{ And so I'm back . . . and with a bit of life-changing news! }

It’s been a while, a long while -- 3-ish years -- actually, since I have blogged.  However, today I think is the beginning of a new blogging era for me. 

The kids have taken up so much of my time as they’ve gotten older and I have grown to be busier in my daily life because, well, that’s just what happens, but I decided I just have to make time for it again.  Time, in general, passes so quickly, but I feel like time has never felt so fleeting in my life until this past year when my baby turned 10.  Double-digits hit me like ages have never hit me before.  Before I know it he will be 18.  Sigh. As one of my favorite musicals says, “there’s no day but today”. 

It’s time to start back blogging.  And I’m not starting back lightly but with some huge enormous gigantic news.  I’ll let this kids tell you…

Yep.  We are adopting!

Um. . . “How did this happen?”, you are probably wondering? 

Well, as most of you know, my (only sibling) brother was adopted. Mom and dad adopted Chris when he was just a year old, and little me was 3-1/2.  It’s not a secret he’s adopted, but also isn’t a secret that I have never thought of him as anything but my brother.  Yes, annoying at times (aren't all brothers?) and when he became taller than me I was a little put off that my little brother was suddenly kind of like my big brother.  But Chris fit in very well from the start.  I still remember the day he was brought home.  His curly black locks of hair and adorable little overalls won me over.  Having a baby brother was the best thing in the world.  We have had ups and downs as any family does, but overall it’s been the best experience in my life because it’s been one the biggest lessons in my life.  A lesson of what family really is, overcoming uncertainty, dealing with and overcoming discrimination, but most of all, a great lesson in love. 

Adoption has been a part of me my entire life.  And I believe whole-heartedly that my entire life God has been preparing me for today. 

Back in the early 2000’s Neil and I started trying to have a family.  I thought this would be an easy task but it wasn’t.  We never dreamed we would be “those people” who couldn’t conceive.  We tried for a year and finally got pregnant.  I had morning sickness and even started looking a little pregnant, but at 12 weeks we found out that our baby wasn’t viable.  We lost that pregnancy shortly after.  In my 20-some years of life, nothing was more devastating or physically and emotionally painful than losing that baby.  I would never wish that experience on anyone.  But even thought it was an incredibly painful and discouraging experience, it, too, was preparing me.  Preparing me to love.

We went on to lose two more pregnancies over a period of two years and even thought I wasn’t as far along as the first time, it still took its toll.  After so many losses you lose more and more hope and you end up becoming pretty numb.  I had my faith but I’m not sure how much I actually really did “have” it.  It’s one thing to read the Bible and memorize scriptures but it’s another thing to have FAITH in those words and to truly believe it with all your being. 

I begged to God to give me a baby but I also yelled at God for not letting me carry one.  It was hard to see at that time why we went through all that, but now I know why.  Those three years were to prepare us. To mold us.  Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

We finally accepted we weren’t going to have biological children and decided adoption was the right thing for us.  We so direly craved our family!  And hallelujah, we were accepted into an agency!  That was so exciting!   But weeks after we were accepted into the agency, I found out I was pregnant.  Again.  And numbness took over.  Again.  I really believed I wasn’t going to carry this pregnancy either.

But. . . God had other plans!  We went to our appointment at our Reproductive Endocrinologist and saw, for this time in any pregnancy, a little beating heart.  “What?!  How could this be?” I thought.  But with my own eyes there it was.  “Pa-rump, pa-rump”.  Oh it was beautiful! And that beautiful little beating heart belonged to our first-born, Noah. 

Fast forward. In the next seven years we went on to have 3 babies: Noah, Maia, and Finley.  All of them were without dramatic situations, of course.  I mean no way could Neil and I have anything happen and it NOT be a whirlwind!  But, finally I have learned it has all been a part of the grand plan for us.  And I honestly couldn’t be happier, more humbled or feel more blessed because of the difficult pregnancies we have had.  God is truly so amazing and so, so good. 

