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Happy Birthday Bryce-E

I'm still trying to figure out at what exact point in time a baby turns into a "big kid."  Well, it's happened to my "baby" Bryce.   It literally feels like a year ago, rather than four, that Aaron was driving me in a blizzard to the hospital to deliver my bundle of joy.  "Joy" is truly what he is to me.  He's such a sweet hearted little guy with a love for animals and babies, both alive and in toy form.   He's an awesome brother and a wonderful son.  Happy Birthday my Little Man, I love you! 

Bryce-E got this crown at preschool today and insisted on wearing it everywhere.  Even to AWANA!

Who knew a box of Cootie was so "heavy, heavy, heavy".

A new Fisher-Price iXL gaming system was the perfect gift for a big four year old.

Some of The Loot

Getting a little direction from Bubba on a few of the new iXL games.

Blessed Beyond Measure

This is a very special Christmas this year.  Emmy's first as a Wade and a U.S. Citizen as well as our first Christmas as a totally complete family.  Blessed beyond measure and most thankful for the salvation we receive through Christ the King.

Awana Nickle Carnival

Wednesday night we set out to the local YMCA with our pockets full of nickels!  The kiddos had so much playing games and winning candy.  Now, I just need to refrain myself from eating more of it than they do :0)

 

Dangerous?  Maybe.  Adorable?  YES!!!

One year ago tonight . . .

We saw this beautiful face and experienced love at first sight. It's hard to believe it's been a year since our adoption agency matched us, yet ironically it feels like she's always been a part of our family.  I suppose this is true as she was born in my heart long before we ever saw her precious face.  Oh how blessed we are!

I'm lacking motivation . . .

That is "Blogger Motivation."  Anybody that knows me well knows I have a lot of passion.  When I want something done I Get . . . It . . . Done . . .  I figure out a way to make it work and it gets done.  That's pretty much how I've gotten through life.  Sometimes it totally drives my husband crazy because I almost become obsessed.  Unfortunately there's only so much room to obsess in my life.  I like to think that I try my hardest to do everything well, but I'm usually only obsessed about one or two things at a time.  Of course my family is always an obsession, so that leaves only one more "obsession slot".  The last 2.5 years my obsession has been the adoption.  Part of my love for blogging was chronically that portion of my life.  Now, I feel very, very content with where our family is in life.  I have my 3 kiddos, my wonderful and loving hubby, and a house that feels like "home."  Prior to starting our family my obsession was my education.  I have a master's degree in speech-language pathology and I truly love my job.  But, I'm ashamed to say I haven't taken a class (other than 1-2 day workshops) in several years.  But, now that I'm feeling settled in my home life I'm feeling the pull to further my education.  I'm not sure what this will do to my blogging efforts because I'm sure most of my time in front of the computer from now on will be doing homework rather than uploading pictures.  But, I'm sure I'll check back in every once in a while.  Especially during long vacations from work.  Also, I PROMISE I will take some time this weekend and post pictures and updates from the last month or so.  I hate this guilty feeling I get when I'm not blogging, but right now it's just not a huge priority.  Please forgive me.  I usually get about 3,000 views a month and I have a nagging feeling that I'm letting people down when I'm not blogging regularly.  I've followed blogs before where I would check in daily and really enjoy reading about people and their adventures, or get great tips and ideas.  It is disappointing when those people seem to fall off the face of the blogging earth.  I don't want to be one of "those" people.  So, to the people that follow my blog and like to check in regularly, please don't forget about me.  I'll be back every once in a while and it's only a matter of time when the blog returns to a higher priority slot and you will see posts every couple of days.  Anybody else out there ever lose their "blogger motivation" and just want to focus on other aspects of their life?

Ignoring my Blog

It's been almost two weeks since I've blogged.  I actually have material to write about and some great pictures.  But, I've been down in the dumps with a thrown out back, a cold that is killing me, and an all around busy life.  So, I've been ignoring my blog.  Sorry :0(  Hopefully I get around to getting some pictures up in a day or two.   I've turned a year older, took a trip to Denver, and did some judging at the county fair.  Teachers have to report back to work on Monday.  I am SOOOOOOO ready to get back into my school routine.  But, as much as I love my job . . . I love my kids a million times more.  So, it's always a bitter sweet time of year.  This year is going to be a bit different because my big boy, Cam-O, starts Kindergarten.  He is just thrilled and can't wait to begin learning how to read (at least more than he already is).  He'll actually come to work with me every morning and ride the bus over to his school.  Bryce and Emmy will both be going to half-day preschool.  They will be in the same building, but will go to age appropriate classrooms and have different teachers.  I know some people think 2 is a bit too young for preschool.  But, Emmy's classroom is actually a developmental classroom.  She qualified to go technically as a English Language Learner.  I am super excited to have her there and I'm a bit envious of all the activities she's going to get to experience without me.   They will both be back with our awesome babysitter in the afternoons until I get off work.  So, in a nutshell, I've been ignoring my blog and I'm sorry.  But, life is still going on!

