Happy 1st Birthday, Daniel!

Today the little Danimal turned 1! Here he is all decked out in his party hat diving into his cake.

Then he decided that the plate tasted better than cake.

We kept the day fairly low-key because we've had a busy week, next week is going to be even busier, and Billy is sick. So we did cake, a few presents, and that's about all.

Daniel is quite the little walker now. He is choosing to walk about 70% of the time as opposed to crawling. (Yesterday I told Kiki it was high time she started walking more than just one step at a time, and right after I said that she took about 8 steps in a row!)

Back to Daniel, here he is yesterday during his first official haircut. (The Martin Luther-inspired trimmed bangs from a couple of months ago doesn't count.) I thought he would cry but he handled the clippers like a pro.

Happy birthday, little buddy! We love you!

Daddy and Daughter

Two of the loves of my life on their way to church.

Tough Little Cookie

Whew. If Billy and I are blessed to become the parents of sweet little Kiki, I suspect we are in for an enormous parenting challenge. Her strong-willed, aggressive nature is starting to show in earnest and I want to start figuring out now how we are going to handle her. Just this morning she's already snatched toys out of Daniel's hands leaving him crying, chased after Joe and nearly pushed him down to get the toy he was holding, and threw a tantrum when she was tired complete with screaming, arched back, kicking legs, and flailing arms. Let me remind you she is 10 months old, and they are almost-1 and 2.

Of course she is also incredibly sweet and loving. She's the one who holds on tight and hugs me back when I cuddle her. She loves kisses, especially from Daddy. Most of the time she's happy, smiling, and content.

But what she wants, she does everything she can to get. And right now the boys are generally passive when she steamrolls over them to get her way. I forsee many epic battles in the future if they ever decide to fight back.

My Daniel

Yes, he's entwined in ribbon. Yes, he's lounging in a dog bed. No, he's not wearing any clothes.


But doesn't he look happy??

Getting Closer

Somehow we just moved one step closer to making Kiki a permanent part of our family. Yesterday we learned that the home study of the relative who wanted her was not approved and today Kiki's mother relinquished her parental rights. The permanency plan for Kiki now states that she will be adopted by us, her foster parents. But there is still a huge obstacle. Her family has 90 days from today to hire an attorney and file an intervention to keep her. We have heard that Kiki's grandfather wants her, so I think it is likely he will do something. This is the same thing we went through with the boys, except since the boys had been living with their grandparents and then removed from that home it didn't seem likely they would get them back. I am very afraid it won't be as easy this time.

Again, thank you to everyone who has been praying about this. I would like to ask you to also pray for Kiki's mother. She seems to be having a very difficult time right now and I just feel so sad for her. Yes, she has made some bad decisions, but she is also very young and has had some difficult circumstances to deal with in her life. She will have a final visit with Kiki in a couple of weeks and I am worried about what that will do to her. Thank you to everyone for your prayers and support.

Kiki Speaks

Several months ago I predicted Kiki would start talking before Daniel, and I added jokingly she'd be talking before Joe as well. Turns out I just might be right. She's been babbling da-da-da and other sounds for quite a while, but last Friday she actually said "hat." We were playing around with hats and I kept saying the word hat over and over and then she copied me. She actually said "h-a-t", not "ha" or "at". I have it on video, too.

Then I was panting like a dog (because it's the baby sign for dog) and Kiki panted, too. Later on I was showing Billy a video of this and when Kiki heard me panting on the video she panted again. Do I have to tell you how cute this is?? And, if she watches us eating, she copies the movement and sound of our mouths like she's eating,too.

Future Olympian of 2024

Last week we were discussing which Olympic sport Joe would be
good at. Wrestling and weightlifting were obvious choices. But today I discovered a ribbon twirler tucked away in a filing cabinet, and now there is no question. Joe shows clear talent in the sport of Rhythmic Gymnastics. See for yourself:

Let's Bake a Cake

Ever decide to bake a cake just because? That's what we did today. Well, the truth is I was craving something sweet and just so happened to have a cake mix in the pantry. So I enlisted the help of Joe and together we baked a cake.

Pouring in the mix. I had to take this picture fast before he dumped the rest of the bag on the counter.







Ooooo! Watching the mixer.

"Smoothing out" the batter.

I'm not going to post a picture of the final product because it may or may not have several pieces missing from it. (Come on, how often do you get to eat WARM cake fresh from the oven?)

