May for Mayah!

With Mother's Day, graduations, birthdays, teacher gifts...
 BabyCakes had a GREAT first month!!

There were a few days that were CRAZY-busy, but we got thru them and we were SO excited to have crazy-busy days!

With this month coming to end, it's time to annouce our grand totals for May!

Drumroll, please....

Our total sales came to.... $860!!
Not bad for our first month, huh?!

And that means, a donation of $215 will be going to the Hogeland family to bring "Mayah" home to her forever family!!

Thank you all SO SO much for the support of BabyCakes and your generosity to bring this sweet girl home! As you can see, it took a LOT of work to get that $215! Let's keep it up and get some more orphans home, mmk??

With June beginning, that means it's also time to announce another family that will benefit from your cupcake orders!!

Next month, please consider helping bring Charity home!

"Charity" will be precious girl #3 with Down Syndrome for her family! Can you imagine how sweet these three sisters will be?! Also, when AG and I were feeling "stuck" in Ukraine, this family was EXTREMELY generious to help us get home. Now it's our turn to give back!

'Tis the season for baby showers, weddings, and of course- Father's Day!

 Our bouquets would make a beautiful centerpiece for any bridal shower! How about "Gender Reveal" cupcakes for your upcoming baby?! And those fellas in your life... you know what they say: The way to a man's heart is through his stomach ;)  What guy wouldn't love something sweet, maybe resembling his favorite interest?!

Let's get creative and GET THIS GIRL HOME!!

The weekend.

First of all...
Here is a picture from the Tennessean of Nathan on Memorial Day:

And here is the article. So proud of my husband.
Although Nathan had to work Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday- it was the first weekend/days for the rest of us to have NO plans. We have been so so busy lately and it felt so so good.

Thanks to those like my husband and Mr. Billy Johnson, we got to spend those free days soaking up the sun- it's what we do best. Sure makes for some happy Wests.

Saturday, we (I) had one cupcake order, then we hit a yardsale- porcelain tea set, book for LP, and Star Wars Monopoly: woot! We are on Day 4 of the same Monopoly game, but it has been so fun to come home and all sit down to play every night (and sometimes at 6am).

Sunday after church, the littlest girls and I ran some things out to Richland and had just a minute to visit the great-grandfathers. They are officially smitten!

Then we finally got to hit the pool!

The kids had already taken a quick dip or two before it really warmed up, but this was our first day to *really* go swimming AND Anna Gray's first time at the pool EVER!!

Pretty sure she is going to be a fish, just like the other three! She love LOVED the water. Kicking, splashing, laying on her back and her favorite- sleeping :)

We spent ALL of Monday at the pool again! We also consumed a LOT of popsicles.
This little eighteen eight year old worked on her dive; it is coming along quite nicely!

Daddy even got to join us mid-afternoon :)

More than happy to have been spending so much time baking and dancing lately, but it was so nice to be able to relax! More low-key days coming soon. Can.Not.Wait!

We spent yesterday at Inside Out Play Park (very cool) with our adoption playgroup and today: 'To Do' list, 'To Buy' list, and 'To Pack' list- I LOVE LISTS ;)  Me and summer are best friends, for real.

SUMMER!

We had new family photos taken yesterday- our first portraits as a family of six. It was a "celebrate adoption" session by a church friend/amazing photographer/future adoptive mama as a baby gift. All the kids (save Annie) got to pick their own clothes- their choices told you everything you need to know about them :)  We happened to be shooting during the "whiney" portion of our day (you know that hour before dinner time when they are hungry, but it isn't time to eat, and they are tired, but it's too late for a nap??). I'm not sure if she got anything decent or not! We took everyone out to dinner afterward. The minute we sat down they were different people. Polite, grateful, and HILARIOUS. I LOVE family dates (it costs us an arm and a leg, but it was totally worth it).

When we got home, I got some Cale-time, with Brynn popping/jumping in from time to time. Even Cale had tears from laughing so hard! He said, "She is the funniest person I know, but we need a calm Brynn." 
I was making him "a bug in a rug" (snug as a bug) and he asked, "When I'm grome up, can I have brown babies and a white wife?".

