Christmas Time
Wow - Christmas is finally over! I've been looking forward for Christmas for awhile and then it came and it was pretty overwhelming. We had 5 Christmas celebrations in a 48 hour time frame which was CRAZY, tiring and extremely overwhelming - not just for me, but for the kids as well. And I'm sure it'll be all repeated again next year!

Christmas morning we had time to open presents, grab some muffins to eat and then leave the house with all presents still in their boxes and wrapping paper all over the floor.

O M I T Entry

Then we left there at 5:00pm to make it to my parents for 5:30 where we had another good dinner waiting for us. Then we did presents, socialized and had dessert then bed time at 9:00ish.

Next day, got up and got ready and left to go out to Hamilton to visit with my papa (my dad's step-dad), he had a booked the party room in his apt. and had a bunch of snacks out for the kids and we visited.

From my papa's we went to my cousins Krystals house with my mom's extended family. We were there until 9pm I think. No nap again for the kids (except in the car which isn't much).

Then just this back Friday we drove out to Windsor so Chance can meet his other Grandpa (my moms dad). That was a long day, long drive. But it was so much fun - I don't think I've seen my Grandpa since the wedding so it was a nice visit. Also got to hang out with my mom's half sister (who is 5 years older then me). We got back to my parents place just after 1am. Chance and Skylar had such an awful car ride home, Skylar wouldn't sleep for the first hour, and Chance just kept crying - couldn't get comfortable I guess.

So all in all we had a great Christmas, even if it was jammed pack! I'm just glad to be home and have our normal schedule back to normal! Now we have to work on cleaning the house, finding place for all the toys, and getting a zillion batteries we need for all the new toys! If I get a chance I'll post what our presents actually were. That'll have to wait for another post! lol

Christmas Eve
What a busy day today was. Chance was so excited about Santa comming today and singing "Santa Clause is comming to Chance's house" all day long. We watched Christmas shows on TV, we baked brownies, made squares, made muffins. The kids got to open one present on Christmas Eve, and as in my family tradition it was always a pair of PJ's that they wore to bed and looked good in the pictures in the morning! Skylar got a nice purple pair and Chance got curious george. He was so excited. Then he neatly laid the stockings out on the couch for Santa and got a plate to put the cookies on. He took one out of that jar and said "this one for Santa, then he took another one and said "this one for Rudolf" and he got some milk and left on the table. Went to bed (where he peaked in and saw one of his toys in my bedroom). We read Twas the night before Christmas and tucked him in.
An hour later he comes down crying and wants my cuddle bug and is very upset. I finally get out of him that he scared of Santa and dosen't want Santa to come to his house! I finally got him settled down and went back to bed, but he told me again he dosen't want Santa in his house. It was kind of cute b/c he's been talking non stop about Santa and comming to his house. so I'm not sure where this sudden change of heart came from. Anyways, Santa IS comming, it's 10:00 and I still have to wrap and fill stockings! So MAYBE I'll get some sleep before Santa comes!

Decorating our Tree
Yes - we FINALLY got a Christmas tree. 5 days before Christmas we went out and bought one and I just love it. We decorated it on Friday (yes 3 days before Christmas - life is so busy now with me back to work full time, and Andrew working and just trying to keep the house in order takes a lot of time and energy. But anyways, our tree is done. Chance really had a great time putting the ordiments on, and he even put the angel on again this year with the help of Daddy! (Last year Mommy helped him), which fell over the first attempt so they had to try again. It was quite fun to watch. I am so happy with our tree and how it looks. Just can't wait for Santa to come and fill it up underneath. lol.

Hay Ride
One of the nice things about living in a small town is the little things like going for a hay ride through town singing Christmas carols, then heading back to an old community hall and have snacks, hot chocolate and hot apple cidar. We did this last year when we first moved out here, but last year we had a tractor. This year we actually had horses! The kids really had a great time, esp. Chance. Who when we drove past our house started yelling "hey guys, that's my house, look guys, look at Chance's tree in the window". It was really quite cute. Only down side is that our "town" is so small that the ride was only maybe 10 minutes and it was over (and that's including going down main street twice. lol. I love living in the country!

Jesus is homeless
We went out to subway last week before we made our way to Waterloo and Victoria park to look at Christmas lights and there was a homeless man standing outside the store. I have always had a soft sport in my heart for those that do not have a place to call HOME. Andrew and I worked for 3 years at the out of the cold program in our church and only stopped once we moved as it is to far of a commute to Kitchener. Andrew and I have had homeless people in our home (in kitchener), we've driven teens back home to reunite with thier parents, we've driven a couple to stratford one day so they could see thier daughter to bring her christmas presents, we've gone out for coffee with them to talk, I've cleaned up bloddy heads and cuts, and even found one beaten to death (well he died a week later in hosiptal) just across the street from the church that he was trying to get too! So anyways, some people are just down on thier luck and we have no right to judge them. I have on MANY occassions in the last 10 years if I have seen an homeless person in downtown I'll take them a buy them a hotdog at the stand, or take them into McDonalds, I took one into a resturant one told him to order what he wants for lunch. If I am going into a fastfood place and I see them outside I have a hard time sitting thier enjoying my meal while they are out there who knows when the last time they ate sometime "good". So anyways, on Tuesday we went to Subway and there was a gentleman outside that I remember from out of the cold program a few years ago, I walked past him and went in to eat. When we were all done I went out and asked him if he wanted a sub - he did. One meatball sub comming up. Then before we went outside I explained to Chance (for the first time) what it means to be homeless, that there is a man outside that dosen't have a bed to sleep in, or a place to call home, that he has to sleep outside on the sidewalk b/c he had nowhere else to go. Then I told him we are going to buy him some dinner b/c he dosen't have money to buy food (and being a kid in 20th century he asked me if he had a credit card! LOL). So I gave him the bag with the food in and told him to go give it to him. The man was very thankfull to Chance (and us of course).

