Simple Obedience

Its Tiny.

Its holding.

Its not loving your child, but loving His child.

Its a blessing.

What a joy it was to care for you Baby J.  We pray you find a forever home that is godly.

We pray that you would come to know your creator.

The Good. The Bad. The Ugly.

The Good: We received two phone calls in the last 24 hours about foster care placements.
The Bad: Beds are still empty, our home was not chosen for these little lives.
The Ugly: Emotions went from excited to tears while digging for chocolate in the pantry.

This is hard… and its only the beginning.

To hear that your home was not chosen is a tough pill to swallow.  Really?!? Do they not realize that we are those border line crazy people who want to take in a dozen kids and need to get started on this "Calling" before it doesn't work into OUR timing.  Ha.  What a day to step back, be still, and live out what it means to trust His plan.  I knew it was a hard road, but until today I did not understand.  We want to love on these kids, but we have to get them into our home first.  PATIENCE PATIENCE.  He whispers these words and they echo in my heart.  Today, I prayed for babies I probably will never see.  Today, God brought us closer to Him and increased our desire to love the least of these.  Ps 68.5: "God places the lonely in families."  Oh that He would use us to fulfill those words.  

I write this tonight to be vulnerable and to invite you who read to pray for our family.  Pray that God would bring precious children who need a home, that we would be patient and trust in His timing.  Most of all, that He would use us to make an impact.  What an incredible thought: that all children would have a loving family to teach them of the God who formed them.  That all children would believe that they are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Sometimes they just need to get a little dirty...

ONE

Happy Birthday sweet Ty - we had a simple little celebration with some family.  

Such joy this little guy brings to our lives.  

Celebrating Birthdays

This week we celebrated two birthdays - Ty turned one (more on that birthday coming soon) and my sweet moms birthday was yesterday.  We got a perfect email to celebrate her and I wanted to share it with you all.  

This is a well that was just completed in Zambia with money that was given in my moms name.  It is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.  This community has fresh water.  My mom would love it - the only thing she would not love is that her name is on it :)  Yes - it is in her honor, but it is because she served and followed the Lord that she made the impact that she did.  What an incredible blessing to see this picture, to see that her life impacted people to give money to such an incredible cause.  What a special day to celebrate her life and the legacy it continues to leave.  May He be honored through it all!

11 months

You are growing up way too fast!  I cannot believe this guy is going to be one in less than a month!  

We love you sweet Ty!

Month 10

You are 10 months old!  

This year is going by so quickly, we are about into summer camp and then it will be your birthday.  Its so hard to believe.  You have continued to learn and grow.  You now love to point, its the cutest thing ever.  You point when daddy walks in the door and sometimes you will say "Dada".  We are not totally sure you related it to him since you say that a lot, but Daddy wants to claim it as your first word.  You have so many other fun sounds you are learning as well, gotta learn to talk so that you can keep up with your big sis.  You have 5 teeth now, your new food this month is beans (which you love) and you have been walking while holding on to things.  You have grown to love your little sleeping friend who we like to call Tadbit and sometimes you will throw him out of the crib and wait hoping that we will come get him for you.  Sneaky.  But you are still a rock star at sleeping, after 1-2 times of throwing Tadbit out and me laying you back down you give up and go to sleep.  You have also learned how to push buttons on some of your toys, this little truck is one of your favorites and you get so excited to see that you made it play a song.  Its so fun watching you learn.

We could not love you more.

Thankfulness.

