Begging for Myrrh

Two posts in two days!  Don't get too excited.  I don't know if I can keep this up!  :)  I did want to stop by to tell you about the awesome tradition our family has started this year.  I know this is only in time for those last minute shoppers, but maybe it can become a tradition of yours next year.

Don't mind Fuggy, Asa's baby (yes, I said ASA'S baby...that's what happens when you have an older sister) he is standing in for baby Jesus...with real hay from our rabbit!  :)

 

There are several different versions of this gift giving idea-but this is my favorite.  This year our family is giving three gifts per person.  Each present is either wrapped in gold, natural colored paper or white paper for a reason.  To read more about the symbolism go HERE.  I am excited about doing this for two reasons...reason #1 is I am so tired of the rate of American consumerism.  On the other hand, I find it hard like every parent to resist getting something for my child when I can just picture their excitement beforehand.  So, this year we bought with a purpose, modeled after the three gifts the three wise men brought to Jesus.  Gifts are fun to give and receive, just as long as we don't miss the reason behind why we give.

And just to top it all off, these are my favorite wise men.  I don't have very many Christmas decorations that I've had since we got married-but I remember buying these sparkly men after Drew's and my first married Christmas.  They just make me happy when I look at them.  :)

Even if you are not interested in doing the three Christmas gifts idea...check out the article above!  There is some really interested history about the reasons the wise men brought gold, frankincense and myrrh!!

Absent Blogger

...that would be me.  At one time in my life I was good at blogging, and now I think I like the idea-but am really not good at it.  It is very low on my priority list.  However I love reading blogs and I especially love the unity among the adopting group blogs.  I however am not your star blogger.  :)  I have been enjoying staying sort of un-busy this season (well, compared to previous Christmas seasons) and I have been just trying to slow down and ENJOY the snow and cold (trying to change my attitude) and just appreciate every mess I have to clean, errands I have to run and how blessed I am to be a part of something bigger than myself....which right now is adoption and Sole Hope and raising two precious children.  This is the first year since Quinn was two (she is 5 now) that we have not had children in foster care living with us.  It feels...different.  Not good or bad, just different.

I'll go all the way back to Thanksgiving!  I cannot believe I did not write about what an amazing time I had.  Despite the horribly cold and grey weather, the company was perfect-just what I needed.  Seeing some friends (I never get to see everyone I'd like!) and spending time with my sister, brother in law and nephew and my brother in laws family was just more wonderfulness than I had expected for Thanksgiving.  :)  My sister married into an AWESOME (and HUGE) family and their Thanksgivings just warm my heart.  Family and God are at the center of everything and I was so happy I could be a part of their family that day!  I spent last Thanksgiving with them also and every time they are just SO welcoming, warm hearted and loving!

(Josiah and Asa eating Allie's Thanksgiving breakfast and watching the Macy's Day Parade)

Another bonus was getting to see my nephew who I only get to see a couple times a year.  He was super shy at first and wanted to have nothing to do with me.  Ugh, I HATED that he wouldn't let me play with him or hold him so I was thrilled when my sister asked me to babysit one day while they went to look at homes.  (Oh yeah, and they were trying to buy a home while we were there)  When Josiah (my nephew) got up from nap he was a little hesitant to let me get him out of his crib but once he saw there was no one else there but good ol' ME he attached to me like a leach.  My time from then until I went home was precious with him.  The only draw back is now I miss my Indy family like CRAZY!

Josiah and I did THIS for about 45 minutes!!!

The day after we came home from Indiana, (just the kids and I) the whole family took a trip to Charlotte to get fingerprinted for the adoption!  Drew prayed on the way there that we would have all the paperwork we needed and that it would be "easy".  I'd say our prayer was answered as we walked in and NO ONE except the people working were there.  We found out on the way to Charlotte we were not supposed to bring children because of limited room in the waiting room and so we were nervous about having them with us.  BUT, since there was not one person there we got in and out WITH our kids in about 15 minutes!  We got a letter in the mail saying our fingerprints were APPROVED and they will expire in 2012....boy I hope we have a child before 2012!!!  Since we had some extra time we stopped by Ikea to get some basics for the school room and on our way out I just had to take a picture of the flags that were flying in the parking lot.  Tribute to my roots and my home.  :)  North Carolina, Sweden and America.

A couple weeks after we got back from Charlotte we drove to Boone, NC for the "Collie Christmas".  I was so sad it was cut short because of the impending snow storm.  My in laws live on top of a mountain and icy/snow mix + driving = DANGER so the family only got to stay together for one day.  Needless to say, we had a great time together and had so much fun!  The kids were happy to see their cousins and the food and company was awesome!  We took Quinn and Asa out sledding in the yard on the left over snow from the previous snow storm.  They LOVED it!!

