the way of the wheel. I thought, "eh, no worries. A little harder to push maybe, but no biggie". Then I put Jessenia in the front seat and realized that it was broken. I vaguely remember my friend mentioning this to me but she assured me that her kids were able to sit in it fine. Jessenia however is a bit of a worry-wart/whiner/wimp and so she was traumatized. On top of that Brisbane was in the second seat and Jessenia's seat pretty much leaned back into his lap and wouldn't stay up. So I did some fancy jimmy-rigging with the seat belt wrapped around the bar to partially hold it in place. We hadn't even made it into the zoo and we were struggling. I also realized that with all three kids in the stroller, a diaper bag around my neck, and the foot rest issue that there was no way I could push this space ship through the zoo. "Everybody out!"
I loaded all of the kids back into the car. Collapsed the stroller. Waited for Nicole and Caleb at the zoo entrance. I knew we were going to have to rent a stroller (no problem). I figured they would only have a double. Which meant that Reese was going to have to walk. I thought he might freak out. But he was in kind of one of his funk/over-whelmed moods from over stimulation that morning and so he just meandered along.

Brisbane and Jessenia rode comfortable along in the stroller. Reese walked, holding Caleb's hand, while Caleb jabbered to him about everything he saw. It was awesome. Caleb and Reese could be best friends. Reese listened to everything Caleb had to say and Caleb had a perfect audience to talk to his hearts content. I loved it and it still makes me smile.
Stroller now in hand we pressed on through the zoo. I quickly learned that my children are no fun to take to the zoo. (I actually think they would do better the next time now that they have been once.) They were not excited about a single thing. In fact, I am sure that not one of them smiled the entire time. Thank goodness for Caleb, who was excited enough for all of us. (Have I mentioned I love that kid...definitely want to steal him.) I am telling you, the kids could not stop talking about the zoo and what animals they wanted to see, the whole day prior and the 30 minute drive to the zoo. We arrived. They became totally overwhelmed and turned into zombies. I understand why but it was still a bit depressing.

Brisbane viewed the zoo from the comfort of the stroller. Jessenia wanted to be lifted in and out at every animal. Where she and Reese walked up to the glass/pen/cage and stared.

Like this. No words. No excitement. Just stared. Then she walked back to me and climbed back in the stroller.
The kids were actually really good most of the time. Reese didn't even complain once about having to walk the whole time. (Love that kid!) All was well until I told Reese he couldn't carry his snack because he was walking too slow. He screamed. Ear piercing. I was mortified. People stared. I wanted to die. Not from embarrassment. But from the thought that I will never be able to take my kids anywhere without screaming. He stopped eventually, thank goodness.
Then we rode the carousel. I stood between these two bundles of cuteness. I knew Jessenia would like it. She is the brave one. I was worried about more screaming from Reese and that the operator would have to stop the carousel and let us all off (he is a chicken). I warned Reese that the tiger he was sitting on was going to move up and down and the carousel would spin. I assured him I was right there and told him not to cry, it was ok. They were both fine in the beginning when we were moving slow. Then I could sense Reese getting nervous. He didn't cry. But he definitely didn't like it.
Then Jessenia had her melt down. I am not entirely sure why. Mostly equal parts heat and exhaustion. It was mortifying again, yet somehow not embarrassing, if that makes sense. We skipped out on lunch and went home.
Once we got home the kids talked about how awesome it was. Jessenia keeps telling people, "We went to the animals!" Good thing you didn't smile while we were there Jessenia, I would have thought you liked it! I think we will try again. I can do hard things. It was hard to take three kids for a day trip. They were not their most pleasant and enthusiastic selves. But I must admit that I had fun, and they had fun. And now I know I can do it. And that makes me want to do it again. We are just now in serious need of a double stroller. :)

