Our Cute Kids

Brent made this video of the kids and I just had to share!!

Photo and video editing at onetruemedia.com

Wordless Wednesday

Orange You Glad I Didn't Say Banana?

The orange hair is getting better! I stood in the shower today and washed it several, and I do mean several, times. You know how the back of the shampoo bottle has directions for use? Well, if you've ever been bored enough to read them you know that it says lather, rinse, repeat. I took that to heart and repeated and repeated and repeated again. Actually, I've often wondered how many times they expect you to repeat when you wash according to the directions. At any rate, the ten or so shampooings (is that a word?!) seemed to make a difference. Now my hair is not so carroty but more strawberry blonde. In fact, Tyler's speech therapist said it looks really pretty. Maybe I didn't screw up as badly as I first thought. Then again, maybe she was just trying to be nice. Either way, I'm happier and not nearly as afraid to go out in public.

Um, Can You Say Orange?

In the words of Piglet from Winnie The Pooh...."Oh d-d-d-dear!"

I have been trying to think of ways to save money lately since adopting is so expensive. I figured one way to do it would be to spend $10 to dye my hair at home instead of $65 + to do it at a salon. I'm not a novice when it comes to home hair dyeing so I went to the store and bought the hair color, Light Golden Brown. I bought it a couple of weeks ago and hadn't had a chance to do it. Yesterday was a perfect day for dyeing hair. The kids both napped at the same time. I was hanging out with nothing but laundry to do. I figured hey, no time like the present, (who wants to do laundry anyway?). I read the instructions, put on the cheap gloves and dyed away. If you've ever colored your hair, at home or otherwise, you know that the color your hair is when the dye is on it is not the color your hair will be when the dye is gone. For that reason I had no indication that anything was amiss. I spent the 30 minute processing time catching up on some emails and such. I jumped in the shower, rinsed all the goo out, applied the conditioner that came in the box, rinsed, and then stuck my head out to check the results. Looked okay to me. Finished my shower and then heard the kids so I jumped out, put a towel on my head, got dressed and got everyone situated. By that time Brent was home from work and I went in to blow dry my hair. That's when the shock came! My hair was not alright. Not even close to alright. My hair is ORANGE!!! Not red, not auburn, not even strawberry blonde and most definitely not Light Golden Brown. Oh no my friend, it is orange. Thankfully it's not Ronald McDonald orange. No, it more closely resembles a lovely shade of carrot. It is much too orange to try and pass off as being red.

There is one bright spot in all this. Brent always says that he never notices when I do something different with my hair because I am too subtle. Well I sure showed him! He certainly noticed this time.

I guess my desire to save money was a bust. Maybe I'll just try buying less expensive toilet paper and leave the hair dye to the professionals.

Fundraising Ideas

Hey Everyone-
I need your help. I want to do a couple of additional fundraisers for our adoption. Does anyone have any ideas? Has anyone done something that has been really successful? I'm open to suggestions!

Thanks!!

Cuties!

I'm not sure what she said but Emmalee is obviouly good at making her brother laugh!

Silver Lining

I hate it when my kids are sick. (Of course, who likes to have sick kids?!) Over the past couple of months it seems we have all been battling one illness or another. Just when one of us is feeling better, someone else comes down with something. However, Emmalee is usually able to recover quickly and doesn't seem to get as sick as Tyler or even myself or Brent. Unfortunately that's not the case this time. Last night she started running a fever and when I took her temp it was a whopping 104.2! YIKES!! She was on fire. I gave her some Motrin and did all the things you do; cool washcloth, lots of juice, etc. Once the medicine kicked in she was doing pretty well. She was obviously not feeling well but she was playing and doing alright. I gave her a dose of Tylenol before bed along with some cold medicine. I woke her in the night to give her another dose of Motrin. I finally got to bed after being up with our sweet Tyler who was also not feeling well. This morning Emmalee was crying when she woke up. This is very unusual for her. When I went to get her, she was burning up. Even her skin was red. It was obvious by her eyes that she was miserable. I took her temp again and it was 104.5. That did it for me. I called the doctor and made her an appointment. Luckily they were able to get her in pretty quickly. Poor peanut has a double ear infection and a sinus infection. Thankfully this is only the second time she's been this sick.

