Girls first party/Moms first bloody lip

Ok so it has been a while since our last blog update. Munchkin #1 behavior is outrageous! Wednesday is therapy and I don't know if I can make it till then. Tonight she hit me in the face and busted my lip. I looked like Dracula so much blood was pooring out of my mouth. After ice and a big bowl of rocky road ice cream I am feeling better. I think it was the ice cream that helped, but now I am drinking a glass of white wine and hoping tomorrow will be better.

So the most recent behavior is the stripping of clothes and throwing of shoes in time out. Also she insists that she wants to stay in time out all day and she does things to get her there. I did not know that it could be so fun! We are about to start having time-ins where she sits with mom. However, after tonights bloody lip I do not know if this will work.

Today the her screaming was soooo loud that I am surprised my crazy neighbor did not call the police and report me for child abuse. She screams about everything. Literally even when she gets what she wants there is a problem. This better be one good therapist we are going to. I'm going to need my own session after the past few days!

So Munchkin #2 has a double ear infection which makes life easier for all of us. Now we had to bust out the refrigerator lock box to lock up her new meds. Its a cash box with a key but I swear it takes up its own shelf. Lately #2 has become very needy at home. She needs to be strapped to me or she is crying. I am hoping that this is the ear infection affecting her and not some sort of attachment issue. Today when I left her upstairs the poor thing thought she had been abandoned. We are going to the gym tomorrow and so I hope she is fine in kids club without me.

Saturday Mike mowed the grass. Both girls started crying. It was waterworks city. I had to hold onto both girls while reassuring them that the loud machine called the lawn mower was not going to hurt daddy. I tried to help them understand that the grass was getting cut but after a thorough inspection by #1 I was told that the grass was not cut....

We also went to a birthday party on Saturday. #1 was so excited. She found out we were going on Monday and everyday until Saturday she asked us about it. When I let the girls pick out a present they insisted we get a dancing pink dinosaur that sings "Please don't stop the music" Once we got to the party #1 helped unwrapped all the gifts for the birthday girl, including the pink dinosaur. She turned it on and did the raunchiest dance in front of everyone. I have never seen a 3 year old in a bikini dance like that before. She had her hands over her head and was doing a slow shake of the hips. As funny as it was...we really should teach her a new dance.:)

That is how the past couple days have gone but as for tonight bed time was terrible!!! I laid #2 down a 6:30 yes I know 630! That is so early but she is so sick and tired. She fell right asleep. So around 730 I laid #1 down. Earlier then usual, but due to all the whining, screaming, and lack of nap she needed it. (After all she is 3) So I thought all was well. I had locked up every stuffed animal, toy, extra pillow, the lights were off, music was on, and I went downstairs to help Mike and my parents with the flowerbed we are making. I was gone about 20 minutes, I thought surely they are both asleep. I came back upstairs to check and what do I find? #1 on top of #2 examining her ears, mouth, and nose with a flashlight. I was not happy. After all we have had to add locks to the closet in order to lock up everything so they can go to sleep. I asked her where she got the flashlight and she showed me all of the toys she had hidden before dinner. (no wonder she was little miss cheerful at dinner, she thought she was going to play all night) So I had to take all of the toys away and lock them up once again. Of coarse there was serious screaming going on which was frustrating because baby sister was sleeping! So I laid #1 back in bed and went back downstairs. I felt for sure she would be able to sleep now. After mom and dad went home Mike and I went back up to check on the girls and what did we find this time? Oh yes, our 3 year old had stripped her bed of all of her blankets moved the kid table to turn on the lights and was getting naked. Having to deal with these fits all day I went outside and let Mike handle it. Finally once all of the screaming and destruction had subsided Mike put her back in bed. Thinking that she was just to frustrated and wound up to go to sleep I went up to lay in bed with her (did I mention she now sleeps on a mattress on the floor for her own safety, she forced us to get rid of the bed frame). So laying down with her I thought I could comfort her. She usually lets me at nap time and will fall asleep if I put an arm around her. So I tried this technique and all she could say was how bad she was. All of a sudden she started thrashing and telling me to not touch her. She wacked me in the lip and then it was all over. That is how I got my bloody lip...:(


Deuteronomy 11:18-19

18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Quick the Vacuum is going to eat you!

So It has been a few days since I have blogged. I found out that pictures and names are not allowed for privacy so the younger will be #2 and the oldest will be #1. If you would like pictures please email me;) Right now it is day number 6. The girls were in bed and not fussing but then the thunderstorm started. #1 came down and said she was scared. There was a noise in her bedroom. We said yes it is called thunder...Mike walked her back up stairs and found out it was Roari hiding under #1's bed.

