The Parsons Flock

We Are Home!!

2009-09-22T13:24:00.000-07:00

We are home with our girls!! Okay we have actually been home since Sept 7th. But life around here has been kinda busy and crazy and I'm finding it difficult to find time to even check my email! I have managed to put up a few pics on facebook, its much easier there cause you can just upload the whole album! So if you are not my friend on there yet then quick go find me!

Here's the quick update....

The girls are much, much, much cuter and bigger than I ever expected them to be!

When we got them they could not...hold up their heads, turns their heads to the sound of a voice, reach for a toy, bear weight on their legs, or roll over. The good news is that after being home just 2 weeks they can already do all of those things now!

When we got them they were still in a size 3 months and now they are both in a 6-9 month size with it being a smidgie big on ChuChu but Mimi fills them out quite well!

Ethiopia was beautiful and amazing in so many ways that I cant even explain. Even though I was anxious to get home and have my family together it was still hard to leave. Amazing. Beautiful. Life changing.

My older kids are so happy to have their sister home! They are all so cute together it just melts my heart to puddles of mush!

Since being home and becoming a mother to 5 beautiful kids I am quickly learning how my priorities have already changed. Things I took for granted before now have a very different priority level now and I have a new perspective. For example brushing my teeth.....priority. Showering every day....not so much. So I apologize if I have a new aroma, if you are concerned by this then you can take it up with the twins.

Multitasking have grown to a new level. Check facebook pics for further details.

The babies seem to have food hoarding issues. Didn't know that babies can do that did ya! Well I didn't either but I assure you they can! Even after they have fully tummies they are loudly demanding more, more, more! So yesterday I decided to take it to the next level. I gave them cereal. Wasn't planning to until they were 6 month but at 5 months they couldn't get enough milk so I changed my plans, that seems to happen a lot lately by the way. Anyways after their first meal of rice cereal they were quiet! And then they slept! Through the night even! I love cereal!

Okay, that's all the updating I have time for, little sleeping beauties are stirring in their crib so I will have to post more later.....

This video is of when we first held our sweet girls!

Leaving In Two Weeks!

2009-08-15T08:46:00.000-07:00

We leave in two weeks! I still cant believe it! We have so much to do to get ready but it is all coming together. We have our tickets and tickets for my sister and parents to come down and take care of kids while we are gone. I am so relieved that my parents will be able to stay for a while when we get home to help out. My dad will be here for about a week and a half and my mom will be here for two weeks. I have been nervous about our transition to our new life as parents of infant twins and as parents to 5 kids so I am really grateful that they can stay and help out.

We have our travel conference call on Monday to go over the details of traveling and I imagine after that things are going to get even crazier around here as we scramble to get ready to go.

I need to schedule doctors appointments for for myself and Tristan for before we leave and one for the girls for when we get home. I am concerned about my sensitive tummy while I am there so I will be trying to get some medications for that and hope it works. I have tried so hard to like Ethiopian food. I really want to like it. The first time I ate it I liked it but unfortunately it has only gone downhill since then. The last time I ate it i couldn't even keep it down. This makes me so sad. We had a little celebration here recently for passing court and I made some Ethiopian food but my tummy was so sensitive to it that I didn't even eat it. Smelling it was enough. What in the world am I going to do in Ethiopia?! I really hope this medication works, I don't want to be rude and not eat the food over there. I'm trying to tell myself that it will be so much better because they will prepare it differently. Oh this is not good. I really do want to like it.

I still have a few things I need to get for the girls before we go but have most of the important stuff already. My baby slings came in the mail yesterday and are so nice, I'm sure that with two babies I will be using the slings often! Oh and we got updated weights for the girls this week! Aislynn is up to 11 pounds and Amari is 13 pounds! They have been growing a lot!

We are still collecting donations for the orphanage and the House of Hope so if you would like to contribute to this please let me know. Also if you would like for us to take pictures of your children at the House of Hope send me an email at douquack@yahoo.com and we will work out the details.

I also need to find time to squeeze in a birthday party for Logan! His birthday is on the 3rd but we will be in Ethiopia then so we need to have a party before we leave!

So much to do! I better start making to do lists so I don't forget things!

Introducing.....

2009-08-03T09:28:00.001-07:00

Amari and Aislynn Parsons!!!

Aislynn (ChuChu)

6 weeks old

Amari (Mimi)
6 weeks old

Aislynn on the left, Amari on the right
6 weeks old

Aislynn

about 2 1/2 months old

Aislynn

about 2 1/2 months old

Amari

about 2 1/2 months old

Amari

about 2 1/2 months old

We passed court and became parents again while we were sleeping last night!! We will be on our way to get them by the end of the month!! We are soooooooo excited!!

6 Days!

2009-07-28T16:25:00.000-07:00

I cant believe it! Is it really my turn to be doing the countdown for court?! It is!! Yippee!! I am so excited and nervous at the same time. I can hardly sit still. I have been seriously rearranging my house to get ready for them and our guests who will be watching our bio kids while we are gone. I know I have time still to do these things but I cant stop myself. My mind is swirling with things I need to do before our babies come home and I have become a whirlwind preparing for them. Ive swapped 3 bedrooms, rearranged the family and living rooms and so much more that I'm starting to wonder if adoptive moms go through the nesting phase like pregnant moms! I'm outta control! Paul keeps saying just wait, we can do it later but I have this uncontrollable force within me saying it must get done now! He just rolls his eyes. Oh just wait till he gets home and sees that I have transformed even more rooms! Poor guy wont know where anything is. What am I going to do when everything is where I want it to be?!

I am so hopeful that we pass court on our first try, I know that there is a chance we may not but these girls are sooo tiny that they really need to be home. It is so hard to know that they are over there and are so little and that there is nothing I can do to help them grow until they get home.

And............. School starts for the other kids in just 2 short weeks and I am not ready! I have been to busy rearranging! Must. Stop. Moving. Furniture. Oy. So much to do.

Court Date!

2009-07-14T12:48:00.000-07:00

This morning I got a wonderful phone call from our adoption consultant saying that we had been assigned a court date! If all goes well the twins will be legally ours on August 3rd! There is a chance that we may not pass through court on our first try but we are hopeful that our process will go smoothly. We do not have to wait for abandonment papers or any thing like that as our girls are orphans and the orphanage that they are from has a reputation of passing through court quickly but still there is a chance we wont pass on our first try. We have a tentative visa appointment -based on us passing court- of Sept 3rd! This is on Logan's birthday so we may be celebrating it early this year! Sharron chatted with me for a bit about how wonderful our babies are and told me that she had a chance to hold them, rock them, kiss on them and it just warmed my heart! She says they are still very tiny but they are growing and are just so sweet! It sounds like they will still be wearing a size 0-3 months when they come home, those sweet lil things! She shared with me a little bit more about their story and it was so amazing because a few months back I had dreamt the story that she was relaying to me today and it just really confirmed to me that these girls were meant to be in this family. Their story is tragic but they are amazing, they must be little fighters! I just cant wait to get them home!

Referral Story!!

2009-06-07T11:29:00.000-07:00

I cant believe our day has finally arrived!! We have waited soooo long for these girls! Our original age request was for a baby 12 months or younger and a toddler 3 years old or younger, both girls. At that time our agency had been receiving referrals in that age request so it didn't feel like it was too specific then but as time went on (2 years since we started our adoption) we began to think about increasing our age request. Last month we decided to go ahead and change our request to be any two girls under 6 1/2 years old. Policies that state that there must be at least one year between our youngest biological child and our adoptive child and since Logan is now 7 1/2 the oldest we could go for the adoption would be 6 1/2. We were excited about increasing the age request and really felt that we would be receiving our referral soon! I even began thinking about selling off some of the baby stuff that I had been collecting over the years!

Soooo then, last Friday I had an appointment at the doctors office and was sitting in the waiting room when my phone rang. I didn't recognise the number but answered it anyways. It was Sharron and she said she wanted to see how we were doing with the new home study for the new age request and so I assumed it was just another lets get paperwork straightened out phone call and didn't let myself get excited. Then she said those words...I also have something else I want to talk to you about, I'm going to get Paul on the line OK? And that's where I started loosing it! I knew what was going on and tears just started coming! When she said that she had a referral for us I thought she was going to tell us that she had a 6 year old and 4 year old, still very excited I listened and the first thing she said was that they were twins! By now I'm practically jumping up and down in the lobby of the doctors office crying and saying TWINS!! Only my voice was very tiny cause I was so excited that that's all that could come out! Then she told us that they were just 6 weeks old and I just could not believe it! Teeny tiny little twin girls! So completely amazing! The rest of the appointment I cried at everyone I saw and every person in that doctors office knew that we were blessed with twins! They rushed me through my appointment ( I have a rotator cuff issue I guess) and I was finally able to leave and called Paul on the way out the door. I told him he must get home so we can look at their pictures together cause I was just dying to see them, and he says....I'm already printing them out! Yep! He had already looked at them! He was too excited to wait for his wife apparently and looked at them at his office! I tried to be mad at him for a second but in the end we had a referral for tiny twin babies! Now way you can be mad at a time like this! So I rushed home, forgot to turn off the emergency brake until I got to the gas station, I was just so excited! Paul's sister was at the house with our kids and Paul had already called her so she was waiting with the camera when I got home. I told the kids, they were sooo happy! Well Logan wasn't sooo happy, he was suddenly realizing that he wasn't going to be the baby anymore! He is much happier about it now but it took him a little bit of encouragement to know that momma and daddy were still going to love him and he would always be our baby!

