Squishes 2 and 3

I have gotten squish #2 from my Mom (Grammy to baby sister)


and from my Aunt Jean and Uncle Lysle.


I love the fabric of each one, and the poems and personal messages are enough to make even a non-hormonal, but still very "pregnant" and waiting Mommy get emotional!

If you have not gotten an official letter from us with the directions, it's probably because I ran out of stamps (No, seriously, I did. And, for the life of me, I can not remember to buy some when I am at the grocery store.) Anyway, if you want to make us a squish to add to baby sister's quilt, e-mail me and I'll e-mail you the letter with all of the directions.

Our very own little gDiapers

I wrote a post back in July about gDiapers. I had seen an advertisement about them in a magazine and they sounded great. They are a diaper hybrid between disposable and cloth diapers. The outer diaper and inner waterproof liner are washable and reusable, and there is a diaper liner on the very inside that you can flush, compost, or throw away. BUT, the best part is that if you throw them away, that they biodegrade and don't sit in landfill forever, because there is NO plastic in them. What a great idea!

I had a coupon for Diapers.com and decided to order the starter pack to check these diapers out for myself.

Oh. My. Goodness. I love them. Besides the fact that they are super cute, they are less bulky than cloth diapers (about the same bulkiness of disposables) and they are easier to clean up because I can just flush them down the toilet and don't have to have diapers that smell like pee waiting to be washed. We still use the cloth diapers on occasion, but I think this is my new diaper of choice.

Today I asked Evan's child care center what their policy is on using this kind of diaper, so maybe we can even get them on board and be done buying plastic, non-biodegrading diapers forever!

This is the starter kit. It came with two of the washable outer diapers, three waterproof liners, and 10 inserts that you flush, compost, or toss.

Good Wish Quilt

We are excited to announce the project we have started for our future daughter! It is called a Bai Jia Bei, or 100 Good Wishes Quilt. This tradition began in the northern part of China, and it is used to welcome and celebrate new life into a family.

The quilt is made up of small pieces of fabric from friends and family members. Each person who wants to contribute fabric to the quilt sends us an 8x8 piece of 100% cotton fabric and also a good wish for our daughter. The wish page is to be on an 8x10 piece of paper and include a small swatch of the same fabric that you are submitting for the quilt, and also a good wish, short note, Bible verse, or some other good tidings for our daughter. We would love it if your picture was also included. These wish pages will be put together in a book for us to keep and remember who was a part of welcoming and celebrating our daughter's life! For more information, please feel free to email me.

We sent letters out to a few friends and family explaining the Good Wish Quilt, and we have received our first "squish" (square of fabric+wish=squish)! We are very excited to have the first of many fabric squares that will eventually be put together to form the quilt! My sweet grandmother was the first to return hers and she did a great job!

This is a picture of the fabric square that we'll use in the quilt and the wish page.


A closer view of the wish page.

Thanks, Grandmother! I love it (and, I love that Grandaddy's picture is on it, too!) and I'm glad you were the first!

T-Shirt Tote

I saw this idea in my Family Fun Magazine and thought it was super cute! You take one of your child's old t-shirts that they have outgrown and turn it into a tote bag. I'm thinking this is a great way to make old sports shirts from soccer, t-ball, etc. into a keepsake for your children.

Here is a link to the entire article if you are interested! All it takes is a little cutting and sewing.

It lives!

Gardening 101 (had I actually taken a course like this) would have taught me that in order for plants and trees to grow, that you must actually water them. While Mother Nature does provide a plan for watering her naturally growing shrubbery, I am, apparently, also supposed to take note of when the trees, flowers, and plants around my home begin to wither and die from the lack of rain. Opps. My bad.

Our Crype Myrtle tree that we bought and planted back in the spring was looking pretty sad the past few weeks. It's been raining pretty well here, so I hadn't thought about the tree much. I also know that the first season you plant your flowering trees or shrubs that they often don't flower, so I wasn't worried when I hadn't seen pretty purple buds popping up.

While I was outside earlier this week, I decided to turn on the hose and water the sad looking Crype Myrtle. Let it water for about 10 minuets, turned it off, and thought nothing more about it. Next afternoon, we were outside again, so I turned on the water again. Did the same thing on the third day. On the fourth day... blooms and buds appeared!

