Girl Power~

Evie and Holly were chosen to hold Sparky at Awana Wednesday night, and they LOVED it~

Mimi came over to keep the kids for a little while this morning, and Calla LOVED having her home!!!

Calla~

Calla has moved to her room and big girl bed~

I really didn't see this happening so soon but I'm glad I went with it.
Calla had been sleeping in our room on a loveseat set up as a little bed.
She wasn't falling asleep until almost 10:30 each night and usually one of us needed to be in the room with her.
She has really fallen in love with Evie and Holly~ playing together in their room.
Evie began asking if Calla could sleep up there... I wasn't ready but decided to give it a try.
We bought her a mattress, set up her bed, and from the first night it has been amazing.
Last night she fell asleep by 8:30 and still sleeping now.

It is important to take cues from your children when helping them adjust to their new life.
Our ideas may not always be what they need.
I think Calla needed to be doing what her siblings were doing... sleeping in her own room in her own bed.
So thankful for bitties that have fallen head over heels in love with each other!

Outside ALL Weekend~

Our weekend was full of outside time with four wheeling and car washing~

 We opened the pool last week and surprisingly, it was pretty clear~

 It was excruciatingly cold so the little girls kept running in to put on another swimsuits.
When they ran out, it was a bikini of bloomers and swimmys. :)

It was a wonderful weekend in our little corner of the world!

Lovely Moments~

The Art Stories are really improving our drawing skills.
The boys loved drawing planes when we read The Glorious Flight~

 I have been printing paintings online to give the kids examples to inspire them~

 I'd say it's working!
We had the pleasure of keeping sweet Slate this week,
and it gave us a glimpse of having a toddler back in the house~

The boys finished a whole set of Bob books, and believe they are readers now~

Macy celebrated her first birthday~

Rosie and Hayden are home for Spring break~

AND I pulled out my sewing machine again to make boutique bottoms for the bitty girls.
It was broken, so I bought a serger with my birthday money, and just look at the cuteness~

Can't wait to make more!!!

Just Schooling~

We decided everyone needed a little more room so we spread out~

Moving the little white table back in.

EC and HM were so concerned of where CA would sit

and now they are happy she will have a place.

I love how they are already including her in their thoughts and plans.

God is good!!!

Getting Ready for CallaAnne~

When CA comes home and has adjusted to her new life,

she will share a room with the bitty girls.

It has been Rosie's room, EK & SJ's room, and now the bitties~

I wanted a softer, dreamier feel so Scott, Amelia, and I painted it pink today~

We have another iron bed to put up and need to get things on the wall.

{Would love suggestions if you have some}

We also created a little study space for Rosie~

We plan to hang an old window above the banner too.

{Loved having her home this weekend nursing her back to health too!!!}

HollyMei Day~ {One Year}

HollyMei has been with us for one year 

and the transformation redemption has been amazing to experience

from a very scared little girl~

 To one of joy and confidence~

From two complete strangers joined together as sisters~

 To being real sisters, twins, and the sweetest best friends they could ask for~

Sweet HollyMei, we couldn't love you more and so thankful God chose us to be your family!

You are so sweet, funny, and adorable!

Bless you forever on your HollyMei Day!!!

Just Crusin'~

Just two little girls in their little pink jeep crusin' around their yard!

Living the good life!!

Beautiful Spring Weather~

Makes for wonderful things like...
Hanging our Hummingbird feeder and Birdhouse~

 Drawing on blackboards in the garage~

{They don't even realize they are learning while playing}
LOVING this Beautiful Spring Weather!

Fun @ Church~

Our children began a new series @ Kidspring this Sunday called Crowned
and the bitty girls met the princesses~

Please check out the videos from this week
and know we are crowned sons and daughters of the King!!!

We Are Royalty

Dentist Visits~

Over the last couple of weeks all 6 kids have visited the dentist

and all 120 teeth were healthy!

Today Evie and Holly had their very first cleaning~

 and they were both SO brave...

a huge deal with the extreme anxiety Evie has suffered but now all gone!

Holly jumped in the chair first and her many faces were priceless~

 Next was Evie and she was SO proud of herself~

We LOVE Dr. Grizzle~

 and they had to take a look at their pearly whites on the way home!

For school, I printed photos of their visit~

We glued into journals and wrote words... memory recorded forever.

Weekend Catch Ups~

Saturday was just a day of hanging out doing whatever~

LOVED seeing SJ pick up the book we read a couple of times this week

and read it to WP... makes a mom's heart happy!

Sunday was church and the girls did even better this week.

They went in with Ms Ally and didn't even cry when they shut the door.

