My Blog Post of Bullet Points

• I am currently Listening to this song by Emerson Hart cuz a dear friend wanted to pass the message on to an old flame. I’ve only broken up with someone twice, and one of the men is now my husband, so the sentiment is not the same, but I can see why the lyrics rung so deeply with him.
• I was delightfully surprised today when a box arrived containing a W!!. Hubby knew I’ve been wanting one for a long time, especially the W!! Fit, which he got for me. YAY! I only played for a total of 47 minutes today and already burned about 400 calories, and it was so much fun. I also found out that Jeremiah has been playing it quite a bit at school, and that he CHEATS! HORRIBLY!!!
• I had even MORE fun playing catch with my sons in the back yard today. After two very chilly, windy days it was finally warm enough to play outside. Jeremiah is starting in Little League for the first time, so we needed to get some catch practice in. He is so naturally gifted in everything athletic. I played fast and slow-pitch softball for 11 years growing up, and I was fairly good, so I really enjoyed showing him the ropes. I was excited when I found out that even after about 6 years of not playing at all, it came back pretty naturally. Gabe did a fabulous job of not making himself the center of attention, which is something we’ve been struggling with lately. He encouraged Miah, but let me take the lead. Not one instance of know-it-all syndrome. YAY!!!! Gabe even played catcher for us while I taught Miah to pitch. He really could be a pitcher if he wanted to be. I think he could be any position, but he has really good accuracy in his throwing, so short stop or pitcher might be a good fit. We’ll see. He’s never played in a league before, but because he is already so good at hitting, catching, and throwing, the head coach put him in the Majors.
• The pups are 4 weeks old now, and their personalities are bigger than they are. I am so blessed that we have found homes for all of them already. 2-3 more weeks before they will go to their new homes.
• The only thing I DON’T like about the W!! Fit is that it tracks BMI. I HATE BMI!!!! Even my amazing nutrition professor in college told me that BMI is a bunch of HOOEY and that it has absolutely no accuracy in indicating someone’s health. The stupid thing placed me at 36, which is at the top of their obese scale. Now, I admit I am overweight, and my goal weight is to lose about 50 lbs, but I am NOWHERE NEAR MORBIDLY OBESE! I am 6’1″ and have a large frame, and the stupid thing says that my goal weight is 166 lbs. Yeah. I weighed that when I was 16 and ANOREXIC! You could see my ribs and collar bone for goodness sake. My sister Rachel, who is 5’10 and…well…a little more than 166 lbs  would be considered overweight by this thing. MY GORGEOUS, THIN, ACTIVE SISTER. So, that’s my rant about BMI, and the only thing I don’t like about the W!! Fit.
• I read this awesome post by Goggy about the uniqueness of the journey of the infertile couple, especially when they adopt. It really touched my heart and rang true with me. I will probably reflect more on that another time.
• The pups have been getting so much attention lately, I didn’t want my beautiful Juji bird to feel left out. So here is my beautiful Juji eating her favorite food, corn. She actually  loves to pose, and as I am writing this she is cuddling with my cheek. She’s such a joy, and a BIG trouble maker. Yesterday she hopped down on the floor and raced across the living room (with her famous crow hop) simply to attack Hubby’s feet. What a lovable stinker.

• Both my boys love video games, but especially Jeremiah. He has been willing to do just about anything, including  breaking and entering, to get just a few minutes of screen time. At bed time tonight he asked me I enjoyed playing my new game today. I told him that I had a lot of fun, but I had even more fun playing baseball with him. His eyes lit up and asked “Really? Why?” I told him that no video game could ever replace how much fun I have playing with my sons. He thought that was pretty cool, and because I know how much he loves video games, I know it meant a ton to him. In his prayers after that, he even called me his favorite Mommy. Awww.
• Be praying for both boys, as I know many of you do. Jeremiah is struggling every day with some major flashbacks, and his tantrums have been very violent and self destructive lately. Pray for his safety and that God’s peace and healing would reign over his mind, body, and spirit. He also had some blood work today to test his plalette levels as he’s been bruising really easily lately. A simple tickle fight leaves bruises on his ribs. It may just be his fair skin, but we wanted to be sure. They also checked his De*acote levels, as he’s been growing a ton and his doctor is concerned that it might be having an effect on these mood swings we’ve been seeing.
• Gabe is in some legal trouble right now that he needs lots of prayer cover for. Can’t go into details, but please pray for his heart and that God uses this as a character building time, and a time for us to speak life into him.

• Oh, YAY! Hubby is home for the next COUPLE OF MONTHS! SERIOUSLY! NO TRAVELING! It’s already making a huge differerence with the boys AND with Hubby. He’s so much happier now. YAY! That’s a huge answer to prayer. Not to mention I happen to kind of like the guy, and the extra hugs and kisses have been a huge mood booster for me.