Yesterday was an errand and doctor visit day.  Ty missed naps, Emma missed play times, both were dragged around in much cooler weather than what I dressed them for to get things done.  I had a dr. apt that I was blessed enough to be able to take both of the kids with me (enter sarcasm) and we waited in the waiting room for one hour before being called back to wait for another 20 minutes.  Through all of that the kids were amazing.  God has so blessed me with kids that can just endure long errand running days - perhaps God knew what He was doing after all, moving us to the country and setting our life up to have days like that often and kids that could do it.  So on the way home Emma shares "My stomach hurts I think I might puke"  Awesome - I get into tense mode.  I start looking for something for her to throw up in, I have the air blaring, I am stressed... but like any good mom I am trying so hard to hide the stress and act like all is ok.  In one statement my entire grand morning was taken away.  Like that.  And then God whacked me on the head.
I recalled a recent blog that I had read by Ann Voskamp and she talked about Joyful Parenting.  One of the points was "Today, when stress mounts, I pray to dismount it with gratitude.  My stress management plan will be intervention with verbal thanks.  I can only feel one feeling at a time, and I choose to give thanks at all times.  Fight feeling with feeling!"
So I did - I was stressing because my daughter might be car sick.  Really I was stressing because I was possibly going to have to clean up puke later that day.  Really Jen.  So instead of stress I began thanking God for my healthy girl in the back seat.  The one who has not been sick in years.  For this precious daughter who is growing to know her creator.  Who calls me mom.  Who loves Jesus - at a 4 year old love level.  Who has been given on loan to me, to care for, to love, and to guide.  On the list could go...
Who said anything about stress - God designed us to be thankful, so thankful I shall be and let me tell you, it feels so much better to be thankful than to be stressed.
So throw up or not - I am thankful for that precious girl.

Around the house

Lately there have been some spots around the house that just make me happy.  Sometimes it seems it can be the smallest detail that makes it feel like home.  Most of these things have been little day projects that have turned out so fun and so useful.  I love finding little treasures at antique stores and making it work.  Matt built our garden and he did a great job - I cannot wait to plant!

Just today

Too many cute moments today not to grab the camera. 

Playing like a big boy

This is how every bath goes - Ty stands and watches and Emma talks to him.  Cute.

FOB outside - Emma read her books and I flipped through magazines.  Perfect afternoon.

They are starting to become sweet little friends - Ty LOVES her.

9 months old

I am so in love with this little guy.  He is just a ball of energy.  He is standing everywhere and his little crawl is too cute.  We are having so much fun with this kid - love him!

Pops turned 60!

We celebrated Pops' birthday this past weekend in San Antonio and had such a great time!  Here are way too many pictures:

Happy weekend and Happy 60th birthday Pops!!!

8!

Growing up!  Ty is now in a new phase of movement.  He is pulling up - loves to stand by the window and look out.  Today I found him on top of the dishwasher door - and so it begins.  He can get into a sitting up position and we have seen a real crawl several times although he still goes back to the army crawl most of the time.  Perhaps its the floors or just that he knows he can get somewhere fast.  He LOVES eating finger foods - whole peas, banana pieces, apple pieces, you name it.  This kid continues to be joy.  He looks for attention wherever we go and can really ham it up.  We are in for it.  He still has just the bottom two teeth but that third one has barely been poking out for about 3 weeks - come on tooth!  What a gift this boy is - Matt was telling someone Ty's story the other day and said that Ty is like our Heavenly Father just giving us a hug when we needed one.  What a reminder that He cares for us and loves us.  Ty's life continues to remind us of our Lords faithfulness and blessing.  Happy 8 months little man.

Emma is 4!

A few weeks ago our "little" Emma turned 4!  I cannot believe how she is growing up so fast.  This girl LOVES to talk.  She is really into pretending princess, on a typical day you will find her in a princess dress or tutu outside swinging or digging in the dirt.  She loves her hair long and wants it to keep growing. Emma is a great big sister, always wanting to help but also likes her space when he is fussy.  We had a simple little butterfly themed party for Emma with a few friends and it was perfect!  Love this girl!

                                         

The gang - wings and all

Pops, Paka and Daddy built a swing set for Emma's birthday- its perfect!

6 & 7

Well - since Ty is almost 8 months its time to post the last two...

So here is our little guy at 6 months:

At 6 months he really started moving and has not stopped.  He loves to move, but can also chill in his carseat for hours while we run errands or go to Emma's dance class.  He knows how to go with the flow.

And now at 7 months:

At 7 months the army crawl is still going strong.  He can go so fast it is funny to watch.  His favorite places that I find him are in Emma's room and the bathroom.  He laughs as I try to catch him before he reaches the toilet.  Little stinker.  He also loves roaming under the table to see what foods Emma has dropped.  Eating - this guy is a great eater.  The only thing he does not love so far is bananas.  His favorites are carrots, sweet potatoes and peas.  He loves to be around people, he could watch his big sister for hours and she sure can make him laugh.  Its so fun to watch their little relationship grow.  

What a blessing they are - pictures from Emma's 4th birthday coming soon!!