Happy Adoption Day Tai!

Ok so I am vowing to start blogging more!

Happy Adoption Day to our beautiful son. Two years ago we stood in front of a judge and claimed our sweet boy as a Snider. What a special day! He is an amazing addition to our family and thus completes our family of four.  Tai: You are so many things....let me list just a few...
You are hilarious
You have a huge amount of energy and are almost always happy (even when you are getting in trouble)
You are so loving and always willing to give me a kiss.
You are my personal snuggle bunny!
I love your laugh
I love your little dimples
I love how you say "morning mommy"

I can't believe it has been two and a half years since you came into our life. What a wonderful surprise!
It is so neat to see how you and Abigail play together. You love her so much and it is so obvious. I love how you love your Daddy. It makes me smile when you both are working or playing together.

Happy Adoption Day my son. Thank you for making every day of my life complete.

Happy Adoption Day Abigail

My Sweet little girl.....Happy adoption day my love. 3 years ago you became an official part of our family. Although you were in my heart from the moment I held you when you were 1 week old and then once a week when I got to visit you and especially on November 20th when you came home with us and became our daughter. April 23, 2010 you officially, legally became a Snider. What a great day that was for us! You fell asleep right before we went in to see the judge and you snuggled me the whole time the judge asked us questions.
Now, three and a half years later, you are starting to understand what all this means. I pray for you daily that you will understand all the details and all the people that love you so much.  So many people care about you and are so blessed because you are here with us and our family. I love being your Mommy. I can't imagine a day without you. You make me so happy.

Happy Day Abigail!
i love you sooooooo much,
Mommy

The Question phase....

Abigail is 3 now which means we are in the middle of the questioning phase.  "Why Mommy? Why?"  All day long!  She is so stinkin smart though.  She doesn't just want the usual "because Mommy said so" answer.  She truly wants to know why?  We were at a stoplight and she said "Mommy, why did you stop?"  I explained that red means stop and that is the rule. Green means go was the next conversation so now I have a backseat driver.  ;) "Mommy, its red...Stop!"  hahaha... she keeps me on my toes for sure!  She also listens to everything we say. She may not obey it but she definitely hears it. 
Today, for example, she starting talking about colors. She was very nonchalant about colors and then she said "Mommy, my birthmoms black."  I really was taken back by this.  She repeated it and then I kinda freaked out about it internally.  I took a deep breath and then said..."yes, baby she is black but I am your mommy and always will be." God loves all of us and doesn't care what color we are....etc... She really didnt know exactly what all that meant because then she said I was pink and Tai was blue. (the clothes we were wearing.) She really just heard what we were saying to some other friends recently.  When we talk about our adoption story we tell others about their backgrounds (if they ask about ethnicities).  She simply was just repeating what we said. BUT I know this topic will be addressed again soon.  I need to read up on how to explain it age appropriately.  She is too young to hear some stuff right now. Man, she is growing up too fast!!

Tai is so funny. He is at a really cute phase.  Man o man he is one active boy who has a mission every day to "seek and destroy".  Non-stop action with giggles and so many more words.. (ba)nana, outside, up/down, mama, dada, dog, good-girl, kiss, shoes, juice, milk, oh, ......  AND he can count to 10 (kinda). 

Love them both soooo much! time is flying by so fast.

***that is all for now.

Time for a change...

in jobs that is.  It has been an amazing journey that will culminate next Monday as I become an official staff member at Generations Adoptions.  I'm so excited for this next step in our lives.  The opportunity to help create families thru adoption is the ultimate avenue for me to give back the joy that I have received thru the adoption of our children.

For a long time I've wondered what I would do with my life.  Of course, in college I had a dream of becoming a professional track athlete.  But I also knew if that were to happen it wouldn't last forever.  I never had that dream to have a career in a certain profession, i.e. medicine, law, etc., that I would enjoy doing for 30+ years until my retirement.  I've worked for some different companies in different industries but mainly in the same line of work - business development and operations management.  And at almost every stop along my career path, I've had above average success.  There have been thoughts of opening my own business, but the only thing that would truly be a dream occupation as an owner would be to own a water ski school (we don't have the capital to build a private lake or this would have happened already).

Then, in May 2012, I moved from a non-profit to a for profit company and was able to donate my time to helping a Generations Adoptions.  The passion I have for adoption is relatively new in my life.  As recent as 6 years ago, I would have scoffed at the idea of adoption being a part of my life.  But now, there are few things in my life that I'm more passionate about than adoption and especially Generations Adoptions.  There's God, my family and then adoption & water skiing.

