"No" "Broke Pass" and Other New Things

My posts will be moving back and forth between past and present for a little while I think, so please bear with me ;)
My sweet Kaitlyn learns new things everyday! Yesterday I took the girls out in the backyard to swing and play. Addison was, of course, ready to go back inside looonngg before Kaitlyn. As I pushed Kaitlyn in the swing for a little while longer I asked if she was ready to go inside. She looked at me, paused, and said "Nooo".  I couldn't help but crack up. It was just so darn cute! I have never seen her think so much about saying anything and then she just waited for my reaction. She thought she might get it wrong, might get in trouble, might be cute... you could tell she just wasn't sure. She is so stinkin' cute!!

Video taken today, one day after the original "no" ;)

Tonight is the night I have been dreading for quite some time. It is the night we begin weaning from the beloved "passer" (coined by Addison when Kaitlyn was still very little. Kaitlyn now calls it a "pass" but I think they will always be "passers" to me for the rest of my days).  Anyways, obviously she enjoys having a pacifier or it would be a non-issue. I understand that, I really do but you must understand that "enjoy" does not come close in explaining her love. It's more like infatuation, pure love, addiction. I promised myself we would conquer this at 15 months this time. We took Addison's away at 16 months and I remember thinking that her memory had improved dramatically in just a month and that it would have been better if we beat that milestone ;)  Sweet Kaitlyn gets her teeth in pairs or sometimes all four in a set come at once and, indeed, this was happening for the last few months. I couldn't bring myself to take away her passer when she was in such distress... Well, we have almost 3 weeks before our next vacation, her canines are all in (wondering if the 2 year molars are coming in but...), and we are finally healthy again sooo it's time. Tonight I cut a slit in the end of her passer. She held it, put it in her mouth, took it out and was generally just confused as to what was going on. And sad. She cried and cried and otherwise fought sleep and sometimes snuggles for about an hour and a half but then just couldn't fight it anymore. Much better than I expected. Somewhere in that hour and a half I was trying to give her words for her sadness and was commiserating with her on her loss. I was explaining that pass is broke now. I asked her to say "broke". She replied "broke pass" :(( Even when she's grieving she's just so irresistibly cute!

Oh, and also, during the crying fest, she learned how to open her bedroom door. Oh joy.

And, just in case I forget to mention it, her final two canines came in last week while on vacation (the bottom ones). One came in on Tuesday and the other on Thursday (I think... I fail at keeping track of teeth). I really hope my children can forgive me one day. I take pictures of just about everything possible but I just can't seem to keep up with the baby book thing...

I'm Back!!

Sorry I have left all 11 of you hanging for so long! It has been a crazy few weeks!!

Now to work on catching up...

We packed up and drove home to Texas a couple weeks ago for a fun trip home visiting family. This trip was extra special though, because it was planned around our good friend, Madison Bowden Ussrey's, wedding! Even though we have lived out of state for all our friends' weddings we have managed to make it to all except 2 I think. This is so important to me :) We had a great time!

When we first found out the details of Madison's wedding we planned to make it a dual purpose trip and celebrate our 5 YEAR anniversary a little early! Hooray! We booked a bed and breakfast in Fredericksburg, Texas for the weekend. It was great! We had never left the girls for an overnight stay, much less a whole weekend but it was a welcomed milestone ;)  They stayed with their Grammy for the weekend and it was reported that a great time was had by all.

While in Fredericksburg, I was amazed by how much there is to do and see! I have been before but have never done anything other than shop and pick peaches, hehe.  When Gordon and I pulled into town we went straight to dinner because we were starving! lol  We picked a little German restaurant, appropriately, named Der Lindenbaum. It was super yummy! 

Gordon's beer from Der Lindenbaum... very important to capture the memories.

After dinner we walked the streets and window shopped (literally- everything closes at 6! haha). We eventually made it back to the B&B and enjoyed the hot tub in the back yard. I like hot tubs but would never buy- I only enjoy it for the first 10 minutes...

The next morning we ate at Mahaley's Cafe. AMAZING breakfast. We each got a breakfast taco and shared a DIVINE cinnamon roll. Seriously the best either of us had ever had. Very reasonable prices. I think all that food plus a coffee and bottle of water cost just over $12. You must eat there if you visit Fredericksburg!

