One Word Wednesday

This blog friend came up with one word descriptions for her 5 children. She then asked her readers to share theirs...

Anna Beth - Dramatic

Ben - Merciful

Merrie Cannon - Joy

Abe - Passionate

Quinn - Happy

Want to play?

I had to take Ben to find some new shorts at the mall tonight. It seems that his collection of appropriate school attire was not as complete at I thought. Here's what I learned.

1) You can not walk leisurely through the mall without being attacked by someone working a kiosk who wants to curl your hair, apply some magic product to your face, or pluck your eyebrows with a string.

2) As impossible as it is to avoid the sales associates in the kiosks, it is equally impossible to find one in a store where you actually want to buy something.

3) The selection of shorts in stores in August is minimal.

As we were heading up the escalator, Ben gets this frightened look on his face, grabs my hand, and tries to stear me to the opposite side of the mall. He was seriously trying to avoid something.

Totally expecting some crazy kiosk person coming toward us with a product we MUST try, I look to my left to see the Auburn store. Ben was ready to get as far away from it as possible. Hmmm, I wonder why he acts this way? I might have made all my kids hold their nose on the way to the beach as we drove through Auburn once. Why? Because Auburn stinks.

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6

Mother of the Year

Another summer is over, and we've started school. I sent my second born off to Kindergarten this year. I really don't know where the last 5, almost 6, years has gone.


Ben and Mrs. Miles

Anna Beth and Mrs. Morelli

The first day of school!

Last year, we moved int0 our house and started school about 10 days later. It was a nightmare. My kitchen wasn't unpacked, due to the roaches that were threatening a takeover. Billy was working here and in Nashville. I was trying to make 2400 square foot of stuff fit into 1400, I mean 1397 square feet. And the move was....TEMPORARY. Boxes that we could do without, or stuff that didn't fit was left unpacked because we were surely going to be back in Tennessee in about 9 months.

All that to say I started out the year unsettled, and it set the tone. I was that mom. The one who forgets to sign the daily homework agenda. The one who doesn't send in permission slips or field trip money until I got the nice little e-mail reminder from the teacher the day before said trip. (It's not that I didn't look at the stuff, it would either get buried in the pile of stuff on the counter, or I would just forget.) I don't even think I ever sent in party money - I'm sure I got talked about for that one!

This year is going to be different. I am stopping everything at 3 to sign, fill out, take care of whatever needs to be done for the kids for school the next day. Snacks are packed and lunch menus set the night before. I am getting up earlier to avoid morning mahem. So far so good. Setting the tone for success.

Ben came home today and said something about his "I am" project. The project that is due September 18 - or might have been due today (August 18). First assignment of "big school" and its late. Lovely.
Mother of the Year. That's me.

5 Things about being a mom of 5

1. Showering every day is optional.
2. Everyone stares and no one makes these comments anymore.
3. A double stroller is a must and keeping the 2 year old strapped in is most important.
4. Cutting my hair short was a bad idea. (Ponytails are not an option - refer to #1)
5. Love does multiply with every new addition, regardless of how they come to you.

Sweet Baby Boy

Since Quinn is still officially a foster child, I can't legally post any pictures of him. I found a few that "hid" his face to share.


This was the first time I held him at the courthouse in Seneca County.

Playing with Abe.

The first week he was home, he wouldn't venture far from Billy or I. We would leave the room for a few minutes and return. We knew he felt at home when we left for about 1 minute and he had ventured into the bathroom. Needless to say, the door now stays closed!


Bubbles!

He is such a joy and we are so lucky to have him! After a very clingy first week, he now enjoys being a part of this crazy family. We are soooo in love!

Sons are an heritage from the Lord, children a blessing from Him.
Psalm 127:3

Quiet

Very rarely are things quiet around here. This afternoon, Ben and Merrie Cannon went into his room and I was so pleased that they were playing so well together and not arguing. I didn't check in, because sometimes that can interrupt the peace. I should have.

Ben came out fully clothed in battle gear - complete with knee pads. (I didn't get my camera quickly enough to get pictures.) I asked him what they were doing.....

SKY DIVING

God Winks

God winks. You know, moments when He affirms that He is here, watching over us.

Throughout the past 9 months, I have noticed them more and more. Perhaps He realizes that in this season I need them more, or maybe I am seeking Him more and recognizing them as Him more than before when I would have passed them off as happenstance.

