Pinky Promise

I promise I'm not holding out on you all. I still don't know what to name my daughter yet. You know when a name just "clicks". You're like that's it! Well, it hasn't happened yet. I felt close a few times, but then NOTHING. A couple of weeks ago Faith woke up and told me her baby sisters name will be "Addelyn". I like it, I really do. It just hasn't completely clicked yet. So, the problem I'm having is every other name I come up with, my two teamed up daughters quickly make a face and say, "yuck!, No mom her name is Addelyn".

Here are names I came up with but have been rejected by ALL immediate family members:
Willow
Azlynn
Adia
Sevyn
Aubeny

I'm still trying to ask him about all the names that everyone came up with today. So far he liked:

Emy
Avalyn
maybe Azaria. At first he said it sounded like a name from a Conan the Barbarian show. After I told him the meaning he liked it better.
Reese
maybe Daizey

The absolutely no ways were:
Penelope

All the other names were either not mentioned due to time or bad cellphone signal. I'll give you an update tomorrow on all of the other names that were so graciously bestowed upon my comment box.

Thanks everyone. You made my day!

Enough!

Okay! I'm putting an end to this right now:)

He will be called:
Christopher Diezel Eddison Boster! That's right! We will call him Diezel.

Now moving on to my little girl.

Any ideas?

Naming Tradition

Thanks for all the wonderful name suggestions. I was amazed at how many were ones we thought of too. I forgot to mention a couple of things about how we name our kids.
1. We call them by their middle names.
2. All of the boys have Christopher as their first name.
3. They all have a first, middle, another middle and finally a last.

If you want to know why we do this, may I suggest you leave a comment addressed to my dear husband Adam. This naming tradition was started by him:)

So, in our family we have:
Christoper Adam (my dear hubby)
Christopher Jace Isaiah
Rebecca McKayley Lena
Gwendolyn Faith Leytte
Christopher Lukas Lee

With that said
Do you have other ideas?

Names

We were planning on keeping the twins names. Their names are a part of who they are. With that said though... We weren't planning on their names meaning, "My servant" and "God of darkness".
I know their parents did not give them those names knowing what they meant. For instance, I never knew my son Lukas' name meant man from Lucianna?! And McKayley? well we made it up so I don't think it has a meaning. But I still can't bring myself to keep their names knowing what they mean. It would be um..wrong to have an African child that is called, "My servant" you know what I mean.

Let the naming begin. We have a few ideas But I would love to hear more. Do you have any names that come to mind for a gorgeous 22 month old girl and her beyond handsome twin brother?

I need your suggestions!!!!

Just Breathe

Our court date is March 10th and our Visa appt most likely will be March 27th!

Translation:

WE. ARE. GOING. TO. ETHIOPIA!!!!!!!!!!

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Lesson Learned

Never buy clothes for your adopted children based on age and size estimation by looking at a photo.
I scored last month at Old Navy and thought I had the twins covered. I bought based on the photo and thinking a little smaller than average. They will be two in May. So, I bought 18-24 months and a little 12-18 months. I found out on Tues. that they are 15.5 Ibs. and 16.5 Ibs and 26.8 inches tall.
That is 6-12 months!
Guess what I did yesterday? I went shopping. My hubby asked why I'm not waiting until March when we bring them home. My answer? Isn't obvious? The sales rock right now! 80% off! Not to mention that most warm clothes will be off the shelves in March and only spring clothes will be available and it will still be cold here in the Midwest .

De-Caped

This is what a super hero looks like after they have been de-caped. Nu-Nu has worn only Superman, Batman and Spiderman pj's all day everyday for weeks. I thought it might be time for his secret identity to be unmasked.

What a Day!

