Playing in the Mud

It has been raining a lot here these past few weeks and there has formed a large puddle in our back yard. I decided to let the children play in it as long as they had clothes on that I wasn't worried about getting stained. They splashed and played for about 10-15 minutes. Then, I had them come in because they were starting to shiver. They both were completely soaked! They had fun, but they sure got cold!
We put them in the bath after words. They both screamed, but when we got them dry and into their warm Pajamas they cheered up again. They haven't asked to play in the water since.

Good News!

Yesterday the trial for the termination of the parental rights for Brigham and Rebekah started. It was scheduled to last throughout the end of the week. But, today we got a phone call from their caseworker- she said that the parents decided to sign voluntary relinquishment of their parental rights.
That means Rebekah and Brigham are legally free for adoption now!!! We are so excited! I wasn't really worried about it, but I do feel like a burden has been lifted! Now we just have to get Hyrum legally free as well.


Our little baseball player.

That's the biggest good news, but the other good news is that all three children have slept through the night twice in the past three days! It's nice to be getting my sleep.

Puppies from Grandma and Aunt Brittany

My mom and sister, Brittany, sent these puppies for the children for Valentines Day. They love them! The know whose is whose too.

I couldn't get a picture with all three of them with the puppies at the same time.

Anyone need piano lessons?

For those of you that live near us, I am trying to figure out a way to supplement Timothy's income because I'm thinking the child care business isn't going to work out so well. I haven't been liking sharing precious family time with other children. (This isn't decided for sure that I will stop doing child care, just in case my child care parents read this- talk to me if you're concerned.) I've been thinking of going back to teaching piano lessons. Anyone know of interested people? I will charge $40 per month for four thirty minute lessons. I've taught for 2 1/2 years from 2001-2004.

Sleep, need more sleep!

Actually we haven't been doing too bad. I've been averaging about 5-6 hours a night and Timothy's been averaging about 4-5 (He stays up and does homework all hours of the night sometimes.) Hyrum is actually a pretty good sleeper. He's used to sleeping for 6-8 hours stretches. It's Rebekah that has been giving us the trouble. Lately she's decided that she wants to be held while she sleeps, and have a bottle each time she stirs. She screams like something's really wrong every night until we finally try the bottle and she falls asleep in minutes. When we lay her in her bed one of two things happens, she either sleeps through it or she wakes up and begins screaming all over again. If she stays asleep during the transfer then, she'll sleep for 5-25 minutes and then want another bottle again to fall back asleep- back patting, rocking, and singing are not acceptable methods of falling asleep anymore. I've been reading a book about toddler adoption and they say to never leave a newly adopted toddler alone to cry because then they will learn they can't trust you. So, we've been giving into her rants and raves for three weeks now. Well, that is changing as of today.

I decided that I need to stop trying to parent the way this book is telling me to because my instinct is telling me different. At nap time today is when I decided. After a nearly sleepless night last night I was tired and so was Rebekah. So, I decided to put her down for a nap early. I started at 11:00am. I rocked her with a bottle and she was asleep by 11:15am. So, then I rocked her until 11:30 just to make sure she was "out" before laying her down. (This was all at the expense of attention for Brigham and Hyrum. ) So, I laid her down at 11:30 and she promptly starting screaming. Patting her just made her more mad. I could hear Hyrum screaming in the other room and Brigham needed lunch soon before his nap so I left her. As I got the boys lunch and got them down for naps I thought and thought while Rebekah screamed in her crib. I was trying to decide if I was doing the right thing. Finally, I decided that she needed to learn to soothe herself. It's an important skill and the sooner she learned it the sooner we could all enjoy more sleep-including her. So, I did what I have seen and heard recommended. I went in about every 15minutes to let her know that I was there and loved her. I patted her back even though she just got more mad because she wanted to be picked up. Finally, at 1:40pm she fell asleep.

