Daniel's Court Day

On Daniel's adoption day with the 3rd District Court. Sarah woke up bright and early, turned on the computer and blasted "Coronation Day" from Frozen. After having the kids nicely dressed in nice street clothes. We spent several hours getting the kiddos to stay entertained at the courthouse. They ran down the hallways, splashed water from the drinking fountains, counted the number of blue or red cars they could find, ate goldfish crackers, drew pictures and the babies had a crawling competition.

The Judge complemented us on the task we have decided to take on. After a brief question/answer with our fabulous adoption lawyer - Frank N. Call. Judge James Mitchie, Andrew and I signed the paperwork. March 24, 2014.

After signing the papers, Judge Mitchie gave each of the kids a stuffed animal, Daniel picked first from the pile of stuffed animals the judge put up on his desk--he dove for this cute purple/grey raccoon. Sarah picked a bright yellow manatee, Michael a little red dog, James a green froggy, Peter a Rhino.  Their was one stuffed animal left-a pelican, it stayed for the next kiddo adoption.

Then we chased down our kids again while papers were processed, drove to Chuck-a-Rama for an adoption dinner feast. The kids were excited that we allowed them to eat at much soda and dessert as they wanted. I ate a delicious beef stew with carrots/potatoes.

Exhausted and tired, we returned home.

Having an adoption recognized by the State of Utah and in court though nice, is different from a Sealing in the Temple.

The Year in Review: 2013

Jumping from a family of 4 to a family of 7 in a mere fifteen months is insane.

I question the sanity of any who attempt it.

Rosenvall 2013 Year in Review

(Hopefully pictures if I find the camera cable, which has walked away.)

Andrew has been working at Wencor, LLC. as a Quality Inspector. His company was impressed with his work and quickly promoted him to a full time Quality Engineer. The work he completes on aircraft is both fascinating and enjoyable. In his spare time he enjoys playing Star Craft and reading.

Amy is discovering her new niche as a stay at home mom. Her days are filled with taking kids to and from school, making lunches, providing snacks, changing diapers, teaching reading/letters/numbers/hygiene, and overall trying not to have her house in constant disaster mode. On Wednesdays she helps coach Science Olympiad after school and in the evening attends Iaido (Japanese Samurai Class--basically she plays with swords.)

Sarah (6) loves school especially reading, and writing. Math is not her favorite but she works hard at it. She constantly reminds us that she fully intends to be a nurse and adores all things medical. Going to the doctor in her opinion is a treat, and if she can watch the nurses giving a shot it's almost like Christmas for her. She enjoys playing with My Little Ponies.

Michael (5) likes his preschool. He graduated from Speech at the local elementary school but still needs elocution lessons. To help with his speech the therapist suggested that he take trumpet lessons- apparently it helps with tongue movement. Though he's not quite ready for lessons yet (needs to read) he can properly buzz on his trumpet mouthpiece. Rusty & Rosy (computer program) has greatly helped him with recognizing letters

James (1 almost 2) is still 90% percentile in height and weight. He is the largest child in nursery. He will attempt to repeat back any word you say. He likes reading books, calls all cars choochoo's, adores balloons (baloo!), and loves outside.

Peter (6 months) has acid reflux and prefers to not roll over if he can avoid it. He does love to talk and baubles, smiles and coos constantly unless it's time to eat or sleep.

Daniel (6 months) loves to roll over, has recently started scooting forward and uses his mobility to grasp everything so he can taste it. He prefers to grunt when he 'talks'.  His adoption should be finalized in February/March.

Stories

"Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Sarah who went hiking into the woods to find lollipops. And she found amazing lollipops with spots. They are ladybug spots. She picked 3 lollipops and then was very sad. Because the spots disappeared. Only when the lollipops were in the sunlight did they have spots. So she ate 1 lollipop while at a picnic in the sunlight. So 3 lollipops subtract 1 because she ate the lollipop is 2 lollipops left. The end." - S

(Her homework was to draw and tell a subtraction story, I expected something shorter-but loved what she came up with.)

Peach & the Giant James "One day James found a peach.  The peach looked yummy. The peach smelled yummy. The peach was soft and squishy yummy. James took a bite of the peach. It was very yummy. James took two bites. James took 3 bites. Uh-Oh, James found a worm. James took 4 bites. James found half a worm. James took 5 bites. Oh good! No more worm. Yummy peach. The end."

"I came home from school today to find my room was changed. Mom & Dad had switched it around and added one enormous cage. A pile of dirt in the corner and thing all over the floor. But what was in the cage today was really very strange!"

"There's a Dragon in my bedroom!"

