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Catching up!

Sorry it has been so long since I updated everyone. The past few months have been very difficult. I actually started another blog without names, pictures in hope that I would feel more comfortable expressing our life when I realized it is the life God gave me and I should not be ashamed but excited to give my daily, weekly or monthly testimonies. They may not always be sweet and fun, but it is my life. My hope is that families who have either adopted or are thinking about adopting will find my blog helpful and helpful in their journey.

So since I last blogged we have moved to Sarasota. Wow what a change. We are getting into a grove, Marcus started football, Solomon starts pre-k and I am excited to get some one on one with Josiah.
I am so thankful that we were finally able to move to Sarasota. We were in Orlando while David was either commuting or staying in Sarasota. During this time I was dealing with behaviors from Marcus that I could not handle alone. Davids dad stepped up to the plate (thank goodness) but Marcus really needed Davids strong hand and guidance. So here we are. Since moving I thought finally things will get better, of course just when you think that they get worse. Raising a teenager is tough but loving a child who has the background Marcus does is even tougher. I don't know if he really does not care or if it is just a front. Sometimes I feel like he just thinks of ways to make me mad.
I was given a WONDERFUL book by my friend Beth about training a child. I have had this book for almost a year and never opened it until this week. I think God was laughing at me and saying I told you to read this. It has made a huge impact on how David and I will continue to parent not only Marcus but Solomon and Josiah also. There are so many great ideals and most importantly it is Christ centered. We have already started implementing things that are helping.
One issue we have trouble with is every time we ask him to do something he always ask WHY. Now most times he knows why and it is his way of disobeying. So now IF he completes the task with out question or comments I explain, however if he questions or comments I completely ignore him. So far so good. Lets hope it continues to work.
As for Solomon he just had his 4Th birthday. I can not believe he is four already. For those of you who did not know, David and I were told we could not have children. After many doctors and research we found Pope Paul IV and we were able to conceive using there Creighton Model approach. We got pregnant however had a miscarriage on August 11 2005. One year later on August 11 2006 Solomon was delivered. God had many blessing in store for our family and we just had to be patient and learn to trust him. Anyway Solomon is growing and learning and is super excited about starting school on Monday.
Josiah is our "all boy" child. He is into everything and does not stop. He is talking more and more and loves to swim. I have never seen a toddler swim like him. He can swim the length of the pool without coming up for air. Maybe he is the next Phelps. LOL

As for now we are just trying to survive the stage of life we are in. We know God is faithful and his plan for our family is better than any plan we could have for ourselves.

Also let me know if you do not recieve our snapfish.com photos each month and I will add you to the list.

October 2009

Now for October 2009. October was all but typical for the family. Kelvin and Quinton gave their lives to the Lord at the beginning of October and both of them were Baptised at the ocean on the 11th. God has shown us and the boys what a great God we serve. He is proving to these boys that HE is all they need and if they will open their hearts and let him in He will heal their hurts.

And of course Halloween was lots of fun. Solomon was a Pirate and Josiah was a Cowboy. His guns were longer than his legs. We trick-or-treated around the neighborhood and Josiah instisted on going to every house his big brother did. It was adorable.

September 2009

Wow, I guess time flies when you are having fun. Over five months have passed and I am WAY behind to say the least. So I guess this will be a long one.
Lets start with Sept. 25, 2009 or as we called it Gotcha Day. Marcus moved in! We had fun picking up all his things and moving them into his own room. Then we had a small dinner with family to celebrate. Of course it took some persuading to get something besides pizza. LOL
Marcus is was still playing football so Saturday was spent at his game. Then Sunday of course included Quinton and Kelvin, who have become permanent on Sundays with us. What a busy house we have on Sundays. God has blessed us.


























On a funny note we learned a very important lesson this week. When Solly refuses to sleep check on him often. David found him in Jody's room covered on Poo. Not only was he covered but the room was covered. Carpet, bed, blinds, shoes, dresser, and even inside the drawers. Guess we will be more observant of him at naptime.
Little Josiah has learned to use a fork and prayed by him self at lunch for the first time. It went somthing like, "mama, dada, amen. How precious the first prayer from our baby.