So now we wait for a court date and just cant wait to go get them! I'm just dying to kiss on those little faces!

Here is me right when I got home before I told the kids!

I sat them down on the couch and told them that I had some big news for them and asked them to guess what it was!

Lindsay said "I know I know I know! Sharron called you!"

Yes she did!

We got our referral!!!

And they are twins!!!!

Teeny tiny twins!!!!!!!

Looking at the pics our our girlies!

Laughing at their nick-names!

They are so cute!!

I cant believe it! They are amazing!!!

Daddy is finally home!

What an amazing day! I never thought we would get such little girls! And twins!! It is a good thing I didn't actually start selling any of the baby stuff I have been collecting! How exciting that I actually get to use it!!

Our Referral Day!!!

2009-06-05T14:44:00.000-07:00

Today we received a referral of twin girls!! They are 7 weeks old and so very cute! We are just so excited!!! I will post our referral story later!

Broadway Magic

2009-04-26T12:06:00.001-07:00

Lindsay has been in the drama/musical theater club at school this year and last night they had their big performance, Broadway Magic! She was in 6 songs/dances and did such a great job! My favorite one was a modified version of Grease Lightning, I'm hoping to get a video clip of it on here soon! It was so cute!

Also check out the new glasses! They came in right before the performance so we stopped by to pick them up just in time to have them for the show. I love the frames she picked, this girl has got style!

No, that's not her real hair....they had to have it all pulled back in a pony tail and since her hair is so short it would look silly without a hair piece to make it look like a pony tail. She loved it! Click to see the detail on the glasses, so much fun!

Before the show!

After the show. Great job Lou!

Would You Like My Sleeve?

2009-04-20T18:54:00.000-07:00

Just a few random pics from another busy week! This one is from Lindsay's field day at school, it was such a cold and windy day! Go figure the one day its cold in Phoenix happens to be on field day!

There is a story behind this one! The other day I was driving to pick up Logan from school and I happened to find a single sleeve just laying in my van. It was the strangest thing! I thought which one of my little monsters cut off their sleeve?! How did I not know that they had done this?! Where is the rest of the shirt?! So when the kids were home from school that afternoon I went around to each of them...

Logan is this your sleeve?! Nope.

Tristan? Did your cut your sleeve off?! Not him either.

Lindsay?? Really?

I show her the sleeve. She is laughing. Lindsay! Why did you cut off your sleeve?! She is laughing harder now.

Well mom, its not my sleeve she giggles.

What?! You cut off somebody else's sleeve?!

No, ..... it is Alex's sleeve.

Well why then do you have it?

He cut it off and gave it to me!

Why in the world would he do that?!

I don't know. More giggles. He cut the other one off and gave it to another girl in my class!

He cut off his sleeves and gave them away to girls?? Is this the new thing then? To cut off your sleeves and give them to girls?! Should I then worry that my daughter has been sleeved?! Could this be more strange? I think not.

In the end I found out that it was from her class was tye dying t-shirts for field day and apparently when this boy's mom brought in a long sleeved shirt to dye and he was displeased so he cut off the sleeves. Why he gave one of them to my daughter remains a mystery! It was such a strange occurrence that when I saw him at field day wearing the shirt that he had cut the sleeves off of I could not resist to snap a pic of him! So here he is! The boy we now call the boy-who-cuts-his-sleeves-off-and-gives-them-to-girls!

Tristan spent a Saturday morning with dad in the dump truck I call Finger Crusher!

And there is Finger Crusher, yes it is indeed the truck that crushed Paul's finger!

Another braid pic! My first time trying cornrows, her hair is so short I could only put in four rows and had to do the rest in box braids and then just pulled them together into two cute little piggy tails!

Whew! What a week!

Easter Cuties!

2009-04-13T09:02:00.001-07:00

Goodness they are cute!!

I love whats going on in this one! A lil kiss, a lil glance over, a lil shy grin...

Can you find the egg?!

The perfect spot for a little yellow egg!

Logan silliness!

And Lindsay crazies!

We had a fabulous Easter, it was a perfect relaxing day and I wish I could live it over and over!

Spring School Pictures

2009-04-09T09:53:00.000-07:00

We got the kids spring pics back recently, I think they turned out pretty good! They did a good job at capturing the sweetness of each of them....and perhaps some of Logans orneriness too! Haha! I knew it was just a matter of time with that silly little boy!

Makes me snicker every time I look at it!

Yuma

2009-04-07T08:32:00.001-07:00

We recently took a trip down to Yuma to visit with my Aunt and Uncle who were vacationing there. It was so nice to see them! While we were there we went to see the old Yuma Territorial Prison which took their first prisoner in 1876. Not gonna lie, it was pretty eerie!

Here is Lindsay posing in prison garb waiting to be locked up!

Tristan and Lindsay pouting in the six man cell.

Uncle Max and Aunt Diane lookin great!

My cute little fam! Can you believe how big they are getting?! And just look at how tall Tristan is! He is only 12 folks! My babies are growing up way too fast!

Daddy Daughter Dance 2009

2009-03-18T11:29:00.000-07:00

Its time again for the Daddy Daughter Dance! They look forward to this so much every year and so do I! I love that they get this time to date each other and get to spend time together doing something as fun as a Daddy Daughter Dance! I know they will cherish these memories for as long as they can remember them!

Daddy and Daughter!

Just cuteness!!

My beautiful daughter, yes I am bragging!

Y M C A!!

Hanging with some of her besties!

Gotta love what they got goin on!

The Saga Of Pauls Finger Continues!

2009-03-18T10:18:00.000-07:00

The skinny part is where there is little/no bone.

Nasty scar to tell macho stories later!

You can see it is still kinda croked by looking at the nail, but a lot more striaght than it was!

I haven't given an update on Paul's finger in quite a while so I thought one was due! He has sure been through a lot with this finger! I think last I left you all he was recovering from surgery where the put in a plate and seven screws to hold the finger back together and straighten it out. Not too long after that there was much drama with the finger. Turns out that Paul came down with a pretty fierce bone infection and was immediately rushed back into surgery to clean it out. Unfortunately during that surgery they were forced to remove all the hardware that they had put in to hold it together and he came out of surgery with a VERY flimsy finger. The infection had eaten away at a good portion of the bone and what little bone that remained was hollow. There was and still is a section in the finger where there is just no bone left! He was in the hospital for almost a week and was pretty sick for the first part of it. After being put on some very heavy antibiotics he came home with a picc line in his arm so I could give him his iv antibiotics every 8 hours for the next 6 weeks! Eventually he got an extension and was able to give them to himself which was very helpful. He is now picc line free and done with his antibiotics and infection is gone! yaya! The bone still isn't connected in his finger yet, but it is growing so that's good. He will have another surgery in a few months to do some bone grafting from his wrist in order to reconnect that part of the finger bone. Unfortunately until it does connect his finger is more like gumby, able to bend any direction, and that not at the knuckle!! He has still been going to his finger therapy and has seen great progress! He can bend it almost all the way down to touch his palm but cant straighten it out yet. Now for the really good news....our fingerprints! Just days before Paul's infection was discovered and was rushed into surgery, we got our finger prints taken!! They accepted his mangled finger and were very careful with it! It was such a relief to get that done and out of the way and we were even more gratefull about it when he was taken back into surgery because that would have delayed fingerprinting a lot longer if they had decided his finger wasn't printable! So now everything on the adoption front is good on our end! We are just hoping that the next surgery doesn't happen to fall around the time we would be traveling to get the little munchkins but that's so unpredictable so we will just wait and see what happens. Anywhoo, now you are up-to-date with the saga that is Paul's finger! Here are a few pics of what the finger looks like as of today! I decided not to post the others due to the gore factor!

365

2009-03-07T08:30:00.000-08:00

That is the number of days we have been waiting for referral of our sweet babies. That is 8,760 hours. 525,600 minutes. But who's counting?! Okay, I'm counting but I am surprised that I am not upset with our wait today, even though today means we have officially been waiting for one year. That is a looong time. I am anxious to get our referral and I wish we could be home with them already but still I know that one day I will look at their little faces and it will be worth all this waiting and more.

Cute Braids

2009-02-28T17:27:00.000-08:00

Ive been practicing! Lindsay graciously and eagerly volunteered her hair for me to practice cornrows and different braid styles and such. I really have been enjoying this extra time with her and it is so fun to see how they turn out! For this hair style I found a how to video on http://www.shuruba.com/ and just followed the steps more or less and I started out with big sections until I get the hang of it, then I will try smaller pieces. I have to make a few adjustments here and there because lets face it, no matter how hard I may try I wont be getting any afro puffs out of her straight hair! The hardest part is that Lindsay's hair is so silky and straight it doesn't like to stay in braids very well so I use some hair wax and it seems to hold really well. I was able to leave these braids in for a full three days before they started to come out, not bad considering how soft her hair is. I am grateful to have such a sweet daughter who is brave enough to let me practice on her! With any luck I will be able to braid anything by the time I have my girls home! Okay...more realistically...if I could just pull of a few styles nicely I would be happy.