Imagine that! You water your flowering tree and it will actually flower. A miracle of God's creation, I tell you!

Isn't it pretty? You can see the bright purple flowers and the petite little red/pink buds just waiting to pop open. I'm so glad I watered the tree and didn't give up on it. I think it has officially made it's come back!

Finally

After two months of no movement on the referral list, we finally moved!

One lucky family and child were matched this week, so we are now number 18. Feels good to move.

Spaghetti Dogs

I saw this idea on a blog I visit (Plumpudding) and I had to give it a try. Luke is hit or miss with pasta these days - some days he loves it, some days he hates it, so we went light on the spaghetti. However, he loved the whole thing, so next time, I think we'll do it up right like the photos from the link above.

We started with hotdogs and spaghetti.

We then pushed spaghetti through the cut up hotdogs.

We dropped them into boiling water for a few minutes, and voila! Spaghetti dogs! Even Evan ate some! Yummy!

E-mail Problems

We are having problems with our Earthlink e-mail account. I have gotten a lot of spam type things today and some people have reported e-mailing us things that we haven't gotten. If you have this e-mail address for us, you might want to try sending it to both that address and our hotmail account (same username, just add hotmail.com to the end instead of earthlink.net). I'll update when things get fixed and back to normal!

Missing Daddy

Dan left today for a business trip. He's been on them before - often, actually. But, it has been awhile since his last trip, so this one seems harder than the others. Both boys asked where he was tonight. Luke asked if he could give Daddy a hug good night, and twice Evan looked around and asked, "Dada?"

I mostly noticed his absence while I was watching Big Brother 11 by myself. We always watch it together. And, it was goooood. (Don't worry, Dan. I kept it on DVR, so you can watch when you get home. I won't ruin the surprises!)

He's gone until late Thursday night, so the boys won't see him (heck, I probably won't even see him) until Friday morning. Booooo.

We miss you, Daddy!

Cute. Just cute.

I know all parents think their babies are cute...

And, I am no exception. Luke was an adorable baby.

He was also an adorable toddler...

And, good golly. He sure is an adorable Kindergartner, too.

Learning to Rise

You know those people in your life that you love to have as friends (or, family), but they often times suck the life right out of you with their continuous negativity or worry? Everyone has those people, right? Well, this week, one of those people from my life had sucked me dry.

I was frustrated and, quite frankly, annoyed with this person yesterday. I had become overwhelmed with wanting to be angry and say things that were not so nice. As I was driving home, I heard the song, "Word of God, Speak" by Mercy Me. That focused me and reminded me that in my times of frustration and worry, that I need to turn to God and His Word. So, last night, I sat in bed, thought of that song, and opened my Bible. I literally flipped through the pages until I saw some highlighted and underlined parts on a page near the back. The first thing I came to was this:

"A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough." Galatians 5: 9

YES! I thought I had it. This person's negativity is like yeast and it's bringing down my batch of dough! Yup. Negative yeast, that's what was going on. And, then...

The words from that song came back to me, "Word of God, speak. Would you pour down like rain, washing my eyes to see, your majesty."

Slowly, I realized that negative yeast was not what I was supposed to be hearing from this passage. What I realized is that I could be the yeast and spead positive thoughts, energy, and hope into this person's life. My eyes were opened to this new information and I was quickly turned from frustrated and annoyed to hopeful and energized. I could do something about this.

And, I did.

Today was a new day and I was positive - spreading yeast all over the place. It worked, too. My day was brighter, more enjoyable, and even this person that I was so frustrated with seemed to be more joyful.

So, spread the yeast, everyone! And, then watch the people rise.

Good talk

Luke and I were playing this afternoon and we decided to get out a mosiac/tile toy that we haven't played with in awhile (this is because Evan loves to eat the soft, foam tiles). Luke choose a picture to make and we sat and worked on this project for about 30 minutes. During this time, he talked to me about school, church, friends, and Evan. It was the most conversation we've had in a long time. I loved it. I think we may have to do more of these pictures!

During the conversation, Luke told me that when we were done that I should take pictures of it so we could put it on the blog. Yeah, my kid knows that you show off your stuff on a blog. Go figure.

So, here it is.

This one is on here just because it's cute.

Important Information

Sort of. :)

5 minutes outside + 2 legs = 7 mosquito bites = itchies!!!!

