The Party Didn't Stop There...

Four members of Josh's family in Atlanta have birthdays within three weeks of each other in August/September. One of those is Josh's grandmother, and she turned 85 years old today! After my session yesterday (the giveaway session from a couple of months back--details and photos coming!), we drove over to Georgia to celebrate with the family. I don't have photos (a very sad story involving a broken lens...yes, the new one), but Josh's sister, Rebekah, promised to send me some soon.

Just when we thought the party was over, we were driving back to Birmingham and my cell phone started ringing. It was none other than my brother-in-law, Bailey, who was announcing to me that they were on their way to our house to drop their little ones off -- Bethany was in labor.

Woo-hoo!!!!

Except that we weren't at home! Thankfully, we weren't too far off, and they live about 30 minutes away, so we got here right about the same time. Bethany tossed the little ones in my direction in between contractions, and they made it to the hospital less than an hour-and-a-half before little Samantha Grace was born (three weeks early).


Once we got the little ones down for the night, I scooted over the hospital to meet my newest niece. And let me tell you, she is gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!!! I could have held her all night long.


Not only is she a beautiful little thing, she's also really petite (at least in comparison to Bethany's previous two chunkers -- i.e. almost 10-pound Brayden).


I'll be back with more later. But for now, it's late, and there are a lot of little kiddos who will be up and going early tomorrow morning.


Happy Birthday, Grandma and Sam!!!

I Should Host a Webinar or Something

First of all, thank you for the sweet notes, e-mails, and phone calls we've gotten today. We've read some wonderful Scripture and been reminded of some amazing promises, and we've felt much more at peace about where God has us right now.

It's nice to feel loved. :-)

But there are other important issues at hand. As I blogged about in last night's post, Jack had a big day yesterday, and I'm sure he would love for me to share photos from his first trip to the dentist. Now before you think I'm a terrible mom for allowing my child to have teeth in his mouth for close to two-and-a-half years before finally taking him to the dentist, you need to know my reasoning. There's actually what I like to consider an ingenious plan at work here.

I've heard horror story upon horror story of small children's first trip to the dentist. Some involve kicking, others involve clawing, but they all share the common thread of fear and crying. It only seems logical to me that a one-year-old (isn't that when you're supposed to first take a baby to the dentist?) would be terrified at the experience of a strange person in a mask getting right in his face while wielding a sharp-looking object that makes creepy noises.

That seems logical to me because I am terrified at the experience of a strange person in a mask getting right in my face while wielding a sharp-looking object that makes creepy noises. There, I said it.

And I think the saddest part of the whole thing is that as new one-year-olds, most little ones don't have the receptive communication skills to even understand what's being said to them. So any attempts we make at preparing them for what to expect -- or any cutesy little explanations we offer about the Tools of Death -- are futile (not to mention the fact that Junior can't even hear you over his blood-curdling screams).

So, what do you do with all of that? In our house, you don't go to the dentist until you're three. (Technically, Jack has another month until he's "of age", but I couldn't let the golden opportunity of Watching-Abby-Go-First pass us by!)

At three years old, little ones are perfectly capable of hearing, comprehending, and remembering something they've heard. Also at that age, they love reading books about anything and everything, and gracious knows there are loads of Elmo Goes to the Dentist books out there to help them know what to expect when they first visit Dr. Clean Teeth.

So we started talking about Jack's big day (we play it up as a rite of passage) about a week ago. Telling him all about the colorful chair he would get to sit in and the treat bag he would get at the end. Then as we sat in the waiting room, I went into a little more detail about what the dentist and hygienist would be doing during his check-up. But judging by his face, I wasn't so sure he was still buying the fun factor...


...so I shifted gears and helped him and Abby find his name on the New Patient board.


When they called us back, Abby hopped right up on the chair (she begs to go to the dentist -- not that I'm saying my plan is brilliant or anything), and got started with her cleaning.


(This is where I need to insert the fact that I did ask if it was OK to get my camera out to take a few photos. The hygienist, clearly expecting a little point-and-shoot camera the size of my palm, said, "Absolutely!"

OK, you said I could.

So I opened up the diaper bag and pulled out the eight pounds of camera I use at all of my sessions. I need pictures, people!)