The next night when we were reading a book called "night light Christmas" GREAT book for kids explaining the christmas story about Jesus and how it all happened. We've been reading it every day for the last month (not by MY choice, but kids love repitition, and I'm not going to say no to a book that talks about Jesus's birth. If he wants to read it every day, great!. So anyways, we were reading it and they were talking about how there was no place for Mary and Joesph and how the slept outside (see where this is going?) in some hay in a barn. Chance perks right up and says "Jesus homeless too Mommy!!" Quite proud of the connection that he made. Then he started talking about how Jesus and his mommy didn't have any food to eat, no bed to sleep in, and that they had to sleep out in the cold. Trying explaining that one to a 3 year old! That yes they didn't have a home and had to sleep outside, so yes Chance is right, Jesus, Mary and Joseph were homeless!

Recipie
Right now as I am checking e-mail Chance is playing at the table making a recipie for mommy. So far he has 2 cups of flour, 1 cup flour, 4 cups of milk, 1 tablespoon butter and 1/2 cup of cinnimon. Right now he is "mixing" it all for a special treat for mommy! But first he has to cook it he says.. lol. I would what that would taste like!

****This blog was written Dec 15, but I have not been able to upload the pictures that I wanted, for some reason it just wouldn't work. I've tried everyday, but it won't work. :( try again later****
Nathaniel
Wow - it's been a whole year (Dec 15) since Nathaniel left us. I can still remember the day that I dropped him off at his dads thinking I was never going to see him again. I remember telling myself not to cry..not to cry.. I wanted to be strong for Nathaniel. I remember leaving my house and putting him in his car seat and driving out and saying "good bye Chance, good bye Daddy, goodbye bed, goodbye house, goodbye rabbit, goodbye cats" and Nathaniel would repeat after me as I tried to explain that he would never see these things again. That he was going to go live with Daddy forever and ever and ever. Trying to tell a 3 year old how much you love when you know that won't remember you in a few months or a year. That was the longest car ride of my life! The car ride to Florida the year before seemed to be shorter then that car ride. I brought Nathaniel into the apt. building lobby and just waited. As I handed Nathaniel over to his dad I just cried, I couldn't talk nomore and I didn't want to do that! I didn't want Nathaniel to see me cry. But what happened next I'll never forget. His Dad Yen leaned over and gave me a hug. Not a quick little hug but a real, long, strong hug. He just held me and thanked me for everything that we have done for Nathaniel and him and that he really appricates it all. I then just stood there while they walked away never thinking I'll see them again. That was Dec 15th, 2005. The last thing we did with Nathaniel was to decorate our Christmas tree together. Christmas morning we did our presents and were sitting down to eat breakfast and Andrew and I just started talking about Nathaniel and wondered if he liked our Christmas presents that we had sent home with him, and wondering what kind of Christmas morning he was having and the phone rang. It was Yen, he said Nathaniel wanted to wish us a merry christmas. So Nathaniel came on the phone and he words were "Merry Christmas Mommy". I just started bawling and coulnd't say a word so I gave Andrew the phone while I tried to get my composure back. The phone call was amazing! We have seen each other a few times over the last year, we've had outings at the park, and splashpad at waterloo park, we got together for Nathaniel's birthday party, and Yen and Nathaniel even celebrated thanksgiving with my family. I still miss Nathaniel greatly and think about him often, but I am happy that he is home with his Dad! His dad loves and adored him to peieces and you see that each time we get together.

New words
Chance always seems to be comming up with new and cute words/phrases. Here are a few of his newest:

Everything is "my favourite"... "my favourite show, my favourite colour, my favouite underware, etc,."

"Chance never had THAT before..." it may be food (which he has had before, to a toy in the store or on tv, or clothes that don't fit no more or he never fit in)

"Interesting"... He'll pick something off the floor and look at it and say "interesting, interesting mommy". Or if we are ready a new book and when we finish it's be "interesting...interesting book". It sounds so cute becuase it is such a big word, but he says it so slowly and clear in order to pronounce it correctly

"I love that"... "I love that ice cream, I love my socks, I love the snow" Everything he loves. Now with this one I try to correct him by saying that he "really likes ice cream, or really likes the snow". I also try and correct myself as well as you can't love something that CAN'T love you. We place too much emphisis on LOVE that shouldn't be there. IE: How can you say I LOVE ice cream, and then in your next breath say I LOVE my husband? anyways, just a little rant there... lol..

I know there is more, but I can't think of them right now!

