Wednesday, August 31, 2011

More answered prayers!

Wow!  I'm amazed at the way He continues to put people in my life who have a connection with Molly!  I have been in contact with a missionary who works at Molly's orphanage, but has been traveling since we got her referral.  Anyway, she posted on her fb page yesterday that the twins were officially with their forever family.  Well, in all of the pics I've gotten of Molly, she is sitting next to her twin friends...in every picture! We've always said these are her BFF's!  They're all SO cute together!  Anyway, I assumed these must be the same twins and friended their mom on fb and sent her a message asking if these were the same twins as in Molly's orphanage, and sure enough, they were!!!  She's in China now and will be going to the orphanage on Friday.  She is going to try to get as many pics and info as she can of her for me.  And of course love on her and let her know her family loves her and is coming for her soon!!  I'm so excited and can't wait for my Molly update!  God is GOOD!!!

We're on day 35 of our LOA wait, and we could receive it anywhere from 30-120 days! I'm growing more and more anxious, but I know God's timing is more perfect than ours.  I copied this quote from the twin's mom's blog. It seem fitting right now...


"I know of no more steadying hope on which to focus my 


mind when circumstances tempt to wonder why God 


doesn't "do something." He is always doing something---


the very best thing, the thing we ourselves would certainly 


choose if we knew the end from the beginning." ~Elisabeth 


Elliot

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY


Tuesday, August 30, 2011

I'm "THAT" parent!

You know, the one who's child won't pay attention at a gymboree class because he's too busy running around the class, jumping on all the equipment, and being ALL boy!!  I've always had the boys who I started at about 2 in a gymnastics class of some sort, and they would do exactly what the teacher said, when she said it!  Wellll....I'm just now getting Gage in a gymboree class at 3 1/2 and you would've thought I've never taken him out in public before!  Of course, we're in the class with what I'm assuming to be 1st time parents because they were hovering over their child's EVERY move.  And then we have Gage who was flyng around the room so fast, I couldn't have kept up with him if I wanted to!  The teacher would call everybody to the middle for storytime, and he would take off running faster!  And of course, there was the mom who had the perfect, rule following little boy, who I know was shaking her head with disapproval inside.  I remember those days, when I had the quiet, rule following children, and I was the one looking at parents like ME today thinking....awww, I'm sorry...you've got your hands full, don't you?..:)
a little blurry,...possibly because he wasn't still long enough to get a clear shot


I'm not giving up though, G-Man! We've got some work to do! We're going to get this gymboree class etiquette down, my little ball of energy!

his partner in crime...his singing teddy bear!
He did finally calm down enough to join the group the last 5 minutes when we did the parachute, and guess who's perfect little boy decided to run crazy then...oh yes, ....and I had to smile just a little bit..:)


yes that would be Gage throwing his teddy bear and ball onto the parachute!  Was NOT the instructions! Maybe we should skip gymnastics and go straight to sports! 

Participation at its finest! His favorite part of the whole class!


I love you my little flying tomato!...craziness and ALL! :)

Sunday, August 28, 2011

coincidences?

So, I was reading adoption blogs, as I do a lot these days, and stumbled across this one.  It really spoke to me!  She talks about being spiritually attacked when you step out in obedience.  She says the things that I know, and that we have experienced, but am not able to say it as eloquently and intelligently as she does, so I'm just going to let you read for yourself.  Go here to read Chrissy's post.


I know that we've had darts thrown at us since we started this adoption process.  He doesn't want us to adopt and wants our daughter to stay in an orphanage and feel alone, scared and unworthy.  As a matter of fact, he started at the very beginning of our journey.  Last November, right after Jon and I decided to start the adoption process, I decided to call Jennifer( the one whose blog I followed when she was in the process of adopting, which eventually led to us adopt) to talk to her for the first time about how she had inspired us to adopt.  I was on my cell phone, sitting at a stop light, with Gage sitting right behind me, and as we were just starting to talk,  a car coming the opposite direction ran the red light, hit another car that then flew straight into us, going 70 mph!  I saw it coming straight for our side and only had a second before it hit!  Gage immediately started crying and I was trying to climb back there and make sure he was ok.  How he only had a bump on his head, is seriously a miracle!!  I don't think the lady in the other car did so well.  I'm still not sure if she was ok, because she wasn't moving when they took her off. For us to be slammed by a car going 70 mph, when we were at a stand still, is nothing short of a miracle.  The next part is what really gets me....we had just gotten this Super SAFE minivan, with side curtain airbags, the DAY BEFORE!!!!  SEriously!?  We had an older model tahoe just a day earlier, and if we would've been in that car, most likely we would've been seriously injured or killed!  It didn't have side airbags and we would've been had no cushion from the blow.  I throw around the word lucky, or coincidence, but that was NO coincidence.  That was God looking out for us, knowing what the enemy had in store for us on that morning.  That was no coincidence that it happened the second I got on the phone with the person who had inspired me, and who he knew would help me through this adoption with her support and advice.


