Halloween 2008

I'm happy to report that all six kids managed to be able to go on our Halloween outing together (although one of them just BARELY made it). Once we were out we had a wonderful time together. Stephanie commented on how much she thought Jacques will love it when he comes home too (because he loves candy). He was very much missed tonight!

Ready to head out for some fun. You can see Jude's post op shoes in this picture. He was a great sport about being pushed in a stroller from house to house.

Stephanie

Kyle

Jude

Johnny

Luke

And... The camera was so loving Lovenie that I couldn't post just one:

Did Somebody Say Treat???

Our kids do not know it yet but when I call them together for school this morning they will be receiving their first treats of the day. The first treat will be a piece of paper that says "You do not have to do your chores today", 2nd treat will say "You will get your allowance TODAY!" (which is special because it will be a day early and before we head to a few stores), and the final paper treat will say "NO SCHOOL TODAY". I am expecting some hooting and hollering.

I have been really looking forward to our first holiday together but I am having some concerns this morning. A couple of the kids that would be celebrating their first Halloween with us today got themselves in some pretty big trouble last night. This morning I was ready to put that behind us and start a new and special day but I got some pretty narly attitude from the first one I encountered. The other one that is in trouble is hiding out in their room and has not come out yet. They are teetering dangerously close to spending their first Halloween at home while the other kids go out and have fun. I find that really sad. I do hope the day will turn around. We will see!

10 Digits

Jude has joined the world of ten digits on two toes! The surgery went as well as it could yesterday. The doctor and nurses could not have been any sweeter to Jude. There were a couple of times during the surgery that poor Jude screamed and cried in pain and pleaded with the doctor to stop. I tried my best not to throw up. I am not real good at handling people (especially our children) in pain. I was glad to be there though to hold his hands (0r even hold him down when needed), talking softly to him, and translating everything the doctor asked me to.

Jude is now home resting. He was not hurting too bad yesterday but the pain has really kicked in today so I have confined him to a day with the couch and a remote. Both feet are heavily bandaged and he can walk when he absolutely must by using two post op shoes and walking on the back of his feet. He will continue to have his feet bandaged (meaning no running, jumping, bike riding...) until November 10th. Then we will return to have the bandages and stitches removed and get to check out his newly shaped feet. Thanks so much to the many of you that were praying for him yesterday!

A Big Week Ahead

It's only Monday and I'm feeling a tad overwhelmed about the week ahead of us. Jim has just moments ago landed in Texas. How I wish I could be there too so I could whoop it up a bit with all my Texas girlfriends. I miss you guys so much!! He will return home to us late tomorrow night so it will not be a long stretch of single parenting but a stretch none-the-less. So far the kids are being very good for me and the mood in the house is positive.

Wednesday morning I will be taking Jude in for his surgeries on both feet. One minute I'm so very excited for him and the next I just want it over with and for him not to have to feel any pain. He is an impressively tough kid so I'm sure he will do great.

Friday will be the 1st ever Halloween night for Stephanie, Jude, and Lovenie. We are all very excited about our first holiday together. Today we had a dress rehearsal and everyone seems pleased with their costumes. We will be headed first to a friends house were they have a Happy Halloweenie celebration. Yes, Halloweenie. I think it's quite clever. They set up a bbq grill on Halloween night in their driveway and hand out hundreds of free hot dogs, drinks, candy, and kindness to all the hungry trick or treaters. A treat for sure. It will be fun to hang out with them for a while and then we will head out for a little candy action. It just recently occurred to me that Jude will just have 2 days between his surgeries and his first trick or treating so he will be babied a bit and pushed around from door to door in a jogger. He is going to be a killer whale for Halloween. I can't help but think it very funny that a big killer whale will be pushed around in his stroller by Mom and Dad. LOL. So fierce.

Night at the Drive In

Our kids love going to the drive in! Over the last couple of years every time we went I would wish for Stephanie and Jude and wonder if they would like it. I don't have to wonder anymore. At the end of the event I asked Jude if he liked it and he said "No, I LOVED it!". We didn't tell them where we were going or what we were going to do/see until we got there. Kyle had figured it out but the rest of them erupted into a big cheer when we told them that we would be watching High School Musical 3! To understand the extent of their excitement you would have to understand that High School Musical has taken over our home and all 6 kids are nutty over it. We realized that the drive in was no longer a one vehicle event and took both vehicles. We arrived early and were the first cars in line to make sure we would be able to get our kids in to see it since it is opening weekend. We had planned ahead to make the most of even this time with a ~

TAILGATE PARTY~~~

Bring on the pizza!

