A Tribute

As I wrote in my last post, Andy is 30 years old! I am so grateful that we have been best friends for nearly 1/2 of that time, and married for almost exactly 1/3 of it ~ what a blessing!

During these past several years, I have watched a rambunctious boy become an unwavering man. I watched my best friend become the best father to our 4 small children ... and the best husband I could imagine. I had no idea what I was getting when I stepped into the beginnings of a friendship with Andy ... I couldn't have dreamt it. It's been quite a ride and rarely on the path I had planned on taking ... but I am thankful for it. So thankful!

I pray that God continues to grow Andy over the next 30 years as He has the first 30!

... and I can't wait for the ride :) I love you, sweetheart!

Life Happenings

Wow. A lot has occurred in the past month (which is why I haven't been posting, I suppose). Let's see if I can quickly summarize: I made play skirts for the girls, I started making shades for the kids bedrooms, I purchased material to make a skirt for myself, Andy had a birthday week, we purchased and Andy set up our new Bowflex exercise equipment, we started our home study to adopt, Andy & I finally obtained IL drivers' licences, I purchased and hung shades in 3 bathrooms, our master bathroom is being renovated (removal of wallpaper glue, patching of plaster, removal of old cabinets on top of the counter, filling in of holes, purchase of a new mirror, and soon-to-be painting of walls!) and I'm sure there was sickness in someone at sometime... plus we're still filling out paperwork for adoption and homeschooling 3 kiddos. It's all been good, just busy.

Just in case you didn't catch it in the middle of that blurb ...

My sweet hubby of nearly 10 years celebrated his 30th

Birthday on March 2nd!

Happy Birthday, Angel!!

Then, just one day after his birthday, we had the delivery of our new Bowflex Extreme 2SE. This is the ultimate workout equipment and I am so excited about it! We were introduced to it by Trent (who should be hired by Bowflex as a sales rep) and he was so right - it's amazing. And most importantly, it works your muscles via resistance without the pain associated with free weights. This is very important for me and my pitiful joints. It's been awesome! We are so thankful for it!! (It's time for some muscle!)

Adoption Happenings

Well, we received a phone call Monday, February 9th, 2009, saying our application has been accepted and we are ready to start the next phase ... the home study. Our adoption specialist, Alison, came to our house to start our home study Friday, March 6th (it was the earliest time available). She gave us some more paperwork/homework which we quickly finished and sent back to her one week later (March 13th).
Hopefully, by the end of April we will have passed the home study portion of this process. Alison is aiming to have our dossier (i.e. huge stack of legal documents) ready to send to China by September. I was hoping for July, but she seemed to think that was a touch unrealistic. But if she's right (which she probably is) and we don't get "logged in" on China's side until September or October 2009 (which is when we're officially put on a wait list), then we're looking at receiving a referral by July 2012 - if we wait for a "healthy, happy child" under age 2. We are, however, very willing (and even excited) to minister to and love on a child that falls into the "special needs" category. Therefore, we have NO CLUE what our timeline is ... only God does.
Anyway, upon completion of our home study, we will have the opportunity to start being matched with special needs children (even though our dossier would not be complete or sent to China yet)... please pray for us for wisdom throughout this process. We really can see great potential of our wait being sped up, but we are unsure if we are entirely ready. And on the other hand, we can see a 3-yr. wait ahead too. There are just so many unknowns and caveats to everything ... which is why we need prayer, patience, perseverance, and trust in our loving Saviour to watch over us and our children.

"The Best Valentine's Day Ever"

I remember when this picture was taken feeling completely in love and on top of the world! And yet I love him even more today. How great is our God? Praise Him!

We praise God for the life He has given us and the family He has given us to share it with. I thank Him for my loving and patient husband, and for my 4 little munchkins who declared that yesterday was "The Best Valentine's Day EVER!" !!

The kids have really been excited about it this year and I didn't want to disappoint, but since we've never had any major Valentine's day traditions (except making cards), I wasn't sure what to do (still being sick and all).

