Dave called a lawyer today...

but it was a good thing. We recently got the name of a lawyer who will bill the state directly (we get reimbursed for our adoption fees). Dave talked to the girl in the office who told him she didn't think we would have a problem finalizing early. The general rule is that the kids have to be in your home for 6 months before finalization. But we found out today that we might be able to finalize this on National Adoption Day - Saturday Nov 15th! We tried to explain to the kids, but there kids and don't pay much attention to their parents. We'll keep talking about it. And we'll post when we know more. And once it's finalized - we'll post pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!

BIRTHDAY BASH

On September 6th we had a 7th birthday party for "B". We had about 60 people at our house and it was a blast! We were able to borrow a big bounce house and the kids loved it! "B" wanted nachos and burritos and they were a hit! Everyone had fun and Mom and Dad were worn out afterwards! A big "thank you" to all of those who help us with this fun event and to all of you who attended and sent gifts. You made "B"s 1st birthday with us very special!

Out of the mouth of babes...

It's been two months (yesterday). It seems like they've been here forever. We are constantly reassuring them that they will be here forever. Tonight "J" said the prayer at dinner. He wanted to do it all by himself. It was a little jumbled but the effort and spirit were there! It was beautiful. And tonight "B" wanted to say our family prayer before bed. After only two months of helping them, she said she didn't want help. We have talked about what prayer is, that we start with "Dear Heavenly Father", thank Him for things, ask Him for things and close "In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen". She asked tonight if she starts by saying "Heavenly Father". I said yes and then she said the most beautiful prayer I've ever heard. It came from her heart. She was talking to her Heavenly Father. Telling Him what she wanted to tell Him, not what mom & dad told her to say. How wonderful to have a daughter who is getting to know her Heavenly Father and starting a real relationship with Him. I love prayer. I hope my children will love it too. I love being able to talk to my Father and tell him the things in my heart that sometimes I can't tell anyone else. I hope my children can learn to do that. I hope they come to know that Heavenly Father loves them and will listen any time they need to talk.

12TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

July 2008
Our wedding day September 7th, 1996

Today is our 12th wedding anniversary and I need to take a minute and thank my wonderful and beautiful wife for 12 great years of marriage! I love her more today then when I first meet her at a dance that I was Dee Jaying in November, 1995! We have been through both the good and the bad together and I thank her for always being by my side. Now we are parents to 2 great kids and life is even better now that we are parents. Thank you Liz for always holding my hand!

"J" says the darnest things

While reassuring the kids that we want them and they are exactly what we always wanted and perfect, I told "J" that we wanted a boy & a girl. And this is the conversation that followed -

J - "You only wanted two?"
Mom - "Yes".
J "Why didn't you want three?"
Mom "Do you want a brother?"
J "Yes"
Mom "Well, if you get a brother, God has a sick sense of humor"
J (panicking) "I don't want 6, just one!"

We are learning that kids don't always understand us the way we want them to. Especially kids who have had the life our kids have had. Some of the simplest things are completely misunderstood. Oh the fun of having kids!!!

Happy Birthday

On the way to school, "B" asked what today was. When I said Wednesday, she imediately said "Tomorrow is my birthday". She is so excited. We bought a button the says "Birthday Girl" for her to wear tomorrow. And Saturday is the big party. Most people have 7 years to get ready for a 7th birthday - we've had 2 months. She won't have one this big again for a few years. She is a wonderful girl who is the light of our life. I can't post pictures but I'll send out a scrapbook page of the party, so if you don't want to miss out just email me.

