Oh Baby Cute Ma!

It's official! Once again, we're foster parents!

Last Friday we got a call about a baby who was in the NICU and was in need of a foster family. At the time he was on oxygen and was born with cataracts in his eyes, this means he will need surgery in the very near future to avoid becoming blind.

Luckily, Tanner was home that morning working on his computer before going to work (something that is very rare around here). I told the worker I'd speak with my husband and call her back shortly. We were shocked that we were called to take a two week old baby! We are willing to accept siblings and older children (sometimes that's rare in foster care) so we thought we'd always be saved for older children. In fact, most people who only accept infants wait 7 months to a year to get a phone call for an infant. (We've been licensed a year exactly.) So we were, needless to say, surprised and excited and decided we'd take in baby boy!

Then came the agonizing wait until court and the approval to go see him in the hospital. Finally, on Wednesday We were approved to visit. I was so excited and anxious to hold and cuddle him! It was the longest 45 minute drive of my life! When we finally got there and we're lead back to his tiny crib in the bustling, noisy NICU,  I saw tiny little frame wrapped up tight as a bug in a rug with his dark brown hair sprouting out in every which way. We instantly went to pick him up and to our delight, he was oxygen free! We had been told he'd come home on oxygen until he could breath easily on his own so this was a pleasant surprise! (Never under estimate the power of prayer and fasting, he'd been our focus all weekend) The nurse told us he had been doing great without the oxygen since the previous night and if he continued to do well, he'd be released the following day.

We sat with him holding and loving on him for the better part of the day. Every nurse, doctor and aid that passed by was so excited to see him being loved and cared for! They wished us the best and told us he was the sweetest baby around. (They're right, we still haven't heard him cry!)

The next day, we went in and were able to check him out and bring him home! Tate and Emerson love him! They take turns holding and feeding him and keep saying "oh mom! Baby Cute!" He's a special little fella!

As far as the case goes, it looks likely that he'll be adoptable, but we've heard that before. . . We are of course hopeful he'll be here forever but we are choosing to focus on enjoying the day to day for now. He deserves our whole hearts and let me tell you, he has them!

PS he's like Tate's mini me only a little darker! ;) he's SO CUTE!!!

Happy 4th Birthday!

My baby boy is four!!!

I try not to think about it too much because it makes me want to cry a little! He's so big and I have no idea where all of the time has gone!

Tatem is getting better and better at talking, in fact, he pretty much says anything he wants to but has poor pronunciation so that's the next battle. He starts preschool at Stansbury High school next month, they offer a hands on learning program for the high school students and as a result, the preschoolers get one on one attention. He doesn't start kindergarten until 2016 so we're hopeful that two years of preschool will give him the social and academic skills he'll need to be successful in a mainstream kindergarten class. It's amazing to see him make such huge strides! There was a time, not long ago that I often felt heartbroken for him and wondered if he'd ever get to live a normal happy life. Things are now looking so hopeful and I truly enjoy every moment of being his mom! He's a very special part of our family... plus he's super handsome if I do say so myself!

He's also smart. . . A week or so ago I told him his birthday was coming up and asked him what he wanted. He said "rollers". A couple hours later, he asked to watch a movie on my phone so I put the lock code in and let him. A little later I got an email from Amazon "thank you for your order". And what was my order? Angry Bird roller skates. My little stinker had found them online and ordered them all by himself! Everyday after that he'd check out the window waiting for them to get here! I didn't cancel the order because I figured it's what he wants and it was only $14 (I don't know what makes me more proud, he's ability to order on his own or his bargain shopping!)

He's a sweet heart through and through and I feel so blessed to be his mom. I'm so grateful that four years ago Heavenly Father saw it fit to trust me with such a sweet, tender spirit. I'm thankful for everyday with him!

P.S. we have HUGE/tiny news, check back within the week so to find out what it is!

Also aunt kinzi's wedding was the day before so he got leftover wedding cake for his party lol Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

I'm Not A Baby!

Happy fall y'all!

I CAN'T wrap my mind around the fact that it's already September! School is back in full swing and the weather is cooling down...(sometimes, mostly on the days my kids have their kiddie pool set up and ready to go!) Anyway, I've always looked at fall as the season of change, in Utah at least to me, it seems like it's the time of year with the most changes! We're going through changes and awaiting to see if there will be more as time goes on.

We have been foster free for about 6-8 weeks but that could change any day. We're going to give it another shot with some younger kids (if they call us!!) And see if we can turn fostering into adopting, that's the hope.

Our kiddos are getting way too big, and the problem is, they know it. Until lately, I've been pretending Emerson was still my baby but she won't accept that anymore... Emerson is so firey! If it's not her idea it's a bad idea in her mind. Tanner was cuddling her the other day and told her that's how he held her when she was tiny and she says "well I'm not a baby!" And Tanner said your my baby and she says "no I'm not a baby and I'm not tiny!" Rude! So we're in a baby free phase for the first time in four years and I don't know what to do, let's be clear it's lots easier! But it's weird!

AND Tanner has been applying and interviewing for work promotions so depending on how that plays out, we could have big work changes too.

I use to be afraid of change, I'm not saying I love it now, but I'm starting to see that it keeps life exciting and makes me rely on Faith and our Savior all the more! I must say, I usually have a plan, but I have no clue what the next couple months has in store for us! It's nuts! I'm excited to see where it goes! For now I'm trying to keep things steady in the ways I'm able to, and buckle up for life's unpredictable changes ahead!

