Happy Birthday!

Our Kassy

Today is Kassy's birthday, but she'll have to share the post with David. I am surprised at how fast time goes by! The past 3 years have been full of tears of joy, fear, and sorrow but I cannot imagine life without my kids.
Kassy is our little spunky, singing, loud music loving, night owl. She'd rather stay up late than get up early! She doesn't like going to bed at night, mostly because I think she feels lonely rather than scared of the dark. She's gotten pretty good at coming upstairs in the middle of the night and sleeping in her little nest by Daddy's side of the bed. After 6 a.m. she will sometimes sneak some extra cuddles with Daddy. Kassy loves going to preschool and is learning a lot. She recognizes most of the capital letters in the alphabet. When we are in the car together she always asks for "our music" which means she wants to listen to the kid songs. I am okay with cranking up songs by Go Fish, but John Jacob Jingelhimer Schmidt at high volume sung by tiny sopranos just doesn't sound good--at all. Kassy doesn't care who is singing, she just wants her music "super dooper dooper dooper dooper dooper dooper dooper dooper loud!!

Davey is definitely my morning kid--not because he's ecstatic to go to school but because he wants to play. That's been his biggest complaint lately-not enough playtime in the mornings. He does enjoy school though, and once he's ready for the bus his focus shifts from playing to going to school. His latest favorite toys include Transformers, Legos, Hot Wheels cars, and Switch 'n Go Dinos. One minute he is all superhero and the next he wants a new stuffed animal to cuddle with. He has a very generous heart, and always takes several cars to school with him so that he can share them with friends. He's also quite sensitive and concerned towards one of his classmates who has food allergies. David always notices which foods his friend cannot eat and makes it a point to tell me so that I know what to plan for when it's his turn to take snack. Our David has very infectious laughter, and when he gets to laughing hard, it's too hard to not laugh with him!

Our David

 We are so thankful for our kids and their birth families for allowing us the opportunity to love, treasure, cherish, and parent the babies they shared with us. We are so thankful that God has chosen to bless us with the desires of our hearts!

David's 2013 Christmas Program

 David had a busy week! We were in church with my folks last Sunday, which also happened to be the first Sunday in Advent this Christmas season. The pastor there is very kind and patient, but the congregation was surprised (and quite pleased) when he invited David up to light the first Advent candle. This is one of the things I really miss when attending a large church--kids get to be part of the service at a small church.

David and Pastor T lighting the first Advent candle.

Thursday, December 5th, I got to go to school with David and help as his preschool class and their 4th grade buddies made gingerbread houses. What a fun way to celebrate the Christmas season and give me the opportunity to get to know more of the moms of his classmates. I enjoyed helping (and visiting) as much as David enjoyed making his gingerbread house (and eating some of the candy). I want to go to school as often as I can while David still wants me to, because I'm afraid that all too soon I won't get to.

David and his gingerbread house--a tummy ache in the making!

Thursday night was David's Christmas Program at school. The preschoolers sang three songs and did a super fantastic job! Grandma Pickard and Aunt Jo came to watch. Kassy had heard David sing one of the songs (Santa's coming to my home and this is what he'll say-o! Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho...) only a few times but she was able to sing right along with David's class. She sure loves music!

Aunt Jo, David, Grandma Pickard, Kassy after David's Christmas program.

Kassy and David, all dressed up with somewhere to go!

Sorry family, I was unable to upload the video :(

Two Wheeler and Other News

Hard. Really hard. This business of having a 5-year-old. Yikes! David is such a tender-hearted but brave young man who is willing to try anything "dangerous." We are so proud of this kid! His teacher has very nice things to say about him--he's helping clean up the spilled milk, helping hurt kids, and bringing water to his teacher. He is a terrific kid. So glad he's ours!!!!

