Our little ham!

ODG has always loved being in front of the camera. When she was 9 months old, we were at a family wedding and girlfriend was CHEESIN' IT UP for the photographer. If the photographer's camera wasn't pointed at her during the reception, she would do something to get her attention or to let us know she wanted to move closer. She was fascinated! Fast forward 2 years and not much has changed!

At Disney World last November, after waiting for a parade on Main Street and watching the Disney Photographer snap people's photos for about an hour, she decided it was her time in the spot light just moments before the parade began. She hopped into the middle of the street (by herself) and told the fun photographer, "I want you to take my picture, please!" Let's just say about 100 pairs of eyes were all on her and she was taking it all in!

Again, not much has changed!

ODG loves to have her picture taken - I think that's fairly evident - but we don't do it often enough with "Daddy's camera" (the nice Nikon). It was a beautiful night last night, so we decided to get all dolled up and head to a cute little area down the street from us and take some snapshots of our little budding model. I'm so glad we did, because we had SO MUCH FUN make goofy poses (she didn't know they were poses, she just thought we were playing & being silly) and enjoying the night! Here are a few of my favorites from the night! 

If anyone knows of a good talent agent, we're in the market! ;-) 

Thanks for letting me share our little ham with you! I just wish you could all get to know her personally. She is SO incredibly creative, super smart (witty), and keeps everyone who spends time with her laughing...or plugging their ears from hearing her talk so much :-) 

Foster Care Update: Our licensor asked to postpone our first home study until we get back from SCENTSY FAMILY REUNION (AHHHH! Excitement in & of itself!!), so I'm a bit bummed, but we won't be having our home study until after July 13! Would love some prayers for patience for that :-)

Foster Care Questions....finally answered!

Incase you haven't noticed, I've been lacking in the blogging department. I'm not surprised, really. We moved (for the second time in 4 months), finished taking all of our required foster care trainings (27 hours + 8 hours of CPR/First Aid/Blood Born Pathogens = check!), and some how I'm still managing to run my own business and keep my home afloat. Busy, but BLESSED!

Q: What has the process been like for you?
So far, we are about halfway through. The process has been fairly simple & straightforward...but I know that can change at any moment. We first had to attend a 3 hour orientation class of general information...most of which I already knew. I guess you could consider that the "weed out" course to make sure we really wanted to foster. Then we had to go to classes for two weeks straight (a 1 week break between the two weeks) from 5-9pm, somehow equalling 24 hours of training where talked about everything from the basic care of children, trauma in children, heard from a panel of long-time foster moms *and met some of their precious kiddos*, heard from two veteran parents whose children were once "in the system" and they earned their parental rights back, as well as information regarding fostering Native American children (which is unfortunately a larger population of children in our county). We have filled out MOUNDS of paperwork (one section of our paperwork was 22 pages answering personal questions about my life from birth to now...Brian had to do it, too!), and our first home study is scheduled for next week! WOOHOO!

Q: Are you going into it thinking about eventual adoption or just willing to open your home to a needy kiddo?
We are entering the world of being a foster family with open hearts. We are open to the option of adoption, but are also willing to provide safety & love for whatever time the child may need it. Our ultimate goal in any situation {although it may be extremely difficult in some situations} is reunification with birth family. Studies show that children {who have been in the system} are typically more emotionally stable when raised by family members, so that is always the states goal. When reunification is not an option, we will consider adoption on a case-by-case situation. We have been abundantly blessed with a happy, safe family and a wonderful home and know we are called to bless others.

Q: Can you discipline? 
Any child that will enter our home will have experienced at least 3 types of trauma before walking in our door (and walking in our door alone will be another instance of trauma for children entering the foster care system). Therefore, we will want to carefully consider what type of redirection is used for foster children in our care. There is absolutely NO corporal punishment allowed, and for a child of trauma, I think one can understand why. The key is positive reinforcement and redirection.

Q: Can you take the child to church?
When we welcome a child into our home, they are immediately a part of our family, which means all activities, including vacations and church. Depending on the circumstances, we may choose to slowly integrate the child into our church (meaning maybe only attending parts of the service, or not taking the child to Sunday school or nursery, but case-by-case), but definitely, YES, we will take our child to church!

Q: Do you have to be open to random home visits?
I have not heard anything about random home visits. If (the trainers told us it's a matter of when) we are ever accused of anything against WACS (state law), they will call us to let us know they are coming over and will investigate. The trainers told us to expect "when" because all sorts of things can be reported, but many of them are not truly issues (or extremely minor that just get a slap on the wrist/quickly fixed) or are false reports by bio-parents, family, or friends.