Throughout the process of getting Quinn, I have felt strongly that this was our call. He ordained us to parent this child well before the foundations of the earth. I have questioned many times in recent months whether or not we should proceed - because of Billy's shaky employment. Each time I feel Him quietly reminding me to trust Him.

We do not have any extra income right now. Every penny we have- and then some- is spoken for. The financial implications of travel to Ohio had not even been thought about. I have focused most of my prayers on Quinn's transition into the family. After all, we have a credit card to absorb the expenses - ie hotel, food while traveling, gas. We had not specifically prayed at all for financial assistance, just figured it would all work out - and God winked. We received a total of $580 and $40 in gas cards from various people, and used some of my dad's points for part of our hotel. Family sent some, my sister-in-laws bible study group sent some, and we got an anonymous letter from someone in my sister-in law's church with some. We didn't even ask, and God winked. He sent us enough money to cover our trip - almost to the penny.

Revelation Song happens to be Billy's favorite song right now. He has never been a fan of Christian radio, but I think he keeps my radio in the kitchen tuned to WDJC just so he won't miss it if it comes on. When we sing this song in church, it moves him to his feet and has almost prompted him to raise his hands (it should be noted that we are not hand raisers) in worship of the mighty God we serve.

On the very short trip to the courthouse on Friday, we had the radio tuned to a Christian station. One of about 3 stations you can get in the big metropolis of Tiffin and even it wasn't coming in well. Guess what? Revelation Song came on. He looked at me and said "Are you kidding me." We both got chills. God winked.

More updates on the transition to come. Our internet isn't working well, so I haven't turned on my computer and Billy has been hogging his tonight. We are well and falling more in love everyday.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
1 Peter 5:6

Day 2

Quinn was such a joy to behold today. When we got to his foster parents house, he was genuinely happy to see us. He laughed at Billy and crawled over to me to pick him up.

Yesterday, he wouldn't even let Billy hold him. He thought Billy was cool - as long as he was in my arms. He preferred Billy today, which was a relief for me. I was a little worried that when we got home, he would be so attached to me that I would be solely responsible for his happiness.

We spent the morning walking around Tiffin, got lunch and tried the hotel again. He freaked upon entering, but calmed down once we got into our room - and turned on Noggin. We played for a while and then he curled up in my arms and fell asleep. Precious. He woke up after an hour and laid down on Billy and fell asleep again.

After his nap we went to the park and then met his foster parents and extended foster family for pizza. His foster moms took him back home for his last night with them.

We are so blessed to have been able to spend time with this amazing couple - and their family. They are truly a testament to unconditional love. They knew when they received Quinn that he would be leaving with us, yet they have loved him and cared for him better than we could have ever wanted. They are having a hard time letting go, so if you would say a little prayer that God would heal their broken hearts and prepare them for their next placement.

We will leave to come home tomorrow with the happiest baby on earth!

Where do babies come from?

Ohio of course!

We are here and have been for 2 days. I had all intentions of updates, but this is exhausting (and I can't post pictures because if forgot the USB cord for the camera.)

The drive up was fairly easy and uneventful, but was LONG. We were a wee bit nervous when we pulled into the city limits and the first thing we saw was a club with exotic dancers - yikes!

Turns out, Tiffin is an amazing city. Imagine Homewood, AL or Franklin, TN on steroids. It is a rural town out in the middle of nowhere, so the demographic is much different than those places. Most of the awesome storefronts are empty. I keep looking for cute boutiquey stores and and neat local restaurants that would abound in the South in a place like this. Most of the homes appear to have been built in the late 1800s to early 1900s and by size of them, this used to be one of the places to live in Ohio. Unlike Homewood who boasts many small shotgun type houses, these are huge even by today's standards.

Since we arrived into town around midnight on Thursday, we came to the hotel and tried to sleep. I think we actually got around 4 hours in and then were up and ready to meet the social worker in the lobby to go to court.

In our last conversation with the powers that be in Ohio, we understood that we would be receiving legal custody of him yesterday. They changed things up and decided that initially we would be considered foster parents and would get legal custody sometime in the next 6 months - more than likely this will occur in September at the next court date.

We arrived at the courthouse and were excited to meet all the people who have worked so hard to take care of Quinn and facilitate his move to Alabama. His social worker, foster parents, CASA worker, lawyers, Guardian Ad Litem for his birth mother were all there. It was so overwhelming to finally hug all these very special people.

Court went fine, it was mostly just routine. Billy "took the stand" and I had to sit outside and it was done. We were officially given "foster parent" status of Quinn!

