Merry Christmas to us!

The best Christmas present we could hope for came early this year. This princess,

is officially ours!!! Yes please feel free to hoot and holler, we have been doing it all day. Today was her day and we could not feel more blessed! Adopting out of foster care, or adoption period is not for the faint of heart. The road is long. The blessing worth every hurdle! Little Lady WE LOVE YOU!!! Welcome home!


Oh, and here is the entire crew in all our glory.....

So many of you wonder why our Christmas cards are never sporting the entire crew.
Need I say more?

Let's celebrate!!

The powers that be came together and ruled in our favor and he is ours!

His adoption was finalized last week after a very close call. Happy does not begin to explain how we all feel!
(more on my private blog)

This week

I sat back and just listened when I could.
 Some inconsequential thing happened, but I new I was being lied to. I hate that, so I sent my Irish triplets to their rooms until some one could tell the truth. Little H came down swearing her innocence. I knew she was in the clear so I sent her off to play. I announced to the hoodlums left in their rooms that Little H was off the hook. They were surprisingly calm, so I listened,

Bubba, " So what are we going to tell her?
Wild Thing, "I didn't do it!"
Bubba, " Yeah, but Mom is mad."
Wild Thing, "I DIDN'T Do it!"
Bubba, "FINE, I will just go tell the truth!"
Negotiations over........... He was so sad when we were all swimming and he was stuck in quiet time for lying. Hope he enjoyed his nap.

My kids were amazed a lady as old as me could actually swim.
I was amazed at how few laps I could do, yikes...

I left a child at home, SCARY! I was misinformed of a baseball playoffs games starting time.(Duh, the messenger is a 10 yr old boy!) So when the coach called frantic telling me my son would be the reason they forfeited. I threw the kids in the car and drove off. We were halfway to the ballfeild when  Sweet K screams, "We forgot Miss M!"  I dropped off my half dressed baseball player just in time and drove home. The front door was wide open. This is where the what kind of Mother am I doubts started screaming through my brain. Who runs off with out a child? The door being opened sent me into panic mode. Mind you it has only been 8-10 minutes. My mind went crazy, I ran in the house and down the stairs and there sat Miss M in all her 7 year old glory watching Mickey Mouse Club House. She was totally oblivious to her plight. My only thought was maybe I need to pummel one 10 Year old boy into learning to close doors! Okay, I don't pummel my kids but I wanted to right about then. Really it's my fault for not counting kids. I Know I over reacted a little, but it scared me that the next time we would be on vacation, it would be a gas station in the middle of Idaho and I wouldn't notice for over an hour or more. My folks did that to my brother. It's funny now but my parents were not laughing at the time.

We have an adoption day and time for Tankster!!! Yippee!!!! Now we pray every day and night and any prayer in between that some bio relatives do not file a motion to intervene. He won't leave, it will just delay the adoption and we do not want that or the legal hassle.

Bubba, My adoption story

Bubba had a birthday. We love this kid!

Whats not to love?
He is funny.
He is LOUD.
He loves with all his heart.
He has an addiction to anything Lightning Mc Queen or Toy Story.
His hugs are meaningful and tight.
He is sneaky.
He is always dirty, hands and feet all the time.
He is smart.
He can read.
He is a south Paw
He loves his brothers and sisters.
When he came to our family he stole my heart. I had just had to say goodbye to Little H for a while and my heart was breaking. They brought over this small 6 month old boy with a funny head  and no muscle control. He had a bulging belly and eyes and his head was sunken in on one side. The most angering part is he came from a foster home. He had been in care from birth. Born premature and drug exposed. they told us right off the bat that he would more than likely stay with our family.

