Workin' Girl

When it's "take your daughter to work day" you will probably see...

25 sticky notes with partially sticky backs fixed. Half a roll of tape required...

31 pieces of paper individually stapled, stamped, and signed off on...

7 "credit card" transactions completed...

3 visits to the water cooler...

4 10-minute potty breaks...

2 hand portraits...

1 Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer...

And 1 very tired little girl who worked really hard being the best assistant ever.

Christmas 2013

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse...

The stockings were hung by the chimney wall with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there...

 



And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof the prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head and was turning around, down the chimney through the door St. Nicholas "and Scooter" came in with a bound.

He They spoke not a word, but went straight to his their work, and filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk...

And laying his finger aside of his nose, and giving a nod, up the chimney out the door he rose.

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, and away they all flew (minus Scooter the Elf) like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!

_____________________________________

 

 

This year there was lots of Christmas fun, with presents abound.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some presents were just so neat, a few feuds just couldn't be beat.

 

 

 

Stockings were packed with gifts and with candies.

 

And Daddy did really good with picking out Mommy's goodies.

 

 

 

 

 

Carly the Dog's Christmas was even great.

 

She made out with a new bed, perfect for her as now she can hibernate.

 

 

In fact, I have yet to see her awake...

 

 

Yes, it was a good Christmas. A Christmas that was just perfect for us.

 

 



Now Showing...

When Will My Life Begin?

-From: Disney's Tangled-

Santa's Visit 2013

The weekend before Christmas we made our first Santa trip. We were bubbling over with excitement so much that we could barely contain ourselves the night before...

9:30 pm - Bedtime, lights-out.
10:00 pm - Bedtime reminder, lights-out again.
10:15 pm - Another bedtime reminder, lights-out again.
10:30 pm - No reminder, stern look, lights-out.
11:00 pm - A few threats, lots of bedtime reminders, lights-out...again.
11:30 pm - Screams Reminders from the next bedroom. Lights-on? Lights-off? Who cares anymore.
11:45 pm - Mommy and Daddy's bedtime. Emily's bedtime? No clue.


Once she arrived she became star struck. It was Santa! Santa and Scooter (Mr. Elf) talked for a bit and then the all important question was asked.

Santa: "What would you like me to bring you for Christmas?"
Emily: "Toys."
Santa: "What kind of toys?"
Emily: "Red toys."

Ooookay. I'm thinking Santa must have been all out of "red" toys. Disney pink and purple he had plenty of. Red, not so much.

Sorry Emily, there must have been LOTS of requests for "red" toys.

Night-Time Games

It's all fun and games until you realize that the bowling ball in your dreams was really your daughter's head lodged in your back and that the bruise on your cheek was really a night-time war injury from two small 1x2's slapping you in the face.

How this game play is physically possible...

The world will never know.

Daddy Donut Dates

And this is the reason why I can't get her out of the house in the mornings. The very reason why she would rather stay at home with Daddy...

 

Trucker Emily!

With my mom (Grandma) unexpectedly coming to live with us, came one reaalllly BIG perk for a certain 4-year old. Emily just about became unglued with excitement when she realized that she could be the happy recipient of one nice drive in a U-Haul.

She giggled her hind-end off she loved that "Big Truck" so much.

Tomato...Tamato...

Emily: "Mom...Momma...where'd my IPad? Where'd it go?"
Me: "Where's your IPad? We don't have an IPad. Are you talking about Mommy's phone?"
Emily: "No. My black IPad...where'd it go?"
Me: "Emily, you don't have an IPad. Sorry. Why don't you go play with something else..."

A few days later while cleaning I stumbled upon our portable DVD player from behind a chair in the living room. From across the room I hear a squeal - followed by "Myyyyy IPaddddd!!!"

Ahhh...why yes dear, that is your IPad...

That was an easy $700.00 saved. Cha-Ching!

A Ball to Remember

This year for Halloween Cinderella and Snow White decided to get together and party at the Ball.

They hung out on the dance room floor, eating cupcakes, dancing to music, mixing and mingling. Princesses from all over came to talk (some were even hyperventilating at the sight of Snow White. Oh my!)

Pictures were taken with fellow Princess friends and smiles were shared.

Sadly for Snow White though, her Cinderella friend left her side and instead took up "stalking" Ariel. Poor, poor Ariel...she didn't know what to do with her new found "sidekick".

The evening was a blast, but unfortunately ended when the clock struck 8. Glass slippers long gone from her feet, Cinderella was heartbroken. Snow White on the other hand was exhausted - her ability to party could just not outlast Cinderella's.

It was a success though. And Cinderella couldn't help but beg to go to another Ball the next night...and the night after that, and the night after that...

Game Over

This picture was taken during Miss A’s and my last 5 am feeding this morning. The house was dark, my eyes were teary, and even though I was tired from only getting 3 hours of sleep, I gladly woke up to get the chance to spend what last few moments I had.

Tuesday was a hard day for us Ewing’s. Tuesday was the day that we were informed that our wish for a court hearing ended and that come Monday the 14th, Miss A would be leaving our home and joining her biological family for the rest of her life. I cried my eyes out as I sat holding her behind my desk at work. I ignored my incoming emails, my pending deadlines and instead just sat there cuddled up to her. I cried so much that I became numb. My only source of comfort - concentrating on the positives. We still after all had one weekend left. Surly we could accept it and life would be fine.

