Twister... with a twist!

"Okay Bubbie....your head goes on your head! Like this!"

"Got it! Now to hold this position!"

"Now put your right hand on your right hand. or would that be your left hand. WAIT! do we even know how to tell the difference yet? Just put it on the one closest to you."

"Now this one gets tricky... Put your hand on your mouth!" "mmmfffmdffphmsmmm"

He's a Wachsmann!

It is official; Bear is now a Wachsmann!!! We got there yesterday morning at about 8:45 A and we were greeted by scads of family and friends.

We ended up having to change location at the last minute (day before) so there were a few that didn't get the memo to meet at the new location and were over at the other location waiting to witness this celebration as well! So sad.... Our Arrow Family missed it as well as some other dear friends of ours!

Thank you for all your prayers, love and support! We have been BLESSED beyond measure!

He did wonderful; no tantrums as I have been told would happen soon after his adoption! He was still the center of the show. Waving to all his fans in the box seating. (Yes I promise he's waving!)




Moe on the other hand was a crabby mess! But all he wanted was us so that's okay too. God what are your plans for this little man?

Here's a special shout out to my twinkster, Tia... "THANKS FOR TAKING THE PICS!"
(found the prob....if you even noticed it.... haha it was set to "cloudy" for the WB)

He chose us!

This little boy so full of joy has captured my heart indeed!

Who would have thought after losing my very own flesh and blood to preterm birth I could ever fall in love with another.

Who would have thought after feeling so lost and empty I would be filled up by the laughter and smiles of this little being!

Who would have thought that someone this precious could end up in a place that he needed a new mother and father from birth!

Who would have thought that I would love someone without our last name just as my own for over a year and a half and not have any "ownership".

Who would have thought that my arms would hold a babe not our own and fall so deeply in love at first sight!

Who would have thought that I would have praised Jesus for the trials we have faced, for those trials brought us to our Bear.

Who did think of us when our hearts were hurting was God.

Who held us in that pain was God.

Who chose us to walk this road was God.

Who has sustained our hearts through the brokenness was God.

Who knew we were to be Bear's family from day one was God.

Thank you Jesus you have held us more than once. Thank you that you saw us worthy to adopt a child into our family and call him our own. Thank you Jesus that you continue to do a work in us that may someday help others overcome.

We praise you for choosing us to walk this path so that we may know love outside our own abilities!

Tomorrow we will be bringing home "BABY" BOY WACHSMANN!!!!

Thank you Jesus... you chose us!

Join in Prayer

Again I am calling all my wonderful friends to join with me in prayer for this beautiful family. Their little girl was born weighing only one lb. She has graced the world with her presence for 10 months through many surgeries and procedures. She has fought an amazing fight and her parents are still praising God in the midst of it all!

Her body is showing signs of shutting down. There is a part of her brain that is showing to be "dead" and it is affecting her whole little body. The dr's are not very hopeful at this point and say it is only a matter of time. The parents have come to peace with whatever God chooses for their little one. But there is always that Prayer for a MIRACLE to come through and GLORIFY our creator!

Please join me in praying for Kayleigh Anne Freeman as well as Adam, Aimee (Father and mother), Allyson, and Brandon (brother and sister) and the rest of their family as they have some hard roads ahead of them!

Thank you!

How in this world...

***UPDATE****

Okay so no I didn't get him potty trained over night or anything like that. But I do want to explain a little something. I have heard that children can potty train at 18 months is the reason I am going at it at all. And I have seen him go in the potty several times... he just can't tell me yet, which to me is a sign of holding off until he can.

MY main concern is my back. It feels like it is going out. I have been to the chiropractor several times but it is more a muscle thing it feels like; maybe, I am not sure. I am going to make a dr. appt soon to figure it out. I thought it would go away in time but it is getting worse.

There are two little boys,both of which are NOT SMALL, in diapers! Bear just weighed in at 28 lbs and Moe is at least 27. It is getting way strenuous to lift them anymore and potty training at least the oldest one would help tremendously! I think for now I am going to move diaper changes to the floor. Maybe that will work. In the meantime if you think of it please say a healing prayer for my tortured back.