Here we are (I mean, “I” am – at this point it’s just “I”) another four years later and feeling the itch to have more children.  I asked God, “why?!” over and over.  You see, two years ago I had a hysterectomy.  So I don’t have a uterus and obviously cannot bear any more children, because as my doctor advised, it would not be the wisest decision (I experienced a blood clot in my brain after Finley was born).  And as my days went on after feeling those “baby pangs” I ran into several people who had adopted either via Facebook or via preschool where a classmate of Finn’s has an adopted sister. 

Adoption was suddenly all around me (or maybe it was there all along but it just wasn’t time for me to “see” it yet?).  And the faith-driven dreamer side of me poured out all the little puzzle pieces of my life picking them apart, sorting them, and putting them all back together.  I thought, “ok this is starting to make sense”. There are suddenly all these people around me who could guide me.  God set this all up.  God is so much greater than me.  He guides my steps and I listen!

I brought it up to Neil.  He was not on board at first.  So I prayed, and prayed, and prayed.  Amazingly, in all this, when I wasn’t expecting, nor did I believe I needed it, He changed ME.  He made me truly dive into His word.  He made me see how love was and is the most important thing we all have freely in this world.  He made me understand that while there might be all sorts of worldly things that we want or even feel like we “need” (i.e., a new car, a finished basement, trees in our back yard, a 15- year anniversary trip, a nicer ring, a new camera lens, etc.), He always knows what we ultimately “need” the most.  And right now he is calling us.  His time is perfect.  All those other things can wait.  One day we can do things for us, and even if we can’t, I know in my heart I would never be disappointed.  Nothing in this world can create happiness or joy.  Only love can.  And love is never created from things.  Never, ever.  God changed ME while I wanted Him to help me change Neil. 

Eventually God did change Neil.  I was standing in the kitchen one day just getting things out of the pantry and he said, “let’s do it”.  I was like, “do what?”.  He said, “adopt”.  I said, “really?” and he said, “yup”. (If you know Neil, you know most of his conversations go like this.) After the shock wore off, I went upstairs so that the biggest smile ever could appear.  I mean, I couldn’t do that initially or I would not look nearly as calm and collected about it all. (hehe) 

Since that day, our conversations have gone from “which country?” to “which agency?” to “how soon?”.  Now that we have decided on a girl from Ethiopia, we absolutely cannot wait for her to get here. 

We know there will be a LOT of ups and downs (as all of life is and if you expect anything but, well, you’re living in a fantasy land), but we also know that with ups and downs you grow.  I never knew what growth really truly was until I started experiencing real pain and real trials. The kind of growth that comes only from God. I know with this adoption we will grow as people, parents and family. 

And we absolutely cannot wait to grow. . . again.

“Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is a mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.” – James 1:12

“(Adoption) is a long, hard road, but what road is easy?  If you’re on an easy road, you might want to ask yourself why.” – Carlos Whittaker

Saturday in Chicago (recap of the day)

As I proof zillions of pictures, I must take a break to share some of my favorites.

Saturday in Chicago, Johanna met me at the apartment at 8:30 a.m. We took a taxi to Millennium Park where we met our first family at 9:00. It went awesome despite the no clouds and very hard morning light. It's hard to complain about beautiful weather, but for perfect-o photos, you really need some overcast. Ah well, at least we had the sunny warm day. It all went perfectly regardless because that's where the sun filter came in that Jo got to hold. (After an incident, the "demon filter", as we ended up calling it.)

At 10:30 the 2nd family arrived. At 12:30 our 3rd family arrived with lunch for us. (Thank you again, Katie and David!) We sat and had a picnic with them and then I shot 'em at 1:00. At 3:00 was my final family. When Johanna and I were finished, my hubby and kids, along with Johanna's hubby, Jason, came out to meet us at Millennium Park. If you have never been to Millennium Park and you have a chance to go to Chicago, you must go there. It's just a really phenomenal place no matter what season.

