Playground Slide

I took the boys to Franklin Park today after Little Guy's OT appt. The OT office is a 15-20 minute walk from my house, and the park is another 5 minutes from that. Little Man has to be strapped in the stroller during the 1 hour OT appt for Little Guy, so he was ready to run and play by the end of the hour. He had great fun running around the playground, and especially liked the slide. I got some great pics of his hair full of static electricity, but you can see his face, so I picked this one to share with you all.

Strawberry Picking

I took the boys to one of the local strawberry fields today. I met my mom, my sister and my niece up there. We had a good day for the first official day of summer. Boy was it hot! I don't think Little Man had ever had strawberries before - he seemed to enjoy them. He really enjoyed playing with the hay between the rows. My mom is recovering from a stroke she had on April 21, but she is doing well. She enjoyed being out with us to pick strawberries, and when it got too much for her, she just sat and played with the boys! They like Grandma! So we had a good day. I got a big box of strawberries, and now just have to find time to do something with them. But I got lots of great pics!

A New Sandbox

I found a sandbox for the boys today at Other Mothers. It's one of the green plastic turtles with a lid. I got it for $10, then bought 250 pounds of sand for another $15. And Little Man loves it! So it was well worth the money and the grunting it took for me to fill it. But it's a great thing for Little Man to play in - I remember playing for hours in a sandpit that my dad had dug for me. Of course, we lived on a 20 acre farm, so we had plenty of ground to dig in, but the sandbox was my favorite! And now I can pass that fun down to the boys.

Little Man visited today

We spent the first part of today visiting with Little Man, trying to get him used to his new home. The foster parents brought him by at 10 am, and at around 12:30 or so they left for a couple of hours so he could spend some time with us alone. He fussed at first, and kept going to the front door where they had gone out. But then I cuddled with him and fed him a bottle, and when he was done with that, he was all smiles. We got hugs and kisses and laughs and he did great! They all left around 3 pm, and on Thursday will be back for one more long visit before they actual move in. It's all so exciting! The picture is of him playing hide and seek with us. I'll post pictures of his adorable little face as soon as I'm legally able to.

Camping with Little Guy

We camped out in the middle of the woods this Memorial Weekend - a traditional family event for us. We camp in an area that is used by the Air Force for survival training. The weekend before we got there, the Air Force was conducting Prisoner of War training. A few hundred feet from where we usually park our trailer they had set up their camp, complete with prison. I had DH James and Sam get in the prison for a picture. The whole camp was actually a very elaborate set up, and was interesting to see.

Then we did our own self portrait - you can kind of see Little Guy's red head at the bottom!

And we survived it ourselves by camping with an infant in the middle of the woods! Little Guy did great - luckily our little single axle travel trailer has a propane heater so we were able to keep him and us toasty thru the night - even as the rain came pouring down on top of the trailer. Little Guy especially loved being toted around in my front pack - we took several walks that way, and he settled right in during them. It was good to finally get home though. We went up on Thursday and came home on Sunday - a long weekend with a little one!

Reaching Out & Grabbing Things!

Out Little Guy is finally actively reaching out and grabbing things all on his own! I know, I know - so you say, Big Deal! But we're so happy! He's almost 5 months old, but really, his adjusted age is 3 months old due to his preemie status. So to me, it's exciting to see how he's doing! I know I can't show you his face online yet, but here's his pudgy little hand reaching out for a toy attached to his cradle.

Sweet Sleeping Baby

I love taking pictures of Little Guy when he is sleeping! He is so seet to look at! Here's a shot of his cute little pudgy hand - arm splayed straight out while he was sleeping the other day. Just too sweet!

A new Little Man to our house?

When God works, He does it in utterly amazing ways! Recently, God has brought a Little Man into our lives - a 14-month old foster baby boy who has been in foster care since he was 9 days old. He's a very happy, healthy, well adjusted little blonde towhead with the most infectious smile! His foster parents are not interested in adopting, especially one this young (they are in their 60's). But they are a wonderful Christian couple who have been praying for just the right family for the Little Man. And through two different people, they have been directed to us. We got to meet him tonight, and of course, we just fell in love! The whole story is amazing, and when I have more time I'll tell the whole thing, but for now, it's just amazing! This is definitely a situation that dropped into our laps - this time, I chased no one or nothing to get this! If everything goes well, and I'm sure it will, he will be coming to live with us on June 4. The social worker believes it will still be 6 months or so before complete parental termination and adoption, but it is coming. I'm so excited!!

Mom on the Mend

Just wanted to update everyone on my mom. She seems to be recovering from her stroke, but I don't know if she'll ever be the same as she was before the stroke. She's getting stronger, and is talking better, but I think it will just take time for her to be really well again. It looks like they are sending her home on the 11th, and then my sister and I will switch on and off staying at home with her while Dad is at work.

Thanks for all your prayers!

Busy Day - Go, Go, Go!

Today was a very busy day. Out of the house by 9 am - had to take Little Guy to a parent visit at 10. Ran errands during the two hour visit, soliciting donations for our Foster/Adoptive group Foster Care month celebration. Then picked up Little Guy at noon and headed to my grandma's for lunch. Left there around 1:30 to head up to rehab to visit with my mom. Left there at about 3:30 to go home and start dinner. Made lasagna for the first time in my life! It's funny - I love to cook, and bake, but have never made lasagna. When my hubby and I were planning our weekly menu, he really wanted lasagna, so I decided to try it. It turned out a little salty, but I know what I need to do next time to make the adjustments. After dinner it was off to church - hubby and I are taking a class called Love and Respect - it's actually pretty good. Only a few more weeks of class left. Then it was home to feed Little Guy his evening rice and bottle, and put him down to bed, and watch a little TV ourselves.

We're trying to get Little Guy to sleep through the night. He was getting up once at around 2 am after going to bed at 10 pm. But now, we're giving him spoon fed rice and a bottle right before bedtime, and then if he wakes up, just giving him his binky and stroking is head instead of getting him up for a bottle. We'll see how it works!