Shots

My daughter has decided she does not want her birthday. What little kid does not want a birthday? She has one coming up on the 17th. Anyway, after much prying into her little 4yo old brain, I come to find out it is because she knows she will have a doctor's appointment after her birthday and she will have to get shots. She does not want shots and figured if she didn't have a birthday she wouldn't have to have any!

Our health department only does shots one day a week in the morning, so I had to drag the kids with me to get some of my travel shots. I thought this would be a good experience for the Bean to see mommy get hers and live to tell about it. Shots don't bother me at all, but the Bean came and held my hand each of the four times I got poked. I told her I would do the same for her at her appointment. Somehow, I don't think it will help and I am sure when we visit the doctor the sounds of her screams will be heard round the practice.

Almost Wordless, Almost Wednesday Post

Only a 2yo can go from this

to this in less than 30 seconds!

A mother of three

Today I became a mother of three. In a sense I got to meet my daughter. The fuzzy images that came to mind when I used to try and imagine her have been replaced with a clear picture. I know what she looks like. I know how old she is. I am a mother of three.

(Warning this is a little long, but it is my place to remember this day.)

Monday is story time at the library so we headed there as we do every other Monday morning. I slipped my phone in my pocket (yes, I wore jeans and they had pockets!) but I turned the ringer down in case anyone called. Now NO ONE ever calls my cell phone (remember I have a real aversion to phone conversations) but I didn't want to be the mom that interrupted story time because my phone rang for the first time in 100 years (yes, I do have friends.) Now I shouldn't have worried about interrupting story time because with over 30 kids 5 and under it isn't too quiet. Anyway, I digress. I saw Traci there and she was asking me how it was going. She really didn't have to deal with the wait list because last year there were only like 10 families adopting at a time. After story time, we stayed and played for a while.

At almost 11:30, I dragged my children from the library (they love it there) and loaded them up in the van. As I was about to get in, I pulled my phone from my pocket and noticed I had a message that had been left at 11:06 a.m. I figured it was my dashing husband, because he is the only one that calls me. Much to my surprise when I listened to the message it was Christy. She said, "Hi this is Christy. I have something I want to talk to you about. Give me a call when you can." I KNEW what that meant. I absolutely started shaking with excitement. I ran to Traci as she was loading her boys up and she was like CALL HER BACK! I misdialed the AGCI Washington number and my favorite social worker in the world answered and I was slightly confused. After explaining that I was trying to return THE CALL, I hung up and redialed the correct number. It went straight to Christy's voicemail! How dare she be away from her phone when she had such news for me! I left her a message and said I would be home in about 35 minutes and to call me after noon.

We arrived home at 11:50 and I got the kids playing, advised them to please play quietly for a few minutes and called Christy back. As soon as I knew positively that this was THE CALL, all I heard was blah, blah, blah, your daughter's name is.., she was born...., blah,blah,blah. I heard all the good stuff and just kind of tried to listen to the rest, without much success. Luckily they know you are only focused on the child and e-mail you everything they are telling you!

I didn't respond how I thought I would. I figured I would be blubbering, but no tears I feel like I am in a state of shock, that I am sure will wear off soon. I can't believe God has finally let us meet our little girl.

I immediately called J and told him me was a father of three! He told me I was crazy if I waited for him to get home to see the pictures, so I of course opened them! I rechecked my e-mail and realized that Christy had sent 5 more e-mails all with pictures. We were blessed to receive over 70 pictures of our daughter! I told him how adorable she is, but of course I may be a little biased!

We called everyone we needed to and now am so pleased to share the news with everyone else. Unfortunately, we aren't able to share any information about her until we pass through courts and she legally becomes our daughter. So no names or photos until we bring her home which looks like it will be January or February.

I went to my small group tonight (two of my closest friends are in it) and shared my news. They have really been instrumental in helping me through this journey, as have so many others. When one of them closed in prayer and thanked God for the gift of my daughter I was brought to tears. All the emotions that I have felt for the past 10 months were finally all let out and the fact that I am now a mother of three started to sink in. Praise be to God!

Lovey

My children have all had their own special blanket or animal that we helped them attach to for security. Bean's was more like a little blankie, but Bug's was more like a squished animal. I decided we better order a lovey for our little girl, because it is one of the things I want to send to her when the time comes (hopefully very soon!). We all love Bug's the best and so the family got around the computer the other night to look at all our options at the North American Bear Company . They have some really cute options and they are all safe for babies-no buttons here! After a long deliberation, we finally settled on the elephant. Pretty cute, huh!One of the best tips I can give any new moms is that if you get a security blanket or animal of some kind for your child-get AT LEAST TWO IDENTICAL ones. If you have two, one can be in the wash or one could get accidentally left at nana's house or one could get lost and you still have an identical one for the child so there is no trauma. Just make sure you rotate and wash them often, because even babies can tell the difference between a new one and their previously loved one.

Just to make you smile

I am not the only one unhappy

Bug is 2 1/2 and so he loves to test mommy and this is the tantrum he threw when he was put in a timeout. He was not too happy when mommy wanted to capture his tantrum on film!

(Weird picture with the dissolving hand!)

FYI about updates: When I talked to Christy last week, she said if I am still waiting, they will be sending out updated numbers via e-mail the first full week in October. Just thought some of you might want to know, so you aren't expecting them this week.

Day 2 - Opertion Stay Distracted

So I do not sit around and wallow in my own self-pity too often. Some of you probably wanted to kick me and say "Why are you complaining? You are #1." My brain can rationalize all those things. It knows I have to be here to get to my daughter. I just never thought my heart would get so involved until I met her.

