Flat Stanley & Caseworker Interview

FLAT STANLEY

First of all, can we all "LOL" that Mike and I are taking a buddy picture with a paper guy? ;) So my nephew Jace in California had read the story of "Flat Stanley" in school (I am vaguely familiar but never read, I don't think) and we're asked to send their own "F.S." to someone and have them report back with a photo and story about where FS has been. So, first of all, he sent it to Michael and not me!? (What the heck? he he) Now, please forgive my break in this story but Michael is THE biggest 'stick in the mud'! He rarely does anything without written notice of 2 months of preparation. But when we received the envelope in the mail on Monday, I barely finished reading the letter to him and he was practically jumping out of his shorts to do it! What the heck?! Anyway, I was very happy that his instant reaction was so great but it gets better. He was devouring the instructions, mumbling plans to himself and outloud, counting off the places he wanted to take Stanley and what he will say in the 'essay' portion. Last night he was so excited to show me that he made a paper Titans jersey for Stanley! Can there be more exclaimation points in this post!?!! Hilarious. So, today, before meeting our caseworker Dave, we stopped in Nashville to hopefully take pictures of landmarks (worried some would be ruined from the recent flood disaster) and F.S. I do not want to spoil Michael full report to sweet Jace but there will be more than 1 picture and hopefully Michael can contain his essay about his new b.f.f.'s adventures in Tennessee to half a page. LOL. So, thank you Jace for unknowingly getting your Uncle to show who he's been hiding from us. I hope you get to see how much we love our state, especially Michael. It's his pride and joy and he was a perfect match for this assignment. We hope you get a good grade or a pat on the back, whatever they are passing out. We love you Jace (and Flat Stanley).

CASEWORKER INTERVIEW

For those of you that have missed it, we are trying to get approved so we can adopt again. No there is no baby waiting (that we know of), we are just taking the steps to complete the paperwork to be approved to adopt. With Evan, we took almost a year to get the paperwork finished. It was exciting and important to us but we were so distracted. 2 years later we were blessed with Evan. This time we are even more motivated cause we have the gift of Evan to remind us, every moment, what is waiting for us at the end of that rainbow. We are surprisingly patient yet very motivated. We know this is the right time for our family and cannot wait to see who is joining us next. No matter how short or long of a wait it is this time, we feel great about our progress and can't wait to move forward! :) So along with paperwork, we have sets of interviews with Dave our new and AWESOME caseworker. We already had a Home visit interview so this time, since he comes from Indiana, we met him in Madison. I have never been there so thankfully we made it ok. Dave is great. He is friendly, professional and hard working. We had a couples interview then individual interviews and he said, "well, you passed"! lol I didn't think there was a possibility not to 'pass' but was kinda nervous after he said that to be honest. he he. Well, Mike "passed" too and now all we need is verification of our health and a FBI background check completed (fingers crossed. lol) then we will be approved and get to be on the http://www.itsaboutlove.org/ website for birth mothers to start viewing us. It has also been recommended to us to list ourselves on http://www.parentprofiles.com/ (it's sort of an adoptive parents advertiser but will cost us money every month. boo but yay for the exposure).

I just cannot tell you in a blog how excited I am that my children come to our family this way. Before Evan, I was so excited for my friend Jeff the whole time his wife was pregnant, not knowing that right before his son was born, I would finally be a parent too. It's just like not knowing whether you are pregnant but from the time I found out we were 'pregnant' to his birth was shorter (and slightly less physically painful). Children are a gift, I personally hope I can wear Michael down and get him to let me have as many children as I want (3-4) but if Evan is our only child, it will be wonderful. I will let you know how you can help once we are "Approved" so look forward to that post to see what you can do to help us find our next family member. Thank you for all your love and interest in our struggle with fertility - success with Adoption. Hang on, it's going to be a bumpy ride! :) xoxo

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

there is JOY in sadness...

In the past year, our family has been humbled by the story of Ryan Hess and his fight against cancer. Ryan is the brother of my brother Bennett's wife, Jennifer. When he was 19 he was diagnosed with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crohn%27s_disease Crohn's disease which is directly linked with the type of cancer he was diagnosed with, one year ago. Hepatoslpenic T-cell Lymphoma(HSTCL). His family and friends have fought a tough fight with many wins but yesterday he returned to his Heavenly Family, there to watch over his beautiful wife and 2 young children. I am truly inspired by his wife Margie. She exudes a peace, joy and confidence in her faith in God that is unique to many of us. She bears testimony every day as a trusting daughter of God, even in times of sorrow. Please take a moment to read about their journey.

http://www.teamryanhess.blogspot.com/

If you are interested in what we believe about death in our faith as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. You can find out more at: http://www.mormon.org/

Interested in donation? The family seeks no help but I do know they have spent every dime on Ryan's care. If you are reading this and feel compelled, there is a way to help them with any dollar you want to help them with. You can donate at any Wells Fargo Bank to the Ryan Hess Donation Fund.

being thankful

for everyday life and the privilege of being a parent

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHDvxPjsm8E

and above all the gospel of Jesus Christ to help you through each step of the process.

