Today, just while we were hanging outside, I was chatting with C. I always do this, and never get any responses. But today I pointed to the sky and said, "Look, C. An airplane. Say plane." And he responded, "Plane." I took a double take and tried again. He repeated the word again. Then proceeded to do the following on command.

-point to my nose.
-point to my mouth.
-touch his hair.
-sign and SAY please
-sign and SAY more
-sign and SAY cheese

I had no idea he could do any of these things. It was so crazy! I guess all he needed was a few great nights of sleep.

I had some great realizations last night. Through the course of a conversation with a new friend, I became convinced of the following:

1. I love my husband. I mean really love him. He is so passionate, focused, determined, and level-headed. I love that in every decision he makes, he looks for what is best for his family. I love that he loves Jesus and is always looking for ways to show that love. I love that he loves me the way that I am, yet continues to challenge me to become a better person. He will not let me become complacent, even when I want to. I love that I never have to question his love for me.

2. I love my kids. Even when they are sick and don't let me sleep. Even when they throw temper tantrums for no reason or cause me to not get one productive thing accomplished all day long. Even when I have to pretend to go to the zoo for the billionth time or push trucks in the sandbox AGAIN. I love them. Being a parent is the single most challenging task I have ever faced. It has changed my life forever, but I would never, never in a million years choose to go back to the way life was. I can't imagine my life without these two cuties.

3. Although being a stay-at-home mom is way more exhausting than I ever thought it would be, there is nothing I would rather be doing. I love my job. I am so thankful that we have been able to make living on one income work. I know it's not for everybody, and there are days when I wish I was putting my brain to better use, but this is the one thing I want to be doing right now.

4. Though this has been a very long, hard year with a lot of changes and stresses for us, we serve an amazing God who has provided all year for us. He has provided financially when we didn't know when the next pay check was going to come. But even more than that, He has provided peace in the midst of turmoil. I should be a whole lot more stressed out than I am, and I know that the reason I am not is purely a gift from God. He has been the anchor in our storm, and through it all has continued to gently call us to be greater than we can be, to trust Him a little more than we do and to open our eyes a little more to the world that He has created just for us.

We are finally all starting to feel better. Still congested and lots of running noses, but we are on the upswing. I think we have used an entire forest's worth of kleenex over the past two weeks!

The other great news: C slept through the night last night!!!!!! He went to bed at 7:45 and woke up at 7:45 without ANY crying in between!!! We spent the weekend at my parents' house since they were out of town. We separated the boys in different rooms and set out on the mission to sleep-train C. It was WAY more successful than when we attempted the same thing with A. With A, we spent a week or more, and every night, he would scream, scream, scream at the top of his lungs for HOURS. The first night it lasted from 1 am to 5 am! Non stop. With C, though, the first night, he cried for 20 min. , the second night for 8 min, and the last night he went straight through. Now we are just hoping this translates now that he's back in his own room with A.

That's about it for now. Not too many updates since we have been trapped inside with rain and sickness. Here's to a chance to actually interact with other people this week!

Park Pics

Spring Time Pictures

Another one bites the dust...

A has spent the last day or so with a nasty cough and woke up from his nap with a fever! Luckily not as high as C's, but he's pretty flushed and feels "yucky". Here's to hoping this goes quickly.

C's fever finally broke this morning! Thank goodness. He's still been a little whiny this morning, but he seems to be on the upswing. Now I'm praying none of the rest of us gets the virus.

We spent a little time outside this morning, trying to get C some fresh air. It was fun to see him smiley and not needing to be held all the time. A good sign that he's getting better. Here's to a sickness-free weekend!

It's 8:50. C is up crying for the 2nd time already tonight. Not looking good for the home team.

103.9 - C's temperature when he woke up from his nap on Tuesday. It has finally lowered a little nearly 48 hours later.

1:15 - the time in the middle of the night that I gave C a bath, hoping to break his fever.

1.5 - the number of hours of sleep I got last night (not consecutive!). C spent the entire night crying, moaning, whining, clinging to me. Not a good night sleep for anyone.

4 - the number of tired family members today

3 - the number of molars C has coming in right now. Poor kid just can't catch a break.

-A dear, dear friend of mine from high school/college/younglife came in town this week. It was last minute, but luckily we have very little going on, so we were able to "squeeze" them into our wide open schedule :) It was so much fun. That's an understatement. She is such an encouragement to me, and we were able to enjoy conversation and catching up despite the fact that we had a 4-, 3-,2-, 1-year old and new born between the two of us. Lots of playing, pretending, running around, and chaos. But so, so good. How I wish she lived closer.

