Cousin Playdate....AND...The Story Behind "One Less"

As many of you may know, my dad was in the hospital last week with pancreatitus.  Once was enough, thankyouverymuch.  I had been through enough tears and thought about my worst fears...I was not prepared to go through that again (as we never are).  Fortunately, this was a milder case of it.  He is home now (hopefully resting) and doing much better than he was last week at this time.  Next week he has a scan....and this will sound funny, but we are hoping there is a kink in the back of his pancreas (they have already done several thorough scans of the front) because that would be something correctable by surgery.  Otherwise they fear that he may just be one of the few that goes through this every couple years.  That is not news any of us want to hear.

Thank you to everyone who has been keeping him (and all of us) in your prayers.  We are hopeful for a cure to this.

WHILE my dad was drowsy from the ohlooktheyfinallykickedin medication, us siblings were trying to distract our tots.  And since we ALL had colds (or the kids at least) we had to keep them away from the hospital.  So after all taking turns spending time with dad, we all re-grouped at my parent's house for a little cousin playdate (don't worry, while we were there we did the dishes, made cookies and jello for my dad {well...cookies for my mom and brother}, watered the flowers, hung the laundry, and left it in better shape than when we showed up).  Thought you'd all like to see some sweet pictures of the kiddos.  If not...well?  Scroll down a little more to see an amazing video and adoption story....OR...feel free to check back again tomorrow! =)

Maleah and my Monkey...why does he look like he's gonna cry?!?

Isn't she gorgeous???

Yep, cold.  See the puffy eyes and red nose?  Poor boy.

"Hey Maleah, you want to play cars with me" - Monks
"Nah, I'll just stay here with my mommy." - Maleah

"My uncle is sure desparate for a laugh...hehee....what a nerd!"
Seriously, Hubs was doing EVERYTHING to get a smile for the camera, but she only let loose once I tucked the good 'ole camera away in my purse.

Yeah....can anyone see a crash course in SHARING in the near future for Monkey?? =D

You can read all about Maleah's adoption journey (and the rest of her adorable family....not at ALL biased here ;) at http://lifewlaura.blogspot.com

ALSO....wanted to share with you...my dear bloggy-friend Andrea over at Babe of my Heart shared this beautiful song and story on FB and I couldn't help but share it with you all as well.  It is such a beautiful description of the calling God has for the church...

{please pause the music at the bottom of my blog before playing}

One Less by Matthew West (The Story Behind The Song) from emicmg on Vimeo.

Have a blessed day everyone!!!

MELT!!! I'm a PUDDLE on the FLOOR!

SAHM

Wake up to talking on the baby monitor.
Roll over.
Husband nudges you to tell the Lil Man is awake.
Groan.

...I am not a morning person.

When I hear the first whine I get up.
Open the door to the nursery.
"Hi Mama!!!"
=)
I love this boy.
Rub my eyes.
Hug my Lil Man.
Here we go!

It's not that I don't LOVE being home with my Lil Man.  Because I really, honestly, truly do!  But...

I do the dishes, only to get them dirty again.  I do the laundry, only for them to need to be washed again.  I change the diaper, only for it to be changed again.  I vacuum the floor, only to find another pile of crumbs.  I get the groceries, only to forget the one thing I really needed.  There's a never ending "to do" list piling up and sometimes I just get overwhelmed and give up!

Fortunately on days like that, I have my wonderful husband to remind me how much he loves me, and what a great mother HE thinks I am.  I love you hunny bunny! =)

Fried Chicken & Mashed Potatoes

After MAKING food for a house full of party guests, our good friend Jodi thought it was due time someone whipped something up for US!  ....I'm sure that was the thought process behind our "Fried Chicken & Mashed Potato" date, don't you???  Hmmm....either that or she was drooling over my hubby's famous mashed potatoes (And by "famous"...I mean the talk of the town.  And by "town" I mean our church.  And by "church" I mean our circle of friends)...I don't think we'll ever know! ;)

Here's Jodi with my hubs...doin' what they do in the kitchen.

Backstory: you know BEFORE we had kids?  (I know that's hard to remember)  Before we had kids my hubs was the one who owned the kitchen.  Although taking over that role has been a HUGE change for me, my hubs will tell you that (for the most part) he's glad I have.  But mashed potatoes?  NO ONE does 'em like my hubby does!

Fried chicken....YUM!  I'm not sure its a good thing that Jodi showed me how she makes this "trailer trash food" as she called it =)  My diet is NOT going to like me for this one.