The only thing cheesier then the pizza is Luke's camera smile

Lovenie uses this time wisely to decide where the best seat will be. Apparently it is on top of Jude.

That treatment was too mild so she then decided maybe she would just lay across his face while big brother Kyle attacked her with stuffed animals. Sibling love!

The Tailgate party ended, seats were removed or folding down in both vehicles, and warm and cozy beds were made for everyone~

Vehicle #1 movie watchers were Kyle, Jude, Stephanie, and Johnny

Vehicle #2 held Mom, Dad, Lovenie, and Luke


High School Musical 3 left no one disappointed. It was just as good as the first two, maybe even better. I had many good laughs as good natured Jim cheerfully sat through this musical for his kids and wife but could not resist sharing his thoughts and sarcasm "Oh Troy is Dreamy" "Please don't go to Standford, sniffle, sniffle" etc.

When HSM ended Jude said he was ready to go to sleep until I informed him that you get TWO movies at the drive in. He was suddenly awake and excited again. The second movie was Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Jim and I endured the movie only because it was so terrible it was amusing. So, of course the kids loved it! Stephanie asked me as soon as it was over if we could buy the movie and watch it at home too (ugh). I tried to explain in my limited Creole that new movies come out in theaters first and then you have to wait a while before you can buy them and watch them at home. I must not have done a very good job explaining it because on the drive home Jude was bragging to Stephanie about how HE has seen Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2. ;) It was such a great outing for the family. Of course for the parents it is a lot of work both prep and while you are there, but for the kids it's all good times. I hope they will tuck this in with other happy childhood memories.

Another little spot of Paradise

It was one of those beautiful days that makes you glad you are alive to enjoy it! The weather was mid 80's and sunny. It was Saturday, my day off, and I had a plan. I first did a little bit of shopping (one store), then headed to the library to pick up a book they had special ordered for me. It's called The Oath by Frank Peretti. Anyone read it? I've heard good things.

After those errands were completed I headed off to find another little spot of So. Cal. paradise. On Friday night I had come up with many plans for my outing but dismissed them all for one reason or another. One idea was to head off to Universal Studios but it's quite a drive. Then I thought of the beach but didn't want to deal with parking. So... off I headed to the Temecula Wine country. It's nearly as beautiful as Napa and only 20 minutes away. I started out at the fantastic restaurant pictured above. I requested a balcony seat and had all of the balcony to myself. The restaurant balcony overlooked hills of vineyards. It was just warm enough to soak up the sun, but had a breeze just cool enough to make the weather just right! I was served a delicious dish of lobster mac and cheese. It sounds like just mac and cheese with lobster thrown in but it was nothing like that. I wouldn't call it mac and cheese but it had a delicious creamy sauce. I'm sure to be craving it again soon! Afterwards I found a shaded grassy area near a water fountain and got comfortable for a couple hours with my new intense book. I came home so relaxed and ready to take on another week. Have I mentioned that I love Saturdays and I LOVE my husband who so sweetly not only watches the kids but sees to it that they all work together to surprise me with an even cleaner house when I get home? They rock!

We are headed off to church soon. This evening we have a surprise in store for our children. They are going to be so excited!

Refreshing Ideas?

Woo Hoo, It's weekend! So, tomorrow morning is my "Mom's time off" again. I've found that this time sans kids can be so refreshing. However, I'm running out of ideas of things to do. Well, that's not totally true but if I were to do all my ideas our family would go broke quickly (skydiving, scuba diving, spa, salon, shopping...). Anybody have idea's of what I can do that would not cost a fortune and would either be so relaxing I would end up like putty when I'm done, or so exciting it will create a great recharge for the rest of the week? I've found that if I don't figure out plans before Saturday rolls around I end up running errands, and well... while productive, it is not very refreshing. Please send me your ideas!

April Fools In October

Recently someone shared with us that on October 22nd In & Out was celebrating their 60th Anniversary and in celebration was offering burgers and fries for a fraction of the usual costs. When we drove by In & Out on our way too church we couldn't help but notice that it was a madhouse. It looked packed on the inside, long line of cars in the drive thru, and another long line of cars just waiting to get into the parking lot. We wondered what on earth was going on over there when I remembered what someone had told us. Oh, it must be the day that they have the crazy deals!



