Just a glimpse to be Thankful

As my boys have gotten older the glimpses of what life will be like very soon seem to come my way more and more often- The moments when we are all together, even in one room, seem to be coming farther and farther between........No longer does mama call all the shots for her kiddo's but instead work (for my boys) and everyday commitments seem to get their say too. 
I hold those moments that the 5 of us are together, all doing the same thing, closer to my heart.  I tuck the mental images away and even go as far as to take out my camera so that the image can live outside my head

Thanksgiving morning, it was just the 5 of us at home, getting ready to head to Matt's family's house for our Thanksgiving meal.   Ellie was up from her nap, Ryan and Matt had finished peeling the 20 pounds of potatoes, Eli had made his way into the living room by this point and I was finishing up cleaning the kitchen. 

I don't know who got down on the floor first- I am guessing that Elle's dragged Hee Haw her horse over by her daddy and got on......her daddy probably got off the couch and down on the floor by her first, encouraging her as she rocked back and forth- Her brothers probably followed suit........hearing the laughs I walked into the living room and stood by- Watching, letting my heart absorb the scene- Feeling the beautifulness of  my family.....

Thank you Heavenly Father for my family.  Please forgive me for the times I forget to appreciate and instead grumble.

.

Em, Elle, and Duck Dynasty

Heather snapped a picture at our Church's annual Soup Supper last year of my niece Em and Elle....
She snapped the same pic this year.........precious!

My boys have a new favorite show (I'm not getting what they see in it but hey...each to their own right?)- We had some good laughs when we made this on their (Duck Dynasty) facebook app tonight!

Thank you Heather for these pics!!

17 Months Old

Dear Elle's,
You are almost a year and a half old!  You weigh just under 19 pounds and are 29 inches long.  You have 8 teeth (4 uppers 4 lowers) and wear a size 12 months clothes (certain name brands still 9 months). 

Some things you like to do are:

• You love riding Hee-Haw your horse- which stays, for the most part, in your pink play house (that you really like playing in).
• Picking out my shoes every morning and wearing your own shoes (especially your boots)
• Buckling and un-buckling things.  The buckle on Ryan's lanyard will keep you occupied for a half hour.  You will sit on the ground trying to figure out how to put it together- once together you will come hold it up for us to 'un-do' and then try to put it together all over again.
• Playing with pots and pans 
• Helping  'cook'
• Coloring

New things this month:

• Started saying 'socks'
•  If your high chair tray is not on your high chair you can now climb up on it and then climb up on to the kitchen counter (YIKES!)
• plugging in and unplugging things (this is not always a good thing)

Favorite Foods:

• Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
• Still loving your sour cream and ketsup
• The baby food that is squeezable (it's awesome!  they can hold it themselves and squeeze it into their mouth- the price is not so awesome)
• Hamburger or Meatloaf

Happy 17 month Birthday today Elle's- We love you!!

Already multi-tasking!  Riding Hee Haw while looking at a card :)

From the high chair to the counter- Gotta keep the tray on!!

Posted this one just because it is so cute- this girl loves her daddy!!

Tell Ellie I love her...From her birth mom Heather

Tell Ellie I love her!

 

Dear Elle's-  Mommy talked to your birth mom Heather last night for a bit.......We talked about how she is doing (which is good!) and how our family is doing (which is good also), We talked about how big your brother Caiden is getting (your birth mom Heather, who is petite just  like you, is able to fit into his socks and he is only 4 years old!!).  When we were just about done talking (we were talking back and forth private messaging each other on facebook) she said.........tell Ellie I love her!

 

It is such a blessing having an open adoption and being able to share with you these sort of things......

 

Love,

Both Mommy and your birth mom Heather

 

 

Caiden, Ellie, and Heather (June 2011)

 



22 Months & 333 Blog Posts

This is my 333 Blog Post written over the course of the last 22 months-
Almost 1 for every day of the year :)
When we began our adoption process in June of 2010 I put together my very first blog post- It featured a bit of information and some pictures of our family- We figured the link would be easy to access and pass on to potential birth mothers.  I really thought that would be the one and only post and the blog would be deleted as soon as we adopted.........I did not post again on my blog until Jan. 2011- to which I only posted 1 post...Breakin' in the new year.  By Feb. 2011 a personal decision had been made that I would try to blog about living in Hawaii- Since then, 331 more posts have been written and here we are almost 2 years later!