Celebrations

I like to think that my blog is a pretty fun place. I share cute stories and pictures for the enjoyment of humanity. Well I have been told by a few people that my blog has made them cry. When I mentioned this to Mack he told me that when he reads it at school, he has gotten misty a few times. Hmm. Well I hope this doesn't make anyone cry, but today's post is going to be of a more serious nature.
Today is Brisbane's birthday. Believe me, we are having a good time at our house today. I will post all about it later this week. And even though we are having a good time I have been dreading this day for about a month.
We were at the zoo yesterday (another future post) and ran into some old co-workers of mine. It came up that the next day (aka today) was Brisbane's birthday and one of them said, "So that means that a year ago today (aka yesterday) you had NO children?" Oh my honk! He was right!
Mack and I tried for a while to have children the conventional way. At about the year mark we decided to try infertility testing and treatments to see if it would help. We knew that we wanted a large family and thought we had better get this show on the road. We felt inspired to have kids but the kids just weren't coming. So we did the tests. We had some issues. We did some treatments. And no kids. We were heartbroken. It was a very hard time in my life. I felt really alone when everyone around me was pregnant and had beautiful families. I hated going to family events where everyone had a million kids and that is what people talked about...their kids. It was my biggest trial to date and also my most faith building experience.
We continued to pray and have faith that we would have a family and in the meantime felt inspired that we should look into adoption. When Mack and I were dating we had talked about adopting some children eventually. I think we both kind of imagined that it would be after we had already had some biological children and we were in a more stable life phase. But adoption was always definately on the radar.
So we started looking into it. We started taking adoption classes in October 2010. We knew that adoption can take a loooong time and so we were prepared for lots of months/years of waiting. In December 2010 we found out that if we were interested in doing a private adoption (aka expensive) there were a few birth mothers that might be interested in meeting us. We prayed. With the help of some family members we decided we would be able to do a private adoption if we got selected.
We were interviewed in December by a very nice woman. She was having a little girl and we thought there was a chance. No go. She picked another family with three boys. We were sad. Then one of the adoption workers told us about Cory. As she started talking to us I knew that this was it. Cory was having a little baby boy. We were so excited to meet her. The appointment kept getting postponed and in January 2011, we finally met.
She told us at that meeting that she wasn't considering any other couples and that she wanted us to adopt her son. It was divine intervention. I knew it. She knew it. We were family forever. I went to all of her doctor's appointment with her. We laughed. We cried. And we got to know each other pretty well. Then she got admitted to the hospital two months early due to pre-eclampsia. I went and visited her every day. Now Cory and I would probably never have been friends normally. We come from very different walks of life and have basically nothing in common. But during those two weeks that she was in the hospital she became my friend. I loved her. I loved her for how much she loved her baby. I loved her for loving Mack and me. And I loved her for giving us the opportunity to be parents.
Brisbane was born five weeks early. We got to be in the OR when he was born c-section. Mack got to cut the cord. I was holding Cory's hand when he was born. It was one of the coolest memories and something I will always cherish. When people adopt there is no guarantee that you will be able to tell your kids their birth story. We have that for Brisbane. Because we were there.
Then came the worst three days of my life. In Arizona, birth mothers have to wait three days to sign away their parental rights. Cory loved Brisbane. She vascilated. She thought about keeping him. I spent every day in the NICU with Brisbane. Those nurses were pulling for me and they were my therapy through those three days. My parents were waiting in New Mexico to start driving as soon as they heard the papers had been signed. Three days later she did it. The bravest thing I have ever seen anyone do. She signed the papers. Brisbane was ours (not quite officially) but good enough for us.
And now he is one year old. I can't believe that it has been a year. I can't believe Cory moved to California and we haven't seen her since June. I can't believe how big he is and how perfect he is and how different he is than I ever expected him to be. People tell us all the time that he looks like us. And he kind of does.
It has been almost three years since we started trying to get pregnant. We still have hope and faith that it will happen. But it's ok if it never does. I would be perfectly content if all of our children came into our family through this crazy miracle of adoption.
But today I am kind of sad. Sad that I will never be able to tell Reese and Jessenia about their births. Sad that we may never witness the birth of another of our children. Sad that our little baby isn't a baby anymore. I am so excited that we have made it to one year. Three kids and one year later. That Brisbane doesn't have any effects from being in the NICU for five days on a feeding tube and oxygen. We are so blessed with a healthy and beautiful baby boy. I am equal parts grateful and overjoyed and blessed and sad.
I hope every day that Cory knows how much we love her and are grateful to her. She is our hero. She is a part of our family forever.
The other day, Reese and Jessenia's case worker was here. We were talking about why Reese and Jessenia were not adopted by another family that they were placed with for adoption. And the case worker said, "Because they were meant to be in your family". It is so true. I believe it. Cory was meant to give birth to Brisbane. But he was meant to be raised in this earth life by Mack and me. He was meant to be sealed to us forever. He was meant to be the little brother to Reese and Jessenia. And they were meant to be our little boys and girl. I believe it with all of my heart.
And so today we are eating cake and opening present and making monster masks. But we aren't just celebrating a little boy turning one. We are celebrating our journey as a family of five (for now). How we got to this place from a year ago. We are celebrating Cory and her gift to us. And we are celebrating all of our family and friends who prayed for us and spoke words of encouragement when we were down. We love you all. A lot. Just not as much as we love our kids!
P.S. Ok, I admit it. I totally cried when I wrote this. Sorry everyone.
In related news: I got a call today from Reese and Jessenia's attorney's social worker (complicated, eh?). She called to let me know that the court case concerning the kids was settled. I try not to post too much about their past on a public forum because they are not legally ours yet. But the long and short is that their birth parents were appealing the decision to have their parental right severed. The hearing was held earlier this week and we found out today that the judge upheld the initial decision. That means that Reese and Jessenia are really truly legally free to adopt. Which means if everything goes smoothly we could finalize the adoption this summer. Woo hoo! This is a good day. Definately in the top five best days of my life!

