Sweet Leighton

Just had to show off some cute pictures of Leighton I swapped off of Amys blog. Not only because she is wearing the outfit I got her, but isn't she just adorable? I swear at 2 weeks old she seems to smile half the time and holds her head up. I guess when you come out half grown you act older than your age! ;-)

Sage Referral Photo Shoot

3 years ago...

Referral Anniversary! June 26th, 2009

June 26th, 2008

June 26th, 2007

June 26th, 2006

Ahhh referral day! Kind of like the day your child is born, but you only get a glimpse of them and are told you can't hold them still. No matter that you have waited and waited and WAITED! You will wait some more. I thought once I had a picture, it would be ok. But I was wrong. It was worse because then I knew her face. Yet all that waiting and here we are. Sage has moved from that picture to our wild little spicy girl! The one who makes us laugh so hard we cry. The one I am certain would be a hippie child she has such a free spirit. The one who teaches us how to have fun no matter what. The one who taught us the heart of our Father and opened our eyes to what adoption really is. 3 years ago today, we got just a glimpse of those things to come. In my wildest dreams I could never have imagined how much that little girl in the picture would forever change me. My prayer come true.

Maverys Dedication & Fathers Day

The girls were helping daddy put in a new faucet!

Happy Fathers Day 2009!

Maverys new smile, CHEESY!


Happy Dedication Day!

Notice Mavery is trying to get down during the service, we were sweating by the time it was over worried what she might do!
Our pastor Jonathan, or as Sage calls him "Jonny"!

Today not only did we celebrate Fathers Day, we had Mavery dedicated at church. We started the day with serving Daddy breakfast in bed and giving gifts. The kids each painted a letter spelling out daddy to hang in his office. I am so thankful for my husband and the amazing father he is. I am also very blessed to have an amazing christian father and father in law. They both love the Lord and their families and I have never doubted that.

Having our children dedicated means that we are making a promise to raise our children to honor the Lord. Typically we have only taken "the" child up. But this time our kids asked if they could be a part and while I think Mark was not so sure about taking all 5 up, I am glad we did. Of course the only reason Sage really wanted up there was because she was certain she was going to be given the chance to sing on stage, and we had to take her out crying because she did not get to. But the others, they get it. It is not just OUR job to influence the kids, the olders have a job to. And I think Makenna took that very seriously after listening this morning. In the car today she was telling the little girls bible stories in such fun ways, and they were begging for more!

We are so thankful for our children, all 5 of them. And today, as we celebrate Mavery, and the gift she is from God, we are especially grateful. We know that God has big plans for her little life, and our prayer is that we will raise her to love Him, and love the plan He had for her. 2 verses we chose as part of her dedication were

Hebrews 11:1

Now Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see.

Jeremiah 1:5

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.

And the prayer they read:

Our prayer is that Mavery will find her identity in Chirst. That she will be able to look at what God has already done and praise Him. We pray that Mavery will love the Lord above anything.

Leighton Aubrey is here!

Having a baby in our family is really a family affair! Here is a shot of one side of the waiting room today. Girls side.

Here is the boys side. Adley was not taking sides, she was on both. ;-)

We had to find ways to stay entertained. So, Malaine shows off her bridge.

And Jaylyn shows off her bridge. And Adley just showed off her cuteness!

But even Poppy can't stay awake.

Till TJ walks in w/ the news, Leighton has FINALLY arrived!

Another sweet girl in the family!

A BIG girl! Beautiful

We have a new cousin! Leighton Aubrey arrived today! Leighton is said like LAYton in case you wonder) She is my cousin TJ & Amys 3rd daughter. She beat her sister by an ounce weighing in at 9lbs 8ozs and was 22 inches long. Amy has some big babies! When I showed Mark the pictures he said "She looks like Sawyer" and that is because Sawyer was that size. She arrived via C-Section because she would not turn the right way. Which is a bummer for Amy who had to go 2 days over her due date and go through a full labor. But in the end all is well and Leighton is here. I love new blessings from God!

Disney Tips?

We still have awhile. 101 days to be exact but who is counting?! However, did I mention we get FREE dining? Have you heard all about that deal? We get a sit down meal (meaning character meals) a counter service meal AND a snack each day. Not to mention that our sit downs include drinks and dessert. (which is why someone needs to kick my rear in gear to get in shape!) I have a friend who is in the know on Disney and has been WONDERFUL and patient with me in helping me plan out my meals and days. Because as I am finding out there is a science to this schedule of dinners and being in what parks on what days, etc. And you can say, do not worry so much. But when you are dealing with 5 children, there is no option. Especially 5 children with personality. Add in that reservations have to be booked if you want certain things, you get the picture. So, just curious if you have been there, what was your very favorite place to eat, any secret tips about lines or rides, any tips on dealing w/ toddlers to tweens. I am a huge fan of the disney boards but I like details and I know many of you have been. Would love to hear from you. We can book our dining in just 11 days!