The Sunflower Playhouse

If you are like me, you may have had all kinds of fun ideas of things you wanted to do with your kids before you even had any children. For me, one of those ideas was to grow a sunflower playhouse. You plant giant sunflowers in a square and they grow to become a "house" for kids to play in. Unfortunately, I got a late start on planting it because we were working on other outdoor projects like the garden. But sometime in June we (I mean Billy) dug out the area and I planted the sunflower seeds (plus Morning Glories to climb up the sunflower stalks) and a just few days later we had sprouts! Only three sides grew, however, because the 4th side was next to the fence and had bad soil.

As of yesterday some of the stalks were over 6 feet tall and the heads were on the cusp of blooming (I'm pretty sure that's the first time I've ever used the word "cusp". And possibly the last). Anyway, I was getting VERY excited.

But last night the sunflowers suffered a severe blow. A wicked thunderstorm blew in at 3 AM complete with high winds and hail. One entire "wall" of the house blew over. This side was lashed together by the Morning Glory vines so I think that's why it fell. The opposite side wasn't bound together so it withstood the wind. I was able to stand the fallen stalks back up again so hopefully the damage wasn't permanent.

Two Babies

Two babies start pounding on the computer keyboard. Mommy looks each one in the eye and firmly says "No." One baby starts to cry and stops hitting the computer. The other baby laughs and hits it even harder.

Two babies are tired and ready for their naps. Mommy puts each one in their bed with a bottle. One baby hits the wall a few times, then gives up, contentedly drinks his bottle, and goes to sleep. The other baby screams to high heaven for 20 minutes, stomps her feet, flails her arms, and then cries herself to sleep.

Two babies are playing with each other on the floor. One baby is climbing on the other baby's back, hanging on to him, and bouncing up and down. The other baby has a mallet. Uh oh, I have to go now!

A Glimmer of Hope

If you've been following our journey with Kiki, you know that it has been an emotional series of ups and downs, beginning with the day after we received her when we were told we were only a temporary placement for her and we felt the first sting of disappointment. Since then as the case has progressed, there have been days where we were more hopeful of our chances to adopt her, and then days when it seemed inevitable that we would have to give her up.

Currently we are waiting to hear whether Kiki will be placed with a relative of hers. However, this evening we received a phone call from her CASA volunteer, who told us she is recommending to the court that Kiki be adopted by us. She has some concerns about the relative placement and I would assume that Kiki's ad litem and CPS representative may have the same concerns, and they would also recommend that we become the adoptive placement. This is only speculation of course. So, we continue to pray and hope.

Cuties

Adoption Day!

Introducing Joseph William and Daniel Otto Morrison:

It is official! We adopted the boys this morning as part of the mass adoption ceremony in which 72 children were adopted into 38 families. It was obviously a momentous occasion for our family, but I didn't really get emotional until about halfway through the naming of the families (we were about the 5th or 6th family announced). Everyone clapped and cheered as each family was introduced. There were plenty of people who had the 500 Babies beat, including a single woman who adopted 4 children and another family who adopted 5 children. There was also a teenage girl adopted who was so excited she "raised the roof" when her family was announced. We had to wait over an hour for the judge to arrive, so Joe was very restless by the time the ceremony started. Fortunately we were joined by family and friends so we had plenty of hands to handle the babies. Afterwards the children feasted on cupcakes donated by H.E.B. and were given cute stuffed dogs.

Oh, and we made the news! Channel 12 usually covers the ceremony each month so we knew there would be a chance. They showed clips of about 4 families and we were one of them.

The only twinge of sadness to the day was the feeling that our family will not be complete unless Kiki is part of it. But God has blessed us beyond measure so far, and we trust His plan for us. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us!

A Good Experience

Nothing beats spending free money when you need a lift in spirits. Thanks to a generous grant from the Beaumont Foundation we were able to purchase new clothes for the children yesterday. We thought about waiting until the upcoming tax-free weekend, but I have no desire to battle the crowds. I need serious help in spending money, however, because when I totaled our purchases from our first stop at Kohl's we had only spent 1/9 of the total we were given. We then went to Target and did better, but I still have to go back out later today to spend the rest. Sad story, I know. :)

A Bad Experience

Did you know that if you are a foster family and someone accuses you of associating with neighbors who smoke marijuana that you have to take a drug test within 24 hours AND you have to pay for it yourself? ($61.50 per test)

We have had such a positive experience with foster care up until yesterday. Yesterday we were presented with these allegations, along with other accusations of poor treatment of our children. I can't understand why someone would do this to us and both Billy and I are dealing with some pretty strong feelings of anger right now. We are 95% sure of who made these false claims and having been praying for a forgiving heart towards them. We understand the need for children to be protected, we don't understand outright lies.