Chance...Chance...Chance...
On Saturday Chance went to spend time at Grandma and Grandpa's house for the dy so it was just me and Skylar. It was nice becuase it has never been just me and Skylar before. The whole day she kept walking around the house and looking in different rooms calling chance. She would look at me and say "Chance?". Then when woke up from her nap instead of comming downstairs she went running into Chance's room yelling "Chance" and wanted me to pick her up and put her on Chance's bed to make sure he wasn't there. Then she had to come and look in all the rooms to see if Chance was back. you see, this is also the first time that it has been just Skylar at home without Chance as well. Usually it's Skylar leaving for visits and what not. But normally we are a family and we do everything as a family, we usually don't just pick one to do something with and the leave the other home. (except when we took Chance to the zoo, and maybe if we can get a babysitting I would love to take Chance to see Fancy feet before the movie is out of theaters).
It was also nice as since Chance wasn't there Skylar constantly wanted to be held and cuddled by me which was also nice, as she dosen't like to sit in one place for very long. And Chance is her partner in crime! It was so nice on Sunday to have both my kids home again!

Professional Pics
We got our pictures done a few weeks ago. We got 2 packages done, one with just Chance and one package was the family. After we had our picture done we got a call from Sears and told that we had one a free 8x10. So we decided that we would a picture with just Andrew, Chance and I. They did a few extras as well that we could choose from. We went in there with the mind set that we were just getting the free one and that's all. But Chance
saw the guitar prop and really wanted to play with it, so they took a picture and it was too cute that we just had to buy it. I am not going to show the package pictures that we also got because you are going to have to wait untill you get your christmas card! These two pictures are the only ones we got.

Who does Chance look like?
I get this question so many times by strangers. "He dosen't look like who! Who does he look like?" Now I really HATE this question. As this is protraying to Chance that he has to "look" like someone to be a part of a family. How do I answer this? Sometimes I just say "my husband has fair skin and blond hair", sometimes I say he looks a bit like everyone (also true - he has my check bones and smile I think, he's got Andrew's skin colour, he and Skylar both have blond hair). Sometimes I just come out and say "he looks like his birth mom" which usually shuts them up right away! But I think Chance does look like Carrie (his birth mom), and I'm sure he looks like his birth dad as well. And I'll always wonder what Chance's older brother looks like (I would love to see what he looks like, maybe some time in the future contact can be made and exchange photo's). But why does everyone have to ask that question? I don't like going around and telling everyone that Chance is adopted - I am not ashamed of the fact and speak openly about it, but I think complete strangers don't need to know, and I would also like Chance to be able to tell people when he is ready about his past and how he came to our family. But some people just have to be rude!

DON'T ASK STRANGERS WHO THIER KIDS LOOK LIKE!!!

snow, Snow, SNow, SNOw, SNOW!!!!!!!!
YAH! We finally have snow. It's about time. We've had a few small snow falls, but we finally have a lot out there and I am so happy. I took the kids outside to play for a bit and they just had a blast. Chance was shoveling snow off the pouch, Skylar was trying to walk (very hard when your snow suit weights just as much as you do and your boots are two sizes to big b/c they don't make them small enough). I pulled them both around in the sled, I can't wait to take them to some hill to go. Chance was a little small last year, but this year I'm sure he'll love it. Then the best part about playing out in the snow is comming in to some nice hot chocolate. MmMMm - what a fun afternoon! I really wish I knew how to add pictures so they are not all over the place.

Feet and Hands
Boy I love hand and feet pictures so I finally decided to take some yesterday. I got one with mine, Andrew and Chance's hand all together, I really like that one. Then we have Chance and Andrew's feet together, and finally Chance's cute little feet curled up together. I just want to eat those toes up!

OUCH!
Well my morning did not start off very good! I was comming down the back stairs (which is wood - no carpet or anything) and I was carrying Skylar and my slippers slipped and I went falling. My first reaction was to protect Skylar so I turned myself in such a manner that both my arms were around her head and back (it's amazing how quickly you can react in a situation, when you have a child in your arms your basics to protect yourself and put your arms out to brace your fall all go out the window and your childs saftey comes first - at the cost of your own pain). But anyways, down the stairs I went with no hands to stop my falls as they were protecting Skylar. I landed at the bottem (I was the third stairs from the top). Andrew heard the noise and came running and grabbed Skylar and I just laid on the floor crying. I was in soo much pain, my ankle is sore and was bleeding, my back hurt from the way I twisted myself to keep Skylar safe and from hitting all the stairs, my bum bruised instantly which I'm sure is going to turn into a nasty bruise by tomorrow, my shoulder hurts as well. I'm just hurting so much right now, but the reason I'm writing this blog is so show was a caring and compastionate boy Chance is. So while I'm laying on the floor Chance into the room and sees me on the floor, he dosen't ask what happed, or why mommy and Skylar are crying. He gets right down on the floor and starts stroking my hair and face and saying "it's okay mommy" and "love you mommy" in such a quiet whisper over and over and over again, while stopping twice to give me such a soft kiss on my forehead. How many times does the only thing it takes to make a child feel better when they fall and hurt themselves is that magical kiss from mommy ? I always wondered what so special about a kiss, but it sure does go the other way around, when mommy falls and it's that sweet and soft kiss from your son that makes you feel better.

