tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63483921478027932492024-03-12T22:14:44.095-04:00The Mama 23...or more...Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348392147802793249.post-19938407256535071942014-04-10T18:07:00.000-04:002014-04-10T18:07:32.577-04:00Getting my fix on!I guess I've been living under a rock or maybe we can chalk it up to <a href="http://themama23ormore.blogspot.com/2012/12/its-boy.html">adoption</a> and <a href="http://mcworth-it-reno.blogspot.com/">moving</a>? But I hadn't heard of <a href="https://www.stitchfix.com/referral/3531034">Stitch Fix</a> until I saw a friend post her <a href="https://www.stitchfix.com/referral/3531034">Stitch Fix link</a> on Facebook. I clicked through to check it out and I was intrigued. As much as I love clothes, I don't particularly enjoy the act of shopping. When I go to a store it is because I know exactly what I'm looking for. I get it and I'm out.<br />
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I went straight to work filling out the detailed <a href="https://www.stitchfix.com/referral/3531034">Stitch Fix survey</a>. <i>Geek alert - I secretly love surveys</i>. I told them my height, weight, average clothing size. The kinds of styles I like, the items I want more of and the price range I'm willing to spend on each category. Then I scheduled my first fix for the week of April 7th and waited.<br />
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Here is the photo I said was most like my style in the selections they provide. They call this "casual chic," which is funny because I call it "I'm a stay at home mom so it really doesn't matter what I look like." But I'll take "casual chic."<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X0PfnagHtPQ/U0VgQ2elhoI/AAAAAAAABE0/9XD85yBrfko/s1600/casual-chic-bd082ecf5ea5d39e1bc590f8663d2755.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X0PfnagHtPQ/U0VgQ2elhoI/AAAAAAAABE0/9XD85yBrfko/s1600/casual-chic-bd082ecf5ea5d39e1bc590f8663d2755.jpg" height="141" width="320" /></a></div>
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April 10th, 2014 Ta-da.... there is a <a href="https://www.stitchfix.com/referral/3531034">personal stylist</a> on my doorstep - actually it's my Fed Ex guy with my very first Stitch Fix - potatoe potato! I got some new clothes and didn't even have to pick them out.<br />
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Here are my five items...<br />
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1 scarf, 2 shirts, 1 pair of pants, and 1 dress<br />
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Here is the Styling guide that came with my clothes - cool little idea.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AA6CgSD6jRU/U0cFgFBaeWI/AAAAAAAABGY/4Sx0hTqPvQA/s1600/SCN_0002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AA6CgSD6jRU/U0cFgFBaeWI/AAAAAAAABGY/4Sx0hTqPvQA/s1600/SCN_0002.jpg" height="320" width="238" /></a></div>
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Here's how it looked when I opened the box...</div>
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And I see pattern... this is quite foreign to my closet but we will see how this goes...</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7Dcs3ljW0ZA/U0cCqSVbqeI/AAAAAAAABFM/hyyU-Rhx654/s1600/IMG_3426.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7Dcs3ljW0ZA/U0cCqSVbqeI/AAAAAAAABFM/hyyU-Rhx654/s1600/IMG_3426.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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So outfit number one... the purpley tank with pockets and the "pants"... Before we go any further I have to address the fashion issue that could be one of my biggest pet peeves - LEGGINGS ARE NOT PANTS - let me expand on that and say leggings are especially not pants for those of us in the 40+ club. Now having said that if you want to continue to subscribe to the notion that leggings are not pants DO NOT buy these leggings - OH! MY! WORD! So comfortable that they make me simply want to buy long tunics and only tops that cover my bottom so I can wear them every day. They are thicker than typical leggings and my girls even asked if they were jeans when I modeled them for them. So forgive me if you see me committing this fashion faux pas - I'm sorry they are just so comfy.</div>
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Opinions on the purpley tank & black "pants" ;-)</div>
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The daughters...</div>
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Kennedy - thumbs up</div>
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Terry - That's cute</div>
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Ryan - Oh I like it</div>
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The husband...</div>
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That's cute.</div>
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The bat wing cream colored top</div>
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Okay I know this totally washes me out, but my current "go to" top - as in if it's clean I'm wearing it, is a very similar design in my signature black. So I really think if I can add some color, or maybe a black scarf I will wear this comfy cosy top. </div>
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Opinions on the bat wing cream colored top that washes me out</div>
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The daughters...</div>
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Kennedy - Yeah</div>
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Terry - That's nice</div>
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Ryan - Nice</div>
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The husband... </div>
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I like the other top better</div>
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The very big scarf ...</div>
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Again - not my colors (though I do like the leopard print) but keeping in mind that if I keep all 5 of my items I get 25% off and this is the cheapest item it may just make the cut.</div>
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Everyone agreed - the scarf didn't do anything for me - so if I keep it I will need to put it away as a gift for future use because it is very nice just not my color.</div>
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My photographer got silly while I was changing outfits. </div>
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Looking totally unimpressed with my favorite item in the box. Awkward.</div>
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Opinions on the black & white stripe fit & flare dress</div>
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The daughters...</div>
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Kennedy - you look like you are going sailing</div>
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Terry - that's my favorite</div>
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Ryan - very nice dress </div>
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The husband...</div>
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Wow - you need to keep that. :) </div>
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So this was a cool thing for me to try. If you are a stay at home mom like me you spend most of your shopping time keeping your growing kiddos in jeans that aren't flood pants and shoes that don't cramp toes. New clothes for mom are usually a luxury even if they come from Target while you are there getting a jug of milk. So this was a rare treat for me but given my stylist Rachel's success I may try it again in a few months.<br />
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So now if you think you might want to show yourself some love and try it out you may be wondering.... "How does this <a href="https://www.stitchfix.com/referral/3531034">Stitch fix</a> thing work exactly?"<br />
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<b>SAD DISCLAIMER - CURRENTLY ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE UNITED STATES</b></div>
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If you haven't yet clicked on one of my <a href="https://www.stitchfix.com/referral/3531034">referral links</a> (hint, hint) you can do that now and as a thank you Stitch Fix will give me a $25 credit towards my next fix. So let me thank you in advance. :-) <i>Bonus you get your own personal referal link when you sign up for your first fix.</i> From there it is very self explanatory. You create your personal style profile, pay the $20 styling fee (which you can use as credit even if you keep only 1 of the 5 items they send you), schedule your Stitch Fix delivery. After you receive your parcel you have three days to decide what you like and want to keep - love it all - keep it all and in addition to your $20 styling fee credit you will get 25% off everything. Don't love it all? Pop the returns in the postage paid envelope and be sure it's postmarked within 3 days so you don't get charged for your items you don't want.<br />
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You can schedule to receive an automatic fix monthly - or like I did just schedule one to try it out. I'm thinking I may schedule 1 fix per season - so my first fix was my spring fix. I will go ahead and leave feedback for my stylist about what I liked/didn't like and what just didn't work for me and hope for a great summer fix. That's the other great thing is that you can go in and update your profile and leave notes for your stylist if something changes. i.e <a href="https://www.omnitrition.com/billie">weight</a>, style needs due to a new job, a wedding you need to attend etc... Pretty cool and I didn't have to leave the house.<br />
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<i>By the way, if you haven't guessed by now - I'm keeping everything! That gives me the 25% discount so it works out to about $40 per item. Not too shabby for sitting at home having someone else look at my profile and pick things out for me - everything fit perfectly. </i><br />
