Worship

Each morning that I wake up I go down stairs and put on worship music to have a good start to the day. This morning we all woke together and the kids asked if they could put on Praise Baby . I went about making my coffee and turned around to find this. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to snap a picture.




I went around the other side to get her face. She was belting out the song and had this sweet smile on her face. When the flash went off this time she opened her eyes and said matter-of-factly, "I'm worshiping Jesus with all of my heart". Could anything melt a Mommy's heart more than hearing her daughter exclaim her love for Christ AND worshipping him?
At our church the children don't worship with the adults (which is something we really don't like about it) but I do worship a lot around the house as we listen to music. Sometimes I just can't help it, worshiping my creator just overwhelms me and I MUST do so. It seems Alana had the same feeling. So sweet...

Another adoption post

I got a lot of interesting comments on my previous post about my concerns as an adoptive Mommy. Some of them basically said to get over it and I think that I didn't get my point across as well as I should have. How can I get over something that is hurting my kids? My concern was not myself talking about adoption because if you knew me IRL you would know that I LOVE to talk about adoption. My concern was the insensitivity of others when my children are around. Some people are just plain rude in their comments and stares; they just don't think before they speak. There are some people who don't make me uncomfortable with their questions and comments and stares but rather open up a door to talk more about how wonderful my children are. For example, last week we had to go to Costco. There was an older gentleman, maybe in his 70's, who stopped me and ask, "Can I assume that you belong to all of these children?" To which I replied, "Absolutely, aren't they the most adorable children you have ever seen?" He said that they were, God bless you, and went on his way. This was a very positive experience for my children. These are the ones that I don't mind.
This past weekend Jonah and I went to my cousin Jeff's wedding, which was amazingly fun, and my cousin Nancy was there. Nancy was adopted by my great-aunt Joy when she was a baby and she had a lot of really great things to tell me from someone on the other side of the table. We talked for a long time and I was able to see her view more closely. The best part is that she offered to talk with Sarah anytime Sarah wanted to talk to someone else who has been in her shoes. The main thing that I got from Nancy is that her mother made her feel (and she still does feel) extra special for having been adopted because her mother CHOSE her. If I can only get my kids to feel that way I will be happy. I won't know the outcome until they are older though but for now I can tell them each and every day how special they are (which I already do). That is good enough for me.

Exhaustion, pure and simple

Something you probably don't know about me is that I need my sleep. And not just 8 hours of it either, I do much better on at least 10 hours a night. Jonah tells me all the time that the reason I don't do well when I only get 8 hours is because I need to sleep less, huh? When I was younger I would get sick if I burned the candle at both ends for more than 2 nights; sometimes it didn't even take that. I loved slumber parties until the next day when I was in bed, throwing up with a fever. I don't do well on little sleep. All that to say, I haven't been getting enough sleep the last 2 weeks(alright, honestly, the last 4 months). I was doing great having a newborn (who's not so new anymore) and it didn't phase me to get up once during the night to feed him and then get to sleep in a little. Well, the last 2 weeks have been awful for him and for me. We have had a lot going on and I have been staying up much later than normal, which isn't good in and of itself. Add to that the fact that my poor boy has excema so bad that all he wants to do all night is scratch and scratch and scratch some more and we have a recipe for disaster. Yes, my son still is in our room (and usually in my bed cuddled up with me while I hold his hands so he can't scratch). I have tried everything; I swaddle him so tight you would think it would collapse a lung. I even knit a narrow scarf to tie him in like I saw on another blog. He's a 4 month old Houdini, seriously! He can get out of anything (except my arms). We are on the brink of discovery as to why the excema is there but still have to make and go to a derm and allergist appointment. Today at Wal-mart I was so desperate I spent a small fortune on 3 different excema "remedies" to just help him not itch. Of course one of them(no, I didn't use them all at the same time) stung him so bad he screamed for 20 minutes relentlessly :( Poor thing.
So, I am tired. Very, very, very tired. Am I making myself understood? And tired plus 6 kids (with 5, 5 and under) doesn't make for a very nice Mama. I wish I could just sleep for a couple of days and wake up to an itch free baby who is sleeping through the night. Oh to be so lucky!