You want a white wife?

"Yes ma'am"

Okay, I'm curious. How come?

"Because I want a wife just like you, Mama."

Incredible Hulk.

That's what he's calling himself now.

This kid CRACKS ME UP. Maybe he's figuring out how to channel all that strength!?

He's also cocking his leg like a machine gun and firing out of the other, and performing "Staying Alive" while upside down. Love that boy :)

Time is FLYING!

Hard to believe our Anna Gray came home three months ago today!

She almost looks like a different baby :) That pic was from yesterday- I should take another one with all her hair down- it is SO long now that it's not being cut every Wednesday! She has starting scooting like an inchworm- backwards. She grabs everything in reach and flings it as hard as she can! She love love loves music/singing. She can be SCREAMING (usually because I'm fixing her hair), but if you start singing, she's all smiles! Love my little sunshine!!
I can't wait to see her on the beach in a couple weeks!

I really don't know who's happier about summer break... no more dropping off/picking up four times a day for this lady! I don't even care that I'm sick today, I'm so happy for summer. I'm sure it will go by way too quickly for me, but not fast enough for Brynn and Cale! These guys are TOO excited to start kindergarten.

Miss Sarah made a social story with pics of Cale's "new" school and all the rooms he will spend time in for us to read this summer (ten times a day, so far). It's pretty awesome though. I'm glad she threw in "AFTER your trip to the mountains...".

Yesterday, Cale "graduated" from his developmental preschool. Holy cow what a difference a year makes...

We had his last IEP/Kindergarten transition meeting on Friday. It went *really* well. I was relieved that we were all on the same page. We had been doing mounds of paperwork for several weeks leading up to it, as the school was doing their own assesment. Their results were consistent with his autism diagnosis and their assesments matched our's pretty closely. So in the fall, he will be in a regular classroom with an aide for an hour a day. He will come out for 30 minutes of resource/work skills and 30 minutes of speech. We're all really happy with that plan :)

He got the award for the Biggest Trickster! His award was accompanied by a story that involved putting a skunk in his teachers chair.

And because his teacher is awesome, Brynn also got an award! The Sweetheart Award for always being sweet when she is visiting (which is rather often), even though she isn't in their class. It MADE HER DAY.
Well, until later- another story, another day.

If you can't read Layla's... she got the Awesome Artist award! She was so stinking excited. Her little (BIG) imagination has produced some pretty creative artwork. If you've been reading for a while, you know one of her ambitions is to be "an artist in Paris", so she was just thrilled to pieces.

She also came home with her journal and 2nd grade scrapbook, which had us laughing continuously. Some snippets:

"Dear Journal, If I could be any animal I would be a female lion. I would name my cub Leo. I would eat every animal in the whole world and I would be the KING (not Queen!) WAHAHAHA!"  (Yes, she actually wrote "wahahaha").

"Dear Journal, It is not okay to bully. You will go to jail or the principal's office or even lose points on a spelling test!"

"Dear Journal, if I could go to any planet, I would go to Pluto. But NEVER take my helmet off because I would freeze to my death! Really, I would to to other fantasy planets like Dino Planet, Healthy Planet, and School Planet."

"Dear Journal, If I were as small as a caterpillar, I would have to marry an ant! I would ride butterflies as airplanes, use needles for a sword, climb thread like a rope and wear a leaf as a dress. I would have a bunch of adventures. I would have a baby named Bella and then I would die. The end."

"Top 10 things I love:
1. Dinosaurs
2. Mrs. R***** (teacher)
3. Softball
4. God
5. Jesus
6. fossils
7. My family
8. My friends
9. cat
10. dog"

She had some crazy-cool drawings to accompany all these that I had planned to scan, but that is way too time-consuming.

Today, we will stay in our pajamas. We'll clean just enough to function (even though our house needs way more attention than that before we re-list, we are taking the day OFF!).  We will wear clothes that don't match. We will We will go for an alphabet walk and stay up a little too late. We will fire up the grill and we will do summer!

Growing...

Crawling soon?!