What do you want to be when you get older?
It took me awhile to figure out what I wanted to be when I "grew up", but when I was sitting at the table eating dinner when Chance, he informed me that "When Chance grow up, be just like Mommy".

Is Chance really Three?
Wow, it is so hard to beleive that I am now a mother of a THREE YEAR OLD! It is amazing how fast this last year has gone. Chance is really starting to grow into a nice little boy. I am so blessed to have him in my life and the chance to be a Mommy to the most wonderfull and cutest kid in the world. I look forward to what the next year will bring for our family. We had a little birthday party for Chance yesterday with family and I think Chance had a really good time. At present time he kind of threw everything on the floor and didn't really pay attention to them, nor did we get a chance to read the cards. So at bedtime that was his bedtime story (reading all of his cards) and we talked about what everyone got him. And then today we sat down and played some of his games and I took pictures of Chance with all of his presents and explained once again who they were from. Now he knows excatly who got him what. He was even telling Skylar today when she came back from her visit that "Uncle Jon got me that game, Kolten and Kennedy for me this game, Aunty Jenn and Uncle Trevor got me puzzles, and Grandma and Grandpa got the couch and Grandma and Grandpa got my a new bed". Although Skylar was less then enthuszied, Chance just wanted to make sure she knew what everyone got him. It was really cute. It is just so hard to beleive that I now have a THREE YEAR OLD! WOW. We are so lucky. So for the people that weren't at the party and I posted what Chance recieved at his birthday, and for those at his party you can actually see what he got becuase he went though his present pretty quicky that I hardly got to see what he got and I was sitting right beside him. LOL. I really had fun making Chance's birthday cake this cake, it wasn't as fancy as his Elmo cake last year but I really like it. In the picture with chance looking at me it's becuase I caught him eating the cake when he was suspose to be smiling for the camera with his cake. He is one little sneak! :)

From Mommy and Daddy
This may be a little biased but this is my favourite card. It's not a "kid" card but I think the meaning in really there. "A son like you is a give from heaven. Birthdays are a time for celebrating the miracles that change our lives and bring more jot than we ever dreamed possible. May you always keep this truth in your heart - you are one of those miracles. Happy Birthday. You second year of life was so wonderull to experience with you you. We look forward to you next year. You ARE out little miracle. Love Always Mommy and Daddy"

We gave Chance The little mermaid movie, a farm set, Diego Rescue Pack full of 5 different games, a Diego outfit, Diego matching game, and a book called "why is there a cross", we also gave him his duvet (to go inside his new duvet cover that grandma and grandpa got him).

From Great Grandma (Andrew's Grandma) "Happy Birthday. this cheery Birthday card comes just to say that smiles and laghter, joy and love, are wished for you today. with lots of love Great Grandma" Grandma gave Chance some money and with that we putting half away into Chance's saving account, and the other half we are going to let him pick out a toy.

From Uncle Jon and Aunty Andrea "Nephew Hope your birthday's legendary...thrulling...extraordinary... just like BATMAN, just like you - intensely awsome through and though! Happy 3rd Birthday Chance. I hope you have a great year! Have with with this game. From Uncle Jon and Andrea.

Chance got a bumble bee game (kids version of kerplunk) in which Chance really enjoyed playing this morning with Mommy and Ddaddy.

From Grandma and Grandpa (Andrew's parents)
"Just for you Grandson Come climb aboard the birthday boay and bloe your birthday horn. Today we get to celebrate the day that you were born! This shop is fill of friends and fun with hugs and wishes too. C'ause Jesus made a big, strong boy - That special boy is YOU!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY" "Come, let us sing for joy to ther Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvating" PSALM 95:1 NIV Dear Chance Hope you enjoy the new bed that Grandpa refinished especially for you and the covers with the big tiger. GRRR Lots of love Grandma and Grandpa XXOO

Grandma and Grandpa got Chance a captions bed for his room. It was second hand and had to scraps and dents in them, but Grandpa spent a lot of hours down in his basement sanding it and resanding it just for Chance. They also got Chance the new bedding that is on his bed with the tiger.

From Grandma and Grandpa (Amy's parents)
"For A really special Grandon HapPY BIRTHDAY. Everyone would love to have a Grandson just like you to have a lot of fun with and to love the whole year through! Happy 3rd Birthday. Lots of Love Grandma and Grandpa XOXO (and Grandma even drew her hand on the back)

From Grandma and Grandpa they took Chance shopping and picked him up a little whinni the pooh pull out couch (what he is sitting on), he also got a birthday Dora and a huge curious George. Grandma and Grandpa also took Chance out for his dinner and took him to the Santa parade on Saturday.

From Aunty Jenn, Uncle Trevor and cousins Jason, Jonathan, Jessica, Julie and Joshua Chance got 3 learning puzzles where you maych words and the pictures. Chance loves Puzzle so he can't wait to get into them.

From Carrie Chance got an Animal Safari Pit with balls. I am going to see how big it is, but I might have to wait until Spring so I can set it up outside as it is pretty big ball pit. Carrie also got him the candles for his cake that had the letters H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y. Chance was so excited over the candles that Carrie got him and he told everyone at his party about "Carries candles".

