HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR PRINCESS
A day late but not a dollar short. LOL When I finally got home yesterday I just didn't have the energy to site down and write something to our Princess.
It was a year ago yesterday that Sarah Elizabeth Harmond was born to this earth. That year has been a joy. You have been such a sweet and easy going baby. You did have your moments but like all Princesses full of joy and life. I can't believe how much you have grown. You have 4 teeth and I think just maybe more coming in the near future. You are up and standing and want to walk so badly. Your smile when you see me coming must melts my heart. Boy do I NOT have worries about you and your dealings with your brothers. You can be girly girly one moment and tackling your brothers with a vengance. You bring sunshine and love in this house like no one can. I can't wait for the day we as mother and daughter can go have our nails done, our feet done and celebrate in a girly way the day you were born.
I am sorry this birthday was not the big broo haha it was supposed to be but I am just thankful to God above for your smile, your laugh, your cries, your hugs and your kisses. I will be your mommy forever. My prayer for you today and always is that God shines brightly in your eyes and your life. That your love of God will be bold and for all to see. That you are blessed with many riches (both spiritually and physically) under God's dreams for you.
I just love you very much my little Sarah. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!!!!!!!
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Happy Anniversary Baby!
Seven years ago today ( well the date anyway) I married the man of my dreams. Richard, I love you more than my own life. I thank God everyday for placing you in my life. He certainly has a sense of humor.
You have been my rock, my lover, my friend, and my brother in Christ. You are the father of our children whom you have such love and patience for. You are a man of principle and have a sense of humor that to this day sometimes I don't get... :) Even when things seem to be falling apart around me you are the rock and solid and most importantly soft place to fall.
How you put up with me and all my faults and moods I'll never know. I just know that my life would be nothing without you by my side.
I repeat again here part of my vows "where every you go I will go, where ever you live so shall I live, your people will be my people and your God will be my God too."
I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You have been my rock, my lover, my friend, and my brother in Christ. You are the father of our children whom you have such love and patience for. You are a man of principle and have a sense of humor that to this day sometimes I don't get... :) Even when things seem to be falling apart around me you are the rock and solid and most importantly soft place to fall.
How you put up with me and all my faults and moods I'll never know. I just know that my life would be nothing without you by my side.
I repeat again here part of my vows "where every you go I will go, where ever you live so shall I live, your people will be my people and your God will be my God too."
I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
A true 2
WOW talk about 2 year old personalities. Robert has them all right now.
"NO NO NO" "NO I don't want that" "I want thaaaaaaaaat". Tantrums wow kicking walls, throwing things when he is angry. Hitting everything and everybody when he is upset or angry.
Caleb didn't go this far into the 2 year old personality. But, then again his whole life experiences has been different coming from a Chinese orphanage.
We are trying to teach him that when he gets angry he needs to stop and take a deep breath (0r 2). Of course consequences like: no ice cream after supper because you didn't eat yours and then dumped your plate on the table/floor; no lollipops because you made a bad choice is not listening to your teachers today and had to go to time out ___ times; no movies today because ___________. As hard as some of these are for mommy perseverance in these consequences will hopefully teach him right manners, good morals values, how to treat others and in some instances how to treat himself.
Todays goal for him: make good choices in school today, be nice to his friends (what they call classmates), and listen to Mrs. Janie and Mrs. Keri. If I get a good report when I pick him up he gets to have to prize desired LOLLIPOP.
"NO NO NO" "NO I don't want that" "I want thaaaaaaaaat". Tantrums wow kicking walls, throwing things when he is angry. Hitting everything and everybody when he is upset or angry.
Caleb didn't go this far into the 2 year old personality. But, then again his whole life experiences has been different coming from a Chinese orphanage.
We are trying to teach him that when he gets angry he needs to stop and take a deep breath (0r 2). Of course consequences like: no ice cream after supper because you didn't eat yours and then dumped your plate on the table/floor; no lollipops because you made a bad choice is not listening to your teachers today and had to go to time out ___ times; no movies today because ___________. As hard as some of these are for mommy perseverance in these consequences will hopefully teach him right manners, good morals values, how to treat others and in some instances how to treat himself.
Todays goal for him: make good choices in school today, be nice to his friends (what they call classmates), and listen to Mrs. Janie and Mrs. Keri. If I get a good report when I pick him up he gets to have to prize desired LOLLIPOP.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Blessings along the way
Lately I have been really thinking about blessings. Caleb got a book from the book fair at school called "Will you bless me?"
How has God bless me? I am married to a wonderful man who supports me in everything I do no matter what it is. He doesn't judge me unfairly, he doesn't talk bad about me to others. He tries his hardest to keep me second in his life (even when work has got him working 60-70 hrs a wk lately). This is a man I never thought I would be marrying. As a matter of fact I truly felt God leading me down a path of servitude when Richard pretty much barged into my life. Thank you God for such a wonderful blessing!!!
Yes, sometimes I need God to hit me with a 2x4 before I see/hear him talking to me. We will be married 7 years Nov 10th. The years for the most part have been good in all honesty I don't remember any time when there was trouble. I will always love him. Like Ruth in the Bible my wedding vows came out of the book of Ruth.
Ruth 1: 16-17
Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me."
Another blessing is my in-laws. I have never been accepted so completely and without judgement as from my in-laws. Here I came into their life out of the blue so to speak. I met them in May of 2001 and was married to their oldest son in November 2001. My sister-in-law is a joy. I just love Rhonda I pray daily that God will provide a husband as wonderful as Richard for her. My brother-in-law and his wife, Gary and Cynthia. They have 4 kids my neices and nephews. One big happy family. I always look forward to seeing them and spending time with them.
