House Splurges

Well, since the weather is warming up and everything is starting to green up, we wanted to get some stuff for the house and for the kids to play with in the backyard instead of just going out there and pushing their carts around and playing with their big bouncy balls or just running around. So, we got them a turtle sandbox which kept them all entertained and so occupied for hours.


We were also going to get this swingset, but we couldn't get any set answers on how big the boxes were so we weren't sure if it was going to fit in the van. So, we decided to go out next weekend instead to go back and get the swingset.



We also got the girls new nightstands that match their beds and we got them a big white wooden bookshelf for all of their books. I told Andy that I'm going to take the house envelope to Target tomorrow and get the stuff to finish my little bathroom as well. We need to get more focused on making our house a home and getting things little by little.

Good Eats at the Olive Garden...

I'm taking Deidra out tonight for some mommy/daughter time. I'm taking her to the Olive Garden for dinner. Andy's going to stay here with the kids and Little J wanted burritos for dinner, so he's going to make them for her and do something fun here at home for them. Deidra's been getting a mouth on her lately and with her breakdown the other day after getting bit by Little J for the umpeenth time I figure that a little one-on-one time will do her some good and maybe we can get her back on track. She really wants us to be able to adopt Baby J too and I keep telling her that I just don't know yet. She prays for it every night...we just love that baby to pieces. He's a little handful lately but he is just too adorable with what he does and the things that he says. But, I think having some time to herself and getting away with me for awhile will be good for her and she's lookign forward to it. Little J got upset about it, but I told her that she gets to go to her visit with her parents today and spend time with them. Deidra just needs some time with her parents too. I really wish I knew how to make Little J see that she doesn't need to be the center of attention all the time. I try so hard not to get mad at her, I give her her own time with me each day, but the minute I turn to Deidra or to the boys, she has to find a way to get my attention back to her. She's made a little progress and she seemed to do fine with it after I talked to her although she was still pouting about it, but I know tonight we'll probably leave her here crying because she'll be all upset. We've tried letting her go out alone on errands and out to eat and so forth with us to give her one-on-one time by herself, but she just has a hard time when it's anybody elses turn but hers.

Anyway, back to Deidra...I really am proud of her for everything that she puts up with from Little J and I want to do something to reward her for how well she does with everything...so I'm hoping a special dinner out with Mommy will help. She really does have such a huge heart for a little girl...despite everything she's thankful for Little J and she wants her to be here. I just hope that one day Little J will appreciate Deidra for the great big sister that she definitely tries to be.

An Update on Us...

Things are going ok here. Very busy, very tired, but good. I'm glad that it's Friday.

Andy's been doing his home brew and loves how his beer turned out. The people he works with wanted to try it, so he brought in a bunch of bottles on Wednesday for them to try. Everyone loved it and they want to come down for a brew day. They have Friday Forum where the company brings in beer and wine for their business meetings and his dept wants to see if they could supply the beer if they can get good enough at brewing.

I've been really busy lately...I just switched Baby J's therapy companies so instead of getting therapy twice a month, he's going to start getting it 2-3 times a week. 2 times of speech and 1 time of occupational therapy. He screems when he wants something rather than saying what he wants...I don't give it to him until he says the word, but I have to figure out something...my ears can't handle much more of this. They also tell me that he doesn't have all the words down that he should. He hardly said anything when we first got him, so I think he's definitley come along way. But, I agree that he is a bit behind and he doesn't talk to anyone the way he talks to us so they think there's more of a problem, but hopefully the more he learns the less we'll hear of this high-pitched ear drum rattling scream that he has.

Baby D is about to start occupational therapy and some sensory processing integration and they're going to work with him on eating and muscle tone. He really loves the preschool curriculum that I do with him too and he is so smart. I hope what I teach him stays with him and he doesn't forget it. I want him to do better than what I see his siblings doing in school when he starts and I hope I'm giving him a good foundation.

Little J is doing a lot better now that we took her off her newest medication. She's still so behind in school and it's hard to see that she just doesn't grasp certain concepts no matter how hard you try with her. The school doesn't want to test her and my caseworker and I really feel that she belongs ina special ed room. We're going to see if we can't get CPS to do anything since they have educational workers and we're going to bring in a tutor for her as well. We're still trying to find out too if she can go to summer school this year so she doesn't forget what she has learned this year.

Deidra loves our neighborhood and she's made some good friends down the street. The kids' do not have the same manners that I have instilled in Deidra though. They think if she leaves, it's ok for them to stay here and they constantly argue with her about what they want to do. When I was young and I was at someone else's house, I always stayed with my friend that I was there to visit, I didn't run all over the people's houses and get into their things while my friend was off in another room. It's weird...

We're officially on the list to receive a newborn/infant...we told them the only thing we wouldn't take was an HIV or high medical needs baby. She said that the only newborns they've been getting lately are the newborns that have been testing positive for drugs at birth. We said that was ok....so we're officially on the list now. I know the placements have been slow, so I made the comment that we were prepared to wait awhile...she came back with well it could be as soon as just a couple of weeks. So, we'll see. I've been in the garage trying to get the infant carseat out and cleaned up and trying to find the bouncy seat and putting all that into the 4th bedroom so I'm prepared when he/she comes. I babysat for my fosterparent friend on Tuesday and she has a little baby that is almost 6 months old and Baby J just wanted to sit and watch her forever and Deidra and Little J kept fawning over her. Baby D really didn't care one way or the other. It was fun to have a baby in the house though that small. It was funny to see how nervous Andy got when I asked him to hold her while I ran to the pharmacy though. I told him it would come back to him. When I got back a few minutes later, he said "here you go...she makes me nervous." lol. Awhile later though, he was talking to her all cute and trying to get her to smile.

What Color Girl Are You?

You Are A Blue Girl

Relationships and feelings are the most important things to you. You are empathetic and accepting - and good at avoiding conflict. If someone close to you is in pain, it makes you hurt as well. You try to heal the ones you love with your kind and open heart.

What Color Girl Are You?

What Kind of Cake Are You?

Taken from Sarah's blog (www.proudmomx2.blogspot.com)

You Are a Chocolate Cake

Fun, comforting, and friendly. You are a true classic, and while you're not super cutting edge, you're high quality. People love your company - and have even been known to get addicted to you.

What Kind of Cake Are You?

Need lotsa patience lately...

I don't know if certain behaviors are just starting to peek or if the kids just got off their schedules during spring break and are still having issues settling back in, but my gosh my hands have been full.

Little J was put on some new meds and it was only making her more hyper and she'd talk non-stop. She couldn't focus on anything you were asking her or trying to tell her and she'd just blurt out stuff that had no similarity to what you were even talking to her about. And she'd just laugh and laugh about it. She's been mean to Deidra, she doesn't want to have to do what she's told, and I'm so tired of listening to her whine and pout over every little thing. I mean it too...every little thing gets her goat. She left the bathroom light on this morning (she's horrible at remembering to turn lights off) and I asked her to go back in and turn it off (she was a couple feet from the door) and that turned into a big ole' huffy screaming fit. She was acting odd this morning too and so I reported it to the case worker. They discontinued her new meds since it only appeared to be making her more hyper and she was going to talk to the psychiatrist to see what he recommended for the odd behaviors this morning.

Baby D has gotten more and more defiant and he's imitating his sister more and more. I don't know if he really has the same disorder she does or he just wants to test what he can get away with, but he smirks over everything and when he doesn't get his way he's been breaking things (he's 2 1/2 years old) and just screaming bloody murder. Oh, and he started smacking me across the face and anyone else who seems to make him mad. I totally don't know where he got that from, but it comes out of nowhere at times...the first time he did it to me I was absolutely stunned....he walked up to me with a smile on his face (I thought he was over his tantrum) and just smacked me right across the face. He got a time out for it and screamed bloody murder at me over and over again as I kept setting him down in time out.