She definitely moved an inch or two!

But it wore her out and she layed down to fall asleep right after ;)  We tried again last night, but she was too tired. Plus, her little legs get SO red and I'm pretty sure her kneecaps are not completely formed yet. Oh well, no rush :)

Our weekend was packed full- mostly cupcakes and running around. BabyCakes donated several cupcake bouquets to a luncheon for women fighting/surviving cancer- they were a huge hit!

I also managed to squeeze in time for three more bouquets for Mother's Day (Orlinda Gold cupcakes... yummy!). And thanks to Mandy, our logo is ready!

One of my Mother's Day gifts:

Such thoughtful little people (with a thoughtful daddy ;)  I sure do love 'em!

A taste of my other other passion.

She's pretty sweet when she isn't breaking the law.

One year.

It really sinks in, you know,

when I see it... in stone.

But you went away.

How dare you?

I miss you.

They say I'll be okay,

but I'm not going to ever get over you.



Sticky Fingers.

As some of you know, we have always had food struggles with Cale. The severity of it comes in phases- right now, it happens to be particularly bad. Sneaking food, hoarding, eating as if he may never get the chance again... There is NO WAY he is that hungry ALL.THE.TIME.

These issues can be autism-related, but can also be related to attachment/adoption. We aren't sure which his is stemming from and we aren't sure how to "fix" it at the moment. And recently, Brynn has decided she would like to participate as well. Except, she's only been sneaking food.

At the suggestion of a couple different specialist and other adoptive parents, we created a food basket with the help of Cale's teacher. Basically... there is a basket in the fridge, filled with healthy snacks that they choose, that they can access at any time without asking. In theory, once they realize that they are, in fact, going to be fed on a regular basis and that they are "safe", the behaviors will stop.

Cale HAS stopped hoarding for the time being, which is good. But they also ate 16 string cheeses in less than 12 hours, 6 yogurts, a bag of apples, a bag of carrots....  GONE. And still cleaned their plates at each meal. It's gone on like that for over a week. It's not healthy... or affordable.  And now he is having meltdowns because he wants things that are NOT in the basket, even though he has a ton of snacks to choose from AND he picked what went in there.

Also, apparently, stealing food from our own house was a gateway drug for Brynn.
Tuesday, I got a text from Nathan that said, "If your purse feels lighter, it's because a certain 5-yr-old helped herself to $20" Next text:  "Make that $40".

Yesterday, I decided to treat them with a little Frosty before we got groceries. Cale had a good day at school (although, we did learn before school that he and Sam's Club do NOT get along), Layla had gotten to go to a skating party for Accelerated Readers, and Brynn had been an awesome shopping buddy for me ALL day. While buckling in to leave the grocery, Brynn asked "Mommy, do you want to see a beautiful ring from my jewelry box?". Of course. Except... I know what's in her jewelry box and that ring wasn't. I asked again where she got it... "Your jewelry box?". Nope. I counted and gave her one last opportunity to tell me where she got it...

So, we all unbuckle and head back in. Ugh. I explained why her choice was wrong and that she needed to return the ring and apologize. She did, very well actually... and then she burst into tears as she walked away. I took her hand, sat down on a bench, and hugged her. "Brynn, I'm sorry you're embarrassed. You made a bad choice, but you did the right thing to fix it."  I figured that was enough of a consequence since she was upset. But then she screamed, "I want that riiiinnngg!!".

"Are you crying because you made a bad choice?"
"I.WANT.THAT.RING!!"

Um... no. Now I'm angry.
She cried the whole way home. I even asked if she wishes she didn't take the ring and she said she does, because I took it away from her.

I know we aren't the firsts to deal with this. This child... lawsy. She is SO impulsive and couldn't give a rat's rear end about consequences. Ever. We don't even know what the consequence should be for this- natural or otherwise. She doesn't care. She doesn't listen if we talk (literally- she starts singing or telling a story in the middle of our sentence and doesn't hear a word of it). Time-outs, taking things away... nothing phases her.

So, parents- what did/do you do? Specifically ADHD parents- what consequences are successful for your child? 