It did not take long for us to have him holding up his head and then sitting and then crawling. He never cried for attention and that made me sad. We fixed that too...... It is amazing how children realize so quickly what they were missing. He slept through the night from the get go. We had to watch his weight. He has never gained weight easily, still doesn't. We went from thinking he would for sure be ours quickly to sending him to his birth parents 3 to 4 days a week shortly after he turned one. They were having another baby (our Wild Thing) and CPS thought they could make it. He hated it, he screamed for them and was so sullen when he was home. I prayed and cried a lot. How can they do this to these kids, my kids? How do they think these kids can possibly cope at such young ages with all this change. He had never lived with his bio parents and had no bond.One day I received a frantic call from Bio Mom that all was not well at their house and she was frantic. It was ugly the things she told me. I was horrified my boy had been exposed  to such things. Bubba was home for good that day and Wild thing became a part of our family full time too.As it turns out his birth Mom has always been honest and accepted responsibility for her choices. When confronted with suspicion by the case worker she fessed up to having slipped.  I Love his bio Mom. I respect her for recognizing that she could not be the parent he needed, she told me this.  " I am too young, I am an addict and I had no business having children. I want to do what is best and I know you can give my boys a better life." She stopped fighting and her and Bio Father sat down in a mediation with us and both signed off parental rights to Bubba only. I email her and and I let the boys see her once a year. She has come full circle, is doing well and is in collage.  We are grateful every day for our Bubba.

He is truly a hoot. So full of life and laughter. He was adopted at the same time Sweet K was and sealed to us on two days later. This kid may single handidly make me crazy, but I would not trade a moment of him for anything. Love you Bubba!!

"One Day Every Child Will Have A Family"

It is heartbreaking to to know so many children need a family.This was written on Wild Things bag of toys they gave him as we headed to our court room for his adoption. Bitter sweet.... I love my little man with all my heart! My heart aches though for the children who need the simple necessities of life and a lot of love and they are with out both. We feel so blessed to have the children God intended for our family. Wild Thing was meant for us and we for him.
  We dressed him in his finest duds,

Man is he handsome in a suit!

I know I am biased. The extra special thing about his adoption was his opportunity to be adopted on National Adoption Day. The state went all out and brought in local mascot's and super hero's.

There was face painting and games. Yummy food, and lots of celebrating. Even the man with the big white beard braved our warm climate for a visit.

 He was a hit with the middle children. The big were to big, and the small were frightened half to death.

It was AMAZING and special!!
 Wild thing was dropped off on our doorstep by his Birth Mom when he was alomost 8 months old. She promised a return that never happened. I worked hard to get him added to his Brothers case. He and Bubba are full biological siblings. I knew if I had any chance of keeping him I needed the courts on my side. He has not always been an easy child. Poor kiddo came with so many issues due to poor choices in utero made by Bio Mom. I do have a great relationship with Bio Mom and now know she wanted him to stay with his bio brother and with us. She new she was not prepared to raise children. I often tell her thank you for such a choice addition to our family. We would not be complete with out our Max man.We love you goose, welcome home!!
I do truly hope that "one day every child will have a family!!"

Local Fox 10 News

Here it is


http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/health/national-adoption-day-11-16-2010

He is the Reason

we need to move and pronto. This sweet boy has been waiting to be adopted. Waiting for National Adoption Day. November is National Adoption Month and with that the State holds a fun Saturday at the court house. I think all adoptions should be celebrated with this much fan fare. A child in need finding a forever family. That is huge! It is a big deal! He will be the sixth child to officially become ours and not the last. We love this little nut with all we have. Everyone who meets our Wild Thing does. He loves to say hi, introduce himself, and ask you how you are. He loves having quarters in his pocket. He loves to be outside. His best buddy is Bubba. He is sad and always tells me how much he misses him when they are apart. He is amazing and we are so glad to call him ours.
  With his Adoption being on National Adoption day came some fun unique opportunities. We have been asked to tell our story. To tell his story, and in some ways speak for all those who may not have a voice. We are being interviewed by Fox10 News at our new home 3 days after we move in. (YIKES)  Now you see why I needed my keys sooner?  No stress... We could have said no. I didn't want to because I feel I have an opportunity and responsibility to shed a positive light on Adoption. In this case Adopting out of Foster care. It's the only form of adoption I am familiar with on a personal level. It is not the way for some, and will surely work for others. Adoption is a subject that is dear to me and is a part of my everyday life. Adoption is how we created our family. It is amazing and special, and a one of a kind experience. We hope with our two minutes of air time to touch a heart or two.
     I am going to move, adopt my sixth child, and ignore my little bit of cyberspace for a while. I will post more, post move, post interview, and post adoption. Exciting busy times at our house.