The Wait.

2009-02-27T08:23:00.000-08:00

I'm back.

Back from neglecting my blog and my blog followers.

Its true, I have been deliberately ignoring my blog since my last post.

I have been hiding.

This blog has become to me a painful reminder of how long we have been waiting for our babies and as that amount of time gets longer and longer I find myself not wanting to be reminded of how awfully long it has been.

The little ticker that I added when we finished our paperwork and thought was a cute way to keep track of time while we wait has now become a dreaded symbol of our lack of babies. We were so excited to get our paperwork done and be put on that "list". Eager to start the wait, I posted the little counter, unaware that it would involve waiting this long and be this hard. I didn't expect our wait to be this long but I really should have. I have become impatient and irritated with the wait. I have been cranky and emotional, feeling like we should have our referral by now. I have lost track of the fact that we have no control in the process right now and there have even been times when I wondered if it was going to happen at all. I let it get to me. I was not prepared for this kind of wait.

But I am still waiting. And I'm trying to be more patient. I am trying to trust that it will all work out and that our babies will be found. I'm trying to NOT think about how much longer we have until we get our referral or worse, how much longer until we can travel to bring them home. I'm trying to distract myself from the wait and it's not easy. Its not easy to not think about adoption when it has become such a huge part of our life. I don't want to obsess with the wait, I don't want it to consume me anymore. Yes, I desperately want our referral and to to see their little faces but I don't want to be so caught up in it that I am losing my trust in the process.

So bear with me as I try to regain my focus and trust while I wait for my babies. I will try not to be so distant.

Perhaps I will even start posting more often. I has been quite a while since Ive given an update on how the rest of the Parsons Flock is doing.....

Somethings Been on my Mind.

2009-01-05T10:15:00.000-08:00

As a mother who feels she has to constantly fight for her kids to reach their fullest potential I decided to use my blog as yet another tool to gain more awareness for families affected by autism. I just feel the need to reach out and ask for your understanding. Understanding that when you see a child misbehaving in the grocery or wherever you don't just assume that he/she is being a rebellious child. Or that the parent has created a monster child. And when this child becomes loud and makes strange noises or moves about is ways that are strange to you, I ask that you have the understanding to know that this child isn't having a temper tantrum but perhaps is just trying to cope with all the different lights, sounds, and visual differences in their current surroundings. I ask that you come to realize that stopping to stare and comment to yourselves about the "out of control child" just escalates the situation and stresses the child even more. And as you can imagine, when the autistic child becomes more stressed, then the behaviours that you are so appalled by are going to get worse. Sure a mom could come armed with autism awareness cards explaining the situation to diffuse any "help" from gawkers but i happen to think its better for the mom to be able to help the autistic child in distress that to try and use that moment as a soap box to try and explain the functioning mind of an autistic. Please people, don't assume you know whats better for that child, or that that child is a bad kid. Don't be afraid of them, don't assume that these are the kids that are the troublemakers who are vandalizing you property, I assure you the autistic child is not the one roaming the street unattended. Don't label them for bad behavior. These are good sweet kids. Their hearts are pure and innocent and IF they do say anything inappropriate I assure you they have no idea what it means so do not be alarmed. My reason for saying all of this is simply because I want ALL my kids to be able to reach their fullest potential but in order for this to happen my child needs to be in a world where people are not going to fight his autism but rather fight for him. Fight for his right to be treated as a good, decent,and loving human being. If he is met with resistance everywhere he goes then what good is the world to him? My child may not know how to cope with the world as well as you can but he defiantly knows when people are judging him on behavior that he can not even control. So please people, use a little compassion. Don't be so quick to judge others. And for goodness sake understand that everybody is different and functions on different levels and that's OK!

Thanks for listening to this little autism awareness speech. It is just part of life here in the Parsons flock and while I don't blog about it often it really needed to be said. And now I leave you with some stunning autism facts that will really open your eyes.

Did you know…

* 1 in 150 children is diagnosed with autism

* 1 in 94 boys is on the autism spectrum

* 67 children are diagnosed per day

* A new case is diagnosed almost every 20 minutes

* More children will be diagnosed with autism this year than with AIDS, diabetes & cancer combined

* Autism is the fastest-growing serious developmental disability in the U.S.

* Autism costs the nation over $90 billion per year, a figure expected to double in the next decade

* Autism receives less than 5% of the research funding of many less prevalent childhood diseases

* Boys are four times more likely than girls to have autism

* There is no medical detection or cure for autism

Karate Performance

2008-12-16T07:34:00.000-08:00

All of our kids have been taking karate since the summer, its been really great because they are all in the same class and the instructor is actually the youth pastor at our Church. He knows our kids well and is patient and understanding with Tristan (all the kids really but he gets extra kudos for working so well with our young man) and is passionate about keeping him in his class despite his struggles which really means a lot to us as I'm sure we wouldn't get this kind of understanding at any other karate school. This weekend they had an opportunity to do a little performance in front of our church. I think the idea of being on stage in front of everybody was a little too overwhelming for Tristan so he sat with us and watched his siblings. He did however volunteer himself to help make props for the Christmas performance this year, you can see some of what he worked on in the background on stage. They all did so well and my heart was so happy for them!

9 Months

2008-12-07T14:48:00.000-08:00

Today marks 9 months of waiting for our kiddos. 9 months ago we finished all our paperwork and it was sent to Ethiopia. I am getting anxious. Its like an constant drum roll inside me waiting for the curtains to open and show me who my girls are. Everywhere I go I see babies and young children and I wonder if my babies will be the same age or the same size. I look into their eyes as if to see my babies in them. I wonder what they will be like, what their personalities are. My mind gets lost in wonder about them. Sometimes I catch our kids wondering about them too and it is so sweet to hear them talking about their sisters with such affection when they haven't even meet them or seen any pictures of them or know anything about them yet. It really feels like the time is right. We are all ready. Well I have some more shopping for them to do but that will have to wait until after referral, but we are ready. This family is ready to grow and not just me but every member is ready, listening to that drum roll. 9 months. That's longer than any of my pregnancies. Lets hope we don't have much more to go. Babies, we are waiting for you.

Santa Came To Vistancia!

2008-12-06T11:52:00.000-08:00

Santa came to our community center today! They offered pictures with Santa, cookie decorating and make your own Christmas ornament crafts! It was so much fun! Lindsay brought her friend and they sat on Santa's lap together but Tristan and Logan were to grown-up/shy/embarrassed to sit on Santa's lap this time. I'm sure there will be plenty other opportunities for me to try and get their pictures with Santa before Christmas and I'm not one to push these things so I didn't mind. The girls were so cute, in fact I almost had tears in my eyes when Lindsay answered Santa's famous question...And what do you want for Christmas this year little girl? She said all she wants for Christmas is her little sisters to come home. Santa's eyes lit up and was asking her about it, she said that we were adopting her sisters and they are somewhere in Ethiopia and told him how excited she was about it. Santa said that he loves adoption and in fact he was adopted too! After we were done with their pictures and the girls walked away Santa called me back and said to me quietly, "you know, Santa really was adopted, I'm a big supporter of adoption because at the age of 2 they brought me home." I wished I could of had just a moment to ask him about it but there were little children waiting for their turn to sit on his lap and I didn't want to spoil it for them so I just said wow that's great! Santa Ho Ho Hoed me as I walked away and it made our visit even more special than I expected it to be.

And what do you want for Christmas this year?

Telling Santa about her sisters.

She told me later that she didn't think this was a real Santa cause his beard was funny, which was funny to me cause in this pic it looks like shes really checking out the beard!

Ho Ho Ho!

Lindsay was more interested in the frosting than the cookie!

Logan carefully decorating his cookie.

Tristan's cookie. Can you say sugar rush?!

Pictures!

2008-11-21T11:35:00.000-08:00

So after some prodding from some faithful Parsons Flock readers I am finally posting some pics of our kiddos! I know I have been slacking off in the blogger world but I think I had good cause to do so. The good news is that things are calming down quite a bit over here so I should be able to post more often. Until we become busy with adoption anyways. Things have been progressing quite nicely in the adoption world lately, there have been several sibling referrals recently and while I cant tell you our # in line I will say that we have been told that we need to be ready! We still don't know when we will get our referral but at least I feel closer to it now and it is exciting! In fact it may be time to start collecting more things for our new little girls, we still need a highchair, dresser for baby, and a car seat for toddler but I think I will wait on that until I know how big she is. Also I think we are pretty set on names for our little Sweet Peas, we plan on keeping their Ethiopian name but also want to give them an American name but are keeping it hush hush for now! Even though we don't have referral yet I still sometimes find myself so excited I can hardly contain myself! I just cant wait! Anywhooo, here are the pics I promised, some from the state fair, Halloween and even one of hubby's finger!

Tristan and Lindsay in the bumper cars, they all loved this ride so much they must have gone on it 4 times!

Watch out, they gonna get you!

The mousie roller coaster!

Lindsay Lou as a cutie kitty!

Silly Loganboy in part of his Storm Trooper costume!

