Almost five years.

I should probably be doing some laundry or finishing our last minute preparations for going on vacation, but instead I am sitting here thinking back to nearly five years ago.  It was on September 19th that we received our formal acceptance from our agency.  They had told us that the average time for adoptive parents to wait was 7-9 months.  This was a very short time compared to other agencies we had spoken with, which was part of the reason we chose them, but that was only a small part.  Anyway on October 3rd I received a call at work from the agency.  We were gonna be parents, that day!  I was so overwhelmed with joy I was shaking and crying.  I could not wait to meet my baby girl.  I will never forget the moment I held her for the first time.

When Kassi was 18 months old we had this and much more made into a book for her.  She loves to hear her story and we love to tell it.  We always want her to be proud of who she is and never let anyone tell her any different.  

Next week my baby girl is going to turn five.  Happy birthday baby girl!

Preschool

Kassi has started her second year of preschool.  It is still amazing to me that they have to go to preschool for two years before they go to kindergarten and then kindergarten is a full day!  The things they are expected to know are just crazy.  I never went to preschool and had half days of kindergarten and I think I did okay.   I don't have any worries about what she will know and how she will do in kindergarten though.  As she is sitting here reading me a book right now!

The other day I picked her up from preschool and the teacher stopped me and said she needed to talk to me.  Of course my instant reaction is to think uh oh what did she do and I start to feel defensive.  So as everyone else is leaving I wait to hear what she is going to say.  She leans over and quietly says "I have to tell you...Kassi has a couple of kids who actually fight over her.  They fight over who gets to sit next to her, who is line by her, etc."  "So I asked her if she needed her upcoming vacation just to get away from these kids and she said yes, yes she did."  This was so not what I was expecting to hear.  I just kind of laughed and said "yeah she kind of has that affect on people."  Last year when she was out for her tonsils the teacher said some of the kids cried because she was out so long and when she got back they kept hugging her and telling her not be gone anymore.

I am not sure what to think of all the attention she gets, most kids and adults just adore her.  She makes friends wherever we go and people are always complimenting us on her.  Wes says it is a good thing he has a few shotguns for when she gets older.  I love how confident she is and how she is a leader and not afraid to  get up in front of a crowd.  All of these things I was not, and am not so it makes me really proud to watch her.  God truly blessed us five years ago!

Just a picture...

I just wanted to share one of my favorite pageant pictures of Kassi.  She was so cute in her 50's wear.  For her talent she danced to and sang "Rock Around the Clock".

No turning back now...

Well it is official now.  We signed a year contract with a Realtor so there is no turning back.

Here it is!

I am so nervous now.  We know what we want to do and we know that if everything goes as planned it will happen.  I think I am just scared of the unknown time, that time frame between selling our house and our new one being ready.  We have not decided on a firm plan for what we will do, and some of it depends on the time of year.  Our original plan was to stay in our camper on the lot we had found until our house was built, but due to covenants we aren't able to do that.  Now to decide if we try to park our camper somewhere else or just try and find somewhere to rent.  Where in the world are we going to find somewhere to rent with two dogs and a rabbit?  As a backup plan we have been looking at other houses and have decided that we do have lots of options, we just really have our hearts set on one specific place and house.

It is funny the realtor said that the average time a house is on the market is one year.  The last time someone told us the "average time" for something was when we were accepted by our adoption agency.  They told us the "average time for most placements was 7 to 9 months".  Two weeks later we got a call and were told we were going to be parents, that day!  I wonder if this "average time" will work the same way?

Nothing like midnight blogging...

I am so not a night owl.  So no this will not be a normal thing.  Just happens that Kassi and I have the flu so I don't think there will be much sleep tonight.  After an hour or more of clean up from her first spurt I do have to kind of laugh.  This will is the second time she has ever really had the flu.  The first time I am not sure if it was the flu or food poisoning, because we were both violently ill.  Come to think of it, it was about this same time a year ago.  We always get our flu shots in October, seems they don't work on the fall flu!  Anyway I have to kind of laugh, because each time now she has been in Wes and my bed when she got sick.  Fortunately Wes has been up and out of the bed each time.  I am however thankful that she was not in her top bunk.  I am dreading the day that happens as that will be one heck of a mess!  Poor kid, I know how I feel so I can only imagine how that poor little body must feel.  It is times like this when I feel absolutely useless as a parent, I can't take it away and make it all better and I hate that.

Since I don't foresee sleep in the near future I guess I could do some more catching up...I am supposed to be to work at 6 in the morning.  I don't think that is going to happen.

