A Whole Shoe Full of Kids...

If you've tried to call me, text me or email me in the last few days, please forgive me if you haven't heard back from me.  I promise I'm alive! I’ve just been a TAD bit busy.
 

My phone rang shortly after midnight on Wednesday night.  I looked at the caller ID and it said "DHR".  Long story short, there were three children who needed a place to go - at least for the night.  I told them I was on my way, started getting dressed, and then heard Willard's voice...
 

HIM:                      What are you doing???

Oh crap… I forgot about him.  He’s going to kill me.

ME:                        Umm…I’m going to pick up three kids.

Silence… yep, he’s going to kill me.

HIM:                      Do you want me to go with you?

 

Look, y’all.  I’m weird.  That’s been established lots of times.  But I gotta tell you – flowers are great, jewelry is awesome, tropical resort vacations are to die for… but those few little words might have been the most romantic thing he’s ever done for me.  I have a heart for foster care, but that wouldn’t matter if my husband didn’t feel the same way.  He tries to act all big and scary – well, okay… he IS big and scary – but his insides are as squishy as mine. 

So, in case you’re counting, that makes 8 kids in the house right this minute.  Hunter came home yesterday and would make 9, but he’s smart and sleeps at Momar’s when he’s home.  

We’re headed to lake today, watching the Bama game tonight, church tomorrow, picnic tomorrow night, and two of the kids have birthdays this weekend so I’m throwing together a couple of birthday parties, but otherwise I’m looking forward to a relaxing holiday weekend.  Haha. 

Signed –

The Old Woman Who Lives In A Shoe

Miley...Miley...Miley...

 

I heard about Miley Cyrus’ performance on the VMAs.  I was curious at what sparked all the disgust, but I told myself I wasn’t going to watch it.  I mean, her obvious goal was to get attention, right?  She's certainly getting it.  I don't think it's even occurred to her that it's 98% NEGATIVE attention. 

Anyway, I decided not to watch it.  And I didn’t… until this morning when I accidentally clicked on a link.  (I thought it was a link to an interview with Billy Ray and what he thought of performance, but it was actually the performance). I only watched maybe like 30 seconds and then stopped it.  The only thing I really saw was her tongue hanging out the side of her mouth.  My first thought? Oh no, she needs to see a neurologist.  I remember the episode of “ER” when Dr. Green found out he had a brain tumor.  One of the symptoms was that when he stuck his tongue out, it automatically shifted to the corner of his mouth.  Somebody get that girl to a doctor! 

 

 

 

 

 

P.S. I am not making light of cancer.  Not at all.  Just trying to add a little humor.  It's kinda like when the pharmacist adds candy flavoring to nasty medicine.  It's still nasty, but at least you get through it without throwing up.  

Back To School!

Well, the beginning of school year 2013-14 is officially in the books.  I posted this picture on Facebook already this week, but it’s one of my favorites ever, so I’m using it again on today’s post.

 

 

Day 1 – Success!  It wasn’t really Gigi’s first day because all she got to do was meet her teacher and leave.  Karlie had a good day.  I can’t believe she’s a Junior!  Yuri was less excited than I hoped she would be.  She’s really not a fan of getting up in the mornings and she is of the opinion that 5 days a week is just ridiculous.  She’d be happy with only going to school on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  She is appalled that 1^st graders don’t get to nap, and that’s going to be her biggest adjustment.  If you saw us any during the summer at the pool, you know that she would typically pull up a chair about 1:30 and take a siesta.  By the time she got home Monday, her eyes were glazing over.  I told them to ride their bikes and play outside while I got supper going, hoping to keep her awake.  By 5:40, she had pj’s on and was passed out on the couch.

 

 

Day 2 – Yuri woke up and muttered, “This is getting old.”  I thought we might be in a for a bad morning, but she snapped out of it and posed for a sassy picture.

 

 

Gigi prepared for her first “real” day and seemed very excited.  Her only concern was that someone would mistake her for a Smurf.  I totally get that.  I don’t wear a lot of yellow because of my fear of being confused with a ginormous can of Pledge.

 

After school, I started quizzing them about what they liked and what they didn’t.   Yuri rolled her eyes and said to Gigi, “Get ready.  She does this every day”… haha

I found out that first grade has “a lot” of rules and that’s about all Yuri would give me.  Note: I found out AFTER I wrote this blog post that Yuri got her apple moved.  That's probably the reason for the tight lips. I guess she's planning to use the 'ol Don't Ask, Don't Tell protocol this year. 

Gigi was full of information.  She is amazed at how smart her teacher is.  Apparently Mrs. Stinson knows where EVERY bathroom in the whole building is.  Gigi was also pumped about lunch.  She had some “yummy taco salad with green beans and bacon in it”.  Well, yum.  Sounds just scrumptious.  Why didn’t I ever think to add green beans and bacon to MY taco salad?!

