Desire Less

So easy to get caught up with wanting more stuff, especially this time of year...praying to be content this season & beyond with what I've been given & not covet for more. I have a daughter this year for Christmas, my 3rd Christmas with Blake & a husband who continues to love me much more than I deserve.

It's been a worldwind of a week...started out with a bad cold & a phone call on Tuesday that we were to be in court for Iris's readoption on Wednesday. 
I feel like I'm still in recovery mode from getting up at 5am and lugging them around the city for a couple hours, but it went smooth and I'm so relieved to be done with it. We probably will miss out on any government tax credit unless Congress extends it, but atleast we did what we could.

By our choice it was a very low key & quiet thanksgiving and I enjoyed not having to leave the house. Although I went to somewhat greater lengths to make a nice meal, Blake still didn't give me his approval and hardly touched his plate. Iris liked some things but rejected my cornbread casserole (which to me makes the whole meal). I stayed up late watching Hallmark movies & enjoyed every minute.

Today is usually a day that I LOVE to shop, but I couldn't bring myself to shower, get dressed, face the cold & long lines...I just didn't have the fight in me. Tomorrow is a whole other story. I've been laying low now for a few days so I think I'm ready to brave a couple of places.
Although it is nice to have a quiet holiday weekend I can hardly wait for the craziness of being in Florida with my family and having lots of noise and fun going on with everyone. It's always a tough reminder to be away for special occasions.

I can't help but remember some tough thanksgiving weekends in the last few years. My first miscarriage was on thanksgiving in 2007...2008 I was pregnant & miscarried a few weeks later...2009 we had some more adoption paperwork to finish up before it went to Ethiopia and even last year we were wondering when we would meet our daughter. It's truly incredible to see God's faithfulness to me and His timing in my life. I have so much to give thanks for.

LOVE

"You wonderful wonderful thing you..."

These days

Long days. Lots of coughing & runny noses. Also though, lots of laughter & smiles. They both ran around tonight in circles for 10 minutes when it was time to go to sleep.
It's kind of cute because they used to be so ready for bed at 7pm once we'd read a few stories. Now they love to run around and have a few more minutes to just let out some steam.

We are finally in the process of readopting Iris, getting her name changed, a US birth certificate & hopefully will have this done while there is still an adoption tax credit. We were told by our attorney today court should be the end of the month or early December. Nothing but the best time of the year to bring the kiddos downtown for some winter fun.

Still continue to wait on the house / short sale, hope to get some feedback at the end of the week since it's been 2 weeks since our appraisal.

Today I was feeling kind of down and got tears in my eyes & asked Blake for a hug and he came over to hug me, saw the tears and goes " ohhh nooo"...made me laugh. That boy is getting too smart. He recognizes almost every letter he sees, starting to talk in phrases & notices EVERYTHING that is going on.
When we try teaching Iris sounds and letters it's the same sound nomatter what, which also makes us crack up. She imitates our faces too, I'll make a crazy face & she imitates it and we get quite a kick out of that.

It's still long days though with the cooler weather, lack of family & stress of sickness. I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week! This is the first year to celebrate as a family and I'm excited to see how Iris will react to all the good food (that girl eats anything I give her, which is a welcome relief after Blake). Unless it's pizza, cheese, or yogurt he cries at each bite he is told to eat. Keeps a girl humble.
What do other mom's do when they are homebound with a sick kid? (Already took them to library & target this week)...

Tuesday Truth

I LOVE THIS!

"So many people in our society are totally consumed with the body—they decorate it, build it up, extravagantly clothe it, put it in a nice car, send it off to a nice house, stuff it full of food, sit it in a comfortable chair, hang a bunch of jewelry all over it, take it out on a boat, let it swim, teach it to ski, take it on a cruise, and so on. But life is not contained in those things; it transcends all the externals. Life comes from God—and the fullness of life from Jesus Christ." - John MacArthur

Even when you begin to tell me no...Blake. Even when you run the other way screaming... Iris. Yes - through all the poopy diapers, tiring nights & exhausting days...my love only grows stronger.
Children are a blessing (repeat often!)
Remember that old song "I count it as a priviledge, I count it cause for praise, to kiss my children goodnight at the close of every day. For I know too soon they're off and gone, and walking out the door, and I'll never have a child to kiss goodnight anymore.
It's very strange how time has changed from the present to the past. When did they grow so quickly the time has gone so fast. For it seems that only yesterday I helped with with his shirt...patting my baby on the back, kiss away a hurt...tell a story , read a book, wipe the nose or tie a shoe. They never ask me to rub their back the way they used to do. Once it was a bother, just a trouble some kind of chore. Now I would give anything to hear it just once more..."

Good reminder for today after a long dr. appt & hearing Blake has croup. Hoping it leaves this home quickly & stays clear of Iris.

