The kids seem to be feeling better this morning. They all slept pretty good but it was probably because they had so much medicine in them. Jeremy however was up most if the night coughing. Emma and Chloe's rash seems to be almost gone. The kids actually seem pretty hyper in the day and then about 5:00 they start feeling bad again and the fever returns. I am really hoping they all are on the mend. My plan for today is to disinfect everything. We went to Jeremy's parents last night for our Christmas with them. Sam and Austin played and played. They had so much fun. The kids got a lot more toys and other neat things. We got a year zoo pass and we are very excited about that gift. The Nashville Zoo is not exactly the best zoo I have been to, but the kids like it and we have a fun time when we do go. The kids also got a Dora tent from Janna and Brandon. When they opened it I knew it was going to be big and I was not sure were we would put it. I thought it would fit in the girl's room. We got home and put it up and it is HUGE! It is not going to fit in any body's room. The kids love it though and it is pretty nice. The kids are actually watching a movie in there right now. It is big enough that the kids and I could sleep in it with no problem. In fact we may have a sleep-over in it tonight. Our church is having a New Year's Eve thing tonight but I do not think I will get out with the kids. The teens are also having something so Jeremy will need to be there. So I think the kids and I will have a little party at home. Jeremy is supposed to be going to the Music City Bowl today with his dad and brothers but I am not sure how he is feeling. My plan today is get everything cleaned and put away but those are pretty big plans. I bought the sound track from the movie Mamma Mia and it actually makes cleaning pretty fun and it is good exercise. Well I better get moving if I am going to get anything done today. Thanks for all your prayers and well wishes for us. 

We got back from the doctor a little while ago and all three have strep throat. Chloe also has a double ear infection. I am glad that I decided to have Sam checked by the doctor even though he seemed to be feeling better. The doctor is not quit sure what caused Emma is break out in the red spots. He said that it does not look like a typical rash from strep throat. His first thought was that she had chicken pox! Can you imagine! He said they would clear up on their own but still keep an eye on them. I was afraid that it might be strep. My sister was on medicine for strep last week and Sam's little body is attracted to that sickness for some reason. They were all very good at the doctor's office and they got us in and out pretty quickly. I was in Wal-Mart longer picking up their prescriptions. My kitchen counter looks like a pharmacy right. Thankfully we have wonderful insurance and all their medicine was absolutely free. The kids are now taking a nap and we are going to try and go to Jeremy's parents for our Christmas with them. I know most of you that read this already pray for us but please just pray that the kids get over this quickly. Please also pray for Jeremy and I. We are also not feeling great and we have gotten very little sleep the last few nights. 

We had a rough afternoon and night. Emma and Chloe started running a fever late yesterday and just did not feel good. I went to exercise and when I got back I noticed that Emma's face had broken out in red bumps. The red bumps soon appeared on Chloe's face, too. Emma's started to spread to her arms and belly. Chloe's stayed on her face but look worse than Emma's. I called the nurse on call and she told me to give them some Benadryl (which I already did) but it was not helping the spots. We gave them some Tylenol and then watched them through the night. They both cried out several times in the night. They both still have a fever this morning. Emma's spots have dried up but are still visible and Chloe's spots look the same as last night. I called the doctor and I am taking all three to see the doctor. Sam is not as bad as the girls but he is still coughing and his fever returns at night. They may just have a virus but I am not taking any chances. They seem to be acting fine this morning but I know as soon as I decide not to take them to the doctor they will start feeling bad again. The girls look pretty pitiful with all their red spots. We are having Christmas with Jeremy's family this evening so I really hope the girls are not contagious and I hope they are feeling better. Well I need to get everyone ready to go. 

Chloe got a princess styling kit for Christmas. It came with a little hairdryer, curling iron, brush, and a bunch of play nail polish containers and plastic make-up. Yesterday the kids played with these most of the day. They took turns doing each others hair. I was taking a picture when Chloe decided to see what I was doing.

