Better things ahead

Could it be true, might our heads be finally getting above water??? Hopefully! Leroy went to his new doctor down here today and without saying it, the new doctor thinks the old one sucks!
Thank goodness we found a doctor that wants to fix Leroy's back and leg problems without accusing him of wanting disability. He's talking surgery but nothing definite. He gave Leroy some prescriptions for pain which is something Dr. Smith never did in the almost 2 years we saw him. Maybe after all this craziness in the last 7 months is gonna turn out ok after all. :)

We put up the "tree" last night and had fun. I use the term tree because it's an artificial (our first) and it's not the prettiest. However, it was only 1.99 last year on clearance so it works. It's better than paying 50 bucks down here for a tree! This year it is covered in all handmade ornaments thanks to Martha Stewart.com :) We turned on Christmas music, the kids danced and we had a great time.We don't have too many sentimental things but one thing is our garland from Leeanne. In 2001 when Leroy had his tiny hole of a place he got a tree, Leeanne came up and made a garland for it out of tape and construction paper. We've had it ever since and take especially good care of it. All in all, Christmas is getting funner as the kids get older and get more excited! We may not have a big Christmas this year but at least seeing the kids faces makes all this craziness worth it =)

Visit to the North Pole

We did it! It's only December 5th and the kids got their pics with Santa today! Derrick was cool with it, he's always been good with Santa even when he was itty bitty. I did have to explain that Santa's elves aren't that great at making the "Big Fighting Robots" he wants because 4 year olds aren't ready for them yet. Danae however surprised us. When the lady said it was our turn Danae let go and ran to see her Santa! She was so excited this year. Up to this point Santa, Easter Bunny and any other costumed person has been a nightmare with this girl but not anymore. She was super ready this year and totally enjoyed it! This year I'm gonna cheat a little, no family pic but a pic with Santa in the Christmas cards.....everyone wants to see the kids anyway :)

Happy Anniversary

Just a quicky today, we are all sick but just wanted to say HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to us! 6 years ago today we said "I DO" and haven't regretted it a day! Although nearly everyone doubted us with our age difference, we couldn't be happier and get along better than any couple I know. Here's my anniversary present from Leroy....I finally got my tennis bracelet plus some extras!



(I'll post some updates in a few days when I hopefully feel better)

New Christmas cards

Just looking through some magazine and found some cuties to make :)

Helpful holiday hints from us

Since it is after Halloween and after hearing some horror stories I decided to add some holiday mailing hints to our blog: (These are my opinions only)

1. Make sure the address you are sending to is correctly written and able to be read by many people. Just because you can read it doesn't mean everyone else can.
--Name
--Street address
--City, state, zip code (make sure zip code is correct for the city)

2. Make sure you package whatever you are sending securely. If you can shake the box and it rattles....you need to add material so it won't rattle. This will help cushion it on its journey.

3. If your package is valuable add insurance.

4. If you want to know when the package arrives, add delivery confirmation.

5. If sending holiday goodies (i.e food) package it securely and don't send it the slowest way possible. Cookies are good at first, but if it takes a week to get there they aren't so good :)

6. Don't be in such a rush during the holidays, this way you won't be so stressed out.

"It worked! It worked!"

PRINCESS CINDERELLA HOT WHEELS RACE CAR DRIVER
Those were the words uttered by our Derrick Thomas after every house he trick-or-treated at and they gave him candy. We'd been practicing going up to houses, saying trick-or-treat, and remembering to say thank you. It all paid off! The kids loved trick or treating (especially the candy part) and they both remembered to say thank you at each house.....we've never been so proud of the two of them ever!

After a few blocks their buckets were completely filled to the brim so we went to the Halloween carnival at a church across the street from our apartment. The kids had even more fun there. They had all sorts of age appropriate games and win or lose they got candy and tickets at the end. It was so much fun to see them get so excited, jump up and down and laugh when they played the games. I really believe holidays don't get exiting until your little ones are old enough to get excited and understand everything. Ours are finally old enough and it sure is one heck of a blast!!!!!


