stealing posts

I love stealing other peoples posts. Sometimes others manage to says things exactly how I would wish to say them, but I just don't know how. This is one of those my sister was reading a friends post, found this and posted it too her blog, then I stole it from my sisters blog.

Anyways enjoy

Aspiring for More!


I must admit that I am an Olympics junkie. There is something astounding about these athletes that have trained and sacrificed so much for one goal.......to be the best! I can't even imagine giving up friends, school , and even family to train as an elite athlete. Then you have their families........what have they given up to fuel the dreams of their children? Some have done without for so long......while others have worked two and three jobs to finance their young hopefuls.........It really is almost overwhelming.

However, I got to thinking tonight that we parents of Special Needs children really aren't much different. I have traveled great distances, spent weeks away from home, quit my job, spent endless hours researching treatment, hours of therapy, hours giving therapy, and heartbreaking times fighting for my son. Why, because I believe in him.....I believe.

We parents will probably never be featured on national television, and our children won't be gracing the pages of Sports Illustrated. Still, we press on....some of us trying to teach our children to walk, talk, eat, or learn to be human. Daily.....all around us these struggles continue. Our medals are not Gold or Silver, they are smiles, tears, and triumphs for things most parents take for granted.

I never realized that I am an Olympian. Not a sports figure.....but in spirit because I believe that with tremendous hard work and effort AND faith.......my son will have a future! I carry my torch daily with so many of my special friends with special children.

If you know one of us......give us a congratulatory hug......our journey is long and for some of us it will never end....but we believe and we have faith! All we ask for is a little encouragement......our finish line is often far away and we need to hear the cowbells and cheers to push us along the way!

Ok, so one of my favorite bloggers posted this on their blog about big families and I had to steal it. It's funny and so true at the same time. Enjoy

Blog post by MckMama:

I know that bigger families sometimes boggle minds. If I had a penny for every time I was told, "You must be crazy! I'd go bonkers with so many kids; I can hardly handle the two I have!" I'd seriously buy Hawaii and just be done with it. But, it is my firm assertion that big families may actually be easier than smaller ones. I don't know, it's just a hunch.

But my hunch was strengthened when a blog reader named Kris sent me the link to a fabulous, clever, hysterical, oh-so-true article about big families. The following piece, written by Matthew Archibold for the National Catholic Register, was so amazingly spot on, that I just had to drop what I was doing and share it with you.

Enjoy!

Why big families are easier:

Patience. I never have to teach patience. My children know that I can’t drop everything for them if I have a baby in my arms.

Work Ethic. My children have learned to work because there are always chores to do in a small house packed with little messy lunatics. And they all learn quickly that sometimes they have to clean up a mess even though they didn’t make it.

Humility. My children have learned it’s not always their turn. They’ve accepted they can’t always get their way because other people have to get their way sometimes. They’ve learned that some children are better at certain things than they are.

Foreign language skills. You can learn a lot of Spanish by watching ten years of Dora the Explorer that you just can’t pick up in two. And now with the Diego spin off I’m practically fluent.

Laughter. The children have learned to laugh at the insane non sequiturs of younger siblings. They’ve learned that laughing just feels better when seven people are doing it along with you.

Competition. Do I really need to go into this? Everything is a competition in big families. The children compete over who reads faster, who drinks their milk faster, who gets to the bathroom first…etc. Everything is a competition and they’re all keeping score.

Balance. The floor of the front room of my home is a minefield of toys and childhood paraphernalia. Just walking through the room requires great skill and balance. I’m absolutely convinced my two year old will be a favorite for Gold on the balance beam in the 2016 Olympics. (She might have to lay off the cookies a little but I’ll deal with that later.)

Life isn’t fair. Sometimes you just give it to the baby because you want a little quiet. Not all the time. But sometimes.

Just say “No.” Being able to say “no” may be the most undervalued skill in this world. The need to be liked is pervasive. The need to be cool even more so. Having brothers and sisters teaches children to say “no” about 143 times a day. It’s a good skill.

Praying. They learn that nothing beats praying together as a family.

Nature/Nurture. Having many children has taught me that nature has a lot more to do with who my kids are than nurture. This is helpful, especially when your children misbehave you don’t have to feel bad about it. Just say “Stupid nature!!!” and blame your spouse’s genes.

Namecalling. You can occasionally call your child by the wrong name and still not be considered a terrible parent. They know who you mean just from your tone. Sometimes if you need something done you can call the wrong name and someone will still show up. That helps.