After breakfast we killed some time people watching, waiting for the shops to open. This town is serious about their time off, haha! The shops were fun but we bought almost nothing. Just not much that shouted to me that I HAD to have it ;) Gordon thoroughly enjoyed the ability to stop in to little shops and diners and purchase a beer to enjoy while walking and shopping with me. For lunch we went to The Brewery. Super yummy food and yummy beer for G. The beer is made in house so it adds a little extra interest. 

My chicken fried steak from the Brewery. It was absurdly large. Look at it in comparison to the Dr Pepper can!

Just realizing we were not doing a very good job of taking pics ;)

Next on the agenda was a visit to Wildseed Farms. This was a really neat little place. They have wine tastings and concessions in the little shop and then you can roam around on your own admiring all the different varieties of wild flowers that they grow and sell (seeds and matured plants).  

After this we were off to Lady Bird Johnson Park to walk the nature trails. There was some really pretty scenery and it was fun to do something different. Funny how much more conversation you can enjoy when spending time in God's creation (and without the girls no matter how adorable they are). I hadn't ever done any hiking before but I really enjoyed it... even if I did do it in flip flops, hehe.

For dinner, we met Missy and Sumer at Rathskeller, another little German restaurant. We were not impressed with their dinner menu. It was very short with higher prices for the same food that we'd had at Der Lindenbaum and seen elsewhere around town. When Missy and Sumer got there, they agreed so we up and left! haha...  We stood around debating where we should eat and decided to go back to The Brewery :) This is when Gordon bought his Growler. He loves it. Yummy food and great company!

 Us and Sumer :)

Gordon and his beloved growler!

After they left, Gordon and I went out to The Hangar Hotel where we had originally planned on staying. They have an extensive martini list at their little bar with views of the runway so you can watch planes come and go. The hotel is designed after the WWII era and is very classy. We will definitely be staying there next time!

In the morning we tried to eat at Rather Sweet, only to realize that they are closed on Sundays. We walked back down to Mahaley's but they're also closed on Sundays! We were sad but I think part of the charm of this little town is found in the fact that they have not completely converted themselves into a tourist trap. We ended up at Rathskeller and their breakfast menu was yummy! We were both stuffed by the time we left for the Nimitz Museum. We thoroughly enjoyed the museum but had sadly greatly underestimated the amount of time we should commit to it. We should have gotten our passes the first night (good for 48 hours) and spent a little time each day. We were on information overload only a couple hours in and there was so much more to see. Next time!

 There are hundreds of plaques donated to individual soldiers, ships, companies, etc

 Japanese Garden of Peace donated by the people of Japan

Did you know that the 8 consecutive Presidents before Clinton all served in WWII? We think military service should be a requirement for Presidential candidates.

For lunch, we headed back out to the Hangar, this time to their diner. It was super yummy food and there were many planes coming and going so we had quite the show.

Alas, our trip was almost over and we headed to Missy's house to chill and my parents and Ted and Gail met us there. So fun to hang out and laugh a while!

Again, we were off to Madison's wedding :) The wedding was beautiful and it was fun to see some old friends. We had to head out a little early to ensure we would be able to stay awake for the drive home but it left me wishing we would have had a little more time for conversation... o well. Can't believe I didn't take any pictures either, oops.

All in all it was a fantastic weekend!!! 

A big thanks to Tammy for keeping the girls :)

Not forgotten

I have not forgotten about my blog, I promise! I'll be back soon ;) It's been a long couple weeks. We were out of town all last week and while we were there both girls got sick. Fun times :/  I'll update soon and make sure to post pictures from our trip!

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope all of you have had amazing days of your own. Mine was quiet and as relaxing as a day can be with two crazy little girls :)

Days like this make me miss home because I wish we could be there to spend the day with our moms. 

My mom happens to be one of the best out there! She has always treated me with such respect. 

I think that's the greatest lesson I've learned from her and what I most want to imitate. 

Even as a child, she talked to me like a person and always treated me as if she was happy I was there- 

not the annoyed, patronizing way that many people act toward their children.  