Thanks for all your information and tips. You have been most helpful. We will definitely be working on technique as soon as he figures out he has to go! haha...oh I love my boy!


***ORIGINAL POST****

...can this 18 month old little boy NEVER have to pee? I have tried the lemonade trick-glasses full! I have left his diaper off for him to run free and go every 15 minutes. Nothing (I am glad that there have been no puddles... but COME ON MAN!) He will just hold it forever!

This morning from 7:45 to 10A I gave him a sippy of sugar free chocolate milk and a sippy of lemonade (barely diluted). I took him potty at least 6 times and then in the second to last 15 minute stretch he was looking out the window and I heard a splat hit the wall and the floor. Just a little gush and then he noticed and stopped, looking down at his accident, then he looks at me. I said "YAY...okay let's go pee, pee in the potty. Come on honey let's go to the potty. Run, run, run; hurry, hurry, hurry." And he did. He got all excited about it and ran to the potty. He gets on it and NOTHING! He sits there cheering, "yay. poopoo"

"No honey... you didn't go yet" "go pee pee".

I put his hand in a cup of warm water, I run water, I go pee pee so he can hear and understand it. NOTHING!

Finally in the end; the last 15 minute try before his nap. I put him on it and we sit there for a bit and then the flood gates open up...

"YAY BEAR, YOU ARE GOING PEE PEE..... SUCH A BIG BOY!!!!!"

in his little voice "aaayyyyy, poo poo"

well okay it's a start!

We have recently taken away his potty seat too due to his "free hands, are troubled hands" theory! He does great sitting on the big potty all by himself. He is even learning to get up on his stool and get onto the potty, and in turn get down.






















Now if he would just have to go it would be a lot easier to train him.

Any suggestions from you seasoned potty trainers? I am taking them all at this point!

Moe's reunification plan

I was in a Family Group Conference for 3 hours on Tuesday discussing the plans for Moe's case. I was invited in by Moe's parents and family. I felt privileged.

We sat around with CPS and basically talked about what the future holds for our little Moe. It was interesting to say the least. I am still in strong belief that he belongs with his father. I don't know if that will ever change but for now I am in favor of that path. And that is still the path that CPS is following also.

We did get visits moved up to two hours a week for the father, which I am so thankful for. I hated seeing them only getting one hour a week to bond! NOT HAPPENING! I also got permission granted to invite Moe's father on family outings "unsupervised" (other than by us) so that he can see how we interact with him and how to take care of his son. Who better to role model for him than the parents that have raised his son for the past year. He was beaming! So happy that he is getting to spend extra quality time with his son. Makes my heart happy.

I have seen his father grow so much in the past year it's unbelievable. I didn't think it really could happen in the beginning... but over time that thought changed. I then KNEW he could do it and started giving him that "go get 'em" attitude and you could see the cloud lift and he started succeeding and completing all of his plans. I really feel that he just needed someone to believe in him and to know that we were not against him and that we would not fight him for his son. We were simply a stand-in until they got it together.

He and the mother ended up going separate ways (when Moe was 3 months old), which I have to say I think that was the best decision on both their parts. I think they can be wholly committed to Moe better if they are not distracted with the conflict between the two of them. I usually am in favor of couples staying if it is strong and healthy. This was NOT! They wanted to play house because they had a baby... that lasted about a month at tops. Not my idea of strong NOR healthy.

So I am seeing progress and we are in the process of pre-transitioning. In the next three months they want to start the real transition. We will see how it all plays out. I will be babysitting for the father I believe. YAY! I will still get to see my Moe baby regardless. I think I have a better chance of keeping in contact with him if he stays here near us. The mother lives about 4 hours away from here. Not highly likely to keep communication either. It has happened once that they took him and never let me know a thing. That is the hardest part of saying goodbye; is only when it is forever!

We have our first long visit with dad at a park today... with cps supervisor. I am excited!

wOrDlEsS wEdNeSdAy...

*** After repetitive "Bear, DON'T hit the baby tree" speeches! *** Auntie Tia caught him when he thought no one was looking! Good Job Tia! Such the vengeful face too; EEK!

baaah, baaah, black sheep!

