Friday, April 29, 2011

Easter Morning

Here is the video of the kids Easter Morning....

On a side note we are praying for those who were effected/affected ( i never know ) by the tornadoes in the southeast this past week. We know and love many people who live in those areas and several of them are without power and are feeling the aftermath. Just know that the kids at our school, the people at Wedgwood Baptist and the Harvells are praying for you!

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Motherhood-crash course

So today I ate lunch with Goob at his school which is on the same campus as mine but a little walk. We finished and then he started his lunch monitor duties. As soon as I got back down to my room and started teaching bible I got a text from the front office that Goober had just thrown up. I called the nurse and she said that it was a big throw up and nasty!!!! The boy didn't even have a temperature!!!!!!
So I got that class going, got a sub in place super fast and then booked it down to get him. I walked into the nurses office and he said " I was just trying to burp". By the time we left the parking lot I had already scheduled a doctors appt for 1.5 hours later and called Adam to let him know what was happening. We went and got Ribbit and headed to the doctor. Turns out he probably threw up because he has had a lot of sinus drainage and just couldn't take all that on his stomach. He hasn't run a temp. since last Wednesday so the doctor cleared him to go back to school tomorrow, which is great since he and Adam are going to the aquarium on a field trip. On the way home I asked him if he cried when he threw up and he said "no, i only cried when i was 5". He had some purple nerds with his lunch so his little white shirt was spotted purple :).
While we were there we talked to the doctor about his bed wetting and she really encouraged us to put him to bed a little earlier because he is so exhausted that his whole body relaxes. We are going to try that until this summer and then after that we may look into getting one of those moisture detectors that turns on an alarm to wake the kids off. I got Goob some really fun houseshoes tonight to encourage him to get up at night and use the bathroom. One concern though was that the doctor found blood in his urine so she is going to send that off and we will hear back soon.
While we were there we had Ribbit checked out and she is doing well on weight. The doctor gave us some tips for diaper rash. I also wanted to get her checked out since her babysitter found out that the other little boy she keeps had an upper respiratory infection last week. She is okay as well.

Cool thing though is that I had just read an article in the "Working Mother" magazine that a friend sends me about how to respond to your sick child. I kept my cool so he did too!

Ribbit started saying " There she is" while playing picaboo today. Instead of saying "ahhh" as she pokes her little face out from behind her hands she now says " there she is" ...its about the cutest thing ever.

I'll leave you with some videos from our trip to the Fort Worth Water Gardens. Can you believe that we have been parents for over 3 months now?...I just can't picture my lives without them now!!!!! How blessed we are.






Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Blankeys

Ever since the day they came home Goober has been very attached to a pink "quillow" or "planket" that my grandmother made me when I was little. He sleeps with it, brings it to dinner and takes it on every car ride, no matter how short. We wash it an awful lot!!!
Therefore, my mom made Goob and Ribbit their own blankets. Ribbit's out of Dora material and Goober's out of Cars material. They were the kids easter presents this year. They were a big hit, along with the DVDs that the kids got. We have already watched Cars two nights in a row. He still slept with the pink blanket last night but the Cars blanket made it into his bed as well. Ribbit slept with hers and threw it into her crib right before bedtime. She has made her own little stockpile of stolen goods behind the curtain in our bathroom. There is make-up, shout sticks, juice cups and other odds and ends back there.
She is obsessed with closing any door and she says " close" when she does it. She is also mocking any action you do and can mimic most words, it still sounds like she has a mouth full of jellybeans though.

She and Goober both did well with all of the Easter Egg Hunts they participate in over the weekend and Goob can tell you the main events of the crucification and resurrection.

I am excited for the next few weeks as we have Goobs musical at church, his end of the year show at school, a mother's day breakfast with Goob's class, a field trip to the aquarium-Adam is chaperoning that, and then of course summertime!!!!

Here is the video of both kids reactions to their blankeys and dvds!!!


Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Chuck E. Cheese (a.k.a Loony BIn)

Like I said in an earlier post, we will not go back here for a while, but it was fun while it lasted!!!






Sunday, April 24, 2011

Sweet Kid Videos

Thank you for all the Easter Goodies!!