She never raised her voice or seemed the least bit angry with me. 

My mom is probably the most humble, self- sacrificing people I know.  

She can be tough when she needs to be but it takes ALOT to push her over the edge.  

She always acts with integrity and shows the love of Christ to those around her. 

Family is everything to her- she loves my dad with everything in her and my girls are practically the center of her universe. She would do anything for me and Gordon 

AND

 she treats Gordon like her own son.

If I am half the mom she is, I'll be happy with that. I love you mom!!!

Sweet, Sweet Naptime

My sweet Kaitlyn has her last two teeth coming in before we go get to the 2 year molars. Unfortunately they are her canine (or eye) teeth which are especially painful.  It has been about all we can handle- they have obviously been hurting her and she has, therefore, been incredibly whiny which hurts me. haha! This morning as she sat in her highchair having just finished her breakfast, she was in one of those whining fits where nothing satisfies her. I asked her partly out of frustration if she was ready for a nap. She immediately started asking for baby and "pup-pup", her two beloved sleep mates. 

I love that my girls (usually) love naps!!!

This brings me to a mini-lesson in raising children. For those of you who don't have kids yet, please consider this:  Always whisper sweet, comforting, joyous words as you put your infant down for a nap, not "you are crying and whining so much I can't stand it, TIME FOR A NAP!"  For your own sake, teach your children (in the sweetest voice you can muster) that "they will feel so rested and refreshed when they wake up" and that God gave us times of rest so that we can have more fun when we wake up. It's too hard to have fun when we are sleepy so we need to rest.  In other words, I try to never use naps as a punishment. Naptime is the best time of the day not a time to be dreaded!! haha  My girls cooperate amazingly well most of the time and even occasionally ask to take a nap and I'm convinced that this helped. I certainly think that God has blessed me beyond measure though, do not read this thinking that I think it is all about me, I'm just saying a little brainwashing encouragement helps in these areas ;)

Also, just a thought to ponder but don't you think a good attitude toward rest time will lead toward a good attitude toward the Sabbath? For:

"The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." 

Mark 2:27

and

"Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may

be refreshed." 

Exodus 23:12

Because blog posts just don't seem complete without pictures...

This was actually when she woke up, not when she was going down for her nap ;)

Sometimes she's just not sure if she's ready to get up and leave her "passer" in her bed, hehe
Oh, and yes, I said we would be getting rid of it after our last vacation but then she starting getting 4 more teeth. Maybe after this next vacation ;)

Playing peek-a-boo with Mommy. Kaitlyn is quick to wake up and be happy.
Nothing like Mommy and Addison (or even Daddy) haha!

It's Official

In my mind anyway ;)

Throughout this past fall God has been moving my heart toward adoption.  Back when we were dating, Gordon and I had talked about having one or two children of our own and then adopting a couple more to bring us to 4.... fast forward a few years after getting married (and quickly getting pregnant) and that thought was completely gone. After Addison, Gordon decided he only wanted one more. I was still desperately clinging to the magic number of 4 in my heart and my mind BUT when Gordon sets his mind on something I'm learning to just try to accept it and PRAY.  I prayed for peace for months while I was pregnant with Kaitlyn and most of her first year.  Every time I packed up her clothes into hand me down bins I cried that I might never get to use them again. Somewhere in that first year, though, God met me with that peace that surpasses understanding. I really felt ok with not having any more babies, so much so that I started to sell our baby things, but at the same time I desperately wanted a bigger family and couldn't stop clinging to that dream. Sounds insane, I know- I felt that way too.

Looking back on it now, I can see with so much more clarity how God was working in my heart and mind but at the time I was too caught up in my hopes and dreams to see why I couldn't have what I thought I wanted. The timeline went something like this...

Our pastor at People of Mars Hill took us through a two year long study of Genesis. I never knew I had so much to learn before this study. Jack has an amazing gift for teaching the Bible, and teaching it from a Jewish perspective to bring out all those cultural concepts that we just don't understand when skimming over the stories. Anyway, in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis we discussed why they were destroyed. Jack pointed us to Isaiah 1:10-17 and Ezekiel 16:49-50 (and maybe others, hehe) which seem to say that S&G's "main"sin was neglecting the poor, orphans and widows. 

