April update

Well, another week and month is about over. We started the month preparing for Kenny's move to South Korea and wondering if he was moving and working without the federal government paying him. Well, that was taken care of just before his departure, but not without a TON of heartburn.

Kenny made it safely to Korea and we learned how to use Skype. Sydney thinks that it's really cool to see her daddy on the computer, but she still walks around to the back of the laptop to see if he's sitting there. :-) She'll "talk" to him, waive and blow kisses when he's on Skype. When he's on the phone, she just giggles and waives to the phone not quite sure what to do.

Orrin has been playing baseball and we don't see him much. He's also still involved with the HS band and is currently in D.C. on a trip with the band. They were privileged enough to play in front of the Jefferson Memorial...just wish that I could have been there. But, I'm sure that he wouldn't have had quite as much fun if mom and the younger siblings were tagging along.

Mack isn't playing sports right now, well, if you don't count video games. He still watches any sport in earnest and can tell you almost anything you want to know about any of them. Could I possibly have a future sportscaster in the family?

Overall, the boys are growing up way too quickly and I still have a hard time when I think about the fact that Orrin will be a Senior in HS in the fall. It's hard enough when he goes away for a short period of time on a school trip...what will I do when he goes to college?

Sydney, well, she's still our little princes. She'll be 16 months old on Saturday...so hard to believe that time has passed us by so quickly. We still enjoy every minute with her. Well, I can't say that we totally enjoyed the weeks when she was trying to cut 5 teeth at one time, but we still loved snuggling with and comforting her. She's such a blessing to have in our lives. We are biding our time until the day when we can officially file for adoption of her and finalize it by changing her name to Sydney DeLayne Rice (the middle and last will be new).

The kids and I had a wonderful Easter, although a little lonely without dad. We had an indoor Easter egg hunt for Sydney (plastic eggs of course) and spent the day together. The boys wanted to go to MiYabi for dinner instead of having the traditional ham and fixings. That didn't really bother me because I didn't have to spend all day cooking...just got to enjoy quality time with my kids.

I hope that you and yours had a Happy Easter and you're doing well this spring. We were spared by the tornadoes that came through North Carolina, although they wreaked havoc in all directions around where we live. We continue to keep those who were affected in our prayers, along with all of those who have been affected in the South in the past 24-hours.

Wishing you all a wonderful Spring and reminding you to enjoy every minute that you have with family and friends as life IS TOO SHORT.

How time flies...

It's so hard to believe that a year ago today, a "stork" of sorts put the most beautiful 5-week old baby girl in my arms. She was the smallest baby that I had seen in a long time and she was entrusted to our care.

Kenny was gone and his response was "she's beautiful, but so little." I was worried about the boys and their reaction. Over that weekend we had shopped and I'd tried to tell them how little she'd be, but she was even smaller than I'd expected. They were smitten from the moment they saw her and she quickly wrapped her little finger around all of our hearts.

I have to say that I have the most wonderful husband and sons that a woman could ask for. Kenny would call from Afghanistan to check on his "girls and boys." The boys would almost fight when I'd get home with her after I returned to work on who could get her out of the car. It took a little while for them to hold her because of her size, but once they realized that they wouldn't break her, they were in full big brother mode. They quickly learned (without being asked) how to change diapers and they both learned how to make bottles. And, who would think that two teenage boys would have more photos on their cell phones of this sweet little thing than they do of friends and/or girls.

I wondered how I'd do it being "mom" to an infant again after almost 13 years. Well, the sleep deprivation wasn't as bad as I'd remembered and her little smiles and the snuggles made up for any sleep that I was missing.

Over the past year we've witnessed all of her firsts, been scared when we had to see a cardiologist, but rejoiced months later upon finding out the problem had corrected itself. We've lost sleep, had to learn to carry everything but the kitchen sink every time we leave the house, but all of us walk with a spring in our step because she's brought so much to our lives.

Who would have thought that this little person would bring so much joy into the lives that she has touched. We are the ones who are truly blessed to have her as part of our family and we sincerely hope that she is legally ours soon because she's already ours in our hearts.

Time marches on...

Well, day by day we get closer to Kenny's homecoming and out next court date.

The boys are growing and getting closer and closer to leaving home to lead their own lives. I can hardly believe that in less than two weeks, my baby boy will be a teenager. But, then again, my firstborn is old enough to get his license. And, we're hoping to start all over. Well, we've basically started over since Sydney came to live wiht us when he was 5 weeks old, but her future with us is so uncertain. We do not treat her as if she is with us for a short time, she is one of us. She knows that we are her family, regardless of whether or not we are biologically linked. She looks to us for love, stability and safety and receives it all 10 fold.

I have seen such a change in my boys since she came into our family. They take more time to stop and smell the roses so to speak. They don't immediately lock theirselves in their rooms or the bonus room, they come downstairs just to see what she's doing. They love to make her smile and giggle. They can't wait until she crawls and I tell them not to push because I want to savor every single thing that she does. I know, regardless of whether we get to adopt her or not, this is the last baby that I will raise. After Sydney, I'll just have to wait for grandchildren.

For now, time will continue to march on, we'll get Kenny home, our lives will return somewhat to "normal," whatever that is. And, we'll wait until sometime in September and see what the court says.

More to come...

4th of July

What a wonderful 4th of July. We were able to spend the evening with family and friends alike. We had great food (way too much of it) and fellowship. We were able to watch not only our fireworks display, but those of other subdivisions in the immediate area...they seemed to go on forever.

How awesome to see two children watch their first 4th of July fireworks.

The only thing that would have made the day better would have been if Kenny was here to share it with us.

Lilypie - First Birthday ticker code selection

Lilypie - First Birthday ticker code selection: ""

Lilypie - Waiting to Adopt ticker code selection

Lilypie - Waiting to Adopt ticker code selection: ""

Sixteen

It's hard to believe that my first baby is now 16. No Sweet 16 like the girls get, but 16 nonetheless. Where has time gone?

It seems like yesterday that I was sitting and watching him sleep and basking in the fact that he was really mine. To think back on his first smile, the first time he crawled and walked. The first time he said "mama" and reached for me to hold him. Now, I look up at my "baby" because he is 6'4" and towers over everyone else in the family.

He's in football and baseball and does what he feels is "necessary" in school. He's also in the high school band and has a wonderful girlfriend. Still hard to believe that he's going to be a junior in high school in a few short months. We won't even get into the fact that he can legally drive.

And, here we are trying to start the journey all over again. But, what can you do but love them, give them your all and hope that when they go out into the world you have given them all of the skills they need in order to succeed and become a productive member of society.