Pictures

[gotta love the gov’t]
My dad and grandma have been here for a week now . They had quite the time getting here though. Their layover was in Denver and their flight was delayed . But it wasn’t that simple, of course. They had a short layover so they rushed to the next flight without eating. They were put on the plane and then sat and waited on the tarmac. Now, any one who has flown, knows how much it sucks when flights get delayed. And it’s really bad when you’re stuck on the plane waiting in a stuffy plane with grumpy people. The cause of the delay: waiting for the manufacturer to send a fax about a replaced part on the plane. I’m sure it was some government rules requiring the fax. I’m thankful for my safety and precautions that are taken to ensure our safety but sometimes it seems ridiculous. Their flight was supposed to arrive at 6pm. Instead it arrived at 9pm and they were hungry. It was midnight before they got to my house!

[the start of the weekend]
Friday night we didn’t get much sleep after waiting up for dad to come. Saturday I was tired and have been every day since then. It has been good to have dad around and especially for dad to play with his grandson. Saturday was a quiet day around the house. That evening we took Dad to Living Stone and then to our “after LS” party at the Rich’s. Sunday we celebrated Father’s Day after church with a trip to a nearby restaurant for lunch. Absent-minded me, I forgot the Father’s Day gifts for my 3 important guys. After lunch I went back to mom’s to get my car and Dad headed home with Ryan. At mom’s house I unbuckled my sleeping child when mom told me to take their Tahoe home instead of moving him to my car. I got out of the Tahoe to get Ralph his card and left the Tahoe running. Said good-bye and jumped in the Tahoe to go home. When I got home, I opened the back door to take out my still sleeping child. And immediately I began thanking God for his hand of protection. Scott was not buckled into his car seat . I had unbuckled him to take him out and then ended up leaving him in the tahoe and never buckled him back in. Bad mom! Fortunately the deer stayed in the fields and I drove home on the black top roads instead of the usual gravel roads. It was quiet the rest of the afternoon. The guys watched baseball and I piddled around in the flower beds.

[partial work week]
I worked on Monday while Dad hung out with mom and Ralph. (yes, my parents are divorced and get a long very well. Yes, I greatly appreciate that.) After work I headed home to finish up the flower beds while dad had a chili relleno supper at mom’s. Tuesday and Wednesday I took off from work. Tuesday we hung out around the house, watched a movie, played with the kiddo and visited. Wednesday, we headed across the big river to another state to see Cars, the movie. It’s very cute and a must see event. We followed that with a quick trip to wal*mart and to culver’s for lunch. That evening, we made Chinese food for supper (one of my favorites) and I potted some flowers outside. Yesterday was back to work. Dad ran all over this corner of the state with mom, Ralph, grandma and small fry. Dad and small fry got dropped off at bible study where we were grilled out and played horse shoes and visited. Today is another work day for me. This is the last day dad is here so I came in late this morning. Tonight we’ll all go to dinner together and then tomorrow morning I’ll take him back to the airport.

[dad]
I’m so thankful for my dad and his willingness to spend his money to come out here to visit. I appreciate that he has played so much with his grandson. It has been a blast to watch them together. Thanks Dad for hanging out with us for a week.

[11 month old small fry pictures]

[bottle feeding]
I don’t like bottle feeding my kid. I’ve been working on weaning him the last few weeks because I have plenty of home brewed milk in the freezer. Breast feeding is so convenient – the milk is prepared, is warm and doesn’t have to be carried around. On the other hand, when my kiddo wakes up during the night and is hungry (this has happened several times this week), I have to get up, thaw milk, fix a bottle and warm it up. Not so much fun. Even when its not the middle of the night, I don’t like having to do the bottle thing.

[11 months]
Small fry turned 11 months old this week. Time flies when you’re having fun. It won’t be long before his birthday comes. I’m currently working on a scrap book for his first birthday. And finishing up his Christmas present (yeah, I’m a little late on that). So far, I’ve thought about planning his birthday party… so many decisions to make.

[small fry]
He no longer likes to play “so big” and rarely does the itsy-bitsy spider. He’s too busy roaming around and checking things out. This week he’s really working on saying the dogs name and pats his hand on his leg to call him. He also tries to say K’s name. She was over on Saturday and played with him before Living Stone. When I would take him back from her and sit him in my lap, he’d reach for her. That little turkey! He’s eating everything in sight this week. Chicken fajitas, spaghetti, veggies, snacks and whatever else he can get someone to feed him.