September 22, 2009

I can not believe it has been a month since I posted. Our lives are so busy now. No one warned me of the time it takes to have a teenager. There is the driving back and forth to school, then back to practice and back again to take Marcus back to GOV. But of course I would not trade it for anything.
So since my last post alot has happened. On the 28th of August Marcus stayed the night. It went really well. David and him ended up sleeping on the couches while watching movies. This seems to be a trend in our home for the weekends. This weekend we also met one of Marcus' friends Kelvin. He went to church with us and hung out at the house all day Sunday. Kelvin is 17 and will be aging out of the system in December. David and I feel lead to guide Kelvin in this extremely difficult time. Imagine not having anyone or anywhere to go when you turned 18. No one to help you enroll in college or school, get an apartment, turn on utilities. I thank God everyday for the parents that I have! It must the most difficult thing to ever deal with.

So during September we have gotten to have 2 home visits per week and all weekend from Friday after school until Sunday night. Our weekends usually consist of Friday practice, Saturday game and movie night, and Sunday Church and hanging out at home (Kelvin is now spending Sundays with us).

On the 6th we had lunch with a very special family who has been through this whole process and is guiding us and helping us with the process. All the boys (Marcus, Kelvin, and Devin) had so much fun playing video games and shooting guns. It is so nice to have someone who has been here and to bounce things off of.

On the 17th Marcus had his judicial review and we received the ok for him to move in. So on Friday the 25th Marcus will leave GOV for good and move in with the crazy Sabo family.

We are so excited that he will be here all the time. I hope this move is not to much on him. Please pray that God leads us all and that the transition is smooth.

I want to thank all my friends and family for their support during this stressful time. You are the dearest and best friends I could ever ask for.

And a special thank you to one of my Best friends for all she does for me. She is always offering to watch the kids while we visits or appointment to be at. She constantly calls to make sure we are doing ok and make sure there is nothing she can do to ease our load. So thank you very much, you know who you are.

What a week we have had. On Thursday I took Marcus to practice and then he came back to the house to hang out. Then on Saturday we met him at his school to get his schedule and check out Boone High. After that we took him and a few of the other boys out to breakfast at McDonald's. I love getting to know all the kids at GOV. They are all very well mannered at least around us. After that we were headed off to his first football game. He did great. He had good hits, good throws and some great catches. He is an all around good player. I know he hated knowing I was taking pictures of him but after the games he asked to see them. (I knew he secretly wanted me to take them)














After the game we headed back home to hang out some more and have some dinner. Little did I know what was in store for me. Some how we ended up having a water fight in the back yard. Everyone was soaked including my neighbors! LOL
I think Marcus and David have started a great bond of picking on each other. They are constantly trying to out do the other one. It is so neat to watch them and see how there relationship is growing.
On Sunday we took Marcus to Church and then back home to paint his room. We told him he could paint it but he had to do the work. Well he did alot of it, but David did alot more. The room is a little brighter than we thought it would be, but Marcus likes it.

Marcus had to go back early Sunday because he started school on Monday. He said he likes most of his classes and most of his teachers. I was so excited and so sad on Monday. What a great memory he will have of his first day of High School, but I was not there to see him off or to be there when he got home. I can not wait until he is here in our house with his family!!! I know this has to be a slow process but I just want to speed things along.

This week we get to see him 2 weekdays and all weekend. Five days of Marcus is going to be great. And on Friday he get to spend the night. We actually just received a copy of the court order today. I am so super excited I hope he likes it here.

August 18, 2009

Well it has been a super busy week. Marcus had his Olympics last week every night for a week. We had a great time watching him run, swim, play ball and all the other events he did. It was nice to see him everyday for a week, however that is over.

Now we are back to one visit per week except for weekends. Marcus was able to spend all day Saturday with us and all day Sunday. Saturday we spent the day at home just relaxing and David, Marcus and I saw GI Joe that evening. Can you believe GI Joe is back....

On Sunday we took Marcus school shopping. We got back pack and school supplies. And then the big bang ($$$$) hit. Clothes! He needed everything, socks, undershirts, shoes, pants, shorts, dress shirts, and much much more. We had fun but now we need to tighten our budget.

Solomon and Josiah seem to be getting along well with Marcus. Solomon ask for him though out the day and every morning. I can not wait till the morning when he ask and Marcus is here!!

We have a visit scheduled for Thursday night to watch the Colts and another Sat. and Sun visit. We hope to have the court order to have him Stay over night by next weekend.

Please continue to pray for our family and that God will continue to lead all of us down his path.

Peace and Love