Thursday 13.

1.  Nolan is sleeping next to me with his new "poda bearw" jammies on....his little foot is propped directly to the right of my screen as I type.  So his cute little polar bear face foot is smiling at me.   It's funny and also a little creepy.

2.  I rotated our mattress a 1/4 turn the other day...holy crap is it so much more comfy.  Who knew?

3.  I was just rereading some of my past blog posts...a few observations.  I am redundant and seem to post the same topics throughout a year at the same times of year.  Also I am a bit wishy washy on my feelings for well just about everything...of course this I know.  One day I love all things purple and the next I am very eh about purple.  And as we know I really should proof read...but ugh what a pain.   Ain't got time for that.

4.  I love a clean house.  It helps me function--try as I may to relax and let things slide I eventually lose my brain and demand it to be picked up.  And snap about hand prints and dirt and why in the world is the toilet so NASTY.    That being said I have relaxed A LOT.

5.  Rumor flying around is that our first 2 foster kiddos will be going to family next Friday....rumor also is don't hold your breath about rumors.  SO that's the plan we are told but until it happens....

6.  We are ready--I will be anxious and sad the day they leave.  Anxious because these 2 babies we have had and cared for for over a month will be leaving and we likely won't see them again and will they be ok?   Sad for all the same reasons...BUT ready for some normalcy.   We signed up for this knowing this is the plan and this is how it goes.

7.  Jakeb is still loving swim...he had a meet this weekend at Auburn.   Little crazy but I just love watching him do his thing.  He isn't the fastest but he is loving it and that is awesome.

8.  Did I mention that all three had straight A's?   Yep...they did.  Rock stars.

9.  Robert is rocking in the new job world....adjusting and learnin the ins and outs of the new company.   He is so very close to finishing up his masters.  Super proud of him.

10.  I have a rockin' head ache this evening....

11.  Also it's COLD.  Like for real cold cold....Not my favorite, not even a little.

12.  I always get so antsy this time of year....to travel to move to something....if you have read here long I think I blog about that antsy'ness before.  I like to stay predictable.

13.  Going to snuggle with my warm little bear.   

Stay warm folks!

What day is it?

Right so....six kids?  No joke.   I feel like for the past month all I have done is talked about how HARD this is.   How we are doing it but holy cow...barely.  Tonight everyone was in bed by 8:30 and the house is so very picked up so that tomorrow we can ALL be dressed and out the door by 7:30 and then 8:30 so I can drop the 3 big ones off at school and then 2 little ones with a visit with their mom and while we are all gone the house will be being cleaned.   So tonight I feel like BAM!   Though Nolan techincally is leaning on my arm while I type this and is watching "rocket" aka Little Einsteins...because while Gavin was at his art class and we drove around aimlessly for an hour he took an extra nap.  But we are in bed....and I keep telling him shhh because um this is my time brotha.   

Here's the thing....we knew this would be an adventure and what not but holy head spinner.   I don't know if there is a time of year that is better to take 2 extra little ones into an already busy house but I would wager a guess that 5 days before a Christmas you aren't ready for as is isn't the best time.  But here we sit 3 weeks into the new year and I am wondering how we got here.   It's worked out and we are basically no worse for the wear...learning things about ourselves and yet feeling so much stronger as a marital/parental team.  Wasn't expecting that but how about that...I will certainly take it.  

The boys are taking this all in stride....2 little ones trashing your stuff isn't awesome.   But they are helping and we are trying to keep them out of their spaces and things.   I think we are all feeling a little shell shocked but are slowly coming back to.  

Having said all that...we are so GLAD to be at this point finally.   Foster parents....we have 2 foster sons.   And wow that's weird to say.   I like taking all 6 of these boys out and watching people A) count them and B) try to figure out the math and of course how it works because they don't exactly "match" The baby is the easiest baby I have ever met....I mean sleeps all night and takes long naps and is the smiliest little one.   2 year old....adorable...but BUSY.   Like Nolan busy...but louder and bigger and even busier.  

Despite my complaining and woe is me and sounding a little bit like I am questioning our decision and people asking if we will do this again...the answer is yes for sure.  I know and knew lt would be challlenging especially at first...granted you really just don't know HOW challenging until it's there.   But it's good challenging...most of the time.  

Wowza.

So hi there….nearly 2 months of no posting.  WHOOPS!   We have had a busy handful of weeks….We were finally approved as Foster Parents the first part of December.   Had 2 calls the following week but because we were heading out of town the following weekend we had to say no.   Then 3 weeks ago on a Wednesday we got a call for 2 little boys….2 and 3 months.   And here we are with 6 little boys running around the house.   They spent Christmas and New Year with us and we are slowly settling in with our new normal.   Which basically consists of us chasing 2 year olds all.day.long.   Changing lots of diapers and wiping up a lot of spit up.   So it's all good but it's no joke busy.
I actually started typing this post 2 days ago and got 4 sentences done and Nolan woke up…because getting them all down for naps take forever and just as soon as the last one falls asleep…one wakes.  SO busy yes.  
The big boys are adjusting and really just are doing their thing…we are trying very hard to not have them get lost in the shuffle.   Video gaming is happening a lot and regular showers are falling by the wayside…but it's been winter break so that may have happened some anyway.   Nolan struggled a bit at first but is adjusting to 2 new people in the house demanding our attention.  
The baby is easy peasy…sleeps thru the night most nights and is happy and smiley and is just fine to hang out "playing" with toys and smiling at shadows.
So that's a brief update…I am hoping I can update more soon…We had a great Christmas.   The boys were thoroughly thrilled with the day.  New Year was pretty uneventful and we just hung out at home with the kiddos…which is basically what we do every year.  
And with that very brief update I will have to catch up more later….