Okay, enough bullets. I hope you enjoyed the update. I’m hoping that the beautiful weather will put me in writing mood this week. I have a lot on my heart, it just needs to make it’s way to my fingers.

Blessings!

Hannah

1 comment so far | Tags: Adoption, behavior challenges, Being set apart, blogging, faith, family fun, infertility, marriage, parenting, prayer, RAD, the critters, the hard stuff, The SAHM Adventure

Puppies at 2 weeks continued

Jeremiah is helping by modeling the puppies for me.

Pan is on the left and Brutus, the biggest puppy, on the right.

And in this picture, Tres in on the left and our precious Princess is on the right.

Here’s another of Princess, who is sleeping on my chest as I am writing this.

She has the most precious little face.

Brutus is the big, tough guy. I don’t think he likes getting his picture taken much.

And the puppy pile.

Got a good caption for this one?

Blessings!

Hannah

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Puppies at 2 weeks old

They are growing so fast.

They are all over 3 lbs now. Even the little Princess.

And this is why they are all so big.

This is the sweet Pan. He was the first to open his eyes and is already proving to be quite the explorer.

But he also LOVES to sleep.

This is Tres. He is the 2nd biggest, and seems to have longer, wavy fur. He has the most easy going temperament of all the pups.

I realize that these two get photographed the most, so I had Jeremiah help model all the pups for me. I will post those next.

Blessings!

Hannah

1 comment so far | Tags: the critters

More Puppy Action!

Which, isn’t much action, but they sure are darn cute.

Here’s Mama Zoe getting some rest. Princess and Pan in a pile.

Pe has been such a good auntie. She loves cuddling with the pups and even helps Mama Zoe out with cleaning duty.

Puppy pile!

Mama Zoe getting some ZZZzzz’s with the pups close by.

This is Tres, the biggest pup. He’s almost 2 lbs already. He’s also a big cuddle bug.

Pan, concentrating very hard on all this growing.

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Introducing…

the

puppies!

3 boys, 1 girl. 2 brown (shocked!), 2 black.

All are healthy and extremely FIESTY!

Mama Zoe is AMAZING!

Mama Hannah did not get much sleep last night.

Blessings!

Hannah

4 comments so far (is that a lot?) | Tags: the critters

Someone in this house is prego…

but it’s not me.

Sorry for the heart attacks. Don’t bill me.

This is my Zoe May.

Zoe May is 56 days pregnant…with puppies.

We had wanted to breed her, but this was an oopsie. An oopsie that I blame on Nick and Sherry for coming over for dinner and distracting me long enough to allow my dog to escape for 20 minutes and get knocked up by a local roamer.

Darn.

But we are excited. Well, most of us. Hubby wants a kitten. We already have people lined up for a couple of the pups. They will be a great mix, lab/golden retriever. Dad is lab too, he might have something else in him as well, but he is definitely lab.

I need a whelping box, and quick. I am hoping that a teacher friend will come through on the materials, and that my FIL will be able to help with assembly. I’m pretty good with basic power tools due to my theater background, but it helps to have some manly help around, and hubby won’t be home till Thursday…which may be to late.

Anywho, my baby girl, my Zoe May is going to be such a fantastic mommy. She is so gentle and calm, and she babies Pe and the cats already. Not to mention 10 year-old boys.

She helped raise Pe and her sibs when we hand-raised them and did a fantastic job, and we KNOW she’s got enough milk. Hehehe.

And a random pic of Rachel, just because I can.

If anyone is interested in said puppies, please let me know. They will have their first shots, but we aren’t going to worry about the dew claws probably. We will probably be asking $75 for them. Of coarse, we don’t know how many their are yet, but you can be sure I will be keeping you updated.

I love you, my beautiful Zoe Girl.

Blessings!

Hannah

1 comment so far | Tags: the critters

Tidbits of my first day of SAHM-ness

Good

• Got to go back to sleep after getting the boys off to school.
• Got some good cuddly time with the hubby person.
• Had an AWESOME IEP meeting with Jeremiah’s teachers.
• Got to visit with our awesome social worker and felt totally supported and encouraged.
• Our awesome social worker is returning tomorrow to do 1-on-1 counseling sessions with the boys.
• Got to utilize Lisa’s amazing lie detector test and avoid some big power struggles in the process.
• Successfully helped Jeremiah change it up and have a positive end to his day.
• Found out the renters of our other house are going to use their tax money for a down payment to BUY IT!!!! YAY!!!!!
• Taught Juji how to spin on command, which is our family’s signature trick for our dogs…and now our parrot too.
• Successfully helped Gabe with high school math homework.