And Mr Tristan as Darth Vader, my boys are seriously obsessed with Star Wars!

Paul's finger 2 weeks post surgery and doesn't it look good! This is the best it has looked so far, we are pleased with the progress!

We are having the kids pictures taken this weekend so more to come soon!

Surgery # 2

2008-11-10T13:29:00.000-08:00

Today Paul had his second surgery. Actually he is still in recovery as I speak..err type. The purpose of this surgery was to straighten his finger so that when he can, God willing, bend his fingers enough to make a fist, the problem finger will lay straight, not on top of the pinky finger. He was not excited about going back into surgery but was grateful that it sounded like this would be the last of the reconstruction surgeries. He may have some more periodically as the years go by to remove scare tissue but the worst of it should be over. So when the doctor came out after surgery and said hes done and the finger was straight I wasn't surprised, in fact it was quite what I expected. Then the doctor said "I just hope it takes." Apparently the bones in Paul's finger are still very fragile and the doctor was a little apprehensive that his finger would be strong enough to hold all the new screws in securely. The doctor also said that he had to make some incisions in the finger above the wound area to remove scar tissue that is already building up and restricting movement. He is now at a place where it is difficult to move the finger because it is so fragile but also at a place where if he doesn't bend it often it will freeze up and not be able to move at all. This surgery was supposed to make the finger stronger and more bendable but it seems we are just not there yet. I don't even want to think about what they will do if the screws and plates don't take. Poor Paul. This has really been quite an ordeal and he is really ready to have it over with. I don't blame him at all. Well it is just about time for me to go back and see him so I'm done for now, I will fill you all in after his next appointment later this week. Hopefully I will even be able to get some pics from Halloween and Lindsay's new haircut up her soon!

Bend That Finger!

2008-10-29T20:36:00.000-07:00

Good news! Paul can move his finger! He hasn't been into physical therapy yet due to scheduling conflicts, he gets to go on Friday, but he has been trying to move it a bit when we change the bandages. I was supposed to be bending it myself but just couldn't bring myself to do it no matter how hard i tried to convince myself that it was what I needed to do. Then recently he just tried to move it himself and it moved! Each time he has been able to move it more and more and can almost bend it to a 90 degree angle by himself now! The swelling has gone down a lot the last few days and so has the gross factor which I really am grateful for since I'm the one changing the bandages! He still isn't supposed to be using that hand at all so I am still running around here a little crazy trying to do everything myself but I'm feeling much better just knowing that he can move his finger. Tomorrow is a big day for him, he is running a booth at the Home Builders Expo and will be there all day by himself. I'm really hoping that he is careful and doesn't use his hand while I'm not there watching but I'm sure he will, he is a very determined guy and doesn't let much slow him down. He has been dying to be able to do more around here and is really anxious to be able to drive but really needs to be off of his pain meds in order to be able to do that. I did let him drive the kids to school the other day ( all 3 miles of it) before he took anything for pain because you would be surprised at how much better you might feel about your situation if you can drive, yes, even 3 miles makes a difference! Now we just need him to get through his therapy, get through his next surgery and get healed up quick so we can get those fingerprints done!

Random statements from Logan:

Logan: "Momma....when I have boogers in my nose, then I have to snort like a pig."

Momma: "Oh really?!"

Logan: "Ya. Cause those boogers, they get stuck in there. Then I have to snort like a pig." Logan then proceeds to snort like a pig.

Momma: "Would you like a tissue for you nose?"

Logan: "Nope." More snorting.

Pauls Finger/Adoption Update

2008-10-24T08:08:00.000-07:00

I know everyone has been wanting an update on Paul, I've been meaning to post one but just have been so busy and a bit worn out. Without his help around here I cant help but feel like I'm burning the candle at both ends sometimes. Paul went to his post surgery appointment yesterday and I'm not gonna lie, it was really rough. He hasn't been taking anything for pain because it wasn't working and they wouldn't give him an new prescription until we saw the doc so when they had to pull his bandages off that were horribly stuck, it was awful. His finger underneath is in such bad shape, I really struggled with just looking at it. We found out when all the bandages were off that when the accident happened not only was his bone protruding on the top off his finger which we were aware of but under the finger there had been some serious damage as well. There are two places under the finger that are open wounds from bone, and the top has 11 or so seriously Frankenstein like stitches all the way down his finger. The doctor came in and looked at him and said that he knows we were talking about amputating but hes is really hoping to keep the finger if we can get Paul to be able to move it on his own. Right now Paul can not move the finger at all on his own so the doctor grabbed ahold of his finger with both hands and basically forced the finger to bend several times. Poor Paul. To say it was painful doesn't even begin to describe it. It was so painful for me to watch. Doctor says the finger was shattered so badly that he wasn't able to fix it the way he wanted and needs the bone to start healing a little more before he can go back and put more pins in it to make it stronger and straiten it out. Sounds like the next surgery will be in about a month or so. Paul is starting physical therapy for it already so the join wont freeze up, basically the therapy at this point would be for the therapist to just keep forcing movement and hopefully when Paul starts healing more he will be able to move it on his own.

Now for the part where I come in. At the appointment I was told that I need to change the bandages for him every day. Now this doesn't sound exciting to me at all but I can handle it and step up when I need to. The part that I am really struggling with is that I also have to force his finger to move everyday. When the doctor did this it hurt him so much, it is going to be so hard for me to do this when I know how much it hurts him. Then there is the disgusting and gross factor. I cant even describe how gross his finger is right now. Forcing the finger to bend involves grabbing the finger with both hands and when the doctor did it at the office it literally squirted blood on the doctors pants. It is going to be really hard for me to step up and do this for/to him. I am telling myself that I just have to do it and that if I want him to keep his finger then this is just what I need to do but I am very apprehensive about it.

So how has all this been affecting our adoption? Well that is a really good question! Last Friday Paul and I were scheduled to have our fingerprints redone. Obviously that didn't happen. Our current fingerprints will expire on the 26th of this month. That's just a couple days away. With Paul's finger situation we wont be able to get them done for a long time as they are very particular about the condition of the finger during the fingerprinting. It would need to be completely healed for them to accept it. With him going back into surgery in about a month and who knows how many more after that its going to be a very long time before that finger is completely healed. Now we have been told that since we don't have our referral yet we are not in crisis mode yet but as soon as we do get our referral we will be in big trouble. Basically we will not be allowed to go get our kids until we pass fingerprint clearance. I am trying to not get too upset about it but there has just been so much going on in this family lately, it can be hard to let go and trust that everything will work out the way God has planned. So, that is where we are right now. It is not a pleasant time right now but we are making it work as best as we can.

All ten Fingers!

2008-10-18T09:42:00.000-07:00

So Paul's surgery got pushed back and he didn't end up going into surgery until last night. I guess there is only one hand surgeon in all of Arizona and he is in very high demand, but thank goodness we got to see him. When we meet with him before surgery he told us that the plan was to be able to fix the finger enough so that there would be at least some movement in it, no movement = no finger. The first knuckle from fingertip was not going to be repairable, the next knuckle up he wasn't sure about but would do his best to save it. So even if he couldn't repair much he was hoping to keep the finger and then if he couldn't move it after it started healing it would be removed later. So off they went to see what they could do. After surgery the doc said it went really well and that the tissue around the second knuckle looked good and hes pretty sure Paul will have movement in it! Yay! The first knuckle was not good as we knew and the doc needed to remove tissue and tendons from that area because it was so badly damaged. He wont be able to move that joint again but that's just fine by us if it means he has all ten fingers! Paul goes back in a week to try and move what he can and we will know more then but either way he will be having more surgeries to come. He is home and resting, still having a lot of pain but hes so glad to have the surgery part over with. At least for now. It sure could have been a lot worse and we are happy with how its looking for now.

Thank you all for all your prayers, support and offers of help with the kids. And to our friends who did take our kids for us thank you so much, it really means a lot to us and we appreciate you more than you know!

A Trip to the Hospital

2008-10-17T00:29:00.000-07:00

Today Paul hurt his hand at work. Pretty bad actually. He was doing something with the dump truck and noticed a rock stuck in the tailgate. He went to free the rock and the tailgate swung back and crushed his hand in the process. Luckily only one of his fingers were hurt somehow but it is not looking good for that finger. The bones are crushed and protruding and his finger was sliced open most of the way down. He somehow managed to drive the dump truck with a severely mangled finger across the job site to his truck and then drove himself to the hospital. When I got there with the kids he was in so much pain, the 4 pain killers they had given him were not working so they ended up doing a block in his hand and that helped with pain a lot. After x-rays the doc came in and said that the images looked absolutely horrible. He says it is splintered into at least 8 pieces and was hoping to not have to amputate the finger. When I asked if he thought they could fix it the doc simply replied we will see. He did say though that he has good blood flow in the finger so that would make it easier to save the finger. They decided to transfer him to Good Samaritan hospital where he will be having surgery first thing in the morning to try and save his finger. Please pray that they can. I will post more after his surgery.