Anyway, yesterday was the first day of Operation Stay Distracted. I realized yesterday that I was not being fully present for my kids. I was spending too much time feeling sad that I don't know my daughter yet. I have two wonderful gifts from God right here and I was not giving them all of me. So yesterday I made a conscious choice to be fully present for them. Now, I will do my best not to be consumed by my sadness, but if I am still waiting in a month you might see another day or two of Eeyore. This may sound weird too, but I am overjoyed it is Friday. There is no pressure over the weekend, because you know the phone will not be ringing and you can just be without jumping if it does or obsessing if it doesn't.

Today my two kiddos and I are headed to the local Children's Museum for a morning of fun. We are going to pick up some friends on the way. I will make sure I have pants on with pockets : ) but will not be distracted by the phone NOT ringing and just enjoy the wonder of my two little ones here.

*I will update this horribly boring pictureless post later and add a few from our morning!

Leaving on a jet plane...

Hold that. Leaving in a mini-van stuffed to the gills with everything you need for 2 adults and 2 small children for 4 days of fun filled camping. We are headed off to the great outdoors to enjoy God's blessings in nature and to try not to go crazy since we are camping with 8 children 4 and under!!!! Talk about relaxing! Ha, Ha! Pray for me!


I will be thinking and praying for everyone getting ready to leave for Ethiopia!!!, everyone waiting to see if they made it through courts and everyone who will have to wait, and finally all of us still waiting to meet our children.

8 weeks waiting, but who's counting?

Well, we have been waiting 8 weeks today. Sometimes, I can't believe it has been almost two months, other times it seems to be dragging along. I am so glad summer is here. Although I hate being busy all the time, and we are every summer, this year it will be a gift to help make the time pass a little quicker.

So here we are trying to keep busy and stop waiting!! The company my husband works for has a huge private park on a nearby lake, so we went out for the morning to enjoy some sun. For those of you who don't live in the PNW, they have been calling June "Junuary" as it is the coldest June since the late 1800's, so we were ready for a little sun. It is only in the upper 60's, but is feels like the 80's after the cold spell we have had! (You will have to put up with a lot of pictures in the upcoming posts, because we finally have a camera again. It stopped working and was almost as expensive to fix as to buy a new one!)

Riding our trikes.

Say cheese!

Bean loves to swing. She would have stayed on them all day if I had let her. I get a little tired of them, because I still have to push her. (Note to self: focus on teaching the child how to pump her legs to swing!)

The creek that feeds into the lake is their favorite place at the park. What kid can resist throwing rocks and splashing?

A little picnic lunch on the banks of the creek.

Bug loves his juice. No, I mean he really loves it. I am one of those mean moms that never gives my kids juice and if I do I water it down, so when they saw the juice boxes I think they died and went to heaven.

Dare not enter my home today for if you do..

I feel like I am living in the Twilight Zone right now. My children are possessed by some mysterious and rather annoying creatures that force them to whine at anything and everything and burst into a dramatic display of tears after even the smallest upset. Luckily, the Lord has granted me laughter at my predicament and patience to make it through this bout of sickness.

(They are both sick with fevers, so I will forgive their silly displays today. If my camera was working, I would post pictures of their absolute misery.)

Birthday Party!

Saturday was very busy as we celebrated three birthdays at Nana & Papa's house. My oldest niece turned 3 a week ago, the Little Man turned 2 yesterday, and my yougest niece turned 1 yesterday. Throw in a few more kids and it was an energetic party! Here are a few highlights.

The birthday kids!

Nana & Papa with all their grandchildren (so far)!

The Little Man with his new Thomas t-shirt and beach hat.

The Bean entertaining everyone with her "kung fu" dancing.

Winding down at the end of a long day!

Pack rats

The bean reading to the little man after bath time.

My little pack rats.

How do they fit in there with all that stuff?

Kilt or Skirt?

The little man loves his sister's dress-up. His dad gets a little miffed that there aren't more dress-up options in the house, so for Christmas the little man got a cowboy outfit. Does he ever wear it? No. Instead he loves this skirt. I told J that if it bothers him that much that his son loves a skirt, we will call it a kilt instead. Heck, it is plaid and Mel Gibson wore one in Braveheart so it must be ok. (For those of you wondering-he does not go au natural, but wears a diaper underneath!)

For the sake of fairness, here's a picture of the Bean with the cheesiest grin ever. She loves to wear my Africa necklace. She and the little man give it kisses all day long. I can't wait until their sister is here and they actually get to give her kisses!!

Brothers & Sisters

E is the most affectionate child. He loves his big sister more than anything. When he wakes up in the morning, the first thing he says isn't mommy or daddy, it's diddy (L in E speak.) I am so excited to see this love that God gave them for each other grow and extend to their new sister.

Tree of Memories

We almost didn't get a tree this year. The month seemed to be passing by so quickly. Last Sunday it started snowing during church, so we decided to take the kids out and get a tree.


Out of all the preparations for Christmas, the tree has always been my favorite. Our trees were never the fancy color-coordinated ones. Our tree is always a tree of memories. From the time I was born I received ornaments from my grandmothers to commemorate each passing year. Each special and unique in its own way. After my grandmothers passed away, my mom kept up the tradition and has added to our ornament collection each year. As I unpack them each Christmas I am reminded of the love with which each was given. At Christmas, I realize that that love is nothing compared to the perfect and unconditional love God has for each of us. I hope you all are able to find that love this season.