Homeward Bound

Pure JOY

2011-10-18T22:33:00.000-07:00

Turning His Mourning into Dancing!

2011-09-26T21:23:00.000-07:00

Marshet is a happy, funny boy. But last night, there was something different about him. He had JOY that I hadn't seen before. Has it been there and I have missed it? Maybe. But I watched him through a different lens, and something changed. I think I added one more notch to our attachment ladder. Not sure how or why dancing did that, but it most definitely did... and I'll take those wonderful notches anywhere and anyway I can get them!!!

I'm also not totally convinced that the Gladney Care Centers aren't running a Night Club as well-- because really, where does one get those dance moves?!?!?!?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_gyLKIDuSA

"A Hungry Child Can't Wait: Ask 5 for 5"

2011-09-19T06:00:00.000-07:00

Guest Blogger: Sarah Lenssen from #Ask5for5

Family photos by Mike Fiechtner Photography

Thank you "Homeward Bound" and nearly 150 other bloggers from around the world for allowing me to share a story with you today, during Social Media Week.

A hungry child in East Africa can't wait. Her hunger consumes her while we decide if we'll respond and save her life. In Somalia, children are stumbling along for days, even weeks, on dangerous roads and with empty stomachs in search of food and water. Their crops failed for the third year in a row. All their animals died. They lost everything. Thousands are dying along the road before they find help in refugee camps.

At my house, when my three children are hungry, they wait minutes for food, maybe an hour if dinner is approaching. Children affected by the food crisis in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia aren't so lucky. Did you know that the worst drought in 60 years is ravaging whole countries right now, as you read this? Famine, a term not used lightly, has been declared in Somalia. This is the world's first famine in 20 years.12.4 million people are in need of emergency assistance and over 29,000 children have died in the last three months alone. A child is dying every 5 minutes. It it estimated that 750,000 people could die before this famine is over. Take a moment and let that settle in.

The media plays a major role in disasters. They have the power to draw the attention of society to respond--or not. Unfortunately, this horrific disaster has become merely a footnote in most national media outlets. News of the U.S. national debt squabble and the latest celebrity's baby bump dominate headlines. That is why I am thrilled that nearly 150 bloggers from all over the world are joining together today to use the power of social media to make their own headlines; to share the urgent need of the almost forgotten with their blog readers. Humans have the capacity to care deeply for those who are suffering, but in a situation like this when the numbers are too huge to grasp and the people so far away, we often feel like the little we can do will be a drop in the ocean, and don't do anything at all.

When news of the famine first hit the news in late July, I selfishly avoided it. I didn't want to read about it or hear about it because I knew I would feel overwhelmed and uncomfortable. I wanted to protect myself. I knew I would need to do something if I knew what was really happening. You see, this food crisis is personal. I have a 4-year-old son and a 1 yr-old daughter who were adopted from Ethiopia and born in regions now affected by the drought. If my children still lived in their home villages, they would be two of the 12.4 million. My children: extremely hungry and malnourished? Gulp. I think any one of us would do anything we could for our hungry child. But would you do something for another mother's hungry child?

My friend and World Vision staffer, Jon Warren, was recently in Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya--the largest refugee camp in the world with over 400,000 people. He told me the story of Isnino Siyat, 22, a mother who walked for 10 days and nights with her husband, 1 yr-old-baby, Suleiman, and 4 yr.-old son Adan Hussein, fleeing the drought in Somalia. When she arrived at Dadaab, she built the family a shelter with borrowed materials while carrying her baby on her back. Even her dress is borrowed. As she sat in the shelter on her second night in camp she told Jon, "I left because of hunger. It is a very horrible drought which finished both our livestock and our farm." The family lost their 5 cows and 10 goats one by one over 3 months, as grazing lands dried up. "We don't have enough food now...our food is finished. I am really worried about the future of my children and myself if the situation continues."

Will you help a child like Baby Suleiman? Ask5for5 is a dream built upon the belief that you will.

That something I knew I would need to do became a campaign called #Ask5for5 to raise awareness and funds for famine and drought victims. The concept is simple, give $5 and ask five of your friends to give $5, and then they each ask five of their friends to give $5 and so on--in nine generations of 5x5x5...we could raise $2.4 Million! In one month, over 750 people have donated over $25,000! I set up a fundraiser at See Your Impact and 100% of the funds will go to World Vision, an organization that has been fighting hunger in the Horn of Africa for decades and will continue long after this famine has ended. Donations can multiply up to 5 times in impact by government grants to
help provide emergency food, clean water, agricultural support,
healthcare, and other vital assistance to children and families suffering in the Horn.

I need you to help me save lives. It's so so simple; here's what you need to do:

Donate $5 or more on this page (http://seeyourimpact.org/members/ask5for5)

Send an email to your friends and ask them to join us.

Share #Ask5for5 on Facebook and Twitter!

I'm looking for another 100 bloggers to share this post on their blogs throughout Social Media Week. Email me at ask5for5@gmail.com if you're interested in participating this week.

A hungry child doesn't wait. She doesn't wait for us to finish the other things on our to-do list, or get to it next month when we might have a little more money to give. She doesn't wait for us to decide if she's important enough to deserve a response. She will only wait as long as her weakened little body will hold on...please respond now and help save her life. Ask 5 for 5.

Thank you on behalf of all of those who will be helped--you are saving lives and changing history.

p.s. Please don't move on to the next website before you donate and email your friends right now. It only takes 5 minutes and just $5, and if you're life is busy like mine, you probably won't get back to it later. Let's not be a generation that ignores hundreds of thousands of starving people, instead let's leave a legacy of compassion. You have the opportunity to save a life today!

One full week of school... and everything else, under our belt!

2011-09-16T20:12:00.001-07:00

It's Friday!! We are ALL exhausted, but we survived the week!!! This summer was pretty mellow, especially August, as we were hunkering down as a new family of 5. So..... the first full week of school took us from mellow (schedule-wise) to insane!!! 2nd Grade, pre-K, swim lessons for little ones started, swim team started up again for Jake, 1st Scout meeting (they are only once/month-- of course it had to start this week!!) This week also brought Marshet's 5th birthday!!! And.... 2 doctor appointments and an evening/night at the ER with Grace--(bad asthma attack due to a cold), and a dentist, ENT, and chiropractic appointment, and meeting for church for me. GOOD GRIEF!! Thankfully, next week is looking pretty quiet. :)

Birthday boy-- Lightening McQueen FAN!!!!

1st day of 2nd grade

2nd grader's fan club!!!

1st day of Pre-K!!!

So much to say.... but I only have the energy for pictures!!

2011-09-12T21:53:00.000-07:00

I didn't want to be "that blogger" that dropped out of the blogging world once our adoption was "completed". I have wanted to blog so many times, but then... I don't. I'll be honest. It's been HARD! We had about a week of a honeymoon period, and then life picked right back up! Everything was textbook behavior-- from all 3 kiddos, but it still didn't make it any easier. We've been trying to set some serious boundaries around here, with a lot of resistance at times, well... most of the time!! :) I don't think sweet M had really ever been told "no". And I think his adorable little smile got him almost everything he ever wanted! So, yes, add that to the list of the hundreds of ways his little world has been totally turned upside down.... and I truly understand the reasons behind all of his behaviors. That doesn't mean that Mike hasn't come home from work and found the kids playing and me, hiding from the children, in the garage, while crying. :) It's been HARD. But..... we are coming out of the funk and are having incredible moments, hours, and even days!!!!! Starting school has done wonders for EVERYONE!!!! Structure and routine= more successful days. Everyone has said, "It will get better." It's hard to believe that when you're in the middle of huge fits and meltdowns, but it's true. It's better. And, it keeps getting better. He is one, cute, AMAZINGLY special little boy!!!!

My sweet friend took our pictures last night!! :)

stomach issues, but not giardia???

2011-08-15T15:37:00.000-07:00

I don't really want this to be a graphic post, but.... trying to figure out what's going on! Marshet has been having "loose stool" issues since Mike took placement of him in Ethiopia- and probably long before. All stool test results came back negative. So, no parasite, giardia, etc.... But, obviously something is going on. Has anyone else struggled with this, and/or found some answers? He eats TONS and is SUPER skinny!

1st days home!

2011-07-31T15:31:00.000-07:00

Who would have thought these first few days would have been this joyful?!? What an amazing, care-free, FUNNY, darling boy he is! He has jumped into our family with two feet and is ready for anything. :) I know we will be dealing with "stuff" as the days, weeks, months, years..... pass by. But in this little moment, I'm soaking in the smiles, hugs, and a few sweet kisses on the cheek. :) He has gone from calling me momma, to "mommy-yeah" (obviously, not the correct spelling), but my Ethiopian friend told me it means "my mommy". I'll take him claiming me. :)

HOME!!!!!

2011-07-29T17:01:00.000-07:00

Papa and his boy!

2011-07-25T19:11:00.000-07:00

Mike arrived in Ethiopia on Saturday night, and by Sunday afternoon he had Marshet!!! The first moments were a little rough, but Mike said he quickly warmed up and was soon calling him Papa and talking a mile a minute in Amharic!! :) They've been playing together ever since.... outside at the guesthouse, playing cars and blocks inside, and I think they're heading to the pool together tomorrow. :) They have a King size bed, but sometime in the night, Marshet wiggles and squirms until he's snuggled right up next to his papa!!! The updates have been melting my heart. It's hard not being there, but I know we made the right decision for me to stay home with our other two kiddos. Plus, the bonding that Mike and Marshet are getting is truly priceless.

their first meeting! (Mike is thrilled, but Marshet looks a little scared)

a little play time to break the ice

picked out his own outfit for his Embassy appointment. He said, "Bat-a-man!!"

post-Embassy lunch out.

Mike said he's a good eater. LOVES his veggies!!!

Playtime at the guest house with his buddy.

cleared for take-off!!

2011-07-01T08:47:00.000-07:00

FINALLY!!! This has been a crazy journey, but we have officially been cleared through embassy and it looks like we might be traveling at the end of July to bring our son HOME!

2 Years!

2011-06-21T09:05:00.000-07:00

Two years ago today, we started the adoption process to bring home our son! Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think our boy would still be in Ethiopia..... but we'll continue to fight this battle until he is home!

