The New Additions to the _________ Family

Yep...that's plural! Now you understand why we are in the process of moving into a six bedroom home!

Lord willing, this November we will welcome TWO new K's into our family:

Karmello Jamal

and

Kaydence Amaya

Karmello and Kaydence are biological half-siblings; they have the same biological mother; their father's identities are unknown. Karmello is 3; his birthday is in February, so he's one month older than Kimora. Kaydence just turned 1 last week. She's just about exactly one year younger than Kariah and five months older than Kajanae. We are BEYOND excited to welcome these little people into our home. I know people roll their eyes when celebrities say they are "over the moon," but I truly feel over the moon right now as the legalities are finalized, there's an end in sight to this whole process, and our family will soon be together. While my own impatience and rousing anticipation are very real to me, viewing this adoption from an outsider's perspective, this has gone amazingly quickly for several reasons:

1) We're adopting from foster care
2) We're adopting toddlers, not infants
3) Karmello and Kaydence are non-white; their mother is Puerto Rican, and by appearances, we believe their fathers to be black (we'll never be sure, though, as appearance aren't reliable in themselves)
4) Their social workers wanted to keep them together as a brother-sister pair, which also made them less "desirable" for many families
5) Both were substance-exposed prenatally and born prematurely

We've met several times already with these amazing little people, and when I first saw them, I felt instantly that they were MINE. Kaydence crawled up to me and reached her little arms up at me, wanting to be picked up...it felt almost as if we had met before. You know, that inexplicable feeling when you instantly connect with someone? I recall a similar feeling when I first met Jamal. Karmello was a little bit more inhibited, but he and Kimora hit it off right away; Kimora says that when she begins preschool next week that she wants to take Karmello with her. I keep telling her that he won't live with us until a few months later, but she insists on taking him to show him off!!

This update has been a long time in coming, and I apologize to those of you who had to wait so long to hear the details. This has just been an understandably busy time in our family as we move to a new home, prepare our girls for change, prepare to welcome Karmello and Kaydence, deal with the legalities of the adoption, prepare to send Kimora to preschool for the first time, and sell our old home. To those of you who have known about our decision to adopt Karmello and Kaydence for practically as long as we have and have supported us through it all, thank you so much for your continuous love and support. Karmello and Kaydence will be blessed to have you in their lives as Jamal, Kimora, Kariah, Kajanae and I have been blessed. And thanks babe for being my lover, my best friend, and my partner in crime through this whole adventure.

Signing off for now,
Karmello, Kimora, Kariah, Kaydence, and Kajanae's Mommy....aka Kx5

One Step at a Time....*sigh*

I promised an adoption update, but I don't really know how to describe how I feel right now...You all know that I'm rarely speechless, but I think this song does a great job of conveying where I'm at right now in this whole process. "Hurry up and wait" is the name of the game right now, even though there have been some happenings and decisions made recently that will ultimately move the process along. Even though I'm thankful and feel very blessed for the progresses made, my control freak nature is rearing its ugly head...and I find myself wanting our entire family to be together. Complete. RIGHT NOW!! God's timing, not mine...His perfect timing, not mine. As this wise young woman sings, "It's gonna happen when it's supposed to happen." I believe that, even amidst my impatience. :-) Blessings all.

To Bless Your Garden of Friendships:

Plant three rows of peas:
1) Peace of mind
2) Peace of heart
3) Peace of soul

Plant four rows of squash:
1) Squash indifference
2) Squash selfishness
3) Squash grumbling
4) Squash gossip

Plant four rows of lettuce:
1) Lettuce be faithful
2) Lettuce be kind
3) Lettuce be patient
4) Lettuce really love one another

No garden is without turnips:
1) Turnip for meetings
2) Turnip for service
3) Turnip to help one another

Maintenance requires thyme:
1) Thyme for each other
2) Thyme for family
3) Thyme for God

Water freely with patience and cultivate with love!

Party Central.....Toddler Style!!

“What party theme do you want for your birthday this year, punkin boo?” This is the question that I presented to Kariah as her second birthday was approaching. For those of you who have seen and heard Kariah’s passion for “reading” and animated storytelling, it should come as no surprise that she made one of her favorite authors the guest of honor…or rather, gave him the honor of being her party theme! And her answer was...(drum roll please)....screamed at the top of her two year-old lungs...:










“Dr. Seuss!!!!!!!!!!”

