Thursday, December 25, 2008

Taste of Christmas

This post is going to be added to later, but I know that our family wants to see what is going on right now. Precious seemed to be pretty sure she was getting the iPod, so I left it until last and then pretended the gifts left under the tree were for extended family. It was kinda like Christmas Story when Ralphie thinks gifts are over and then he gets the gun from behind the desk. Haha, but she screamed all the more when she figured out what it was. JJ is already taking about 4-6 pedals of the bike without falling over-and Aleks wanted to leave the training wheels on?! Merry Christmas, we love you all!

Monday, December 22, 2008

Grandparents Rock!

Aleks' mom came down for the weekend to meet the kids and they loved her! On Friday we went to Paisano's for hometown pizza and got so much more. Sparky the clown works nights "twisting for tips" and we were lucky enough to run into him. Precious says she thinks he is cute, I think that there is a lot more than age standing in the way of that romance, but no need to inform her. I think I actually like her taste in men. Then Grandma took the kids on You Tube to see a bird that dances to Back Street Boys, they were impressed. On to Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa. The otters were playful, the rays were hungry, Aleks was scared, giraffes were big, camels were fat-footed, log flumes were wet, goats were smelly and the roller coaster was nauseating for Precious. Just like you probably expected. On Sunday DECEMBER 21st it was beach day (that's for all my TN peeps)! Our house is still sandy from that. Good times. Aleks and I are really happy that all our parents have met the kids and everything has gone well. Precious actually saw me working on the montage and said "Grandma's so cool", so props to Grandma.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Normal Days

The kids really like going outside, maybe the reading that occurs inside is part of the reason, but hey...they are pretty creative. Precious enjoys making a house out of everything in the front room. J.J. is going to the Army at regular intervals, oh wait, I just overheard that he "is going to work". Does that mean we can charge him rent now? Anyway, just letting you all in on some of the more normal activities that take up our weekends!

Friday, December 12, 2008

Fun World

First, I would like to thank Precious for suggesting the title for this entry! On Wednesday Precious invited me to go on her field trip to Weedon Island, so I called subfinder and started the great fun of making sub plans. I was actually shocked at how awesome the facilities are over there, I always thought that it was just a nasty trail. The indoor exhibit was really high tech and relatively new. Lots of science and history mixed together in a play museum-sorta like Creative Discovery Museum (for you TN ppl) or a Great Ex (for my FL peeps). Anyway, I had a nice time and felt special for being Precious' mom.

Precious, Alexus, Destini and Ashlee

Precious and the Rattler

Magnetic pottery dig


Sunday, December 7, 2008

Seems a little fishy!

We enjoyed another weekend with the children. The exact date is still unclear, but they should be moving in permanently soon. Mister J.J. is surprisingly frightened by critters. Yesterday at the beach he didn't want his feet to touch the ground for fear of stepping on something terrible. Today at the Florida Aquarium he cried when I made him feel stuff in the touch tank. After one anemone he got more brave and started bragging. While we were waiting for an animal show to begin he got scared and wanted to get off the front row, but once he saw the animals acting and being so cute he raised his hand to be a helper. He kept waving into the crowd and everyone was laughing. The other kid was a total wet blanket-if you know her strike that last part. Precious on the other hand isn't afraid of anything, she was trying to reach a shark in the ray tank. At the beach she picked up some kind of jelly fish nastiness and chased J.J. with it, ahhh sibling love. Our bedroom is becoming a favorite hangout, they say they love our bed-awww because I used to love my parents' bed. Maybe all kids do. Notice Precious' hair, it took 4 hours and it is so tight she needed Tylenol when she got home, but she insists that it's worth it and they'll loosen up within a few days.


Sunday, November 30, 2008

Lots to be thankful for...

It was a great week off from work! I was able to pick the kids up early from daycare and spend the day with them (they cried every night when we took them home-kinda sad but hey it's nice to know they want to be here. I explained that they'd be with us soon and its okay b/c it's part of the adoption process). We are trying to mostly stay home so that they can get used to the way our lives are really going to be when they move it (which is in 2 weeks we think). Precious wanted to paint her room pink so we did that and JJ wanted blue, keeping the gender roles alive-gotta love it! On Thursday Aleks picked them up to spend a long weekend here without having to go home. My parents came down to meet them and spend Thanksgiving with us, they drove a long way for lunch. Aleks' sister Mere ended up coming to dinner, too. So that was nice. Then we went to Wesley Chapel on Friday to hangout with my cousin's family and eat chicken and cake (Happy Birthday Mom and Liz!). Jake came home with us that night and spent the weekend here playing with the kids, it is good to know that the cousins are going to get along. Precious is 30 days older than Jake and they seem to have a lot in common.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Mi Familia