So all those days that I pondered "will I ever find that job that will not be a job" have come to a close.  And strangely enough, instead of having a feeling of pride in finding that career position, I find that I'm humbled and nervous.  I know in my heart that I will do well in this new role as every position I've had in the past has trained me for it.  But I'm nervous because the search is over, that chapter of my life is over, what will this change bring?

I'm so humbled by God providing me this opportunity.  It is amazing to think about how our lives have changed over the past 6 years.  When we decided to stop just leaning on God when we had rough times and truly devote our lives to him, things changed.  We started with our finances - handling them the way God instructs in the Bible.  Then came our relationships and the building of our family.  We put aside our wants and desires, our selfish ways, and focused on what God was telling us to do.  We stopped worrying about what other people thought of our actions and starting dedicating our actions to Christ.  And oh - how things have changed.

What a blessing we have in our children and what a blessing I will strive to be for Generations Adoptions.

Jerry

2013 - what will this year hold?

Here is the first post of hopefully many more this year.  I have to apologize, to our little ones especially, for not doing a better job of recording their changes.  But with two toddlers there is not a lot of down time to type my thoughts.

Biggest accomplishment so far in 2013 - Abigail has successfully gone two complete days without wearing a diaper.  Yes that means 2 nights making it thru the night in panties and being dry both nights.  So proud of the little girl, especially since all night for her means 8pm-9am.  That's a long time.  We joked when she was born that being so petite she would not make it to size 5 diapers before she was potty-trained.  Well we were right, she was barely in size 4's before the full transition to no diapers.

In Tai's world - he is getting so big.  He loves to run around the house.  In fact he stands up against the wall or tv and counts to 3 then takes off running across the room.  He also loves to jump on the dogs, yes jump on them.  Luckily they are usually totally ok with it.  We are also getting a glimpse of the younger brother becoming the "bigger" brother.  Tai's shoe size is passing Abigail's.  She still has him in height and barely in weight.  Wonder if he will totally catch her this year.

More to come in 2013...

Jerry

Merry After Christmas

Hello! We enjoyed a quiet Christmas this year and only traveled the weekend before Christmas.  It was a fun visit with my side of the family. The kids had a great time opening gifts.  Abigail is really starting to understand the whole Christmas gift deal.  :)  We are trying to keep her grounded but it is so hard to avoid the craziness of it all.  She is, however, so polite and tells everyone thank you for her gifts and is genuinely excited about each present.  Tai is still figuring it all out.  He loves to thrash through all the wrapping paper and tear it up as soon as it is possible.  He is a hoot! 
Christmas morning was very special as we were able to wake up in our house and surprise the kids with the gifts and stockings when they woke up.  My parents and my grandma pitched in to buy a playhouse for the kids.  Jerry put it together and the kids played with it in our living room all day yesterday. Eventually it will make its way outside but it was rainy and cold yesterday so it was perfect to play with it inside.  Since our extended family was not here yesterday we were able to talk to most of them and even Skyped with my Grandma.  It was a nice and relaxing day.  Chocolate chip pancakes for brunch & Turkey for dinner. Yummy!
Last night Jerry and I watched the Nativity Story. That was the 3rd year in a row we have watched it.  It is a true reminder of the TRUE reason for the season.  happy birthday Jesus!
Today:  clean house & get some exercise.  Time to work off all the holiday extras...
God bless you all today and always!
.....Jenny

Worst Blogger Mom ever!!

Hello.  It has been way too long since my last blog.  I am ashamed to say that i have been better about posting pictures on facebook than I have been keeping up with this blog.  Poor Tai wont have much to document his first year of life.  Maybe I can quickly catch up on a few things.  Here goes...
2012 has been a bit of a blur.....
As stated in an earlier post Tai celebrated his 1st birthday.  We invited his birthfamily and they came in earlier that day so we could spend some extra time with them.  We went to the zoo and had a great time.  Then we went to the park to have his big party with all our friends and family.  It went pretty well. It has a few awkward moments but all in all it was a very special day. Little Tai was pooped out!  We also had a friend take some amazing pictures with Tai and his birthfamily.  Those pictures are priceless!  We are so thankful for that relationship.

The week after his birthday both Tai and Abigail had surgery! Yep, you read that right. Abigail had a tonsillectomy to remove a cyst.  Tai had tubes put in.  The surgeries went well but this Mommy was a wreck.  I felt very disconnected because I had to choose which baby to sit with. Tai came out of surgery just as Abigail was going in. I cuddled him for 2 minutes then took off to go with Abigail. So thankful Daddy and both Grandma and Mimi were there to help.  Tai was silly as usual that afternoon. Abigail: well, it took 10 days or more to get my sweet girl back to normal. Awful! She wouldn't eat or drink and every swallow was a battle. Poor girl! So glad that is over!