None other than the rhyming genius and engineer of a reality of strange shaped objects and obscure characters himself! This was a far cry from the Princess Tea Party that I threw for Kimora’s third birthday last March, but Kariah’s request made me appreciate the unique individuality of each of my precious children for probably the one millionth time this year! Speaking of a rhyming genius, Ciahnna found that she could make Dr. Seuss’ rhymes sound like raps if she read them in just the right way. In her words, they were still a little “dopey sounding” and a bit “wack”, but her performance was quite entertaining to us nonetheless, particularly to the birthday girl and the younger party guests! While Ciahnna was showing off her rapping skills, Acaijah was dressed up as the Cat in the Hat, which was also a party hit, as you can imagine. We had a photo area set up where the kids could get their picture taken with the Cat in front of a Dr. Seussy-looking background (you know, we drew some Whos and a makeshift Whoville with those buildings and stairs that would be impossible to actually construct three-dimensionally!).

Everything from the invitations to the food to the games to the craft fell in line with the Dr. Seuss theme. We played a partnered relay that we called “Thing 1 and Thing 2 Relay” and also pin the tail on the elephant (the elephant from Horton Hears a Who). We had a station set up where kids could go fishing for paper fish with paper clips on them that they caught using fishing rods with magnets on the ends (from One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish). Our dining room was decked out with a banner that read, “Kariah I Am” instead of “Sam I Am”. “Kariah I Am” doesn’t rhyme, of course…but we thought it was cute anyway! Kimora and Kariah had their hair fixed like Cindy Loo Who for the party, which was absolutely adorable. For the craft, the children (and some adults ;) ) made crazy hats with party hats, feathers, sequins, etc., reminiscent of The Five Hundred Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins.

Of course, the food had to honor the chosen theme, too! We had little sandwiches cut in the shapes of letters for Dr. Seuss' ABCs. The highlight of lunch was the green eggs and ham! However, the ham was actually tofu ham, but the kids didn’t know the difference…they were too enthralled with the green color!! We polished off lunch with a cake that looked like the cake on a rake in The Cat in the Hat.

We stated on the invitations that gifts aren’t necessary but that we would appreciate a donation to help buy books for the Atlanta Children's Shelter "Read to Me" program. Many people made donations AND bought Kariah gifts, which wasn’t the idea!!!! But thank you all for coming and for your generosity. Your presence and your children’s presence at Kariah’s birthday party is what made the event a celebration! Special thanks to all of you who helped me pull off this special party for Kariah (*ahem, ahem* mom, Jamal, sissies, and Miss Kimora *wink, wink*). The day was an absolute HIT with the adults, the children, and most importantly, the birthday girl herself.

Happy Birthday Kariah Chanel, and many more!!! Perhaps Dr. Seuss said it best with, "Oh, the places you'll go!" Love you big much - Mommy

Happy Birthday Kariah Chanel!!!!!!

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear Kariah,
Happy Birthday to you!

That's all for now; I'm off to spend more time with my birthday girl! I know it's been a while since I've posted (like, a seriously long, long, time!), but we've been very busy with recent developments. More to come....about Kariah's birthday and other updates..soon, I promise! :)

Never Neverland

The only way that Kajanae will fall asleep now is if I play this song and walk around her nursery with her! While I know I should be working on fostering independence, she's my little baby, and I enjoy putting her to sleep in my arms. I must say, my little girl has great taste in music!! :) Instead of "nobody wants to grow old" I think, "I don't want my baby to grow old"!! So here's a shout-out to my little sweetie pie koala bear..her favorite lullaby. :)

Muffin Tin Monday

Tomorrow is Muffin Tin Monday! What is this sacred holiday, you may ask? Muffin Tin Monday is a weekly holiday designed specifically for little ones bored with eating lunch. Make lunch fun, and serve lunch in a muffin tin! In each compartment, put a different food: cheese, crackers, grapes, goldfish, carrots, pretzels, sliced peaches, cucumbers, etc....each in their own special mini compartment. Easy for mommy...delightful for child(ren)!! Try it today!! (or rather, tomorrow) :)