Hope you are having a wonderful Tues.......And to my friend Janelle, if you happen to read this
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

A picture from my first 'official' blog post in Jan. 2011

The Dock at their Lake House

A few day's back we received a 'we've moved' photo card in the mail from my  Uncle Reid and Aunt Anne- Along with announcing their new address is a picture of my Aunt Anne and Uncle Reid with their children/grandchildren.....In one of the pictures they are standing on the dock at their lake house with the lake behind them- When I saw this particular picture It started me thinking.........

 

This afternoon I went fishing on my computer to see if I had saved an e-mail that I sent to my cousin Rebecca (My Aunt and Uncle mentioned above's daughter in law) in Dec. of 2010.  Matt and I were 9 months in to our adoption process (no prospective baby but we were in the 'waiting for placement' profile with both our adoption agency and our attorney in Hawaii).  Becca was about 2 months pregnant at the time I sent this- What I did not know at this time (nor would I know until we were matched with our birth mom Heather in April of 2011) was that our birth mom was also 2 months pregnant with Ellie at the time :)

 

___________________________________________

 

   Sent: Fri 12/17/10 7:36 PM
 

no baby news..just saying 'hi'

Becca-  Thank you so much for every text, call, prayer, word of encouragement, etc... you get the deep side of adoption w/o words being spoken- you know how to be on a journey with a friend and do all the right things without even being asked- Thank you! I pray God's complete blessing on you as are you are carrying His precious creation- 

A couple of nights ago I had the most vivid dream (I am not one of those people that believe dreams tell the future- I am just telling you this one cause if it actually happens- then to God be the glory)-

We were sitting on Uncle Reid and Aunt Anne's dock at their lake house next Sept. (2011) it was only the 2 of us- sitting on chairs facing the water- tears (of joy) streaming down our faces, not saying a word- in a front pack sleeping on you was the most adorable little boy and on a front pack sleeping on me was the most adorable little girl :)

________________________________________

 

Like I said above, we were matched with Ellie's birth mom Heather in April of 2011

Our Ellie was born in June of 2011 (almost a month early- Heather's original due date was 1 day later than Becca's)

Becca's Claire was born 3 weeks later in July (Becca had a girl....smile)

While we did not get a picture on the dock at my aunt and uncle's lake house we were able to snap this pic right after our girls were born............

 

July 2011

 

Hair Bow Boy's

I heard the laugh's all the way down in the kitchen (my boys were up in Ellie's room on the second floor)....... They had found Ellie's Hair Bows :)

Never Forget You Have a Beautiful Voice!

We just finished up a Ladies Bible Study at my church- 35 or so women meeting together each week, for 8 weeks, to learn more and grow in the Lord.  In my heart of hearts I believe that one of the most beautiful sounds on this side of heaven is women gathered together sharing what the Lord is teaching them, sharing attributes of the Lord, sharing different back grounds but a oneness in Christ.......Week after week I was blessed to hear these precious women proclaim the goodness of the Lord...........The Lord honored the commitment that each one of us made to attend this study with a fresh insight into who He is- He honored our open hearts to Him and to each other with a pouring of His Spirit that filled us all in a unique way.....individualized yet consistent with His sameness ('I am the same yesterday, today, and forever' declares the Lord- Heb 13:8). 
May we as Christian Women never forget our beautiful Godly voices......The voice God gave us specifically to proclaim HIS goodness-
To the 35 ladies I just shared Bible Study with...
Sisters, Your voices were So So So beautiful before our Lord!