I also thought I'd include a video of why we don't need a dog......the kids keep themselves occupied :) Enjoy!

Pigtail Princess

After 3 years of trying to do Danae's hair, I had almost given up. She has the thinnest, curliest hair on Earth! The first year she had no hair at all....she was bald. And now her hair has slowly been growing and finally it's long enough to look cute...however I've had no success at putting pigtails in her hair. When I was at work on Friday Leroy & the kids came to visit after I got off and low and behold Leroy, by some magic got her hair to stay in pigtails! So now she is my Pigtail Princess :)

I was also feeling crafty today so since I'm now obsessed with cupcakes and glitter (Martha Stewart crafts is now at Wal-Mart!!!!) I thought I'd make this card. It came out ok, I just should have added a frame around the cupcake, it looks so plain with just the white. You can't tell but the whole top pink frosting is colored with clear glitter. It looks so much better in person but the camera doesn't do it justice :) Not too shabby for a spur of the moment card.


And a special HI to everyone just reading this blog! That means you got our change of address card and checked us out :)

Can't think of a good title :)

Halloween is almost here! After discovering that there are much fewer choices for boys than girls, Derrick has decided to be a Hot Wheels racing dude and Danae is going to be her favorite princess Cinderella. After being nagged 5 million times a day on when Halloween is....we made a countdown calendar and there's only 9 days left!

So far we are all good here, we've been taking advantage of living near "activities". We went to the beach and had a blast! Leroy finally got Derrick in the ocean splashing and kicking the waters butt. Danae wanted nothing to do with the water and was content helping me make a sand turtle. She did however love to see the surfers out there. It's her "new thing", she wants to surf all the time. We come across random things on our adventures, and one thing this past weekend was hot air balloon rides! We were on the 126 headed to Ventura and right there smack dab on the right side of the road....a hot air balloon giving rides above the valley.



We only have 11 months to go for my one year "contract" that I have to stay in Fillmore! It's horrible when you just want to get out of a place. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to basically fight to get hrs every week, but it makes it so much more worse.

I finished our Christmas cards! All 41 of them, made by hand, each one embossed and cut by my own little hands.....I refuse to support Hallmark when I can make cute cards too :)




Some things we've learned while down in SoCal:
~Like Dorothy said, "There's no place like home"
~You can't make a u-turn at intersections down here, it totally sucks
~Drivers seriously don't know how to enter onto a freeway going highway speed in Ventury Co.
~Fresno has the best craft stores in the world
~You can find more Hot Wheels in the central valley rather than LA
~You never know how much you had till it's gone


Well, I think that's all for now....at least all my brain can think of :)

SoCal living

Well we did it, we moved 202 miles away from the Central Valley to Southern California! I've finally gathered enough time to update this "daily/bi-daily" blog....ok so I'm a little behind =) Get ready for some reading, 'cause here goes.......

We made our big move on September 21 and are finally settled in. Most of our stuff (400 boxes or so) are in storage since we have a much smaller place here. We moved to a small apartment complex, 20 units and it's been an adjustment to all the little noises. We hear the neighbors upstairs and outside...needless to say, we miss having a house. The biggest adjustment besides the space, is that the kids share a room. Leroy & I thought it was going to be tough for them sharing space but it really hasn't. We are going to have to get a bunk bed set though just to give them more play space.




We live right in the middle between Magic Mountain and Ventura Beach, which is nice but we have to drive everywhere. It's like living in Firebaugh again, nothing is close. We are really missing the convenience of the big city. The nearest Target or Walmart is 20-30 minutes away. We have to plan our trips now since it's nearly an adventure to do anything. It is much prettier than the valley down here though, there's mountains everywhere. And speaking of mountains, according to one resident, there's some unknown volcanic activity in one of the mountains here. There is steam coming out of a crack in the mountain and the ground keeps rising in temperature. Scientists don't know what it is but hopefully it won't turn out like the movie Volcano!

I'm based out of Fillmore, although I spend most working hours in Simi Valley, which is a bigger town 18 miles away but a 40 minute drive. I have to drive this big winding mountainous road to get there. The first time I drove it I was scared to death, now it's not that bad. On my days off we usually take day trips to Ventura beach or this past weekend to Whittier for a Hot Wheels show Leroy always heard about.

