Christian laughing

I took about 5 videos, trying to get one where you couldn't hear other background noise, but decided this one was the best....so ignore Noah running around making his own noise, and then Zach getting mad right at the end. That is just our house. :)

Makayla's birthday

We surprised her the day before her birthday with her party....we weren't sure what the plans would be the next day, (visit with her parents at DHS). We came home from school and got everything ready before we picked her up from school. She was so excited, and very surprised.

Zachariah was mad b/c he had to come in from playing for the party
She is such a happy little girl. She gets excited over everything, and is very grateful too.

She had been asking for Legos b/c Noah never lets her play with his....so she said she wanted her own set

Now he is having a meltdown b/c he "sees" cupcakes. He had to eventually be taken to his bed for a timeout b/c he was ruining the party with his tantrums.

I was going to make her a cake, but ran out of time, so I picked up these cupcakes....she didn't seem to care

She told me later, "thank you Mrs. Maury....that was the best party ever!" I hope it was a good one for her. We tried hard to make it special. I am sure it was hard on her being away from her family on her special day.

She was so funny...she woke up on her birthday and literally thought she had grown over night. She said she could reach things she used to couldn't, wondered if her shoes would still fit, and told EVERYONE she saw that day that she is now 5. She is quite the charmer. She got a lady at the big kid's school to smile that I have never seen act very friendly.

She did have a party at the DHS office, so I was glad I did the one here the day before b/c the visit was last minute, and right after school. She ended having her parents, grandma, some aunts, uncles, and cousins there. I thought it was great so many were there. My only complaint would be that they only let her keep a few of her toys....and took the rest to her grandma's house. Then told her don't worry....she would get to spend the night in 8 days, and have all her toys then. When, in fact, it will probably be a month or longer. I don't know if they are just misunderstanding the process, or what...but this little girl is smart, and even though I have told her a few times that it will be longer than they told her, Sunday, she asked if she had just 5 more days until she would spend the night with her grandma. I knew she was counting down in her head. I called the caseworker and told her that was wrong of the family to be doing that to her...b/c it makes her very anxious, and brings on un-needed disappointment. Who knows if the judge will even allow it anyway. Give a child toys, and then not let her keep them...that is not very nice. I wonder if they just think they will get lost here, or we won't take care of them....I can understand them feeling that way...b/c they don't know me. But...don't even give them to her yet if you aren't going to let her keep them!

Birthday cards

Last week was our newest daughter's 5th birthday. I have never seen a more excited birthday girl!! The big kids all made her a card...unprompted, and I was proud of what they did! Noah made the one with the yellow 5, and then I guess Rachel thought that was a good idea. :)

I am SO proud of how far Rachel has come with her writing skills this year. She couldn't even spell anything at the beginning of the year, and it was pulling teeth to get her to copy just one sentence. Now look! She is a writing machine! She says she loves to write, and told me she needs a notebook for this summer so she can write all the time. I am so proud of all her hard work.
This one is from Leah. She doesn't really enjoy writing, but she is an awesome speller, and puts a lot of time into everything she does.

To see more of M's birthday, check out my other blog www.blessingsforthegoodlife.blogspot.com

Sweet girls

I forgot to included these photos in our Saturday of fun. While Noah was hard at work on his clubhouse, the girls were on the trampoline "telling secrets". These 3....I don't imagine there was really much secret telling, but they looked cute anyway!! I think I have mentioned our neighbor before. She is the sweetest girl. She is in the 4th grade, that age where they begin to get "too cool". But she isn't. She is always so kind to ALL of my children. Every baby we have had, former fosters that come to visit, friends, and our newest little girl. She is always so nice and patient with them. She is always the oldest, but you wouldn't know it. She loves my babies, and is always happy when Z comes out to play. We will probably be moving soon, and I know that she is what I will miss the most. She is the first girl that my girls have had to play with, usually our neighbors are all boys. She always waves and smiles really big when I see her at school. My girls just love her.

This was the scene I saw from the window when I went inside....too cute!

Saturday of imagination and fun

Last Saturday was a beautiful day, and I loaded these pictures quickly, and then forgot to finish my post.

Clay has started his garden this year, and has put a lot into it. He tried just growing in pots last year, and that didn't do too well. The veggies also didn't fare well with the bunnies and squirrels last year so he put a little fence around. I am anxious to see what we get this year.

Clay and Noah got the yard cleaned up, and then Noah got to work creating a new club house.
His hair is really getting long. I keep wanting to cut it, but he wants it to keep growing. That is how all the kids at school are wearing their hair.

You gotta have a fake snake to protect your clubhouse.

and a teepee

Loved the hat and fly swatter hanging up

an old license plate, and a decoration made out of an old bird feeder and a water sprayer

got their St Pat's day beads and a gatoraid container of water

and lots of friends, hard at work sweeping and raking the dirt.

Aint it fun to be a kid?

Baby food....he's not so sure about it yet!

I have started giving Christian some baby food, and he just isn't convinced he likes it yet. He makes all kinds of faces. He better learn to like it soon....next month WIC is cutting back on his formula, and giving us 30 jars of baby food...and that formula he is on is expensive!!

My mom brought this car from her house that our older kids played with when they were little. I think Zachariah enjoys pushing Rachel more than getting to ride.
They make a great pair!

When the littlest guy sits up....

He has quite the audience!

Do they look anything alike?

People ask me all the time if Zachariah and Christian look anything alike. No, they don't really look alike at all to me. If you compare features, they both have brown eyes, and I think they may have the same noses. If Christian ever gets any hair, I think it is going to be dark, as his little bit he has, has gotten a lot darker. I think that just as equally Zachariah favors Leah, and Christian favors Noah.