June 2012:  Jerry and I got away for a mini vacation.  One of my best girlfriend's, Kelli, got married in California wine country.  My parents came up to stay with the kids while we flew off in the sunset for 5 days! It was a great vacation. I slept for 7 or 8 hours each night! San Francisco was wonderful and Sonoma was beautiful.  The time spent with my other friends and their husbands was so great! Back at home: the kids were having a blast with Mimi and Granddaddy. We recieved pictures via text almost daily.  I know the kids were excited and the Gparents were exhausted.  Their bags were packed and ready to go when we drove up.  :)  But I know they treasured every moment with the kiddos.  And...yes...these little monkeys are exhausting but so worth it.

July 2012:  We were well into the ski season and both kids were having fun out on the lake.  Tai couldn't swim in it due to the tubes in his ears but Abigail was doing great! We left for our annual family trip to Lake Tenkiller at the end of the month.  It was a great time.  Abigail skied! (pictures to follow) 

.....well....Mommy duties are calling....I hope to be back here very soon.  until then...God bless.

Jenny

Lots to celebrate!

I just found this and realized it never posted back in May. 

We have several things to celebrate and blog about so i will try to get through this first part....

Tai's "Gotcha" day!  One year ago we were driving home with our son. What a wonderful surprise! We found out about him a week before we brought him home.  Our little family was complete.  Thank you God for your blessings!

Last friday on May 11th was Tai's first birthday.  Wow! I can't believe how fast he is growing. Just in the last few weeks he has started talking more and um...walking! He started officially walking while we were at my parents house in Pipe Creek on May 5th.  And now he is a walking dude. It is so cute and he gets so excited when he starts walking. So excited that he knocks himself over.  Abigail thinks it is pretty cool too; she says "Momma, Tai's walking." as he approaches her.  He is only 2 pounds lighter than her so he is about be able to tackle her completely! Also, last weekend we celebrated Tai's and m nephews birthdays.  They are 17 years apart! We got to eat cake and blowout candles on Sunday may 6th and Tai ate angelfood cake and icing.  Really sweet and really messy too!
 Anyway, this week he has been busy with his walking and on Friday (his birthday) Jerry's mom and my parents came for a visit.  It was great to have the Gparents here at the same time.  We didn't do  a huge celebration until Saturday.

Yesterday, may 12th....we invited Tai's birthmom and family here to celebrate Tai's bday.  We met them at their hotel and it was great to see them. We hadn't seen them since Tai's 6 month visit. Unfortunately, Tai's BGrandfather couldn't make it but BUncle came to meet Tai and us.It was great to meet him because it now completes BMom's family support system.

Sorry...we've been slacking

Wow, time really flies when you have two toddlers.  So much has happened since our last post.  2 kiddos birthday parties.  And probably way to much to post about.  We have a water skier in Abigail and Tai would have but he has tubes in his ears which are not supposed to get wet - much less be dunked in lake water.  Tai started walking 2 weeks before his birthday and is now just running everywhere. 

Skip forward to the present, Abigail is just a sponge.  She soaks up everything and brings tears to my eyes when she starts singing songs she's heard on K-Love.  She has such a precious little heart.  The stage of "why" is starting though.  At the zoo on Saturday, an elderly lady was in a wheelchair and Abigail just had to ask why she was in a chair several times and very loudly.  It's cute though because she does it with a concerned voice, like she wishes she could help.  Somewhere she picked up the idea that she could give me nicknames, most of the time when I leave from lunch to go back to work she says "Byebye bunny rabbit".  I don't know why but she giggles after she says it and it makes me laugh everytime.

Tai is just bonkers.  He's so fun and all over the place most of the time.  There is no "that looks like it could be in my way, let me go around it" in his mind.  He just barrels right on thru what ever is in his path.  He loves to play ball.  He throws more with his left hand but can actually throw pretty well with both.  He's talking more, says "Go-Go" when he wants something.  He asks "Peas" for please and still uses several sign-language words.  The funny thing is that one of his first words was DaDa and now he is saying MaMa and won't say DaDa at all.

They love to play together and do have the occasional wrestling match that quickly becomes a "Tai bit me" situation.  Abigail is deep in the midst of potty training, diapers only at nap and bedtime.  She's getting so big.

There's a lot more to write about but I thought I would keep it short this time in hopes that I can be inspired to write more soon.