How I meet my Neighbors

2008-10-01T17:49:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting story....Last night Paul ran to the store for a few last minute items, he took Logan with him so it was just me, Tristan and Lindsay at home. Lindsay was laying on the couch because she hadn't been feeling well, I was watching the news and Tristan was in the other room doing his homework (yes, he was actually doing it this time!). We were all in our own worlds at that moment and it was fairly quiet in the house, how unusual I know. That's when I heard the front door open. Then it closed. And then a little boy about 2 years old, couldn't have been more than 3, came running into my living room! I had never seen this child before in my life! And yet here he is in my house! I jumped up and ran towards him as did Tristan from the other room. I said to Tristan "whats going on?" "I don't know mom! I didn't let him in!" he says. Well who is he I ask?! Tristan says "I have no idea! Really mom I didn't do it!" Meanwhile this strange little boy is running like a lighting bolt around my house. I tried to catch him but was only able to touch the top of his head for a split second. I'm asking him who are you?? Where is your mom?? Where do you live?? How did you get here?? The only response I get from him as he darts about my house is a very cheerful "hi mom! Hi mom! Hi mom!" I'm not your mommy I tell him. He doesn't care, hes happy as can be. And Sophie, our little puppy is just as excited as she can be to have a new fast little friend in the house so shes chasing him too. Next thing I know hes darting out the front door and its dark outside and I'm thinking there is no way I can let him out there alone, even if I have no idea who he is! So I chase after him running out the door without my shoes on calling after this boy saying wait come back here, where are you going? Now I sound like a crazy lady chasing after a child I don't even know! He is running through the bushes saying "come on mom! Come on mom!" and motioning for me to follow him. I'm still pleading for him to stop or at least slow down when he runs down the driveway of the house next door. Ah ha! I'm now remembering that somebody moved in to the house next door to us just a day or two ago and I hadn't had a chance to meet them yet, he must belong to them! I run down the driveway after him and he darts through the front door which has been left open, still calling after me to come on. I'm not really sure what to do at this point so I just ring the bell and wait for somebody to come to this doorway which I am now standing in. A man comes, I ask him if this little boy lives here and he says that he does. "Oh well then, I'm Amy from next door and I thought I should come over and introduce myself to you since he just came running into my home!" His dad was surprised and apologised for that and for having to meet under such terms. He says this little whirlwind of his has a tendency to be very active and they really have to watch him. Yes I see. I am quickly reminded of my chasing Tristan days and that keeps me in my do not judge place, I do know what its like to have a child that runs! Still scary though, but at least now I've meet my new neighbors and I know to keep my eye out for this new little wanderer on my block!

When the School Calls....

2008-09-26T08:34:00.000-07:00

The other morning I was going through my email when my phone rang, it was the school. My mind started racing, who was it, was there a problem, is somebody in trouble... I answered and it was Logan's teacher. Oh boy I thought, what did he do? She said she was very concerned about something that has been going on in class and Logan's behavior. Great. Now for those of you who don't know, Logan had a little aggression phase when I went up to Seattle for a week. Turns out he was stressed about mom not being there and such and hurt 2 of his friends and Paul ended up getting a call from the Vice Principle. Problem solved when I came home but now I'm starting to wonder what hes doing this time. So back to the teacher. She says she has been having a problem with some of the girls in the class and Logan has gotten involved. What...did he hit a girl now?? No, she says she caught him holding hands with a girl that day. This was her big concern. She also told me that Logan was also caught standing on the bathroom sink but that was not a concern to her. It was the hand holding that was a problem. She said the she told Logan and the girl that they are never allowed to sit next to each other again. Really? So I'm confused, standing on the sink and putting himself in a potentially dangerous situation where he could get hurt is not a problem but holding hands with a girl is? No don't get me wrong, I'm not in any way encouraging romance at this age at all but isn't hand holding at this age typical childhood behavior? Perhaps it had something to do with the letter from the school a year or so ago stating the new rule against hand holding and hugging, and basically anything that involves touching another student. Yes this is an elementary school. When this new rule came out my daughter was upset because it meant that she was not allowed to hug her friends or hold their hands. Since then I have seen many hugs exchanged at school and hand holding between friends and never heard anyone get in trouble for it. I'm sure this rule was put in place as an attempt to avoid boyfriend/girlfriend behavior but the boy is barely 7! I'm quite sure he had no ill intentions. At his age he is just friends with everyone. I have seen him holding hands and hugging some of his friends that are boys also, is that deserving of a phone conference too?? I'm not trying to blow this out of proportion but I just wondering why he was in trouble for this and not the standing on the sink. Ya know, usually when the school calls its about a negitive behavior, not two 7 year olds holding hands.

Sleepy Little Loganboy

2008-09-21T20:50:00.000-07:00

My little Loganboy is a night owl. It happens quite frequently that we hear him playing in his room after he has been tucked into bed claiming that he is not tired yet. We tuck him back in bed and and remind him that it is time to sleep but in the end there we realize that hes not going to go to sleep until hes ready so he usually ends up playing or reading quietly in his bed until he drifts off. Last night was no different, it was how he responded to being woke up this morning that was just so cute. He has the sweetest morning voice, and most mornings I wake him and am greeted with a big hug and him calling out "Momma!" as soon as he sees me in such a tender little voice that it melts me. So this morning Paul went in to wake him up, he rubs Logan's back and quietly says "Logan, its time to wake up." Logan says "but I'm still tired." Daddy reminds him that it is a church morning so he needs to wake up and get ready and Logan responds in his sweet morning voice "just let me sleep a little longer." Daddy rubs his back some more and says "I already let you sleep in as long as I could and now its time to get up." Logan closes his eyes again and says "I will just wake up tomorrow." Maybe I'm just having a momma moment, I don't know, but I thought it was cute wanted to make sure I remember his little morning sweetness forever because someday all to soon he will be older and exhibiting signs of adolescence I know I will be missing these days.

Still No Referral..

2008-09-16T13:27:00.000-07:00

Where are my babies?!?! What is taking so long??

Ok, ok, I understand that international adoption is a long unpredictable process and I knew it would be this way going into it but right now the over 6 months of waiting for our referral is frustrating. I know there are other families waiting longer than us and I understand that we very well may have a long wait still ahead of us. But understanding all of this doesn't seem to matter today. Today I don't want to wait any longer. I want my babies. Id even be happy to just know who they are, or where they are right now. I am trying to stay positive and wait patiently but sometimes.... sometimes .....its hard. And I don't want to wait anymore.

Some Random Pictures From July

2008-08-02T10:17:00.000-07:00

Not much new here so I thought I would just post a few random pics from July.

Here is just a couple of the crazies I live with!

Logan lost his first tooth!

Tristan got a haircut! He is soooo handsome!

Lindsay is into braids again!

Lou sporting some of her bigger braids which I prefer because smaller braids take soooo long to do!

Logan coming down the water slides at our community pool! This has been his favorite thing to do lately and he will go down those slides for hours! Literally!

Lindsay popping up after the slide!

That was so much fun!

Logan loving the slides!

July was full of fun and adverture for the kids with kids camp, sleepovers, play dates, museums, mud pits, and water slides! Summer is almost gone down here, well at least summer break, we will have the heat for quite a bit longer! With one more week before school starts we are trying to cram as much fun in as possible, its gonna be a busy week but summer break is going out with a bang!

Mighty Mud Mania!

2008-07-18T15:39:00.001-07:00

Today we went to an event in Scottsdale called Mighty Mud Mania! They had big mud pits and a big obstacle course that was sure to get your kids covered in mud! And best of all, it was free!Our kids were excited to go but when we got there they became shy and a little intimidated by the obstacle course so we thought we would give the mud pits a try. Lindsay jumped right in while her brothers stood back and watched! Eventually Logan joined her and they had so much fun. Tristan decided to stay clean and ended up feeling some effects from the heat, we tried to convince him that he would be cooler if he jumped in but was having none of it! We left before Lindsay and Logan were ready to leave but poor Tristan just couldn't be out in the heat anymore. He says next year we should go earlier in the day, while Lindsay and Logan were begging to come back tomorrow, too bad its just a one day event! Here are a few pics from our messy day!

She thought it was so funny!

Now shes rolling in the mud! Ack! But that smile makes it worth every ounce of dirt!

Logan finally gets in after watching his sister happily get dirty!

A typical brother, jumping in the mud right next to his sister! I have to watch him around puddles too!

What a mess!

Time to get hosed off cause that mud needs to stay in the mud pit and not in my van!

Still Waiting.

2008-07-07T08:17:00.000-07:00

Dearest blogger friends and family I am sorry I have been a terrible blogger lately and haven't posted anything for a looooong time. It seems the adoption wait is starting to get to me and that is making me feel less bloggish I guess. I was doing so good, quietly preparing the room for my small children, waiting and knowing that I would get my babies at just the right time. I was so calm and patient and without worry. Now I am more anxious for my referral and getting frustrated with the wait. I think part of my lack of patience comes from my realization that it has now been over 14 months since we officially started our adoption process. Now 14 months is not a long time in the international adoption world but right now its feeling like forever. When we started this process we expected to have our girls home by now but we had several hold-ups with our paperwork and the referral wait times have gotten longer since then too. I try to not let myself think too much about when we will be able to go get our girls because I don't want to get my heart set on traveling by a certain date and then be crushed because we haven't gotten our referral yet but I cant help but hope that our family will be complete before Christmas. At the same time I am afraid that Christmas will come and go with no sign of our babies.