There was an invasion at my aunts house the other day. A little black sheep. What a fun opportunity to get the boys in their wagon and go play with the little feller. So we did! Ain't he cute... I'll take ten. Apparently A&M gives the males away free. HMMMMM... Duke, you want a friend?





















ONE PROBLEM... children and sheeplets don't mix....





















PUT THAT DOWN YOUNG MAN! Those aren't cocoa puffs!

Oh, what's that you say... it's a rock...okay, carryonthen!

Moe's Party favors!

We finally had Moe's b.day party this saturday (after all the rain ceased). It was only a month past his b.day; but only 2 days past his one year gotcha day. What else is there to celebrate? Throw that in there too and we were celebrating.

The guys for the huge inflatable obstacle course finally came and tore it down at 8 and we all said our goodbyes and loaded up all the food and such. We had a blast. My mother and I had a race/battle on the course. It was so much fun to get out there and just be free without someone hanging off of you. Well other than my mother trying to keep me from finishing first.

Moe's Bio dad came with his mother and younger brother. The bio mother wasn't able to make it. It was good to see them interact with one another finally. They have an hour visit once a week but that is just not enough in this case. And the fact that they still meet in the horrendous CPS building is just to much for Moe to bear... I have suggested that they start meeting in a park. We got it approved. I was also allowed to invite him to the party which I was pleased with.






They played and it was a sight to see the twinkiness in them. It is funny to see them side by side... there is no denying that is his father. I heard "OH MY GOODNESS; he looks just like you!" at least 20 times that night. His dad just smiled and laughed. You could see that it made him feel good to be a part of his son's life outside of observation. And to get to see the "family and friends" that Moe is a part of.

Moe sat in his father's lap to eat dinner and to sing happy b.day and eat his very first b.day cake. It was amazing to get to experience such an event. It did get quite messy and they both did everything short of bathing... from water bottles. HA! He then had to leave to go to work. They said there goodbyes as did we all.





THEN... off to the races!!!

















We all had obstacle course relays and or battles on a 45' inflatable obstacle course. Entirely too much fun! It was such a great time with family and friends.

Genetic???

So if you need to see the proof in the pudding... here it is.

BEFORE I married J his mother was used to cutting his hair; it looked something like this... (this is kind of grown out, but you can see the severe line!!!)... Now I cut it of course; the way it suits him best!

Looks kind of like he inherited his mother's cutting gene! OR was it a preference and ALL the boys just thought that was a cool look and desired that their mother cut it that way??? Who knows but I am NOT letting this happen again!

What once was...

... is no more!

My precious boys used to have cute little boy haircuts. They used to be innocent and "sweet".

Again today, I had some errands I had to run and a dental appt that I had to attend so our precious boys were left in the hands of the only other adult in this household... THE DAD! If you need more proof that they should not be PURPOSEFULLY placed in his care read here!

Now when they say that you are to leave your children with a qualified adult; what they SHOULD specify is it has to be a CAPABLE adult that can draw a straight line.

Before I left I had set the chair out that I cut their hair on to remind me to TRIM their hair for the party tomorrow.

When I came home our two boys had been chewed on by a rabid bucktoothed goat recruited into the Military!

What has happened! UUUGGGHHH! No fixing this unless we go skin! I guess I could EVEN OUT THE GAPS!!!

I guess I just bite my tongue and say thank YOU Jesus that I have a husband willing to help and be a part of his boys' Military career lives! THANK YOU JESUS!!! (That they are all still alive!)

And no I don't care that he is hot and has big guns. OH, nobody asked! well neveryoumind then!

Das Not Funny Friday

It’s finally Friday! How many times this week did you hear or see something and think… “Das Not Funny!” but then realize that it actually was pretty funny? Well, such is the purpose of this blogapolooza known as Das Not Funny! Friday.
Check out this blog to see what else is not funny. Plus, by going over here you can see who else has seen or heard something and thought Das Not Funny! then stifled a giggle or even laughed out loud! Come on, you know you wanna…

OK so here goes... I am going to attempt to relay the funniness of a 17 month old.

In the mornings after breakfast the routine usually goes something like this... "ahhh nun"

Hands waving in the air (signing all done) from both high chairs.

I get Bear down first after sweeping him off. I set him down to go play while I get bubby CLEANED off.