I started today feeling really down. I hadn't heard about the twins. Every week it seemed like I was told next week we'll have their information. Granted, it's only been a little over a month since we found out about them. I really should keep this in perspective but it's really hard when it's been almost 14 months since we began actively pursuing adoption. 14 months! 5 kids we fell in love with and we were sure they were meant to be with us. So given that. It sometimes is hard to keep things in perspective. I think in the back of my mind I keep looking for something to go wrong with the twins adoption. Stupid. I know. But honest. Two weekends ago we thought God had other plans and we accepted that they were not meant to be ours. We spent the whole weekend making peace with it. Only to find out that things changed again and we (God willing) are going to be their family.
There is so much I want to share with you all and I will when they are at home with us. God is so good. And our agency has been terrific.
The most part of today was spent nursing sick kids and wondering if I would hear about the twins.
Again God is so good! Just when I gave up, I got an email. We got a new picture of our babies. After calling my hubby and Leah, I fell on my knees. They need a mommy so bad! The picture ripped me in two. I finally felt it. The mommy in me kicked in full force. The first picture I got a month ago I felt love, but this one I fell head over heels in love.
After taking another one of my kids to the doctor today, I came home and quickly finished the pot of homemade chicken noodle soup. Thank goodness because now my temp. is rising and the chills are coming on. Adam is home for the week. So, after dinner I'm off to bed.

Cozy

So here we are all cozy in our house. Adam is home . Everyone is feeling a little under the weather. We have the fire going and the chili cooking. It is a cold winter day. The kind of day you just want to stay indoors. Except today is Sunday, the day we have our skateboard outreach at our house. Attendance has been slim to say the least. We were certain only the usual couple of people would come, but no. Not today. The one day we were feeling all cozy or preoccupied with our desires, He brings them out from nowhere. Lots of kids and parents! My first thought was,"oh man there goes our quiet afternoon." Then God quickly reminded me why we are doing this. He did not call us to a life of "cozy" but a life surrendered. Surrendered of our desires and our will. Surrendered at His feet for His purpose. So, bring on the skateboarding kids!

A Love Worth Fighting For

It was 15 years ago today that I finally quit running away. 15 years ago today Adam took a huge chance and asked me to be his wife. He asked knowing I wasn't a Christian. He asked knowing my whole past. He asked knowing the chance was really high that I might run away one day. And Yet He asked. I can only imagine the amount of faith and imagination that took. The imagination to see me how God did and the faith to believe that one day I would become how God saw me. I remember the day he asked me so well. He was acting strange all day. I remember thinking to myself, "Oh please let it NOT be that he's going to propose." I knew if he asked me I would say, "yes." I would say, "yes" because I wouldn't want to break his heart. But I also knew if I said, "yes" that meant the life I knew, the one thing that brought me comfort, the one that let me run away from any situation that asked of me what I was unwilling, or too scared to deal with would be gone. I didn't have God to turn to, so I would run. And I would run far. But I knew that Adam was saving himself, his heart, his body, his life for ONE person. I felt stuck. Unwilling to break his heart upon proposal and scared of breaking his heart in the future. I look back now and realize we were both terrified. He took me to the beach and we stood in the ocean. He looked at me, he was shaking, he was crying, he was laying his heart on my sleeve. He placed a rather large and awkward ring on my finger ( it was his grandfather's class ring that had green yarn wrapped around the back so it would fit on my finger). As he stood there in front of me trembling, strong, courageous, and in love, I knew at that moment that I would fight with everything I had and everything I had yet to know. I would fight myself everyday, every minute and every second. I would fight with all the love I had to become that woman he saw in me.
Adam, my love, my knight. You are my hero. As cliche as that has become, it is true. You rescued me from myself and led me gently to our savior's feet. Through your love and guidance I am closer to becoming the woman God made me to be. Thank you for taking that chance on me 15 years ago. You are my man of Steel and Velvet. You are my one true love story.

What Would You Do?

Here's the scenario:

Your husband is home for the weekend.
You plan a romantic evening.
You get dressed in what you wore your wedding night.
As you're taken back by the fact it actually fits after13+ years,
You lean over to light the candles

AND

POOF, your hair goes up in flames!

What do you do? What do you do?
1. Cry?
2. Laugh?
3. Blog about it?

or
4. After you stop crying from the initial shock, you laugh at how bad it smells, and then think about how to make it into a blog that is still G rated.


Yes, this really happened.

You Know You're an Adoptive Parent or Should Be One If...