PS. I will say that Jonah and I never thought we would enjoy having a baby in bed with us but we are thouroughly enjoying it (and no it's not interfering with our sex life). Because we don't know if this will be our last newborn we are relishing being close to Justus and just being with him during those sweet and quiet times when he is sleeping; which isn't as much as we would like.

What a difference a year makes, Judah is 2!

Judah around his first birthday in Liberia. Notice how swollen he looks? That is a side effect of malnourishment and I think it doesn't help that the pictures we got from the orphanage all make him look MUCH bigger than he ever has been.


Judah a few weeks ago.

Today Judah turns 2. It is amazing to see the way this child has changed from a year ago but I will blog that change when I blog about our 1 year gotcha day coming up. Even though Judah is still in 18 mo. clothes he has grown so much and now is acting like a 2 year old. He is trying to talk a lot more where as just a month ago he would say very few words. He is obsessed with balls (something I remember about Kai at this age) and just got transitioned to his toddler bed. No, is something that he has only recently learned but is using it with a frequency that is dizzying! We are trying very hard to keep the reigns on tantrums (since we don't believe they are a necessary part of growing up) and he is doing well in that area when he isn't decidedly the most stubborn child I have ever met, literally.
We aren't having a party for him today but I will make a cake, he will get to blow out his first candles and open presents from some family members. On a different topic can I just tell you what a selfless 8 year old I have? She spent her hard earned money (and believe me it is hard earned around here) to buy Isaiah and Judah a birthday present. She would have taken hours had I let her take each thing off the shelf, turn it around and inspect it like she wanted to. I love that girl so much...

OK, back to Judah. He's 2. Amazing and not so amazing at the same time, like Isaiah. The difference is I can see such a drastic change in him over the year. I will try and post some picture tomorrow if I can but we have a busy day! My cousin Jeff is getting married! It's gonna be a great wedding!

Pin the balloon on the fire engine.


Isaiah trying his best to smack the pinata open. You will notice how the pinata is hanging? That is because they make them so cheap now that it kept breaking. Jonah rigged it by cutting a hole in the middle all the way through; it didn't break after that. What a guy, isn't he amazing? I think so.

Singing happy birthday to the big boy


Blowing out his first candles at his first American birthday party (and last one till he is 10) :)


Mmmm, Grammie made yummy cupcakes.

My beautiful sister in law Janet holding my sweet boy, Justus


My brother Chas (Janet's husband) decided that Isaiah needed to get dunked in the pool.

And Isaiah loved it so much he had "Uncle Knucklehead" (as the kids call him) dunk him 3 times. He loved it...

It was a great day, there were a LOT of people there and I was absolutely exhausted after the fact. My parents took all the kids so that Jonah and I could have an overnight date (can you say amazing parents to take 6 kids?). We took a nap and then went out to dinner where we both just wanted to lay down and go to sleep. No movie for us! After church the next day we were able to go to lunch with an older couple that we have really been wanting to get to know. It was great! We share a lot of the same veiws on things and they have some great stories to tell. It was a great and exhausting weekend!

Great news!

Some of you may remember S, the young lady we had living with us for a while who was pregnant. She was due May 5 but went into labor today! She made the decision a while ago to place her baby boy with some good friends of our and they are beside themselves with joy at the arrival of their son! He is healthy as can be and I cannot wait to see him and hold him!

Any help?

I have just heard about a birthmom in So Cal who is looking for a family for her baby. The baby(boy) is 1/2 black and 1/2 hispanic and she would like a mixed race couple. She is due June 7. I know lots of families that want to adopt but none of them are mixed race! If any of you know of someone who fits the bill please let me know as soon as you can. Thanks!

