Are you good at spelling? After reading this, I intend for my children to be "A" class spellers!! Why? See for yourself....



















This is right up there with the picture that the child drew of what she wanted to do when she grew up...

















(The mom works at Home Depot and is selling a shovel)



...or the well mannered child with the colorful mouth:


If you're ever bored on a Friday afternoon, drive down to your local Social Security Administration office and people watch.

Thanks to Rumblings and Bumblings I realized I needed to change the Princess's Social Security Card to reflect her new name. (Yes, the name that was changed over a year ago now!! Oops)

We haven't done our taxes yet, but had I not read M's post, they would have been rejected just like theirs was. Needless to say I was relieved to find out before hand.

Anyway, I show up to the SS office and I literally had to pick my jaw up off the floor. There were SO. MANY. PEOPLE! I walked up and took a number. My number was N37, I looked up at the screen and they were on number N229. YEAH. The numbers would go up to 300 and then flip over and start a 1 again. There were also people holding R numbers AND people that had appointments that didn't have a number.

I looked around and saw people from every walk of life. It's not every day you see such a mix of people. Plus, there were just so many of us waiting in this huge room I felt like I was in a foreign Country and trying to gain access to the United States.

I waited there for nearly 3 hrs.... 3 hrs people!!!! When I was finally called back I presented my documents to the woman and she began looking through them. She abruptly stopped and declared I needed another form of ID for Princess.

Okay, I had already brought her 2 Birth Certificates, (the original, and the new one with our names in place of bio's) her current SS card AND the Certified Adoption Decree. SHE'S 3 lady! How many more forms of ID could she possibly have??? She tells me I needed to bring her shot record. Ummmmm no. I brought all the documentation I was told I would need. She and I went back and forth and in the end she allowed me to proceed, but boy for a minute there I thought I was going to have to kick her ass. (After sitting for 3 hours NO ONE is in a particularly good mood)

SIGH

While there, I changed my Social Security card to reflect my married name too. We've only been married 11 years now. *GIGGLE* Yes, yes I admit it. I am a procrastinator.

I hope to never have to set foot there again. EVER.


Today, marks the 1st Anniversary of Princess's Adoption Day. Boy does time fly!!!

I wanted to post a new wonderful picture of her to mark this day, but you'll have to settle for one I took 2 weeks ago.

Why? Well, Princess is very sick right now. She's been running a temp for 5 days. Her neck is stiff and one of the glands is so swollen, her head is cooked over to the side. Motrin and Tylenol don't bring her temp down much or make her feel better.

The Doctor feels she has some kind of Bacterial infection and so we're pushing the Antibiotics. I hope she get's to feeling better really soon so I can stop worrying. (And of course so she feels better!)




















....and
he's
going to bring it to us.




Congratulations President Obama!!

I'm so proud. Christopher (13) managed to keep his grades up and brought home a decent report card. We are really pushing the positive reinforcement right about now, let me tell you!!!!!

Moving on... What do you do when you have a child that has special needs who is getting grades he didn't necessarily earn? I'm talking about NJ, (10) He's always been a little behind, even before missing a ton of school the past two years due to having multiple surgeries. He's in Special Ed. and has some accommodations. What's normal in cases like his? What's expected? I mean, when I look at his report card with all A's and B's I am pleased! I know for a fact he is not doing 5th grade level work. His work is lower than that of my 3rd grader. At what point do we worry they are doing this? Obviously the Teachers want him to succeed... and don't get me wrong, I want him to succeed too but at some point this is going to catch up with us. He's going to get to 6th grade or 7th grade and be so far behind and lost that it will extremely stressful for him to even think about catching up. Aren't they doing him a disservice by inflating his grades now?

I just don't know what to think.


Okay, all of you out there today is National De-lurking day!

That means it's your turn and I wanna hear from you. Come on, it's not that hard. Just click on that little itty-bitty envelope looking thing. It's right up there under the title of this post.

Easy as 1,2,3...
1. Click itty-bitty envelope looking thing.
2. Write hello in the box (or whatever you'd like)
3. Click Publish button

VOILA! You've officially delurked for the day. ☺

*Even signing in is optional, but remember I can't come visit your blog if you don't sign in!

Now, on a more important note. TODAY is also report card day. It's 3:31 and I'm counting down to 4:00 when the boys walk in from school. I'm taking bets. Anyone wanna guess who's card I'll be peeking at first? If anyone guessed my 13 year old- Christopher you guessed right! Who wants to bet he finds himself grounded...YET AGAIN? I am seriously out of ideas with that one. He's to the point where he just doesn't care about anything anymore. ~SIGH~

Hmmm... wonder if he'll even come home.

We shall see.

I'll keep you updated.








The boys and I got a chance to attend the preview screening of the movie "Hotel For Dogs" last night!








I must say, I was impressed. Not only was it an adorable movie, but they did a great job bringing awareness to the need of good foster and adoptive families! I didn't know that was the story line before hand, it was a total surprise.

