2012

I am not really one of those people that has a list of changes for the new year or regrets of the old. There are definitely things that I wanted to happen in 2011 that didn't. Maybe they'll happen in 2012 but I don't know! I do have a few things I want to change. I definitely want to get more organized, my house is a disaster! I cannot keep closets, counters or our garage straightened up, it makes me quite crazy! So I am hoping I'm able to at least change that!

We took the kids to see Chipwrecked this afternoon. It was Addy's first movie :) I only had my Iphone so I didn't get a great pic of her there, the lights were already out when we got in to sit down. She absolutely loved the movie though :) I was worried that it would be too loud for her but it didn't phase her a bit! She laughed and danced and sang, definitely had a good time :)
I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year! Looking forward to the post a pic everyday challenge thing that I signed up for :) Should be interesting to see if I actually do it!

Christmas Pix

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! My kids are happy with what they got :) We don't use credit cards so fortunately we don't go into debt at Christmas! They have plenty and so do we :) Enjoy time with your families!






Addy always gets some one on one music attention from her cousins' grandmother :) She's a retired music teacher and she and Addy sing and sing!
Someone was completely wiped out! Crashed out watching Rapunzel right on the kitchen floor :)

Merry Christmas Eve!

Sometimes you just have to write

I have written this blog post in my head for a couple of weeks now. This has the potential to upset some people but I finally decided that this is my blog and I have a right to write whatever I want to in it. Not that many people read it so here goes.

Many of you that know me well know that I am very passionate about adoption. If it weren't for adoption I wouldn't be where I am today. I don't know how different my life would have been if my birth mother had kept me, but I know how good my life was with my adoptive family. I can't imagine it any other way. I can't even think of my family without Addy in it. We were meant to be her parents, no one could love and adore her more than we do. Seriously, it's quite sickening really, we are absolutely crazy about every little aspect of her. I adore my biological children, don't get me wrong, they are my world! However, Addy is extra special and everyone knows it. I don't love her more than my other children of course, but I will admit, she gets away with more, she definitely gets more attention!

I found out a couple of weeks ago that Addy's birth parents were going out of the country to adopt a baby. I found out on a status update on Facebook. We have an open adoption so there is contact between us. When I found this out my heart kind of sank. My thoughts immediately went to Addy. What am I going to tell her? Is she going to understand this? I hope to God she doesn't. She is very smart. I know we all say that about our kids but she truly is. I've worked with several children with Down syndrome and let me tell you, sister's got game! Last night I saw a picture of the baby they are adopting. Absolutely darling, but once again, my heart sank. I don't ever want to explain this to her. Jake even said to me that he's happy for her birth family but sad for Addy. He doesn't want her feelings to get hurt. That's my boy, so sweet and concerned for his baby sister. I'm wondering why I wasn't told about this? Is it any of my business? No, it's not, but then I think it kind of is. My heart hurts for my girl, once again, I hope to God she never understands that she was given up because she has special needs. We are all fearfully and wonderfully made. The Bible tells me so :) Psalm 139 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

I got pretty upset last night. People have no idea what I am feeling about this. I was accused of being jealous. That I am not. How could I be jealous of their new addition when we have Addy??? I may be jealous of the adoption, I'm jealous of ALL adoptions right now because I want to adopt again so badly! I get so frustrated when people look at me and say that I already have my hands full. How do you know? Do you live my life? Do you do what I do everyday? No you don't. I am fully capable of taking care of my children, my home, my husband, my job and everything else without getting overwhelmed. Are there days when I wonder how we are going to be able to do it all? Absolutely, but families with one child have that issue sometimes! I look at Reece's Rainbow and fall more in love with those little faces every day and wonder when is it going to be our turn? So many people have said that they didn't the money for an adoption when they started their process. We definitely don't. However, I must not have enough faith because I know if we started the process we would not have donations flying in like I see so much of. We also don't have family that is willing or able to take care of our other children while we travel out of the country for who knows how long. I don't live in a community where we could host a fundraiser and thousands of dollars would come in. We'd be lucky to see a couple of hundred and when you're looking at $25,000 to $40,000 it would take years to get it all raised. Scott and I both work full time so neither one of us would have the time to devote to fundraisers either. So here we are, waiting until someday when we are able to save up enough to make a dent on this endeavor. People don't listen to me when I tell them that donations to Reece's Rainbow are tax deductible, I'm not asking for money to be given to me. Sometimes I just get so bummed about it that I just have to stop thinking about adopting again and move on. I am more than happy with my family the way it is, however, I can't stop thinking about what a blessing it would be for Addy to have a sister with DS so they could always be close and have each other. Am I closing the door to this dream? Absolutely not, however, I am going to start buying lottery tickets!

