Get This Potty Started

Every now and then I catch a hint of a little joke that husbands have about what their wives do all day. The little comment here or there that alludes to us spending our days watching soap operas or going out to chatty lunches with our girlfriends. Matthew never jokes about this because he, unlike many fathers, has been on Daddy Duty for days at a time and is thus one of the enlightened. My friend Danielle's husband does not joke about it either, because he works from home. Recently he has relocated to working out of the RV in their backyard. He too is enlightened.

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Yesterday, Danielle and I decide to pack a lunch and meet at the library for Story Time, then go to the park. I grab stuff for lunch, have the girls go potty before we leave, and load everyone in the minivan. We sit down for storytime at the library at 11:00am. We are listening to stories about ducks. Danielle arrives around 11:10 with her two daughters, Camryn and baby Kate, and her neighbor's son, Tyler, in tow. Before Danielle can even sit down, Tyler needs to go to the bathroom. She leaves her girls with me and hurries Tyler to the restroom. When she returns, we are singing “The Wheels on the Bus”. Camryn tells Danielle that now she needs to go potty. Danielle takes both girls and Tyler back to the restrooms. In the middle of another duck story, they return. Storytime ends with a rousing chorus of “If You're Happy and You Know It”, and we all walk over to the park and sit down to eat our picnic lunch. As we're setting out our food, Harper needs to go to the bathroom. I leave my other two with Danielle and carry her down the sidewalk to the park restrooms and take her to go potty. She says the park potty smells funny. When we return, we are ready to eat. Five minutes into lunch, Bethany announces she needs to go potty too. Why didn't you tell me when I took Harper 5 minutes ago? Because I didn't know I had to go then. Danielle says she can take Bethany because she has to go herself anyway. As they get ready to go Bethany says never mind, she doesn't have to go after all. Are you sure? Yes, it just came for a second but now it's gone. So Danielle walks down to the restrooms and Camryn goes along too. As soon as they get back, Bethany realizes that yes, she indeed does need to go to the bathroom. Sigh. I take her by the hand and begin walking to the bathrooms. Benjamin is finished eating and decides he would like to come too, so he is running after us. We let him catch up and the three of us go down to the bathrooms. Bethany uses the potty while I hold Benjamin up so he can drink out of the drinking fountain. When we get back to our picnic, we are all finished with lunch and we play for a little while. The kids climb up and down large concrete structures and miraculously no one gets hurt. As we are starting to pack up, after innumerable trips to the bathroom, Camryn pees her pants. We make the necessary adjustments, make our way to our minivans, and return to our houses just in time to kick back with some Bon-Bons and catch Days of Our Lives.


After reading this, you probably have to pee now too.

Dear Mr. President

I love frozen yogurt. I looooooove frozen yogurt. And whenever I go to pick some up, it's apparent to me that pretty much everybody loves frozen yogurt. If you want to see cultural diversity, just go get some fro yo. If you roll up to the local Golden Spoon there will be a group of black-clad Gothic high school kids pounding down some German Chocolate with hot fudge topping. Climbing out of their Buick will be an elderly couple ready to sink their dentures into a dish of vanilla with fresh berries. Inside the place will be full of soccer moms, business men, hippies, and divas, all gathered together over one common bond: The joy of a frozen, frosty, fat-free treat.


Dear Mr. President,

I realize that as you work to fulfill the office to which you have been elected, your views and strategies on foreign policy have been at times both praised and criticized. Admittedly, I don't know very much about the ins and outs of international warfare, and while I'm sure you are not currently looking for more advice on the subject, I thought I would submit my idea to you anyway.

My proposed strategy for achieving peace in the Middle East is to tap into the diplomatic power of frozen yogurt. What better way to bring cultures together than with a bowlful of just that: live and active cultures? I will leave it up to you as to exactly how you would implement this strategy, but my suggestion would be to begin by building Golden Spoon Frozen Yogurt stores all along the Gaza strip, and to follow up by pitching franchising opportunities to Al Quaeda and other terrorist cell groups. A redemptive micro-enterprising program could then be put into place through which weapons of mass destruction could be traded in for soft-serve machines, sneeze guards, and various tasty toppings.