One of the claims was that there was crying in our house, then a "slapping sound", and then more crying. This makes me sick to my stomach. There was also a claim of "scary crying". Guess what? WE HAVE THREE BABIES!!!! And we just finished training a very strong-willed, very loud little girl to sleep through the night in her own bed after she was used to months of sleeping in bed with her mother and father. You bet she did some "scary" crying.

We have a wonderful caseworker who assured us that everything will be ok, that these things happen, and as soon as the drug tests come back negative we will be cleared. It's just an ugly blemish on a week that is supposed to be a happy time in our lives, as we will finalize the adoption of the boys on Friday.

Best Buds Part II

Last night while I was away at MOPS, Kiki had a hard time falling asleep. Normally she cries for about 5 minutes and that's it. Well, last night Billy put her to bed first before the boys. After he put her down she screamed and screamed and screamed and screamed. You may be thinking it was because she missed her mommy, but no. We think it was because Daniel wasn't in the room with her. As soon as Billy put Dan in his bed, Kiki calmed down and went to sleep. Hmmm.

Jesus Loves You

It's really difficult to know what goes on inside Joe's head. He still answers yes to just about every question you ask him, no matter how ridiculous. But I have faith that some concepts are sinking in, especially the important ones. Last night as I put him to bed and told him that Jesus loves him, he pointed to the picture of Jesus on the wall, then pointed to his heart, and finally pointed to my heart.

Best Buds

Saturday morning we caught Daniel and Kiki holding hands during breakfast. All right, all right, I know they weren't really holding hands on purpose, but it's still cute. Several days ago Billy caught them playing peek-a-boo with each other behind a chair. They also "talk" to each other through clicking and smacking sounds. They still fight a lot, which consists of back-and-forth tug-of-wars over toys. Dan also has the habit of hanging onto the back of Kiki (and Joe) as they crawl around the house and sooner or later they tire of him hitching a ride and cry for him to get off.

It is such fun to watch these little babies growing up to be best friends and playmates.

Back to School, Sort Of

Today is registration day at school. Billy went in for the morning and is hoping he won't be needed so he can come home. I am hoping, too. Teachers don't officially start until the 18th, but he will have to go in a couple of days next week to start getting his classroom ready.

These last 5 weeks have been great. Taking turns getting everyone up in the morning, having someone there to fetch a bottle or a diaper, and being able to stay up late together because neither one of us is completely exhausted.

But that is about to end. Soon it will be Billy vs. 20 ten-year-olds and me vs. 500 Babies. Which odds would you prefer?

Happy Birthday, Joe!

Joe turned 2 yesterday! We had a small party with tacos, cake, and ice cream. Joe had a great time opening his cards and gifts and playing with our friends the Rancours. One of his gifts was a potty chair, which he enjoyed wearing as a hat and using for storing toys. I think he's going to be disappointed when he learns the real use for it.

When I was a kid, the best part about birthdays was the shape cakes my mother would make. (Except when I turned 2 and it was so hot they just put two candles in a watermelon instead of a birthday cake.) So I wanted to do the same for Joe, with some help from the internet and Billy. I baked the cake and did the orange icing, and he did the rest of the decorating.

We get to do it all over again in a month when Daniel turns 1, and I hope we get to do it again in October when Kiki turns 1.

Our Family

Yesterday Jamie bravely came over to our house to photograph the 500 Babies. We had a lot of fun and she got some great shots. You can check out more pictures here and here. Thank you Jamie for this wonderful gift!!!

Brad is Fat

Brad is 5 pounds overweight, 25% above where he should be. So the vet sent him home with a backpack full of tools to help with his weight loss: a measuring cup for his food, a toy mouse for him to chase, a frisbee, a book called "Fitness Unleashed" and a pedometer that clips onto his collar. Here he is sporting the pedometer:2000 steps = 1 mile. He has taken 4876 steps since Thursday. Don't be too impressed, though. If he scratches himself it registers as a step.