There have been many other things that the devil has put in my head... fear, doubt, worry, insecurities about adopting,..all of which come straight from him.  When these things start filling my head, God never lets me down.  He's constantly answering my prayers.  At moments when I've been so sad and crying because of what I'm imagining she's going through, or the lack of information we have about her orphanage, God puts people in my life who have a connection with her, who have given me information and pictures that keep me moving forward.  This is what He wants us to do, and He will see us through to the end..I know He will.   





Saturday, August 27, 2011

Friday Night Lights!!

Week one at the new schools down, and the boys are loving it!  If  we didn't know if we'd made the right decision before now(which we did), then we definitely know after yesterday! Fridays are so much fun here...huddle(pep ralleys) at both boy's schools, pre-game with friends, and then the football game at night! There is nothing like a small town where EVERYBODY supports the same team...and EVERYBODY goes to the Friday night football games!   A group of us went out to eat in one of the two restaurants in Melissa, and then set up our chairs at the end zone, and watched the game. The kids ran around and played with their friends and saw lots of familiar faces from the kids they met this week.  I haven't been around this kind of atmosphere, where everybody' passionate about the same team, since Baton Rouge/LSU! So much fun!!  
HS football players came to the huddle and gave motivational talks to the kids.  Reed was in awe!  Such great role models!

Cardinal Cheerleaders

Reed.....so glad to see me and Gage there

Pre-Game dinner with friends!

watching the football players come through

The boys waiting to catch the ball from the field goal kick!

The Coco boys and the Fowler boys
                   And our favorite part of our new schools.....




                                         The BUS!!


The boys have been wanting to take the bus since they started kinder, and never could.  Well now it comes right by our house and they think it's the best thing ever!...and so does mama!! :)




Tuesday, August 23, 2011

1st day as official Melissa Cardinals!

We've been looking forward to this day with anticipation, nervousness and excitement ALL summer and we finally made it!  The boys loved their new schools!  Jon and I both walked them in to their schools.  We walked Reed into his class first, and he walked right in and sat in his seat like he'd been there forever!  Luckily he's not embaressed for his mama to snap some pics with her big ole camera yet, so i got a few good ones in his class!
My sweet and confident 1st grader!

with his teacher, Mrs. McKinley
We then headed on to Ben's school minus one.  Ben asked G if he's going to miss him all they way to school.  Of course he said YES!
Ben singing the mario song to G making him laugh!
I was instructed NOT to bring my camera into the intermediate school!...not by Ben but by Jon!  Ben doesn't get embaressed by much yet, but Jon thought it was probably bad enough that we may be the only parents walking him into intermediate, so I snuck in my cell!  I promise, I  made sure nobody was looking before I snapped these..:)
walking Ben to his class...we were all a little nervous!

Ben's new class.  Sorry about the blurry pic, but i was trying to be quick!;)

I was so anxious all day to pick the boys up and hear about their day!  So was Gage!!  I think I heard at least 100 times, "when are we gettin my bwudus??"  or with his hand cupped to his ears, "listen, I think I Hear my bwudus upstairs!"  It will be an adjustment for little man to be away from his BFF's.  He has to hang out with his boring ole mama now!:)
My friend and her son came over to play for a few hours, so at least I didn't hear about picking up his "bwudus" during that time!  