Easter Weekend

We have been busy busy. Today we went to the Stockyards for an Easter Egg Hunt which was really like a huge test in self control for the kids as the workers threw out three boxes worth of candy eggs per age group. I mean Ribbit could hardly contain herself and during the countdown to start Goober only made it to 8 and the worker started at 10!!!!!
We also got balloon hats, rode ponies, went to a petting zoo, tried on cowboy boots and took pictures with the Easter Bunny.
Then to top everything off we went to Chuck E. Cheeses. I never knew how much parents suffer to take their kids there....well let me say "parents who care to actually watch their kids suffer". I saw a had-to-be 3 year old boy crawl down into a basketball game shaped like a shoe, throw out basketballs and climb back out.......risking his life at least 10 times in the process. We witnessed a sibling group have a fist fight in the tube things that lead to a slide. We saw kids with enough tokens to fill their pockets walk around and spill them, hand them out and throw them ( i mean don't you pay money for those tokens???). Within 30 minutes of being there the noise, plus chaos, plus big scary animals that Ribbit hated, plus the smell of feet caused me to look at Goob and say " Well, I know where we aren't having your birthday party this year".
Don't get me wrong, we had a coupon so we got our bang for our buck but I bet it will take an act of God or Goober getting 3 weeks worth of good behavior stickers (also an act of God) to get Adam and I back there :).
All in all we are having a great weekend, Harvells are enjoying their grandchildren and vice versa.
I just finished setting out their easter basket with goodies and I can't wait to get them up in the morning to go see!!!

Here is a video for Jason and Erika of Ribbit saying "thank you" for her easter swimsuit!!





Saturday, April 23, 2011

Passover

I just wanted to share some thoughts on the recent holiday of Passover. After spending time in Israel and with people who are Jewish I have learned more about their faith and their traditions. Passover is a time when they remember that the Angel of Death passed over them while they were enslaved in Egypt, as long as they had blood of a lamb on their doorpost. If not the firstborn male would be killed. They eat food that represents the bitterness of their slavery, that reminds of the mortar they used to build Pharaoh's monuments and that reminds them of the sweetness of God's grace amongst their captivity.
As Christians we also have a passover to celebrate. The fact that the blood of the Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ is spread over us and therefore we are not condemned to an eternal death. We are also reminded of the bitterness of the slavery that we are held in due to our sin and how we can become slaves to other things and people. We are also reminded of the sweetness of God amongst our trials and troubles of life.
I am so thankful to our Lord for his sacrifice so that I can one day spend eternity with him. I am thankful that God's just judgment will be withheld from me and that I will be in his presence. I am thankful that he offers this to all people, not only the Jews but also the Gentiles. The people who can't clean their lives up, who can't get rid of addiction, who fail every day to follow Christ. To me, my husband and my two sweet children.

I pray that the Lord would reveal the true meaning of Easter to us this Sunday and that we would be in awe of his crucification and resurrection. That it wouldn't be taken lightly, and that we wouldn't find ourselves numb to the horrible death Jesus endured for us.

Isaiah 53:2B-12


He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

4 Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
11 After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.

Sick Day

On Wednesday Eli and I stayed home. He developed a horrible cough in the middle of the night and I had been sneezing my head off the day before. Therefore, we were both miserable most of the night and early morning. At about 11 or 12 we felt somewhat better and I went and got Bre from the sitter. About 4 hours and 3 movies later we were going stir crazy....until the kids found the laundry basket!!!!
I promise we were sick!!!






Friday, April 22, 2011

Grandparents Day

Here are two videos of Eli at his grandparents day performance. He is keeping up with everyone even though its hard to see his mouth moving. He clung to his teacher at first but then did great. He even saw me and waved during the third song---in which the camera died, but oh well. I was so proud of him!



Wednesday, April 20, 2011

What a week-its only Wednesday

Today Goob and I are at home sick. He was running a pretty high temp on Monday but didn't show any signs of sickness all day Tuesday. However last night we both came home and went to sleep. He developed a cough through the night and I slept with him. This morning we were both groggy and just stayed home. His cough is getting less severe and we are both taking meds about every 5 hours. Ribbit stayed home with us today too but we are being strict about using the Hand Sanitizer and not loving on her too much. She has been fussy b/c I am not sharing anything with her-drinks/food- which is not very mommy like.
It has become so hard for me to put Ribbit in time out too because as she is sitting on the bench she is yelling " mommy, sorry, good girl" over and over. And if you have seen her you know how dagum cute she is. Good thing I have Adam or these kids would be rotten!!!
Goob is still doing wonderful at his reading!!! Today, he read me two books and towards the end of one he replaced a "you" with a "y'all". I asked him how he came up with that when the word didn't even have an l in it. He said " well you say it to me and Ribbit". Dang it.
I have also been tirelessly hunting down some medical records for Ribbit. They seem to be lost in the system and since the adoption isn't finalized yet its taking an act of congress to get some paperwork that I desperately need before her doctors appointment on Friday. I know that its for a very good reason but all this paperwork puts me in a bad mood!!!
Tomorrow is Grandparents day at Goobs school and although his won't be there they both sent him a letter. He is saying the Lord's prayer and they are singing some songs. Adam and I are both attending and I am excited. He is so smart, and had both of his speaking parts memorized in one day!!!
Goober is also super kid at school this week. He got to take lots of pictures of himself and his family for the door, he gets to take a show and tell everyday and they are making a cake for his "unbirthday". He is also helper and his favorite thing is that he gets to be first in line every day!!!!
We are soo looking forward to our first Easter with the kids. We are making Empty Tomb cookies and Rice Krispie Eggs. We want to make it more about Christ rather than the Easter bunny...However, they are going to think its Christmas with all the packages that family is sending them :) ( dont worry we are going to space things out so that they aren't overloaded).

