Trying to do better

I have decided to take a cue from some other bloggers...and try to do short posts rather than long in depth ones. So, in an effort to do just that, here ya go! Caylah started 4th grade this past week and Noah started 3K at a new daycare. They are both doing well and seem to enjoy it. Due to the fact that I just can't seem to get up early enough, or be organized enough, I did not get any first day of school pictures (shame on me), its horrible I know I know. The pictures below or above (depending on how this thing decides to post) will have to do. These were taken last weekend at our niece Ella Grace's birthday party.

Until next time...take care!

Random

This post will probably be very random, seeing as how nothing has been written for more than 6 months...but such is life. Way too busy, going by too fast, somehow blogging gets pushed to the back burner. Of course, I could be posting instead of checking out everybody else's blogs...haha...I digress :)

Summer has been very busy for us...from GA camp with Caylah, VBS at church, mission trip to West Virginia for Chris, Noah's first visit by himself to Nana's house - the summer has flown by. Only 3 weeks till the kids start school...seems unbelievable.

Quick update on both kids - Caylah continues to grow like a weed. Her foot is now bigger than mine (of course, my foot is only a measly size 5 on a good day, but still). She finished the school year with all sorts of awards and on a 6th grade reading level, straight A's...she has been taking gymnastics this summer and really enjoys it. She moved up to the next level, so she was really excited about that. We are very proud of her and blessed to have such a wonderful daughter.

Noah continues to have an unnatural boundless amount of energy. It makes me tired just watching him constantly move, talk, and just be. His command of the English language is astounding for only being in America for 1 1/2 years. He is so full of energy, life, and enthusiasm. He and I were looking through some pictures Saturday of right after we got home December 2007. I noticed something in them I never saw before, and that was how scared and timid he looked in those first couple months. It made me realize just how far he has come in so many areas, and how strong our bond and attachment to him is. It's like he was always with us. I can't imagine what our life would be like without him.

I have been thinking a lot over the last months about how our adoption experience has changed me. I have come to many conclusions, but one that sticks out is that I must DO something with what I have learned, what I have seen. Is it good that we adopted a child out of obedience to what God called us to do? Yes. But God calls us to so much more....because knowledge brings responsibility. I know now that all the orphan "statistics" are more than that...they are real children who need homes and families...I know because my son was one of those statistics and I saw hundreds more in Ethiopia. My eyes, my heart, my mind, my spirit have been opened to the plight of orphans, here, there, everywhere...I need to do all I can to advocate for them and help in any way that I can. I am not sure exactly what that looks like for us yet, but I know my heart is burdened now more than ever before to make a difference, somehow someway. I am praying God will show me...I know He will.

We are having an Orphan Awareness month next month at church with a love offering taken to benefit Show Hope, Steven Curtis Chapman's orphan support organization. You see, I have had the material for 9 months, but am just now doing anything with it. What can I say, better late than never? I guess so... Please pray that people's hearts and minds will be opened to adoption and supporting orphans in any way possible.

I know this was random...I will try to do better. I don't even know if anyone reads this anymore...we'll see won't we?

Aaahhh...the sweet sound of PEACE

Caylah and Noah have been, shall we say, very spirited in their dealings with each other as of late. It seems they have truly become brother and sister in this respect. All of the normal things like hair pulling, snitching, hitting, etc, and oh yes even covering for each other have set in. But about 15 minutes ago they asked if they could sleep in the same bed tonight. I said "sure" (I don't think it will last all night). I heard something coming from Caylah's room about 5 minutes ago...I put my ear to her door and she was singing Joy to the World to Noah in the sweetest, most angelic voice (he requires singing and music to go to sleep). It did my heart so much good to hear that....and then she broke into "This Is Me" from Camp Rock in her best teeny bopper voice. And that did my heart good too...

Gotcha Day!