It is my sincere opinion that this is a bullet proof strategy (no pun intended) for the United States to create peaceful relationships between nations while simultaniously improving our global image. Should you wish to explore the idea further I would be happy to come to the White House and discuss details with you over a bowl of white chocolate mousse with Oreo topping.

Thank you for your time and consideration, and may God Bless America.

Sincerely,

Kristie Braselton

Scenic Route

About this time last year Matthew and I attended a Foster Care/Adoption orientation meeting and left with the certainty that we were ready to pursue adoption. We had been deeply moved by what we learned in that two hour session and we began the process to adopt through the state. I've already shared the whole story of how and why we leap-frogged from state to infant to international in earlier posts, so I won't go into it again. I'll just say that we finally have landed. Right back where we started a year ago.

We've halted the process toward Uganda and have taken a hard right toward adopting through the State of Arizona, which just announced that there are now over 10,000 children in our foster care system, the highest it has ever been. Budget cuts are anticipated to put an even greater strain on the system, and I'm going to a meeting tonight to learn about exactly what those cuts are and how they will effect the kids and families involved. We're signed up for the 10 week certification class this summer, and after a few minor hoops to jump through, we should be good to go!

It can be either frustrating or breathtaking to end up on the scenic route. I guess if just depends on if you're in a hurry, running on your own schedule and pushing your own agenda, or if your agenda is simply to be carried along and follow the winding path where it goes, content to know that you are headed in the right direction.

Blessed Yet Again

Our friends the O'Briens handed us an envelope at church this morning. Inside were the proceeds from a garage sale they held on Saturday to raise funding for our adoption! We are continually amazed at God's provision and the generosity of the people through which He provides. Thank you, O'Briens, and everyone who donated items for the sale!

The O'Briens are a wonderful family of 11 (plus whoever else happens to be living with them at the time) that we have gotten to know through the adoption organization Project 6:8. It is not an adoption agency, but more of a network of people with a heart for adoption and foster care started by a couple of gals from our church. Check them out on the web or this Thursday night for the monthly meeting at the Commons at East Valley Bible Church.

Patience, Wisdom, & Courage

Apparently there is a proverbial pendulum in state adoption, swinging between birth parent's interests and children's interests. At one point the state will be very determined to keep children with their parents, thus giving birth parents fourth and fifth and seventeenth chances to get their lives in order before severing their parental rights. Then after a few years of fallout from unstable home situations, the pendulum will swing over to the other side, which has strict requirements for birth parents to meet (ie- get off substances, get a job, etc) and if they are not met in a timely manner, the children are made available for adoption so they don't end up floating around foster care during the formative first few years of their life.

We started this process on the domestic infant adoption route, mainly because there weren't really any children in the state foster care program who were younger than 4 years old (we decided at the beginning that Bethany should remain the oldest child in the family) because by the time the state was done giving the parents chances to turn over a new leaf, the children were school-aged. The few young children in the system were most often adopted by family members or their foster family. So the next logical path was to take in an infant who might be more difficult to find a home for because of its race or substance exposure. Then we heard about the pilot program in Uganda and thought that perhaps there was a greater need there for families to adopt little ones. And that's where we've been heading for the past 6 months, though we have yet to financially commit to one path which leaves the door open to any opportunity.

All that said, we have heard that the pendulum is swinging back toward the child's best interests, which translates to more young children from the state needing a family. Our caseworker has also mentioned not to rule out an infant coming along that would match our family. While we've been filling out paperwork for a Ugandan adoption, we've been keeping an eye on the pilot program and have come upon a few concerns so far. Nothing that would cause us to just drop the idea entirely, but enough to make us very cautious as we move forward.