Sure, the movie probably wont win any awards and the movie reviewers with their noses high in the air will probably hate the show as they do must family films. But we enjoyed it! (Okay, the 13 year old didn't, but he was in a "mood" and wouldn't have enjoyed any movie regardless of what it was)

Speaking of moods... when does it end?? I'm soooooo ready for it to be over. I feel like I'm on a rollercoaster and can't get off. Like I'm walking on eggshells around him just waiting for the hammer to drop at any moment. *SIGH* Love on your sweet little children now before it's too late. They'll soon grow up to be moody, hormonal teenagers that you don't even recognize anymore.

I was recently made aware that Princess's birth mom is doing extremely well. I've been told she is clean and holding down a job! It's wonderful news!

You see, we were told during our Foster Parent classes that only 1 in 10 Meth addicts can ever become free from the addiction. Meth is probably the hardest drug addiction to overcome...even harder than Cocaine.

Princess has 3 biological siblings. Their birth mother isn't parenting any of them. She was never able to stay with any programs offered by Human Services long enough to help get any of her children back. She was in and out of jail, and many different rehabs.

When Princess was a newborn, I sat with the birth mom each week before her supervised visits began and listened to her talk about how much she loved all of her children. I watched as she cradled her newborn daughter, and cried. She would sit with Princess on her chest, just taking in the smell of the top her head. There was no doubt in my mind this woman loved her children with every bone in her body. -Yet the very next week she wouldn't show up for her visit. I always suspected when a visit was missed it was thanks to some kind of substance that had come in between visiting her child. She and Birth-Dad missed so many visits, they were finally canceled altogether.

At the time, I really didn't hold out much hope that she would ever come clean. In my mind, there's no bigger goal than to reunite with your children. I guess the addiction was just too strong.

Anyway, while I am very glad to have this beautiful child to call my own now, my heart still (and probably always will) aches sometimes because she could not be with her biological mommy. I guess it's because I was able to see how much this woman truly loved her. She just wasn't able to overcome the addiction in time.

While the news of her doing so well is great to hear, we have to keep in mind she's not yet in the clear. I've read that the addiction to Meth is so strong, one must be clean 2-3 years before you're out of the woods!

I hope and pray Princess's birth mom is able to remain drug free. You never know, someday her daughter may want to seek her out. If that day comes, I want Princess to meet the woman I know her birth mom must be inside.... The one I saw briefly that carressed and cried for her daughter. The one that love was eminating from. Not a homeless drug addict. I don't want my child to ever see that side to her birth mom.

My fingers are crossed.



What was I thinking????

It was adorable to watch as she sat there with her finger resting carefully over the bridge of her nose, thumb inserted in her mouth, sucking away so diligently. FREAKING ADORABLE I tell you.

Oh, and the convenience of it!!

Oh boy, let me tell you how nice it was to never lose behind the crib or under the seats of the car.

Yep, no getting up stumbling around in the dark to replace said pacifier in mouth at 2am either! It was never dropped on the filthy grocery store floor.

I thought I must have been nuts to encourage my boys to use pacifiers when they were babies, this thumb-sucking thing suddenly seemed so much easier.

Photobucket

Um.... I take it all back.

She'll be 4 soon and her thumb is still attached to her face.

So how do I break her of the habit? I've never had to do this before. My boys were all pacifier babies. They all self weaned off those but heck, if all else fails you just toss the darn thing in the trash can! Somehow I don't think tossing her thumb in the trash can would be such a good idea?

I've been looking into options and it seems there are a couple option out there. First there's the nasty flavored stuff you paint on the nail. It doesn't get very high reviews though. Seems the kids just keep on sucking! Then there's the Thumb Guard. They eliminate the pleasurable sensations of sucking...






But it's a whooping $75!!





There's also the idea that the blankie and thumb go hand in hand.

Literally.
You see, she never sucks her thumb without her blankie. She holds the tag of the blanket in her hand and then sucks her thumb.


So in theory, if we lose the blankie we'll lose the.... But WAIT this is treading on thin water.











You see, I was traumatized by my mother at a very young age when she took my blankie away. I don't think I ever got over it. Perhaps that's one reason why our relationship is so strained today. (Read this post) I just can't see doing that to my daughter. No way- no how.


Do you have any suggestions????

We're sitting beside each other waiting for the movie to begin. You turn and look at me and ask....

"Does Old Navy carry clothes that someone like yooouuu can wear?"

*ouch*

Yes MOM, Old Navy has plus size clothing.

Nice. I think i just went down a notch on the self esteem meter and I'm a grown Adult for crying out loud!!!!

Yes... I am alive.

Though barely.

I'll admit it, 2008 was the year from hell. I honestly don't care to dig up old memories of all that we've gone through. Heck, that's what archives are for right!? lol So I'll spare you a long, drawn out, boring, reminiscent post.

It sure did go out with a bang though. I've been bombarded with sickness and flat on my back more in the last few weeks than I have been upright.

Thankfully, Christmas Day was a good one (although I was without voice) in between storms. I was able to enjoy it with my family. My most exciting gift? A new lens for my Camera. (A Canon Rebel Xti) WHOOOHOO!!!! I've been wanting a new lens for so long now.

There are no words to express my excitement over that. Although having to look at it sitting on the shelf from where I lay dying on the couch the following 5 days- was pure torture.

Anyway, after 2 rounds of antibiotics I am on the mend and trying to get back into the routine.


I hope all of you had a wonderful Holiday Season. Let's rejoice and welcome with open arms.... 2009

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