While we were filling out paperwork, his foster parents went, picked him up and brought him to us. It really wasn't pretty. His mom's were crying, he was confused and reaching for them, I was trying to be sensitive to him and them while wanting to squeeze him and make him love me. Billy and I left with him to begin the bonding process.

We thought we would bring him to our hotel room and spend time with him here. Upon entering the hotel, he freaked out. Much of our first day was spent in the car so he could nap and such. We returned him to his foster parents around 5 and enjoyed the evening together trying to process this big day.

Who gets the Worm?

We have a bird living in our garage. My kids noticed the nest in a box and when I checked the nest, it had 4 cream eggs with brown specks on them. I thought the bird had probably flown the coop, so to speak, and decided that abandoning her unborn babies was probably better than dealing with 4 children peering in on her, all the while thinking how she could have been so "lucky" as to pick our garage out of all the other places in Birmingham to raise her family.



I told AB that she had probably abandoned the nest and AB immediately wanted to incubate the eggs in a blanket. I told her that wouldn't work and we would wait and see. Well, the bird came back. We were leaving our garage door open during most of the day and closing it at night.



I had almost forgotten about this incident and how fond birds are of our homes. A few days ago, Billy was getting AB ready for school and opened the door to go get something out of the garage fridge. Apparently mama was itching to be the early bird and we had overslept. She flew right into our laundry room! Billy averted major tragedy by carefully closing the door from the kitchen into the laundry room and managed to shoo the bird out - but not before it pooped all over the laundry room.



Needless to say, if you drive by our home our garage door is either open or cracked so that the resident bird can come and go as she pleases.

Playing Catch Up

Baseball season is officially over for us. We played with an amazing group of boys. Although our winnings were few, we had a lot of fun. We really lucked into playing on a team with awesome, fun parents who acted like little league was, well, little league. Some of the more seasoned mom's brought water guns for the boys to soak the coaches with after one game. We bombed the boys and coaches with water balloons after another. For the last game, the guys handed the moms the equipment and told us to go. We had a blast coaching the boys - and thouroughly enjoyed actually watching an entire game without chasing the little siblings around.


Me coaching Ben at first.

Batting practice before the game.

More batting practice.

The moms and their boys - and a few siblings too!

Where is the Church?

Politics. Nothing can fire people up more than a good ole convo about politics. Most people have opinions - very strong ones. I have opinions too, but even though I try to educate myself, I feel that I fall into the ignorant category. That being said, I'm about to delve deep - for me anyway. This post is more about the heart of the Christians and less about politics, but somehow I don't think it will be viewed as that.

Ben graduated from preschool last Thursday. It was a cute program and Momma even teared up a bit. One of the mom's had all the graduates over today for a playdate. While the kids were playing, the mom's were talking. The director of the preschool and I share heartbreak for the poor and somehow we started talking about that. Here's the rest of the story:

She - the director - mentioned that her father kept reminding her that the Bible tells us there would always be poor in the world. Yes, truth. The Bible does say that. One of the women said, I kid you not, "then if there will always be poor in the world then the government should quit taking our money and giving it to them." And all the other women might as well have stood up and shouted AMEN! Keep. Your. Mouth. Shut. Bethany. No. Don't say it, don't say...

My mouth formed the words - "You really don't want my opinion, but, if the church was doing its job the government wouldn't have to take care of the poor." Yep. I went there. I was among fellow Christians, who all belong to the same fine evangelical church (that I happen not to be a member of, so I'm already somewhat of an outsider), and obviously didn't share my sentiments.

So, what's political about that? The underlying message - curse you Obama and all you Democrats who want to share MY wealth. I'm going to go ahead and make the assumption that none of them have "O" stickers on their cars and they probably voted for the other guy.

I was struck for the first time by something. Why do evangelicals vote the way they do? Is it really because we "care" about unborn babies? Do we care about preserving marriage between a man and a woman? OR is it because we want what is "ours." If our taxes were considerably less would we help those who are in need with extra? OR would we pad our bank accounts or buy a new car, or save for a bigger house.

I really don't know anyone's heart, but, I don't believe for a second that we (me) are concerned about decreasing our tax burdens so that we can give that money to the least of these. I mean, I sure didn't run to my favorite charitable organization with my tax refund - and after all, the Bible says it (twice I think)... there will always be poor among us, so why help?

Because the Bible also says MORE THAN 100 TIMES that we should. Twice it says the poor will be among us, and more than 100 times it tells us we are responsible to help them.

