feeling a bit off today

after a restless night of sleep i stumbled to get out of bed and shuffled to find hank lying face down on the couch.  i attempted to yell his name and nothing came out.  i touched my fingers to my face and realized something was seriously wrong. i hobbled to the bathroom, flipped on the lights and was astounded at my appearance.  ahhhhhhhhhhhhh

  

my screams must have woke hank up and before i knew it he came crawling towards the bathroom to check on me.  what in the world has happened to us!!???

if we look like this, then what do our babies look like.  we hoped for the best as we made it their bedrooms only to discover they too have been taken over by the same nasty virus.  

we all have appointments with dr.doom at midnight and until then we will try to get lots of rest.  the only thing we did different yesterday was indulge a bit in a bag of unwrapped halloween candy someone  left on the door step??

i will keep you all updated on our condition...happy halloween!!!

embrace the camera 10-25-12

 the boys and i met my sister and her kids along with paw paw and we headed to the lake last weekend!  i made it a point to embrace the camera with my boys.

the boys had a great time playing with their cousins, and i'm convinced vito was determined to make my life miserable. saying he was horrible would be an understatement and i'm choosing not to document the details in hopes i will  forget it ever happened...doubt it :-(

here are a few pics from our trip...

happy thursday!  linking up with http://andersonfamilycrew.blogspot.com/

jasean henry is 5

so apparently when you turn five you no longer can smile with yours eyes open!? i kept saying "seany open your eyes"...seany's reply " come on mom, i am, hurry up already".  i quickly reminded him he was 5 not 15.

we started our morning with our traditional birthday doughnuts, and then we met a couple friends at mcdonalds for lunch and play before preschool!

brotherly birthday lovins

bet you can't guess where the birthday boy wanted to eat dinner??

meemaw, paw paw, grandma, grandpa, and seany's godmother angel all met us for dinner at texas roadhouse!!

we asked seany like 10 times if he had a good birthday, and indeed he felt he did.  i try my hardest to make my boys feel special on their birthday.  and by special i don't mean showering them with gifts.  it's the small things like doughnuts in the morning accompanied by a special batman napkin.  last night i was debating whether or not we needed to do the doughnuts since we were eating lunch with school friends?  hank and i quickly agreed that we should or mommy would regret it until his next birthday rolls around.  once the day is over you can't get it back, and only when they are little is a small set of avenger legos and a t shirt going to be an exciting gift.  it's the traditions we make and family gatherings that will be whats remembered for years to come! it's never to late to start traditions, your children will be so glad you did:-)

little this and that

so for whatever reason i feel like i have not much to say lately?  but this girl did remember to embrace the camera this week!!

i took the boys to the zoo on friday morning.  we were super excited to see all the fall and halloween decorations!  i was taking a pic of the boys by this pumpkin when out of nowhere a kind zoo volunteer popped up and asked if i wanted to get in the pic with the boys?  of course i do...thanks so much!

more zoo pics...

the boys are so excited about halloween this year.  vito had been eagerly waiting to put up our spooky decorations.  finally on the first of october we dug out the boxes and set out our collection of stuff.  vito is still very concerned about the skeleton trapped in the cage.

"who put him in this cage mommy", "can we let him out daddy", "he doesn't like it in there".  good lord all this talking and asking questions about the gosh darn skeleton, he's kinda got me feeling bad for the poor dude:-(
can someone please let him out of there!!!!

sorry if you can't find any halloween books at the library, pretty sure they have all been checked out by this kid.

halloween costume shopping? check that off the list!

seany got to spend his special day with his grandma and grandpa schwartz!  vito was flying solo with mommy and daddy!

enjoying fall to the fullest :)

the day the judge ruled

two years ago today, a judge at the st.louis county family court ruled on a trial that was held approximately two weeks prior.  the result of this trial would put to rest a case that had been up in the air for over two long years.  it is to my understanding trials like this do not happen often within children's division.  

on the day of october 1, 2010 one party would prevail over the other and would finally be able to move on with life.  the worries and stress would dissolve slowly into only memories and there would be one less child lingering  in "the system".

the outcome of this ruling would forever change the life of a very young child.  the judge was making a choice based on the best interest of someone whom could not speak for themselves.  

both parties waited anxiously for the ruling.  who would be chosen to take care of this child for the rest of his life? would his birth name remain the same, or be changed forever?

well, on october 1, 2010 typed on the fifth page of a judgement and decree of adoption it was stated as follows:

       WHEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that from the date of this Judgement that the child, JaSean, born on October 22, 2007, shall, for all legal intents and purposes, be the child of Jennie Ann Schwartz and Henry Alfred Schwartz; and that the name of the child shall be changed to JaSean Henry Schwartz.  

i was very thankful to meet back up with the judge that forever changed my family the following month at adoption saturday.  with tears streaming down my face i said two simple words.  "thank you".  the judge smiled and responded.  "your welcome"