When we were headed home from church a few of the kids were saying what they seem to say at least a hundred times a day~ "I'm hungry!". Jim wakes up very early for work so I dropped him off at home to get some z's and decided to surprise the kids with a late night trip to In & Out. It was still really busy for how late it was but nowhere near the madness we had seen there earlier. I ordered meals for the kids but was charged regular price. I just thought I must have got the date wrong. It was still worth it because the kids were so excited about this unexpected treat. When it was almost time to leave Kyle found a flier posted near the registers that told that there had been a rumor started about discounts for their anniversary, but it is only a rumor. I laughed so hard. This rumor must have really done a lot of traveling because that place had been totally packed. Can you imagine the poor employees that probably got screamed at all day long after people had waited a long time to finally get their order just to learn that it was not what they thought it was going to be? I'm guessing the owners were pretty happy though. They probably had their biggest day in sales ever. It's amazing to me that someone could just start it up and it would spread the way it did. Being a big fan of April fools day and pranks I think the whole thing is quite funny and even enjoyed being "had" by it personally.

No DeFEET For Us

Today was a loooooooong but really productive day. It started early this morning with a follow up appointment for Stephanie's ears. They are much better and now we await the time for her to have surgery. Then we ran a few exhausting errands and returned back to the hospital for a long awaited appointment for Jude. Jude was born with six toes, an extra big toe, on each foot. Poor guy is SO self conscious of it. Within just a few days of coming home to America he was asking us when he could see a doctor for his feet. Stephanie and Jude both also told us a story about Jude taking a knife and trying to cut off one of his big toes when he was little. Oh, how that makes me cringe! So today was the big day he was going to finally see a specialist about his feet.

It did not start off so good. We checked in early and then waited and waited. After a really long time I went back to the receptionist to ask what was going on. I later learned that she forgot to inform them that we were there. Ugh. When they finally called us back they said they needed X-rays before the doctor could see him so we were taken to another waiting room for an equally long wait. Ugh. Once the X-rays were finally in hand (hours later) we were granted the honor of seeing the doctor. Within seconds of entering the room the Dr. informed me that there had been a mistake and he did not do pediatrics. Not only could he not help us but the nearest orthopedic pediatric surgeon was not near at all. Ugh. Then the Dr. made a big error~ He took one look at our adorable Jude and seemed to just melt. ;) He agreed to go ahead and take a look. Great news! He said that Jude's feet would be very simple surgeries to repair. Hooray! He also showed us the X-rays of Jude's toes and pointed out that his extra big toes had actually started growing a new toe INSIDE of the toes. Crazy, right? So he does not have 12 toes but 14! What a lucky kid. Finally this very kind doctor decided to make an exception and do the surgery instead of sending Jude to someone else. So he says that the bad news is that he is booked solid for the next several months. Ugh. When I told him we probably wouldn't be here in a few months he sweetly bent over backwards to figure out how to help us. To sum up this very long story.... Jude will be having corrective surgery on both feet NEXT WED!!! Oh we whooped and hollered with excitement.

Because that appointment took so much longer then we expected I had to rush to our next errand which was to go to try and get social security cards for our new little Americans. I had heard some pretty bad stories from other adoptive families about the months of struggles when they tried to get their cards so I was braced for a battle. We walked in and a half hour later walked out with the promise of cards in the mail within the next 2 weeks. Easy breezy!

Then we rushed home to eat, and rushed out again to go to church. A smarter person then I would realize that was probably a full enough day, but not I. After church I dropped Jim off at home to get some sleep and then surprised the kids with a late night trip to In & Out. They were so thrilled. There is a funny story to the trip to In & Out but I'll share that tomorrow. Now, to go fall into bed but praising God big time for the way that everything fell into place just beautifully today!

Nicknames for Mom and Dad

At dinner last night we were coming up with silly little nicknames for all the kids to make them laugh. I'm kind of big on calling the kids nicknames and they are almost always really goofy ones. So Stephanie and Jude decided they were going to come up with names for me and Jim. I was renamed AnJLO (which was a compliment because Stephanie had informed me that JLO was her favorite actress, singer, dancer). Then Jude nicknamed his Dad Jimgle. Then he added "You know, like Jimgle Bells." Oh how I laughed! Jude also told us that his Mom in Haiti called him Juice. I thought that was a pretty cool nickname for him until his brothers started chasing him around saying they were going to drink him. I can tell you one thing for sure~ Never is there a quiet and mellow dinner discussion in our home. Unless I have a headache, I really like this. When I was a kid my family was SO funny that I often laughed so long and hard at the dinner table that my food would be cold before I could finish it. I hope our children grow up with good memories of times around our table together too!