Mommy & Daddy put him there! and enormous Dragon with a long bright blue tail! His tail goes swish and knocks my toys everywhere!

"There's a Dragon in my bedroom!"

He snores all night long, and lets out loud bellows, and leaves ringing in my ears!

There's a Dragon in my bedroom!

He's not pleasant at all! When he throws his water across the room and smashes crackers in the floor!

There's a Dragon in my bedroom!

with a huge grin and long snout! but Mommy says he's here to stay! and can't read my sign-"Keep Out!"

There's a Dragon in my bedroom!

He's staring right at me! This Dragon has got to go! A Dragon isn't right you see!

There's a Dragon in my bedroom! Now I'm sure he's getting chunky, and little tasty me would surely be good for a Dragon that's getting hungry!

Just wait, I'll be asleep and then become a midnight snack.

Or maybe for breakfast the Dragon will eat me with a side of morning toast. Gulped down in one big bite, Just for Dragon--me a child sized roast.

But not for me! No! I'll teach this Dragon and take all his things away!

So getting on my outfit for I have a Dragon to shoo! Making sure to have his favorite treats to lure him out, I carefully open to the door and smell---- DRAGON POO!

MOMMY!!!!
Mommy helped me clean my bedroom,

She picked up the toys upon the floor, Helped me fix my Keep Out sign and put it on the door, Changed the Dragon mess and made my room smell good again.

Then showed me that Dragons' can be cuddled, and when Dragon went to sleep- he didn't snore too loudly, nothing to keep me awake. And Mommy scrubbed the crackers out of my bedroom floor, and we wiped up all the messes, it wasn't a really hard chore.

and Mommy gave me a long hug,

And whispered "I love you." Then glancing at the Dragon said, and I love you too.

Seeing that lovely Dragon curled and happy and asleep,

Made me realize that being bigger is really very sweet. so standing on my tiptoes and quiet as a mouse, I whispered to the Dragon, "Welcome to our house."

The Dragon grinned, and happily sucking on his tail,

reached out a sticky claw and held my hand real dear. I suppose if the Dragon really has to stay, Then it will be better if I treat him best today.

Dinosaur
A dinosaur is awesome with spikes or with scales,

They have mighty strength from their heads to their tails. A dinosaur splashes with swirls and with waves, He makes gigantic drawings inside of his caves.

Dinosaurs roar! and Dinosaurs growl,

Dinosaurs stomp and dinosaurs scowl.

A dinosaur eats with crunches and quakes,

They screech over mountains and everything wakes.

Dinosaurs roar! and Dinosaurs growl.

Dinosaurs stomp and dinosaurs scowl.

A dinosaur plays in mud and with sticks,

When a mommy dinosaur comes they have to be quick.

And when mommy comes....

Dinosaurs play and Dinosaurs share. Dinosaurs are quiet and Dinosaurs care.

Dinosaurs help, and Dinosaurs clean

Dinosaurs yawn and Dinosaurs gleem.

Goodnight Dinosaurs, and in their dreams?

Dinosaurs roar! and dinosaurs growl.

Dinosaurs stomp and Dinosaurs scowl... Until they hear their mother howl/Yowl....

What did I do today?

Today I decided to text my husband a list of things I did throughout the day. (Actually he sort of requested it.)

9:41 am - J spills entire box of corn chex cereal on the kitchen floor and proceeds to dance on top of the cereal.
10 am - I discover sink cupboard open while cleaning discover the dish soap to be missing.

10:15 I run downstairs to discover bathroom soap and lotion art decorations on carpet.

Babies hungry, Babies fed. Locks all in bedroom- folding laundry.
10:30 laundry started bathroom scrubbed. Laundry mostly folded bed made.
Spit Up! Clean bed covers, diaper change. Greet M home from school.
Clean S's room make bed, Pick up toys. lunch. baby cuddles, clean table, clean floor.
Boys crying downstairs, teach no jumping on the bed. Give back sucker to M after it was stolen when younger brother tackled him.
baby cuddles, start ice age. Cuddle J. put J down for nap. babies fed, laundry checked, clean living room, organize books, diaper changes. Reschedule WIC for tomorrow. sweep kitchen. tidy patio/deck baby playtime. Ice age- skipping-turn off, play Rusty and Rosy
Upstairs bathroom scrubbed, wait outside for S to get home, pet cat.
Scrub table, again sweep. wash sticky off floor gather dishes.
Babies tummy time, feed babies, S & M afternoon snack, check laundry.
Laundry moved, dishes put away, crackers and Cheese snack cleaned up.
babies fed and changed, dishes put in dishwasher upstairs bathroom cleaned again, countertops wiped. babies outfits changed

Pictures

Bring Him Home

Surprises happen often but miracles happen everyday.

