Ramblings

Matt started his new job yesterday. His normal hours are 1:30 - 10:00pm. I had the kids in bed by 9:30 and Carleigh was asleep by 10pm. I waited for a few minutes and then went to bed. I woke up around midnight and noticed he was not home yet. Of course I was worried so I couldn't go back to sleep and he came home around 12:20am! It was mandatory for everyone to work 10 hours last night! What a rough way to get back into the workforce. So, if he works that late tonight, I wasn't going to have him borrow my parent's truck and then drag the kids out after midnight to drop it back off so they will be missing Wednesday night church until we get a second car. Hopefully that will happen this weekend!

It is a bit hard in the evenings with a 2 and 3 year old on your own. Dinner is ok, but bathtime is CHALLENGING to say the least! By the time I had them bathed, dry and in their pj's, I was exhausted! Usually Matt takes care of Cody and I take care of Carleigh and everything is done quickly. On top of that we had a social worker meeting right when I came home from work so yesterday was not a good day for me! (Two back to back social worker meetings in two days is not fun!)

This evening is a little bit better since I alternate baths every other night and I plan on having them in bed and ASLEEP by 9:30pm so that I can have some ME time for a few minutes before going to bed. We are hoping that Matt doesn't have to work on Saturday so that we can have some family time. We are going on a date the following weekend with my sister, her husband and a few other couples. We are looking forward to that.

CUTE SAYING ALERT: Cody started crying this afternoon. So Carleigh goes over to him, bends down, and in her most caring, sweet voice says, "What's wrong?" It blew me away! She also can identify Curious George...she had George on her fruit snack label and said "George!!"

Here's the scoop....

If everyone works like crazy fiends, if all the paperwork, required meetings, appointments with the lawyer works out....we will be finalizing Carleigh's adoption on November 3rd! National Adoption Day is November 17th, but the judge in our county who finalizes adoptions will be out of town on that Saturday, therefore he changed the date. I was a little skeptical that everything can happen that fast (cynical aren't I?) since we have been dealing with foster care adoption for 4 years. However, our adoption worker is great and is really going to help us out and it also helps that we finalized an adoption 7 months ago and are already in the system. Please keep us in your prayers that everything will work out for this special day!

Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine that I would be finalizing BOTH of my children's adoption in the same year, just 9 months apart! What a year 2007 will be for our family! God's plans are absolulely amazing! If He can do this in just 9 months, what other miracles could happen for us?!!

Silly girl

I was taking pictures and Carleigh is such a camera-girl. Here she is! You can't tell from the picture, but she is wearing Cody's shoes. The girl LOVES putting on and wearing shoes. I think I have a shoe fashionista!!

Fall decorations

I started getting out my fall decorations. I am not nearly finished, but Cody and Carleigh loved playing with the pumpkins and it is so cute to hear them say pumpkin. They call it "pun-kin."

Our fur-nephew!

We are dogsitting for the weekend. My sister has a Yorkie named Rudy and she is out of town for the weekend and since we live on the same street as her, we dogsit often. We brought Rudy down so that he could play with Cody and Carleigh and they loved it....or should I saw Cody did! Cody was hesitant and scared at first, but he warmed up mighty quick. He got so comfortable with Rudy that he was kissing and trying to hug him.

Cody's new best friend!

Good news!!

We have a LOT of good news to report! Matt got a job! He will be working second shift at the company that he worked for last fall as a part-time position. He will now be working full time on second shift. My mom has agreed to watch the children for the three hours in the afternoon that overlap with my teaching schedule. She will basically watch them nap which will not be to physically hard for her. Matt got the kids' therapy changed to Friday mornings since Cody doesn't have preschool on Friday. Everything is working out great! I will be single parenting in the evening again, but am excited that God has provided this position for him!

Secondly, we were MATCHED with Carleigh yesterday! Her appeal time is OVER! The next stage will happen on Monday when we turn in our financial paperwork with the adoption worker. Then we will meet with the financial department, set up the "adoptive placement meeting," and then call our lawyer to finalize!!! Woohoo!! We might be finalizing on National Adoption Day in November! That would be sooo cool!

We will be having our first family portrait done on or after Adoption Day. We are just so happy! God is good all the time....all the time, God is good!

Meow....milk?

Today, dh was sitting on our screened porch while the kids were playing. The cats came over and Carleigh said, "Meow.....milk?" Meaning: Can we feed the cats milk? Of course Matt couldn't say no, and brought out milk. Cody and Carleigh LOVE watching the kids drink the milk. Hopefully the cats will stay around for awhile. They have gotten very attached to them.

Another cute story: While Matt was waiting for me in our school playground, Carleigh was looking out the van window and saw some of our school children playing on the playground. A few were playing kickball. When they ran, Carleigh shouted "Run! Run!" and when it was someone's turn to kick, she would shout "Kick! Kick!" I don't know if she was trying to be a cheerleader or wanting to be apart of the action!! He He HE!

"The B.I.B.L.E"

Carleigh's first real song is the "The B-I-B-L-E" from Sunday School. Last week, Matt heard her spelling something and then we figured out she was singing the "Bible" song. It was too cute hearing her spell it while shopping on Saturday. It warms my heart to know that the first word she can spell is Bible! She also does hand motions to the song and stomps when we sing "I stand upon the word of God..." So sweet!

She also has Cody trying to sing the song too. One of Cody's preschool songs from last year apparently has motions and whenever I sing the song to him, he starts moving his arms up and down. They are at such a cute stage. They are learning new words every day!

Another birthday comes around!