Today was hard!!! I thought things were getting better, but #1 has started biting #2 and drawing blood. Today it was the ear, yesterday the arm, and the day before the cheek. #2 has bite marks all over her! If anyone has any advice let me know. We are really only allowed to use timeout for discipline but that is not working for this situation.

#1 throws the worst fits I have ever seen a 3 year old have. I am blown away but given her situation I can understand where she learned this behavior. I never thought it would be so difficult to reprogram a child.

#2 is doing great she is the best eater and the sweetest little thing. Yesterday she lost her brand new shoe at Cosco.

So far the past few days the girls have had some firsts. Mashed potatoes, apple sauce, oatmeal, pancakes, and grilled cheese sandwiches. I didn't know it was possible for a kid to have never tried these foods by age 3! Also I vacuumed the other day and the girls jumped back scared. I had to explain to them what it was. #1 got up on her bed and told #2 she better hurry up because it was going to eat her.:)

Today we had some serious fits. #1 refused to put her shoes on and we were going to the park. She learned a hard lesson. She couldn't play at the park without shoes. It was a hard day :( I ended up letting her play after about 10 minutes of sitting in the stroller. She hopefully learned her lesson because in the afternoon she told me that if we needed to go somewhere she could put her shoes on.

We went to our bible study and the girls came. #1 finally warmed up at the end and showed everyone how sassy she can be. Mike and I were so tired that I called wipes, "dipes". On the way home Mike wanted the girls to look out the window and to find glowing rabbits. #1 said well I don't see any but I hear them! LOL!

Deuteronomy 4:36

From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of the fire.

Our 2yr old has a SMOKING personallity!

Today was the best day so far! We went to church and the kids got to hangout and socialize with other kids their same age. It was a great break for Mike and I! The girls acted nice and afterwards we went to Burger King. I really felt bad about serving them that crap for lunch, Mike and I were soooooo tired in church and just needed the kids to play without us. The playground was great because it was so cold outside. While we were in the play area a man spilled his coke and before we could stop #1 she grabbed an ice cube and ate it. All the parents that saw her do this looked at Mike and I like aren't you gonna make her spit it out? My thoughts were its too late because she already has all the germs in her mouth. Some asian man then parented for us and told her to spit it out. She looked at him and said no and swallowed it. She is one hard headed little girl. Once we got home we made the girls take naps. This was awesome for everyone. We all crawled into our bed and fell asleep for about an hour. Wow! I want to do this everyday. I felt so good after nap time. Finally before dinner we went to IKEA. #2 had a pencil and smoked it like a cigarette. Great she already thinks smoking is a good thing at age 2.:( Bedtime went way better then usual. I am attaching some pictures of #2 riding Roari and #1 playing with her ball.

Matthew 19:14

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

The madness continues:)

Day 2-

This morning I work up at 6. We were having a giant thunderstorm and I was concerned the girls were gonna wake up scared. I kept waiting for them to push open our door. Finally, it happened.. Roari busted in and thinking it was the girls scared of the thunderstorm I got up and turned on the light. That was the end of my good night sleep so I got up and took a shower. After getting ready the girls were waking up. It was about 8, but should have been 9 or 10 since they went to bed so late. We went downstairs and the girls got their juice and headed for these low chairs. they rock and allow the kids to sit close to the ground. Still not being wide awake #1 tripped busting her top lip open. (First incident report) We have to fill these out every time there is blood. During breakfast we prayed and talked about Jesus, because we have crosses on our wall and #1 asked what they were. Mike told #1 Jesus is here too and she asked, "Where is he? Is he hiding?" (see verse at bottom) It was funny. Today was the first time the girls had ever had bacon or grilled cheese. They really enjoyed it. After breakfast we went to target to get the girls some shoes and a diaper bag. They loved getting to pick out shoes! Once we got in the car we had a request to go see grandma. Oh yes #1 has made herself right at home..we all have special names just like she is our biological child. At grandmas house we played with toys and colored. I don't think Emery is adjusting well he seems to not want to play with the girls. :) I took a nap while at grandmas house. Thank goodness for the troops..I couldn't do this alone. My nap was well earned! When we left my mom and dad's in the car #1 said, "Daddy I love You" it made me want to cry it was so sweet. When we got home we went upstairs and had a dance party in the kids room for a while. After this we put buddy in his dinosaur suit and the girls laughed so hard! We tried to watch happy feet and eat popcorn but apparently this is not a good movie for longer then 15 min. ;) Once the popcorn was gone the movie was over! haha The girls were worn out today and I will post photos of them snoozing in the car when we went to get a stroller off of craigslist.