High temp today was 95. The air conditioners at school did not work. Hot teachers. Hot students. Not a fun day. Please join me in my prayer vigil that the AC will be working tomorrow.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programing.

Campers

The two campers attempt the tent.



It's going well...

DONE!

Dan says they had a restful night on the (old) air mattress. Luke slept soundly and didn't get up at all. The early morning wake up call was not the call of the wild, however. It was the call of a neighbor a few houses down riding his 4 wheeler at 6:30 am. Who does that?!?!? Anyway, they had a great time and Luke wants to camp out every weekend now. Sounds good to me - I loved having the big, soft bed inside all to myself!

We May Not be Campers

... but, we can sure act like it!

Luke and Dan spent the night camping in the backyard last night. In an effort to get into the camping mood, Dan insisted on a camp out meal. Hot dogs, baked beans, etc.



Of course, no campout meal would be complete without Smores. The first problem was that we had no place to make a fire to roast the marshmallows. We made due with using the grill. It got a little sticky, but worked okay - except that our second problem was that we couldn't find our roasting sticks. We have metal roasting sticks somewhere, but they were no where to be found last night. So, Dan's bright idea was to use spaghetti. Luke thought this was funny.




Hey, how did this get in here...



The Smores turned out just fine and Luke had way too many. But, Mmmmm. Yummy.

Pictures of the tent set up and campers coming soon! Blogger is being moody and not letting me upload more pictures!

Working Mom

It's hard being a working Mom.

I love my job, but I don't like it to interfere with things my own family is doing. I won't get to stop by Luke's school just to eat lunch with him. I will have to take time off of my job if I want to go on any field trips. I just found out that next week is Luke's back to school night and it's the same night and time as MY school's back to school night. So, I'll have to miss going to see Luke's class and talking with his teacher and letting him show me around his big school. Dan will go, but I will be at my job. Booooo. I'm just a little sad thinking about missing it.

5 Months Waiting

We were so excited back in June when there were so many referrals coming into our agency. Unfortunaly, we've since hit the brakes. There have been no new referrals for over a month.

While this is a little discouraging, we have faith in God's timing, and we know that our little girl will be matched with us when the time is right.

I trust in you, O LORD. Psalm 31:14

First Day

Today was Luke's first day of Kindergarten! He did great! He kept telling us that he wanted to ride the bus. I was worried that he would not get on the bus and cling to us, but then when I started thinking about it, I realized that with him being so excited about the bus picking him up, he might not have a problem seperating. If I drove him to school, he would probably have a problem seperating. So, the big yellow school bus came down our street this morning...

... and ate up my little boy!

It was surreal to see my baby getting on the school bus and heading off to Kindergarten. But, he walked right on, like he'd been doing it all his life. I was very proud of him.

His report from the day included the following information:

1. I made another friend, but I don't know his name.

2. The teacher said there was good news and bad news. The good news is we can play lots of games in Kindergarten, but the bad news is that if she gives you a mad face, you probably won't get to play the games.

3. There is a big playground.

4. I had TWO snacks today.

5. When the bus goes around corners, I put my legs out and my head back against the seat so I won't fall off the seat.

A few pictures of Luke and his new school.

Adoption Issues

Our plan for this blog began as a place to share pictures and events with our family and friends. While that is still the case, and we will continue to make this blog about our family and the (not so) amazing life we lead, we also feel that it is a forum for us to be able to educate family, friends, and other readers about some adoption related issues.

While we were preparing for our homestudy, and since we have started officially waiting for our daughter to join our family, we have been doing some reading about adoption related topics. One of the main topics that comes up when discussing adoption is attachment.

Our daughter will be having a lot of transitions in her young life, and developing a strong attachment to her caregivers will be a good indicator of her ability to be able to develop attachment to us, her forever family. From the time she is born, she will have to transition from her birth mother, to her foster family, often times to another foster family, and then to us, her forever family. I have found a website that offers great educational information about adoption attachment, and there is an article titled, "A Different Perspective." that I would like to share. This article is a bit long, but worth the read. Click on the link above for the entire article. A portion of the article is posted below.

Every once in awhile, I may post more information about adoption attachment and how to prepare for the grief and loss our daughter will experience when she comes home with us. This is for our benefit, as well as for our family and friends to understand our daughter's life before she comes home to be with us forever.