Poor baby

We would like to thank 'josiah spann' for the contribution to michaels 'beautification' project. We like to call this 'eye see you'. :)

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

I'm gonna get you!

One year ago today...

...I took my first full breath of air since the adoption process began. Evan's adoption was finalized one year ago today. My friend Mari got a babysitter to help document the day in pictures and took one of my favorite pictures of Evan EVER. I was nervous, having never been to a courtroom or done an adoption before and though there was no reason to be nervous, I could feel the emotions at the surface. It was on a Monday so only Michael's mom and step dad could come, my friend Mari, friends Cammie & Brian and of course our Attorney, friend Christopher Westmoreland. It was small group compared to the support we recieved over the years of 'wating' for our babies and bittersweet since my family couldn't be there. The important part was that our adoption was finalized so I focused on that. http://michaelandlila.blogspot.com/2009/05/meet-official-stuteville-family.html and http://michaelandlila.blogspot.com/2009/05/official-stutevilles-part-2.html

Since that day, we have felt even more blessed every day that we are finally parents. We always plan to be open with Evan about his adoption but honestly, it is hard to remember that he is! The day his adoption was final was like he was born to me and there is no way to describe that feeling. Adoption is so special, I do not wish to forget it or ignore it but I do not define my son as "Adopted", just as my son. He is all me and all Michael and as with every child, he will also be different than us in his likes and dislikes, his goals, hobbies etc. I cannot wait to see who he will be and what he will feel inclined to do. It's like a Christmas gift to unwrap every morning when you see what new thing your child will do for you that day. I'm so excited to see who will join us next too and how our children will interact with each other. I love big families and the time they spend together.

Cuteness

(mother's day photo)

Yesterday I was sitting on my bed and couldn't see or hear where Evan went in the house. I didn't want to get up so I called out, "Where is Evan??" He comes running around the corner from the kitchen towards me and says, "There he is!" proudly and in 3rd person. Love this life. :)

Pure evil

Oh my gosh these are pure delicous evil! Will someone buy these for my mom? :) mmmmm yummy!

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

Mini Marshmallow Catching

This video is from almost 2 months ago but I don't think I posted it. I don't know why we did it but I started throwing mini marshmallows in Evans mouth. As you can see, we both loved it and so did the garbage disposal, aka Smokey. lol.

Happy Mother's Day? lol

really? :( he was exhausted after church today and really didn't want to have a photo op. can you tell? hmmmm....

This video is a classic already.

p.s. i back posted so be sure to check out "friday's 5" and do it yourself! <>

For me

A blueberry tart from 'Ganache' in Murfreesboro behind Demos'. It's yummy go check out their other yummy treats! While you're there peek in the soon to open boutique going in next door. I'm gonna have to stop bringing my wallet to work! :)

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

FRIDAY FIVE

Today's Friday 5 subject: Favorite Snacks....

1. POPCORN: air popped only with real (salted) butter, sprinkled with 'Vegit' seasoning.

I do not like microwave popcorn, though I will eat it, if I must. It is entirely too salty, it literally stings my tongue so that tells my brain, it isn't good for me. My parents used to have this snack almost every night and my mom would practically if not literally melt a whole stick of butter on one bowl of popcorn! They cut down on the butter eventually and are now total sell outs, eating microwave popcorn. :p yuck! (he he he)

2. OVALTINE: Don't care the flavor, original or rich chocolate. I drink it with popcorn, almost exclusively but will also drink it with the next answer (salty/sweet?).

3. SUNFLOWER Seeds: or even Pistachio nuts. I always ate S.S. as a kid with my family. Maybe cause my brothers played so much baseball and that was the baseball players snack? I don't know but, come to my parents house on an particular day and you'll see us all surrounding a bucket to put our shells in while we all have a hand full of seeds to crack open. David's are our seed of choice. My mom cracks it with her teeth but opens them with her fingers, leaving a huge mess of S.S. debre all over herself. The rest of us do all the work in our mouths. lol. ;) Another tid-bit: I can no longer drive long distances very well without feeling sleepy so IF I have to drive, I eat S.S. to keep me awake.

