Little Sluggers

I know I haven't posted in a while, but whew, mommy-hood is taking its toll on my life! The honeymoon is definitely over and we are in full parenthood swing! Speaking of swing, the boys started baseball this spring and both played their first games this week. We were victorious in both, which made the start to the season a little sweeter for the boys! Brandon's team about gave us "dugout moms" heart attacks, however Cody's team didn't give up a run. Brandon plays hind catcher and Cody center field. coaches in Chad Minton and Shaun Stice. We feel very fortunate the boys are on their teams. Here are a few pics of my little sluggers! Go Reds and Tigers!





Here's Cody before his first game!




Cody got my lucky number 7! He's so proud of his Cassady 7 jersey!




Here's my biggest little slugger and me. I want to get more in game shots, but I am too into the game to take pictures!




My littlest little slugger.




Still wondering when those teeth will come in!




Here's another one for Eli and Brandon's graduation party picture collage! Don't you love Brandon's smushed up ears?!?!

Dodgeball Anyone?!?!?

The newest "family game night" fun is to play dodgeball! I bought the boys little balls from the Alamo when I went to Texas for a training last month. Little did I know, the $10 I spent on the balls would be better than Wii and DS games for sure! Oh, and yes they do play in the house! Neesa called the other night during a game, one I was actually a part of, and she said "didn't mom always say don't play ball in the house?" I told her only on the Brady Bunch and we are the farthest thing from Carol and Mike Brady! :-)

Here are a few pics of the boys playing. I didn't get too many action shots because they move so fast! I do love when Brandon gets out because I am usually on the couch refereeing the 3 boys and he rubs my feet! That is a great part of the game and I love that he pampers me sometimes, since Adam has forgotten that and reverted back to his younger days with his 2 new BFF's!




Me and Little Man... He loves to get his picture taken and wants to take one with me all the time. This is during Dodgeball Half Time





Cody excited he had a direct hit on Dad!




My clone the show off!





Attack on Dad!!!




Sweaty Adam firing at the boys!

Great bonding time for a family full of boys and one Tom-Boy!

Celebrating Cody's 10th "Season"

Today my sweet Cody turned 10! We had a UK themed party tonight and celebrated his 10th "season." It was a blast being with all our family and friends. The most entertaining part of the night was Brandon being Justin Beiber and my nieces being the "backup babes." :-) I got plenty of video but won't post that until I need it to get revenge on Brandon when he is dating! LOL There were also dance contests, many flips, and lots of "it's my turn next" going on tonight!

I love birthdays and am so glad to get to begin a new and awesome year with my wonderful family! Here are some pictures from tonight. I am so thankful that God has given us these two precious gifts that we get to celebrate life with everyday!




Me and my big baby!




Eli and Brandon... this will be a pic we use for their graduation parties! ;-)




Dad with his "mini me"





This picture needs no words.... Aunt Allie is the COOLEST!! We did decide Aunt Allie and Uncle Daniel need to keep the boys and then all 5 girls on Friday nights since they were the ones who got the kids WILD!!! You can tell they didn't have to take the kids home with them!




Blowing out the candles...




Here is the cake that Gina Howard, our food service coordinator in Warren Co., made for me. It was not only ADORABLE but VERY YUMMY!! You can't tell from this pic, but the basketball was 3-D and was AMAZING!!!





Mollie, Hallie, Macy and Eli during the dance contest!




Cody, Brandon, Mollie, and Macy again during the dance contest judging!

What a fantastic night! Happy 10th Season my precious Cody Daniel!!!

We "Got Em'"

Today was a HUGE day in the Cassady household! We got the boys up and gave them their "gotcha day" presents, which were Bibles with their new names engraved on them, and then we got ready and off we went to the courthouse for our hearing.

When we got there we had to wait about 30 minutes, but in the process got to see how much love our boys are going to have the rest of their lives! The judge was definitely shocked when so many people showed up for our hearing! Nana, Gramps, Grandmother, Papa, my Aunt Margie, Aunt Allie, Uncle Daniel, Aunt Stephanie, Maggie, (Uncle Marty is away on business or we know he would have been there) Aunt Staffanne, Uncle Kyle, Uncle Drew, Alicia (who should be called Aunt),(Aunt Catherine was definitely with us in spirit!) Amy, the first lady I talked to about the boys in August, Erin, the boys previous therapist, Michaelle, another state worker who has won our hearts, and Misty, who has been with the boys since Brandon was just a few months old! She said I was adopting her kids today and I am so thankful for her and all of the staff we have worked with and for what they have been able to do for our boys! Our lawyer and the boys lawyer were there too and we appreciate how much they did for us in getting the court date set so soon after papers were filed!!

I promised myself I would not cry because this was just making it legal, my boys have been "my boys" since the day we met them. Well, I broke the promise I made to myself! The judge asked what the boys names were going to be now and I couldn't say them loudly because I was crying! It was something about saying Cody Daniel Cassady and Brandon Thomas Cassady aloud in front of a judge and all of these wonderful people that made me realize how much God has blessed our home. Mom was hugging me bye today and said "I love you Emily, do you know how much?" and for the first time ever I said "I am beginning to mom." I never knew how much you could love a child. One of the best parts of today was when our lawyer said "you understand you are taking responsibility for these children as if you had given birth to them" and my heart was just happy because I couldn't love them anymore than if I had given birth to them.

Here are a few snapshots of the day. So many friends and family took pictures so I am sure I will have more to add on here and to my scrapbook! (Which I guess I need to work on!)




My precious friends at school made our family this precious cake. Thanks Neesa, Katie, and Mechelle!!!