May the peace of Christ's love be with you this Thanksgiving season.

Jerry

Long overdue post

After 22+ years of wearing contacts and glasses, today I will be undergoing LASIK surgery.  While statistics say everything is going to be fine and my vision will be perfect, there is a chance as with any surgery that the worst may happen.  The worst being blindness in one or both eyes.  So I wanted to take a quick minute to write to Abigail and Tai just in case the worst does happen.

Abigail, you are an amazing treasure of God.  Your smile lights up every room and your laugh is contagious.  I love the way you make faces, especially when singing "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"  You are so smart and when I'm at work I just can't wait to get home to spend time playing in your room or on the playset outside with you.  Your spirit for helping others is truly inspiring and I hope you never lose that.

Tai, you are a true blessing from God.  You are changing so much every day, trying to walk and learning to say different sounds that almost come out as words.  Your smile is infectious with those two dimples and eight teeth.  Although you cry when left alone, you always show your affection thru hugs when picked up and it really does show how much you love being a part of our family.

I pray that my surgery today goes well and that I'm posting more regularly in the future.

God bless,
Jerry

It's been WAY too LONG....

Ok, so it has been months since our last post.  Between the holidays and traveling plus 2 little ones it has been so busy.  That is a poor excuse but it is all I got.  Life is a bit crazy but with each crazy moment there are 59 happy, fun ones.  This mama is tired but so happy and blessed.  My arms are almost always full with at least one of the kiddos.  Both of them would rather be carried then walk or crawl so that leaves my arms full! What a great "problem" to have, right?  All that to say, I don't get much time to actually type on the computer and/or blog. It is a new month and instead of sitting on the couch watching tv I thought I would finally blog.  Let's see....how can I catch up?

We left off right before Thanksgiving....We went to my parent's place for Thanksgiving and visited with all my family.  Tai was busy moving around as usual. He was a bit fussy and struggled with his sleep but right after Thanksgiving he cut 5 teeth! Yes, 5 teeth.  Poor guy.  Abigail did great and loved spending time with Mimi & Granddaddy and all the other grandparents/cousins/aunt&uncles. 

December highlights:  The kids and I went on a short road trip to Round Rock to meet my mom/dad for Mom's birthday on the 17th.  That was fun and the kids did well in the car plus we got to do a little Christmas shopping.  The next week we packed up and drove to Arkansas for Christmas.  We had prepared for this journey by telling everyone we knew to PRAY for us! Poor Tai is not a great traveler and really does not like being in his carseat for more than an hour but the prayers worked because he did great in the car.  Abigail did pretty well but she got antsy the last 2 hours of the 8 hour trip.  We must have listened to her "music" cd a hundred times!  The wheels on the bus go round and round.....this little light of mine...abc...itsy bitsy spider...   The list goes on and on and on...and she knows every word.  But we made it there safely and had a great time with Jerry's siblings and mom. Tai again didn't sleep well but we managed and all the family pitched in to help.  There were 4 kids under 4 years old.  It was crazy but so much fun to see everyone. Miss them so much!!   Christmas morning was precious. All 4 kids attempted to sit in front of the tree for a picture...um...that is really difficult to do. Gifts were exchanged and for the most part all 4 kids played well together.

New year's eve....don't remember...probably fell asleep early...but Tai and I were up to watch some of the festivities on tv.  He woke up for a bottle right around midnight. Stinker!

January 7th weekend we traveled to my parents house to celebrate Christmas with them.  It was fun to see the kids open their gifts. Tai is moving and pulling up on everything so he had a great time exploring.  I am learning real fast that little boys like to explore and EAT everything.  Oh boy!  Abigail had fun going with Granddaddy to feed the cows and give Noodle (miniature donkey) some crackers.  She got to ride in the back of Gdaddy's truck with mommy and daddy and go for a ride in the pasture. (don't worry it was very slow and safe... :)  One of their many toys was a red wagon.  It is so cute to see them ride together. Abigail holds Tai and off they go. They also got a huge kitchen for Abigail's room.  We "eat" cookies and "drink" tea all the time now.  Tai just tries to eat the fake cookies and cake. 
So that was our Christmas celebration.  OH....and the kids got a swingset/slide/playset from us this year. A friend of ours sold us theirs.  It is great! Pictures to follow...tomorrow i hope.