Little Peter is very sweet. He is starting to sleep for longer stretches at night- most of the time. :)

Peter's 'twin' brother was born on June 17, 2013 at 6:52 a.m. weighing 6 lbs 14 oz and 18 inches long. He has dark hair and looks like Michael. He is also going through drug withdrawals. His birth mom has declared to court that she doesn't want reunification services.

He will be Sarah & Michael's last biological half sibling and we have been asked to adopt him.

It is difficult to think of our many dear friends who have no children when Andrew & I have been blessed with 4--almost 5.  After the years of dealing and struggling with infertility we still remember the heartache and pain that we went though.

We feel guilty & blessed & nervous. Guilty for adopting again when others have none--but I cannot in my heart willingly separate my kids from their sibling. Blessed that we have the chance. Nervous to care for twins.

We still have things that need to be finished in order to adopt him, books to read, home improvements and nothing is certain yet.

For now, I call him Oliver. But that may not be his final name.

*Sarah* Michael*James*Peter*Oliver*

Darling Little Ones

In 2011, my daughter Sarah-Ruby came to me one evening and said, "Mommy, get ready you are going to have a little brother that looks like Daddy and a sister that looks like me." I've shared this before-but I left out the last part, because of uncertainty.

I called our birth mom's family (from whom we adopted Sarah and Michael) and they didn't know where Birth Mom (BM) was. Two weeks later I found out I was pregnant. 4 months later the birth family called back, BM was in prison and pregnant.

BM invited us to visit her in prison and we did with the kids. I didn't share with her that I was expecting because it didn't seem right.

Sarah-Ruby remained adamant that she was getting a sister. BM was expecting a girl. I was expecting James.

We discovered that BM choose another family to adopt the little girl and in March 2012--Caitlin was placed into a loving couples arms whom we are not allowed to contact. We don't even truly know her birthday. Also, I have never seen a picture of Caitlin, but I know without a doubt that she looks like my daughter. And Sarah-Ruby still insists that her sister should be in our home.

I have heard people say, "If the Lord wishes it, then it will happen." But I disagree with this statement. The Lord allows people their agency and allows them to choose what they will do with their lives. He told Sarah-Ruby about her sister and told Andrew and I to get ready which we did. But the Lord did not interfere with BM's agency when she choose another couple.

I hope that someday, we will be able to meet this couple, so that my little Sarie will have a chance to meet her sister.

I am expecting and due in June-another boy! We received a text tonight that BM is pregnant too, due the same week (or maybe the week before) that I am.

Life, Universe and Everything

Here's a little bit of what we have been doing.

The kiddos and I made finger puppets out of pipe cleaners and pom-poms. I hot glued a small piece of fabric over a glue stick then wrapped the pipecleaners around and decorated them. The kids love them!

Here's the animals the kiddos requested: Antelope, Mountain Goat, Parrot, Doggie, Giraffe, Tiger, Bunny, Crazy Caterpillar.

I added the aliens. Evil Mr. Pineapple, Green Dude, Ms. Squiggles, Flower Head and Cherry Crab.

James first experience with rice cereal. He is so big (97% percentile) the doctor is having him start now. He was so excited he started trying to eat through his bib.

James is also teething.

I've been making/canning homemade applesauce - delicious!

He rolled over for the first time on July 28th!

Pardon my foot!

Antelope Island- I drove there with my kiddos and two of my best friends Kaitlin and Tiffany. I have known Kait and Tiff since I was in elementary school.

Kaitlin was awesome and requested to carry James.

Sarah wouldn't look at my camera she was too busy running to the salt water.

Looks like she's flying.

Mikey is right behind her-they got sandy and wet but had a blast.

Chub, Chub - I've never had a baby this tiny! Sarah was 2 when we adopted her and Mikey was 1. So, having a baby in the house is a new experience for us.

