My Papa

You may remember last year when Canaan was just 1 1/2 months old, we went and visited my Papa who is very sick with cancer. You can see the pictures and read the post about it here.
Honestly, we all thought he was close to the end then. A. YEAR. AGO.

He has held his own and is still trucking. I took the kids down 2 weeks ago to see him again. We didn't stay for long because he gets tired very quickly and, well, I have 7 rambunctious kids who can only sit quiet and still for so long.




I am so glad to have these pictures and these memories. I just wish I lived closer so we could go and visit more often.

An unfortunate accident

Or was it?

We have a rope swing in our front yard that swings out above a decline to the gravel driveway. The kids LOVE playing on it and, so far, it has been an injury free play thing for the kids. Lately though, as the kids are getting stronger, they have been doing some crazy things on that thing. Yesterday, Isaiah was playing on it by pulling himself upside down during his "swing". He wasn't paying attention and smacked his head right into the tree. It bled bad and I thought he would need stitches but, thank God, he didn't.

Then today, I walk outside because Malakai is screaming bloody murder and I want to make sure he is OK. He is always hurting himself but never bad and he is an emotional little guy who seems to love to cry. This time was different. As I get a little closer I notice he is holding his mouth/chin and blood is pouring from his hand. I start to run. I know it's bad but all I can think is, Lord, please don't let us have to go to the hospital. I am so sick of going to the ER with kids(and paying the co-pay for it).





I strip off Kai's shirt and begin to look for the site of the bleeding when I notice there is no tooth where there was one just moments ago. I panic, praying that it wasn't an adult tooth and that his gum is not ripped open. I didn't look too well since I just wanted to get the bleeding to stop. I yell at Isaiah to find the tooth.

Isaiah walks up holding Kai's baby tooth in his hand and it reminds me of what my teeth looked like when I had them removed by the dentist when I was little. Definitely not ready to come out.

But then Malakai stops crying, the bleeding is stopped and all he wants to do is see what he looks like in the mirror. All that trauma and he is one happy boy. Go figure.





** Yes, we did call his dentist who said that as long as he's not in pain and there's no swelling he should be fine. We were worried about the root being left up in there but, because of his age, he thinks the root was already dissolved.

Camping fun

I need your help! We are going tent camping in a few weeks for a week and I am wanting it to be an easy and yet fun time in regards to food. Anyone have some fun camping recipes? I have a few ideas but don't want things to be boring for the kids.

Also, anyone have recommendations for me of camping with young children in a dirty, dusty camp site? We've done this 2 times before at this site and I'm hoping to make it all more enjoyable for me this time;)
Thanks!

Happy Anniversary to me!

9 years ago I married the man of my dreams. Laying in bed this morning, with a baby in between us, Jonah and I talked about how happy we both were. I am so, so blessed in my marriage to this amazing husband of mine.

Alana is EIGHT!

And I'm sitting here wondering how my fat, bald, laid-back baby has turned into a beautiful, loving, precotious, emotionally charged, dynamic 8 year old.

Happy Birthday Alana Faith!

Give me your honest opinion

This is something I have been thinking about lately, after meeting another adoptive mom at the park. During our conversation she said, "I didn't want another newborn because I had done that and didn't want to take a baby away from a couple that had no child yet." Well, of course, we have been blessed with 3 newborns but I'm not sure I feel like I "took" them away from another couple. Those 3 birth mom's had plenty of parents to choose from, and for some reason, they chose our family to place their precious baby in(I mean, come one, what were they thinking? ;) ).

Then today I got an e-mail from a mom asking about adoptive breastfeeding. They are awaiting the word as to whether or not they have been matched and she is preparing to nurse. Wonderful! I checked out her blog and(it looked to me but I'm not sure) they have 4 beautiful biological children. They may suffer from infertility, they may not. They may be waiting for a special needs baby, they may be waiting for an AA male(both hard to place), but the thought crossed my mind of them "taking" a domestically adopted infant from a couple who could not have children biologically. Some people may wonder why they aren't adopting an older child from Russia, a special needs child from China or an AIDS orphan from Ethiopia, etc.

So, give me your opinion. What do you think?

Do you think that parents who can have children biologically should go to another country, adopt harder to place babies/children or from foster care? Or do you think it's great that they are adopting period even if they are highly sought after healthy, white babies. Do you think families who have adopted a healthy infant should do it again(and again and again)?

I really want to hear a lot of opinions. If your worried about being lambasted for your opinion please don't. If you must, answer anonymously but please answer. I purposely kept my opinion out of this as I just want to hear what you all think.

Teaching them to be mothers

First off, isn't this a great painting? I love it! You can find it here. I wish there were more things like this out there to celebrate Mama's who don't look like their children and vice versa.

Last week I had an interesting conversation with my sister-in-law about girls not being brought up to be mother's and it got me thinking. She was saying that she thought part of the reason so many new moms have such a hard time with a new baby was because they weren't taught how to be a mom and it was foreign to them. It makes sense to me!

Moms, teach your girls well to prepare them for becoming mother's themselves! Teach them to run the household well. If they don't have younger siblings, give them access to younger children and babies. The same goes with your boys! They need to be taught to be good father's as well and it always helps when they have a great father figure to look up to who is hard working.

I have every confidence that Sarah, at 11, could run this household if she needed too. I know that she would know how to care for the baby well, prepare the meals and organize the house. She is already worlds ahead of other girls her age and handles a baby better than I've seen some women do.

Teach your girls well. Your son-in-laws and grandchildren will thank you for it.

A Year in the Life of Canaan

Emotional.


Amazing.


Blessing.


Son.


Happy.


Unconditional.


Beautiful.


Cheeks!


Growing.


Learning.


Snuggling.


Laughing.


Walking.


One year old.

Happy Birthday Canaan Robert! You are an amazing blessing to us!

Watermelon

We just got home from a family vacation with my parents and brothers. It was tons of fun. One night my brother(and I have been corrected that it was actually my amazing sister-in-law) decided to begin a tradition with the kids of a watermelon eating contest.
This is Malakai rockin' the watermelon. I mean, come on, look at that face! He was so intense about it.

Let Men be Men

In 10 days my main man will be climbing the highest peak in the 48. To say I'm a little nervous would be correct. Then there's the fact that there is a LOT of snow on the mountain and it continues to snow, in JUNE.

With that said, he will be venturing out with 3 of his favorite guys and THAT is something I am really happy about. Men, being men. Rugged. Adventurous. Daring. Men. That is something I can stand behind and encourage.

I am encouraging Jonah to make this a yearly adventure and I really hope he does!

Gotcha Day

Four years ago today we walked onto the porch of the orphanage to bring Isaiah and Judah home. Happy 4th Gotcha Day to my sweet, gorgeous Liberian's!