Her name is Abbygail

I've been thinking a lot recently about getting a job so I can have some extra cash for our family...but mostly just for fun money for me and the kids.  I don't know if I should go full or part time... I don't know how much I want to make or how far I should drive, and with all these questions I went to Christian this past weekend.  Christian just said okay but ultimately left the decision up for me to make.

Tuesday morning I had finally decided that I would start searching for local jobs close to home.  As I'm sitting down to the computer to look at Queen Creek employment opportunities, I get a phone call from my foster parenting case worker.  Christian and I have taken our names off the list for foster parenting until at least June so we could have a little break after Alynna left.  I thought our caseworker was wondering if we had signed up for our annual parenting classes...nope!  "How would you like a brand new baby boy?" She asks me.  "I know you're not on the list but I thought I'd just ask you first. He's 2 weeks old, tested positive for Meth and is being discharged from the hospital today."  I told her I needed to talk to Christian about it and would get back to her.  After talking/debating with Christian whether this really was a good decision, he left it up for me to decide.  So I said a prayer to Heavenly Father and said I would love to have a little baby but I needed to know if I should tell the case worker yes or no and if this was a wise thing to do.  I'm thinking about all the things that are so coinsidental like; Dane potty training so quickly which means we won't have 3 babies in diapers, and I don't really believe in coinsidences so thought maybe I wasn't supposed to be looking for a job.  I had felt pretty good about all of these things and didn't receive a resounding no or any negative feelings as a result of my prayer so decided that I guess that meant my answer was yes. 

So I told the caseworker yes and then waited all day to hear back from CPS for when the baby boy (not named yet) would be discharged from the hospital.  And I waited, and waited, and I finally get a phone call that a family member has stepped up to take him home so he won't be placed with us afterall.  Which I felt  fine about, and I had to laugh because apparantly Heavenly Father felt I needed to be prepared but...my answer wasn't a yes or no...but a  "wait". 

Then I wake up Wednesday morning and I'm feeling a little confused because I really thought I had gotten an answer from Heavenly Father that I probably shouldn't be looking for a job.  But baby boy isn't coming to live with us so I guess that was all me so I should start looking again.  Then, as I sit down to my computer to look for jobs I get another call from my case worker.  "Are you ready?" she asks me.  Ready for what? and I'm thinking "ready for my foster parenting classes in May?"  Yeah, I'm ready.  "Good, she says because there's a 2-day old baby girl, whose tested positive for meth and needs to be placed in a home.  Are you ready for her?"  Okay, I say.  And I'm thinking to myself, is someone playing a trick on me? 

This morning, I started putting away baby boy clothes and pulling out the newborn girl clothes.  Christian and my mom are totally on my same brain wave...we'll see if a family member steps up for this baby girl. 

Fast forward to right now (2:00PM)...I have lil' baby Abbygail, 6lbs 4ozs, asleep in the baby swing downstairs.  I picked her up from the hospital today at 12-noon.  I don't know how long we'll have her, maybe just a few short days, or maybe a lot longer.  I've decided though that I need to continue to be a stay-at-home mommy.  I guess that's where I'm supposed to be.

Isn't she cute?  I've always loved the name Abby.

Hahaha, that last picture really cracks me up.  Such a cute baby you are, Abby. 

Here are some more pictures of me and Baylee waiting this morning to see if we really were going to bring home a baby girl today.  This is my happy face, because I'm happy to have such cute little girls to dress up.  Melody is going to be really happy too when she gets home from school.

**It's now Friday morning and I thought I'd update you.  Looks like a family member has been located and will be taking Abby home.  I'll find out more later today.  I knew that was a likely possibility yesterday before I picked her up so I have been waiting to hear more.  But I got to snuggle another cute baby girl for one night at least...we got to snuggle at midnight, 2:AM, and 5:AM.  Thanks, Abby, for the consecutive 3 hours of sleep...that really helped.** 

Dane is a big boy!

I'm impressed with my boy.  He was ready for potty training and had it down in 2 days.  I'm not saying we haven't a had some accidents...we've had a handful, but I'm confident when I say our boy has got this potty training thing down already.  He's wearing his undies to bed and even wore undies in nursery at church!  Christian installed a very nifty toilet seat for Dane on the big big potty.  Dane was always scared of falling in which is why we bought the little big boy potty.  This toilet seat is so cool!  There's a strong magnet in the lid that the little seat will stick to when you need the bigger seat.  Dane, I think you might have even beat Melody at potty training and she was pretty darn fast. 

Camping with friends

We went on a real quick camping trip last weekend with some friends of ours.  Although I didn't take many pictures, I did get some of Christian and his friend getting ready to go paint ball shooting with the other guys.  Christian cracks me up.  I thought I'd share...one picture is of Christian all charged up to go paint balling and the other is our friend Austin looking pretty darn official in his get-up.

and then Sunday, basically my entire family met at a park in Mesa to celebrate my nephew's birthday.  I'm waiting to get some pictures back but I was able to snap a quick one of Baylee having a very in-depth conversation with her Poppy Crandall.

Christian's New Car

Drum roll please

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TA DA!!

Christian has been driving his 1998 Chevy Monte Carlo with no air conditioning, bad struts, a leaking radiator, and most recently bad brake lights, so we decided...(or more like I decided) it was time Christian got a new car. This is his very first almost brand new car! He's been looking at cars for a long, long time now but having no car payment has been a blessing for us. He kept putting the notion out of his head and toughed the commute to and from work in the heat. It's getting warm already in AZ :( and I could tell he was not looking forward to another summer with no A/C. The Malibu is a car he's been looking at constantly so I looked some up for sale and I found a great deal yesterday. Great enough that I went down and test drove the car and then called Christian to go down after work to take a look at it. Doesn't he look happy?

and a few side notes...

Dane's potty training!!!! We keep books, capri-suns, and clean underwear by his brand new Disney's Cars big boy potty. He's had a few accidents but mostly he's been pretty good about using his potty. And he's super excited about his new big boy underwear. I hope this goes well...

And one of our chickents lays green eggs...isn't that cool?