This one particular morning I set Bear down to go play and I make my way to a very hyper Moe waiting his turn to go play too. As I finish cleaning him up I hear our eldest son smacking his lips together to turn and see that he had climbed his way up onto the chair (counterheight table and chairs mind you) and found my opened bottle of Diet DP. He had then proceeded to lower it to his little mouth and drink from it; discovering the not so baby friendly zing it offers. He set it back down and started smacking his lips together but then was headed back for seconds before I intervened!

I have to say that for his little experiment there were only 2 drops of dp on his shirt!

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I was sorting through clothes and putting stuff away in Moe and Bear's closet the other day and I had a sneeze attack. I hear little feet running through the house and so I figured I'd better go check the status of my playing children.

Upon my leaving the room I meet Bear in the hallway with a friendly little face looking up at me, "Sews zoo" (excuse you).

He turned to run off and get back into the living room where they were to be playing. I just stood there dumbfounded. Maybe it is all sinking in after all. YAY!!! I do have to say they both have learned very good manners.

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For any meal we partake of we pray and bless our food first. The boys both clasp their little hands (Bear is starting to bow his head now) and when the words "in Jesus' name" escape J's mouth both boys chime in with their rendition of "Amen". Music to my ears.

This particular day we were having a favorite of Bears apparently because after the "Maymens" were squealed he kept repeating "moouwa, moouwa" (more) as well as signing more. I was trying to cut something for him and I told him "Bear be patient honey, sheesh!"
He looked up at me and smiled and repeated "sheesh" as plain as day in his little manly voice! Then that was the broken record....Guess it beats "moouwa".

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There is never a dull moment with either of our boys. Whether you are chasing them around screaming like wild Banshees; arms flailing wildly above our heads or rolling on the floor giggling. We have enough fun, love and laughter to keep me sane! I look forward to seeing their little personalities unfold even more. It is quite comical already!

DaDdY dUtY

So you would think that Bear is into Archeological excitement given the rocks and "rock dust" and such. The look on his face mimics that of a hunter looking for his next prey. Is he in deed tracking bones and rocks linked to the caveman era.

OR was this what happened when daddy put him in his room for "quiet" play and what he walked in on when it was a little TOO quiet! *** take notice of the drawer that is pulled out... YEP... ALL OVER!


I can't say anything; I left him alone to get Moe off the potty at bedtime and came in to find another "snow" covered floor!!! Wish he would go for the less expensive bottle!

Johnny was sharp enough to think of getting the camera (out of focus as it may be) but I missed out on that opportunity for fear of a naked Moe peeing on me!

Free hairbows!!! Get your free hairbows!!!

Come one, come all!!!

Everyone is allowed to enter.

BUT only 10 will win. The first ten that is!

AND you may only want to do this if you have use for THE MOST ADORABLE LITTLE HAIRBOWS EVER! Okay so I am bias. My friend Tia Marie is trying to get a fun hairbow business up off the ground and would love to send out some free samples to the first ten commenters willing to give them a try! FOR FREE remember! What do you have to lose.

After recieving the hairbows and FALLING MADLY IN LOVE...send a comment and a picture of your precious little one wearing them her way; IF you want to help advertise, that is!!!

In case you missed the link up there... here it is! Click away and enter! http://tiagathright.blogspot.com/

"Ahem"...wOrDlEsS wEdNeSdAy...

Duke had a terrible pain he could not describe;
Nor could he place the source.

in come Dr. Yoseff Moehansen from Sweden
and his informal assistant Dr. Bearenstien Bear

After much, cookie eating, sippie drinking and deliberating (by Moehansen himself) it was decided that it was in fact
his tooth that was causing him great pain.

"It for sure has to come out!" Stated Dr. Moehansen

"Um yes indeed... that is a big ear he has" replied Bearenstien.
"Here are your bottle of pills and I have an eagle on my shirt!"
said the hopeless informal Dr.

After an extraction of his right molar (and by accident; a portion of his left ear, thank you Dr. Bearenstien),
Duke realized it was his toenail that was broken!

No worries the pills knocked him out completely

Easter Weekend

We had a fairly busy weekend, not really productive, just busy.

