My Jessi Leigh...

This is my niece Jessica. She is the one you will hear me refer to when I talk about my niece came to stay with me. I have an older niece also (the one I had a hand in raising when she was baby!) but she doesn't come around much. You know she's 16 and too cool to stay the night with her Aunt! BUT WHATEVER MISTI!!! hahahaha (They read my blog so that was my shout out to her!)

Anyhoo... When Jessi comes to stay with me we go out on a fun photo shoot or two. My sister is loving the free photos for her daughter and I am loving having a fun ADORABLE model!!! :). It is a win win situation.

So I have been playing around with some of the pictures I took a while back on one of her visits here. She is in Germany right now visiting with her father and Aunt and brother over there... but I AM SURE SHE MAY READ THIS EVENTUALLY... and be so happy to see herself plastered all over my blog. If not then it will give my other beautiful niece some incentive to GET HER HINEY UP HERE and be my other model! Actually I do have some pictures I did of her and her friend when they came and stayed one weekend. So stay tuned... they will preview soon as well. :)



Love both my girls!!! Hope you all are having a wonderful Summer (even if you didn't come stay with your Aunt Bri, MISTI... the coolest Aunt since sliced bread! YOU KNOW... HER! YEAH...THAT ONE! :))

Smooches!

Jump, Jump

This is how it all started out...

... Bear was scared to get down or even look at anything really. Moe and his Daddy however were having a great time.

Moe even had a special moment with one of the obstacle dummies.

J kept working with Bear to assure him the HUGE INFLATABLES were in fact safe!

...Let's pet the inflatable.

... now sit on it some.

... WAIT THAT'S TOO MUCH!

... okay this could work

... think about it some more over a drink

...make sure it is secure. Just pull that strap there. That should do it!

... jump a little to make sure it is not going to deflate.

TWO PROUD DADDYS

... Look MOM no hands!!!

It didn't take long and he was going down the BIGGEST SLIDE THERE! I am not sure the correct height but we are guessing it is around 20 ft. I was flipping out coming down that slide. It is so big that you turn sideways when you are coming down if you are not careful! My stomach stayed at the top of the slide so I had to get Bear to go up and retrieve it and bring it down on his 60th time down!

A great time was had by all!

...JUST ONE QUESTION...


(and just for the RECORD... my kiddos were never on THAT slide!)

He's such a Bumbo...

...head.

I have been getting all the goods out for Miley Bird that were put away from when the boys grew out of them. Naturally I have to wait for the boys to be in bed or AWAY (HA!) for that to happen in a, how do I put this, SANE manner.

I cannot tell you how many times I have gotten things in a pile of some sort for a garage sale. It always seems that EVERYTHING in the pile has SOME use left in it. This comes from the theory of putting half their toys away somewhere that they can't get to them and twice a year switch out their toys. That way they always have a "new" something to play with that they forgot they had. Well they see the same value in a garage sale pile!

Here it is... proof in the Bumbo. Bear now thinks he has a super hero helmet (I was informed yesterday by a former little boy (J) that all underwear as long as they are not hidden by pants are superhero undies too! :)) hmmmm. Just as long as he does not dump Bird out of the Bumbo for the use of said super hero helmet!

Dr visits

Today both of the smaller littles had their shots. And so tonight they are both in pain. I have administered all the appropriate pain meds but for some reason baby bird is trembling with painful screams.

Neither boy ever went to these extremes so it is hard to say if she is just more tender or if there is something wrong. I know there can be reactions to these injections but I have never had one happen. I am keeping a close watch on the injection sites and her actions. So far I think it is just a little tender and she is so not used to dealing with that kind of pain.

I gave her some infant's tylenol and was trying to feed her her 7P bottle but she kept screaming. She would stop for a couple minutes get down a couple swigs of formula and then start screaming again. She has been eating 4 ounces every 3 hours but she only managed 2 that feeding. It is now time for her 10 feeding and then bed time. We will see how it goes. She may be back in our room tonight just for keeping-an-eye-on-her sake.