We have this sweet face to keep our spirits up!

And we still wait....

2011-06-15T20:52:00.000-07:00

We should be really good at this by now, but... it's still hard. Especially when we are SO CLOSE to the end! I thought it was near, but then it slipped away again. I thought court and getting our MOWA letter would be the trickiest part, but it looks like getting cleared through Embassy is proving itself tough. After Hillary Clinton left Ethiopia, and the Embassy opened back up, our "new" documents were going to be submitted today (instead of Monday like we had thought), and I truly thought we'd have our Embassy date by the end of the week. But... they now want a new document, which really doesn't exist, so I'm praying, praying, praying, that a good 'ol "clarifying things" conversation will be had very soon and we will get the green light. Because really, if an explanation of the "issue" doesn't work, I'm not sure what Plan B would be.

Until then........

(after re-reading this post, I realized that I used the words "I thought...." a lot. There's my problem. Assuming things during an adoption!!! I should know better by now!!!)

Submitted!!

2011-06-02T23:03:00.000-07:00

I received an email today from our case worker, and the subject line said, "submitted"!!! We were officially submitted to embassy today!!! 4 weeks wasn't too long, but considering there was a typo on the original court decree-- that had to be fixed, and then the embassy decided that they needed new information on all court decrees from this point on.... we got a bit delayed. But, we're on the final stretch of bringing Marshet home!!!!!! I'm praying that our file is totally complete and that the embassy will pass us straight through..... and he'll be coming home SOON!!!!

The next decision to be made is who's traveling next. The original plan.... even before we started the adoption process (2 years ago this June 21st!!!!), was that Mike, Jacob, and I would travel. Then the two travel rule happened. We decided that I would travel for court, and then the three of us would pick him up. After 24 hours of flying.... we're all dragging our feet about bringing Jacob-- even he is. :) And.... for me, the transition home after the first trip was tough. Jake was fine, but Grace seemed to really struggle once I got home. She was really clingy and needy, and seemed even stressed out when I left her room after tucking her in, etc.... I got a lot of, "don't leave me". So..... is it really the best idea to leave again, and this time come home with her new brother?!?! Or.... do I stay home, keep the house and family routine as intact as possible, and be fresh and excited to welcome Mike and Marshet home?!? Ughhh... tough decision. I know the pick up trip can be a quick one, and we won't be really touring around-- and I already did that a month ago. But, will I feel like I missed out on something big if I don't go this time? I've been praying about it a ton, and I know we need to decide soon. But, in all honesty, we are all just ready to have Marshet home and to start the summer and our life together as a family of 5!

All I know is that I'm packing this weekend, because no matter what we decide on the travel bit.... I want to be ready to hop on a plane at a moments notice to bring home our boy!!!

Introducing......

2011-05-02T09:40:00.000-07:00

our newest addition.... Marshet!!!!! :) Just got word we passed court!!!!!!!!!!

our referral photo!! :)

Took these pics last week while visiting him! He's soooo sweet and happy!!!

Day 1 in Ethiopia!

2011-04-30T00:42:00.000-07:00

Day 1- April 24, 2011- Easter

We are staying at BJoe guest house. We were under the impression that we were the only Gladney family in country this week. We got in late Saturday night, and were told that there were 2 moms (with their kiddos) staying there as well.!! We got to meet them in the morning. One mom, Meggan, is with Gladney. She has her 3 year old son with her, that they adopted from Ethiopia 2 years ago, and she is adopting a 6 and 8 yr. old girl. The other mom, Danielle, has her 3 year old son—home from Ethiopia 2 years ago as well, and her baby boy that she’s waiting for his embassy appointment. She is with CHI. So, it’s been a nice surprise to have other moms here!! My dad is a trooper!! He’s not a big “world” traveler, so this has been quite the experience for him. We hit the ground running on day 1. Since we thought we were going to be the only family around, and we knew that Easter was such a big holiday here, we were just going to go to church and then maybe spend some of the day at the Hilton, by the pool. Assumed a lot of places would be closed, and staff and drivers would want to be with their families that day. Well, Sunday morning plans changed because we were invited to join the other gals that are staying here to go celebrate Easter at Kebetesehey orphanage. They had a goat they were going to be eating and we stopped on the way and picked up cakes. 4 hours at the orphanage was an incredible experience. I will say that it’s a tough orphanage to visit—there is GREAT need--- and there also doesn’t seem to be an active “sponsorship” program going on there, that I know a lot us thought we were a part of! But, the kids were sweet, and beautiful, and loved having visitors. I spent a lot of time upstairs with the babies. There were just too many to hold! There were only 3 or 4 nannies there, so all the babies are fed by having the bottles propped up and every baby I picked up was soaking wet! Maybe there is a diaper shortage, but we were told that the babies only get changed twice in a 24 hr. period!! I’m really hoping that’s NOT the norm... but afraid it might be!

After eating (injera and doro wat- with goat instead of chicken- so probably not doro wat, but it had the red sauce and egg), we had cake and soda and then it was time to go. We stopped by Ketchene for a few minutes to deliver a pair of shoes to a girl and for a quick bathroom stop.  We were now on our way to Alex’s house for a coffee ceremony. (Alex volunteers at Kebebtesehey and works with some of the special needs kids. I think he’s paid a bit through Gladney—but don’t quote me on that. ) He lives out in Korah. It’s a bit more in the countryside and it’s beautiful….. beyond the view of the steaming dump. We spent a few hours at his home with his extended family. It was a beautiful way to spend Easter!

By this time, we were pretty wiped out!! So, we headed back to BJoe’s and ordered dinner in and then hit the sack! Day 1 was amazing. Nothing like hitting the ground running!

MOWA letter

2011-04-29T13:01:00.000-07:00

We got our letter!!!!!! MOWA wrote our opinion on Friday!! Thank you Jesus!!!! We still haven't passed court-- M's guardian will be at court on Monday. Hopefully we will have word then!!!!!!

wooooo hoooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And we're off!!!

2011-04-21T23:17:00.001-07:00

I had plans to post before now, but it's been a bit crazy here!!! But, I leave tomorrow!! I'm excited, and a bit nervous. This is my first BIG trip without Mike! But, I'm so happy that my dad is going with me. :) I arrive Saturday night-- just in time for Easter festivities on Sunday!! And then Monday is the day that I get to meet our boy!!! I'm excited, but I also know it will be hard to see him, but not really interact with him much since he doesn't know that I'm mom. But, either way, I GET TO SEE MY BOY IN 4 DAYS!!!!!!

I'm off to finish the last Hague Training quiz, because yes, Mike and I like to wait until the 11th hour to get things done!! And, it's not like we haven't had time to watch the videos!!!! :)

Court Date!!!!

2011-04-01T10:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we received our call and our court date is April 26th!!!!!!!! Wow! That's quick. But, oh so excited to meet the little guy and be one step closer to bringing him home!! I'll miss Easter and Grace's birthday while I'm gone, but, those can be celebrated early. :)

Lots to do in a short amount of time, because no, I haven't been planning ahead!! :)

Orphan Ministry LAUNCH!!

2011-03-06T16:09:00.000-08:00

Today was such an exciting day! We have been planning for quite awhile, and today we officially launched our Orphan's Ministry- Passion117- at church. The service was incredible! The worship songs, videos, sermon, etc... all focused on orphan care. We showed Eric Ludy's Depraved Indifference video. Such an incredible video!!! We are in the middle of a sermon series on The Parables, and this week's- The Parable of the Good Samaritan- fit perfectly! "Go and do likewise" was our call today. So many of us are like the priest and the Levite- crossing the road to avoid the needy; turning a blind eye to the suffering. But, Jesus calls us to be a neighbor. Instead of spending our time trying to define who our neighbor is, we just need to be a neighbor to whoever is in need- whether they are next door or across the world.

"So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?" And he said, "He who showed mercy on him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." Luke 10:36-37

Link to the sermon (AMAZING!): The Parable of the Good Samaritan

After the sermon, my husband went up and spoke about our journey through adoption. It was quite emotional! At the end, he said that he's blessed that God has given so many woman compassion for children- the orphan. But, Orphan Ministry is not just for women! The men need to rise up and lead as well.

Here is a video of him speaking. (I had to split it into two parts- it's 15 min. and youtube only allows 10 min. videos. )

Mike's talk- part 1
Mike's talk- part 2

The service ended with a presentation of the World Orphans church to church partnership program. I had spent a lot of time researching MANY "orphan care" organizations. There are so many wonderful programs already established. I just really fell led towards World Orphans and the work they do and our church leaders liked them too. We are hoping to partner with a church in Ethiopia. Our church body received pledge cards today and in the next week or so, we will see if we have enough monthly pledges to go forward with a church partnership with World Orphans.

Overall, today's church service was absolutely incredible! It's easy to get absorbed into the incredible adoption community, go to the conferences, read the blogs and stories of the amazing work so many are doing, etc. But, to be able to present this model to our church-- so many really hearing about it for the first time, being moved, etc.... was the biggest blessing ever. What a HUGE God we serve!!

Some of the info that was out today......

Hurry home, little man!

2011-02-24T22:42:00.000-08:00

Today was 3 months since we got our referral. We're ready for our sweet boy to come HOME!!

And... while we're waiting, we're enjoying a snow day at home.

Sunshine to a cloudy day!!

2011-02-01T18:50:00.001-08:00

I just heard Francesca Battistelli's new song, "This is the Stuff". It's impossible to be in a bad mood when you listen to it. And then tonight, as soon as I started to play the song on my computer for the first time, Grace came running from the other room and just started dancing!!!

(lame blogger wouldn't let me upload the video!) (or lame me for not really knowing how to!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzX_aWLw8Gk&feature=player_embedded#

Dedicated to Amy Bottomly!

2011-01-23T21:05:00.001-08:00

I was recently and not so subtly informed that I've been a blogging slacker!! :) And... I agree! No real excuse.... just haven't had a lot to say. Still waiting for a court date. Tomorrow will be 2 months since our referral.... and that officially puts us in the "window" of getting a court date. (we were told it's a 2-3 month wait from referral to hearing of a court date.) I think my dad is getting antsier than I am, though. He's traveling with me on the first trip!!

