handsful

All 4 of our big kids dance at church (gasp). Abbey is a member of the KidStuf worship team and Marley, Payton, and Ethan are on the Upstreet worship team. Yesterday after church, both teams practiced their songs/dances together. Randy and I are able to watch Abbey (it’s during KidStuf, a program for elementary age kids and their parents), but we’ve never been able to watch the trips since their team “works” while we’re either in church or while Randy is working with the Jr. High. I loved being able to watch them all!

You’ll see mainly Payton and Ethan on the left side of the stage…Payton is in the white tee with a brown shirt over it. Ethan is to his left in the brown shirt. Abbey is in the middle with a purple shirt and scarf. You’ll see Marley toward the end of the video, hiding behind the girl in the light blue top. She loves being a part of Upstreet, but prefers to stay out of the limelight :) The song is “Feelin’ So Fly” by TobyMac. Love that song…

It’s the 1 year anniversary of Lainey Day!  One year ago today, we were given a wonderful gift…one year ago, a child was born – not to this world – but to us…one year ago, a baby girl was taken from the only life she knew and given to two people she’d never seen before…one year ago, we began building a relationship with that baby girl that today has blossomed as beautifully as the flower she holds.  We are more in awe of God’s gift everyday. 

Let’s take a step back and see where this all started…

This picture was taken exactly one year ago today…it was our “Gotcha Day”, February 18, 2008.  We’d just gotten back to our hotel room…I LOVE this picture, she looks like a porcelain doll, but there is also a sadness to it that breaks my heart.  So much change to handle for such a little one. 

Indulge me just a little, and take a look at the pictures we’ve taken on each 18th of the month since that day…

One month

Two months

Three months

Four months

Five months

Six months

Seven months

Eight months

Nine months

Ten months

Eleven months

Twelve months!

Here are the rest of the pics I took of her, on her special day…

After getting some ideas from other adoptive moms, and how they celebrate Forever Family days, we decided on these.  We’ll give her a book each year, with an inscription from us AND we bought a beautiful journal for Randy and I to add to each year.  Hopefully, it’ll be a wonderful keepsake for her to read as she gets older.  We don’t “do cards” (have you seen the price of those things?), so this will be a place where we can record our thoughts and feelings on each anniversary. 

We love you, Lainey Q…you were well worth the wait. 

I thought I’d devote a quick post to a few random things…

** I was given the book “Multiple Blessings” for Christmas by my mom-in-law…it’s the story of Jon and Kate Gosselin and their journey in having a set of twin girls and then 3 boys/3 girls sextuplets.  I love their show “Jon and Kate Plus 8”.  I read the book in 3 days, finishing 2/3 of it just on the ride home from NC.  Their faith has been discussed slightly on the show, a little more as the seasons have gone on.  But, the book goes into much more detail…the last chapter goes into detail on 6 of the lessons that God continually teaches her…it was a blessing to me. 

I know she gets a lot of criticism for how she deals with her husband, and there are times that I agree.  But, their solid stance on not selectively reducing (isn’t that a nice way to put it?) any of their sextuplets mirrored our same decision years ago when our doctors also recommended reduction.  God gave them their children, and it would be His decision, not theirs, whether any of them would make it or not. 

Check out their book, and their family website is on our sidebar “Jon and Kate”.  :)

Abbey’s entry for our homeschool co-op’s yearbook – theme “Homeschool is Cool”

Here is Payton’s picture for the yearbook.  They’ll pick a winner and put that chid’s artwork on the cover of the yearbook.  All the other entries will be printed within it.  There are 200+ kids in our co-op, so we’re talking a pretty big yearbook!

** We’ve recently been enjoying the beginnings of a new level of attachment from our Miss Lainey.  Last Tuesday, I took Marley to her new 2-hr. gymnastics class and stayed to watch.  When we arrived home, Lainey was postively giddy to see me, yelling “mama!!”, running up to me, and excitedly telling everyone that mama was home.  It brought tears to my eyes!  I scooped her up and even got spontaneous “squeezes” from her.  The same thing happened when we returned home from homeschool co-op on Friday.  She walked into Randy’s office and just squealed with delight.  Since then, she’s given more spontaneous hugs and just seems to be getting it that we’re hers and she’s ours.  How I love it!! 

Lainey taking her baby out on a stroll..she has her new purse in case she finds something to buy!

** Speaking of Marley and her gymnastics class, she loves advanced!  Her new coach is challenging her more, and encouraged her to take an extra Open Gym class this past Friday night so that she could work on 2 skills that have been eluding her.  She was there for 2 hours, with one-on-one help from one of her previous (and our favorite) coaches.  When we picked her up, she could do both skills!  In case you’re wondering, she can now do a back hip circle and mill circle on the uneven bars.  She also did a back hand spring on the incline mat without assistance for the first time and her cartwheel on the balance beam is a cinch for her now.  We’re proud at how hard she is working at the sport she loves. 

Current gym girl with a future gym girl (might sign her up for a Mommy and Me class this week!)