Karlie had a volleyball game after school and when we got there, I realized we were ALL dressed in blue.  I guess Gigi isn’t the only Smurf in the family!

 

Put some clothes on!

I can't put my hands on it right now, but I'm pretty sure it's there.  Isn't there a verse in the Bible that says something like "If thou art old enough to ride thou bike without training wheels, thou art too old to be in the front yard in thou panties"...??

It's Adoption Day!!

Adoption Day is finally here!  After 21 months of referring to our sweet baby girl as “Baby A”, I can finally show her off to the whole world.

I’d like you to officially meet Aubree Makenna Garnett. 

 

When the nurse handed me a tiny little baby girl who was barely 48 hours old in October 2011, I thought we would only have her for a short time.  The nurse snapped a picture of me holding her and I had actually forgotten about it until I started gathering pictures for this blog post.  I never imagined that she had captured the moment that I held my DAUGHTER for the first time, but I will forever treasure this image.

 

I brought her home to our crazy, chaotic life and thought she'd adjust fine to whatever we threw at her.  I mean, she was a BABY.  It wasn't like she made the rules.  Uh, wrong.  This little chick took it easy on us for the first couple of months...you know, sucked us in good... and then the real Aubree emerged.  This child... THIS one... is the one that will always keep us on our toes.  She knows what she wants, how she wants it, and who she wants to give it to her.  She doesn't talk, but expresses her wishes quite clearly.  When we were talking about what we wanted to change her name to, Yuri suggested "Squealy Butt" and I have to say it would have fit her perfectly.  She's rotten.  She's got us all so wrapped that she rarely receives any disicipline because there's always somebody there to "save" her.  She has the complete and undivided attention of entire family pretty much all the time, and that's exactly how she wants it.  She has captured a piece of our hearts that we didn't even know existed, and every member of our family - HER family - would fight to the death for her. 

Okay, no mushy stuff, I have waited forever to share pictures of her. It's like the big reveal!  Some of your see her all the time, but some of you have never seen her at all.  Enjoy!

Here she is the day she came home from the hospital -

This! This is why I can't shake baby fever.  Could you not just die?!?

You know how Haley Rae and Karlie felt about a new baby in the house...

It's funny because Haley Rae takes a billion pictures of herself with the little ones.  Yuri and Gigi always cheesed it up right along with her, but Aubree has always been like GET OFF ME.

And not much has changed....

 

 Unlike a lot of adoptive families, especially those who adopt through foster care, we were able to witness all of Aubree's "firsts". 

Her first Halloween...

Her first Christmas...

 

 

Her first Easter...

Her first family vacation...

I just want to smooch those chubby cheeks!


Aubree isn't a very outgoing child.  She doesn't like new things or to get out of her comfort zone.  Yuri and Gigi have never met a stranger, and don't have a shy or introverted bone in their body, but Aubree isn't that way.  She has to get to know someone well before her personality comes through.  I love these pictures because you can see her happy side. 

 

Someone is constantly snapping a picture at our house.  It's usually a selfie with an iPhone, but there are a lot of pictures of the littles ones too.  Ever since Aubree was tiny, Haley Rae and Karlie will start to take her picture and tell her to "say cheese...smile...".  She tries.... really, she does...but she hasn't quite mastered it.

 

When Aubree loves something, she REALLY loves it. Like obsessively.  Which is why I need a nerve pill this week - I'm her addiction this week.  She has been physically glued to me 24/7.

 

She also loves her daddy.  If he leaves before she gets up in the mornings, she looks all over the house for him.

 

A prerequisite to being my kid is that you must love water.  I was really getting worried about Aubree.  Her first few trips to the beach were not pleasant but she suddenly loves everything water-related. Whew.  Glad she came around!

 

 

YAY for ADOPTION DAY!!!

 

 

 

 

If that dress looks familiar to some of you, it's because it is the dress Yuri or Gigi wore on their adoption day.

 

Here's the whole family - along with Judge Cain.  There were 20 family members in court to witness our special day.  You can't see it in this picture, but Yuri and Gigi's shirts say "BIG SISTER".   

 

 

 

Oh, the drama...

Gigi has been working on her Christmas list.  #1 thing on the list?  A bodyguard.  Yes, apparently she feels like she needs one.  I guess he’ll drive her to kindergarten and wait outside in the hallway all day?  Maybe if Mrs. Stinson needs copies made or anything cut, Mr. Bodyguard can help out…

A few days ago, the little girls were playing baby dolls and I overheard this –

Yuri:               Where does your husband work?

Gigi:                My husband? Oh, he’s dead.

Yuri:               Oh my goodness, that’s terrible.  What happened?

Gigi:                He died.

Yuri:               But how???

Gigi:                He got shot in a shootout. 

Ah.  It makes sense now.  If YOUR husband got killed in a shootout, you’d probably want a bodyguard too. 

Does anybody how to get in touch with Dr. Phil?  I need his take on this.