Partners in Crime

Nine times out of ten, Daniel and Kiki can be found playing in close proximity to each other. They follow each other throughout the house, crawling around like little cubs. It's always cute, even when they fight over a toy or when they team up to cause trouble.

Great News!

Yesterday we officially became the "adoptive placement" for the boys. All that we have to do now is go to court to make it legal. We have a tentative date of August 15 for the adoption ceremony. Our attorney will be visiting us next Monday so we should find out for sure then. Since we are so close, I am now going to refer to the boys by their names: Daniel and Joe! I'm also going to start referring to Baby Girl M. by her nickname: Kiki. We call her Kiki 75% of the time anyway.

500 Babies Take a Road Trip

This past Monday we drove my sister Elizabeth from Kerrville home to Houston. We planned a couple of things to do in Houston and after dropping Elizabeth off we went to our first stop, the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center. We hiked one of the trails, and J. had a blast! I don't think I've ever seen him so excited. It might have had to do with the fact that he was glad to be able to run around after a 4-hour car ride. He was fascinated with everything he saw and stopped every few feet to point at something.

We then wanted to give the babies a chance to crawl around and since the Nature Center is right next to Memorial Park we found a shady, grassy area to spread a blanket and let everyone get some exercise. Here I discovered some new taste preferences of the babies: D. likes to eat dirt and pine cones and M. prefers pine needles. Good to know.

Our last stop was the Galleria. By then it was around 6:00 and we were congratulating ourselves on how well the trip had been going. All of our stops had been close to each other and after doing the hot outdoor activities we were ending with a leisurely cool walk through the mall. All we needed to do was find the Food Court. Little did we know. After 45 minutes of many trips up and down the mall, several elevator rides, asking directions and receiving directions that didn't work, and carrying a double stoller down a flight of stairs, we finally made it. And of course by that time J. needed a complete change of clothes. But when we were finally all seated around our table, the babies in high chairs and J. in a booster seat, we were still very happy with our decision to make the trip. (As long as we didn't think about the fact that we still had to carry the stroller back UP the stairs and had a 3 1/2 hour ride home!)

500 Babies Go to the Library

This past Monday afternoon we packed up and ventured out to the library. The first thing we had to do once we arrived was pay our fines. I can guarantee that not a single one of you reading this has ever had a fine as large as ours. Let's just say that the next library in the San Antonio Public Library system will be named "The William and Anna Morrison Public Library". The problem is we have four cards between us, including 2 teacher cards, and we just weren't very good about returning on time the bazillion books we checked out. But all that is now past us, and we are moving forward in our new roles as responsible library patrons.

Here's what the babies did while there:

Who's That Baby?

It's kind of fun to find new ways to take pictures of the babies without showing their faces.

J. is the easiest because I can usually get him to hold something over his face:

The babies are more of a challenge, especially when I am trying to hold them and not be in the picture:


Sometimes I can get some fun spontaneous shots:

And I've tried over and over to get a cute bathtub shot of all three. But this is tricky for a variety of reasons. Here's the only one I've been able to get that doesn't show their faces or their unmentionables:

I really like this one of J., which I probably wouldn't normally have taken if I wasn't trying to hide his identity:

Puffs

Adoption Update

Here's where we are:

A couple of weeks ago we were given the go-ahead to proceed with the adoption of the boys! We sent in our paperwork and just found out that we won't have to get fingerprinted again, which would have delayed everything by several weeks. When the paperwork is finalized we will go to court and do the adoptive placement and consummation of the adoption all at the same time. We have been blessed with how quickly and smoothly the process is going!

The situation with Baby Girl M. is not as promising. We have known for over a month now that a relative has stepped forward to adopt her. A home study will have to be completed and various people will have to approve it, but our chances of adopting her appear to be very small at this point. We have no idea how much longer she will be with us. I try not to think about it because it just hurts too much. All we can do is thank God for each day she is with us and enjoy her while she is still a part of our family.

Diary of the 500 Babies First Night Sleeping Together in the Same Room

7:45 PM
All children are in their respective beds. D. and M. are asleep, J. is still awake. Dad is at softball practice. Mom is not going to finish cleaning up the house from the day's activities because she needs to be able to hear the babies and how can she do that if she is clanging dishes around? She is forced to work on the computer because that is a quiet activity.

8:15 PM
M. wakes up. Mom pats her back and within 5 minutes she is asleep again. J. is still awake. D. is snoring.