Friday Moe had a visit with his BM (birth mother)... sad day! Later the Gathrights came down to be with Tia's family for Easter (and for AK's bluebonnet shoot). After her photo shoot they later came over to the house with their dinner and visited for a little while. After they left I worked on AK's pictures... for the rest of the night.




Saturday we had an Easter egg hunt with our Adoption/Foster agency. They had horse rides, Egg hunts, food, friends, and lots of fun and laughter.







Later J and I went to have dinner for our Anniversary (5 years April 10).

In passing I have seen this little diner for several months tucked away in the forgotten ruins of the downtown area. If you know anything about me you know that I love an authentic restaurant; a little run down one at that. I had heard that it was a greek restaurant that had moved here a while back and was destined to try it out. Are we ever glad that we did! Amazing.

Of course I figured that it could be a bit pricey (it's the kind of restaurant that they bring you a wine list... yeah that kind) so I decided to wait for a very special occasion (and money in the bank) before suggesting it. I figured 5 years; sure let's celebrate!

We were seated at a cloth covered little table for two near the cubed glass windows. The whole building could have seated about 150 people indoors and out (patio). It was quiet and there were about 10 people total there (excluding the staff). Fun soft music filled the air in a distant lullaby; very Italian style romantical!

We go over the list and the menu. I ordered a glass of wine (white Zinfandel..) and we ordered a fruit/cheese platter to start off with. MMMMMMM! DELICIOSO! It came with a homemade toasted garlic bread that made your mouth water at the smell of it! Also served was several different cheeses to choose from and crackers and fruit.

My dinner was lamb shanks with broccoli and Greek potatoes. I have never tried lamb anything before and so I was ready to go out on a limb and try it. hmmmmm GAMY is the best way to describe it. It was so tender it fell off the bone and it was drizzled in a white wine cream sauce... good but VERY GAMY. The potatoes were by far my favorite. Oh and the bread!

J ordered pork loin (we ended up switching). It was very good. His too was covered in a white wine cream sauce...oh so good!

All in all it was a very fun experience. I am always leary at trying fun GOOD places like that because then it leaves you with a taste for more higher quality food (that I don't have to cook!!) but your budget never quite stretches that far. Oh well I am blessed with an ability to cook and love it; as well as trying new recipes so we are never without a "fun" meal.

Sunday we got up early and went to church. Moe baby had the visit on Friday so he usually has a bad week following... (i.e. clingy, fussy, "mean", nightmares, inconsolable kind of bad week) so he stayed with us during the service; I had to leave half way through due to fussing. Afterwards we went to J's cousins house for his fam Easter BUT we arrived an hour early so we dropped off our contribution and left to go to my sister's house. We got their early too but it was MY SISTER so I didn't feel like we were imposing (I am the other mother to her children for crying out loud!) haha. We stayed there for a bit but the boys had not napped all day so far and they were all over the place so we made a fairly early exit out of their as well.

We came home and put the boys down for some much needed quiet time (HA... where's the quiet in there??? They are worse than two teenage girls returning from a weekend camp! GABBY GUMS). We fed them, then turned them loose in a tub of water outside and let them play. We then brought them inside for a bath and bed!

We have had a busy weekend to say the least!

Thank you Jesus that you died so that I may live! May I fully LIVE and Glorify you in it!

Side note: Please, if you think of it, say a prayer for my aunt next door. I returned home to hear of a tragedy that took place earlier this morning. Her very EXTREMELY large dog (Shepherd and Pyrenees mix) "Sassy" got hit and killed out on the highway. She has had this dog for a while now and Sassy was loved by everyone out here! She was a wonderful protector and warded off all predators in the night! She will be greatly missed.


My aunt has bouts of depression and I am praying for her that she will not know grief in a negative form over this great loss! She is the mother to ALL her 'critters' (as she calls them), this is no small ordeal for her. Please pray that God would use this to speak to her and draw her closer to HIM.

2 out of 257 ain't bad!

257 is the number that my camera read after our bluebonnet shoot yesterday evening!

Seriously!

when you have two very active boys you are doing everything just to find them in your viewfinder get them to sit down; honestly! So when you see a moving spec just start shooting, your bound to hit something. At least that's what I was taught when learning to hunt! Just sayin'

So we loaded boys and camera into car after dinner yesterday and headed further into the country where the grass is greener and the bluebonnets are plenty.