They kept themelves busy..

very busy!

and then they got crazy with the paint!

he was so proud of his artwork :)

The boys both had a great day!..thank goodness!!  Reed met one friend and Ben met 3! Yay!!  Friends make everything better!  Ben was so cute..., I was running late to get him because Reed's carpool line took FOREVER!  When I finally picked him up, I asked about his day, and he listed off a few things about his day.  This is BIG for Ben!  It's normally like pulling teeth to get any info from him.  When he finished telling me a few details from his day, he asked if there was anything else I wanted to know.  He said he knew I'd ask 20 questions when he got in the car, and since he had time to think while he waited, he was able to come up with some things that he thought I would want to know.  That melted my heart that he put so much thought into it for me.  I LOVE my boys!!!
4th grade

1st grade


From this pic, you'd never know that they were fighting 24/7 this summer!



We're about to go pick up the boys from day 2.  Hope it was as good as Day 1~

Saturday, August 20, 2011

sip n see



So, anytime I have a shower or party at my house, Jon gets a little nervous!  He knows that entails getting my house in tip top shape..which also means buying things to get it to that stage..;)   Well, this sip and see definitely put a fire under my booty to get things done.  My friend, Whitney, helped me refinish my kitchen table and she did an AMAZING job!!  Check out this transformation...
From this...

to this!





I've had the table since we got married, and still liked the shape of it, just needed a little TLC!


We had a great time loving on Allie Ray this morning at the sip and see. Here are a few pics...

My good friend and best decorator EVER, Lisa, fixing... re-doing... uhhhm....assisting Jon's handyman work..;)


middle sister

Dee-lish cakes!!


the spread..

Megan and I

Sweet Allie..:)

Gage and I ran into Old Navy yesterday, and I turned around from getting my buggy to see Gage riding this dog.  He was getting frustrated with the mannequin girl next to him for not talking back to him.  "mommy, why she not talk to me?" ..lol!

                            
                                Sometimes I think he just likes to see my reaction.....stinker! :)


School Time Jitters

The boys are gearing up for the first day of school on Monday! They're excited, but a little nervous to be the new kids on the block!   They both make friends pretty easy, but they're use to knowing most people in their school, and seeing familiar faces on the first day.  They're going to miss seeing those familiar faces and their good friends that first week!  We've met a couple of people over the summer that they'll see, so hopefully that will help with their transition.  Jon and I are a little nervous for them too, and ready for them to get into their school routine, make friends, and feel settled!  I better keep myself occupied the first day, because I'm going to be a nervous wreck until I see their faces at pick up!  Ben and Reed will be going to different schools this year.  Reed will be in 1st at the elementary school, and Ben will be in 4th at the Intermediate(4th-6th)!  Not sure if I'm ready for him to be in a school with 6th graders, but from what I can tell, they keep them pretty separated.  Uggh!...I'm ready to get the show on the road!!


We went to meet the teacher Thursday night, and it was a little overwhelming....for ALL of us.   When Ben walked in, he said he really missed Eddins.  I'm sure the 1st week is going to be hard, but I'm hoping they'll eventually love Ridge and McKillop just as much! 
They also met the school mascot, Birdie!  Everybody LOVES Birdie!!
Reed giving Birdie 5!

And of course Gage can't miss out on the action..

Ben trying to decide if it's cool to give Birdie 5..;)

And HUGS!
I'm having a sip n see baby shower at my house this morning for my friend, so I should be getting busy getting ready!  I get distracted so easy! :)

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Futue Track Star??

 Ok, so I've pushed Gage in the jog stroller on my runs every since he can remember, and he's always been fine with it...not anymore!  He's been begging to run with me instead lately, so I finally caved, thinking he'd make it to the end of the driveway and be done.  Oh but no....he went Forest Gump on me!!  

 He ran fast and our neighborhood has some major hills!  I was even huffing and he was determined to  make it home.     
                                      
                                   I tried bribing him with suckers, and he wasn't              having any of it!  And if you know Gage and his weakness for sweets, that's HUGE!!      

                            He kept saying..."we almost der mommy!"


               He wasn't about to slow down either, because he knew I'd put him in his stroller!

                                                  
                                                      Run Forest...RUNNNNN.,...


                                           He ended up running about 3/4 a mile!!!



                               Looks like I've got a new running partner! :)