1. The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has made you lose sleep.

2. You realize DNA has nothing to do with love and family.

3. You can't watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing.

4. The fact that, if 7% of Christians adopted 1 child there would be no orphans in the world, is convicting to you.

5. You spend free time surfing blogs about families who have experienced the blessing of adoption.

6. It drives you crazy when people ask you about adopted child's "real" parents.

7. You have ever been "pregnant" with your adoptive child longer than it takes an elephant to give birth.(2 years!)

8. You had no idea how you would afford to adopt but stepped out in faith anyway, knowing where God calls you He will provide.

9. You have ever taken an airplane ride half-way around the world with a child you just met.

10. You believe God's heart is for adoption.

11. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart and family is one of the most important legacies you could ever leave on this earth.

12. You know what the word "Dossier" means, and you can actually pronounce it!

13. You have welcomed a social worker into the most private parts of your life.

14. You shudder when people say your child is so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well you are the blessed one to have him or her in your life.

Author Unknown

I stole this from from Jana who stole it from Lisa and Shawn's Blog

Picking and Singing

I think he's going to be a Rockstar! He does his mama proud:)

I Must Be Crazy!

Do you remember how I posted last week about 8 things. One of my 8 things to do before I die was to run a marathon. Well I just registered to run a half marathon (13+ miles) in Orlando with Brandi.
Did I mention I loathe running? and I'm totally out of shape? And will be over 35 when the marathon happens? But I figure if I don't do this now (Jan 09) then the I probably never will.

I think I'm just as excited to meet Brandi as I am about the marathon. The last time I ran a mile I puked.

So Bring on the puke buckets and play me some Rocky. I start training tomorrow.

They Actually Have a Test For People Like Me

61%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

What about you?

Lice, Friendship and Makeovers

One can not help but to start itching with just the mention of LICE. Try it. Say it outloud and I bet you start feeling that crawling sensation. That sensation has yet to leave me. Sitting here typing about it makes me start to itch. So, here's the breakdown-Lice has been going around at gymnastics, schools and yes slumber parties. Where have I been? Why didn't I know? 4 of the girls at the slumber party have been fighting the Lice battle. Fun for everyone. I should have wrote on the invitation, "Come share some fun, cake, games and lice".
This is the 2nd time we have dealt with Lice with the same child. The 1st time she was in preschool.
I remember freaking out thinking "what have I done?" "is my house dirty, are we dirty?" After a lot of research I found out that all the stigma's attached to it are untrue. It doesn't matter how clean your house is or how often your kids bathe they can still get Lice. I learned a lot the first time around so I didn't freak out as much. Still, it's not fun. This time she had a full fledged infestation.
On Tues when I sat her down to start the combing process I was a little grossed out after one swipe the comb was full! How could I have not known she had Lice? A week ago she was complaining her head was itching. I looked and dismissed it as dry scalp. A lot of eggs can hatch in a weeks time. Here is what I learned about getting rid of lice. Keep in mind I go to the extreme.
1. I bought stuff called NITMIX. It is chemical free. It's made of almond oil, lavender oil, rosemary oil, and geranium oil. This stuff is an amazing aid to help you do the MOST important part of delicing. Which is COMBING!!!!! A lot of people underestimate the vital part this plays. They just shampoo with a pesticide and think that will do it. The shampoo will only kill the adult lice. It will not kill the eggs(nits) So when they hatch in seven days you have to put more pesticide on their head and hope they didn't lay more eggs.
Combing is essential and having a good nitcomb. At this stage I combed and sectioned off her hair. I combed for two hours removing all live lice and nits.
2. You don't have to do this, but I then cut her hair (she needed it) This is not necessary at all.
3. I rinsed her hair.
4. I then put RID ( lice killing shampoo) in her hair (notice I did this after I combed)
5. I rinsed that out, then combed again. You get the idea about combing?
6. This is the time consuming part. I stripped everyone's bedding. We went to a laundry mat and washed about 10 loads worth of stuff. Everything from coats, bedding, rugs, robes, pillows etc..
7. We vacuumed and swept the whole house and threw the bag away.
8. Checked everyone's head.
For the next 7 days I will wash all bedding every morning. I will wash immediately pj's, clothes and coats after worn. I told you I'm extreme. I also comb with a mixture of the oils her hair everyday. At the end of the 7 days I will the use one last time the Lice killing shampoo. I will then comb every few days for the next month just to be sure.
I want to mention that both times the lice never spread to the rest of the family, only Faith got it.