From Jenn, Kennedy and Kolten
Home Made Card that read:
"Chance, Happy 3rd Birthday Love Jenn, Kennedy, Kolten and Lexus XOXO"

Chance got a scrapbook that Mommy will finish making, Hot Wheels car, movie and Towel, Jumpin Monkey game.

Last day being 2
This is a picture of Chance on his last day being 2! He will never be 2 years old again. What a fun age 2 was. I don't think we ever went though the "terrible twos" that everyone dreads about. Sure we had bad days (even though Chance's "bad" day dosen't even equal what some parents face DAILY), and even those were few and far between. Being two Chance learned to count to 13, count backwards from 10, learn his colours, zip up his coat and put his shoes on the right feet (more of the time). He starting to regonize number, he knows his shapes, he rode his bike with training wheels, he learned to draw circles and lines, he talks in sentencing and uses his grammer when talking mostly correctly. He can sing a few songs and he can almost sing the alphabet. Chance became a "big brother" to Skylar who he took right over in caring for her, feeding her bottles, helping with baths, diapers, sharing toys, signing to her and in the last few days he'll "read" her books. He plays "make believe" and will put his stuffed animals on a blanket and will have a picnic with them and make them food. He not only learned to throw and catch a ball - he is able to hit the ball with a bat when you throw it to him. Chance spent a lot of time outside helping Daddy in the garden using to use the hoe, turning the soil, planting seeds and then helping to pick what he had helped grow. We saw Chance make friends and learn to share (no really I'm not just saying that, I have a 2 year that likes to share. Just not always with Skylar, but he does with other kids!).
I am so Blessed to have such a wonderfull son and I love him so much! I have been explaining to him that a "birthday" means. That this is the day we celebrate the day he was born and came out of Carrie's tummy. I think he gets it as he has told a few times about comming from Carries tummy on his birthday. Then tonight when we were praying this was his prayer. "Dear Jesus - thank you for Carrie's tummy to give birth to Chance". All I could say was AMEN! This is the first real prayer that he has said besides "thank you for my food" or "watch over ....(and names everyone he knows), but tonight he said a full prayer and all I can say is that Chance said EXCATLY what I was thinking. Thank You Carrie!

I can't wait to see what this upcomming year will bring not only Chance, but our whole family. I Love you SO SO SO SO MUCH CHANCE.

Next time....just ask Chance!
We had a really busy day, both Skylar and Chance at Doctors appointment, then we went to Sears at Fairview mall to get our pictures done (we won a free 8x10). Then we went to Pizza Hut all you can eat buffet (Hmmm good). But then we went to Zehrs and we had to get Skylar an aerochamber for her inhaler she is on now, we got some groceries for Chance's birthday tomorrow and then came home. However, when we got home we couldn't find the $60 areochamber ANYWHERE! We went though all the bags - nothing, we looked though the car - nothing. So finally I called Zehrs and asked them if it was left in the cart - nothing. So I drove 15 minutes back to Zerhs to look for myself - nothing. I walked down all the asiles and starting looking in peoples carts for a bag with an aero chamer - nothing. I drove around the parking lot looking on the groud - nothing. So I came home empty handed! About 10 minutes later Chance started to have a melt down so I told him to go and sit on the stairs until he was done his tantrum. It didn't work, so I sent him to his room. 3 minutes later I went up to talk to him, and what to know I found on his headboard? THE AREO CHAMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I asked him what is this, and he says "Chance's new inhaler" becuase he already has one and he thought that we had bought him a new one! Now when we come home from grocery shopping Chance always help us to put things away, he brings the things that need to go in the pantry to the floor infront of the pantry, he brings things to fridge, freezer, whatever - he always put things where they belong. So Chance say that in a bag and put it away in his room! So I couldn't get mad at him! Although next time I can't find something JUST ASK CHANCE! before we all go crazy. LOL I'm sure if would have asked him at any point if her knew where it went he would have told us.
What a funny boy!

How quick things change
With Skylars case everything has been up in the air and not sure what was going to be happening with her. When she first came to us we were told that the Family and Children Services did not have a case in keeping Skylar in care. HOWEVER, bio-mom has been making a REALLY BAD CASE for HERSELF. She hasn't been showing up to visits (she shows up to about 35% of the time). Oh, and putting your 13 month on the floor when she pukes and runs out of the room to clean YOUR shirt then refuse to clean your baby up and change her clothes does not give you any brownie points! Everyone keeps asking us if we will adopt her, our response has always been that we don't know where the case is going and then change the subject. We hardly talked about it as we didn't want to get our hopes up (like they were with Nathaniel). So we were told that next week they were going to court to submit thier paper work to go for society wardship (right now she is a intern wardship which means Family And Children Services are telling birth mom that she has to do A, B and C in order to get Skylar home - which she hasn't been doing. By going for society wardship that the JUDGE is saying to birth mom that you have to do A, B and C before Skylar can come home). So now birthmom had to prove to the judge she has her life together. Basicly we were told this is going to be a long and drawn out case. As they would have gotten an order for 6 months (we have already had Skylar for 6 months as is) and when children are under 6 years old parents are only given one year to get things together, and if they can't then we go for crown wardship (eligiable for adoption). Well b/c Skylar was in care for 6 weeks at birth and then for 7 weeks before she came to us, then birthmom time (1yr) actually expires in Feburary. The family worker told me today that b-mom only has 91 days left and they know that she is going to do anything in that time, b/c she has done NOTHING that the agancy has asked for in the last 291 days. So we were told by the worker today that they are actually changing all thier paper and instead of going to court next week to submit paper work that they are skipping that process and going right to trial for crown wardship as early as TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When asked how long trial goes for they said probably a week. So I asked so then if everything goes as planned in 2-3 weeks from now Skylar will be crown ward? and she said YES!!! So............................... we could be starting the whole adoption process all over again. But don't get too excited, becuase there are other things that may come up (ie: someone from bio-dad family (grandparent, aunt, uncle etc,. comming forward - for those of you that don't know bio-dad is in jail for murder so he has no rights). So I am trying not to get too excited, but all the workers in the case I have talked to today and everyone is supporting us. So now it is just a waiting game to see what happens. We (esp. Chance) will have a real hard time if Skylar were to leave us know. I have kind of had a wall up with Skylar and not wanting to think about the possibilty of adoption for so long now, but that wall just came tumbling down about 2 hours ago!