Q: Will you be allowed to take and post pictures of the child on Facebook?
Yes! I'm so excited about this because I know this is not the case in other places! We can post pictures and share the child's name! The one thing you will never see me say is "our foster child, ______". We are never allowed to identify any child in our home as a foster child...even if you directly ask me if that is our foster child, I cannot say yes. Interesting, huh? So, for example, if I post a picture of our family {with the foster child} I cannot say "Our Family: Hubby, Sarah, Our Darling Girl, and our foster child, ______." 

Q: What are you most scared of?
That is a hard question...in Washington (I don't know what it's like other places), foster parents are encouraged (but not required) to get to know the birth parents or family if they are an active part of the child's life. We are encouraged (but not required) to facilitate visits with the bio-family. At this time in our journey, I don't know how I feel about this. I have been in prayer TONS about this particular topic. Also, we are being licensed through an agency (vs straight through the state), so this may be different through the agency. So many people ask me if I'm afraid of having to "give the child back"....honestly, no. I'm not saying it won't be emotional, but I'm not afraid. When ODG was an infant, I was so terrified to let her sleep without me watching her breathe. My wonderful (and wise) mother-in-law asked me a simple question, "Is she yours?"...somehow I knew what she was asking and I answered "No, she's God's." She reiterated that God gives us our children to care for and love for a time, but we are all ultimately God's and He is watching out for each of us. I will NEVER forget that. I view inviting a foster child into our home similarly - a child may be in our home for a short time or become an official part of our family forever, but if he/she has to go to another home, I am trusting that God knows best...despite if I may feel differently about the child going to another home. We will pray (already have been) for protection over any child that enters our home, and our prayers includes asking for God's love & protection if that child ever leaves our home. 

Q: Age, race, drug exposure willingness?
We are open to any age younger than Our Darling Girl (ODG). I know that not everyone who becomes foster families need to keep their biological or oldest child the oldest, but for us, we feel like this is necessary at this time.

We are open to any race, but will probably not be approved for Native American children for several reasons. First, the tribe ALWAYS looks for friends or family members within the original tribe of the child first. If a home is not available in the tribe, they will look to a neighboring tribe. In cases where a neighboring tribe cannot provide an appropriate home, Native children will be placed with non-native families who have knowledge, understanding, and dedication to preserving the tribal traditions & culture. Lastly, most of the tribes in our area that have children in the foster care system do not allow adoption, only legal guardianship, so that the child remains 100% part of the tribe (and for other reasons). Although we love Washington, we are uncertain of where God may move us in the future and would be absolutely heartbreaking for the child & us if we had provided care for a Native child then had to leave the state...without the child.

Drug exposure - there are only two "drugs" that are medically proven to potentially cause lasting illnesses - nicotine & alcohol. We are more than willing to provide care for children who have drug exposure (if it's not nicotine or alcohol, a child who has drug exposure in the womb may not need any extra medical care if that is their only medical issue at birth), but we will need to closely consider the added commitment on a case-by-case situation. Again, I want to reiterate that we are open to any child that we are asked to care for, but we will consider it (drug-related or not) closely with prayer & wisdom.

I love answering questions about our journey through foster parenting. I think it's one of those things that is not talked about openly or often enough and I want to do everything I can to break down those walls! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't hesitate to ask me more questions and I will do my best to answer. Thanks for being interested in our life and this new stage of our journey.

Lately...

....we've been busy! I am thankful for the busy times, but I wish I had more time to blog about life as it happens instead of big photo dumps every couple of weeks. This shall do for now :-)

April was a whirlwind...we finally feel like we're settling in, making great friends, and finding out what "home" means to us in Washington. We celebrated Easter with the "F" family {who we know from Texas...see ODG < 3 ELF} and we are so glad to have them nearby -- it has made the transition quite a bit easier to have a piece of Texas here {even though neither of them are Texans...}

We stopped to see the tulips after church before lunch. ODG felt like a ballerina in her Easter dress!

Anlee has better pictures I'll post later, but this is the only pic of ODG & ELF that I got the entire day!

In April, we discovered the "touch tank" where you can pet starfish, crabs, and have so much fun!

ODG points with her middle finger at everything....no matter how many times I correct her to her pointer!

