Howdy!

Look who has teeth! They popped through a few weeks ago. One right after the other. It's no wonder that she's been drooling buckets!! I can't believe my itty bitty teeny tiny baby is six months old! How can time possibly pass so quickly?

She is making great progress in her DOC Band. She's been in it for almost 4 weeks. I'm hoping that she only has to wear it for six weeks. We'll see. Her head is rounding out nicely!

She is starting to sit up by herself...for about 20-30 seconds at a time! I"m afraid it won't be long before she crawls! I don't want to rush that one! She is pushing up on her arms...looks like she is doing yoga! And scooting like an inch worm! We go for her 6 month check up on Tuesday and I can't wait to see how much she weighs. She is wearing 9 months clothes because she is sooo long! They barely touch her body around her middle, but she can finally straighten out her legs! She is finally eating pretty well. She averages about 4 ounces at each bottle feed. And she is eating her food nicely! She love the green stuff (peas, green beans), squash and sweet potatoes! She also loves yogurt! I gave it to her for the first time a few days ago. She is just precious and happy and barely fusses. What a great baby!!

AB had an interesting week. He and his BFF get in trouble for horsing around on Wednesday. I got a call from the school principal on Thursday and she said that AB had something to tell me. Oh Geez! Apparently a boy told AB to put a sign on a girl's back that said, "I have a di*k". WHAT?! That is so cruel! Needless to say, he was in big trouble. THEN, on Friday I got a call from a teacher saying that he was breaking crayons and chalk and throwing them across the room. Destroying school property....nice. SO. We saw the therapist on Saturday and really got to the bottom of what was going on. I figured it was because of all of the big changes in his life. I'm not so worried about him getting in trouble with his friend (although he did get in trouble). But the note thing? Turns out that he is scared of this kid that told him to put the note on her back. He apparently has been bullying AB and that's why he did what he said. Still not a nice thing to do, but I kinda get why he did it. And the crayons? Well, some kids were throwing them at him, distracting him from his work, and he got mad and threw them back. Not ok behavior, but again, I get why he did it. And the chalk? Well, he just wanted to draw with it. He swears he didn't break it and didn't throw it. We have had some talks and time together this weekend. Hopefully he will get it together and not get in trouble again anytime soon. Whew! How do parents do it?! Oh wait! I am one! When did that  happen?!

Just in case you are wondering, going to school while your husband is working full time and working on his masters degree while raising 2 children is hard! I don't know how other people do it! And I don't work! I know moms that work full time, do the mom thing, and take 2 or 3 classes. They are better women than me!

On a totally different note, I have never really been able to make a pretty fried egg. Well, my mom had a brilliant idea....cook it slowly!! Who knew! Ha!! I was so proud that I took a photo!! I think that over easy fried eggs are just gross. But AB loves them so I had to learn how to make them. They are all jiggly and squishy and runny...and the white part is all slimy...GAG!!

The End

Snow Day in Austin!!

It's a boy!!! Edited: Added more photos

We finalized AB's adoption yesterday!! He is officially our son. Not that it feels any different that it ever has. It was literally a 5 minute legal hearing and the judge never even looked at us. And the attorney thought we were adopting BB...so when she got to the part of the paperwork where she read AB's name, she was all confused thinking that our baby girls name was AB. She looked at me like "What is going on!?"..I pointed to AB and said, "we are adopting him!". She was so embarassed and kept apologizing. Don't they even read the paperwork?
AB is so excited and is very happy. He changed his name from SAB to AKB and he loved the silver monogrammed dogtags that we bought him. He's been wearing it since we gave it to him. On the way home from Dallas he said, "I can't believe I finally have a family!". I said, "Babycakes, you've had a family since long before you even stepped foot in to this house!" He just smiled.

So, finally, after months of waiting....I am happy to introduce my son....AB

I am super busy right now and don't have much time to blog. I promise I'll give more details and add more photos asap.

Waiting to go into court! Can you tell he loves this jacket?

Baby sis...chillin in the recliner!

Bullet Points...too much going on

Life is crazy...so bullet points it is.

* BB is doing great in her doc band. We went in for a check after five day and her head shape has already changed. Not sure of how the numbers work, but we had 3 mm change in 5 days. We need 16 mm total.  She doesn't even notice it. It was getting a little tight on her forehead and leaving red marks and indentions. I just cried and cried becuase I just knew that she was in pain. Yeah...like I said. She doesn't even notice it. The red marks were because it was getting too tight. It's amazing to think her head can change shape in 5 days!
 People have been really nice. I was so worried aout it.  Yesterday and man looked at her and said, "Hi cutie. Look at your little helmet!" Cue my opportunity to educate. I asked if he knew what it was for. He said no. So I told him. He was super nice. Same thing for the cashier at Target. I actually don't really give people time to ask...I just say something about not being alarmed by her little hat. And then give a quick reason why she's wearing it. I am sooo happy that people have been so nice about it. It was really stupid of me to worry so much. I was letting my vanity for my own daughter guide my thinking. Not a good thing. I realize now that this is absolutely the best thing for her. That is our goal as mothers. Period. Thanks for you kindness in regards to this whole thing.

