Drug Rehab is no place for a baby

Well, that's our opinion anyway. Too bad the judge and guardian ad-litem don't agree with us. We just found out this morning that the kids will be taken away tomorrow. So sad. Ash had her arm around me while we cried together. We didn't say a word. Then Ash said "That poem I wrote means something." I asked her what she meant. She re-iterated what the poem says so perfectly. She is wise beyond her years. As soon as we heard the news, Ashlyn rushed downstairs without saying a word. 45 minutes later she came up with a darling packet of 3 burp cloths and 2 sequence headbands for Aleeya to take with her.

Heavenly Father has a plan for us

For my Mom, by Ashlyn Walton

Heavenly Father has a plan for us

Tho it may not be what we think is best

Pray and listen until you receive an answer

Whether you like it or not,

It's always the best.

I didn't publicize to everyone a hard situation that we were faced with a few weeks ago. In SHORT, there is a couple in our ward who adopted a day old infant unethically. If things were done ethically, that baby would have been placed in our home for foster care (because we are #1 on the list to get a call) and then would have been available for adoption. This was super hard for us...especially having to see them at church. Ash wrote this poem for me when I was sad about that.

I supposed I should also take the advice from Sadie a few years ago. It was when I was pregnant with Nate. I said "ouch" because something hurt from the pregnancy...can't even remember what it was. Sadie asked what was wrong, and I told her. To which she replied: Well, that's how life is. She said it so casually and is if I should have already known that there will be aches and pains and sorrows and all sorts of hard things in this life. Just get used to it Mom!

I will always hold a special place in my heart for Dayton and Aleeya. They are so sweet.

Sunday Morning Pictures

The last two Sundays either one or both of us have had to be at the church by 7:15 a.m. for meetings. Today we didn't have to be there til 9! We actually had time for some pictures.

I was doing some wild dances to get those smiles out! Every day these kids seem more and more part of our family.

Of course, Dave had to teach Aleeya his famous trick.

Our sweet foster babies

Sadie loves taking care of baby Aleeya. She's the first to get her out of her bassinet or to feed her a bottle.

The other day, I heard Nate in the kitchen at the sink. I wondered what he was doing. Then he ran to me saying "Mom! I made Aleeya a bottle!" Sure enough he had...top screwed on and all! I just had to wonder how much formula went in that bottle.

Afternoon snack. My friend loaned us this Bumbo and Aleeya loves it. The girls always want her as the table centerpiece now. She's a cute centerpiece.

I know some may shriek at this picture. It was actually pretty funny to me. Nate loves his guns. He loves the click it makes, and he will do this over and over. Naturally, he assumed that Aleeya would love the clicking sound. He was clicking the gun over and over, right at her ear so she could hear it. The scene was really nothing as it appears in the picture. He was happily entertaining her.

Aleeya is a tiny little thing. She weighs 11 pounds and is almost 5 months. She fit in perfectly with the girls' doll stroller.

Dressing her up already...and she is such a good sport about it. She hardly ever cries - unless she is hungry or ready to sleep.

Ashlyn took the picture of me. One day Ash buckled Dayton in for a stroller ride. Nate squeezed in the back and they were ready for a ride. I put Aleeya in the bjorn and we were ready to go. Ash and Sadie accompanied us on their bikes. We have some fun walks around the neighborhood.

We gave Dayton a haircut. He didn't want one, so Ash hugged him while Dave cut..and that was enough to calm Dayton down.

He looks so handsome with his haircut. It looked cute long, but it was always in his eyes.

And for the update on these kids: There will be a court date on Tuesday where the judge will decide if they will go with their mom to drug rehab or if they will stay with us. The attorney who was originally voting for the kids to go back with their mom, has since changed his mind. All of the case workers are voting that the kids stay with us. We'll see how the judge rules. Tuesday will decide a lot. If they don't go to rehab with mom, then most likely they will be with us several months. The mom will have a long list of things to do in order to earn custody back.

We love them so much already!

A visit from the Kisby's!

We had such a fun visit from my sister's in-laws! We felt pretty special that her in-laws wanted to come visit us! We had Grandma Draper, Kara and her 4 children. We all had a great time!

Dave made this sign for our neighborhood. I think he did a great job!

This is one of Kara's little boys. Nate and Daniel had a lot of fun together. Nate was trying to be so funny. He kept falling over and laughing so hard - all for some attention and good laughs from Daniel. It was pretty funny to watch.

We visited our friend's farm with 30 acres. The kids loved holding the little chickens, feeding the calf, and riding the mini motorcycle.

Oops. Forgot to turn it.

This is one of the nicest 12 year old boys I have ever met. Can we go back to arranged marriages?

Nate loved the hammock.

Going Private

I think we'll go private so we can post pictures of our 2 foster babies. Email me if you'd like to have access to our blog. We aren't allowed to post pictures of the babies on a public website.

dmwalton@fidnet.com

We have baby Aleeya (4 months) and Dayton (18 months). We got them on Wednesday and they are doing so well. They are such sweet little kids. Their home life was a complete mess and a horrible place for any kids. The parents are fighting hard to get them back SOON. We'll see what happens. We're taking one day at a time...and giving out as much loved as we can to these sweet little kids that already have had too hard of a life.

Thinking of Brie today

Eagerly Awaiting

Oh Mommy, Mommy, can't you see

I am waiting here in eternity

I watch you love me, I see your face

It's o.k., I feel your heart's warm embrace.

And like soft fluttering of angel wings,

I will speak to you of heavenly things.

Of course together we will be,

You and me, our whole family.

But until that day so priceless and sweet,

I'll keep praying, "Help her know please!"

I too, am eagerly awaiting.

I love this poem that Kristi wrote me on Brie's 1st birthday, along with a cross stitch she made of a little girl looking out the window...waiting. It is precious to me and always will be.

We celebrated Brie's birthday yesterday since we are having company coming in town today. Ash was pretty sad, and she hurried off to our room to be alone. I came in and found Dave and Ash looking at pictures of Brie on the computer. We all looked at them together, and I fell in love with this picture all over again. I love it. So many memories.

We had our "angel" cake as usual. I can't remember if we always use candles, but this year we did. We each had one candle (I think Nate added one after the fact) and that added up to 5 candles for her 5 years. I was sad while we ate our cake, but couldn't help but smile BIG in my heart as I looked across the table at this darling boy who has brought so much happiness to his mama's aching heart.

I loved reminiscing at what a thoughtful girl Ashlyn was as a mature little 4 year old at the time. I loved that she gave her special doll to Brie. I loved thinking about how calm Sadie was (which was and is a rare thing) when we had the open casket at the funeral. It was high on my list of tender mercies to see such an energetic girl acting so sweet and still as she said good-bye to her little sister.

Oh, how we love and miss our little girl!