But.... since my sweet friend Amy told me I didn't have anything new for her to read... here's a recap of life lately:

-Jake: He's almost 7 1/2 and becoming quite the boy! I'm LOVING this age. Just fun and special to really see him blossom as he gets older. He's having an awesome year in school (thanks to an amazing teacher who "gets" him and doesn't try to force him to fit into "the box". He doesn't fit-- believe me, I've tried!!) I could devote an entire blog to this issue, but I won't. :) Jake's my awesome, quirky, loving, freakishly smart little guy who's going to be an AMAZING big brother!

-Grace: Oh this girl! I'm either head over heels, in love and in awe of this funny, spunky, smart, crazy girl, OR.... I'm hyperventilating in a corner over her STRONG and stubborn streak! Currently, she is using Jesus to try to get her way: "Jesus told me that he doesn't want me to take a shower this morning." "Jesus just told me that he wants me to stay in the bathroom with you" (after I had asked her to leave so I could have some privacy--pipe dream, I know!!) And... like her brother, she is very excited for "new brother" to come home! She prays for him every night!

-New brother "M"- I wish I could share his name. It's a cool one. We had never heard it before. But, this little guy.... he's something special. The updates on him are just wonderful. He seems to capture the attention of people when they visit. He has a sparkle about him that stands out. His eyes twinkle in all of the pictures! I just can't wait to meet this little one. He was truly God's gift to us.

-Orphan Ministry!!! Woo Hoo!! I've been excited to share this news... though all the details aren't totally ready yet. After LOTS of talking, sharing, emailing videos, blog articles, links to awesome organizations, etc..... I think my pastor's finally just go sick of hearing from me and I got the green light!! (well, honestly, they're all on board and super excited). But, on March 6th, our church is devoting the entire church service to launch our Orphan Ministry!! More details to share soon, but we are partnering with an organization and getting connected in Ethiopia, and we will play a big role in the Foster Care community as well. But there is LOTS of work to do to get ready for March 6th!

So, there you go. Was that enough of an update, Amy? (and any others that actually still follow this lame blog!!) :)

And, I was going to post a few pictures, but I guess I really haven't taken pictures since Christmas!! (the month of January is going to be pretty bare in the family scrapbook!) I guess I'm bringing the camera to swimming lessons and basketball practice this week!

Connecting the Dots....

2011-01-04T22:37:00.000-08:00

It's no secret that our journey to get our referral was long and exhausting! There were some big heart breaks during the last few months of waiting that made me, at times, seriously doubt that our journey would end with a new son home with us. In August, after 10 months of waiting, I started asking more questions about our wait. (I really did not want to be THAT family, but I think we are! :) ) Well, at the beginning of August we found out that we had already lost 5 matches, but they were already working on #6. And then September came and I was starting to feel like we were getting "close" to this 6 match being ready. But, near the end of September we get the call that our 6th match fell through, BUT they have, yet again, matched up with another boy. (Seriously, I was just about at the end of my rope-- why us?? Yes, quite the pity party). And then in October, I think, we get another call--UGH!-- at this point I was not enjoying the emails that said, "can we schedule a time for a phone call"! This particular phone call was to let us know that they had more background on match #7 and his birth date would put him and Grace under a year apart, and would we be OK with this?? Seriously--- like we would say NO?!?!? But, really, when we started the process, we were requesting a 4-5 year old boy because Jacob had just turned 6 when we got on the waitlist. We were hoping that the boys would be a year apart. But after waiting a year, Jacob turned a year older, but our referral parameters didn't change. So, we find out that our boy was brought to an orphanage in mid-September, and a week later, he was at the Gladney Care Center being matched with us!!! I started thinking..... we lost our 6th match in September. Our boy turned 4 in September. We would have never been matched with him if he wasn't already 4. Yes. God had this all worked out this entire time. He's the most PERFECT little boy for us! And, as I like to say... "I always wanted twins! At least this way I don't have to go through the baby and toddler stage with twins!" Win-win!

Even through my wavering faith and strength through this whole process, God had ever detail worked out. Deep down, I knew that. I was just having a terrible time being patient in finding out the details. :)

And then we come up for air!

2010-12-15T18:21:00.000-08:00

21 days. It's been 21 days since we saw the most beautiful face ever! It's been so fun to share M's sweet face with so many friends. It's also given us the opportunity to share our testimony a few times-- how God has wonderfully formed our family and changed our lives through adoption. What a blessing!

It's fun to re-read "THE call" post. I can tell that I was just bursting at the seams while writing it!! :) We're now settling in to waiting again and I'm wrapping my brain around a March or April court date. (now, I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I'm secretly hoping that we'll be that random family who gets a crazy fast court date!!) But, who knows! Currently, I'm planning on traveling for the court date with either my dad or my sweet friend (who I mentioned in my referral post) or both!! We've decided that Mike, Jake, and I will go together to bring M home. Jake is going to want to play with his brother and not really care much about the touring, shopping, and site-seeing-- so the first trip won't be as fun for him.

So, for now, we wait. But, with Christmas, this month is already flying by! And, my amazing church friends have already planned a shower for the end of January. So.... I still have things to look forward to as we are anxiously awaiting a court date!!

Below... some pretty cute Christmas pics.

On our way to get Jake from school and go and see Santa and meet Daddy for lunch.

The first picture that Grace is genuinely smiling. She's excited about Santa this year.

...and a lost tooth at lunch!

The kids are soooo excited about their new brother. They both carried around his picture in their school backpacks-showing him off to their friends and teachers. I have found one of M's pictures being used as a bookmark in one of Jake's books he's reading. We have some cute family pics with a framed photo of M in them as well. And, his new stocking is hung by the chimney with care!

We LOVE you sweet and precious boy and we can't wait to bring you home!!!!!

Thankful for THE CALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-11-24T21:43:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that I finally get to write this post! We got the call TODAY!!! 1.5 hours after I knew Gladney was closed for the holidays. I was having my own little pity party and trying to figure out how I was going to fake my way through the Thanksgiving holiday and pretend I was happy, when inside, I was falling apart. But, God IS good, and knew the exact and perfect time for us to learn about our boy! Of course, yesterday, Mike was home because we were all snowed in, but today... he had a meeting at work that he couldn't miss!!! So, Natalie called me at 11:20 (1:20 in Texas)to tell me our referral was ready!! I instantly called Mike and he talked to his boss and his boss told him to forget the meeting and to head straight home!!!! It was almost an hour till we could call Natalie back. But, we opened up the laptop, sat down as a family in front of the fire, and saw the most BEAUTIFUL boy I've ever seen!!!!! he's 4 years old and perfect!!! Gorgeous, sparkling eyes, and a HUGE dimple up high on his cheekbone, and a smile to melt your heart! He's amazing!!!!! He radiates joy! Of course, we instantly accepted his referral and then I was off to the store to print off all the pictures we got! Have I mentioned yet how cute he is?!?!?! Today was already to be a busy day, as we had a turkey prepped and stuffing to be made to take down to church this evening for the Thanksgiving dinner we were serving. But, while Mike stayed home to keep cooking, I ran out to deliver the news to my precious friend who has walked me through my highs.... and more recently my LOWS in this journey-- and I just had to celebrate with her!! (and.... if I had had the time, and if the roads weren't still covered in snow and ice, I would have piled the whole family in the car and driven all over town showing off our boy to all of our friends and family). But, instead, I headed home, picked up the family, and headed to my parents' house to drop off Grace (she wasn't going to come to serve at the church tonight). So, both kids knocked on their door and my parents opened the door to the kids waving their new brother's pictures and squealing in delight!!! And then.... we got to head to church to show off our boy to our incredible church family!! What a day/night this has been!!!! I don't think I've truly processed it yet. I think I just can't believe that the wait is finally over. Man, it took a toll on my body-- both mentally and physically. But, God carried me through and I know it has been such a refining time for me. Hard, but worth every moment!!

I'm not even focusing on the "what nexts". 3-5 months till court? maybe? Right now, I'm just loving my family and loving my boy!!!!!!

Not much to say these days.

2010-11-13T22:31:00.001-08:00

This blog has definitely been mostly adoption based. I started the blog right when we got our referral for Grace (June 2007). I kept it up and mainly focused on adoption stuff and family. But honestly, after almost 13 months of waiting for our new little guy, I'm feeling pretty tapped out in the blogging department (as you can probably tell from my several past posts!) So, I'm hoping and praying that this is going to be my LAST post until we get our referral. Because really, even these two cuties are getting fed up with the wait (or maybe they're just fed up with having such an emotionally unstable mom these past months!) Either way, we're BEYOND ready to know who our little guy is!!!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

2010-10-31T23:06:00.001-07:00

Batman and Batgirl wish you a Happy Halloween!!

Fun days

2010-10-30T14:09:00.000-07:00

I decided not to write a mopey post about hitting the 1-year of waiting mark. So, instead.... here's a picture walk of life this fall! Little brother will join our family in His perfect timing. :)

God's Story

2010-09-26T20:14:00.000-07:00

11. Yep, it's true. Today marks 11 months on the waitlist for a 4-5 year old boy. Who knew? I will say that this has been quite a journey for us! On one side, I just "assumed" that this adoption would be FAST!! I mean, not many people request a little boy. But, deep down, since before we even sent in our paperwork to Gladney, I had a feeling that this would be a tough road to travel. I don't know why-- just a feeling I had.

From the beginning, we knew this was going to be God's story that He's telling. But, it's been tough and I've definitely found myself on my knees crying out, "why?" "What's taking so long?" My momma arms feel empty! My heart has broken over and over. And, I've definitely had some not so graceful moments in this wait that I'm not too terribly proud of. But, even through some of my toughest moments, I have felt a deep peace about this journey. I know God has our boy and He's getting him ready. Back in August, when we had surpassed any type of estimated wait time, I called our case worker and we talked. She was able to get some info for me and give me a little insight in to what's been going on with our case. Though the news was a bit shocking-- again, I just felt such a strong presence of God's hand working in all of this. At that point, we had lost 5 potential matches and the in-country staff was currently working on match #6!! It's hard to explain, because so many around us were confused, frustrated, and upset for us-- and don't get me wrong-- so was I-- but, the peace was still there. I knew God was working and obviously our timing was not aligning with His timing and He was working the kinks out so His perfect boy for us would be ready in His perfect timing!