---------------------------------------------------
You have met the person you've dreamed about all your life. He has every quality that you desire in a spouse. You love his touch, his smell, the way he looks into your eyes. The wedding comes. It is a happy celebration, but the best part is that you are finally the wife of this wonderful man. You fall asleep that night, exhausted from the day's events, but relaxed and joyful in the knowledge that you are next to the person who loves you more than anyone in the world…the person who will be with you for the rest of your life. The next morning you wake up, nestled in your partner's arms. You open your eyes and immediately look for his face. But IT'S NOT HIM! You are in the arms of another man. You recoil in horror. Who is this man? Where is your beloved? You ask questions of the new man, but it quickly becomes apparent that he doesn't understand you. Your beloved is gone. Where is he? Will he return? When? What has happened to him?

Weeks pass. You cry and cry over the loss of your beloved. Sometimes you ache silently, in shock over what has happened. Months later, you still ache for your beloved, but gradually you are learning to trust this new guy.

More time passes. One morning, you wake up to find a full suitcase sitting next to the front door. You try to ask him about it, but he just takes you by the hand and leads you to the car. You pull up to a large building. The man leads you over to the corner. Another man opens his arms and sweeps you up in an embrace. He rubs your back and kisses your cheeks, obviously thrilled to see you. You reach for the man who brought you, but he just smiles (although he seems to be tearing up, which concerns you), pats you on the back, and puts your hand in the hands of the new guy. The new guy picks up your suitcase and leads you to the door. The familiar face starts openly crying, waving and waving as the elevator doors close on you and the new guy.

A letter to Luke's teacher

Luke's teacher asked each parent to write a letter to her telling her about their child. We were excited to have a chance to brag about our boy and let her in on some of Luke's interests and personaility traits. This is what we told her:


Dear Ms. L,

Thank you for the opportunity to tell you about our Luke. He is a fun kid and we are excited to tell you a little more about him.

As you experienced on Luke’s staggered day of Kindergarten, he gets shy and scared in new situations. From his early days in child care, Luke always had a hard time transitioning to the each new classroom. It would take him 2-3 days to get comfortable and start to fully participate. We expect that Kindergarten will be no different. Luke also gets attached to people and makes them his “best buddies.” Similar to the way that he attached to you on that first day, Luke’s tendency has been to find 1 or 2 close friends and get really attached to them. He might be shy for the first few days, but once he gets comfortable, he’ll open up and start to show you his true self.

That “true self” is a kid who loves to learn new things, asks lots of questions, loves to build, take things apart, put them back together, do puzzles, and figure out problems. He has the mind of an engineer and will ask questions and work on projects very seriously if he’s interested in them. He seems to be able to catch onto learning concepts quickly, and retains knowledge easily. We are proud of the reading and phonetic spelling that he does at home, and hope he opens up and is able to show you what a good reader and writer he is.

We know you’ll find out in the next few weeks, but Luke knows all of his letters and letter sounds, can count up past 100, reads on a DRA of about a level 3 (from my informal observations) and enjoys writing stories using phonetic spelling. He is beginning to understand addition and subtraction concepts and can count up when adding small numbers together. (ex: 8+5)

We understand that all parents think their children are wonderful, and we are no exception. We think Luke is a pretty fun kid and, while he can talk your ear off when he wants to, and can surely act like a silly 5 year old boy, he is generally a happy kid who follows directions and enjoys going to school.

We are looking forward to a great year!

Thanks,
Jill and Dan

Met the Teacher

Yesterday was Kindergarten Open House and we found out who Luke's teacher would be for this school year. She was very nice and kind hearted and we feel lucky to have him in her class. This was the teacher that Luke bonded to on orientation day when he was upset. She kept him close by her and Luke seemed to like her and want to stay with her. When the teachers were making the class lists, she requested to have him in her class, since they already had made a connection. Her words were, "I didn't want him to have to start all over with someone new, when he and I had already started a nice relationship." That made my heart feel good. She is already taking care of him and watching out for him.

He insists that he wants to ride the bus on the first day, so I guess I'll have to take his picture climbing onto the big yellow bus and then hold in my tears until the bus drives away.

Sigh.

When did he get old enough for this?