Asa got a DVD from his CC that sings his name during the songs.  He LOVES watching it!  :)

Quinn and her Uncle Steve (Drew's middle brother) and her only girl cousin, Sydney!

Aunt Netta got Quinn lip gloss-here she is putting her gloss on by the Collie collie.

The view from my in laws back porch.  Beautiful!

Quinn and Asa's first time sledding.  They are now waiting patiently for our next big snow!

Asa won't keep his gloves on!!  Any suggestions!?!

And this picture just makes me laugh out loud every time I see it.  Our dog Jake came running down the hill as fast as his short little legs would carry him until he started doing a snow plow with his face!  If it wasn't already flat it would be now!  ;)

 

CC hand made this sock monkey for Asa!  How sweet and CUTE!!

The first year he "gets" opening presents.  He was so fun to watch.

Lastly, I am so excited I get to be part of an AMAZING adoptive mom's retreat in February!  I am really looking forward to this experience and I feel like I need this now, so I really will need it in February!  It is emotionally exhausting waiting for your child, the unexpected, the paperwork.  Would you like to buy one of the super sweet shirts that will support this venture that is completely volunteer run!?  If so, go HERE.

I've run out of time-I was going to tell you about the neat Christmas tradition our family started this year that I am so excited about!  I will save it for next time-and hopefully next time isn't in a month.  Kidding...maybe tomorrow??  We will see... for now I think you should go buy a shirt to support adoptive moms all around the country and I need to get back to being MOM! (I already bought my shirt!) :)

Amazing Asheville Street Performer

Drew and I went on a date tonight and a couple blocks away we heard our favorite Asheville street performer. She has the most powerful voice-it is magnified times 10 when you hear her in person! I love her daughter sitting in the background drawing. :) This song is special to me for a couple of reasons, but one being it is so timely. I love the verse in the Bible that talks about how much God cares for us, every single one of us...he cares for the sparrow, how much MORE does he care for us!

We are now (unofficially) on the waiting list for our baby...and wow we have a wait ahead of us. Possibly 14 months! Just the thought of waiting 14 months for my next child makes my stomach hurt! Thats why I am just going to think about what I DO have right now and how THANKFUL I am for what I do have!!!

For example, my daughter who will be FIVE TOMORROW! So thankful the world has been blessed with five years of Quinn. She amazes me everyday.

A Wonderful Day

Today has been such a wonderful follow up to such a fun day yesterday.  It was all about Quinn yesterday and she knew it!  Her idea for bags to give her friends when they left was cute...she made "mini" crayons and added her business card and a silly band and then personalized each of the bags.  Speaking of her crayons, I don't think I have blogged about what she is doing! 

 You can purchase some of these for Christmas presents by going to Quinn's Etsy store online.

Let me just start by saying, Quinn LOVES to create!!!  She is very artistic and is always making something out of nothing.  When I taught her how to recycle crayons into fun shapes she was hooked!  She loved making them so much we have gone through all of our old crayons and she is now making new crayons out of new crayons.  :)  Quinn has an entrepreneurial spirit in her...I could tell the second she decided she wanted to SELL her crayons.  She said she wanted to sell crayons to help bring home her baby!  That girl is just too fun.  So, now she has joined the ranks of business women in the house and is a crayon maker.
Oh, and a precious moment from today that really shows how her heart is being shaped, I told her Celine Dion just had twins (don't judge-Quinn knows who has the most beautiful voice in the whole wide world...actually, she said it was me so maybe she doesn't know.)  And her response was, "Cool!  Are they the same color as her?  Like, did they come from tummy or did she adopt them?"  I LOVE that her almost 5 year old brain goes there!  When I was four I would have just assumed all babies come from the mom they live with.  She knows how family can be built. 
Quinn's friend Avenue spent the night (first time anyone has spent the night that was not from out of town) and they were so cute to listen to as the giggled themselves to sleep.  And actually, they were quite cute to listen to as they woke up giggling at 4AM!!!!  Avenue is staying with us until tonight so the fun has continued and the kids are enjoying the nice weather. 
I have spent the day working on things around the home that I feel like I never have time to get to.  I've been making my own Accountability Kids cards and hanging system.  I'd heard several good things about this "chore system" so I thought I'd give it a try.  Buuut, seeing as we are on the adoption budget I am making my own.  Let me just say, there has been a lot of cutting, laminating and painting going on here.  I'll take a picture once I get it finished and hanging up.  If you can afford it I would recommend just buying the kit, it would save a lot of time!  :) 

And, just for kicks (no pun intended) I'll post this picture from Quinn's last soccer game where she got her metal.  I'm not so sure she will be my soccer star, but at least she had fun playing.  :)  She was glad the season is over so she can start DANCE with Avenue!  I'm glad she hung in through the season-it made me smile to see my first born in shin guards and cleats...I know, I'm strange. 