(this is NOT the norm with Gladney, and I think all of the matches have fallen through on the orphanages' end, not on Gladney's end!)

So, here we are at 11 months. Though I wish my boy was upstairs, tucked in bed right now with his sister and brother.... I will choose to wait-- with the Lord's strength, gracefully-- until His perfect timing is revealed.

**We are on to match number 7. Lucky number 7?? I sure hope! :)

The Search has Ended!

2010-09-21T19:20:00.000-07:00

It's true. For the last 3 years, I have been searching for a hair product that defines Grace's curls. And, today, I have found it!

This product is AMAZING!!! To use it, all I did was comb out her wet hair, section by section, and then rub a bit of the product in the palm of my hands and coat it throughout her hair. Normally, when I come out Grace's hair-- it's HUGE. But, not today. Beautiful, perfect, gorgeous curls!!!

A new year....

2010-09-09T16:15:00.000-07:00

My little (well, not so little anymore) guy, started 1st grade yesterday! He's loving it, but this momma heart is missing her boy, who is now at school ALL day!

So, I'm spending my days with my girl.... and her tutu and leotard!! :)
And, I'm starting to get excited again about getting the call!! Unless, yet another match falls through, it really, truly, just has to be any day now-- or at least within the next few weeks!!

And then there was 10!

2010-08-26T00:03:00.000-07:00

This WILL be the last number post. This WILL be the last number post. This WILL be the last number post!!!!!!!

My Joy

2010-08-19T23:05:00.000-07:00

Same old stuff.....

2010-08-18T21:02:00.000-07:00

Yep. We're still here. Waiting. But... it's OK. I will admit, July was ROUGH!!!! I was in a huge funk! My anxiety was off the charts--- I had convinced myself that something terrible was going to happen to me, Mike, the kids, etc... and that's why we weren't getting our referral. Yeah. That was a fun place to be in! UGHHH... But, things are better. We got some information in regards to the length of our wait. And strangely, it has given me great peace! Yes, I still want our referral NOW, but I know that they've been working their tails off for our family, but the right boy just hasn't been ready yet. I still have hopes for the end of the month or early Sept., but right now, I'm OK. And... if we get our referral tomorrow or the end of Sept.-- nothing can happen to our file until the courts reopen anyway, so that's making things easier as well. )

So, there you have it. Not much new on the adoption front. But, we've been having a great summer and are gearing up for back to school. I can't believe I'll have a first grader and a preschooler!!!

Never in my wildest dreams...

2010-07-26T14:11:00.000-07:00

Getting HARD!!

2010-07-14T11:57:00.001-07:00

OK. Who am I kidding. It's not getting hard, it's already been extremely hard!!! We have been "unofficially" sitting at #1 for a 4-5 year old boy for 8 months, 2 weeks, and 4 days!!! I could be reflective about the wait, how I know it's strengthened me, etc..... but today, I'm just tired. Tired of "waiting".

Captured by the curls!

2010-07-07T08:08:00.000-07:00

I have to say..... Grace LOVES her hair! She talks about it, always requests to wear it "big"-- "no braids, mommy"-- and whenever anyone makes a comment about it, she always says, "thank you. my mommy made it!!" (melts my heart) A few weeks ago I put in about a dozen box braids. I just really needed to slather it with oil and moisturizer and keep it healthy.
The braids lasted 2 weeks!!! YEAH! Over the weekend, I took them out. The morning I took them out, Grace said, "I just can't stop talking about my big hair! I need to go up to my room and look in the mirror." And she proceeded to admire her hair and dance in her mirror for the majority of the morning!!!
Yesterday. Grace knew she was going to get her hair cut. She had been telling everyone over the weekend that Tete, an Ethiopian lady, was going to cut her hair. She was thrilled! Her hair appointment lasted 1.5 hours. She washed and conditioned it. Combed it out. Blew dry it straight--wowza!!! And then trimmed all the dry ends!! Grace was loving every second of it!!
The rest of the day, Grace admired her hair! She wanted to show everyone. She was constantly touching it. I think it's super cute, but honestly, I love the curls. They are Grace. Her hair is as big as her personality!

But... I say all of this because I LOVE the fact that Grace LOVES her hair. It's different. She gets A LOT of attention for it. She could (and someday may)-- get tired of the attention. But now, I will enjoy the time we get together when I do her hair. I will capture the smiles and silly faces she makes in the mirror while flipping her hair around. I will continue to do my homework and learn more and more about her hair and how to keep it natural and healthy. I am blessed by all that is my daughter!!! She is my ray of sunshine.

Selling Tees and Necklaces!!

2010-06-28T20:48:00.000-07:00

A bit about the tees-- I started thinking of a design after our Orphan Sunday at our church, back in November. I really wanted something that was more than just a shirt for adoption. So, "love, pray, protect" came to mind in thinking about orphan care through sponsorship, praying for the widow and orphan, adopting, and foster care. I think most of our friends and family are doing at least one of those-- if not more!! :) And, after help from some very talented friends-- the final design was finished!
The women's tees are Tultex, fine jersey, 100% pre-shrunk cotton. (they're really soft and nice and long) They seem to be more of a Junior's cut/style, so it's recommended to order a size or two up!

**I'm adding an additional women's tee. The Tultex brand are cute, but they do run small-- I'm wearing a large, and I usually wear size small tees (Old Navy, Gap style, etc...) So, the second style is still a women's cut, but not as "fitted"-- but definitely not as boxy as a unisex cut! It's a Gildan Ladies' 4.5 oz. SoftStyle™ Ringspun T-Shirt.... definitely true to size.

The men's tees are Gildan, Ultra cotton, 100% pres-shrunk cotton. They are true to size.
(the words on the guys' shirt came out a darker brown than was expected so the brown will be a bit lighter/brighter on the next printed batch.)

ORDERING INFO: I am taking pre-sale orders for the t-shirts. You can order through the paypal link on the right side of my blog.

Click on the image to see the necklaces bigger!

Necklaces: The necklaces are a scrabble tile pendant with a clear and hard ice resin coating on the top. You can order those through paypal as well. The color/design are the following:
**going from left to right:

1. Green Damask 2. Two-tone green damask 3. Turquoise scroll 4. Turquoise damask 5.Pink scroll 6. Light blue damask

Please feel free to email me if you have specific questions: suzi_little @ hotmail.com

T-Shirts and Necklaces for sale... and an AWESOME fundraiser!!!!

2010-06-27T15:52:00.001-07:00

Well, after MONTHS (seriously, we had a rough design of the shirts back in November!!), we finally got our shirts finished and printed!! I also have made some necklaces. By tonight or tomorrow, I will have paypal links for people to order tees and necklaces!! :) But, I'm excited about how they turned out and wanted to share.We also had a fundraiser at the house last night and did a Raffle/Auction Night!! Friends and family donated items to have raffled off--and we even had a few items in a silent auction. It was lots of fun and a special way to spend the evening surrounded by wonderful friends who are walking this adoption road alongside of us (and even carrying us, well me.... when the wait is too much to bear!!!)

And.... yesterday was 8 months of waiting!! Oh, how I hope THIS is the week!!!!! ( I know Gladney's FBI list doesn't represent all the waiting families, but according to the list, we have been in the #1 spot-- for a 4-5 year old boy-- for 8 months!!!) It's been hard... but I'll continue to wait for the perfect boy God has chosen for our family!!

Happy Referralversary, sweet Grace!!!

2010-06-20T14:04:00.000-07:00

Three years ago today, we saw our sweet girl's face for the first time!! It was a wonderful day, but she was a wee little one, so there was some fear there as well. But, oh, what an amazing, fun, spicy, spirited, hilarious, silly, sweet, wonderful little lady she has blossomed in to!!!!

We love you, Gracie girl!!!!!!!

Referral photos: our tiny princess-- 7 weeks, 4.3lbs.

getting bigger... and that's Grace's BFF Ruby's leg in the picture (at Hannah's Hope)

3 years later.........

Laughin' it up with Ruby!!!!!!

2010-05-26T09:11:00.000-07:00

Well, today marks month 7 on the waitlist for our 4-5 year old boy!!!! Oh, how my heart is breaking. Over the past few months I've had to let go of a lot of expectations I had created for my little family. I truly thought we'd be home by now and we'd be getting ready to enjoy the summer bonding and getting to know each other before the craziness of the school year starts back up in the fall. Little guy could be ready for kindergarten and I was really hoping to have a chunk of time with him before sending him off to school!! But, obviously, that was not God's plan for us. And, I'm starting to be OK with that. I will wait as long as God wants us too, because in this wait, He is loving me. He is loving my boy. He is loving my entire family! And in that, I'm at peace. I do wish we'd have a few answers as to "why" we've been waiting for sooo long, but, for now, I guess we're not to know the details quite yet. His story will be told through this, and it will be His glory that shines through. I just need to step aside so God can work. :) I've also realized, that in this wait, I'm learning more about the depth of Christ's love for me. And no matter how messed up I am, how many mistakes I make, how sinful I am.... He loves me NO MATTER WHAT!! And, as I step away from the fairytale I've created of bringing my boy home, I'm going to need Christ's love to love my boy the way he deserves to be loved! As my sweet friend said, Love is a Fruit of the Spirit for a reason-- we NEED Christ to love the way He wants us to!

So, thank you Lord for giving me this wait to learn more about you and the depth of your love!!! Thank you for preparing my heart to LOVE my boy--because this momma's heart will mess up, make BIG mistakes, and feel broken. But, through you, I pray that my boy will only feel your steadfast and unconditional love!

***and I sure do hope this is my LAST number post I have to make!!!!! Because these two cuties really want their brother home!!!!!

6

2010-04-26T21:56:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that it's been six months!!! I have my stretches of peace about the wait, but I also have my times of frustration and anxiety. I never dreamed that we'd be nearing the possibility of missing court before the courts close!!! But, that is now quite a reality for us. Yet, I know God is using this wait... teaching me something. And I'm good with that. :)

Orphan Ministry

2010-04-04T19:21:00.000-07:00

I am working with a few other people from my church in the hopes of launching an Orphan Ministry. We're in the meeting with the pastor/researching/gathering info stage. I would love your help! Do you have an Orphan Ministry at your church? If so, would you be willing to share your church's website link or leave some info about it in my comments section?!?

