HaddyGraceDesigns

I don't feel qualified to write about adoption, there are Mamas who have walked harder, longer roads than I have. My journey has been short, and fairly uncomplicated. We've gained the sweetest 2 year old you ever did meet.  Maxwell, Days after we were introduced to him. Jan 2014   However, I am going to write about a few of the feelings that I, as a mom encounter in the past 10 mo. these feelings completely blindsided me! I was in no way prepared for any of them. When our son was first placed with us, we embraced having an 18 mo. old, none verbal little boy in the house. The honey moon period lasted a few short weeks, in those honey moon weeks I felt like I really wanted this child to be mine, And then the hard things hit, Forcing me to face the fact that this baby boy had missed out on so much in his short life, forcing me to recognize that emotionally he was no where near 18 mo. Anger at his Birth parents, Why didn't they... why did they..... An

Reality has come crashing in my friends, Cruel harsh reality!!   I always thought I'd be a cool Mom.. Wasn't that one art my of the reason to start our family when we were barely in our twenties?? So that we'd have energy to keep up with them, and have similar interests, and share clothes, and like the same movies, be able to have fun with their friends..   But something happens... When your firstborn stands taller than you, and turns into a teenager (I am not talking 13, I am talking when they become mouthy, and Mom knows nothing anymore,) You as a parent will suddenly become completely and 100% grown up. No matter how young of a parent you are, you become hopelessly mature,  you take things seriously, elections are serious, (you can't deny any longer that you are voting for people that will affect the world your children will be adults in.) The carefree young parent is history.. You can see the young adults your offspring are becoming, you rea

As if the Challenge of living on a budget isn't enough, us Moms we also have the Challenge of making healthy meal choices for our families. And Unless your grocery budget is 2-3 times the size of mine you are probably discovering how hard it is to buy healthy foods AND stay within budget. Cereal is expensive, but healthy cereal is even more expensive!! It's upsetting when I look at the ingredient list of something I have spend our hard earned money on and find ingredients of things that I don't recognize and can't pronounce. That's why Cereal is one of the items I have decided to eliminate from our grocery list.  However what to have on hand for a quick breakfast?? Granola to the rescue!!!! For my Birthday my sister gave me a small Jar of Chocolate Granola, It didn't look like much, but lets say I was pretty much HOOKED after the first bite! Here you go!! 3 cup rolled oats 1 cup chopped walnuts 1 cup rice crispies Mix together in a bowl.

These 5 beautiful faces! these are the faces that are on my mind when I go to bed and On my mind when I wake up! The smallest, Number 5, has recently been added to our family via adoption. These are the little people that have me constantly wondering if I am doing enough, If I am enjoying the journey enough, If I have enough attention to go around, If I read them enough stories, if we watch too much TV. But most of all... the greatest IF... the greatest question of all is this,,, Do I spend enough time with them??????     All you working Moms are probably laughing at me right now. But it's true!!  I too have to tell my kids,  'Not now',  'I don't have time',  'Wait a minute',  'Mommy's working',   Lets look at a few Character qualities we all want our children to develop: It doesn't hurt them at all to be told to "wait". Waiting creates the Character quality of:   patience, Waiting quietly becau

There comes a time in motherhood where your world becomes pretty small. It revolves around these things: Naps Mealtimes School Sports/lessons/activities Bedtimes   And somewhere in there you need to make sure there is food in the house, clean clothes in the drawers/closets and that the home is fit for humans to live in.   And then at the end of the day you fall asleep on the couch out of exhaustion, you never get to watch your favorite shows to the end, so your always left wondering what's REALLY going on. After weeks and weeks of this I start missing my friendships, I start craving long UNINTERRUPTED conversations with kindred spirits that will lift me up and encourage me, Other moms who will tell me that my teens are normal and that theirs are acting the same way.   Other Moms that 'Get' Foster Care and the things I am struggling with in that area. Other Moms that will smile and let me go on and on about our foster son and how smart he is and

The Monster Cookie,   The Favored of all cookies, and it's not just because of the miniature m&m's that these cookies are so loved by all. Their flavor is superior. End of story. Now these cookies aren't exactly fool proof. Maybe you have tried these cookies and they just haven't turned out right. The secret is in the Peanut butter.... Jiff Peanut butter, some other brands are too dry and your cookies will be dry lumps.       So here we go: 1.5 cups Jiff peanut butter 1/2 cup butter 1 cup white sugar 1 cup brown sugar 3 eggs Whip until light and creamy, add: 1tsp. vanilla extract 2tsp.baking soda 3.5 cups quick cooking oats (not rolled oats) 1 cup chocolate chips (milk or semi sweet) 1 cup mini m&m's   Dip 2 cookies and bake them, if they are too flat add 1/2 cup more oats and try again. You can never take oats out of a recipe that's why I always error on the side of 'not enough oats' When