Baby J is really getting more and more into terrible 2s (he turns 2 next month) and I fight with him over and over and over again to curb some behaviors. He was being very naughty earlier and throwing tantrum galore and him and Baby D were both mad at me that I wouldn't let them have Easter eggs at breakfast and so I put them down for a nap. Baby J fought me for 90 minutes on laying down and the whole time Baby D laid there calling out to Baby J with a smirk on his face trying to encourage him not to go to bed. And everytime I walked over to him to tell him to be quiet, he'd lay there and smirk at me. He fought sleep the whole time Baby J was awake so that he could keep at it. Once Baby J went to sleep, I told him that he was asleep and now it was time for him to be quiet and go to sleep too. I walked out of the room and it's not 5 minutes later and I hear him calling to Baby J to wake up. I had to go up there and get him to be quiet and lay down. I stood outside his door for awhile and finally he just laid there and I could see his eyes starting to get groggy and close.

Deidra is getting a little mouth on her too and she thinks she needs to be a little mini-parent and I'm constantly having to tell her that I am the parent and that I can handle it. Baby D has become a parrot too and is constantly repeating everything he hears or scolding the other kids for doing things that they're not supposed to be doing. Little J lies constantly and Baby J has started screaming more often too (think high pitched opera squeel that rattles your eardrums). Yes, I need a huge platter of patience latley...

Lord, give me patience....

Court Today...

We go to court this morning for Baby J... Please say a prayer that all the parties involved will do the right thing by this baby boy. I'll update with what I can later.

UPDATE: Long story short is we go back at the end of Sept/beginning of Oct. They're going to give his mom more time to relinquish on her own. If she relinquishes before then, we'll go back to court sooner. If not, they'll take custody of him when we go back to court and then adoption proceedings will start. That's really all I can say.

Mud Showers

We wondered what the heck was going on when this happened to us down in San Antonio. We couldn't figure out how the car was getting so dirty so fast. When we got out, we saw all the other cars in the same boat and we looked at each other and said "It's raining mud." Wow! We spent a little over an hour the next day in line to get a car wash.

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/gen/page2485.html?theme=light

I want a pygmy goat...

We went to a Wildlife Ranch while on vacation and it was so neat. The animals roamed freely and came up to your car so you could see them and they'd let you feed them and so forth. Having zebras eat out of your hands and put their heads in your cars...well I thought it was the coolest thing. Anyway, they had a little petting zoo with goats for the kids and I held a baby goat and he just snuggled right up to me. When we were done, I had to go back in to say good-bye to my goat...I just thought he was too cute. Anyway, ever since then I've been reading about pygmy's and I told Andy that I want one. A couple sites that I found said that you can house train them where they'll either do their business outside if you train them to go to the door or you can litter train them with straw and they do just fine if they're young enough. I just want one.... Deidra does too. :-)

We've decided to try out a new church....

We currently attend St. Joseph's Catholic church (www.stjosephcatholic.org). I really like our little church, but since we started fostering it's been really hard for all of us to attend. I tried taking both the girls with me and all Little J does during church is kick at Deidra and copy her and fight for my attention. It got to the point where all I was doing was battling with the girls and I couldn't even pay attention to what was going on in church. So, then I just started going to the service by myself and then I'd run home and get the girls for Sunday school and then it got to the point where Little J would complain about having to go and how much she hated it. So, then I just started leaving them at home so I could draw the strength that I needed and have the one hour of peace and quiet and concentrate on what He wanted me to do. I'd go and sit with Mom and that was our time together. I really wish that our church had a nursery (they did for awhile) but nobody ever wanted to help out and so they closed it.

I looked into some other Catholic churches in our area and stumbled upon St. John's (http://www.stjohnchurch-ennis.org ). I think we're going to try that church starting next week since they have a whole children's mass and Sunday school and nursery services. As much as I'll miss our little church, I feel God talking to me and telling me that I have a responsibility to get our whole family to church...and so it's time to try something new. My family needs God just as much as I do...it's time for me to get everyone back to church.

Happy Easter...

Happy Easter to all my readers! I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday. The kids just finished their Easter egg hunt and I'm getting ready to list a few things on Ebay before I go get dressed for the day. The boys just went down for a nap. My Mom and brother, Jimmie,will be here in a couple hours for dinner. We're having ham, scalloped potatoes, corn, green bean casserole, corn bread stuffing and chocolate cream pie and mint chocolate chip pie with centennial cupcake ice cream for dessert.

Just can't seem to get into the Easter spirit...

I just can't seem to get into the Easter spirit, which totally surprises me since Christmas and Easter are my favorite holidays. I didn't even get the kids Easter outfits...I'm just going to have the girl's wear their outfits that they just wore for their spring portraits and I'll figure out something for the boys. I did get the kids pictures taken with the Easter bunny over vacation...

I got a bunch of plastic eggs and some candy to stuff them with and baskets for the kids from our foster care agency. I went up to the store today to get some more. I told Andy that I totally didn't even feel like cooking a big meal or anything and we were contemplating going to a church that was having a 10,000 Easter egg hunt, free food and games, and chances to win scooters, iPods, Wii, and a bunch of fun prizes...but then I got to thinking that may be hard as it starts around the boys nap times and I didn't know what accomodations they would have for the boys and eating may be hard that way too. So, this morning we finally said we'd defrost the ham that has been in our freezer and we'd make Easter dinner. I got Deidra her Easter basket from my Dad and Andy got one from us for her last night. I got chocolate bunnies for all of the kids since the foster care agency took care of the kids and Baby D and Little J's parents got them an Easter basket as well. I stuffed a bunch of plastic eggs so we can have our own little Easter egg hunt as well for the kids tomorrow. I'm going to Easter vigil with my Mom tonight and I'm trying to talk my brother into going with us too, but he doesn't want to sit through a 3-4 hour service. My spirit isn't really into going either, but I know once I'm there I'll be fine, so I'm going to go. I wish I knew what my problem was this year.

I do know that I keep thinking about my Grandma and my Mom...they both passed away during Easter time and good family friends of ours lost their 2 boys last year during Good Friday and I keep thinking about them too. My parents are both fighting off and on as well and I can feel myself pushing both of them away. She's trying to set boundaries with my Dad and my Dad wants her back...I'm doing all my Dad's finances and I'm getting hit from both sides on this and that. I hate feeling stuck in the middle and I hate that I can see both of their sides, but yet I can see other things too. I keep catching myself in white lies to try to cover for the other parent so another fight/argument doesn't start up. I love them both dearly, but this is hard for me. Given the fact too that I don't like confrontation of course neither of them know that I'm upset about anything. I know that's not healthy for me either. Everything was fine ane they were all getting along and I think it was healthy for us kids to see them like that...it really did feel like old times. Then, my Mom took her girlfriend from work to some divorce recovery thing and ever since she thinks she needs to set firm boundaries with my father. Boundaries are fine, but the way she's been going about doing it makes her come across awfully selfish and mean latley. Like I said though, I'm trying my darndest to stay out of the middle. It's just really hard...so I think that's what is really putting a damper on my spirits this Easter season. I think I just need to grasp on to my faith and know that the Lord will see me and my family through.

What Kind of Easter Egg Are You?

You Are a Flowery Egg

Fresh, funky, and well dressed.

