Fav Foto Friday! Halloween Present and Past!

Happy Halloween!!!!!

I have a few photos today of E as a little baby, of F last year in Aug (the only "dressing up" we did last year, and of our boys this year!

I also have another pic of MinnieMouse!

6 Months old and the cutest grin!!!

Mommy's little pumpkin eating pizza crust!

F dressed in his Green & Gold!

The 4 Chipmunks on a Tiger!

Little MinnieMouse striking a pose!!!

Hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Halloween!

L's Baptism

On Sunday, Oct 19th L was baptized in the Catholic Church!

She did great during the baptism.....not a tear was shed!

It was also special since she wore MY baptism gown!!! Yep.... I found it, washed it up...and it just fit her!!!! I was soo happy that I was able to pass it down to my daughter!!!! She also wore her special purple jade earrings and necklace that we had bought her in Guatemala.... Her Madrina, P, also bought her a beautiful necklace to wear.

I took video...but when I uploaded it, something went wrong.... so.... gonna have to settle for still pics.... we are also gonna take her in to get a couple of formal pics in her gown....since we have also done that with the boys. Just gotta get it scheduled.

L with her Madrin (P) and her Padrino (S)!

L with her Grandpa & Grandma G!

(my mom & dad)

L with her daddy and Grandma S (his mom)!

The whole group!

Padrino, Madrina, Father Theo, Momma, Lady L, and Daddy!

Our Fun and Busy Weekend!

Well... I have not been the studious law student this weekend...and I had a great time!!!!

Friday we went to a play date at an indoor play scape called the Treehouse.

It was our first time to this particular one and I was pleasantly surprised. Not only did they have a nice playscape, they had a lot of fun trains for K...and the food and such wasnt sooo expensive... most places not only drain the wallet to get in...but then they try to make sure they get all of your money through their food and beverages. This place did charge a little more for food...but it wasnt horrible....and the food was pretty good. Anyways.... the kids had a great time, got to have popsicles and then they slept the whole afternoon!!!!!!!!

Oh yea... I actually got a nap on Friday!!!!!

It's like my first nap in sooooo long!!! It was awesome!

Saturday, we went to Boo at the Zoo!

The kids all dressed up, and we not only got to see the zoo, we got to get 4 bags of candy from different places around the zoo! It was really neat to see all the different costumes! The kids had a great time not only getting candy every few minutes...but they loved seeing the other kids and all the animals.

Our little lady was Minnie Mouse and the four boys (my three and their bff D) were the Chipmunks!

Everyone slept on the way home...so when we got home they were done sleeping...but I made dinner and we just all hung out till it was bed time.

Today, I got woke up way too early.... Dh thought it was Monday so he busted in the room to wake me up very rudely....but it wasnt Monday....

Anyways.... get up, got dressed, we all went to church.

Got out of Church, took a quick trip to Kroger and scored some great deals there! We had to come home for lunch today cuz the people who are going to lay our linoleum were coming....so I had to cook lunch. Did that... the guy showed up with linoleum samples, and then.... everyone took a nap! Me included!!! I forgot how nice it is to be able to sleep in the afternoon! As long as I dont try to do so tomorrow!

I even made banana bread tonight! Yep...that's me... little miss homemaker! *laughs*

Really though... I needed a mental break..... back to the books tomorrow.... but at least I got a bit of a breather!

Here are some pics!

E lying around the play area!

Little Minnie Mouse!

Our Kiddo's!!!!

The Four Chipmunks and Minnie Mouse!

Our dressed up family!

Need an 8 day week!

Hi there....welcome to my little neglected blog.... I am still around....although I would suspect that some cant tell....

Let's just sum it up by saying that life is B-U-S-Y!!!!!!

Quick rundown of events....

We have had frost!!!!! Yea!!!!!!!!! ( I also have indoor allergies.... so no...my allergies do NOT go away)

We are supposed to get snow next week!!!!!!! I LOVE winter!!!!!!!

I am STILL caught up on all my classes!!!!!!!!

E and K spent last week with their grandma and grandpa!!!! How did I miss that having 2 kiddo's is really a piece of cake????? seriously!!!! Why didnt I get the memo bout that????? ;)

My mom spent her birthday with us...and we all had a great time!!!!