Okay, now for the silver lining. This illness has made Emmalee very, very cuddly. Unlike Tyler, she is not, and never has been, a really cuddly child. She has never been one to let us sit and hold her for long periods of time. Even when sick in the past, she is generally too busy to sit and love. Not since she was a tiny baby has she fallen asleep in our arms. No, I don't like having her sick and I wish I could make that part go away. But, I have to admit, this lovey, cuddly side of her is so appealing. When she looked at me today and said, "Momma, hold me," I could have just melted. Then I witnessed the sweetest sight -- I came back in from taking out the garbage to find her sleeping on her Daddy. That is fairly close to miraculous. Maybe we'll get lucky this time and the illness will leave and the cuddliness will stay. In the meantime, I am going to enjoy it while it lasts.

I'm Not Complaining!

But baby, it's CCCCOOOOLLLLDDDDD outside! The wind chill is 25 below! And the wind is blowing hard. I caught myself missing Phoenix this morning. Right now it is 10:30 in the morning in Phoenix and already 61 degrees. The high today should be around 77. Perfect weather. Gorgeous weather. Phoenix-in-the-winter weather. But wait a minute.....Phoenix=scorpions. 120 degrees in the summer. Brown. Dust. Did I mention scorpions? Suddenly I had flashbacks to my sweet little boy laying in a hospital bed, unconscious and hooked up to a ventilator after multiple scorpion stings. Maybe this cold weather isn't so bad after all. In fact, I'll take it over the scorpions any day!!

Emma The Opinionated

Those of you who know my children know that although she isn't even two years old yet, Emmalee can be quite opinonated and very vocal. She is a funny kid! She has most recently voiced her opinion on how we should re-decorate her room. When we lived in AZ, she and Tyler shared a room and it was decorated in Blue Jean Teddy and Blossom Bear. It was perfect for a boy/girl room. Since moving to NY, I have put Tyler in with Collin and done their room in sailboats. I have been wanting to change Emma's room to something a little more girly. I have tossed some ideas around -- Tinkerbell, fairies, Hello Kitty, etc. I had kind of settled on Hello Kitty simply because I figured it was something that wasn't too babyish and she could continue to grow into it. I took her shopping last weekend to see what she thought and if we could find some cute Hello Kitty stuff to get started. I was so excited. We went to Target and we were looking at the stuff I wanted to get. I really thought she would love it too. I picked out a couple of items and showed her and she threw them down and said, "NO!!" What do you mean, no? I was surprised and, quite frankly, a little offended! I asked her again, "don't you love Hello Kitty? Look how cute this is!" She yelled NO again! This wasn't going well. I put those things back and thought maybe we'd try Tinkerbell. "NO!!!" Pink flowers? "NO!!!" Ladybugs?? "NO, NO!!" She is not afraid to speak her mind. I figured it was back to the drawing board and we'd try again later. Then we moved on to the baby section to find some diapers. Guess what Emmalee found? POOH!! "I want Pooh!! Look Momma, Pooh, Pig-et!" She was clapping, she was cheering, she was thrilled! I was.....hesitant. I mean, Pooh is adorable and I love him. But, it is a little more juvenile than I was hoping. Then it hit me. She's not even two! She is very little still. Who cares if she doesn't love Pooh in a couple of years? She's still little. Even better, she doesn't want to be all grown up yet. She doesn't want something as grown up as Hello Kitty. She is still my baby. I should stop trying to make her grow up so fast. My mind quickly changed from Pooh?? to POOH!!! Hooray for Pooh Bear!