What Kind of Easter Egg Are You?

What Easter Candy Are You?

You Are a Bunny Pop

It takes a whole lot more than three licks to get to your center. You cheeky bunny!

What Easter Candy Are You?

Rolling out the red carpet for my WINNERS of my Pay It Forward contest!

I'm rolling out the red carpet for my winners of my Pay It Forward contest....

Strolling on down the beautiful red carpet we have...

Kim (http://sweetiee.diaryland.com/)

First Lady Cory (www.roosmom.com)

Jen (http://www.angelblshn.net/)

Congratulations girls! I'll be getting out your packages to you within the week. I hope you enjoy them! Now you get to host your very own Pay It Forward contest on your very own blogs! Have fun!

For the love of peanut butter...

I stumbled upon the site www.ilovepeanutbutter.com today and I am SO getting some of the White Chocolate Wonderful and the Dark Chocolate Dream. I have been craving peanut butter lately and these just sound so yummy!

We're back from vacation!

We got back in last night (Wednesday) around 11:30 pm. We're tired, but we had a ton of fun!! I'll have pictures later! We did so much stuff....

Monday we got up early and drove to Sea World. We got there around 11 am and spent the whole day there. We left around 9 pm and went and checked into our hotel and then went to IHOP for dinner where the kids got the Horton Hears a Who pancakes and green eggs and ham.

Tuesday we planned on going to the San Antonio zoo, but it was rainy. So, we headed into the downtown area and took the kids to the Children's museum, walked up to see the Alamo, and then we went down to see the Riverwalk. We went and ate at Marie Callendar's restaurant for lunch (sooo good). Then we drove around awhile before we decided to take the kids to Chuck E. Cheese.

Wednesday, we went to the San Antonio zoo and then we headed over to a wildlife refuge where we went on our very own safari and got to handfeed the zebras and all the other wildlife...they'd stick their heads into your car to get to the food. It was totally awesome! We have so many cool pictures from that too! After that, we grabbed some dinner at Jack in the Box before driving home. I'll have pictures to share hopefully in awhile...we took over 600 pics while on vacation. Wow! It was a lot of work taking 4 kids on vacation...I honestly think being in the hotel was the hardest part with them screaming, crying, jumping all over, and just getting bored...it was hard to keep them quiet and to understand that there were people surrounding us in other rooms. Now, we need a vacation from our vacation.

Pay it Forward

I won the Pay it Forward contest over on Sarah's blog (www.proudmomx2.blogspot.com) and now it's my turn to Pay it Forward and have my very own contest. So, here's how it works: You leave me a comment (or as many as you want) and then I'll select 3 lucky winners to claim 3 wonderfully smelling homemade prizes. I'm going to give a couple things to each winner...one is a surprise and one is this wonderfully smelling candle.



So, leave me your comments girls!! I'll announce the winners when I get back from vacation on Friday! Oh...and if you're a winner...you get to hold your very own Pay it Forward contest afterwards on your blog too! It's fun so get commenting!

We're leaving for vacation early tomorrow morning...

We're off to San Antonio tomorrow morning to begin our spring vacation! We're taking the kids to Sea World (we're all SO excited about going). And then we are going to the San Antonio Zoo. We're talking about maybe going to the caves too, but we're not sure. We had also talked about going to the Alamo. We know we want to do a couple other things too, but we haven't decided on exactly what we're going to do. We'll figure that out later tonight, I guess, or maybe when we're down there. I can't wait though to get down there and the weather is supposed to be in the 70s and 80s while we're down there. It is supposed to be stormy and rainy though, so I hope the rain will hold off until after we're done with our activities.

Day 9 of my Novena to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Holy Family

posting a day early...

O Most Blessed Mother, heart of love, heart of mercy, ever listening, caring, consoling, hear our prayer. As your children, we implore your intercession with Jesus your Son. Receive with understanding and compassion the petitions we place before you today...we especially want to adopt Baby J and make him a permanent part of our family. We pray for guidance for the judge and for all parties to the case to do the right thing by this little boy at the hearing this month. Loving Mother, dispenser of endless blessings, You who continuously intercedes on our behalf,
Please present my need before your loving Son Jesus.

We are comforted in knowing your heart is ever open to those who ask for your prayer. We trust to your gentle care and intercession, those whom we love and who are sick or lonely or hurting. Help all of us, Holy Mother, to bear our burdens in this life until we may share eternal life and peace with God forever.
Amen.

O Immaculate Heart of Mary,
I know that you are now presenting my need before Jesus,
For you have never turned away those in dire need.

Mother dearest, I await your favorable answer,
Submitting myself to the Divine will of the Lord,
For all glories are His forever and ever.
Amen

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of loving Holy Church as I should, above every earthly thing, and of ever showing my love by deeds.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of openly professing as I should, with courage and without human respect, the faith that I received as your gift in holy Baptism.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of sharing as I should in the defense and propagation of the Faith when duty calls, whether by word or by the sacrifice of my possessions and my life.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of loving my family and others in mutual charity as I should, and establish us in perfect harmony of thought, will, and action, under the rule and guidance of the shepherds of the Church.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of conforming my life fully as I should to the commandments of God’s law and those of His Holy Church, so as to live always in that charity which they set forth.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I ask in particular this special favor:
please allow us to be able to adopt Baby J. His hearing is at the end of this month and I pray for guidance for the judge and for all parties to the case to do the right thing by this little boy and help him to become a permanent member of our family. We love him so much and we ask you for this beautiful gift to add him to our family forever.

Dedication of One’s Family:
Most loving Jesus, by Your sublime and beautiful virtues of humility, obedience, poverty, modesty, charity, patience, and gentleness, You blessed with peace and happiness the family which You chose on earth. In Your mercy look upon my family. We belong to You, for we have received Your many blessings over many years and we entrust ourselves to Your loving care.

Look upon my family in Your loving kindness, preserve us from danger, give us help in time of need, and grant us the grace to persevere to the end in imitation of Your holy Family, so that having revered You and loved You faithfully on earth, we may praise You eternally in heaven.

Mary, dearest Mother, to your intercession we have recourse, knowing that your Divine Son will hear your prayers. Glorious patriarch, Saint Joseph, help us by your powerful prayers and offer our prayers to Jesus through Mary’s hands. Amen.


Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, being subject to Mary and Joseph, You sanctified family life by Your beautiful virtues. Grant that we, with the help of Mary and Joseph, may be taught by the example of Your holy Family, and may after death enjoy its everlasting companionship.

Lord Jesus, help us ever to follow the example of Your holy Family, that in the hour of our death Your glorious Virgin Mother together with Saint Joseph may come to meet us, and we may be worthy to be received by You into the everlasting joys of heaven. You live and reign forever. Amen

Day 8 of my Novena to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Holy Family

O Most Blessed Mother, heart of love, heart of mercy, ever listening, caring, consoling, hear our prayer. As your children, we implore your intercession with Jesus your Son. Receive with understanding and compassion the petitions we place before you today...we especially want to adopt Baby J and make him a permanent part of our family. We pray for guidance for the judge and for all parties to the case to do the right thing by this little boy at the hearing this month. Loving Mother, dispenser of endless blessings, You who continuously intercedes on our behalf,
Please present my need before your loving Son Jesus.

We are comforted in knowing your heart is ever open to those who ask for your prayer. We trust to your gentle care and intercession, those whom we love and who are sick or lonely or hurting. Help all of us, Holy Mother, to bear our burdens in this life until we may share eternal life and peace with God forever.
Amen.