-Today, I had my first interview in a long, long time. I am applying to teach for a home-school group. 8 -12 kids, 1 1/2 hours, one day a week. Very low key, but it would put my teacher brain to good use. I'm not exactly qualified for the job as it is a high school English position and I am certified 1 -8th grades. But, I feel like I would actually be a pretty good fit for the position. We'll see.

-We've been spending a lot of time outside. I know I've mentioned it before, but my kids LOVE the outdoors. C will go from whiny and crying to happy and laughing in the matter of a second if we walk out the door. Yesterday it was supposed to rain all day long. At 9:30, it was still dry, so I dressed the boys and dragged them outside for a few precious minutes. At 10:00 the skies opened up and started downpouring. C had no idea what to do. He was on the far end of the yard and just froze, screaming his head off. Being the caring mom that I am, I made sure to get my camera on the porch first than grabbed him and his brother. We ended up watching the storm from the front porch until the lightning started. It was so peaceful.

-I'll post some pictures soon. My brother-in-law just lent me a camera that is way more advanced than the one I have currently. It also has a faster shutter speed, which is essential to taking pictures of toddlers. Pretty much every picture I take of C lately is blurry from him moving too fast or a great shot of the back of his head.

You know it's going to be a long day when you are out of patience before you even get out of bed. That's how my day started at 6:30. C's got a molar or 4 coming in (I can't get a good enough look), so he had a rough night. Fever, runny nose, lots of crying. So after a long night with little sleep, we had a morning full of whining, tears, whining, fighting and more whining. I finally dragged the kiddos out to the park at 10:30 for an hour. It was so nice. They had a blast and got to play with a group of 4 kids ages 4 and under that were hanging out at the park, too. It was so much fun. Of course, as we got back home, they were tired and hungry, so more whining and crying.

Then after naps it we trudged back to our old neighborhood and the boys got to play outside with the neighbor kids while I taught piano lessons. Again, they are so happy when they are outside! So we had a picnic dinner on the porch, which was great. They were happy and got a decent amount of food in their bellies. Hopefully enough to keep them asleep all night.

Especially on days like today, I am SO thankful for the sun. I am not sure that we would have all made it through this day if it weren't for the chance to get outside and enjoy God's beautiful creation. I guess God knows how much we can handle.

-P has started a new job. Well, techincally he's still training, but he is going to be a mailman. A thinks this is the coolest thing ever. It'll be a little bit of an adjustment for us all as P has worked from home since A was 5 months old! But so far it has been good. I think he'll really like it, and it'll provide some steady income which is always nice.

-Yesterday we mailed A's pacifier to baby Mitchell (thanks Erica for having a baby at just the right time!). We wrote a letter, stuck it in the mailbox, then headed to the park. When we had returned, the mailbox was empty and there was a thank-you present from baby Mitchell waiting for A. He has done well so far. He still asks for his pacifier when he goes to sleep and cries a little, but having a new bulldozer is a pretty cool big-boy replacement for a baby pacifier.

-We have registered A for preschool for next year. He'll be going two days a week to a school just around the corner. When we went to visit, it took 5 min. to drive there, get the boys out of hte car and into the building. Not bad. We went just to look, but A made himself at home. He joined the kids during free time and then sat in the circle with the class as they did their circle time. He even tried to join the kids at their next table time activities. I guess he liked it :)

-So, I realized I threw out the adoption comment and some people were completely caught of guard. Let me give a little more detail. We are so excited to be starting the adoption process, but we are at the very beginning. We are taking classes online and trying to narrow down the country and agency we will use. Our vision is to adopt siblings, with A still being our oldest. Again, this is the very beginning and though we would love to move faster on this, it's a long, long process. We are thinking it will be 1 - 1 1/2 years before we actually get to bring the kids home. Maybe longer. We need P to have a more secure/steady job, and we'll need to move into a house that is more suitable for a family of 6. So until those two things happen, we can't proceed too much. But we are still so excited.

There is such a need for adoptive parents with 147 million orphans in this world. 147 million kids that go to sleep at night without a mommy or daddy to tuck them in. 147 million kids that don't get told a hundred times a day that they are loved and they are special. Though we can't change the world, we know we have enough love to share with at least 2 of those kids. Our kids. Out there somewhere waiting and praying for a family. We're coming, kiddos.

A's Last Day of Class

A's been going to a speech intervention class for over a year. Since he turned three, he has "graduated" from class. Here are some pics from his last day. We will miss the class. The teachers were so helpful, and he had some cute little friends to play with.

At the sensory table with his friend, Violette.

Craft time... making gummy lifesaver necklaces. They didn't stay on the necklace very long. Notice C sitting like a big boy at the table. I swear he thinks he's 3, too.

Circle time. Again, C just makes himself at home with the big kids.

Blowing bubbles at the end before we leave.

A with his three teachers.

Museum Pictures

Birthday Pictures