waiting patiently at WIC office

first time bowling

all of our babies

Round and Round

Round and Round we go, where it stops, nobody knows....
Just had a little incident with the kids. We just got the carpets cleaned and they decided to run in a circle with sippy cups of water and spit it on each other and all over the floor. It is so hard sometimes to get over the respect factor. It is hard because they are kids and they don't understand that we just paid money to get the carpet cleaned and you spitting water on the floor then walking on it will make a stain. Oh well, I guess when you look at it in hindsight, it is not a big deal, kids will be kids.
On another note, Roman will be 2 yrs old tomorrow. They are growing up so fast. I just keep trying to hold on to every moment that I have with them and feel blessed that we have these beautiful children to share our life with. Roman is singing his ABC's and saying so many words, phrases, sentences, etc. that I can't even count. He is so smart. Everyone even says so too, for instance when he is in childcare at the gym or church they remark on how smart he is. Roman and Anderson have a special bond, they love being around each other and at times one can't do something without the other. Other times they do fight but that is normal. Alice and Rose are the same. In the morning they all hug each other and are happy to see each other. Alice and Rose just started preschool about a month ago. They go three days a week 2 hours a day. It is an academic preschool so they are strictly learning. We will move Alice to a Kindergarden prep program once she turns four this month. We plan to get her tested to start kindergarden next school year. We have it planned so that each child will start Kindergarden separately, that way they will have their own friends and independence. In addition, Rose will definitely need another year to prepare for Kindergarden after Alice starts since she is younger. The girls can both spell their name aloud and are learning to write their name. They are also counting really well and able to identify the letters of the alphabet really well. They still have a lot to learn this year but it is exciting to see what a difference a month makes in preschool. Last year they only went for a couple of months to this preschool and before that they were at Kindercare which was primarily a daycare but it kept them stimulated during the day. Once we adopted them, we longer got assistance for Kindercare so that is why we have them in a shorter program now. We are blessed with having respite care so I have our respite worker come a few times a week so that I can go and run errands or just do things for myself, like today I got my haircut and had lunch with my friend Cherrie. Yesterday I had a Dr appt, etc. so it really helps to have some help with the kids. The kids love her, she does crafts with them and is nurturing with them. Today she brought Roman a birthday present and they made cupcakes for his birthday. Also once a week the kids are going to camp at church while I attend a Mom's group. This has been a great way for me to talk with other mom's who also have preschoolers as well as have the kids in an activity. Other than that we usually go to the gym and they play in the kidcenter while I work out. So we keep pretty busy all the time. Mike and I try to go out on a date once a week to get some time by ourselves to talk and reflect on our life and this has been really nice. Here are just some tidbits for the kids:
Alice loves pink and Hello Kitty
Rose loves purple and Princesses
Anderson loves Spiderman
Roman loves Diego and Cars
both boys love to play with matchbox cars now and the girls are still into their babies.
When I ask the girls who they want to pray for, they say Hello Kitty and Princess
Also when I called my mawmaw Alice yesterday, Allie said "can I talk to her, she has the same name like me" I said, "Yes baby, that is how we got your name" Then we also talked to MawMaw Paula and Paula asked Alice if she remembered her and she said "yeah, we swing at your house and go on the slide and ride in a pink car (pink barbie jeep). " It has been 8 months since we saw them and she still remembers all of this.
Also another thing that Alice remembered recently is that I showed her a picture of her bio mom and asked her if she knew who it was and she giggled and said her name and said she always cries when she sees us. She hasn't seen her in a year and I can't believe she still remembers that. Well I will close for now, hopefully I will be able to write sooner next time. I love you Roman, Rose, Anderson, and Alice. You will never be able to fathom how important you are to me and Daddy. You are our heart and our world and we live for you everyday. Love you so much, love mommy