February Update:  Tai is standing on his own for about 10 seconds. No steps yet but he crawls about 100 miles/hr.  Not really but boy can he move.  He is even faster when he has something ready to put in his mouth.  He has a great personality. He is sleeping better (Thank God!) which means Mommy is sleeping better which means things around the house are better.  Hhmmmm....why is that?  He sleeps about 4-6 hours at a time overnight. Yes, that is better believe me. During the day he is in a great mood as long as he is near Mama and able to crawl around. His smile is awesome with 2 huge dimples and his hair is getting SO curly.  What a flirt he is! He is saying Dada, baba, and occassionally Mama when he is fussy. He just started waving hi and byebye....it is so cute!  Tai eats like a piggy...table food and baby food now. Of course he still likes his bottle too.   Abigail........oh what a smart thing she is.  She can count 1 to 10 in english and spanish and she has a vocabulary that is amazing. It is so hard to believe that we have actual conversations all day long. real ones too.  She is like a sponge.  I rarely have to sit down with her and teach her anything. She just learns it. She loves to sing songs and her favorite one is Jesus loves me.  She loves to read.  In fact, she reads herself to sleep every night.  There is something so special about how she grabs a book and comes and plops down in my lap.  So yes she is super smart and hilarious but let's not forget that she is 2 years old. Oh man can she throw a fit when she wants to..Holy cow!  It is tough but thankfully it is not too often. She is also potty training and doing pretty well at it.  There have been a couple surprises when she takes her diaper off without my permission. No accidents on the floor just a little naked 2 year old running around.  I can't help but smile about it right?

well...that is all the time i have now but i hope to be back real soon. I want to share our most recent bedtime ritual. It is very sweet.  and I will include some pictures too...
until then God bless!
love,Jenny

How life changes in 2 years

Today is Abigail's GOTCHA DAY!  2 years ago today we brought our baby girl home and started our life as parents.  Who would have thought then what would happen over the next two years.  We have a lot of highlights just in this weekend.  Yesterday we met with Tai's birthfamily in College Station, which is about the mid-point between us.  It was a great visit, we ate at Chuy's then went over to the mall play area and let the two older kids run and play while we shared Tai with them.  I'm sure Jenny will post more details about it, but I am glad that they are doing well and are still very happy in their decision.

Back to the two year theme, it seems like our life changing/family tree changing moments tend to take two years to accomplish.  Getting out of debt took us two years and two weeks.  Growing our family from Abigail's GOTCHA DAY to Tai's finalization day took us four days under two years.  And we only had a three month break in between those two huge milestones.  So I can only wonder what two year journey we will be starting next.

To Abigail & Tai - I can not begin to express to you how blessed I am to be your father.  You are both truly amazing in your own ways.  There are not enough words to describe the joy that you both have brought to your mother and I.  I can't wait to be a part of your milestones as you grow.  You are amazing children and I love you both more than you will ever know....Dadda

In Christ,
Jerry

Adoption Day!!

Yesterday as a wonderful day! Our family is officially a "family of four". After 6 months of home visits and evaluations we legally, in front of the judge and the state of Texas, adopted our son Tai Mikel Snider. What a wonderful blessing he is! God chose him especially for us and we are in awe of what our beautiful family has turned out to be.
We were at that same courthouse a year and a half ago with Abigail. I woke us yesterday morning feeling prepared thinking "We've done this before...we know what to do."  We walked through security and went up to the 3rd floor. The hallway was full of adoptive families. I walked passed all of their smiling faces and beautiful children. Still...i was calm and focused on "mommy tasks". Then it was our turn to go into the courtroom.  Immediately I was filled with emotion.  This was IT! Our family would finally be OURS...complete! No more paperwork, no more technicalities, no more evaluations.  We always knew these 2 babies were ours but it is incredibly nice for the State to recognize it and for it to be officially on paper. I was surprised by more emotions. I was so focused on Mommy duties and diaper issues that the emotions snuck up on me. Jerry and I looked at each other and just smiled with tears in our eyes. We did it! Eleven and a half years of marriage, years of infertility, doubts about our family's future, adoption disruptions, and a lot of waiting and praying... yesterday..all that was a distant memory because our family was complete. It was a wonderful feeling. It is only by the Grace of God and His promise that we are a family.  There is no other explanation for it all. HE kept His promise and gave us the desire of our hearts. 
My mom sent me a copy of her daily bible study from yesterday and look at how God was speaking directly to us. 
************************
You Were Planned


TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…"

(Jeremiah 1:5, NIV)


TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria

What an amazing thought: God knew you before you were even born! He saw your unformed substance and said, "I have a purpose for this life. I have good plans for them!" Then He breathed His life into you and sent you through your mother and father. They may have had issues, but that doesn't have to stop you from becoming all that God intended you to be. You have been handpicked by Almighty God to be here at this time in history!