Thanks for your help!

2010-03-26T17:26:00.000-07:00

And that's all I have to say about that!! :)

So... to escape from the pity party I was having.... I took the kids to visit my grandma and to play on the beach. I knew THE call wouldn't come today since our case worker was out of the office.... so I tried to just have fun and love on my kiddos!!! :)

And, no need to feel sorry for Grace for "falling" in the water. My crazy girl wanted to go swimming!!!!!! She did that on purpose! Yep-- she keeps us on our toes!

Nothing new....

2010-03-06T21:31:00.000-08:00

We're trekking through our day to day. I never thought that I'd be posting that we hit AND passed the 4 month mark of waiting. Things just seemed to moving so much faster when we started the process. But, it's moving at God's perfect pace and I can truly, truly say that I'm OK with that. I think my mind had been saying I was ok with the wait, but my heart wasn't. But, I think I'm getting better at waiting. Lately, I've just been surrounded by "patience" and "waiting". I'm doing a Beth Moore study right now on the Fruits of the Spirit-- awesome!!! And, I have the faith that I know we will be greatly blessed in our wait. Because, the adoption journey just isn't about being matched with your child and then bringing them home. That is just a very small piece. God is working in all of the steps. He's working in me right now as I wait. He's working in our boy. He's working in my family at home. He's working in the people that hear about our adoption. This is His story. We just are the ones that are being blessed as we continue on this journey with Him. And, I am excited (and yes, a little nervous too) to see how our story unfolds. Though it may not be what I had planned-- we'd be traveling this month if things went according to MY plan!!-- I know that God's plan is going to be so much better than anything I could have come up with!!!!

But, in the waiting, life continues. Time is flying. The kids are growing up way too fast. I want to savor my days.... for who knows what tomorrow may bring!

But, last week brought a pretty rockin' first real haircut for Grace!!! Seriously.... she has an amazing fro! I guess that's the way to cut her hair-- picked all the way out, and then the gal used clippers to shape the fro!! Grace ate up every moment of her time at the salon. She LOVED it! :)

and... my guy lost his two bottom teeth! Sooooo cute!!!
If I were to capture a photo that says "Jake"-- this would be it!! He's a LEGO maniac. He got his new LEGO kit in the mail the other day (he's part of the Brickmaster club!!) Notice he still has his backpack on! Went straight from the bus stop to the table to start building!!!

And my little lady.... captured this just on the back deck. She plays out back every day, rain or shine. On the deck, in the dirt, making mud pies, singing songs, and talking to, well... I don't really know... but she talks nonstop to whoever she thinks is outside playing with her!!! :)

Two perfect blessings....

2010-02-15T21:15:00.000-08:00

I hate to admit it, but some days I find myself focusing on what I don't have, and am missing the moments that I do have with these two amazing blessings!!!!

They melt my heart!

And, our little guy will be ready to join our family in God's perfect timing. I'm resting in that peace right now.

Ladybug Girl

2010-01-29T11:13:00.000-08:00

After reading this book today....

This is the outfit Grace HAD to wear today!!!

Grace has plans for Jacob to be Bumblee Boy when he gets home from school today!!! We'll see how that one plays out!! :)

another month down....

2010-01-26T07:58:00.001-08:00

Yep. We have officially been waiting a full 3 months. I know that doesn't really sound like too long to be waiting. But, when the heart is longing to see the face of our sweet boy.... it makes for a long 3 months!! The current wait time is still 4 months for a child 13 mo. and older, so hopefully this will be the month.... or preferably the week-- or DAY!!!!!!

Can't wait to see that 817 area code come across my phone........

3 by 3

2010-01-08T12:52:00.001-08:00

Oh what fun it is to be preparing for one more kiddo. It's different than preparing for a baby... and it's FUN!!! Luckily I just "knew" we'd be adopting a little older boy one day and I saved Jacob's clothes from 3T on, so we don't have many new clothes that "need" to be bought. The only must get is a different car. I really like the car I have now, a Saturn Vue, but it doesn't accommodate 3 carseats very easily... so, we're going the mini van route!!

Here's a little prepping we have been doing. 3 is going to be fun!

New backpacks! Looking forward to packing the red and blue one with lots of fun things to keep two brothers occupied on a VERY long flight!!!!

Each kiddo has their own color towel. Easy to remember whose is whose. Easy for the mom to know who left their wet towel in a pile on the floor!!! :)
These pictures are hanging in the hall by the kids' rooms. I hung them a year ago. When I bought the two frames, I bought the matching green one..... "just in case". Now I get to fill it with one more cutie in the snow!
Now, all we need is the PHONE TO RING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So much to be thankful for.... and a small pity party too!

2009-12-30T16:46:00.000-08:00

OK- let's start with the pity party and get that part over with. Yeah, we're still waiting. I really can't complain. It's only been 2 months.... and 4 days. :) But, I think that I let myself get caught up into thinking that our referral would come super fast since it seemed like we were the only family requesting a 4 year old boy. Plus, so many people thought the same thing, that I was just sure we'd have our referral by Christmas. So, I guess I'm just a little bummed today.

But..... my house is full of love and joy. I surely can not, and should not be complaining!!! We had a wonderful Christmas and we just got home from a little get away with my parents. (to the not as snowy as we had hoped for, Leavenworth, WA) Jake did get on downhill skis for the first time and loved it.... and Grace had fun snowshoeing for the first time. I will, however, admit that I made Mike pack the laptop.... just in case!!!

This little video cracks me up! Grace will fully entertain herself... and others watching.... if you just stick her in front of her own reflection! Seriously, this girl starts belting out songs whenever she looks in the mirror, reflection from the stove, window, whatever!!! I think we need to put a mirror in her room!!! (at the end of the video-- Mike had snuck outside and hit the window that Grace was singing to... and scared her!!)

And a few pics from the holidays!! :)

cute girls... and sweet friends!

2009-12-24T10:05:00.000-08:00

Feeling blessed by wonderful friendships.....

Making fun Christmas treats! (and Jake thinks the big sisters are pretty fun too!!)

There are days....

2009-12-18T21:07:00.000-08:00

that I'm in total awe of the sheer volume of my 2 year old's hair!!!!! (and what on earth is she doing having opinions about how I style it?!?!?! She had to have "only clips today, momma"!) But it goes right along with her new found STRONG opinions about the fancy dresses she has to wear every day!! (that's last year's Christmas dress with a turtle neck crammed under it) I'm learning to pick my battles!!!! :)

I could stare at the sweetness of this photo all day long!

Just a cool shot!

counting...

2009-11-27T12:56:00.001-08:00

Yep!! One month of waiting under our belt. Not a long time, but since it should only be 4 months of waiting or less, one month down feels pretty good!!!

And, I know a couple of sweet kiddos who are excited to meet their brother. Jake will go with us when we travel so he's pretty excited and Grace talks about her brother in "Opia"!!

Top of the list..... again?

2009-11-20T21:52:00.000-08:00

For Grace's adoption, we got on the waitlist on April 7, 2007. Our agency had just recently opened their Ethiopia program, so there really wasn't a waitlist. It seemed like we were the 1st family to request an infant girl. Well, with that news, I "assumed" the call would come any day. 10 weeks later, our wonderful call did come! But, with no one ahead of us on the list, it was a very anxious 10 weeks. Now, fast forward about 2.5 years. We're back on the waitlist, and again it seems like we're starting the wait at the top of "the list"-- this time for a 4 year old boy!! There isn't anyone ahead of us to "stalk" and see how quickly they're moving up the list. So, again... I find myself "assuming" the call is going to come any day. But, this time my mind tells me that it can easily be a 10 week..... or longer wait, but currently, my heart isn't listening to my mind. I need to get a grip! :)

**and please, in no way, take this post as complaining!! I'm thrilled to be "maybe" at the top of the list! I just think the similarities between both adoption processes is funny. Somehow I just thought it would be easier to wait the second time around. HA!!

A few photos of "life" lately.

playdough and coloring. Coloring has taken over life lately. Both kids color all. day. long!!!!!

For a brief moment, I thought Jake was playing with Grace's dollhouse. A few minutes later I notice that his army men had invaded and taken over the dollhouse!

This girl. She would play outside, by herself, all the time if she had her way. She doesn't care if it's cold or raining. She just wants outside. :)

Adoption Theme Song!

2009-11-19T13:51:00.001-08:00

Came across this song today: "While I'm Waiting" Speaks to my heart. I have a feeling I'll be listening to it a lot!

Worship

2009-11-01T13:38:00.000-08:00

The worship band from our church is releasing their first CD this month. Take a listen to one of the songs. It's GOOD. You just might want to get yourself a copy of the CD. :)

&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://doxa1.bandcamp.com/track/so-we-carry-on"&amp;amp;gt;So We Carry On by Doxa&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;

WAITLIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-10-26T15:40:00.001-07:00

Yep! We got the word today that we are officially on the waitlist! Gladney doesn't give out "numbers", but we are told that the wait for a child age 13 months and older is up to 4 months!

Here's hoping it's 4 months.... or LESS!!!!!!!

God's Country

2009-10-11T19:56:00.000-07:00

We went hiking yesterday, and as I sit here looking at these pictures, I'm still in awe of God's beauty! I can only imagine how many worship songs have been written while sitting atop a mountain. How can you not want to praise Jesus and thank Him for all He has done after spending time surrounded by His handiwork!

I'm just saying....

2009-09-30T15:55:00.000-07:00

this little ray of sunshine brightens everyone's days!!!!

Moving Right Along......

2009-09-23T09:45:00.000-07:00

We are officially "Gladney Approved"!!!! We had our USCIS prints done on Monday, our dossier is done, so as soon as we get our FDL we authenticate our dossier and then we are officially "waiting"!!!! I'm hoping this happens by mid-October. Yeah. Progress feels good.

Best Hair Blog ever!!! (and other stuff...)