But, we want to keep OUR money. We want to keep what is OURS. Funny to me. All that we have is God's right? And if that's the case and we truly believe that, then aren't we reaping what we essentially didn't sow?

So, do I agree with how the government spends the money that I am forced to pay them? Nope. I would have voted my husband's now defunct company get a bailout. Do I think that the whole "redistribution of wealth" is right? Nope. But I do tend to laugh at this notion. I would love for someone to show me anyone who got to the middle class solely on welfare. Are there problems with our system? Absolutely. Who did I vote for? Not that its anyone's business, but I voted for McCain (even though I couldn't care less for Sarah, she actually makes my skin crawl.) And my reasons for doing so would surprise many of my friends because they aren't because he's pro-life and anti-homosexual - I couldn't care less about that when it comes to politics, but that's for another post that you will probably never see.

I just wonder if we quit worrying about getting "ours" and gave to Jesus through churches and other organizations, if the poor would need our government's help.

Off my soapbox. I feel better. I'm going to post cute pics of my precious kids next time.

THE Call....

***BTW - I love this man.

The past 3 weeks have been riddled with me on the phone, or e-mailing various people in 3 counties and 2 states. I have been dealing with 6 different people - Social Worker in Birmingham, a VERY rude ICPC worker in Montgomery, AL, CASA worker in Tiffin, OH, foster parents in Tiffin, OH, Children's Services Attorney in Tiffin, OH, and a ghost social worker in Tiffin, OH. (I only say ghost, because I have never had a conversation with her and she never, ok, she answered one of my many attempts to e-mail her.) Apparently, there is some rule where the various parties can't speak to each other, but attempt to communicate with each other through me - ridiculous I know.



We have been finished with our foster care licensing for over 2 months and no one could track our paperwork and figure out where the paperwork was and why we were being held up in our process to get baby Quinn to Alabama. When asked by our friends and family when we would get him, our response was simply "Well, hopefully before he goes to college."



I got an e-mail from our social worker here who said we had a new caseworker (our 3rd since we began this process) and she seemed to be on the ball, but still no word on where the heck our paperwork was. (When you are trying to get a child who is not in your state, paperwork has to go from a local DHR office, to the state office of the person trying to get the child, to the state's office where the child resides, and then to the local office.)



Friday afternoon I got a call from our new caseworker in Ohio. No excitement on my part, no pounding heart, not even a clue of what she was going to say. After the normal niceties, she said...."I am sitting here looking at your home study report." Again no excitement, nothing. Since I never got word that our initial study had gotten there, I said "The first one, the one we had done in November?" Nope, it was THE study. The final link to going and getting Quinn. I wasn't expecting it AT ALL!!! I was numb, excited, but numb - probably had something to do with the fact that about 2 hours later I would realize I had strep throat.



I called Billy - who was as shocked as I was. He had proclaimed on Sunday that he expected God to do great things for us this week. How cool is that?



Because different states handle things differently, they are having a meeting in OH to discuss our case tomorrow (Monday). According to OH processes and procedures, we would have been named Quinn's legal guardians and I guess that would have been the end of the story. Alabama places him as a foster child until he is adopted. So, tomorrow they are going to figure out how to proceed with everything.



We are slated to travel to Ohio on June 4, be in court on June 5, spend the weekend with him in Ohio and bring him home on Monday.



Now that everything has had a chance to sink in (and I have been on antibiotics since Friday evening), we are beyond excited. Thank you for continuing to pray for us and him, and walking this journey with us.

For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him: 1Samuel 1:27 ...

Joy

***Since I've had this post saved since her actual birthday and can't seem to finish it - Happy, Happy Birthday Merrie Cannon! What began as a stomach virus that "just kept hanging on" turned out to be the absolute sweetest child on earth. She is our joy!

My Day...Before Noon per Billy

"I called my bride a few minutes ago. First of all, she was frustrated because it had taken an hour to get the clothes from the laundry basket into the washer. The kitchen was cleaned this morning, but somehow there were dishes on the table, counter and sink. She couldn't find any clean underwear. Abe was crying because he was in time out for biting Ben, who was crying because of the bite, but also because Mom wouldn't let him wear cut-off shorts and a purple shirt, "because even though we are close to it, we're not homeless, yet, dadgummit!" Anna Beth was yelling at Ben because he was crying too loud (because of the bite, which was now bleeding, but also because of the aforementioned redneck costume) and she was trying to hear the TV... and Merrie Cannon was saying, "Mama... Mama... Mama... Mama... Mama... Mama..." over and over and over again while standing at her feet and bouncing up and down.