So where does friendship from my title come in? The first day I found out she had lice, I would have gotten completely overwhelmed if it wasn't for Miss Stephanie. Miss Stephanie was such a huge blessing. I met Miss Stephanie almost a year ago when I emailed people off our church babysitting list. I was looking for some occasional help with the kids and house. God blessed me so much with her. I was actually getting discouraged about ever finding someone. We have been through a lot of babysitters, I mean a lot. They never lasted, I was beginning to think there was something totally wrong with me. Then Miss Stephanie came along and I LOVE HER! She is such a beautiful, sweet and godly woman. The kind of girl that I pray my daughters grow into. She has been there for us, prayed for us, and has grown to be one of my dearest friends. I called her and told her about the Lice, most people would have backed out of helping (understandable) but not Miss Stephanie she scrubbed and washed beside me the whole day. That's friendship. So, Miss Stephanie thank you for risking Lice for me.

And finally makeovers. Miss Stephanie has always had long hair. She has wanted to try something new for a long time, but always backs out at the last minute. Not this time baby!

Mothers

Have you ever read that saying, "God can't be everywhere so he created mothers."? The first time I read that, I thought how cute. But as the years pass and my understanding deepens all the saying does is make me mad. What? God can't be everywhere? What lies. He is everywhere! He is everything! I started thinking about this today after I read Orphan Rescue Blog. It was about how women if they're lucky give birth in Uganda.

The woman (who is a native and works for my friend) went into labor and had already planned on having the baby at the main government hospital in Kampala. They gathered her "bag"( a piece of plastic, razor blade, rubber gloves and blanket for baby) and raced off to the hospital with my friend in her car.
Upon entering the maternity ward they were greeted with 40 women laying on the floor in all different stages on labor. On the ward was 1 male nurse not trained in midwifery. If the women make any noise in labor they are told to be quiet. Some have moms or friends with them, others are alone.
My friend was helping her lady waiting for a doctor or midwife to come and the lady laying on the floor beside her started screaming and she could see the head coming out. So right there the baby was born, premature barely breathing. Most babies in Uganda are born premature and no hospital private or public has the equiptment to save them. They either struggle to survive or they die. This baby was taken away from the mom and returned a few minutes later dead. No comforting, just brought back and handed to her and told it was dead. She then had to get herself up cleaned off and leave to make room on the floor for the next woman. Whatever spilled off of the plastic,(blood, afterbirth, water) left on the floor and the next woman and piece of plastic laid down.
In the meantime my friends lady had started crowning and still no doctor or midwife. The head came out with the cord wrapped around the neck. She had no idea what to do and yelled at the nurse to help. He stayed where he was and told her what to do from a distance. She eventually delivered a healthy baby girl. She was told to take her gloves off and take the razor blade and cut the cuffs off and use the pieces of rubber to tie off the cord. She cut the gloves and placed them on the cord and then proceeded to cut the cord with the razor blade. That done and the placenta delivered the mom had to get up, pick up her things and move to the hall where she spent the night, again on the floor till morning when she had to leave.
This is the best public hospital in Kampala. No beds, very little staff, no food, no blankets, pillows or supplies for the mom or baby. Forget medication too.
The ladies in the village have it a bit different. They lay banana leaves on the ground and deliver the baby outside on them. They don't have gloves and most of the time no razor blade, so they either use sharp stones or bite through the cord to get it off. No doctor there to sew them up if they tear either. Then after all that they are expected to get up and go back to work.

I then started thinking about the lyrics to Down to the River to Pray
O mothers let's go down
Come on down, don't you wanna go down?
Come on mothers, let's go down
Down in the river to pray

As I went down in the river to pray
Studding about that good ol' way
And who shall wear the starry crown?
Good Lord show me the way

I wonder did they have anyone there praying for them? Did anyone show them where the river was?
Where was God? Was He there when the mother found out her baby was dead? Is He there when a young mother dies during birth? Was He there when they both die?

