500 Babies

Happy Campers

2011-11-30T07:59:00.000-06:00

Earlier this month Billy and the big kids spent a weekend at a Father-Child Retreat hosted by Camp Lone Star. Last year he just took Joe, but this year we decided the Wonder Twins were ready to go as well. (All seven of us actually spent a weekend there this summer for Family Camp - quite an adventure, let me tell you and one I really should share sometime!)

Anyway, the weekend was all about dads and kids spending time together enjoying God's creation and learning how God is "Mighty to Save".

After a two-hour drive, the happy campers were ready to stretch their legs and seek out their lodgings.

Once everyone was settled in, it was time for games and snacks with the other dads and kids.

The next day was filled with tons of activities, including the one you see below. But I don't know what it is because I wasn't there. Ok, so I just asked Daniel and Mikea what it was and they told me they were catching people in the net. Hmmm....

During one of the Bible study sessions, the kids acted out the story of Joseph and the coat of many colors. Who better to play Joseph than Joseph, complete with a coat that is about as non-multi-colored as you can get! Oh well, we get the point.

Time to color!

I don't know what frightens me more: the fact that my daughter is wielding a hatchet or the expression on her face!

Whew, that's better. I much prefer a ping-pong paddle in her hands and a smile on her face!

Speaking of smiles...here is Dan the Man reveling in apple cobbler and ice cream bliss.

A highlight for Joe was posing with the camp's fire truck. It was purchased due to this year's wildfire danger.

The weekend also included hiking, S'mores, and a worship service on Sunday morning.

And this is what the weekend was all about: quality time with Dad! (And a break for Mom, too!)

500 Babies Go To The Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-31T08:34:00.000-06:00

365 Days

2011-09-20T06:00:00.001-05:00

9/20/2010
~Approximately 1-pound premature baby girl presents to EMS in towel with gasping respirations. Fire crew suctioned, dried, and cut the cord. Patient is cyanotic and limp, without palpable pulse. Patient transferred immediately to unit and ventilated. Chest compressions also started. Patient began grunting during ventilation and color improved from cyanotic to red. Upon arrival at ER patient has weak cry, is opening eyes, and moves all extremities.

9/20/2011

Happy 1st birthday sweet, precious Rebekah! You are living proof of God's amazing power, protection, and love!

Let's Go On A Bug Hunt!

2011-09-18T20:24:00.000-05:00

There isn't much incentive to go outside when it's miserably hot and dry, but we thought yesterday's rain(hooray!) might entice a few bugs to venture out, making the perfect opportunity to try out our brand-new bug-huts.

First, assemble your bug-hunting team. (Coordinating outfits optional.)

Next, go over the rules: No ants or spiders. Avoid all poisonous insects. The kids made a few rules of their own, such as "No stinkbugs" (Joe) and "No eating grass or ants. And don't touch dog poop" (Mikea). Awesome! Let the hunting commence...

Well, the hunters quickly found out that the only insects to be found were ants, ants, and more ants. Disappointment hung thickly in the hot, sticky air.

Daniel took it the hardest.

But the children persisted and soon discovered a purple of couple tiny moths. Oops, I mean a couple of tiny purple mouths. Um, moths.

I handed out the nets and after a few failed attempts, Mikea caught a moth!

After a couple of minutes and under Daniel's watchful eye, Mikea decided to release her captive. Good girl!

Adrian was perfectly happy just finding rocks. Oh, to be 2 again.

Overall, the bug hunt was kind of a failure, but it can only get better the next time we try, right?

Kindergarten, Here We Come!

2011-08-23T07:54:00.000-05:00

Great googly-moogly, where did the summer go? It flew by in a flash of fun for sure, and it makes me realize that's how quickly my kids are growing up. Yesterday Joe started Kindergarten and I'm having anxiety that the school years are now just going to zip by and tomorrow my babies will be moving out of the nest. Not that I won't be a bit relieved to go back to doing laundry for 2 instead of 7 (it's a killer, I tell you), but man, I love these children and can't imagine my house not being filled to overflowing with them.

So how did our guy do on his first day? Great, of course. Joe has a huge advantage in that he went to Pre-K at the same school last year, so he's already familiar with the school, teachers, and "school culture" which is basically what a lot of these first days of Kindergarten are about. One funny thing that happened was in the morning after Billy dropped Joe off in the cafeteria with his class, Joe apparently opened up his lunch box and started eating his lunch! I'm sure he saw other kids eating breakfast and figured since he was in the cafeteria that's what he was supposed to do.

Here's Joe and Billy before heading off to school together. Billy began his 10th year of teaching yesterday, by the way, and this will be his second year teaching 3rd grade.

Here's Joe and his new teacher. She's wonderful and I can already tell Joe's going to thrive in her class!

In the afternoon I pretended to be June Cleaver and baked fresh chocolate chip cookies for Joe. Aw, how special. Hee hee. (I can tell you it's been a long while since homemade cookies were made in this house.)

So there you have it. Joe's first day of Kindergarten. It left me a little sad, a little happy, and a lot proud!

500 Calves

2011-07-09T17:55:00.001-05:00

What has 7 heads, 7 tails, 14 ears, and 64 spots? Anyone?
The Moo-rrison Family Herd, that's what.

That's right. We all dressed up like cows yesterday to get free meals at Chik-Fil-A. It took a day and a half to make the costumes, but I'm telling you it was worth every minute! Especially to see this little cutie all dressed up:

Here's Daddy Cow and the Calves:

And Mama Cow and the Calves:

Before we left, the older cows decided to do a little grazing outside:

Then they said, "Mooooooooo!"

Now as cute as sweet Rebekah is from this view, wait until you see....

her little tail!

After the meal the calves romped around in the play area for a bit.

And then took loooong naps when we got home. That's what I'm talking about!

Beach Babies 2011

2011-07-06T06:00:00.001-05:00

Celebrating the 4th!

2011-07-05T09:01:00.000-05:00

It's been a BUSY summer for the 500 Babies! We just returned from a weekend at camp (more about that later!), and even though we were all still pretty tired we managed to pull together a 4th of July celebration. I started the day by trying to teach the kids some patriotic songs, but they weren't really into it. I guess I should have fed them breakfast first. Hmmm.

The next order of business was to make flags. It was a little maddening getting everyone to have the proper quantities of glue and correct placement of stripes, but in the end it all worked out ok!

We contemplated making cool firework pictures with glitter, but I'm still getting over the last glitter incident and decided one art project would be enough.

Later on in the day we cooked up a 4th of July feast: grilled corn, pineapple/chicken skewers, red/white/blue nachos, rocket dogs, and fruit pizza.

Here's the whole gang ready to dig in! If you look closely you can see Brad in his regular spot under the table, ready to catch any food that falls his way. I really owe a lot to Brad and Darcy for keeping my floors clean!

After the meal we headed out to the backyard to pop a few snappers. Then Dad showed the kids how to draw fireworks on the fence since the real ones were banned.

My beauties!

All in all it was another great day with the 500 Babies.

God Bless America!

Joyful Day!

2011-06-30T08:57:00.002-05:00

Nine months ago God placed this tiny wisp of a child into our arms and our hearts...

and last Friday we were blessed to officially welcome Rebekah Vivien into our family!

Energy levels were high as the big kids excitedly waited for the adoption ceremony to begin.

We came prepared with stickers and snacks and managed to keep the kiddos relatively quiet during the ceremony. In a matter of moments, our family was made complete!

After the ceremony Adrian took advantage of a brief moment of freedom to take off running through the crowd of people gathering to pose for pictures with the judge. When I finally cornered him at the back of the room, I saw where he was headed: the table of cupcakes and candy! I really can't blame him, now can I?

Speaking of the cupcakes...oh dear, let's just move on.

After the ceremony we were joined by a small group of friends and family for a celebration lunch. Adrian had a power nap between the ceremony and lunch, so he was fully recharged and ready for action. Thank goodness Aunt Deb was there to take control of the little guy for us!

While waiting for our meal, Joe was introduced to the world of Angry Birds.

And here we have the star of the show, all pooped out from the excitement of her big day.

Relief, joy, gratitude. That pretty much sums up our emotions for the day! Thank you, God, for bringing sweet Rebekah into our lives and allowing us to become her Forever Family!

Scavenger Hunt Hike

2011-06-11T15:44:00.000-05:00

Our first hike of the summer! And this wasn't just any hike, it was a Scavenger Hunt Hike. I made a list of items for the kids to find (3 different kind of tree leaves, 2 insects, a tree root, pink flower, etc.) to give a little more purpose and direction to the hike.

The kids were quite observant, stopping frequently to ask questions and give commentary on what they found. For example, when Dan came across this plant with drooping leaves he announced, "This plant is sad."

Mikea noticed the holes in the leaves of another plant and when I asked what she thought made the holes, she explained, "A cata-pitter."

Joe discovered sinewy tree roots criss-crossing our path. Very cool!

And Adrian got to pose with the amazing heart rock we found!

All of the kids had lots of great questions about this fallen tree.

Then Dad showed them how to coax antlions out of their dens.

Speaking of dens, Daniel and Mikea discovered a small hole in this tree trunk, and began feverishly filing it with dry leaves because they were convinced a bear lived inside and they didn't want it to get out.

We didn't find everything on our list, but the fun was in the hunting. Our biggest surprise was an armadillo who scurried across the road as we were leaving! I'll have to add that to the list for next time.

Summer Kick-Off

2011-06-07T13:28:00.000-05:00

The "Fummer of Sun" has begun! Oh, I mean "Summer of Fun". Yikes. Listen, I had to get up 6 times between midnight and 6 this morning, so my brain's a little foggy. Three times were for Joe (he needed a tissue, then he lost his tissue in bed, then he was scared to go to the bathroom), two times were to feed Rebekah, and the sixth time was a false alarm when I thought I heard a little voice calling out, "Mom".

Anyway, now that school's out for the summer I have two whole months to enjoy with my husband at home. Obviously I'm relieved to have the extra help with the kiddos, but I also just love having my best friend with me all day long.  We've got tons of fun activities and outings planned for the family this summer and we kicked things off Saturday night with a birthday celebration for Nana! Nana is the children's great-grandmother and she is one amazing lady. We were honored to celebrate her special day with her!

Then on Monday we celebrated Uncle Nate's birthday and the children met many of their cousins for the first time. For some reason my camera refused to work so there are no shots of the glorious occasion. But after consuming inordinate quantities of ice cream, candy, cake, and Slim Jims (ok, Mikea was the only one who ate the Slim Jims), the kids were moving so fast the camera probably wouldn't even have captured them. You think I'm kidding, but just ask anyone who was there.

These two birthday celebrations were a great reminder of how blessed we are by our families. Our children were surrounded with loving, warm, and fun individuals who are true gifts to us. We love you, Extended Family Members!!!