2009-09-15T20:39:00.000-07:00

The other day I came across this site: Happy Hair Girl It's amazing! It's an adoptive mom of twin Ethiopian 5 year old girls. She shows hair styles, hair products, how-tos, etc.!!! It's the most comprehensive site I've seen! Grace has incredibly long and thick hair and I'm really needing to keep a "do" in her hair. I LOVE her hair down-- her curls are gorgeous, but keeping it down, or even in a couple of puffs, does tangle and dry out her hair. So, I've been trying to alternate down/semi down styles with cornrows, braids, etc. where I can slather her hair in some conditioner and then bind it up to hold in all that moisture!

Though the styles take some time, I love doing Grace's hair. I usually do it in the evening, after a bath and pajamas. We sit down and watch a show, or cheesy sing a long video that she currently loves, and we sit together. While I do her hair, we talk together, sing, and laugh at the shows. It's a good 30-40 minutes of uninterrupted time we get together. We do this a couple of times a week. It's t.v. time now, but as she gets older, I'm looking forward to time together to talk.

Tonight I tried something new: cornrows and Zulu knots! I've always wanted to try Zulu knots, but Grace's hair is so long that they just got too big. But, I braided her hair first, and then binded her hair at the nape, and then I did the Zulu knot with the binded hair. It's a bit wonky, but for my first time, I think it's still pretty cute on her. :)

And..... my little man started Kindergarten last week!!!! The best part is-- he's LOVING it! That's music to this momma's ears!
And..... my FBI prints FINALLY arrived!!!!! The crazy thing is, they never were "lost in the mail" like they said. They had them the entire time!!!! Today, a "reissued" letter arrived FedEx, along with my original cards that were date stamped Aug. 5th!!!!! Thank you FBI!! But, God knows when our little guy will be ready, and obviously He needed us to slow down a bit in the process so our family and little guy will be ready at the same time! :)

On to USCIS on Monday! :)

Next Step!

2009-09-14T20:48:00.001-07:00

The FBI called me this morning. They are reissuing me a new letter (they JUST changed their procedure and now they don't send your cards back, just a letter) Good news for me since my cards "got lost in the mail"! At least they're using FedEx.

We're doing USCIS prints next week...... and then we're DONE with paperwork!!!!!!!

Still here.... and still waiting!

2009-09-07T21:16:00.000-07:00

Ughhh is all I have to say!! We're in a hold-up with my FBI fingerprints! Everything else is done. Mike's fingerprints cleared on July 16th!! We'd be on the waitlist by now if my prints had cleared then too! But, my prints didn't clear (after a re-do because my first set of prints weren't clear enough?!?!) till Aug. 25th. The kicker is.... I still don't have the cards!! The FBI didn't use the nice FedEx return envelope I sent them, and instead they just stuck them in the regular mail... and I still don't have them!!

So...... as you can tell..... this is a very lame, complaining post. Sorry about that. But, in the grand scheme of things, this is minor, and obviously our little guy just isn't quite ready for us. :)

But, on a lighter note... life is about to change!! My Jacob starts Kindergarten in 2 days!!! And... I've decided to start a little in-home preschool two days a week with Grace and 3 other sweet 3 year old girls!! Fun, and BUSY times ahead!!

An ode to the end of summer...... just got home from a few days at the cabin.

Jake "wishing" he was reeling in a big one!

Both Jake and Mike enjoyed several fishing outings this summer. I think they're both hooked. (hmmm.... no pun intended!!)

One day it was sunny and warm.... the next was a torrential downpour!! But, Grace thoroughly enjoyed every mud puddle! I even saw her bending down, scooping up muddy water and rubbing it all over her face and hair!!! She's quite the adventure girl!

This might be my favorite picture of Grace this summer. It just shows her devout love for her dolls (they went everywhere with us this summer!) and her intense infatuation for flip-flops (she even wore them to bed several times!) I guess it just captures the stage she was in the summer of being 2!

.

cute flower girl!

2009-08-16T22:05:00.001-07:00

I'm using the excuse of summertime fun as the reason I've been a bad blogger!!!

I'll just do pictures....

Grace was the flower girl at my cousin's wedding this weekend. Cute stuff!! :)

Unleash the Gospel!

2009-07-19T12:30:00.000-07:00

Pandemic - "The Gospel Unleashed" from The Journey Church on Vimeo.

It just might be a long road....

2009-07-13T23:21:00.000-07:00

I thought a second adoption might be easier. Mentally, it is. Filling out the paperwork is easy this time. I know about waiting for fingerprints, for our homestudy to be reviewed, etc. But, oh my heart!!!!!! Knowing that my little man is out there and not knowing his living situation is breaking my heart tonight. I'm praying for his sweet little heart and that just maybe he was tucked into bed and given a goodnight kiss from someone who loves him dearly.

Update......

2009-07-08T14:51:00.000-07:00

Well, we just had our homestudy visit. It's amazing how much easier it is the second time around. Our social worker is wonderful and it's so laid back. So, now all we have to do is wait for our FBI fingerprints to come back and then our homestudy will be done. Then..... we make an appointment for CIS fingerprinting, which in WA, you can do online and you can usually get a date within a few days of singing up!!! Our goal is to be on the waitlist by the end of summer. I think that will happen... if not a lot sooner!!!! WOW!!!

And... a post without pictures just isn't very fun... so here's a couple of some recent favorites. :)
A little 4th of July fun.....

Nothing Says Summer Like Strawberries!!!

2009-06-29T15:12:00.000-07:00

We went strawberry picking today and now my freezer is full of yummy berries for smoothies and other delicious things. The kids had a ball and I think they ate their weight in berries. Grace didn't even bother to pick the stem off hers!!!!

Enjoying the fruits of our labor.... strawberry shortcake for dessert!

Notary question...

2009-06-24T20:24:00.000-07:00

Our new Dr.'s clinic does not have a Notary Public in their office. So, do we need to find our own "traveling" Notary and have them come to the Dr.'s office with us so they can witness the Dr. sign our form and then they can notarize right then? The wording on the document makes it seem that the notary has to witness the signature and the date on the Dr.'s letter and the notary stamp date have to be the same! Ughhh..... this might be the document that holds us up!

Any suggestions?????

The Top Bunk is too Empty!

2009-06-23T22:09:00.000-07:00

We have the room...... on the top bunk (well, probably the bottom and Jake will move to the top!) , and in our hearts. So, after lots of praying and waiting for the "perfect time"- ha! - we've begun the adoption process again!!!! This time for a 4 year old boy. We're pretty thrilled to be squeezing one in the middle and adding a brother to our brood. :)

One of the biggest decisions that we had to make was that we're changing agencies. We used AGCI with Grace and loved them!!! The Portland staff is great and, like everyone else, we can't say enough about Hannah's Hope and Almaz. But, we really want to bring Jake with us when we travel, and AGCI only allows for 2 people (preferrably two adults) to travel. So, it just seemed that Gladney was a better fit for our family this time around.

We submitted our application on Sunday and started putting together our paperwork for our homestudy on Sunday night. The thing about the second time around is that we already had a lot of the documents needed for the homestudy. So, after 2 days, all we have left is our FBI fingerprints, medical forms, and reference letters!!!! (oh-- and the cat needs her updated rabies vaccine!!) We're cruising right along. :)

That's the news on our end! We were told that once on the wait list, a referral for that age could be 4-5 months. We shall see!!!!!!

Multi-tasking

2009-06-13T16:56:00.000-07:00

Someone needs to carry the baby AND get the lawn mowed!!

morning time

2009-06-11T09:13:00.000-07:00

I just love the times when they're playing and working together. As Grace gets older, these times definitely increase. I'm listening to them saying, "pretty, nice picture, wow, etc....." as they draw pictures together. :)

Enjoying these sweet and simple times.

Growing Up!!!

2009-06-07T20:10:00.000-07:00

Tonight, Jake decided to try riding his bike without training wheels. Now, if you would have asked him yesterday if he wanted to try, he would have said, "maybe when I'm 7 or 8." But.... for some reason, tonight was a different story.

He took a couple of rounds in the grass at the park; and then the paved trail through the park; and then the road in our cul de sac...... and by the end, he was racing one of the older boys in the neighborhood!!! We already had to tell him to not try any tricks yet!!

Could He Be Any Sweeter??

2009-06-05T09:20:00.000-07:00

I walked into the family room and this is what I saw. The little one is the sweet neighbor girl that I watch a few mornings a week. Jacob adores her! My loud and wild boy also has a beautiful sweet and gentle spirit. :)

Taking charge!!!

2009-05-28T22:52:00.000-07:00

I'm still laughing at this story......

Earlier today, I had sent Jake to his room for a time-out (can't remember why). He then came downstairs claiming he was ready to be done. I told him he needed to go back to his room and I would come up and talk to him. He started arguing with me and then all of a sudden Grace piped up with a very bossy/firm voice-- and with finger pointing and hand gestures flying-- said, "Jacob, upstairs now, Jacob!!!" Jake looked at me like, "did she really just say that??", and then smiled and walked nicely upstairs!!

**By the way, I got to thinking that this little story might sound like I'm OK with my children to talk sassy to each other. I'm not, and Grace was "reminded" that she needs to use nice words with her brother. But, it was so stinkin' funny because we've never heard her say this before, that I just had to share. :)

She has Sass with a capital "S". But man, she is as sweet as can be!!! We all (mom, dad, and brother) seem to be extra smitten over her lately. Seriously though, Jake and Grace couldn't be more in love with each other. Sure, they have their sibling moments, but several times a day, she runs up to him saying, "Jacob, Jacob" and gives him a big hug. He's always telling her he loves her. When I pick him up from school, Grace always runs in ahead of me squealing his name and giving him a big hug. He just beams with pride!!! Though, we did have to keep her quiet at his karate class because she kept yelling, "hi Jacob". And was blowing him kisses!!!

Surviving a 5 day camping trip!!

2009-05-26T16:54:00.000-07:00

... and I think I could have stayed out even longer!! We just got home from our annual Memorial Day weekend camping trip. I was wondering how it would be with Grace being much more mobile than she was last year... but, we had a BLAST!! Both kids were just in their element, running around with all the kids, riding bikes and scooters, playing at the beach, playing baseball, croquet, tubing, etc, etc!!! And the weather couldn't have been any better-- mid 80's the entire weekend!!!!