O Immaculate Heart of Mary,
I know that you are now presenting my need before Jesus,
For you have never turned away those in dire need.

Mother dearest, I await your favorable answer,
Submitting myself to the Divine will of the Lord,
For all glories are His forever and ever.
Amen

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of loving Holy Church as I should, above every earthly thing, and of ever showing my love by deeds.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of openly professing as I should, with courage and without human respect, the faith that I received as your gift in holy Baptism.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of sharing as I should in the defense and propagation of the Faith when duty calls, whether by word or by the sacrifice of my possessions and my life.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of loving my family and others in mutual charity as I should, and establish us in perfect harmony of thought, will, and action, under the rule and guidance of the shepherds of the Church.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of conforming my life fully as I should to the commandments of God’s law and those of His Holy Church, so as to live always in that charity which they set forth.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I ask in particular this special favor:
please allow us to be able to adopt Baby J. His hearing is at the end of this month and I pray for guidance for the judge and for all parties to the case to do the right thing by this little boy and help him to become a permanent member of our family. We love him so much and we ask you for this beautiful gift to add him to our family forever.

Dedication of One’s Family:
Most loving Jesus, by Your sublime and beautiful virtues of humility, obedience, poverty, modesty, charity, patience, and gentleness, You blessed with peace and happiness the family which You chose on earth. In Your mercy look upon my family. We belong to You, for we have received Your many blessings over many years and we entrust ourselves to Your loving care.

Look upon my family in Your loving kindness, preserve us from danger, give us help in time of need, and grant us the grace to persevere to the end in imitation of Your holy Family, so that having revered You and loved You faithfully on earth, we may praise You eternally in heaven.

Mary, dearest Mother, to your intercession we have recourse, knowing that your Divine Son will hear your prayers. Glorious patriarch, Saint Joseph, help us by your powerful prayers and offer our prayers to Jesus through Mary’s hands. Amen.


Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, being subject to Mary and Joseph, You sanctified family life by Your beautiful virtues. Grant that we, with the help of Mary and Joseph, may be taught by the example of Your holy Family, and may after death enjoy its everlasting companionship.

Lord Jesus, help us ever to follow the example of Your holy Family, that in the hour of our death Your glorious Virgin Mother together with Saint Joseph may come to meet us, and we may be worthy to be received by You into the everlasting joys of heaven. You live and reign forever. Amen

Day 7 of my Novena to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Holy Family

O Most Blessed Mother, heart of love, heart of mercy, ever listening, caring, consoling, hear our prayer. As your children, we implore your intercession with Jesus your Son. Receive with understanding and compassion the petitions we place before you today...we especially want to adopt Baby J and make him a permanent part of our family. We pray for guidance for the judge and for all parties to the case to do the right thing by this little boy at the hearing this month. Loving Mother, dispenser of endless blessings, You who continuously intercedes on our behalf,
Please present my need before your loving Son Jesus.

We are comforted in knowing your heart is ever open to those who ask for your prayer. We trust to your gentle care and intercession, those whom we love and who are sick or lonely or hurting. Help all of us, Holy Mother, to bear our burdens in this life until we may share eternal life and peace with God forever.
Amen.

O Immaculate Heart of Mary,
I know that you are now presenting my need before Jesus,
For you have never turned away those in dire need.

Mother dearest, I await your favorable answer,
Submitting myself to the Divine will of the Lord,
For all glories are His forever and ever.
Amen

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of loving Holy Church as I should, above every earthly thing, and of ever showing my love by deeds.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of openly professing as I should, with courage and without human respect, the faith that I received as your gift in holy Baptism.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of sharing as I should in the defense and propagation of the Faith when duty calls, whether by word or by the sacrifice of my possessions and my life.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of loving my family and others in mutual charity as I should, and establish us in perfect harmony of thought, will, and action, under the rule and guidance of the shepherds of the Church.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of conforming my life fully as I should to the commandments of God’s law and those of His Holy Church, so as to live always in that charity which they set forth.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I ask in particular this special favor:
please allow us to be able to adopt Baby J. His hearing is at the end of this month and I pray for guidance for the judge and for all parties to the case to do the right thing by this little boy and help him to become a permanent member of our family. We love him so much and we ask you for this beautiful gift to add him to our family forever.

Dedication of One’s Family:
Most loving Jesus, by Your sublime and beautiful virtues of humility, obedience, poverty, modesty, charity, patience, and gentleness, You blessed with peace and happiness the family which You chose on earth. In Your mercy look upon my family. We belong to You, for we have received Your many blessings over many years and we entrust ourselves to Your loving care.

Look upon my family in Your loving kindness, preserve us from danger, give us help in time of need, and grant us the grace to persevere to the end in imitation of Your holy Family, so that having revered You and loved You faithfully on earth, we may praise You eternally in heaven.

Mary, dearest Mother, to your intercession we have recourse, knowing that your Divine Son will hear your prayers. Glorious patriarch, Saint Joseph, help us by your powerful prayers and offer our prayers to Jesus through Mary’s hands. Amen.


Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, being subject to Mary and Joseph, You sanctified family life by Your beautiful virtues. Grant that we, with the help of Mary and Joseph, may be taught by the example of Your holy Family, and may after death enjoy its everlasting companionship.

Lord Jesus, help us ever to follow the example of Your holy Family, that in the hour of our death Your glorious Virgin Mother together with Saint Joseph may come to meet us, and we may be worthy to be received by You into the everlasting joys of heaven. You live and reign forever. Amen

I need things to go uphill...

I am so ready to cry. I still don't feel 100%, but I thought I felt well enough for Andy to go back to work today. He left around 4. I woke up having horrilbe stomach pains, I got the girls up and ready for school...Deidra finger is looking worse. I go to get the boys up for school...Baby D still isn't feeling 100% and still says his tummy hurts. I change his diaper and notice a red inflamed area on his leg...look closer...there's 2 fang bites...so I start thinking spider bite. I put some triple antibiotic ointment over it and gave him some motrin. Ran the girls up to school and ran over to the agency so my caseworker could look at it...she's in training so I had the nurse look at it...yup, it's a spider bite. She asked me if I knew what kind it was...I never saw the insect. She told me if I couldn't get a hold of the doctor right away, that Ineeded to bring him up to the emergency room. I came home and Deidra's doctor called and said that the nurse could look at her finger and if the doctor needed todo anything, they'd work her in. I was calling Baby D's doctor and had to leave a message. I'm only giving her until 9 to call back or I'm heading to the emergency room as the girls only have a 1/2 day of school and I'm trying to cancel the visit for Little J and Baby D today as well as his ENT appt. I went to call Andy at work to see if he could meet me at the ER room...he's mad at me. I really don't want to have to sit in there for 3 hours to have to leave before he's seen because I have to go get the girls...I did that before and spent the whole darned day (literally) in the ER.

Update: Antibiotics for Baby D's bite in case it gets infected over the next 24-48 hours. And he's been complaining that his tummy has been hurting ever since he had the flu this week, so I had them check into that. At first she thought it was psychosomatic and the visits with his parents were bothering him and then when I said he had had a fever too and she listened to him with the stethoscope she said his abdomen sounded really full so she ordered an x-ray. He's really constipated which surprised me as he's been going and his stools have been soft. But, he's pretty backed up. She said it's probably like 2 lbs of poo stuck in there. We're increasing fluids and fiber to see if we can get things going. I also picked up some pedia-lax (they're little enemas to help them poo) and he went pretty good once I gave him one of those. He still says it hurts though. Poor baby! Andy did wind up meeting me at home to take him in and we got into a fight and both said some things we didn't mean to one another. I think my spirit was pretty broken today, but I'm just glad that we finally apologized and made everything right. My spirit is still hurt, but I can accept his apology.