We had the kids overnight this weekend. It was exciting to finally get to (sorta) normal life with them, a movie here, dinner there, go play in your room...J.J. has issues with the dark, so we were worried that he might not sleep well and cry/fit when bedtime came, but he didn't. He was perfect, it only took him 10 minutes to fall asleep and he didn't wake up until 7 :) Not bad. Precious and I went shopping on Saturday to get new outfits to wear in their new Heart Gallery photo...which reminds me...The Heart Gallery http://www.heartgallerykids.org/ gets photographers to volunteer time and resources to make quality photos of waiting children so they can be posted online. Apparently, when an adoption is finalized the family is presented with the photos that were taken of the child(ren). That is awesome so I was all about getting these photos done. When I scheduled the lady was really nice and I asked her if we could be in some and she said she'd make the family pics and send them directly to us! During the shoot I decided to make Aleks my grip and use her little light disc thing to take a few snap shots, Precious really liked having "real" pictures taken and she thinks the photo of her with her arms up looks like an angel. And what else? Oh, the kids figured out Aleks' weakness and tickled him whenever they got a chance.



Sunday, November 16, 2008

JJ's Birthday/First Time Home

JJ turned 5 on Friday, but we actually celebrated on Saturday. Saturday was also the first time that we brought the kids to the house. The dogs were all happy, even Louie. JJ says that Louie looks like a rat and is his baby, Kimball is Precious' new baby and I "better not forget it during the week".
My cousin Joe, Liz and the boys came to celebrate with us and they provided entertainment and moral support. Laura provided child care for JJ while I ran around with Precious and made arrangements with the staff and did a great job. Aleks' dad and stepmom came and met the kids, one set of grandparents down and two to go. Nicole, Antonio and Shane also came to show some love, and toys ;) Which btw, the sporting equipment they got was the first thing that JJ wanted to open when we got home and he did really well hitting the baseball, I think we'll be using that set alot. And a special THANKS to Kristina who helped me plan this party and hooked us up in the token department!


Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Play Day

I picked my little buddy up from his babysitter today and we hung out for a few hours. This park we went to is super nice, I don't think I've ever seen a public playground that was this cool. After we played for a bit we went to IHOP and tested the colors that the syrups made when mixed, brown is what we came up with BTW. It was nice to spend some alone time with him. We talked about the adoption and he is excited. Later this week I am going to get some special time in with Precious :)
























Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Kid Shower!!

My grad school classmates threw me a surprise kid shower at class tonight. It was super nice and made us even more excited-if that's possible! Thanks guys!!!


Oh Lord, imagine what my kids are going to look like after a party!

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Unsupervised!

We got to spend 4 unsupervised hours with the kids on Saturday. A few lessons were learned: 1. Fairs are the root of all overpriced evil 2. JJ (formerly known as Rashard) likes dog food and 3. Twirly rides make Precious' stomach "tickle", but it was fun. Next week JJ turns 5, so stay tuned!


Friday, October 31, 2008

Halloween

We got to spend some more time with the kids today! We met up with their foster family at a Fall Festival in lieu of trick or treating (boo hoo...next year). Apparently, this church sponsors this free event every year with lots of jumpy things and free candy, then wraps it all up with a Jesus monster truck. Before the monster truck crushed 3 cars to death we had to listen to a sermon about how God has a kill switch just like the truck and if he kills us today are we going to heaven...ahhh 'free' church events. We did have a great time and the family was really nice and open with us, as awkward as it could have been it wasn't at all. We should get to have unsupervised visits after this week...cross your fingers.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

The Kids

Last April Aleks and I decided to go through MAPP classes and prepare to adopt a child out of foster care. The class was 14 weeks long, during that time we went from thinking that we wanted a child 0-3 yrs old to a sibling set no older than 7. Since then we've talked to a lot of people and ultimately got matched with a sibling set, Precious and Rashard. Precious just turned 10 and Rashard is about to turn 5. We met last weekend for the first time and it was awesome, the kids were really comfortable with us. There was a reading festival downtown and the caseworker thought that an open environment would be best to not freak Precious out. It's tough to be 10 and know that you are meeting people that might want to adopt you. Anyway, we had a great time and can't wait to get them home for good.



Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Maddie's First Birthday

Maddie turned 1 on Septembr 18th and I was there to pinch her! She got a tooth that she likes to flash at people, a few times I thought she was going to bite me. She is so awesome! Her hair is turning brown and kinda growing in :) Oh and it was pretty amusing when she 'ate' her cake. Enjoy the pictures!

Oh, and I saw Timmy D and Jennifer for the first time in 10 years. Time really flies!