** Last thought…there is something about the beginning of a new year that I love.  The newness of it all, the “clean slate” feeling that you get once all the Christmas decorations are put up and your house is in order (for however long THAT lasts).  Jumping into school lessons again, getting back into all our activities, winter cleaning (some do this in the spring, for some reason the nesting instinct hits me now!), and just looking ahead into the year at all that’s coming is exciting!  This one might seem a bit lame, but we look forward to all our fav shows returning with NEW episodes…we’ve been waiting forever for a new Burn Notice, lol.  So, 2008 was wonderful – the “Year of Lainey”.  Here we are 2009…let’s see what you bring. 

New shirt from Aunt Gail…she has great taste :)

 

 

Those who know me know that I hate clutter.  That’s not to say that there is never clutter in my house, far from it.  With 5 kids, those who make the mess far outnumber those who clean the mess.  (Randy could be in either group, depending on the day).  And, don’t get me confused with germ-a-phobics.  I’d much rather be re-organizing my pantry than sterilizing it! 

I’m constantly trying to tame clutter, and put things back where they belong (I think I keep Sterilite and Rubbermaid in business just with the tubs and bins I buy).  One thing that drives me bananas is trying to keep kid’s toy parts together.  The other day, I was in Lainey’s room, going through her toys.  We bought her a set of stacking cups before going to China and it was one of her favorite toys that we brought on the trip.  I noticed that the blue cup was missing and couldn’t find it anywhere.  What good is a set of stacking cups when you’re missing a cup??  They won’t STACK anymore!  Later on, I found the cup mixed in with another bin of toys in the family room.  But, then I couldn’t find the rest of the stack.  Good cow! 

On the subject of things that make me nutty, Lainey in her carseat pushes all my buttons.  I give her books beside her in the seat, and secure her baby laptop with the velcro strip so that if she drops it, she can still pull it up to play with.  About 5 minutes into the trip she tosses the books.  Mind you, I already took her shoes and hairbow out because those would have been the first to be flung into the back of the truck.  After playing with the laptop for a few minutes, she tosses it down.  She notices that it’s hanging and goes back and forth…pulls it up/tosses/pulls it up, etc.  She then starts undoing the velcro strip that attaches the toy to her carseat.  I explain that, if she continues, she’ll lose her toy for good…mama can’t help while she’s driving.  She grins and keeps working the velcro.  The toy is now set free, and lying on the floor of the truck.  She fusses, pointing furiously to the toy that got away, and I grin.  With nothing else to do, she rips the car seat pillow from behind her head (also attached is toddler-friendly velcro).  It’s now just her and her clothes, and she’s not yet learned how to undress while clipped in her car seat.  It’s just a matter of time.  As we near our destination, I look back and see her licking both hands and then rubbing them all over her legs, like she’s applying sunscreen.  Toddlers…

After her nap, she insisted on having all 4 of her purses to play with!  She loves things she can put things in…just like me. 

Lastly, Teresa (http://www.continuingthejourney.blogspot.com/) “tagged” me a while ago to participate in a “Six Words that Describe You”…I have to describe myself in 6 words and then tag others to do the same.  Check out both of Teresa’s blogs (her other site is listed on my sidebar as Teresa – Carson), she has a beautiful teenage daughter, the cutest adopted little guy from China, and she’s going for it again with another adoption from China! 

1. Non-confrontational:  I’ll do anything to avoid a conflict, uncomfortable situation, argument, etc.  I just don’t want to rock any boats!  I’m sure it isn’t my best feature, but thankfully my husband is the exact opposite and absolutely thrives on everything I avoid.  Hey, it works. 
2. Non-competitive:  Winning, being better than so and so, getting there first…just doesn’t matter a lick to me.  I’m just in it to have fun.  Randy?  See above…exact opposite.  Two of our kids are like me, and two are like Randy.  Lainey is still a question mark, although she definitely leans more toward her daddy. 
3. Organized:  Like I’ve said, I love having everything organized, categorized, in neat little bins and baskets.  Ahhhh….
4. Busy:  I’m honestly a little stressed about summer ending, because come fall it’s gonna get crazy.  Let’s see…speech therapy, gymnastics, piano lessons, co-op classes for the kids, baseball, horse riding, basketball and cheerleading.  And, of course, homeschooling.  I’m sure I forgot something. 
5. Happy:  Sounds corny, but I’m generally a very happy and easy-going girl.  Sure, I get down and stressed (see #4), but all in all life makes me extremely happy. 
6. Which brings me to…Blessed:  Honestly, why do I deserve all this?  I don’t.  I’ve got a wonderful husband who loves me and tells me so everyday, 5 amazing, fun, healthy kids (when there was a time in our marriage when we thought we’d have none), the privilege of staying home to teach our kids, great relationships with my friends and family, the best church, and a God who loves me just the way I am.  Can it get better? 

I’m tagging Pam, Patricia, Janet, Rebecca, and Cindee – give me your 6 words!