Michael's Court Adoption

Today was our little boy's adoption hearing. Here we are getting ready to go...

Sarah Ruby

Michael Rigel

Judge signing the adoption decree papers! It's almost official. At the final adoption hearing the judge will present the newly adopted child with a stuffed animal. Our judge presented both Sarah and Michael with a stuffed animal! (You can see Sarah holding them, they are "Fox in Socks" and "Hop on Pop" stuffed animals from Dr. Seuss books.)

Judge M had Michael strike the gavel for his own adoption. Then Sarah wanted to try too. I love Sarah's face in this one... hee hee hee.

It's a BOY!

Welcome....Michael Rigel Rosenvall

Sealing soon to follow!

18 Things

1. I despise chain mail. I will not send it back to you, nor will I pass it on. Sorry, it's not appreciated unless it's something funny/odd or relates to Science.

2. I love my husband Andrew. I am constantly amazed at what life has already decided to throw at us in the first 5 years, which makes me apprehensive, because in my experience the Lord only give you harder and harder things so you'll continue to grow.

3. My biggest pet peeve is seeing people using cell phones at inappropriate times: i.e. in movie theatres, in the middle of a regular conversation, while at dinner in a restaurant, at school during class, while in the bathroom, during a play, at church(usually playing games), COME ON PEOPLE! Use some cell phone etiquette.

4. I've always wanted a large family, since having kids, a small family would be wonderful! I greatly respect those of you with large families.

5. Being the youngest of 8 is quite possibly the best family placement ever.

6. I love dancing! Lindy Hop, Swing and West Coast Swing are my favorites.

7. Staying up late and sleeping in until 10 a.m. every morning makes me happy. That way I get to see the stars at night, and wake up to lunch. I am not a breakfast person.

8. My favorite foods? Unagi sushi, Raspberry cream dark chocolate truffles, Boysenberry Pie, Avocados, Sirlioin tip steak, chicken hearts, green olives, snap peas...

9. I would love to learn how to do my hair and what I should wear. I have no fashion sense whatsoever and struggle shopping for clothes--unless it's for someone else, husband, daughter, son.

10. Winter is by far my favorite season but also my least favorite time to drive.

11. If I could travel anywhere on Earth I would pick New Zealand, Tibet(Himalayas), Antartica, Brazil(Amazon), Iceland. I've already been to the other place: Yellowstone.

12. I'm still in shock that the Lord decided I should adopt children. I love them both dearly but still miss that I wasn't able to be there when they were born-I have 2 kids and still have no clue what a woman goes through when she delivers.

13. I read comics. Sherman's Lagoon, PH.D Comics, The Order of the Stick, Buckles, B.C., Far Side, Calvin & Hobbes, Dilbert are my favorites.

14. Bubble baths, sitting outside on the grass on an autumn day, reading a beloved book, back rubs, eating dark chocolate raspberry creams, hiking, oil painting, cross-stitching, playing piano = best relaxation ever.

15. I've always thought that 'R' would be the prettiest letter for my last name, something about Amy R. -- Perfect! Needless to say I was ecstatic when I figured out Andrew's last name.

16. I'm competitive and stubborn. But not competitive nasty and not so stubborn that I won't listen to your side.

17. I have been addicted to TV, but never to computer games.

18. My own creativity has gotten me into trouble more times than I'd like to admit.

Sleeping toddlers?

Okay experienced mothers, I need your help.

My daughter Sarah has always gone to bed easily. Even as a bouncy 18 month old (when she first came to us). You could lay her down and she would go right to sleep, hardly even crying--except when she was sick.

Okay...here's our bedtime routine: She goes to sleep at 8 p.m.

Andrew and I go to sleep at 10 p.m.

I usually say, "Time for bed, Sarie, let's put on pjs." (she generally comes happily and puts them on- no problem).

Then I help put her in pjs,

she uses the potty,

I help her brush her teeth.

Then we go to her room with the lamp on low,

read stories

sing a few gentle songs,

say prayers,

give her a drink of water, we lay her down, say "Goodnight Sarah, I love you." give her a kiss. She says, "Goodnight mommy, love you too.)

I turn out the lamp, close her door partially. Sarah goes to sleep.

It has always been this order...

Recently:

Same routine. EXCEPT: lay her down....

"Leave the door OPEN!" she screams. or says, "I need to go potty." etc...

