Happy Easter





















While trying to make sure my pics weren't facing the
sun this year, I ended up putting the family facing the sun.
Note to self for next year.




















The things Matthew does to entertain
the kids.




















This is a scary picture. Tim's dad
driving Chase around town.















Tim and I being silly.
















Cindy and I being sillier ( is that a word?).



















Look, our traditional (five years running) Easter
picture at the exact same spot. Now, I just need
to find the other four pictures to compare them to.















There is a reason Aunt Cindy is helping Carson.
Carson, make sure to give Aunt Cindy all the
caramel milky ways.




















Carson and Julia had no trouble hunting eggs
this year.




















Matthew and Stewart decided they'd rather
fish than hunt eggs.















Julia is getting ready for her piano lessons with
Ms. Kristy. The child has rythym.















Olivia helps Julia, as usual, hunt her eggs.














This is what the Easter Bunny brought Chase.
I have been dodging flying Nerf bullets for the
past couple of days.




















Poppy, Carson and Julia at the church
Easter egg hunt Saturday. Can you tell it
was past naptime?




















Well, maybe this picture is a better
representation of what time it was.















WE COLORED EGGS THIS YEAR! Now, the kits
were from last year or the year before. See, I buy
the stuff wiht good intentions but never actually
follow through.















Julia would place her egg in the cups and then stir
and stir and stir her "Soup".




















Carson's turn to entertain Matthew.















Julia and Mommy at the church Easter egg hunt.






Julia had to open each egg as she found them. Good thing it was just her and Carson hunting this year so she didn't have to be in a hurry.







This Easter was very relaxing but joyous. We lost Tim's Aunt Thursday night and she was buried yesterday but she went quickly and we know that she spent Easter in Heaven rejoicing with Jesus and her family that went before. Could you think of a better place to spend Easter?

On a worldly note, we spent ours with Aunt Cindy and Uncle Tony and had a great time. The food was yummm and watching Carson and Julia hunt eggs so intensely was fun. Again, I took a few too many pictures and too many favorites to choose from. Julia continues to blossom when placed in crowds or strange situations. I am always very watchful but so pleased to see her comfort zone open up a little.

Tons of Fun in the Sun!

















The best pic of our photo session.















Check out the swinging arm on Julia.





















Love the smile!
















Do ya think it was a little windy?
















Still smiling.















Carson picking up shells.




















Julia playing catch with her Daddy.
















Trying to catch a little bro/sister love (Olivia and Stewart).
















Cindy, Me and Olivia. I love not fixing my hair for a week.















Julia loved fishing. Another smile!





















Carson says it's his turn to boogie board.





















Who do you think will fall first? Stewart, Chase, Olivia & Matthew.




















A little brotherly love. Poor Chase.

Oh, the double red flags are out?

Matthew, Olivia & Chase

Olivia, Aunt Cindy & Stewart joined us at the beach.

Carson was so proud to show his Daddy what his brothers

conned him into wearing for a piece of candy.

Carson, me and Julia. Wait, is my hair fixed. It was the last day.

Chase on the beach with his Army men. Who would have thunk it?

Okay, there is a little story with this pic. We drove down

to the beach at around 9:30 to see how cold and windy it

really was. Well, the sun wasn't out and we last about five

minutes on the beach before deciding to head towards the fishing

pier. Olivia decided to do a little beach dance for us and behold

the sun comes out and the remainder of the day was absolutely

beautiful. We are nominating her the beach dance weather chic for all

returning vacations.

Nothing better than a few french fries while having rolls

thrown at your Daddy. We enjoyed Lambert's.

A kiss on my Daddy's cheek, priceless.

I'm ready for the beach, Mommy.

Okay, what do I do with this white, gritty stuff?

Poppy stayed with us the first couple of days. Julia was

happy to have Poppy's lap when the mornings were cool.

Mommy, Julia & Cha Cha at Lamberts.

Julia and Mommy, our first day on the beach.

Tim taking his shift at Lifeguard.

Check out the porch on the house we stayed at. This

was absolutely wonderful because the kids could play

out there on the bikes and run around as much as they

wanted.

We were reminded of the child labor laws before this pic

was taken. Julia insisted on pulling her brother around the

Wharf while we shopped. He thought he was King for the

afternoon.

Julia at Build a Bear. She is making her wish on

the heart that is being applied to Cha Cha.

We took at well needed trip to the beach for seven days and had a blast. We only had two down days but a little shopping at the outlet mall in Foley took care of that. Julia is good for about 2 to 3 hours of shopping and then she gets a little cranky for food. My mom joined us for the first few days and then Aunt Cindy, Olivia and Stewart joined us for the next few days. I averaged about 150 pics each day. I love digital. The beach was a very hazy for the first part of the week so it was hard to get really good pictures. Our kids did make the local news with Tim getting the spotlight. You can view that by clicking on the ABC3 link below. It takes a minute to load. You can see Tim starting to laugh when they ask him a question regarding the kids swimming while a double red flag is out. He starts laughing as he realizes what the double red flag means.. no swimming.

I will post Easter tomorrow. This post took a couple of days to load due to the ridiculous amount of pics I loaded. Sorry, there were too many to choose from.

ABC 3

Not Quite Ready for the 2008 Gymnastics Div of the Olympics

I decided it was time to brave the Middle School kids. We went out for dinner and a movie. Boy, did it bring back memories to be in the 7th grade. We had a blast.





