Days when you just want to scream!
Some days these kids make you want to run and hide in your room for a year! Although those days are quite rare and far in between as both Chance and Skylar are really great kids, and listen well for the MOST part. However, this last week my lovely son Chance decided that the walls in his playroom need a little decorating, so he used his red pencil crayon to do some colouring ON THE WALLS! Now soap and water didn't work so next time I'm out I am going to have to try and see how good Mr. Clean erasers really work! Or should I say CHANCE is going to see how good they work! Also earlier in that week Chance was sitting at his little craft table cutting up newspaper when I looked over and realized he was cutting his HAIR! As you can see in this picture you can see where the chunk of hair is MISSING! Now he dosen't look happy in this picture becuase I had to put on of Skylar's hair clips in his hair to move it out of the way to get a good picture and Chance didn't want the clip so he was crying - but I was able to snap the picture. Although there isn't ANYTHING Chance can do to stop me from loving him beyond words!!!! Although I just may spend some time up in my room! :)

Eyes Wide Open
I wanted to take a picture of Chance as he was wearing his tool belt that was filled with tools. However, the first picture I took his eyes were closed so I told him he needed to open his eyes. So the next picture I took he is forcefully holding his eyes open. I told him not to do that and just smile, and again he blinked, so I did another one and told him to keep his eyes open - which he did - I have never seen Chance with such big eyes before! lol

Pancake and Hasbowns
I asked Chance today what he wanted for his birthday dinner. He thought for about 5 seconds and shouted PANCAKES! (I make this baked pancakes that Chance loves). So I told him to pick something else, that I will make it for breakfast or lunch on his birthday. But I wanted to know what he wanted for his dinner at his party and he says "eggs, hasbrown and waffles", and then he added "oh and pancakes too". So I will work on it some more so that we are not serving pancakes, hasbrowns, eggs and waffle at his birthday party!

PARTY TIME!!!!!!!!
Chance is so excited about his upcomming birthday and birthday party. He is always talking about wearing a birthday hat (heaven forbid we forget THE BIRTHDAY HAT). He got all upset at Andrew's birthday back in the summer time becuase we didn't have a birthday hat. So I went running though the attic to try and find the birthday hats from Chance's birthday last year and found Elmo birthday hat. That both Chance and and Andrew wore. Chance even wore the hat all day at Church telling everyone it was "daddy's birthday". So I can't forget the hat. He keeps changing his mind about what kind of cake he wants. Sometimes he says chocolate, sometimes vanialla, sometimes he wants a "wiggle cake" or "diego" cake. This morning he came down and gave me our good morning hug and asked him how he slept. and he was like "good mommy, Chance want "Dora cake". so I don't know what I am going to do. I think I am going to go ahead and do a Diego theme birthday since that he is favourite. He keeps talking to everyone about his PARTY and asking everyone if they are comming. I think if it was up to him we would have 50 people here, since he is inviting everyone. Oh, and when asked what he wanted for a present he says "chocolate, smarties and candy" so that makes birthday shopping easy - just wrap up his bowl of halloween Candy still sitting on the table! LOL

The Bread Maker

One day when Chance was at play group, the leader was talking about cooking and asked the kids if their "mommy's made bread"? Chance piped up and said "No, DADDY makes bread". LOL.

You're too old!
I took Chance to play group today and he was playing with a boy who was 3 and half years old. They were playing together for maybe 15 minutes when Chance noticed that he was wearing a diaper. (which apparently is common amoung 3 year olds!) Anyways, Chance looks at me and says "he wearing a diaper" so I say yes he is. Then he gets into his face and says "you're too old to wear diaper". Then he goes on to say "you go pee on toliet - you know better" I was so mortified! I aplogized to his mother and she was like "oh that's ok - he needs to hear things like that". Still, I had to explain to Chance that not everyone is trained to use the toliet, and that he'll learn when he is ready!
VERY EMBARASSING!!!

