Summer is officially here for us!

Say CHEEEEESE!!

And why are we cheesing so big, you may ask?? We just finished photographing our very last wedding!!! No more Draper Weddings. We were beside ourselves excited that day! In case any of you are thinking we are crazy for feeling that way, well you just don't know how burned out we have been, for a long time with taking wedding pictures. It was great for awhile, it supported our family, and allowed us to get to spend quality time with each other that we will never trade, but it also created a lot of stress and worry, that we are so glad to put behind us. No more "the check is in the mail" to have to wait 2 + weeks to get paid. Always wondering if we would book that next wedding, to be able to pay our bills. No more high strung freaking out bride. No more working you butt off until you drop, and cramps in my arms for holding a camera for 8 hours straight. No more working from home, that you could NEVER get away from. Now, I am not a photographer anymore, only a stay-at-home, homeschooling, foster mom, and that is more than enough for me.

Jump!

The kids and I have really been enjoying our trampoline. Lots of jumping throughout the day is great for breaks, rewards, relaxation, and fun. They have made friends with the next door neighbor, and she comes over a lot and joins them. Surprisingly to myself, I love to go out there with them, and they get really excited for me to join them. When the babies are asleep, I will go out there and jump with them, and it is the best feeling. For those few minutes I just laugh, and giggle, and feel young again. I also love to lay on my back and just stare at the sky. It is always so beautiful and peaceful listening to the birds.

Sometimes, I will take Z out there with me if T is asleep. Z loves it too, and the kids know to be really calm when he is on there, but he just has the best time just crawling around, and bouncing on his knees. The big kids love for him to come out there with him, even though they can't jump while he is on there, they beg me everyday to bring him out there. Click on my other blog to see a few pictures of that. www.blessingsforthegoodlife.com

Zachariah loves the trampoline too!

I love you his beautiful soft curls show up in this picture.

Our youngest student

The kids were excited the other day that they figured out for Zachariah to sit like a big boy in this little desk...they moved stuff on either side of him and he was so excited by all the toys they placed there for him. Not to worry, the kids were in his face the whole time, very close, they only moved long enough for me to take a picture. He was loving all that attention. They said he was their student!

Talan's exercises

The kids and I figured out a way for Talan to see the world from this view! I put a pillow in front of him, and then his head fits perfectly between the zebra legs on this build a bear, and he can be a big boy! He really like sitting here, and I see him supporting his head without leaning on the zebra, so I know this is good exercise for his neck muscles too, and I am not having to hold him! haha He likes to be in there watching what all we are doing.

2 weeks

WE have had Talan now for 2 weeks. He has come a long way in just that amount of time. I will start off with how he was the first week. He would just scream, scream, nothing I could do to comfort him. He wasn't eating good, it was very hard to get him to even latch onto his bottle, even when he was hungry. He would smack his lips like he wanted to suck on something, but wasn't able to keep his passy in his mouth. He was very sensitive, screamed whenever I would do anything with him...change him, kiss him, touch his head, readjust him, put him down, pick him up.....it all made him mad. His head was total dead weight, he couldn't move or hold it at all. When I laid him in the bed, he didn't not an inch. When I picked him up, I had to do it so carefully or his head would just roll all over the place. It is hard to describe how he was, but he was more delicate and fragile than a newborn baby, but at 16lbs.

I have been amazed in his changes in just a short time. I didn't expect them as quickly. He is eating better, will suck his passy well, and finds a lot of comfort in it. He enjoys his swing, and bouncy seat and will stay there where I can get things done now. He is making good eye contact, and giving me a few mini smiles. He coos a lot...especially after a nap and bottle, that is when he is the most alert. His whole body relaxes when I hold him now, and he will let me sooth him easily. He takes great naps, and is sleeping for long stretches at night...sometimes up to 7 hrs....(yay for me! Even better if I can get myself in the bed early.) I truly see changes every day. He is getting stronger too. He moves in his sleep now, will turn his head, enjoys being on his belly. This morning he had worked his way to the edge of his baby bed, and gotten his arm through the crack. He is beginning to move his arms to reach for the toy bar in his chair. His neck is a lot stronger, I no longer feel like I am holding the most fragile thing ever. He will lift his head a little while on his belly, and turn his head side to side. I can feel so much more strength and control in his body while I am holding him.

When reading through his hospital reports, it said that they didn't know the extent of his brain damage yet. That at one point, his condition was very grave, IF he survived, they didn't know just how bad he would be, if he would overcome it. Very sad. This past week, we had someone come in to begin the steps to get therapy for him...they are going to come to our home for it! She told me he qualified for theraputic daycare if I was interested, but then she told me she really liked what she was seeing, the way he and I interacted together here at home. I am pretty sure that I will be keeping him here...I think the daily contact with me will be beneficial with him, and I can watch what they do with his therapy and continue doing that here. She told me it is a VERY good sign that I am seeing daily progress with him, and as she looked at him, she thought he was doing really well for the extent of head trauma he had. I pray for this little guy several times a day, and I know that God is bringing him through this.

He is so sweet. His talking, and his sweet cheeks, I just kiss them all the time. He is so cuddly, and I am enjoying him so much.

I have been having to hold his head this way a lot b/c it is so big and heavy and wobbly. I am glad it is getting stronger.

Thank you Laken for the swing! It is so nice, and we are loving it!