Tonight wasn't quite so bad. We told her ahead of time that she would be laid down in bed and expected to soothe herself to sleep. I told her and I had Timothy tell her so that she knew Daddy wouldn't come rescue her. Then, she screamed for only 40 minutes! I put her down at 7:05pm and I went in at 7:10, 7:20, 7:35 (by recommendation from a website to make the time a bit longer each time) By 7:45 she was "out" and she's slept soundly now for 2 hours so far! I hope she continues to improve and I hope she doesn't feel abandoned.

Here's Brigham and Hyrum sleeping too. They already know how to self-soothe. They both suck their middle two fingers! It's funny!

Hyrum moved in permanently on Tuesday, February 17th! Today he is 4 months old! What a handsome fellow!

A Little Randomness

If you haven't noticed, the posts are slowing down. Things are really settling and the newness of it all is being replaced by familiarity. So, I'm finding that I don't have as much to write about and no new pictures to share. But, we have been enjoying becoming a family and learning to love each other. We are enjoying the funny little things the children do.

The other day Brigham was touching his face just under his nose- above his lip- and he said, "Uh-oh, nose gone." He really thought his nose had disappeared. It was so funny! I moved his finger up a bit to find his nose and he said, "Der it is." (Der=There)

Rebekah is feeling better, it took her a while to get over that illness she had. One benefit to feeling better is that she's sleeping better. Last night she slept from 8:15pm to 6:45am!!! It was wonderful!

Today the youth in our church had a performance of a production that they've been working on for months. It was a cantata called "Come to the House of the Lord" (about temples) music by Steven Kapp Perry and script by Brad Wilcox. They asked me to be one of the readers, I had a little 10 second line to say in the middle of it. The line they gave me was about adoption and a family that was sealed in the Temple. For those of you who aren't as familiar with our church, the temple is a sacred place where Timothy and I were married. Because of the priesthood authority available in Holy Temples we were sealed together for "time and for all eternity". Now that we have adopted, we can take our children (once the adoption is finalized) to the temple to be sealed to us so that we can be an eternal family. We are looking forward to that wonderful blessing and privilege. Anyway, it was neat to be able to represent an adoptive mother in the cantata.

Well, just so you don't feel picture deprived, here's a few for you.

The children sure love their baby brother!

Brigham Kissing Hyrum

Rebekah Kissing Hyrum

Reading in the Bathroom

I was doing something in the bathroom, I think I was changing Rebekah's diaper, and the children decided to join me. We had been reading in the living room right before so they brought books along. Then, when I was done with Beckah, she joined them too. The other child pictured is one of my child care children. (She shall remain nameless and faceless for privacy reasons.)

Hair Cuts

I decided to cut the children's hair on Tuesday. I've heard that for little girls it's better to keep it short until it's all the same length. So I cut the back of Rebekah's hair and trimmed the rest all over. As you can see in the background of these pictures I put Brigham's booster seat in front of the TV and turned on an Elmo's World video so that they would hold still while I cut their hair.Rebekah's before picture, see mot of her hair fits into two pig tails.

Rebekah's after picture, now there's a layer at the bottom that doesn't fit. I cut the curls off, and now it's straight at the bottom. I hope the curls come back.

Brigham got a hair cut too. I don't have a before picture, but I'm sure you've seen his old hair cut plenty all over this blog. I decided to feather his hair out a little more and (in my opinion) it turned out well.

Brigham's hair cut

Yesterday (Wednesday) I also got my hair cut, although I didn't do it myself like I usually do. I have been growing my hair out so that I can donate it. I was going to wait for it to grow a little more, but it was getting in the way when I would rock the children and they were getting tired of hair in the eyes and mouth. So, I decided to chop it now even if it would be shorter than it's been since I was a baby- and it is. I really like my new cut through. Timothy's not as sure about it, but he'll get used to it. Front view

Back view- you can see my neck- that's pretty short!

I really like it, though.

Oh, and a little note about Hyrum. He's moving in on Tuesday the 17th. We're looking forward to it, but enjoying our sleep while it lasts!