A couple of "Firsts"!

My kids are growing up before my eyes!  This week we had a few "firsts"!  First of all Emmy has finally started calling me "Mama"!  She's been with us 5 months and people wouldn't even believe that she never called me by my name in the past.  She basically just didn't call me anything, but if she did point to my picture etc. she would say "Dada" almost in a joking manner.  Every once in a while she would say "mama" if she was scared in the middle of the night.  I'm not sure she was even addressing me when she did this.  After all, her foster mother was "mama" way long than I have been.  This did not hurt my feelings.  I've done enough reading on attachment to know this is fairly normal.  But, just this week she's started yelling "mama" when I walk in the door!  YIPPEEEEEE!!!!  Emmy also got her first American haircut!  When we got her 5 months ago it was obvious she had a fresh haircut.  It was a cute little bob that fit her well.  But, I want to grow her hair out just to see what it looks like.  It was getting a bit scraggly so I let her get a trim when the boys got their hair cut this last week.

Another first for Cam-O!  His first sleep over at a friend's house.  The boy's buddies live just three doors down and invited Cam to sleep over last night.  He did great!  The whole family went over for pizza and a movie, but when it was time to go Cam-O got to stay.  Bryce-E wasn't too happy about not getting to stay over, but I just think he's a bit too young for such a big boy activity.  Suprisingly he quickly obliged to leave Cam-O when I told him he could have a sleep over with Emmy in her room.  I had to sneak into her room a few times just to make sure all was going OK.  Here are some photos of the "firsts" this week!

She climbed up in that chair like she couldn't wait to get it done!!!

Her new trim looks pretty cute too.

All packed and ready to go to his first sleep over!

It's tough being the little brother sometimes.

Here he's pleading for me to believe that he's actually 5 instead of 3 because I told him 5 is old enough to sleep at a friend's house.  LOL

He even has his own mode of transportation to the fun!

Woody, Buzz, and the Transformers.

A sleep over with a little sister is fun too.

I love this one!

Random!

Here are some random photos I've taken recently!

Loving siblings (when they aren't fighting like cats and dogs!)

Here is Bryce and his beloved babies Cocoa Butter and Skateboard.  He wouldn't dream of napping without one or both of them.

I'm not really sure how or why Bryce-E choses the names for his toys that he does.  But, they are always original and he sticks with the name with little to no encouragement from us!  These two babies are like family to him.  He insists they are his sisters and Cocoa Butter is actually from China!

Milk shakes at the fountain.  I'm sure going to miss Zesto when it closes for the season :0(

Face painting at Heritage Days.

Bryce had his wiped off before I had even paid for it!  So typical of my little man!

This is the portrait of Emmy's panda that we woke up to the other day.  Not bad for a 5 year old!

Here is the whistle Emmy got at the Heritage Days parade last weekend.  They are shaped like lips and she figured it right away.  Too bad she sprays anybody within a two foot radius!  The dog is the only one brave enough to be near her when she's making her "music"!

Door to Door Salesmen BEWARE!!!!

 

Aaron's been awfully creative lately and I just can't help share some of his columns!  This is a true story, absolutely nothing has been added to increase the humor of this particular incident.   But, I have to add that this same guy had been at our house just a few weeks earlier right at lunch time.  He basically barged in the door without my consent and began his rambling that lasted about 30 minutes.  I finally got rid of him by telling him I would not be making any decisions about buying his "product" without my husband's consent.   I had a good mind to tell him off about being respectful of people's time when they are obviously busy trying to prepare lunch and getting tired children off to their naps.  I wasn't so happy when I walked in the door a few weeks later and saw him sitting at my kitchen table AGAIN!  Anyway, Aaron's much better at telling stories than I am.  So, here's his recalling of the incident.