Well we are home. We got home Saturday about 5:30. Our trip home was not as pleasant as our trip up to Illinois. The girls (mainly Chloe) were very cranky most of the way home. They only slept an hour and they both were mad they were sitting in the car seat. We had a great week but we were all glad to be home. All three kids were kinda coughing and had runny noses all week but since we have been home it has gotten worse. Sam and Emma had a fever Saturday night and the girls woke up with runny noses and watery eyes on Sunday. I kept all three kids home from church yesterday. Sam seems to be better but Emma had a rough night and is having a rough day. I may end up calling the doctor tomorrow if she is not better. I have some medicine left over from  the doctor when I took Emma in last month for the same type of stuff so I have been giving that to her to dry up the mess. Chloe also has a runny nose but does not seem to be feeling as bad as Emma. 

Well we got some great news today. We got a grant from Shaohannah's Hope for Chloe's adoption. We are very thankful and it will definitely help with our adoption loan. Well I have a million things to put away. My house is destroyed from all our stuff from the trip. I got most of the clean clothes put away but I still have so much to do. I did get my Christmas tree down but I also have to finish putting the Christmas stuff away. Jeremy left a few minutes ago to get Maggie and then I am going to Curves. Well the girls are waking up. They have only been asleep for about 30 minutes so they are both going to be in a bad mood. I guess I will try to get them back asleep.

We had a wonderful day yesterday. The kids got lots of neat things. Sam got a new camera. It is one of the cameras designed for kids. He loved it. He got a Thomas game and a new off road remote control truck. He got a several other things too. Emma and Chloe both got a play vacuum cleaner which they loved. They also got these adorable baby dolls that look like Chloe. They also got several other things. Chloe was kinda confused about what was going on. She really did not open any of her gifts. She sat by me and just watched. When we would get something open for her she would want it opened. I helped my mom make Christmas dinner and then I ate way to much. The kids took a nap and we watched Momma Mia and Horton Hears a Who. They were both really cute. Well we were going to go shopping this morning but the roads are bad so we are going to wait until after lunch. It is warming up here today so the ice is melting. My sister and her family are leaving today and the rest of us are leaving tomorrow. Chloe has the word "momma" down but she says it for EVERYTHING! She says it over and over again. I try to answer her every time so she associates "momma" with me, but it is hard keeping up with her saying the word. Well I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. 

Merry Christmas! We are still having a great time. Yesterday the pictures turned out great. The kids did such a good job. The roads were kinda of yucky yesterday and by the time we headed back to the house the roads were pretty bad. Today the roads were better and so a few of us got out today to do a little more shopping. The kids stayed home with my mom. When we got back home Chloe was not very happy that we had left. We thought she was not feeling well but she has started to perk up. I think we are going to watch a movie in a few minutes. Samuel played my nephew's Wii yesterday and he is actually really good at it. Well here are a few more pictures from yesterday and today. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

This is what we were driving in yesterday to get a picture taken. The roads were much worse on the way home, but we made it home safe.

Chloe and Uncle Kevin

Sam was playing Wii bowling and beating everyone

Here is the beautiful view of my parent's backyard. I love having a white Christmas!

Well I have a few minutes to write so I thought I would. We are having a great time with our family. Everyone made it here safely and we all had somewhere to sleep last night so that is a good thing. The kids are pretty wild but that is expected. The first night all 5 of us where in a bed so as you can imagine we did not sleep too good. Last night sam slept with my mom and Isabel so we got a little more sleep. Yesterday my mom, sister, our friend Abby, and myself went shopping. It was soo cold and very crowded but it was fun. Today is family picture day. It is going to be quite interesting getting 14 people to look at the camera and smile at the same time. After we get pictures made we are going to our favorite pizza place, Monical's Pizza. We do not have this restaurant around our house and we all just love the pizza. It is a must every time we come home. We are hoping the weather does not get too bad. They are calling for 2-4 more inches of snow today and more inches tomorrow. The kids are wanting to play in the snow but it is too cold to play outside. Well I better go we are making a gingerbread house.