Chase has turned our gameroom table into "Town
of Littleville; where everyone is welcome". The kid
has a HUGE imagination.















A little blurred but Carson is the only dude in his
gymnastics class. His attention span is that of a nat but
he seems to do the tricks very well.















Julia waiting for her teacher to come spot. My little monkey.



















How long can she hold herself in this
position?

















Julia smoozing the teacher during stretch time.















This girl has no sense of danger. I keep waiting
for her to drop on her noggan.










This is Carson's version of a pike during stretch time. Carson is in his own little world.







I decided to play hooky from participating in my adult gymnastics class yesterday and watch the little ones take their class. I usually try to take a glance at them from across the gym while I take my class but it was nice to sit and just see how much they are learning in the little time they have been in class. Julia has come soooo far in trusting her teachers. I spent the first three weeks sitting with her in her class just so she would participate. Now, when they call them, she is the first one to run out there. They will be moving her up into the 3 year old class tomorrow and Carson will be remaining in the 2 year old class. We'll see if this will work. Carson will move up with her in June when he turns 3. They are together all the time and do very little without the other. I have a field trip with Chase tomorrow so Tim gets the honor of monitoring the gym class split up. Julia usually seems to go beyond her comfort zone when Tim is around versus me.

Today, we had our semi-annual dentist appointments - all four of them. This is not the first time Julia and Carson have had their teeth cleaned but you would not have known that when Julia refused to sit in their chair and open her mouth. It was not pretty. On the other hand, I couldn't keep Carson from jumping up saying "It's my turn. I'm next." He was more than anxious to jump up in the chair. We ended up just having flouride put on Julia's teeth and let the dentist count her teeth by holding her back kicking and screaming for a few seconds. We will try again on the next six month visit. She did decide to open her mouth from a distance for the orthodontist so he could take a peek. We know we will have a lot of ortho work with Julia but this should not start for a few more years. We just want to get past the mouth and nose surgery in November and give it time to heal. The ortho seems to think that her teeth will not be too terribly bad to straighten out. We do know that she is wearing down her two front teeth due to an overbite. She will probably lose those teeth before the customary time.

Update on my new career as a stay at home mom... Some days are easier than others. I am just so grateful that I have been able to stay at home for the past eight months. Julia has come such a long way with her adjustment process and I just know this has been due to the time we have been able to spend with her. I so stressed over the day that she would run with her arms open to Tim as he came in the door from work and it has finally arrived. For those dads out there that have adopted as we did and are not quite there with their bonding, it will come. Just hang in there and be patient. There were times I felt so sorry for Tim because Julia only wanted me and paid little attention to him when he obviously was so thrilled to see her. I know Julia has loved her Daddy but for some reason the physical affection and desire to actually want to sit in his lap when bed time nears and fall asleep came very slowly. Tim is now joking with me at times and lets me know that she is going to be Daddy's Girl and not mommy's.

My desire is that I get to stay at home for a total of two years with my babies. I miss having the outside career woman role with adult conversation but tear up every time I think about leaving the kids. This job is by far harder than any management job you could throw at me. I don't always see the rewards on a daily basis. Some days I feel like nothing was accomplished but then later during the evenings when the kids have calmed down I just look at them and all those "things" that didn't get accomplished seem so unimportant. There are times when you cannot speak because you know no one will hear due to the noise level or interjections. Conversation time for Tim and I takes place late at night and that's if we haven't fallen asleep before the kids due to exhaustion. My main hobby over the past few months has been potty training and I have to say it's a disgusting job. How do you tell someone on the phone, Sorry, I have to go now my son just dropped a big one on the floor beside me and is wearing some of it. That's while one is actually trying to use the big pot but forgot to put the ring in thus resulting in getting stuck in the commode. My favorite new hobby is duplicating my efforts on every task I achieve or thought I had achieved during the day... dress the babies (or assist), turn around and they have undressed themselves, redress the babies again...assist with socks and shoes, get ready to walk out the door, reassist with socks and shoes. Every day is an adventure but it's our adventure.

These kids are our four blessings and I love it. Julia never ceases to amaze me with her accomplishments. This is a very strong-minded child and just plain strong in itself. Having a girl has been a huge adjustment for me but when I get to the point where I feel overwhelmed by that, I just remind myself of the adjustment this little girl has had to make in her little time here on earth. I only wish I had half her courage and strength. The sermon was on the Sanctity of Life not too long ago at church. It was delivered so well but reminded me of Julia's mom and dad and was very saddening. It left Tim and I discussing the situation these two individuals had to face in making the decision to place their child in the hands of someone else. I know God watched over our daughter for us. You see, he knew she would be ours even though we had absolutely no clue of his plans. In a million years, you could never have told me I would have a third child and then go the length to adopt a fourth child. I know that God never gives us more than we can handle even though sometimes we think we have reached our brink. All I can say is if you are feeling that tug to adopt, pray about it, don't expect to do it on your own and I promise you will be blessed tremendously. You see, I've never stepped out in true faith before until this and for a very "in control all the time type of person" this was a huge step but one that was well worth it.

Sorry for the novel tonight but as you can see in my previous blogs it's been some time since it's actually been this quiet for me to actually have time to put down some geniune thoughts.