Tonight kids were asleep by 830 but it took forever to get them there! If anyone had any advice we would love it. =)

2 Corinthians 5:7

For we walk by faith, not by sight. It is by faith here that we see the Lord, though absent from him.

Our First Kiddos!

Yay! Yesterday afternoon at 1:30 we received two little girls. They are 2&3 and cute little blondes. Leading up to "delivery" I was so nervous! Yes, I have babysat and nannied for many children..many good and bad behaved children. However, this was different- foster kids have been neglected and abused and have the behavior to prove it. As much as I thought we had child proofed our home and as many of inspections that we had, our house was torn to pieces in about 15 minutes. Everything I had not thought of was what these kids thought of first! As I signed papers with the case worker and cps worker my new "children" enjoyed themselves in the house I thought was "Childproof" they drew with chalk on our cabinet's, scotch taped a wall, scattered every toy we got for them through out the house, they took one bite out of about 7 apples, tried on every piece of clothing in their closet, poured the dog bowl with water in it all over the floor, kicked my dogs and call me a retard. Once Starry and CPS left I was in over my head and ready for the kids to be picked back up. Somehow... I collected myself and called in my mom. We fled to the park and hung out until she came to rescue me! Once I got home we slowly put the house back together and the kids once again took a bath in the dog bowl(This time outside). Once Mike got home at 5 I was exhausted. Up until then I asked Jesus for patients and grace about every 10 minutes.(see verse at bottom) Mike finally got home and let #1 make macaroni and cheese for dinner. (I told her she could help) Mike does not have much experience with toddlers and therefore the macaroni never got stirred by an adult. (It tasted like chalk) Since life was so chaotic we went hungry until 10pm when we could finally relax. After dinner number 1 we took the kids to play with bubbles in the backyard and over to mom and dads. Once we were at mom and dads #1 played in the dirt and #2 wanted to take a bath in the swimming pool. In the middle of playing it the dirt #1 informed Mike she needed to go potty. Since she had dirt all over her he carried her inside. She told him "I need to take a poop but nothings coming out." After that fun experience we decided to come home. Once we got home I let Mike change #2's Diaper and he got poop on his hand. Freaking out he left #2 on the changing table to wash his hands. I was in the room, but regardless that is not safe! (I jumped up and rescued her while frustrated at mike..) Poor guy now he has a poop phobia. However, Checking the "diaper job" Mike had put the diaper on backwards and so we had to have diapering 1o1. Finally after bath time it was time for bed. This took about 3 hours. Oh boy, what a day! We were exhausted...kids have never made me so tired. #1 told me it was the best day of her life and it was so rewarding to see her playing with all the toys. "Oh my god" was the most used word of the day. As much as I don't think she should use this, it was good to hear and I know the girls love it here.

for the righteous falls seven times and rises again,
but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.
—Proverbs 24:16

Becoming a Foster Parent

A lot of people have asked me why Mike and I would become foster parents. We have had many comments about why we shouldn't and should. Some of these negative comment include, you are too young, you do not know what you are doing, why don't you just have your own kids, why don't y'all just focus on your marriage right now, its seems like just too much work. On a more positive note we have had comments like, i'm so proud of you, that is going to make such a big difference in kids lives, y'all are going to be great parents, this is very unselfish and people your age don't usually have the maturity to do something like this. So all in all everyone has an opinion, but ultimately I would like to set the record straight with why we have chosen to become foster parents. I also will include all of our exciting adventures as new parents.

Deciding to Foster-

Back in December of 2009 Mike and I committed ourselves to go to China over spring break. We were planning a mission trip with another couple from church and were very excited. The trip was gonna be a week long and was going to be very physically and emotionally demanding. After creating a letter of support and preparing a list of friends and family to send it to we found out we couldn't go. Mikes manager had originally said having time off that week would be no problem. Suddenly it was a problem leaving us and our team no longer going to China. As disappointed as everyone was we knew that if God had wanted us to be in China and helping further the kingdom we would have been. We also were so thankful for not having already mailed our support letters.

Since the trip was now canceled, we decided we should reconsider what we were going to do to really make a difference and share the love of Christ with others. We decided that Foster Care was where God was leading our hearts. Building up to our China trip I had already had on my heart the need to want to help helpless children. Working with children has its rewards but children who live in normal "American" society are very blessed and take it for granted. I no longer wanted to babysit kids or coach. I wanted to take care of kids who really needed me. God used many different paths for us to see that fostering was the road we needed to be on. Through meeting foster moms, sermons at church, and watching my crazy aunts kids over the summer. Here we are!

Ultimately we decided to foster and not because we were dying to give up our life as young people.:)

Isaiah 1:17 (NIV)
learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.