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Gotta go update my <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/billiemcintosh/look-book-love/">Pinterest style board</a> for my next fix! Casual chic stay at home mama signing off!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348392147802793249.post-30897556987995371152014-02-20T23:21:00.001-05:002014-02-20T23:21:30.651-05:00Happy (first) birthday party!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">He is 13!!!!</span></div>
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It's amazing how quickly they grow up when you start parenting them so late. ;)<br />
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The birthday boy isn't a fan of cake, so I made individual chocolate chip cookie "cakes," frosted them and added M&M's to make them look like Lego pieces. Thank you <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/271975264970781404/">Pinterest</a>. </div>
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S had a Lego movie themed birthday party. It was his first official birthday party ever and we were able to have it on his actual birthday. He was so excited I can only compare it to when my friends had an <a href="http://themama23ormore.blogspot.com/2012/12/birthdays-surprise-showers-baseball.html">adoption shower</a> for him and I came home with all the gifts for him. Although his adoption was finalized a few weeks prior to his 12th birthday we chose to celebrate that birthday with just dinner out as a family. All the attention and excitement from <a href="http://themama23ormore.blogspot.com/2013/01/christmas-so-im-little-slow.html">Christmas</a> was a lot and we wanted to keep the 12th birthday small.</div>
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BUT THIRTEEEN!!!!<br />
You only become a teenager once in your lifetime. :)<br />
So there had to be a party. </div>
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This is also his first season ever playing basketball. He has an awesome coach. S is doing well, having fun and making some great friends. It was fun for Michael and I to spend a little time getting to know these boys a bit off of the basketball court. They were all very polite boys. Loud, yes... but still polite. :)<br />
Seeing as we just moved to the area a few months ago and we don't know any of these boys parents we were very thankful they let their sons come and join S for his <strike>firs</strike>t 13th birthday party.</div>
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I love that they pray before each game - I snapped this as I was bowing my head in the stands and didn't see until I reviewed the pictures he spent prayer time tying his sneakers. Still getting used to the whole church thing. </div>
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His very first basketball game ever and he takes the tip off - proud mom & dad in the stands. </div>
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The party was fun and we enjoy watching him play basketball. But life at home still certainly has it's struggles. School is still a challenge, or should I say homework is still a challenge. He will be starting Middle School this fall and I'm really trying to balance helping his learning with leaving him with more of the responsibility of completing his work. </div>
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It doesn't make for good mother/son bonding time. :( </div>
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On another note Michael & I are now officially the parents of FOUR teenagers ... </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348392147802793249.post-43411466702408474022013-10-27T15:31:00.000-04:002013-10-27T15:31:41.682-04:00Anybody there?It's been a long time since I've even visited my blog so I won't be surprised to find myself alone here now. :)<br />
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So much has happened for our family in the past few months. Not the least of which is a <a href="http://mcworth-it-reno.blogspot.com/">relocation to North Carolina</a>. Leaving Florida was hard to say the least, but North Carolina still has beautiful weather and is a full 10 hours closer to home in Canada. We've already made the drive once - 20 hours feels better than 30 - let's just leave it at that. Everything is relative I know.<br />
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When we went to Canada in August we attended Michael's dad's funeral. Then celebrated my brother's 40th birthday on what was also his wedding day. We were only home for a week but it was jam packed with emotion. Adding 20+ hours of driving on either end of that didn't exactly lessen the stressfulness. But we are settling in well to our new surroundings.<br />
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Michael likes his new office and his new commute is a breeze compared to Tampa. K is finally getting going in Vocational training - her first pre-placement assessment is actually tomorrow. She is anxious to get to work and start earning some money. She tells me everyday about gifts she is going to buy everyone for Christmas. I don't know what job she will have but if her Christmas shopping list is any indication it's going to pay very well. :) T is getting through her college classes and looking at finishing up her two year stint at community college over this coming summer - "smarty pants." It's amazing how the thought of moving out of one's parent's home can serve to boost your scholastic endeavors. She will be attending a State college fall of 2014 instead of fall 2015. We are very proud of how hard she works. R is in eighth grade at a very different middle school - we certainly lived in a bubble in FishHawk. She is seeing what I believe to be a more realistic view of society. She is doing well in her classes and making friends. She actually had her first sleepover here on Friday night. R is still really missing her FL friends and I'm hopeful that she will understand making new friends here doesn't mean she has to forget about her old friends in FL. S is in a great little elementary school just a couple of streets over from our house. He is doing well socially - as expected - and continues to struggle academically - also as expected. :( First parent teacher conference is tomorrow afternoon. His teachers are great and I'm anxious to have a good sit down and see what they have for feedback on his school experience. As for me I've been working away at things around the house and obviously keeping busy as a chauffeur for the kiddos.<br />
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Considering this is an adoption blog.... how's it going? Well it's going. Day by day and week by week. We still struggle daily with things that are assumed by us to be common knowledge to S. So often we are wrong. There are so many things he doesn't know - his shampoo or soap runs out, he'll let me know right? No. Vocabulary is a constant struggle - language barriers are minimal but certainly a complete understanding of the English language is not there. Not understanding vocabulary and continuing to struggle with reading inhibit all of his other subjects at school. We push forward and celebrate the fact that he is a happy and friendly little man with a heart of gold. Soft, tender, mushy gold.<br />
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How about a few (dozens) okay a few photos to end on?<br />
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The newlyweds in Canada on August 17th. </div>
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Always fun to see cousins in Canada.</div>
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The new house in NC comes with lots of trees and that means new yard work with dad - a woodsplitter is a good time. </div>
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We haven't seen autumn foliage since 2005. The beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway. </div>
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S had never seen trees like this before - he wasn't overly impressed ??????</div>
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T turned 18! Oh my!</div>
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Campfires in the new backyard - s'mores - YUM!</div>
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R got braces.</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348392147802793249.post-8202292984448024752013-06-27T21:03:00.001-04:002013-06-27T21:03:01.512-04:00Something different. I'm taking a little venture away from adoption and family today. I'm actually going to share a little about me.<br />
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After my children were born I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. That diagnosis was more specified after we moved to Florida and I began seeing an Endocrinologist and I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. The symptoms of Hashimoto's include fatigue and weight gain. I had always been able to control my weight with exercise and healthy eating. Always that was until around my 37th birthday - an extra 5 pounds - no big deal... that turned into 10 which turned into 15 which turned in to 20, well you get the picture. No matter how much I exercised and made healthy eating choices - all the things that were previously able to get my weight (if not my fatigue) in check. Nothing worked anymore. When I went for my annual physical I had high cholesterol - WHAT? When I visited my Endocrinologist in February of 2013 I was sharing with her - and she could see on my chart my steady weight gain over the past 5 years. Her response was "This is your life now." Skinny young Dr lady say what? Nothing "inspires " me more than to have someone tell me I can't do something. My thyroid levels were good on paper but my body was telling me differently. I was exhausted - battling to squeeze into my most generous sized jeans and falling asleep sitting on the couch in the early afternoon.<br />
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I had been following my friend's weight loss success on Facebook. At that time she had lost 62 pounds - now she has lost over 72 pounds. She was looking amazing and yes it looked too good to be true. But I was feeling desperate and my increased exercise and healthy eating was proving my sweet Endo correct - this continuing weight gain seemed to be my new normal. So I contacted my friend to find out what was the secret to her success.<br />