Day 6 of my Novena to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Holy Family

O Most Blessed Mother, heart of love, heart of mercy, ever listening, caring, consoling, hear our prayer. As your children, we implore your intercession with Jesus your Son. Receive with understanding and compassion the petitions we place before you today...we especially want to adopt Baby J and make him a permanent part of our family. We pray for guidance for the judge and for all parties to the case to do the right thing by this little boy at the hearing this month. Loving Mother, dispenser of endless blessings, You who continuously intercedes on our behalf,
Please present my need before your loving Son Jesus.

We are comforted in knowing your heart is ever open to those who ask for your prayer. We trust to your gentle care and intercession, those whom we love and who are sick or lonely or hurting. Help all of us, Holy Mother, to bear our burdens in this life until we may share eternal life and peace with God forever.
Amen.

O Immaculate Heart of Mary,
I know that you are now presenting my need before Jesus,
For you have never turned away those in dire need.

Mother dearest, I await your favorable answer,
Submitting myself to the Divine will of the Lord,
For all glories are His forever and ever.
Amen

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of loving Holy Church as I should, above every earthly thing, and of ever showing my love by deeds.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of openly professing as I should, with courage and without human respect, the faith that I received as your gift in holy Baptism.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of sharing as I should in the defense and propagation of the Faith when duty calls, whether by word or by the sacrifice of my possessions and my life.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of loving my family and others in mutual charity as I should, and establish us in perfect harmony of thought, will, and action, under the rule and guidance of the shepherds of the Church.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of conforming my life fully as I should to the commandments of God’s law and those of His Holy Church, so as to live always in that charity which they set forth.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I ask in particular this special favor:
please allow us to be able to adopt Baby J. His hearing is at the end of this month and I pray for guidance for the judge and for all parties to the case to do the right thing by this little boy and help him to become a permanent member of our family. We love him so much and we ask you for this beautiful gift to add him to our family forever.

Dedication of One’s Family:
Most loving Jesus, by Your sublime and beautiful virtues of humility, obedience, poverty, modesty, charity, patience, and gentleness, You blessed with peace and happiness the family which You chose on earth. In Your mercy look upon my family. We belong to You, for we have received Your many blessings over many years and we entrust ourselves to Your loving care.

Look upon my family in Your loving kindness, preserve us from danger, give us help in time of need, and grant us the grace to persevere to the end in imitation of Your holy Family, so that having revered You and loved You faithfully on earth, we may praise You eternally in heaven.

Mary, dearest Mother, to your intercession we have recourse, knowing that your Divine Son will hear your prayers. Glorious patriarch, Saint Joseph, help us by your powerful prayers and offer our prayers to Jesus through Mary’s hands. Amen.


Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, being subject to Mary and Joseph, You sanctified family life by Your beautiful virtues. Grant that we, with the help of Mary and Joseph, may be taught by the example of Your holy Family, and may after death enjoy its everlasting companionship.

Lord Jesus, help us ever to follow the example of Your holy Family, that in the hour of our death Your glorious Virgin Mother together with Saint Joseph may come to meet us, and we may be worthy to be received by You into the everlasting joys of heaven. You live and reign forever. Amen

I hate the flu!

Baby D came down with the flu on Sunday and he's still not back to feeling 100%. Tuesday night he was up crying every hour because his tummy hurt. I had already been alternating tylenol and motrin with him, so I really didn't know what else to do. Thankfully, he was doing better by morning as I left a message with the doctor and she never called me back. Wednesday I woke up around 2 am and had a headache behind my eyes and felt achy all over. I told Andy that I thought I was getting sick. He left for work around 4:30 and I was up praying to the porcelain potty shortly after 5. I had no energy and honestly felt pretty miserable. I didn't even know how I was going to get the girl's up for school, let alone run after the boys. Andy called me at 6:30 to make sure I was up. I went upstairs to get the girls and Deidra needed to take a shower. She wouldn't get in for me because she was afraid that the water was going to hurt her finger (the one she really smashed the other day...it's still swollen and looks horrible...)so she was screaming bloody murder about having to take a bath. Little J didn't want to get up either and finally I just started crying. I'm not usually a baby when I am sick...but I was just so achy and nauseated that I just didn't know how to deal with everything. I came downstairs and called Andy and he told me that he had decided that he was coming home to help me and he'd work from home. What a sweetheart! He got here around 7 and was able to take over for me so that I could go lay down. I lost 4 1/2 lbs from being sick yesterday. Now, today, hopefully I'll be able to eat a little bit more than ginger ale and chicken noodle soup. I still feel pretty miserable...I hate the flu! Hopefully nobody else around here will get it as we're leaving for vacation on Monday.

Day 5 of my Novena to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Holy Family

O Most Blessed Mother, heart of love, heart of mercy, ever listening, caring, consoling, hear our prayer. As your children, we implore your intercession with Jesus your Son. Receive with understanding and compassion the petitions we place before you today...we especially want to adopt Baby J and make him a permanent part of our family. We pray for guidance for the judge and for all parties to the case to do the right thing by this little boy at the hearing this month. Loving Mother, dispenser of endless blessings, You who continuously intercedes on our behalf,
Please present my need before your loving Son Jesus.

We are comforted in knowing your heart is ever open to those who ask for your prayer. We trust to your gentle care and intercession, those whom we love and who are sick or lonely or hurting. Help all of us, Holy Mother, to bear our burdens in this life until we may share eternal life and peace with God forever.
Amen.

O Immaculate Heart of Mary,
I know that you are now presenting my need before Jesus,
For you have never turned away those in dire need.

Mother dearest, I await your favorable answer,
Submitting myself to the Divine will of the Lord,
For all glories are His forever and ever.
Amen

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of loving Holy Church as I should, above every earthly thing, and of ever showing my love by deeds.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of openly professing as I should, with courage and without human respect, the faith that I received as your gift in holy Baptism.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of sharing as I should in the defense and propagation of the Faith when duty calls, whether by word or by the sacrifice of my possessions and my life.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of loving my family and others in mutual charity as I should, and establish us in perfect harmony of thought, will, and action, under the rule and guidance of the shepherds of the Church.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of conforming my life fully as I should to the commandments of God’s law and those of His Holy Church, so as to live always in that charity which they set forth.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I ask in particular this special favor:
please allow us to be able to adopt Baby J. His hearing is at the end of this month and I pray for guidance for the judge and for all parties to the case to do the right thing by this little boy and help him to become a permanent member of our family. We love him so much and we ask you for this beautiful gift to add him to our family forever.

Dedication of One’s Family:
Most loving Jesus, by Your sublime and beautiful virtues of humility, obedience, poverty, modesty, charity, patience, and gentleness, You blessed with peace and happiness the family which You chose on earth. In Your mercy look upon my family. We belong to You, for we have received Your many blessings over many years and we entrust ourselves to Your loving care.

Look upon my family in Your loving kindness, preserve us from danger, give us help in time of need, and grant us the grace to persevere to the end in imitation of Your holy Family, so that having revered You and loved You faithfully on earth, we may praise You eternally in heaven.

Mary, dearest Mother, to your intercession we have recourse, knowing that your Divine Son will hear your prayers. Glorious patriarch, Saint Joseph, help us by your powerful prayers and offer our prayers to Jesus through Mary’s hands. Amen.


Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, being subject to Mary and Joseph, You sanctified family life by Your beautiful virtues. Grant that we, with the help of Mary and Joseph, may be taught by the example of Your holy Family, and may after death enjoy its everlasting companionship.

Lord Jesus, help us ever to follow the example of Your holy Family, that in the hour of our death Your glorious Virgin Mother together with Saint Joseph may come to meet us, and we may be worthy to be received by You into the everlasting joys of heaven. You live and reign forever. Amen

Day 4 of Novena to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and to the Holy Family

O Most Blessed Mother, heart of love, heart of mercy, ever listening, caring, consoling, hear our prayer. As your children, we implore your intercession with Jesus your Son. Receive with understanding and compassion the petitions we place before you today...we especially want to adopt Baby J and make him a permanent part of our family. We pray for guidance for the judge and for all parties to the case to do the right thing by this little boy at the hearing this month. Loving Mother, dispenser of endless blessings, You who continuously intercedes on our behalf,
Please present my need before your loving Son Jesus.

We are comforted in knowing your heart is ever open to those who ask for your prayer. We trust to your gentle care and intercession, those whom we love and who are sick or lonely or hurting. Help all of us, Holy Mother, to bear our burdens in this life until we may share eternal life and peace with God forever.
Amen.

O Immaculate Heart of Mary,
I know that you are now presenting my need before Jesus,
For you have never turned away those in dire need.

Mother dearest, I await your favorable answer,
Submitting myself to the Divine will of the Lord,
For all glories are His forever and ever.
Amen

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of loving Holy Church as I should, above every earthly thing, and of ever showing my love by deeds.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of openly professing as I should, with courage and without human respect, the faith that I received as your gift in holy Baptism.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of sharing as I should in the defense and propagation of the Faith when duty calls, whether by word or by the sacrifice of my possessions and my life.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of loving my family and others in mutual charity as I should, and establish us in perfect harmony of thought, will, and action, under the rule and guidance of the shepherds of the Church.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of conforming my life fully as I should to the commandments of God’s law and those of His Holy Church, so as to live always in that charity which they set forth.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I ask in particular this special favor:
please allow us to be able to adopt Baby J. His hearing is at the end of this month and I pray for guidance for the judge and for all parties to the case to do the right thing by this little boy and help him to become a permanent member of our family. We love him so much and we ask you for this beautiful gift to add him to our family forever.

Dedication of One’s Family:
Most loving Jesus, by Your sublime and beautiful virtues of humility, obedience, poverty, modesty, charity, patience, and gentleness, You blessed with peace and happiness the family which You chose on earth. In Your mercy look upon my family. We belong to You, for we have received Your many blessings over many years and we entrust ourselves to Your loving care.

Look upon my family in Your loving kindness, preserve us from danger, give us help in time of need, and grant us the grace to persevere to the end in imitation of Your holy Family, so that having revered You and loved You faithfully on earth, we may praise You eternally in heaven.

Mary, dearest Mother, to your intercession we have recourse, knowing that your Divine Son will hear your prayers. Glorious patriarch, Saint Joseph, help us by your powerful prayers and offer our prayers to Jesus through Mary’s hands. Amen.


Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, being subject to Mary and Joseph, You sanctified family life by Your beautiful virtues. Grant that we, with the help of Mary and Joseph, may be taught by the example of Your holy Family, and may after death enjoy its everlasting companionship.

Lord Jesus, help us ever to follow the example of Your holy Family, that in the hour of our death Your glorious Virgin Mother together with Saint Joseph may come to meet us, and we may be worthy to be received by You into the everlasting joys of heaven. You live and reign forever. Amen

First Day in My New Home

I used the snips and snails kit by Caroline Girl Creations for this page for Baby J's book. I can't get over how little he was back then.

Day 3 of My Novena to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and to the Holy Family

O Most Blessed Mother, heart of love, heart of mercy, ever listening, caring, consoling, hear our prayer. As your children, we implore your intercession with Jesus your Son. Receive with understanding and compassion the petitions we place before you today...we especially want to adopt Baby J and make him a permanent part of our family. We pray for guidance for the judge and for all parties to the case to do the right thing by this little boy at the hearing this month. Loving Mother, dispenser of endless blessings, You who continuously intercedes on our behalf,
Please present my need before your loving Son Jesus.

We are comforted in knowing your heart is ever open to those who ask for your prayer. We trust to your gentle care and intercession, those whom we love and who are sick or lonely or hurting. Help all of us, Holy Mother, to bear our burdens in this life until we may share eternal life and peace with God forever.
Amen.

O Immaculate Heart of Mary,
I know that you are now presenting my need before Jesus,
For you have never turned away those in dire need.

Mother dearest, I await your favorable answer,
Submitting myself to the Divine will of the Lord,
For all glories are His forever and ever.
Amen

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of loving Holy Church as I should, above every earthly thing, and of ever showing my love by deeds.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of openly professing as I should, with courage and without human respect, the faith that I received as your gift in holy Baptism.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of sharing as I should in the defense and propagation of the Faith when duty calls, whether by word or by the sacrifice of my possessions and my life.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of loving my family and others in mutual charity as I should, and establish us in perfect harmony of thought, will, and action, under the rule and guidance of the shepherds of the Church.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of conforming my life fully as I should to the commandments of God’s law and those of His Holy Church, so as to live always in that charity which they set forth.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I ask in particular this special favor:
please allow us to be able to adopt Baby J. His hearing is at the end of this month and I pray for guidance for the judge and for all parties to the case to do the right thing by this little boy and help him to become a permanent member of our family. We love him so much and we ask you for this beautiful gift to add him to our family forever.

Dedication of One’s Family:
Most loving Jesus, by Your sublime and beautiful virtues of humility, obedience, poverty, modesty, charity, patience, and gentleness, You blessed with peace and happiness the family which You chose on earth. In Your mercy look upon my family. We belong to You, for we have received Your many blessings over many years and we entrust ourselves to Your loving care.

Look upon my family in Your loving kindness, preserve us from danger, give us help in time of need, and grant us the grace to persevere to the end in imitation of Your holy Family, so that having revered You and loved You faithfully on earth, we may praise You eternally in heaven.

Mary, dearest Mother, to your intercession we have recourse, knowing that your Divine Son will hear your prayers. Glorious patriarch, Saint Joseph, help us by your powerful prayers and offer our prayers to Jesus through Mary’s hands. Amen.


Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, being subject to Mary and Joseph, You sanctified family life by Your beautiful virtues. Grant that we, with the help of Mary and Joseph, may be taught by the example of Your holy Family, and may after death enjoy its everlasting companionship.

Lord Jesus, help us ever to follow the example of Your holy Family, that in the hour of our death Your glorious Virgin Mother together with Saint Joseph may come to meet us, and we may be worthy to be received by You into the everlasting joys of heaven. You live and reign forever. Amen

My poor baby girl...

Deidra was riding her bike yesterday and went to avoid some people that were on the sidewalk and she totally smashed her right hand against a mailbox. Her fingers are all bruised and swollen and I think she's going to lose a fingernail as it's bruised so bad. The end of that finger (with the bruised fingernail) is all red and swollen and looks really bad. I'm going to bring her into the doctor today to have it looked at as she's still crying that it hurts pretty bad and with how red it is at the end, I think the pressure is building under that nail. I had to let her teacher know that she couldn't write very well with that being the hand she writes with. I feel awful for her.