I have come to a place where so many of my thoughts are consumed with wonder about my girls. Where are they now? Are they still with their mom? If not then who are they with? Are they getting enough to eat today or did they eat at all? Do they feel safe and secure? What are their living arrangements like, are they warm and protected from the elements? I want so much to whisk them away to join our family but at the same time my heart breaks at the thought of them having to say goodbye to their biological mom forever. So I am stuck with wanting them to have a little more time with their bio mom but also wanting desperately for them to be on their way to their forever mom.

So sweet babies, although I am so anxious for you to be home with us I pray that you know the love of your first mother. Sweet babies, although I want for you to feel safe and secure in her arms tonight, my heart is aching to hold you tight forever. Sweet babies while your family is grieving at the thought or saying goodbye to you, your forever family is anxious to look at your sweet faces for the first time. Sweet babies, we are waiting for you.

The First Ever Parsons Flock Camping Adventure!

2008-05-29T12:31:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to prevent our kids from catching the rapidly spreading condition, nature-deficit disorder we decided to go with some friends, Dale, Stephanie and their two kids, on our first camping adventure, and what an adventure it was! Our plan was to leave on Saturday morning and stay until Monday morning but when Stephanie called the campground on Friday afternoon to see if we could hold a few sites plans rapidly started changing. She was told that they cannot hold any sites and that because it was a holiday weekend they probably wouldn't have any site opening the morning so we should come that night. Great idea! Except that we were not ready to leave that night at all so the rest of my afternoon was spent frantically running errands picking up last minute camping supplies and the necessary grocery items and then quickly back home to pack up 5 people to leave that night. We were finally ready and took off for our adventure only to arrive at the campground after dark. No problem, we got lanterns, sorry fellow campers trying to sleep, we got to set up camp! Just as soon as I turned off the lantern for the night I hear somebody from across camp yelling "thank you" but then I didn't feel too bad about the lantern because of the large group of teenagers camping a few sites away from us that were so noisy we were up till 2:30 in the morning trying to ignore their party. All of that was just icing on the cake to the pouring rain that started just as soon as we climbed into our tent . It was a long cold night. The morning was better until it started to rain again. Cold rain. Lots of cold rain. At first we took refuge in our tent as it was big enough for our two families and played cards until the 5 kids got too antsy and had to get out and do something. So we went into town and found a Pizza Hut and stayed as long as we could. It was still raining when we left so onto Walmart, we needed an extra fishing pole anyways. We arrived back at camp to find that the wind had blown the rainfly off of a good portion of our tent and we were collecting a large amount of water inside. It was such a mess, several sleeping bags and pillows were soaked through. Good thing the rain had stopped and we were able to lay everything out to dry, we looked real high class now! Another really cold night but at least it wasn't raining. The next day was better and we all went fishing, the kids had a great time. Tristan and Lindsay wanted to fish and Logan wanted to hunt for "widdle baby snails." When it was time to head back home we packed up our tent only to find a nice scorpion had been hiding right under where we had been sleeping! Glad nobody got stung! In the end we had a great time and learned that next time I need to pack more allergy meds, buy a waterproof tent and head further north! So....whens the next trip?!

Lindsay loves camping!

Tristan playing with our bait!

Logan and four of his widdle baby snails.

Cutie little sweet pea eating and trying to stay warm!

Do you think they are ready for a baby??! Tristan said "mom, its a good thing we are adopting two little girls cause we all are gonna want to be helping her!"

Goofy girl!

Sleepy head after several long cold nights!

"I like oreos!" And the evidence is on your face!

Hiding from the rain in our tent!

My Little Boy Is Growing Up

2008-05-29T11:11:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday Logan graduated from kindergarten. He looked so handsome and grown up in his little graduation cap walking down the isle at the little ceremony the school put together for all those soon to be first graders. As each child walked up they announced their name and told the audience what that child wanted to be when they grow up. A few children said they wanted to be mermaids, a couple wanted to be teachers, and Logan said he wants to be a police officer and actually I wouldn't be surprised at all if that's exactly what he did become when he grows up. I was able to get lots of good pics of him and some of his bestest buds but then when I got home I accidentally ran over my camera with my minivan. Now my poor little camera is smooshed and wont turn on so I have no way to get any of the pictures off of it, and no, I didn't have my memory card in it(its a long story and I don't really want to get into). Luckily Paul had his camera too but he didn't take very many pictures cause I was doing that. Oh well, I will post what I have and hopefully someday I can find a way to get those pics out of my smooshed camera. In the end though, my little boy is on to first grade, Lindsay is on to 4th grade and Tristan is on to 6th grade, and I am ultimately left wondering how my kids are growing up so fast. They are just so precious and life goes by so fast that I want to treasure and savor every little milestone that they pass. My kids....they are amazing and they just make my heart so happy.

Logan's looking a little nervous here, This graduation stuff is a big deal for a little guy!

Silly Loganboy says" I'm going to first grade!"

Tristan's Band Concert

2008-05-08T12:35:00.000-07:00

Tristan had another band concert recently. I was so proud of him. I just kept wondering how my little boy grew into this handsome and talented young man. He is just amazing. I try to not be one of those moms that is constantly bragging about her kids but those of you who have known Tristan since he was very little know just how far he has come. He has truly grown and developed socially by leaps and bounds just in the last couple of years. He even graduated from speech therapy in March, and after 8 years that is quite an accomplishment! Unfortunately the pictures from the concert turned out terrible and the video was much worse! But I'm posting anyways because it just made my heart so happy and you can look away from the horrible video as long as you still listen to it, its short and they were playing Tristan's favorite song from Star Wars so daddy just had to try and capture the moment. We couldn't even see him from where we were but that didn't stop him, I guess I wasn't the only proud parent!

Just Hatched!

2008-05-08T11:42:00.000-07:00

We have a little family of hummingbirds that come and live on our wind chimes each spring. They stay just long enough to rebuild their nest, have a baby or two, and then as soon as the babies can fly they are gone again. This year they had one baby that hatched just yesterday! It is hard to get a good picture of the baby because mother bird is so protective, I don't blame her, baby bird is so tiny!
.

Mother bird on her nest watching me! She will come at you and hover about two feet away from you if you get too close. Her beak sure looks sharp when shes up close like that!

That little pointy thing sticking out of the nest is baby bird! The whole nest is smaller than a ping pong ball.

Childrens Art Show Featuring........Lindsay!

2008-05-06T11:01:00.000-07:00

Last weekend there was an art show here featuring artwork from all the schools that are in three of the nearby districts. Each school selected a few pieces of their students art to enter in the contest and our very own Lindsay was surprised to find out that her art had been selected and will be on display for 19 days! We went to the ceremony and decided that even though she didn't win the contest it was still very cool to have her piece selected out of almost 800 students from her school and put on display. This year she has been lucky to have a neighbor a few houses down offer to teach some of the neighborhood kids art lessons after school and she is now more than ever excited for those lessons. Here are a few pictures we took at the show.

Lindsay proudly showing off her art!

Her beautiful masterpiece! Nice shading Lou!

Earth Day

2008-04-23T06:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Earth Day! At our house this means planting something in the garden and this year we planted flowers, which made me very happy because I love flowers! We also had a guest this year, Paul's Grandpa Eamon. He helped Logan plant his flowers and we were all glad to see him. Here are a couple of pictures of some of the beautiful flowers we planted. Happy Earth Day!

This is a African daisy, you cant tell in the picture but when it opens up the center is a beautiful purple!

Another African daisy, I love the little white stripes in this one!

A beautiful gerbera daisy, one of my all time favorites!

A new puppy!

2008-04-21T17:32:00.000-07:00

This year seems to be going by fast already for me. I cant believe its mid April already. It seems that this time of year comes faster with each passing year and I am usually caught off guard with the approaching of.....my birthday. I have a habit of ignoring the approaching date which is probably why each year I find myself saying "Is it really my birthday again?" I have gotten so good at this that this year I had myself convinced that my birthday was still three weeks away and was shocked to hear Paul telling me one day that it was just a few days away! So here it is, the day I get to celebrate my 26th birthday again (I have decided to just re-celebrate past birthdays instead of continuing to count up the years) and this year I think I have gotten one of the best presents yet! A new puppy! She is just the cutest thing ever and I love her to pieces! Just 9 weeks old and 4 pounds and she already has every person in this house wrapped around her little paw! She has been so much fun and is really quite a good little girl, sleeping through the night and doing well with her potty training already. With all my waiting and wanting for my Ethiopian babies to join our family it is a good thing for me to have a puppy to baby and spoil to my hearts content!

Here she is! My new little Sophie girl!

She loves to play with her little fluffy bone.

She also loves the kids socks!

Lots and lots of kisses for my little Sophie girl!

My Young Grafitti Artist

2008-04-15T09:40:00.000-07:00

My youngest child, it seams has been experimenting in the art of interior wall graffiti. We have found a few of his masterpieces scattered about the house but lately it appears he is doing his creating in his own room. I have posted a few of his works of art here and it clearly shows his progression from primitive snake creatures with millions of legs, to the incorporation of random stickers, and lastly his latest method is to simply scrawl on the wall short sentences. While I love my young boys art I am quite displeased to be finding it on the walls, and so often at that. The last one however I am a bit inclined to keep. I found it one morning when I went in to wake him for school. It is written in red crayon right above his bed and right when I saw it he opened his sleepy little eyes, smiled at me and said in such a tender way "Momma!" How is it that something so naughty a writing on the walls when told time and again to not write on the walls can completely melt my heart in a split second?!