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Her secret is <a href="https://www.omnitrition.com/billie">Omnitrition</a>. What did I have to lose? Frankly 20-25 lbs is what I had to lose. Well Omnitrition helped me do just that. I started taking <a href="https://www.omnitrition.com/billie">Omni Drops</a> on February 23, 2013. By the end of April 2013 I had lost 22 pounds. Victory!!! Of course losing weight was one thing - keeping it off would be quite something else. I know, very pessimistic of me - but I prefer to say I was trying to be realistic. If history was any predictor those 22 pounds would surely find their way back. I'm happy to report it has now been 2 months - and I've maintained my loss!!! WOO HOO! Not only have I maintained my loss - I have maintained it while celebrating two daughter's high school graduations and moving ourselves four states away. No stress there right? No cause for emotional eating, celebratory indulgences. Oh I did both - but thanks to the reset with Omni Drops and great <a href="https://www.omnitrition.com/billie">supportive vitamins and supplements</a> that I continue to take my weight has not wavered more than 3-4 pounds and has easily gone back to my end of April weight.<br />
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Please do not confuse my weight loss success with curing my Hashimoto's - that will never happen. What Omnitrition has done is let me feel comfortable in my clothes, I am energized like I haven't been in many years, I'm sleeping soundly and waking up feeling rested. I still start every day with my Dr prescribed thyroid medications. I will continue to have my cholesterol and thyroid levels checked regularly. Omni has given me a quality of life that I haven't had in a long time.<br />
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So what does my 22 pound loss look like? Here you go.... when I took this after photo I was only at -21.6 pounds. I actually lost exactly 22 pounds. Cool tip - taking a photo without a flash makes you look like you have a tan - I do not have a tan.<br />
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Do you have weight to lose? Are you chronically tired? Have trouble sleeping? I'd love the opportunity to share Omnitrition with you. Contact me at <a href="mailto:mcintosh.billie@gmail.com">mcintosh.billie@gmail.com</a>.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348392147802793249.post-87644969600438516302013-06-08T08:21:00.000-04:002013-06-08T08:21:23.226-04:00Another graduation...<div style="text-align: center;">
Graduations are such momentous events. I was looking forward to the days when my two eldest daughters graduated high school but I truly don't think I was prepared for the emotion of it all. I already posted T's photos from <a href="http://themama23ormore.blogspot.com/2013_05_01_archive.html">her graduation</a>. K graduated a few days later, here are her photos.</div>
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The girls graduations were each held at the Florida State Fairgrounds. The marquee on T's graduation day looked like this:</div>
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By K's grad day it looked like this - considering the occasion correct spelling is important no? ;)</div>
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Gram helping the graduate with her tassel.</div>
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Looking for us in the crowd - she said she never did see us. :(</div>
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SHE DID IT!!! WOOHOO!!!</div>
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The moment that "got me" in each of the girl's ceremonies was when they were proclaimed "Graduating class of 2013" and the entire class moved their tassels - I don't have one good photo of either graduating class turning their tassels because it's difficult to take a good photo with a trembling hand and blurry eyes. </div>
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That laugh melts my heart.</div>
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Congratulations to our eldest daughter. We have never been more proud of you. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348392147802793249.post-82582595790385325812013-06-08T07:43:00.000-04:002013-06-08T07:43:05.921-04:00Special occasions call for special celebrations....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
When your graduating senior chooses to forgo her senior prom you still want to be sure she has a memorable evening to commemorate this very special occasion. In two past years K has attended the <a href="http://bestbuddies.org/">Best Buddies</a> dance but she didn't go this year. Only once in all four high school years did she attend homecoming, T went with her. However when it came to her senior prom we were hoping she would go. When she told us she wanted to buy a prom dress and NOT go to prom, that didn't surprise us. We told her we would buy her a prom dress and we would celebrate as a family with dinner out at a nice restaurant while Grammy & Grampy were here for graduations. That seemed to please her.</div>
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Prom or not every girl needs a pretty corsage for her special evening out.</div>
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A couple of dapper looking dudes.</div>
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For those who know K you will understand why I had to post so many photos.<br />
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For those of you who don't know K allow me to explain. </div>
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1. K doesn't like to have her photo taken.</div>
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2. K doesn't smile all that often.</div>
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I hope that clarifies why we needed so many photos and why I'm sharing so many here.</div>
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SURPRISE WE RENTED A LIMO!!!!</div>
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At this point I may need to remind you this celebration was mainly about K - but it sure looks like Grampy & S were enjoying themselves in the limo.</div>
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Cheers with littlest sister....</div>
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... and Gram & Gramp.</div>
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Grampy had fun with all the buttons..</div>
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Each of the boys had their turn sitting with the grandparents for a photo.</div>
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Mama and her girlies.</div>
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We arrived at <a href="http://www.bernssteakhouse.com/">Bern's Steak House </a>- R and Gram look so cute in this great big chair in the waiting area.</div>
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Our private dining room - such a cool experience. Our waiter was great. He told us this room was popular with the secret service when past presidents have dined there because there are two entrances/exits to the room. Cool. We also toured the huge kitchen, the wine cellar and finished the evening with dessert in the <a href="http://www.bernssteakhouse.com/Harry-Waugh-Dessert-Room">Harry Waugh Dessert Room</a>. I now understand why people say they sometimes go just for dessert. Impressive.</div>
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R is going to eat her veggies. </div>
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We love you K - we enjoyed spending this special evening with you. </div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348392147802793249.post-44135792450140983252013-05-30T16:59:00.000-04:002013-05-30T16:59:30.327-04:00<h2 style="text-align: center;">
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Congratulations to Miss Terry on her high school graduation.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348392147802793249.post-61556072865983047192013-04-14T17:23:00.000-04:002013-04-14T17:23:14.957-04:00Happy Anniversary and keeping it real So if you check out the timeline to the left of the blog you can see that today marks the one year anniversary of when we first saw S at the Junior League sponsored adoption match event. That was one fast year with LOTS of loooonnnngggg days. Most of those long days refer to the waiting periods between meeting him and the transition to him living with us and then the long road to finalization. But to be perfectly honest we are having a new kind of long days now. The kind of long days that point out the differences in the three children you have raised from birth and the one who joined your family 8 months ago at 11 years old. Differences like work ethic, truth telling and the desire to do your best. This is why the blog has been so quiet lately. My mom always encouraged the, "If you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all" rule. I honestly haven't felt like there is much nice to say lately. There have been some good times, it is just that they are overshadowed by the negative times. The times when he is giving us more drama than the three girls combined ever did. Just for comparison sake I'm talking about three girls ages 12, 17 and 18 - if that's not a recipe for drama I don't know what is. I feel like our new house motto is "man up!" The tears can start (and stop) at the drop of a hat. Generally hats aren't involved but math frequently is.<br />
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Okay so back to those good times let's have a few photos.<br />
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The end of January brought about a VERY thorough eye exam - WOW! What a difference between our eye Dr's first look at S and the medicaid approved provider we saw prior to adoption.<br />
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So here he is "reading" while his eyes are dilating. </div>
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Here he is looking handsome in his new tortoise shell glasses.... the glasses that lasted 3 days before they met their fate with a basketball. Thankful for complimentary replacement and a couple pairs of cheapo spares purchased from Zenni. </div>
