zach n kali

I am no relationship expert, but I do have a thought or two on choosing the man you want to marry. This past week I have been a hacking-sniffling-shuffling-self-pitying-nap taking-kleenex throwing-tea drinking-sweats-wearing version of myself.  Not the prettiest thing to see.  But Zach is my hero.  He is the embodiment of self-less love. Thankfully he married me before he saw this mopey version of myself.  But here are some of the finer points I've learned this week: 1.  Marry a man who knows how to find food.  Be it take-out, a bowl of cereal, or the grocery store, do not marry a man who relies solely on you for his food. 2.  Marry a man who will go to the store for Sudafed and come back with ice cream too.  Enough said. 3.  Marry a man who will buy kleenex in the pretty box because he knows it'll make you smile and that smiling is healing. 4.  Marry a man who, even though he doesn't understand why you don't drink coffee when you're sick, or why you can'

I wanted to take a minute to say thank you to an organization called AdvoKids.  As a foster parent, you feel like you have very little say when it comes to court hearings and legal proceedings.  That's how I felt as our January hearing loomed ahead.  Thankfully, Advokids showed me how to have a voice and how to advocate for my child.  All it took was an email over the weekend, and a lawyer called me back on Monday morning.  She answered my questions and told me exactly what to say to the judge.  She emailed me the correct wording and additional documents to support my filing.  After that she followed up with a phone call to make sure that everything went well.  I could not be more grateful to them.  As I stood before the judge, I felt confident in my wording and my requests.  The judge even smiled and nodded - without Advokids' help, I would've have floundered and may have missed an important step.  When it comes to foster care, so often you only hear about the bad.  But th

The transition into toddlerhood has been a little rough.  We are caught in the tension between being a baby and completely dependent to becoming an independent child.  One minute we're happy, the next we're anxious, then we're frustrated about something and throwing a tantrum.  The days can be tiring.  It's a constant balancing act, and last night we fell off the see-saw. M didn't want to play with Daddy; instead he wanted to be held by Mommy while she frantically cooked dinner (part of it is my mistake for wanting to make basil and feta stuffed chicken breasts instead of the easy mac-n-cheese). Then M didn't want to eat.  Then he didn't want to play.  So I put him in my lap while I finished my dinner, and during a blink, he knocked my wine glass clear across the table.  Wine went everywhere - the walls, the floor, his high chair... I'd had it - a bad word came out of my mouth.  I couldn't stop it - it just escaped.  It was 7:00 and I was ready for

Many of you have asked us for an update in regards to where we are in the foster/adoption process with Baby M.  It has been quite a journey, and I feel that I am still processing each new piece of information!  To be honest, it's one that we feel more comfortable sharing with you over a cup of coffee rather than on the internet, but we want to thank you for the prayers and support we have received from you over the past year.  A year ago we had almost finished our foster certification when we hit an unanticipated snag as we waited for a set of fingerprints to clear.  At the time it didn't make sense, and the only thing that kept us going was the knowledge that God was in control and that he was working to bring the right baby into our home at the right time.  A year later, we know that this was true as we move into the next stage of adoption!  We cannot believe God's grace and goodness as we now begin to take the necessary steps to make Baby M a part of our forever family.

What in the world happened to Christmas?  I'm pretty sure that the last time I looked at the calendar, it was December 1st.  This holiday season flew like no other, and we were so blessed by our time with family and close friends.  With thankful hearts we briefly recap our year: January :  I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and began an outpatient pain management program while Zach tried to take control of his first class of middle schoolers at Valadez Middle School Academy.  Wonderful friends and family threw us two baby showers and encouraged us as we continued working towards our foster care certification. February :  We celebrated our third anniversary! March:  I turned 25 and survived. April: We finished our foster care certification and were immediately visited by the stork - we brought Baby M home, and our lives will never be the same.  We spent an incredible week on vacation in Cayucos with Zach's family. May :  We decided to put a hold on my graduate program