What a boring, vague, and hapless post this has been. I suppose its purpose has simply been to communicate that we have no idea what God has in store for us or where our children will come from. All we know is we are here and ready and available to kids who need a home. And that's a pretty cool place to be. So pray for us, if you will, for patience, wisdom and courage.

And for reading this boring blog, I reward you with a link to a very un-boring video of Harper from our snow day last weekend.

Nothing Else But Him

Benjamin was just miserable yesterday. I took him in and turns out he has a double ear infection on top of the cough and cold. He's been pretty needy all week, but yesterday in particular he wouldn't let me put him down. And in a way, it was kind of nice. Don't get me wrong, it's pretty awful when the kids get sick, but whenever they are it is almost inevitable that I will have some sweet, quiet moment with them that I would not have had otherwise.

When Bethany was in the worst of it last week, she came into our room around 1:00am unable to sleep and insisting through whimpers that a bath would make her sore throat feel better. Half asleep, I tried my best to talk her out of it, but, as often comes of attempts to reason with a 4-year-old, I gave up. We ended up sitting together in the bathtub in the middle of the night, whispering and laughing while everyone else was asleep, until she felt well enough to crawl back up into her bed. It was one of those moments when you can feel your mind taking a picture and filing it away, to be pulled out on the day you hand over the car keys or watch her walk down the aisle. I'm not sure if she will remember that night, but I will never forget.

Yesterday Benjamin wasn't interested in his books or his toys or even movies. He didn't want to play and he didn't want to eat. The only thing he wanted was me. He would say “upease” and I would pick him up, and then he would say “wock”. So we would go over to the rocking chair and I would lay him against my chest as he wrapped his little arms around me as far as they could go. And there I would sit with him, feeling his chest rise and fall, stroking his hair and his face, both of us perfectly content to stay just as we were forever and ever.

In the midst of their suffering, I cherish those sweet times. And in the midst of their suffering, they are learning. They are learning that I am there, and that I will care for them. They are learning to come to me when they are hurting or when they are scared. And, through these beautiful little moments that spring up like flowers from the cracks in my stoneish heart, I am learning a little something too. A little something more about my Father and His unshakable love for me, and why, perhaps, He allows for difficulty in our lives. That we would come to Him with outstretched arms, that we would rest our head upon His chest, and that we would find ourselves wanting nothing else but Him.

Braselton Rx

There are currently seven bottles of medicine on my kitchen counter. I'm not intentionally displaying them, I guess they just kind of accumulated there with three sick kids and one sick parent. This is one of those times when everybody is sick. People at church are sick. People at school are sick. Everyone is sick. Except Matthew. Except Matthew and his superfood-antioxidant-laden-green-sludge juices. I finally broke down and drank some the other day, in hopes of sharing in his super powers. I decided I would rather be sick then finish the glass.

The worst part about being sick is the sleep deprivation. Last night I was going on two nights back-to-back of sub-four hours of sleep. All I wanted more than anything was a good night's rest. After I put the kids down, I made a Walgreens run to find something to help me sleep. I found the cold medicine aisle and there I stood, sick and afflicted and sleep-deprived, staring at row after row of little colorful boxes, for a good 15 minutes. I read the drug facts, the touted benefits, the dosages and warnings. I found one that stated expressly right on the package not to use it to sedate children. Seeing nothing restricting me from using it to sedate an adult, I thought I'd give it a try.

I brought it home, choked it down, and tried to go to sleep. But to no avail. The coughing would not allow it, nor was it deterred by the medication. So, at 11:30, I had nothing else to do but go back to Walgreens and try again. This time I selected Robitussin DM, which is the one advertised in the commercial with little animated globs of mucous wearing suspenders. I hate those commercials, but I figured it was worth a shot. I took it to the register and the cashier scanned the box.

“Oh, Robitussin DM,” he observed. “You've got those little green guys going on, huh?”

