Doing pretty well!

Well, I wanted to get things more organized around here and I've definitely been putting forth the effort! Last night I almost got Addy's playroom finished! I'm posting what I have complete, just have a few more things for the walls and storage stuff. It's looking really good! Naturally her favorite thing is the new Princess TV and DVD player! That girl is such a Sesame Street, Signing Time and Tangled addict! However, my plan is working and I've been setting out some toys on the floor by her that she is actually playing with while she watches! She LOVES her tub of different type of letters (foam, block, magnets etc. ) and they seem to end up all over the floor, but it's progress!

I had big plans to tackle my closet today. It was a complete disaster, Scott and I could barely walk in it! I had boxes to go through and tons of clothes. I seem to put things in the closet that need to be organized but I just don't have the oomph to do so! I knew it was going to be a major undertaking but it really had to be done! I have 6 bags of clothes, purses, and shoes to donate to the thrift store. I have some of my nicer things set aside for good friends to go through. Losing weight is at least good for cleaning out my closet! I have a few things that I got from another friend that I am REALLY hoping will fit by spring and all of the spring stuff I have from last year can be passed on as well! I need to do another before and after pic but I'm waiting until I hit the 100 pound mark and that's still a little ways away so you'll have to wait! I am exhausted, it took about 6 hours to go through everything , pack things up, put things in different piles, shred stuff etc.! I wanted to be finished by early afternoon but I didn't get to start until then. I got a call about 9 this morning from a crying Jarika :( poor girl fell last night and sprained her ankle AGAIN! So I met her in Springfield and we went to Urgent Care but it was closed today so we had to go to the ER, it took forever! Fortunately, the ankle wasn't broken but she is back in a gel cast and on crutches until she can go see her surgeon next week. She's had reconstruction surgery on this ankle twice already! We are hoping that this isn't surgical and just needs to heal. She probably needs physical therapy again. Good thing she works in a training room with Athletic Trainers huh!!?!
Well Happy New Year!

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!