Another blessing are my kids. I prayed for years that God would provide me with children. After my 4th miscarriage I started feeling like it was not God's will for me to be a mother but once I stopped obsessing about it He not only blessed me with one child but 3 in 1 1/2 years. How about that for answered prayer huh? Be careful what you pray for God just might give it to you.....................and give it to you..............................and give it to you. Some days when the challenges of being a mother get so bad I just tell me self over and over and over "I prayed for this kids....."
Another blessing is my mother! Sometimes you don't realize a blessing in front of you until it is to late, I am thankful my eyes have been opened before it was too late. It has been brought to my attention that my mother and I are alot alike. I am told that is why for a long time our relationship was not really that great. But my mother has become my best friend. She is someone I can turn to in any circumstance. I talk to her almost every day. She has been such a source of information on motherhood and marriage. I look to my parent's marriage alot when it comes to my marriage. I don't know what I would do without my mother!!! MOM YOU ARE THE BEST. I know I don't tell you often enough.
My greatest blessing though is being a daughter to the King of Kings. My life would not be what it is without the love of God, His saving graces, His dying so I could live forever in His kingdom. My Savior who no matter what I am, who I am, where I am loves me with an unconditional love, an agape love that is beyond my understanding. A love so complete it's indescribable.
I am sure there are many many many many other blessings in my life I am omitting but I am grateful and thankful to God my creator my King for giving me every blessing in my life. Not because I deserve then but just because He loves me.
Blessings to you all
Cassie
How has God bless me? I am married to a wonderful man who supports me in everything I do no matter what it is. He doesn't judge me unfairly, he doesn't talk bad about me to others. He tries his hardest to keep me second in his life (even when work has got him working 60-70 hrs a wk lately). This is a man I never thought I would be marrying. As a matter of fact I truly felt God leading me down a path of servitude when Richard pretty much barged into my life. Thank you God for such a wonderful blessing!!!
Yes, sometimes I need God to hit me with a 2x4 before I see/hear him talking to me. We will be married 7 years Nov 10th. The years for the most part have been good in all honesty I don't remember any time when there was trouble. I will always love him. Like Ruth in the Bible my wedding vows came out of the book of Ruth.
Ruth 1: 16-17
Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me."
Another blessing is my in-laws. I have never been accepted so completely and without judgement as from my in-laws. Here I came into their life out of the blue so to speak. I met them in May of 2001 and was married to their oldest son in November 2001. My sister-in-law is a joy. I just love Rhonda I pray daily that God will provide a husband as wonderful as Richard for her. My brother-in-law and his wife, Gary and Cynthia. They have 4 kids my neices and nephews. One big happy family. I always look forward to seeing them and spending time with them.
Another blessing are my kids. I prayed for years that God would provide me with children. After my 4th miscarriage I started feeling like it was not God's will for me to be a mother but once I stopped obsessing about it He not only blessed me with one child but 3 in 1 1/2 years. How about that for answered prayer huh? Be careful what you pray for God just might give it to you.....................and give it to you..............................and give it to you. Some days when the challenges of being a mother get so bad I just tell me self over and over and over "I prayed for this kids....."
Another blessing is my mother! Sometimes you don't realize a blessing in front of you until it is to late, I am thankful my eyes have been opened before it was too late. It has been brought to my attention that my mother and I are alot alike. I am told that is why for a long time our relationship was not really that great. But my mother has become my best friend. She is someone I can turn to in any circumstance. I talk to her almost every day. She has been such a source of information on motherhood and marriage. I look to my parent's marriage alot when it comes to my marriage. I don't know what I would do without my mother!!! MOM YOU ARE THE BEST. I know I don't tell you often enough.
My greatest blessing though is being a daughter to the King of Kings. My life would not be what it is without the love of God, His saving graces, His dying so I could live forever in His kingdom. My Savior who no matter what I am, who I am, where I am loves me with an unconditional love, an agape love that is beyond my understanding. A love so complete it's indescribable.
I am sure there are many many many many other blessings in my life I am omitting but I am grateful and thankful to God my creator my King for giving me every blessing in my life. Not because I deserve then but just because He loves me.
Blessings to you all
Cassie
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Hurricane Ike
Just a quick posting on Hurricane Ike. We made it through just fine. We decided to stay here instead of going to Richard's parents house. At 2am when the floor was shaking and quaking I was not sure that was the best decision.
Anyway the only damage we had was about 45 feet of our fence at the old house was blown down and the cover to our water heater vent on the roof at the new house. We are truly blessed. We were without power for 24hours.
Compared to others around us we don't have any problems from Ike at all.
Blessings
Anyway the only damage we had was about 45 feet of our fence at the old house was blown down and the cover to our water heater vent on the roof at the new house. We are truly blessed. We were without power for 24hours.
Compared to others around us we don't have any problems from Ike at all.
Blessings
the famous question "how do you....."
Well I have seen many times over the past sevearl months postings on my yahoo adoption communities that start with the question of "how do you....." you can add any thing to the end and I am sure it has been covered. All except what we dealt with this past week. (I am going to have to post this situation though with the solution)
When you have a baby in the house with 2 toddler boys who are ALL boy you are bound to have some interesting things going on. The boys were put to bed last Friday and like always they never go to bed they play around, run around, carry on or anything to bring daddy/mommy to the brink of destruction. Well after 3 times of get back in bed it was finally quiet. Almost toooo quiet ya know what I mean. The quiet you know in your gut that something isn't right????? Well Richard went up to check on the boys and they were in the guest bedroom (where mommy/daddy are still sleeping upstairs with them) and had taken the jar of bottom cream (yup diaper rash cream) and had decided they needed a new hair style. Both heads were white and their hair spiked into a mohawk. Richard tells me Caleb's was a perfect mohawk and he did a great job. Well 3 washings later and both boys heads were still white and their hair stiff and coated with the cream. So I asked around here at church and even at the school if anyone ever experienced this and no one had.....is it just my kids????? Anyway I was looking for some help on getting out especially with school pictures coming up.
