121. going to a Braves game
122. watching Emily dancing her bootay off to the music
123. Emily being beyond good for the entire 5.5 hours that we were there!
124. 3 day weekends
125. sleeping in
126. 2 hour naps
127. a husband that vacuums
128. getting some packing done
129. watching Emily fall asleep in my arms
130. seeing Lydia learn how to make earrings
131. seeing Lydia learn how to crochet by buying a book and teaching herself. She never ceases to amaze me! now she can knit and crochet (I call her grandma ;)
132. Caleb counting down the days until his birthday
133. Grayson playing endlessly with his legos
134. going out for yogurt
135. having our laundry caught up. (such a never.ending.task)
136. shopping for our new house
137. going grocery shopping alone
138. living in a free country
138. seeing Emily love on Grayson when he is hurt
139. homemade blueberry cobbler
140. coconut popsicles
Psalm 118:19 "Open for me the gates of the righteous; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD."
Monday, May 28, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
Multitudes on Monday
101. deciding on what I think will be the PERFECT curriculum for the kids next year
102. finding said curriculum almost half price from someone in our home school group
103. this being the last week of school for us (We all are excited for a break.)
104. for BOTH of the boys winning first place in their tournaments this weekend
105. for cub scouts being over for the summer
106. for this being the last week of piano lessons for the summer
107. for this being the last week of dance (other than recital practices and the recital)
108. for baseball being over (I think. I really enjoy watching them play)
109. our first time swimming this year
110. for working out 3 times a week for the 2nd week in a row
111. seeing Caleb doing the "right thing" when he does not realize I am watching (makes this mom smile VERY big)
112. vanilla tootsie rolls
113. having an EMPTY calendar for this next weekend. (the first for the ENTIRE year)
114. seeing Caleb develop a desire to read, as opposed to having to read!
115. Emily's cute little painted piggies
116. seeing Grayson blowing Emily's piggies so they could dry quickly without my asking ;)
117. learning to relax as a homeschooling mom and realizing they do not have to be ready for college by tomorrow ;)
118. Steven and MaryBeth Chapman. On this anniversary of Maria's death we are all reminded how God "turns beauty from ashes".
119. after much negotiations, we finally are BUYING a house (so excited!)
120. finding a house that we both feel we could grow old in.
Psalm 35:18 "I will give you thanks in the great assembly; among the throngs I will praise you."
102. finding said curriculum almost half price from someone in our home school group
103. this being the last week of school for us (We all are excited for a break.)
104. for BOTH of the boys winning first place in their tournaments this weekend
105. for cub scouts being over for the summer
106. for this being the last week of piano lessons for the summer
107. for this being the last week of dance (other than recital practices and the recital)
108. for baseball being over (I think. I really enjoy watching them play)
109. our first time swimming this year
110. for working out 3 times a week for the 2nd week in a row
111. seeing Caleb doing the "right thing" when he does not realize I am watching (makes this mom smile VERY big)
112. vanilla tootsie rolls
113. having an EMPTY calendar for this next weekend. (the first for the ENTIRE year)
114. seeing Caleb develop a desire to read, as opposed to having to read!
115. Emily's cute little painted piggies
116. seeing Grayson blowing Emily's piggies so they could dry quickly without my asking ;)
117. learning to relax as a homeschooling mom and realizing they do not have to be ready for college by tomorrow ;)
118. Steven and MaryBeth Chapman. On this anniversary of Maria's death we are all reminded how God "turns beauty from ashes".
119. after much negotiations, we finally are BUYING a house (so excited!)
120. finding a house that we both feel we could grow old in.
Psalm 35:18 "I will give you thanks in the great assembly; among the throngs I will praise you."
Friday, May 18, 2012
Emily's First Hair Cut
~this actually happened in April, however like many other events I do not always have a chance to blog them as soon as they happen. The pictures are not great because Robbie and I both were greatly distracted by an important phone call as soon as her hair cut started.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Multitudes on Monday
~I thought I should preface why I started doing Multitudes on Monday. I know it probably seems somewhat random! Some days, I could make a really long list of all the not so perfect things in my life. The frustrations, the sadness...However, because I am perfectly aware just how blessed I am, I decided to try and focus on the simple things that sometimes I forget to be thankful for. I truly am blessed!! That being said, I will carry on...