We lived in the city and always considered Fresno huge, but living in SoCal is like living in a completely different world! Everyone is always in a hurry, no one cares about how they drive, if your in the way they will run you over...scary at times! Right now there's a fire down here near Porter Ranch, we actually saw it on our way to Whittier, it was really surreal.

We are looking forward to when the kids get a little bigger, they always see Magic Mountain when we drive by it, yesterday Derrick said he wanted to ride the rollercoasters and we told him he could when he got bigger. He said, "Yeah I gotta be 40 feet tall to ride, 'cause then I will be tall enough" It was too funny! He was so adament on this height to ride the rides.

It's definatly a different place here, I do miss "home" as I call it. Leroy keeps reminding me that SoCal is home now, as true as it is I don't think I'll ever feel at home down here.

A Quick Note Today

Just a few things to update: Almost done with my on the job window training. My trainer is very good and lets me learn from my mistakes! The movers are gonna deliver our stuff Sunday instead of Monday YAY!!! And...I got to see my family after missing them TREMENDOUSLY for 3 days! I never want to be apart again!

The Jinx

Ahhh, since it's been forever since I blogged, here's what's been going on in our little world. First an d foremost I passed my window clerk test! Without passing I would have no job. But let's back up and go from my last blog........

Since I last posted we have celebrated Leroy's birthday, I won't say how old for fear he might kill me LOL just kidding =). I have officially left the Selma REC and am now stationed in Fillmore, CA. On September 2nd I had a safety training class in Bakersfield where I learned I had to pass a window clerk test to retain my job. Geez as if we needed one more pressure on us. They told us we had the rest of that week of and starting the 8th we would need to be in Bakersfield everyday for window training. That would be great if all of us lived in Bakersfield, but we all live in Fresno. After stressing about how much gas would cost I called my new postmaster and asked is she wanted me to come in and help out. She said no so I figured I'd have a week of relaxation before the window class. The day after the safety training in Bakersfield, my postmaster called back and said another town had some hours if I wanted them, I called her back and jumped at the chance to hopefully make a good impression.

So Thursday the 4th we drive down to Fillmore, get directions to a town called Simi Valley and I started training at the Mount McCoy station. Oh my gosh I have never worked so hard in my life! Breaking down the mail, sorting it and everything. I felt like a personal organizer for the USPS! All together it was a great experience to get my feet wet and met some very helpful people. I worked there the 4the & 5th and then we came home.

The 8th I started my window training class and thanks to all our selling on eBay, it helped me a ton because I know a lot about shipping and mailing stuff.

Then today I passed the test! Tomorrow I go to Fillmore, come home Thursday, movers pack on Thursday, load up on Friday and deliver to our apartment on Monday.....so much to do!!!!!!

Numb

When will all this be over? Each day is something worse than the day before, can it possibly get any worse? So many questions and no one has any answers........

Hopeless in Fresno?

What does lost paperwork, not returning phone calls and no information equal? S-T-R-E-S-S! Well here goes as to where our move stands. As of yesterday my relocation paperwork was lost. After spending 3 days trying to get a hold of this lady and her not returning my phone calls I very rudely said a lot of four letter words at the woman who lost my paperwork and hung up on her yesterday. She shoved me off to her bosses because she had run out of excuses as to who had my paperwork last.

Today I finally get called into the HR office to get my reporting orders for Saturday. My HR boss said to just keep bugging her and they should come up with it. This paperwork is for my relocation money, without it the movers don't come and Leroy & the kids have to stay here with the house =( Well on my way home today I get a phone call. The number came up "unknown" and I debated on whether or not to answer it. Well, I answered it and it was Lynn, the finance secretary I've been leaving messages with when I try to call Carol. This woman has been nothing but sweet to me, if she could, I know she would have given me answers. Lynn is the bright spot in my day today......she called to tell me she found my paperwork and sent it to the relocation management firm!!!!!!! Cartus (the moving company) is getting my papers and should be calling me soon. Hopefully we will be able to move sometime next week.