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Happy Valentine's day with cheese and chocolate fondues and sparkling juice. I'm not sure how many of these we will be able to celebrate with all four of our kiddos as the girls are getting older and will likely have their own more romantic plans in the future. </div>
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Also in February news - he's TWELVE!!! Of course he got to choose the birthday celebration restaurant location. We have trained him well in that regard - he chose "Olde Towne Pizzeria."</div>
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A day of baseball and tree/root climbing at Medard park.</div>
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A day at buddy RD's lake house - what an awesome day!</div>
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Spring Training with the Tampa Bay Rays with dad. </div>
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Spring break we took our first road trip as a family of six and it went REALLY well. We drove up to North Carolina and stopped at St Augustine, FL for a couple of hours en route. </div>
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What's a road trip without a full picnic lunch at a pit stop along the way?</div>
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Then came the AWANA games. S enjoyed this tremendously - anything sports related and he's all in. This is how he came out of his room the morning after the games - not sure if he slept with the medal around his neck but he wore it every day all day until I told him he really needed to keep it safely in his room. </div>
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So there I did have some nice things to say and this has been a fairly therapeutic blog post to write. </div>
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I know I have many blog writing adoptive friends who do a better job of "keeping it real" in such a public forum. I guess it's just not my personality to share the tough stuff so freely. It is the daily grind that is getting us down these days - hoping for better days ahead and it's going to take all six McIntoshes to make that happen. </div>
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As an update to the last post ... how's the list coming along......<br />
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<u>Upcoming events in 2013</u></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">- get that birth certificate </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> - No surprise here, first contact with the Puerto Rico lawyer was in January. Papers were filed with Puerto Rico courts on April 1st. Now we wait three months for that process. Then we need to apply for a new SSN for our son. Then we need to submit our taxes (filed for an extension) because we can't file without him having a social which we can't get without a birth certificate, which brings us to needing the birth certificate to update his passport. Phew!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">- celebrate S's 12th birthday (in 3 weeks) - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Yes he successfully turned 12 complete with cake, ice cream and presents. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">- plan for prom and graduation for our TWO graduating high school seniors - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Completed prom dress & shoe shopping while in NC - hooray! Ordered and received Grad announcements. It's getting more real every day. They will be picking up their grad gowns in the next couple of weeks. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">- celebrate our baby girl becoming a teenager (yes that's 3 teenage girls) - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">3 months to go on this one</span></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348392147802793249.post-58437770226274335172013-01-24T09:07:00.001-05:002013-01-24T09:07:50.208-05:00Christmas - so I'm a little slow<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! We certainly did. Of course we went home to New Brunswick so we could have a white Christmas and S could see snow for the first time. It was looking like a pretty green Christmas when we first arrived. This first picture shows S & R outside with the dogs on the first morning after we arrived. I realized how limited his knowledge of all things snow was when he stepped out of the door and said, "So what do you think Mom, should I do a face plant?" </div>
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Onto that frozen bare ground? I think not. </div>
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Fortunately there was enough snow at Aunt Janice's and Grammie Toshes to get a little sliding in. </div>
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Christmas morning came quickly as we arrived on the evening of the 23rd. S did well and was not overwhelmed by the gifts. It certainly was a special Christmas, knowing that he will always have family Christmas celebrations going forward. </div>
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Thankfully after Christmas we got more snow!!!</div>
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Off course there was also lots of quality dog time...</div>
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Tons of fun time with cousins...</div>
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and quick visits with friends we hadn't seen in years...</div>
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So now we are into 2013, the adoption is final and we only have one tiny little detail looming to wrap things up nicely. We need to get a Puerto Rico birth certificate with S's new name and our names as his parents. This is a rather complicated process but the lawyer in Puerto Rico says it should be wrapped up in 3 months or so. So my goal is by mother's day to have his amended birth certificate in hand. </div>
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<u>Upcoming events in 2013</u></div>
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- get that birth certificate</div>
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- celebrate S's 12th birthday (in 3 weeks)</div>
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- plan for prom and graduation for our TWO graduating high school seniors</div>
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- celebrate our baby girl becoming a teenager (yes that's 3 teenage girls)</div>
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So life has a different focus now. It's not all adoption all the time, but it will continue to be busy. I noticed I posted 52 blog posts in 2012 - averaging 1 per week. This year I'm obviously off that mark already and I don't expect to post terribly frequently. After all the intent of this blog was to follow the adoption process to keep family & friends up to date on the proceedings and provide a timeline and information for others out there who are considering foster care adoption. I will still post randomly as something worthy of a blog post happens, i.e. the aforementioned events of 2013. </div>
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Until then have a very happy and healthy 2013.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348392147802793249.post-87554311966767727002012-12-21T20:06:00.001-05:002012-12-21T22:55:32.534-05:00It's a BOY!!!!<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">It is official - our son is OUR son. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">No more legal red tape and we have full responsibility for this eleven year old </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">bouncing baby boy!</span><br />
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Here he is with his teddy bear outside the courthouse minutes after finalization. The bailiff gave each of our children a great big fluffy teddy bear to celebrate the adoption.<br />
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Commemorative photo with the judge after she declared him ours.</div>
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We've come a long way from October 2011. <i>Check out the adoption time line to the left of this post.</i></div>
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We've also come a long way from <a href="http://themama23ormore.blogspot.com/2012/06/houston-we-have-huggerand-its-not.html">our first meeting with S</a>, even his <a href="http://themama23ormore.blogspot.com/2012/06/whole-new-world-transitioning-to.html">name was different then. </a></div>
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First meeting June 4, 2012</div>
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Today in court we celebrated with his Guardian ad Litem, our family adoption specialist and of course the judge and the attorney. We certainly missed having our families there. It's like having a baby and no one is there to acknowledge it. I know they shared our joy of a new grandson, nephew, cousin and great grandson from a distance but their absence was definitely felt. </div>
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It is times like these when we feel the distance the most. We had to remind ourselves that this distance - our move from New Brunswick, Canada to Florida - is how we came to find our son. </div>
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So if we weren't here to begin with we wouldn't be missing them while adopting him. </div>
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Clear as mud?</div>
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We had initially hoped to host a big "Adoption Finalization" celebration to commemorate S's place in our family and invite all of our Florida "family" and friends. However, given that it is 4 days before Christmas we realize everyone's schedules are already overcommitted and it wouldn't be very thoughtful of us to request that they join us for yet another outing. So we opted to celebrate quietly with our own little dinner at Stonewood. Yes I made everyone stay dressed up for dinner - S may be the only one of our children who truly enjoys dressing up. </div>
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Sisters - gotta love 'em</div>
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His first meal as a McIntosh. Bacon cheeseburger and fries and way too much pop.</div>
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Checking out his new Bible. His adoption gift from us.</div>