There was tears when I picked up because Evie didn't get to meet the pirate

in the video... she cheered up when we watched it again on my phone.

Just never know what to expect in these little trusting hearts.

Learning to expect anything and everything then just go with it~

AND I found all these awesome Leap Frog items in the $1 aisle at Target!!!

They have really come in handy this week during learning time!

Happy 6 Months Forever HollyMei~ {on Tuesday}

Six months with HollyMei...

Seems like she's always been with us~

 Full of personality yet quiet and calm.

Before HollyMei came home, Evie followed the boys everywhere they went

but now she is SO happy to have her BFF with her all the time!

She and Evie are the best of friends and completely act like sisters/TWINS~

HollyMei is talking up a storm now and repeats everything said...

especially Evie who has had a beautiful influence on her.

{Favorite question: Is dat funny?}~

It really is a miracle how God chose her for our family so perfectly.

Such a precious blessing in our family and we couldn't love her more.

Happy 6 Months Forever HollyMei!!!

Ben Curtis WEEK~

BC's babysitter is out for the week SO we are ON!!!

Made it out this am just in time for our sweet social worker to meet us @ BC's house~

for Evie and Payne's 2 year report and Holly's 6 mth report...

Time is flying!!!

NO need to worry that BC is bored~

 Plenty of entertainment~

 Everywhere he turns~

And just in case you need to see him live~

A living doll!!!

Safe and Sound~ {Dogs and Bikes}

Who is still afraid of our dog Sadie?~

Yes, the bitty girls but safe in daddy's arms!!!

AND, who listens to their sisters when they say...
 It's time to learn to ride a bike without training wheels?~

Guess what?

They BOTH learned on a pink bike :)

They begged Scott to take training wheels off our boy bike and he did!
I guess we need another one now...
GREAT job boys!!!

An Explosion of Language~

Music is certainly HollyMei's favorite language

and just this week her language has exploded!

She was sitting in Scott's lap last night when he asked her to sing the ABCs~

{We're getting there}

And then to count~

Evie is a great influence on her and usually a positive one (wink)~

I can tell you there is NO shortage for words around here

and 'Momma' is usually the one I hear most...

Wouldn't trade it for the world!

Monday Moments~

Another trip to the dr... SJ has pink eye and already better~

Made a Target run and tonight when time for pjs...

these two squeezed themselves into size 2 footies because that's what BC wears!

Time to hit Carter's I think!!! :)

A Sweet Weekend~

Starting with IG moments from Friday to Sunday~

The main attraction was little Ben Curtis being here ALL weekend with Savannah~

 and my camera couldn't stop taking photos of him~

 Evie and Holly really loved hanging out on the blanket with him~

A Sweet Weekend for sure!

I Spoke Too Soon~

Remember me mentioning how we tend to get sick after closing on Fridays?

Ummm it happened again yesterday afternoon.

Holly went down for her nap about 1:15 and was still sleeping @ 4:30.

When I woke her, she was pretty hot and I was thinking strep like WP.

 Our ped urged us to go to CHOA since we had so many unknowns with her special need 

and that's exactly what we did arriving @ 8pm~

 It is quite the experience to be in the ER of a children's hospital on a Friday night!

You see it all and seriously count your blessings to be holding the ones with you.

We were taken back, IV inserted, and the wait began.

The nurses were SO awesome and loaded us up with bubbles and stickers~ 

 They ran a strep, UTI, and blood tests then whisked HM off in a wheelchair for CT scan and X-ray~

 Everyone commented how trusting and calm she was through it all 

even though she couldn't understand anything we were doing.

Big balloons were delivered for a good job done and it was starting to look like a circus!

All tests came back negative and we were able to see a neurosurgeon about one big concern... a shunt malfunction.

We were very thankful to hear everything was working perfectly and these two pretty much slept through the commotion~ 

 Even though it was two hours to the hospital and we had to sit in the waiting room with all kinds of trauma around us, then back to a room where we waited and waited and waited for info...

we didn't find anything making Holly feel bad but the trip was not wasted...

we gained SO much info about her need and her attachment to us grew through the whole thing as well.

We were finally released after 2 and made it home close to 4 this morning.

We are home and SO thankful to be watching her closely here.

We are scheduled to see the neurosurgeon on Tuesday and lots of tests done last night are now complete before we go!!!

Not the way we would choose to spend our Friday evening but thankful for the amazing care we received @ CHOA!!!

We are thankful for Aunt Susan too as she had the other four over for a sleepover!!!

Such a blessing to know they were safe and happy!

Today outside time was just what the dr ordered~

Everyone enjoyed the cool water and warm sunshine!

Hoping we are all on the mend and next week will be a calmer one.