Music Performance and new skill

Last Sunday Addy's music therapy group had a Christmas performance and Addy had a solo :) She has a tendency to throw her instruments (shocking I know!). They did a really good job, it was quite adorable! Addy has received an award for having the Best Smile and Best Diva! That's my spunky little girl! LOVE HER!



She also has a new skill. She LOVES to stim with rubbing things on her hands and she's figured out that if she removes one sleeve she has better access to her shirt so she can rub it on her hand lol. She's a mess!

I'm sure many of you are also fans of Pinterest, I sure am! I've been wanting to do more things with Addy's hair and found these cute little Lattice braids. I'm going to practice some more things over break while I actually have more time to fix her hair in the morning!

Burning Down the House!

Addy's music teacher, Mr. Berns absolutely is amazing! Addy adores him! However, I think every child in our school adores him! He is fantastic with the kids! Every December he puts on a "Burning Down the House with Mr. Berns" music and movement time with our Parents as Teachers and Preschool kiddos. Addy loved it last year and tonight was no different!

She's in her ballet stuff since we had just come from class (which she actually stood and "danced" in because we had her wear her ballet slippers to school and did fantastic in them!)

Boogeying down!

This is Addy with her friend, Kevin. It was so cute, he called her over to sit by him :) That's his family behind them, his baby sister, Brooklynn and I are buddies!

She even held two rhythm sticks and didn't throw them once! She also had an egg shaker and never did it leave her hand until it was time to put them up! This girl is a stinker!

Crazy Busy Weekend!

This weekend pretty much had NOOO down time! Yesterday Jake had pageant practice starting at 10 and then had a birthday party to go to. Jarika was coming into town to go to the funeral for two friends that were killed in a car accident last week and Addy and I had a birthday party to go to as well. It was busy! Here's Addy making a craft at the party :) I was going to get pix of her with the birthday boy but he wanted nothing to do with it!

Today was even busier by far! This morning Cooper's youth choir at church was singing along with our Praise Team for a special Christmas program. They did a great job, they always do! I didn't get pix of it since it was really crowded this morning, but here's a pic of him today :)

This afternoon Addy had her first dance recital. She's only been to dance class 3 or 4 times (I think) and she is making progress with participation, but the shoes are such an ordeal for her! She pretty much pulls the noodle legs when she wears her ballet slippers or tap shoes (Her OT thinks I need to send them to school and make her wear them there :) She won't stand in the tap shoes at all but she will for a little bit in her slippers when it's her idea and she feels like it :) So here is Addy at her first performance :) Yes, she sat the entire time and only moved her arms at the appropriate times maybe twice, lol. I had to wake her from a nap so she definitely was not on her game but at least she was there!





Then early this evening Jake had his Christmas pageant at church. He was Moses in the beginning having a snowball fight with an angel. Didn't make sense to me either but oh well!
For the rest of the performance he was Joseph. I didn't get a pic of him afterward with his "hat" on but I thought he made an excellent Joseph! The kids all did a great job, it was quite a cute performance! The most entertaining part was my friend's son, Kannon, he did a mean "PA RUM PA PUM PUM!" I know someone will have it on video, I'll share it on Facebook, it's worth watching!

Addy was pretty thrilled to see that Santa made a surprise visit too! She's the only one of all of my kids that hasn't done the whole Santa freak out!

Christmas List

I remember making a Christmas list when I was little. My kids have made lists every year too. I couldn't tell you the last time I made a one though! I'm going to show you my list this year, I made one :) I know pretty much everything on my list is impossible but it's been pretty fun dreaming!


I REALLY would LOVE hardwood floors in my family room and hallway upstairs. I despise carpet!I also want to frame several of my pictures of my kiddos that I have stored away. I have some areas that need more pix on them :) Not sure if my stairway would look this neat, but I love this one!

A gift card to Target would please me as well :) I could spend $1000s there!
Since Scott wrecked my van in Arizona I had to get a new (to me anyway!) one. I am actually thrilled with it so it was truly a win win :) I do miss my remote start though now that it's freezing outside!

I also want to finish my playroom project for Addy that I've been planning and doing bits and pieces of it in my mind. I would LOVE to have lots of baskets and shelves to store all of her things :)

I also want to get our garage much more organized, it's a disaster! For some reason Scott and I can NEVER keep our garage clean!
Most of all I want to adopt through Reece's Rainbow. I desperately want to give Addy a sister with Down syndrome :) I truly feel that someday it will happen, just waiting on the time when we have the financial means to do so. I would take any of these little sweethearts! I would take ANY child with DS actually, but I couldn't post all of their pix! Don't forget about Reece's Rainbow's biggest fundraiser of the year! The Angel Tree can be viewed by clicking here. Donate to anybody's grant fund, they all need families!