That acceptance ended however yesterday as we received a heavy blow. The courts were pushing for a faster turn-around and we were informed that the deadline needed to be moved up. Friday was the new date and there was nothing we could say or do that could change it. As I stared at the phone number on the caller ID, I found it ironic that the number started with 817-666. My blood was boiling, my tears racing. They took the one and only good thing I was holding onto. My weekend.

Today we said goodbye, and strangely as I write this, I feel ok. I’m frustrated with the system. I’m frustrated with my agency. I’m frustrated with life. However, I suppose we will survive. This trip has been the biggest trial of our marriage. We were so excited in the beginning. Making plans, dreaming dreams, imagining everything that was in store. We thought for sure that as soon as we reached our destination there would be someone sitting there. Someone perfect and wonderful. But there wasn’t. We exited our so called “plane” back in March, and we walked into an airport with no one there. No one was waiting for us to land. No one cared. I don’t know what I’m going to do now. I know I’m supposed to keep waiting, but I’m not sure I have the desire. My home and heart has a huge hole now, and there’s nothing I can do about it.

Born to be Free!

Ahh...life perfection can only be found when you strip down to your panties and run off into the sunset on your trusty steed.

This girl lives to be "free"!

Daniel and the Lions Den

A few weeks ago Emily had her first talk in Primary. She proudly stood up, proudly talked, and proudly delivered one very fabulous speech on Daniel in the Bible.

This here is one proud mama!

This is it.

Lately in our quiet home telephone calls have become quite the norm. Most of them are paperwork phone calls, a few are a bit more exciting as we hope for more news on Miss A, while others tend to be a bit more heartbreaking. A few days after Miss A joined our home, I was informed that her biological mom and dad weren't returning the phone calls of CPS. Although I couldn't help but be heartbroken for this tiny infant who was essentially being abandoned, I was also hopeful that maybe, just maybe we could adopt. That hope greatly diminished though last week when we were informed about a home study being performed on a family member of her biological mom. Of course we were secretly hoping that the investigation would come up as a dead end and that there would be issues that would dismiss the family as non-viable; however, until everything played out, we were left with no answers. Last night though that all changed as I picked up the phone to hear about a family that was just as great as me. My. Heart. Broke.

Before Miss A arrived in our home, we were in the trenches of hopelessness. This little spirit though somehow made everything better. She made everything complete and filled our home with joy. She instantly took away all the pain and frustration of the past year and she gave Richard and I a new purpose in life, a type of peace as we held her in our arms. Within days panic started to creep in. What if she leaves me? What will I do without her?

So on Friday (tomorrow), we will have the biggest interview of our life. Tomorrow I meet for the first time the CPS worker that holds a big portion of this little girl's future in her hands. She doesn't know that we know (I've been blessed with a mole that is actually involved in the case), but that's to my advantage. She doesn't know that I gather from her desire to meet both of us (literally "go-out-of-her-way-to-accommodate-my-work-schedule" meet both of us), that she's comparing. She's gathering the last of her data so she can submit her report and recommendation to the judge. Yes, this is that pivotal moment that we've been dreading.

I've never been good at selling, but it does appear that somehow...someway, Richard and I need to sell ourselves, our family, and our home. We've got to do it quick and we've got to do it well.

No pressure though. It's not like my heart will shatter...

Sent From Heaven

Although I can't say too much on the newest addition to the Ewing household, I did want to at least document the arrival of this very special spirit. Miss A arrived in our home, straight from her birth,  on the very evening when we found ourselves lost of hope and troubled with frustration over everything - life, timing, our adoption agency, and the adoption/foster process.

Her arrival brought joy and excitement (and let's face it...feelings of inadequacy) and we couldn't help but hold her with intense gratitude and love. As I think of this precious child today, that love is even deeper and I am humbled by the task that I've been entrusted with. Although the future of this very special child is still unknown and her time with us might be short, I can't help but find great joy in knowing that I get to wake up to her precious face each morning.

She's certainly found a place in our hearts and we'll treasure the time we have - even if it's for a month or for all eternity.

Fourth Birthday Fabulousness

Two months ago we celebrated Emily's 4th birthday.

We started out with one very nice wake up call, complete with birthday horns. Followed by breakfast, Princess style - including cereal and one mighty fine pedicure...

We enjoyed running through one nicely festive door...

And getting all dressed up for a day on the town...

Once at daycare we enjoyed the royal treatment, complete with chocolate cake and pink icing...

And all the birthday cheers that you could hope for.

Evening festivities included one very fancy ride to dinner...

And ended with perfectly selected gifts and ice cream...although, we were much too busy with our lip gloss to partake of much.

Needless to say, after a day like she had, the next day was less than thrilling. She even requested that we extend the birthday festivities for another day.

If only...

 

 

________________________________

For journaling purposes, below are some of the fun texts that I got throughout the day from her daycare:

Amber (daycare): "She demanded 2 spoonfuls of icing because a little lick wasn't enough."

Oh yes you better believe it, I hear that she was fairly close to going into a sugar coma!

________________________________

Me: "I'm impressed that she's still wearing the hat. I thought for sure she would have ditched it."
Amber: "Oh no!! Went to the park with us and everything. She has me fix it and then everyone has to sing to her before we adjust and start all over. She even commanded Will (Amber's husband) to sing to her when he woke up."

It was a little disappointing when no one was willing to sing to her the next day. Poor thing...

 

 

Personally I would call the day a success!