Sometimes we hear parents say, "We weren't expecting this child. They were a surprise. They were an accident." No, that child may have been a surprise to you, but they weren't a surprise to Almighty God. No child can be born without God breathing His life into them. You may think, "Well, Joel, I was unwanted. I was an unplanned pregnancy." No, you wouldn't be here if God didn't give life to your seed.

In God's eyes, there is no such thing as being illegitimate. Remember, He knew you before you were ever born! Find confidence in His love knowing that you are a person of destiny, and you are part of His mighty plan!

A PRAYER FOR TODAY

Father, thank You for choosing me before I was ever born. Thank You for knowing me and revealing Yourself to me. I trust that You are working in my life today, even when I can't see it. I stand in faith knowing that You have a mighty plan for me in Jesus' name. Amen.

— Joel & Victoria Osteen
*****************************
 
Wow!!!I plan to print this out and put it in Tai's memory book! How amazing is that???
 
Thank you for all your prayers and for believing in our family.  Those prayers are a huge reason we are a Family of Four. 
(pictures will follow soon......)
In HIm,
Jenny

Busy month!!

What a busy month for us! So much has happened since the last post.

*Abigail turned 2 years old and celebrated 4 times with different family members & friends. Lots of cake!!

*We went to the rodeo twice where Abigail had a corn dog, funnel cake and cotton candy.

*Tai was dedicated at church

*Both kiddos were presented at the Hope Gala (adoption agency fundraiser)

*We went to Jenny's family reunion and surprised some family members with our new "addition". :)

*Jenny had a birthday.
*Abigail moved into a big girl bed
*We visited Jerry's Papaw at the cemetary and introduced Tai to Papaw.

*Halloween: Little monkey and a Ladybug (pictures coming soon...)

*Pumpkin patch

Potty training!!

In 8 days our little girl will be 2 years old. I can't even believe that! We haven't really been "potty training" but we have been introducing it. Tonight I was bathing Tai and Abigail was in the bathroom with us. She was playing around near her pink potty and I asked her if she needed to go. I put her on it and continued bathing Tai.  I thought she was just being silly as usual so I called Jerry to come get her since I was holding a slippery, wet little squirmy boy. He came in and picked her up off the potty and said "there something in there!". Sure enough she tinkled in the potty. Wow! What a big girl! We cheered and hugged her. So proud of our little girl. She is amazing and every day she does something new.

Tai is so active! He is so close to army crawling. He is a little inch worm now and loves to be on his tummy. (Total opposite of how Abigail was at his age.) He has 2 teeth and the biggest and best news I have...........He only woke up once during the night for the last 3 nights in a row. Woohoo! No, he is not sleeping through the night but this is SO MUCH better than it has been. He wakes up happier and is eating a lot of cereal thoughout the day. Praise God! Thanks to all of you who have been praying for the little guy and his mama! :)

I will post pictures soon. Both kids asleep now so that means.......Night night for Mama too!
blessings,
Jenny

Synchonized nap times?...it is possible?