81. Lydia
82. Caleb
83. Grayson
84. Emily
85. the gift of being called mom
86. a husband that teaches each of his kids how to honor me
87. breakfast in bed
88. homemade cards
89. Grayson getting up all on his own to make me a "book" the day before mother's day
90. Caleb's precious drawings
91. Lydia's photo frame that she completely handmade and spent HOURS on!
92. Emily saying "love you" (in her own way;) after I say it every.single.time!
93. Emily doing sign language to I (pointing to her eyes), Love (crossing her arms over her heart), and you (pointing to whoever she is talking to) just like Aunt Bobbie taught Lydia at this EXACT age!
94. cards that say "you are the best mom ever"
95. our church
96. early morning workout with new friends
97. continuously learning patience (I so struggle with this)
98. being able to say "I am sorry" to my kids when I have wronged them and tell them specifically why I am sorry
99. their forgiveness
100. birds chirping outside my window :) have I mentioned I love spring? ;)
1 Chronicles 29:13, "Now, our God, we give you thanks, and we praise your glorious name."
81. Lydia
82. Caleb
83. Grayson
84. Emily
85. the gift of being called mom
86. a husband that teaches each of his kids how to honor me
87. breakfast in bed
88. homemade cards
89. Grayson getting up all on his own to make me a "book" the day before mother's day
90. Caleb's precious drawings
91. Lydia's photo frame that she completely handmade and spent HOURS on!
92. Emily saying "love you" (in her own way;) after I say it every.single.time!
93. Emily doing sign language to I (pointing to her eyes), Love (crossing her arms over her heart), and you (pointing to whoever she is talking to) just like Aunt Bobbie taught Lydia at this EXACT age!
94. cards that say "you are the best mom ever"
95. our church
96. early morning workout with new friends
97. continuously learning patience (I so struggle with this)
98. being able to say "I am sorry" to my kids when I have wronged them and tell them specifically why I am sorry
99. their forgiveness
100. birds chirping outside my window :) have I mentioned I love spring? ;)
1 Chronicles 29:13, "Now, our God, we give you thanks, and we praise your glorious name."
Monday, May 7, 2012
Play Ball
Multitudes on Monday
61. surviving CrAzY busy weekends
62. the sound of the lawn mower
63. the smell of fresh cut grass
64. spring ;)
65. Robbie knowing my love language
66. Robbie staying up until 2:30 in the morning to finish our adoption video because there is simply no other time! (and yes this was on a work night;)
67. 2 girls + 2 boys = double happiness ;)
68. hearing Lydia pray out loud
69. having our LAST visit with our social worker regarding Emily's adoption! if only EVERY parent had to go through such...
70. Emily sleeping until 9:00...oh the things we accomplished!
71. Emily almost always waking up happy! such a blessing!
72. finding Emily awake and on the floor playing with poly pockets. She was trying so very hard to dress those little things. ~precious!
73. trying to start couponing again because of the encouragement from Lydia.
74. snuggling with my boys and reading them a book
75. tents made out of blankets in the boys room
76. 3 giggling kids sleeping in said tent
77. sibling bonding
78. bike rides with my girls
79. watching the boys play catch in the backyard
80. longer evenings
Colossians 3:17, "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
62. the sound of the lawn mower
63. the smell of fresh cut grass
64. spring ;)
65. Robbie knowing my love language
66. Robbie staying up until 2:30 in the morning to finish our adoption video because there is simply no other time! (and yes this was on a work night;)
67. 2 girls + 2 boys = double happiness ;)
68. hearing Lydia pray out loud
69. having our LAST visit with our social worker regarding Emily's adoption! if only EVERY parent had to go through such...
70. Emily sleeping until 9:00...oh the things we accomplished!
71. Emily almost always waking up happy! such a blessing!
72. finding Emily awake and on the floor playing with poly pockets. She was trying so very hard to dress those little things. ~precious!
73. trying to start couponing again because of the encouragement from Lydia.