World's Best Husband

I have to brag about Dave. Tonight when the kids and I got home, "B" was helping me clean up some things in the kitchen to get ready for dinner. She said that the girls at Kid's Club - their after school care - said that girls rule. I said yea girls were cool. She asked me if I liked boys or girls better. Giving an adult answer I said because I liked Dad I'd have to say boys. Well the child who's been through the things she's been through interpreted that as I don't like her. She ran off to pout - she's done this before so I let her go. After a short while I went into her bedroom to assure her I loved her and dad and "J". She wouldn't look at me. When Dave got home I told him briefly what happened and he went in to talk to her. I just walked by and heard him talking about love and loving mom's & dad's different then loving your brother or the dogs. He is so good. He knows what to say. These kids are not used to having a dad so sometimes I wonder if they know what to do with him. But I think they realize how great it is to have a dad and how great their dad is!!! Dave is just so dang wonderful. I have really enjoyed watching him be a dad. He is wonderful with the kids and not just the fun loving guy, he knows when to get down to business and can lovingly lecture "J" when his behavior takes a turn for the worst.

So I just had to let the world know that I have the best husband ever. I'm sure some of you feel the same about your husbands but this is my blog so I get to brag!!!!

Lucky #7

Once upon a time there was a 10 year old girl who had two little sisters and desperately wanted her pregnant mom to have a boy. When a beautiful little girl with tons of dark hair was born she asked if we could send her back because she wanted a bald baby boy. She soon fell in love with the her little sister. But 10 years later the now 20 year old girl would have her own little baby - the boy she always wanted and then she would have another, and another, and another, and another, and another until finally early one Sunday morning (August 24th, 2008) she would have her 7th boy weighing in at 7lbs 7ozs.

Moral of the story: Be careful what you wish for. You just might get 7 of them!!

Congrats to my niece Heather on her lucky #7! Can't wait to meet him!

Life is moving along

Last Thursday we went to our first "Meet the Teacher" night at school and met the kids teachers. I think they will have a great school year.
Saturday we went to the park for a "shower". Some friends from church threw the whole family a shower and the kids got to play at the park. There were two basketball courts (smaller then half court) and it inspired us to buy a basketball. Both kids had fun shooting baskets and with a little practice they could be pretty good!! We went to Target to buy backpacks for school and our brilliant kids picked the cheapest!!! No fancy character ones. They wanted the ones with only one strap!!
Sunday was pretty normal. "J" had a meltdown and had to go to bed early. He did not like going to bed before the sun was down. "B" had trouble sleeping. When I told her she just needed to fall asleep she said "I don't know how to". She climbed in bed with us for a little bit and then cried when I took her back to bed. I told her she didn't have to sleep but she had to rest her body. That seemed to work.
They both woke up ready to go to school. They walked right into their classrooms and hung up their backpacks. "J" has to leave his lunch outside the classroom because there are kids with peanut allergies. We know all about them. The kids have a cousin who's allergic to peanuts, so we know to be careful.
I can't wait to pick them up and hear all about their day. I took pictures but you'll have to email me if you want to see them - sorry can't post them yet!

What is...

Lucky?
Prepare?
Brave?

Everyday I say at least one word that the kids ask me "what's that?" So I thought I'd start posting them and see if you have any idea how to define them. Post a comment and let me know your best definition.

10 things I've learned in the last month

1. NEVER be late for church. I didn't think after only 4 weeks they would even notice. Well, yesterday was our worst Sunday yet because Mom didn't get ready in time. We missed most of Sacrament Meeting (the main meeting). They didn't get to eat the bread & water! I thought we'd be okay because they still got to go to class, but nooooooooo. So Mom learned to be on time from now on!!!!!

2. 6 year olds can read - the computer!!! I have to be careful what I type in an email if "B" is standing nearby. She's got good eyes!!

3. "Mom (or Dad) I love you" are the best words in the English language.

4. Don't even try to get out of reading a bedtime story - don't even think about it, no matter how tired you are, just read. It will make bedtime a lot easier.

5. Don't say maybe - they think it is just another word for YES.

6. When trying to teach the "some people win and some people lose" don't follow up with your kid winning the game! It doesn't really help them learn the lesson.