A Little Disappointment

2011-06-04T08:49:00.000-05:00

Monday was supposed to be Rebekah's adoption day. The i's were dotted and t's crossed, or so we thought, until about 2:00 yesterday afternoon when we learned we can't complete the adoption until Billy and I get updated fingerprints for a background check. We submitted fingerprints 4 years ago when we were in the process of becoming verified for foster care, but our attorney said the judge will probably want a more recent submission. (I'd like to ask them how, with all these kids, they think I've had time to commit any crimes??) We'd never heard of this any of the other 3 times we've adopted and really don't understand why we didn't find out about it until the last day before the adoption was scheduled. We've spent some time trying to figure out who was to blame, but sooner or later you realize it doesn't really matter and it's pointless to dwell on being angry. We're disappointed, but the bottom line is we're still going to adopt Rebekah, we just have to wait a few more weeks .

Our little girl has been doing great! She's 8 months old now and received an excellent report from the developmental specialists who saw her earlier this week. We've got a few exercises to do with her for some stiffness in her neck and to encourage rolling over. We were also instructed to reduce the calorie mix of her formula - apparently she's getting a little too chunky! Rebekah's adored by her siblings and her favorite person in the house is Daddy, of course. She showers him with smiles and wiggles in delight whenever he's around.

So as you can see, we have an abundance of blessings to be thankful for and will continue on in faith and trust that God's timing, not ours, is what is best for us.

Oh, Adrian!

2011-05-19T08:46:00.000-05:00

The other day I discovered Adrian carefully lining up cans of Mt. Dew on a diaper box and I had a quick internal dialogue as to what would be the proper course of parental action. The voice of reason spoke first and said, "Make him stop because soda cans aren't toys, he's going to drop them on his toes and get hurt, and the cans will explode and you'll have a sticky mess to clean up." Ok, that sounds reasonable. But then other voice chimed in and said, "Oh, how cute! Let's see what he does next." My curiosity got the better of me so I let him continue, eager to see where his curiosity would lead.

Well, Adrian must have remembered seeing Mommy drinking a LOT of these pretty green cans lately, becase he decided to try to take a sip. No harm, I thought. There's no WAY he can open one by himself.

Or can he? Doesn't his shirt look a bit wet?

And Adrian appears to be concentrating VERY hard on what he's doing.

Uh oh...I know that look...it's the intoxicating blend of sugar and caffeine. But how did he open the can?

Oh. With his teeth.

At this point the voice of reason took over and I quickly removed all cans from Adrian's reach lest he break a tooth or something. And although this picture isn't from the Mt. Dew incident, I'm sure this is exactly how he felt towards me:

Tee hee. I love that little guy. But I really am a nice mama because I let him do other things like destroy the house with loads of shredded newspaper, right?

Right!

Love you, Mr. Adrian!

Snapshots of Spring

2011-05-02T11:38:00.000-05:00

Even though it feels like all we've done the past 6 weeks is suffer from allergies, asthma, and other sicknesses, we did in fact find plenty of ways to celebrate spring with a little gardening, a little art, and a couple of egg hunts.

And now, summer's just around the corner!

500 Babies Go To A Fiesta Parade

2011-04-15T15:35:00.000-05:00

It's time for Fiesta! Who's ready for a parade?

It's not Battle of Flowers, but it's the next best thing...the Masters Elementary Pre-K/Kinder Fiesta Parade!

Mikea received a gorgeous flower...

...but Daniel didn't.

But snacks make everything all better.

And here's our boy Joe decked out in his Fiesta hat with his Fiesta float.

By the time Rebekah is in Kindergarten, we will have had to make ten of these floats!

Happy Fiesta y'all!

500 Babies Go To Dinosaur Valley

2011-04-05T13:37:00.000-05:00

I don't know about you, but Spring Break feels like it was ages ago, instead of a mere two weeks. We took a short trip up to Glen Rose to check out Dinosaur Valley State Park and enjoy some quality family time together.

We stayed in a small cabin out in the middle of nowhere, and it was exactly what we needed.

The setting was beautiful, quiet, and peaceful. Yes, even with 5 kids and 2 dogs!

The clean, comfortable cabin turned out to be much nicer than we were expecting. There were games, horseshoes, and even a croquet set for the kids to enjoy.

We discovered wild turkeys on the property, wild turkeys on the cabin walls....

and a wild turkey at dinner!

Ice cream on the porch...a sweet way to end the day!

Yum!

On our second day we rose bright and early to check out Dinosaur World.
Joe appears remarkably calm despite the horrific fate that awaits him.

We decided to feed the other children to the dinosaurs as well. (Mikea looks scared but she really wasn't.)

Then Joe got sick. (This was the beginning of the wave of illness that swept through our family and eventually landed Baby Rebekah in the hospital.)

He perked up after a couple of hours and we ended the day with smores...

and messes...

and an expedition to find fossils.

It's unanimous: the trip was a blast!

And how could it not be with this bunch?

Adventures at the Hospital

2011-04-02T16:46:00.000-06:00

If you would have told me that between me and my husband we would be spending the majority of the past six days at three different hospitals in two different cities, I would've said, "Not possible." (Of course I also never would have believed that we'd ever take two kids to the ER in one night, either.) But, that's exactly what happened this week. One of the patients was the little cutie you see below, and the other was my mother who I doubt would appreciate pictures of her in the hospital plastered all over the Internet. The good news is both ladies are much better and resting comfortably at home.

Rebekah was hospitalized with a viral respiratory infection. I'll spare the details except to say we had taken her to the doctor twice last week and again this week when she was sent to the ER. All of our kids had been sick the week before but it hit Rebekah the hardest because she's a preemie and therefore more susceptible to these types of things.

The time I spent in the hospital was a bit of a break from the grind of daily life, yet tiring in its own way. Billy and I switched shifts, each spending two nights with her. Family and friends pitched in to help care for the big kids, transport Joe to and from school, and help Billy prepare substitute work for his classroom. And of course there were so many more people who offered their prayers and words of encouragement - thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Rebekah Is Six Months Old!

2011-03-22T07:08:00.000-06:00

It's hard to believe that on Sunday our little miracle turned six months old! We've completed the first step of the adoption process, the HSEGH (Health-Social-Educational-Genetic History), and the next step is to get a developmental assessment completed on her. In the past two weeks we've lost both our agency caseworker (3rd staffing change in 4 months) and Rebekah's TDFPS worker. We're doing our best to remain optimistic that the adoption process will still go as quickly as possible despite all of the changes in staff members. We are so ready to be D-O-N-E with the regulations and red tape and start living life as a "normal" family!

You can see from the pictures below how big Rebekah's getting! She'll be officially weighed tomorrow, but I'm guessing she's around 12-13 pounds.

Little Rebekah is nothing but a delight, quick to share her sweet smiles with everyone and she has begun gurgling and cooing in conversation with us. She's sleeping much better at night and can sleep soundly for stretches of up to 4 hours at a time!

She's been taking a special high-calorie formula and a daily vitamin up to this point, but we expect her doctor to take her off of those at her next check-up.

After the rough start to her little life, we are so thankful that God has allowed our Rebekah to grow and thrive in such a remarkable way!

Summer Flashback: The Long Road Home Part 2

2011-03-08T08:05:00.000-06:00

In honor of Mardi Gras, today I'm sharing the highlights of our visit to New Orleans last summer...

Day 3:
With 2 days left of an almost 2-week vacation with all 4 kids, we we all feeling the "effects". But today's destination was the one I was most excited about for our return trip home: New Orleans! I have many treasured memories of trips to New Orleans to visit my grandmother and since my mother was born and raised there, I feel a special connection to the city.

But to get there, we had to spend most of the day driving through hot, sticky Mississippi. It's the kind of suffocating heat and humidity that takes your breath away and sucks the energy clear out of you.

Here we have Miss Mikea glistening with sweat at our stop for lunch. Poor baby looks so tired.

Daniel strikes a catalog modeling pose. (I don't think he wanted his picture taken. Or maybe he was just hot.)

Adrian found more sticks, of course.

But this stop also provided fun in the form of.....pine cones!

After lunch we drove through pouring rain and I prayed we wouldn't run into a tornado. By around 4:00 we reached our destination and I drove straight to the neighborhood where my mother grew up. I was a little nervous driving around because the streets are super narrow and we honestly didn't know how safe the neighborhood was anymore. We found St. Paul Lutheran church, founded by German Lutherans in 1840, where my great-grandfather was pastor and where my parents were married. The church still operates a school and I encourage you to check out their website, especially the photos on the What's Happening section. The church and school are an amazing ministry to the community. You can also read testimonials from parents, including one family who left the area after Katrina, but moved back because they missed the quality of education their children received at St. Paul.

We also drove past the cemetery where my grandparents are buried. I wanted to go in, but the cemeteries are considered unsafe to visit unless you're with a group. And I don't think our "group" counts!

We were just a hop, skip, and a jump away from the French Market, our next destination. Below you will see the 500 Babies standing in front of the mighty Mississippi! A bunch of squirmy kids standing feet from the river was enough to make me nervous so we soon left to go find the famous Cafe Du Monde.

The place was crowded and then some, so we had to wait very patiently for our beignets.

Oh, but they were worth the wait!

Powdered sugar bliss.

After our snack, we walked around taking in the sights. Our visit coincided with the beginning of the National Youth Gathering for the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, so there were hordes of Lutheran teenagers everywhere! At one point while we were walking down the sidewalk, Daniel lost his shoe. A kind young man found it and brought it to us. Daniel had walked almost a block barefoot and didn't even tell us!

The kids were fascinated by the street performers, especially "Robot Man" and Billy convinced them to stand next to him for a picture. As cool as Robot Man was from a distance, the looks on the kids' faces tell you that he's a little unnerving close-up.

We had to say good-bye to New Orleans sooner than I would have liked, but dinner and our beds were calling.

Day 5:

I only have one picture of our last day. This is in front of the swamp next to our hotel right before we loaded up and spent one more day driving to get home.

There's not much more to say, other than it was an amazing trip and I can't wait to do it again, this time with one more little passenger added to the mix!

Project: Simplify

2011-03-07T15:38:00.001-06:00

Want to get organized and simplify your life? Nothing sounds better to me! So for the next 5 weeks I'm participating in Project: Simplify over at Simple Mom. Each week Tsh will announce a hot spot in our home. We have the week to declutter, clean, and organize that area and then share the results (including before and after photos) on Friday.

To prepare, Tsh asked everyone to write a family purpose statement. This is an important first step, she says, because, "When you make your home better suited to your family’s purpose, then it’s easier to care about where things go, what stays and goes, and how clean (or disheveled) it is. It’s easier to live there, because it feels like home." Amen!

Billy and I had already started writing a family purpose statement several months ago during one of our date nights, but we never finished it. So last night we brainstormed some ideas and this is what we came up with:

We will live our lives guided by God’s word, daily aiming to:

As individuals ~

Being kind, forgiving, honest, selfless, diligent, playful, and lifelong learners.

As a family ~

Putting each other first, working together, and embracing healthy habits.

As members of our community ~

Sharing God’s love through our words and deeds.