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
—Matthew 10:29-31

He WAS there! Where were we? I can't help but be filled w/ compassion and feel moved to do something, anything.

Lord thank you for opening my eyes, thank you for disturbing my soul.

The Slumber Party That Keeps Giving!

Oh what fun!

Lice!

Yippeee, I'm off to comb.

Finally!

Wahoooo! Finally the third person has been tagged! And I'm thrilled.

Leah
You're it baby! I'm so excited for you all to get to know her better. She is such an amazing lady. She is my sister-in-law but more importantly she is my best friend. I love her so much and I know we will all be incredibly blessed to read her 8 things! I can't wait.

Still need 1 brave person!

Okay so far

Christine
is tagged! I can't wait to find out more. We will all be truly blessed to find out more about her.

AND

Candace
is tagged! This is so exciting. You will not meet a more lovely and fully transparent woman than Candace.

There is still one more spot. Who will it be. I can't wait to find out. If you have no idea what I'm talking about you have to read the previous post!

I've Been Tagged!

I'm feeling super cool right now! I've been tagged! Thanks Emily! If you haven't already you should definitely start stalking her blog. She has a beautiful spirit, beautiful family, and absolutely loves the Lord!

8 things....

I'm passionate about:
1. God and His grace
2. My man! and striving to be the wife God sees me as.
3. My children! and striving to be the mother God sees me as.
4. My family and striving to be the best encourager to them.
5. Strangers and striving to be a bright spot in their day, so that the love of God is made apparent to them.
6. Africa!!!!!! and being used by God.
7. The Earth and finding ways to decrease the amount of stress we put on our planet God gave us.
8. Breastfeeding.

I want to do before I die:
1. Fulfill God's vision's for my life
2. Learn to live each day to it's fullest. So, when I lay my head down on my pillow I can sleep soundly knowing I didn't waste a minute or take anything for granted.
3. To really stop caring about what other people think.
4. See my children's children and their children.
5. Run a marathon (this is huge because I loathe running)
6. Learn another language other than pig latin.
7. Travel, travel travel!
8. Learn to fly an airplane.

Things I say often:
1. JaFaitMcKayLuka I mean, you- (if you have multiple kids you know that's me going down the list until I finally land on the right kid to get their attention)
2. Don't mess with the best cause the best don't mess don't full with the cool cause the cool don't full (I have no idea why)
3. Be a first time listener
4. I love you
5. silly nunu
6. I'm so blessed
7. Excuse me, when did we stop the rule of putting your shoes and coats in the cubby.
8. Go mama go mama go mama. It's my birthday( again, I have no idea why)

T.V. shows I watch

I don't have cable but the last time I was in a hotel I saw:

1. Some weird show with Snoop Dog
2. Some more weirdness with an African American girl looking for a man in New York or something.
3. Biggest Loser
4. My name is Earl ( I actually really liked it)

That's all I can come up with

Things that attract me to friends:
1. gotta have a sense of humor
2. honesty and being real.
3. down to earth.
4. being a little different
5. someone who when you see them they're like,"there you are" not "here I am"
6. A servant's heart.
7. can be goofy with me.
8. makes an effort to strengthen our friendship

Things I learned in 2007

1. "Many are the plans in a man's heart but it is the Lords purpose that prevails"
2. I really do want a large family.
3. How to blog and you really can have best friends you never met.
4. That millions of people are dying when they don't have too.
5. that most people really do care, they are just easily distracted
6. How to plant 100's of tulips as an act of love
7. That I am no good at skateboarding.
8. Everyone can make a difference. No act of kindness is too small. God is a multiplier.

Wow, that was long!
I'm now suppose to tag some people, but since I don't want anyone to feel left out (I was always the last one picked in PE and it sucked) the first 3 people to leave a comment are it!
It would be really lame if no one left a comment, so even if you never leave a comment this is your time to come out of hiding, so I can get to know you too. Or for all of you that I know, I would still love getting to know you better:)

Who Knew?