If you try any of these requests, Ex: "I want a drink of water." You give her water, she will throw it at you. Ex: let her use the potty. She won't go, and will request to use it again minutes later with the same result.

We've tried:

Sitting outside her door--worked for a few weeks.

Sitting in her room--worked for a little bit, but now she just throws everything in sight at you.

Closing her door--throws a fit, bangs on the door, wakes up her brother.

Nightlight-- she plays with it.

Putting her to bed earlier or later depending on if she took a nap.

Time out--calms her down, but doesn't change much.

Not giving in to any requests--tantrum, screams/pouts/works herself into a frenzy and doesn't go to sleep.

Ignore her--gets out of bed, run upstairs, plays with toys--even though she's tired.

Possibilities(what I've heard from others):

Nightmares

Separation Anxiety

Growth Pains

She's three

I know my daughter, yes, she is only three, has terrible threes, probably has growth pains, nightmares and definitely separation anxiety.

BUT HOW DO I HELP HER PEOPLE?!?!?!?

I don't want my child to be screaming until 11pm at night! I don't want to find her in the middle of stairs asleep with all the lights on in the house! I don't want to hear her trying to open the back door in the middle of the night! I don't want her to go knocking down Little Mikey's door at 3 a.m. and waking him up! What I've tried is not helping...

Top Spots

My friend Kaitlin found a website that calculates your "top spots" to live. It looked interesting, so here are my top spots.

http://www.findyourspot.com

Sheridan, WY

Helena, MT

Coeur d'Alene, ID

Dillon, MT

Springville, UT

Ogden, UT

Great Falls, MT

Salt Lake City, UT

Livingston, MT

Provo-Orem, UT

Moscow, ID

Fort Collins, CO

Kalispell, MT

Bozeman, MT

Grand Junction, CO

Leadville, CO

Cheyenne, WY

Tooele-Grandsville, UT

Durango, CO

Missoula, MT

Billings, MT

Divide, CO

Roanoke, VA

Cedar City, UT

Interesting how it kept me more towards the rockies.

Here's Rew's top 20:

Roanoke, VA

Lynchburg, VA

Spokane, WA

Billings, MT

Great Falls, MT

Olympia, WA

Norfolk, VA

Tacoma, WA

Salt Lake City, UT

Kent, WA

Ogden, UT

Hampton, VA

Seattle, WA

Provo-Orem, UT

Denver, CO

Loveland, CO

St. George, UT

Charlotte, NC

Chattanooga, TN

Asheville, NC

Ancorage, AL

Cheyenne, WY

Bellingham, WA

Boise, ID

Here are the areas we overlapped!

Provo-Orem, UT

Salt Lake City, UT

Ogden, UT

Roanoke, VA

Billings, MT

Great Falls, MT

Cheyenne, WY

Adoption Date

The adoption date has changed to May 26th! :D

3 Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday Sarah!

My little girl turned three!

What did I do? Let's see.

On Sunday I shared a birthday party with Talia!

My cousin who's only a week older than I.

Mommy made me a Boston creme cake with strawberries,

It had brightly colored sprinkles and purple frosting!

We celebrated with cake at uncle Mark's house.

I played lots of games downstairs and refused to eat venison- but I did ask for more ice cream and cake! Grandma R. gave me new pj's and Talia gave me a book. I brought sidewalk chalk for Talia!

(When we got home Mom and Dad discovered that they finally caught that elusive mouse that had been living in the ceiling.)

Monday when Mommy came home from work, I had a huge surprise for her!

"Look, Mommy! I cut my hair!"

The picture doesn't do any justice... she cut off all of her bangs (see above photo) gave herself a nice bald spot right in front and trimmed the edges too...

This is just a little portion of the hair that covered her bedroom.

So... I got a haircut from a lady mommy called a "hair stylist"

On my birthday I requested Tacos for dinner, Mommy and daddy and Michael took us to Los Hermanos and I ordered a special drink called Brisa de Mora Negra, it was so yummy! and then I ate my tacos, I stole mommy and daddy's olives from both of their plates. Olives are so good!

When the waiter came out with my ice cream he asked "How old are you, Sarah." I said, "Grandma and Grandpa say I'm three." Ice cream was good, but I liked the whipped cream better, not so sure about the cherry on top.

Mommy and Daddy got me a swingset for my birthday!