7. Sometimes God intervenes and the trophy thrown at the window by the angry kid doesn't break the window that you couldn't afford to replace.

8. Not letting the kid go in the grocery store is the end of the world. Who knew that a trip to the grocery store would share the excitment level of going to Disneyland. But for my kids, especially "J", they love it. So when we needed to stop my Kroger for dishwasher tablets and Dad got the cart with the car on front instead of letting "J" push the minature cart, his entire world fell apart and he got to sit in the minivan with mom while dad & "B" ran in. The worst part was when he finally calmed down and told me that he had changed his attitude and flashed me one of those smiles thinking we could go in, he looked over to see dad & "B" coming out of the store and realized he was too late. His world crumbled all over again.

9. It's important to teach independance, but it is so nice to be asked to do her hair or what outfit I think she should wear!

10. The louder you yell, the louder they yell.

We're Registered!

We've been asked if we were registered anywhere. So I went online and registered at Target. I used the baby register so I had to be creative in signing up. This is a good list for us too! It is a little overwhelming to think of everything we need. We just keep shopping every Saturday and the kids are getting a little sick of it!! Hopefully the list will give you some ideas if you we're looking for something to give. You don't have to stick to the list or even buy something. But since some were asking...

HANGING IN THERE....

I haven't posted anything in awhile but we are hanging in there as we spend our time buying clothes, toys and lots of milk! We go through more milk, cereal, pop tarts and pudding then ever before. I am trying to get them to try "better" food but they prefer all that and mac & cheese! I do get them to try a bit of "Dad's food" now and then. We spend a lot of time watching "backyardagains", "Dora" and "Cars". This is all new for a 41 year old! I am trying to get them into "Star Wars", "Speed Racer" and "Batman" cartoons. "B" always asks me everyday how many customers I am going to see when I go to work and when I am coming home. We also do a lot of swimming and my workouts are filled with carrying, hold and playing with 2 kids at once. We now go to bed every night exhausted, but little by little we are building bridges and laying fountains that will last forever.

Italy, Holland or Germany

Check out the Call Family Blog. Read the story about Holland. It really made me think. We didn't make it to Italy or Holland. I think our travel agent booked us on a trip to Germany. It's definitely different from Italy, but wonderful just the same!!!

Heaven is...

Coming home from work to find your husband and daughter making "piggys in a blanket" for dinner.

Invasion of the Mini Van

Yes, we own a mini van. I'm sure a dark day in Dave's life. But now that he has kids I think he has seen the advantage of it. We bought it from a friend of a friend for a good price. It's a 2000 Toyota Sienna. The kids like it because it is easier for them to get in and out. And lots more room to put stuff.

We survived another week of parenthood. A lot of the some old stuff. We rode bikes, had a picnic and played at the Spray ground, went shopping, went to Chili's with Kari & Kenzie, went shopping at a second hand kids store and found some cute & cheep Doc Martins for "J", found a couple of cute dresses for "B" and even found a new shirt for Mom!

Dad got them to watch Star Wars Episode 1. He's now trying for #2. They're more interested in Backyardigans. "B" likes High School Musical 2 - I made her watch #1 before we watched #2. We'll have a girls day out in October to see HSM3 at the movies!!

Today they are going swimming so they had no problem with Mom & Dad going to work. Dave's taking Tuesday & Thursday off to hang out with the kids.

This week we will try to survive the record breaking temps in the DFW area. Everyday on the forecast it is going to be over 100. This past weekend was 105 - without the heat index. We were spoiled last summer. Lots of rain in the spring, full lakes and mild temps. Not this year, lake levels are down and we have already had several over 100 days and it's not even August!

4 weeks til school starts. School opens back up next week so I can register them. Not sure how that will work out since I have different names on different paperwork. I hope someone at the school has done this before or can call someone who has.

"B" was asking last night when Grandma from California was going to come visit and when Grandma from Texas was going to be back from vacation. She really seems to like family. I hope that stays with her the rest of her life. She loves telling people she has lots of cousins!!

