January-December 2008
The Davis Family
Hebrews 11:8
By faith Abraham… obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.
(No, we aren’t moving, but it still seems appropriate for this last year!)
January:
Anna was nine months old. She was still mostly bald and had just learned to crawl. It was so cute how she could pull herself to standing to look at things. She could dance to music by bobbing up and down while holding onto a table… it was adorable when she danced to Grandma D’s “Grandma Bear.†She had no teeth. When sitting, she turned around by spinning around on her bottom.
Rachel cut her hair short for the first time. We had just returned from a visit to Grand Coulee, Washington. The plan was to sell our home quickly and probably move to Grand Coulee where Brian would work at Grand Coulee Dam. Time flies.
February:
Anna turned ten months old. She seems so much like a big girl, jabbering and crawling so fast! Rachel baked her first turkey this month in her new turkey pan and it turned out tasty. We became interested in adopting through the county foster system so we began taking our “Foundations†classes in Beaverton through DHS and finished a month or two later. Rachel and Anna went to a women’s retreat with her good friend Hollie and luckily Anna slept like a pro. Meanwhile, Brian remodeled the bathroom! He repaired the floor under the toilet, replaced the toilet and replaced the flooring. Yay!
March:
Anna turned eleven months old. She still takes her milk in a bottle right before bed (cold whole milk!). By the end of this month, Rachel was finished nursing and the transition went easily for us. Anna got stronger and steadier on her feet and in crawling. She loves chasing Razzie! By the end of this month, she is standing balanced every once in awhile – it’s so exciting! We took a long car trip and drove to Bend to see my cousin Lydia and her new beautiful little baby Olivia, Great-Grandma D and Kevin. It’s so fun to have my friends having babies too!!! We repainted the bathroom this month and it is now “finished,†and significantly over budget. I think it’s worth it.
April:
Anna turned one year old this month! I am still disappointed that I didn’t get a picture of her in her beautiful birthday dress. She was beautiful and perfect. She was walking for her birthday! We worked on completing our homestudy with CFA so that we can be available to adopt. Back in 2007, we were thinking we’d adopt older kids. Now we are planning to adopt younger than Anna. It felt good to finally pursue adoption instead of just talk about it. With some help from our friends, we also finished sheetrocking, texturing and painting the garage/office. HOORAY! That was a big project checked off our list.
May:
I was still making homemade babyfood for Anna this month, but after a particularly messy cooking disaster (oops) I decided to stop with the babyfood. Anna only had a couple front teeth, but she took the change in stride. This month the office was officially mostly done! The laminate was laid, the carpet stapled and it looks fantastic! We promptly unloaded Anna’s bedroom and filled the loft and office floor. Desks, boxes, tubs, more tubs, more computers and desks were carried out. The rest of the house feels so much nicer and the office looks great!
This month, we also took advantage of beautiful weather and our indomitable adventurous spirit and left for the beach on a whim. We stayed overnight at a little motel, ate yummy food and traipsed across the sand. It was so much fun! Little Anna loved to crawl in the soft warm sand and run on the hard flat sand. She is such a cutie!
June:
This month, Brian got to fly in a restored B-17 with his Dad and Grandpa! Anna moved to a big girl bed (a twin mattress on the floor) as we rearranged the things to make room for the eventual next sibling. We had a blast at the strawberry patch this year! We went a couple times. Once it was very muddy and so we took off Anna’s shoes to save them. Her face and hands and feet… and well, most of her, were so black with mud and strawberry juice! She didn’t care of course; she ate those berries like she was born for it.
July:
This month marks our first camping trip with Anna! We went to Dorena lake with the Chapmans and we had a great time. It was really funny to “put her down for a nap,†because we could still see the top of her head bobbing around through the tent window as she wandered around the tent and banged on the walls. After a long day of no naps and a night of fireworks though, the tired little girl slept like nobody’s business. She went on her first boat rides too, but she seems to be scared of boats for now. J Back at home we had fun playing in the hose and kiddie pool.
August:
This month we went camping at Paulina Lake with Jake and Emily. The nights were really cold and we experimented the first night (the coldest) with putting Anna into our already cramped sleeping bags. Thankfully, she seemed to sleep much better than we did. Anna got incredibly dirty on this dusty camping trip, but it was so fun to see her play and experience new things. She had a banana she didn’t want to finish eating so she set it gently down onto the very dusty ground to eat later. I’m glad I saw it and threw it away before she came back! J We also went to family camp with our church at the Oregon Coast (Fort Stevens) and really enjoyed our time with friends. The beach was fantastic, the company excellent, the food delicious, and the weather terrible. We were exhausted and left a day early. It was the best decision… it felt so wonderful to be home and clean and indoors. Hooray for home!
September:
September was a month of rest compared to August. We went to a family get-together at Rachel’s parents house, babysat several days for a friend, and took a class about medically fragile infants to become better prepared for fostering. That’s right, fostering! Since we had finally realized that being ready to adopt does not necessarily mean you will be adopting immediately, we decided that we wanted to provide short-term foster care to little kids. We have a heart to minister to foster kids and we also decided that we would benefit as well. I also took up canning and canned a bunch of applesauce, peaches, tomatoes and jelly.
Oh, and did I mention the most exciting news? This month, Melissa announced to me that she is pregnant! WOW! I am so excited about them and their growing family and them having a baby. I love being a mommy and I am thoroughly overwhelmed and excited by my sister sharing in motherhood with me.
October:
This month we had our first foster placement. Paris was almost two years old and very sweet. She is a very loveable little girl and we were very blessed to have her be a part of our lives for a month. She and Anna got along well and we fell in love with her! We are glad that she is now where it’s best for her, but we will miss her always. We enjoyed a great fall season and Halloween with our two girls, carving pumpkins, going to church and just generally being family.
November:
After Paris moved, Anna and Rachel made a trip to visit her friend Emily in California. We had a great time of sunshine and parks and visiting. During the Thanksgiving season, Rachel got carried away with the great turkey sales and ended up with SIX turkeys, all but one of them over twenty pounds. Rachel has now been introduced to the world of canned meats, as she has already canned the two that didn’t fit in the freezer. Brian got a job offer from BPA (Bonneville Power) in Vancouver this month and we have decided to accept! Brian will likely start there sometime early next year and it’s an exciting change.
Anna has been really focusing on learning words lately, unhappy on anybody’s lap unless she has a book. She has been laughing so much lately and seems so happy to have gained more and more control over her world. She is such a joy to watch grow and learn. She is bright and determined and persistent in all things. We are so very in love with our daughter and wonder at her every new accomplishment.
December:
This month we decided to sell the pickup to get a better commuting car for Brian. The truck sold the same day we listed it! Time to get the new car!
We are still available to adopt, but consider that to be more a long-term state for our family (being available as need arises) rather than anything with a specific waiting period. We’ll of course keep everybody updated if there is any news! We’re looking forward to time with family over Christmas and are excited about the big rental house project that Austin and Melissa are moving into.
And that, in a nutshell, is what we’ve been up to!
Merry Christmas!
Brian, Rachel and Anna Davis
P.s. Issabelle is still with us and I expect she’ll be with us for the hollidays. Pray we are able to get her to her family for a visit on Christmas – it will be hard for her mom and grandma if she is unable to come! Pray for her new foster family, for Izzy, and for her family.