Well I called Babchie (my mother)...she hadn't had this experience but did tell me to try lemon juice. Now that was thought....citric acid hmmmmmm. Well I didn't have lemon juice but did have a bottle of lime juice. We laid Caleb (whose hair was the worst) on the counter with his head over the sink and I poured the lime juice on his hair then added right away the shampoo and guess what??????? that's right it came out... so
3 SHOUTS OUT TO BABCHIE!!!!!!!!! Now the boys will have pictures done with their normal hair not hair from who knows where.
Blessings
When you have a baby in the house with 2 toddler boys who are ALL boy you are bound to have some interesting things going on. The boys were put to bed last Friday and like always they never go to bed they play around, run around, carry on or anything to bring daddy/mommy to the brink of destruction. Well after 3 times of get back in bed it was finally quiet. Almost toooo quiet ya know what I mean. The quiet you know in your gut that something isn't right????? Well Richard went up to check on the boys and they were in the guest bedroom (where mommy/daddy are still sleeping upstairs with them) and had taken the jar of bottom cream (yup diaper rash cream) and had decided they needed a new hair style. Both heads were white and their hair spiked into a mohawk. Richard tells me Caleb's was a perfect mohawk and he did a great job. Well 3 washings later and both boys heads were still white and their hair stiff and coated with the cream. So I asked around here at church and even at the school if anyone ever experienced this and no one had.....is it just my kids????? Anyway I was looking for some help on getting out especially with school pictures coming up.
Well I called Babchie (my mother)...she hadn't had this experience but did tell me to try lemon juice. Now that was thought....citric acid hmmmmmm. Well I didn't have lemon juice but did have a bottle of lime juice. We laid Caleb (whose hair was the worst) on the counter with his head over the sink and I poured the lime juice on his hair then added right away the shampoo and guess what??????? that's right it came out... so
3 SHOUTS OUT TO BABCHIE!!!!!!!!! Now the boys will have pictures done with their normal hair not hair from who knows where.
Blessings
Wow Has it been so long???
Wow has it really been almost 3 full months since I posted anything?
The only thing I can contribute to is a very busy house and a 4yr, 2yr and a 11mo.
Things are going well. The readoption went great. We went to San Antonion back in July and met with attorney Jana Olsen Baker. Let me tell you she is just great with kids and surely has her calling working with families of adopted children. I do have pictures of everything that happened and will post them as soon as I get the camera developed.... yup that's right I haven't even done that. Then we spent the rest of the weekend in San Antonio as a family. Richard's sister, Aunt Rhonda as she is affectionaly know, was there too. We went to the San Antonio Zoo on Saturday. Let me tell you who needs a gym when you can push a double stroller loaded down with a baby and a toddler or two and a filled diaper bag. Just walk around the zoo pushing it up hill a lot of the time..LOL Everyone was pooped when we got back to the hotel. Rhonda and I took the kids swimming in the hotel pool. They had a great time. Caleb even put his head under the water what a major deal for him. This kid has been afraid of water for a long time. Robert just wanted to hold on to his Aunt Rhonda. Then Rhonda and Richard took the kids to the playground the hotel had as well. It was a late night we didn't even eat supper until almost 9pm and it was pizza hut pizza.
August was pretty much uneventful just busy around the house trying to keep kids entertained. We did empty a little more of the old house. We still have a ways to go. Richard has been living in that house since 1987 so he has ALOT of stuff to go through. Some will go into storage (because he just can't part with it) and some stuff will be sent to the dump.....
Both boys started preschool on Sept 5th. What an ordeal that was!!!! Richard took the morning off so he could go with us. Each child's class has a special blanket they sit in when we first arrive, then devotions is done, announcements are done, birthdays are sung and then off they go for the day. The school is really pushing this year the "kiss and bye bye" at the blanket. They school has a waiting list for this year with enough kids to really open up another school. So that is alot of kids and parents. The 'kiss and bye bye" will decrease the amount of traffic in the back when they kids go back. Helps with the safety of the kids too. Anyway....Robert sat with daddy and the plan was for Caleb to sit with mommy. Well mommy sat by herself at Caleb's blanket and they men sat at Robert's blanket. I kissed and hugged Robert and he just took his Jay Jay the Jet plan lunch box grabbed a ring on the rope and off he went without a look back or tear. This kid has been waiting since he was born to go to school and there was no holding him back. NOW, my been there done that kid of 2 yrs pitched the biggest fit. Screamed and cried. Shocked me I'll tell you. This behavior went on for several weeks but I am glad to say he has finally settled into a routine. Both boys stay the whole day 8:45am to 2:30pm. Robert's class does a what they call 'nibble & nap" they eat lunch together in the classroom and take a nap. They get up after their nap and play until mommy comes to get them. Caleb is in 3 different afteroon activities. On Monday's he is in yoga and tumbling, Wednesday is art, and Friday is Busy Being 3. I know he is 4 but developementally he is really at about 3.5 so he is just great in the 3yr old class.
School pictures will be done this week and I will post some those pics when they get in. I guess I will have to learn to use the scanner.LOL
Well this is long enough so I will post this and start a new message with other things that have been going on in our lives of the Princes and the Princess
Blessings
Cassie
The only thing I can contribute to is a very busy house and a 4yr, 2yr and a 11mo.