But back to the story...If Jack's waiting room face was titled "Uncertainty", then his exam room face should be called "You've Got to be Kidding Me"...


I was a little worried my No-Tears plan was headed south, so I put the camera down and picked Jack up to talk to him a little more about what was going on. He pepped back up a bit and cautiously decided he wanted to give it a try as well.


That was, until, he realized he actually had to open his mouth. Wide.

I decided it was best to sit back and let the hygienist work with him. She was telling me something over her shoulder about some pressure point in his mouth that would make him open up, but Abby felt time was of the essence, and she announced that you could just pull his mouth open if you really tried. Which she then proceeded to do.


Once we decided the lady who gets paid should probably help Jack open his mouth, we were back on track. You can see that he was a little nervous, but he did just what she asked him to. (Notice the next generation of Dentist-Lover scoping out the action in the background.)


And as promised yesterday...


Now this next part had the potential to get ugly. Not only had I forgotten about the x-rays, but I wasn't supposed to go with him to this little section of the room. So I stood back and did thumbs-up signs accompanied by my best impression of Izzy's "cheese" face, and Jack sailed right on through.


What you can't appreciate from that photo, though, is the proportion. Here's a better view...


I think that's one of the most adorable -- and pitiful -- pictures I've ever seen!

After a quick look from the dentist (who mentioned that Jack might want to lay off the thumb), we were off with treat bags in hand. Izzy even got a duck (whose head she tried to bite off).


And for the record, the dentist said those were some of the cleanest teeth he'd seen in a while. Another successful visit down!

Now if their Momma would just go.

The Other Side of Me

I've wrestled on and off with whether or not I should even do a post today. It's not that I don't have any cutesy stories or photos to share (on the contrary, you're in for a treat with Abby's Night at the Ballet and Jack's First Trip to the Dentist). It's just that I'm not feeling very bubbly today, and it's never quite as fun to type out a Story of Struggles.

The two options I was originally wavering between were: a) go ahead with the fun stuff (I mean, who doesn't like a good flossing photo?!?) or b) keep silent on the blog today. But after a day of what seemed like continual prayer, I clearly opted for choice c: be honest.

The thing with honesty, though, is that it can really come back to bite you. There are some who are touched by witnessing vulnerability. They're moved by the raw. Unfortunately, there are others who use it as an opportunity to stand up a little taller and prove that they've got a corner on the market known as Togetherness. They're even so bold as to toss in an "I-Told-You-So" every once in a while.

I'm taking the risk, though, and running with the truth.

Our family isn't facing any major life-changing difficulties right now, but regardless, this has been a rough few days. Strained relationships, doubt, difficult conversations, and financial burdens are all feeling very weighty today. The issues involving others aren't mine to share--there are others involved--so I'll deal now with the pressures of our finances.

We've kept a really close eye on our outflow, but you know what they say about a watched pot. A watched pot never boils, right? Well, we turned our heads for an instant, and the Money-Sucking Pot simply exploded! In a matter of two weeks, we bought a car (a very used--but perfect for us--car), we submitted the payment that's required to send our dossier to Ethiopia (which was right at 4.5 times the price of the car), Josh enrolled and paid for Seminary (and bought all the required books for his classes), we gathered the last of Abby's curriculum for her kindergarten year, our car tags came due, and our refrigerator decided it would be happier in life if it were a space heater.

Now I can hear the naysayers out there (or maybe that's the voices of opposition I've heard in the past) saying that, in many ways, we've chosen this path. And while yes, we have deliberately taken these steps (and we would gladly do it again), that simplified view gravely diminishes the work that God has done in our hearts. I treasure the opportunity to teach our children and to grow with them daily as we walk toward Christ. I could simply pop with giddiness knowing that after a decade of feeling a pull at his heart, my husband submitted himself to God's will for his life. And my heart aches with longing for the baby that will soon be as much a part of our family as I am.

There are no words for the joy I feel in knowing that God's plan for our family is at the heart of our decisions.

But I'm still human.

I can feel a peace so serene that not even extreme trials can shake it...but in the next minute, I can feel a burden so heavy that only God Himself can lift me out of the pit.