Kassi has started Kindergarten Prep.  She loves school and really wishes she could have started kindergarten this year, unfortunately she misses the cutoff date by about two weeks.  I think she can already do most everything that they do in kindergarten and would do really well, but I guess they have the rules in place for a reason.  It is hard to believe she is going to be five next month.  Of course as her mom I am going to feel this way, but I really do think she is super smart.  I hope she doesn't get bored with school though.  She already knows all of her sight words, can count to more than 100, figures addition and subtraction and is getting really good at reading.  She has been working on tying her shoes, now I don't know when kids are supposed to be able to tie their shoes, but she does pretty darn good.  Sometimes I think I need to step back some and remember she is not a baby anymore and that she can do a lot of things for herself without mommy stepping in!

For two years now we have promised Kassi that for her fifth birthday we would take her to meet the princesses.  It is hard to believe that we are now counting the days until we go and not the months or even weeks.  Well it is still a couple of weeks away, but it is close enough to count the days.  Kassi is so excited and kind of scared at the same time.  She tells me she is nervous about flying and being around so many people.  Truth be told I am pretty excited too.  I have had a lot of people tell me she is too young to take and we should wait.  I think right now is the perfect time.  She is almost tall enough for all of the rides, those she isn't I don't think we would go on anyway, she has an incredible memory, sometimes talking about things that happened when she was a baby, and even though she knows they are just "characters" she is so excited about meeting all of the characters from her favorite shows.  It has been a long time since I have been on a plane, around 20 years.  As a child I flew a lot and it never really bothered me, now I am not so sure.  Wes hates flying and flew for the first time two years ago.  Kassi is excited to fly for the first time, but is nervous.  So this could be an interesting flight.  I hope to have lots of pictures to share with everyone, but no guarantees as I might be too busy to take many!

Well we have gotten tired of answering all the calls and questions about us leasing our house, or doing a rent to own option, or providing owner financing so we went and met with the realtor on Friday.  He is supposed to come by this morning and take a look and get some pictures so we can get it on the MLS.  I guess I better call him and reschedule...  He says the market is pretty flooded with houses at the price we have set for our house.  I just hope ours has something the others don't and appeals to someone.  He said when you have so many in the same price range, it really tends to come down to the location and neighborhood.  I did notice though that most of the houses in the same price range were either much older, did not have four bedrooms and three baths, or were duplexes, which I guess could make ours standout a little bit more.  If it doesn't sell by next summer we will just stay here.  I am extremely nervous about all of this and have nights when I toss and turn worrying about everything turning out okay.

Well it has been quiet for a little while now so maybe I will try and get a little rest now.

Too long...

Wow has it really been that long since I have posted anything here?   I wonder if anyone has noticed?

It has been so long that it might take me awhile to figure this out again.  Of course I don't think it is all just my memory because I do think Blogger has a very different look.

I don't even know where to begin.  Kassi healed up really well after her surgery last winter.  She did have a bought with night tremors though.  I felt so bad, there was nothing I could do.  She has recovered from this though and is now sleeping well again. 

We have been so busy I don't even know where the last few months have gone. 

I guess I will go in order and touch on a few things and then maybe expand more in later posts.

We decided to let Kassi raise a couple of chicks this spring.  She really had fun with them and they were definitely her pets.  Unfortunately one of our neighbors decided to call the police and complain that they were too noisy...note their dogs bark all the time, but that doesn't seem to matter.  The rooster did make a little noise when I first let him out of the coop in the mornings, but it was not near as loud as the dogs barking or the party's that go on, during weeknights, sometimes almost all night long.  Anyway we decided to be good and a friend has agreed to foster Kassi's enormous chickens.  It may be a good thing that they are there for now as I don't think they would fit inside their coop anymore. 

Flower and Stormy at about 3 months old.

Kassi decided she wanted to be in a pageant so we agreed as long as it was an all natural one.  She won the local pageant which meant we were headed to state.  She did really well and got first runner up and State Tot Beauty.  Of course as her mom I think she is the greatest.  It was really fun to see just how outgoing she was compared to some of the girls.  While I wasn't sure what to expect I will admit that we made some good friends that I will look forward to seeing at the different pageants.

We had told Kassi that we would also let her get a rabbit when she had her chickens.  It just never seemed to work out, when the people we were going to get one from would have a litter ready we would be out of town or have something going on that kept us from getting one.  So when we went to fair and there were some for sale I let Kassi pick one and we brought it home with us.  Bunbun as I call her "Daisy" as Kassi calls her is now occupying the chicken coop.

Probably the biggest thing that is going on right now is that we have decided we have outgrown our house in town and are finally at a point where we are ready to move.  We are finally looking to move out of town and build a house.  I am so excited and nervous at the same time.  We have had the house listed by owner for awhile and have had a few bites, but honestly I have gotten tired of all those who want to know if we will rent to own, lease, or finance because they have bad credit, so I have contacted a realtor which we will meet with this week.  I think I am most nervous that our house just wont sell and then our hopes will be crushed.  Kassi's hopes will be crushed.

What else?  I know there is more...