Celebrating Good Times

Day 8

 
" Let ME do it!!" I agree Sweet K, let her do it. It is her big day after all and she is a big girl now. Dang it how did this happen? She is just growing up way to fast.
We stole her Birthday thunder last year when,
 Sweet K

and Bubba

were sealed to us following their adoption on Aug 5th. My skin crawls with excitement whenever we get closer to this point with any of our kids.
Guess who's next?

Our own little Wild Thing. Nov 20th of this year. Just a couple months away. I CAN'T wait!

This is how I feel about it,

take or leave it! I have a big family, all adopted or soon to be (2 in the works). Was this how I had envisioned my family while growing up, kind of...... I always thought after having some of my own I would love to adopt a few. Turns out I get to adopt all my kids. What a privealage!  I was always the one crying in the sappy Hallmark movie. I was drawn to them like a magnet. Go ahead and laugh, I can take it!  I needed to see them  to know there was some kind of happy ending out there. I loved those made for T.V.  movies that were "based on a true story."  I am sentimental, I admit it. I am not however stupid or completely nieve. I have a very hard shell, but not a bullet proof one. I know in the world today many are criticized for even considering a family bigger than two. Here's the deal, this is how I feel about big families. To each his own!!! If you can clothe, feed, educate, and put a roof over their heads than by all means have a bakers dozen or be the Duggars. My friends sister used to say when asked if she was having another baby, "our reproductive plans are none of your business." that is how I feel about all families. It doesn't matter wether you have 1 or 15, tragedy or misfortunes happen to the best and the worst of  us. You never know when  even one mouth to feed may be a burden that seems unsermountable. I do know though that I have a firm belief and faith in God, and that my family plan involves my husband , me, and God. The family unit is ordained of God. Families are a part of his plan.  Until you have walked a mile in some one elses shoes, please do not start barking opinions. How many children two peolpe decide to add to their family is really a personal choice. I get more odd and intersting comments than you can imagine. Looks are no big deal any more, stare at me if you must. Please however do not decide I have done something amazingly wrong by loving my children. I am in no way asking you to feed them, clothe them, tuck them in at night, or break up their fights. I am not asking you to kiss their boo boos or sit through their baseball games and dance recitals. Unless you are related of coarse, and then it may be obligatory...... We recently took in a temporary number 8. She was with us for 5 days. Bright shiny brown eyes, curly little locks and the sweetest demeanor a 1 year old could ever have. If they asked us to take her longer we would have. I sure got asked a lot of questions though as to when we planned on stopping." Boy, that's a lot of people with a lot of needs?"   No one knows that better than my husband and I, and believe me, we know how much work it is. We also know the rewards.!! We are not saints, or gluttons for punishment. We do not make these decisions lightly. We do not have a lot of wiggle room around here these days, but we can sure help if needed. I recieved a call a couple weeks ago for a child who was 2. He had been beaten severly and had a broken arm. Come on over buddy, I definatley have room for one more!! EVERYONES circumstances are different, some better and some worse. He went to another home. The fight for these little children is real. I have heard of situations that would blow your mind. I am well aware happy endings are hard to find. I am also very aware of the needs and demands of small children. So yes, we have our hands full, and yes our family is big. I always wanted a big family. We have our good days and our bad around here, don't you? There are days when throwing in the towel seems like a splendid idea. Imagine my world with out my kids, I couldn't. So I will take the good with the bad and I will even endure your criticism and snide remarks. It is all worth it!!