Correction - Cut-offs would have been a welcome change to what Ben had on.

We finally got out the door so I could run by work and then take them to the park. I have never felt like I "needed" a break, but the past two weeks have been challenging. Don't feel sorry for me, I am going on the women's retreat at the beach next week. Wouldn't you know I'll be gone for Kindergarten registration and the school Spring Fling - good luck Billy.

Easter

On Easter Sunday, I decided to do something fun with the preschool kids at church. During the first service we had an Easter egg hunt and made Resurrection rolls. To make resurrection rolls, you roll a marshmallow in the middle of a crescent roll and then bake them. We talked about how the crescent roll represented the tomb that Jesus was placed in, and the marshmallow was Jesus. The marshmallow is white, because Jesus was without sin and when He takes away our sin he makes us white too. You bake the rolls, and the marshmallow disappears leaving a hole in the crescent roll - an empty tomb - and white remnants of the marshmallow that represent the cloth His body was wrapped in. When I asked the classes where Jesus was, the overwhelming majority exclaimed "He rose again." However, in one of the classes a little boy looked at me and said...."He melted."

Easter service at OMPC was really neat, too. The sermon and worship were great, but Billy was recently filmed while talking about a blog post he wrote a while ago. The video was played on Sunday morning as a part of the service with "Prince of Peace" playing in the background. You can see the video (without music) by clicking here.

Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
Romans 6:4

**Just as a side note, Anna Beth is wearing the Easter dress my mom made for me when I was in the 5th grade.

Full of Family Fun

This weekend was busy, busy, busy. We started Friday evening with a baseball game, had another baseball game mid-day Saturday and then went to Columbiana to watch my nephew play Saturday afternoon.

Ben ready on 3rd base.

Ben at bat.

Abe and MC watching big brother.

The little sisters making dirt pies on the bleachers.

The baseball league had a donut sale as a fund-raiser. This was Abe sneaking a donut after swiping the girl's dirt pies off the bleachers - look closely at his hands. He contaminated the rest of the box! (and yes, I let him eat it...dirt and all)

Cousin Matthew getting a hit.

Abe and MC playing with water at the game.

The pictures I forgot to upload are of Abe pouring water on the ground so that he could jump in his self-made puddles.

We went to church on Sunday morning and enjoyed the annual Palm Sunday worship service presented by the choir. Words can't describe how moving and awesome it was. Anna Beth was so precious singing the praise songs VERY loudly. So loud that I think she annoyed the lady sitting in front of her. She kept turning around and looking at her! I just smiled.

After church we went to my mom's for the annual Palm Sunday egg hunt and pot-luck lunch. It was raining so we didn't think we would hunt eggs, but all the kids were already outside and filthy so we hid the eggs and let them go! Mom puts little goodies inside each egg, so they were pumped.

Cousins enjoying lunch.

Almost all the kids waiting for the go ahead. Everyone from both sides of the family come. Most of kids are my cousins children, we left one or two out of the picture because we thought we had everyone. There are more than 20 kids total (too many to actually count and remember them all).

Emptying the eggs.

How many did you get?

Sweet cousins - Anna Beth and Jaycee.

Cousin Mac (my brothers little boy) showing off his egg chalk. He came ready for the rain in his boots!

Merrie Cannon trying to "wake-up" my brother so he would get under the couch and get her bouncy ball.

The next two pictures are to clear something up for my fellow Toyota Sienna drivers. About halfway down highway 26 we discovered we were 5 miles to empty. Highway 26 is about 12 miles of country road with a gas station at either end. At the point we realized we needed gas, we had to pray that we made it to the gas station - we were too far to turn around. Anna Beth had a little freak out when my DTE (Drive to Empty) hit 0, but we made it another 2-3 miles to the gas station. So....If you drive a Sienna there is a little grace period between the time your DTE hit 0 and you actually run out of gas!

Two Months?

We've been really busy lately, and I haven't been a good blogger. It's especially not good when you gave up scrapbooking long ago and decided to blog as a way to record memories. So here's what we have been up to...



University of Alabama Gymnastic Meets

Basketball for AB (While still swimming 3x a week.)

And now we are in the middle of baseball.

Actually, we should be in the middle of baseball, but mother nature has thrown a curve ball in the form of rain. LOTS of rain. We've played one game and have had 3 cancelled.