74. snuggling with my boys and reading them a book
75. tents made out of blankets in the boys room
76. 3 giggling kids sleeping in said tent
77. sibling bonding
78. bike rides with my girls
79. watching the boys play catch in the backyard
80. longer evenings
Colossians 3:17, "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
Monday, April 30, 2012
One Year Later and Our Adoption Video!!
http://youtu.be/zJTYF14Mb_I
~This is the link to our adoption video. I hope you enjoy
I have been trying for weeks to come up with the words of how I have been feeling. Hard to believe that just one year ago today, Brandi, Emily, and myself all landed at the Atlanta airport after completing our mission that we had worked so very hard to accomplish. Unfortunately, any words that I come up with are just mush. The past few weeks have been pretty emotional. Reliving the last year is hard to put into words that will make any sense at all. My thoughts seems to be all over the place so I am going to try and compile a list so that maybe my thoughts will not seem quite as random.
~We love her A LOT. I know that seems crazy to even write, however I often time forget the fact that she did not come from me. I forget sometimes that she is actually Asian. I never dreamed I could love her as much as I do. And Robbie and I both agree, that we can not even remember life before her.
~ Adoption has changed us. Some ways I could try and describe, but most things unless you have experienced adoption first hand, you simply would not be able to understand. Things don't matter. Stuff doesn't matter. People matter. 'nuff said!
~In China, I never, ever ate Chinese food. I had pop-tarts, protein bars, trail mix...I was fine. I survived. I actually took a Chick-fil-A sandwich on the plane and a bag of apples that lasted for a couple of days. Every single hotel we stayed at had an amazing buffet with lots of American items, so I filled up on breakfast and figured out the rest. We actually had a lot of pizza and McDonald's. Our hotels had descent restaurants and McDonald's delivered in Guangzhou. Who knew? It was two weeks. No need to complain. I would have eaten it if I had too, but I didn't need to so I didn't ;).
~Not only did I not eat Chinese food, I never needed chopsticks. Ever single place we ate had forks. Again, who knew?
~ Unless you live in the area, and are used to the water, you are not supposed to consume the water. In any way. Like brushing your teeth. They actually provide you with water bottles in order to rinse off your toothbrush. We packed extra tooth brushes just in case. And luckily the hotels we happened to stay at also provided you with a toothbrush. Thank goodness because breaking the habit of rinsing your toothbrush was rather challenging for me. I went through a lot of toothbrushes ;).
~On the plane, we drank A LOT of orange juice. Luckily it was good.
~One flight, we were so tired that Brandi poured coke in her coffee when she meant to add creme. We enjoyed the laugh.
~You simply can not travel to China with someone unless you really really love them. It was more emotional and exhausting that I could have imagined. Fun, exciting, but emotionally draining. I can not imagine a better travel partner for me (outside of Robbie) than Brandi. Thankful for her is an understatement.
~ The flight to China is long. I realize that is obvious, but after you have watched a couple of movies, taken a nap, used the bathroom a few hundred times from all of the OJ and you still have 10 hours. Well, you get the picture ;0). Luckily, it was fine because when you are not used to so much sitting down time and movie watching it is almost like a retreat ;)
~on our last flight (we were at the Korean airport) before the LONG flight home, Brandi mentioned wanting an ice cream. A certain ice cream no less. I managed to find it and noticed it was quite pricey. As in $10+ American dollars. I can remember being very conscience and still paying for that ice cream. And yes I bought myself one. We had saved for so long, traveled so far, and we had one last leg on our journey. I no longer cared. Brandi wanted that ice cream and so I bought it. Brandi was not with me at the time (and I am certain she would not have let me paid that much money) and when I got back to her and told her how much I had just paid, we just laughed and laughed. Although we probably would not buy them again (I think they were Haagen Daaz and probably less than $2 normally) it was well worth the laugh!! We had lived on less than an ideal food supply for the past two weeks and when you see something that sounds good, who cares!!
~if you have been to China, you know this, however the beds are very hard and they almost never turn on the air conditioner. Minor inconveniences, however noteworthy.
