January- the month to party

We have a lot of birthdays all VERY close together.

Sydney- December 24

Ron- January 11

Veronica- January 14

Emerson- January 21

Max- February 22

So, we decided that to make things easier on everyone and everyone's already busy, busy calendars, we would have just one family party to celebrate all of our wonderful winter babies. We tried to incorporate everyone's birthday themes. We had Tangled (Sydney) and Star Wars: the Clone Wars (Max) paper plates. We had Toy Story (both Veronica and Emerson) napkins. We decorated with checkered flags in honor of Ron's birthday.

I tried new recipes to make both yellow and chocolate cupcakes that were both nut and gluten free (family allergies). Plus, I made homemade chocolate buttercream icing as well as a homemade caramel to top the cupcakes. I was thrilled to find gluten and nut free sprinkles to decorate them. I do not think I will be able to go back to the can frostings as these were so good and so easy. I am looking forward to trying other recipes in this new cookbook, The Cake Mix Doctor Bakes Gluten Free. I was very excited to find it and could not wait to try some of the very yummy sounding recipes. I might have to try one of the icings for Max's upcoming friend party. Plus, Sydney needs to take snack in for cheerleading; so, I am already thinking of the vanilla buttercream on top of the cupcakes that she wants. :)

I have to say it looked a bit like Christmas around here during the party. I guess you will have that when you are celebrating five birthdays all at the same time. Thank you to all of our loved ones who spoiled our babies and their daddy!

Church Stories

First, I want to tell you that we are extremely proud of Max. He actually VOLUNTEERED to do one of the readings at mass last week. You see, Max takes after me and is not a public speaker; so, this is a HUGE deal. He had a long reading and he did an AWESOME job with it. He did all of this in front of a church full of people. We are so proud of him. He said that he is going to make it a goal to participate in mass once a year. Yippee!

Second, I want to tell you a funny story about Veronica. I took the children to mass this morning. We started singing a song that went "Listen! Listen! Jesus wants us to listen!" All of sudden, I hear Veronica say "We are listening. I am listening AND coloring." Cracked me up! Sad to think she is dealing with Catholic guilt at such a young age. Hee, hee!

And....the rest of the story

I couldn't resist telling the rest of the story from a year ago. It was just another day of waiting and hoping we'd get a referral. I was home with the kids in the evening while Julie went out to "Ladies Light" church study group. It was cold and crummy which is typical for January in Ohio. I was downstairs playing on the Wii when the phone rang. Since we were waiting, I jumped up and my heart pounded when I saw that it was from area code 703, where our agency was located!

Melissa let us know she had a referral and asked if we would be in a position to look at it and make a decision in the next few hours. I of course said yes knowing Julie was out and about, but not too far away. I checked my email and saw the email, but didn't open it so I could share the moment with Julie. I called her and let her know that we had our referral and needed to review it right away. She said she'd leave immediately. I waited and waited but she didn't show up. She called and was upset when she told me that she had gotten stuck in the mud at the house where the meeting was! They had tried to get the van out but got is stuck even further as the ground was a quagmire.

One of the other ladies offered to drive her to our house while AAA came to tow the van out. While she was on her way, Melissa called again and wanted to know if we wanted her to "lock" his record but we hadn't even reviewed it. She expressed the urgency and I opened it while waiting for Julie. As soon as I opened it, I knew he was ours. Julie showed up and we reviewed his file, cried a bit and let Melissa know to lock him in. The rest as they say, is history. :)

Exactly one year ago today,

we saw this adorable little fella for the very first time.

6 month post placement

Wow! Today our wonderful social worker came to do our 6 month post placement study. Can you believe it has been six months already? In another sense, can you believe it has only been 6 months? Emerson is so loved by everyone who knows him and he sooooo belongs in this family. I shudder to think where he would be if we had not followed God's will 2 years ago. I am surprised by how many people tell me "We thought about adopting; but, (fill in the blank)" I have to wonder if they missed out on bringing their child home. I am so thankful that God gave us such a huge sign (He knows I am so dense. Hee, hee!) and that my amazing husband did not blink an eye when I told him.

the big "4"

Our baby girl turned 4 years old today! Join me for a trip down memory lane.

Happy Birthday, sweet Veronica!!!!

Follow up appointment

Guess who was approved to eat "regular" (vs. stage 2 food) again?! Here are some clues.

Also, he does not have to wear the awful arm braces anymore. We waved good-bye to those things!