This photo is a little squished???

* AB is doing great. We are leaving Tuesday night for Dallas for his adoption hearing. The hearing is at 8:30 am on Wednesday so we are going up the night before. It's a 3 hour drive. We are really excited. I can only imagine how it feels for him to know that this is it. He told me that he was so worried that be would turn 18 in foster care and not have a family when he grew up. BREAKS. MY. HEART. He definitely doesn't have to worry about that! I told him that he's going to be around when I'm old and gray. I asked him if he was gonna change my diaper when I got old. He was grossed out! hee hee  I can't wait to share photos of him! Next week my friends! I can't believe how quickly these 6 months have passed. I wanted to get him a gift for Gotcha Day so my husband found a sterling silver dog tag that we are going to have engraved. It is on a chain and has a keepsake box. He loves all things military so it seems appropriate for a lifelong gift! I think he is going to love it. We are getting ready for his Valentine's Day party at school on Friday. I have to make brownies for him to take and he is writing Valentine cards for his classmates. Too cute! It's fun doing all of this school stuff!  How's this for a pretty good glimpse of my gorgeous boy?!

* I was heading to school tonight, after dropping the kids off with my husband, and felt a migraine coming on. My vision got all wonky and I knew that I needed to go home. I took excedrine migraine as soon as I could stop at the pharmacy to buy some. It didn't get too bad. I came home and slept for about 2 hours. It stinks that I missed class, especially since my husband has to leave work early on Monday and Wednesday for me to get there on time. I can go tomorrow night and make up the lecture and lab. But my hubby has to figure out leaving work early yet again. He's sooo supportive and makes it easy for me to continue my education. He is a great guy. He does soooo much and is amazing with AB and BB. He gets AB ready for school every day and usually takes BB so I can sleep in in the mornings. Needless to say, BB is not sleeping through the night. Up 2-3 times. And she only takes 2-3 30 minute naps during the day. Geez...I wonder why I got a migraine? Can we say lack of sleep? Still haven't figured out the studying thing and family thing. First test on Monday and I'm so not ready.

* In laws were here last weekend. They are great and we had a nice time. They bought BB a highchair and she loves it. It's so much easier to feed her in it than her bumbo. They just love the kids and it warms my heart! My mom is coming this weekend and I'm very excited. She does soooo much while she's here and it will be nice to have some help for a few days. My friends keep telling me to let them take the kids and help out. It's just that we can't get our schedules together for it to happen! I want to have a date with H but we just haven't planned on yet. As soon as we do, K and K...look out! I'm throwing the kids your way!!

* My sister is a troubled individual. I'm pretty sure she's bi-polar. She had gastric bypass last year and lost 130 ish pounds in less than a year. Very addictive personalilty, addicted to food before surgery. Can't be addicted to food after surgery so you can imagine what has unfolded. Prescription drugs, alcohol, etc. She has been very unhappy for a long time but it has been utter chaos in her household since surgery. Her 12 year old daughter is acting out and is out of control right now. I've offered for her to come live here for a while because I'm afraid that she's going to hurt herself. 12 years old and on anti depressants, sleeping meds...etc. I totally disagree with this because she can clearly choose how to act. She is an angel when she's with me. And a devil when with her mom. I totally get it. She doesn't know how to handle the chaos that is her family. And I have a 10 year old nephew and 4 year old niece too. Anyway, all of that to say, my sister decided that we would be better off without her and tried to overdose on pills. She got home with her kids and told them to go play. She wrote a suicide note and proceeded to take handfuls of pills. 12 year old finds her slurring and acting drunk and calls 911. Sister is ok...had quite a hangover for several days. And I don't even think she really gets the severity of what she did. Fuel for the fire of 12 year olds behavior. She said that it just hit her and she decided in about 20 minutes to do it. No apologies really...it just happened and there is nothing she can do about it. I have NO idea how to help her. Plus we live in different states. Thankfully. Any ideas? I have no idea about depression as I don't suffer with it.

* My brain has been full and noisy. I don't like it. Very concerned about my sister and her family. Stressed about school. Blessed as all get out to have a wonderful husband and 2 amazing children. Blessed that we don't have to deal with social workers after next week!

I leave you with BB's newest trick. Sticking out her tongue all the time!

She has so much hair all of a sudden! This was today after bath time. She gets 1 hours out of her band a day.

Better than expected

BB got her doc band today and I was so suprised at how well she did. I was soooo happy about it. She didn't even seem to notice. I hope that the next 6-8 weeks goes by quickly and she is comfortable. I decorated the band with butterflies and flowers so it looks really cute. She wore it in the office for about 15 minutes and her head was soaked with sweat. It is supposed to get better as she adjusts to it but holy cow!

I'm exhausted, lots going on but no time to blog right now. Hope
you are ok!