Sam and Emma decorating cookies

We have arrived safely in Illinois. We left at 4:45 this morning and arrived at my parent's church at about noon to surprise them. My parents thought we were coming tomorrow. The plan was to arrive in time for church but we had a major pit stop and it put us behind. We got to the church and my dad was about finished preaching so we waited in the foyer and when he finished praying Sam and Emma walked into the sanctuary. It was really cute and my parents were definitely surprised. The people at their church were also happy to see the kids. We are at the house and enjoying a bit of piece and quiet before the rest of the gang gets here. My sister and her family are coming in late tonight and brother and his family are coming in late tomorrow night. There will be 15 people staying here for the week. We are going to be quite cozy. Well it is super cold here in Illinois. I think they are saying it will be -30 tonight with the wind chill. There is snow on the ground and ice hanging on the trees. My parents actually lost their power last night and it still had not come on when they left for church this morning. Thankfully it was back on when we got home. Well Chloe is asleep and Sam and Emma are decorating cookies with my mom (pictures later). The kids did great on the trip and Emma and Chloe are warming up nicely to being in a new place. Chloe has been saying several new sounds today and she is very proud of herself. She is also saying "momma" a lot and it just melts my heart every time. I am looking forward to a great week with my family. As I was getting Chloe to sleep I was thinking back on the many memories I have experienced in this house and I was once again reminded of God's amazing faithfulness and love. I am truly blessed!

The kids had a great time tonight opening presents. Samuel was so excited and was so happy to get his Thomas Action Canyon track.  We will be getting rid of all the other tracks. Emma got a little purse with a bunch of fake make-up and keys and stuff like that. She is so girly and she loved it. She was so cute. Chloe is always playing with this old doctor kit that someone gave us so we decided to get her a new kit. Well she wanted what the other kids got. She finally started playing with her gift. We also got the girls some princess blocks and all the kids got a dual DVD player for the van. I got a new coat and a new griddle. I got a griddle when we were first married and I love using it but I old one was falling apart and it was kinda small. Well it is getting late but I thought I would post tonight because I do not think I will have time to write tomorrow. We will be in Illinois for a week so I am not sure if I will be posting next week. 

We have had two very uneventful days. We have stayed home and just played. I have cleaned the house about 8 times and I think I am almost packed for our trip to Illinois. I have not been home (to Illinois) since last Thanksgiving so I am very excited. That also means that the girls have not been to Grandma and Grandpa house yet. We are actually opening our gifts tonight with our family. We were going to do it in the morning but we have a busy day tomorrow. I have to get Maggie to the vet to board her while we are gone and then we are eating lunch with some very dear families. I have to take Maggie tomorrow because the vet is not open Sunday and we will already be gone when they open on Monday. Our plan is to leave very early in the morning so the kids will maybe sleep the first half of the trip. Well I hope to post some pictures tomorrow of the kids opening their presents but I am not making any promises.

We had a great meeting last night with the social worker. The social worker was super nice. She is also an adopted parent. They went in August to Korea to pick up their son. It was nice to talk to a social worker that actually understands first hand the adoption experience. Chloe was very shy the entire visit. She had her head buried in one of our shoulders most of the visit. The social worker could not get over how much Chloe looks like me. She said "Chloe was born to be your daughter". I thought that was really nice and it just made me so happy that she is my daughter. There were so many things that had to been done. So many people that had to decide where this little girl would live and it all worked out that she is where she needs to be, in our arms. As soon as we got in the van Chloe once again came alive and started laughing and smiling. We got home about 7:00. We watched The Biggest Loser finale and I was very happy that Michelle won. The kids went to bed at about 8:30. Sam came in our room about 2 AM and Emma woke up and came in our room at about 6:00. I got up and got in the bed with Chloe. We all slept until about 8:30. We got ready and we went to my friend's house to get Sam his haircut. We did not make it Monday night because of the weather. He did a great job and he looks so handsome. We then made a trip to Wal-Mart. Yes, I had all three kids! I only had 7 items to pick up so I knew I could contain all of them in the buggy. They all did great but I probably will not make a habit of going with all of them by myself. Well the girls were taking a nap but I hear Chloe waking up so I better go.

I forgot to post something Sam did yesterday. When we put our Christmas tree up a few weeks ago we got Sam a calendar and circled the day that we would open presents. We are opening our presents on the 20th so we circled that day and each morning he wakes up he gets to mark off a day. We knew he would like to do this and we thought it might keep him from asking us if he could open presents five times a day. Well every day the past few weeks he has marked the day off and gets excited that the day is almost here. Well yesterday when we got home he was in his room playing and he came running in the kitchen telling me to come to his room. He kept saying he had to show me something. I went in his room and he had marked off every day for the rest of this week. He looks up at me with wide excited eyes and says, "Look mom it is time to open presents. My calendar says we are on the circled day!" I told him nice try. I am surprised he had not thought of doing that earlier.