Corn....all buttered and seasoned, ready to go on the grill.  Yes...in Seattle...it don't matter if it rains!  If we wanna grill, we just take out our umbrella!  BUAHAHAHAHA!  Like anyone in Seattle actually OWNS an umbrella! =)  Nah...we stand in the rain.  Well, not in our case....see?  THAT'S the point of a covered deck!

Jodi's husband Shaun makin' himself comfortable, cheering on the Bronco's!  And sweet Ryanne snugglin' in her bouncer!  (Gotta love the life of those sweet babes...)

The girl's "craft table" (+ Lil Man made himself at home)!  Jod's is working on a basket for our church's annual auction while I'm whippin' up some hairbows for her little sweetie!  See the pile of them there???  Yeah, had to give her some options.  But don't worry....the rest will be listed on our fundraising blog SOON for YOU to choose from (bringourangelhome.blogspot.com)!!!

Monk's doing HIS crafts...some bootiful artwork for my fridge (okay...so I don't hang artwork on my fridge...but ONE DAY I'll have a playroom for just that kind of thing!!)!!

Bored of the girls and their crafts....sneaking some leftover party candy (Siren Pops - whoowhoo!) before heading back to the football room...

Does he look guilty or WHAT?!?

Full bellies make for GREAT relaxin' time! 

LOVE this Lil Man!

The AFTER Party!

So what happens after the presents are unwrapped, the cake is cut, the party guests leave, and the toddler has napped? 

Birthdays are a big deal in our household, so the party is NOT the end of it.  We continued to celebrate all weekend over at our house...here's a glimpse into how we spent our family evening after the party was over:

First try on his Strider Pre-Bike



Mama and the Birthday Boy




Eating the cake he WOULDN'T eat at his party!



SHOVELIN' it in!







Crunching

I know that I have been really down the last couple of weeks, but I want you all to know that the latest movement on "The List" has definately lifted my spirits.  Thank you all for your prayers and words of encouragement....you have all really lifted me up through this challenging wait, and continue to do so!

As of late, I have been doing a lot of number crunching.  I know we have always stated we are praying for a Christmas miracle....but it is looking less and less likely.  Although I am still praying for the possibility of a Christmas referral, I also want to be realistic and prepare my heart for a referral between January and February.

Here's where this is all coming from...

In the last 5 baby girl referrals, the families were all placed on the waitlist in the 40's.  Three of the families waited the full 10 months, and two waited 9 1/2 months. 

Our numbers so far (if you have been paying attention) have been:

April (placed on list the 15th) #48
May #43

June #38

July #35

August #29

September #26 (although now #22)

So at just a little over 5 months on the waitlist, we have moved a total of 26 spots.  That's an average of 5.2 spots a month.  We still have 22 spots to move until we are number 1, giving us another 4 1/2 months on the waitlist, which would put us mid-January to early February.

Now...that being said....I have been encouraged by all the baby girl referrals going on right now.  In fact, there is a family in the #2 spot on both the boys and girl's list right now (if you remember correctly, the girl list is always much, much, much longer....so that means there has been A LOT of movement).  Word through the listserv is that this happens about every other year to a family, and is pretty rare.  The extra exciting part, is we don't know the family on the #1 spot on either list, so we're kind of left in the dark!  When that family gets "The Call" they have NO idea what and who God has in store for them!  How exciting is that?!?!

SO!  I still totally think it is possible that God will completely surprise us all and give us our Christmas baby....but I'm beginning to accept and be okay with the longer wait.  But ask me again in a couple months.....if I'm going bonkers NOW, I can't imagine doubling the time! 

Oh God...you have SO much to teach me about patience!

And....because it's Wednesday, he're some random, but adorable photos of my Lil' Man!!! =)

Wow...doesn't he look HUGE?  Definately not a baby anymore.

My Monkey (Please ignore the poor quality, cell phone pic....just had to share)

Police Party (+ Small Adoption Update!)

One great thing about this birthday party, is that it was a HUGE distraction from the LIST.  You know...the super-long, moving ever-so-slowly, girl's waitlist for the adoption.  I've been mildly obsessed with checking out yahoo boards lately.  So this party came at the perfect time - a MUCH needed distraction.  I was a tad bit sad, however, knowing people would be asking for an update and not having much to give.  Friday night....checking the listserv....the family in the #3 spot on the girl's list got a referral for their 6 week old beauty.  Since the families in the #1 and the #2 spots aren't on the listserv....we were all ANXIOUSLY awaiting some news (and that's an understatement).  So since the #3 family got their referral, that means we have jumped THREE spots on the list, putting us UNofficially at #23!!!  Wow...burst of hope here???  Sad, but true.  That's what three simple numbers can do to you in the adoption world folks!  Needless to say, it was VERY exciting to share with everyone that burst through our doors on Saturday!!!  {UPDATE: Monday there was another referral putting as at #22!}

On to the party!!!!