Here is the first creation, a strange creature

Now you see the incorporation of said random stickers.

And the one that made me all warm and fuzzy. You may need to click on the pitcure to really see what it is.

The Human Ice Cream Sundae!

2008-03-15T17:49:00.000-07:00

Look what I found hiding in Paul's camera! These were taken during the summer at Kids Church, they were making human ice cream sundaes! It was a relay race, boys against girls and Tristan got selected to be the sundae for the boys team. Naturally he felt privileged to represent the boys in this event and jumped at the offer!

Tristan ready to rock this race!

1 gallon of vanilla ice cream.....

Brrrrr!

1 whole bottle of Hershey's syrup....

He's still smiling!

1 can of sprinkles....

1 can of whipping cream.....

and 1 jar of cherries!

Ohhh, maybe not so much fun now! What a mess!

Daddy Daughter Dance

2008-03-15T16:54:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't posted anything in a while, maybe posting some cute pics from the Daddy Daughter Dance will make up for it! The Daddy Daughter Dance is by far Lindsay's favorite school function. She gets all dressed up and loves being able to spend time with just her and daddy. They make a great pair cause they both love to get down and dance crazy! I have heard stories from other parents about the dancing at these events and it sounds like Lindsay's daddy has no shame when it comes to dancing the Chicken Dance or the Hokey Pokey!

Lindsay all ready to go to the dance

Yes, she has sparkles in her hair, isn't she pretty?!

Lindsay and her BFF

Daddy and daughter

Children Making a Difference

2008-02-23T16:06:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Lindsay was out playing with friends when they came running into the house all giggly and excited. They ran into Lindsay's room and immediately started rummaging around while chattering to themselves in such a way that only pre-teen girls know how. They were on a mission. A very boisterous mission. I thought I'd better go and see what they were stirring up this time and so asked them what they were doing. They proudly announced to me "We are getting money for Africa!" When I asked what they meant by that they explained their whole plan to me. They were rummaging around to find toys that they didn't play with anymore with the intent to sell them to their friends and give the money to the little children in Africa who need more money. Wow I thought, way to think globally girls! They we so excited about their plan I didn't have the heart to tell them that the items picked for sale were items I was hoping to keep around so I offered to purchase items for them to hold a snack sale instead, that way they could keep their toys. Thankfully they loved that idea too! They then decided that they needed to make signs for their sale and got right to work. As they were preparing their signs I casually asked them how they intended to get this money to the little children that need it. Hmm, we don't know they said. I showed them the website for World Vision, and let them look at the different programs they have to offer. They chose to raise money for the Care for an Orphaned Child program. When I asked them how much money they thought they could raise the adamantly agreed that they could raise $50. I have to admit that I was at first a little bit skeptical that they could raise that much but I went along with it. They decided to hold their sale in one week. I went to the store and got a few snack items and a few little fun things from the one dollar bins at Target and today they held their sale. It was a hit! They sold snacks, sodas, small toys and passed out papers describing what they were going to do with the money they earned. We ended up closing the "store" after just an hour and a half because they were just about sold out of everything! The cleaned up and came in to count the money and found they had raised $30.75! They plan to open their store again next weekend to raise enough money to reach their goal. They had so much fun and agreed that doing something to help others really made them feel pretty good inside. I felt good knowing that they were learning such a valuable life lesson while having an experience that would help shape their views on global compasion and help instill in them that they CAN make a difference.

http://www.worldvision.com/

The Store

Would you like to sample our products?

Store price list

Paperwork......Done!!!

2008-02-14T18:56:00.000-08:00

Good news! Our paper from CIS finally arrived and today we sent off our complete dossier!! What a perfect Valentines day present! I can't even express what a huge relief it is to have this step done. From here it goes to our agency in Missouri where they will send it to the U.S. Department of State where it will be reviewed and verified. Then it goes to the Embassy of Ethiopia for the second authentication and as soon as that is done it will be in the hands of those who will be matching us with our babies that we have been working so hard to find. Now we sit back and wait. And prepare ourselves to be parents again. It's funny how my heart has so much love for these kids even though I have no idea who they will be. We don't even have our match yet but I already feel them growing in my heart. I am so ready to be a mom again and I can't wait for that day when we find out who our new children will be.

Happy Valentines Day!

Gestating with the elephants.

2008-02-08T08:48:00.000-08:00

Do you know that an elephants pregnancy lasts for 22 months?! That is really quite a long time to wait for your babies. A human pregnancy is just 9 short months. I never made it all the way to nine months with my biological children, perhaps that is why I am starting to feel like I am gestating with the elephants on our adoption pregnancy. You see, 9 months ago we turned in our application to adopt and though I know the adoption process takes much longer I am starting to feel like I should have a baby by now, or babies as in our case. It didnt help my impatient waiting any to receive the news yesterday that we are experiencing yet another holdup in our process. As you know we have been more inpatiently than patiently waiting for our last document from CIS to arrive by mail so that we can send off our dossier(huge stack of adoption paperwork) to Ethiopia. It is the only thing we need, everything else is done. It should have arrived quite a while ago. We chatted with our adoption coordinator and she told us that the gal who is suposed to be proccesing our much needed document for has been away from her desk for almost 6 weeks due to some sort of family situation. She gave us the number for this lady and we have left her messages to try and figure out if there is some way we can speed this up. Each day that goes by without this form just increases our wait time and so we are really anxious to get it. The wait time has already increased due to more people joining the Ethiopia program and I believe the wait for a referal(to be matched with kids) is up to 4-9 months. Goodness, another 9 months and a person could have had two babies by the time we get our kids home... although I really dont recomend having children that close together and I guess since we are asking for two kids its worth the wait of two pregnancies. Now I understand that these things take time, lots of time, and that things like governmental paperwork are out of our hands and I do believe that this will all workout and be happy in the end, I still find myself feeling a bit like a mother elephant waiting seamingly forever for her babies.

Table Talk....

2008-01-28T17:45:00.000-08:00

Topics at our dinner table tonight...

*What to do when children don't do their homework.

*Why we sit in our chairs while we are eating.

*An attempt to convince Tristan why its not a good idea to buy a snowboard in Arizona......in the summer.

*Why we don't put marbles in trombones.

*How to get stuck marbles out of trombones.

*Report cards.

*Why we sit in our chairs while we are eating. Again.

*Why we don't smear our fingers around on our plates.

I'd have to say though, my favorite conversation tonight was with Logan and it went something

like this....

Logan: Hee hee!

Momma: Logan, why are you laughing?

Logan: Hee hee! I stuck a noodle up my nose! Hee hee!

Momma: You did what?!

Logan: Hee Hee! I sniffed it and it went up! Hee Hee! I put it right here (points at nostril) and it went in! Hee hee!

Momma: Did it go all the way up your nose?!

Logan smacks his lips and laughs some more. Oh the joys of raising boys!

Why I shouldnt have fish!

2008-01-23T08:13:00.000-08:00

Oh dear. I think I may have sealed my poor fishies fate. His water was in need of changing so I was going to take care of it today. Usually I pour extra water in and then a little bit later take some out and put more fresh water back in. They say to do it this way because it is too shocking for the fish to change all the water at once. So I poured water in and feed him and was going to come back later to finish. When I was walking away I took a closer look of the water jug and it had Plant Food written in blue sharpie right on the side of it! Ack! Funny that I have this water jug of plant food when all my plants are dead, but if changing the water all at once was shocking for the fish what would plant food do?! I quickly scooped fishie(who still has no name) into a cup and dumped out all his water, cleaning it and refilling it with clean water this time, as fast as I could, worried about him sitting in the cup of plant food water. Then in order to not get any plant food water in his clean new water I scooped him out of the cup with my hands and plopped him in his tank. Do you think he will survive?? I can just see it now...sorry kids, while you were at school today momma killed your fish!

The thrill of the ride!

2008-01-23T07:32:00.000-08:00

How funny is it that my last post is about how responsible Tristan is! The day after I posted that I sent him outside to play and gave him set boundaries, without boundaries he would quickly disappear and then I would find myself trying not to panic and sending out a search team. Well it wasn't too long before Lindsay came in saying " mom! Tristan stole Madison's bike from her and is riding it faster and faster out of boundaries around the corner and down the street!" Ohhh Tristan. I imagined him on that bike (his own bike had been taken away and put on restriction just days before for riding it faster and faster out of boundaries and trying to sneak off to the park on it!) and I saw that gleeful look on his face that he gets when hes riding his bike. He really loves to ride his bike as fast as he can and I think sometimes when hes riding hes not thinking about where he is going at all but instead thinking faster, Faster, FASTER! By the time I got outside to see how far he had gone he was already on his way back home, maybe having a gaggle of screaming girls from the neighborhood running and screaming "Tristan come back" did it, I was just glad I didn't have to go searching. His face was all flushed and his heart was pounding and I knew that he had been riding that little girls bike as fast as it could possibly go! Without me saying anything he rode that bike back to the little girl who owns it, apologized, and walked quietly into the house. As he walked by me without saying a word, I could tell that he knew he was in trouble and needed to come inside now, but at the same time he had this twinkle in his eye that told me that the "thrill of the ride" was worth it! Oh Tristan.