~Adoption is not easy. This year has not been easy. Attachment was not ever an issue. In many adoption stories, this can be hard, however praise the Lord it was not an issue for us. However any time you have a-yet another child to tend to and b-said child is not a newborn that you grow with, it is hard! Luckily I have had Brandi that also got her son at the exact same age. She assured me that she went through ever single emotion I went through. Adjusting to a brand new life you can almost do seamlessly, however adjusting to a 14mos old that has had a story that you were not apart of, can be hard. Wow, she went through more in the first 14 months of her life than most people go through in a life time. Being abandoned, being rescued, going through surgery without a family, transitioning form Maria's Big House of Hope to a very unpleasant orphanage for the last few weeks, and then off to a new family.
~ We almost missed getting on one of our flights, which would have not allowed us to make our long flight back. Leaving our families waiting another day! As in we literally ran with all of our stuff AND Emily in order to make our flight! It was not our fault, our previous flight had been delayed! We felt like we were on the Amazing Race. Although scary at the time, it was quite memorable ;).
~Our last flight had A LOT of turbulence. It is so funny, because looking back it was really really bad. As in the flight attendants kept wanting me to pick Emily up from her bed (um, NO WAY will I pick up a sleeping baby when we have 13.75 more hours to go and yes maam you will thank me later ;) I have only had her for a few days, but I do know that she can scream on an airplane). I just kept my hand on her knowing full well that if this plane goes down,... well you get the picture ;) The flight attendants themselves stayed buckled for quite a while. What is funny, is that I was so excited to go home that Brandi just recently reminded me of how much turbulence the plane had. She said she was not 100% confident that Robbie would get to meet his precious new daughter. I had totally forgotten. Just recently did Robbie even hear about our exciting flight home.
~Emily is simply amazing! She has fit in with our family perfectly! She still loves a bath as much as the first bath I gave her. She still loves to go places. She can live off a 30 minutes nap if need be and still be tolerable late at night. She is smart, she is determined, she is beautiful and she is our daughter!
~Will we adopt again? I would be more surprised if we didn't! When? Wish I could answer that!
~I am very excited to go to China again this fall with Brandi as she adopts her son. I have some serious shoes to fill and I simply can not wait. She is part of my family, and I can not wait to meet my new nephew! Most of all, I am anxious to see how God uses this trip for his glory!
~This is the link to our adoption video. I hope you enjoy
I have been trying for weeks to come up with the words of how I have been feeling. Hard to believe that just one year ago today, Brandi, Emily, and myself all landed at the Atlanta airport after completing our mission that we had worked so very hard to accomplish. Unfortunately, any words that I come up with are just mush. The past few weeks have been pretty emotional. Reliving the last year is hard to put into words that will make any sense at all. My thoughts seems to be all over the place so I am going to try and compile a list so that maybe my thoughts will not seem quite as random.
~We love her A LOT. I know that seems crazy to even write, however I often time forget the fact that she did not come from me. I forget sometimes that she is actually Asian. I never dreamed I could love her as much as I do. And Robbie and I both agree, that we can not even remember life before her.
~ Adoption has changed us. Some ways I could try and describe, but most things unless you have experienced adoption first hand, you simply would not be able to understand. Things don't matter. Stuff doesn't matter. People matter. 'nuff said!
~In China, I never, ever ate Chinese food. I had pop-tarts, protein bars, trail mix...I was fine. I survived. I actually took a Chick-fil-A sandwich on the plane and a bag of apples that lasted for a couple of days. Every single hotel we stayed at had an amazing buffet with lots of American items, so I filled up on breakfast and figured out the rest. We actually had a lot of pizza and McDonald's. Our hotels had descent restaurants and McDonald's delivered in Guangzhou. Who knew? It was two weeks. No need to complain. I would have eaten it if I had too, but I didn't need to so I didn't ;).
~Not only did I not eat Chinese food, I never needed chopsticks. Ever single place we ate had forks. Again, who knew?
~ Unless you live in the area, and are used to the water, you are not supposed to consume the water. In any way. Like brushing your teeth. They actually provide you with water bottles in order to rinse off your toothbrush. We packed extra tooth brushes just in case. And luckily the hotels we happened to stay at also provided you with a toothbrush. Thank goodness because breaking the habit of rinsing your toothbrush was rather challenging for me. I went through a lot of toothbrushes ;).