I printed it up, put it in an empty frame I had sitting in drawer, and voila! now our family has a purpose!

If you're interested in joining us, head on over to Simple Mom today and find out what this week's first hot spot is! I've only gotten as far as my before photos (shudder), but the beauty is I still have the rest of the week to finish. Come on! You know you want to!

Summer Flashback: The Long Road Home Part 1

2011-03-02T08:11:00.009-06:00

Last summer I never got around to finishing the story of our great adventure to Michigan and back. I joked that it was taking me so long it'd be December before I finished. Well, clearly I shouldn't have joked because March is upon us and I still have stories left untold!

We resume our story as the 500 Babies and their parents prepare to leave Michigan and begin the long trek home to Texas...

We decided to take four days to drive home in order to travel at a more leisurely pace and enjoy some sights along the way. Now I wouldn't necessarily describe the experience as leisurely and there were quite a few non-enjoyable experiences, but all in all we're happy with our decision to add an extra day of travel.

Day 1
On day one we learned that if you don't realize you're driving through a construction zone and an Ohio state trooper pulls you over for speeding and you tell him your toddler desperately needs a bathroom (he did), the trooper will be quite courteous in giving directions to the nearest rest stop. He will also then proceed to give you a ticket. Not the best way to start the day, but those things happen and then you move on with your life.

These first few shots are of our pit stop near Dayton. Is Mikea grabbing Daniel's ear? Silly girl.

Hmm...looking back through the pictures, it seems that at every stop along the way the kids always managed to grab sticks to play with.

Poking a stick in a hole seems to be quite intriguing to Daniel.

I'm not sure what he found.

We were staying the night in Louisville and had planned to make a stop at the Kentucky Horse Park, but we arrived later than intended and decided the admission price wouldn't be worth the amount of time we had to spend before it closed. So we found a small, free city park instead and spent a few minutes enjoying the fresh air.

Joe was thrilled to find an abandoned football.

We were all enjoying ourselves when I discovered shards of glass littering the ground. Since we prefer our children not play with broken glass we quit the park and headed to our hotel.

The next day just happened to be Mr. Adrian's 1st birthday and because we had a full day of driving and sightseeing planned, we decided to celebrate the night before with dinner out and ice cream sundaes for dessert. (One good thing about the lateness of these posts is at least now I can share pictures with Adrian's face!)

We stopped at Wal-Mart to buy food for lunch the next day and also picked up a few presents for Adrian to open in the hotel. Happy Birthday, big guy!

Day 2
We had BIG expectations for this day. We were going to the Great Smoky Mountains and I had spent a great deal of time researching the park and figuring out how to maximize the few hours we would have there. But we should have thought a bit more carefully about the logistics of traveling to and through the most-visited national park in the country in the middle of the summer. The bumper-to-bumper traffic heading into the park was our first sign that the day wasn't going to go as planned. It then took forever just to find a place to park and eat lunch. Despite the parentals' increasing stress levels (we still had several hours' worth of driving to get to our stop for the night) the kids were just happy being out of the van and reveling in the beauty of nature.

After lunch we found one of the few stroller-friendly hiking trails that led to a waterfall. But we quit about halfway to the top because #1- It was getting quite steep, #2- We noticed a plethora of signs warning that serious injury or death could result from falling off the trail, and #3- There were rumors about a bear sighting. So we paused for a quick group picture to prove that we at least tried and then headed back down the trail. The waterfall would have to wait for another day.

Adrian was pooped out from all of the ~~hiking~~ riding.

At this point we needed to hit the road in order to make it to our stop for the night, Birmingham, Alabama. We could either leave the way we came and deal with the traffic and touristy nonsense of Gatlinburg, or take the longer, more scenic route up and over Newfound Gap. We took a risk and chose the scenic route, and even though at one point we had to pull over because our brakes were smoking, we are happy we did - the views were breathtaking! (I'm talking about my handsome husband, of course! The mountains were pretty nice to look at as well.)

The rest of the drive was quite scenic, but we were really tired and were hoping to get to Birmingham before dark. But you can't just drive and drive and drive without letting the kids get out to stretch their legs...

We finally made it to Birmingham (well past dark) and sacked out in some very comfy beds. Good night!

Next up: The 500 Babies Take New Orleans!

A Morning at the Botanical Gardens

2011-02-28T09:18:00.000-06:00

Can you feel it? Spring is almost here!

Bring on the warm weather fun! We're ready!

Loving Day

2011-02-16T09:22:00.001-06:00

Loving Day, as Joe calls it, started off with the creating of Valentine cards for Daddy.

Then I got into a "mood" that I couldn't seem to shake, brought on by a number of things, but mostly expectations for the day that I was unable to fulfill. Things like Valentine's Day group shots that didn't happen, decorations that didn't get made, misplaced gifts, etc...the "things" that when you get down to it really don't matter.

Fortunately Daddy arrived home from work ready to save the day and gathered the kids in the kitchen to make heart-shaped pizzas. And I realized that the good stuff is spending time with those dearest to my heart and how blessed we all are to make these memories together.

My husband also brought me this gorgeous bouquet of flowers...which of course brought a smile to my face.

I hope your Loving Day was spent with those closest to your heart!

Quick Adoption Update

2011-02-10T12:46:00.001-06:00

I have great news to share! We're one step closer to adopting Rebekah...parental rights were terminated this morning and our family has become the adoptive placement for her. The fast-track process is really living up to its name. Now we wait for paperwork to be completed and the rest of the 6-month waiting period to end. We're still looking at a possible June adoption date. Thanks to everyone for the continued prayers, love and support!

500 Babies Go Back to the Rodeo

2011-02-07T12:47:00.004-06:00

Believe it or not, not every American was watching the Super Bowl yesterday. Some of us went to the rodeo instead. Normally the rodeo is jam-packed on weekends, but I had a hunch that the crowds would be a lot thinner during the big game. When we arrived at 5:00 and saw a steady stream of people leaving the grounds, I knew my hunch had paid off.

Here's the pre-rodeo group shot from last year:

And this year:

Aw, still as cute as ever! All right, on to the fun!

We had front-row seats to the snake demonstration. Here are the three big kids following directions by using one finger to gently touch a snake:

Here's Adrian at the snake show. He did not get to use one finger to gently touch the snake because he is still working on the concepts of "one" and "gently".

Like last year, we packed our own lunches to save a little money. (But the lure of fajitas may or may not have been too great for the adults to resist!) Due to the light crowds, we had our pick of picnic tables. Normally we're lucky to even find a bench to sit on.

HEB had a fun "Farm to Market" area set up for children. The kids get to choose a basket...

...plant and harvest pretend vegetables...

...and feed pretend chickens to receive a pretend egg...(These are live chickens in the picture.)

They were also able to milk a pretend cow to get a carton of milk for their basket and brush a pretend sheep to receive a baggie of wool. When finished, they "sold" their goods at the market and then got to "buy" an item from the store. By the time we got there, all that was left for them was celery, but as you can see they didn't seem to mind. (And it wasn't pretend celery, either!)

We also did the usual walking through the animal barns and petting area.

So there you have it, another successful outing for the 500 Babies!

The Post About The Snow

2011-02-05T13:41:00.001-06:00

Early Friday morning the rarest of events took place - it snowed in San Antonio! And since the temperature had been below freezing for 3 days, the snow actually stuck to the ground. So it was only .4 of an inch, but it was enough for us. (By the way, did you know that in January 1985 it snowed 13.5 inches here? Crazy!) When Daniel and Mikea looked out of their bedroom windows in the morning, they both thought the snow was paint!

A layer of ice formed on the ground from a steady mist that fell a couple hours before the snow arrived, making driving quite treacherous. The freeways were shut down and early Friday morning it was announced....no school!!! On Thursday I had already prepared Snow Day outfits in anticipation of the kids playing outside. All in all it took 4 coats, 4 hats, 3 sets of mittens, 2 pairs of socks used as mittens (for Adrian - and we had to rubber-band them on), 3 pairs of socks for the big kids, 8 pairs of pants, and 8 shirts (two layers of pants and shirts each.) You can see why I prepared the day before.

The neighbor kids were already playing out front so we bundled up after a quick breakfast and joined the fun.

Adrian ponders, "What is this cold, flaky, white substance on my hand?"

I just love what the looks on the boys' faces say in these pictures...absolute joy!

And the look on Adrian's face in this picture says a lot, too. It says, "Um, what just happened to me?"

The group shot.

We had to make the most of this opportunity because it could be YEARS before it snows here again. Here are snow angels in the making:

I love this shot of Mikea throwing snow at her brother. The snow was too powdery to stick together to make snowballs, but flingable nontheless.

Here you can see the depth of the snow:

After playing out front for a while, we headed inside to drink hot chocolate and warm up for a few minutes and then went to the backyard to check out the conditions there.

We did a little shoveling with sand tools. After a few minutes Daniel declared, "I want to go to the beach!"

While inside we found a monster mask for Adrian to keep his little face warmer. I think he appreciated that.

And speaking of little faces...

All in all the back yard was a little too muddy for my liking so we went back out front. Then Joe took a spill on the ice and little sister quickly offered her assistance...

...but then she took a tumble in the process of helping out Joe!

Here's one more shot of Adrian peeking outside after he warmed up again inside.

What a fun and memorable morning!!!

Use Your Noodle

2011-02-01T11:58:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I shooed the kids outdoors to enjoy the beautiful, balmy day. With the chilly weather on its way I wanted them to soak in the warm sunshine while they could. Only in South Texas can you enjoy 78 degrees one day and then drop down to 18 degrees the very next! Rumor is we may even seen snow on Thursday. I'll let you know.

Anyway, the kids set upon themselves to prove that you don't need a body of water to utilize a pool noodle. See for yourselves:

I wish I could tell you exactly what they were up to. They claimed to be building a gate, which is quite possible because their dad was on the other side of the yard building a gate to enclose our dogs in their very own special place. The dogs need their own special place because they are ruining our backyard. They are digging holes, ruining the grass, and of course, pooping everywhere. So we're fencing in the side yard and reclaiming the rest of our back yard for the humans.

Here's Adrian watching Daddy work. (Power tools were involved so for safety's sake he had to be restrained in his chair.)

And this little darling was inside helping me make dinner.

I've decided to stop posting pictures of Rebekah's face because, well, I'm not really supposed to until she's been adopted. Today we learned that there's a chance that the fast-track she's on could happen even faster if the judge decides to bypass the 6-month waiting period. Now that would be awesome! We've been having a few "hiccups" with our agency lately and we are just ready to close out this chapter of our lives of being foster parents. We're weary of the extra layer of stress that being a foster family adds to our already busy lives. It's been a wonderful blessing, obviously, because we've been blessed with 5 beautiful children, but we are ready to begin living our lives with a little more normalcy and freedom.

