My Little Punkin'

Me....one year ago today (read the post to see why I was freaking out)Look how young the big kids looked a year ago!!!!! I can't believe how much they have changed!!

Our newest little punkin'!......(this year)

I remember this day exactly one year ago. See the photo above. This is right after "THE call" as I was waiting for MJ to speed like nuts to get home so we could open the email!!!! CM, RM, and I had just gotten back from the pumpkin patch picking out pumpkins and they had just gone down for a nap when the call came. 

One year ago today we got the call that would change our little family of four to become a family of five. I didn't give our social worker time to say a thing I just said "I knew you were going to call today, I just knew you were going to call today!!!" Then, I conference called MJ and she began to tell us about about a little guy that was 15,000 miles away that we fell in love with instantly. He was our little Juju from that second on. 

Happy Referral day, Juju bee. I am so glad God picked us as your family and you as our son. If I could look all over the world and choose one boy to be my baby boy, I would look and look and look and do you know what? I would choose you. 

First Day of School

Yes, I blurred out their school name, yes, I know that I have made the blog private so their should be no pedophiles on the sight....seriously, how long have you known me and known about my obsessions? Come on, now. 

His eleven newest buddies.....

CM's nervous face as he is leaving the "Good Morning" school assembly they have every day where they sing worship together and prepare for the day with prayer. 
My first-grader...that is just nuts. 
The whole fam....check out this classroom size....awesome. 
Ridin' up in the elevator....almost ready.

Seriously, these two love birds know how to fight but man do they love each other madly/deeply. They are best friends. I was filling out an "all about me" book with RM the other day and one of the questions is "who is your best friend?" She promptly answered "bubby" without a beat. "OH," she said ...."and Juju too".
Yes, I got RM a present for CM's first day...are you nuts? Of course I bribed her that if she didn't cry then i would give it to her. And, absolutely I did it because I knew if she cried I would be a bumble-ing fool. 
Rooters first day of school. Making cinnamon toast with mommy for her kids choice breakfast.
All dressed up in her first day of school wears with best friend number dos.
Her interpretation of a funny face.
Try to see if you can tell why she is grinning from ear to ear in these pics.....

someone was hiding behind her :)
A special guest popped in with a special first day of school treat....

I am a little delayed on CM's first day but it was fabulous.  He is amazing me that he can do and comprehend so much. They do 2nd grade math in first grade but he is whizzing right along. He loves his teacher and his favorite parts of the day are: talking :), learning about Missionary Heroes, recess, and P.E. He gives me a blow by blow account every day after school and I love it. I honestly thought I would just really enjoy the day so much with RM and Jee that I would barely have time to think about how much I missed my big boy....not true. I think about him constantly. Rinn and I now have memorized where he is every moment of the day. It's funny, RM said right after lunch the other day "I bet bubby is in P.E. about right now." Sure enough, that's where he should have been. 

RM is so cute when we talk about school. We started her a little later than CM started this year because we wanted to be done with our vacation. So, when I would ask her if she was getting excited about the first day of school she would always respond with a little hesitancy in her voice "umm...yah, ummm...I am going to homeschool though, right?" Implying that she would not under any circumstances leave my side and go to a school such as CM's "right mommy?" she would continue. Then, for the first few times someone would ask her she would say "Yes, I do pre-k in the afternoons at homeschool." Haha...the afternoons are Juju's naptime and is when we get most of her schooling done on the days that CM is in school. She is a smarty pants. It is fun to get a little time alone with the little red headed love of my life. 

Happy Grandparent's Day!!!!

Enjoying the Beach

We are having so much fun at the beach. Our babies have been fabulous. We have stayed up late, no naps (except for the black haired boy) and played from morning until night. The weather is unbelievable and the beaches are gorgeous. C and daddy body boarded all day yesterday. CM is really amazing how much energy he has. Adrenaline is really an amazing gift from God (I think it's a gift....). RM has hunted for shells ALL day EVERY day. She particularly enjoys finding the "baby shells" and says we have to be especially nice to them because they miss their mommy and they are scared of the water (pretty sure that one is some sort of psychological transfer of her fear of the waves). Jude has been a trooper. He loves the beach ball and also really enjoys just getting pounded by the waves. The kid is fearless (Lord, please have mercy on me in the future....lots of ER visits I predict). We've eaten out every night at nice places and last night at 11 pm we had warm brownies....that is what vacation is all about. I love my family.

See below for some more pics...

7 months home/16 months old

Jee has been home for SEVEN months. Hard to believe. When I look at him day in and day out I can't tell just physically how much he has changed. But, when I look back at photos from right when he got home it is amazing the change. Lots of other changes as well, of course. The biggest just being him coming out of his shell and sleeping at night (praise the Lord). He has a fun little personality and has now figured out how funny he can be. He loves to move when music starts and his favorite dance move is putting his fist up in the air and pumping his elbow up and down---hilarious. When the music starts it is like he can't even control it, the music just speaks to him. Of course, he still loves his lovey....that poor thing has about had all it can take. Whenever I absolutely have to wash it I worry and pray over it that it will make it through one more wash. I have no idea what we would do without lovey. Juju also is learning about fits and how to control his anger. The last several weeks have been much improved in the fit throwing department (again, praise the Lord). Now, the big obstacle is figuring out how to really transition him to going to his class at church (one hour a week:)...poor poor baby! I have been in there with him for lots of times now and have left him in there without me two times. The jury is still out on which one seems to be best for Jude. As always, he deals with things in the middle of the night most of the times. Poor guy. He is very predictable in that area. Whenever I have left him in the daytime or been to class at church-something out of the ordinary-he ALWAYS has a tough time in the middle of the night at home that night. A friend reminded me that "Sometimes, in the dark, the shadows of the past come creeping in, when you least expect it....thankfully, we have a God big enough to lead us through those deep dark valleys." Which is true in my life and I think that Jude (even as a bitty little guy) still deals with sadness in the middle of the night. We are trying to just be patient and supportive and love on him through those times. I do really miss going and being a part of church and so the biggest thing we are tackling now is the church class issue. Thanks for your prayers in that area. 

I would describe Jee as:

Determined

Funny

Busy

Sensitive (sometimes)

What a little toot I have with this little guy. I love him head to toe. 

Welcome and Update regarding private blog

Hello friends!!! I finally made the blog private!!! Hip hip hooray. Wow!!! I can not believe so many of you followed me over. I am so boring and yet you love us anyway! (Ok, Ok....I know you only come over for the cute kids:)

I know that many of you do not have gmail accounts and so may be signing is as a "guest" and that will limit you to 30 days and then you will need a new invitation. 

I think that just stinks! So, I am trying to come up with something else to use on blogger that will enable non gmail account holders to still access the blog without having to sign up for a gmail account or get a new invite. No such luck yet. 

I will be researching my possibilities as to how I can make your life easier and my life safer. I will let you know what I come up with. I am really hoping this does NOT mean I have to move over to another blog service. So, if you have any ideas let me know!!!