Goin' way up, Goin' way down

It's "one of those days". I don't like those days too much. I've noticed since the kids have come home that we seem to be having a good day/bad day pattern. Some days everyone will be so great together and the feelings of happiness and fun just swells in the house. Then it will swing wildly (and quickly) the other direction. Right after that everyone is good for a time and then quickly it falls apart again. I'm certain this is all part of the adjustment phase. The GOOD news is that it seems to be that our times of peace are happening more often and lasts longer so we must be moving in a positive direction. The last few days had been just wonderful together with no big problems or issues. I am no longer surprised when we suddenly have melt downs again. It's no fun while it is happening but at least I can be sure (based on the pattern) that we are due a few more good days in the near future.

We Dare You

We dare you to watch this and NOT laugh! We bet you can't do it. We laughed our heads off.

Off to find our heads.....

(This all started from the link on your blog Linda, thanks!)

A Little Snip on the Apron Strings

Today our oldest 4 children got an opportunity to have another first. The first time I sent them off to the park WITHOUT A GROWN UP! Considering their ages are now 13, 2 that are almost 10, and 8 I think they are ready to have little freedoms. I may have even done it sooner but have had some concerns with a couple of the kids not being real kind to each other and not always telling the truth about things. So this is kind of a test run not only to see if they are ready for unsupervised outings but also to see if they can be trusted alone together. I'm curious to see how it turns out. I hope they will end up having a blast, enjoying their freedom, and learning to look out for each other.

Updated~ The results were great! They had a really good time together, no problems at all, and even made a couple of new friends that they want to meet at the park with again soon. After a couple of hours I went down to see if they wanted to hop in the car and go get some cheeseburgers. We never got very far when we learned that bbq'd cheeseburgers were being sold at the park during a baseball game. So we ended off the night eating at a park table in perfect weather while the kids played longer. It was a great night for us all. It has been a little tense around here as we all continue to struggle through some of the times of adjusting so it is extra sweet when everyone is feeling relaxed and has a smile on their little faces.

"I can't be your Mom!"

Today at lunch Johnny was being his usually silly self and started playfully teasing Stephanie and called her Mom. She in return acted appalled (playfully also) but then told Johnny "I can't be your Mom! Look at you, your white and I'm black!!!" That's when I responded by saying "Uh, Stephanie..." and pointing to my skin and her skin and we all had a great laugh.

Family Hazing

This is not a family just anyone can get into and it's not easy to become "One of us". It requires a bit of hazing. ;) No one can carry out this kind of family initiation like my Dad. One night Stephanie and Jude were in my parents living room when my Dad came across a scary and ugly mask. He couldn't resist and stuck it on and went into the living room yelling. Stephanie and Jude went flying out of their seats yelling and screaming. Even knowing that it was him it took them a while to stop screaming. No fears that they have been traumatized... there was a lot of laughing too! Later Dad caught Jude hiding out and putting on the mask to scare Stephanie. He didn't know Dad was there so while he was slipping on the mask my Dad grabbed him and yelled which sent Jude screaming again. They were great sports and thought the whole thing very funny. (Mask pictures hopefully to follow soon)

Having successfully completed phase one of family hazing my Dad moved on to phase two (one of my favorites!). This little "game" he is playing with Jude is one he played with me and my brother, all the grandkids, and many of our friends too~ Dad sits the child on a smooth surface and hands them a fork and butter knife. He then pours a little puddle of water between their legs. Dad is at the feet with a dish towel in hand while he explains that the object of the game is to try and stab the back of his hand before he can wipe up the spill. What kid would say no to that game. As with everything with my Dad, though, there is a twist to the game~





Jude was a GREAT sport about it and we all had a good laugh. My Dad still holds his perfect record of winning this game. It's official now~ WELCOME TO THE FAMILY!!!!

Homeword Bound Rioting

We are home again after a fantastic time with family. The road trip with six kids packed in the van was not at all terrible. They were pretty great! That's saying a lot considering I don't like road trips. We had a lot of laughs and great moments with our family but it is so nice to be home again too.

Lovenie rocks herself in the little rocking chair on her Great Grandma's porch

Is any road trip complete without a stop at Dennys?


The Riot~ This riot broke out in our car when they were having to say their last goodbyes to their Grandparents. They are chanting "Pa Ale Lakay" which means "Don't Go Home" They sure had a blast with my parents!