Here are all of us crowded around the judge! The pic is far away so we could all get in it!




Here are the 4 of us with the judge. He gave the boys stuffed animals for today! How precious!?!?!




Here is the back of the UK shirt Nana, Gramps, Aunt Allie, and Uncle Daniel got for the boys.




Here's Brandon's shirt.




Mom and Dad bought me this necklace with the word Forever Family 2-23-11 on the back... check out the front on the next pic




It has two boys on the front, I love it! Mom and Dad also bought Adam a new pocket knife with today's date engraved on it.

We also received a gift certificate to Carter Lumber from Marty and Stephanie for our future tree house! I am excited the boys are going to get one, only hurt that Adam has said it is FOR BOYS ONLY! :) I am hoping they'll make an exception for mommy's!

I am feeling so blessed today and am so thankful for the prayers of my friends, which I believe is the only reason we are where we are today, through the power of prayer!

Happy Gotcha Day Cody and Brandon!!!!

Wednesday is "Gotcha Day"

I can't seem to find time to post anymore... can't imagine why ;-), but I needed to share this!

This Wednesday is the LAST STEP in our adoption process! We get to go to to court on Wednesday and the boys names will be legally changed to Cody Daniel Cassady and Brandon Thomas Cassady!!! As of Wednesday, the boys are legally ours and our process of adopting them is OVER!!!! We have really had a great experience in the adoption process and one day hope to do it again, but it is something I am glad to see come to an end as the boys have always felt like ours, but now it is official, legally speaking too! We will go to court and the judge will ask a few questions, then papers will be signed and it will all be official! We will forever celebrate this day, February 23rd, with the boys as their "Gotcha Day." Cody is lucky as his birthday is the 25th, so he'll always get double partying his birthday week :-)

I will try to post the pics we take from the day as I know I will want to share with all my blogging buddies who have stuck with us through the ups and downs of this journey we've been on. Can't wait to share and be thinking of us Wednesday!!!

Happy 30 Days!

What is Happy 30 Days you say? Well, in our adoption world today is a BIG day! Today is officially the end of our "30 day visit" and tomorrow our lawyer will officially file for adoption with the court system! That means hopefully by February 23rd our court date and "gotcha day" will be here and the boys will legally be Cassady's. To us, and most of the people around us, they have always been Cassady's, but this makes it legal. The boys birth certificates will change to show Adam and I as birth parents, which we find funny since we weren't dating when we would've had Cody and weren't married when we would have had Brandon! :-) We are changing their middle names to family names, which the boys seem to LOVE! Cody will be Cody Daniel since that is Adam's middle name and he is the oldest and Brandon will be Brandon Thomas for my grandfather who was John Thomas.

The other day a friend of mine from work said she went through and read all of my posts up until the last one and she said she sat there and cried. I thought, hmmm, I think I need to do that to. (Not cry, but read all about our story) I went through last night and read everything until today. All I can say is God is amazing and if anyone doesn't believe in miracles and God's work, just read our journey. I know women who give birth naturally say you forget all the pain when you hold your child for the first time and I feel the same way. I had almost forgotten the pain we endured along our journey, but I am so glad I had posts to remind me of how great God is. I admit sometimes I think of all the "firsts" I missed, like first words, steps, losing teeth, etc. but I am experiencing some amazing firsts right now. I will never forget the first time the boys told us they loved us or the first time they both called me Mama and Adam Daddy. Those are more precious to me than anything in this world. Now, we aren't the Partridge Family or anything and everything isn't perfect, or even near perfect every day, and we are learning as we go, but I wouldn't trade where I am right now for ANYTHING in this world. God knew there were 2 boys who needed love and a home and he knew there was a couple who desired a family above everything and He made it happen beyond our wildest dreams.

People keep saying 'you know you'll get pregnant now' and if that is God's will, great, but if not, I have MORE than I could ever have asked for or deserve. We are still on the waiting list and are keeping our files up-to-date if another child comes along and we feel that is right for our home and our boys, eventually we might add to the Cassady Chaos. But right now, we are content and feel blessed beyond anything our hearts ever desired.

So, Happy 30 Days Cody and Brandon Cassady! You have made Daddy and Mama the happiest, luckiest, most loved people in the world!

PS. This is how we celebrated, Daddy and Uncle Drew put up the new basketball goal and Brandon finally got to play with his Metal Detector he got for his birthday!




Our posing Little Man




I hope he is finding a great treasure out there!




Our future Basketball Star ;-)




Uncle Drew and Cody trying to beat Daddy. Not sure how that is working out!

My Toothless Wonder

I know this isn't the first tooth Brandon has lost, but it is the first tooth he has lost as our son and in our home, so tonight is a big deal for Daddy and I! Brandon's other front tooth got a little more loose while sledding yesterday, amazing how that happened! Then today while Daddy was tickling him he said, "My tooth is on my tongue!" So he gave me the tooth while spitting out the yucky blood. What a lovely sight! Here is my little toothless wonder! Isn't our baby precious!

Snow Play Time

I have to admit we have enjoyed our time off, but come May I will be steaming about it! Anyway, Adam (who is now always known as Dad and yes I am mama all of the time) :) got a new toy. Adam is so excited to have some playmates now! I definitely felt like a redneck as I watched my kids being pulled by a tractor on a car hood! I really had only heard of that, never really seen it done before! They had the time of their lives!! I admit, I got on a few times, can't let the boys have all the fun! Why we waited until most of the snow was gone to do this, I am not sure.



Here is Adam with his new toy, he is so happy! :)




All my boys, from 31 to 8!




Lovin' it!




Action shot! The boys were giggling so loud as they were flying around!




Still smiling so that was a good sign!