UPDATE: I wound up bringing her to the doctor after school. He thought she may have broken the tip of her middle finger so he sent her for an x-ray. X-ray looked fine, so that was good. He said she did smash it pretty good and he wanted to poke a hole in her nail to relieve some of the pressure. Since she tends to get squeemish when she sees blood, I tried to distract her with her monkey while he did it. She was really brave and did really well. I was so proud of her. He told me though that with as good as she smashed it that he wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't lose her fingernail, but not to worry as she'd have a new one there when and if it happened. I feel bad for her though...you can tell it really hurts and it looks horrible.

Day 2 of the Novena to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and to the Holy Family

O Most Blessed Mother, heart of love, heart of mercy, ever listening, caring, consoling, hear our prayer. As your children, we implore your intercession with Jesus your Son. Receive with understanding and compassion the petitions we place before you today...we especially want to adopt Baby J and make him a permanent part of our family. We pray for guidance for the judge and for all parties to the case to do the right thing by this little boy at the hearing this month. Loving Mother, dispenser of endless blessings, You who continuously intercedes on our behalf,
Please present my need before your loving Son Jesus.

We are comforted in knowing your heart is ever open to those who ask for your prayer. We trust to your gentle care and intercession, those whom we love and who are sick or lonely or hurting. Help all of us, Holy Mother, to bear our burdens in this life until we may share eternal life and peace with God forever.
Amen.

O Immaculate Heart of Mary,
I know that you are now presenting my need before Jesus,
For you have never turned away those in dire need.

Mother dearest, I await your favorable answer,
Submitting myself to the Divine will of the Lord,
For all glories are His forever and ever.
Amen

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of loving Holy Church as I should, above every earthly thing, and of ever showing my love by deeds.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of openly professing as I should, with courage and without human respect, the faith that I received as your gift in holy Baptism.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of sharing as I should in the defense and propagation of the Faith when duty calls, whether by word or by the sacrifice of my possessions and my life.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of loving my family and others in mutual charity as I should, and establish us in perfect harmony of thought, will, and action, under the rule and guidance of the shepherds of the Church.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of conforming my life fully as I should to the commandments of God’s law and those of His Holy Church, so as to live always in that charity which they set forth.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I ask in particular this special favor:
please allow us to be able to adopt Baby J. His hearing is at the end of this month and I pray for guidance for the judge and for all parties to the case to do the right thing by this little boy and help him to become a permanent member of our family. We love him so much and we ask you for this beautiful gift to add him to our family forever.

Dedication of One’s Family:
Most loving Jesus, by Your sublime and beautiful virtues of humility, obedience, poverty, modesty, charity, patience, and gentleness, You blessed with peace and happiness the family which You chose on earth. In Your mercy look upon my family. We belong to You, for we have received Your many blessings over many years and we entrust ourselves to Your loving care.

Look upon my family in Your loving kindness, preserve us from danger, give us help in time of need, and grant us the grace to persevere to the end in imitation of Your holy Family, so that having revered You and loved You faithfully on earth, we may praise You eternally in heaven.

Mary, dearest Mother, to your intercession we have recourse, knowing that your Divine Son will hear your prayers. Glorious patriarch, Saint Joseph, help us by your powerful prayers and offer our prayers to Jesus through Mary’s hands. Amen.


Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, being subject to Mary and Joseph, You sanctified family life by Your beautiful virtues. Grant that we, with the help of Mary and Joseph, may be taught by the example of Your holy Family, and may after death enjoy its everlasting companionship.

Lord Jesus, help us ever to follow the example of Your holy Family, that in the hour of our death Your glorious Virgin Mother together with Saint Joseph may come to meet us, and we may be worthy to be received by You into the everlasting joys of heaven. You live and reign forever. Amen

Prayers for Baby D...

He hasn't been feeling the greatest ever since he woke up this morning. Poor baby came down with the flu this afternoon and started throwing up. You can tell that he just feels miserable. I pray that he feels better soon and that the rest of the household avoids getting it. I don't want anyone getting sick when we're due to go on vacation next week. Sea World here we come!

Day 1 of Novena to Immaculate Heart of Mary and to the Holy Family

O Most Blessed Mother, heart of love, heart of mercy, ever listening, caring, consoling, hear our prayer. As your children, we implore your intercession with Jesus your Son. Receive with understanding and compassion the petitions we place before you today...we especially want to adopt Baby J and make him a permanent part of our family. We pray for guidance for the judge and for all parties to the case to do the right thing by this little boy at the hearing this month. Loving Mother, dispenser of endless blessings, You who continuously intercedes on our behalf,
Please present my need before your loving Son Jesus.

We are comforted in knowing your heart is ever open to those who ask for your prayer. We trust to your gentle care and intercession, those whom we love and who are sick or lonely or hurting. Help all of us, Holy Mother, to bear our burdens in this life until we may share eternal life and peace with God forever.
Amen.

O Immaculate Heart of Mary,
I know that you are now presenting my need before Jesus,
For you have never turned away those in dire need.

Mother dearest, I await your favorable answer,
Submitting myself to the Divine will of the Lord,
For all glories are His forever and ever.
Amen

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of loving Holy Church as I should, above every earthly thing, and of ever showing my love by deeds.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of openly professing as I should, with courage and without human respect, the faith that I received as your gift in holy Baptism.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of sharing as I should in the defense and propagation of the Faith when duty calls, whether by word or by the sacrifice of my possessions and my life.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of loving my family and others in mutual charity as I should, and establish us in perfect harmony of thought, will, and action, under the rule and guidance of the shepherds of the Church.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of conforming my life fully as I should to the commandments of God’s law and those of His Holy Church, so as to live always in that charity which they set forth.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I ask in particular this special favor:
please allow us to be able to adopt Baby J. His hearing is at the end of this month and I pray for guidance for the judge and for all parties to the case to do the right thing by this little boy and help him to become a permanent member of our family. We love him so much and we ask you for this beautiful gift to add him to our family forever.

Dedication of One’s Family:
Most loving Jesus, by Your sublime and beautiful virtues of humility, obedience, poverty, modesty, charity, patience, and gentleness, You blessed with peace and happiness the family which You chose on earth. In Your mercy look upon my family. We belong to You, for we have received Your many blessings over many years and we entrust ourselves to Your loving care.

Look upon my family in Your loving kindness, preserve us from danger, give us help in time of need, and grant us the grace to persevere to the end in imitation of Your holy Family, so that having revered You and loved You faithfully on earth, we may praise You eternally in heaven.

Mary, dearest Mother, to your intercession we have recourse, knowing that your Divine Son will hear your prayers. Glorious patriarch, Saint Joseph, help us by your powerful prayers and offer our prayers to Jesus through Mary’s hands. Amen.


Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, being subject to Mary and Joseph, You sanctified family life by Your beautiful virtues. Grant that we, with the help of Mary and Joseph, may be taught by the example of Your holy Family, and may after death enjoy its everlasting companionship.

Lord Jesus, help us ever to follow the example of Your holy Family, that in the hour of our death Your glorious Virgin Mother together with Saint Joseph may come to meet us, and we may be worthy to be received by You into the everlasting joys of heaven. You live and reign forever. Amen.

More Novenas for Baby J

Baby J's hearing is on the 25th of this month. I pray that we will be able to adopt him. We all love him so much and he's just fit right in our family from the very beginning. So, I'm going to pray 2 novenas this week...one to
the Holy Family


and one to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

It's early in the morning...

Wow...it's 7:30 in the morning and we've already been outside to build a snowman. lol. The girls had a 2-hour delay and all while we were outside that's all you can hear is sirens. I have our snowman in the freezer so he doesn't melt before Andy can see him.. I'll share pics later. :-) I gotta go get the girls in the bathtub and ready for school and then I'm taking Baby D into the doctor.