And the pit is where I found myself earlier today. Knowing Josh was at work and wouldn't be able to talk, I vomited my anxiety out in an e-mail to him that went something like this: "I'm kind of freaking out. Have we made some mistakes? How are we going to do all of this?"

A little later, I believe God spoke to Josh to encourage him (since my e-mail did nothing of the sort), and Josh passed His wisdom along to me. He wrote:

We knew this was coming -- we knew there would be a point in this process where things got a little hairy. I don't want us to be like the Israelites who, after God delivered them from Pharaoh, looked at the impossible situation of the Red Sea and wished that God had left them for dead. I want to "go boldly" and be a family who expects God to show up when it is tough. I was praying earlier and pleading with God to make a way -- not so we can be comfortable, but so we can continue to do these things that we feel He wants us to do. I wish it were a little easier, but then we wouldn't have to rely on God so much...and maybe that's the point. We can do this, and we will do this (Phil 4:13). He will never leave us or forsake us. Pray for wisdom and provision...He will respond.

He's a good one, that guy.

A wise woman I know once wrote about Trust and Doubt. (OK, she's not really that wise. Actually, she's pretty average. Enough already...that woman was me.) Although those writings were typed by the hands of an imperfect sinner, they originated from the heart of a perfect God. And His heart is what we're after.

So despite our fears and the recognition of our complete and utter inadequacies, we're resting in God, and we're putting one foot in front of the other to continue on in the direction of His path for our life.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30

Wordless Wednesday

I Heard From Our Adoption Agency Today...

...and guess where our dossier is headed.


Eeeeeeeeek!!!! This is such a huge step in our adoption process! We're officially on the waiting list for our referral.

Wow, that didn't seem real until I just typed it. We've talked about reaching this point for so long now, and it's hard to believe that we're actually here. I would love to say that the time has really flown by, but.....

...well, it hasn't.

Now don't get me wrong--it's been worth every. single. step. But it's been anything but easy. We've completed about 16 hours of training each (with more to come) and 10 hours of life-probing interviews with the social worker for our home study, and we've collected and/or filled out more forms than I could possibly count from places like our adoption agency, our home study agency, the police department, the sheriff's department, our bank, the states of Alabama, West Virginia, and Missouri (that's a gem of a story I'll share with you another time), our doctor, the kids' pediatrician, Josh's workplace, the Alabama Department of Human Resources, the IRS, the Alabama Secretary of State's office, the Alabama Bureau of Investigation and the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the passport office, the US Department of State, and the Ethiopian Embassy.

And in many cases, the forms had to be picked up or delivered by hand. And they all had to be notarized (a huge thanks to Libby!).

And as if that didn't keep us busy enough, Josh tossed in a severe leg injury that required two surgeries and four months of crutches and/or rehab right at the onset of our adoption.

Whew!

Yes, it's been time-consuming. And yes, it's certainly been trying at times. But, we felt so strongly in our hearts that this is what God was leading us to do, and we've seen immense blessing come out of our decision to follow Him. I can't begin to tell you the peace and joy that our family has experienced throughout these past seven months. We've faced some really rough challenges, but God has sustained us through every one of them. We are living examples of Philippians 4:7: "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus".

As I was getting ready to post this entry, I thought of a passage that I wanted to share with you. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 says "But [the Lord] said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." What a beautiful promise!!

Given the choice, I'll take tired, tight on money, and ridiculed at times for the decisions we're making every single day over a cushy life that offers me all the acceptance and "stuff" of this world. Because one day when my life is over, does it really matter if I pleased anyone here on earth? Is it of any significance if the lady at Wal-Mart, the people in the restaurant, or the moms at the park thought I was the greatest thing since sliced bread?

Nope.

And praise God, I'm finally learning not to care if they don't.


Well, I really only intended to post that Ethiopia picture and sign off. I guess I had a little more on my heart than I thought I did! And to those of you who let us know you were thinking about or praying for Jack, by dinnertime last night, you wouldn't have had any idea he had ever been sick!!! He even wanted to go for a haircut today (and this one went much more smoothly than the last one). :-)

It Was the Best of Times...It Was the Worst of Times

OK, so this weekend was a huge treat for a couple of members of our family. I'm waiting on a few more pictures before I post details, but trust me...it was LOADS of fun!!! This photo doesn't have anything to do with the treat, but I thought it was a sweet picture for this weekend's DaddyDay.