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Goober is a genius


Goober is learning German in school, soon he will start Latin and then in high school pick up another language. He has been counting to ten for us a lot!!!


And, here is a picture of my I love you note!!! It will be treasured!!


Friday, April 15, 2011

ILU!!

So today I got my first I love you from Goober-yup, thats right. I say it to him like 1500 times a day and I always get an " okay ".
I was cleaning up my room at the end of the day and I found a wadded up piece of paper. I said " great, this will make mom's day, kids writing notes in my class". It ended up being blank and I kept on cleaning. I saw Goober throw a wad of paper on the floor a couple minutes later and told him to pick it up. He said " but mom, I am about to make your day" and he was smiling. So then I walked over and picked it up. It said " ILU!!, Goob". I said "what does that say Goober? and he said " I love you" and smiled and gave me a hug. I about melted into the floor!!!

He has been doing so great in school too...he got two stickers in a row, both without any warnings at school!!!! He is working towards a night at the Ranger Stadium in May---we are taking him to firework night there to see the Rangers play the Angels.
We our doing our anger management session in therapy tomorrow so I am hoping that he learns some ways to deal with it besides just crying and shutting down.

Ribbit is still doing great, sleeping through the night. Last night as I was walking out, she said "bye in a whisper and waved. We finished her Early Childhood Intervention meetings this week and they say that she now on target developmentally. I think that should make us happy but instead its making us question their system of how they figure out where kids are since just 2 months ago she was severely behind in her speech!!

Two nights ago was our schools annual Gallery Night featuring all of the art of our students from the last year. We had over 400 people show up and we had tons of artwork up. I was so grateful to parent volunteers who came throughout the day to help me set up. I was matting and attaching nametags like crazy. I was all worth it though and all the parents were very appreciate and supportive. We are already full for our specialty classes next semester and it looks like my Intro. to Art class will be full as well!!!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Beans, Beans, Magical Fruit

Let me just say that my kids will eat refried beans all day everyday. They love them. They ask for them!!!! We sang "Beans beans, magical fruit, more you eat them, the more you toot" to Goober and he liked it.
He got his clip moved today for killing a caterpillar, really?...don't all little boys kill some sort of insect in their lifetime? He said it was peeing on him :)
Goober started Children's Choir at church yesterday....he was timid about it but loved it. He came home and sang all night and then we listened to his CD for his upcoming Easter show all the way to school and back home again.
We talked to him more about changing his name today after our CPS visit. He now says that he is okay with changing Ribbit's name. He also said he wanted to change his middle name...so we listed all of the male family names that he could choose, and guess what name he wants?.....CHRIS, shocking. He just loves his Uncle Chris. So we are going to push other family names and remind him that we love his middle name already and he can keep it if he wants.

Ribbit said "bubbles" today while taking her bath. She is also dealing with bad diaper rash right now, which I think we know the culprit of. She loves loves giving us kisses on the mouth. She has to give me one before I get in the bath, or before dad leaves to go get the mail....so sweet. She gives lots of kisses on the nose too! I honestly can't wait until summer so I get my kids to myself all day every day!!!
This morning she just sat in her bed and sang or hummed along to her veggie tale book.

Other updates-Adam is now only going to Israel for 2.5 weeks this summer!!! YAY!!! We both just really think that these kids need him, as a father figure has always been an absence in their life. His professors are being really flexible with him, still allowing him to be staff, still paying for the trip, and still giving him credit. We are so excited. That means that when he gets back we will have the rest of the summer to play..he isn't taking any summer classes either!!!! It also means that he will be home for Goob's birthday, which is going to mean a lot to him. When we first told Goober that dad wasn't leaving for the whole summer he said " YES"!!!!!

Monday, April 11, 2011

The Best Help!!!