Quinn's 5th Birthday

Because I'm SO tired, I'll let this video speak for itself right now and I'll write more tomorrow.  Today we celebrated my Quinny's 5th birthday!  We had such a good time with friends and family.  The day was celebrated with ice cream delights, a Care Bear cake (that has a good story to it!), Shrinky-Dinks, fun in the back yard and lots of friendship.  The only think I wish I'd done different was take more pictures!!!  Here is a sneak peak...till tomorrow.

(click on the link below...disclaimer, these were just taken with my phone)

Quinn's 5th Birthday

Sick & Tired of Being...Sick & Tired

You know that kind of sickness that just sucks the wind right out of your sail?  You can hardly stand up to talk two feet?  Your body hurts so bad you can't lift your phone?  That's been me the past couple of days.  But, I am happy to report I am feeling much better today-not better, just not feeling dead anymore.  My head is still in a fog so I apologize ahead of time for the clarity of this post.

I got an email update from our agency today.  It suggested that we have about another SIX month wait for a referral of a child.  I knew that was coming but it still boggles my mind when I think about waiting SIX more months just to find out who our child is.  What is even harder to think about is the fact that if our child is more than six months old at the time of the referral (which we are guessing will be the case) then he/she has already blessed this world with their presence.  Can you imagine your child being born and being on the other side of the world just waiting for you?  Thankfully I know who my baby-daddy is. :)  No, not Drew, not his/her bio father, but GOD.  Our child's creator...HE knows where our baby is and HE will watch over and protect our child.  For now I will just wait, so eager to get THE call.

In the mean time I'll fill my time with the precious family I have.  Here are some pictures from our last hike in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  

Drew hiking, the kids catching a ride.  They know their daddy will do ANYTHING for them!  Include carry them up a mountain. (Yes, he really hiked like this...for at least a good mile)  

And, just for laughs, my princess Quinn with her prince, Jake.  :)

Dossier SENT & Halloween

(Above: The kids at the Post Office with our dossier packet)

Our dossier (AKA- LOTS of paperwork telling the Ethiopian government all about us) has been sent to our adoption agency today!  What a whole lot of paper work!  I am praying none of it will come back as needing to be redone.

Asa was very sad as we drove home.  He sat in the back seat crying, "But I wanna go get our baby from Affriiica at the post office!"  I had to explain that we just mailed the paperwork from the post office, that's not where we will get our baby(s).

So now what do we do?  We wait.  We pray. And we wait some more.  I'm not sure exactly what we are waiting for.  :)  I think for our agency to call and give us an update on when our dossier is sent to Ethiopia, or if we need to make some changes.  I'm praying I didn't miss something!

As far as Halloween last night, Quinn was Cinderella.  My friend made her a custom Cinderella dress, just because she loves her.  How sweet is that!?  Asa wanted to be a pirate, but we are on a budget so we had to go with something we had...a Starbucks Barista uniform.  ;)  Normally I would just make him a costume but I've been too busy sewing shoes.  So, I thought the Barista idea might be kinda fun-maybe he'd like looking like his hero, daddy.  So, Quinn got dressed in her Cinderella dress and I did her hair and let her wear make up.

Then, well, then it was Asa's turn.  He threw himself on the ground saying he wanted to be a cow!  A COW??!!  All this time he's been saying a pirate.  I was prepared to let him wear an eye patch and a Starbucks apron.  But nope, he wanted to be a cow.  After about 30 minutes of me explaining that he can either look like daddy, or be a chicken (his costume from last year).  He didn't want to be a chicken which I was thankful for.  (It would be super small on him.)  Finally I got him dressed and the only way we smoothed things over was I pined a Batman pin on his hat.

I have a lack of pictures because I just wasn't feeling it.  Cranky kids-didn't know who we would be trick-or-treating with or where we were going for that matter.  (You can't go in our neighborhood)  I won't finish the rest of the story because it was kind of gross and depressing.   We'll just leave it at, my kids looked adorable.  :)

Off to bed!  I have a board meeting for Sole Hope tomorrow morning.  I cannot even tell you, (but sometime I will try to explain) how much I love the board of Sole Hope.  They give me so support and encouragement!!