April was the opening of our local farmer's market! It's every Saturday and if we're free we head out there for an hour or so and see what all our locals have to offer. It has been so fun! From good food, to balloon fun, to fresh produce, we are loving it!

Spring has officially sprung in our town and it is beautiful! As if the views we've seen haven't been pretty enough, they just keep getting better!! The rainy days are more scattered apart and the flowers are in full bloom. 

And in addition to all of that....we have FINALLY hung curtains! We didn't even hang curtains in our old house we lived in for 2 1/2 years, so I'm quite proud of this accomplishment! Hopefully I will do a picture walk of our house soon...stay tuned!

In other exciting news, I'm scheduled to be a guest blogger on a local gal's blog here in the next couple weeks! I'm so excited to share the top 5 things I love about our new town over on BellingFAM. I'll post a link when it's available!

What was your favorite part of April? Anything you're looking forward to in May?

Where have I been?

Well....

{you may have to click on the image to enlarge it}

Someday soon our family will be getting a little bigger.

With that said, we don't know when, we don't know age, gender, race, etc.

What we do know is that he/she will be loved greatly and we can't wait to meet him/her,

and we thought it was time to announce it to all of you!

We have been busy busy busy attending training classes and filling out paperwork, as well as beginning to prepare our home for a new arrival! I could write on & on about this next chapter in our life, and I hope to share a bit of our journey, but I'd love to hear what questions YOU have, so please DO NOT HESITATE to comment with any questions you may have and I'd love to answer as best I can in another post :-)

We covet your prayers as our lives begin to drastically change...and we are so excitedly expectant! 

Mary Poppins DOES Exist, y'all!

Ok, whoever said Mary Poppins was a mythological creature hasn't met Mackenzie.

We have never had to select a babysitter (they just say "nanny" up here in the PNW). We have been abundantly blessed by friends offering to babysit or having a sweet teenager be nearby from day one. I will FOREVER be abundantly grateful for those couples & gals who have loved on our sweet girl. I sit here nearly in tears thinking about how blessed we have been....and thinking about how much I miss those people!

When we moved here, my "job" (I run my own business from my home...full time) didn't stop, but ODG's preschool days did. In our town, preschools don't exist {or they were full} for kids younger than 3 and not potty trained...she does not meet either of those criteria. After a week of being here and meeting some other working momma's, I was directed to a job board for our local university. Insert divine forces, a whole lotta prayer, & a whole lotta faith for this lady!

I posted the "job" for a part time nanny (remember, this is what they call babysitters up here....I'm not that fancy, folks) and this gal emailed me almost immediately! Very professional, great resume, and cute photo...which I hadn't ask for, but perk! I got several more emails and none matched up to her, but I selected 3 girls to have interviews with. As fitting, this girl is who I had my first interview with. She was too good to be true. I didn't want to go on with the other interviews, but I needed to. Needless to say, she made the cut and we invited her to our home to meet ODG. We had two girls come over to meet ODG and would you believe she was the only one who got on the floor and interacted with ODG? CRAZY...well, at least in my mind...I've cared for children since I was 13 and couldn't imagine not playing with the child immediately upon an interview like this!

Anywho, she got the job. and SHE is Mackenzie...our real life Mary Poppins! She has been a LIFE saver! She has entered my house in all sorts of situations {and we've only known her a month}....let's see....Abbey pee on the floor with baby doll bathed in it, dishes piled high to the ceiling, our small little downstairs powder room COVERED in unfolded clean clothes that I was frantically trying on for a party, and ODG bare-bottomed and throwing a FIT because she didn't want to go potty! Days like these I have come home to clean dishes/dishwasher loaded, floor cleaned, clothes folded, and ODG calm and happy...which makes for one calm & happy momma right here!

Not only does she do all those amazing things, but she takes ODG on adventures! They go to the beach & discover crabs and climb on tree stumps, visit the pet store to look at bunnies & fish, have donut & hot chocolate dates, and paint pottery, just to name a few!

Discovering sea shells & crabs

Mackenzie is getting a little puffer fish for her aquarium soon and ODG has mastered the puffer fish look :)

ODG is absolutely smitten with Mackenzie's sweet friend, Mr. Nathan...she told me Mr. Nathan was her best friend! 

We are so thankful for our real-life Mary Poppins, Ms. Kenzie! 

And to end with a thought provoking quote as we prepare to remember the death & resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ, from ODG:

"Jesus comes to my house and plays with me and when I was a baby, Jesus holded me like a little baby."