Things are going well. The readoption went great. We went to San Antonion back in July and met with attorney Jana Olsen Baker. Let me tell you she is just great with kids and surely has her calling working with families of adopted children. I do have pictures of everything that happened and will post them as soon as I get the camera developed.... yup that's right I haven't even done that. Then we spent the rest of the weekend in San Antonio as a family. Richard's sister, Aunt Rhonda as she is affectionaly know, was there too. We went to the San Antonio Zoo on Saturday. Let me tell you who needs a gym when you can push a double stroller loaded down with a baby and a toddler or two and a filled diaper bag. Just walk around the zoo pushing it up hill a lot of the time..LOL Everyone was pooped when we got back to the hotel. Rhonda and I took the kids swimming in the hotel pool. They had a great time. Caleb even put his head under the water what a major deal for him. This kid has been afraid of water for a long time. Robert just wanted to hold on to his Aunt Rhonda. Then Rhonda and Richard took the kids to the playground the hotel had as well. It was a late night we didn't even eat supper until almost 9pm and it was pizza hut pizza.
August was pretty much uneventful just busy around the house trying to keep kids entertained. We did empty a little more of the old house. We still have a ways to go. Richard has been living in that house since 1987 so he has ALOT of stuff to go through. Some will go into storage (because he just can't part with it) and some stuff will be sent to the dump.....
Both boys started preschool on Sept 5th. What an ordeal that was!!!! Richard took the morning off so he could go with us. Each child's class has a special blanket they sit in when we first arrive, then devotions is done, announcements are done, birthdays are sung and then off they go for the day. The school is really pushing this year the "kiss and bye bye" at the blanket. They school has a waiting list for this year with enough kids to really open up another school. So that is alot of kids and parents. The 'kiss and bye bye" will decrease the amount of traffic in the back when they kids go back. Helps with the safety of the kids too. Anyway....Robert sat with daddy and the plan was for Caleb to sit with mommy. Well mommy sat by herself at Caleb's blanket and they men sat at Robert's blanket. I kissed and hugged Robert and he just took his Jay Jay the Jet plan lunch box grabbed a ring on the rope and off he went without a look back or tear. This kid has been waiting since he was born to go to school and there was no holding him back. NOW, my been there done that kid of 2 yrs pitched the biggest fit. Screamed and cried. Shocked me I'll tell you. This behavior went on for several weeks but I am glad to say he has finally settled into a routine. Both boys stay the whole day 8:45am to 2:30pm. Robert's class does a what they call 'nibble & nap" they eat lunch together in the classroom and take a nap. They get up after their nap and play until mommy comes to get them. Caleb is in 3 different afteroon activities. On Monday's he is in yoga and tumbling, Wednesday is art, and Friday is Busy Being 3. I know he is 4 but developementally he is really at about 3.5 so he is just great in the 3yr old class.
School pictures will be done this week and I will post some those pics when they get in. I guess I will have to learn to use the scanner.LOL
Well this is long enough so I will post this and start a new message with other things that have been going on in our lives of the Princes and the Princess
Blessings
Cassie
Thursday, July 17, 2008
master bath and look Caleb getting into the action of the pictures too... we will also be redoing parts of the master bath too like a 6 foot bath tub!!!!!!!!!!! the color there is called topiary tint. I originally thought it was going to be lighter then what it turned out to be but its nice and I like it.
ahhhhhhhh the princess's room. it was pretty decorated like this when we bought the house. I wasn't going to change a thing but found that the border is peeling and such so have decided to change her room to a border of fairies. I got the border in this week and can't wait to put it up. so other then changing the border it is done too... wooooohooooo
ok the guest room which is also on the 2nd floor. it is painted in hopsack...a brown. it's quite nice. right now that is where Richard and I are sleeping. We moved the queen size bed up there and are waiting to find the right king size bed for the master bedroom which is down stairs we will move into. this room is great for babchie, gran, granddad and other visitors so come on down we have room FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here is the game room upstairs. We painted it 'senational sand'. its a nice big room we hope most if not all the kids toys will be and kept so the downstairs will be clean and clear...(ha ha ha with kids yea right!!!!) It will also have a sleeper sofa, a tv and vcr/dvd set up and a few chairs. Since moving in we have added a bookcase for all the videos and several bookcases for toys, books or whatever else we need.
Settling In
Well we officially moved into the new house over the 4th of July weekend. That Saturday was a very long day but we were able to move all the big and heavy furniture in and sleep in the new house.
We have had some issues with going to bed with Caleb and Robert but are working those out. Caleb LOVES his new big boy bed. It stands higher then he does but like the monkey he is (ha ha that is also his Chinese birth sign believe it or not) he just climbs onto to everything to get in. I did have original concerns about him falling out but so far so good no falls at all. Robert has Caleb's old big boy toddler bed he at first he loved it too but now he would rather sleep on the floor instead of the bed. Sarah.....well how much can an 8month old complain about her room... :)
We still have things at the old house to move over but are settling in one box at a time. On a sad note today I had to take Marcus (our cat) to C.A.P. and hope they can find him a new home. It has gotten real bad with him using the entire house as a litter box in defiance of the kids and I just couldn't have that in the new house. Also he spent more time closed up in our bedroom hiding under the bed or in the closet until the kids went to bed then he came out. No matter how many times you tell and show kids 'gentle, nice, rub head to tail, don't pull the tail' they do anyway and Marcus would swipe at them with his paw (which is declawed). The choice had to be made 'my kids' or 'my cat' and of course the kids won. I cried many tears today but know he is really just such a good boy and some single or widowed person is looking for a companion. He loves to sit on your lap and get his ears rubbed. He just needs to be the king of the house and not be around kids.