Backdirt Annihilation--Phase 1

If you are a loyal reader ({small cough} my mother and mother-in-law) you know that we do not currently have a backyard. Instead we have back-dirt. It is something we have known we had to take care of from the moment we moved in but we are too lazy and too cheap to do it.
The real Phase 1 of getting rid of the back dirt was removing the enormous weeds (oh, really? Those were trees?) from the back-dirt. Mack did this with much success. Although he still has to remove one of the stumps/root systems and somehow get the other 300+ pound stump out of the yard. But we will refer to the removal of the trees as Phase 0.
Then we got kids and realized we needed to speed the process along so they could enjoy the beautiful spring weather here in Arizona without needing to change their clothes due to excessive filth. So instead of laying pavers (the original plan) which would have taken us way too long and only saved us a little bit of money, we decided to hire a patio layed. Best. Decision. Ever. (Ok, second best decision to marrying my amazing husband.)
And that patio is officially Phase 1 of Backyard Annihilation 2012.

And in one day the back-dirt has become smaller. I love it. I love opening the blinds in the morning just to look at it. I love that Zippy can go out and lay on it. And I love that my kids love it. I mean look at the smile on that girl's face from standing on a concrete slab!
Oh? You think she is smiling because of the bubbles? Hmph. I personally think the patio is more exciting. But to each their own.

Cute kids+concrete patio=Family Bliss

Chili, anyone?

Brisbane is a big kid. I am coming to accept it, despite all of my best efforts to keep it from being so. He is eating real people food. He eats pretty much whatever we eat (within reason) and whatever we think he can handle. So far his favorite food is chili. He likes to eat all of the meat and beans and when he is done, instead of using a napkin, wipe the sauce all over his face and hair. Needless to say, Brisbane is averaging two more baths a week than he was before we allowed him to feed himself.

Fort

Last week, before Grandma and Grandpa came, I decided to try my hand at some fort building. It wasn't planned and it just kind of happened. We built forts as kids and so I wanted to test out my skills twenty years later. I have to admit it wasn't my best work, but the kids liked it.

This isn't the best picture we had of all of us in the fort (notice Reese not smiling) but it had Zippy in it. And since this is her blog and she hasn't made an appearance in a while, I wanted to include it.

I asked the kids if they wanted to sleep in the fort. Which of course, they did. It didn't last though because they couldn't get settled and Jessenia's part fell in on her. (It was bring held up by a yard stick and so it wasn't entirely her fault.) Better luck next time, I suppose.

I also have to brag that Mack declared my Mom of the Year because of how much fun we had with our fort. I think he is biased and his standard is pretty low but I will take it none the less.

"I love you!"