Once we pulled into the driveway (after 10 long hours on the road) Stephanie yelled out from the backseat "THANK YOU JESUS!!" and we all cracked up. Time to get back to our new normal. So far we are all sleeping in or lounging around this morning. I have a feeling it will not be an overly productive day but those days are soooooo good sometimes!

Time to come home again

What a great time this time with Stephanie and Jude has been for everyone! Our house seemed so quiet and mellow with only 4 kids running around. Stephanie and Jude have had a chance to get to know and fall in love with our really fabulous family in No. CA. Our phone calls with them have been so very sweet and fun.

Now it is time for us to hit the road and bring two of our MVP's home again. Being who we are~ of course we are not packed and ready to go. Why do today what you can scramble to do days from now? That seems to be our motto!

I want to wish a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to some very dear friends of ours for getting not just one but two very life changing and wonderful news very recently (you know who you are, wink)! I'm so thrilled for your family and you KNOW we love you, right?

There was so much more I thought I would be able to squeeze into this week that just won't happen. There are emails I wanted to return, phone calls I wanted to make... and yet we have run out of time for a few days. Thank you for being patient with me. I'll do my best to get in touch next week if things are not too crazy going back to our new normal.

For the next few days we will be making great family memories with some of my all time favorite people. Until then.....

Baby Girl

Yesterday we got a last minute phone call that there was a cancellation for a speech therapist and asking us if we would be able to come in and take their spot. We had been waiting over a month for Lovenie's appointment and still had a couple of weeks to go so I jumped on it. Then begins the crazy scramble to get the 5 of us (at least it was 5 and not 7) ready to head out the door. Since I had to take the kids with me I made sure they all had packed electronic babysitters with headphones (I know, so bad... but it worked!). Kyle, Johnny, and Luke were so good during this hour long appointment that I could almost see little halos floating over their heads. I was so proud of them!

After some testing, observing, and answering lots of questions Lovenie was determined to be at about a 1 year old level. I had been saying I thought she was like having a 1-2 year old so this did not really surprise me. I don't know that I agree too much with the therapist's game plan to help Lovenie. I think that for your average 4 year old American girl at a one year old level that it may be a wonderful plan. However, for a little girl that has just gone through so much change, I think it would not be in her best interest. It's so hard to go against what the "experts" are saying when at the same time your maternal instincts are screaming "Not good". So prayers for wisdom would be totally appreciated. I think for now I'll just give her a couple more months to see how she is coming along and then re-evaluate.

It's funny when you have a child how your little pet names surface as you get to know them. Since Lovenie has been home I noticed I had been calling her Baby Girl more then any other name. It really is like having a baby at home. Her tiny little size makes it seem totally normal that I would think of her as a baby or toddler. The thing that seems strange is at the times that I realize she is actually 4 years old!

Last night was another tough night for Baby Girl. She is still having night terrors. She moans, cries, and even screams in her sleep. I spent a long time in the wee hours of the morning rocking her in a rocking chair trying to comfort her. It makes me so sad to hear her so tortured in her sleep. You would never know it by day as she wakes up with a smile and keeps it on her face almost all day long.

Calling Home

It has now been 6 days since I said goodbye to Stephanie and Jude as they headed off to spend time with my parents. They are having such a great time together! For the first several days I was getting about a dozen calls a day from Stephanie with excited updates of each and everything they did. It was so encouraging that she would want that much contact with us. A few days of being gone and she had even instigated her very first time of saying "I love you!" and has said it a few times since then. It's funny that it seems that one of the greatest bonding tools we have had so far has been long distance phone calls. Jude is also doing great but is just not as interested in being on the phone when he could be running around. ;)

It's really strange that we have had 6 children for just over two months now but already going from 6 down to 4 is such a huge difference. It suddenly seems as if 4 children is just a piece of cake. The house is pretty quiet and we are getting a lot done (even some resting). We will be leaving on Friday for a long weekend at my parents house to see family and pick up Stephanie and Jude. It has been such a nice break for everyone and I really am hoping it will go a long ways towards helping with our bonding to have had some time apart.

MRI Miracles

We've waited years to try and get some answers (and help) regarding what happened to Lovenie. From what we were told it was a bad stroke at around 10 months old that left her blind and severely disabled~ mentally and physically. At some point she regained her sight. At 2.5 years old we celebrated when news came to us that our little girl was walking! We thought she may never walk. Around 3.5 years old she began saying a few words and doing more physically. At 4 years old (when we brought her home) she could sing, run, dance, and more. She is nothing short of a little miracle girl!