Isaiah is 5!

My cute little Liberian is 5 today and as cute as can be. We are having a HUGE party for him tomorrow and he is beside himself with joy. When we got home from Liberia we celebrated a birthday each month for the "old" kids and Isaiah could not comprehend why he didn't get presents and a cake too. We aren't big birthday party people, we only do them for certain years and 5 is one of them so Isaiah got lucky. Today I measured the kids on the door jam like I do every 6 months or so and amazingly Isaiah has passed Kai up, finally. Of course it is by a couple of millimeters but it's a start! I wish I could say that I can't believe he is 5 and all that about him growing up too fast but the fact is, he hasn't been here that long! Talk to me in 2 years and I'll be spouting sonnets about my boy growing up...

Engaged

So do you remember me telling you about my little brother and his "courtship friend"? Well as of Saturday night they are engaged! Yes, they were only courting for a month and a half but we are all SO excited for them. We had a wonderful engagment party for them and I am so excited to welcome another sister into my family. She will be my last! They are wanting to get married in July. Yippee for quick weddings! It seems my brothers and I are very much alike in this regard. Of course, saving yourself for your spouse, why wait longer than you have too ;)

Kittens!

At 4:45 am Sarah knocked on my door and told me she thought that our Kitty was in labor on her bed. I tell Sarah to hold the baby (who is screaming) and run to her room just in time to watch her give birth to her first kitten; can you say amnionic fluid all over the bed? I brought up her nesting bin (which she obviously didn't want) to transition them and moved them downstairs. While I was carrying them downstairs she gave birth to her second one. Sarah and Alana got to watch numbers 3 and 4 be born. Talk about a homeschooling lesson! They had so many questions and we talked and talked about all that was happening. Amazing. The cutest part is that when Kai woke up I showed him the kitties and he goes to tell everyone else, "The babies come out!" To which Alana's response is, "I got to see them adopted Malakai!" Is that how I adopted her? I thought she had it all straight...

Concerns of an adoptive Mommy

Well, yesterday was a busy day for us. We went to the park with our homeschooling group and then went to run some errands since I didn't want to waste gas (can you believe how expensive it is? :upsidedown-2: ). Anyways I had to go to Joann's and Winco Foods. Of course we got all the "you've got your hands full" comments (about 13 times actually) so much so that by the 7th person I was ready to ask them, "Do you think I haven't heard that comment 100 times today?" But I didn't cause this question isn't the one that bothers me so much. So, of course our family sticks out with the diversity of our skin colors so we had quite a few, "Are any of them adopted?" I am SO tired of hearing this question! And it is getting to the point where I know it's affecting the kids. They are constantly being reminded by others that they were adopted and I just want them to be kids, not some freak show. Plus the fact that asking if the "are" adopted instead of "were" adopted makes it seem like being adopted is the whole of who they are instead of something that happened to them long ago. Know what I mean? But that is a whole other post.
So, I want to change the way I respond to people but I want to do it with dignity( and maybe a little sarcasm, OK I don't mind a lot). The "you've got your hands full" comment always elicits an "I'm blessed" or "Happily"(and I don't mind this question) from me but then I feel like I have to tell them yes when they ask if any of them are adopted(and I don't want the kids to feel like I'm ashamed of the fact they were adopted). Sometimes I am able to high tail it out of there before they ever get the idea to be so rude and ask but many times I just can't move fast enough with 6 kids in tow.:) Any ideas how I should respond? Tell them it is none of their business? That I don't share personal information with strangers? I want a good way to take the focus off the kids being adopted and give me a segway to get out of there. I will consider any and all suggestions! And, if you are going to tell me, "what did you expect" please don't. People should be able to think before they speak when children are able to hear what they are asking. How do you think it makes my children feel being asked these questions or asking me "Are any of them your own?" Huh? If they are all mine, aren't they ALL my OWN? I could go on and on with ranting about ignorant people... Any help?