We are a pretty lovey-dovey family. We like to throw around the "I love you"'s and give lots of hugs and kisses on a regular basis. When we brought Reese and Jessenia into our home they were very affectionate but pretty wary of the "I love you"'s.
Reese is our kisser. If you ask him for a hug he immediately says, "I want a kiss too!" What mother doesn't love that!? He is pretty free flowing with those kisses. I told Mack that some day we might need to start calling him Loose Lips. We are hoping that when he decides girls other than his Mom are cute he won't think kissing everyone is as good an idea.
Jessenia is our hugger. She would love nothing more than to sit on my lap all day long. She wants to cuddle and have you squeeze her as tight as you can. She is kind of a poacher. She will wait until you set Brisbane down or Reese jumps off your lap and then she slides on before you suspect anything. One minute you think you are putting Brisbane down to make dinner and five minutes later you realize that you got hoodwinked into holding Jessenia. I have to admit, I kind of like that too.
When the kids first moved in with us, we would tell them "I love you" and get nothing back. This was kind of hard at first because we are so used to hearing "I love you" in return. But it wasn't unexpected and it certainly didn't hurt our feelings. They didn't really know us from the next guy. After a few weeks they started responding with "I love you". Reese was definately quicker at proclaiming his love but Jessenia came around eventually.
This brings me to last night. We were all piled on Mom and Dad's bed watching The Rescuers for movie night. I was holding Reese on my lap and he whispered, "Mom? I love you". I was completely taken by surprise. That is the first time that either of the kids has declared their love without being told first. I have to admit, I got a little misty.
We love our three little kids so much. Even on the hard days when we spend a lot of time crying and in time out there is still a lot of love in our home. I wondered if it would be harder to love a two and a three year old. I mean, it is easy to fall in love with a baby. But two and three year olds talk back and do some pretty obnoxious things some time. Before we got the kids it was something I worried about a lot. I worried that I wouldn't love them as much as I love Brisbane. I worried that they wouldn't love us. I worried and worried and prayed and prayed that I would love them and that they would love us.
Last night illustrated perfectly something that I was talking to one of my friends about the other day. You don't have to be related by blood to be family. My kids will be my kids for eternity because of the Atonement and because of our Heavenly Father's plan.
My favorite thing about being a mom is being loved and being able to love.
Reese? Jessenia? Brisbane? I love you!

BaseballIceCream

My parents came into town last weekend and we decided to take advantage of them and attend a Spring Training game. My mother stayed home with Brisbane and my father came to the game to watch (i.e. help with the kids).
The night before we were getting the kids all revved up for the game. They were not all that excited (much to their mother and grandfather's dismay) and so my dad told them they could have ice cream at the game. That did the trick. They walked around for the next twelve hours saying, "We are going to BaseballIceCream". As if it were all one word/thing.
Sidenote: This reminds me of when Mack and I took our niece and nephew to a Diamondbacks game and our niece kept asking us, "What are we waiting for?" I had to break it to her that we were watching what we were 'waiting for'.
Everyone at the park was really nice to the kids. An usher/lady/person/worker came up and asked the kids what kind of a game they were going to watch. They were too shy to answer. When she asked them if they were going to a basketball game. They said yes. Oh brother.
Spring Training games tend to have a lot of older people at them. The kids and their families sit on the grass in the outfield. Well Mack doesn't sit on the floor and I get hives thinking about kids loose on grass with lots of strangers around. So we had seats around a lot of older people. You could tell they had tickets every year because this was the first game of Spring Training and they were greeting each other and saying things like: "Some things never change." "It's good to see you back this year." "Who would have thought we had gotten so old." So when they saw us approaching with two young kids they were looking pretty nervous.
Then Mack left to go get napkins and they had a moment of silence and the National Anthem. Reese didn't want to stand up and so I was paranoid that we were going to have screaming during the moment of silence. But he stood up when I made him and thankfully did not scream. {sigh of relief} I told Mack that next time there is no abandoning each other during the National Anthem. He agreed.
We had AWESOME seats, right behind home plate. Even though we weren't rooting for any particular team, we had lots of fun. I love watching baseball games with my dad (and husband) (and kids) (and by myself).

And the kids loved eating the food.

As soon as they were done with those hot dogs they started asking where the ice cream was. My father unwisely suggested we go get some. It wasn't even the end of the second inning! I told him we needed to pace the food so we could keep them entertained throughout all nine innings (the game wasn't doing the trick). It was a wise move.

