Sweet Dreams Come True

It's official Sofonyas is now Parker Sofonyas Mott and Helen is Helena Karen Mott!!!! We had our re-adoption hearing last Friday. I had hoped to make it a whole family affair, but that just didn't work out. Greg had a meeting, Reagan had a test and Parker had his FIRST ever field trip and there was no way I was going to deny him that joy!! So Helena and I went down to our city court house and swore in our new Texans!!!
It was really less of the main event that I had in my head. It was fun though for there were several adoptive families there. So the judge performed what they call a "mass re-adoption. It was so cute to see all the beautiful faces who have come from all over the world and to hear their stories. There was even a little boy from Liberia, Africa (which is on the west side of Africa). It was really cute to talk to him. They speak English there so he spoke really well but had that sing songy accent that Parker has.
It is bittersweet as they will now receive a Texas birth certificate. Parker thinks that is pretty cool, but in the same since I don't want him to forget his birth country; just as I don't want him to forget the name his birth parents gave him.
We have come so far in such a relatively short time and I couldn't be happier. Even though they were legally ours as of Embassy appointment in ET the re-adoption hearing made it seem so official. As I think back to a year ago today as we were anxiously waiting for our court date for Parker and our referral for our littlest baby girl, it all seems like just a dream. I am a firm believer that dreams really do come true. And they are so much sweeter than we could ever dreamed of.

Spring Break Follies

We all had so much fun over Spring Break I wish it could have lasted longer than just 1 week. I think we all enjoyed the sleeping in aspect of it especially since our days were filled with so much.

Greg and Blake went skiing with our church's youth group to Monarch Colorado. It was a great opportunity for just Greg and Blake to spend a little time together as well as let Blake spread his wings and have some fun with kids his age. They had a great time, excluding the 20 hour bus ride to and from Colorado. The weather, the food and accomodations were great. They spent most of their days eatin, skiing, sharpening their pool skills, learning new card games as well as taking in the evening activities with a show put on by the church. The shows included worship rock sections, game shows and comedy routines and a lot of good christian teen fellowship. It was all so well put together. After spending the first 2 days skiing Greg tried snow boarding for the first time and had a blast, while Blake was off skiing down the slopes with a group of cute girls. I don't know who had more fun!! We are hoping to make this an annual event. Maybe even for the whole family next year.






The rest of us hung out in good ole SA spending most of our time with friends and taking in some local fun that SA has to offer. We had endless sleepovers, day excursions to the wildlife park and children's museum, with almost every day including some sort of water fun. The first part of the week was sunny and warm so the kids were begging me to go swimming in our pool. Knowing that the water wasn't warm enough we spent a lot of time in the sprinklers, with the hose and splashing on the steps of the pool while I played pool girl getting it ready for when it is warm enough to swim in.
They were so funny, since the three of them have been in gymnastics they are constantly showing off their skills to each other. They are all so competive with each other it makes for a lot of laughs. In this particular competition Reagan was the clear winner being able to put his legs completely behind his head. It was a little bit of a freak so but fun to watch.
At the wildlife park it was so cute, Parker was acting as though it was no big deal, but as soon as he laid eyes on the giraffes and got to feed and touch the zebras he was totally taken in with the reality of how cool this experience truly was. We have talked about the fact that ET is right above Kenya where all the wilflife live but to him since he never saw any of them, it was as if they did not really exist. So it was really sweet to share this hands on experience with him. Helena was hysterical to watch, having her hand over her face almost the entire time in ahh of it all. It was too cute for words. The only picture I got of her face was this one. As we were in the car driving through the park and feeding the animals by hand I would look back only to see her attempting to eat the pellets herself. What am I gonna do with that little baby girl of mine. It was a great day with us all wishing there was some way we could take our zebra friends home with us.




It was so much fun to spend our time so freely and enjoy each other and the simple things in life together. I can't wait for summer vacation!!!

Do Dogs Go To Heaven?

This was the question that Parker asked yesterday after I had to share the heartbreaking news that our sweet little dog Prince passed away. To which I replied "Of course they do, especially dogs like Prince. In fact, he is up in heaven right now with Chewy, our other dog that passed 6 years ago, chasing each other around like little puppies again."