Growing Strong

2011-01-30T16:15:00.000-06:00

Two weeks ago little Rebekah weighed 7 lb 6 oz and guess what? Now she's a whopping 8 lb. 11 oz.! Keep in mind she's 4 months old, but gestationally still about 7 weeks. So she's still very much like a newborn and we are just soaking in the gift of the extra time with her so small and precious. Each stage of babyhood has its charms, but there is simply nothing like holding that teeny-tiny little bundle of warmth on your chest. Of course this also means we'll have a few extra months of nighttime feedings, and both Billy and I miss our sleep. We have a pretty good system worked out where he takes care of Rebekah until 2 AM, when my shift starts. At least it's not as bad as it was when the Wonder Twins were infants! (Honestly, I don't even remember how we handled Daniel's and Mikea's simultaneous nighttime feedings - it's all a blur!)

If you've sat near us in church, you know that Rebekah's a noisy little girl. She groans and grunts in her sleep - and not just when she's gassy. She's spending more time awake and alert and blesses us with adorable smiles every so often. She can also roll over - really, she does! - from her tummy to her back.

All of her check-ups have been good. At the end of December she had her eyes checked for RoP (Retinopathy of Prematurity) and the ophthamologist saw no signs of damage. The exam itself was simply awful. Rebekah's eyes had to be held open with metal clamps while the dr. poked and prodded her eyes. She cried like I'd never heard before and I was on the verge of tears myself. So so glad she doesn't have to go through that again.

Rebekah's case has been fast-tracked and the next court date should be the first week of February, but we're still waiting to find out for sure. If everything happens according to plan, theoretically we could adopt her as soon as June! Yes, even after all of the delays with Adrian's adoption (and Mikea's) I am still an optimist!

Bowling Day!

2011-01-27T08:37:00.001-06:00

It's probably not hard for you to believe that this mama gets stir crazy every now and again. My kind husband is always pushing me to get out of the house, but as difficult as it may be to believe, most of the time I hate leaving him and my children behind and would rather us all do something together. Plus, the ordeal involved in getting everyone ready and out the door is just that, an ordeal. But, if it means a change of scenery and a bit of fun for the family, we'll do what we gotta do to make it happen!
So, on a chilly, rainy day a couple of weeks ago we readied the children, loaded them up, and ventured out to the bowling alley...

These guys were ready to tear it up! And their thoughtful Daddy made sure each child had their favorite color ball.

Even when you're using the ramp, it's all about technique!

We were fortunate to be near to a group of bowlers who didn't mind the large quantity of small children next to them. Our kids did a great job waiting for their turns. The only one who got antsy was Adrian, but wouldn't you if you were strapped in a stroller when everyone else was having fun?

Here's little Rebekah. She snoozed the entire time.

And Adrian. We took him out of the stroller after a while, but he wouldn't sit still in his chair. All he wanted to do was climb, run, and play. Imagine that!

We only go bowling once or twice a year, so maybe by the next time we go this little guy will be ready to have his own turn!

Happy New Year

2011-01-11T14:16:00.000-06:00

So what's the latest with the 500 Babies? Well, we've had a bit of rough going the past couple of weeks because the dreaded stomach bug made its way into our home and slowly took us down, one by one. Everyone except Baby Rebekah was affected. But I'm happy to report that it appears everyone is well again and that little chapter of our lives is through. Good riddance.

We've been spending the first several days of this glorious new year enjoying Christmas gifts...

Playing dress-up...

Making bird feeders...

And dying sugar to decorate the Epiphany King Cake...

The funny thing about the King Cake was that I didn't have a plastic baby on hand and therefore needed to find an appropriate substitute. I rooted around in our junk drawer and came up with a small plastic egg, a plastic beetle, a Little Person, and a fireman. To me, the logical choice was the fireman because a fireman rescues people and who is our ultimate Rescuer...Jesus, of course!

I'm not going to post a picture of the cake because although the green, yellow, and purple sugar appeared bright and brilliant in real life, the photo makes the cake look covered in toxic mold and who wants to see that? What? You DO? Hmmm...ok, but I'll give those of you who aren't up for it a chance to bail. If you really want to see the cake, scroll down..........

Ta-da! (What a mess!)

We'll try to make it prettier next year. Mikea gets to be my helper making it because she got the piece with the fireman inside! And maybe we'll have a baby by then. (The plastic kind, of course.)

Christmas Preparations

2010-12-24T07:38:00.001-06:00

I believe we are almost ready for Christmas.

The animals in the stable have sweetly sung their songs to Baby Jesus. (Though that dove doesn't look too pleased, does he?)

The tree has been decorated and has stayed that way, despite numerous attempts by Adrian to undecorate it.

Family photos have been attempted...

And attempted again. Not perfect, but much more fun, I say!

And each child has posed for a picture with Santa.

Now all that's left is to enjoy time with family celebrating the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ!

Have a blessed Merry Christmas from the 500 Babies!

Adopting Adrian

2010-12-17T17:36:00.000-06:00

For the third time in under three years we have had the blessing and privilege of adopting our foster children into our family forever.  You can read about Joe's and Daniel's adoption here and Mikea's adoption here and here.

This time around we were a bit more anxious about the day because it would be the first time venturing out with all 5 children. We spent hours the night before getting ready and actually made it out the door on time. However, that was about the only thing that ran smoothly. Our first trial came when we had to go through the metal detectors at the courthouse. We had 2 diaper bags, 3 activity bags for the big kids, and 1 purse to put through the scanner. Problem was, they were all underneath the double stroller and were wedged in pretty good. We had to take out Rebekah's car seat anyway so she wouldn't have to go through the metal detector, but the bags were still stuck. So we tried to yank out the bags and corral Joe, Dan, and Mikea at the same time. Meanwhile a line of people formed behind us, a line of people all in a hurry to get somewhere. Unfortunately, some of our family members who had planned on attending got sick and couldn't make it and the others received bad directions and didn't arrive at the ceremony until after it was over.   So we were all on our own.

Well, we eventually made it through security and had to walk through a couple of buildings and take an elevator ride to get to the jury room where the ceremony was held. We breathed a sigh of relief and began strategically arranging children in their seats. There were fewer families at this ceremony than in previous months, which meant we sort of stuck out and I wasn't really surprised when a reporter from Channel 12 came over and asked to interview us.  That's when things got really intense for us. We were trying to sit, hold 4 children, keep an eye on a baby in a car seat, and attempt to answer questions as coherently as possible. Both Billy and I were extremely sleep-deprived and worn out from the ordeal of getting everyone to the ceremony. The kids, on the other hand, were highly squirrelly. Joe and Daniel kept grabbing the reporter's microphone, Adrian was head-butting me, eating my necklace, and trying to wiggle out of my lap. Mikea was attempting to sneak away. And Rebekah was due to wake up hungry any minute. And so while we did everything we could to stay calm and look like we had it under control (because we didn't want it to look like we couldn't handle the kids ) in fact it felt like everything was falling apart. Throw in a healthy dose of straight-up terror of being on TV, and you'll understand why the whole thing was incredibly intense and stressful. Though the end result wasn't as bad as I thought. You can read about it here or watch the interview here. Another channel interviewed us after the ceremony for a story on adopting sibling groups. It's supposed to air on their morning show but I haven't seen it yet.

All that aside, what kept us going was the reason we were there: to make Adrian an official member of our family! Here are a few shots of the day:

Hooray for the new Mr. Adrian James Morrison! Praise God. Now we stand at four down and one more to go...

All About Adrian!

2010-12-11T12:45:00.000-06:00

Adrian is finally all ours! I'll do a separate post about the actual adoption ceremony itself, but for now enjoy some of my favorite photos of our charming little guy!

We love you, Adrian, and are so glad you are now an official member of our family!

Beautiful, Strong Rebekah

2010-12-09T18:52:00.001-06:00

I can't believe Rebekah has already been home for over a week! She's been working hard at gaining weight: the day she came home she was 4 lb 11 oz, four days later she weighed 5 lb 4 oz, and two days after that she was up to 5 lb 8 oz. Good job, baby girl!

We've been entertaining a steady stream of "official" visitors over the past several days: case workers, adoption worker, attorney, ECI worker, etc. both to complete Rebekah's placement and get final signatures for Adrian's adoption (tomorrow!!).

But our favorite visitor this week by far has been Jamie, who dropped by to photograph sweet Rebekah. Rebekah did great but didn't cooperate part of the time because she insisted on being awake for the shoot, but Jamie was still able to get many lovely shots of our little sweetheart. Billy said it best when he said Jamie was able to capture Rebekah's beauty and strength. In addition to the picture above, you can check out a few more on her website here and also here on Jamie's Facebook page for her photography business. By the way, if you are in the San Antonio area and are looking for a great photographer, we highly recommend Jamie not just because she's our friend, but because she's simply amazing at capturing priceless memories on film. You won't be disappointed!

Home

2010-12-01T13:31:00.001-06:00

She's home. With us. And we couldn't be happier. More later. I'm kind of tired. :)

Thankful...

2010-11-25T07:13:00.000-06:00

...for my four little turkeys

...and for this precious little girl

...and for my dear husband and wonderful friends and family who are all God-sent blessings to me!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Two-Month Milestones

2010-11-21T16:56:00.001-06:00

Little Rebekah has made so much progress this past week! She was taken off oxygen and is now breathing completely on her own. She also began feeding from a bottle! She's currently being bottle-fed twice per shift but still has a feeding tube leading to her little belly until she's ready to be fed solely from a bottle. The tube is inserted through her nose instead of her mouth to make it easier for her to take the bottle. We love being able to see more of her precious little face now!

Wednesday I was allowed to feed her for the first time and she ate like a champ. The nurse was very impressed. Afterwards Rebekah laid on my chest, staring at me intently. It was a sweet moment filled with such love and happiness for me, and I hope for Rebekah as well. I think she knows who Billy and I are even though we only see her for 2 hours each day.

Rebekah is still on contact precautions for MRSA. Thankfully we are still allowed to do Kangaroo Care, otherwise she would have no skin-to-skin contact at all. She also reached a whopping 4 pounds this week! While we had been under the impression she needed to weigh 5 lbs. before coming home, the nurse last night told me weight is not a requirement for being released from the hospital. She just needs to be breathing on her own, taking all feeds from a bottle, and needs to be able to regulate her own body temperature. Yesterday they began turning down the temperature in her isolette to make it closer to room temperature to see how her body adjusts.

Last night I also learned that Rebekah's gestational age is somewhat older than we previously thought. Instead of being 24 weeks at birth, Rebekah was probably closer to 28 weeks. This would certainly explain why she's been doing so well. It also means she could be coming home sooner than we thought - possibly by Christmas! What a gift that would be!

I think she agrees!

(Ok, so this was really just a mid-sleep gas smile. Adorable nonetheless!)

3 lbs 12 oz and Doing Great!

2010-11-15T12:57:00.000-06:00

I Miss the Mess of Summer

2010-11-06T21:57:00.001-06:00

We've finally had our first taste of fall-ish weather the past few days, and I'm already a bit nostalgic for summer. Don't get me wrong, I love these cool, crisp days and these mid-fall sunrises are breathtaking. But cooler weather means we have to add many extra minutes to our get-out-of-the-door routine because of the need for socks and jackets. (I took 3 kids out by myself two different times today so I know what I'm talking about, people.) No more just throwing on flip flops and hopping outside.