My name is Chance
It seems every where we go people are always calling Chance Chase. I usually don't come right out and correct them, instead I pronounce his name more clearly the next time and they seems to get it. When we were at the school on Monday even though he had his name tag on and they could SEE his name, twice he was called Chase. So I came home monday and I started working on him and say "hey Chase do you want to play ...." or "good singing Chase". at first he didn't notice a difference, but after a few times of me doing that he got to the point of saying "no Chase, CHANCE". Or "my name CHANCE". So now I am hoping that next time someone calls him Chase *he* will correct them! Although I can understand how people will slip as I know I did when Chance first came to live with us, as I have never heard of the name Chance before.

School time for Chance
Sorry for no posts - but Skylar is really sick right now (some sort of a flu or something). So she has been really clingy to me and won't let me do anything!
Well we took Chance on Monday to get registared for JK for september. Chance had a great time. They did some screaning to see where he is at developmentaly (he is at or abouve par), they checked his speech (no problems there), then he met with the kindergaten teacher where they did a craft (which was really seeing how he holds his crayons, follow instructions, cutting out objects with sissors) ( which he did great). We then went to his class and as soon as he walks in he yells "hey guys, look at my picture" (the class was in the middle of circle time), but Chance didn't mind. He was just so happy to be there, and some of the kids recognized Chance and came running over to great him. He played in the class for a bit and then we left. So it looks like Chance is right where he needs to be, now he just has to wait till September. Which he is going to have a hard time, he is already talking about going to school. He even had to wear his backpack the whole time at school and point out to everyone that he has his bag with him (which was really filled with diapers, wipes and juice cup for Skylar). :)
At one point they were testing him and they told him to put a ball IN a cup, so he did, then they told him to put it BEHIND the cup, and he did, then they told him to put it UNDER the cup. Chance just looked at it for about 20 seconds, then he puts the ball under the table! LOL. The lady doing the test said she has seen some pretty creative ways of doing that one, but she has never seen a child put it under the table. It was cute.

Daddy Long Legs
Back in August we went for a walk down to the river (like we do almost daily) and I saw a daddy long leg spider walking across the railing so I showed Chance and we told him the name of the spider. Then I couldn't see it no more so I said "where did daddy long legs go?" and Chance turns around and pats Andrew's legs and says "right here".

Happy Halloween
The kids had a blast out trick or treating! We got Chance a elephant
costume and he liked dressing up in it. I was going to paint his face
grey, but I know he wouldn't have liked it. He did good with saying
"trick or treat" and "thank you". However, he did get scared at a few
houses when he saw the scary masks. He would stand back and say
"you go first" and he would wait at the bottom until they scary costume was gone before he would go up. At our last house we went to
there were some parents waiting while thier kids went to the house,
when Chance saw them he got scared and wouldn't come down the
but then he looked up and the kids were scary too. So he just stood
there clinging to my leg. But when the parents say what was going on
they took thier masks off and told them they weren't that scary. And
with that he looks at me and says "not scary nomore" and then off he went. Skylar we had in her stroller as a unicorn. We let her out a few times to up to the houses, and when she got candy she would say "thank you". It was really cute. She seemed to have a good time too, she wasn't too sure of her costume at first and she tried to take it off, but eventually she just got used to it and relaxed a bit.

Carving Pumpkins
Chance had a blast cleaning out his pumpkins and helping to draw the face on his pumpkin. He wasn't too sure about getting dirty at first, but quickly got into the swing of things and dug right in. He did such a wonderfull job with sorting all the seeds out, and he couldn't wait until we cooked them. However, as soon as they were cooked and he tried it he didn't like it!

These are all the pictures I can post. I am trying to upload on dial-up internet and takes about 10 minutes per picture. But sometimes about 10 or more minutes the upload will cancel. So I've spent the last hour just to get these two pictures up.

Just like Daddy
For the last year I would lay out Chance's clothes beside his bed and he would get dressed on his own. Over the last few months I've been noticing that Chance will switch the pants or shirt that I had picked out and put something else on. One time I had his "wiggles" jeans and a plain red sweatshirt laid out. But Chance didn't like the shirt and so he dug though his clothes untill he found a wiggles shirt, and a wiggles hoodie jacket. Sometimes I'll forget to lay clothes out and he'll pick his own clothes out and most of the time he does a good job, but sometimes we need to change him before we leave the house. On Saturday (oct 28) I sent Chance upstairs to get dress after breakfast and he came down wearing old jeans, and a blue dress shirt that was too small. But then he looks at me and smiles and says "mommy like this shirt", so when I ask him why he starts rubbing his shirt and said "just like daddy". Even though he didn't match, the shirt was too small and we were just hanging out at the house I let him wear his shirt. Chance mentioned a few times thoughout the day that he shirt was "just like daddy". However, the only time I see Andrew wearing a dress shirt is at wedding and funerals, so I'm not sure where he got it from.

Pumpkin Patch
On Friday October 27th we went to the pumpkin patch. Chance really had a good time there and was really excited to see how many pumpkins there were around. We also went through a corn maze that took us about 45 minutes. Chance really liked getting lost. Each time we came to a part where we had to go either right, left or stright he would point and say "this kind, this kind or this kind" and then he would pick. I think near the end he was starting to get tired of it all, and just wanted to get out. If only it was that easy! lol But he did get really excited when we actually made it out and he got to see all the pumpkins. He got to pick out his own pumpkin. Skylar even got to hold her own pumpkin as well. It was fun family outing. It was Andrew's first time to a pumpkin patch as well, and he good fun too. We also got Skylar;s and Chance's halloween costums today, but you are going to have to wait to find out what they are untill I post some pictures. Wouldn't want to spoil the surpise!