Both kids seem to be settling in quite well. Of course there's lots of little things and we have to analyze to see if it's just normal kid behavior or if there is some underlying issue that we should be concerned with. So far they just seem to be normal kids who need lots of love and reassurance that they have a future with us. We talk about going to Disney World when they are 9 or 10. We talk about high school and college. I don't know if they understand what we are doing, but I hope it will give them a future to think about. "B" wants to play basketball so we are going to sign her up next month. We think "J" would have fun with soccer. He's a good runner.

For now we just enjoy each day, each hug, each kiss, each "I love you" and each "mom" & "dad".

Trying to pass the test

The testing has begun. "J" is trying to see how much attention he can get and how much he can get away with. After making sure he knew what behaviors were wrong - saying "no" to Mom, calling people stupid and ugly, kicking the walls, throwing pillows and disobeying - we just put him in his bedroom, tell him we love him and leave. It is getting better but I'm sure it will go on for a while. Today at church he didn't want to go to class and started one of his attitudes. I took him out, sat in the hall and tried to ignore him as much as I could. Of course everyone else wanted to say "hi", so he was loving it. Then my miracle worker came by. A 14 yr old girl that is one of the nicest, sweetest girls I know. She started talking to "J" and said lets go to class. So he got up as if he were the most well behaved boy in the world, took her hand and walked into class sat down and she left. After church he saw her again and hugged her. She invited them to come over and go swimming. Anyone who invites them to swim is their best friend. We are adopting "fish". We are looking into swim lessons. Other then the test, we are doing great. We are tired but very happy. We'll see how a full week of work and babysitters goes!! Stay tuned for further adventures of the Texas Andersons!

What a Hottie!!

Our first sick kid experience. He was moping around this morning but we just thought it was cuz they didn't want us to go to work. So finally a little after 12 I went to work with "J" asleep & "B" watching Sponge Bob :(. About 20 minutes after I got there, my mom called and said that "J" was awake, crying and hot. So I shut down, packed up and headed to the store for a thermometer and Tylenol then home. By the time I got home he had settled down and fallen asleep. I logged onto work and started getting a few things done when he woke up. I took him temp - 100.4 - and gave him Tylenol and he settled down. He wanted me to stay with him so I moved my work onto my bed (where he'd been sleeping) and "B" climbed in on the other side. So for 3 hours I had a kid on either side. "J" slowly got better, decide his tummy hurt and he needed Sprite, and suddenly got tons of energy. He says he's feeling better and I'm trying to convince him that he still needs to rest. That's a hard sell to a 5 year old. We took another temp and it was down to normal. We'll check again later. What a day! This mother thing is crazy! It is kind of nice to have a sick kid calling out for his mommy and knowing that I'm the mommy he wants.

Legal Notice

We have just found out that we can't post pictures on the blog until after finalization which should be sometime after the first of the year. So if you haven't seen a picture yet and want to, email us and we will be happy to forward you a picture. But please remember, they are only for you - don't forward them to the world (even though we do think our kids are the cutest in the world, we don't want to make the rest of the kids in the world feel bad!) :) Thanks for understanding and helping us follow the rules.

Also, please don't post any identifying information about our kids on your blogs or websites. No names, birth dates, etc.

And if you really want to know all about the kids...just drop in and say hi!

What a weekend. Started on Friday with a trip to Mom's work. I thought we were just going to pass out the pay checks. Everyone surprised us with a tree with cards tied all over it and goodie bags for the kids. I think the little fans were their favorite. Saturday we went shopping for new church clothes - we wanted them to look their best and we just wanted to buy kids clothes, it could be an addicting habit!! We also bought Thank You cards so the kids can say thanks for all the cards we got at work. Today we went to church. Everyone was so excited about meeting the kids. Now we need to get into a routine and get the house cleaned!!