Hyrum's Adoption Committee

Today was Hyrum's adoption committee. That's when a committee gets together and decides which of the selected families would be the best for him. Luckily because we already have his siblings, we were the only family represented at committee, but the committee still could have decided we weren't the best family for him. It turned out like we expected though. We were selected as the adoptive family for him. Yeah!! Now, we're just waiting to hear back from central office if we can move him before the seven day waiting period. So, he'll be moving in as soon as we hear back from them, or at the lasted on Tuesday the 17th. We are excited!

Bedtime, Sensory play, and Rebekah's dress

We got to bathe Hyrum for the first time on Wednesday. He loves the bath. He was happy the whole time and smiled a lot. It was fun to bathe my baby.Like his bald spot? He's trying to look like his Daddy from the start.

Time to brush teeth!

And now for the sensory play
Corn meal in bowls with spoon, and measuring cups.Oh, and don't forget Becka's favorite toy, a milk jug.This was very therapeutic for Brigham. Earlier in the day he had visits with his birth parents, and I think he was bothered by the visits. When I got out this sensory activity he plopped down and was in another world for about 20 minutes. (I'm sure you saw this coming) Then, they dumped the bowls. They were both covered in corn meal. Luckily it was bath night.


Rebekah's dress
Rebekah's Great Aunt Shirlene made this dress many years ago for us when we had a daughter, and now it's finally able to be put to use. (At least for a few months.)Isn't it gorgeous? Thanks Aunt Shirlene!

She looks good in it too.

Triple the Fun!

Some friends from Colorado (although none of the live in Colorado anymore) and a grandma from Florida sent means for us to purchase this nice and very useful triple stroller! Thanks Jen & Bill, Mandi & Jamie, Kira & Dave, Jamie & Cody, and Grandma Gloria!

This will enable me to leave the house without having to solicit the help of others! And can you see our three beautiful children! We had them all together yesterday for a sibling visit. The sibling visits will get longer and longer each day until we are able to move Hyrum into our home.


Here are a few family pictures with all five of us together. They're not the best, but they'll have to do for now. We're going to be getting professional pictures as soon as all the children are healthy.
We are so happy to have these three beautiful children! (And they're all sleeping which is why I'm able to type this in the middle of the day. Sleeping children makes me happy too, as long as they don't sleep too long.)

Sibling love

Our darling Rebekah


Our handsome Brigham

I took the children shopping yesterday, and they did great! They are such good children. If they are board they just sit back and watch people. They didn't fuss or create havoc and we were shopping for 2 1/2 hours. Well, they did fuss after I had let them play on the playground at the mall and they didn't want to leave, but I expected that.

These two just adore each other. We think one of the reasons they are adjusting to our home so quickly is that they are together, they have each other. We think that brings great comfort. They are mostly very caring and thoughtful of each other. They are just sweet, good children. Timothy and I are amazed at how blessed we are to be adopting such wonderfully behaved little ones.

Just after Brigham woke up from his nap. Becka was so happy to see him and he was glad to see her too.

Brigham sucks his middle two fingers and likes to put his other hand on his belly button. I think it's one of his ways of coping with stress of moving to a new family. But, he's sucked his middle two fingers since he was a baby.

Daddy holding ill Rebekah. She hasn't been feeling well, it seems she got what Brigham had last week. She's had a fever and her nose is very stuffy and her eyes are red and watery. She's just not feeling well. Poor girl. I'm taking her to the doctor tomorrow if she's not better and they let me go even though we don't have their medical cards yet.
Rebekah almost slept through the night last night. She only woke once, and it only took 30 minutes to put her back to sleep, that's down from 90 minutes it has normally been taking! Yeah Rebekah! Mommy feels much better when she gets enough sleep at night.

Today we took the children to church for the second time and stayed for all the meetings. We were planning on taking both the children to nursery, but because Rebekah's not feeling well, we kept her out for today. Oh well, maybe next week she can go. Here's our family in our Sunday clothes.