Hair Cut
I really hate cutting Chance's hair. I am not a hair dresser and this is not one of my strong suits. He does have long hair, which is something both Andrew and I like (granted if Andrew had his way he would have pony tail like daddy). But I don't like it when it's so long you can't see his neck, and I want to be able to see his eyebrows and ears. I took him to get his first hair cut when he was 18 months (the one with the cape) and he was ok with that. Then we tried again at christmas time and he cried the whole time so they couldn't do a good job. So that's when I took over. However, back in August when we went before the courts to finialize his adoption I talked about getting his hair cut to look good for the judge. I hyped him up for about 2 weeks about getting a hair cut to look good. In fact, he was telling everyone about his "hair cut to look for for the grudge" (thats what he called the judge). So the day before court we went for our appointment, I got my hair cut first b/c I thought it would help him (even though I didn't want my hair cut). When it came to his turn he threw the biggest trantum that I have ever seen. There was no way he was getting into that chair. So I got my hair cut for nothing! :) So once we left the store I asked him why he didn't want to get his hair cut. He says "mommy cut hair at home". So that is what I've been stuck doing. Although I know I don't do as good of job as they would do, but the only other alternative is to let it grow to a ponytail like daddy. :) I just hope he outgrows his fear of the hairdresser for his first day of school next year! The last 2 pictures are me giving his hair a cut yesterday.

Skylar
A little update on Skylar. She is 12 months old (she'll be 13 months on Saturday) . We have had her for 5 months already. It's amazing how fast time had gone by. We got her and she could only do the army crawl. Now she is walking and running around the house (she started walking at 11.5 months). I'm not sure how long we are going to have her, but we were told that it will probably be a long and drawn out case. Not sure what that means. They had court today, but we haven't heard what happened yet. I hope the worker will call us tomorrow. I'm really hoping that Skylar can be Chance's new sister, but I don't want to just the gun. Just have to wait to see how things go. These pictures were just taken a few weeks ago (sept 2006)

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

About 2 weeks ago we got quite a bit of snow. So I brought Chance up to his room so he could see the snow on the roof (it wasn't sticking to the ground) and he got all excited and wanted to go out and build a "frosty man" (snow man). I had to explain that there isn't enough snow to build a frosty man and we'll have to wait. He was like "awwwwh, not fair". lol. Then a few days later we were getting ready to go out to get some groceries and he wanted to wear his wintercoat, snow pants, winter boots, hats and mits. LOL - there wasn't even that much snow on the ground. I compromised and let him wear his coat and boots. But when we went out there was actually snow on the ground so the first thing he did was make a snow ball and chased daddy and threw it at him! :)

Guess what?
I'm not sure where Chance picked this up from, but every night when we tuck him into bed he always has to tell us something in our ears. And it usually goes something like this:
"guess what?"
"what?"
"you special daddy" OR "I love you mommy" OR "so so so so so so much mommy"

I've been saying for awhile "I love you so so so so so much", so now it has gotten to the point where Chance will come and give me a hug and say "so so so much" and we know what that means!

Also what we have added is that he always wants a turn for us to whisper something into his ear. So we do and same and when we tell him that he is special or that we love him, he always responds with a whisper "thank you mommy, or thank you daddy" But we always have to start with the magical "guess what?"

My Cuddle Bug
For the last few nights when it's time to go up for bed we go in and check on the kids. However, we haven't been finding Chance in his own bed. For some reason he keeps comming into our bed. When ask him why he says "Chance mommy cuddle bug". That's what I call it when I want a cuddle from him. So we always give him a little cuddle then put him back into his bed. He nice to cuddle before bed, but you won't get a good sleep with him there. He always has to be up touching you or laying on you, and it's really uncomfortable - even if you push him over to the other side of the king size bed, it dosen't take long for him to inch his way back over! Now granted, I do love sleeping with him once in awhile, esp. when Andrew isn't going to be home that night. He has also been comming into bed and cuddling with me every morning for the last week around 5:30. We don't say anything to each other. He just crawls in, climbs under the blankets and gets as close as he can to me and we go back to sleep. I LOVE it! This picture I took last night as we went to bed to find Chance cuddling with my kitty!

A Rainy Day
I was out at Zellers a few days ago and decided to pick Chance up an Umbrilla and rain boots. I've been trying to find an umbrilla for awhile now but I could never find one that wasn't too girly. So I finally found one with Micky mouse playing basketball. I came home and asked Chance if he wanted to go check the mail, but he looked out the window and said "its raining". So I told him to come with me that I got him something. So he came running and was soo happy with the rain boots, rain coat and umbrilla. And for the first time ever I told him he could go and play, jump and splash in the puddles. He had soo much fun. However, everyone time I tell him to go get his shoes on to go outside he always puts on his rubber boots! And we have to bring the umbrilla every time we leave the house becuase "it looks dark, might rain". So we always have to be prepared! :)