On a side note...Lindsay has decided that she doesn't want to grow out her hair anymore, she HATES tangles. She says she wants it as short as mommas. Hmm. I'm trying to convince her to get it like she had it before, a real short bob that was shorter in the back than front, but well see!

Thats my kid!

2008-01-21T08:02:00.000-08:00

Tristan has come so far! I am just so exited about where his life is going and who he is becoming! There was a time when we would think about his life in the future and wonder if he would learn how to modify his social oddities well enough to be able to achieve his dreams and aspirations. Well now I can say that all these years in therapy have been starting to pay off and I am beyond words with how much I love watching this young man grow and become more responsible. This weekend Tristan went to a birthday party where the whole class was invited. I'm not gonna lie, I was a little nervous about sending him by himself to a party where there was bound to be a lot of excitement. I wondered if he would be so excited that he would start jumping around saying "I like cheese" and not stop until I came to pick him up. I worried how will he blend in?? Will his peers be happy that he came or will they wonder what in the world is he doing and why is he quacking?? Had he learned how to modify behavior enough to gain friends through this experience? I knew that he really could use the socialization and so I sent him and hoped for the best. When Paul went to pick him up he stopped and chatted with one of the parents for a bit. They said that Tristan did great and that he was actually the only boy that the parents approved of! Wow! This is not something that people would have said a few years ago! They were actually impressed with his socialization! He played well with the kids of all ages, mingled with the adults and they even said how impressed they were with how well he interacted and played with their four dogs, two of which were bull mastiffs! When he came home he sat on the couch and chatted with us for a bit and just seemed so grown up. I thought about how far hes come and it just makes my heart so happy to see him growing into this responsible and well liked young man. I felt a little like I was having one of those "hes made it" moments and though I would love for him to stay young forever I cant wait to see how hes going to grow and can see already that he is really well on his way to becoming whoever he wants to be when he grows up. He is really a great kid and I'm so happy to be his mom!

Logan has a boo boo.

2008-01-19T22:11:00.000-08:00

A funny/cute story about Logan's little boo boo today.... and this is how it goes....

I was in my bathroom this morning getting myself ready when in comes Logan all sad and mopey. He walks up right close to me and puts on his most saddest face and says in his most saddest little voice possible "Momma will you kiss my owie"? I of course say yes even though I can tell that its one of those owies that don't really hurt and so he stuffs his little fist up by my nose. I look at it and it looks very normal to me so I say to him "Logan ....where is your owie"?? "Its right here" he says as he is shaking his fist even closer to my face. "OK buddy I will kiss it" And I plant a tender kiss on his little fist. "Is that better" I ask him? Logan jumps up and down and say very cheerfully "yes momma"! He then runs gleefully out of the room and I'm thinking how sweet it is that I can still make his mood change so quickly with just a kiss from momma. Then later I'm telling Paul how sweet Logan was this morning and Paul starts laughing. Apparently there was more to the story. Just before Logan came to me he was downstairs arguing with daddy and I don't think he was using his inside voice either. I guess he must of been pretty frustrated because he purposely hit his hand on something to give himself that owie. He then asked daddy to kiss it and daddy said no and laughed about this strange behaviour. This is when he so sadly came to visit his momma. No wonder he was so gleeful after I kissed his owie....he got me to do something daddy wouldn't do and I think he was feeling quite proud of himself for figuring out how to get something from one parent that the other parent had said no too. Hes a clever boy and really knows how to work those baby blue eyes to melt his momma heart and I'm sure he wont stop working the sad face to get what he wants anytime soon either!

Paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork!

2008-01-14T15:44:00.001-08:00

A little adoption update......we have been busy gathering up, signing. certifying, and authenticating the last of the documents required for Ethiopia adoption and at this point our part of the paperwork is done. We have our police clearance letters, our home study, employment letters, and a whole bunch of others. The only thing we are don't have and are waiting for is our I-171 form to come back to us and then we can send our papers off and shortly after that they will be on their way to Ethiopia! It really should be here any day now so I have been checking my mail so often my neighbors must think I'm crazy. Sometimes I worry that if it is this hard to wait for a paper what am I going to do while I'm waiting for my referral?! I used to think of myself as a more patient person but this experience is really starting to humble that opinion of myself. I have been trying to distract myself by painting the nursery. I found these really cute jungle animal wall stickers at Target and am paining pink and green to match them. It should turn out really cute! I will post some pics of it when I'm done paining but it may be a few days as I'm starting to feel like not going in there until we get that form. I just cant wait until it gets here, it feels like we have been waiting for that one paper for so long and I am so anxious to be on that wait list for a referral. Maybe it will come today.

This is going to hurt.....

2008-01-10T09:09:00.000-08:00

Those of you who know me well know that I have been meeting with a personal trainer at the gym for quite a while now. So far it has been great, he makes be work muscles I never knew I had. I'm not where I want to be yet and that's OK because at least I'm working. Now those of you who know Paul well know that when it comes to exercise he has 3 loves, bicycling, running and these crazy intense tummy workouts that he does. Its the tummy workouts that as of today I am afraid of. Today while I was at the gym with my trainer he decides to do some excise's that we hadn't done before. The kind that Paul does in his crazy intense tummy workout frequently. The kind that he tries to get me to do with him but I politely decline because just watching him do them causes me pain. So I'm trying to attempt these awkward movements and it isn't long before my tummy muscles fail me. In fact some of them I cant do at all, and as I am being told how to do these types of workouts I am saying to Reggie...that's my trainer... Oh no, that is what Paul does in his super crazy tummy workouts, I cant do that! I even said without thinking of what the repercussions would be...he tries to get me to do these with him at home all the time but I never do cause they look so painful! So the next thing I know Reggie is is on the phone with Paul. He is telling Paul that I have told him about his tummy workouts and that he needs Paul to make me do them every night. EVERY NIGHT! Right then is when I had that sinking feeling in my tummy. The feeling you get when you are about to take on a task that you know is going to be difficult but you are telling yourself that you can do it, and then you receive word from somebody, the kind of word that lets you know that this task is suddenly going to be a lot harder that you originally thought. But Paul, well I'm sure he is having a very happy feeling right now. The kind of feeling that says ha ha, now you have to do what I have been trying to get you to do for a long time! I am quite sure that Reggie has just made his day and I bet that he just cant wait to come home and start these new workouts for me. For the first time in our marriage I can say that I'm not looking forward to him coming home tonight. Now don't get me wrong, I love my husband very much, he is truly my best friend, but......I am afraid. Afraid of whats in store for me. Afraid of the tummy workouts. Every night. I have been trying to tell myself that this is a good thing that we have found my great weakness and to think of how this will help me in the long run but then I picture Paul doing those crazy crunches with his legs all up in the air and I almost instantly hurt. I even thought about trying to talk my way out of it but then Reggie told me that he is going to be randomly testing me on it to see if Paul and I have been doing as he has instructed. So I will tell myself to try it. It wont be pretty and I'm sure it will hurt. A lot. And I will need encouragement, but I'm going to try. Maybe, just maybe this is what I really need to reach my goal. I'm not too happy about it though. I already have butterflies in my tummy and I'm thinking I might should buy my ibuprofen at Costco now.

Logan + twinkies = very happy boy

2008-01-09T16:18:00.000-08:00

Recently Logan ate a Twinkies for probably the first time. Yes...I am one of those parents who do not regularly purchase Twinkies and ho hos and such for my kids. This time I made an exception. We were going out of town on a road trip and I thought that my kids would love it if I got them a small box of Twinkies for our drive. After all every family road trip needs some snacks that will make small children happy because happy means less complaining like "so and so is touching me" or "are we there yet" and my personal favorite, "I need to go potty...again." So I bought the Twinkies. I realize now that my mistake was in letting the youngsters see the Twinkies as I was packing them up for the trip. The begging for those little hostess treats began even before we got into the car. After we had been on the road for a while I gave in and passed out the Twinkies. To my surprise Lindsay didn't even like them, Tristan thought they were OK but Logan, he was asking for more before his was even finished. When I turned down his request he must have been displeased because he yelled at me "more Twinkie!" and threw his wrapper at me. This action on his part lead him to not have any more Twinkies for the rest of the drive there. We arrived late and got the kids ready for bed and as he was kissing me goodnight he whispers to me "in the morning can I have a Twinkie?" The next morning the first thing out of his mouth when he wakes up is him asking for the Twinkies. I tell him that he may have one after lunch. And this is how our trip goes, with Logan asking several times a day for those treats that have now become his obsession. Later on our trip while we are out playing in the snow he is again asking for them again and when his request is denied he proceeds to collapse himself into the snow and has a little meltdown. We are home now and the Twinkies are long gone much to Logan's dismay. So now I know what a Twinkie can do, and maybe a Twinkie every now and then isn't such a bad idea if it can be used to encourage a certain Logan child to clean his room.....not a bad idea!