Isabel has turned into a full-fledged Daddy's girl. For months now, she's been calling him "DaDa", but just recently, she's changed his name a bit. Now, as soon as he walks in the door from work, she runs toward him, squealing "Da-eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!" the whole way.

I love to see little girls love their daddies!

The past 12 hours, in particular, have been eventful for the Lewis family. The best news is that Abigail is officially a kindergartner!!! I've spent the last few weeks compiling books, supplies, and curriculum to get her going, and today was the big day. I spent the weekend reminding her about starting school on Monday (that's actually a bit of a joke, because she actually spent the weekend "reminding" me every five minutes about starting school on Monday). I thought long and hard about little things I could do to make her first day special. I told her we were all going to get up and going quickly this morning, enjoy a delicious breakfast, and then hit the ground running for her first day of kindergarten.

But you know what they say: the best-laid plans...

At about 3:00 this morning, I woke up from a terrible, terrible nightmare about Jack. In my dream, he had an accident and sustained some pretty severe injuries, and when I jerked awake, I was so shaken by what I had imagined in my sleep. I tried to brush it off, but I felt a heavy burden to pray right that minute for Jack and his protection. So that's what I did...

In the dark quietness of our bedroom, I reached over and put my hand on Josh's hand and began to pray not only for Jack, but for our whole family. I prayed for protection over our home and protection for each of us in regard to our health and safety. The anxiety eased as I prayed, and I was able to doze back off a little while later.

Fast forward to 4:00 this morning, and I awoke to that sound. I'm sure you've all heard it, and you probably despise it as much as I do. The attack of the tummy bug. I jumped out of bed and ran into Jack's room to find him crying and saying his tummy hurt. I'll spare you the details of the rest of the night, but the effects of the bug were so frequent (every few minutes at times) that he ended up just sleeping in our room with us so I could take better care of him.


What does all this have to do with kindergarten? Let's just say that my "up-and-perky" plan didn't include being awake most of the night, and I was wrestling with what to do about school today. Thankfully, Jack's tummy settled down shortly after Josh left for work this morning, and we were able to snooze a little bit longer before the girls woke up. With that extra dose of "oomph", I knew I had to follow through with the school plans I had promised Abby. After all, this was her face when she knew the day had arrived...


I have to say, though, that I found great irony as I walked into Izzy's room to get her up after her 13 hours of sleep...


I know the feeling, honey. Really, I do.

I had cinnamon rolls hot and ready for Abby when she got up, and I served her breakfast on the Red Plate. I don't know if you know this little tradition, but we learned of it from my cousins, and it's such a simple, yet fun, treat. The idea is that if someone in your family has something special going on (like a birthday or a promotion at work), that person gets to eat his or her meals off of the Red Plate that day. It's simple and inexpensive...but so much fun!


And something tells me that Abby kind of enjoyed it...


With full tummies, it was time for one of the most important parts of the first day of kindergarten...pictures!!!!!!!!!!


I had gotten the little board ready last night, and Abby was on cloud nine when I read it to her this morning.


Then we rang the little bell (yes, we have a bell!), and school began. Two of the subjects we worked on today were reading/phonics...


and handwriting...


One of the questions I get most often is how homeschool works when you have younger siblings in the house. Really, I don't know what in the world those people are talking about. The littlest two were so discreet, I didn't even notice them...


No seriously, I got some blocks out for Izzy, and as long as I "ooohed" and "aaahed" over her creations, she was great.


My attention was definitely divided between Abby and Jack and Isabel, but that's pretty much how it is all the time around here. And really, is it any better in a traditional classroom?!? I did my best to incorporate the little ones when we were doing something I thought they would enjoy, and the rest of the time, they sat beside me and played with the boxes of toys I had brought up for them during Abby's school time. (Disclaimer: I'm well aware of the fact that each and every day will not go quite as smoothly as today did. But you've got to give me bonus points for teaching with a vomiter at my feet.)