It came...

I knew it would come, I just didn't know it would come like this or when it would come.

I first want to preface this post. I am not whining. I am not complaining. I'm not even wishing we hadn't done this. I'm not looking for pitty. I'm not looking for "I told you so's." I'm just sharing my mind. Getting it off my chest, so to speak. Those who have moved away from "home" before know this feeling...and knowing I'm not alone, nor the first person to move away from "home", helps me. But so does venting :)

Today it hit me that I miss home. That's part of the problem...I think. When I'm talking to people I say "back home" often. If the saying "home is where the heart is" is true, then I've obviously left my heart in Texas. The problem? It's really not in Texas, it's physically in Washington. I am LOVING it here. I am loving the people I have met, the parks we have visited, my new favorite coffee shop. Seriously, I love it.

But what happened today made me miss my friends & neighbors who were our extended family, I miss CCDC friends who were also more like family than I could've ever imagined. I miss being able to have some one to talk to and now have to worry about the time difference.

I feel like I have been on such a rush moving here. Meeting new people, enjoying our new town, making a new home. Each & every moment has been a blessing. But, today, when things got real, I missed Texas. I'm making a commitment to not call it home anymore...starting now. Washington is home. The place where I make meals, play games with ODG, enjoy movies with Hubby at night...that is home now.

Vent over. I am home now. But I am still, and always will be, a Texas girl, because...."You can take the girl outta Texas, but you can't take the Texas outta the girl" ;-)

Family movie night snuggles with ODG

Who knows what movie we watched?

A Day in the LIfe of a 2 1/2 year old

I have several friends who write blogs who have written "A Day in the Life" posts, but I don't think I've done one since ODG (Our Darling Girl, if you're new to the blog) was an infant...and honestly, I can't even remember if I really did it or if I just thought about it!

Since we are beginning to feel settled in our new town, I thought I'd share a little about our day. Some days are more exciting than others, but today was just an average day, and I like average!

~9:00am {we slept in WAY late this morning} I got up to get dressed to go on a walk outside on this gorgeous, sunny day!

~9:30am ODG finally wakes up, we do our morning routine (play in the crib for a few minutes, diaper change, get dressed)

~10:00am ODG ate 2 scrambled eggs, 1 bite of beef bacon, and 1 whole gluten free blueberry waffle. I ate 2 scrambled eggs with a little bit of cheddar cheese and 2 strips of beef bacon. We both took our vitamins :)

Yes, she does have 3 choices of drink in the morning (juice a friend gave her that we've hung onto for 3 days, coconut milk, and water in her princess cup)

~11:00am After breakfast, ODG requested a dance party. We had a blast! I love dance parties with my sweet toddler!

~11:15am We headed out the door to go to the park...only to realize Daddy had forgotten to finish putting the carseat back together {it had been washed} last night. So while we got that taken care of, ODG talked to "Thump, the Cat" {our neighbor's cat who takes care of the mice} and played on our playground!

"Thump, the Cat" as ODG calls him

Playing on our playground outside our front door

~11:45am We finally finished fixing the carseat issue and decided we better grab lunch before heading to the park!

~12:45pm On to the park! 

Ready to go for a short walk before playing on the playground. She is happy to have her new snack tray attachment for her stroller!

This is the view at the park we went to. It's a lake named after our county, which I assume was named after an Native American tribe...I should probably research that :)

~2:30pm We made it home from the park and it's time for nap time...I decided to catch some Zzzz's while ODG napped, too, after I did a little cleaning up down stairs!

~4:45pm We woke up from naptime and are ready to enjoy the gorgeous day when Daddy gets home from work. He just got a new bike so he was riding home from work for the first time. Our community is very bicycle friendly and we're excited for this opportunity to save money on gas & car insurance! 

~5:30pm I had planned on making Spaghetti Squash & Rotisserie Chicken, but since it was so gorgeous outside we just wanted to get to another park ASAP, so we stopped at a local bakery/sandwich shop for dinner. ODG got a turkey & cheese sandwich, which she devoured, and I got a grilled veggie sandwich with pesto-goat cheese spread...YUM! 

ODG telling Daddy about her cheese. Hubby wasn't hungry, so naturally he got a cinnamon roll for dinner ;)

Towards the end of dinner, ODG decided it was time for another dance party, so she began singing and dancing to one of her favorite CCDC chapel songs, Stand on the Rock!