All right, back to my point: summer. And how much I love it. I thought I'd share with you one of my favorite memories from this summer....the day we said "yes" to the ice cream truck. First, you have to know that I basically have a hate-hate relationship with the ice cream truck. Ok, ok, we don't use the word "hate" around here, so let's say "strongly dislike". The truck starts coming around entirely too early (like February) and then never seems to leave the neighborhood until September. I'm not even sure how our kids found out the truck sold ice cream because we tried to keep them blissfully ignorant for as long as possible. I knew that once we bought ice cream from the truck, the driver would probably come park in front of our house and drive us batty with that "music" every time he came back to the neighborhood.

Well, one gorgeous evening near the end of July we walked the kids over to the neighborhood park and decided to let them have an ice cream treat. If we bought the ice cream at the park, we reasoned, the driver wouldn't know where we lived. So sneaky, I know. But we really, really don't want to be stalked by the ice cream truck.

Without further ado, here's what happens when 3 of the 500 Babies eat ice cream on a summer evening (with extra-large photos so you can relive the experience right along with me!)...

So many flavors! So many varieties! What's a child to do? Don't worry, kids. The truck is sold out of Dora and chocolate crunch, and just about everything else we asked for, so it's Spiderman bars all around.

Mmm...good. So far so yummy.

Ahh...this is the life.

Easy does it, Daniel. I see that bit of red on your nose and hint of blue on your lip. Be careful!

Uh-oh, we have drippage.

And more drippage...

Even Joe is not immune to the drippage. (Notice how the colors of his ice cream almost blend perfectly with the stripes on his shirt. Cool!)

Now take note of the status of each child's treat. Dan's is still fully intact, Joe's is missing a couple of bites, and Mikea's is a chomp or two from being finished off completely.

Hey Dan, I like your sticky beard!

Eww...dripping icky madness! And that poor whale shirt has never been the same since.

At this point in the game we heard the rumble of thunder of an approaching storm so we quickly wiped up the kids and hightailed it home. You don't think we would ever leave the house without wipes, do you? (Oh wait. There was that one time when we went to the park and one of the children left an explosive mess on the slide. Mmm-hmmm. Yep. That really happened to us. And we had no wipes. None. But luckily for the rest of the park-goers we did have paper towels in the van.)

The ice cream experience was horrifyingly messy, yes, yes it was. But this is exactly what summer is all about, my friends, and one of many reasons why I miss it already! Don't you?

Rebekah Vivien

2010-11-03T12:42:00.002-06:00

So who's Rebekah Vivien, you're wondering? Well, the Baby-Formerly-Known-As Adrianna is Rebekah Vivien. That's the name we've chosen if we get to adopt her and that's what we already call her within our family. We were keeping the name a secret for a while, but then we told a couple of people and now I don't know who knows and it'll just be easier if we all call her Rebekah, right? Besides, we still don't exactly know what her given name is because the latest documents we received from TDFPS list her name as Elicia, not Adrianna. We didn't want to have an Adrian and an Adrianna in our household, so after a few days of careful consideration Billy and I chose the name Rebekah Vivien and we think it suits her very well.

So how's our little girl doing? The good news is she continues to steadily gain weight. In fact, last night she surpassed 3 lbs.! That means she's gained 1 pound in a little less than a month. However, she just tested positive for MRSA, a resistant form of staph. We're hoping and praying it doesn't develop into something more serious.

Now prepare yourselves for the cutest pictures EVER:

Ah, the preciousness is just too much! Last night we were told we can begin bringing in preemie-sized onsies for her, so I'm hoping to squeeze in a quick shopping trip later this afternoon or early evening before Billy goes back to visit her tonight.

In other news, I think we finally have an adoption date set for Adrian - December 10. However, last week we found out that an entire packet of paperwork that I sent to the adoption worker was apparently LOST and I have to do it all over again. But as long as nothing else gets delayed, we should be able to make Mr. Adrian official just in time for Christmas!

Farewell October

2010-10-31T20:51:00.002-06:00

What a busy weekend! It started off Friday night with the Reformation Fest at church. We had brats and sauerkraut and watched Luther. I was positively giddy to be out of the house, soaking in my German Lutheran culture. The kids were treated to games and other fun activities while the adults watched the movie.

Saturday morning we dropped off the kids at Aunt Sarah's house so that Billy and I could attend a mandatory foster care training. We were going to be allowed to let this particular training slide since Adrian's adoption is imminent, but with the potential of Baby Adrianna coming home to us, we needed to be current on everything. The real treat of the day was eating lunch out, just Billy and me!

Sunday morning was church, of course, and then the weekend ended with a round of Trick-or-Treating through the neighborhood with our butterfly...

pirate...

spider...

and this guy...

The kids did great and there were only a couple of houses that were somewhat scary for them. (One had someone pounding from inside the garage and then the lady says, "Look out, the monsters are coming!" Not cool.)

Once we got home we let the kids pick out 5 pieces of candy to eat right away, and I learned that Mikea is truly a daughter after my own heart, choosing nothing but chocolate!

Or maybe she knows that the liklihood of there being any chocolate left by morning is slim to none. Ha.

Right now the house is quiet and Billy is visiting Adrianna at the hospital, as he's done every night this weekend. Despite all of my efforts to stay well, I have gotten sick and therefore can't see her. I miss her terribly, but she's been doing very well and enjoying her visits with Daddy. Within the next week or so she might begin bottle feeding - what a milestone that will be!

Parenthood

2010-10-26T23:21:00.001-05:00

Exactly three years ago today, Billy and I became parents when two-day-old Mikea was brought to our home.  Three years later we are parenting five children and asking ourselves, how did this happen and how will we survive? The only way to deal with it is knowing that our family was brought together by the hand of God. Apparently He thinks we can handle it.

Right now we're in the middle of one of the rough seasons. Every child is currently battling at least one form of sickness. Today I had to make a special trip to the store for extra toilet paper and pull-ups, if that gives you any idea of what we're dealing with. Joe has already missed 3 days of school, including what would have been his first-ever field trip today.

Each night either Billy or I spend 3 hours away from home as we take turns visiting Adrianna in the hospital. It's starting to take a toll on us, but I tell myself that if she were home we'd still be exhausted because we'd be up in the middle of the night for her feedings. It's also mentally and emotionally exhausting not knowing what the outcome will be.

Right now the house is a disaster. Books, blocks, shoes, socks, clothes, pillows, packs of toilet paper, toy phones, toy dishes, blankets, and stuffed animals litter the floor. The dinner dishes are still on the table, and bits of dinner are still on the floor. (For some reason the dogs won't eat lettuce.) The laundry room is bursting with what else but laundry, laundry, and more laundry.

Today I struggled to get all four children to take naps at the same time so I could have a few moments of peace and quiet. It didn't happen.

Today I pulled a 15-month-old down off of the table countless times. I chased and snatched him off of the stairs even more times. I also watched him pull bags of frozen vegetables from the freezer and perfect the fine art of the temper tantrum.

Today I cleaned poop off the floor, off of clothes, off of multiple behinds. I picked up dog poop from the back yard.  My kids watched too much TV.

Today I made the mistake of not previewing an online video before letting my kids watch it. What began as a benign clip of a soaring falcon ended with it picking apart and eating a bat.

Tonight during dinner my oldest son held up his hamburger and said matter-of-factly, "Mom, nobody likes these." I don't think he meant to insult me. I laughed to keep from crying. Then I left the table.

Tonight while reading bedtime stories, I was interrupted at least eight times to correct misbehavior or to stop the incessant barking of dogs. (It's a lot like having two more children.)

Tonight while singing bedtime songs to the boys, Mikea came over from her room and shushed me. Apparently I was singing too loudly. And after singing to Mikea, when I checked on the boys again, Joe informed me, "Dan just slobbered on me."

There are days when I long to be able to just jump in the car and go to the mall, the library, the park.  I wouldn't even mind bringing a kid or two. But it's impossible with four. And someday with five? What's harder than impossible?

It's a grueling life, I tell you.

But do you know what else I did today? Today I taught my children how to play Follow-the-Leader, which is a lot more fun when you have five players. Today I caught a fuzzy caterpillar and watched my children examine it in excitement. Today I witnessed Daniel bring a blanket and favorite toy to Joe who was miserably sick on the couch. Today I heard Mikea tell her daddy that he is "a nice man". Today Baby Adrianna gained two more ounces. And today I recieved countles hugs and kisses from four children who are teaching me how to love, even more than I am teaching them.

All I ever wanted in life was to be a wife and mother. I have it all, and then some, including that "nice man" who is at Wal-Mart at 11:00 at night picking up a few missing pieces for butterfly, spider, and pirate costumes for his children.

I had no idea it would be this hard, but I also had no idea it would be this sweet.

Thank you, God.

So Great To Be Three!

2010-10-24T21:31:00.001-05:00

Our dear, sweet little Mikea celebrated 3 years of life today!

I modified a Raggedy Ann doll cake to make it a bit more ethnically-friendly and a LOT cuter! :)

Mikea requested to eat the eyes of her cake and Daddy decided to give her the heart as well. The cake went from adorable to gruesome in less than 20 seconds!

Mikea's expressions should tell you just how happy she was today. She's waited patiently for over 3 months, through all of her brothers' birthdays, to get to her very own special day today.

What a gift and a blessing to see her beautiful, joyous smile every day! We love you, Kiki!

One Month Old!

2010-10-22T10:54:00.021-05:00

On Wednesday Adrianna turned one month old! That evening I was allowed to give her a bath, change out her sensors, and administer her vitamins and caffeine. (The caffeine is supposed to help with breathing.)

She was so comfortable during Kangaroo Care - she hardly moved at all the entire evening. The nurse took this picture after she removed the blankets and was about to put her back in her isolette. I just hate letting her go!

We praise God for sustaining little Adrianna through her first four weeks and pray that she will grow stronger, gain weight, and continue to develop without any complications. We are so in love with her and are in awe of how much God has blessed us!

Billy is still showing signs of sickness - runny nose, headache, sneezing - nothing enough to keep him home from work but still enough to prevent him from visiting Adrianna. Last night Joe began throwing up and he currently has a fever. I'm doing my best to keep the other children well and am refusing to let myself get sick, because that's simply not an option right now!

Hopeful Signs

2010-10-21T11:28:00.000-05:00

Adrianna and I had another wonderful visit together Tuesday night. We Kangarooed for 2 hours and then I changed her diaper. You may have noticed I was pretty proud of myself the night before for changing her diaper so easily. This time, however, Adrianna decided to challenge me and made the job a little more complicated! (I'll let you figure out on your own how she did that!)

