by | January 9, 2012

Coming Out! – an update on Jordan

Jordan is turning into a little boy! I love it! I love meeting him. He’s been home just over a month… but it is just now that the little boy is beginning to come out. I knew we’d passed another milestone when he started getting into the wood repeatedly. And then another when he went straight for the dog’s water when I took him from the wood…. and then to the wood when I took him from the water… and back and forth a couple times. Love it!!! My son is not primarily hiding inside his mind any more: he’s COMING OUT!

He is making much better eye contact. He almost never turns his back on us. He crawls around the house instead of just the living room. He can frequently be found standing up against pieces of furniture. His favorite place to find is the bathtub, where he stands and laughs and yells happily. Don’t you just love babies!? When he’s bored, he rocks… not because he’s overwhelmed any more, because he’s bored. Hooray! Normal life! Home! He has tired of playing only with rattles and has expanded into things with strings that can be swung around or otherwise moved and observed. He loves his drumsticks.

While he never picks up something to put in his mouth…. he began to rub his hands in the ashes and wood dirt near the woodstove and then put his hands in his mouth. What probably started as an accident was quickly a learned behavior. “Hey, this is interesting!” he must have thought. This has, with messy practice, turned into intentional rubbing of hands in food and then putting them in his mouth. Next stop – picking things up and putting them in his mouth! (instead of things just getting stuck to his hands) Tool number one for teaching him to chew? Red licorice rope. Oh yeah. Rot them teeth, boy! He is almost for sure left-handed. He does not want to be rocked with his left hand confined. He plays primarily with his left hand. Time will tell, but I think we have a lefty! (I should note he sucks primarily his right hand…. whatever that means! Ambidextrous?)

Oh, and Jordan has stood in the middle of the room two times when we set him down there!

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by | January 8, 2012

Family Announcement

I sent this to family before posting the blog:

Oops
By Rachel Davis

I went to get something from the fridge
on the way I forgot what it was
oops!
I scheduled a play date with my friend
on that day I forgot when it was
oops!
I knew the day of my husbands birthday
but forgot I was supposed to get a gift
oops!
Remembered to do all the daily chores
Dinnertime came and there was no food
oops!
Made it all the way to the store
walked in the door and had no list
oops!
Made delicious lunches for the family
dinnertime comes and I find mine forgotten
in the microwave
oops!
I take all kinds of notes to remind myself
But they are lost in a stack
oops!
A friend drops by to say hello
I look down, did I get dressed today?
oops!
We have a plan and we are careful
Then Tuesday morning there are two
pink lines
oops!

Yes.

Really!

A precious bundle of joy is coming early September!

Hang onto your horsies kids!

I made it all of four days without telling.

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by | January 7, 2012

Surprise!!!

I’m Pregnant!

hahaha

Ok, so you remember a couple years ago when I blogged “We‘re Pregnant!”? I was blogging about the adoption process that culminated in Jordan coming home… NOT pregnancy. So I bet you didn’t fall for it this time. Which is too bad, because I love to make your heart jump.

Surprise!

But the truth is, you should have fallen for it.

Really.

Yes. Really.

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Rewind!

…

Brian and I prayed that God would guide us to our next child. You know, eventually. Maybe in about six months, we’d start a process that would end up giving us another child another 9-18 months after that. Options we considered: International adoption, Foster Care adoption, Pregnancy, Domestic infant adoption with special needs, embryo adoption (yes, we seriously considered that!) But we didn’t have an answer, so we decided to wait and pray. We had six months to pray about this at least. We wanted to wait to hear God’s voice. To know God’s plan. Good idea, right?

It was just a weeeeeeeee bit earlier than we expected when He answered us.

Seriously.

Exactly one month to the day after Jordan got home, five days ago, I decided to test. Because I couldn’t remember how long it had been. And two lines showed up.

And I’m pregnant.

And I can’t believe it.

And Anna heard about it first, because Brian was at work.

And really!???!!!

Ever the practical one, I worried about Jordan first. Ok, well I thought about how painful pregnancy can be first first. And I wondered what Brian would think before the first first. But back to Jordan. Pregnancies are not good for attachment processes, I have heard. And a newborn can really suck that needed time away from the needy one. And besides, Maggie and Anna are still adjusting to another kid in the house! Is it too much to ask of us!?

I called Brian and spilled the beans. And I could see the silly smile all over his face right through that cell phone.

I have decided to be very intentional about how I think about Jordan in relation to being pregnant and having another baby. Jordan is still emotionally a baby and things move slowly with him… I don’t want to make the mistake of putting him on the back burner. So, I’ve thought of him as one of my babies and I’ve had a surge of nurturing/motherly feelings towards him. It’s actually (so far) been easier to let him into my personal space since finding out… pregnancy is much more familiar ground to me than adoption attachment… being pregnant has reassured me that I know how to do this mothering thing!

It hasn’t been so long since I was preparing to be the mother of four children, you remember. So four children really fit in my heart right now. Oh, the joy that is bubbling up inside of me!!!!

I got a nice ticker for ya. Now you can know how big baby #4 is anytime you want! Aren’t you excited! hehehe

pregnancy

Join in our joy! Try to keep the panic and worry at a minimum (you know who you are!). We really have been careful and monitoring my cycle so that we could wait. It was working… this is over two years since Maggie’s birth! But I didn’t use the thermometer this month and all the signs were clear that we were past fertile stage. I am confident this is GOD’s plan for us and His plans are AWESOME! When we doubt and worry… let’s repeat that to ourselves. (Or if you become a blubbering mess at the drop of a pin like a pregnant woman…………)

Surprise!

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by | January 5, 2012

LOVE these pictures!!!!

Lelia, you have done wonders. These are stunning. You captured a sweet moment of time with our children and made us look so GOOD! I’m impressed and totally thrilled. No words.

Family, please place your orders now. Which family photo do you want and in what size? What size do you want the kid’s photos? And for the sibling photo… well, I shouldn’t have shared it here, but I’m going to surprise you with a wallet or 4×6 of that too. hehe

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by | January 5, 2012

Winter Toes

Also known as chiblains. I thought I got athletes foot every winter since we moved to our cold-hardwood-floor house six years ago. Last year we figured it out. This year I thought I got athlete’s foot again. Until my mom re-figured it out for me. Or maybe it was Melissa. It doesn’t matter.

If you have somewhat poor circulation. Or cold floors. Or you think you keep getting athlete’s foot, because your feet are soooooo itchy and burny in the winter, maybe you have winter toes instead. Now that I wear socks and slippers, the itching and burning is all gone. All healed up. Yay! It did take a few weeks of keeping my feet warm, but they are better at last! Keeping a steady, warmish temperature for your feet is important… all the big temperature fluctuations will make the ‘ulceration’ or blister-like qualities worse.

Picture from wikipedia, since I didn’t take a picture of my feet when they looked very much like this, though not quite as red.:

And that, my friends, is what one calls a boring blog post.

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