He still has times where he has a blank stare, but they aren't as frequent as they were.

Ready to roll!

I am now the proud owner of a double stroller! I truly, at this point, couldn't go anywhere without it! I did, however, take my 5 kids with me to the store to buy this thing. I was overly brave, I know. I was starting to panic that I would be stranded here at the house, unable to go anywhere. So, I made a plan in my head. Talan is in an infant carrier, so I would put that in the big part of the buggy, and Zachariah in the front. I headed to Baby Depot in Burlington Coat Factory first. I had found one online that I wanted. The buggy was too small for the carrier, so I opted to put him in the single stroller we have, and Zachariah in the shopping cart. One of the kids could push the stroller. What I wasn't counting on, was how uncontrollably upset Talan gets.

Are you picturing this scene in your head?? Me, with 3 school age kids, during the middle of the day, with 2 babies, of mixed color...one in a buggy, one in a stroller, and the youngest baby just SCREAMING. Everyone, of course was staring at me. One old lady had the gall to walk by me and say "that baby is hungry". As if I hadn't thought of trying that first to get him to calm down. Well, I kept thinking, as I walk with him, he will stop. About halfway through the store, I realized he wasn't stopping, so at that point, I just stopped in the middle of the aisle to try to comfort him. My kids decided this was the time to get wild running off with the buggy....oh, are you picturing this now? Everyone eye in that store was on me. At this point, I was SO CLOSE to the baby section with the strollers, I thought, I had come this far with FIVE kids, I wanted to at least see if it was worth coming back! haha Anyway, he never stopped his screaming, and I quickly left the store.....where he instantly stopped screaming. Just stopped as I walked out the door.

So, then I went on to Toys R Us. He stayed in his carrier, and was perfect, and I bought my stroller!!!

Projects

A couple of weeks ago we went down to visit our family, and the kids got these projects from their grammy, a gift she brought them back from her trip to the beach. They loved them, and had a lot of fun making them. Rachel had a horse coloring set, Leah a best friend necklace kit, and Noah got a pirate ship to build.

I was digging through a closet at my parent's house, and found this bottle art set that was my sister's from way back ago that she never did. I stole it, and we had fun with it too!

We had to improvised b/c the paint was all dried up, so had to just use paint I had here. It was a lot of fun!

My life

With all my talk about our foster babies on the other blog, I don't want anyone to ever forget how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE these 3 beautiful kiddos!! I would love to type more if I could even hold my eyes open! They sure are growing up!

Leah fed me!

10 months

Zachariah is 10 months old now. He is changing everyday. Becoming more active, more independent, with an adorable personality just blossoming. Have I said before he is a happy baby? A VERY happy baby. I could not ask for better. I remember when we first got him, his nickname was Mr. Disagreeable. He was grouchy a LOT. Watching him now, gives me a lot of hope as I am not holding Mr. Disagreeable #2. Yep, that is what Talan has been named. I say that light heartedly, b/c I give them total credit for having every reason in the world for being disagreeable. I would be grouchy too living with someone I don't know.

Anyway.....I know everyone knows how much I love this little guy Zachariah. I love this guy!! My heart is filled with joy everytime I look at him. I always knew I would love any child that lived with us. I love children, and love being around them. I love holding babies. I just didn't imagine the gut wrenching, aching overwhelming love I would feel for him. Wow.

10 months. That is how old Noah was when Leah was born. 10 months and 1 week. I was pregnant and MISERABLE 9 months of his life. I was scared, overwhelmed, exhausted. I had a horrible pain in my back to where I couldn't even stand up holding him out of the chair when I was only 5 months along (I am pretty sure I injured that in labor with Noah b/c I felt the sharp pain when he was coming out, and it wasn't until after I had Rachel that it finally totally went away...my body finally had a chance to heal). I luckily got a cortizone shot and that part got better enough for me to function. I was so tired during all 3 of my kids 1st year of life, it is all such a blur to me. I wish I was blogging back then, so I could go back and relive it all again. I kinda feel like I am getting that chance now. When my kids became active, I just shuddered, that was more stuff for them to get into, more to make me tired. I hate it was that way. I truly thank God that I get the chance to do it over again. I get to just soak it up, enjoy it. Now, as he does new things, we all rejoice together. I just sit back and laugh...even when he knocks over the trashcan and drags trash ALL over the kitchen with his walker. I just laugh.

Zachariah loves faces. He loves to touch them all the time. I also loved how his reflection was in Clay's glasses in this picture.

This was when he was first learning how to stand up on his own.

Look at that smile...and how his eyes sparkle. He smiles ALL the time.

He still has these 3 wrapped around his fingers. If he is awake, they are almost always playing with him.

Such a big boy he is!

He is even beginning to have a few battle scars from toys, falling while standing...he is so active.

His head is full of soft beautiful curls. I love his hair.

He likes to just "hang" with the kids. He was helping Rachel play the Wii here.

I don't get him in this toy much anymore.....he wants to be on the go too much!

Rachel gets sent to time out sometimes for trying to play too rough with him, and not listening when we try to tell her no. He will always crawl over to her, sit beside her, and pat her on the arm, as if to say, come on, play with me again!

He is crawling like a pro, standing up holding on one handed, walking along the couch, runs in his walker.....I imagine by next month I will be reporting that he is walking!