Luisa was baptised on Sunday!!! (separate post to follow hopefully)

I'm sure other things have happened.... I know once in a while I will say...gee... I would love to share about that.... and then.... well.... I get on the computer...and I'm either writing briefs, doing outlining, or i'm on facebook.... Really.... Facebook is the DEVIL!!!! Pure Evil!!!!

I'm thinkin of like having my computer block me off of it.... then again.... I know the passwords... and I'd just use the computer lab anyways.... oh well....

We are still going round with insurance over our flood damage.... yep.... we are still waiting for our floor to be fixed... it will be great to walk on linoleum again rather than to have to walk on plywood!!!

I did get my new computer though!!!!

Brand new!!!

I've had it a week!!!!

It's still in the box though......

I havnt had time to hook it up.....even if I do hook it up... I dont have time to play with it!

Seriously.... my schedule is just absolutely crazy.... M & W...school from 9a till 4p... (classes get over at noon...but I need to study) T... classes from noon till 3.... Thursday.... 10-3.... Saturday... Study at library from 10-5.

I get home from school....cook dinner.... spend a few minutes with the kids.... ok..maybe it's longer...but it only seems like a few minutes..... and then it's time to put them to bed.... I try to do some more work...and then collapse in bed.

Good news.... my last class this semester is in a month.... bad news.... my finals are in 5 weeks.... but... in less than 2 months... I will have 5 whole weeks without law school!!!!!!!!!!!!! What will I ever do with myself???? ;)

The kids are doing great! They go to the babysitter on M,W, and sometimes Thursdays... they are learning Spanish like little sponges.... Our little lady is walking like a champ...and talking up a storm... the boys are singing all the time.... and dancing now too....

Here are some pics from the past couple of weeks!

Our little lady loves purple...and her phone!!!!

Looking wayyy to comfy in the drivers seat!!!!

E....uh.... posin.... while K sings!

F showing no fear on the slide!

My 4 Kiddo's enjoying their breakfast!!!!!!!!!!!!

Three Years Ago...

Let's see.... Three years ago today, at 9pm est...the time I am writing this post, dh and I were sitting in the Atlanta airport wondering if we were going to get home that night. Actually...getting home wasnt all that big of a deal. After all, we had just gone through immigration with the newest American citizen! We had storms in Atlanta and our hometown that night... and we wouldnt get home till 3am.... we didnt care. I dont think hardly anything would have bothered us that night.... after all.... we had our son, E with us!!!!!

That's right... three years ago today, we left Guatemala City with our son. We had gone down as a couple and came home as a family! Ernie was 6.5 months old. He was still in 3 month clothes, hardly over 10 lbs. He had major stomach issues, drank numerous pacha's, was eating some solids, and had the biggest grin around! I was a first time mom...and everything was new and exciting for me! He did fabulously on the flight home....sleeping all the way from GC to Atlanta....I woke him up to go through immigration....he played while we had our delays...and then slept on the plane from Atlanta home.... I just couldnt take my eyes off of him while he slept in my lap. I know I kept giggling to myself.... this is MY son.... I have a son! Wow! I'm a mom! I wanted everyone to see me with him! I just wanted to show him off to the world!

We touched down at home, got to our car, and E got to ride in a car seat for the very first time! We then got home to a surprise, as his aunt Kate had decorated the house for us!!!!!

We took him in, put him down on the carpet and kept saying over and over, Welcome home!!!!

Of course, with it being 3am... we were beat.... so off to bed we went... the THREE of us!!!!!

I didnt sleep much that night...just wanted to listen to E sleep.... and know that he was there.

In the morning, we were off to one of our fav restaurants to show him off! He seemed to enjoy all the attention....especially since the ladies were simply fawning over him!

Fast forward 3 years.... and E still loves the ladies...and the ladies still love him!

He is becoming such a wonderful little man! He talks our ears off, he loves to give random hugs, he kisses, he high-fives, he runs, he jumps.... He's just awesome!

I still cannot believe how blessed we are.

It's been a wonderful 3 years!!!!! Cant wait to see what the next years are like!!!!

Sitting round the pool! Who Loves ya baby????

All dressed up for his First Night of Monday Night Football!!!!! Go Pack Go!!!!

