Mother of Seven + 2

Soft little arms wrap around my waist Sparkly brown eyes gaze up into mine Through a happy smile Little Girl says, "I'm glad you're my mommy." A beautiful gift-- In four short months we've gone from strangers to mother and daughter. Baby Boy attached quickly I am who he wants for comfort He comes to me for love. We snuggle and cuddle We laugh and giggle we've gone from strangers to mother and son Thanks be to God, the giver of all good things! We have two more blessings to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Those three words are hard to say.  I hate admitting it when I am in the wrong.  It's a pride issue.  I finally broke down and bought a book that many adoptive families have recommended to me over the past seven years.  As I've analyzed why I didn't read it sooner, it really boiled down to I thought I was doing fine without it .  There is that pride popping up again. Now as I am reading the book, I keep thinking, "This would have been great to know and understand a few years ago."  I have no one to blame but myself though.  I can make excuses and say, "I was too busy."  However, I've probably read one hundred other books in the past couple years.  Seriously, I have.  I love to read.  I can say, "I didn't have the money to buy it."   Perhaps not, but with some prioritizing I could have found the money.  There was money spent on frivolous items that would have been better spent buying this book. Fear was also a ...

Each evening when we tuck Little Girl in bed, we read her a Bible story.  Last night was the story of Christ's resurrection.  As I read about Jesus appearing to Mary and to the disciples, I could feel Little Girl's excitement as she lay beside me on the bed.  When I finished the story she said, "I want to see my Jesus too." We cuddled on the bed as I explained to her that she would be able to see Jesus some day.  She said, "But I want to see my Jesus now."  So then we talked about how we can see Jesus now.  We see him in the beautiful fall leaves outside.  We see him in a sunset.  We see him in people who love us.  I don't know if Little Girl understood all that.  Her longing is to visually see Jesus.  She wants to know what he looks like.  Awww...sweet girl, if only everyone had that great longing to see Jesus.  "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  ...

One night as Little Girl was getting undressed for her bath she spotted the bathroom scales.  She got on them and then excitedly said, "Momma, come see how much I cost." At breakfast one of our boys wasn't feeling the best.  I was asking him about his symptoms.  Finally, I said, "Maybe you have a little bug or something."  Little Girl pipes up and says, "Or maybe a cricket." Baby Boy is always relieved when I lay him in his bed for his nap.  Often he immediately snuggles with his blanket and closes his eyes.  One afternoon he did this, and as he relaxed he suddenly tooted quite loudly.  His eyes popped open and he said, "Uh-Oh!" My husband is finding Bible class in the morning more challenging these days.  It is hard to keep everyone's attention when Baby Boy is being entertaining.  My husband turned to him sitting there one morning and said, "You are being a distraction."  Baby Boy immediately covered his face with both h...

Sorting through a lot of issues right now.  Little Girl is going through various stages of adjustment.  At this point she seems to have stopped grieving for the loss of grandma in her life.  She has moved on to full-blown temper tantrums, direct defiance, and intentional disobedience. She has an intense need to be in control. This week I have worked hard at finding positive reinforcement for good behavior since time-out is about my only recourse in dealing with the misbehavior.  I bought some little sticker charts that have room on them for 25 stickers.  Each time she finishes one of her responsibilities without complaining and in a timely manner she gets to put a sticker on her chart.  Her responsibilities include making her bed, brushing her teeth, getting dressed, picking up after herself, and folding washcloths.  She also gets stickers for eating her meals without complaining and putting her dishes in the dishwasher.  After her chart is full...