Finally.? Talk time.? Updates…

Me

I am feeling really good now.? Yeah.? Took a little over 3 weeks for me to feel pretty normal but I am back ready to embrace my world (though I still can’t lift stuff and I keep forgetting).? I am excited for 2011!? New baby coming and ideas for shoots!? And I have some really WONDERFUL news for those that may be out of the loop on this – GUESS WHO IS HOME?? Daniel, Brooke, Noah, Graham, Braxtyn, Cozette, and baby girl are HOME (well almost – Daniel will be here by the end of the week but Brooke and the kids are back).? All is back right with my world.? :)?? Praying Daniel finds a job in PHOENIX so they can stay here.??? And yes – I DID say BABY GIRL!? Number five will be making her arrival in May!? Wooohooo!? By the way, Brooke took one of those over the counter gender testers early on and we all were convinced (based on the results) that the baby was a boy.? Save your money folks.

And our intent is still to get on an adoption list in March assuming we have enough money by then (waiting for tax refund).? This year I have a goal to capture more lifestyle like shots of the kids.? The motivating factor for this is actually our adoption letter because I don’t want just posed shots.? There is a fine line between snapshots and lifestyle though so I really need to work on that.? I want to catch real interaction and moments and genuine play date BUT I want it managed as well (as in composition, lighting, background distraction, etc.).? So expect to see more lifestyle shots of my three in the next two months.? I need to get on the ball with this but I am still playing catch up after losing the last few weeks.

Jim

I still like him.? A. Lot.? But…sometimes he bugs me.? He really does.

Recently Jim decided to go green with some of our light bulbs because he gets agitated at me for being an energy burner.?? I try.? Really I do but I get distracted and forget.?? The trouble didn’t start until he replaced the bulb over our master bath toilet.

Me:? Honey please please please – I am begging you.? Replace the light bulb over the toilet.? This totally doesn’t work for girls.? It only takes me 20 seconds to go and it takes MUCH longer than that for the light to come on full power so I am having to go in the dark.

Jim:? I think the real problem is that you wait way too long to have to go and then it ONLY takes you 20 seconds to go.

He still hasn’t replaced the light.

To his credit though, he did finally take the key lock off my gas tank!? That was a blessing!? Gracious.

Tanner

Tanner is enjoying the heck out of football.? He practically sleeps with his football and carries it around everywhere.? He is a crack up on the field because when the coach tells him to cover somebody he is on them like white on rice.? He also DOES care that mom is at the games and is paying attention.? He was pretty disappointed when I couldn’t go due to my surgery.? His favorite team is the Cardinals (of course).

He is still making me giggle with his fact finding.? He is such a little fact collector (note to Grandma Brinkman – he LOVED the National Geographic Children’s Almanac you bought him – your thank you card is still on my kitchen counter – I am such a loser).? He reads his history and science in bed at night and he commonly calls to me to share tidbits.? One night he was impressed with a king that was responsible for the first library.? Recently he was telling me about a King that was a strong as a lion and when I told him that was interesting he very seriously said “I thought so”.

Tanner is also loving Lego sets.? Figures doesn’t it?? That seems very Tanner I think.? He loves to research them and make 3D mockups on the Lego site too (but boy howdy are they expensive!)

He is so affectionate and sweet and is starting to open up a bit more with other people.? Both Sweetie and Grandma have been so happy about that fact.? He has been such a big help to me lately too.? Mmmmmm…I adore that boy.

Ty

Ty.? Ty.? Ty.? How many times in a day do we say that?

Ty (in the car):? Mommy I am not feeling so good.? When we get home I had better not clean.

Me:? Okay.? No problem.? You can go straight to bed when you get home and get some rest so that you will feel better.

Several minutes of contemplation goes by.

Ty:? I might feel better when your done cleaning.

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Ty is terrible at Hide and Seek.? He gets all cozy in his hiding place and then he yells at the top of his lungs ” I AM THE BEST HIDER!!!!!!”?? I have tried and tried to explain to him how counterproductive it is to say anything while hiding but to no avail.? I think he just likes to be found.

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What can I do about Ty’s impulse issues?? This is such a toughie for us to manage.? Does ANYONE out there have experience with this disability?? I am not talking about normal childhood impulsiveness here.? I am talking about a legitimate disability.? It so often seems unfair to punish him for acting on impulse because I realize that he rarely has that moment of contemplation BEFORE he acts but as a parent, I have to do something.? It is so so hard.? Sometimes though it can be funny.? Case in point.? Tori said a bad word the other day and I asked where she heard it from.? She said Ty’s DSI.?? Hmmmmmmm…..? Jim went in and got the DSI and reviewed the recordings.? Ty had recorded HIMSELF saying a bad word.? That is the thing about impulsive kiddos.? They don’t think ahead to avoid a trail of evidence.? LOL.

In all seriousness though, I did observe something lately that made me teary eyed.? I don’t often notice Ty contemplating before acting but once in awhile I have some hope.? He was at Sweetie’s house and was holding a piece of paper.? He was starting to tear it up and Sweetie told him that he best not destroy it or he would be in trouble.? A short bit passed and then he said “Sweetie can you please take this?? I don’t think I can keep from tearing it much longer.”?? I was so moved (and also sad) that I got choked up.? I am so sorry that Ty struggles this way but the fact that in that moment he REALIZED his own struggle and made an effort to get help – now that was HUGE – I mean absolutely enormous!