I am going to post some pictures of the house.....please excuse the condition of some things as these were taken before we moved in and were still painting and installing some electrical things we wanted so some rooms look kinda messy.
Until next time....
Blessings
We have had some issues with going to bed with Caleb and Robert but are working those out. Caleb LOVES his new big boy bed. It stands higher then he does but like the monkey he is (ha ha that is also his Chinese birth sign believe it or not) he just climbs onto to everything to get in. I did have original concerns about him falling out but so far so good no falls at all. Robert has Caleb's old big boy toddler bed he at first he loved it too but now he would rather sleep on the floor instead of the bed. Sarah.....well how much can an 8month old complain about her room... :)
We still have things at the old house to move over but are settling in one box at a time. On a sad note today I had to take Marcus (our cat) to C.A.P. and hope they can find him a new home. It has gotten real bad with him using the entire house as a litter box in defiance of the kids and I just couldn't have that in the new house. Also he spent more time closed up in our bedroom hiding under the bed or in the closet until the kids went to bed then he came out. No matter how many times you tell and show kids 'gentle, nice, rub head to tail, don't pull the tail' they do anyway and Marcus would swipe at them with his paw (which is declawed). The choice had to be made 'my kids' or 'my cat' and of course the kids won. I cried many tears today but know he is really just such a good boy and some single or widowed person is looking for a companion. He loves to sit on your lap and get his ears rubbed. He just needs to be the king of the house and not be around kids.
I am going to post some pictures of the house.....please excuse the condition of some things as these were taken before we moved in and were still painting and installing some electrical things we wanted so some rooms look kinda messy.
Until next time....
Blessings
Saturday, June 28, 2008
What a long day!!!
Well it has been a long day here. Woke up to Sarah screaming and the boys breaking my lap top. Daddy was angry but got it fixed. In the meantime, I tried feeding Sarah and all she would do is scream and wouldn't eat and was again dealing with a fever (low grade but fever nonetheless) so off the doctors we go. Thank God my pediatrician office has emergency hours on Saturdays. They thought it might be her ears but once examining her her ears were fine but her throat was raw (like raw meat the MD said). So they ran a strep test. Now I didn't know but strep in infants is rare but they ran one anyway as there has been a lot of kids with strep around. That test came back negative and was told she just had a virus infection in her throat and all we could do was wait it out and give tylenol/motrin and try feeding her 30-45mins after meds and she should be comfortable to eat.
I come home the boys are going nuts and Richard said he was going to mow the lawn at the new house. I was able to get Robert down for a nap and Sarah ate and was sleeping as well when daddy came home. We had a wedding reception to go to at 5pm for some friends of ours who's son was married in Colorado in May and what happens??????? Robert wakes up with a fever of 101.4 and not happy. UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So tyelonl for Robert and daddy stays home with 2 kids and Caleb goes with me to the party.
I was so proud of Caleb. He was such a good boy and made such good choices while we were there. But again once we were home the 'horns' came out and was just awful. I guess if you can only have of the two behaviors I would chose he behave in public and we can deal with naughty thigs at home. When bedtime came he was jumping on his bed and fell and tried to (as Richard said) 'push his teeth through his top lip'......yup he now has a fat busted lip....... man on man has it been a day of trouble with the kids.....
But everyone is now medicated and in bed and sleeping. Quietness reigns again in the Harmond House. But morning comes fast.
Tomorrow is church where Richard get's to be a dog!!!!!! Will let that one sit for a day or so and the ya'lls imagination run where it will. LOL
I will be taking some pictures of the new house tomorrow and of the kids so I can post some newer updated stuff. OOOOOOOO looks like we are going to try hard to get as much moved into the new house this coming up Sat July 5th. Richard's brother and sister-in-law are going to be in town and will have their truck so they are offering to help us move what we can/want moved in. So this week we will be getting a new phone and new phone number. Wish us luck!!!!
Blessings
I come home the boys are going nuts and Richard said he was going to mow the lawn at the new house. I was able to get Robert down for a nap and Sarah ate and was sleeping as well when daddy came home. We had a wedding reception to go to at 5pm for some friends of ours who's son was married in Colorado in May and what happens??????? Robert wakes up with a fever of 101.4 and not happy. UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So tyelonl for Robert and daddy stays home with 2 kids and Caleb goes with me to the party.
I was so proud of Caleb. He was such a good boy and made such good choices while we were there. But again once we were home the 'horns' came out and was just awful. I guess if you can only have of the two behaviors I would chose he behave in public and we can deal with naughty thigs at home. When bedtime came he was jumping on his bed and fell and tried to (as Richard said) 'push his teeth through his top lip'......yup he now has a fat busted lip....... man on man has it been a day of trouble with the kids.....
But everyone is now medicated and in bed and sleeping. Quietness reigns again in the Harmond House. But morning comes fast.
Tomorrow is church where Richard get's to be a dog!!!!!! Will let that one sit for a day or so and the ya'lls imagination run where it will. LOL
I will be taking some pictures of the new house tomorrow and of the kids so I can post some newer updated stuff. OOOOOOOO looks like we are going to try hard to get as much moved into the new house this coming up Sat July 5th. Richard's brother and sister-in-law are going to be in town and will have their truck so they are offering to help us move what we can/want moved in. So this week we will be getting a new phone and new phone number. Wish us luck!!!!
Blessings
Thursday, June 26, 2008
2 Years Today!!
Wow has it really been 2 years today since China and God told us about our new son?! It has been so crazy today that this is the first chance I have had to come here and post.
