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!

The Best Christmas Ever :)

Well we have just concluded the Best Christmas Adam and I have had in our 7 years of marriage! (And yes, we do have a 9 year old LOL!) I just wanted to share a few pics from our special day. Last night we went to Grandmother and Papa's for the Cassady Christmas. Today my family came to our house. This was a special occasion because my cousins from Orlando and Atlanta were in and got to spend Christmas with us. It's not very often we all get together, so that is another great gift we received this year.




Here is the best picture I think of the Cassady Family Cousins! The silly faces are the best because it's the picture the kids don't mind doing!



The lovely morning look picture! :)



Here are the boys with Lauren and Rachel, two of our cousins from Atlanta.




Here's "Little Man" and me :) Now I know everyone says the boys look just like Adam, but I do see a resemblance here!





Here is our family of 4! What a difference from last year to this year :)




Here is our family. Mom said "Finally, our family has grown!" :)




What a way to end the day with a little snow man! We loved our White Christmas and hope you did too!

Meet the Cassady's

I got the OK to say names on here and post pictures, so here are a few pics of our new family! (yes I know, they look just like Adam!) These are just a couple of our favorites. I will be adding more later I am sure. Cody and Brandon have completed our home and made us the happiest people in the world! God has truly blessed us this year! It was just a year ago we were meeting with Anne for the first time to get approved for adoption! We found out that if all goes well with lawyers, paperwork, etc. we might get to have our "gotcha" court date the last Wednesday in February!










These 4 have quickly become the Fantastic Four! Alicia and I have waited a long time to share "the boys" stories!

My First Day as a "Real Mom"

So, we picked up the boys last night to begin our "Forever Family." I took off today so Adam and I could attend the boys Christmas parties at school. This morning I got up, got the boys ready and drove them to school. (yes 30 min both ways, so I am glad that is the only time I have to do that!) I was totally excited to be a parent in the car rider line, instead of the teacher greeting the students getting out of the car rider line!

I then proceed to come home and get more wrapping done since I am seeing so many hours dwindling away lately (imagine that!) As I am wrapping my cell phone rings. I notice it is a school number, so all I can think is "Oh no! What have they done already?" I answer and it is my youngest son's teacher. She said he has been really worried that I don't know what time the Christmas party is. Then she giggles and says "He said he didn't think you knew what time the party started, because you are a first time mom and didn't know these things!" :) She and I both had a good laugh at that one! But I realized he bugged her enough she called me, so he really does think I don't know anything since I am a "first time mom!"

So if you think I don't know anything being a "first time mom," you are probably right, at least according to "little man" as I call him :)

Monday we are having yet another home visit from the agency so hopefully I can start using names and post some pics. :) I will at least attempt to ask that question!

Anyway, just wanted to share my first morning day as a "Mom" (a mom who doesn't know much though!) :) I am sure I will have more interesting stories once we have a full day under our belts!

Still in love with elephants!

Somethings just don't change and I know I will forever be in love with elephants! I just wanted to share that one of our boys sleeps with the elephant that my dear friends got for me when so many cards were sent to Adam and I along with prayers! Who knew in just a few months after receiving it, a 7 year old sweetheart of ours would be sleeping with it?!?!How ironic is it that? When I am allowed upload pics, I will show you how adorable he looks with it! :)

Now, check out my favorite costume of this Halloween season! When I saw Elliott in this costume I couldn't stop smiling! (Yes, I think Elliott is getting ready to smile, don't you? :) )If the boys would have let me, I would have dressed them as elephants! Elephants still symbolize what all we've been through and how much prayers of dear friends got us through such a hard time in our lives. Any time I see one, I still smile and am reminded of how prayers and faith can get you through the darkest hours. Just wanted to share that elephants are still the coolest animals around! :)

God Still Answers Prayer

I am sure most people have heard our wonderful news. There are a lot of rules going on, so I cannot reveal too much on the internet but I just couldn't wait any longer to share on my blog how much we have been blessed!!

Let me start from the beginning, but again I cannot say names, etc. but I do want to share our story.

Before school started Neesa, Katie and I were at Target when we saw two brothers who had been at our school previously and they came up and asked us if we had seen them on TV, because they had been on MidDay live and were wanting to be adopted. That stuck with me. I prayed for God to send a sign if I was supposed to do something about this because I couldn't stop thinking about these two boys. I knew a baby was all Adam and I could think about and wanted at the time, but I just felt so strongly about this. I never told anyone about it. Well, about 4 days later Allie and I were out to eat and she started telling me that our aunt had seen two boys on MidDay and she wished we could adopt them. I immediately started to search for a video or something I could show Adam.

Finally, I found a video on WBKO (no it's not on there anymore) of the boys. I showed it to Adam and I said "Adam I want them." He in turn said "call." We then began calling and went through a lot of meetings, etc. and decided to adopt these boys. (That's a shortened version.)

So, for the last month, we have been on a visitation schedule, where we get to be with them twice a week and then they are staying the weekends with us. They are 7 & 9 and we are completely in love with them. I love them just as much as if I had carried them for 9 months. And yes, they look exactly like Adam!

Things are going exceptionally well, which I believe is all because this is God's plan. Adam and I have never been so happy and the emptiness we felt in our hearts for so long has been filled. As of December 17th, the boys will be in our home all the time. Then everything should be finalized by the end of February or beginning of March, meaning they'll take our last name and we'll be "officially" their parents.

When I am allowed to, I will post pics and much more about the boys. There are so many rules, etc. so this is all I can share at this time, but I want to thank everyone for the prayers you have prayed for our family. We continue to need those prayers that this will all be as smooth a transition as possible for our boys and us.

Love to you all!

Thank You Might Never Be Enough

After returning home from a LONG first day of school, I walk in my kitchen and on my counter I found this gift bag that said "I said a prayer for you today." Inside I found the sweetest little elephant rattle and big elephant with a precious bracelet, and a CD with inspiring songs. More than that, I found 19 cards from people who have been praying for our family. Some from family and my best friend, dear friends, and then from some people I know, but I had no idea they knew of our situation or had been praying for us.

I sat in the middle of the floor reading each and every word that was written. I had to get a tissue half of the way through because my tears were blocking my ability to read. Our situation can be extremely difficult and there are days I feel so alone, but today my heart was full of joy knowing there are so many of you out there praying for us. This was the sweetest gift because I know it was from the hearts of all who wrote in it.

I love each of you and "thank you" truly couldn't be enough for the joy I feel in my heart and the thankfulness I have for each prayer you have said for us. I appreciate the gift and prayers more than you will ever know. Please consider this my deepest thanks for everything and I am asking that you continue to pray for us that we'll be blessed with a family and do everything we are supposed to do. There are so many unknowns and uncertainties along this journey, but I know in the end God will provide the family we are supposed to have.

I am so thankful for getting the courage to begin this blog as I believe it has opened people's eyes to the fact that not evereything in life is Mayberry or Leave it to Beaver. I feel I have had contact with people I never would have before and they have strengthened me in ways I never thought possible. Thank you again for your kindness, words will never express the joy the present brought me.

Our future family may not be a "traditional" family but it will be ours and perfect for us and for that I am extremely thankful.





Here is the sweet bag.




The sweetest elephants with a "believe" bracelet, which I will wear A LOT!




The cards & CD before I opened them :)