But Grandpa couldn't resist. He got the kids cotton candy to last until the ice cream.

It was totally sticky (obviously). Mack was pretty disturbed and had to take the kids to the bathroom to wash their hands.

I think the kids had as much fun as they could be expected to have when a two and three year old are at a baseball game. Thank goodness for the yummy food. Amongst the five of us we ate: five hotdogs, two pretzels, one nachos, one cotton candy, five ice creams, and three large sodas (who would have thunk my kids would like soda so much). When Grandma heard about the food she made it abundantly clear that we were responsible for any sick children. Thankfully, nobody got sick.

Hmmm....no pictures of Mommy at the game. I need to hand the camera off more...

As we were leaving the older woman in front of us asked if the kids go to games all the time. I told her this was their first. She was super impressed. Them the older woman behind us commented that they were very well behaved. I was proud of them, they really are great kids!

Introducing the New Sesame Street Character: Screwdriver!

I don't usually post in the morning but I didn't want to forget this one. I was in the kitchen and the kids were playing with some Sesame Street Alphabet cards. I heard them talking about how they both had a card with Elmo on it. Then I hear them talking about Screwdriver. I had no idea what they were talking about. I look over and Reese is holding a Grover card. I love Grover and thought this was an atrocity that they would A) not know his name, and B) call him Screwdriver (of all things). So I immediately corrected them. I heard Reese call him Screwdriver again so I corrected him one more time and had him repeat the name. (Knowing the names of classic Sesame Street characters is serious business around our house.) Reese seemed to get it them but Jessenia kept calling Grover, Screwdriver. I asked her if she wanted me to call her "Hammer". That seemed to sober her up and cause her to be able to remember Grover's name. Geesh!
Now I am just wondering where the name Screwdriver came from in the first place....

There is no such thing as Semi-Potty Trained

I have decided it is a miracle that anyone actually gets potty trained. Strike that. I think it is a miracle that people are not potty trained. I mean, come on. Once you realize that you can go to the bathroom on a porcelin structure that will make all of the grossness that you have been sitting in the last 2+ years of your life disappear why wouldn't you just do it!?
I wish my two year old was more eloquent so she could answer that question for me.
Jessenia was semi-potty trained when we adopted her. (aka. Not. Potty. Trained.) She has the basic idea and she doesn't usually have accidents during the night (knock on wood) but she does seem to have an accident at least once a day. I know, I know, I should be grateful. But instead I am grumpy about it. I am trying to decide if Pull-Ups for the rest of eternity would be such a bad option for her. I can ask her if she needs to go potty. She answers 'no'. Then five minutes later she has an accident. Ugh!
I fear leaving the confines of my house where I have all necessary items in case an accident occurs. I fear my child sitting in a shopping cart and beginning to relieve herself all over the cart, the floor beneath, and (heaven forbid) the items in the cart. I fear that no matter how many items I throw in my car in case of an emergency it won't be enough.
Who would have guessed that she would choose to have three accidents in one day? Try in one two hour stretch? Try standing up at her aunt's house soaking wet all down her pants, undies, socks, AND shoes. I fear these experiences constantly. When I am thinking between venturing out to stretch our legs for some unnecessary errand I think of these things and it usually tips the scale towards staying home. We don't get out much.
Now you are asking why I have included this darling picture of my children on a slide. Because this picture was taken on a glorious Arizona winter/spring day when Mack was home from school and we treated ourselves to lunch out and a little play time. Because this picture is the only picture I got before my sweet two year old had an accident that cut all fun short. Yep. We got to go home. I had to put one of Brisbane's diapers on her (she was less than thrilled) and we went home.
Awww, the joys of potty training.
We will just try again tomorrow. Hey! Maybe it will be our first accident free day. :)

P.S. This is not an invitation for potty training advice. I don't take advice well (ask anyone who knows me). :)

Grandparents and Cousins

We had a good time with the grandparents and cousins. We hung out, ate really yummy food, attended a cousin's basketball game, chatted, and only had two time outs. It was a good weekend. I just wanted to include these pictures for posterity (and because they are cute).

Some of the cousins (or as Reese kept saying, "Where are the kids?") spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's while their parents were out of town. This was pretty awesome because they basically entertained our kids the whole time. Thanks Kids!