We also completed 9 weeks of foster care training and LOTS of paperwork and...we are officially foster parents. Our paperwork has to go through various county and state channels both here and in Ohio, but as soon as that happens we can go pick up baby Quinn! Pray that this happens quickly. Our initial paperwork that was sent the second week in November had not been recieved as of 2 weeks ago. Our final paperwork will began the trek this week. I am having a hard time getting the social worker in Ohio to answer my e-mails, but I do have good contact with the current foster family - who LOVE, LOVE, LOVE him, which is such a blessing. They want to continue contact with us so they can see how he's doing. Here's what they tell us - he's almost 20 lbs, crawling, happy, lactose intolerant, has pretty bad asthma, but sleeps through the night!

We have also been going through a rough time personally. Billy's business in Franklin is no more. I am not dealing well with that. When we moved back to Birmingham, it was to be temporary and then back to Middle TN. Things haven't quite worked out the way we had planned. Unless you don't have a pulse, you know the economy stinks right now. After a very slow fall for the business, Billy's partner decided to call it quits and get a full time job (which had already been secured - I'm a little bitter). Billy is flying solo doing freelance and consulting stuff. Business is still slow, but we're doing ok. Although this was not our plan A, we know it is God's. We are growing spiritually like we never have before. I am realizing that sometimes sanctification stinks. I am striving to see his mercies as new each day (even if I have to squint).

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Romans 12:12

Comments and Questions

When you have 4 kids, people make comments. I'm used to them by now.

This afternoon I went to the grocery store with all 4 kids in tow. Billy was home, but needed some quiet for a very important phone call so we all went. The grocery store is a treat. The younger 2 (and I sometimes squeeze one more in) get to ride in the car cart and they all get a cookie. The cookie lasts long enough for me to get about 3 things in my cart and then its over. I got many comments today. "Wow, you have a lot of helpers." This translates to - what a nightmare, I would never have that many kids in grocery store with me. "You sure have you're hands full." Translation - don't you know what birth control is? And the last one I got - "Are all those kids yours?" This is always my favorite - although I haven't been asked this one often. I replied, "Yes, but they all have different daddies."

Abe's 2!

2 years and 9 months ago Billy's sister called to tell us she was pregnant. For those who don't know, if one person in Billy's family is having a baby, someone else is too. Ben has a cousin (Billy's brother's little boy) 5 weeks older than he is and another cousin (Billy's sister's little boy) who is 5 weeks younger than he is. Merrie Cannon has a cousin (Billy's brother's little girl) who is 2 1/2 weeks younger than she is. So after we got off the phone with Debbie, I laughed and thought "I wonder who will be pregnant with her." I thought maybe Alison (Billy's brother's wife), after all, they only have 2 kids. Little did I know that about a week later I would wake up, crack open my morning coke, take a big sip, and almost vomit all over the kitchen. I knew at that moment who the lucky one was. Although I slipped to the drug store to buy a test, I didn't need one. I had felt those feelings 3 times previously.

We, well, I decided this baby's gender would be surprise and we spent 9 months trying to "figure out" if we were having a boy or girl. We already had 2 girls and a boy, so I didn't need anything, and since our rooms were full there was no nursery to decorate. I highly recommend not finding out. If I could do it all over again all of our babies would have been "surprises." (They actually all pretty much were surprises, we just found out the gender for the first 3.) Delivery is soooo much fun when you don't know - and your epidural works.

Baby Abe was born 3 weeks early - a mere 4 days after his cousin Aly was born. He has been my challenge. He exited the birth canal opinionated. He cried a lot - and still does. He didn't sleep all night until we moved him from our closet and a pink crib(MC was to be the last and I couldn't resist the pink crib when we had to buy a new one) - this happened to coincide with getting tubes, but I think he had a complex.

He loves Barney, ball, biting his sister, a bottle (he's been off it for months and still asks for one), his blanket, Barney, being rocked to sleep, cars, being outside, Elmo, Wiggles, and did I mention Barney? None of my kids hug me like he does. I mean a full on squeeze and you don't think he will ever let go - and he's done it since he was 6 months old. Passionate. That's what he is. Not easily redirected, focused on the task at hand - which normally involves getting me to do what he wants me to do.

We've asked him how old he is all day and he insists that he is 8. We tell him 2, but in true Abe style he is trying to convince us otherwise. Happy Birthday Abey Baby - I can't believe you are 2!