Countdown to FLORIDA: 4 weeks from Friday. Bliss awaits.

Sickness, you awful beast I despise...

After a solid month health streak it seems Blake has a bad cough...maybe croup. The symptoms appear to be that & so we'll see if it gets better soon or we'll be dr. bound...again. Hopefully Iris will stay healthy.

Joe & I got to attend a work dinner together Friday night for the first time ever. Kind of crazy that the restaurant was in the same parking lot that I purchased my wedding dress at. "Auntie Kristi & Uncle Gavin" bravely traveled out with their precious baby boy and watched our kids for the night. What wonderful friends we have.

My fun moment of the day was running into Goodwill today after I grocery shopped and found some legos for the kids (their first set) and a hot little navy ikat pillow that called out to me to take it home. I couldn't resist.

Here's hoping for a little more rest tonight. As much fun as it was being awake from 3am on, I'm ready to have one good night of sleep for recovery...somehow doubting that will be tonight. Iris has begun to cry out in her sleep. I run in to check and calm her (because those cries get VERY loud very fast) but she's totally out. Kind of crazy.

Anyone else out there familiar with croup? What worked for you?

Here's to a wild week of sleepless nights, cuddling, library time, and couch love.

God Loves Orphans

My dad taught a great message this past Sunday about adoption. If you want to listen go to www.lakesidechapel.com and it's under recent sermons (11-4-12). Yes, I realize how blessed I am :)

A day in the city (pictures)

Adoption Sunday

I had the privilege of sharing in church this morning about our adoption experience and I wanted to share it here on my blog since Iris and adoption is the reason I began to write this blog. Enjoy!

Well, adoption has not always been near and dear to my heart. As a matter of fact, 3 1/2 years ago before we began the process of adoption I didn't care about adoption, I didn't think about the plight of orphans and I really only saw it as a plan b or last resort. Thankfully over the last few years God has shown me how wrong that view is and I'd like to share with you how that change came about.

In early 2009 I had my 3rd miscarriage and I was in a lot of pain. I remember someone flippantly saying why don't you just adopt and it felt insensative and made me angry.
You see, I had a vision of how my family would come to be and it didn't involve adoption. My view was very narrow and I just assumed it was my right to get pregnant and carry a baby to term. I didn't think that God might want to bring about our family differently.
I was so anxious to be a mother that I began to look into adoption because I was curious and what I found blew me away. A veil was lifted and for the first time I saw a world I knew nothing about. I was so saddened by the need, especially Ethiopia. That country was just heavy on my heart for some reason & so I read mostly about Ethiopia & the statistics broke my heart.
Just to name a few:
1 in 10 children die before their first b-day
1 in 6 children die before they turn 5
Annual income is less than 160.00
47% of population live below poverty rate
Average life expectancy is 48 for a man, 50 for a woman
Estimated number of street children 100,000 & in the capital of Addis 40,000

After reading these heartbreaking facts I became excited to adopt. It was so much bigger than my pain and my desire - what did God want to do through Joe and I to begin a family. It didn't matter if I had a house full of children or could never get pregnant again - I wanted to adopt.
So, we began the long 3 year process & it was a lot of work. Financially it was impossible, but every step of the way God provided a way and it was such an encouragement to us when people would give financially because it showed us how great God is and to see that others would invest in our family and care about adoption - it reminded us of how little we are and how great God is.

Last December, the day after Christmas we flew to Ethiopia for the first time to meet our daughter Iris. I will never forget meeting her, it was one of the greatest moments of my life and I recall looking into her eyes and telling her "you will never be alone again. You are not an orphan anymore. You have a family, a mom and dad who love you." It was so special and yet there are so many needy ones out there who don't have that. I would urge you if you never considered adoption or thought one day you might want to adopt to seek the Lord concerning this. The need is great and time marches on. If Christian's don't step up and help give these orphans homes then who will?
If you don't feel led to do anything than help those who do. I can't tell you how exhausting the process is...it's emotionally draining, very invasive of your privacy, (all a labor of love though) financially overwhelming and so to have people come along and care and give and pray, it's a huge encouragement.
Also I'd suggest reading Adopted for Life by Russell Moore. I don't think there's another book out there which has such great content with a biblical perspective on adoption. I love his line when asking a couple who are considering adopting but wanting that first child to be biological "do you want to be parents or conservators of your genetic material?"

So today adoption is very near and dear to me. If I had never miscarried and had that loss then I never would have looked into adoption and I wouldn't have my daughter and I'd be missing out...and I wouldn't even know it.

When You Thought

This made me cry so I thought I'd share it. I like making people cry.

I'll be back tomorrow to share what I'm talking about in church for adoption Sunday. Last year at this time we had not even met Iris and now she's been in our lives for 6 months.