So, Pooh it is. I have removed all Blue Jean Teddy and Blossom from her room. Ebay, here I come. (I have TONS of stuff!) I have found some darn cute Pooh Bear items for her room. Although I promised myself I wasn't going to go overboard, I find myself searching on Ebay for drawer pulls and lamps and shelves and blankets and pillows and curtains and a Diaper Genie cover for a Diaper Genie we never use. I'm trying to keep it to a 'bear' minimum....wish me luck!

I Wonder

I wonder if they know how much I love them. I wonder if they know that I check on them several times each night before I go to bed. That even if I wake up for a drink of water or a trip to the bathroom, I can not resist the urge to go into their rooms and watch them as they sleep. I wonder if they know that I could sit there all night and listen to the noises they make as they dream. I wonder if I will ever be worthy of the unconditional love they give to me. I wonder if I will ever be able to tell them how much I love them, how I ached for them and prayed for them and knew them before they were my children. How, from the moment they were placed into my arms, I knew that I was meant to be their Mother. I wonder if I will ever be able to express how truly thankful I am for the miracles that are my children.

Sleepy Boy

Oh how I love this sweet, sweet boy!!

If Emma could make us understand....

....I'm fairly certain this is what she would say!

The Toddler's Creed

If I want it, it's mine.

If I give it to you and change my mind later, it's mine.

If I can take it away from you, it's mine.

If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.

If it's mine it will never belong to anyone else no matter what.

If we are building something together, all the pieces are mine.

If it looks like mine, it's mine.

Even if it is really yours, it's mine.

I tell you this because Emmalee has developed the 'toddler-mine complex.' She's beginning to remind me of the seagulls on 'Finding Nemo' - MINE, MINE, MINE. Everything is hers. And not just things such as toys. Me, Daddy, our laps, the bath. Even today I was taking pictures of Tyler and having her picture taken was "MINE!" So, as you see, she jumped in front of the camera. If you look closely, you can see Tyler's leg. It is actually kind of funny and just goes to show that she is right on target developmentally. I'll be glad when the 'mine' stage goes although that means that she's growing up. Not sure how I feel about that! She is just too funny and I love every moment with her!

Book Review

Have you ever been so taken with a book that after reading the last word you turn the page to make sure that's really it? I finished reading "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult yesterday. It was one of those books that I wasn't ready to see end. I really enjoyed it. It made me cry harder than I have cried in a long time. Although the author uses the "F" word more than I would like, the story is so captivating and engrossing that I can forgive that. I won't give anything away here but if you get the chance, I highly recommend the book. I got it for Christmas along with another of her books and I now plan to read everything she has written. It is authors like this that make the ideas begin to swirl around in my head. I aspire to be as good an author as this and all the others that I admire.

Jodie's husband

This is Jodie's husband Brent. I just blogged... WHO HOO!

Truly Blessed

Do you ever have one of those moments where you want to say something to someone but realize it isn't your place and it would be completely inappropriate? This was my experience last night. I made my weekly Saturday night pilgrimage to Wal-Mart. Which, if I may go off subject for a moment, is a crazy place to be on a Saturday night, (or any night for that matter.) They do their re-stocking at night and it is like an obstacle course to get through the aisles. At any rate, back to my original post. As I was manuvering my cart through the aisles, I came upon a couple, man and woman, who I assume were married. They were next to me at the dairy case and I couldn't help but overhear what was being said. The man was so rude to this woman that I just wanted to backhand him. He was telling her what an idiot she was for not remembering that they already had whatever it was they were looking at at home. She just stood there, looking completely downtrodden and I wanted to reach over and shake her into reality. This man was a total jerk. I saw them in several more aisles and listened as he loudly verbally abused this woman. It occurred to me that if he were so willing to do this in public, how must he treat her at home? I wanted to go over and say something. I wanted to reach over and hug her and tell her that she didn't deserve to be treated this way. I wanted to smack him. I wanted to cry. I wished I had the number to an abuse hotline in my pocket so I could slip it to her when he wasn't looking.

I got home and just hugged my husband. I am truly blessed to be married to my best friend. I am thankful to know that Brent would never treat me this way and I am also thankful to know that I would never allow it. I hope I can instill this same confidence in my children.