I was thinking about this the other day. A lot of Zachariah's facial features are a diagnosing factor for his FAS. While he was being formed in his mother's womb, the way his features formed was affected from the alcohol she drank. Some of Christian's too for that matter. I wonder what they would look like had she not? I wonder if they would have favored each other more. I can look at photos of other children with FAS, and Zachariah favors them more than he does his own brother. I don't dwell on it, b/c he looks like Zachariah to me, the person he will always be, and that is an adorable little boy. I think all of his features are beautiful I just wondered, briefly, how different was the person he would have been?

will I ever catch up?

I always think, "next week will be the week I catch up".... I don't know why I think with 6 kids I will ever even get close to catching up with anything. Life is just going, going, going. I have just been overwhelmed lately. Not really overwhelmed as in, I can't take anymore, gonna go crazy overwhelmed....that is just an every once in awhile feeling, thankfully. I am a bit overwhelmed by all that I have taken on, just wondering if I am really handling everything in the best way that I can. I am overwhelmed with love, overwhelmed with worry, overwhelmed with the blessings that have been poured out to us lately, overwhelmed by the complexity of what FAS means for Z and our family. Overwhelmed by the world around us, the pain that some parents can cause their children. Overwhelmed by our sweet little baby T, with his permanent brain damage as a result of his parents, and all the other children that live in his facility. When we walk in there, we are truly going into another world....one that few people would like to see. I am also overwhelmed by the love my kids show him, and the fact that all those other kids there don't scare my kids.

I always think I will get to blogging more, but I just don't guess it will happen anytime soon. I just don't seem to have all the fun pictures and posts that I used to. With the kids in school, most of our time is just spent running, running, running. They love it though, and have done great. I can't really blog about all my thoughts b/c they are so deep, right now, it is hard to find the time to sit down and pour them all out. Seems like when the kids are home, I just act as referee...to the constant bickering and fighting, tattling....making me crazy...I think these kids need a crash course in love this summer.

I hope everyone is having a good weekend....we are spending it getting some extra things done around here. I will leave you with a few random photos, b/c I hate a post without photos.

I enjoyed the few weeks that we had some daffodils growing in our yard. These are my favorite flower!

Z really made a mess, huh? It makes me crazy that my kids will open the cabinet and never close it. And look who comes along digging???
So 2 girls just sat down right with him, and decided to enjoy a snack.

And.....we have some more great news to announce soon....I am just so excited!

sick with the stomach virus

I got sick yesterday with the stomach virus. The only reason I feel like sitting at this computer blogging right now is b/c I sat down to write one message to my hubby at work, and now I feel too bad to get up from this spot, so I decided to have a pity party instead.

I woke up yesterday not feeling well, but thought it was just from something I ate, as I do this often, and I could still function a bit. Clay left with the 3 bigger kids yesterday afternoon for a bit, while the 3 youngest took a nap. Then it hit me hard. I felt so sick, I couldn't even move. I layed there the whole time he was gone, and when Miss M woke up, I asked her to please just sit in the chair. Then I heard C wake up, and wondered what in the world I was going to do....and about that time everyone got home.

My family had to chip in, and care for things as best they could. As I layed in our bed that is downstairs, amongst the chaos, it was making me crazy that I couldn't get up. I had to keep calling out to everyone to tell them what to do, and just that was so hard to do. My house is a TOTAL disaster right now, and I only feel a little better....as in, I can sit upright today, but I still can't move much. And, Miss M woke up throwing up. I jumped up and took care of her, and asked Clay if he would please take Z to daycare, I would keep C home with me. Then I sat down, and realize the adrenaline had worn off, and I couldn't care for either baby today. So Rachel got C ready for me, while I fixed his bottles, and Clay took 5 kids to their destinations for me.

My sweet Rachel brought me a wet rag, and a glass of water right after I threw up yesterday without being asked. Now that is love. :-) I seriously considered allowing one of my kids to stay home and take care of me! I would have but they have already missed too much school from being sick, and I am sure this stomach bug isn't going to stop at just me and one child.

Check out my pictures...

Check out my beautiful Saturday morning babies www.blessingsforthegoodlife.blogspot.com

Saturday morning sweeties....

Makayla loves to play with Christian. You can tell she takes care of her siblings, so is very quick to be motherly to him. She is very good with him, affectionate, giving him lots of kisses on his head, talking to him, and playing games. I bet her brother and sister are really missing her, if she gives them the same attention she does to my babies.

I opened the blinds and curtains to take photos of Christian, went to grab my camera, and then captured her playing Pat -A-Cake with him.

I love this photo of her below, I think I am going to print this one out for the wall

Rachel joined the scene to make Christian laugh

You will have to ignore the nose and face crust on everyone....I decided wiping everyone's face first would lose the moment, and we have lots of runny noses around here.

I wish I could've gotten all 6 in this one...the big kids are having a blast in their newly organized big kid room. They are really enjoying their room together. I have always thought Leah and Noah make the best roommate fit...b/c they don't fight, and they keep things organized when they are together.

Then Zach joined the scene. It is so funny to me that I have my 4 youngest babies in a photo together, and I am still missing 2!!

LOVE this one of Zach. Good photos are hard to capture of this busy on the move boy these days. I think I will have to photoshop out the face crust, and print this one too.

Or this one, I can't decide

And this is what Zachariah always does with Christian, climbs across him....good thing he only weighs a few pounds more than him.

I hope your Saturday is just as blessed, and your heart is overflowing like mine is!!