Then I checked her temperature. She has a sensor attached to her body that is connector to her isolette which regulates the temperature inside in accord with her body temperature. But before and after Kangaroo Care her temperature needs to be taken to make sure she's warm enough. I've read that during Kangaroo Care the mother's body temperature rises and falls to maintain an even temperature for the baby. What I'm not sure is if this is a hormone-related thing that wouldn't apply to a non-biological mom. It doesn't really matter, though, because I kept her warm enough. Dads can Kangaroo, too, for that matter. (Adrianna really wants Daddy to get better so he can finally hold her!)

Yesterday morning we had a visit from Adrian's caseworker (who would have been Adrianna's worker but she's moving to a new department - Adrian's and Adrianna's new caseworker is now coincidentally going to be Mikea's old caseworker) and learned a few things that give us hope that things are moving in our favor. As far as the relative who was brought in to be Adrianna's placement, it is up to her to contact DFPS to even be considered for the placement. DFPS is not going to seek her out and she has yet to contact them. Placement will not happen until Adrianna is released from the hospital, which in my estimation would be December at the very earliest. The case is also supposed to be "fast-tracked" with parental rights possibly being terminated once 60 days from the last court date have passed.

So, more waiting, hoping, and praying. Good thing we have lots of experience with all three!

Mama Kangaroo

2010-10-19T09:36:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I was able to begin Kangaroo Care with Adrianna. Kangaroo Care is holding your preemie on your chest with skin-to-skin contact. It promotes bonding between mother and baby, and better regulates baby's breathing, temperature, and heart rate, helps them gain weight, and reduces risk of infection. (It also encourages breastfeeding, very important, but clearly not applicable in our case!) One study also showed that during Kangaroo Care, the brain waves associated with contentment and bliss doubled! Kangaroo Care was started by a doctor in Colombia where there was a shortage of equipment needed to care for premature babies. The mortality rate dropped from 70% to 30% once Kangaroo Care was implemented. You may also recall the story several months ago about a mother in Australia (of course!) whose infant was believed to be dead. She held him on her chest and after two hours he revived!

Saturday evening I held Adrianna like this for an hour, Sunday afternoon I held her for an hour and 45 minutes, and Monday evening we Kangarooed for 2 hours. Besides being benefical for her, it's nice for me to have some quiet time - time to pray, time to hope and dream about Adrianna's future. Last night I also changed her diaper for the first time, and although it was a little tricky, I think my experience of changing 1000's of diapers over the past 3 years definitely came in handy. The picture below shows one of her diapers next to one of Adrian's giant size 4's. (She's actually now wearing one size larger, but those are a little big and need to be folded down in the back and the front.)

Adrianna currently weighs 2 pounds 6 ounces. Yesterday her doctor upped the amount of protein she's receiving in order to get her to gain weight more quickly. I'm hoping that between the added protein and the Kangaroo Care, she'll start gaining more weight so we can get her home where she belongs.

Holding Adrianna

2010-10-15T09:26:00.001-05:00

This past Monday evening I had the privilege of holding tiny Adrianna for the first time. I wasn't expecting to be able to and watched in wonder as Kendra, the nurse, took a few moments to untangle and disconnect the various tubes and wires attached to Adrianna in order to swaddle her in a blanket. Once Adrianna was swaddled, Kendra held her with only one hand while she closed up the incubator - it was just as though she were a doll. My first thought when I saw her face up close for the first time was, "She looks like Mikea!", mainly due to her coloring and her dark hair. She was opening and closing her eyes and mouth for the first few minutes of me holding her. She was also sticking out her tongue, which is no bigger than my pinky fingernail!

Turns out that would be the only time this week Billy or I would be allowed to hold her. Last night Billy asked the nurse to check with Adrianna's doctor to find out when we can start holding her on a regular basis. I think right now there's only so much stimulation she can tolerate and they want to make sure she's ready for it. It's hard to fathom that next week she'll already be 1 month old!

Wednesday evening she weighed 980 grams and last night she was up to 1010 grams, which is about 2 pounds 3 ounces. In the next few pictures you can see just how tiny she is.

We're staying optimistic but I'd be lying if I told you there weren't times when the sadness of it all gets to be overwhelming. We're still adjusting to the new routine of taking turns driving downtown every night to visit her and it gets harder and harder to leave her each time. We love her so much already and we desperately want her to be part of our family forever.

Fun with Rice

2010-10-11T07:19:00.001-05:00

It's been too long since we last played with rice so one day last week I figured it was high time to bring it out again, especially since all it's been doing is taking up space on the shelf. This time we took advantage of the gorgeous October weather and set up on the back porch. That made for a much more relaxing and fun time for me because I knew we could just sweep the mess away into the grass. Even Adrian got in on the fun this time. All I had to do was keep him from shoveling it in his mouth and showering it upon Mikea's head. (Fortunately rice comes out of her hair a lot easier than sand!)

There's a lot of leftover rice in the grass, but the kids pretend the grains are seeds and plant their own little gardens.

Our visits with Adrianna went well this weekend. The nurses showed us how to lay our hand on her and watch a certain number on her monitor (not sure what it was exactly) that would move up and down based on how comfortable she was. If the number drops below 90 that means she's agitated and needs a break. When it was Billy's turn all was fine for a while but then the number started dropping. The nurse couldn't figure out what was bothering Adrianna at first but then realized she needed a diaper change. Then, as the nurse was holding up Adriana's little legs to change her diaper, Adrianna made another poopy mess! Oh my! I am a bit envious I didn't get to see all of the excitement.

The nurse also told us that sometimes Adrianna sleeps with her arms and legs all sprawled out, which is exactly how Daniel sleeps. In fact, last night he fell out of his bed (again) and Billy and I were laughing at how even as a baby for several weeks the only way he could sleep was strapped in his car seat. Otherwise, he'd move around so much he couldn't fall asleep. Billy says Adriana's features resemble Daniel's, but I can't really tell yet. Her coloring is quite dark, though, so who knows? I do know she is beautiful and growing stronger and for that we are so thankful to God.

Meeting Little Adrianna

2010-10-08T13:06:00.001-05:00

Last night Billy and I were able to visit Adrianna for the first time. She is improving! She has gained back the weight she lost after she was born and is now up to 2 pounds. She no longer needs oxygen, just a cannula to help with air flow. Adrianna has also been weaned off the meds needed to treat her withdrawal symptoms from the drug exposure.

She is absolutely precious!

We were able to touch her and marvel at how just how tiny she is!

There is some confusion about what her name really is. We were told Adrianna, but the name on her incubator was Elicia. I asked the nurse and she double-checked the last name and confirmed it is the right baby. I checked her little bracelet and it had the correct last name, too. We are planning on changing her name anyway if we are so blessed to be able to adopt her.

Now for some bad news. This morning the judge decided to give Adrianna's birthmother 60 days to comply with certain requirements that if she follows through, steps towards reunification begin. In addition, the biological family has found a relative to be the foster placement instead of us, if this person passes an investigation. (The judge says this placement must be darn-near perfect if he's going to consider it.) The really aggravating part for me is that for some reason the judge was operating under the assumption that Adrianna is only the third child to be removed from this mother, not the fourth. I feel that had he known, he wouldn't be giving her another chance.

That's all I'm going to say for now. Honestly I'm too angry about what just happened in court today and I need some time to process the situation a little more. We have zero legal right to Adrianna at this point, yet she already feels like our daughter. But the most important thing is that she is doing well and for that we are utterly thankful. Praise God!

Please Pray for Adrianna

2010-10-06T10:11:00.001-05:00

For the past several days I've been waiting to share some important news about our family. On Friday, September 24 Baby A.'s TDFPS worker called to let us know that his biological mother (and bio mom of Joe and Daniel) had just given birth again. She had no other information at the time and asked us to decide if we wanted to be the baby's foster placement. The timing was remarkable because just the night before Billy and I discussed what we would do if the boys' mother had another baby. It had been the end of a long, mentally and physically exhausting day for both of us and we and we both said that we felt we had enough children. But it's a completely different ball game when you're not merely contemplating the idea of a child, but a living, breathing baby who already exists. A few hours after the initial phone call we learned the baby was a girl, but didn't know her name yet. Keep in mind that due to the history of the biological family and what took place with our boys, we were almost certain that should we take this baby as a foster placement, we would eventually be allowed to adopt her. (We are still about six weeks from adopting Adrian - hopefully.)

Through many hours of prayer and discussion we struggled over the decision and early Saturday afternoon we decided we would take a leap of faith and say yes. We were terrified (5 children ages 4 and under!) but knew without a doubt that God would provide the strength needed to get through each day, one day at a time. We also agreed to ask TDFPS to not call us again if any more biological siblings of our children are born. The decision is so gut-wrenching and it would be unbearably painful to have to say no, when we'd already said yes so many times.

Once the decision was made we excitedly began preparing for the baby's arrival and bought another crib and a few baby supplies plus a larger vehicle capable of holding 5 car seats. I unpacked and re-washed Mikea's old baby clothes and set about getting the house in order - us foster/adoptive moms go through nesting, too! We even enrolled Joe in Pre-K in order to give me a break in the afternoons. But day after day passed and we heard no more news about the baby. Anxious to visit her in the hospital, we contacted the investigating worker and our current TDFPS worker to try to find out where she was. Over a week passed without any information and I began to get the feeling that something was wrong.

Yesterday afternoon we finally received word about this precious little baby, now named Adrianna, and the news is not good. She weighs only 1 pound and is not gaining weight. She has the organs needed to survive, so if she can gain weight there is hope for her. But because she also tested positive for drug exposure, her struggle to survive is that much more difficult. It breaks our heart that she doesn't have any family with her, comforting her and advocating for her. Needless to say we are very frustrated that we were not notified of her condition sooner and at this moment we still don't know which hospital she is in or if we will be allowed to visit her. Billy finally talked to the investigating worker this morning and asked for us to get clearance to visit her.

So, I'm spreading the word about Baby Adrianna in order to ask for your prayers. I believe that God works miracles every day and this little angel needs nothing short of a miracle to survive. She has an unbelievably difficult struggle ahead of her and if even if she gains enough strength to survive she will most likely spend months in the hospital and face many complications.

We know God is faithful and will not bring us into a difficult situation and then abandon us. And we know He will not abandon little Adrianna, either.

First Day of School

2010-09-30T13:13:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was a huge day for Joe (and his mama!) He had his first day of Pre-K!

There wasn an enthusiastic send-off from Daniel and Mikea.

He needed a little assistance with his "pack-pack" loaded down with supplies.

Lucky for Joe, Daddy will be right there at school with him every day. (This makes Mom VERY happy as well.)

Getting ready to go inside.

The long walk down the hall. He looks a little anxious here, but I can tell you that Joe was beyond excited all week in anticipation of going to school.

We had a community of "spies" checking on him throughout the day and from all accounts Joe seemed to have a great first day. We are truly blessed to have an abundance of caring friends at school who I know will always be looking out for Joe.

When Joe got home he informed me that kids who go to school have to do homework. He practiced writing his name one time, decided he was finished, and then explained that kids who go to school have to "check the computer" when they get home. Oh, ok Joe. Whatever you say!