Acceptance

Isn't it something we all crave to some degree or another?  To fit in to a certain crowd of friends, to not feel like the outsider in a new situation. When I found out having children the natural way was not going to work out for me. I struggled with a different kind of acceptance. I had to accept the fact that my family would be different than others. As my  husband and I sat through Foster Care training classes and other parents would bring up concerns about finding babysitters for their foster child because their own family did not accept them and would only babysit their biological children, I grew concerned. When I did respite (fostercare babysitting) for other foster families and people would say to me "Oh they were actually cute little kids!" I was mortified.... but held my tongue. Just because your birth parents don't make great choices does not mean you have the plague or will be born ugly. It caused me to worry some more. I had a friend tell me it was unusual for children adopted out of foster care to be so smart and do so well in school. I am sure that was meant as a compliment? Parenting is hard regardless of how your children come into your family. I worried if I was up to the extra challenges. These kids go through so much as it is. I worried  about how acceptance would come for them. Would the label of foster child or adopted out of foster care haunt them their entire lives? So many people are afraid to adopt substance abused children. Some think they are broken. They definately come with their own set of challenges, but so do kids born biologically into familes. We were spirit children before we came to earth and we do not change who we are (our personalities) just because of our birth circumstances on earth. Only two of my kids were not exposed to drugs inutero. They were all born to Bio Moms who smoked the entire pregnancy. Most of my children will struggle with ADD/ADHD. My Wild Thing suffers from sensory disorders,early onset ADHD amongst a few other things. It is NOT their fault!! It is funny to see the reactions I get in public. I get glares, and I am often questioned about my sanity. I have been questioned about how I could possibly give birth to all these kids, with the underlying how many men have been in her life look? I am often appalled at their immediate change of demeanor when I say my children are adopted. Some still look at me crazy for making the choice to adopt so many, but most congratulate me and move to the other end of the spectrum. My family has found acceptance though, where it matters most. I know my Father in Heaven knows so much more than I. My family is exactly as it should be. My chiildren have great friends. They excel academically. Our family has treated my children with nothing but unconditional love. It was that way from the moment the CPS stork delivered them to our door. My parents always made a special trip to come meet each new Grandchild. Mr. M's. parents and siblings embraced them the same. They  have never been anything but accepted by my close friends and family. We are grateful every day for the love and support we feel. We are so grateful for how loved our children feel. We are so grateful to all those who's Christ like love has touched our little family. I feel so blessed to know that so many of my worries were unfounded!!

I Wish

I could describe to you just how it feels to sit in a court room and hear the judge rule in the best interest of your child. A child who is not legally yours yet, but whom you have been parenting for the majority of his life. I want to scream YIPEE and run and hug the judge and tell him THANK YOU until I loose my voice. Could you imagine that scene in a court of law?  I celebrate quietly in my little corner of the court room. I may even text a few people so ancy to get out of the court room and run to my husbands work so I can share our good news, HE GETS TO STAY!!!! His biological family is in the court room. We have formed a frienship out of neccesity and share a common love for some amazing boys. One who is all ready officially ours. They are good people and chose not to fight anymore and to allow the severence to take place and Wild Thing to stay at our home, be adopted and grow up with his Brother. This day has been a long time coming and we could not be more grateful!!! So it's time to get working on this kids adoption.....

I am so glad he will be growing up beside his best buddy and full biological brother Bubba! These boys are tight, could you imagine seperating them? NO???

Me either...... I could not imagine seperating him from the only Daddy he has ever known either!!!

It's OFFICIAL!!!

As of 9:30 or so this morning Sweet K and Bubba became officially ours.

There adoptions were finalized and now it's on to the Temple. I love This day in my family's life, because it leads to the Temple. We Have had our Sweet K since she was 12 months old.

Sweet K left us for about four months when she was little. We fought hard to get her back home where she belongs.

Bubba arrived when he was six months old.

He had little to no muscle control and could not even hold his head up. We helped him catch up and he has been the biggest blessing in our lives. They both have!!I love these kiddos with all my heart!!!! A HUGE thank you to all who came and supported our crazy family today!

Reasons to Smile

Friends:

I have great friends.

Adoptions:

Getting closer and closer to finalizing Bubba's and Sissy's adoptions. Should have a court date here pretty soon.

Clean laundry:

Not excited to put it away, but I can look inside the laundry room and smile because at least half the battle is won for this week.

Reading:

I LOVE to read! You never find me with out a book.I catch any spare moment to read. I read to my kids every morning and night.Even if it's only for a few minutes. Miss M asked me the other day why I read. I told her about all the places I've been, adventures I've gone on, people I have loved, and lessons I have learned. Wanna see what she loves too?

Look at her mimic the emotions in the book.I LOVE it!!!!

(poor quality pic, I was trying to be sneaky.)

I hope all my kids capture a love for reading!

Scrapbooking:

I got a wild hair this week and got some srcapbooking done. See me smiling?

I had no idea national scrabpbooking day was coming up. I just knew I was in over my head and had to catch up, or try to. I put a size able dent in my list of pages needing done.If you are not interested please do not scroll down.

WARNING........

Scrapbooking over load below.

One Step Closer

To making this little princess ours to keep.