Well, on Friday, Andy brought home a beautiful bouquet of tulips for me (my favorite!) and some sweet baby roses for the girls (they always get flowers too)... and they love them. Then, as soon as we woke Saturday morn, the girls already had their valentines laid out on the table for us all. We pulled out the "special" bagels for breakfast and the day started out great... or was it? Let's see, Andy was in bed sick as a dog and I was only out because someone had to monitor the troops. I really was not in such a happy Valentine's day mood, and yet the 3 older kids kept telling me "this is such a fun day!" (and it's only 9am). After breakfast, they got to watch a movie (twice, a believe) and then some time was spent with daddy rolling them up into cocoons (or raccoons, according to Zoe)...

...and getting small objects dropped on their heads and tummies. During this, mommy made an oh-so-special lunch of scrambled eggs (ooh-la-la). But that's when I pulled out the showstopper:

Yes, that's right, Valentine's Day plates & napkins ... the girls were squealing with delight and the boys were very excited too.

Ahh, the simple things... and all the joy they experienced for $1.98! And there were just enough to have them again for supper, which meant an entire afternoon in anticipation of another special meal!!

So, that night we had a party ~ complete with cake (well Charlie called it cake, but they were actually Ghirardelli brownies) and gifts (meaning some new pencils and twistable crayons). And the biggest hit of all was being in the basement with a fire going :)

And thus was born the best Valentine's Day ever ~ I love our family!!!

Operation Extreme Exercise

Yes, I mean extreme. As most everyone knows by now, I have done little to no exercise for the past several years (3 pregnancies full of bed rest and several invasive surgeries made it rather difficult)... except for one ½-year stint attending "Body Pump" classes at 5:30am with Roxi at Riviera Fitness (until I got pregnant -and sick- with Charlie). Wow, those were some early mornings for this girl!

Anyway, the resulting very non-muscular body is now experiencing the bad fruit of not exercising since my last surgery 1 ½ years ago. Apparently, not only have my limbs been weakened, but the very core of my body is - resulting in weak veins and vessels (not good). Therefore, I have been instructed by a blood specialist to pack on 10 pounds of (mainly) muscle... by next August. You've got to be kidding. It's taken me a week to soak this in - and I'm still not there. I mean, Andy & I have talked about me needing to exercise for my health, but to have a doctor look at me in the eye and inform me that I need to pack on the red blood cells like this was a bit much. What does he expect me to do??

Like I said, I'm a bit overwhelmed. However, I know he's right and I'm going to do my best! The only problem now is finding some exercises that aren't too strenuous for my body, but actually help. This is so much easier said than done! But maybe by the end of it all, this withered up woman will show life again and even gain some tone - who knows?!?

Ephesians 4:32

The other night, we were all saying our memory verses after dinner (which is customary) when I noticed Charlie saying a lot more of Eph 4:32 than usual... so, we asked him to solo... it was so cute we had him do it about 20 times when my brain finally caught up with my eyes and I ran for the camera. Here is what we saw:

Charlie - take 21 (roughly)

"And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." - Ephesians 4:32

Well, he kept quoting and we kept videoing... when things suddenly took a turn for the worse. We asked him if he wanted to say his memory verse again, and right before I started the video he whispered "no" ... and this is what happened next:
Charlie - take 24

Who knew memory verses could be so much fun?!!

It's Spreading

Sammy stopped her eye drops for pink eye a few days ago and the whole house seemed well ... until ... Wil woke up yesterday with some gunk in his left eye which made us a little concerned. We weren't sure, but started him on the drops anyway (just that eye though - we didn't want to go overboard). As it turns out, it truly was the pink contagion and we apparently should've gone overboard 'cause now his right eye is turning various shades of red too. Yuck.

Aside from that, we're doing well. We went on a walk today and it felt so good!! The weather wasn't just beautiful, it was amazing! We had to keep reminding the kids that this isn't going to stick. This is Illinois. It's not going to warm up for months! But we're enjoying it while it's here :)

Since we were heading off to tread in melted snow/mud puddles, we suited up appropriately!

From Charlie, to Mommy ... everybody in their Crocs for a wonderful walk (though Zoe ended up quickly changing into her fur-lined boots as we were walking out the door) ... and yes, I wore mine too :) Such fun!