** Disney is offering this free dining August through October if you book a package through disney. Have to stay at a disney hotel. We are staying at the All Star Music. (has a family suite)

Recipes added

Because I feared if I did not do it tonight, I would not do it, I added the fondue recipes we used over at my sad, very sad recipe blog. I have a bunch I want to get on there. Anyways, if you want to have some FUN fondue, check them out here

FUN Fondue Friday!

We decided for our anniversary we would have a fondue party. Mark and I love to eat at the Melting Pot but do not attempt it at home. (nor can we afford the melting pot often) A few months back some friends had us over for a fondue party and we knew the kids would love it. And we were right. Was much easier than I thought it would be. We started with cheese, which they all thought was very yummy. For the meat instead of dipping it, we just had it cooking in a pot on the stove during our cheese fondue, then I just scooped it all in a bowl and let them eat from that. We even had some sparkling grape juice which means a TRUE party to the kids. the 3 little girls wanted to dress up and be "pretty". They are so sweet! While the cheese was yummy, steak delicious, oh the anticipation for the CHOCOLATE! Mark could not stir fast enough, they were all drooling!

Sage was hilarious. She was getting as much chocolate on her marshmallows and then shoving them in her mouth. One right after another. Can you tell in the one photo she is trying to figure out if she can shove another one in before she is done with what is in her mouth?

Yes, they were covered from head to toe, and thank goodness for my handy dandy new washing machine with its super stain remover button. It asks you what type of stain, you key it in and like magic, it got this dress back to white! Now, if I could just figure out how to get the chair cushion in there! All of our other chairs are covered in leather. I was sitting here, and oops! Guess it will be getting covered in leather soon!

I will post our fondue recipes over on my recipe blog and post a link when I get it done. Such a fun thing and we promised the kids we would have Fondue Fridays once a month from now on. Also, we had our first attempt at geocaching and failed so will post about that soon. 3 posts in one night is to much! :)

Therapy Fun

Mavery and I went again for occupational therapy today. I have to say, Mavery has really made much progress since we last met with the therapist. (and I am not doing a sensory diet or anything) And Sarah (therapist) said that many times her "adopted" kiddos graduate out quickly. Alot of it is simply adjustment, and I know that is true. However, there are still some things we have to work on. We will only be going in for therapy once a month and the point of therapy is for her to help us figure out how to keep Mavery "balanced". One thing she said today is that she can tell Mavery wants to be boss. "really, you think?"! So we are working on that. I asked how she thought she would do at Disney. She laughed and said she thought overall it was a perfect place for her to go but I better put her on a leash! ha! Lines will be our issue but she gave me some great tips for that. One is taking a water bottle half way full of water and a straw and letting her blow bubbles inside the bottle. I know she will love this as she does this EVERY day when she is sitting down to eat and gets a straw with her meal. One thing she said we would work on is that her back muscles are a little weak. Not horrible, but when she tries to get her on her belly, she does not pull herself up as far as she would like, or reach for things. She DOES do those things, I guess just not the way that is best. She was telling me how that is very normal for kids from an orphanage but that also alot of kids just have bad posture. Interesting note, she said that alot of kids sit in a position, kind of like on their knees, but w/ their booty flat on the floor, legs to their side. (called the W position if you do a google search) She said this is bad and if I catch Mavery doing that change her position. Said it affects their posture and while we might not think it a big deal, it can cause back issues down the road. (among other things) So, if your kid sits like that, might want to watch out. I googled it, very interesting. Sarah said this can be bad for Maverys sensory stuff for some reason about not getting good breathing through her trunk, blah blah blah. Typically Mavery does not sit like that, so her trunk control or lack of is obviously from her past and most likely because of her heart surgery as a baby. So, therapy went well. Of course, it is all about playtime for Mavery! She gets to swing, play on the big ball, fun fun! I have the Out of Sync Child and I am getting ready to read that. Anyone read it, any thoughts?

Gymnastics!

All 4 girls started gymnastics this week. The older 2 have been begging to go back for a long time, but it costs $$. And time. Neither of which we have a lot of. However, we figured it out for summer and they were all excited to be back. Of course Sage and Mavery were not quite sure what to expect, though the promise of doing flips was enough to get them excited to! And the promise that all 4 could go on the floor while I sat and watched, made ME excited! Mavery cried at first and it took some coaxing before she joined in. That and the fact we were being extra cautious this week after her cath probably did not help. But she soon figured out how to follow directions and was joining in the fun. Hopefully next week we can be ready on time and I can get pictures of the other girls. (that and I won't be sitting on the floor w/ the little girls class!) Sage was not happy though that they did no flips this week, that was the first thing out of her mouth when we were leaving, "I did not get to flip!" We may have to look for a tumbling class after this!