We are outnumbered!

Two kids was a little eye opening, but three....we are now outnumbered when it comes to kids vs. adults!  And two of them are only 10 months apart.  Yikes!  They are both needy, but need different things at the same time.  This will take some adjustment but is so exciting at the same time.  Lexy is beautiful and already has us wrapped around her finger.  

Life continued with Abby at dance the next morning (May 17)....

 Daddy came to join us for the first time with all three girls!

 Abby and Riley before dance

Lexy after dance!

Alexis Imogene

Introducing....the newest member of the Garrett family....Alexis Imogene!  Yes, three girls!  What could be more exciting?  Lexy came into our lives on May 16th.  We went to the social services building to pick her up and loved her from the moment we saw her.  She looked similar to Lily, but different too.  She is much more like her birth Dad and Lily looks like her birth Mom.  She had long fingers and toes and was already so tall.  The birth parents named her Nazarene Rose Glaim but we simply could not call her Nazarene.  So Matt and I spent hours that night after the girls went to bed--looking at her and tossing out names.  The one the fit was Alexis--but we most often call her Lexy.  We named Lily after Matt's Grandma, Ruth Elizabeth and decided to name Lexy after my Grandma Jean (full name--Imogene).  She was an amazing woman and Lexy should be so proud to be named after her!

Here are some first pictures of all three girls.

 

 Before we picked up Lexy, Abby had her final day of preschool at a Bug Museum/store.  They saw all kinds of fun bugs and Lily started crawling up stairs for the first time!  Abby loved the Peanut Butter and Jelly Kids Preschool so much.

May 16th--what a day....roaches, tarantulas, butterflies and a new sister!

Catching up! Little Daniel....

Since May life has been a little busy!  So it's time to catch up and let you see our beautiful girls!

But before we show off our three beautiful girls we need to show you an amazing little boy that was in our home for a few days and touched our lives.  

We told the caseworkers we were interested in a boy since we have 2 little girls and before we knew it we received a call about a little boy that seemed very adoptable!  We were so excited when we received a call on Friday, May 11th.  They said we could pick up a little boy later that same day!  I ran to the store and bought a few things such as a car seat so that we could bring him home.  At 3 p.m. we went to pick him up and saw our caseworker that we worked with for Lily.  She asked if we were here to pick up Lily's sister.  We looked at her with questioning faces as we assumed she went home with the parents.  Apparently, the little girl was removed just as Lily was and for some reason we were not called.  We should have been the first ones called.  She expected us to take her, but we wanted a little boy and were so excited about the one we were picking up.  The caseworker was not happy with us and we did not know what to do.  The little boy (Daniel) was already there for us to pick up.  So in the end we took him home.  Here he is.

May 13th:

Baptism

Family Pic

Mother's Day gift

14th

But no sooner had we got him home than we received a call from caseworkers saying that they did not have the whole story on the little boy.  We were told he was almost definitely adoptable but then they found out that the man claiming to be his father wanted him.  But there would be a paternity test necessary to prove he was the father and results would take 6 weeks.  They were pretty sure that he was the Dad, so it was likely we would have Daniel for that time and then lose him--plus Lily's sister was waiting in the system....what to do.  It became clear to us that Daniel would need to go to another home and that we would welcome Lily's baby sister into our home with open arms.  We were sad to see little Daniel go--he was so little and so sweet.  We pray with all our hearts that his life is wonderful and that he has all of the things he needs.

Abby's First Dance Recital

Abby had her first dance recital in June.  I realize I have not finished May yet, but I know that grandparents want to see this video.  So here it is!  Abby is the second one from the right.

May Adventures

The month of May definitely brought changes to our family, but the beginning was pretty normal.  May 1-10 was full of fun with Abby and Lily.  Matt taught a night class all year on Tuesday nights, so on May 1st it was just us girls.  We love to be outside, so here are a few pictures from our backyard.  Matt ordered Lily a baby swing and she thinks it's the best thing ever.  We even ate dinner up in the playground set!

 We enjoy going to library story time on Fridays at 10:30.  They tell stories and then do a craft.  This time the kids were coloring.  Abby also had the Share Bear from her preschool.  Everyone gets a chance to take it home and Abby was so excited that it was her turn.

Matt got a bike so that he could ride with the Young Men on their many excursions (he is the YM President).  We decided to get a bike trailer for the kids and they love it.  Abby prefers the handlebars though!

Here are fun pictures of Abbs and Lil from the 7th!  Aren't they adorable?  Lily is quite the crawler.






The 9th found us at the park right by our house.  It is a great park and we go there often.  This time we even had Daddy with us!





The next day we watched Abby at dance sporting her new leg warmers.


Look!  Lily is standing up by herself!

Why do they have to grow up so fast?

The Rest of April

The rest of April was full of fun.  Here is silly Abby at dance on the 11th with Lily watching from outside.


 
Lily and Abby outside on the 15th

The 18th was a busy day:  Abby riding her bike, going to gymnastics and playing with play dough.  The play dough set is from the Huff's (Abby's birth Dad's family).  They sent it for her birthday and she loves to use it!






 On the 19th the girls were dressed to match so I had to take a couple pictures.




Some cute pics from the 28th....



There's nothing like sisters!