It has been a crazy morning. We had some freezing rain last night but Nashville schools did not cancel school today. The counties around us cancelled but Jeremy had school. He was up early watching the news thinking that they would cancel. He called his principal and she told him wait and come in a few hours later. The kids heard him up so they all woke up. Jeremy left about an hour ago and he said that the roads were fine. Our porch and sidewalk is pretty icy but the roads are just wet. The girls are taking their morning nap and Sam is watching cartoons. I got the living room, kitchen, and Sam's room cleaned this morning so I am off to a good start. I am leaving at 3:00 with Chloe. We are going to pick Jeremy up at school and then we have to go to our adoption agency for our first post placement visit. We will be meeting with another social worker. Our friend is coming to stay with Sam and Emma. I am very thankful she is coming. When we were at the agency last time getting Chloe's referral Sam and Emma went crazy in the little meeting room. Our meeting is at 4:30 and I am hoping it will not take long. Well I know that I should not feel different because I am off every Tuesday, but I just feel weird knowing that I will not be going back to work. I turned in my key yesterday and it was just really sad. Well I am going to get ready while the girls are sleeping. You can see from the picture that we have another new sleeping arrangement in our house. We will keep trying until something works. The kids are sleeping sideways in the bed. I put a rail up at the end of the bed and Emma is sleeping at the end and then Chloe is at the head of the bed. It gives them so much more room. Chloe flops around so much that she was waking Emma up. Sam has slept in between them the last two nights and so far so good. We are hoping this will help everyone get more sleep around here. 

I know all my pictures lately have been in front of the Christmas tree but that is where the kids go when I tell them I want to take their picture. We have had quite a day. Jeremy and I are both not feeling well. We both have a major headache. All of my crud has finally started to break up so maybe I am on the mend. After church today Sam was running in the church (which we tell him ALL the time not to do) and he fell and hit his face. He hit the exact same spot as last night. He got up crying and he had split his face again. Today is Papa's birthday so we went to O'Charley's for lunch. We stopped at Wal-Mart to get some of that liquid band-aid stuff. He was screaming as I put it on him but it needed something to cover the scratch. We had a good lunch and then came home to hopefully get naps. Samuel finally fell asleep at about 3:30 and the girls slept for a few hours. Emma woke up again in one of her moods. Well we all loaded up and went back to church. We got to church and when we opened the door Emma was covered in BLOOD. Jeremy stays very calm when the kids are bleeding but there is something about seeing my kids bleeding that send me in a panic. Well it turned out it was her nose that was bleeding because she had picked it. We rushed her inside to clean her up but the kids and I came on home. She had blood all over her shirt and jacket. We came home and I got her in the bath. I am also trying to pick up around the house some tonight. I am not sure what happened around here but my house is a mess. Jeremy will be mad at me for saying this but I think it got so messy because he has been home the last four days. Well tomorrow is my last day of work. I definitely have mixed emotions. Part of me wishes I were already done so I would not have to get up in the morning. After work tomorrow I am taking Sam to get his haircut. He has not had one since that horrible Wal-Mart cut back in September. Thankfully our hairdresser is back to work. Oh, one more thing before I am done. Chloe said "momma" today. I am pretty sure she did not know what she was saying but she still said it and it made me happy. Well I better get everyone ready for bed. 

I wish I could say I feel better but I do not feel better. My throat is not hurting anymore but my nose is so stuffy and my body is just aching. I have also been sneezing like crazy today. Jeremy and I had a nice evening last night but I was feeling really bad by the time we got the kids and got home. The kids did great with our friends. Chloe was VERY happy to see us so that made me feel better about leaving her. I am always worried she will not want to come back to me after she has been with someone else. Well Jeremy tried to let me sleep last night but Emma cried out every few hours and she woke up every one in the house every time she cried. I am not sure what her deal is this week. The girls took two great naps today so I was able to rest a little bit. Tonight we had our youth group's Christmas party so I went with the kids for a few hours. They started getting tired and then Sam got hurt. He and his buddy Sarah were jumping on the bed and he decided to jump off and he hit the dresser. He has a pretty good scratch on his face, but it could of been worse. After I got his face cleaned up I was getting on him about jumping on the bed and he looks up to me and says, "one little monkey jumping on the bed, I fell off and bumped my face, no more monkey jumping on the bed." I just smiled.  Well Jeremy just got home and I need to get to bed. 