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S gave each of his sisters a pretty monogrammed bangle along with handmade cards.</div>
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So the day is done and we arrive home to find our fence trimmed out in pretty balloons - I snapped this photo as he just stood there and stared at all the balloons. </div>
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Thanks Debbie & Tiffani - we love you and your family.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u4JypSRlfvc/UNTR7tfXhwI/AAAAAAAAAfQ/CMzWx1Hd_e4/s1600/IMG_9893.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u4JypSRlfvc/UNTR7tfXhwI/AAAAAAAAAfQ/CMzWx1Hd_e4/s320/IMG_9893.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><i>From our family to yours, </i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><i>"We Wish you a Very Merry Christmas"</i></span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348392147802793249.post-90186251887064159292012-12-18T19:48:00.000-05:002013-01-20T13:26:42.342-05:00Making a spectacle of ourselves<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">So the little guy got glasses. </span></div>
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This happened about 3 weeks ago but I needed time to calm down before I took to the bloggisphere.</div>
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Is that even a word? If so, did I spell it right? He required a current physical to be placed for adoption. So we went to see the pediatrican he had been seeing for the 18 months he was at his last foster home. Upon completing the general eye exam - reading a chart at a distance with one eye covered - the Dr and I both saw that an actual eye exam was necessary. I already had my suspicions and planned to take S to our eye Dr after finalization just for a once over to see if he needed glasses for reading. Of course having this come to light prior to finalization we had to go to an eye Dr to get further evaluation of his eyes. </div>
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The screening person at the eye Dr's office did her assessment prior to him being seen by the optomologist and she told us to pick out frames because he would definitely be needing glasses. His eyes were not good and he has an astigmatism. We looked at frames - being on Medicaid he had about ten pairs of glasses to choose from and Medicaid does not allow you to upgrade frames or lenses. So we picked out his frames. We then went in to see the optomologist. He was very kind, though extremely concerned about S's eyes - he could not believe that S had never worn glasses. He all but read me my rights regarding child neglect. So he should, I was the adult bringing this child in for a way past due evaluation. It was at this point that I was thankful for the darkness of eye exam offices. I explained I had only known S for four months and we came in as soon as we realized there was an issue with his vision. I had mommy guilt over not getting there sooner combined with extreme frustration of the years he spent "in the system" with no one checking his eyes despite his obvious difficulties in his school work. I sat there trying to console myself silently willing the tears in my eyes to dry before the lights came back on.<br />
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I then proceeded to think about all the boys and girls still in care without anyone taking them to check their eyes. Kids don't know there is something wrong with their eyes if they don't know any different. My heart breaks for the children in this system. It is a broken system. I know this term gets overused but it truly is broken. Children waiting to have child studies completed and presented to waiting families. There should be no waiting families and certainly no waiting children. So with this train of thought you can likely figure out - my eyes didn't dry very well.<br />
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I am thankful that our family has been able to adopt two children from the foster care system in two different countries. I just wish there were more waiting families and less waiting children. I wish every child could have proper medical coverage and a caring adult to make sure it gets used. Am I wrong to think ALL children need to have their eyes checked as they grow? Is it odd that our three girls regularly get eye exams? I'm glad I waited 3+ weeks to write this post because this is the cooled down version of all that I thought about the foster care system of over worked case workers, foster homes that aren't keeping up with medical needs, teachers who say a child does poorly in class but don't suggest eye exams, yadda yadda yadda.<br />
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Okay venting session over. S is adjusting to wearing his glasses. He has had his share of tears too. After his initial "It's like a whole new world" reaction to how clear everything looked - he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. :-( After Christmas we will be making a visit to our own optometrist for her to give him an exam on our coverage and get him a pair of sports glasses with polycarbonate lenses. He will have more choice of frames and hopefully a better fit will be more comfortable and make him happier with his glasses in 2013.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">P.S. ADOPTION FINALIZATION COURT IS IN 3 DAYS!</span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348392147802793249.post-72415115587492929492012-12-14T12:31:00.001-05:002012-12-14T12:31:30.931-05:00Christmas <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Getting ready for Christmas...baking gingersnaps.<br />
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Getting his first ornament for the tree - a baseball to commemorate his first year playing baseball.</div>
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Time for hot cocoa, gingersnaps and tree trimming.</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348392147802793249.post-14415727503894473042012-12-14T12:31:00.000-05:002012-12-14T12:31:03.313-05:00Birthdays, surprise showers, baseball.... good times.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Summer is over - September is here and it is K's birthday - dinner at Carrabba's - YUM!</div>
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<a href="http://themama23ormore.blogspot.com/2012/09/welcoming-friends.html">Surprise day!</a></div>
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Check out our boy getting home!</div>
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His first trophy - very proud of himself! His baseball season was an amazing first experience. He had awesome coaches and great team mates.</div>
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Happy Halloween outing - check out that pumpkin cannon in the background!</div>
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At Busch Gardens feeding the lorikeets.</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348392147802793249.post-54043687797859530362012-12-14T12:29:00.000-05:002012-12-14T12:29:05.674-05:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
A visit to the provincial capital city. Including a walk along The Green by the river and hanging out at the Lighthouse then dinner at Montana's.</div>
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A hike through the woods to Hays Falls on the Maliseet Trail.</div>
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Collecting rocks and checking out little critters at Hopewell Rocks.</div>
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Playing games with cousins.</div>
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Fun times on the slip and slide at aunt Janice and Grammie Toshes house.</div>
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Our tired crew headed back to Florida.</div>
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S with his bunny on the plane headed south.</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348392147802793249.post-52962385703908855292012-12-14T12:28:00.002-05:002012-12-14T12:28:44.973-05:00First family vacation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
And we're off! <a href="http://themama23ormore.blogspot.com/2012_08_01_archive.html">First trip to Canada for S.</a> He is quick to remind us that this isn't his first time on an airplane as he was on a plane when he flew from Puerto Rico as an infant. Of course there is no recollection of that actual flight but it was offically his first time on a plane. So I guess this is his second time on a plane but the first flight he will remember. </div>
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A delicious spread to welcome us at Grammie & Grampy's house. </div>
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Meeting Nikki. </div>
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Okay if he thinks this was a cold day he better prepare himself for the winter trip to Canada - the boy is going to freeze. One day a few weeks ago he asked me, "Mom, am I going to have to wear long pants every day at Christmas?" Uh, yes long pants every day. Puerto Rico and Florida have not prepared him for the weather he is about to encounter. </div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">GQ calling...</span></div>
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Quote of the day after four wheeling with Grammie, "You're not a man, or a woman, until you've gone four wheeling with Grammie." That smile says it all. </div>
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At Sam's Place - notice the big kid in the background. All our children love this place!</div>
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Campfire and S'more time!</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348392147802793249.post-12334042145734509642012-12-14T12:27:00.001-05:002012-12-14T12:27:21.447-05:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">More July photos.....</span></div>
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<a href="http://themama23ormore.blogspot.com/2012_07_01_archive.html" target="_blank">Another big day</a>! Move in day! </div>
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Take me out to the <a href="http://themama23ormore.blogspot.com/2012/08/take-me-out-to-ball-game.html" target="_blank">ballgame</a>!</div>