He also declared that, "Chocolate milk is my favorite!"

You may be wondering why we changed our minds and decided to send Joe to school when our plan up until now had been to keep him home until he's old enough for Kindergarten next year. That's an excellent question...and I think we have a pretty good answer. But it'll have to wait for now!

500 Babies Go to the County Fair

2010-09-29T09:23:00.000-05:00

It's fair time again!

This year our experience at the fair was dominated by: 1. Fried Foods; 2. Roaming packs of 12-14 year olds; and 3. Humidity. Ugh.

But there were also plenty of cute little farm friends for us to enjoy.

I just love those alpacas. If I ever start an alpaca farm I'll call it "500 Alpacas".

The oldest and youngest of the 500 Babies zonked out on the ride home.

See you next year!

Baby Asian

2010-09-15T10:07:00.000-05:00

Baby Asian is how Mikea's pronounces Baby A.'s first name. So that's what we call him sometimes. It's been a while since I've posted on the status of his adoption so here goes: we're still waiting. (Insert big sigh here.)

We're getting really close, but we still have a few hoops to jump through. We're trying to not get frustrated by the delays, but lately we've been asked to re-submit certain documents that we've already turned in and I just don't get excited by doing the same things over and over when I already did them once. But we'll get there soon enough.

Speaking of the little whippersnapper, he's officially progressed to the stage of "I will climb anything and everything I can, open every drawer I see and remove all contents, and dash to the bathroom to play in the toilet everytime someone leaves the door open." Considering the primary users of the bathroom are ages 2, 3, and 4, the bathroom door is open quite a bit. The other day one of Mikea's Barbie dolls was going for a swim in the toilet, courtesy of Baby A.

Here are his favorite things to climb:

He's also made it onto the kitchen table a time or two or three or four or five or six. And after days of climbing onto and under the chairs that block the stairs, this morning he finally figured out how to get past the chairs to climb up the steps. I was wondering how I survived this stage with the "twins" and then I remembered: our house was half the size of the one we're in now and there just weren't as many opportunities for them to get into trouble.

So for now I'm just trying to channel A.'s energy towards other activities, like mopping.

This definitely looks like a win-win to me!

Daniel is Three!

2010-09-08T20:37:00.004-05:00

Yesterday Daniel completed his third revolution around the sun! Not that we saw the sun, of course, since Tropical Storm Hermine decided to pay a visit, knock out our power for six hours, and dump so much rain on us that we are in the process of ripping up carpet and replacing part of the pad in our living room. But despite all that, I know Daniel had a "cool awesome" day, as he likes to say. I had already baked and decorated his requested robot cake before the electricity went out and the rain stopped in time for us to cook hamburgers on the grill since we had no power.

When Daniel opened one of his presents he said, "Look, a fat guy!" Well of course it wasn't a fat guy, it was a "Robo-Sapien" which is apparently a robot that looks a little more human than robotic. What is it with kids and robots, anyway? The most requested song in our house these days is "I've Got a Robot". If you need a catchy tune to hum all day (what's that called - an earwig? earbug?) check it out.

Now for the next six weeks (until Mikea's birthday) our children are ages 1, 2, 3, and 4. Imagine that!

Put Your Swimsoups On!

2010-08-30T07:32:00.000-05:00

Last Wednesday the 500 Babies drove out the to the hill country, donned their "swimsoups" (according to Mikea), and visited a splash park with their big cousins. The conditions were perfect - the weather was hot but overcast and only a few other children were there because school's in session. Plus, you get all the water fun you want without the worry and hassle of a swimming pool.

Baby A. kept toddling back and forth over to the water and got caught by surprise a time or two when water suddenly sprayed him. It was great fun and we can wait to go back!

Random Rambling

2010-08-24T15:02:00.001-05:00

That's probably the worst blog post title ever in the history of blogdom. But it's the best I can do at present. You see, I wish I would have listened to the voice of reason in my head last night that said not to drink that cup of coffee so late. Because then I was up half the night. And now I feel like half of my brain is missing. And my body is begging for rest. But there are children to feed, diapers to change, dishes to wash, and laundry to fold. Ok, ok we all know the dishes and laundry will wait. But I really feel badly that my kids are getting a mom who's only 50% with-it today, if that.

And I also feel badly at being so random, but there's simply no avoiding it now and I have to share this picture because it just makes me so, so very happy:

This was taken a couple of weeks ago when the kids turned in their summer reading logs at the library. Each one got to pick out their very own book. Afterwards we went to the dollar store and gave each one $1.00 to spend however they chose. (This was intended to be another reward for the potty-training success when I was gone.) Dan picked a ball, Joe chose a car, and Mikea selected a little tea set. They loved it! (Now we just hope they don't expect to buy something every time we go to the store!)

True Love

2010-08-16T15:03:00.002-05:00

I was out of town for much of last week. This meant that my dear husband was sole caretaker of the 500 Babies for 3 1/2 days. I didn't care what happened to the house; all I asked was that he sweep the kitchen floor at least once a day. But when I returned, not only had he kept the house tidy, he also got caught up on the laundry. I'm talking washing, drying, folding, AND putting it away. He also managed to take all four kids to Home Depot by himself. I can only imagine what that must have looked like! Oh, I almost forgot - there is one more thing Billy happened to do while I was away...

HE POTTY-TRAINED THE WONDER TWINS! Sorry for yelling. But holy smokes, people - do you get this?? My husband single-handedly potty-trained two toddlers. We've both made attempts to train them over the past several months, but this time he really got serious. And it worked.

How'd he do it? Well, I think the main thing is he gave Daniel and Mikea lots of praise when they had successes and stayed positive even when they had the inevitable accidents. The first couple of days he gave them lots of water and made them go to the potty every 15 minutes. Joe helped by being in charge of the timer and helping Daniel in the upstairs bathroom if Mikea was using the one downstairs. We had been giving the kids candy sprinkles as rewards, but Billy nixed that and reverted back to sticker charts. But the genious part, at least to me, is that he didn't bother using a chart with days of the week and boxes. He just stuck paper on the wall and let the kids pick their own stickers - 1 sticker for wee-wee and 2 stickers for you-know-what. When the charts were filled up they celebrated by going out for ice cream. Yum!

He also played "The Potty Dance" for them over and over and over. Another gimmick Billy used was to hang up their underwear on the clipboards in the kids' bedrooms. He did this during naptimes. I think it was just another way to get them excited about wearing underwear. Of course the underwear had to be clean and dry for to this happen.

Today, both Daniel and Mikea are initiating going to the bathroom on their own and most days are completely accident-free. We're going to keep practicing and practicing and I'm thinking that very soon we will be ready to ditch the diapers for good!

Another outcome of Billy's time alone with the kids was a better understanding of what I go through on a daily basis. He's always been supportive and appreciative of me for staying home with them. But now that he's experienced it first-hand he knows exactly what I mean when I say there are days when I want to just go into the laundry room and shut the door to get away from the madness. But I also know that he bonded even more with the kids during my days away. Billy told me his favorite moment was one evening when Joe walked over to him, plunked himself on the floor and said, "You're my best buddy, Daddy." Amen, Joe! He's my best buddy, too.

Beach Day in Pictures

2010-08-08T16:15:00.000-05:00

Joe Turns Four!

2010-08-05T19:17:00.001-05:00

Joe's been looking forward to today for several weeks! I think this is the first year he really understood what birthdays are all about and we did our best to make the day special for him. He picked out our dinner menu (pizza) and requested a train cake. Specifically, he asked for a red train and clever me thought I could add red food coloring to pink strawberry frosting to make red. But instead it made dark pink. Duh. When Joe saw the frosting he brought me a jar of red paint and said he wanted "this red". I assured him I'd do my best and as you can see I used red candy to try to disguise the pink. Special thanks again to the Baker's Cut-Up Cake Party Book (copyright 1973) for providing inspiration for the cake. The majority of train cakes online required either outrageously expensive pans or were three-dimensional and would have taken a minimum of 5 hours to decorate.

As I was wrapping Joe's presents Billy said, "You know what would be fun? You should hide the biggest present and make picture clues for him to find it." My response, "What a great idea! Why don't you get started on that?" He did, it was a hit, and we plan on doing it again for all of the children.

So our oldest is now four. We're asked a lot if we're sending him to preschool this year. The shortest answer and explanation I can give is no, because even though he is four Joe has only been in our lives for 2 years and 9 months, and I'm not ready to send him out into the world just yet!

500 Babies Visit Lake Erie

2010-08-05T15:20:00.000-05:00

One of our last outings in Michigan was a drive over to Lake Erie. It's where I got some of my favorite photos of the trip:

Grandpa and a few of his grandchildren.

Me and my Daniel.

Kiki and Grandpa enjoying a stroll down the pier.

Joe enjoying the swings.

Joe being comforted by his father after I pushed him too hard on the swing, causing him to catapault out and land face-first on the ground. (I panicked when it happened because only minutes before, a young man horsing around on the pier had fallen and knocked his teeth out!)

Serious Mikea.

Winsome Dan.

Pensive Dan.

Now see if you can identify the common denominator in the following pictures:

If you noticed that in every one Daniel is catching a free ride while Joe and Mikea do all the work pushing, you are correct. I call it "Free-loading Dan".

I Love Toledo

2010-08-04T20:54:00.004-05:00

Well, I love the Toledo Botanical Gardens and the Toledo Zoo. I don't really know much about the rest of the city, but those two venues are simply outstanding!

The day after we visited the Calder Dairy, we headed down I-75 to check out the Toledo Botanical Gardens. Billy and I had gone there a couple of years ago before kids and loved it so much we knew we wanted to return. Our visit was cut short by an impending thunderstorm (as we were racing to the car I was wondering how I would deal with 4 drenched kids - we stayed dry, thank goodness!) but we still managed to enjoy plenty of natural beauty.

The next day was zoo day! We headed back to Toledo, this time accompanied by Grandpa, Aunt Kellie, and Seth! For possibly the first time ever, the adults actually outnumbered the children.

The kids wore out pretty quickly and we didn't see nearly all of the zoo, but we'll just save the rest for next time.

..................................................................................................

(I've undergone quite the internal struggle deciding whether or not to post the last picture above. Here's why: On the one hand, photographs of all six of our family members are rare, and since Baby A. is hiding his identity by looking away, it's a great picture to post. On the other hand, I look rather angry and who wants yucky pictures of themselves posted on the Interwebs? Plus, I appear to be glowing. And of course now by pointing this out, those of you didn't notice the first time are taking a second look. You're nodding your heads and saying to yourselves, "Wow, she does look kind of annoyed. And she looks radioactive." But if you look at the picture again, you'll see that there is a giant beam of sunlight blasting down on me, causing me to squint; thus, my dour expression. And apparently I'm just really great at reflecting light.... Oh brother, now I'm even more embarrassed!)

