Well...look who's back!

Boy it's been a long time since I posted but I'm still alive. It seems SO MUCH has taken place since I last posted that I'm not even sure where to begin. I'll try not to bore with too many details but here we go.

We were plagued with illness around here for a while. Justine had what we thought were infected bug bites that were actually MRSA sores. Yes...she contracted MRSA! From where is a mystery but thank goodness we caught it early enough. She was never sick, never required a hospital visit. Just a doctor's visit, ointment, antibiotics and the worst part-draining those sores! There were 3 of them that looked similar to boils. They had knots underneath and we had to squeeze them to release the puss. It was the most terrible experience ever. It was so hard as her Mom to see her endure such pain. She would cry and scream for us not to hurt her anymore. Let me just say that I'm so glad that's over. Now we are just dealing with the scars they left behind. As soon as that was over and done with Justine got sick again. She got a cold that turned into an ear infection and sinus infection. So back to the meds we went. She was so used to taking medicine by then she would tell me ahead of time which color medicine tasted good and which one didn't. But she would take it all. She did really well. Then while she was sick I got sick too. First I had the flu. It just turned out to be a 24 hour deal but then I came down with the same cold most likely but mine turned into an upper respiratory infection. Poor Waylan...he didn't know what to do with the both of us sick. He knew he needed to patient but it was so hard for him. I'm happy to say we were all well by Christmas.

Since my last post we've made it through the holidays. We had Thanksgiving at our house. I think we had 13 and had lots of fun and lots of food. It was the first time for my brother's new girlfriend to spend time with the family. Justine just LOVES her! Her name is Marjam (pronounced Miriam). Thanksgiving weekend we decided to tackle potty training. Such a joy that has been. We aren't there yet but far enough that Justine wears panties all day (including outings, church, preschool and naps). She wears a pull up at night but typically wakes up dry. We have our good days and bad but more good so we are on our way.

And now we just finished up with Christmas which was great! Justine had a blast with Christmas this year. She kept talking about Santa and how he was coming to town. She is loving Frosty the Snowman and also singing Jingle Bells at the moment too. When I would ask her what Santa was bringing her for Christmas she would say, "presents". When I would ask what kind of presents she would say, "a blue one". And sure enough...Santa brought a blue one. We made cookies for Santa and reindeer food for Rudolph so he could find the house. We sprinkled it on the lawn before she went to bed. Oh, and Santa had chocolate milk to drink. She was amazed the next morning when the cookies and milk were gone. She had a great time opening presents and kept asking to open another one, even after they were all opened. Waylan had to work on Christmas Day so Christmas Eve was our big day. Santa came early (such a smart guy) and we had Christmas at our house, then lunch and Christmas at Waylan's parent's, then dinner and Christmas at my Dad's. The night before that we had Christmas at our house with my mom, step dad, brother and his girlfriend. That was the night I received my gift from Waylan. I must have been a good girl this year because he gave me a laptop! Wow! I couldn't believe it! I'm using it right now as a matter of fact. Still getting it all set up and learning Vista as I go but I'm loving it! My last note about Christmas....Santa is so much fun but I want Justine to really understand what Christmas is about. She can identify baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph. And she knows that Christmas is Jesus' birthday. So we are on the right track!

On the baby front...still no baby. We've learned that CPS places with their own families before contacting agencies. This is bad news as far as I'm concerned. We can work with CPS directly but they require us to agree to take a 5 year age range. I refuse to bring in any children older than Justine so switching may not be the option. I suppose we will continue to wait and prepare ourselves for a long one.

Well, that's all the big stuff that I can think of. I don't want to make the post too long. So farewell for now. Have a great rest of the year! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!