Prince, like our other dog Chewy were Greg and my first children. So he holds such a special little place in my heart. I pretty much cried all day long, hoping the tears would stop flowing before the kids got home. I didn't want to them to see me that way and to handle the delicate responsibility of telling them in that manner. I agonized over how to tell the news to the kids. He was 1 month shy of 16 years old and very loved by all. It was not a shock, but it did not hurt any less. We have known for over a year now that his organs were failing and that we had limited time with him. But it did somehow make the reality a little easier.

Over the last several months I had noticed he had gone completely blind and that his hind legs were basically paralyzed. Not to mention the heart murmur, the doggy dementia, the kidney, liver failure and thyroid failure and he seemed to be in constant discomfort. The kids and I have prayed for the last year for him to go peacefully in his sleep, but since it hadn't happened by now I realized it was time to take him in for a full evaluation and testing. I needed to know how bad things were and how much pain he might be in to make a decision. A decision that I do not take lightly. I believe that we all deserve to go naturally, but knowing he was suffering and that he would probably go very painfully anytime by a stroke or heart attack, I couldn't allow that to happen. Not for the kids to witness and especially not for him. I love him too much to want him to go through that.

After completing just a few of the tests the vet called me to say that she didn't feel it was necessary to put him through further testing and stress knowing he was in such bad shape. Further she suggested that we should consider putting him at rest. We talked for probably over 30 minutes going over all the questions that were lingering in my mind. I really did not want to hear the message she was delivering to me, so I just kept asking her and prompting her to give me what I wanted to hear. All the time knowing in my heart what was best for him, once again, wasn't necessarily the best decision for me. It is so hard letting go and being the one responsible for for pulling the plug so to speak. Only worse he wasn't even on life-support so my quilt was weighing hard on me. I felt like the grim reaper or Dr. Kevorkian, but worse.

After letting all of the information sink in and my emotions settle I knew it was the right choice to make. Now came the other difficult decision of how to tell the kids. I prayed long and hard and Greg and I agreed honestly was the best policy. We did not want them to think that he was going to a farm, or that something sudden and painful happened to him. We also felt like it wouldn't be good to tell them until they came home after school instead that morning or take them out of school to be there. We felt like that would be too hard on their little hearts. It was more than my heart could bare.

So we gathered around the family room after school once they were all home and I broke the news with tears streaming down my face the entire time. They amazed me how well they took it. I really thought it would be much more emotional, such as my reaction. But they each expressed a sense of peace for him knowing how he was free and frisky again up in heaven with his brother Chewy. God, as always, covered them in every way, even more than I could have hoped for.

As I walked around the house today my heart ached for the sense of knowing he was gone from our lives. But that feeling would always be followed by God's love, comfort, and peace knowing he is HOME and we will see him again!!!

So Good-bye sweet Princey Boy for now. We love you, we will miss you and look forward to the day we see your precious face again.

Finding My Roots

Well it's been just 4 months since I went brunette and I have already begun the process to return to blond. I now know that some of us are meant to be blondes. I am one for sure! It was too hard. I seriously felt like people were expecting me to say something intelligent all the time. The pressure was too great. Every time I opened my mouth and something goofy popped out, I think I throw people off. I was not myself. Like I was trying to fit into a pair of jeans that we 2 sizes too small. Painful!! I even felt more seriously. I would look in the mirror and it just wasn't me. I can't tell you how freeing it is to be going blond again. It's going to take a few months to be completely back to blond but just seeing the few strands of blond hair in my brush brought me to tears. Tears of joy!!!
As for whether blonde's have more fun, I would say a BIG FAT YES!!!! From the moment I went brunette people did not look at me the same. I know it sounds vein but I missed the looks. Greg even nailed it when he said that if we lived in California it might be different because being a brunette would stand out, but in SA, TX I was just another brunette!! One of millions!!! Greg even stuck his foot in his mouth by saying that he couldn't find me in a room. After almost 20 years of being together he couldn't recognize any other physical feature of mine. I had to laugh. Blake called it as well, he said, "Mom, I think you are prettier as a brunette, but seriously from one blond to another, you are a true blond!" Out of the mouths of babes huh!
On a more serious note, we are trying to teach Parker the importance of loving the person that God created in each of us. Appreciating all of the differences and how unique God created each of us. So by telling him to love the skin he is in and then coloring my hair a different color what was I teaching him.
For all you brunettes out there I have nothing but love and respect!! I am just not meant to be one myself!!
I can't tell you how good it feels to be me again!!!! Thank you God allowing me to find my roots and for allowing this silly incident to be a teaching tool to my kids!! God does have a sense of humor!!