Which means,this guy

will be also.

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sissy was born at home and bio Mom is not cooperating with the details of her birth.

Making it near impossible to get vital records to issue a Birth Certificate.

We have been waiting 8 months to hear that they are in fact going to issue a birth certificate. and we can move on to our adoption day, and then our ultimate goal,

THE TEMPLE.

Bubba's rights were severed around the same time. We have held off on finalizing his adoption so we could do them on the same, day at the same time.

We have been praying for this birth certificate every day, morning and night since we found out how difficult it was going to be to get it.When our case worker went in person to apply she was told by vital record that getting it would near impossible without more details. We were going to have to appeal to the courts for help, and wouldn't you know it, our miracle came just in time. Another blessing besides the birth certificate itself is that my children are recognizing that a loving Heavenly Father is aware of our family and he answers our prayers. This comes at just the right time because her Bio Mom has been trying to rock some boats lately and I will be able to feel more secure about my sweet Sissy when she is legally and more importantly, eternally ours!

ETERNITY

I can hardly believe it's been a whole year since we were able to attend the temple and be sealed to these three

CUTIE PIES!!!!!!!!!

Photo by Sunshine and Shade Photography

Infertility has been an indescribable challenge and Adoption has been an overwhelming blessing.

Trials I never thought we would have to face have been ours and while we have not always handled them right. We have met them head on and overcome to the best of our ability. We LOVE

our kids and could not imagine our family any other way.

Lightning is a born leader with a tender heart and a love of all things boy.

Miss M is all girl! She loves playing the role of Mother with her Sisters and her dolls. She is the first to comfort another if she sees they have been hurt.

Little H is our resident TOM BOY. She loves horses and playing cars with the boys. She is the sweetest little cuddle bug.

This year we are excited to head to the temple again to be sealed to Sissy and Bubba as soon as their adoptions are final.

We are waiting on a original birth certificate for Sissy and then we can get our official court and temple date.

Wild Thing's case is still back and forth but we pray everyday hoping for our miracle.

ETERNITY

a blessing I will never take for granted!!!!

MORE EXCITING NEWS

We have been waiting for this news since December of last year when it was decided by the courts that Sissy's case plan was severance and adoption.It has been a long road. Sissy came to us in Feb. of 2006 she was twelve months old. Sissy was with us for about nine months and then went to live with her Bio Father. It was not a healthy situation and we babysat her every day and saw the light go out of her eyes and literally watched her withdraw into herself. We worked hard to get her out of that situation and when we did we got her back in March of 2007. Sissy would not speak other than Mama and Papa and a few small words, she just grunted and pointed. We watched her slowly come out of her shell the longer she was back with us. We were so HAPPY to have her back. We never dreamed when we had to let her go that she would return and now her Bio Mother has agreed to stop fighting the severance and sign off rights and allow Sissy and all of us to move on with our lives. YIPEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know for all the joy we feel there is heartache on the other side. I am grateful she did the right thing for Sissy.We were looking at a case that has been in an active trial for almost a year now. What a BLESSING for Sissy and our family and what a relief to be able to put this all behind us. We LOVE this little princess with all our hearts!!!!! Hopefully we will have the adoptions on Sissy and Bubba finalized by the end of the year or the beginning of next year. I can NOT wait. There is no greater feeling for me than to go to the temple with my little ones and know they are mine for forever! We got this news while we were on vacation and as soon as I get my stuff together I will post about all the fun!

HAPPY TEARS

Today was a day we have been waiting for for a LONG

time now.(2yrs) I went to court today and found out that

we get to add another kiddo to the ETERNAL line up.

This has been a rocky road. We got Bubba when he was 6 months old. He had no muscle control, could not hold up his head,and hardly made a sound. We worked hard to help him and he quickly caught up.This kid has held a special place in my heart since day one. We were told not long after getting him that he would stay and then the tables were turned in an instant and we went to coping with saying goodbye. It broke my heart and though I put on a brave face, it was killing me inside. At this point I decided to be as helpful as I could to his bio parents so that I could be there if they needed help and also to hopefully never loose track of him. I watched him struggle and could do nothing to change what was happening. He would throw monster fits and not talk while in his bio parents care. He was a early talker and I just knew he was confused and scared. We were a month away from the final goodbye and the tables turned just as quickly as they had before. We knew when his little brother (Wild Thing) showed up after a very scary phone call that we had our chance to keep him. The powers that be put the wheels in motion and today we got the word that for sure he will be ours. We have to wait on some red tape and a official adoption court date.There were several people in our ward fasting and praying for him and they did not tell me until afterwords. I was stunned and grateful.