So on the info front. Miley bird weighed in at 9lbs and 13 oz. I am so excited but sad at the same time. I have to say that my back has been thankful for the tiny person to carry but I am sad that she is outgrowing her "new tiny baby-ness". She is going to be so petite anyway that she is going to be stinkin' cute no matter how big she gets.

She got her shots today; 2 in one leg and 1 in the other. She cried when it first went in and then started sucking away on her Nuk and fell asleep. She was good to go (until tonight).

Moe baby was a bit different. He had to have blood drawn for a lead screening that they do. So his finger got pricked as well and they had to squish blood out of his little finger tip. NOT a happy boy. The shots were pretty rough too. He has always been the more sensitive of the two.

Bear got his shots about a week ago and he winced when the needle went in and then when she was done with the injection she put a bandaid on it and he was enamoured by the "duck" that was on the bandaid! Such a brave little soul!

Moe weighed in at 26 lbs and is as tall as Bear now. So lean and tall like his parents (very UNlike his foster parents! :))

For the most part they are doing GREAT. All things checked out good.

I did go to court today for Miley and listened in on her case. It was just a status hearing so it was boring but it was good to go and get a feel for her caseplan. I had not been to hers yet. They are still "planning" for reunification but waiting for a DNA test to be done. Hopefully soon we will get the results back and we can move forward in this case.

Baby Bird is doing so well and getting so big. She is smiling all the time now and such a joy to be around. We love her sweet self and are looking forward to the days to come with her in our family.

What, you mean you've missed me

I have missed you all too!

We have been rather busy around here. J's brother has been in town with his new wife and daughter. Then J's Nana came into town with his Aunt and so we have been doing the whole family thing. On top of having 3 kids to wrangle every day... to say the least we have been a bit busy *smile*.

Moe baby is having his first visit with his father at his residence tomorrow. It will be supervised but they are going to be there to get him used to being at home with his son. It is seeming so much more real than I thought it would ever seem.

He is doing great and finally starting to talk and not just grunt and/or sign. His new words are "Ball" and "Mama" (funny that was Bear's first word.... "Ball"). He is funny when he says a word he gets all excited about it and runs off. Such a bashful little one.

Bear is loving being a big brother to his "siblings" of the house. He has been known to "readjust" Miley when she slides off the boppy pillow. And he loves to hold her. We have even gone so far as handing her to him and letting him carry her to her play mat. Us close behind with one hand on her, of course. He does GREAT with her. He is so gentle. He loves to burp her by patting her on her back very gently... so fun to see him enteracting with her. It is even more fun seeing her smile at him when he is talking to her.

When Moe gets too close (he is still clumsy and wobbly around her... very scary) Bear will come over and say "--(his name)--- no. GO!"

Bear has been talking A LOT! He can say just about anything and it is hilarious when he just blurts out a word that we have not heard before... like he's known it forever and just never wanted to say it. We encourage his talking and saying everything by just applauding whatever he says and not correcting him. Correction will come in time as he listens to us talking... right now he just needs to be encouraged in talking. He is doing GREAT!

My favorite word of his right now it "fendant"... and that is not referring to a defendant as in law terms. Instead that would be the big grey animal with a long trunk and HUGE ears. When he sees an elephant he points and keeps repeating "fendant, fendant"... so sweet! I love his little voice!

He loves playing with "dough-dough" (play dough) right now. He keeps making "nakes" and "wirms". Oh and let's not forget the many balls made from play dough that get chunked at me. "Weadyyyy... GO!"

Potty training has been great. He is about 85% trained. He still has an occasional accident in his shorts but for the most part he is staying dry all day. When it is time to put his shorts and underwear on I pull them out and hold them up and he comes running, saying over and over agiain... "unnerwere"... "shorz on" for Underwear and shorts on. MMMM I love him!

AND our sweet Miley... She has finally MOVED... out of our room that is. No more cradle in our room! Woo Hoo... :)... she is a very fidgity sleeper and makes lots of noise. She has moved on up to a portable crib in the guest bedroom. She is doing well and is sleeping from 10P to 7A. I love the 8 week mark. :). She was a very fussy baby and very moody. She is now doing REALLY good and smiling a lot. She loves to be swadled from chest down with arms out.