Two years ago today our waiting for our what we thought daughter from China turned into a son. What a blessing he is for us. I still can recall when I think on the 'referral call' we received from out agency. Even though I can't remember the name of the person who called the dialog will be etched in my memory forever. It went something like this:
GWCA-Hi this is __________ from GWCA and we have your referral.
me-OOOOO what is her name where is she from how old is she?
GWCA---well it's a boy!
me----A WHAT???? ( and then after a few seconds pause) well tell me all about him.
This is what we were told:
His name is Fu Xiao Wu and he is in the Jiaozou Social Welfare Institute in the Henan Province of China. He has spent his whole life in an orphanage not with a foster family. He was born on August 11, 2004 that would mean he was going to be 2yrs old (WOW) He had hair, chubby cheeks, was an introvert (like his daddy) loves music (like his mommy) knows the meaning of the word "no", had 2 teeth, stands alone, walks with assistance, a deep sleeper, sucks fingers, timid, imitating words and is close to his caregiver. WOW THAT'S OUR SON.
It only took a second of this information to fall in love him even without seeing his face. When we first got the email from the agency earlier in the day stating referrals had arrived and what log in date they were through we were excited. I didn't leave the house all day waiting. When I read that there were 5boys referred I should have known we would get a boy. Especially since we had Robert 2 months before. I immediately called Richard's cell phone and remember saying to him "it's here we got our referral" and he said "and......" I said "its a boy.................................................................... Richard, Richard, Richard are you there?" he said "yea just takes a minute to adjust the thinking since we really thought we were getting a girl". When Richard got home from work we finally got the email from our agency with the first pictures of him.
Well because of a 150 year family tradition Richard got to name our first son.....the first born or a first born had to have the initials REH and the middle name had to be Earl. Well after much debate and names I chose thrown out Richard named him so with the referral of another boy Richard said what do you want to name him. I had decided that there were a few names I was thinking about. I told him how about Caleb or Joshua or Joseph??? Richard said Caleb sounds good. Let me tell you when we got our first pictures and looked at his face I said he looks like a Caleb. We decided to keep his Chinese first and middle name as his new middle name so our second son became Caleb Xiaowu Harmond. Now the wait was on to go to China and bring him home. That anniversary will be in August. We missed being with him on his birthday by 2 weeks. But we have the JOY and HONOR to spend the rest of his birthdays together loving him, thanking God for him and raising him to live a Christ filled life.
So today as the day comes to a close all I can do is thank God for the blessing of a son, offer him back up to God as His and try to be the best mommy to him I can. Pray for him to have a life full of love, family and a sense of who he is.
I will try to post the referral pictures of Caleb and a recent one... you wouldn't believe how much he has grown. He is turing into such a big boy! gone is the baby face, the toddler face and replaced with a big boy!!!
Blessings
Two years ago today our waiting for our what we thought daughter from China turned into a son. What a blessing he is for us. I still can recall when I think on the 'referral call' we received from out agency. Even though I can't remember the name of the person who called the dialog will be etched in my memory forever. It went something like this:
GWCA-Hi this is __________ from GWCA and we have your referral.
me-OOOOO what is her name where is she from how old is she?
GWCA---well it's a boy!
me----A WHAT???? ( and then after a few seconds pause) well tell me all about him.
This is what we were told:
His name is Fu Xiao Wu and he is in the Jiaozou Social Welfare Institute in the Henan Province of China. He has spent his whole life in an orphanage not with a foster family. He was born on August 11, 2004 that would mean he was going to be 2yrs old (WOW) He had hair, chubby cheeks, was an introvert (like his daddy) loves music (like his mommy) knows the meaning of the word "no", had 2 teeth, stands alone, walks with assistance, a deep sleeper, sucks fingers, timid, imitating words and is close to his caregiver. WOW THAT'S OUR SON.
It only took a second of this information to fall in love him even without seeing his face. When we first got the email from the agency earlier in the day stating referrals had arrived and what log in date they were through we were excited. I didn't leave the house all day waiting. When I read that there were 5boys referred I should have known we would get a boy. Especially since we had Robert 2 months before. I immediately called Richard's cell phone and remember saying to him "it's here we got our referral" and he said "and......" I said "its a boy.................................................................... Richard, Richard, Richard are you there?" he said "yea just takes a minute to adjust the thinking since we really thought we were getting a girl". When Richard got home from work we finally got the email from our agency with the first pictures of him.
Well because of a 150 year family tradition Richard got to name our first son.....the first born or a first born had to have the initials REH and the middle name had to be Earl. Well after much debate and names I chose thrown out Richard named him so with the referral of another boy Richard said what do you want to name him. I had decided that there were a few names I was thinking about. I told him how about Caleb or Joshua or Joseph??? Richard said Caleb sounds good. Let me tell you when we got our first pictures and looked at his face I said he looks like a Caleb. We decided to keep his Chinese first and middle name as his new middle name so our second son became Caleb Xiaowu Harmond. Now the wait was on to go to China and bring him home. That anniversary will be in August. We missed being with him on his birthday by 2 weeks. But we have the JOY and HONOR to spend the rest of his birthdays together loving him, thanking God for him and raising him to live a Christ filled life.
So today as the day comes to a close all I can do is thank God for the blessing of a son, offer him back up to God as His and try to be the best mommy to him I can. Pray for him to have a life full of love, family and a sense of who he is.
I will try to post the referral pictures of Caleb and a recent one... you wouldn't believe how much he has grown. He is turing into such a big boy! gone is the baby face, the toddler face and replaced with a big boy!!!
Blessings
Friday, June 20, 2008
New House!!!!!
Well here is another post... back in March we bought a new house.