31 years ago, my mom gave birth to me on HER birthday! Yes, it is very unique to give birth to a child on your birthday. Mom had no idea that I would be born on her birthday (no planned births thirty-some years ago!) but she was so excited to find out that we would share the same birthday. September is the birthday month in my family. My niece Britt's birthday is Sept. 3, mom and my birthday is Sept. 15, and my sister's birthday is Sept. 20th. Needless to say that early December was an exciting time of the year!(hahaha!)

Today, my mom, sis, Carleigh and I went bargain shopping for clothes. I found some great deals and didn't spend over $40. I bought a brand-new sweater jacket for Cody, winter coat for Cody, jacket for Carleigh, shirts and a few pants and skirts for Carleigh, a jacket for me, Sesame Street videos (4), a Wiggles video, two skirts for me and a toy truck for Carleigh (such a tomboy!).

We celebrated my birthday with Matt's family at Chili' which is my favorite restaurant. Then my sis and I did a little bit more shopping since she had her great neice Emily and needed to buy her a few things for her overnight stay.

After church tomorrow, my sister, Britt, her boyfriend and I are going to the Pork Festival and I am going to shop ONLY for myself!! Woohoo! Matt has agreed to watch the kids (mostly napping) and to watch the Bengals play the Browns. GO BENGALS!!!

The cat saga continues....

Well, I had heard rumors that this cat was a momma cat. We found out today when I went outside and saw her nursing two of her 3 kittens in the lot behind our backyard. The kittens are not very small and are large enough to get their own food in my opinion. No wonder this momma cat is so skinny. The business office across the street named her "Patches" but her kittens look like carbon copies of her. I can just see all the fun Cody and Carleigh could have with 3 kittens!

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Our little pet (stray)

Our backyard is becoming a haven for lots of God's creatures! We have a groundhog under our shed, lots of spiders (ick) and now we have a stray cat that has been hanging around for over a week. I have never been a big fan of cats, but this little guy/girl is growing on me. We have been calling her "Kitty." Carleigh looks out the porch and talks to her by meowing. It is so cute! Cody loves chasing him/her around the yard. She/He is the sweetest thing. I haven't gotten close enough to tell what gender it is.

We can't have pets due to our landlord rules, so we have adopted this little guy as our outdoor pet. The kids lover her/him.

Cody all smiles because he is watching one of his fave shows "Curious George."
Cody is chasing the cat!

What's happening

Well, Cody caught a little head cold (due to seasonal allergies) and then passed it on to Carleigh since she was kissing him and drinking his sippy cup. So, we have two toddlers with runny noses. What fun! I also have a headache and sore throat which is usually what happens before I get a big sinus infection. I hope it holds off because my birthday is in 6 days and I really don not want to be sick on my birthday.

Last night, I was reading books to Cody and Carleigh. I pointed to a big, yellow bird and asked Cody, "Who is this?" To which Cody replies, "Big Bird!!" He gets Bert and Ernie mixed up but at least he knows that they are a pair! His vocabulary is really exploding! He also can say bucket, thank you, milk, yessss! He has a problem saying the number 6 for some reason, he says "xxxx." It is so cute to hear him say it though. He made it through his first week of preschool and hopefully he is well enough to go tomorrow for the first full week (Monday - Thursday).

This morning, I stepped on the carport from my bedroom to see what the temp. was like and got a little scare when a little black and white cat came up to me! The poor little stray was so skinny and wet from the rain. So, we did a big no-no and gave it a little milk. I just can't stand to see little animals looking pathetic! We haven't seen the little guy/girl ever since. Matt says that he/she hangs around the garage across the street alot. Carleigh saw it Friday night and said "Cat! Meow!"

Our new pet (not!!)

Matt noticed that a rather large spider made a HUGE web at the corner of our house. Of course that is the corner where Carleigh's bedroom is! He wanted me to see the little creature but on Thursday it disappeared. Well, today our pet was back with a bigger web and was sitting right in the middle of the web. Matt came and got me and I slowly and carefully looked at the spider. I am TERRIFIED of spiders! I do not like insects, especially spiders. They give me the creeps! I think I was having a small panic attack while walking up close enough to see it. I went back into the house to grab my camera so I could take a few pics to show my class (we will be studying spiders in a week or so). It was still there to my dismay...um joy and I took a few shots. If you are scared, just ignore this post!!

I have been searching the internet to find what kind it is but still haven't identified it yet. I am glad that we can safely saw it was not a brown recluse or brown widow spiders (the posionous spiders here in Ohio). If anyone knows what type of spider this is, please let me know! I am curious enough thought scared!

First Day of School!

Today was Cody's first day or preschool for the 2007-2008 school year. He began preschool in January when he turned 3 years old. Matt said he was in a good mood getting on and off the bus so hopefully he had fun and learned something new today!!

I want another ride!!

Although she didn't like the hills, she wanted another ride!
This is one of her favorite pasttimes, playing with rocks!!

Riding with Aunt Connie!

Walking with Papaw!
Hiking with Daddy!

Hiking in the woods!

Labor Day 2007!

Matt and Carleigh walking along the campout area.
Cody, taking a rest with Papaw!

Today was my niece's 18th birthday, so sister had a party for her at her in-law's farm in Indiana. I cannot believe that Brittany is 18 years old! I remember being up at the hospital when she was born (I was almost 13 years old at the time.) and seeing her right after she was born. It is amazing how time flies!

We took Cody and Carleigh on a hike back in the woods of their farm. They have a blast! Cody got tired toward the end and Papaw (Jen's dad) carried him the rest of the way back. Carleigh was a trooper and walked the entire way! There were lots of hills and ditches to climb and they had a lot of fun getting dirty, collecting rocks and finding treasures like walnuts!

The highlight of the day was getting rides from my sister on her four-wheeler. Cody would squeal when we would hit bumps!!