I'm thrilled with the gift of being able to teach my children at home. I'm excited about what Abby will learn (more in her heart even than academically!), and I'm looking forward to the lessons God has for me in this process.


And little Jack? I thought we were about past the bug, but then he started Phase Number Two (pun definitely intended). We've continued to pray for him throughout the day, and it's been so encouraging to see how quickly this bug is moving through his system. Hopefully, he'll be back up and running in a day or so!!

It Was Quite The Party

Abby's little buddy, Molly, started kindergarten this week. Her parents had a meeting at the school last night, so they dropped their three little ones off at our house to visit for a while. It was pretty late in the evening when they got here, so Kerry had one request of me...to try to keep them quiet and settled down so they could go straight to bed when they got home.

So how do you think I did?


I tried. Really, I did. See? Look at how calm they were...


But then I made the mistake of trying to keep them quiet by putting on one of Abby's favorite videos. It's a sweet little movie of children singing traditional Christmas carols (we watch it throughout the year!), but it obviously had a strange, make-'em-wild effect, and they were dancing all over the place.


I rounded up the troops, introduced the "you have to be sitting" rule, and things seemed to settle down. I even saw a few yawns...


But just when I thought they were settling into the sleepytime trance...


...something would get their giggle boxes turned over, and it would start all over again!


So I finally turned down the lights, grabbed a comfy quilt and some pillows, and they finished off the rest of the little video in peace.


There's not much cuter than seeing those six little munchkins snuggled up together in their jammies!!

I'm Not Going To Tell You The Story...

...but poor Josh had a really rough night last night. I was in the shower because I was about to head out the door for my first homeschool meeting (and I didn't want the other moms there to have any reason to believe I don't get a shower everyday). So Josh was getting all the little ones ready for their bath when he came upon a horrid scene. Now like I said, I'm not going to tell you the story, but I will tell you this...

The story that I'm not going to recount would theoretically have poop as its main subject. And the verbs I would use would most likely be smeared, tracked, and slathered. And the story would probably have a quick line about Josh throwing up in his mouth.

But I'm not going to tell you the story...

I'm not even going to tell you about my first homeschool meeting. Instead, I'm going to let you read this for a good, I-Can-Totally-Relate laugh.

The Results Are In...

Thank you, Lord!! Not only did He answer our prayers about an inexpensive repair, but He also revealed to me a new career path. The labor charge on our bill was $64, and the repairman was here for precisely six minutes. Spread that out over 52 weeks of refrigerator repair, and I could be making $1.3 million a year!!!

To celebrate the good news, the kids got all dolled up to put on a show for me...


(OK, not really. I actually took those pictures yesterday, but I needed to work them into the blog somehow. Aren't they adorable?!?)

Oh, and the repairman told me it would probably be tomorrow before we had ice. But just before I wrote this post, I heard the sweet sound of frozen water dumping into the ice tray.

I like to think of our refrigerator as an overachiever.

They're Rising Up Against Us

Revolt #1:
Went to my session Saturday evening. Had loads of fun shooting photos with my clients. Came home to edit pictures. Photoshop decided it was an independent contractor and no longer worked for me.

Revolt #2:
Had a fantastic night at church. Enjoyed fellowship with wonderful friends. Came home to edit pictures...and eat ice cream. Discovered refrigerator/freezer had had enough and no longer worked for me.

Sigh.

After an hour of diagnosing the problem on Google, I learned the the lovely bzzzzzzzz - click we were hearing is one of two things. The start relay is a fairly simple issue to resolve and costs around $200. The compressor, on the other hand, isn't so easy. It can be done, but it'll most likely cost more than a whole new refrigerator would. Anybody know how much fridges cost these days?

Well, I do, and I'm a bit nauseated just blogging about it.

In the meantime, the deep freezer we keep down in the basement is busting at the seams. We had to put heavy boxes on top of it just to keep it closed. The refrigerated food is nicely packed into coolers and sitting beside the refrigerator.


Clearly, the emphasis is on packed when I say "nicely packed".

But it hasn't all been yucky...

