Chip off the old block.....

Track Season has finally started and Alex is doing great! He is just like his Dad running in his events. Keep it up Alex!

Easter 2011.......

Lucie
Gracie helping Grandma make deviled eggs

Lucie looking for Easter Eggs

Gracie on the Easter Egg Hunt stopping to look at Lucie's book...

The Easter Bunny brought the girls each a dress and a coloring book

as well as some candy and their own baskets!

Easter Bunny time.....

We took the girls to the Ames Mall to get their picture taken with the Easter Bunny on Thursday night. To our surprise they LOVED him. Last year they both cried and I had to be in the picture with them. This time they kept going back up to him and kissing and hugging him!

New Pictures.....

Our little knome....
Lucie and Alex riding the pony at the mall

Rock and Roll..........

Back to work..........

RJ has officially been ok'd to return to work starting tomorrow the 21st! He still isn't 100%, but work is letting him come back so that he can get caught up on all of his training that he has missed as well as all help them get caught up on all of the paper/office work that they have piling up! Either way it is a win, win situation. He is very nervous about going back especially about driving on the highway to get to work. He isn't ready to drive the back way (the road the accident was on) yet, but everyday he get's a little better. It's a hard obstacle to overcome (getting hit head on) and he is very much afraid each and everytime he get's behind the wheel. He has been working extremely hard to get the strength back in his leg/knee. He is determined to be healed and back to normal.

This accident has been very hard on RJ, obviously. Physically and mentally he has been drained. He is definetly a changed person in some ways. I commend him for having the strength to push through all of this stress and try to move forward and get past the accident. He has had to miss a lot because of the accident and is looking forward to getting back to normal and being involved in everything and being able to help everyone else out. Putting all the bad aside, this time has given him the opportunity to be at home with the girls a ton so he was thankful for that.

Never stop fighting...........

Anyone who knows RJ and I know that we have always and will always put our children first above all else. We decided months ago that enough was enough and we wanted Alex back. We had given Alex the opportunity to see what it was like to live with his mom. We gave up everything (Alex) for almost a year. Our everyday life is not the same and hasn't been. Not knowing how he is doing, what's going on with him, how school is, how his sports practices are going, how he is feeling, what appointments he has is terrible. We went from having to give every bit of info about what was going on with him to his mom, to her not telling us anything or telling us after the fact. We don't like it one bit. Communication has always ALWAYS been the issue with this whole situation. It's always one sided, we give and give and give and never get any in return. We are still his parents too and we are tired of getting pushed to the side like we don't matter. I think it's funny that even while he lives over there his mom still calls and expects RJ to fix things when Alex gets into trouble. It's called being a parent, she should try it. We love Alex more than anything and always have. Nobody could understand how we could let him go. We were only trying to do what was right for Alex, to make things easier on him. Now he wants to spend more time over here, he misses us. We are in a huge drawn out custody battle again. We only want equal time with him. We think he should be with both families. He has 4 parents that love him and soon to be 4 siblings that love him as well. He needs to be with everyone equally. It's ridiculous that his mom won't try to even think about another possibility. One week here, one week there is an idea. Alex is open to the idea, but once again he is afraid of what his mom will say. Funny too that she kept on saying he was afraid to tell us how he felt, didn't seem like he had a problem saying he wanted to "try" living at his moms for a couple of months. Crushed RJ, but he loves Alex so much he put aside all of his fears of what could happen, to let Alex explore this idea. She says we only want Alex back because we don't want to pay more child support and because RJ's job is in jeopardy because of his accident. WHERE IS SHE GETTING HER INFORMATION? RJ's job is not and has never been in jeopardy at all, and NO we don't want to pay any more child support, who would?? We are already in debt up to our ears but have still managed to take care of our support obligation, which is 10 times what we ever received a month. Am I bitter, YES. Our family is being torn apart and I have never and will never put up with anyone even suggesting that our only motive when it comes to Alex is MONEY. We have sacrificed more than anyone will ever know for him and we would do it over and over and over. The fact simply is that we love Alex, he is our son too and we want to be involved in his life just like we always have been up until he went to live with his mom. She took complete advantage of us and the situation. We will never stop fighting for him...........

Early Summer days.....

This weekend was great. The weather, the kids. Alex was home for the weekend and it was long overdue. We haven't seen him since the first weekend in March. Because of spring break our "weekend visit" was skipped. The girls missed him terribly. We spent the weekend catching up, watching a couple of movies, a little shopping, a little yard/house work and a lot of play. It just feels like we are complete again when Alex is home.

Gracie misses him the most. Lucie still isn't sure who he is just yet. He hasn't been around really for the 1st year of her life, it's sad. They need their big brother and they make the most of the time when he is here. He plays with them, sings and dances and watches movies. They love dogpiling and wrestling with him. Gracie loves playing hide and seek the most.

It was just the best weekend and we really needed it!