And now for another stress factor. When I got my orders my HR boss gave me my new post office's number and said to call the postmaster to find out if she needed me to come in next week or just wait for my training. I thought 'great maybe my new boss will be great!' After talking to my new boss I was hopeless. =( There are 2 of us going to the Fillmore and the postmaster said she has enough hours for maybe 1 1/2 clerks, not 2. Oh great, just one more thing to worry about....hours. Hopefully since I'm willing to travel to the smaller towns I can get more hours.

Things can't possibly get anymore stressful right now. We will be glad when this move is over and we can get back into a routine because it's beginning to stress out the kids which is not a good thing. Luckily we have a strong marriage and can get through anything as long as we do it as a family!


P.S. THANK YOU LYNN (Although you'll never read this....THANK YOU)

Derrick's Nose Job

Well finally, as if we didn't already have some excitement in our lives......Derrick added to it today! During our yard sale today, he comes outside and says "I have a drawy yellow thing in my nose Mom". My first reaction was WHAT?! And after closer inspection he was right, there was a yellow thingy in his nose, stuck.

He'd done this before on his 2nd birthday. Luckily after 8 hrs in the emergency room at Children's Hospital he sniffed and it was gone. This time it was lodged right in the passageway. After about 15 minutes of holding him down, trying to get it out and tears on both our parts Leroy said just take him to the Urgent Care down the street.

Panicking like I always do, we drove the couple miles, signed him in, waited, waited and waited some more. Got called back and then waited some more! The nurse got a chuckle out of it so at least we could make someone smile today =).

The doctor came in and I really think he was 185 and seriously didn't need to be a doctor dealing with kids because he was the grumpiest guy alive. He looked in the nose and saw the object and went to go get the magical "thing up the nose tool". When he came back he said, "well if he doesn't move or cry this will be easy". Oh really, what 4 year old isn't going to cry when you try to hold him down against his will and get something out?! Luckily Derrick did start to cry and the thing came out on it's own with the mucus (sorry I know it's gross). I still have no clue what it was. It's about the same size as a pea.

A couple minutes later we were home and Derrick was back to normal. Now as a slight punishment, no computer games which is about to kill him! We could have had a nice calm day today, but who wants that when you can have drama and suspense =)

Gurgle, gurgle

Just when we start to get our heads above water, there it goes, something else that emerses us underwater again. Leroy says, "You're a Clark now, that's just what happens". It makes me smile for a quick second =)

We got our apartment, sent the deposit and then the landlord says our rent is an extra $155 for utilities. This is crazy! We just want everything done, settled and finished. In our 7 years together this has got to be the most emotionally draining time. Only a week longer here and we'll hopefully start to settle in. At this point, things can only go up from here.

Fillmore, CA pop. 14,100 + 4

We have discovered that there is still a Mayberry USA! This past Monday we drove to Fillmore to check out the town and hopefully find a place to rent. We succeeded!

When we got there we drove down the main street where everything is. The thing that surprised me, in a good way, is that the stores still have window displays! I haven't seen window displays since Firebaugh and those weren't the best. There's still a small town hardware store and drugstore and all the little things associated with "small town America". There were even people sitting in front of a coffee shop drinking coffee.....not Starbucks.

Leroy & I both grew up in small towns (Exeter & Firebaugh) and from the looks of things, we are going to be raising Derrick & Danae in a small town as well =) The great thing is that Fillmore is right of off the 126 so on the highway there is a Rite Aid, Vons and all the fast food places. So we get the small town charm with the big city amenities. Everyone was really nice that we ran into so it put me at ease a little.