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Michael was in charge of lugging the bags of swag from the VIP day at the Trop.</div>
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Remember how he requested an underwater photo <a href="http://themama23ormore.blogspot.com/2012/06/houston-we-have-huggerand-its-not.html" target="_blank">like the one R</a> had in our family profile album?</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348392147802793249.post-68416804545015425502012-12-14T12:26:00.001-05:002012-12-14T12:26:46.101-05:00Photo post #2 <div style="text-align: center;">
July photos begin with our <a href="http://themama23ormore.blogspot.com/2012/07/updated-goals.html" target="_blank">Canada day celebration</a>. I'm going to try to keep my comments minimal and link to previous posts so if you are interested you can read up on what was happening when we were snapping these photos. </div>
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We had lots of friends join us to celebrate Canada Day but I'm not posting photos of others because quite frankly I didn't ask their permission. :-)</div>
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Good times hanging out in the backyard.</div>
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<a href="http://themama23ormore.blogspot.com/2012/07/new-shirt-new-shoes-no-problem.html" target="_blank">Celebrating R's birthday</a> at her favorite restaurant wearing his new duds.</div>
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Starting to feel at home? I think so.</div>
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Play ball!!!! Our handsome little ball player.</div>
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Can you feel the love? Yes folks it is July and we are still honeymooning away.</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348392147802793249.post-12041615808826909232012-12-14T12:26:00.000-05:002012-12-14T12:26:11.898-05:00Here we go - photo heavy post #1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So this morning at 10:30 we signed adoptive placement papers. This means our son is legally free for adoption and he is now in our home for the purpose of adoption. Not only that but we now have a finalization date where he will be completely legally our son. One week from today on 12/21/12 we will finalize his adoption and become his parents listed on his birth certificate. Funny that we will be listed as parents on a Puerto Rican birth certificate when we've never even visited Puerto Rico. :-)</div>
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Blah! Blah! Blah! More legal junk.. here are the photos. More than 5 months worth of photos coming up in a half dozen or so posts - consider that to be your warning. </div>
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These are from <a href="http://themama23ormore.blogspot.com/2012/06/houston-we-have-huggerand-its-not.html">the day we met our son</a>. I'm not going to type much in these photo posts - I'll just link back to the origninal post whenever it applies to a photo.</div>
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Baking <a href="http://themama23ormore.blogspot.com/2012/06/one-week-closer.html">cookies</a> </div>
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Another supervised visit - this time at Mickey D's.</div>
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<a href="http://themama23ormore.blogspot.com/2012/07/weekend-dynamicsso-much-energy.html">What a chef</a>!</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348392147802793249.post-71869283878024498612012-12-05T19:03:00.000-05:002012-12-06T13:41:18.182-05:00A very uneventful exciting day...<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><i>That sounds a little like a Winnie the Pooh tale. </i></span><br />
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So today came and went with no mention of status update to being legally free for adoption. So are we left to assume that no news is good news? I think so. </span></i><br />
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Tomorrow I will reach out <b>again</b> to his adoption worker and request a status update. You will all know when we have signed the OFFICIAL adoption placement papers, as this blog will become photo central. I will also be contacting our attorney tomorrow to make sure she has everything she needs for finalization as she was proactive and sent us paperwork ahead of time. </span></i><br />
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">*** Just to clarify adoption placement is not the same as finalization. Adoption placement means just that - he is officially 'placed' in our home for adoption nothing more nothing less. However, because he has been 'placed' as a non-relative more than 90 days we can proceed immediately from adoptive placement to finalization. ***</span></i><br />
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Thanks for caring enough to check in. I know many of you have been praying for us as we have inched towards today's deadline. I even received a beautiful card of encouragement in today's mail from a very sweet and thoughtful friend. The timing could not have been better - you know who you are - thank you. </span></i><br />
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Please stay tuned as I will update when there is anything to report.</span></i><br />
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mini timeline update time -</span></i><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Dec 13th or 14th sign adoptive placement paperwork</i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Sometime during the week of December 16th - FINALIZATION!</i></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348392147802793249.post-48729447330098308822012-11-22T20:21:00.000-05:002012-11-22T20:21:21.516-05:00Happy ThanksgivingToday is American Thanksgiving. As has become our Thanksgiving tradition we celebrated with our friends who are like family, the McClains. Once again they opened their home to family and friends to celebrate and be thankful together. Here is part of our family's contribution to the massive feast we enjoyed for the entire afternoon. Veggie turkey with thanks to <a href="http://pinterest.com/billiemcintosh/thanksgiving/">Pinterest.</a><br />
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We have some very amazing things to be thankful for this year. First and foremost we are all thankful for the fact that our family is healthy and safe. There are many things in the routine of our lives that we do not take time to be thankful for. That comfy, warm bed I woke up in this morning, the warm, clean water that cascaded in my shower this morning and the fluffy white towel I used to dry off with. Those are such mundane, taken for granted luxuries. The fact that I can flip a switch and have light and can adjust the temperature of my home with the push of a button. We have a choice of two vehicles to go where we need to be so my husband can travel to his job that provides not only for all our needs and many of our wants as well.<br />
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I addition to these things we often take for granted there is the miracle of being able to expand our family this year. We are now just weeks away from finalizing S's adoption. I took his suit pants to the tailor earlier this week. As described in his words, "That was awkward." :-)<br />
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In preparation for adoption placement after Dec 5th S requires a current (within the last 6 months) physical. We looked after that this week. From that appointment we determined that he needs his eyes tested. I already had my suspicions about this, a benefit of homeschooling. I had even already talked to the receptionist at our optometrist about wait time to get him in post adoption when he will be on our insurance. Now that it is a documented medical need I have to try to have him seen by an optometrist prior to adoptive placement. Not a big deal just another appointment that we have tomorrow.<br />
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Tomorrow will be annother fun filled day decorating for Christmas. This will involve baking cookies, hot cocoa and hot almond milk for K. As much as I'm looking forward to the day of decorating being S's first Christmas with us. I have a few concerns about the girls getting out all of their sentimental ornaments and memory filled crafts. S won't have anything in our boxes this year. He will never catch up to his sisters collections and we know that he is a sentimental boy. I'm sure there will be times throughout the holidays that will remind him of holidays in his past spent in foster homes or with his birth mom. He doesn't share these thoughts but I want to remind myself that even if he doesn't voice his feelings his emotions can come out in behaviors and I want to try not to be so involved in the joy and excitement of the season to overlook all that his little heart is missing. I'm thankful today that he will hear the reason for the season this year and understand the "Christ" in Christmas. Thanksgiving is not about Black Friday tomorrow and Christmas certainly isn't about the presents we receive. There are many holiday seasons ahead of us where new memories and new traditions will be established.<br />
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HAPPY THANKSGIVING!</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348392147802793249.post-89002350629248321322012-11-12T09:22:00.000-05:002012-11-13T14:54:02.728-05:00So close..... the countdown is on.So I'm sure this is just my life and no one reading this could possibly be as busy as me. Just kidding of course, I know you are all very busy. It is our lot in life choosing to be all things to all people. Wanting to be the best mom in the world, the doting wife, a great friend and then collapsing into bed each night only to repeat the cycle of fulfilling needs the next day. So this is my excuse for not making the time to update the blog. But I'm here so prepare yourselves to be updated.<br />