I don't know if it's the time of year (CRAZY CRAZY CRAZY busy right now), their age, the fact that they are trying to sort out their emotions about their adoption/loss... but these two are trying to kill us. Help, please.

Delirious blessings.

Day 5: Bird

Found on Layla's menu :)

Day 6: Me

I wish there was some way to write this that would do it justice.

Backstory:
I'm tired. No, not tired... exhausted. I'm running on no more than 4 hours of sleep a night and it's starting to catch up to me. I passed "functionally tired", hung out in Zombieland earlier today, and tonight finally reached my final destination: delirium.  I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.
It should be noted that Brynn is the funniest person alive. Also the most frustrating, but DEFINITELY the funniest.

Nathan had drill today, so when he told me he would be leaving the base in an hour, we decided to surprise him and meet him downtown at his favorite place for dinner. It may seem obvious, but incase you don't know... we are a three ring circus.

While waiting for Nathan to get there, Cale decided he did not want to go inside. Since we HAD to go inside, he made his unhappiness very well-known by hiding under the table and beating his seat with chopsticks. Meanwhile, Brynn pulled a *second* pack of fruit snacks from her boot. She had done so at church, as well. I never dreamed there would be another. She also pulled out a business card belonging to someone I don't know, a silly band, and a picture she colored of Jesus while exclaiming, "I tried to make Jesus look like me, but I can't get rid of that mustache!". Layla randomly rolled her shoulders and arms and threw her hands in the air. When I asked why, she said she was trying to see if she could look like that blow up guy she saw at the car lot one day.  And we all cheered wildly when Anna Gray decided it was a good time to show off her new talent: clapping.


.......



THREE.RING.CIRCUS.



.......

Our server brought us an appetizer that we didn't order, on the house, and thanked Nathan for his service- his dad was retired from the Air Force. An older gentleman came over to shake Nathan's hand. When he did, he put more than enough money in it to cover our dinner.  We tried to politely decline, but he insisted. When the server returned with our bill, his manager had taken 25% off.

I feel like there was some kind of lesson or message in the timing and I'm missing it. Whatever the reason, it was nice. Really, really nice. And we so enjoyed our time at dinner. I had tears running down my face from laughing so hard!

It never calmed down. It never does! At the end of our meal, we divvied up fortune cookies. Before I even had mine opened, Layla shook her fist in the air and yelled way too loudly, "Curse you, fortune cookie!!!!". I still have no idea why.

As we buckled in the car, Brynn sighed..."Time to shut this party down." She was referring to herself. I laughed and told her I often wondered what was in her head. She responded, "No problem, I'll tell you. God and Footloose. You know, Footloose?" (Singing) Loose! Footloose! Pick up a golden goose!".

Ooooh my. MUCH needed comic relief from my littles tonight.

No sweeter sound!

Day 4: Fun!

It's darker than dark, but we weren't about to pass this up :)

Field trip!

Yesterday was Layla's 2nd grade field trip.
I don't think you are supposed to bring your own animals to the zoo, but...

It took everything I had just to get all of us + stroller + lunch + packed bags there on time, a camera wasn't high on my priority list!  Thank goodness for phones, huh?

Cale couldn't go to school because he might have poison ivy, so I ended up taking all four kids.(Traveling around the world? Across the country with all of them? No problem. That darn zoo, alone, with four kids? Oy.)

Thankfully, this little girl LOVES her stroller!

There were so many parent volunteers, that the kids were split up into groups of 2 or 3. As long as they all re-conviened at lunch and when time to go home, we were on our own. My kids weren't bad, just... excited :) I think there were 4 different schools there, so just too many kids for them to be bouncing around. Once we sort of split from the other kids, they were fine. And at 1 o'clock, when all the schools left, we stayed at a nearly empty zoo and had a grand ole' time :)

Layla was SO excited about the new dino exhibit- which was the #1 reason I wanted to go so I could see her :) She loved it, but she wouldn't read any of the signs, she said she already knew everything.
Cale really enjoyed it too. Brynn... not so much.

And I certainly can't complain about anything that ends like this:  ;)