A Moment

I had "a moment" tonight. You know what I'm talking about? One of those moments where you want time to stop so you can just soak it all in. After a long day with Eleanore which included playing, crying, walking/falling, squirming, and non-stop action, she had finally fallen asleep in my arms. I wanted to memorize her perfect little face, her baby smell, her soft breath, and how she fits just right in my arms. I couldn't put her down in her crib quite yet, I just prayed over her and thanked God for this sweet, sweet blessing.

I need more of these moments in my life. Moments where I stop what I am doing, stop thinking of what I could be doing or should be doing, and marvel at what is right in front of me. These are moments I will never get back, and I don't want to be too busy to stop and enjoy and be thankful for exactly what I have right now.

I might just have to go peek at the little one once more before I go to bed...

Life at the Zoo

Please excuse the following non-adoption related post. And all other similar posts. Thank you.

Where's Waldo?

On a beautiful day in July, we met up with my friend Whitney. Well, we were planning to meet up somewhere in Como Zoo, but my cellphone just happened to have a fatal heart attack about 5 minutes before we arrived at the most crowded zoo in town. With no set meeting place. (What did people do before cellphones? Plan ahead? Crazies.)

Good thing we planned to wear purple shirts so we would find each other. We ran right into her at the entrance and had a splendid day. As seen above, Eleanore proceeded to gnaw on her hand all day. #teethingisnotfun

Auntie Whitney was so much fun as usual, her baby skills are supreme. Is there anything this girl is not good at? I submit that there is not.

When I look at this picture, all I see is WHITE LEGS!

 It was just like old times, Whitney and I chatting away while poor Dean wandered off to entertain himself. Sorry Dean. 

 After checking out the turtles and yelling at babies, we headed to Fasika for my first experience with Ethiopian food. How was I not aware of this deliciousness before? A humungous platter of spiced veggie dishes that you eat with your fingers is right up my alley. Heavenly.  I will be back there. Tomorrow.

Whitney, I think this is a perfect e-harmony profile pic. Come hither.

 Thanks for the day of fun, friend. And try not to move out of the country again so that these dates can continue to happen. xoxo

Monthly Adoption Update

Since this is our official adoption blog, I better get some legit adoption updates going here. The way things are going, it seems that I should do yearly updates maybe instead of monthly. Or maybe I am just impatient. Correction: I am very impatient and need to get used to waiting.

We are still in home-study-land, doing paperwork and having interviews and doing more paperwork and getting things notarized and trying to find documents I thought I would never need and threw away and praying and making decisions and praying some more. 

But the truth is, we just can't wait to meet our children, so any wait at all seems long. I keep telling myself that it's not just waiting, it's preparation. And God knows I need a lot of preparation, so maybe it will be a lot of waiting. And that's ok.

So that's where we're at in this process, still in the beginning stages and looking forward to what's ahead. And always trusting that God's timing is perfect.

Strawberry Adventures

We started off our Independence Day celebration with a bang at Govin's Farm with some strawberry picking.

First we had to say hi to Lil Sebastian

And this guy! Can you believe this is a real animal?

Eleanore learned pretty quickly how to pick the berries, but she didn't quite master how to put them in the bucket. Somehow she thought that they went straight from the bush to her mouth (I may have inadvertently taught her that...), stem and all. Greens are healthy, right?

The OCD-mom in me was having a hard time with the strawberry juice everywhere. I've got a lot to learn.

 And the fruit of our labors! Pounds of delicious berries! Happy smiling faces!

And best of all, a lovely time with some of my favorite ladies. 

MORE STRAWBERRIES!!

Thrift Sale Madness

I might not recommend the "Name Your Price" option, unless you enjoy awkward moments with strangers

This weekend was our first adoption fundraiser: the big old thrift sale. I have gained lots of respect for people who put on these crazy events, it is a lot of work! Never again will I mess up neatly stacked piles of clothes at thrift sales or try to cheaply barter (I was always too chicken to barter anyway). But thanks to the Lord and all of the awesome help we had, it was a success!