We are currently living in a 1200sq ft. 2 bedroom house. We have a kitchen/dinning room combo, a livingroom, and 2 bathrooms (one in hall way and one in master bedroom). And that is it. So raising a family of 2 boy toddlers and one Princess and a cat in this small space is challenging to say the least. We knew all along we were going to have to find a new house but when the Princess came along it was something that was going to have to happen soon.
Anyway here it is June and we still not in the house. But because of the gift of having a CPA for a hubby and his desire to not have debts if at all possible we own this house outright so we are blessed not to carry 2 mortages. So if it takes a few more months to get in then that is what it will take. The new house is a 2 story 5 bedroom house. The bedrooms for the 2 Princes and the Princess are upstairs as well as a guest room and family/playroom and a bathroom and 3 good size closets in the hallways as well in the bedrooms. There is a space under the roof above the garage that is big enough to finish flooring in to make an office for DH. Downstairs had a formal dinning room, livingroom, master bedroom, kitchen with a breakfast area and the utility room. We tried to do all the painting ourselves but that started to get hard to do with life getting in the way. So in the middle of May we finally hired someone to finish painting most of the downstairs as well as the 2 story parts. The only things left to to paint in the utility room, and 1/2 bath downstairs, full bath upstairs and the little room where the toilet is in our master bath...my DH calls it the 'water closet'. He is not giving a time frame of move in time but I am hoping that within the next month to get most of everything in the house. His plan is to paint the utility room this weekend and then start moving in the stuff we are storing.
We did buy Older Prince his new big boy bed and will try to get it up and set up in his room. We are going to decorate his room in doggy theme. He just LOVES dogs. I haven't been able to find dog bedding so I am going to try my hand at sewing. I found some great material at Hancock fabrics to make a quilt/comforter for his bed. There is enough material left to maybe also make a special doggy pillow for his bed. We would only need to buy a dresser for his room. OOOOOOOOO the bed my DH found on Craig's list. It is solid wood and is like a Captian's bed. It has 2 drawers at the head of the bed on each side and also 2 drawers at the foot of the bed on each side, in the middle 2 storage compartments. I think I can safely make a very simple blanket/comforter/quilt for it. Younger Prince will be getting Older Prince's toddler bed as his big boy bed for now. He is into air planes so his room will be done in air planes. He loves JAY JAY (I had never heard of him before but he is like Thomas the Train). Anyway my MIL gave me the site address where they had a toddler bedding set on closeout sale for JAY JAY and I got it along with a JAY JAY cuddle pillow for him. Princess will be getting Younger Prince's crib and bedroom set we bought when YP came along. It does grow with her into a full size bed. I have decided to decorate her room in fairies. I am looking forward to that one. I want stuff that will grow with her into her early elementary age we will see how successful I am with that..
The rest of the house hasn't been decided on decorations yet. There is a slight difference of opinion between DH and myself.
I will try to get some pics of the house and post those soon.
Blessings
We are currently living in a 1200sq ft. 2 bedroom house. We have a kitchen/dinning room combo, a livingroom, and 2 bathrooms (one in hall way and one in master bedroom). And that is it. So raising a family of 2 boy toddlers and one Princess and a cat in this small space is challenging to say the least. We knew all along we were going to have to find a new house but when the Princess came along it was something that was going to have to happen soon.
Anyway here it is June and we still not in the house. But because of the gift of having a CPA for a hubby and his desire to not have debts if at all possible we own this house outright so we are blessed not to carry 2 mortages. So if it takes a few more months to get in then that is what it will take. The new house is a 2 story 5 bedroom house. The bedrooms for the 2 Princes and the Princess are upstairs as well as a guest room and family/playroom and a bathroom and 3 good size closets in the hallways as well in the bedrooms. There is a space under the roof above the garage that is big enough to finish flooring in to make an office for DH. Downstairs had a formal dinning room, livingroom, master bedroom, kitchen with a breakfast area and the utility room. We tried to do all the painting ourselves but that started to get hard to do with life getting in the way. So in the middle of May we finally hired someone to finish painting most of the downstairs as well as the 2 story parts. The only things left to to paint in the utility room, and 1/2 bath downstairs, full bath upstairs and the little room where the toilet is in our master bath...my DH calls it the 'water closet'. He is not giving a time frame of move in time but I am hoping that within the next month to get most of everything in the house. His plan is to paint the utility room this weekend and then start moving in the stuff we are storing.
We did buy Older Prince his new big boy bed and will try to get it up and set up in his room. We are going to decorate his room in doggy theme. He just LOVES dogs. I haven't been able to find dog bedding so I am going to try my hand at sewing. I found some great material at Hancock fabrics to make a quilt/comforter for his bed. There is enough material left to maybe also make a special doggy pillow for his bed. We would only need to buy a dresser for his room. OOOOOOOOO the bed my DH found on Craig's list. It is solid wood and is like a Captian's bed. It has 2 drawers at the head of the bed on each side and also 2 drawers at the foot of the bed on each side, in the middle 2 storage compartments. I think I can safely make a very simple blanket/comforter/quilt for it. Younger Prince will be getting Older Prince's toddler bed as his big boy bed for now. He is into air planes so his room will be done in air planes. He loves JAY JAY (I had never heard of him before but he is like Thomas the Train). Anyway my MIL gave me the site address where they had a toddler bedding set on closeout sale for JAY JAY and I got it along with a JAY JAY cuddle pillow for him. Princess will be getting Younger Prince's crib and bedroom set we bought when YP came along. It does grow with her into a full size bed. I have decided to decorate her room in fairies. I am looking forward to that one. I want stuff that will grow with her into her early elementary age we will see how successful I am with that..
The rest of the house hasn't been decided on decorations yet. There is a slight difference of opinion between DH and myself.
I will try to get some pics of the house and post those soon.