I looked at him bleary-eyed, wondering if he was really asking me this question and if he regularly strikes up conversations with customers regarding their purchases. I paid and left, thankful that I hadn't come in for something like tampons or Preparation H.

Once at home I realized that the dosage chart on the first medication required me to wait one more hour before taking a dose of the new stuff. I contemplated staying up until 12:30 in order to follow the directions but exhaustion won over and I tossed back two teaspoons of the new stuff, wondering what might become of me. Perhaps I would start twitching or hallucinating, or maybe my heart would just stop beating altogether. I thought about writing a note for Matthew. Something like, “Good morning Babe. If you find me dead on the couch, this is what I took and when” just to simplify the autopsy process. Yes, things get a little foggy in the middle of a sleepless night. But after a bowl of Raman noodles and a little Conan O'Brien, I finally drifted off to sleep.

I'm hopeful for tonight. Feeling a little better, and I certainly have enough medications to choose from. If you're one of the everyone who is sick, skip Walgreens and come on over to my house. I'm sure I've got what you need.

Could It Be the Stairs?

Friday I went out on the mountain after being sick all week and ended up riding a personal best time.

Then last night I got carded for a ticket to "Slumdog Millionaire".

So I've got to wonder.

In any event, it's been a good weekend.

And the Winner Is....

Christina and Brent! You guys must have made a similar discovery in your own pantry at some point in time. Yes, the object in our mystery photo in yesterday's post is none other than a petrified, sprouted potato. I have no idea how long that had been in there, but it was prety close to fossilization. Nice job on all the guesses! So Christina, next time I see you I will give you your oh-so-coveted prize. :)

Here are some pictures of the kids and the move as promised.

Little Helpers


Fun with Styrofoam. Mmmmm... styrofoam.



Yuck... styrofoam



Post-Move Exhaustion

Take a Guess

Day four in the new house. Internet connection finally reinstated. The great majority of the boxes have been unpacked and hauled off and the house is slowly becoming home.

The move went marvelously, so thank you to all who schlepped boxes or couches or lent us trucks and trailers! I will post some more photos of the kids and the move another day.

Our little contest for today is to identify the object found in the packing process shown in the picture above. I'm giving away a free cd to the first commenter who correctly identifies what it is. Good Luck!

Packing Up and Moving Out

Three boxes Mommy packed, and the three boxes Bethany packed.


We found the house! It is uh-mazing. Given our price range, we'd been looking at foreclosures for weeks. We'd seen houses with cracks in the walls and foundations, a couple with randomly inserted walls, several with no flooring whatsoever, and even one with a full-blown beehive in the garage. (I was the one who made that discovery. Pretty exciting stuff). We'd calculated costs of repairs, considered sweat equity, and tried to discern cosmetic issues from structural. Then two weeks ago our realtors sent us this house that just popped up.

Brand new model home. $80,000 in upgrades. Never been lived in. Beautiful little cluster community centered around a park. Two miles away. Just knocked $100,000 off the price.

We went and saw it first thing the next day and put in an offer and got it. We're still pinching ourselves on this one, and so is Bethany who got her stairs and her community pool. God's provision through it all has been incredible. Each step He has given us more than what we were even hoping for. We're praying that God would fill this house with grace and love and ministry and kids and that it would be used as a great tool for the gospel. So we're packing and cleaning and moving next weekend! Praise God! Oh, and seeing as we're moving it's a great time to do another garage sale, so if anyone has any more stuff to unload let me know!

Priority number one in the new house: Get the TV working by Sunday at 4:oo pm.

Yard Sale Stats

Yard Sale Start Time: 7:00am
First Lull ("Lull" being defined as less than 10 people in the driveway): 10:30am
Weirdest thing donated: 50 Sombreros
Biggest Ticket Item Sold: Couch and Loveseat Set $120
Surprise Hit: "Hot Wheels" Cars
Most Disturbing Moment: Racially-charged shouting match between two customers
Most Disturbing Customer: The older man who looked like he'd just been attacked by a pack of angry cats and acted as if everything was normal
Sale End Time: 12:00pm
Grand Total Raised: $1,550.00

Two Words: Woo. Hoo.