9:20 PM
J. FINALLY falls asleep. To his credit, he was laying quietly in bed the whole time.

9:30 PM
M. wakes up again. Her crying wakes up D. and J., who quickly fall back asleep once she's quiet. It takes about 20 minutes to get M. to fall asleep again. Incidentally, Mom and Dad learn it also takes about 20 minutes for Kix to get soggy.

M. wakes up at 10:00 and again at 10:20. Once she's asleep, Mom and Dad decide to take a chance and go to bed at 10:30, making bets on when she will wake up again. Loser makes the coffee in the morning.

2:30 AM
M. wakes up. Mom and Dad are shocked she has slept for 4 hours.

3:30 AM
M. wakes up with a leaky diaper. After being changed, she now thinks it's time to play and takes 30 minutes to go back to sleep.

5:00 AM
D. randomly wakes up. Dad gives him his pacifier and he goes back to sleep.

8:00 AM
M. wakes up ready for the day. Mom and Dad are again shocked she has slept for 4 hours. J. was also awake but was still in his toddler bed.

She did a lot better than we expected. The dilemma is that we don't want her to get used to being picked up every time she cries in bed, but we also don't want her to wake up the boys. We expect it will take time, but it will be better for everyone in the long run if she can sleep by herself.

Musical Beds

Today is a big day in the Morrison household. We are going to transition J. from the crib to a toddler bed and M. from our bed to the crib. Little D. is staying put. I know you're supposed to leave toddlers in their cribs as long as possible, but I am tired of waking up at the foot of my bed curled up like a dog, pushed out of my place by an eight-month old little girl. Right now J. is taking his nap in his new "big boy" bed and seems to be doing well. Of course the real tests will be what happens when he wakes up and what happens at night. We think we can train him to stay in bed until we come to get him. I'll let you know how that goes.

My Dog, the Landscape Architect

You may or may not remember that over Memorial Day weekend Billy finished building a deck for our backyard. A couple weeks later he added a gravel pathway complete with stepping stones. The last part was to be the landscaping between the path and the house, which I completed over the Fourth of July weekend. All I did was put in some caladiums and mulch, but the end result looked quite sharp.

But Darcy had her own opinions about how the area should look. She prefers more of a trampled, messy look, so she decided to do a bit of rearranging: She looks quite pleased with herself, doesn't she?

Just when I begin to think she's outgrown all of the destructive habits she had when I first got her, she does something like this. So now in my SPARE TIME, of which I have an abundance, I will be picking bits of mulch out of gravel. Thanks, Darcy!

New Shoes

Today we went to a kids' resale shop and bought the first pairs of shoes for Baby Boy D. and Baby Girl M. I've always been of the mindset that babies don't really need shoes until they are walking, but now that they are getting older something seems to be missing from their outfits. A couple of months ago we had M. all dressed up, minus anything on her feet. We were told by an acquaintance "don't do the ghetto thing" and "socks and shoes at all times". We politely responded that she overheats easily and that's why she wasn't wearing socks. (Inwardly we were somewhat annoyed by the comment.) But I think now it's time for sandals at the very least.

No Ranting Allowed

This has been the first full week since summer school ended and Billy finally gets a break. (One of these days I'm going to write a post ranting about people who think that it's so easy being a teacher because of the 3-month vacation every summer. But I don't think most of you who visit this blog do so hoping to read a rant.)

So, what have we been doing? Monday was a caseworker visit, I don't remember what we did Tuesday, Wednesday we drove to Kerrville and celebrated my 408th month-birthday with my parents, Thursday was a staffing for Baby Girl M., and today M. had a visit with her mom. So, mostly typical foster family stuff, but nice because I didn't have to do any of it alone.

On Thursday we also squeezed in a quick trip to the zoo and then drove around Alamo Heights and Terrell Hills picking out the house we're going to buy when we retire. Once we got home, however, I realized I could never leave our current neighborhood. Why would I, when we have neighbors with lovely yards like this:

What I want to know is where are the people from the home owners' association who sent us a letter when we had one weed in our yard that was an inch taller than allowed? Or who told us to bring in our empty trash can when in fact it was our neighbors who kept leaving theirs out? (And they still do.) Keep in mind that at least two trash days have come and gone and the junk is still there. And there were two hideous couches that sat out there for several days but have since disappeared.

Wait. This is beginning to sound like a rant. Sorry!