The Vacuum

So, my son loves to vacuum. This has been his favorite gift of the year. Steve and I laughed last night when we looked to see him with a dish towel 'cleaning' the floor. I am not sure what his obsession with the floor is about, but I figure it is a win-win for us all. The way I see it, once he starts walking I can graduate him to the big vacuum. I wonder if I could interest one of the girls in the pleasures of a toilet brush...? I know, I know, wishful thinking.

'Kinzer' and I made sugar cookies yesterday. We had a good time. I let her choose the color of the frosting - neon blue. She then topped it with every sprinkle we have in the house. I think they now stand about 4 inches thick with frosting and sprinkle toppings. :-) She and I have a day of beauty planned. Okay, it is more like two hours of beauty, but we hope this does the trick. I am not sure how long Steve can handle the three babies by himself. We have to graduate him to all day outings gradually.

Well, the kids are all still in bed so I have a couple of minutes to unload the dishwasher and shine the floor before my son gets up!

Santa Came!

The face says it all. Santa came!!!!!!! The kids were so happy with their gifts. More importantly, we read the story of Christmas before we opened gifts. We talked about why we give gifts in the first place. The wise men brought gifts to Jesus in the manger which started it all.

After all the excitement, I told Steve since Aunt Micha had to leave today we needed to take advantage of the extra pair of hands. So, I was able to talk him into taking down all of the Christmas stuff. I know, I know, I know...it is still Christmas Day, but I want the kids to be able to enjoy their gifts with out Mom saying, "no, no, don't touch that!" After some persuading, Steve conceded. All of the Christmas stuff is back in it's resting place in the shed until next season.

I hope you all had a chance to eat too much, take a nap, and genuinely rejoice in the season.

Hugs to all,

Misty

Christmas Babies and Apple Pie

Don't they look so cute? I could not help myself when I saw there were matching p.j.'s for everyone. What a fun day we have had. Aunt Micha and Moses (her d-o-g) arrived last night. We realized one of the gifts 'Kinzer' wanted was no where to be found, so at 1:00 a.m. I was driving to every super-mart in town looking for this gift. Her reaction is worth it all!

All Micha wanted this holiday was apple pie. So, today I made two homemade apple pies. I think Steve and Micha have left the rest of us a little...

We are missing our families this holiday. While the house is full and overflowing, we miss spending this time with the people we love so much. So, to take our minds off of it we decided to take all of the kids in their p.j.'s to see Santa at the mall. We loaded everyone up, unloaded everyone at the mall only to discover there was a 2 hour wait to see him! I told the kids we can leave Santa a note and he can pick it up tonight. That sounded way more attractive than sitting there all afternoon.

So, after my late night adventure I am ready for sleep. Love to you all, and Merry Christmas! If you have time, stop by for some apple pie.

Visit Today...

Thanks for the prayers. I can happily report the visit was CANCELLED. We don't know why, but the mom and dad called and said they couldn't make it. Two blessings...it frees up our day to spend with the kids, and it helps our emotional self be in a positive space for the rest of the week. WHOOOO HOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas Excitement

Oh, the excitement of the season. The kids are all-a-flutter! 'Bubba' and 'Mu-mer' keep trying to open all of the gifts. 'Kinzer' keeps encouraging them to do this so she gets a peek at what is in the box. Steve and I did our final bit of shopping yesterday. The stores were INSANE, but it was fun to have time together. We were actually able to have a full conversation without interruption. It was good, but we were happy to return to our own insanity.

Today is a visit day for the baby. It is two solid hours of us sitting there. Thankfully, I am able to stay at the visits with the baby because of her medical needs. The parents cannot grasp the gravity of her health needs so the judge has allowed me to be present. Please pray it goes smoothly.

Our house is full and overflowing this year. We have been blessed beyond measure.

Love to you and yours!

Best Friends

'Mu-mer' and 'Bubba' are the best of friends!

The Turkey Trot

'Kinzer' asked Aunt Micha if she would run in the YMCA's Turkey Trot 5K. It was SO cold that day, but Aunt Micha was a trooper! They competed with 1600 runners. 'Kinzer' came in 6th in her age group. After the race, I had to serve Thanksgiving

Lunch 2 hours early because 'Kinzer' said she was so hungry. When I asked her to tell us what she was thankful for this year, the first thing she said was FOOD!

'Mu-mer' and Little Bitty Baby

'Mu-mer' and 'Bitty' Baby get to know each other. Mu-mer said, "head, eyes, nose...YEAH!" She was very happy to see that baby had all her important parts!

Inspired

Well, my sister-in-law has inspired me to start a blog. Thanks, Christine!

It seems it has been only a few short months when we announced we were adopting. Most of you know the process was long a painful, but ultimately rewarding. 'Kinzer,' Mu-mer' and 'Bubba' (I will use made up names to protect our privacy out in internet world) are doing so well. They are all growing, glowing and CLIMBING! Yikes!!!

On November 5, 2008, we were called to ask if we would be willing to bring home another baby. 'Mu-mer's' biological parents had delivered another child on November 3rd. There was enough concern about the baby's safety the Department believed the child should not be allowed to go home with the mom. So, after a lot a quick praying we said yes. So, my friends, IT's ANOTHER GIRL.

We will have to continue the same long painful process. So, adoption cannot take place until that has been completed. Yes, you guessed it, they are fighting the process again. The mother's attorney is actually fighting that the baby should have never been removed in the first place. They have requested a jury trial to determine if DHS should have removed her in the first place. Thankfully, 'our side' can bring up the fact that this is the FOURTH baby that mom has had, and (oh, yeah) the prior THREE have been removed from her care! She doesn't have custody of any of her four children. We are very prayerful that this goes well. We have become quite attached so our hearts will be completely broken if things don't.

Currently, we have to have visits four hours a week. Two hours with mom and two hours with dad. It is excruciating! They tell me we will have to continue this until the bitter end.

After baby was placed with us, I became concerned something was wrong. It turned out when she eats her pulse ox drops very low. As a result, we have had to put her on oxygen. We have a very advanced oxygen set up in our house. Let's just say that Steve's ingenuity has really come in handy! We have the 50 feet of tubing hanging from our stair case and hand rails via...wait for it...bungee cords! Now the other three cant' get caught in the tubing. The oxygen has helped a ton. Now we are dealing with massive acid reflux, but they tell me this too shall pass. The biological mom called me and the caseworker and told us that as long as the baby is having medical issues, then she can't live with her. She said it is too scary. Remember we are dealing with a mom with an IQ of about 40 so I thought, overall, this was a very responsible thing to say. Let's just hope her attorney will think so as well and do the right thing!

Well, I think this brings everyone up to speed. I will try to keep you posted, but for now please keep praying for us!