After looking in the paper, stopping by a real estate place and calling around, we had an appointment at 2:30 with an apartment complex 1 1/2 blocks from work. We were hoping we would like it because it would mean saving $200 in gas a month due to me being able to walk to work. After meeting the manager, a sweet and very nice little old lady named Betty, we got to see the apartment and loved it! It's only a two bedroom, but the kids are little and sharing a room isn't such a big deal right now. We turned in our application and she told us she'd give it to the owner because he was coming over in a few minutes. Just our luck, the owner showed up right as we were leaving so we got to personally meet him and go over the application. When we left we got a good vibe and hoped we were right. It was still early so we decided to hit the road and see what towns were close, 20 minutes later we were at the beach! We walked out onto the Venture Pier to Mill's End and saw some dolphins. Anyone who pays attention to legends knows that dolphins are supposed to be good luck. And for our sake, we hoped it was right.

The owner said to fax some salary info to him Tuesday and he'd give us a call that night to let us know if we got the place. A little after 8 last night we got the call.......WE GOT IT! Our stress level isn't nearly as high as it was. We now have a new home, the only thing now is waiting on work to fax all my info to the movers so we can have them come, box it up and move us to Fillmore. We've spent the day going through the shed trying to downsize. It's worked, but going from a 3 bedroom house to a 2 bedroom apartment is hard. Luckily someone invented storage places and that's where we will house some stuff.

This is definitely an adventure but one that is exciting and a good thing. Not many companies will pay for your move, but as much as I get frustrated with the postal service this is really a great thing they do for people that are getting relocated to a new office.

Only 9 more days left!

A VeryTiring Day

Today was the beginning of some very tiring days ahead during the next month. Today was our annual summer yard sale. Since we moved here 2 years ago we have a yard sale during the summer to get rid of the clutter, toys and furniture we don't need anymore and make a few dollars in the meantime.

We started at 4:45 in the am and finally drug everything back in around 3:30 in the pm. Although we didn't sell everything we wanted we did end up selling a lot of it and are going to set it up again tomorrow before we donate what doesn't sell. We now look in the backyard where we had so many kid toys and the swingset and it's now all gone. The realization of moving is here and it's scary and exciting all at once.

The kids were amazing! They didn't whine when their old toys were sold, and they listened and didn't get upset when we asked them to stay inside. I couldn't have asked for two better kids than the ones we have! These are pics of Derrick doing what he does best....."being silly Mom"!

After we all cooled off the kids and I played with the Lincoln Logs that I've been promising to play with for weeks. We made some pretty awesome creations if I do say so myself =)

A New Adventure

We got the news today, 24 hours late but we got it! We got our second choice, Fillmore, CA. 188 miles away from here. As of today we have until the 29th here and on the 30th I'm supposed to report to my new duty at the Fillmore post office. My supervisor said the postmaster is happy to have us since he/she is having to do my job instead of relaxing in the back office =)

On Monday we are going down to check out housing and all that fun stuff so hopefully we won't have to stay in a hotel for any length of time. Just looking online it's a pretty place not too far from Simi Valley, Lancaster and Palmdale. It's located just before the big hub of Los Angeles which is a great thing.

We are looking at this as a great adventure and the kids are excited! Our stress levels are lowered by about a million percent now that we know where we are going which is always a good thing. Plus there are the perks of getting discount tickets to places like Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm and Magic Mountain since we will be living within the zip code for LA area events.

Although a little sad to leave we know this will be a great thing in the long run and can't wait for the adventure to begin!

48 hours

48 hours until we find out if, when and where we go. There are so many different things than can happen on Wednesday. There were 21 jobs up for bidding, I'm number 41 on a list of 50 so there's quite a few in front of me that get to pick first. Our hope is that they don't want to move and we will get at least one of our top 3 or 4 cities. There's always the off chance that everyone will pick a job, none will be left for me this round and then we'll have to wait another possible 3 weeks to choose again. We are so anxious to begin this new "adventure" as we're calling it.

We are doing what we have to do to get by. Where else, during a recession, am I going to find a job that pays me what the postal service pays me? I grew up quick after 18 and learned a lot in a short time, you just don't shove off a good paying job because you don't want to move, or at least in my world I don't.

This past weekend was the monthly collectible show at the mall and through the 7 years we've been together and I've been going to these shows with Leroy, we've met a lot of people and friends. The collective answer from everyone when they found out we were moving was, "Why?" The answer, "Um duh the government is paying for it". I really don't think there are a lot of people that would just want to uproot their lives and move 300 miles from where they are used to everything and start over "just because".