Timing is everything

By Aaron Wade

Hemingford Ledger

I talk about my kids a lot in this column. With three preschoolers I have little time to experience anything else. I’ve said it before but I will remind you that things are very chaotic around my house. Yes, I have my parental outbursts of “Knock it off!” and “Do you want to go to timeout?” But I’m getting used to the hectic pace of life.

It became apparent to me just how hectic our household is the other night. We had just returned from a hurried dining experience (we have to hurry and eat before we get kicked out of the restaurant), my wife went and ran some errands and I threw the kids in the bathtub.

For Father’s Day, the kids got me an MP3 player, so while they were taking a bath, I was playing with my new gadget. I got the kids out, dried them off and began the process of putting on pajamas. This process is kind of like a branding. I wrangle the nearest kid and hold them down and apply clothing while the other two run to the far corners of the house to avoid being next. I usually aim for the smallest one first, because she is the easiest to catch.

While I was doing so, one of the boys came in to her room and said, “Dere is someone at da door.” With my headphones in, I hadn’t heard the doorbell ring, so I peeked out the window and a gentleman was standing on our doorstep. I didn’t know who it was and I debated even answering it. But I noticed that the door was already half ajar so there was no way to pretend that we weren’t home. Bryce had evidently opened the door in his birthday suit, foreshadowing what was to come for this guy.

I usually have empathy for salesmen. I work for a newspaper after all and on a weekly basis, I am out pedaling advertising. Sometimes rejection isn’t easy to take. So I figure if a guy has enough guts to ring my doorbell, I’ll at least be polite. But this couldn’t have been worse timing for this salesman.

As I opened the door, three little sets of feet followed. Camden, my oldest greeted the guy warmly, even extending his hand for a handshake to which the salesman didn’t reciprocate. Strike one.

The guy looked at me with huge eyes and asked, “How many kids do you have?” I replied that I wasn’t sure and I was still awaiting a paternity test on the oldest two.

He asked if he could come in and being the polite guy I am, I let him.

Now I would usually be horrified if my kids acted the way they did when company was over, but in this case I had to keep myself from laughing. The guy laid out his paperwork on the kitchen table. I pulled up a chair beside him as did my daughter. I actually think I saw smoke come out of his ears when she proceeded to get up out of her chair, walk across the table and his paperwork and into my lap. She then got down and repeated the path three times before I finally put an end to it.

Shortly after, my oldest son gets in the mix. He had found my tape measure (which I had been looking for by the way) and he came over with about three feet of tape extended like a sword. He poked it inches away from the guy’s face as if he were one of the Three Musketeers issuing a challenge. Seeing the potential danger for eye-loss, I made Cam contract the tape measure.

Minutes later Camden was back, this time with wooden spoons. He was drumming on one of the chairs, then pretended the guy was a cymbal and smacked him on the leg. Actually, the kid was just playing and it was more of a delicate thud. The salesman proceeded to grab the spoons from Camden’s hand and lay them on the table beside him. Strike two!

The guy asked me if it was like this every night or just because company was over. I said, “This is pretty much par for the course.” He told me he was going to go home and double check to make sure his wife had taken her birth control. Rude, but funny.

My wife had arrived home a little later. The final straw was probably a mixture of her bluntness and the fact that Bryce had stripped off his pajamas and was gallivanting around the house. Regardless, I think the guy got the hint that it was time to go. Strike three, he’s out!

I usually don’t condone such behavior from my children, but if someone has the nerve to breakup our bedtime routine, there is no need for false pretenses. And if you have problems with solicitors, I’ll be happy to rent my kids out to you. I won’t be liable for damages of course.

Goats!!!!

As I've mentioned before, my hubby is actually the writer/photographer of the family.  Here's a guest post by none other than Mr. Aaron Wade :0)

With temperatures in triple-digits on Monday, only one thing could get the kids out of Grandma and Granpa's house in Hemingford - Goats! Better yet, fainting goats. None of them actually fainted, though Emmy tried her hardest. Thanks to Daddy's friends Dave, LaRonda, Sally and Emily for allowing the kids to come out and have their personal petting zoo experience! Like Emmy does with all four legged creatures, she showed no fear and quickly established her dominance. She squatted down and got eye-to-eye/horn-to-horn with two kids (which made Daddy a little nervous) but proceeded to get a kick out of feeding and petting the strange creatures. Sally and Emily even caught a hen and one of her chicks for the kids to pet. The kids (as in Wades, not goats) had a ball. Cam and Bryce felt right at home with the goats. Why shouldn't they. They smell just like one.