Eleanore being oh-so-helpful

 I was feeling rather overwhelmed, especially with Dean out of town, no organized help lined up, and a high-maintenance baby on my hands, but God showed me this verse the morning of the sale "...perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by FEW..." (1 Samuel 14:6). And save me He did. By sending MANY helpers my way. (-:

So I wanted to say a great big ginormous THANK YOU to everyone who helped us out (Mom, Dad, Abby, Ethan, Michele, Brian, Jordan, Andrew, Emma, Tyler, Grandma Lula, Grandma Stokka, Behnkes, Withers...and whoever else I am forgetting, thank you too). You guys are the best and we couldn't have done it without you!! Now we are one step closer to bringing our little one(s) home!

I'm considering keeping the couch in our front yard, most comfortable lawn furniture ever!

Eleanore was in heaven playing with these two all day long

Remembering the best in the worst: For Levi

On one of our adoption questionnaires, there was the question "What is the worst thing that ever happened to you?". Dean and I both had the same answer, which was when my brother Levi was taken to heaven 6 years ago today. Nothing in my life can compare to that deep, ripping anguish of losing someone I loved so so much. Even though today tears are always near when I think of what could have been and my heart is still missing a piece, I cling to the truths that I know: God is good. All the time. Levi is no doubt having the best time ever with Jesus right now. And I will get to see him again someday.

So today instead of thinking of the worst, I want to think of the best times with Levi and be thankful for the 12 joy-filled years we had with him.

Levi was always smiling, always loving, and gave the best bear hugs. He was wild and fun, the life of the party. His hands were always either dirty from playing outside or sticky from having some yummy snack. Full of energy, life, joy...there is no way I can sum up everything my heart wants to say in this one post.

Levi, we miss you buddy. And while I don't understand why you had to go, I can trust that God knew what was best for you. I bet you have the best baseball game of all time going on in heaven these days. Can't wait to get there and play right along with you again. Love you. Always.

How did we get here?

Love

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the biological baby, then comes the adopted baby....No, I'm not going to bore you with our entire love story. But here is how we got on the adoption path.

Marriage

Dean and I always talked about adoption abstractly, and thought it would be great to have a home full of kids of all different cultures. But it was all talk at that point. Then last summer, I prayed that dangerous prayer, "Lord, break my heart for what breaks Yours." Oops. All of a sudden my eyes were opened to all of the passages in the Bible where God speaks of His love and care for the orphans and widows. My heart started to hurt for all of the innocent ones out there without families. I didn't quite get what was going on yet, but then we saw a small group offered at church called "Adopted for Life". We signed up and God started speaking to both of our hearts that adoption was His plan for us.

Baby in the baby carriage

We saw the beauty in the truth that our Father adopted us into His family. We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19), and we adopt because He first adopted us. We know that this is going to be a challenging, difficult, and painful experience at times, since adoption only exists because of an imperfect world. But I don't think God signed up for "easy" when He decided to adopt me: a broken, rebellious, risky mess. And just as He has brought joy, peace and redemption into my life by making me a part of His family, I pray that the same will be experienced by our children! What an amazing privilege to be able to live out the gospel through adoption.

And aside from the spiritual, it just made sense to us: there are children who need parents, and we are parents who want children. Ok, it's not just that simple I know, and the only way I can describe it is that God directed us here.

After plenty of prayer, discussion, and research (thank you google), we decided to take the plunge and apply at our adoption agencies. We spent April 1st in prayer and fasting and God led me to Psalm 113, so I scribbled in my Bible next to this psalm, "Start Adoption 4/1/13".

Psalm 113

¹ Praise the Lord.^[a]

Praise the Lord, you his servants;
    praise the name of the Lord.
² Let the name of the Lord be praised,
    both now and forevermore.
³ From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,
    the name of the Lord is to be praised.

⁴ The Lord is exalted over all the nations,
    his glory above the heavens.
⁵ Who is like the Lord our God,
    the One who sits enthroned on high,
⁶ who stoops down to look
    on the heavens and the earth?

⁷ He raises the poor from the dust
    and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
⁸ he seats them with princes,
    with the princes of his people.
⁹ He settles the childless woman in her home
    as a happy mother of children.

Praise the Lord.

So we jumped in. And here we are. And I can't wait to see where we are going next...

Maybe lemonade stand fundraisers? We will use disposable cups this time instead of the one yellow cup for all customers. Promise. (What did you expect for 10 pennies, people? A germ free cup? We didn't have that kind of capital.)

Hopefully not back to this haircut. Or belly shirt. But bring back the banana seat!

Or back to using measuring cups and syrup jars for glasses since some college boys don't do dishes. We are not going back there. That place was gross.