Blessings
Going to try to catch up
Well so much for posting on a regular basis. Having 3 kids and 2 of them boy toddlers is a lot of fun yet not so fun.
They love each other one monent then beating each other to death the other. Are Princes supposed to beat each other????? Well I guess if we lived in the era and had horses and those poley things they would be jousting with each other LOL.
Anyway school is out for the summer has been since May 16th. I am trying hard to find things to do with the kids so I can keep my sanity for the summer. This week my sil was here with my twin nieces so we planned a day at the Houston Children's Museum. This was the first time our boys have been there and they had the time of their lives. I wish I had thought to bring a camera. Younger prince just LOVED the milking cow. He was so excited that he could milk it (even though it was water) that is all he wanted to do. Older Prince thought the cow was going potty.......LOL No matter how much I tried I couldn't get him to understand maybe a trip to a real farm is in order. Any way Older Prince loved the mustang car they had there as well as the telephone area. The Princess was her normal 7month old self looking around jibbering and jabbering. Of course she was 'starving' when we arrived around 10am so the boys went with my sil and my daughter and I followed behind.
Father's Day was nice. I did not wake up before Richard unfortunately. I was up all night with Younger Prince who was sick. We think he might be allergic to some ingredient in the frosting the grocery store uses in their frostings for cakes. We have connected his tummy problems to all the cakes he had with the frosting on it from stores. So from now on I will be investing in cake pans and decorating materials and making our own cakes and own frosting in hopes we can elminate the problem. Back to Father's Day. Once I did wake up (since Richard wanted to let me sleep some) the Princes all gave their daddy his cards and said "happy fader's day" and the Princess had her card for her daddy in her bed with her so when daddy went to get her he got it.
Overall it was a good day.
Both boys went to get their haircut that day too. Older Prince has had his hair cut before. We have always had major trouble with him when we did that. Have no idea what happened in China when they cut his hair but we can only assume it was tramatic as everytime we would get it taken you would think he was being killed slowly. But this time he did GREAT and even said to me "see mommy I no cry". I was so proud of him. Now Younger Prince that was another story. This was his first haircut.... I know he is 26months old. Well his hair is very thin and it took that long to grow it enough to have to cut it. He has lost that baby/toddler look he looks like a little boy now. They cut off all his red curls. Depressing day for mommy. But, they did save some of his curls for me and also took his picture.
I will be trying to post some past pictures soon. We NEED a new digital camera I hate having to use throw away ones its such a pain. We have some great pics of the boys feeding one of grandddad's lambs with a bottle, some from Christmas, some from Younger Princes 2nd birthday and some from the Princess.
I guess that is all for now.
Blessings
They love each other one monent then beating each other to death the other. Are Princes supposed to beat each other????? Well I guess if we lived in the era and had horses and those poley things they would be jousting with each other LOL.
Anyway school is out for the summer has been since May 16th. I am trying hard to find things to do with the kids so I can keep my sanity for the summer. This week my sil was here with my twin nieces so we planned a day at the Houston Children's Museum. This was the first time our boys have been there and they had the time of their lives. I wish I had thought to bring a camera. Younger prince just LOVED the milking cow. He was so excited that he could milk it (even though it was water) that is all he wanted to do. Older Prince thought the cow was going potty.......LOL No matter how much I tried I couldn't get him to understand maybe a trip to a real farm is in order. Any way Older Prince loved the mustang car they had there as well as the telephone area. The Princess was her normal 7month old self looking around jibbering and jabbering. Of course she was 'starving' when we arrived around 10am so the boys went with my sil and my daughter and I followed behind.
Father's Day was nice. I did not wake up before Richard unfortunately. I was up all night with Younger Prince who was sick. We think he might be allergic to some ingredient in the frosting the grocery store uses in their frostings for cakes. We have connected his tummy problems to all the cakes he had with the frosting on it from stores. So from now on I will be investing in cake pans and decorating materials and making our own cakes and own frosting in hopes we can elminate the problem. Back to Father's Day. Once I did wake up (since Richard wanted to let me sleep some) the Princes all gave their daddy his cards and said "happy fader's day" and the Princess had her card for her daddy in her bed with her so when daddy went to get her he got it.
Overall it was a good day.
Both boys went to get their haircut that day too. Older Prince has had his hair cut before. We have always had major trouble with him when we did that. Have no idea what happened in China when they cut his hair but we can only assume it was tramatic as everytime we would get it taken you would think he was being killed slowly. But this time he did GREAT and even said to me "see mommy I no cry". I was so proud of him. Now Younger Prince that was another story. This was his first haircut.... I know he is 26months old. Well his hair is very thin and it took that long to grow it enough to have to cut it. He has lost that baby/toddler look he looks like a little boy now. They cut off all his red curls. Depressing day for mommy. But, they did save some of his curls for me and also took his picture.
I will be trying to post some past pictures soon. We NEED a new digital camera I hate having to use throw away ones its such a pain. We have some great pics of the boys feeding one of grandddad's lambs with a bottle, some from Christmas, some from Younger Princes 2nd birthday and some from the Princess.
I guess that is all for now.
Blessings
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
New Blog for the Family
Well, a new year and our family is complete. I wanted to start up a new blog something I might be able to keep up with more easily and more often.
Since adopting Caleb from China in August 2006 our family has grown again by one. Being blessed with 3 children in a year and half is challenging to say the least but fun just the same.
I hope ya'll come back frequently to keep up wiht the daily life the of the pinces and the princess.
Since adopting Caleb from China in August 2006 our family has grown again by one. Being blessed with 3 children in a year and half is challenging to say the least but fun just the same.
I hope ya'll come back frequently to keep up wiht the daily life the of the pinces and the princess.
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