Yep, trying to synchonize naps is very difficult and even comical sometimes.  Today, about 2 minutes ago, I put Abigail down for a nap and Tai was napping in the pack-n-play and I thought...Wow...I might be able to blog today. The very minute I walked back into the living room, opened my laptop, put my feet up in the recliner, Tai woke up screaming. Yep, I laughed outloud! So, I have him in my lap and am determined to blog a little today. Oh, wait, I just heard Abigail say "Mama" in her room.  Haha! Maybe she will fall asleep. Anyway, this is a day in the life of a mommy with 2 little ones. I wouldn't trade it for the world! It may be frustrating at times but what I keep telling myself is those times are but a few minutes of each day. Ok, may a few minutes a few times a day but overall there are so many awesome ones. Here are a few recent things to post.
*Abigail is talking allllll the time.  Her sentences are really coming together and making sense. We have real conversations now.  It is adorable. Her newest sentence is "have a good day."  She is quite the social bunny at the store. She waves and says hi to everyone.  Most recently she started saying Thank You without being prompted. She also repeats everything I say. Oh boy, I better be careful huh?
*Tai boy pushed his second tooth through yesterday. He isn't even 5 months old yet!! Wow, how different the 2 of them are. He eats like a little piggy. He loves his cereal and boy does it give him some nasty diapers. woooweeee! He smiles all the time. In fact, even when he is up at all hours of the night he is still smiling and laughing. He "talks" so loud I am afraid he will wake up Abigail and Daddy. It is pretty cute even though I am thinking..."dude, go to sleep it is 3 am!".  Speaking of sleep or lack thereof., the boy does not sleep very much. Ugh! It is exhausting, literally. He did sleep better last night and only woke up at 2am to eat.  My biggest frustration is what to do. He doesn't seem to have a real consistent pattern. It is a challenge as a mom...for sure! But we are sticking to it and trying to work out a routine. I have started writing down his nap times and feeding schedules to see if I can make sense of it. Of course, teething throws everything off too. :)
*Tai's achievements:
rolling over both ways, push ups, giggles, knows mama and daddy's voices, recognizes big sister and loves to play, (we have caught them playing together when they didn't know we were looking...precious!), loves loves loves to suck his thumb, can move all across the bed, reaches and grabs stuff, even big sisters hair (yes, the first sibling hair pull with tears to follow), toes made it to his mouth, everything in the mouth
*Mommy's favorite time of day..
***With Abigail, right before bed when we sing our songs together. She loves to sing "Jesus loves me" , "Father I adore you", Abcs, Row Row Row your boat. It is a beautiful few minutes and I love it. I hope we always have these times together. I love her so much. Every once in a while she will take my hand or crawl in my lap and I just smile so big.
***With Tai, actually as much as I love to sleep those middle of the night snuggles are my favorite. He buries his head in my neck and I feel him breath. Also, he is starting to recognize me and when I come around the corner to pick him up out of bed he smiles, giggles, and kicks his legs with excitement. So awesome!
***With Daddy, when he gets home Abigail sprints to the door and says Dada home and after Jerry comes in he sees TAi and Tai smiles from ear to ear. Really, these are the moments that make all the screaming and poopie diapers worth it. These are the moments that God places in my day to remind me that I am so blessed by these amazing gifts.

Well, I must sign off. Sssshhhhh........both kids are sleeping I suppose I should get up and get a few things taken care of around the house. Maybe I will take time to love on the puppies since they don't get too much attention anymore.
Enjoy your day. God bless you!
*Jenny

How fast they are growing

This week has had many firsts.  Last Saturday, the first Saturday of college football, Tai and I were watching a game together for the first time - well at least he was in my lap as I watched.  He got upset once when I yelled at the ref because he didn't throw his flag for pass interference.  I hope Tai got upset at the spontaneous loud noise and not the fact that I was yelling at a ref.  Later in the afternoon I put Tai in his play pen so I could get the grill ready to cook dinner.  As I stepped inside, I found him on his stomach turned towards the TV and focused on the football game - not the position I left him in.  He stayed in that position for several minutes before he realized I was back in the room.

Next we have a story about Miss Abigail.  For a few weeks now she has been saying sentences.  But last night was something special.  As Jenny was going thru her normal bedtime routine of singing "Jesus Loves Me" to Abigail, she started singing along with her.  Got most of the words (granted not fully pronounced) and was 100% on tune throughout the entire song.  They even did it twice so they could make me cry even more.

What a blessing from heaven these two little angels are. 

Love to all,
Jerry

Amazing little blessings....

Every day seems so busy and the hours just tick by so quickly. I feel like i am missing all these moments with our babies.  Jerry and I just said today that we can't believe how big Abigail is getting.  Every day she does something new and amazing. And Tai....well, he is so so big.  He will probably pass Abigail up in height and weight before he is one year old.  Yep, you read that right.  He is already 13 pounds at 3 1/2 months old and Abigail is 21 pounds at 22 months old.

Here are a few things I was reflecting upon today...
A note to my sweet daughter:
Today and every day I am in awe of your beauty. You have a beautiful face but an even more beautiful heart. You love to help mommy with so many things...
cooking, sweeping, feeding Tai, giving puppies treats, washing (playing) dishes, reorganizing the bathroom drawers, (un)folding clothes, wiping Tai's mouth and patting his back after he drinks his bottle, closing the doors as we leave a room

Mommy loves the way you.....
give me a hug and a kiss out of the blue, hold my hand in the parking lot, say hello and goodbye to everyone that will hear you, sing your ABCs with "mElmo", sit in my lap at night and sing Jesus loves me, scream Hi Dada when he enters the room, hold Daddy's hand every where you two go, hold me tight tight tight when we dance in the living room......Baby, I love you more than words can say and I am so thankful God let me be your mommy.

A few words to my little man:
Tai you had me at hello! :)  You are starting to smile as Mommy enters the room. Our midnight, 1, or 2 am snuggles are my favorite, You are starting to hug my neck and hold on tight, I love to see you grow and boy are you strong!  You giggled for the first time on Saturday and it made me giggle too. What a great smile you have and it is so contagious. My favorite thing is the way you look and smile at your sister.  You two will be the best of friends.  What a blessing you are!  I love you and can't wait to hear your little voice say Mama. Thank you Lord for the son I always knew you had for me.