All day yesterday we were planning for the big night. There was so much excitement. The countdown began right after church. Adam and I got all the kids loaded in the car. We were all chanting in the car. Wahoo! Tonight's the big night. As we pulled up to our destination the squeals of delight were replaced with, "oh man". The place was dark. I decided to go and investigate. Sure enough on the front door a sign was posted.

"Skating Rink will be closed on Sunday. Enjoy the Super Bowl".

Super Bowl! Who knew?! Obviously not us!

Ah-Ha Moment

It finally happened! I think I can finally put to words what I have been feeling. Praise God for clarity.
DISCLAIMER:
Although my thoughts seem perfectly clear in my head right now there is no guarantee you will be able to make any sense out of my written words. The author of this post is not liable for any confusion you may suffer from reading her thoughts.

My thoughts have been really heavy this last week or so. Not heavy as, "oh-poor me." But heavy with grief for others. It started with one baby outfit. I came across Marion's outfit in the closet and told Leah about it. She said," I could mail it to her in case she had a girl". When she said that a huge defense went up. I thought no way. Then I started to ponder why I would think that. And that was the catalyst for almost two weeks of heaviness. After I started thinking about Marion, my thought's immediately went to Marion's House, then from there my thoughts fell on Liberia. And immediately an overwhelming sense of pain and loss fell over me. It wasn't necessarily about Marion. It was an over all feeling of something not being right in Liberia. For days I wrestled with assumptions. I knew families were there. Nothing lead me to believe anything was wrong, but still I wrestled, Why hadn't I heard anything about the baby home. Maybe there was no home built, but that didn't make any sense because I know the people who I entrusted to do it. They are amazing, ethical, beautiful and have a heart to serve. So, then I knew they had bigger fish to fry. I felt uneasy and it felt horrible not knowing what or if something was happening. I wanted to help, but didn't know what to do. In the middle of all of this more people were making their blogs private. Which I totally understand, but it caused a ripple in the blog adoption world. Lack of information + rumors = panic. Let me say here, that I was not panicked 1. I don't listen to rumors. 2. I can't think of a two.
I also found out that two different very dear blog friends( lisa and Kim) almost lost a child to sudden death this week. My heart hurt for them and what they went through .
On top of all this. I found out 2 separate families(Davis Family and Cold Water)lost their spouse suddenly. Both of these families had recently adopted and they both were young and loved the Lord. Tears fell for days, my heart broke. I started thinking about my sister who died in her sleep two years ago last month. I started thinking about my health and how crappy I've been feeling lately. And gosh darn it wouldn't you know I started thinking about Marion's outfit. Why won't I let it go? So my heart was heavy. But more importantly God answered my prayers. How many times I've prayed Lord help me love people and see them the way you do. So, it hit me! My heart wasn't heavy with grief it was heavy with compassion. How blessed be His name. He has shown me how to make that, "heaviness" which weighs you down and turn it into light. A light for Him!
Matthew 9:13
I desire compassion, and not sacrifice, for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.
This topic alone is worthy of a whole other post. One has been written, not by me but by Amber
I encourage you to read it. She speaks my heart more brilliantly than I could. I wish that when my mouth moved her words would come out.
Back to Marion's outfit. I finally figured out why I wouldn't let it go. I'm at peace with her death, I'm at peace with not having "a baby" girl. I'm at peace with it all! Before Marion died, I was taken with Africa. I was drawn, I felt passion. But after she died, it all became personal. It was no longer that country over there. It was my country, it was my blood, it was COMPASSION! They were no longer the nameless faces. They were my baby Marion's face. Her outfit, the one I cling to is a symbol of the birth of a deep compassion that God placed in my heart.
And as for Marion's house, The families that were there, were fighting a huge battle. One way bigger than getting an update on Marion's house. They were fighting for families and children. Praise God He was on their side, fighting the battle for them and with them.

I also wanted to thank you all for encouraging me to blog. I loved the comments about wanting a new post. I was never offended by your saying, "I" . It came across to me as support and friendship, so thank you.

I have also been tagged by Emily
to write about 8 things. Sweet I feel so special, I've never been tagged before. Super Cool! So, my next post will be the 8 things.