Proud Rocket Scientist

Recently it was space week at Tori's preschool. Her rocket scientist Daddy was very proud to hear that his daughter had made the biggest, most intricate rocket out of her entire class. While most kids rockets were about 5 ft tall Tori's measured over 6 feet tall with numerous buttons and special functions. She spent hours on this creation. The funny thing is... I don't even think she know that this is what her Daddy does for work. She just has the knack. Now what do we do with a 6ft rocket?

Dino Buddies

Josiah loves wrestling with his dinosaur.

Spring will come...

I know spring will come eventually. This past week we saw the sun- it was FABULOUS! My crocus took advantage and bloomed in full. It gave me such hope. The long rainy days of winter are hard. (Yes, I know that we've got great winter weather compared to most of the world). But this past month has been hard... on top of all the rain, it's been an emotional roller coaster with adoption stuff and we've all been fighting the sickies which means NO SLEEP for anyone. I'm not usually an emotional person but I feel on the brink of tears for the past month. And then I got sick this past week with something that knocked me out for a few days and has left me voiceless, with a killer sore throat. When you start to feel overwhelmed even the tiniest things seem to be monsters. I'm not kidding the tiniest things like, ANTS- they have invaded my kitchen. I'm at war with a tiny bug and it's winning both physically and emotionally. Seriously, today after I left the house I found one in my hair, on the kids lunch bag, and on Siah's toy... how dare they follow me. They are tormenting me. Jeff can attest... I pulled out the jar of honey yesterday and just about lost it when I found then on it and crawling on my hand. Thankfully he offered to clean up and suggested numerous ways to torture them- it made me laugh. Sick, I know! Another tiny thing that pushes me over the edge- Josiah, dumping all his toys off his shelf. I feel that it's a personal affront- his way of saying, "take this Mommy!" I know it's not, but my tired brain translates thing incorrectly lately. Here's another one- Tori points to the laundry and excitedly shouts, "Mommy, the pile is almost as high as ceiling!" Ugh... I'm defeated by the laundry! I'm also deFEETed by feet and paws... dirty ones all over the floor. What's the point of trying to keep them clean? I don't know, I've given up on that battle.

So there they are... my recent stuggles. You know what? It makes me feel a lot better to blog about it. I know that my friends and family that read this understand and have "been there". I know it's all trivial and that spring is soon here. We'll all be healthy again. Eventually I'll sleep through the night. The ants will go marching on and I'll accept the fact that the laundry will never be done and my floors will never stay clean. I'm also hoping and praying that we'll know more regarding our adoption soon. The 8 month old was placed. The newborn went to a family we know and we couldn't be happier for them. We're still waiting to hear about the 4 month old and the Haitians.

In other news- we were very happy to get our addition permit signed off yesterday. We still have some work to do before we can move in but that was a huge hurdle and it's over! The final inspection guy was literally here for 5 minutes. What an answer to prayer!

Probably Not

So we haven't heard for sure but we are probably not going to be chosen as the family for the newborn baby girl. Her mom wants someone who is not in the Santa Cruz area and a couple that can't have children of their own. I understand that and know that there are at least 3 other families that she is choosing from that might match those criteria.

I was bummed but I know that when God has the right one for us we will know and it will all workout. It was hard having to give up the idea of a newborn again. When we decided to adopt I knew in all likelihood we wouldn't get a newborn so to be close to having one be an option made me realize that I still haven't given up that dream entirely.

However, this would've been a private adoption and after finding out how much it would cost it was a bit intimidating- especially for Jeff.

Maybe we'll hear something regarding the other available children soon. I really hope so! The waiting is so hard and I don't know how to guard my heart in the meantime.

I Can't Sleep

Why can't I sleep?... because we just found out this evening that there is a possibility that a baby who was born today- on Valentine's Day, could be ours in a few days! Yes, we were just informed that our family will be presented to a woman looking for an adoptive family. We don't have much info since we only found out by a message - we hope to find out more tomorrow.

My mind is racing with the "What if'" and "maybe" questions of having a newborn in a few days. I'm in constant prayer for this woman considering adoption. I pray the birth went well and that the baby is healthy. I hope and pray that she's not alone right now. I'm so thankful that she loved and respected the life of this little one. I'm praying that even if we are not the family chosen that this child will be adopted into a loving family and that this woman will find peace in her decision to let him/her be adopted. Please pray too.

In other news- we are waiting to hear if we are chosen by the social workers representing an 8 month old boy in addition to the 4 month old boy I mentioned recently. We won't hear anything regarding either of them any earlier than Tuesday though since tomorrow is a holiday.

That's why I can't sleep. But I'm sure going to try and if I can't, I'll just keep praying.

Puddle Jumping

When Jeff gets home from work we often take the dog and kids for a walk in the forest behind our house. This is a favorite puddle- Victory!

I don't mind a little mud when I see how happy it makes them.

Happy Love Day

We started a tradition last year and Tori looks forward to it all year. It's a special date night with her Daddy on Valentine's Day AKA- Happy Love Day. It's a great way for her to feel extra special and for them to have time together. This year they went to Burger King, ice cream, & the dollar store... her choices. This year I took Siah out on a date too. We went to dinner- he's not much of a conversationalist, but he was excited about the chips and lemonade. We then went to pick out a new truck. He finally settled on an small dump truck to match the big one he plays with outside. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture with my date because he wouldn't stay still long enough. He was so excited to play trucks. Hopefully this will continue to be a tradition through out the years.

News

So everytime the phone rings or I get a new e-mail my first thought is... this could be life changing news. Usually it's a sales call or junk e-mail though. The waiting is so hard... it's kind of like taking a pregnancy test and really hoping for it to be positive and then getting inconclusive results.

However, today we finally got a call regarding the twins and after hearing all that their care would involve we've decided that we can't take them on. Please pray that there is a family willing and able to bring these kids into their heart and home. We know that it would be way too overwhelming for our family at this time. The little girl has some mental and physical issues that are still unknown but potentially very serious.

In other news- our homestudy has been submitted for a 4 month old little boy that will be entering the foster system soon... we'll update when we know more.

Nothing new on the Haitians but the fact that they are still in the news often I personally think is a good thing. Hopefully their desperate situation will not get ignored and the world will put pressure on them to find a solution for the kids.

Twins?

So... we've been asked by our adoption agency if we'd consider adopting twins! A boy and a girl age one (don't know the exact months). They are caucasian. The girl may have some medical issues or at least did in the past. We told our agency to submit our homestudy. We're approaching this as an open door and any door God opens, we'll walk through it until we know it's closed. The next step is to wait and see if their social worker thinks our family is a good match. If so, I don't exactly know the next step but they'd probably be placed with us within a month. We'll update when we know more.

In additon, we are attending a training for the Haitian refugee foster program on Saturday. We're kind of thinking that if we go in that direction that we'd ask for two children as well. A girl and a boy around 1 year. We really want to have our adopted kids look similar since Tori and Siah are carbon copies.

Please pray for us. It's a bit mind=blowing and overwhelming to think about but we're willing to go where God leads and we know He will provide all we need. If these kids aren't for us, please pray that they get placed in a wonderful and loving home.

Family Fun

We had a lot of fun riding dirt bikes with our friends. The kids loved it. Tori took a while to warm up to the idea but she finally hoped on the quad. Oh no, now Jeff wants one... OK, I kind of do too.






These pictures are for the few people (our parents) that don't check Facebook.