~On the plane, we drank A LOT of orange juice. Luckily it was good.
~One flight, we were so tired that Brandi poured coke in her coffee when she meant to add creme. We enjoyed the laugh.
~You simply can not travel to China with someone unless you really really love them. It was more emotional and exhausting that I could have imagined. Fun, exciting, but emotionally draining. I can not imagine a better travel partner for me (outside of Robbie) than Brandi. Thankful for her is an understatement.
~ The flight to China is long. I realize that is obvious, but after you have watched a couple of movies, taken a nap, used the bathroom a few hundred times from all of the OJ and you still have 10 hours. Well, you get the picture ;0). Luckily, it was fine because when you are not used to so much sitting down time and movie watching it is almost like a retreat ;)
~on our last flight (we were at the Korean airport) before the LONG flight home, Brandi mentioned wanting an ice cream. A certain ice cream no less. I managed to find it and noticed it was quite pricey. As in $10+ American dollars. I can remember being very conscience and still paying for that ice cream. And yes I bought myself one. We had saved for so long, traveled so far, and we had one last leg on our journey. I no longer cared. Brandi wanted that ice cream and so I bought it. Brandi was not with me at the time (and I am certain she would not have let me paid that much money) and when I got back to her and told her how much I had just paid, we just laughed and laughed. Although we probably would not buy them again (I think they were Haagen Daaz and probably less than $2 normally) it was well worth the laugh!! We had lived on less than an ideal food supply for the past two weeks and when you see something that sounds good, who cares!!
~if you have been to China, you know this, however the beds are very hard and they almost never turn on the air conditioner. Minor inconveniences, however noteworthy.
~Adoption is not easy. This year has not been easy. Attachment was not ever an issue. In many adoption stories, this can be hard, however praise the Lord it was not an issue for us. However any time you have a-yet another child to tend to and b-said child is not a newborn that you grow with, it is hard! Luckily I have had Brandi that also got her son at the exact same age. She assured me that she went through ever single emotion I went through. Adjusting to a brand new life you can almost do seamlessly, however adjusting to a 14mos old that has had a story that you were not apart of, can be hard. Wow, she went through more in the first 14 months of her life than most people go through in a life time. Being abandoned, being rescued, going through surgery without a family, transitioning form Maria's Big House of Hope to a very unpleasant orphanage for the last few weeks, and then off to a new family.
~ We almost missed getting on one of our flights, which would have not allowed us to make our long flight back. Leaving our families waiting another day! As in we literally ran with all of our stuff AND Emily in order to make our flight! It was not our fault, our previous flight had been delayed! We felt like we were on the Amazing Race. Although scary at the time, it was quite memorable ;).
~Our last flight had A LOT of turbulence. It is so funny, because looking back it was really really bad. As in the flight attendants kept wanting me to pick Emily up from her bed (um, NO WAY will I pick up a sleeping baby when we have 13.75 more hours to go and yes maam you will thank me later ;) I have only had her for a few days, but I do know that she can scream on an airplane). I just kept my hand on her knowing full well that if this plane goes down,... well you get the picture ;) The flight attendants themselves stayed buckled for quite a while. What is funny, is that I was so excited to go home that Brandi just recently reminded me of how much turbulence the plane had. She said she was not 100% confident that Robbie would get to meet his precious new daughter. I had totally forgotten. Just recently did Robbie even hear about our exciting flight home.
~Emily is simply amazing! She has fit in with our family perfectly! She still loves a bath as much as the first bath I gave her. She still loves to go places. She can live off a 30 minutes nap if need be and still be tolerable late at night. She is smart, she is determined, she is beautiful and she is our daughter!
~Will we adopt again? I would be more surprised if we didn't! When? Wish I could answer that!
~I am very excited to go to China again this fall with Brandi as she adopts her son. I have some serious shoes to fill and I simply can not wait. She is part of my family, and I can not wait to meet my new nephew! Most of all, I am anxious to see how God uses this trip for his glory!
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