5 years

I have been a bad blogger, I am sorry. Just wanted to share that 5 years ago we adopted Sarah, Alana and Malakai. It was such a LONG road but it was WELL worth it for these 3 precious miracles!
Happy Adoption Day to 3 of my sweet blessings!

Our newest member

Meet Stella.




Isn't she cute? Her personality is even cuter than her looks! Stella is a white Labrador retriever and so sweet and cuddly:)

We had quite the quest to go and pick her up yesterday in the middle of a strong snow storm. It's something the kids will never forget, that's for sure.


She was a little overwhelmed by all the kids everywhere but did really well. She will definitely never be at a lack for play partners.

The kids are stricken with her and can't wait to wake up and play with her in the snow.


It is so fun for Jonah and I to finally have a dog. Our property is starting to feel like the beginnings of a "farm" with our 2 barn cats, dog and garden fence. Next up for animals? Chickens, of course!

9 months and other things

Canaan turned 9 months old a few days ago. I know most moms will always say, "Where did the time go?" but with Canaan things are flying by! The best part of it all, is that I am not missing a thing and I am having more fun with this baby than I did with any of the others. I think it comes from the fact that I have finally figured this baby mothering thing out. Mostly ;)

Canaan is now 20 pounds and moving and shaking and crawling and dancing and SO. MUCH. FUN. It is strange to me that, at this age, Justus was almost walking(in another week). That's just TOO little! Canaan's favorite thing to do is dance right now. When there is music playing and you say, "Can you dance?" he will start shaking his head, waving his arms and kicking his legs while he has this huge smile on his face.

He crawls but, like his siblings, has his own way to do it. He's like an inch worm but he gets where he wants to go when he wants to. His favorite person, besides Mommy, is Judah and he laughs and laughs at him more than anyone else. Most people that know Judah in real life would be surprised to know that he's loud and silly around the baby and elicits a hearty laugh every time. The rest of us have to actually work to get Canaan to laugh, it's easy for Judah.

In other news we had an ER trip with Justus this week for an asthma attack only to find out that he has pneumonia. He hadn't had any symptoms at all up until his asthma acting up. So now, we are in a maintenance mode instead of treating for symptoms when they start. I am hoping that his breathing issues will be resolved with this now and the pneumonia will go away quickly. It's no fun having a child not being able to breathe.

A good night's sleep

For the past month Justus has woken up EVERY single night with a nightmare and will not go back to sleep in his own room. After the first week I was so tired that I stopped fighting it and just let him come and sleep on our floor. On Sunday night I cuddled with him before bed and told him that if he slept in his room all night long he would get a really special treat.

Well, Sunday night he didn't wake up until 4:45 a.m. which is WAY longer than what it had been. He was scared and, even after being told he wouldn't get his special treat, chose to come sleep on my floor. He was really bummed that morning when he realized the treat he had been hoping for wasn't going to be his.

Last night, Justus chose to have Malakai sleep in his bed with him. He has had all his brothers in his bed at one point in time over the past month but would still wake up crying. At 6:30 this morning I woke up and realized that Justus was not on the floor of my room. Yippeee! No nightmare and that makes me happy. :) When I gave him the quarter and told him that when he got 4 of them we would go to the dollar store, he was really excited. I pray it's enough to get him through the night again.

Now, if I can only get my 8 month old sleeping through the night, I might actually get the sleep I've been lacking for the past 3 1/2 years;)

In Limbo

I am in limbo.

It is the weirdest feeling.

Since Jonah and I began our quest for children 8 years ago, we have never really been in a position where we are "on hold", you might say. Even though we didn't seek out our last 2 babies, we still knew that God was in control and it could happen any time. Our hearts and home were open to more children.

While I still know and believe that God is in control and our hearts are open to more babies, the fact remains that we have no more room in our house for another child, according to the state. We will not be allowed to adopt again because of it while we are still living in this house.

If we are approached about another baby, we will have to say no and that is hard! Some of you may think we are crazy to even "want" more children but if you spent one day in our house, you would realize what fun it is to have so many kids!

I have spent the last month getting rid of all of our baby stuff that Canaan is not using any more along with all of Alana's old baby/girl clothes I have been saving for my next baby girl. My garage clothing storage area is looking pretty bare right about now and there is no longer a ton of baby stuff cluttering up all the shelves.

While I don't know when and if we will ever be blessed with another child, this limbo time is a bit refreshing to us as well. We are looking forward to having all of our children's adoption's, birth certificates, social security cards, etc. finished in our name and to just be a "normal" family for a while. There has never been a time that we haven't had something going on in the realm of an adoption or paperwork or something. The future looks relaxing to us at this point.

The limbo feels very strange, knowing Canaan will be my last babe for a while at least, if not my last, but I look forward to no more social workers, adoption lawyers or visits to the court to obtain paperwork. Ah, my life is looking so much simpler at the moment.

A weird moment

Today, the kids and I were at the grocery store picking up a prescription for Justus(that poor kid can't get a break).

A little side note...

My kids don't watch cable television. They have never, to my knowledge ever, seen, heard or watched anything that had to do with Justin Beiber. So, imagine my surprise when I hear Isaiah announce, "Hey, there's Justin Beiber!"

My eyes just about popped out of my head that my 7 year old son, not only recognized who he was, but also knew his name! I quickly learned that ALL my big kids knew who he was even though they haven't ever heard one of his songs.

See, even sheltered home schooled kids somehow, someway keep up with famous people.


ETA: Marla, it was NOT the real Justin, it was a picture of him on a balloon. I asked the kids how they knew about him and I guess Sarah has given them a lesson in Justin Beiber after seeing a short commercial with him in it after a program she watched on Valentine's Day that we had recorded. We don't let the kids watch commercials but I guess this one was just too much bait for my 11 year old girl to pass on. ;)

My little girl

is not so little anymore.

This morning, she lost her very last baby tooth!

She's about 4 inches away from being taller than me, maybe even a little bit less.

Her shoes are a size 7 right now in WOMEN'S. I wear a size 8.

I know she's 11 and she's quickly approaching "womanhood" but when you have a child when they are already 4, this all seems WAY too fast!