If the sound doesn't work-sorry. He was giggling.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

My oldest 2 children are both meth, alcohol and other drugs affected. Several people have continued to tell me that my kiddos are perfectly normal and that they don't need any extra help. So, I'm writing this To be informative. I know my children. I know where they struggle. Yes, for short times my kids seem just like normal kids- but you don't see the everyday. Meth has issues of its own a lot of which haven't been pinpointed yet. Instead I will focus on FAS or fetal alcohol syndrome. Yes my oldest 2 have FAS. "An FAS child can have a spectrum of problems, ranging from learning disabilities to severe mental retardation.  FAS are usually very likable and sweet, generous to a fault, and usually have poor impulse control.  FAS children can have short term memory problems and be very untrustworthy because of it.  FAS women (in the moderate to severe range) tend to have FAS babies.  They don't have the ability to reason through the consequences of their actions.  They tend to be very sexually active when they are old enough because they don't reason well cause and effect.  They are extremely trusting yet resist anyone who tries to control them.  As younger children, they are apt to wander off, can't always remember simple instructions.  But always appear very capable and normal.  They are brain damaged.  The result of a birth-mother who drank while pregnant.  The severity of the FAS is normally related to how much the mother drank, but there is no way to tell until the child is older as to what disabilities she/he will have. parents of FAS children need to provide as much stability and routine as possible.  They they have to keep their eyes on them and give them a lot of wiggle room if they forget to do something after you told them the 100th time.  That their impulsiveness is a result of brain damage, not because they don't want to obey.  An older FAS child needs an advocate at all times.  They don't have the ability to make good decisions about where they go after school or with whom.  They are likely to get themselves into compromising situations." wifeandmommy.blogspot.com Sarah-Ruby has low impulse control. She likes to hoard things that aren't hers. She struggles with short term memory loss. She is very sweet when she wants to be. Michael has a speech delay, he struggles with partial hearing loss. Forgets simple instructions.

What cha Doin'?

Still need a camera. But I did finally figure out how to post pictures from my phone. These pictures range from winter 2011 to today.

Short hike up Provo Canyon, the lake is completely frozen, kids were running across it and fishermen are ice fishing in the background. I refused to let my kiddos run across the lake-though Sarie really wanted to. I'm not that brave... I was also 6-7 months pregnant at the time.

James in the NICU. He is in a warming unit with full oxygen. We received his medical bill. Never has $37 K been so worth it! I'm also grateful for good insurance.

The day James came home.

Mikey holding his brother for the first time.

James sporting his amazing oxygen. One morning he woke up, tore the oxygen off and refused to take it back-we monitored him for 10 days off oxygen (oxygen monitor still on his foot though.) And thankfully his oxygen levels never dipped down too badly. A couple of nights we had to put it back on and swaddle his arms down but otherwise he has done great!

Easter egg decorating. It's a huge tradition with my family. Rew not so much. For the first 4 years we were married I dyed all the eggs. But now the kiddos are old enough to join it, it is a blast! Rew helped too.

Rew and I both make an "Earth Egg" without realizing that we both made one, until we turned to each other and said, "Hey, check out my earth egg." Mine is on the left. Rew's on the right.

Sarie loved it!

No oxygen! woot!

The annual Rosenvall Easter egg Hunt. Easter Egg hunts- is a huge Rosenvall Family tradition. Each family brings some plastic eggs with candy and the daddy's go outside and hide them.

Meanwhile inside the house, Grandma and Grandpa have already hidden Easter Egg Baskets. They are hidden in difficulty according to the ages of the grandchildren. The first year I was married the basket for Rew and I was hidden in the attic, behind several boxes and up in the rafters! According to Rew his dad once hid an Easter Basket inside the swamp cooler. This year our family basket was in the closet-easy enough for Sarie and Michael to find.

A few weeks ago the kiddos and I made "treat buckets". I used 2 old ice cream buckets and turned them into treat buckets for the kids. -The kiddos decorated them with stickers.

They are filled with small bowls (maybe 1/2 cup-1 cup each) with goldfish crackers, cherrios, granola bars, popcorn, dried fruit, 1 fruit snack. I also took the Easter candy and I have been putting in 3 pieces of candy a week. I've been letting the kiddos pick one or two 'treats' from the treat bucket during snack time. I only fill the bucket once a week and I love it. It has really cut down time on trying to pull out things from the cupboard then having to put it back. The kiddos love it too.

As a thank you to the families that brought in dinners to us while I was in the hospital I made root beer suckers and chocolate dipped strawberries. (Yes, it sounds like diabetes heaven in my house... Easter treats and now these treats... )

Finished suckers. They really are fun to make.

Chocolate teddy bears (you cannot tell, but they are filled with walnuts)

Chocolate frogs filled with toffee bits (this picture is blurry, but they have cute little smiles and eyes.)

Strawberries. Everything has now been delivered and hopefully enjoyed...

James today. 14.3 pounds. He is a chunk, already his feet extend past the edge of the bouncer. I've had to adjust the straps in his carseat twice.

I will be going back to work for 5 weeks. Get my students through CRT's and then after that I'll be staying at home. My friend Karena will be watching my kiddos while I finish the year.

Rew loves his job at Wencor Aerospace Engineering.