This video is from a couple of weeks ago. David is getting quite brave! He has tipped over backwards a couple of times, the first scared him but not so badly that he wouldn't try it again. He did quit asking me if he had to wear his helmet :)

Today is the really big news though. I missed out on seeing this first for David, but if I'd been home instead of Allen, it probably wouldn't have happened. David has asked me frequently to take his training wheels off, but since I spend most of my bike-riding time behind him, I could see that they were still necessary. Tonight though, on a bike ride with Allen while I was at a meeting, the training wheels came off and David took off!

In other "David" news, he invited Jesus into his heart on April 11, 2013. That is the most important thing that we want him to understand, and we are so glad to see the things he comprehends. Even at this tender age, he understands the basic concept of the Trinity (I'm pretty sure I was at least 12 before I understood that Jesus and God were one and yet separate.) Thank you Lord, for your claim on his life!
David lost his first tooth on Nate's birthday, June 19, 2013 and the second tooth on October 1, 2013. The dentist says he's really young for losing teeth, but he verified that they are coming out because the adult teeth are ready, so out they come! Davey did have his two bottom teeth at 3 months and those are the ones that came out, so it kinda makes sense.

Our little Kassy isn't to be out done though! She is quite the little princess and loves to pretend that she is, "a girl baby kitty named Princess." So glad she is ours! Her stuffed animals are her favorite toys and she likes to line them up on her bed. She got a bunk bed last month and slept on the top bunk until for some reason decided that she should now be afraid of the dark (same thing happened this summer with her bike--out of the blue she decided she should be afraid of riding it) and now sleeps on the bottom bunk. We have finally progressed to the stage where we can turn a couple of night lights on and sit outside her door until she falls asleep. Most nights she makes her way upstairs and claims the space between Daddy's side of the bed and the wall as hers. The doctor doesn't support this idea, but we get sleep, she gets sleep, and I really don't see her doing this when she's 12. So we'll enjoy having a special little girl sleep a little closer for a little while longer. David occasionally joins us, and fetches his own pillow and blanket to make his bed on the floor on my side. I do enjoy having them wake us up and snuggle...although 4 bears in the bed is crowded.

We have the best kids. Ever. Thanking God every day for protecting and preserving our family!

Memphis Memories

We spent a fun afternoon today at Chuck E. Cheese's in Germantown, TN today with Kassy's birthfamily. Her brothers and sister have sure grown up since we saw them last. Kassy has been very excited to see her birthfamily ever since we talked to Latrice on the phone last week. She calls Latrice "my 'Trice" and continually, "when are we going to see my 'Trice?" She was also very interested in meeting her brothers and sister. She and Apria hooked up pretty quickly and had a great time playing games, riding the rides, and crawling through the tunnels and slide.  We also got to meet more of Kassy's aunts and cousins.

David and Kassy waiting for "My 'Trice" and family to arrive

Allen helped David ration his tokens, and the two of them had a good time on the rides and games. After David's tokens were gone, he came to me asking for more. I told him that we didn't have any more money for tokens and that if he wanted more he could look under some of the games to find some. He sure is a terrific scavenger! He found about 10 more tokens under and around the games, so he and Allen had a bit more fun.

Kassy has been noticing skin, hair, and eye color lately, so it was very good for her to be surrounded by people who have the same colors that she does. Latrice told me that at one point Kassy said, "My skin is brown. Your skin is brown."  It became apparent though, as we left Memphis today, that Kassy didn't notice all the other brown skin, because she asked me if her brothers had brown skin too. I'm so glad that we live in as diverse culture as we do, but I know it won't always be easy for Kassy. From my observations today, David didn't even notice that ours were the only white faces in the restaurant, although he did comment afterwards that Kassy's birthmom had skin that was different from his.

Eventually our visit came to an end. Kassy got and gave lots of hugs and kisses, even from her teenage big brothers. Latrice is an amazing, self-less woman to make the courageous decision to trust a white couple whom she didn't have very long to get to know take her precious baby girl home for their very own. I can't begin to imagine how it felt for Latrice to see Kassy, bittersweet, I'm sure. Apria's tears as we parted today couldn't have made it any easier for Latrice either. We are so thankful for this opportunity for Kassy to visit with her birthfamily. She has a very loving birthfamily and will be blessed by future visits.