4. CEREAL: Lucky Charms, Trix (thank you for finally going back to circles!!!!), Pops, Honey Combs, Captain Crunch with Crunch Berry's (Kroger brand is WAY better than the original, p.s.)and maybe Fruity Pebbles sometimes. I love a bowl of junk cereal for a snack. I really can't enjoy it for breakfast anymore (but used to love any cereal for every meal if I could) so it's usually a dessert or snack. Mmmmm.

5. TWIX: or Reese's' Peanut Butter cups or Peppermint Patty. I like my Twix and P.P. refrigerated the best. :) I like to eat my Twix by cleanly biting the caramel off first then eat the cookie.

Can't wait to see Shannon's snack favorites. :)

Here are a few other notables: I LOVE sliced red apples with mild cheddar cheese slices, Nutty Buddy's?, Edy's Rocky Road Ice Cream, green grapes with whipped cream (like ready whip).

Swim Lessons

Evan started his first swim lessons this week and is already awesome. ;) lol. There are all boys in his class and he is significantly older than them. The oldest might be a year but those 6 months makes a difference. It's also very funny that they are all boys in the class. I wonder if they did that on purpose cause it seems like the other class after us is all girls. hmmm. I'll ask on Monday. Anyway Evan's loving being in the pool and is responding to all the rules he's been learning. And just so you know, I'm less than thrilled that you all have to see me all pasty white in my bathing suit but, I'm willing to put it all out there so please, ignore the pasty 'husky' girl in the pictures with Evan. :) Thanks. By the way, Michael is the photographer.

Evan's supposed to grab the sea horse from the water, not eat it. He was taking a snack break. :)

Victorious!

Jumping in exercise.

Our hottie, instructor Brad (he's sort of Jacob-esq from Twilight)

"Kicking" forward

"Kicking" backwards and splashing mommy.

Ball passing. (not easy for an 18mo old to 'share' a toy)

And the rest of these pictures are 'after' the lesson. Here is where I have dunked Evan and he's just come up. he he he. I count to three and dip him under the water quickly, then he says 'again'. lol so I did, about 2 more times. I love his face in this picture. And how about mine?

weeeeee!

Ta Daa!

last dunking.

Just a short video of Evan's skills. :)

18 months +

My name is Evan

I am a crazy kid! As you can see by my forehead, I bump into stuff a lot but don't care. I run everywhere and fall down but get right back up (only to fall again). My favorite thing is when my mommy lets me loose on the back yard. I love to run and pick up sticks, acorns, rocks and dirt. Sometimes I eat these things sometimes too! Mom doesn't like that part. I love to run around the side of the house and hide by the air conditioner, then giggle when mommy comes to find me, calling "Gotcha! I found you!" Another thing I love is catching my dog Smokey's tail. I really enjoy dancing to music, doing a crouched walk, running from the living room to the kitchen while playing chase from mommy, having mommy and daddy read me as many books as I want until I get tired. I still sleep really well, going to bed between 730 and 8pm, only to wake up around 9 or 930am! I'd tell you how tall I was and how much I weighed at my last drs appointment a couple weeks ago but my mom doesn't know where the paper is. Still, Dr. Coleman said I'm in the 50th -75th percentile and super healthy. My shots went well, I only cried for a minute. When I am tired I suck on my index finger and run my fingers through my hair. I love to stomp on the ground and jump. I LOVE yo gabba gabba t.v. show. I love all food pretty much but favorites are: spaghetti, mac n cheese, corn dogs from sonic, yogurt, puffs/dry cereal, fruit and juice. I have been saying so many words when mom and dad ask me but just today in the car when we went for a ride together, mom was talking to dad about cows and I said "Mooo"! I am getting soooooo smart! At least that's what my shocked mom and dad said to me. Some of my sentences don't mean anything to them yet but any day now I will bust out something that does. :) I finally give hugs which melts mommy's heart and dad can't get enough either. I love my baths and laying down in the water to splash my legs as hard as I can kick!

Tomorrow (as long as all the weather is good, we've had lots of rain and flooding here but our house is totally fine thankfully) I start swimming lessons! Mom is going to be with me in the water to help me learn to be a good swimmer one day. Hopefully dad will come and take pictures of us so you can see my awesomeness! ;)

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

from my sista

This is a post from my youngest sister, Ashley. She wrote what I consider a nice post about our family on her personal blog. I would also like to thank my parents for making me the way I am and encouraging all their children to be individuals that LIVE the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are trying every day mom and dad. Thank you, we love you. xoxo
http://stashtus.blogspot.com/2010/04/ashley-is-wutkee-and-wutkees-are.html