We will definitely be doing this again. THANK YOU to all the helpers and to everyone who donated items and watched our kids and most of all to my amazing Mom who pretty much did all the hard work. You guys rock.

Yard Sale, New Houses, and Waiting for the King

Only 6 days into the New Year, and there is so much going on at our house! Saturday is the big garage sale, and I mean BIG. We have recieved so many donations from so many different people and we have SO MUCH stuff! It's wonderful! We're having the sale at my parents' house in Ahwatukee because they have a huge driveway that will hold it all. So this week I am running around picking stuff up and making drop offs at my mom's and writing out a bunch of signs. Nothing like a Sharpie buzz to keep you going strong.

On top of that, a few weeks ago Matthew woke up with the crazy idea of taking advantage of the current housing market by buying a new house and renting out this one. We talked and thought and prayed about it and we're moving forward! Thankfully we've had quite a bit of interest in renting our house, and our fantastic realtors Matt and Danielle Long have shown us lots of great houses, so now we're just waiting for the right one. The kids love going out looking, especially since pretty much everything we're looking at is bank-owned and vacant. They get into these big empty greatrooms and just spin around until they fall on the floor laughing. It's hilarious.

We go to the mailbox every day to see "if the King in America says we can adopt our kids", as Bethany explains it. What we're actually waiting for is a letter from the Maricopa County court Judge to give us approval and certification to adopt. Once we have that, we can seek approval from the Ugandan governemnt. But the King in America is taking his sweet time, so it seems. And so we wait, knowing everything will happen in God's time.

If you want to come by and see us at the sale, the address is 3543 E Modoc Ct, Phoenix, 85044. I'll post a total raised after this weekend!

Bunk Beds and Mixed Nuts

You gotta love Christmas. We had so much fun. We got the girls bunk beds this year. On Christmas Eve after we had put the kids down for the night we assembled the beds in the living room (a 3 hour process) and wrapped them up like a huge gift. They had a blast opening them and playing on them all day.

After we had our little Christmas morning at home we went to my mom's house where the entire family gathers. It's always fun to see what happens when everyone gets together, including:

- My Uncle Mike, the bus enthusiast. He collects all kinds of bus memorabilia and even attends bus conventions. While he's here he likes to walk to the bus stop and just ride around town.

- My Aunt Karen, who is the quintessential crazy cat lady that we all know and love. I'm not sure what the current count is, but at one point I think it was upwards of 15.

- My Uncle Mark, who lives in an elderly woman's basement and eats oatmeal out of a casserole dish each morning.

- My Grandma, who consistently calls our girls Melanie and Parker.

But what's Christmas without a few mixed nuts, right? :)

We had a generous gift toward our adoption from some dear friends, and we are planning a fundraiser garage sale in early January. If anyone has any stuff they'd like to unload and donate, let me know and I'd love to take it off your hands!

Merry Christmas

It's getting pretty quiet in the blogosphere, and I've been no exception. Just busy with all the stuff that comes along with Christmas! I've seen enough construction paper and Elmer's glue in the past few days to last me through the Spring. Even with the kids' paper chains counting down the days, somehow I still feel like it snuck up on me a little bit.

Still waiting to hear from the courts for an Adoption Certification number. Once we have that we can begin applying for grants and moving forward with our international agency. I sold a couple more cds to some people and a lot more through the bookstore at church. Also sold a couple of things on craigslist, my new best friend. So, still slowly chipping away at the huge mountain in front of us.

Trying to really savor this year, and extract joy from all the rest of the stuff that goes with the season. Wanting to enjoy my family, be thankful for how richly God has blessed us, and to draw near to Him. Hoping you all have a wonderful Christmas and resolute New Year!