Ezekiel 16:49-50 NIV

⁴⁹ “‘Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. ⁵⁰They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen."

I don't know about you, but I didn't realize that. Most people center in on the sexual sins of the two cities and overlook this, but it is mentioned in more than one place. Anyways, this started to wake me up to the fact that we as a nation, a worldwide church, and a family do not take this seriously enough.

I think it was right after the S&G sermon that we started sponsoring an orphan in a Chinese orphanage. (Her name was Helen- she was/is simply adorable but has since gone home to her forever family WOOHOO!! We now have the priviledge of supporting Debbie who stars on the sidebar of my blog:) )  The monthly updates and regular FB updates from An Orphan's Wish definitely kept the issue in the forefront of my mind.

Also, this fall I started going to Bible Study Fellowship and this year we are studying Isaiah. 

The study has been amazing but the first half or so of Isaiah is full of "woe's" from God concerning Israel's misbehavior. It came up time and time again that they were neglecting the orphans and widows.

God wasn't letting me off easy on this one. I started to realize that He was calling us to way more than a $35/month commitment.

Also, our great friends Tara and Andrew were quickly approaching the day when they got to bring home their newest son Caden from China! Following Tara's journey to China and back cemented it in my mind that I wanted to do the same some day.

At this point I was praying that God would show this all to Gordon too because he was pretty determined to keep our family at it's current size ;) I don't really remember when he started warming up to the idea but I tried to not talk about it much. Every now and again I'd bring something up but I tried to not nag and just let God work... especially since you have to be 30 to adopt from China anyway, haha! I figured God had PLENTY of time to bring Gordon on board ;)

I started this post back on April 4 (sorry it's taken me so long to finish it), just a few days after Gordon told some friends of ours that we were looking at someday. I was a little surprised when he said it so matter-of-factly that day. We still hadn't talked about it all that much and I was real sure on where exactly he was on the issue.  I am overjoyed to say that his heart is now also completely pulled to adopting!  
We have started doing some research here and there but there is much, much more to do.


Questions? I know many of you will have some so I'll try to get a head start ;)


Gordon has decided that he thinks he would like to adopt a boy. 
Surprised? Don't feel like the only one ;) 
I really don't have a preference, so as long as God approves, 
we will be looking for a boy to join the family.
Speaking of boys, watch this

We feel like since we have awesome FREE health care coverage that we, of all people, 
should definitely be open to special needs. 
I realize that is a HUGE umbrella but we have tons of research to do so I'm not sure I can narrow it down any for you yet, though I will step out and say that we feel more drawn to less intimidated by (just being honest) medical needs than developmental delay type needs (past the normal delays that are to be expected anyway). God has a funny way of changing desires, though, so you just never know I guess ;)


Also, we both feel drawn to "older" children. This usually means from about 3 to just before the child's 14th birthday. I feel especially drawn to the kids who are about to age out of the system having never been chosen. My heart aches for them. I'm not sure if we will start there since (assuming we move through the system fairly quickly) that would put me at 30, G at 33, new child at 13, A at 10 and K at 8 but we will see what God has in store. There are many, many details to pray about there.


Where will we go, you ask?
We're not really sure yet. So far, I have the most exposure to China (and I must admit that those little Chinese faces are just so irresistibly cute) but we're still open to pretty much anywhere... we are very hesitant about domestic adoption though. I really feel like we will be doing an international adoption because the stories I read and the orphanage conditions that are described are just heartbreaking.

How do the girls feel about it?
We have just started introducing the idea to them and Addison is ecstatic... probably because she thinks she will be getting a little brother or sister like Kai-lan. ha! I asked her what she thought about getting a big brother or sister instead and she said she just wanted a little baby brother. haha.


How many?
Not sure. The number 4 feels much less important to me these days. I'll go with "as many as I can convince Gordon to bring home" ;) We have talked a little about bringing two home at once. China now allows you to do this if one is off the Special Focus list. Anyways, that too is something that will obviously require much prayer. And, if it turns out that we do go to China, we have 6 years so no rush ;)




Well, it is WAY past my bedtime so I'll leave you with that to contemplate for now... 
pray for us, would you? <3