The kids got a treat today. The lot across the street from us was cleared way back for new construction, but as everything did around that time, construction came to a screeching halt before they had even laid the foundation. A group of self-named housewives on our street ("The Weatherford Wives"...yes, I'm serious) mentioned that they had heard the deal was back on and that construction would start soon. So when we came back from our mad dash out to buy ice to try and salvage the food, the kids were squealing with delight when they saw the tractors on our street.

All four of the very loud tractors. Yippee.


Jack clearly wasn't a fan of the really loud noise, but he loved watching the tractors as they were unloaded from the semis.


While we were still in the car, Izzy thought the busy scene was fantastic, but as soon as we got out and she heard the noise, she decided tractors weren't for her.


As long as she stayed with me, though (and as long as Jack kept his ears covered), we had a fun time watching the tractors at work.


There are two other great things to note as well. Our dossier arrived in DC today, and Josh is attending his first seminary class as we speak!

Stay tuned for the diagnosis when the repairman comes tomorrow. (Feel free to pray for a diagnosis of the less expensive issue...gracious knows we are!)

Rainbow Bubbles

I was super-duper excited when I saw that this week's theme on I &hearts Faces was "Bubbles". This photo has always been one of my favorites of Abby (and by "always", I mean since I took it all of five months ago). This shot is a wonderful collision of winter and spring...Abby's decked out in her heavy coat (hood and all!), but she's surrounded by a fantastic rainbow of colors as she's blowing bubbles outside. Love it!


There are tons of fun bubble photos to see, so click on the button below to hop on over to I &hearts Faces!

DaddyDay At Its Finest

Izzy's special "say cheese" face has made a reappearance (click to make the photo larger).

If seminary doesn't pan out for Josh, there's always a career as "The Incredible Balloon Man".

It Doesn't Get Much Better Than a Homemade Tent

I was going through and organizing the My Pictures folder on our computer today when I ran across a folder of photos that never made it onto the blog. A fun thing that we do sometimes after dinner is meet our friends, the Cobbs, at the park that's just down the road from each of our houses. Contrary to what you might imagine, I NEVER take my camera with me. First of all, it's always a wonderful time of fellowship with our friends, and I don't want to miss out by having my left eye plastered to the back of my camera all night. And secondly, six kids (born just four years apart) set loose at the park has disaster-potential written all over it, so the four of us take the "all hands on deck" approach to maintain safety. And sanity.

With that little "Safety First" speech behind me, now it's time to tell you that I did, in fact, take my camera with me on this particular evening. I had just gotten my new lens in, and with a weekend of sessions coming up, I needed to get in some practice. After all, no two lenses are created alike. (Besides, Izzy was occupied with trying to climb on the hanging bar like she had seen Molly do)...


I had heard that this particular lens was difficult to work with when it came to lens flare, so Grace patiently sat while I shot her picture over and over into the sun to see what kind of flare I got.


No flare on this one...but I love it!


With the sun issue checked off the list, it was time to move on to something else. I could get good shots of stationary objects all day long, but catching crisp action shots is a whole different story.


Done...although not very well in the low evening light. The next task was less technical and more about telling a story, which is one of my biggest goals in a photography session. Anyone who knows Izzy knows the significance of this shot...


This next one is just a fun series documenting how difficult it is for little kids to get up into the ridiculously high swings at the park...


And oh, if you could have heard Jack squealing about sliding down this pole like a fireman!


Finally, little Ben seems to be quite smitten with Isabel. He hugs and kisses her every time he sees her, and in this photo, he was even helping her up the steps of the playground equipment.


He's such a sweet little guy!


The last item on my to-practice list was working with color. I love me a good black-and-white photo, but I have the best time grabbing every bit of color I can out of a shot. That's why I particularly love these next two (although Josh loves the first photo more for the fact that Izzy's only wearing one shoe)...



Once I was done with practicing, I couldn't resist the opportunity to get some "just because" shots. I love these little guys...


...and girls.

And Isabel? You can't say she's not determined...


On a different note, we had Bethany's little ones over here for a while today, and watching the five munchkins run around playing reminded me of a couple of photos I took a few weeks back that I never posted (I'm noticing a "forgetting to post" theme here)...



Ahhh, I remember the childhood days of tent-building. So much fun!!