~6:45pm We headed to our FAVORITE park! It is right on the bay, has a great walking trail/boardwalk, and beach area...as well as the best coffee shop in the area! Hubby got some coffee to stay warm and ODG & I headed to the beach for some "sand castle building" with a gorgeous sunset backdrop!

Her hair was all over the place because I forgot her bow ;)

~8:00pm We headed home and Hubby bathed ODG so I could type up this post. Before she headed upstairs I asked about her day...I typically like to ask what her favorite part of the day is and LOVE hearing the things she remembers :)

~9:00pm Now she is all clean and ready for bed in her Minnie Mouse robe and night gown. On sunny days & bath days we tend to stay up later. Her normal bedtime is 8-8:30pm :) 

She was saying cheese with a mouth full of oranges (her bedtime snack)

P.S. Before we go upstairs, ODG decided she should sing "Herman the Warm"....thanks for that one, Ms. Mindy...she hasn't quite got all the words down ;) 

If you have done a "Day In the Life" post, share the link! I'd love to read what your life looks like!

ODG *hearts* ELF

When Hubby accepted the job up here in the Pacific Northwest, we knew only 2 other people/families in the entire state....one on the far opposite side of the state that I haven't seen since I was 16 years old (maybe even younger?) but have kept in contact thanks to Facebook, and one who lived about an hour away. Even just knowing that two people I loved lived on the same side of the country was comforting, so when my sweet friend who lives on an island about an hour away showed interest in regularly getting together, I was THRILLED! We really do love the "F" family {I haven't really asked approval if I could mention them on the blog, so I'll keep them all anonymous for now :)} and are so grateful for their love & friendship and help getting us up here!

Did I mention how much ODG (Our Darling Girl) loves their little ELF?? Well...here are just a few pictures from the past few weeks...you decide for yourself...

ELF eating dinner while ODG holds him....because what 14 month old doesn't want to be held by a 2 1/2 year old while eating??

Oh, ya know, just watching "Boom Boom" in ODG language, or Veggietales to the rest of us

ODG holding ELF on the plasma car like daddy holds her :)

I'm pretty sure this was just a random moment where ODG "attacked" ELF with a giant hug and we naturally pulled out the phone to take pictures!

I'm absolutely certain there will be many more ODG < 3 ELF moments, so y'all be sure to stick around!

The Ides of March

Ok, I'll be completely honest. I remember learning about The Ides of March back in high school and I can't remember a single silly thing about it other than it's March 15...or I think it is at least!

Needless to say, we celebrated the day with attending the our town's St. Patrick's Day Parade! This is apparently the best parade in the area, so I was determined to go, rain or shine!

I'm so glad we went...right as we got out of the car to start walking to our spot, it started blowing cold rain on us, but we pushed through! Found a nice little spot under an awning & got comfortable. We were right in front of a new floral shop so it smelled LOVELY!

Thankfully, moments before the parade, the rain subsided and the sun poked through just a little bit! While we were waiting, a mother & daughter dressed up in green & gold from head to tow were passing out gold chocolate coins to bystanders. I know we're not supposed to take candy from strangers, but it was a parade, people! The mom asked if she could give it to ODG (our darling girl), which I thought was really respectful, and I of course said yes. ODG was SO THRILLED with her gold coin! She ate it later on as the parade was passing by.

Unfortunately, that's about all the pictures I got of the parade. I was taking Instagram video {follow me at 512smellme}, but Hubby was too busy enjoying the parade himself to snap any pictures on his phone, and of course we didn't have the real camera :) ODG's favorite part was waving to the numerous fire engines in the parade - every town within a 20 mile radius of ours had their fire station represented. ODG had a cute little "beauty queen" wave going on...I wish I could've snapped a picture, but I was holding her and couldn't get a good angle. It was precious & completely uncoached, I promise! 

After the parade, we bought a new stroller **YAY Christmas gifts!!** that I absolutely cannot wait to take on the trails around here, and went shopping for Hubby a new bike so we can save money on gas & car maintenance by him riding his bike to work {very common around here}. Both of these shopping trips were spurred on by the gorgeous weather we experienced last week...I'm told this is what it's like (plus about 10-15 degrees) come April-September -- I.CAN'T.WAIT!

The day the Lady Bears won the Big XII Championship! Sic 'em!!

Enjoying the sunny day at a beach!

Sunset that night - our view from our table at dinner {this picture was actually taken behind a window!}

The next day our view from a different park! 

 Now that Hubby has started work we are settling into a normal routine! Until next time...