[rick]
On a sad note, we lost Rick on Saturday. He battled stage 4 cancer for two months before it took him. I’ve been working with Rick on a stream bank project at work and have seen him every day in the last few weeks. Thursday when I saw him, he didn’t have any energy to get out of the truck to take a few pictures. Friday at 3am he went to the hospital and Saturday they brought him home to die. The cool thing for us is that everyone involved with his stream bank project bent over backwards to get it done before he died and it happened. It was pretty well done on Thursday and completely done on Friday. Rick left behind a wife and 3 or 4 children.

[awesome]
Sure, the beginning of the week brought some tough news – losing a friend. But, my week has been so good. Sure, my allergies are driving me crazy, my body aches from fibromyalgia and I’m tired but honestly, I’m so blessed. I’ve had some time this week to sit with my husband without distractions. I’ve been able to talk to several friends who live many miles away. My kiddo has been such a blast. And probably one of the best things has been my attitude towards my husband – realizing that he does the things he does for me, to show me that he loves me. And that’s so cool when I actually look at things from his perspective. I do have a wonderful husband (even if he doesn’t put pants on our kid before he puts him to bed).

Adoption

Thoughts about Adoption (I got these quotes and verses from various places as I’ve searched out adoption information and failed to give proper credit where credit is due.)

How blessed is he who considers the Helpless … —Psalm 41:1
In love he [God] predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will. Ephesians 1:4-5
Are you available for how God wants to use you?

Adoption Process
Gather Information – Every prudent man acts out of knowledge … —Proverbs13:16a
Prayer - Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.—Proverbs 3:5
Godly Counsel - Without consultation, plans are frustrated, but with many counselors they succeed. —Proverbs 15:22
Self Assessment - Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.—Psalm 139:23-24

If God is calling you to adoption, there is a child out there that He has ordained as your child. In order to bring that child home where he belongs, you will have to pay the ransom.

If God calls you to adopt He will provide the way for the ransom to be paid.


Bethany Adoption Meeting
Last night we attended a Bethany Adoption meeting. Knowing that the first hour would be on domestic adoption and the second hour on international adoption, I considered only going for the second hour. But, I thought I should go with an open mind and heart and see what I could learn from the information presented. It was an amazing time. Seriously, I have such a heart for loving a child that I wanted to raise my hand and tell them to sign me up right now.

Heartache for China
I’ve had my heart set on a Chinese adoption. And I’m so thankful that I went with an open heart. We found out last night that the Chinese program is doing so well that the wait for a baby has doubled. And there are so many applications that the Chinese government is able to pick and choose who/want they want. I could handle that but the final blow was the big bummer. China requires you to be 30 years old. I’ve been told before that if one person is 30, you’re okay. But, that is not the case for China. We’d have to wait out the several years before I turn 30 to adopt.

Domestic Adoption
Definitely not my preference for an adoption! I have this HUGE fear of the birth mom wanting the child back. Of course, all I know is bad stories of things that have happened. Emily told us that we have to close our ears to those stories. That just like the press only reports all the bad things on the war, the same goes for adoption because that’s the stuff that gets people’s attention. Last night we walked out and hubby thought that we should start with domestic adoption. Get our feet wet and by then I’d be old enough for a Chinese baby.

Heartache
Did I mention that my heat aches, as tears stream down my face, for babies without loving homes. I’m so glad that God put this on my heart and that my husband and I can walk together, in agreement, about adopting a child.

Finances
Take a guess at what it costs to adopt a baby. Seriously, it’s a lot of money. Granted, some of that depends on the services offered. I like Bethany and think they’re doing great things for birth mothers. But, it remains to be LOTS of money out of the adoptive parents pocket. The dollar figures we were told last night add up to $21,000 for a domestic adoption. I’m sure you too would question why it costs so much. Bethany is a non-profit organization which means they’re not making money. Bethany does amazing things to help prepare the birth moms to deliver a healthy baby. If that means paying the electric bill, they’ve done that. They’ve paid rent, paid for winter coats, food, etc. Right now they’re paying for a birth mom to see a counselor several months after she gave up her baby. All those things add up.

My heart
My heart really is for adoption. I’m so excited to pursue this in obedience to what I know God has given me the excitement for. I’m sure it will be a long a difficult process but I hope that in the future (it may even be a few years) I can report about bringing a baby home to join our small fry.