We had the worst time getting her to keep a pacifier in but finally after working with it for a while she is taking it like a champ now. We are waiting for the father to do a DNA test in order to know where the case will go. We are starting to see a longer term placement than thought in the beginning I am almost positive. But we will see. She is a precious baby girl and we are soaking it all in.
As for J and I; well we are surviving when the kids bring us water and let us have a potty break. Other than that we stay bound and gagged in the closed and starve most days unless we give in and eat cheerios and gold fish one more stinkin day! I REFUSE... They have been kind tonight though, they brought me my computer to check emails. I thought I may as well give a shout out to all my friends... OH BY THE WAY SEND HELP! haha...

We are good. J has been working a lot during the days (usually he works nights only) and so I have been hacking it out alone during the day with the 3 littles. We have been staying home as much as possible due to the 150*(sorry for the SLIGHT exaggeration) weather here in TX! We have a pretty booked week most of the time with visits on two different days.

It is good here in the Wachsmann household... just a bit HOT, TIRING, and CRAZY ACTIVE! Thanks for keeping tabs on me even when I am out of pocket!

OH by the way ... we finally sold the Camry. I cried but I am happy to have our Sequoia! I saw the camry again after we sold it and lets just say... It is NOT THE SAME!!! IT HAS RIMS AND BASS NOW!!!! HAHAHAHHAHAHA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! *sniff, sniff... sigh*

he is because she is

Such a strange and unbelievably hard concept to wrap ones mind around.

4 years ago today we welcomed our sweet baby girl Olivia Grace into the world 17 weeks premature. 30 minutes later we watched her take her last breath and placed her into the arms of our Heavenly Father.

Today 4 years later we have a precious little boy with our last name. We would have never known him had it not been for her coming and going. Some make a lasting impression with just a moment of life. Hers was him. He is our lasting impression of our baby girl Olivia Grace.





Of course there were two more of our children that came and went that confirmed that we would indeed go this route to be parents but she lead the path.

Happy Birthday sweet girl. WE love you and miss you so much.

TRUE FREEDOM

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4th of July always marks another year of baptism for me. This year marked my 7th! I cannot tell you how long ago that feels (the feeling of not partying for that long :) WOW!).

But at the same time it seems like just yesterday I was standing in a river with a group of people I hardly knew witnessing me burying my old life (right along side my then fiance). I have never been back since. I gave it all up that day and chose to die to my old self. I chose to walk out in FREEDOM from that day forward. Who knew then that so much was to come in the 7 years following. (I am not sure that I would have "signed on the dotted line" had I known!) I look back now and realize how much I have GROWN spiritually, mentally (and physically... ;) I know God still has a lot of work to do with me... I am just thankful we have been together now for 7 years. It is one heck of a start to a relationship I will give you that!

Life has certainly taken on a whole new look since that day 7 years ago.

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Growing up I remember all of our family getting together to celebrate the 4th of July with a big bang. We would basically just hang out (with family of course) and cook out and shoot off fireworks.

Now, as a kid, it was this huge whoopty doo that happened every year. It was always filled with some kind of water (balloon, cup, bucket, hose, shoe) fight and hide and go seek game in the corn fields when night fell. I do remember bits and pieces here and there, but I do not remember when it all fell apart.

We no longer have those family get togethers. We have kind of just all went our own separate ways.

As I got older I used to go hang out with FRIENDS and we used to party 'til the sun came up. Out on the lake, out in the country...wherever really. Wherever you and your friends were so there was the party. Lots of laugter and music and ..... well you get the idea.

Now that I am saved, married and have littles to look after, well, the partying has tapered and now it has been reduced to cooking out and sitting pool side at the rent's (In-law's) house. Not that that is a bad thing. It is just kind of taking some getting used to (yes still) that's all. Not my usual everyone running around trying to dodge water balloons and hiding in the corn fields or being out on the water in an innertube floating the river. We are having to start new traditions now and in the years to come.

New friends, new faces and hopefully soon new places.

We have discussed when Bear gets a little older and the fostering life has waned then we would love to travel and see all the highlights for 4th of July; a different place every year. When we get older and our kid(s) start getting married then we will settle down and start having fun parties and celebrating at home.