Here is our after dinner routine!!! Lots of Thank Yous!!!



Sunday, April 10, 2011

The Zoo

So today we ventured out to the Fort Worth Zoo. We had heard so many wonderful things about it and overall I think it lived up to its reputation. Even more so, our kids lived up to our behavior standards and everyone had a great time. We started out with a little attitude after Goober realized that we are not the kind of people who speedwalk through the zoo, giving each animal 4 seconds of our attention. He slowed down and all was fine.
We got to the Tazmanian Tower and he wanted to rockclimb. We both thought that he would chicken out and get upset if he didn't reach the top to ring the bell. Well let me tell you that he shimmied up the tower not once but twice and rang the bell both times!!! We were both so proud!!!!
We ended up spending 5 hours there, eating our own food ( much less expensive ) and Ribbit even took a one hour nap in her stroller. She behaved so well and was fine with the fact that we didn't carry her everywhere. She waved to all the animals and told them bye. We also managed to get out of the zoo without buying any souvenirs!!!!!!
We left straight from the zoo and went to get ice cream!!! We are now home watching a new movie " Megamind" and letting ourselves get some rest!!!
This trip has us hopeful for our upcoming Ranger Game adventure!!!!

Ribbit is now saying " Good Morning' when I walk in to get her first thing in the morning. She is also saying " good girl" after she has served a time out.......these somewhat work :). She also says cereal, ball and water much more clearly!!!!!



Goobers First Climb to the top!




Goober's Second Climb to the top!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Mentors

I just want to say how thankful I am for the many mentors I have in the faculty at our school. I have been so encouraged over the last two days by other working mothers of boys. They have all shared their horror stories with me about their boys behavior and how they are now outstanding young adults. They have walked me through my emotions and let me know that its okay to be overwhelmed at times. Thank goodness for the BODY OF CHRIST.
It also doesn't hurt that Goober has had excellent behavior the last two days at school :).
Weird Behavior #1 though of yesterday- he snuck 4 snacks and a stuffed animal to school.....from his history I know that he wasn't always fed but this is the first time we have ever known him to sneak food or toys...maybe it was just the first time for him to get caught. I don't think it was that big a deal as his teacher said they are allowed to bring a "comfort" toy to school and the food he swiped was all fruit roll ups, which are his favorites!!!!
Weird Behavior #2-he keeps asking me why my belly is "cracked". I kept asking him what he meant and today he said " why is it cracked, why can't you have babies?"....since we were in the middle of a hard core wrestling match I just ignored it and gave him a noogie instead :).

I will leave you with this sweet video of Ribbit attempting to walk backwards....of course she wanted the camera when she noticed I had it out but you can still see her do it a little bit.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Little boys


Yesterday we met with CPS again and got good news. We will be ready to legally adopt them in late July. They are pleased with everything going on and feel like this is a good placement for the kids and us. Goober did well at the meeting, despite his not so good school day.....
Yup, another day without a sticker and this time he got sent to the Pre-Grammar School Head. He pushed a little girl but since he pushed her on the neck it turned into something bigger. Goober said he did it because the little girl was in his face saying "blah blah blah". When the little girl showed how Goober pushed her it was more of a strangle motion, Goober's story is just a push. Unfortunately his teacher had stepped across the hallway for a couple of minutes to help out another teacher with a VCR. She tooke some of the blame since she should have been in the room with them. Goober and the little girl both were sent to the office. As I got closer to Goober and could see that he knew he was in trouble, I asked God to give me the exact right words to say to him. As I reached him I just picked him up and squeezed him and said " I love you, regardless of what they are about to tell me, regardless of if you get a sticker or not, I love you". That seemed to calm him down and we got through the whole meeting without any tears from Goober or myself ;).
Well, I honestly think that God had a bigger purpose behind this whole scenario then just teaching Goober to keep his hands to himself. When the little girls parents were told what happened they said " well she is dramatic and she does get in people's faces". I thought "wow, I dont know if I would have reacted the same way if someone pushed Goob in the neck". It was great for me to see a parent not over react and give grace. In the end Goober prayed for forgiveness and knew that he was forgiven and that today would be a new day for him. He did get some things taken away from him though at home and for this weekend.

Some good news though to end with. This morning I got a call from my school, while sitting in my classroom so I first thought " great, its Goob's teacher telling me that he is back in the office". Well I should have thought better of my son because it was our Human Resources Staff. She said that she was checking into the new adoption benefit that our school just added and noted that I would qualify if our adoption happened after I had been here one full year....well by golly I will be here one full year as of August 1st!!! So, we will be getting a rather large chunk of money in August as an adoption benefit....and we definitely will need it!! It will help build back up our savings account after buying the element, it will supplement the fact that Adam won't be working for 6 weeks this summer and let's face it, it will buy Goober and Ribbit lots of lunchables, juices, bananas and cereal :) ( those are things we seem to just run through!!!)
Thank you Lord!!!!

