Doctor Unit

"A cheerful heart is good medicine!"

Proverbs 17:22

Last Summer, when we took Gabe to the Doctor to get caught up on his missing shots, the Doctor somehow thought it was a good idea to tell Josie she'd be getting her shots when she turned 4.

The Doctor then proceeded to stick her baby brother repeatedly as he screamed at the top of his lungs.

As you can imagine, Josie has dreaded turning 4.

I actually got her to fess up that the shots were the reason she was so fixated on being 5.  Guess she thought she could skip the shots if she skipped 4!

Well, she did turn 4 and her Well Check was scheduled for Friday.

My poor baby was so nervous.

I decided that we would focus on Doctors and Nurses last week to try to ease her mind.

It didn't work, but we still had a good school week!

I found this Doctors And Nurses Preschool Pack over at Homeschool Creations.

It was perfect.

We didn't do all the activities this week.  Some of them are just too easy for Josie.  So we worked on the Memory Verse, the Pre-Writers, and the math sheets.

I love Homeschool Creations Memory Verses.  She does 3 different versions, one with just the words, one with a couple picture cues, and one with words and pictures.  We put them up in different places and work on them throughout the day.  I usually give her the first couple words then she finishes it.

She's always been quick with memorization.

And we read a ton of books about going to the Doctor.  Her favorite was Corduroy Goes To The Doctor.

I also picked up the BrainQuest Book at Goodwill.  

Josie LOVED it!

I was interested to see what she already knew that was actual Pre-K work. 

She's still working on writing the letters correctly and we're just starting Sight Words, but the rest of it she picked up very fast.  She really loved the pages where she had to find what was wrong with the picture.

She's very interested in reading but I'm not sure where to go from there.  I'm trying to read to her more.  She knows all the letter sounds and we've been watching Leap Frog Word Factory so she's picking up on blending the letters together.

I recently read a post about the difference between reading programs that are Phonics Based and Whole Language Based.  I'm leaning towards Whole Language since that seems to be the most natural but I'm not sure yet.

So I guess for now, we'll just read, read, read!

Next week is going to be crazy so I'm pretty sure we will just do some pages in this book.

Swanky Baby Vintage

Josie did a shoot with Ashley Brawner Photography at the beginning of January for Swanky Baby Vintage Clothing Line.

It was for the Spring Line so the girls were all a bit chilly, but Josie plugged through with the promise of a milkshake after!

Ashley is an amazing photographer and such a fun person.  

She sent us the pictures right after the shoot but our mailman is special and we just got our CD this past week.

Here are a few of our favorites!

What Happened To February???

This month has been busy.

We've had major things going on multiple times every week.

It's not by accident though.

I planned it this way.

Because nothing makes a drab month drag on longer then anticipating something big at the end of it.

And not only does our little family have some super fun stuff at the beginning of March, it's also when we have Gabe's big court date.

March 3rd.

It's been looming over me for three months now.

And my nerves have had about all they can stand.

So rather then sit around and wait for that Thursday to take it's sweet time getting here, I jam packed our days as full as I could.

And I guess it worked because I just looked at my calendar and we're one week out.

And now I want to go back and get some more days between me and the Judges decsion.

I'm almost fully confident (like that twinge of doubt?!) that Gabe will not be making any immediate moves.  But my heart is just as scared of the Judge adding 3 more months on as it is of him leaving.

I want this to be done.

Over.

Finished.

Final.

I'm over the twice a week visits.

I'm over his name being fake.

I'm over telling Doctors I'm his "Foster Mom."

I'm more then over sharing him.

I'm sick of marking court dates on my calendar.

And I'm tired of the control his Birth Mother still possesses.

I hate the opptomisim in the Case Workers voice about her "progress."

And I'm done pretending like I think she is capible of caring for him.

7 Days.

I keep reminding myself that she hasn't made the least bit of progress in the Case Plan.

She's moved 3 times in 3 months, she has no job, no support.

Birth Dad is in prison.

My head says there's no way a Judge would send him from us to that.

But my heart knows they send kids back to worse.

So please pray for me these next 7 days.

I want to walk into that court room full of the kind of peace that only comes from my Heavenly Daddy.

I want to walk in confident and sure.

And I want to walk out with a TPR in my hands.

Here's to hoping this week goes by quickly.

But not too quickly.

Or maybe yes.

WIWW

Hey Everyone!

I'm guest posting over at MEL[V}'s BLOG today!

Yup, the one who makes the fabulous camera straps!

Head on over to check out what I wore this past week!

(apparently I like exclamation points today!!!!!!)

SIgns Of Spring

Down here in Georgia, we've reached my favorite time of year.

Pants.  Tee Shirts.  Open Windows.

And the beginning signs of Spring.

I know that we usually get one more cold snap, but by the time we get back from The Desert that threat will be long gone!

And as much as I love seeing the birds coming out and the buds starting to open, they aren't my favorite signs of Spring.

These are:

Kids COVERED in dirt, errr, Georgia Red Clay is a sign of an Awesome Spring Day!

I'd love to tell you that no lizards were harmed in the making of this post, but that would be a lie.

The kids nearly scared the little bugger to death, but at the end of the day it was Colonel that had the lizard for dinner.

Right in front of us.

It was gross.

I'd also love to tell you that no Roosters were hurt in the making of this post, but that too would be a lie.

The kids chased this guy all over for HOURS.