At least with this move I get to expand our Christmas card list! Leroy is what is known as a Door Warmer in the Hot Wheels world. Meaning he's at the doors of Walmart & Target every morning looking for the newest Hot Wheels. Through the last year and a half, the morning employees have gotten to know him and watch the kids grow up. The other morning when he let the Target girls know we had to move, he told me they were so sad and were going to give me their email addresses so I can update them on how the kids grow and stuff like that. I told him I need their addresses so I can send my handmade Christmas cards =) It's strange how random people can genuinely care about your kids, it warms my heart.

Now lets just cross our fingers and hope for a good job!

The little things

So I'm sitting here on the couch watching Speeders and checking our Myspace account to see if a high school buddy Miss Linda messaged me back. I had asked her since she's a teacher, if she knew if Derrick had to know anything before kindergarden. She answered back, giving me a website and said the nicest thing that made me cry. She said, "I'm sure his Kind. teacher next year will be happy to see how far ahead of the class he is, because of his loving parents. We always love parents that work hard with their kids at home." The key word....loving parents. Someone said he had loving parents! Its the little things that people can say that make a big impact in a day. So Miss Linda.....THANK YOU! That message means the world to me =) Just thought I'd share

Time for change

Well, we finally got it. The much anticipated job offer list. We got it yesterday, and all in all it wasn't too bad. Out of 21 open positions we were able to narrow it down to 10 that we are willing to relocate to. Last night we did some online research on cost of living and all that to make our decisions. Our top 7 are in the LA/Santa Barbara area and the bottom 3 are in the SF/Sacramento area.

I turn in the list next Tuesday and Wednesday I will know for sure if I got the jobs I wanted and where we will be going to. We will be gone from here by August 30th and not a moment too soon.
The great thing about this move is the only thing to worry about is where are we gonna live? The USPS is paying for the complete move, which include guys coming in an packing everything....we don't have to lift a finger! Everyone is compensated for the move, me, Leroy AND both kids. They pay for a hotel and food if we can't find a place to move into right away and also for 60 days of storage. Our government has it's downfalls but so far in this I don't have a complaint.

There's a lot of people at work that absolutely refuse to move. This is where my growing up fast plays a great part. We are in a recession and where else am I going to find a job with as many benefits as I have and get paid my same incredible wage with regular raises??? No where, that's where. I remember my grandma saying never give up a government job, well grandma, I'm not giving it up. I'm here for the long haul and it's gonna get me outta this place and start a fresh life.

The entire time Leroy & I have been together I've just wanted to start over somewhere new and now we get our chance. We are getting a great opportunity here and aren't going to just shove it off.

The next few days are just going to drag by but once Wednesday gets here time will fly. We just gotta hold on tight and enjoy the ride!

Budding Artists

We've had some artistic breakthroughs this week! For Danae's birthday, we got both kids Magna Doodle-esque things. Derrick has never ever been one to just sit and color or sit and draw. The only artsy thing he would do were mazes in a coloring book. Danae on the other hand has been an artist from the time she could hold a crayon. She's always drawing on something, whether it's paper or her leg (i.e. giving herself leg tattoo's).







I seriously didn't think Derrick could even draw, but low and behold he can! And not too bad either for a 4 1/2 year old boy who's not crazy about drawing. (Picture below by Derrick of Danae wearing her Mickey princess ears) Danae, in our opinion draws pretty darn good for a 3 year old too!









We've also had an invasion in our house....INVASION OF THE FLIES! It's been awful lately with the heat. Target had some Dora & Diego sets on clearance so Leroy picked 'em up for the kids. Derricks had an insect sucking tube to catch insects, but we, however have used it to catch flies. We now have pets...in the form of flies. Personally I love them. They are replaceable, free and cost nothing to feed. Derrick sleeps with them on his dresser and everything. We've also learned that when you throw the container, full of flies, across the floor, a fly might die. RIP Tintoo, you will truely be missed.

So I'm at work today and realize I didn't put any pics up of Danae's birthday....how momish of me! Her we go....enjoy because we certainly did!