Love,
Jenny aka...Mama

Health and Heat

It has been a while since I have posted anything and based on Jenny's last post I'm sure there are some questions about how I'm doing.  The craziness associated with my collapsed lung has subsided.  I have my last follow-up doctor visit today.  I saw a specialist last week and he assured me that this was something out of my control and I did nothing to make it happen.  I'm just one of the people that is at risk for it.  He said I am cleared to go back to doing everything I normally do, just maybe laying off the maximum weight lifting for a while.  The other thing I can't do yet is swim because my wound from the chest tube is not fully healed.  That's a bummer because I was off work last week and couldn't get into the lake to swim or ski.

Enough about me, last Thursday we took the boat out in the morning for Tai's first trip to the lake.  He did awesome, loved every minute of it and like most babies fell asleep to the hum of the motor.  Abigail did great as always and had fun swimming with Mommy.  She does a great job of following directions and loves to "drive" the boat.  They are both growing so much.

Abigail is now wearing size 4 diapers but she is also starting to tell us when she is going to the bathroom.  I have a feeling we might not ever see size 5 diapers.  Tai never seems to stop eating.  It is funny how different they are because we had to constantly force feed Abigail with her bottle but with Tai we have to make him stop.

They are a constant joy to both Jenny and I.  We just wish that it wasn't so oppressively hot outside so we could enjoy the long evenings.  Yesterday our digital temperature gauge read 114 degrees at 4pm.  Just way too hot for the little ones, even in the shade.

More to come later including pics from our few outings last week.  Time to go to work.

Jerry

Another month goes by...

We were finally getting into a routine and then an unexpected hospitalization for Jerry came up this week.  Praise God he is home and recovering.  Last Tuesday he woke up with pain in his side and progressed to a mild cough each time he inhaled.  By early evening he was in the ER getting a chest tube placed for a spontaneous pneumothorax (collapsed lung).  This is a very rare thing and we all were in shock.  He spent 4 days in the hospital and is now resting at home. 
This was such a surprise.  I was at a meeting and the kids were with me waiting for Jerry to pick them up when he called on his way to the ER.  I was in disbelief!  I told him to quit messing with me and I honestly didn't believe him.  Once he convinced me I went into crisis mode and called the neighbors to watch the kids so I could go be with him in the ER.  By the grace of God, Jerry's best friend is a surgeon in Waco and he was available to meet Jerry in the ER.  I made it just in time to hold Jerry's hand for the procedure. 
But at the end of the evening when Jerry was resting in his hospital bed I was faced with a difficult realization.  For the first time in 11 years of marriage I couldn't be there for him.  I had to go home to stay with the babies and leave him in the hands of someone else.  I knew he would be ok but it was VERY difficult to leave him.  I wish I could have been in 2 places at once!  But I knew that my babies needed me more.  Sweet Tai had had his 2 month shots that morning and he was running 101 temperature.  Abigail was a trooper and went straight to bed when I asked her to at 930pm.  Tai's temperature reduced with one dose of Tylenol and was doing better by morning.  Then began my 4 day juggle of kids and hospital visits......
I am still in awe at how our friends and family came to our immediate aid.  Jerry's mom came down Wednesday afternoon and will stay a week to help out.  I couldn't have gotten through it without her.  She stayed with the kids 2 nights so I could spend the night with Jerry in the hospital. 
Each day Abigail went over to play at some friends house and had a blast!  She did get to see her Daddy for a brief visit.  It was precious....she held his hand when he walked around the hospital corridor/nurses station.  She smiled at all the nurses and waived.  It made their day they said.  (She continues to brighten peoples day even in the stressful situations.)  She even painted her Daddy a picture and I put it in a picture frame for him to look at in his hospital room.
Tai and Grandma bonded and are the best buds.  She snuggled him all day long and will really miss her and that when she leaves.  :( 
Through all this stress I continue to be in awe of how, when you accept help that is offered, friends/family will do anything for you.  I am learning that I need to accept that help not just for myself but for those that offer it.  We are truly blessed here and I know that God is showing us peace and healing through all this. 

In the midst of this crazy week we got confirmation that TAi's reliquishment papers were filed in the court and the birthparents rights are officially reliquished.  He is one step closer to being a Snider and we are thrilled!!  He is a blessing!

So enjoy these pictures........Have a blessed day.
Love,

Jenny