Time Flies

Time is just flying by. Rose and Roman still take a good solid nap, while at times it is easier to just keep Allie and AJ awake and not fight to get them to sleep and interrupt the good 3 hour nap Rosie and Romo will take. So I sit here in our bedroom contemplating folding clothes as I watch Allie and AJ take turns covering up each other and pat each other's back and I think, "wow, where has the time gone". Our youngest child will be two in September and there are no more babies. I feel as though sometimes the growing up part is worse for us because we missed a big chunk of Allie, Aj, and Romo's earlier life since Allie was 1 yr old, Romo 8 mos old, and Rosie 2 yrs old when they came into our lives. In some ways it is nice not having babies anymore so that we can do more things, for instance, we will go on our first camping trip at the end of the month or like in a few years when we can get nice things in the house and not have to determine how it will be damaged by the kids. It would be difficult and like starting all over again if we had another baby. At the sametime I feel as though I want to have another baby to do it all over again and cherish it since our situation we have now happened so fast and it was more just being in survival mode all of the time. Well I could dwell on this everyday or I could just be at peace and try to enjoy each and every moment with the kids and not try to rush to the next thing. I choose to enjoy it and want to just make their life as great as possible so that when they grow older they would have had good guidance and great childhood memories. These kids are a gift from God. There was a time when my life had no purpose and I thought I would never have children and I still can't believe we have four beautiful healthy children that are all ours and I never want to take that for granted.
In closing there is one thing I really want the kids to know: Roman had the worse diapers out of all of you, and I mean BAD! His room still smells from the one he had this morning so Roman, you owe me big time, and the other kids should make you wipe my ass the most when I need it.
So some new things Roman says, "a mess", "spongebob"
Anderson says "look Allie, you" while showing Allie a picture of herself, also "little bear"

Kids Quote

Some things Roman says at 22 months
I Got It, Sorry, Get Down, Fun, Okay, a bee daddy

In the car the other day we were listening to a Kelly Clarkson song that says "cause we belong together now..." and Alice said, "Mom, that song says, Cause we belong together now, and we all belong together too"

SPECIAL KIDS DAY

Now that we have respite care, I have been able to spend more individual time with the kids so one day last week I took the girls to the Children's Museum. They had a blast, we packed our lunch and hung out for a while. Then another day I took the boys to play at McDonald's and Roman had a Dr. appt for his follow up with his ear tubes, which that wasn't fun but he still liked it. Now I am trying to do one on one time with the kids so today I took Anderson with me to run errands. All of the kids are growing up so fast and having this one on one time with them as allowed me to be more attentive to them and notice things that I wouldn't normally such as words they are saying, things they are doing, etc. I took Anderson to the mall to have lunch, ride the carousel, and play in the kids area. It was like he was so proud and confident to just be there with me. We also went to the Sprint Store to get my phone fixed and went to the cleaners to get hangers. While at the cleaners there is a fountain outside that he got to play in and we also got to see some firemen jump into the firetruck and run off with the sirens. Anderson said something today I had never heard him say, it was "mom, hold my fries" too funny. Anderson is such a mommy's boy, did I mention that he sleeps on our floor in our bedroom every night? I love it, I love having him right there with me but I am scared that he will never grow out of it, haha! Every now and then we can convince him to sleep in the girls room but most of the time we just don't feel like fighting him and will just let him sleep with us. Following this will be pics from the girls at the museum and Aj's day with mommy today from the sprint store and the fountain.

Roman Speaks

I can't believe all of things this boy says for his age, I will not be able to write them all but here goes some

I did it, look balloon, Dora, mine, potty, peepee, yucky poo poo, bath, diaper, cup, eat, food, I want some, Daddy, Allie, Rara (AJ), Rose, Boudreaux, Mommy, bed, Shoes, where, this, there, cheese, cracker, juice, milk, sorry, your welcome, thank you, car, truck, chair, swimming, I'm coming

This is all at only 21 months, he is way more vocal then any of my other kids were at this age so it is just amazing to me to see him so little saying all of these things. He is the cutest and sweetest little boy, I love him so much.

To Pee or not to Pee

Well today I started to potty train Anderson. I wanted to give it a try to see if he was ready but it seems as though it will be more of a challenge then I am prepared for. I had the babysitter come this morning to watch the other kids while I worked with Anderson. He woke up with a dry diaper and he went on the potty and peed. After that, he kept having accidents and also would pee on the potty if you sat him on there so all in all, he just wasn't able to tell when he had to go but if he just sat on the potty he would evenutally pee. As the day went on, he started having tantrums and not wanting to go on the potty and then I just thought about it for a while and decided not only is he not ready but more than that, I am not ready. I am not ready for the struggle, the accidents, having to bring three to the bathroom in public, traveling with three having to make potty breaks. I just got Rose out of pullups at night and here I am trying to go right into training Anderson, I need to just wait. I really need a step by step guide on how to do this because I don't have the confidence to just wing it so here is my plan. I was told about the 3 day potty training guide that gives step by step, day by day instructions with my name written all over it. My plan is to wait until I have enough respite hours to just have the babysitter come all day long with the other kids for those three days and then just focus on Anderson and try to get him trained. I also am going to wait until I am in the right mindset to give it my all which I am just not right now. On another note, Roman says potty so I bring him and he pees, afterwards he says "I did it Moma" maybe I should start with him :)