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September and October were ruled by cheerleading practices, football games and cheerleading competitions for R and baseball practices and games for S. I honestly don't know how families who aren't homeschooling do it. At least I have control of testing days and allowing them to sleep in until they are rested enough to get up and start their school day. Listening to the other cheer moms talk about homework and tests their daughters needed to stay up until midnight preparing for just made me feel so bad. How do middle schoolers get enough rest to do well on a test they have studied for until midnight? The general consensus among the other moms was that they are really looking for grades to go up in the second 9 weeks of school now that cheer is over. That said I have enjoyed watching both our youngest children grow and flourish in their chosen sports. I admit I had no understanding of how tough cheerleading is. My biggest reward for S playing baseball for the first time on a team is watching how his team has rallied around him. When he hits a double or makes a great snag in right field - he did both of these things in his last game - hearing his teammates and the parents in the stands cheer for him does my heart good. They all know he is new to the sport while the other boys have been playing for many years. Considering his lack of experience he has had an awesome season and his last game is tomorrow night. Michael has been able to help out assisting the coaches on S's team and this has been a good time of bonding for them. I love this picture of them in the dugout.<br />
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Here's a before and after shot of my fresh faced twelve year old cheerleader and then the same sweet girl complete with competition make up - have mercy!</div>
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During these months the big girls have kept pretty low key. T went to homecoming - and has been applying to colleges. ** Insert proud but teary eyed mom face here. ** K decided she didn't want to go to homecoming this year and she is still debating whether or no she will attend her senior prom. These are hard moments. I want her to have success and friendships but it is a different road for her. She is however really enjoying her career class at school where she is working in medical records at a local hospital four days each week. Her favorite part of this is that they have free lunch in the hospital cafeteria each Tuesday. Oh and she has a special magnetic pass that allows her into restricted areas at the hospital. </div>
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So now you are all caught up on life in general. How about a good ol' adoption update? We went back to court - yes we did. It is getting to be a very familiar routine. This last time was a Super Duper Hooray we've (<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">almost</span></i>) done it day in court. We were in court on November 5th. The next to final step before S is legally free for adoption is complete. Now we wait until December 5th for him to be free and clear and OURS!!!! After December 5th we will go to court one LAST time - oh and rest assured I will be telling all of my children this had better be their last time in court, unless of course they too adopt someday. :-) This final court date when we appear in front of the judge for official finalization and adoption we will be decked out in our Sunday best. <i>Honestly, we usually wear jeans to church so this will be better than our Sunday best. </i>Michael and S both got new suits and the girls and I are working on getting our outfits court ready. There WILL be photos taken. And you can bet this blog will be overflowing with months worth of photos I haven't been able to share - I mean seriously how annoying is it to keep seeing the back, the hand, a foot of my son? He does have an adorable face and I should be posting his sweet little mug right here in about 1 month - that feels crazy good to say.<br />
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Just for kicks how about one of my famous (infamous?) timelines?<br />
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December 5th, 2012 - S declared legally free for adoption<br />
Sometime before Christmas - adoption becomes finalized - YAHOO!!!<br />
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There should be no reason that this is not achievable. Prayers are still appreciated to ensure no bumps in the road delay anything further. Michael, K (now that she is 18) and I all went for fingerprinting background screens last week. That's done! S needs a current physical prior to adoptive placement so that's the only thing left to be done on our end. I hope to look after that in the next week or so.<br />
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One other little update. Report cards came out last week. Being that R and S have never been homeschooled before this year, they really wanted report cards too. So they got them. I noticed S looking his over with rather an unusal look on his face and I immediately felt inadequate in the very simple report I had crafted on a speadsheet. I apologized that it didn't look exactly look like his usual report cards. He looked at me and said, "No mom, I've just never had one without F's and D's before." Well alright then. A's and B's - I'm just saying!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348392147802793249.post-28891437378908160542012-11-11T10:12:00.000-05:002012-11-11T10:12:49.390-05:00How you doin?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Yesterday we went to Michael's work picnic of sorts. It was a beautiful sunny day with blue skies and temps nearing 80 degrees. Perfect for a company picnic at Busch Gardens. We went on a few rides then met with Michael's co-workers for a lunch where the kids had caricatures sketched. I have always wanted to do this and having the opportunity to get them as freebies was a no brainer. We finished off the day with more rides and finished with a very wet ride on the Congo River Rapids, Michael and K got the worst of it. We all got very wet but they were soaked without a spot of dry on them from head to toe.</div>
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I know I've said I can't post pics of S yet - but I'm thinking these likenesses wouldn't identify any of my children. :-) I love them and can't wait to get them framed and displayed.</div>
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There are so many updates I need to do - but time has not been on my side lately. I just wanted to do this quick little fun post and I'll get back into the serious matters at hand in a future post. Maybe even later today. </div>
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Just for fun, how ironic is this "Joey" kangaroo we spotted lounging about at BG yesterday?</div>
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"How you doin?"</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348392147802793249.post-6450024335151851012012-10-25T21:09:00.001-04:002012-10-25T21:09:31.912-04:00LifebooksK has a lifebook. A lifebook is the story of your life - your old life, pre-adoption. A life, that depending on your age when you are adopted, you may not have any recollection of. K was fortunate to have an adoption worker who did research to form a birth family tree. Her worker also got as much family medical background as possible from the most reliable source in the family. I was very blessed to have made friends with the Case Aide who took K for visits with her birth mom. This friend took my camera on one visit and took photos of K and her birth mom together. These are pictures that after 18 years K has not yet seen. She knows we have them. We have told her about them and said she can see them anytime she would like. Her response has always been. "Okay, not right now." You know what? It is okay. The thing is we have the photos and I'm thankful for them and someday maybe K will want to see them - maybe not, but it will be her choice.<br />
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This week I have started making a lifebook with S. This is a different experience. We are on our own with his memories and my computer. I have put out a request to all of the professionals involved with him. Asking for stories about him and especially for photos. I haven't received any replies yet but I'm hopeful that some of them will be able to contribute to his lifebook. Yesterday was fun. S was born in Puerto Rico and we spent some time in virtual exploration of the area where he was born and printed off photos of two hospitals where he may have been born. He liked seeing the national bird and fun facts about Puerto Rico. He made four or five pages of this information and couldn't wait to share it with all his sisters and his dad. He was very proud. It felt good that he was learning all this information for the first time and that it made him so happy. Today we added a copy of his original birth certificate. After his adoption is finalized this birth certificate will become null and void and a new birth certificate listing Michael and I as his parents will replace it. In addition to the birth certificate, today I gave him photos of his birth mom. That was a big surprise to him. He is quietly working on these pages now. Because he was so excited to share the pages he made yesterday, I told him he doesn't need to share anything further unless he wants to. I wanted him to feel free to write whatever he wanted on these pages with photos of his birth mom. We will also start taking his lifebook to his weekly therapy appointments so he can show it to his therapist and hopefully create an atmosphere for open conversation about things in his book.<br />
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So he finished today's pages. I won't lie, there were tears. He misses his birth mom and he worries about her. We had a little chat about her and I told him again how it is okay to talk with us about her anytime he wants to. We try to encourage him to tell us stories, happy, sad, scary, whatever. We just want him to feel free to talk about his life with her. Most of his memories are scattered. I asked him when he last saw his birth mom and he said he didn't know, but he thought it was before he went to his last foster home. I'm thinking he still had supervised visitation with birth mom up until February of this year. I'm not sure if either of us is right but hopefully someone can shed some light on his visits with her. Tomorrow I hope to get him to write a memory page - just one very short story about when he lived with his birth mom. There's not much he detests more than writing so I'm going to offer up my computer for him to type a memory of his birth mom.<br />
