2010 Here We Come!

I LOVE the new year. It brings on a whole new list of possibilities for the year. Simon and I (probably mostly me) thought it would be fun to list what we think will be happening in our lives in 2010. By posting them publicly, we are somewhat accountable for the things we can control...yikes!

1. Pay off all debt (student loans and cars) and only have our house mortgage left. (If you aren't convinced this is a good thing, check out Dave Ramsey)
2. Simon will have a job, starting his new career as a Police Officer.
3. Jessica will work less. This means 40-45 hours a week outside of year end.
4. Bella will start school at Dayspring Christian Academy for 6th grade.
5. David will talk!
6. Nicky will start reading.
7. The entire family will spend more time worshiping our Savior together.

Here are some fun pics from David's first Christmas

Calling All Prayer Warriors....

It seems we may be having a new development in our lives (yes ANOTHER one). As some of you know, we received a referral for baby "T" about a year ago in November. Well, after 6 months of waiting for court, we were told there were lots of issues with his paperwork and he most likely would not be able to be adopted and we were told it would be best to accept another referral. This was incredibly heart breaking for us, but we felt God was leading us to accept the referral, fast forward to today - welcome David!

We have been adjusting well, although we did not know when we would be ready to adopt again...until last Thursday. Simon and I had both been thinking about baby "T", who by the way is 17 months old now, but did not say anything to each other. After a surprise email from another adoptive family asking if there was any chance we could still get him, we were feeling lead to contact our agency to get an update on him.

The email we received back this morning said they would check into it after Christmas. This is where all of you come in, we need your prayers like CRAZY right now. Please pray for God's will in this child's life, whether that is in our family or another, but that he will not have to live in the orphanage for another year!

Simon and I are following the opening that God has given us although we have no idea how we will 1. pay for it 2. take care of both David who is 19 months now and baby "T" who is 17 months.

More to come...

Update and Adoption Day #2

So, it has been awhile since I last blogged. My class for my masters program combined with work has sucked the life out of me. The good news is my class is over as of 30 minutes ago and I am taking the next semester off. I really need a break. I have a stack of about 10 books I have been accumulating along with David's life book still has all the ET pictures sitting in the box.

Last Wednesday we had David's court date to "validate" his adoption in our county. This is just a formality and gives us the documentation to seal the deal on his citizenship. Here are some pics and I promise I will be a better blogger!!

Our Adoption Video

We are finally done with our video from Ethiopia...enjoy. :)

God commands us to care for ophans and widows...

As many of you know, God has given me a crazy, uncomfortable, bigger than life, sad, wonderful heart for the orphans of the world. I am still processing all of this, our trip to Ethiopia and all that we saw while there.

One thing that is very clear is that God COMMANDS us to care for widows and ORPHANS in the bible. He doesn't say it would be nice, or we should consider it if we don't have anything else going on...we MUST do it. There are lots of way, adoption is not the only one.

Check out this video...orphan Sunday is right around the corner. Won't you consider helping one of the 147 million kids without a forever family (or clean water, or food, or clothes, or safety)?

Orphan Sunday from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

12 weeks!!

I can't believe we have had our sweet little boy for 12 weeks! It is so amazing how much God has changed him and us in that time. First for the changes in David...

First week we were home...

Now....

Isn't it amazing??



This was David when we brought him home, he was about 14 months:

• Wearing size 2 diapers and 9 month clothes which were still too big in the waist.
• Would not let you cradle him and cuddle.
• Had to stay in the room/bed with him until he was totally asleep or he would get very scared.
• Could only crawl, could not pull himself up.
• Terrified of baths
• Ate TONS of food, that is not an exaggeration, he ate more than Nicky.
• Had many melt downs concerning food. Would go into a total tail spin if he was the slightest bit hungry.
• Wanted to be around us always, would only play with toys if we were sitting there with him.
• Totally terrified of our dogs...would get physically scared and shake when they came near.
• Very reserved and would not let new people hold him.

David now:

• Has gained over 3 pounds and is wearing size 3 diapers and 12 month clothes
• Loves to be rocked to sleep at night, cuddles in for lots of body contact
• Lays down in bed now and goes right to sleep, no crying or fear
• Walking and running everywhere
• Loves bath time, runs to the tub as soon as he hears the water running
• Eats much less food now, appetite is like an average toddler now
• Less meltdowns about food, now it is only when we are traveling or away from our normal schedule
• Will play with the other kids for long periods of time without Simon or I sitting with them. Nicky and him wrestle together and both LOVE playing cars.
• Loves the dogs, hugs and kisses them along with telling them no!
• Staying at the church daycare during services and not crying when we leave him

Wow, it is pretty amazing when I list it all out! God has blessed us with this little boy.

Some of the time it is hard, most of the time it is rewarding, but ALL of this time we are thankful for David.

Soon I will share more about how my life has changed in the last 12 weeks...I am getting closer to being able to articulate it all...

Wonderful Sunday...

I made it through my first week back at work...amazing. We are enjoying a relaxing weekend at home and while Bella and Simon went to play tennis, I got the boys to myself. Here are some cute as ever pics....

And yes, they are wearing matching shirts!! They are going to hate me when they grow up but it is the cutest thing!!!