Ty and Tori have been playing together a lot lately.? Ty can’t “play” in the traditional sense (as in with toys) but he does LOVE to pretend and an almost 3 year old sister is the perfect partner for that.? They play “Mom and Dad” all the time.?? I giggle at the role confusion though because they play this game as in Ty is “a” Dad and Tori is “a” mom but then they call each other “Mom” and “Dad” too and have no obvious connection to each other.? Whatever.? They have fun.

And so far….Ty has not forced out anymore teeth.? :)? I was really worried that he would get OCD about that but thankfully he hasn’t.

Tori

I can’t remember when the last time I posted on the kids was so some of this may be repeat.

In December, Grammy fell and broke her hip.? Tori has had a fixation with broken hips ever since.? She has broken hers now several times.? :)?? After the last month, if she wasn’t afraid of Dr.s before she sure will be now.? She went with me to my appointment recently and asked me if the Dr. was going to “cut” me again.? Yikes.? She doesn’t like him for that because the consequence to her is that I can’t pick her up.? She hasn’t been happy about that but I do see her going to her Daddy more and more for evening cuddle time and Jim certainly hasn’t minded that.

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She has radar for makeup.? She often knows within minutes if I have applied lipstick and she asks about it.? She isn’t big on kissing on demand UNLESS I have lipstick on.? Then she is begging me.? She has full appreciation for what I have coined “lip transfers”.? She kisses me so that she can put makeup on by getting my lipstick onto her lips.? Makes her very happy.

I like to put Vics on my lips a lot and she has termed this “Hot Lips”.? She loves it.? Beware though.? If you try to remove her “hot lips” either by accident or intentionally, she will blow a fuse.? Ty bumped into her the other day and she started crying and yelling at him “AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!? YOU JUST BROKE MY HOT LIPS!!!!”? Ty then laughs and says “Haaaaaa!? Your hilarious.”? She replied with “NO.? That is NOT funny!”

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She is getting more and more bossy all the time and her communication skills are maturing exponentially.? Yesterday at the kitchen table the boys (I assume) were bugging her and I heard her say “You did that ON PURPOSE!”

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Ty can’t keep a secret.? Neither can his sister.? Jim and I were discussing the boys christmas list in our bedroom one evening and were not cognizant of the fact that Tori was nearby listening.? Jim had written his list down (he shops for boys – I shop for Tori) and he reminded me to hide the list so that Ty wouldn’t find it.?? We left the bedroom and within minutes I heard Tori saying to Tanner “You got Lego’s from Daddy!”?? Yikes.? Our little girl has big ears.? Time to watch it.

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Tori is becoming a pro on the computer.? I am very impressed with her symbol recognition.? I often forget she can’t read and I give her instructions like “Tori hit cancel and open up (whatever)”.? She follows my instructions so well and I never know how she knew what I was telling her to do.? She searches for games and navigates with a mouse really well.??? We have Kidzui downloaded on our computer because the kids get boundaried in there and all the games are protected so they can’t surf the web.? There are quite a few dress up games and Tori loves them.?? There is also a babysitting game that drives her crazy.? One day she was playing it and more and more babies kept being dropped off.? There were four!? Next thing I know she is whining and saying “Anudder baby?? Those babies cry a lot!!!”?? She tends to avoid that game ever since.

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I love the way she says tickles.? “Keekles”.? She loves to be “keekled” and can’t get enough of it.? Ty loves to be keekled too but I have to warn people about tickling Ty because he doesn’t breathe when he is tickled and it scares me when someone takes it too far because he holds his breath way too long.? (Being serious about this – please don’t try it – this is one area that I still see breath holding as an issue).

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She is writing her own songs now.? Her very first song was “Cookie Monster is my friend.? Cookie Monster is my friend.? He’s right here.? He is in the bath.? Cookie Monster is my friend.”??? Part of me wonders though if she wrote this little diddy to annoy her brother because everyone knows that Cookie Monster is in fact, Ty’s friend.? 🙂

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When I processed the picture at the top of this blog we had the following conversation:

Me:? Look at that pretty little girl!

Tori:? Is that meeeeeeee?

Me:? Yes

Tori:? Should I say oh my gosh?

LOL.? She is such a girl.? And an Everett.

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I just love it when she uses my postage stamps as stickers.?? Grrrrrrr.? I have about 10 letters on my kitchen counter ready to go out and had to Elmer’s glue the stamps on all of them.

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Tori – Did I wake up?

Me – Yes you did.? And then you put on the bunny costume that was too small.

Tori – And then I ate some chips on your bed.

Me – And what did you do next?

Tori – I spilled your drink.

Me – Yep

Tori – And then you said “DOG GONE IT!”

Me – (Giggle)

Tori – (Gaining confidence because of my giggle).? Can I do that again?? (Devilish grin)

Me – Can you do what again?

Tori – Spill your drink.

Tori – Tell Jim

(As in “I am so funny that I think you should tell Daddy how funny I am).??? Another point I would add (as if it isn’t obvious) is that it is very difficult to intimidate my wee one.? Clearly my aggravation over her spilling my drink ON MY BED was not much of a deterrent.

That’s all I got for today.? 🙂