My Other Baby

So lately this little guy has been on my mind a lot...

For those of you who may not know, we have been foster parents for three years and have had 7 foster kids live with our family.  We were blessed to have two of those babies join our forever family.  Four of our foster kids were only with us for several weeks.  

And then there's Mikey.  Mikey came into our care when he was 11 months old and was with us for 6 beautiful, hectic, and emotional months.  He is such a great little guy and became such a big part of our family.  

Mikey and Sam are only a month apart and life was very busy, to say the least. (Check out Mont in the back of this picture!)

The kids adored Mikey.  He had the cutest, most infectious laugh and was such a roly poly little baby!  Garreth used to say that Mikey was built like a bowling ball!

I still can't get over how many times I got asked if these two were twins!

Best friends and worst enemies.  After Mikey went home, Sam seemed a little lost and lonely for a week.  They were two little peas in a pod.

It was hard to get him to show it for pictures, but what a great smile!

Below is what our family looked like for two crazy weeks.  DCFS called to see if we could take a sibling group of three.  The kids were at the emergency shelter and needed a placement quickly and if we couldn't take them, would have to be split up and go to separate foster homes.  Since our hearts are much bigger than our brains, we agreed to take them.  But logistically we knew that it could only be short-term, until the state could find a family willing to foster all three.  After two very stressful weeks, the state found a family that could take the two girls (Cassie, age 10 and Mykala, age 2) but not the baby.  By this time we had fallen completely in love with Mikey, so when they asked if we could keep him, the answer was easy.

This was a very bittersweet day.  I'm getting so emotional just writing about it.  This was the day we had to return Mikey to his family.  They worked so hard to turn their lives around for their kids and we were proud of them for that, but he had become our baby, too.  Lots of tears were shed that day and for many days afterwards.

Today is Mikey's third birthday.  

I still think about him and miss him and wonder how he's doing and what he looks like now.  It's hard to know that he will never even remember our family, but I hear that his family is doing really well and I'm so grateful for that.  He is a truly great kid, and I'll probably always think of him as mine.  

I love you, baby Mikey!  Happy Birthday!

FINALLY!

After nearly three months of patiently waiting, we are proud to be the new owners of this:

Yay!  We closed on Wednesday and got the keys today so we finally feel like it's real!  Now we are back in moving mode, although this one shouldn't be too bad since it's only fifteen minutes away.

The kids have been a great help packing boxes.  Hopefully the novelty doesn't wear off for a while! 

Dec in a box.

Sam and the contents of his room.

Bless her heart, Grace likes to label things very specifically after she tapes the box up.  I'm sure all the people from church who come to help us move next week won't wonder at all about the contents of this one..... (the little hearts are a nice touch, too, don't you think?)

Summer Fun

Hooray!  Summer has finally made it to the Washington coast!

Grace's Last Day of 2nd Grade

Grace's first day of second grade, August 2007:

Grace's last day of second grade, June 2008.

These pictures and Liam's make me laugh - the lighting in the ones I took this week makes them look SO pale!  Don't get me wrong, it's not like we all have great tans or anything (we do live in Washington after all!) 

Last week Grace's teacher called to tell me that Grace would be getting another award at the assembly on the last day of school so that we could be there.  She said that she usually doesn't give kids more than one (Grace got the academic award last trimester), but that she felt that Grace had earned the Citizenship award more than anyone else in the class!  What a great kid!

Holding her Citizenship award.

Grace, her brother, and her best friends from class!

Grace and her teacher, Mrs. McCormack.  She is an awesome teacher and Grace loves her so much!  (Yes, she looks like a supermodel in real life, too!)

Let the summer fun (and sibling fights) begin!!!

Bloedel Donovan Park video

Maybe the last video we posted was enough to make you not want to see any more from us, but just in case(!)... here is my first attempt at iMovie using video clips instead of pictures.

For some reason when I uploaded it to Blogger, the pixelation got off a little, making it look like the kids are on an episode of "Cops."  They aren't.  It's just technical difficulties.

True love isn't always pretty

We seriously need some friends....

 

A special thanks to Larry for introducing us to this new form of expression.  This is going straight to  American Idol.  Simon is a freak for originality. 

Liam's Kindergarten Graduation

Liam's first day of kindergarten, August 2007:

Liam's last day of kindergarten: June 2008

I can't believe my baby boy is already done with kindergarten!  He had such a great year and has really loved school.  He's come a long way from the first few weeks when he'd cry when I dropped him off (and then I'd go home and cry, too!)  He has really grown up into such a little man.  He is such a smart little guy and is loved by his teachers.  

Yesterday they had their graduation ceremony.  The teachers had the kids come in (to "Pomp and Circumstance") two by two, linking arms, and walk up the aisle with the step-together-step that is done in weddings.  The kids were so funny - each of them had their own funny little interpretation of the walk they were supposed to do.  (Liam's looked a little like a limp)

Ms. Lee and Mrs. Robertson

The graduate.  

I thought since I'd been through this before with Grace that I wouldn't get emotional.  I was wrong.

The people have spoken...

...but Liam isn't listening.  Even though "long hair" won the poll 9 votes to 8, Liam still decided to go short.  (Sad, but what can I do?  Free agency stinks sometimes...)  

Here's the "before" picture:  (I took several, but Liam requested that I use this one, "because my neck looks Incredible Hulk-ish in it.")

And the "after" shot:  (Let's face it, he's a handsome devil no matter what his hair looks like!)

Boys in Trees

I should have mentioned in my last post what a great husband I have!  He and the kids had so much fun while I was in Boise and I even came home to a clean house and kids looking their Sunday best.  He is such a great father!

While I was gone, the boys spent a lot of time climbing our cherry tree and Garreth made them a rope swing, which they loved.  They were very excited to show me their tricks when I got home!

And a few other pictures...

Sam riding his trike...

...and a very typical scene at our house - boys wrestling.  Even Declan now gets in on the action!

Miss Idaho

This weekend I got to fly down to Boise to see my baby sister compete in the Miss Idaho pageant.  Madi did great and we were all so proud of her!

Madi made it into the top seven and won two awards - one for community service and also the preliminary talent award.  She was awesome!

The pageant was two nights and Lucy went with us the first night, but didn't quite make it all the way through!

At the post-pageant reception at the hotel.

All the sisters!

It was so great to see my family again and spend some time together!  Here's part of the gang at breakfast at the hotel.

Lucy and Iris.

One of my favorite parts of the weekend was meeting my newest nephew Tripton for the first time!  He is such a cutie!

Same hairdo as Dad!

Bailey and Trip.

Saturday was so much fun.  Some of us went shopping at the outlet mall, then we all met up at the park by the zoo for a birthday/Father's Day picnic. (Quincy, Bailey, Lisa, Lucy, and Grandma all had birthdays this month - Grandma's was on Saturday)  Here's Halle and I in our cool shades.

All the grandkids except Tegan and the Ratchford kids in their new patriotic outfits, courtesy of Nana. 

Lucy and Iris grooming Fluffy the cat.

Kenyoun, Easton, and Papa checking out Papa's new remote control helicopter.

Halle and Tom working on their cheerleading routine.

The whole gang (minus Madi).

Quincy and Violet.

We also got to ride the paddle boats on the lake, which was SO much fun!  Here's Jamie, Easton, and Bailey. 

Lucy and Papa.

To all my family, 

It was SO great to see you all!  Thanks for everything, Mom and Dad!  I love you and can't wait to see you next month!