We're supposed to get more snow...

We got snow in the middle of the night a couple of days ago...the only way you could tell were the car roofs as it didn't stick to the ground where we are. Well, the weather is supposed to go downhill later this evening and we may get up to 2" of snow. The girls want to be able to make a snowman...but I'm thinking schools are going to be closed tomorrow since people really freak out about this stuff down here.

Fostering is such a roller coaster ride...

Abba, I pray for the strength and peace to get through all of this. I know this is my calling, so I just need to trust You. Baby J's court hearing is this month. THe CPS worker was holding out hope that his mom would relinquish her rights and do the open adoption that she was wanting. We found out that this judge doesn't terminate on teen mom's so that's our only hope of adopting him at this time. Then, my agency worker said that she was starting to think that his mom is trying to get out of RTC so that she can get Baby J back, but she couldn't divulge any more than that because of HIPPA. I understand that, but it's so hard not knowing all this and what's going to happen. I just want to be able to prepare my heart. I guess I'm just going to have to prepare for the fact that he probably will go back to Mom now at some point. If she gets out of RTC, she'll more than likely go into foster care or independant living like she wanted before and then she'll have her case plan to work while she finds housing, a job, and has her weekly visits with Baby J before she can get him back. That's what I'm thinking anyway, but of course I may be way off base. I guess we'll know for sure at his hearing at the end of this month once everything is laid out on the table and we know where it's all headed. I pray that the judge will do the right thing by this baby boy and only You, Abba, truly know what that is. I pray that you will give the judge guidance along with all the people involved in the case at the hearing this month.

I met with Little J's kindergarten teacher on Tuesday. We're going to hold her back in kindergarten one more year and if she still struggles to retain the information next year, they'll test her for a learning disability. I really think she's got one, especially with her IQ as low as it is. But, they're hesitant to test her this early. They said if she struggles later on, they can't test her until the 3rd grade, so they think it's best to hold off on testing now in case she needs it when she's in first or second grade. We asked if there was a summer school program that she could attend as I worry about her being out of school for the summer and forgetting what she learned this year. The teacher said she could definitely attend summer school, but she'd have to do it at our school district so the parents would have to drive her back and forth. I don't know what they'll decide to do about that, but we'll see. I worry about her...her behavior and self-confidence have been so much better lately though. She's come a long way since November.

Baby D has his moments of defiance, but for the most part he is very mild-mannered and very sweet and he just absorbs everything we teach him. He's so smart too for only being 2 1/2. He can recognize his alphabet now (he gets confused on V and Y and I and J sometimes) and is counting to 5 now and can even recognize a couple of numbers now. He is a little sponge and it is so fun teaching him things.

I hate health insurance...

the one downside to Andy's insurance policy at work is that it's over $400 just to add me to his plan and if we want to add both me and Deidra it's over $900 a month. They pay for Andy...he just has to pay for part of his funding his HSA.

So, we decided to put Deidra and I on a individualized plan of our own...I just hate that we can't all be on one plan to make it simpler. Oh well...it's not Andy's fault that his company's insurance policy is so expensive for a family plan.

The boys...

My Dad has been in town this week off and on to get some of his stuff taken care of. He was over the past couple of days here at the house and the first day that he was here the boys were just out of control. Baby J has figured out how to climb everything, especially his crib, and when he gets tired he gets evil...he will run in circles getting into everything that he's not supposed to. He's also getting good at the whole pouty face and temper tantrums..you know the whole terrible two behavior. Baby D has been getting more defiant lately and with watching his older sister throw her fits...he's now starting to try to imitate that and if I have anything to do with it...he's just not going to act like that...so lots of time outs for him. Anyway, I tried the first day my Dad was here to get them to take their normal nap for 3 hours...it was constant with having to go in there and put Baby J back in his crib. Baby D thought it was hilarious and so he wouldn't go to sleep either. Baby D definitely needs a nap everyday or he gets exceptionally whiny and more defiant. So, it was a day that they wouldn't take a nap, someone was constantly getting into something or throwing a fit. My Dad looked at me and said "how long are you going to do this? I could not do this." I tried to explain that it's not always like this...it was just a bad day. Keep in mind too that the whole day, I was trying to do Dad's taxes for him (federal and 2 state returns (he lived in one state but worked in another) and we had stuff going on with the car too (we traded in Andy's Saturn and couldn't find the title for the life of us...then we were trying to figure out if when we applied for the Texas title if they held it since at the time we were still paying his car off...the car has been paid off for a few months now...but we were trying to find where are title was...I had Andy calling to ask me for account numbers and phone numbers and all that fun stuff too). It was just a really hectic day...

Yesterday, they started out on the evil side...more whining, temper tantrums, and not leaving things alone. My Dad found an error on his taxes and we were going to have to amend his returns...I sign on and found out his taxes were rejected anyway so we didn't have to amend his returns and go through that hassle...I just got to fix the return and fix the error that got them rejected in the first place (his soon to be ex-wife's social security number didn't match the last name that we had down for her...she had never legally changed her last name apparently). Sent in another e-file...reprinted everything and we were good to go. Tried to put the boys down for a nap, Baby J got out of his crib a few times...finally I decided if he just stayed in his room I didn't care. He wound up going in his closet and shutting the door and taking a nap in there and Baby D fell asleep in his crib. They were so much better once they woke up and my Dad said "well, today wasn't that bad...they're a lot better behaved when they've had a nap." That's what I was trying to tell him the day before. When he left last night he said "well, you definitely have your hands full, but you're good with them." Mom took Deidra to movie night at school last night and she came in to talk a little bit before she went home and she said to me that she can see how much all the kids have blossomed here just in the short time they've been here and she knows I have my hands full and that we did a good job. That meant a lot to me that she said that. I told her if anything though I think my Dad got an eye opener...I think he thinks that I'm at home now and that I have all the time in the world to do things. So, I think he sees why it takes me so long to accomplish some simple tasks now with constantly having to run after the boys...but I know it's just a stage and they'll eventually simmer down too.

The bad days can be hard...I definitely look forward to Andy walking through the door at the end of the day, but thankfully we have more good days than bad ones. They really are sweet little boys...and with them being 10 months apart in age it can be a bit busy sometimes. But, I love seeing them learning new things, playing together, and all the cute things that they do. And they are momma's boys and I eat that right up too. Baby J is getting so good at his terrible two behavior, but I have to try not to laugh sometimes...you tell him no and he sticks that lower lip out and looks away from you and then you watch him and he'll eventually look back at you to see if he can get away with it anyway and I think he thinks that if he's not looking at you that you can't see what he's doing. It's too cute sometimes and it's too funny. Yes, he's a handful in a half lately, but I love that baby boy to pieces. Baby D is so smart too, I just love listening to him tell us all the things that he knows now and his speech has exploded and he's getting clearer and clearer all the time. It's awesome to know that I've taught him so much and that all the speech therapy we've been doing for him is paying off. He just absorbs everything that we try and teach him too. I get so proud of him telling me his letters and we're working on number recognition now...he just eats that stuff right up and I'm so proud of him for being 2 1/2 years old and knowing all that he does. He's a very smart little guy!

My allergies are bothering me...

Things are starting to green up around here which is a great thing...don't get me wrong....this time of the year always brings a smile to my face when I'm outside. However, I went to bed with a runny nose, my throat feels a bit on the raw side and my ears are feeling the same way. Now, it's 4 am and I woke up sneezing, I have a headache, and my ears hurt. I just got up to take some sinus and allergy pills and am sipping on some ice water to help my throat. Gotta love seasonal allergies...