When I got home yesterday from my errands my throat started hurting and I only felt worse as the day went on. I woke up this morning and I still feel horrible. Thankfully Jeremy is home again today. The school system called a snow  day because they got a dusting of snow last night. We do not have a single flake at our house, but oh well. Jeremy is getting a nice four day weekend. I am really hoping that I will start feeling better. A nice family in our church asked if they could keep the kids tonight so we could have a date. They are very brave taking all three of them. We have a few more Christmas gifts to get and then we are going to see a movie and get something to eat. So I hope I am not feeling yuck all night. Well I think we are going to have another crazy day with the kids they are already crabby with each other and we have only been awake an hour. 

I keep forgetting to post something Sam said the other day at Gran's house that was so cute. Samuel was helping Gran unload the dishwasher and his job was to put away the silverware. Well he found this little baby fork and he said, "this fork is soo cute". Gran then told him that the fork was Janna's when she was a baby. Samuel then said, "Oh, you mean when she still lived in Korea." I had a feeling he thought all babies came from Korea.  Well it is another rainy day here. Things were pretty rough around our house yesterday. Everyone (including myself) was extra grumpy. It seems we are off to a better start this morning. Jeremy is staying home today because he is not feeling well. He has been feeling pretty crummy the past few days so he decided to stay in today hoping to feel better. Chloe cried out at 1 AM so I just climbed in bed with the girls. We all slept until 8:30 so that was nice. Jeremy is still sleeping. When he gets up I am going to go exercise and I need to run a paper by the doctor's office. Other then the few errands I think we will be staying in the rest of the day. Well I better go get ready to leave Jeremy will probably be waking up soon.

I think it is official, my kids are trying to beat me up. I forgot to mention that on Sunday after church Chloe hit her head against my nose and a few seconds later my nose started to bleed. Last night Emma had this princess wand and she was waving it around and she popped me right in the mouth and busted my lip. This morning Sam was playing and got up under my feet and knocked me down. I think they may be planning on taking over the house or something:) I also had a pretty rough night of sleep. Chloe had a little fever last night and I could tell she did not feel well. I gave her some medicine and then had her sleep with me in my bed. She cried out many times last night. Sam slept good but he was in Emma's bed. He now thinks there is a monster in his closet so I guess he will not be wanting to sleep in there anymore. I guess we will have to find something to bribe him to sleep in his own bed. Emma started crying at 1 AM and was pretty much on and off crying the rest of the night. When she gets her mind set on something she will continue to cry and whine until she gets it or if we can get her mind off of what she wants. I think she wanted to watch her Dora movie last night. We are really trying to work on her screaming. She screams ALL the time. She woke all of us up again at 7:00 screaming about something. She is not hurt or anything it is she wants something and she wants it NOW. Now do not get me wrong she can be the sweetest thing in the world but when she is mad watch out. Well we are staying home today. I got out last night and went to the grocery store. It was pouring down rain but I knew if I did not go I would have to venture out today with all three kids. I am not quite that brave yet. If I am going to be staying home I will probably try it someday but not anytime soon. I know this might sound crazy but I may start packing today for our trip to Illinois. I know we are not leaving for another week and a half but it might take me that long to get every body's stuff together. We spent one night away from home at Thanksgiving and it took me almost two hours to pack all the stuff. Well the kids are in the girl's room playing and it is awfully quiet. I better go check on them.

Prayer Request

We got a call this afternoon that we were going to need to reschedule our meeting tomorrow because our social worker had to be hospitalized. I talked to the director of our agency and she told me that our social worker has been diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. Our social workers name is Sharon Bennett. Please pray for her and her family. Please also pray for our agency. This is very hard on the staff there since they have already suffered the loss of one of their social workers in April (who also happened to be our social worker with Emma). I know they would all appreciate your prayers.