It felt like an extra long winter/cold spring, and I think we all just needed to get out of the house and spread our wings. Jake, especially, just needed to run and connect with his friends..... and he was the world's best kid!!! (I have to say that it was just a long year this year.... most of Jake's friends went off to morning Kindergarten and then he had afternoon pre-K, plus we always had to be home in the afternoons for Grace's nap-- so I think we stayed home more this year than I ever have since Jake was a baby!!!! We all just do so much better when we're out and about more.) I can't wait for a summer filled with outdoor adventures!!

I have to say that Grace was a total ham all weekend. Even Jacob said, "Mom, Grace sure is funny!" I think her language skills quadrupled over the course of the weekend. She, of course, was usually the first one up in the morning (no black out shades in a tent!!) and she proceeded to greet everyone as if they had rock star status as the groggily came out of their tent. She knew everyone's name and enthusiastically called it out, over and over, until they would say hello back to her! At one point, she was in the tent "napping" when we started hearing, "daddy, Michael, come here!!!" repeatedly. She had unzipped a small "window" in the tent and could see Mike out playing baseball in the big field!

Needless to say, it was a great kick-off to a hopefully fun, family summer!!!!

I'm 2!!!

2009-04-26T18:50:00.000-07:00

Technically, Grace turns two tomorrow, but we had a little party for her today! Of course, Elmo was the theme and Grandpa made some pretty cute cupcakes. It was the sweetest thing to see Grace and her 3 little friends celebrating/playing together. And to think that all 4 of them were in Hannah's Hope together before they came home to their forever families.... who just happened to live close together. God is good!

We love you sweet girl. You are the most amazing blessing! What a joy you bring to our lives.

Grace loves Ruby! (Have I mentioned that Grace and Ruby's birthmoms are friends? Melts my heart when I see these girls loving each other!)

Can it get any better than this??

2009-04-19T17:21:00.001-07:00

What is it about the beach? All stress seems to melt away at the mere sight of a vast, open span of beach! More time is spent praying, talking, sharing, laughing, and playing when I'm at the beach. The kids PLAY non-stop... there's no time to be "bored" or to bug each other. There's too many adventures to be had, beach dogs to throw the ball for, drift wood forts to be made, kites to be flown, marshmallows to be roasted, and lots of crabs to find under the rocks! There's no need for T.V., video games, cell phones, computers........

It was a PERFECT weekend!

launching rockets!

Jake yelled, "raise your hand if you want s'mores!!"

after a hot-dog roasting dinner
sometimes baby and kitty need to come on the walk

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T19:33:00.000-07:00

Even in the cold and the rain.... we had a wonderful Easter!

Easter blessings to you all!

God of this City

2009-04-09T17:44:00.001-07:00

I heard "God of this City", by Chris Tomlin today, and I just couldn't stop thinking about Ethiopia. I've had Ethiopia on my mind a lot, lately. I miss it! My heart swells when I hear about all that people are doing for this beautiful nation. I'm amazed at this adoption community and all that they are giving back to their child's birth country. I will be forever blessed by Ethiopia.

Sunday's Coming!

2009-04-05T20:31:00.000-07:00

De-Lish!

2009-04-03T23:22:00.000-07:00

My friend Nikki and I made our first Ethiopian meal tonight! We even invited another couple over to join us (and our hubbies) for dinner. --It's always a bit risky to try new recipes for dinner guests. But, the food turned out great!!! We went to an Ethiopian market yesterday and bought injera and berbere spice. We made Doro Wat, lentil stew, some sweet potato thing, veggies, and "the white cheese" that we were warned NOT to eat in Ethiopia!! (Natalie, isn't this what made you guys sick?? :) )

It was fun, and I'll make it again.

why is blogger rotating my picture?????

Sharks, Hair, and a dancing DVD

2009-03-26T15:39:00.000-07:00

Well, I have had to step it up a notch lately with Jacob in the hopes of avoiding some of the behaviors that he's been exhibiting. The lazy mom in me just got irritated with him, but then I grew up a bit and realized that he needs more during his day. He thrives off completing tasks, activities, lessons, etc. Meaning, just hanging out at home (on his non-preschool days) and "playing" is not enough for him. So, I've been spending a lot of time reading homeschool mom blogs, etc... and am going to do some more learning activities with Jacob. (up until about 3 months ago, Jake would spend all day doing crafts, playdough, puzzles, games, workbooks, etc. But, he's growing up, and I need to meet him where he's at now-- more challenging stuff-- to create more pleasant days at home!)

Here's our first project we did today: A Shark Lapbook (this probably isn't a "do it all in one sitting" activity, but that's Jacob-- he had to finish it and was a bit disappointed we couldn't make another one too) Tomorrow it's Jellyfish!
New Hair product!!!

I'm hooked. I bought the deep conditioner and leave-in conditioner (see post a few back) by Mixed Chicks. I'm not 100% sold on the deep conditioner (I really need something thick that I can coat on Grace's hair in the tub and then comb her hair out before rinsing). I probably just didn't let it sit long enough before starting to comb it out. All Grace wants to do in the tub is lay on her back-- makes it hard to let the conditioner really soak in!! But.... the most fabulous product is the Leave-In! Every one of Grace's ringlets are defined, soft, and frizz-free!!

The picture makes it look like her hair is still a bit frizzy, but it really isn't. Amazing stuff!!

Dance with Miss Kim

I read about this "Creative Movement" DVD on someone's blog-- can't remember where, now. Well, it's about the cutest thing ever and Grace LOVES it. I have been having a bit of "mom guilt" lately since I just haven't done all the little activities with Grace that I did with Jake (lucky first born!!). But, this DVD is just like one of the cute little Creative Movement classes. Grace wears her favorite little tu-tu and watches intently while trying to mimic all the "moves". It's pretty sweet. It's only about 20 minutes long and if Grace had her way, she'd watch it over and over again!

Friends!

2009-03-17T14:06:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd post these sweet sisters' picture on my blog, since their momma doesn't have a blog!! (yet!) Anyway, we first met these precious twins (Aleah and Brielle) when we were picking up Grace. They had just come into Hannah's Hope and I remember thinking they were so tiny and precious. I even asked Almaz if Grace was THAT small.... she just laughed and said that those girls are "normal" size for Ethiopian babies and Grace was much smaller than them. :) Well, fast forward about 3 months and I find out that those babies are coming home to my area!! I got connected with their mommy and we've become fabulous friends! What a blessing Mikelle has been to me. We even did our readoption together-- she took care of all the "legal stuff" since we didn't hire a lawyer. And, now that I think of it, it was one year ago today that we readopted Grace. My how time flies. It's also a pretty big birthday for me sweet friend Mikelle. So, Happy Birthday Mikelle. Thank you for being such a wonderful friend and I look forward to more memories of raising our precious families together. What a blessing you are!

Our re-adoption day.

Hair Product

2009-03-16T09:17:00.000-07:00

Has anyone used this product? I've read rave reviews about it, but I thought I'd try to get some first hand info on it before ordering. :)

Dancin' Girl

2009-03-08T13:23:00.000-07:00

I guess I'm a little video crazy this weekend. I'm not sure if I should title the video "Dancin' Grace" or "Dizzy Fun", but what started out as some dancing quickly turned into experimenting with the feeling of spinning around and then trying to walk. :) (it's either that or her pigtails are getting too big and they made her a bit top-heavy!!)

**Jacob is the real ham of the family, but lately he wants wants zero pictures or video taken of him!! Bummer. But, he has promised me that now that he's 5 1/2 (as of last week), he's working on not being so shy. He's such a sweet little nugget!! I'll get some of him soon-- he's just too cute not to share with everyone. :) (I know, unbiased mom and all!)

Shake 'n Bake

2009-03-06T17:27:00.000-08:00

My sweet little girl learned the fine art of "Shake 'n Bake". Thanks Daddy!!

In a Groove.....

2009-03-04T21:10:00.000-08:00

I have to say that there's just really not much going on these days that's "blog worthy". :) (not that anything I put on the blog is truly blog worthy.... just a little bit of life in our neck of the woods). That being said, I'm feeling like we're in a pretty good groove currently. Jake just turned 5 1/2, and maybe that's the magic turn around time in the year of being 5. He's always been a pretty amazing little man to be around, but there's times that I can definitely do without the attitude and some of his behaviors. :) We're wrapping up another round of swimming lessons and he just started tae kwon do-- which he seems to LOVE. He's a pretty intense/competitive kid and keeping him active keeps him quite happy. :) He has told me that he doesn't want to swim on a swim team until he's old enough to be good enough to win ALL of his races, and after two classes of tae kwon do, all he talks about is the different colored belts and how he wants to get ALL the colors!!!! We're definitely trying to teach him that it's OK to not be perfect and the best at everything and making mistakes is OK too. :) And, did I mention that I register him for kindergarten next week?? My sweet, little baby is heading off to school!!!

Little Miss Grace is also in a great mode right now. Her language is blooming and there just aren't as many frustrations during the day. She still can sport quite the 'tude, but she snaps out of it pretty quickly. Her new found love is being outside. Grace is not the most agile little one (might need to head back to some physical therapy), but.... it makes my life pretty easy. She won't climb down stairs or get herself into sticky predicaments-- she's not a risk taker!!! So, for the past two days she has played out on the back deck for over 2 hours straight!! The yard is still a wintery, mucky mess, so I brought a few of the larger yard toys up on the deck and she's a happy little camper. The deck is right off the kitchen, so I just keep the back slider open a bit, and Grace just entertains herself forever!!!! It's heaven!! Tonight I had to coax her in because it was dinner time and it was dark outside-- she didn't want to come in. Too funny.

(Yes, she's still wearing her brother's hand me down snow boots. She LOVES them. She HAS to wear them whenever she goes outside!!)

One last thing. Has anyone read this book? I just ordered it. I've heard some great things about it and I'm pretty excited to read it. If you've read it, let me know what you think.

Daddy's gift

2009-02-18T23:45:00.000-08:00

The daddy bought his daughter a new dress for Valentine's day! I tried it on Grace tonight and before I even had it all the way on, she kept saying pretty and touching her dress. (now, I think this is the first time I've ever heard her even use the word pretty). As soon as she had it on, she said, "Daddy?", "Jacob?" And then proceeded up the stairs calling out to her two favorite boys of the house. She knocked on Jacob's door and then walked in a said "pretty" as she touched her new dress!!