Not so good

• Gabe is still not talking about some very big feelings and/or the choices he has been making lately. The lie detector tests are working, but he is still not opening up.
• Found out Gabe has been accessing his m*space (which is a big no no for some big reasons) with his PSP by bypassing the parental controls. He can’t do it here at home because hubby person blocks it on our network, so he is accessing it at public hot spots.
• Hubby person had to remove the network card from Gabe’s PSP, which in itself is not bad, but it was a pain in the tuckus to remove. Screws EVERYWHERE!

Over all, a very good day! I just wish Gabe would talk. I know he’s in pain, but how do we help him heal if he won’t talk?

Blessings!

Hannah

2 comments so far (is that a lot?) | Tags: Adoption, behavior challenges, Learning differences, marriage, parenting, RAD, the critters, The SAHM Adventure

Hangin’ with Juji

In light of all the serious posts lately, here’s a fun video of my hangin’ out with my beautiful Congo African Grey parrot, Juji.  This happened totally spontaneously. She was being crazy playful while I was checking my e-mail, facebook etc…, so I whipped open the webcam.

Blessings!

Hannah

1 comment so far | Tags: the critters

5 Quick Takes Friday

7 Quick Takes Friday is a blog carnival hosted at www.conversiondiary.com . Head over there to read more great quick takes.

—1—

I am psyched about getting to do some gardening tomorrow! The weather is supposed to be cool, but not raining, so maybe we will actually get some of our sprouts into the ground. The temperature has been dropping below freezing at night all week, so planting has been necessarily delayed.

Jeremiah will be so excited to get to go play on the farm again. He really gets along with our garden host’s girls well, and there may even be two boys his own age there tomorrow. YAY!

—2—

I was in a huge panic Wednesday when I came home and discovered Pe’s eyes swollen shut from an allergic reaction to bug bites. No one was in the house and there was no note. AHHHH!!! Found out later that Rachel had put anti-biotic ointment (what???) on her eyes and that she didn’t think it was that big of deal so she went to a coworker’s son’s baseball game. Gabe was sanding the fence. Anywho, Pe could have gone into anaphylactic shock very quickly, but thankfully it was only her eyes that swelled. I gave her some benadryl and put hydrocortisone on her bites and she is now fully un-swelled.

For your information and for the safety of all our beloved poochies, please read up on canine first-aid. You never know when you might need to use it.

—3—

We have been dealing with some major honesty issues with our eldest, but we hopefully had a breakthrough last night. He actually displayed some emotion, anger even, for a split second! But then it was gone and we were back to starring at a stoic, blank, unfeeling face. I am hoping he follows my suggestion for getting garage done today so he can earn some mega points.

—4—

I made name meaning posters for both of the boys. Each poster has their name, their name in Hebrew, and the meaning of their name. The background is an artistic interpretation of their names in Hebrew lettering. I was rather impressed with myself, and Kaleb was impressed too. I printed them on photo paper so they would be vibrant and put them in some beautiful frames I found for CHEAP. They are now displayed on our mantle and they look FANTASTIC!  I was very excited about this project. Probably because it is a type of nesting, making our family feel like a family.

Anywho, I am also working on doing a similar project making posters of different encouraging scripture verses. Kaleb has been very determined to surround Gabe with our vision and God’s vision for him, and that gave me the idea for the posters. I am using some great stock photo backgrounds that I found on http://www.sxc.hu/ . Fun fun!!!

—5—

We are planning a family trip to a nearby city to do some clothes shopping. I am so excited!!! I need new clothes very badly and Gabe has a clothing allowance to spend. We were planning on going tomorrow, but Gabe’s recent behavior has not been conducive to fun family outings. I am waiting to hear from Miah’s caseworker to find out whether he can come too. We will be staying in a very nice hotel with a family suite (5 beds) and a pool with a water slide for CHEAP because my hubby stays there so often for work. Even though I am heavier than I would like right now, I am still ecstatic to get some new clothes.

Okay, so that’s five. It’s all I got right now. Maybe I will think of two more to add later.

1 comment so far | Tags: Gardening, parenting, the critters

The Furry ones: Sponsored by the hubby’s surprise

My beloved husband told me that he had ordered a surprise for me. I had a hunch what it was, especially since my husband’s love gifts tend to be on the technological side. So I came home today and he presented me with a beautiful new digital camera that he got at an amazing bargain price. He is so good at that. Anywho, I thought I would mark the occasion by sharing some pics of the furrier household members.

Zoe and Pe taking a nap by the fireplace.

Pe showing you her “Why are you taking pictures of me” cute face.

The Juji Bird chewing on my hair tie.

Juji hangin’ out on her foraging tree

Now that I have a camera, I am sure you will be seeing plenty more fuzzy pics in the future.

Here’s one more for the road!

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