And when it decided to CROW at our bedroom door before dawn this morning, we told Mr. Terry the Rooster had to go.

I watched Mr. Terry try to catch him for over an hour before I saw him go inside and come back out with some armory.

I'd be lying if I said I was sad I won't have to scrape chicken poop off our sidewalk everyday anymore.

RIP Coronel Sanders.

I Feel Pretty

Oh So Pretty,

I Feel Pretty, And Witty, And Gay

And I Pity

Any Girl Who Isn't Me Today!

Classic Josie Face.

Man, I love this Little Woman.

My Pretty Neck (Mattie Fran Designs)

A few weeks ago, my Sister Wife Amy made herself a pretty little necklace.

That she called a Flower Bib.

But that makes me think of feeding my 1 year old spaghetti and him throwing it all over and these necklaces are WAY BETTER THEN THAT!

And after having about a million people compliment her on it, she decided to whip them up in mass amounts and sell them to all of YOU!

She's been busy and late last night, we finished up her blog and she in now in business!

Head on over to MATTIE FRAN DESIGNS and show her some love!

Here's a little sneeky peeky at what you'll find over there:

Recognize that neck?!?

Apparently I have a "pretty neck" which I took as a strange but good compliment!

She has about 6 designs right now and a few more in the works.

They are awesome and make any normal outfit pretty darn amazing!

We're Not Even Close

I've had a heavy thought on my heart since Gabe's last Cardiologist appointment.

It struck me like a hammer the moment his Birth Mother walked into the room.

It pulled at my emotions as I handed him over to her.

Something I've known in my head but realized for the first time in my heart.

Her and I?

We aren't even close.

Not the least bit similar.

There seriously is not one common ground that I share with her.

Other then that we both want this baby.

The stark contrast between us takes my breath away.

Which got me thinking about the unbelieveable difference that means for Gabe's life.

There will be no common ground.

No familiar comforts.

It's a firm fork in the road of his life.

And as I looked at the woman sitting in the chair across from me, holding my baby, I had to hold back tears.

I caught a glimpse of just how much his day to day life will change if the Judge rules in her favor.

She will love him the best she can.

She will try to provide for him.

She will convince herself she is the best option.

But it will be nothing compared to what I offer him.

She offers a broken home with a Father serving 5 to 10 years in State Prison.

I offer a stable home with a supportive extended family that love him to peices.

She has no home, no job, no idea what it takes to raise a child.

No Chance.

And as I was trying to push this thought out of my head a new question consumed me.

Wanna know what question I couldn't get out of my head?

Will she remember to buy him socks?

Strange, huh?

I had an overwhemling need to inform her that she'll need to buy him socks.

My baby's feet get cold and they grow fast so she needs to get him socks.

I know that for this next two weeks, as we wait for our court date, my mind will be a battlefeild.

Full of What If's and How Come's.

I'm hoping and praying that I can walk into that courtroom confident that Gabe's best interest will be obtained.

Because if they send my baby back to her, he will be in unfamiliar land.

And that breaks my heart.

Ohh La La!

I bounced between a couple ideas for Josie's 4th Birthday Party before I settled on Fancy Nancy.

She loves things that twirl and sparkle and she loves playing dress up so I knew she'd like it.

But when I found her clipping barettes all over her room at 11 PM because, "That's how Fancy Nancy does it," the theme was set!

I had a lot of fun coming up with the decorations for this one. 

It was difficult for my OCD self to make sure things DIDN'T match, but once I got the hang of it I was good to go.

Her invitations:

Super easy.  Just used up dodads from our craft closet.

This is the first year she is inviting friends that aren't just my friends kids.  So I had a good laugh when I realized I didn't put my phone number or our address or my name anywhere on them!

Opps!

I decided that the Fancy Girls would be our main decorations so I had to be sure Josie was over the top fancy.

I wish I could take credit for this idea, but I just copied Make It And Love It's idea.

First, I made her some Fancy Shoes because everyone knows you need heels to be fancy.

Then a Glass Necklace for her pretty little neck.

And we can't forget Bracelets with Fancy Rosettes.

She needed a Cape to keep her warm.

And every Birthday Princess needs a Crown.

All of this was SO easy to make and CHEAP!

In fact, this was by far her least expensive party!

I usually don't do food at our parties, but since it was a Tea Party we did little finger foods.

Girly Shaped Sandwiches

Fruit With Chocolate Fondue (that's a fancy word for dipping!)

And, per Josie's request, Pastries (that's a fancy word for DONUTS!)

We had two activities.

First, Amy painted the girls nails.

And while the other girls were waiting for their manicures, they made foam crowns!

But the main thing was the Tea Party. 

Oh So Fancy!

The Birthday Girl was on Cloud 9!

And just because I'm proud of Amy and I for fully buying into the theme:

Oh the things we do for our Josie Kat!

Actual Party Pictures Are Posted Here

And A Billion More Here

Share The Love

So after getting a few emails from readers who were enjoying Josie's School Posts, I'm going to keep doing them. 

Maybe not as picture heavy, but at least I can share the resources I'm using!

This past week our theme was, you guessed it, Valentines Day.

A preschool teacher loves a week with a holiday!

I was able to find a ton of baking projects but had a hard time finding actual learning sheets. 

Until I stumbled across Musings Of Me and OH MY GOODNESS!

I'm pretty sure her Packs can carry us well into Kindergarten!

I printed out her Valentines Pack and we did quite a few of the worksheets.  Josie LOVED it!