Sheep Wranglin'

Some friends from DeSmet invited us to go with them to meet and play with the family's lambs. Our friends, M, G, and G went with us.  David and Kassy had so much fun! These five month old lambs are a lot less intimidating than a baby calf. They sure can run fast and enjoy running and jumping. There were about 10 kids there yesterday, and it didn't take long for all of the kids to move past being content with petting a caught lamb to chasing them and trying to catch one for themselves. David loved getting in the middle of the herd to try to chase them around again but he wasn't quite big enough to pull one out. He had fun trying though!

Spiderman wrangles sheep too!

 Kassy wasn't quite as brave as David, but the lambs were definately bigger than she. She did like to chase them and play with the cat that wandered into the lamb barn.

Sittin' pretty!

 

See Spiderman in action, wrangling sheep! 

We ate lunch in DeSmet, picked up our car at M's house then we were off to preschool! We were just getting into Brookings when out of the blue David said, "Russia is a long ways away." I wasn't sure I'd heard him right, so I asked him to repeat what he'd just said. He said, "Well, I think that when Aunt Jo comes home for a sleepover at Grandma's, she better fly because it's a long way for her to come from Russia." What a smart guy!

About 10 minutes after we put the very tired kids in bed last night, darling daughter Kassy came out of her room and said, "Mommy, I have something to tell you." I told her to come on over to the couch where Allen and I were sitting. She came over to me, put her arms around me, gave me a kiss, and said in the sweetest little voice, "I love you, Mommy!" Then she went over to Allen, reached to give him a kiss on the cheek and said, "I love you, Daddy!" My tender-hearted Kassy brought tears to my eyes and a lump to my throat. What a special girl! We are so blessed that God has given us these two precious babies!

Gone Fishin'

 This is a post from May 2011 that for some reason didn't get published. I'm not sure why, 'cause it's pretty cute. Please bear with the lapse in timeline!

This past Saturday the kids spent a couple of hours with Grandma Pam and Grandpa Mike. They like to go fishing, and welcomed the kids to go with them. I packed sunscreen, bug spray, drinks, and at least one extra set of clothes for each kid. Grandpa offered David the opportunity to put the worm on the hook but he wouldn't even touch the worm let alone bait the hook. He sat with Grandpa for quite a while, as Grandma chased Kassy through mud puddles. She's one girl who's not afraid to get dirty!
Petty soon David's pole started jumping! Grandpa helped him reel in a pretty big fish! Of course, this is a fish story, so it's a really big fish. No exaggeration though, because it was his first fish. After they got the carp to shore, David's eyes got really big and he said, "put it back, Grandpa, put it back!" Now what is Grandpa supposed to do? Put the fish back, of course! Grandpa obliged, and when he caught a bullhead a bit later, put that back too, just for David.

David's description of the size of his first fish. You can tell from his description that it's a fish story.

This photo was taken a week after the fishing trip. David was still talking (and the fish still growing) about how much fun he had.

DQ and Museum Fun

Tuesday is a great day to eat at Dairy Queen! For each combo meal you buy, you can get a kids meal free. We haven't been eating out all that often, but on some Tuesdays, I'll make an exception. Today we had lunch with our friends, Heidi, Kendis, and Teyton. They are a special family because we met them at DQ on a Tuesday and their family looks a lot like ours. Grandma Pickard and the cousins also joined us. After lunch we played at the museum for almost 3 hours. Usually my limit is 2, but due to cousin fun, we extended the play date. The kids all had fun.

Row, row, row your boat!

 The kids both fell asleep on the way home, no easy feat, because they are both pretty smart and know that it's not that far home and if they stay awake, they may get to miss nap time. Maybe. Kassy's big request on the way home was to have a 'nack (snack) of cheese crackers with dessert afterward. I didn't want to disappoint, so they each got a bit of cookie dough. Who says grandmas are the only ones to spoil the kids? After all, the poor cubs did have to drink water....