We had a pretty good day yesterday. I went to work and the kids went to Gran and Papa's house. I had a hard time at work because I was once again rethinking my decision not to work. I really like what I do. Yesterday the lady I work for had me cleaning out a bunch of cabinets and organizing them. I really like to organize and clean so we may work something out where I come in a few times a month and help her organize her house. So maybe I am not completely done working. Yesterday I had the girl's wear their Christmas sweatshirts and so Sam wanted to wear a Christmas shirt. I found a shirt in his closet that we bought last year after Christmas and it says "Chill Out" on it. Well yesterday at Gran's house Aunt Janna asked him what his shirt said and he replied, "It says Settle down". They thought that was so funny. I guess he knows what chill out means. Emma is doing good. She is just getting so grown. She acts more like Sam every day that it is scary. He definitely acts more like a 4 year old than a two year old most of the time. Chloe is also doing good. She is waving, giving kisses, and is doing better about trying to tell us what she wants. She is still not saying any words so I am a little concerned about that. I guess we will give it some more time. The doctor asked about her vocabulary but he did not seem concerned when I told him she was not saying any words. Well today I am cleaning. Our social worker is coming tomorrow for Chloe's first post  placement visit. I will probably have to get up early tomorrow and clean again and then lock the kids a one room but maybe I can get some of the cleaning done today. When Jeremy gets home today I am going to Curves and then to the grocery store. I am going to try and get groceries for the next two weeks. I would really love it if I did not have to go back to Wal-Mart until after Christmas. I also have a few little things to get for the kids and Jeremy and then I will be done with my shopping. Well the girls are in a wrestling match for a toy so I better go brake it up.

Well I have not posted in a few days so I thought I would give a quick review of the last few days. On Friday we just stayed home. The kids were pretty wild so when Jeremy got home I made a quick trip to the grocery store. My nephews got to our house Friday night and Sam was so excited to see them. I worked yesterday from 10-2. I came home and changed my clothes and took the kids to our friend Lisa's house. Jeremy and the boys stayed home and watched the football game and some of the girls and I went to see Twilight again. The girls were disappointed that Kaleb and Kraig did not join us for the movie. Anyway, the movie was so much better the second time around. The first time I saw it I was disappointed that it was not much like the book, but this time seeing it I loved it. So I recommend Twilight fans that were not impressed with the movie the first time they watched it should try to see it again. After the movie was over we were walking out and guess who was in line to watch a movie, Jeremy, Kaleb, and Kraig. The girls and I went to get something to eat and then I went and got the kids and came home. The girls went right to sleep. I heard them cry out around 5 AM and I thought they sounded close, well they both were in the living room. Emma was walking to our bed and Chloe was sprawled out in a floor asleep. She falls asleep very quickly. I put Emma in our bed and then I went back to bed with Chloe. Samuel has been sleeping in his bed all night for almost a week now. Well I have made a decision about working. I am not going back to work in January. I am actually working the next two Mondays and then I will be done. I am sad about it and my boss is VERY sad about my decision, but I feel this is the right thing to do. Well, I guess I am going to try and take a little nap while the girls are asleep.

Sam and Emma being puppies. 

Nothing too eventful around the Riggs' house today. We stayed home and the kids played all day. The girls took two naps and Sam took a nap also today. I got about an hour of peace and quiet. Well the sleeping arrangement around here has also been doing good two nights in a row. Sam has been sleeping in his bed the past three nights. I got up at 3 to give Emma a drink and that was the only time I got up last night. I am almost caught up on my laundry and I am planning on putting it away tonight. I am also feeling better about the decision I need to make about working, so I thank those of you who have prayed for me. Well tomorrow we will probably be doing the same things around here. We are however having some very special guests tomorrow night. My nephews, Kaleb and Kraig, are coming to stay the weekend with us. Samuel just adores them. Since they hit the teenage years I do not get much time with them so I am looking forward to being with them. Jeremy has a big project due on Saturday so I think I am going to take the boys to see a movie. Some of the girls want to go see Twilight again, so I am going to see if the boys will watch that with us. Some of the girls will be happy if they decide to join us. Well the kids have been good about not touching the Christmas tree. Chloe has gone toward it a few times but never touches it. I had a dream last night that she had climbed up the tree and was hanging from the top. Sam has just been a bundle of excitement since we put the tree up. We have a calendar up in his room and he is counting down until we leave for Illinois for Christmas. The other day he said, "Mom, this is going to be the best holiday season ever". I have no idea where he picked up the phrase "holiday season" but it was so cute. Well I better get off the computer. Jeremy is finishing up his last class for his Masters.