Monday, April 4, 2011

Routines

One of my friends who also blogs about her daughter listed off their daily routine and I thought that maybe just maybe some might be interested in ours (if no one else, then grandparents). On weekdays:
6:15- Rise and shine for Mom
6:45-Rise and shine for Ribbit and Goober
6:45-7:ish Rise and shine for Dad
6:45-7:15 run around like crazy to get breakfast, purple folder, bookbag, dressed, things needed for after school activities and in the car....if all of this is completed without a meltdown then we deem it a miracle.
7:15-7:40ish- Mom and Goob ride to school, we talk, he watches cartoons on dvd player and we pray right before we reach school
7:45-Dad takes Ribbit to sitter's house -she stays here for different amounts on time on different days.
8-3 class, work
3:15-Mom and Goob head home, some days we stop and get Ribbit, others dad already has her
4-5: we do one of three things a) go to park b) take a walk up our street and into each cul-de-sac while Goob rides bike and Ribbit is in stroller or c)Goob rides four wheeler in the field by our house and mom and Ribbit either play with water and/or cat piano
5-5:30- get dinner ready which frustrates bre as she doesn't know why she can't have the food right then and there so this 30 minutes normally involves dad distracting Ribbit
5:30-6:15 eat dinner at the table ( we never used the table before kids and now we never eat anywhere else), Goob is normally the first one done so he reads his daily reading to us then
6:15-6:45- Kiddos both baths, we lay out clothes for next day, get lunches together for everyone and if Goober gets everything done he can pop in a movie or watch certain shows
7:30 Ribbit goes down and if Goober has eaten all of his dinner then he can have yogurt-he thinks it is ice cream so he calls it dessert. We buy the mini danimal yogurts so its like 3 spoonfuls but he is satisfied :)
7:30-8: Mom, Dad and Goob time-most of the time we finish a disney movie or we play the game where we pin Goober down and tickle him or kiss him. We also play trouble, guess who or uno.
8:00- Goober goes to bed, he normally picks out 2 bigger books or 3 smaller books for us to read. Then we all pray and he is normally out in 15-20 minutes.
8-10: Mom and Dad get ready for tomorrow, clean up kitchen, Dad normally does homework
10: Mom goes to bed
10-3: Dad comes to bed when homework is done

So that is that.......this routine is altered slightly on weekends but wake up and bed times are pretty consistent!

Ribbit has started giving everyone long kisses before bed and then walking herself into her bedroom for night night. She is also walking into the bathroom for bath. This is a big change from chasing her down for both. She's also getting better at not stuffing herself, she finishes her meal, signs "all done" and gives us her plate. She still shoves a whole banana in at once but we are working on that. She loves loves loves to sing along with me or the radio and just makes up words.

Goober is becoming pretty inventive as to why he sometimes has trouble going to bed...one night his neck hurt, one night he wanted to pray again ( how can you say no to that?, and another night he remembered that earlier in the day I said he could have two peanut butter cookies and he had only eaten one ;). His prayers are becoming more personal and he is praying longer. He used to just say " Dear Lord, help this food bless our bodies, HeyMan. " But now he is actually thinking through them and not saying the same prayer every time. He even volunteered to pray for us today at lunch when we went out with 4 other couples.

Enough of this, its almost bedtime. Good night!

Friday, April 1, 2011

My very funny kids


Four funny Gooberisms today--

1. While riding his back around seminary he yelled out " mom this bike seat is pushing really hard on my bladder".
2. Then he ran after a bunch of squirlels (how he says it) and told them to fly repeatedly and got really upset when they didnt!!!
3. He did well as his first therapy appointment but was in tears at the thought of having our last name, he kept saying that name doesn't make sense!!! :)
4. After drinking a sonic drink he told one of Adam's co-workers that he was tooting a bunch because he drank a bunch.

Right now he is playing Guess Who with his dad and has stripped down to his underwear b/c he says he feels most comfortable that way.

Also, after a looong talk with the therapist and a good talk on the way home we can now say the A word and not flinch!!!!! ADOPTION...Goober is on board with it and understands that it will be happening soon!!


They are both equally funny and to show you here are pictures of Ribbit loading Goob's smelly shoes into the dishwasher :)




Clapping for herself :)