First Night At HOME!!!!!!

18 months old... One of my Favorite Pictures!

3.5 Years old....and one of the pure joys of our lives!

It's been 2 years....

Wow! October is certainly an exciting month around here!!!!

2 years ago today, we welcomed K into our home!!!!

In some ways it seems like yesterday...and in many others it seems like much longer than 2 years have passed...

We stayed at the Grand Tikal.... just dh and I.... we were waiting around by the phone...but no one called.... dh decided to take a walk.... a few minutes later, the phone rang.. he told me I probably wanted to come down stairs.

I walk out of my room....and yep.... screaming and crying.... sounds familiar...

I get downstairs.... and it's our son! and... He's walking!!!!! Wow!!!! He's walking!!!! He's screaming too!!!! His foster mom greets me with a huge hug....she has tears in her eyes.... I know this is sooo difficult for her... She tells me that he eats 8-10 pachas a day...and that he sleeps all night.... and that he is such a sweetheart. I tell her to come up to the room.... we all go upstairs.... every time I look at K he screams... thoughts of ..."are we doing the right thing?" keep going through my head.... someone from the facilitators office comes to the hotel and he comes up to the room also.... I take care of the paperwork with him while dh and C talk and K clings to C.... the paperwork gets done.... I really dont hear a word of it.... Thankfully I wrote down when we would be picked up for our embassy appointment.... otherwise I would not have known... the man leaves...and C says she needs to leave.... she is crying by now....as is K....and dh... and of course I am also.... She tells K that we are his momma and daddy now...and that she loves him...and that we love him. She knows she will see him again in a couple of days...but I tell her to call if she wants to.... she says she will.... dh walks her downstairs...

The minute the door shuts, K throws himself against it and begins to scream like I have never heard anyone scream before. Then it starts "mama...mama....mama..." he is screaming and throwing himself against the door.... I am bawling myself.... I cant believe we have done this... this child doesnt deserve this much grief.... I go over to him.... I try to pick him up.... he wont allow me too.... he does everything he can to get away from me....Dh comes back.... F is here....He will be staying with us for a couple of days also.... I tell dh that He needs to go get him.... I need to stay with K....

Dh brings F upstairs.... It has been 6 months since we have seen him.... he has changed so much! I'm soo happy to see him...but K is still throwing himself into the door and screaming.... so my attention gets drawn to him. Dh needs to go to the store for diapers.... we need two different sizes...and we need formula, milk, and some snacks for us.... He tells me he will be back soon....

I know he came back.... I just dont know when.... I dont remember a lot of the next couple of days.... except the screaming, the crying, the tears that I shed....F was a perfect angel.... For that I'm very grateful.... K needed every ounce of strength I had....and then some....

By the day of our USE appointment... K would let me hold him...and not scream for a little while...I'm soooo glad for that.... little by little, he began to calm down.... not totally....and nothing that was going to be fixed before we got on the plane...but every little bit was an improvement.

Our last night in the city, we had dinner with his foster family....They were sooo happy to see him.... he just clung to them.... C kept trying to get him to sit with us...but he wasnt having it....

He was asleep in C's arms when she handed him to me as she got into her taxi.... He woke up to see her waving and everyone telling him goodbye.... He screamed all that night.

Next day, we got to the airport.... he cried.... see... he hated men.... even dh.... any man that looked at him would bring screaming.... there are a lot of men at the airport.... I know a few people asked me what was wrong with him.... I just told them he was grieving... he was sad....

We got on the plane, put him in his car seat, and he fell fast asleep.... the first time he had slept in 5 days.... He slept all the way to Atlanta.... then screamed through the airport there...then slept till we got home.... He cried in the car...and cried when we got home.... I got him changed and we went to bed.

I was sooo relieved to have him home.... through all the crying, the screaming, the hitting, everything... we had met him at 6 weeks old...and here he was just shy of 15 months old.... finally home..... it had been a long process.... and I was just glad to begin the healing....

We have had our problems...and we have had our joys..... I dont regret for one moment that I'm his mom.... I love him completely. I cant wait to see what the future holds!

Eating Pappas fritas!

A little smiling starting to happen.

First night at HOME!!!!

Look how handsome!!!

The Three year old and his mega watt smile!