After walking all over the shoreline of Chicago, Grant Park and Millennium Park for 8 hours, Johanna and I were pretty tuckered out. We thought playing in the fountains at the park would be a great ending to our day. (We both worked so very hard. She was the best assistant in the world and we had just a really wonderful time working together. Oh and we were red. Very red. We totally forgot that we'd be in harsh sun all day long, therefore, we forgot the sunscreen. Our bodies reaped our mistake!)

Jason, Neil and the kids arrived. The kids with their swimsuits on, and the big boys just looking their always cute selves. The kids (Noah and Maia) weren't hesitant at all to join in all the fun. They did and it was just the cutest thing for this mommy to see. Here's some pictures from our evening.

Thank you again, dear Johanna. Love you!

Here's the beautiful view we saw part of the day:

Our cutie boys:


Jason and Johanna still dry in this picture. You can see the whole series from dry to soggy wet at my flickr site. They're cute pictures that you must see :)


And after:




The kids try out the water, and as you can see on their faces, loved it.

We never have family pictures. Jo shot it, and I love it, despite the fact that I think Maia has to pee :c)


I love this one, too. Jo also shot it. Way to go, girlfriend!

This is also a favorite because of the kids' expressions and their reflections in the water. This one merits being printed! (Jo again!)


After playing in the water, we went with Jas and Jo to their house in Lincoln Square area (still the city of Chicago . . . just a "neighborhood" that is super cute and trendy). Then we walked to dinner at The Daily (in Lincoln Square)


and had the opp to shoot some cute pictures there and eat some rockin' food. I love my Jo:



Our feet which were dressed alike (unplanned). I don't even hesitate to take shots like this with Jo because we are identical in how we think so taking odd pictures like this one comes au naturale to us.


As does this one:

Yes, it's a tot to go along with my ketchup :c) Only you all would understand :c)

The kids were SO hungry because by the time we ate it was like 8:00 or something. Noah was so patient. SO patient. I love how (most of the time) this virtue sticks with him.
I love his freckle. His little signature birth mark :c)

And to end . . . Maia and a tomato. I think I've mentioned before that this is her favorite food. She'd eat it at every single meal if I had them on hand all of the time. Watch out if you have one on your plate because you'll have no choice but to give it to her.


Many more posts to come about Chicago (as I get through proofing all the sessions) along with my wedding over the weekend. Which, thankfully ended up GREAT! The weather was perfect and I haven't had such a great time at a reception in a LONG time.

Oh, and I have some exciting news to share tomorrow. Stay tuned! :c)

Crayon Colorfulness Rediscovered

Mommies . . . teachers . . . don't throw away those broken crayons!!!


We like to do art projects around here, so two mornings ago before Maia was even up from bed, Noah and I began taking wrappers off of broken crayons. He thought that was pretty cool to do that with mommy without Maia even being up. :c) Our plan was to make NEW crayons with the old ones. He thought that was even "cooler". (His new word these days.)

We filled up a mini muffin pan with different colors and then put the pan in the oven on 250 degrees. In just about 15 minutes, the crayons were getting good and melted. I thought they were pretty enough to take a picture of in the oven.


After taking off about two dozen wrappers or more, I came to a conclusion that crayola wrappers are definitely the easiest for taking off rather than any others. {Note to file fellow mommies who want to attempt this (fun, I swear!) project.}

Once they appear good and melted, take them out . . . carefully, of course. (And don't they look snazzy?)

I thought "okay, we could either wait all day for these to firm up or I could do it the 'quick way'". When you have kids, there is really no other choice but to do it the "quick way", so . . . into the freezer they went!

Here they are after coming out of the oven prior to going into the freezer. . .



. . . and here they are after they came out. So pretty and colorful, aren't they?!



A couple of them broke, but aren't they cool broken with all the colorful layers showing? (I thought so, but then again, you know how I feel about color!)


Best thing about the project is, it's sooo easy, not too messy, and it keeps the kids busy for a while. (We all know the "keeping busy" part is the best part of all!) Mine loved 'em! And when they were all done, I put them in a pretty glass container to sit out. They're too pretty not to put out. And Noah is pretty proud of them. He couldn't wait to show daddy when he got home. :c)