If you had told me when they dropped this little fellow off that on the day I found out he was going to be ours I would gratefully hug his Bio Mom in a court room. That I would thank her with tears in my eyes for sharing this sweet miracle with me, I would have said you were nuts. I do not agree with her life's choices but it is not my place to judge (which I do a lot of with these parents) and I am grateful for her willingness to talk it over with me before court and spend some time after court with me. I took her to get a drink and a bite to eat. It was an amazing experience for me. I will always be grateful. It feels like a weight has been lifted and Layne and I are so grateful this guy will be ours forever!!!!!!!

ROAD BUMPS

Our road to adoption has been so full of Joy, LOVE, challenges, heartaches, peace, frustrations, victories, happiness,and set backs. This week we had a small victory(Sissy's case) and a set back (Smileys case). Nothing major but at times my frustration levels sky rocket and I get tired of the little road bumps along the way. I have to remind myself of how sweet it is at the end of this long journey and that my beautiful family is just how the Lord wants it. I know he has a plan for each member of my family and a plan for us as a whole and that it is my job to trust him. We are so BLESSED to have these beautiful little people be a part of our lives. In court today the powers that be did not do there job and so it delays our making Smiley our forever boy just a little bit longer. I know it's just a delay but I just feel so much more secure when I know they are really ours!

Baby H is ours and tonight as I was thinking about the weeks events and watching her play in her big Sisters shoes, and what the future holds for her. What her future would have been if things had not gone the way we hoped and dreamed they would. I thought of all the hopes and dreams we have for our family. How I always wanted to be a Mother. Building our family through Foster care and adoption was certainly not how I pictured it, but as I look at each of my kids, my heart breaks to think of my life with out even one of them.

OH, and I cut off about 4-6 inches of hair. It was time!!!

IT'S TIME TO CELEBRATE!!

Lightning and Miss M came to our home OCT. 7Th. 2005. They were scared and both sobbing. There worlds had been turned upside down so many times. We were their seventh home in 2 years. We were scared too! We all put on our brave face and I think I am still wearing mine. We struggled as we do with all of our kids. We worry if they are staying or not and how long the road to adoption will be. We were able to adopt these cute munchkins a year ago today. Daddy has to work today. NO hooky two days in a row. My parents are going to babysit while I celebrate with just the two of them painting pottery and having treats. We will make a fun dinner tonight and have some quiet family time. These two precious, kind, trying, and love able spirits made me a Mom and Layne a Dad to them we will always be grateful!!! Mommy and Daddy love you more than we can say!! LET"S CELEBRATE!!!!!!

IT JUST

gets better!! Today was a day our family will never forget. Today we were sealed to three of our little miracles. Lightning, Miss M, and Baby H. We are so blessed to have these children in our lives and so grateful that they are biological siblings who have been given the blessing of growing up together and better yet being part of an eternal family. As we have gone through so many trials and road bumps to get to where we are today, I am so grateful for the security of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I knew when the judge pounded that gavel that they were mine but what a different sense of security the knowledge of the temple brings. Now more than ever I KNOW they are MINE!! At the end of every day I ask my kids what they are most grateful for and today the answers were priceless. They are grateful for their eternal family...and so are their parents!!!

Baby H was grumpy. True to form whenever a camera is involved. If I could just get her to smile in one picture. My kids had had enough of being good, even Miss M who is usually a camera hog wanted nothing to do with being in any photos.
We came home from the Temple and gave each child a name and a blessing and ate some yummy food and played some games and talked and talked and talked. These are the memories I love to make. If you look close the cake says FOREVER FAMILY!!
My Dad gave her a mint to sit for this picture .. Oh well you can't win em all.


THANK YOU to every one who made our day so wonderful!!!! Thanks for making and bringing food and cleaning up afterwords . Most importantly, Thank You for supporting us and for loving my sweet kids unconditionally!! Our Sealer today said it is about love and IT IS!!!!!!!!!!