Since the kids have been home we have had MANY doctors appointments to take them to. We are so happy to finally be able to get them this kind of care. Sometimes when we get results though I wonder what life would have continued to be like if they had remained in Haiti. Some of their conditions cause me to seriously wonder if they would have survived with these illnesses, and would have at the very least lived their lives very ill. (If anyone adopting from Haiti is interested in what illnesses we have uncovered feel free to email me, otherwise I'll keep them private for the sake of our kids). At times I'm in awe that they could have illnesses that would put most of us in the hospital or at the very least we would stay in bed, but not these children! They go about there day as if they are perfectly healthy and I realize it is because it is their normal. It makes me so sad to think that they wouldn't know what healthy feels like, and thrilled to know we are working diligently for them to find out.

OK, I sidetracked a bit.... I was talking about Lovenie.... So fast forward to now and I am so thrilled about the miraculous healing our little girl has experienced even before receiving any medical care. Her mentality is similar to having a 1-2 year old toddler, but she is progressing SO fast at home. Friday she had a scheduled MRI in hopes to find out what may have happened as a baby and even more importantly what kind of remaining damage we are looking at. The neurologist had told me we would need to sedate her because there is no way she would go into a big, loud, scary machine and be able to hold completely still for about 20 minutes. Her Pediatrician called me and suggested instead that I take her to an appointment really tired and try to get her to sleep through it. I was honest and said that I didn't think it would work but that we would try. So Thursday night (after returning home from our road trip) we stayed up late with Lovenie and I made sure to wake her up early in the morning so that she would be good and tired. She fell asleep on the way to the appointment and I felt a glimmer of hope that this might work. Once she saw a waiting room it was all over. No matter how tired she was she was not going to close her eyes and keep them closed. Between arriving very early and the staff running late I spent nearly an hour trying to get her into a sound sleep. Once we were called back she was awake and I knew it was highly unlikely that this was going to work. As soon as I laid her down at the machine she went hysterical. The tech was also saying that he thought this was going to be a waste of time but that he would try it (she was the first child they attempted to do because all others go to another location for sedation). I got Lovenie's attention and told her that I know she was very scared but I need her to lay very still and don't move. They allowed me to stay with her during the testing and as she slid through the machine I was there to look her in the eyes and rub her little feet. Poor thing was so scared and cried the whole time but guess what? She didn't move a bit! The testing was completed and now we just wait for the results! I was thrilled, the tech couldn't believe she did it, and I just kept praising God because I knew it would have been impossible without Him (I was praying non-stop the whole time).

That little Lovenie is just such a hero in my eyes. Not just because she could do something like this but because of how she lives each day. From the moment she wakes up she smiles and spends most of the rest of the day singing and dancing and laughing at EVERYTHING. Can you imagine if our world was filled with a bunch of little Lovenies how much better a place it would be? I want to be just like her when I grow up!

Generations of fun and Love

This afternoon a very excited Stephanie and Jude were safely delivered to an equally excited set of Grandparents! They will be visiting our family in Northern CA for a little over a week and spend time getting to know their grandparents, great grandparents, uncle, aunt, and cousins.

Yesterday I drove them to my Great Aunt's house. There they got to meet their Great Grandparents for the first time. That was not the only firsts though:

Cowboy Jude fearlessly climbs onto the back of a horse.

It takes Stephanie no time at all to inform us that she would like to go fast! ;)


As if that was not enough excitement for one day:

The 4 wheelers were brought out and the kids were told to find somewhere to sit and hold on!

Lovenie starts off with something a little slower pace

And then totally surprises me by saying she wants the big machine.
Go Lovenie Go!


Lovenie had more surprises in store for us when she shed her shy cling to Mommy position and decided to love all over her new family members. Here she is snuggling with and even kissing her Great Grandma:

She shares her attention with her Great Aunt too. My Great Aunt has fostered and adopted many children over the years. She has such a sweet heart for kids and Lovenie catches on to that quickly:

She even cuddles up on the lap of her Great Grandpa (who is high on my list of all time favorite people!)

What a great time! I may not have seen their first steps, I don't know their first words, and countless other firsts but I get to experience new and exciting firsts with them everyday!

Our family support with our children has been a totally sweet experience. The enthusiasm and love they shower them with is just a really beautiful thing. These precious children will never suffer from not having enough love or attention, that's for sure! ;)