I had done some scoping earlier last week for the photo shoot I was going to be doing with the Gathrights... BUUUUT BOTH mine and J's vehicles broke down and we were pretty much stranded with not one bluebonnet in sight out here in our neck of the woods! Okay maybe there is one or two but it is right below the WEEDS that have drown out all it's kin folk through the years! It's pretty barren out here, well minus the weeds!

I found some awesome sites in my “scoping”; one being this house that has the front part of their lot "fenced" in with a beautiful 'tiqued wooden fence (perfect back drop). There is an opening that is so very inviting to do a shoot, BUT Bri is too afraid to go ask if we can trample all over their beautiful STATE flower field tip toe through their “ahem” bluebonnet field to get 2 out of 257 good (full bodied) pictures!

So we settled for the second site just around the bend. Good thing we did because both our elephants boys don't know what it is to tiptoe through the ANYTHING! Nor do they know what it is to NOT EAT EVERYTHING IN SIGHT!!! But what doesn't kill them will only make them stronger right!??! Right!

Of course I look up and see J running through the field as well turning flips and cartwheels. “Trying to make the boys laugh” he says! HA! You couldn't feed that ham filled line to a starving pride of lions!

Boys will be boys! Even the big kind!

Without further ado here are a few of my fave picks! I have more but I am still taking off the dirt and scrapes beefing up the color!

Enjoy!

Oh? what's that you say? You see what?... Elvis!?

Oh, no, that is just Moe STANDING all by himself..."Just ignore the [little] man behind the curtain" (anyone??? what movie does this line exist in???)

He took two steps yesterday completely unaided! So proud of our Moe!

wOrDlEsS wEdNeSdAy...

Drawing Nearer

As we draw nearer to the final adoption date on April 28th my heart sings a new song. A song of many praises and many languages of thanksgiving. I can barely even tell you how we got here, for my mind is overwhelmed with today, the rest is a blur really. I know THIS is where we are; I cannot even tell you any part of my future. I don't know what it holds.

Don't get me wrong, I remember the things of the past and the journey we have been on but I tell you the only reason is because of the scars it has left. Not because I am sorrowful, not because I wish things could have been different. They aren't and they will never be. I cannot waste what I have been given today on dwelling in the past. I have scars and they all have a meaning. The best meaning they hold is that I have drawn that much closer to my God and King! My Father, my Savior! I would not trade these scars. I will not try and hide my scars, I will tell their stories with a smile; glorifying the ONE who CHOSE me to bear them!

I am grateful for where God has brought us thus far! It has been an amazing road. If we had to give up our lives tomorrow. I would be able to say straight faced that I feel like I did everything to the best of my ability with what YOU gave me. I cannot say that I did it perfect but I know that I did do something with everything and in those things I felt like HE was pleased and received the glory (most days, OKAY some days!)

It makes my heart really sad to think of the "what ifs" and "it could've been"s. I mean if we had been given the chance to raise our own children I would not know BEAR nor MOE! Where would they be. I would not be able to do this work for the KINGDOM loving on the orphaned had we our own family. I know early on in our hearts (while we were engaged) we had talked about "adopting" some day down the road. But would we have followed through after we had our own children? Or would we have been "satisfied" with what we had and decide enough is enough? I am grateful HE chose us to be uncomfortable so that we may further advance the KINGDOM in this way! Otherwise we may have just done nothing and been okay with status quo.

As the time draws nearer I am realizing these things that I am grateful for more and more. I look at Bear and Moe with a deeper love than ever before (even though they can irritate me during this teething phase :)). I look at Bear and think of the connection I had with him from the moment he was placed in my arms and I knew from that moment that he would always be a Wachsmann. I knew that the scars I had bared would match the same scars that his little life already had from his rough start in life as well. We were a perfect fit from a divine plan unforeseen.

Would you say God was in this? Yeah, me too! As the adoption date draws nearer... so do I, to my Father, my God and whisper many thanks to HIM for HIS plans for me and OUR FAMILY!

Our Bear 7 days old

And then there was Moe 6 weeks old