Little girls and their dresses! Too cute!

The 2's-- here we come!!

2009-02-11T14:35:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe that Grace will be two in a couple more months.... but her behavior is a daily reminder that it's right around the corner!!! She is becoming quite the personality-- the good and the bad. She's VERY independent and I now have "that child" that screams bloody murder in public-- like when I'm being so mean and not letting her walk through the parking lot all by herself, and she refuses to hold my hand. I know, soooo mean of me!! Her new favorite word is "mine"! Yikes. That one snuck up on me. And you should see the attitude she gives when she's in her no-no spot. Our rule is that you have to say sorry to get out of the no no spot. There's times where she refuses to say sorry and she puts herself back in her no no spot!!!!! But..... the fun spunk that's coming out, the more talking and singing she is doing, the more pretend play-- from making LOTS of food for everyone in the family to singing goodnight and rocking her baby dolls..... it's worth dealing with and embracing all of the "naughtiness" because the good is just way too GREAT!!!

I will share my thoughts on what I see as a prejudice between boys and girls. Having a boy who's ALL BOY, I've definitely had my fair share of subtle and NOT so subtle looks and comments about Jake (especially in the 2-4 stage). But, what I'm now noticing is that Grace is starting to show some of those same and typical 2 year old behaviors. The thing is, when a little boy does it, he seems to be described with negative terms-- naughty, aggressive, difficult, etc. and little girls have more positive terms used for the same behaviors- sassy, spunky, free spirited, saucy, independent, etc. Hmmmmm...... things I think about these days.

Video..... again!

2009-01-27T21:53:00.000-08:00

So, good 'ol YouTube blocked our adoption video-- Anyway, we uploaded it to Blogger. I didn't really need to put it in a post, but wasn't sure how else to do it since I wanted a link to the video on my sidebar. :) So... here it is again. :)

I Couldn't Ignore This!

2009-01-25T21:32:00.001-08:00

I've seen this video posted on a few people's blogs. I have been wanting to watch it, but wanted it to be a time that I could REALLY watch it. Tonight was that time-- the kids are in bed and Mike's at a prayer service at church. The house is quiet. I watched it. I cried. I have a "not so great" feeling in my gut. While watching the video, all I wanted to do was scream, "Pick them up! Hug those sweet angels!" It was so hard "just watching". As I rock my babies and kiss them, and say I love you, it just kills me that too many kids don't get tucked in at night. Too many don't have any food. Too many don't have anyone to call family. I don't know what I will do with the images I just watched, but I do know that I will not forget! All I can do is pray that God will show me what I am to do.

A Little Sunshine for the Soul

2009-01-19T19:25:00.000-08:00

I was feeling the need to post so my "negative nelly/tired mom" post wasn't lingering at the top. On Saturday we took an impromptu day trip out to find the sunshine! We've had some pretty crazy weather here-- record snow, torrential rain/severe flooding, and we ended this past week with crazy, thick fog! I don't remember the sun shining since before Christmas. So.... we were craving it. We found it out at a beautiful beach and had a great family day. We started with breakfast at a pancake house, a fun ferry ride, a pretty car drive, great play time at the beach, fish and chips for dinner, and a ferry ride home and into bed!!! I think we need to do fun family adventures more often. :)

The start of the trail to the beach. Yes we're dressed more like we're ready for snow, but it was only 39 degress!

It started out foggy, but the sun broke through pretty quickly, phew!

We may not be able to "see Russia from our front door", but that is Canada across the straight!
Everybody needs their own "Napolean Dynamite moon boots"!!

And lastly, we sing Grace a little good night ditty every night (Night night Gracie....) and she has now started singing her own version of it to her baby dolls! She even starts singing it when we tell her it's time to go to bed. Of course she wouldn't sing much of it since I pulled out the camera, but it's still pretty cute!

Never Keeping Up!

2009-01-15T13:20:00.000-08:00

Now, I can't blame my 5 year old for me struggling to keep the house put together, but...... I turned my back for a few moments (OK..... to check some email, etc....), and I turned around a saw this!!!

It's not a horrible mess, but it's every pillow from downstairs and his bed. And, he'll put them away (after me asking several times), but they won't be put back the way I like them on the couch. So.... more work from me.
**disclaimer: Normally, this would just be a fun activity... fort building of some sort. But, what drove me crazy is that we had just finished cleaning up the toy explosion in the family room, put Grace to bed, and was settling down for an afternoon activity together... in a somewhat clean house. :)

I'm frazzled today. Jake is almost 5 1/2. He's not in kindergarten-- he'll go next year. We're homebound a lot...... Grace naps in the afternoon and I babysit a little girl 2 mornings/week. The weather sucks. Jake needs stimulation, physical activity, mental challenges, etc..... He's spirited. He has high energy. He's bouncing off the walls these days and I feel like I'm going to snap.

Any suggestions..... besides sending him off to Military School (do they take 5 year olds??) :)

Wrestle Mania '09

2009-01-11T19:35:00.001-08:00

Well, since I have to rebuild my entire blog (good times!!), I might as well waste, I mean spend my time downloading goofy videos!

Before I grabbed my camera, Grace would stand up on the couch, yell Jacob (A-cub) and then dive on Mike... as if to say, watch me, brother!! Jake's just thrilled he has someone else to join him in wrestling.... and Grace holds her own quite well. (Lucky me!!)

**See that manila folder on the couch? (probably not the best place for it during the wrestling match!) That's our application for Grace's Certificate of Citizenship that Mike's mailing tomorrow. Grace's Soc. Sec. application was denied because her name change wasn't honored-- it had to be changed with Immigration, and that can only be done by getting the Cert. of Cit.!!

LAME!!

2009-01-10T20:09:00.000-08:00

I'm working on my blog! I read all about "saving your widgets" so I didn't have to redo them all! But.... I don't think they're embedding correctly because I had them sorted as to when people updated their blog. Hmmm.... maybe it's time to call in for backup aka: my computer genius husband!

Stay tuned....

I really wanted a 3 column layout so I can use the left column for more of my non-adoption related links: recipes, craft sites, etc.... Making it all easy to access from one site. Trying to simplify life.... one baby step at a time. :)

1st Haircut!

2009-01-08T11:42:00.000-08:00

Well, I did it! I've been dreading the first haircut.... wondering how it would go. But, Grace's hair had been getting very large and in charge! The top layer was longer than the bottom, so it just needed some cleaning up. So, I took her to the place that I used to take Jacob. It's a kid's hair cutting place and they have videos! I made sure they had a Wiggles video and then we were set. Grace did awesome and I think the new little style the gal did is pretty cute. :)

All combed out!
Cute braids and a ponytail!

Siblings

2009-01-05T21:37:00.000-08:00

We have entered a pretty fun stage around here.... one Jake has been waiting for since I think the first time we walked through the front door with Grace. The two are actually starting to really play together. Grace is getting a bit older and "getting it" more. They are just so cute together. Jake is an awesome big brother who has daily tea parties with Grace. He'll play with her baby dolls with her and with her kitchen. Grace LOVES her baby dolls and it's fun to watch her "feeding" and loving her babies! But, the two also spend lots of times building towers with the big Duplo blocks (and Mike noticed that Grace was building a tower only with the same sized blocks. She'd dig through the tub and even toss out the ones that didn't "match" her tower.) And even though Grace loves her "girl stuff", she also has daily light saber battles with Jake and she loves his Star Wars guys-- especially the R2D2 that makes noise. They play "Star Wars" in his room together-- too fun. I think Jacob is also pretty happy that Grace is talking more, even though her current favorite phrase is "No, no, Jacob!!" He carries on these conversations with her that just crack me up. He'll just say things like, "remember when we went out to coffee together and then came home and played games?" She'll just start busting up laughing and it will spur him on to make up other funny stories. Now don't get me wrong.... they don't always play peacefully together. Grace doesn't really understand the fine art of sharing and taking turns and Jacob is trying to learn that you just have to give in a little bit more when playing with a one year old versus another 5 year old buddy. :) It's a balancing act, but it's pretty fun to watch. Though we have to reign him in sometimes and use the word "feedback" for Jacob (still working on reading people's verbal and nonverbal clues to what they like, and especially don't like him doing).... my truly spirited boy is thriving having a sibling to play with. :) Somehow I've been blessed with 2 quirky, funny, independent, strong-willed, sweet, loving, busy kids! (though some days I do have to remind myself that it's a blessing... because it's pretty exhausting too!!! :) )

"Tea Time"

Books!!

Welcome Home Eli!!

2009-01-03T21:55:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we got to go to the airport and welcome home our friends and their DARLING little Eli!! It was fun to be on the greeting end, and it sure brought back all the memories of coming home with Grace!! Such a fun day.

Christmas Cabin Fun!

2008-12-30T14:49:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful and peaceful Christmas this year. It was great to be cabin bound with the family (though with all the snow at home, we would have been home bound there too!) The kids LOVED the snow and Christmas morning was pretty darn cute!! Jake was in heaven with all his Star Wars stuff and spent most of the day doing his new LEGO sets. Grace served everyone tea with her new tea set and called several people on her new phone that came with her first purse (she's such a little girl!!) We missed my sister and her husband this year-- they're in Baja kiteboarding until May!!!!

I'm now looking forward to a fresh start to a new year. I feel like we have a full year under our belt as a family of 4. It seemed to take longer to just get in the groove of being home with two kids and adapting to two totally different schedules-- I have a napper again and one in school and activities. Not that it will ever be perfect, but I'm feeling out of my "cloud" and ready to tackle a new year!!!

Happy New Year!

Stringing popcorn and cranberries for the tree.

Our Christmas Eve walk
New jammies-- this is such a classic Jake/Grace interaction!
Getting ready for Santa.
Calling Grandma on her new phone.
Busy at work with new Star Wars Lego sets.
I know I'm cute!
Snowshoeing with Grandma at Lake Wenatchee

Family photo at the lake (Grace passed out in the backpack!)
A little cross-country skiing in front of the cabin.