I think I spent 3 days getting ready for a party that lasted 3 hours....but it was SO worth it!  (Yes, even the HOURS on the cake.) 

But JUST in case you think I thought of EVERYTHING....think again ;)



My dad reading stories to the kids - so sweet!

We had a smaller turnout than we expected, but it was actually perfect!  Not so many that it was overwhelming, but not too small either.  We had a few friends from church, the grandparents (who brought a few cousins) and some friends we've collected from our various places of work over the years.  It was SUCH a fun day (my husband is telling me that as I type this again)!





Our menu included pome granate - blueberry punch, "Cops in a Blanket", a fruit and veggie tray, potato salad, pasta salad, VeggieCrisps, "Siren Pops", "Cop Candy" and "Criminal Candy".  Not to mention the CAKE!!!  Hello! =)  It was a GREAT spread (and thank you to my moms who helped with food...makes my life easier).

We had a couple of games set up for the munchkins

- the pinata, of course!  Which was a HUGE hit!  No serious fights over who's turn it was (but this was two year olds and a LOT of parents were monitering).  Then, inspired by our church's "Bob-a-palooza" we had the "Feed Me Doughnuts" game, where the kids got to through doughnuts-shaped sponges into a police officer's mouth (not a REAL officer, mind you).  That was a real hit too!

Present time was a little over whelming.  The first two presents Lil Man opened were cars, which got him SO excited he didn't care about the rest of the gifts!  Not to mention we had a circle of like seven kids who wanted to HELP open the gifts, but hey!  So is the life with a toddler!  He got so many adorable gifts, thank you everyone for celebrating with us.



The Strider I was telling you about!



Sand from one set of grandparents, a slide from the other....yay! =)

How many men does it take to open a child's toy?

The CAKE!  Monkey was SUPER excited about this (like.. ..tried to climb onto the piano to eat it on Friday excited =)

He climbed on the table and let us get a few pics and sing "Happy Birthday" but he was super excited to dig in....or so we thought.

He just got mad at daddy for breaking his car and cried and then just wanted to go back to playing.  Oh well...can't expect the perfect party of your dreams with a two-year-old.  (He DID enjoy some cake after dinner that night though).  Everyone else loved it though!  My seven hours (estimated) of work paid off!  (And YES I am a perfectionist).  This was my first experience with fondant, so NO it is not pefect by any means, but it fulfilled the overall vision I had for his cake which made me VERY happy.  And it was DELICIOUS!!!  I used my mom's Wacky Cake recipe (which you can now find in the WIPHAN cookbook HERE).  It is super light and airy (and eggless for my allergic nephews) but really chocolatey.  My husband doesn't like chocolate cake but he likes this....so its what we've been sticking too....not an overwhelming flavor.  Then I used my friend Annika's AMAZING frosting recipe (which she'll give proper credit to some cookbook, but I prefer family recipes so I'm sayin' its HERS).  The bed of the cake is covered in coconut, which again...not a huge fan of....but it completed my vision and ACTUALLY....the chocolate, frosting, and coconut all complimented each other really well (in MY opinion ;) so I was excited about it (obviously, since the majority of my blog has been about the cake ;). 

It was truly a wonderful day and we are SO thankful for those who came out to celebrate with us!  We know it was a wierd time (for some) and a busy weekend (for most) so we REALLY appreciate you taking the time out to be here for our Lil Man!  He had SUCH a great time with everyone!!!

These two almost-four-year-olds had never met, but became best of friends!

After everyone left, Monkey went down for naptime and snoozed for almost THREE HOURS!  Phew!  Daddy and I vegged.  Played a little Mario Cart on the Wii and watched some Spiderman 3...it was great.  Then after Monkey we woke up, we took him outside to try out his new bike!  He's still a little unsure about it, but I'm sure with some time he'll get the hang of it.  (Plus, his girlfriend Elise has a pink one, so I'm sure a Strider Playdate will be just the motivation he needs!)

Now we're just chillin' out at home (for once) and getting a kick at him playing with his new toys.  He plays with one for about 5 minutes and then switches to the next for a couple....I still think he just can't believe their all his!  =)