a delightful duo

Dear beautiful, wonderful lovely brilliant girls,

I love how you spend the night together, hearing you giggle and whisper secrets is a pleasure. I love how you share clothes and shoes and how you respect each others styles. Oh' growing up beauties, I adore how you still run to your room and bust out in laughter over something silly. My sweet girls I think your friendship is exquisite! I can't wait to watch you grow up and bless this world with your talents. I love you both, Im so proud of the awesome duo you have become. I can't wait to road trip with you and hear your voices! Thank you for being the magnificent girls that you are! 

I love you. I love you. I love you.

Thank YOU.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

Psalm 20:4 

May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.

my baby graduated today...

Wasn't it just the other day that I was standing in that big ol room full of chaos and anxious parents? Wasn't it just the other day that my OTHER baby graduated? How could this have happened so fast? 

I swear it was just last week that I was buttoning up her pretty blue dress for preschool. I am positive that just the other day I was holding her hand waiting for the doors of Kindergarten to swing open and I can just hear her little voice announce that she wanted to learn to spell her WHOLE name! (she has two first names and they're LoooooooonG). Her teacher doubted that she could do it but my Kid2 proved her wrong! She has been a success at everything she tries from day 1. 

I can just see her entering Chapel Hill Elementary for the first time ever and how she was so confident and sure of herself, but she always is. I can just see her long blonde hair blowing in that hot Texas wind just like it were yesterday. I can feel her little hugs, just remember how it felt to pat her little tiny tummy. 

I've gone on to have two more beautiful girls, but she'll always be my first. She'll always be the girl who I was smitten by and smothered in everything pink from the minute I brought her home from the hospital.

She'll always be the one that introduced me to the world of little girls and everything lovely and strong willed! 

I love her. 

Dear Kid2,

You were breathtaking tonight. I am just so proud of you for so many things. I wish I were better when it comes to telling you how much I adore you, I am just better at writing it down. Thank you for being my little baby girl. Thank you for loving me even when you knew I was wrong. Thank you for being the lovely person that you are. You are absolutely stunning inside and out. 

I love YOU to the moon and back my little princess! Have a fun and safe weekend! 

I love you,

Love momma

Mr. Time has done it again...

THIS very weekend THIS LITTLE TINY girl is going to graduate from high school!

NEXT weekend THIS VERY SWEET BABY boy is going to graduate from boot camp!

Im assuming it's going to be an emotional few weeks!

WHERE did the time go?

Did I love them enough? Give them enough? Watch them grow enough? 

...Sigh… 

I am missing my boy like crazy lately! 

I can't wait to see him. 

Truthfully, I think no one will be as excited as Kid4 to see her big brother!

She misses him like crazy cakes. 

We are about to embark ….

em·bark

  [em-bahrk] 

verb (used without object)

1.

to board a ship, aircraft, or other vehicle, as for a journey.

2.

to start an enterprise, business, etc.

on a LONG journey…

jour·ney

 [jur-nee]

 noun, plural jour·neys,verb, jour·neyed, jour·ney·ing.

1.

a traveling from one place to another, usually taking arather long time; trip: a six-day journey across the desert.

2.

a distance, course, or area traveled or suitable fortraveling: a desert journey.

3.

a period of travel: a week's journey.

4.

passage or progress from one stage to another: the journeyto success.

Graduation :)

"I know the plans I have for you… plans to give you hope and a future"

 Jeremiah 29:11

This beauty graduates on May 26th at 7:00 pm 

We are so proud of her!

the best gift EVER and Happy birthday beautiful baby.

In just a few short hours I would be a mother of five. A mother again…. A mother to a baby I didn’t carry. In a few short hours I would be holding the most wonderful gift anyone could offer, my own darling baby girl, but not my own darling baby girl yet. This is the miracle of adoption, loving a baby in someone else’s tummy and wanting more than anything the same things you would want for a birth child.  The agony of adoption is watching your very own little bundle of joy say goodbye to her birth mother, the one who carried her for a whole nine months forever. Adoption for me was both a complete glowing unselfish utterly amazing gift and a hurtful torturing tear to my heart strings.

I can’t write her birth story from my perspective yet, I’m just not ready. I can tell you that I watched her birth mom every moment while she labored to give life to my baby girl, I can tell you that I was in pure agony for her as she hurt inside and out. I can tell you that my heart broke in half for her birth mother because it was something I truly could not imagine. I can also tell you that watching her sweet birth momma give her life and chose a better life for her by choosing me took my breath away. I can tell you that I love them both and will never forget a minute of my beautiful Kid5’s birth and her gorgeous and brave birth mother.

Today, this very day a whole year ago my perfect last little bundle of girl was born. It was 10:05 and my world would never be the same. I held her first, I kissed her first, but I didn’t love her first. Her birth mom loved her first. She loved her enough to carry her for me until she could be safely in my arms.

I can’t put into words how I love her birth mom, I can’t put into words the whole experience, but I will one day, I promise.

Until then…

Happy Birthday sweet baby girl. You changed our lives the minute you entered this world. I think someone could say that a 5^th child is not as exciting as a first but to me you were just as exciting as my first baby.  Your very first second in this world was not consumed with birth and pain and Dr’s. Your very first second in this world was just you and I. I felt so honored to be your mommy, I felt so special to have been chosen to raise you. You have brought nothing but pure joy and laughter when we needed it most. You are such an amazing blessing my sweet baby. I am truly honored to call you mine, to have been chosen to be yours and to love you for the rest of my life. 

My lovely Kid4 is truly an amazing little girl. We love everything about her. She has Aspergers. Aspergers is actually quite lovely to be honest. She has a completely different and literal view of the world and I get the honor of hearing her every thought. (and I do mean EVERY thought). One of the best things about her is that she sees the best in everyone. One of the hardest things about her is that she sees the best in everyone. Does that make sense? 

Yesterday she was showing Kid5 how to talk to her fidget friend. Kid4 has always struggled to get the fidget friend to respond to her because she doesn't have a lot of urgency in her voice. Here is the conversation between a robot and my darling Kid4 (typical aspergers)

Fidget friend- "want to laugh REALLY hard?"

Kid4- "meh…. no, not really"

Fidget friend- "I don't understand"

It's okay fidget friend, not a lot of people do understand aspergers. She thinks your the best though! 

sisters

A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost. 

- Marion C. Garretty