A Wedding and a Farm

2010-08-02T20:34:00.000-05:00

Wow, at this rate it will be December before I finish our vacation posts! I've got a lot more to share so let's just get on with it, shall we?

I was disappointed when I realized I didn't get very many pictures from the wedding or the reception. I guess I was having too much fun! The kids had a blast dancing with their aunts and I even danced once with my husband. There were so many kind friends and family at the reception who were always ready to hold, dance with, and entertain the kids that Billy and I never had to manage more than one child at a time the whole night. Here are a few shots I did get:

In the last picture you can see the friend Mikea made during the reception. He was quite the little dancer himself and there was definitely some flirting going on between the two of them!

The next day we took the kids to a dairy farm - Calder Dairy and Farms, to be exact. And can I just say how much I love driving through the Michigan countryside? The evergreen trees, the flowers, the beautifully landscaped yards? But each time I started to consider packing up and moving I repeated one word to myself: winter. 'Nuff said.

So at the farm we met up with a horse-

And a goat -

The kids posed by the dairy truck -

And posed as my little ducklings -

Then we had yummy ice cream -

And posed one more time on another horse -

At the farm I realized that no matter how much I like to think I'm more of a country girl than a city girl, the truth is I am not. At times the smell overwhelmed me and I had a hard time enjoying my ice cream with a goat staring me down. But the kids had a great time and that's what it's all about, people!

Pre-Wedding Activities

2010-07-27T14:26:00.000-05:00

Once we arrived at Grandpa and Mim's house in Michigan our objective was to try to stay out of the way while everyone prepared for the main event - Aunt Nikki's wedding! But there was plenty of time for fun beforehand, including wet and wild silliness on a new Slip 'n Slide given to the 500 Babies by their soon-to-be new Uncle Justin.

Pure awesomeness! The kids didn't really get the hang of the run/dive/slide so Billy had to swing and throw them down - kind of like bowling balls!

Since Billy was doing a reading for the wedding ceremony he needed to be at the rehearsal. It wasn't until we were all driving to the church for the rehearsal that I wondered why we were bringing all the kids with us. Wouldn't it have made more sense for me to stay behind with the kids? The feeling increased once I realized the kids were NOT sitting quiety for the rehearsal even though we brought a ton of snacks and "quiet" activities for them. I spent the entire hour chasing, shushing, and generally feeling I had lost all control. One of the activities I brought for the kids to do were sticker folders with little scenes like a castle, jungle, etc. It wasn't until later that I noticed what the folders were called: "Make-a-Scene". Ha. We made a scene all right!

It all turned out to be a blessing in a way, though, because after the way the kids behaved at the rehearsal, I knew without a doubt that there was no way I was going to attempt to have them sit in the wedding service...and the fact that they wouldn't sit still for pictures beforehand confirmed this even more:

I couldn't get a single picture with all 4 kids looking at the camera. Even the ones with Baby A. looking forward have one of the other kiddos looking away. No worries, though. I say these pictures show personality!

Prayers Needed

2010-07-25T18:23:00.000-05:00

There is a family in our congregation that has suffered an unspeakable tragedy and is in desperate need of prayer right now. Please, please go to Jamie's blog for details and read how you can help. Thanks.

More Scenes from the Great 500 Babies Road Trip: Days 2 and 3

2010-07-23T16:28:00.000-05:00

So here we go, on to days 2 and 3...
We left our mark in Arkansas. Would you believe it if I told you Joe spelled out "TEXAS" all by himself? No? Fine, but he still looks as proud as if he had done it himself.

Running with sticks.

Impossible group shot. For blog purposes these kind are ok because technically I can't show Baby A.'s face yet. It really pains me because those of you who've never seen his smile will never be completely fulfilled in life until you do. I mean it.

Most of you will not be surprised to learn I am not necessarily a fan of Elvis. But we were in Memphis, the giant statue was there, and it seemed like the touristy thing to do. I don't know why I look like I'm in pain. Wouldn't have anything to do with being stuck in a car all day with 500 Babies. Nah. (Kidding, kidding.)

Kentucky Dan.

The trio eats lunch. The line of trucks in the background should tell you why Billy and I could never completely relax during any of our stops. To their credit, the kids usually followed directions fairly well. At this particular stop an older couple even came over and complimented them on their good behavior!

Baby A. loved playing with sticks at every stop. And tell me who doesn't enjoy playing with sticks??

Next up will be scenes from our destination, including a wedding, a farm, a zoo, botanical gardens and more!

500 Babies Great Road Trip: Day 1

2010-07-21T08:13:00.001-05:00

Well, we're back. Twelve days, 10 states, and over 3000 miles later we are finally home. The trip was all that we hoped for and more and now all that's left is to do laundry, unpack, do more laundry, put the house back in order, and do more laundry. And sort through hundreds of pictures to pick the ones to share with you that best represent our journey!

The hardest part was explaning to the kids that it was going to take three days for us to get to Michigan. Every time we stopped they'd ask if we were at Granpa and Mim's house, and every time we'd get back on the road they'd ask if we were going home!

Here's how we all fit in the van:

We did our best to stay organized: I packed each child's daily outfits in separate ziploc bags and they each had treat bags that we periodically added new activities and snacks to throughout the trip. But by the end of the trip my organizational systems and the van were completely destroyed.

Our first major stop was for lunch in good old Waco, Texas. (Our plan was to eat packed lunches along the way.) I convinced Billy to follow the signs to the Cameron Park Zoo because it seemed logical that Cameron PARK Zoo must have a park nearby. I think he was a little nervous because we didn't have a map and didn't really know where we were going, but sure enough we found a park with a playground AND restrooms. So everyone got to stretch their legs and have some fun!

These lunch containers came in very handy! No plates or plastic bags needed.

Me and my crew.

After lunch we got back on the road and continued our trek through Texas and on to Hope, Arkansas where we stayed the night. We were amazed (and a little creeped out) by the size and quantity of insect life in Arkansas. But it proved the perfect opportunity for the kids to use their dollar store bug finders in a field conviently located right outside our hotel door.

The hunters disperse:

Mikea had the best discovery of the evening: a giant stink bug! (It flew away before I could get a picture.)

After the hunt we cooled off inside and went to bed.

Thus ended Day 1 of the 500 Babies Great Road Trip.

Grapes Grapes Grapes!

2010-07-01T19:24:00.000-05:00

Last winter I became very discouraged when I discovered that our grapevine had withered away to nothing more than a stick in the ground. It had been planted by the previous homeowners, and I felt that I had let both them and the vine down by not giving it the proper care. So you can imagine I was cautiously excited this spring when the tiniest of leaves began to grow from the "stick". I was beyond thrilled when itty-bitty flowers appeared in the formation of a cluster of grapes and then newborn green grapes developed from the flowers. Much to my delight, last week the grapes finally matured into these plump, purple beauties:

The kids had been eagerly awaiting the day when the grape harvest would begin and this Tuesday we all trooped out to the garden to pluck the firstfruits of summer (not counting the 7 or 8 strawberries and 3 blackberries we've picked, also courtesy of the previous homeowners).

We discovered that the family of swallows who nested on our front porch had beaten us to the harvest, but there's plenty of grapes for both of our families.

The grapes do have seeds, but if you pull them off the stem just the right way the seed comes out, too.

You just can't beat picking your own morning snack straight from the garden!

Fresh, sweet, and juicy!

Snippets of June

2010-06-23T15:21:00.000-05:00

Ah, summertime. What's not to love? The heat, the bugs, the allergies...just kidding. I really do love summer! For the first time in several years Billy is not teaching summer school, and unlike last summer we are not preoccupied with remodeling and selling our house, and we are not preparing to take in another baby (that I know of). What we ARE doing is spending quality time with friends and family, preparing for a 3170-mile road trip (!), and taking time to enjoy simple summertime pleasures like:

Backyard adventuring and playground frolicking...

Checking on our grapes...

Lending a helping hand...

Evening hiking...(I love how Mikea insisted on wearing her sunglasses at night!)

Running with nets and of course, silliness with nets...

Reading together...

And being robots!

500 Pirates!

2010-06-19T21:26:00.002-05:00

It all began with a giant box...

and a wonderfully creative and enthusiastic husband...

It took many helpers...

and lots of paint...

But soon enough a pirate ship was born.

Would you like a tour? It has doors that open...

a wheel that turns...

telescopes for telescoping...

and portholes for all!

So come on all you scurvy pirates! Arrrgh!

There's treasure to be found!

Ahoy mateys! What's that you see?

Why, it's only a scurvy pirate pug!

So hurry up and join our crew- adventure awaits!!!

Backyard Beauty

2010-06-07T16:17:00.001-05:00

Pictures of my little cutie... just because!

Potty Training the Wonder Twins

2010-06-02T09:14:00.001-05:00

Let's just get the cuteness out of the way and start with a photo of the Wonder Twins back in the day:

All together now, "Awwww!"

Ok, on to business:
I try to keep the bathroom stories to a minimum around here. Really, I do. If you're relatively new to my blog and you're not squeamish, you might want to read about the time the contents of a diaper went missing or the time Dan exploded. But it's entirely up to you. I refuse to claim responsibility if you're grossed out.

Anyway, a year ago while Joe was learning how to use the toilet I remember thinking what a circus it was going to be when Daniel and Mikea would be potty training together. (It really was pure madness back then.) I'd been making half-hearted attempts every now and again, but a few weeks ago I finally decided enough was enough and we just had to get serious about this potty training business. And you know what? We've actually had a lot of success. I think the success if due to two factors: The kids are truly ready for it now and I reward them with M and M's. Forget the sticker charts. M and M's are the ticket.

However, there are still many days where the madness takes over again. Let me set the scene from a couple of weeks ago . . .

There are five of us all crammed into our downstairs half-bathroom. The kids have just finished lunch and have been taking their turn on the toilet before they go down for naps. Joe is standing on the stepstool at the sink washing his hands: I am reminding him the proper washing sequence and technique. Daniel is perched on the toilet: I am coaching him on how to "aim" and not make a mess. (I am sitting on the floor directly in front of him so if he misses, I am toast.) Mikea has already finished her business and is wiggling around on the floor: I am trying to put a clean diaper on her. In the middle of all this Baby A. is crawling on top of me: I am trying to keep him from climbing onto the toilet and getting in the way. And they're all talking/babbling/screeching at once. And I think to myself, "I am going to remember this moment for the rest of my life. And now I will laugh just to keep myself from crying." And I did.

I must confess that now I get a kick out of how proud the kids are when they put on their underwear or how cute it is when Mikea asks for her "W". (For some reason she started calling M and M's "W's" and although I'd love to think it's because she recognizes that an upside-down M looks like a W, I don't think that's why.) And I should add that even though Joe's a master at using the toilet, sometimes he likes to bypass the hand-washing so we give him an M and M if he remembers to do it on his own.

All-in-all it's pretty easy to forget the headaches of it all and see the big picture:

Oops, not that big picture . . . the big picture that the 500 Babies are growing up and I'm simply beyond blessed to guide them through these precious days!