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If you have adopted or you are thinking about it - here is <a href="http://www.adoptivefamilies.com/articles.php?aid=1637" target="_blank">a very basic introduction to lifebooks</a>. Because of his age S will have much more to contribute to his lifebook if he chooses to. I hope he will have pages for each of his foster home placements, and a few mementos like this sweet little note his teacher wrote to him at the end of the school year.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348392147802793249.post-11289195606646024402012-09-29T19:20:00.000-04:002012-09-29T19:20:51.999-04:00Welcoming friends....Want to know how to make an 11 year old boy have a great big smile and melt into a puddle of giggles with his knees drawn up tightly to his chest so he can bury his sweet little face? Tell him that while he and dad were spending the morning at his baseball game, Mom was at a "welcoming shower." As you are explaining to him that this means friends of our family did this to welcome him to our family, have his sisters walk into the room carrying brightly wrapped packages all for him. Watch him as he sits and looks at the parcels and absorbs the moment before you finally have to tell him he can open them. He is looking at the gifts and cards on the table with some combination of excitement, happiness, joy and confusion about what to do with all of these.<br />
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I wish I had taken photos of his gifts. I did take a video of him opening them so we will have that to look back on later. Here is his awesome baseball cake at the shower.<br />
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It felt just a little bit like Christmas in September and no one cared that all the gifts were for the little guy. It also provided an opportunity to discuss when the girls were each born/adopted and how each of them entering our family was celebrated. R and I even went on a search for her (nearly empty) baby book. We filled in a little info we could and she really liked choosing pictures to put for each year. I know I may be in the minority here, but I'm not a scrapbooker and I had fun doing this with my 12 year old daughter allowing her to choose her favorite photos. She is also going to do her own write ups for each year of school. Not sure why a "baby book" covers school until 6th grade but it will be a fun activity for her. So any of you overwhelmed mommy's out there thinking bad thoughts about yourselves for not completing your baby books, you might just want to cut yourselves some slack and wait until your "baby" is old enough to do it with you. I promise you will both enjoy it.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348392147802793249.post-86420365998265151462012-09-22T09:18:00.000-04:002012-09-26T08:50:47.119-04:00What happened to the McIntoshes?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">RATHER THAN A NEW POST I DECIDED JUST TO UPDATE THIS ONE POST COURT...</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">We are still here, plugging away at the daily grind. It's just that our daily grind has been given a strong boot and the daily grind is more of a daily marathon. Summer vacation is over, well vacation is over. Although the calendar says autumn has officially arrived we live in Florida, so summer is never really over. For sure vacation is over and the kids are back to school - in one way or another. This year our two oldest girls are both seniors - Canadian readers this means grade 12. **wink** So that is an entirely new thing with happy days and sad days reflecting on what this means for our family. <i>I am so not going there today</i>. Grad rings, yearbooks, graduation photos, homecoming (Canadians - no I can't explain Homecoming - it seems Americans just like to start AND end the school year with a prom.) All of this, times two daughters. Add in college applications (Canadian translation University applications) AP, SAT and ACT tests.... It's a busy school year. K is taking a computer class in graphic design and she is LOVING it! She is even talking about continuing education with training in this area. That is very exciting to us and I'm looking into it! Here is one of Kennedy's sketches. She is having fun using her art work in the class.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">As for the younger two we have taken the leap into homeschool. K & T were homeschooled in NB until grade 3 and 4 when they entered public school. With S having minimal exposure to school prior to being in foster care and with English being his second language he is significantly behind so I decided to take this one year at a time and see how it goes. R decided on her own that she would like to be homeschooled. She is much more independent in her studies and gets through her work with minimal support. I’m pretty sure she has already decided that she plans to return to public school next year, though she says she enjoys sleeping in and finishing her work much earlier than her middle school friends. Plus she never has homework - when she is done her work we stop. Period. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">So that’s school. We now have two athletes in the house. S plays baseball. FOR THE YANKEES!!! He is <b><i>thrilled</i></b> that is the team he was put on - Michael not so much :-( But I guess he wasn’t too discouraged as he signed up to volunteer as an assistant coach. I can’t imagine Michael wearing a Yankees cap - oh the shame. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">R is cheerleading this year. Yes my little tomboy is a cheerleader. She has practice 6 hours a week and a game every Saturday. I have to admit their workouts and practices are intense. So those two are keeping us hopping. Add in T and her babysitting and being a two car family is stretching us. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">So there it is, school. sports, babysitting... what else, oh yes we are still going through the adoption process. It is indeed a process. There are days that S feels like ours and I forget that basically he is just a little boy who sleeps at our house and eats us out of house and home - seriously that boy can eat as much as all three of the girls put together. I wish I was exaggerating. One amusing little tidbit is that we used to have a few grapes left in the fridge, one lonely banana on the counter, enough milk for half a glass because the girls were polite to a fault to leave a little something for the next person. This is not something we encouraged - frankly it’s a little annoying because those last little bits spoil because no one takes them. Suffice it to say this is no longer a problem. Now the problem is - “Mom didn’t you buy bananas yesterday?” “Mom we are out of milk.” The new little man has no problem eating the last of anything, in fact he prides himself on it. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Next week we have another judicial review at court. Hoping for some big news this time out. The goal for court next week is to alleviate all remaining issues surrounding the at risk portion of S’s adoption. Will you indulge me in yet another of my timelines? </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">September 25th Court in the morning - and Happy Birthday Blake! <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I hope Blake's birthday was happier than our court day. We woke up early and drove into Tampa and went through security. Waited for our boy's name to be called then went into the courtroom for (maybe) two minutes. The result ANOTHER court date for November 5th. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">October 25th - if Sept 25 court went well placement status can officially change from non-relative to adoptive placement. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Not going to happen.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">October 25th - 90 days living with us - adoption can be finalized at any point. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Also not going to happen.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">November - I’d love to finalize S’s adoption at any point this month. November is National Adoption Awareness month, so it’s even more special. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I hate to be repetitive but NOT HAPPENING! This one makes me sad because I really was hoping for finalization on such a special day when the courtrooms are filled with families all finalizing and happy. Suffice it to say family court is not the happiest place on earth, though it makes for very interesting people watching while you wait for your case to be called. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">December - IF November’s goal didn’t happen then I would hope for finalization before Christmas. Merry Christmas. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">There is still the teeny tiniest chance for this - really teeny tiny. We really want this adoption wrapped up in 2012. The new best case scenario is that S be proclaimed legally free for adoption on November 5th and his placement status changed from non-relative to adoptive placement on December 5th (conincidentally my birthday) then there would be the rush to finalize before the end of the year. I repeat this is highly unlikely - but we continue to believe that with God all things are possible and we will be praying for finalization in 2012. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">So that’s it in a nutshell - a nut shell - yes that’s a good word to describe what we are in. A nutty little life that is constraining us while we wait out all of the requirements. A life of ordinary (church, work, school, sports...) and not so ordinary (therapists, Guardian ad litems, adoption workers, case workers, judges, foster parents...) We go where others tell us to go and do what they tell us to do. Challenging for my personality. Hush now, I can hear you laughing! </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0