The days are short but the years long

Where does the time go? Leroy warned me when you have kids, the time goes so fast. He was soooooo right. Danae turned 3 on the 26th and we had a blast! As usual it was just the 4 of us which is great because it's the one's that care about her the most. We had her favorite, pizza, for dinner. That kid at 3 pieces! And then there were cupcakes, since she's not a fan of regular cake. We even upgrades...she like the frosting this time! Then came the presents! She loved 'em all =) I think her favorite though was the Magna Doodle that both her and Brother got, the spent all that night just drawing and "stamping". It was a wonderful night!

As much as I get sad that no one remembers the kids birthdays (except for Shirley (card) & Grandma (text message)) I know deep down that it shouldn't matter, but it does. I get jealous of the people that have 20+ at a birthday party for a one year old. Or the people who's parents spoil the crap out of their grandchildren. I honestly believe what goes around comes around so I know everyone will get theirs...why can't it come sooner? I think that's the reason I make and send cards, I hope to make someone feel how I would want to feel on a special day.

This has been one emotionally draining week, hopefully work will come with some good news and we can "get the BEEEEEEP outta here" like Danae says! Things can only get better 'cause if they get any worse I just might cry some more......

Whew!

Wow! What a couple of days it's been. First and foremost is Danae, she's A-OK!!!! She just has low iron so all that means is she's anemic and needs to take some iron supplements and eat foods high in iron. We can so handle that =)

Derrick is also doing awesome. He's started writing his letters and can do most of them by memory. We got this little practice wipe on/off board at Target and it's been a great help. He loves being able to write and erase all by himself which is great. The only bad thing is that we haven't gotten any word on where or when we are going to move so preschool right now is iffy for him....which makes me feel so guilty. He loves being around other kids, and for the most part he hasn't been around anyone but us. Preschool was going to be so great for him, now because of this retarded move, it's a big maybe if we can even get him into a preschool this late in the game.

About the move...who knows what's going on?! We had a meeting Tuesday with the big boss and he said that it should be Wednesday or possibly Thursday before we got the list of openings. Well, here it is Friday and still no list. It's not their fault, it's headquarters fault. They keep giving and taking jobs which is totally ridiculous because all jobs were supposed to be frozen as of May 14.

Even through all this, there is the brightest spot of all. Today....the day before Danae's birthday....she got a card. Not from her biological grandma's, not from aunts, uncles, brother or sisters....this comes from adopted grandma and grandpa...Grandma Shirley and Po-Po Richard! I get tears in my eyes every time the kids get a card. These two have got to be the most loving and caring people in the world. In the 4 1/2 years we've had the kids, they have never once missed sending a card. A card means the world to me and I appreciate it more than words can say.

Sickies

Well here goes my first blog on this new forum.....It has been a rough couple of days. Both Derrick and Danae have been sick, Derrick worse than Danae. Saturday night was a night of living terrors. They were both up more in that one night than the last 2 years combined! I remember telling Leroy somewhere around 4am that now I remember why I didn't want another baby. As cute as they are I love not having to fix formula, change diapers or get up in the middle of the night.

After our night of horrors, last night Danae has her first bloody nose...and continues to have them through the night. We finally get her to sleep, by then we are both worried so I call the Dr (who is the best pediatrician!) and they say to bring her in. Needless to say work was useless today as all I could think about was Danae. We get to the doctor, where both kids were great and didn't go bananas like normal (the difference a year makes), Danae did great! She didn't even cry during the check-up till the end. We just have to put some neosporin in her nose 3 times a day but he wanted to get blood tests done to make sure there isn't anything seriously wrong.

So off to the lab we go! I could not have asked for a better child today. She was great and only cried when the needle went in. The phlebotomist gave her a "hero" sticker because she did so well and she was so proud of it! She did so good that after the lab we went to Wal-Mart and she got a set of bracelets which she wore proudly the rest of the day. Here's her showing her "stuff".
Now we have to wait 2 days to get the results, so we'll cross our fingers, toes and eyes and hope all is well.