Yeah! I have a park n my backyard now!

It took Mommy and Daddy 2 days to build it.-thank goodness for swingset kits...

This is the birthday present from Grandma T. I asked mommy to read it to me three times before bed.

Adventure is out there! Elevator.

You should read my story: (yes, it's true)

Okay, Whitney is a girl I grew up with in my ward, she married a man named Joey Mugleston--who breeds and sells reptiles, arachnids, cockroaches etc.

I invited her husband to come and talk to my students about his Animals.

It was only going to be for my class, but when the other teachers heard about it they requested to come--so I rented the auditorium--

This morning was late start, so school doesn't begin until 9:55

at 9am I started preparing for them to set up.

I checked the auditorium, the stage was filled with band equipment (tippany, Xylophones, drums etc...)

I asked Mr. Perkins to please move them out, so he did using the school elevator

Well, Dance Crew showed up!

They needed to practice in the auditorium, until 9:45. Since I had requested it 3 weeks prior, I had preference.

I explained that we would be bringing in some large animals, they may be easily nervous around loud noises and dancing teenagers...

No big deal, she was able to try a few practices.

Whitney and Joey arrived!

Along with, live tarantulas, snakes, scorpions, lizards etc.

We went to the elevator to transport the animals, In the elevator (which is fairly small) Are Joey, Whitney, Myself, Mr. Perkins (music teacher) and several boxes of strange animals

The elevator goes down,

doesn't open....

up.

doesn't open

down, up, down, up

doesn't open.

I'm pushing buttons, "door open" nothing works!

Luckily I still had my cellphone with me, which never happens, but I had it today.

I called the school.

Becky answers, "Oquirrh Hill's Middle"

"Hi, Becky, This is Amy Rosenvall. I am currently stuck inside an elevator with Mr. Perkins our 2 guest speakers and several snakes, spider and other creatures. Please let us out."

She replies, "Your kidding."

"Nope"

p until now, I didn't realize that Mr. Perkins is severly clastrophobic.

I'm fine, Whitney and Joey are fine.

Mr. Perkins is getting just a bit nervous...He's a rather hefty/large man trapped inside a small elevator.

The custodian comes and cranks the elevator up and down, causing the gears to screech...

We hear knocking, "Rosenvall? you okay."

"I'm fine."

"We are going to see if taking it up and down helps."

Mr. Perkins starts rocking back and forth, eyes closed. He bangs on the door, "I want out. Get me out, Please" goes back to rocking..

While we are waiting, I figure it would be good to make small talk, right good idea?

Amy "Whitney, what is in that bin?"

Whitney "Oh!, It's the goliath bird eating taratula"

Perkins bang on door "I need out, come get me out!"

I suddenly learn very quickly that he is also terrified of spiders and snakes.

more rocking, "put it away, put it away.."

(this tarantula is 8 inches across)

the snake that's with us is 13 feet long....

up, down, up, down...

doesn't work.

More outside banging, "Rosenvall, you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Perkins, "Open the door. Open the door. Open the door" rocking rocking.

Whitney hides the tarantula more out of protection.

I received a phone call--from the school.

"We called the fire department they are on their way."

Oh, while we were down at the bottom of the elevator, I could hear the dance kids rocking out to the music, the snakes don't like loud music.

Wendy (dance teacher) comes to the door, "Are you really stuck?" (right before Whitney and Joey arrived she teased: "You're going to get stuck in the elevator with the snakes!"

Wendy "I'm so sorry! I cursed you!"

Perkins, "open, open, open" rocking.

Fire department comes.

They get the door open, Mr. Perkins books it to the men's bathroom.

I start laughing, so hard I'm crying so everyone thinks I'm freaked out.

Joey is holding the 13 foot snake

Whitney has the tarantulas.

Very odd scene.

The school is so worried about me, they bring me water and treats, Mr. Perkins and the guests too.

We rush through set up...

we are in there about... 25-35 mins?

I was late to 1st period-no big deal

Mr. Perkins sees my kids entering the auditorium and asks "Can my students join yours today, I can't teach 1st period right now."

He was still white as a sheet.

"Sure, send them in."

So, he sent in his kids and tried to calm down, but the rest of the day was spent telling kids, "Yes, I did actually get stuck inside an elevator with a 13 foot snake."

This is NOT the big snake. I'll post a picture of that one later. But this one was in the elevator too.