I'll keep ya posted! Until then, I'm practicing my sewing skills, I've had lots of fun with it! My favorite blog right now is:

icandyhandmade.blogspot.com

It's awesome with fun patterns so try it out, I'm a terrible seamstress but even I've made cute stuff!!

Emerson is TWO!!

My baby is now full of sass and attitude and two in EVERY sense of the word! She's super cute and a lot of fun to have around but the girl is all girl and therefore very exhausting!

She's in love with anything purple and pink and Minnie Mouse, which was the obvious theme of all her birthday gifts! She can spot pink things from a mile away and will yell! "Cute mom! Look! Pink!" She also LOVES to cuddle and almost always has her planket or banket depending on how she decides to pronounce it that day! She loves to do her make up, she calls it pretty eyes, and her hair and she's super independent! I think she's two going on ten some days! Other days, she's still my baby who says "I wanna hold you"

She's a very special part of our family and we can't believe she's so old!

Emerson saw this Minnie Mouse costume and had to put it on right away then she wouldn't take it off and kept saying "look moma! I'm MeMe! So cute!"

She and Tate also had a blast at bear lake, even though it rained half of the time! This picture of her in the purple dirt was her before we had all unloaded our cars! She was more dirt than kiddo! We had so much fun with both sets of grandparents and all of the aunt's and uncles except uncle ty! However, the pale ones in the group got very sunburnt! :( me and Tate were good to go though!

Oh and not to brag but I made this dress for Tanner's sisters wedding next month! Modest Yellow lace ain't easy to find going into fall so I gave it a shot!

Backyard Bliss!

FINALLY after MONTHS AND YEARS of blood sweat and tears on this dag gum backyard we are finally able to play in it for the first time this summer and we're excited!

This yard has been a pain in our backs since we bought this house, the weeds were up to the top of the fence but after some hard work and landscaper drama we're finally out enjoying it!

This week, we're headed to bear lake with all of the grandparents and aunts and uncles so we're testing out the tent to see if it survived the last camping adventure and jumping out on the trampoline! It's an awesome feature to have it dug in ground but my goodness LOTS of man hours! Think before you dig because once you start you're kind of committed!

This would've been EXTRA nice a few months ago when our fosters were still here but we're happy to have it now!

No No Wet!

Let me just tell you, I'm a firm believer in waiting to potty train when your child is ready, not when a book says, not when your friend's kids potty trained, not when your last kid potty trained. . . But it certainly isn't to do things on their terms if your as "bossy" as I am.  . .

Tate is going to be four in September and we've been dragging our feet with potty training. Santa brought all of the potty training gear we'd need and we tried it out during Christmas Vacation. He looked at us like we were lunatics. He couldn't figure out what we were asking him to do. After a day of no potty landing in the potty, we decided it must not be our time. So we took a break.

Two months after that, our fosters came and were here for five months. With them, came an appointment almost every day and a lot of craziness! So we decided it wouldn't be fair to him (or us) to add the extra weight of potty training. So we decided this week was the week, we'll give it a shot!

Monday was D day. I got his new Disney underwear out and we said goodbye to diapers and hello to the timer. We set it for every fifteen minutes and he learned really quickly that when it went off, he was supposed to go try. He still want really getting it until he wet about two drops in his underwear and freaked out! He kept saying 'I'm so sorry monsters Inc.! No No Wet!!' After that, he was pretty diligent in going when the alarm sounded which went from 15 to 20 to 30 to 45 minutes apart. He even went #2! (Sorry, too graphic?) That night I got a change of clothes and sheets ready and he went to bed in underwear. I fully expected an accident but he woke up dry! We've had a few near accidents, but he's always been able to stop himself and run to the bathroom. Nothing has been worse than an underwear change.

So now it's Wednesday and things are still going well. . . I'm afraid to post this because I don't want to jinx us! Here are the main factors that contributed to our success. . .

1. We waited for Tate! Were there some embarrassing diaper moments? Yes. Did people say "why isn't he potty trained?" Yes. But when we saw that he was not ready at Christmas, we accepted it and took a break we didn't force him and clean dirty underwear for months.

2. We waited until he could be the priority. We wanted to start last week but we had a lot going on so we waited until we could stay home a few days to focus. It's not fair to a kiddo to put extra pressure on them! Which brings me to the next point...

3. No potty training agenda. I hear often that people get pregnant and decide now the baby needs potty trained or they move or want to start preschool early etc. That is a lot of pressure for a toddler! And it makes mom less patient too! Do you think I wanted to pay for two kids in diapers, I'm the cheapest person you know so HECK NO! BUT I chose to have Emerson when Tate was only two, he didn't. I didn't think it was fair to punish or force him.

4. No pull ups. For Tate, he needed to jump full in and feel when he was wet. Pull ups were too close to diapers and too expensive for momma!

All in all, this is what worked for Tate, Emerson will probably be different. She's already wanting to use the potty and she isn't two yet! I'm not much of a parenting book reader, ironic,  but I truly believe in learning about children's minds and physical development and using that information to make informed decisions to parent every child in our home WHILE FOLLOWING THE GUIDANCE OF THE SPIRIT. :) Heavenly Father knows our kids the best, He created them, ask Him how to meet their needs. Every child we have is unique, they each need their own parenting style and Heavenly Father will guide us to what that need is every time!

Happy training!