Who Needs New Barbie Clothes When You Have Old Socks?

Personally, I think they look ravishing.

An Unexpected Twist

It's been a little while. Quite a week at our house. As far as the adoption process goes, not a lot happening right now. Our homestudy has been submitted to the court and we're just waiting for approval from them to be officially certified. I guess things move a little more slowly in the municipalities around the holidays, but we're still hoping to be approved by the end of the year.

An unexpected twist this weekend was that Benjamin had to be admitted to the hospital because he was having trouble breathing. A cold had stirred up his asthma symptoms and we couldn't get him back to normal at home so we took him in to an Urgent Care. They treated him as best they could but said he needed to go to the ER and they had to send him in an ambulance for liability reasons. It was the saddest thing to see my little baby boy strapped to a gurney, I'm just thankful it wasn't a real emergency situation. I hope and pray that that is the last time I ever have to follow an ambulance with one of my kids in it.

At the ER they worked with him for a few hours before admitting him and we ended up staying for two days. Needless to say, it was a stretch to keep the world turning at home with me away unexpectedly for so long, but we have wonderful family and friends who helped us through it. Matthew was able to take a day off from work and then of course the grandmas couldn't help but help. We had so many calls from concerned folks and offers for meals or childcare. I told Benji that he was very blessed to have so many people who love and care for him! He is doing much better now and we have a new medication that will hopefully prevent any more episodes like this one through the rest of the winter.

I got home about an hour ago from playing at a little outdoor Christmas in the Park concert with some other local artists. It was a fun night, and a new first for me. During the opening song of my set it actually started raining on us. I couldn't help but laugh as I sang "like rain on thirsty land came the Savior of the world". It stopped soon after it started, but it made the evening a little more interesting. Plus, I sold a few cds and made another $40 toward our kiddos. Every little bit counts!

Q-Tips

Seriously Benjamin. This is the 3rd time today.

Happy Birthday Harper and Home Visit

Today is Harper's 3rd birthday! We had a cute little party at the park and it was a beautiful day. Happy birthday to our precious little girl!

Our home visit was on Friday, and it went great! Our caseworker came in and Bethany took her by the hand and gave her a tour of the house. We spent most of the time being interviewed by her about our family backgrounds and current familial relationships. She called them "genograms", kind of like a basic family tree, but she took a ton of notes and asked a lot of questions.

I thought it was really fun! I can see why come people like going to counselors. It's nice to sit there for an hour and have someone ask you questions about your life and you basically just get to talk about yourself to someone who really wants to know! Really though, your past is sort of this thing that you carry around with you and while it totally informs the present, you don't necessarily talk about it that much or get to share with people other than your spouse or very close friends. Not that I have anything dramatic or haunting in my past, but I feel like it's such a part of who a person is. So I enjoyed that.

After the genograms, she asked Bethany and Harper to draw a picture of our family so she could ask them questions about it and assess the pictures. Harper traced her hand and drew H's all over so I'm not sure how helpful her picture was, but Bethany did a really good job. She drew herself, then Harper, then Daddy, and then Benjamin, but she ran out of room for me! "Why don't you draw Mommy on the back?" we suggested. And so she did. I, however, was the only family member with an associated prop. What does my 4-year-old associate most with me? The stove. She drew me cooking at the stove. We all thought that was hilarious, and pretty accurate. So while the rest of my family is hanging out on the front of the paper, there I am on the back, cooking. But seeing as cooking for people is one of the primary ways I show love and affection, I'm alright with that association. :)

What Can You Get for Two Quarters These Days?

I like to spread the word about good deals, so FYI a vending machine in the Basha's on Pecos and McQueen is selling Hope and Inspiration for 50 cents! Grab that one up while it lasts.

Home visit was switched to this coming Friday, so that's why I haven't posted about it yet. More on that later!