Well, well, well. Today is the day. The one year mark. A major hurdle. Ask me if it seems like a year, and if I'm honest I'll say I don't know. Sometimes it seems like just yesterday. Sometimes it feels like it has always been this way. The last year has seen its share of scars, bumps and bruises. We have crawled, walked, run, stumbled, staggered, fallen and gotten back up again. From learning to communicate to learning our love languages, it has been quite an adventure. But there is something about the one year mark that seems binding. Permanent. Not that we ever thought of this as anything other. But there is security in having a year behind you and not only surviving it but enjoying it. Enjoying the building of the relationship. Enjoying the journey. Enjoying the process, the learning, the growing, the ever-deepening sense of family. We are secure in the knowledge that God has given us, through sad circumstance, a beautiful child; and that having him as part of our family has somehow made our family more whole. I can't say that this whole thing was intended or planned. I don't think God WANTED Noah's father to die, or for him to be separated from his mother due to circumstances beyond her control. What I do think is that in the midst of a broken world, God placed it within our hearts to be there for him and for his mother, and placed people in our lives who were willing to help us help them. I think that God has allowed us the privilege of taking this precious child of His into our family, allowing us to love one another as one of our own. And not only that, but to love Him as Christ commanded us to love. This has been an amazing year, a blessed year. And we pray that as we celebrate Thanksgiving with our family and our church family and all those who have borne us up and supported us and loved us, that we will have the appreciation due them. God, thank You so much for allowing us to be part of Your plan to pursue love in a broken world!

Fall Fun

I must say, I am such a terrible blogger. Life just seems to be much busier at our house these days! I wonder why? I have laughed at several people's adoption blogs I have stumbled upon as of late because they say they are terrible bloggers and are way too busy to blog and they are giving up! I can identify - but I won't give it up just yet. Here are some pictures from our yearly church block party and a picture of our pumpkin "BOO Wyatt". According to Noah, all pumpkins are named Boo Wyatt.

Long time, no post

Wow, I see my last post was at the 6 month mark home with Noah...the summer has flown by and now we have been home with him for 9 months. We had an absolutley wonderful summer...I will try to hit the high spots...
First off, our daughter Caylah accepted Jesus into her heart during Vacation Bible School this year. We were so excited...Chris got to baptize her (there is a picture of this on the slide show). Second, we had lots of fun in the swimming pool this summer. Noah is an absolute fish in the water - he has NO FEAR. He loves to put his whole body under the water and just thrash around (I don't know a better way to put it). He even went off the diving board (many many times). We took a trip to Folly Beach in between Chris mission trips and the kids had a wonderful time. It was Noah's first trip to the beach. He kept saying BIG WATER and jumping up and down in the waves. I don't know how much of that ocean he swallowed, or how many times he got knocked down, but it did not deter his excitement. Caylah and I took our usual walks on the beach to go hunting for all manner of things alive (she loves any kind of animals). We were not successful, but we did find some pretty shells to add to our collection.
We are back in a somewhat normal routine now (that doesn't even sound right)..Caylah is back in school (a 3rd grader now) and Noah back to daycare. Caylah has started back to gymnastics and she is having a wonderful time with it. Me and Chris are just trying to keep up with them both. Noah's energy is boundless, if I had just one ounce I would be happy. We are now to the joyous task of potty training, which he has mostly just started doing on his own, thankfully.
A few weeks back, we met up with another couple, The Bullingtons, who are adopting a baby boy from Ethiopia and a daughter from China. They live close by..we had a wonderful time meeting with them and hope to make a lasting connection with them. Noah was wide open the whole time we were there...and they didn't change their minds :)
Well, I feel a little better now that I have updated this blog. Everyone elses I read seems to be updated more frequently than mine, but considering I just now got all of the pictures of Ethiopia and Noah printed out (over 150), I feel like I am making some progress.

Six Month Musings

It dawned on me today, that as of yesterday we have had Noah for six months. As I was reading to him before bed last night, or should I say he was reading to me, I was struck by just how much he has learned in 6 months. The particular book we had out was a word book that has lots of pictures with words underneath the pictures. For example, a picture of a shoe with the word "shoe" underneath it. This book has probably close to 100 different pictures and words and Noah can name probably 90% of them correctly. It has everything from body parts in it, to pictures of airplanes, the beach, colors, shapes, and he gets them all correct. And when he stops to think about one he is not sure of, he pauses and says "Um....I don't know". It is so much fun to get to see him start to string words together and make sentences. On another note, on Memorial Day we had a cookout/swimming party at a church member's house. This was Noah's first trip in the pool. At first, he was terrified, but eventually he put his feet in, then his hands, and then he JUMPED in. Thank goodness Chris was there to catch him. After that, we couldn't get him out. He ducked his head under the water and blew bubbles and tried to float and rode a float. He had a blast. And I would be remiss not to mention Caylah's fine jumping skills - she got up the nerve to jump off the side of the pool and I was really proud of her. We are just truly blessed from God with two wonderful children, and I thank Him every day.