Spying. My children have learned that they can’t get away with anything. I have spies who look a lot like them who are willing to drop the dime on them for anything. Even at school I’ve got a child in just about every grade. If they do something I’ll hear. That keeps them nervous. And I like keeping my kids a little nervous.

Friendship. The children have many friends. They’ve got girly friends, crying friends, fun loving friends, consoling friends, and crazy friends. And they all have the same last name. And they’ll be there forever for each other. No matter what.

Love. I think my children have learned to love because there are others around them to love and who love them. I honestly can think of no better way to teach children to love than siblings.

Prayer can lead you to unexpected places.

It's amazing where prayer will lead you.

I've prayed long and hard for the Lord to soften Jaymes heart so we can have more kids, and then I prayed for the Lord to guide us on how to go about a new adoption or having bio kids. However, the more I prayed for the latter, things started to become clear. It was an answer that I never expected.

I've wanted a handful of kids for a long time now. I'm supermom, I can handle it. Well I realized that I can't handle it. Not an easy thing to say. Therefore, I've made an executive family decision last night. We are done adding to our family for now. That's right, no more kids, or dogs, or guinea pigs. I'm blessed to have the four children that I do.

Thank you everyone for your support.

Now on to something new. Faith started Hippo therapy(equestrian therapy) last week. She did an incredible job. She rode the horse for thirty minutes or so. She smiled here and there and cried here and there, but ultimately survived it. She also finished up her three week intensive therapy in L.A.. She did a phenomenal job. She did so good that I'm driving down once or twice a week for some traditional therapy. Here are some pics.

So I have been struggling with a big decision. Maybe you can help me.

As most of you know my desire to have more kids is GREAT. My husbands desire for more kids not so great. However, he as given me the go ahead.

Our situation is this. We have 3 biological children and 1 adopted child. After our third child my husband got a vasectomy. Unfortunately my desire for more kids was to powerful for his vasectomy, so we adopted. When we adopted our daughter from Guatemala, I knew we were making the right decision. I never had a doubt in my mind that adopting from Guatemala was the right choice for us. I feel so blessed everyday to have had the opportunity to adopt our daughter.

Now that we have decide to have another child, I am not so clear on how to go about it. As of now we are leaning towards adopting from Ethiopia. But I am just not feeling 100% sure about it. Other options are Foster/Adopt, Domestic Adoption, vasectomy reversal, IVF, Artificial Insemination, etc..

Each of the above options has there negative and positive.

I pray, pray, pray about this and hope to get a clearer answer soon. Please dont mis interpret this. I am not complaining. It's a GREAT problem to have.

So what does everyone think. What would you do right now in your life if you were faced with the same issue?

From the mouth of a 3 year old.

So I'm dropping the kiddos off at school and this is the conversation I had with my son Rex,3.

Rex: "Mommy, Mommy, look at me".
Me: "I can't, I'm driving".
Rex: "Your not driving, your texting".

Last night my husband and I are trying to put the boys to bed and Rex,3 is giving Roc,7 a hard time. My husband brings Rex into the family room and he is mad.

Rex: "I'm going to beat Roc's ass".

Rex then runs back into the bedroom and says to Roc.

Rex: "You better watch it our I'm going to beat your ass".

I admit it, he gets it all from me.....OHHHHHH MAN

Paris and Faith

I have a sister, a twin sister. We have a bond that goes above and beyond any bond I've ever had with another human being. She is my best friend, my soul mate. Our relationship is indescribable. And that is what I want for my daughters.

When my daughter Paris was 7 yrs old we adopted our youngest child, Faith from Guatemala. She was 1 yrs old when she arrived home with us. Although there was a bit of an age difference, I was so excited for our oldest to have a sister of her own. I wanted her to have that special relationship with her new sister that I have with mine. However, when we brought our daughter home from Guatemala, we soon learned that she had special needs, needs that were both mental and physical. I was afraid that that relationship and bond that I wanted our

daughters to have would never happen. It tore me up.

This morning I realized that I was completely wrong. I was reading a blog post that completely changed my attitude towards my daughters relationship. Check it out

Last night Paris was playing with Faith and Faith was just cracking up. As I look back this morning and after reading the blog post I realized that my girls have an incredible bond, a bond that only GOD could have created. When they look at one another there eyes are filled with so much love and trust. I feel SOOOOOO blessed. I am glad that my eyes finally opened up to the relationship that my girls have.