Love you all,
Steph

Stirring with a big girl spatula

Elle's usually plays on the kitchen floor while I am cooking- For the past few weeks she has tried to mimic certain things I do in the kitchen (put on an apron, mop, stir in an empty bowl that she will get out herself).  Last Sat. night Ryan was making Apple pie (thank you for the apples Becky) and I was making Buttermilk Biscuits (they are really good if your looking for a recipe)- 

Ellie got out an apron just after I started and stood at my feet holding my leg- she wanted up to see what I was doing.......

As she watched I started wondering if she was old enough...........

We 'put on' her apron of choice (one my friend Val made for me)

Got a chair from our dining room table

She stood on that chair on the very tips of her little toes so she could reach the bowl filled with biscuit mix

I gave her a tea spoon at first and showed her how to stir

She would stir for a bit and then try to eat some of the flour mixture

Realizing that she was catching on fast I switched out her tea spoon for a big girl spatula :)

She loved it

Such precious memories

Home School Learning Lessons for this Public School Sending Mama

When the other mom came over my direction I started internally praying 'Please Jesus let me be a peace maker in this situation' ........I knew what was going to be one of the first questions out of this precious ladies mouth
'Do you home school?'
No, my boys go to public school.........
This mom gave me a thoughtful look and I really wanted to explain where I was coming from.  I know she is a passionate home schooling mama who adores her kids- I also know that I am a passionate public school sending mama who adores my kids........We had a common denominator though- We both Love and Serve the Lord.
In the past, I have been in conversations with passionate home schooling Christian ladies and by a lot of my own doing, it's gotten ugly- things like
your kids are going to be socially retarded
well your throwing your kids to the wolves
They've got to learn to function in the real world at some point, better it sooner than later
I choose to protect my children and be a 'hands on parent' not just send them off to school...
so on and so on until the division between us is icky

I, not glorifying the Lord one bit but instead ranting my opinions-

It's been a conscience humbling effort on my part- to submit all of my thinking, including my opinions to the Lord- Let Him sift through them and set me straight...this topic (the type of schooling you choose for your children) has been one the Lord seems to keep bringing back around- He wanted me to learn a thing or two (probably a million things in regard to this topic :) ......

With her thoughtful eyes looking at me I softly explained (instead of my usual heated & loud passionate voice) 'You know, something the Lord has really been showing me is that it does not matter where our kids are going to school- whether it is public, private, or at home..........what matters is that we are doing what He has called us to do- If He has called you to home school then AMEN and do it for His Glory.........If He (the Lord) has called Matt and I to send our boys to public school then AMEN and may we do that for His glory also!!  Instead of trying to convince eachother that one or the other is the 'RIGHT' way let's talk about what we are teaching our kids to do for the Lord...How are we teaching them to live for God in the enviornment they have been placed in?'

Her eye's got bright and she told me an amazing story of how an extra curricular activity her son is involved in, he was able to influence those around Him in a Godly way-
I explained how one of my sons has been able to invite a friend who is not a Christian to youth group....

CHRIST WAS OUR COMMON GROUND- NOT OUR SCHOOLING STYLE!

We ended the conversation on a pleasant note and the day went on.........

'And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus'

Waimea, Kokee, & Kauai Coffee (2 years ago)

In Nov. of 2010 We had lived on Kauai for a year and a half.  During that year and a half we had heard quite a few of our guests say how beautiful the Waimea Canyon was- For us on the mainland it would be a smaller version of the Grand Canyon.  The first Sun. in Nov. we decided to make the hours long trek from where we lived (a ranch just outside of Lihue) and take a look for ourselves........
After seeing the canyon (it is BEAUTIFUL) we continued on up the mountain to Kokee- Another first time sight for us......If your looking for a camping type (you can rent cabins) and 'outside of the box' adventure on the Hawaiian Islands Kokee is the place to go!! (for more info click on the link (Kokee) above that is hi lighted).
After checking out Kokee we drove back down the mountain and stopped at the Kauai Coffee Company (Coconut Caramel Crunch...yes please!)- When you first walk up to the coffee company they have a tree with thick green leaves.  I'm not sure how long ago the tradition started but on most of the leaves visitors have carved their names- Ryan, Matt, and I joined the tradition of leaf carving....