Being with famiy and friends is GREAT FUN but there is just so little of it these days. We used to hang out with friends even as a couple and for some reason that has even stopped. I am not sure where that fell off either. Oh well...I guess nothing lasts forever; not even friendships if they are not meant to last.

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This year we were at the Rent's house cooking out and swimming with J's family and some friends; Even Moe baby's daddy came to celebrate with us and be with his son for the 4th.

The boys enjoyed lots of food, smooches (thanks Nana :)), Ice cream and swimming.



Bear has been terrified of his face getting in the water but now it has come to this...



YES that little blob under the water his him after jumping in.



He has come to love jumping in and going under water. He then pops up and starts kicking. Soon he will be swimming I am almost sure. We would set him up on the side and no sooner than we were removing our hands from him he was jumping in again. He was having a blast!

Moe baby has not been feeling too well. His very back molars have been coming in for a while now and it keeps him pretty much icky. I am so ready for OUR MOE to be back! He did have fun with his daddy and playing in the water and eating ice cream however.

Bear's back molars are coming in too but he is not AS bad about it. He has been different also but not as bothered by it.

After all the hoopla with swimming (at 10P) we traveled down to the river to watch the huge firework show. It was fun but sometimes I wonder if it is even worth the trip for 25 min of explosions. The boys did good holding out til then but man after that it was REALLY time for showers and bed for all of us.

J does not do his best thinking when he is tired (so from now on I WILL DRIVE US HOME).
We ended up taking several WRONG turns (which to him were normal seeing that he drives for UPS he knows the roads... BUT NOT LIKE THIS!) that led us into the heart of the GHETTO! Mardi Gras has nothing on downtown waco on 4th of JULY! OH MY STARS, FIREWORKS, and DYING LLAMAS!!! I thought we were going to die. I was watching people walk right next to our windows brushing up against our car, mobs running here and there jumping from one fight to another.

Then we would have to pull over (wherever you could) to let the 15 screaming, flashing, police cars by to go break up the next fight. It was TERRIBLE I tell you, like end of the world terrible ('cept that was them PARTYING!)

I was praying that we would just survive that part of the drive home! I am not kidding 30 min of being in that crowd makes me happy I now live in the country again! WOW! Fireworks would go off and I would jump and hit the floor board, I thought I had just been shot! haha okay not that bad but I was a bit edgy!

Worded Wednesday...

Yes it is late and Wednesday is almost over but that is the time I have now. This is my "me" time and it is dwindling. So here is what we have been up to lately.

Bear is doing great with potty training. We have been several places with him in underwear and clothes. It amazes me to see this transformation. He is growing up and I am loving watching him take shape as a young boy! So handsome he is and so thoughtful and giving.



I cannot express how much he melts my heart at his gestures of kindness. He is always looking for "Miley" when he hears her cry. He runs to give her her pacifier back and is always holding her hand or whispering sweet (somethings) to her that only they share. He loves to help burp her. He pats her back ever so gently. I don't know why but it makes me tear up when I see him taking care of her. Such the image of Christ to me. Even in a little person!

With Moe baby he is so helpful as well. If Moe can't do something Bear runs to help him out if I am not able to at that particular moment. He takes him his sippie when I get them together for the both of them. He is always wanting to share what he has with "Moe".

He is always looking for a way to help out. He loves helping unload the dishwasher and put away dishes. He is great at gathering laundry and switching laundry around from washer to dryer. I couldn't ask for better help around here! haha He amazes me every day!

When we are going to a store (usually just me and the 3 littles) I will hold Moe's hand and Bear will hold Moe's other hand so to keep him corraled. We get a lot of stares but then come the compliments when they see how well it is working out. It is almost as though people are waiting to see everything melt down and me pull my hair out. NOPE... I save that for home. Out in public I can do! hahaha.

The boys are doing great as big brothers. They love on Miley like none other! Some times Moe doesn't know how to control his strength when giving her hugs but we just don't leave them unattended.

No new news really. Not much has changed. For either Moe or Miley. We are still their home and family and will love on them until we are no longer living.