It's A Girl!

Check out my birthday present, oh she is so sweet. Today is my birthday and to those of you that said I was as cute as Paige you are true friends and I thank you.

As many of you know we got our little boy puppy a couple months ago with plans to spoil him but also use him to be a stud man for a little girl or 2 someday. Well we have already had several people saying they want puppies when we have them but we had a problem because we didn't have a girl.

We have been on the search for a girl but let me tell you that finding a girl was not an easy task. Yesterday I thought I had finally found my girl and then at the last minute God showed us this precious little beauty just minutes before someone else was coming to look at her.

We can't bring her home yet because she is still too little but it will only be a couple more weeks.

I need your help though! We need a name for her so we need ideas. I have never done a blog giveaway before but this seems like the perfect time to do it. If we use a name you give us I will find something special for you so please give us your ideas. Chris said since our boys name is Snickers he doesn't want anymore candy bar names.

PS Anybody want a puppy in like a year or so???

Paige's Birthday Party

Isn't she cute? Did you see the cake? It was supposed to be a Barbie cake but for the first time ever I totally messed up her cake. I had to call M*ijer for an emergency cake. She loved her princess cake though and it was yummy.

Chris had set up their swimming pool for the party but it ended up being too cold outside to use it. They decided if they couldn't swim they needed to wear swimsuits anyway.

Paige was so cute this year. She was so excited about all her gifts and the expressions on her face were priceless.

Stay tuned my birthday's tomorrow but I'm not as cute as she is.

Thankful Thursday - Paigie Turns 4!

Well this Thankful Thursday I am so very, very thankful for this 2nd miracle child of ours that is now a big 4.
As most of you know all 3 of our children are true miracle children. Most people decide they want to get pregnant and within 6-12 months they usually are. That's not how God works in this house. We suffered 4 years of infertility, started the adoption process for Guatemala, became pregnant with our first miracle child Amaya and had to put our adoption on hold until she was 9 months old.

Well, it wasn't time for us to adopt yet because God had even bigger plans than we did. When Amaya was 9 months old I was nursing and we were being careful if you know what I mean. I started feeling like I could be pregnant but how could I be when I was nursing and being careful. I finally decided I better take a test but Chris would think I was nuts because we shouldn't be pregnant. I decided to take the test in middle of the night and it was true.

God had given us a second miracle child. It was truly a miracle we got pregnant with Amaya but a second child 9 months after the first and while nursing and using protection. God knew this child was to be part of our lives.

I was sure I was having a boy the whole time because my pregnancy was completely different than Amaya. With Amaya I was deathly sick. With Paige I felt fine and actually I felt good most the time until at 30 weeks she decided she didn't want to stay in my tummy anymore. I had 7 weeks of pre-term labor with her, bedrest and many, many trips to the hospital to stop labor. At 37 weeks they put me in the hospital to induce me because she had gotten so big. I still laugh that for 7 weeks she wanted to come everytime I stood up until they wanted her to come. Well I got to the hospital and it was showing I was already in hard labor and I didn't even know it because I had already been having contractions for 7 weeks.

Paige came into the world just a few hours after they were supposed to start inducing me (ruined the doctors plans that night). When Paige was born she wasn't breathing right and they wanted to run her straight to the NICU but I couldn't let them take her without them letting me see her first. It was several hours before I could hold my precious miracle baby. Paigie spent about 5 days as a NICU baby but then finally she was all ours.

Paige was the best baby ever. People thought something was wrong with her because she never cried she just slept, ate, slept and ate.

I can't believe 4 years have gone by already. Today Paige is a beautiful little girl (no longer a baby). Paige is a mini version of her momma (this scares me sometimes). Paige has the funniest laugh, loves to giggle, loves to cuddle. Paige is a true blessing and miracle from God.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY my precious Paige!

Happy Gotcha Day Jaxson!!!

It was one year ago today that God showed us what the miracle of adoption was. It was one year ago today that we were able to look in our sons eyes for the first time and touch his beautiful (beat up from the orphanage) face for the first time. It was one year ago today that I held him in my arms and was able to wipe away his tears for the first time.

A lot of you know the miracle of how God brought Jaxson into our lives but if you don't you can read about it here. Jaxson was not a planned adoption. We saw his picture on the internet 2 years ago next month and we fell in love with him and just prayed God would bring him a good Christian family. Little did we know at the time God already knew he was our son. We had NO money at all to cover the cost of bringing a child like this home but that didn't stop God. God provided every penny we needed to bring him home in almost one week. We didn't qualify for Ch*na to bring him home, well that didn't stop God either. So like I said if you don't know his story go read it. If you do already know the story you can read it again.

One year ago this little tiny boy that weighed just 21 pounds at 2 1/2 years old had no idea what a family was and now God has blessed him with more family than he could have even ask for.

When we first got Jaxson a year ago he wouldn't let anyone hold him but his momma because he was so scared. Now he loves for his daddy to hold him all the time and today he even got his great grandpa to hold him.


Jaxson is no longer a tiny, little, scared orphan. Jaxson is in a family that loves him dearly. Jaxson is growing like a weed even though he is still small for his age. Jaxson talks all the time. Jaxson is crazy about cars and tractors just like his daddy. Jaxson loves the idea that he has his own clothes and his own shoes. Jaxson loves that he has a family.

If God has laid adoption on your heart don't let roadblocks get in your way. You can bring love and smiles to a child that has nothing. I don't care if you are 21 or 75 you can bring hope to an orphan. You don't have to be rich and you don't even have to be perfect. The kids don't care what you have, how old you are, if you are perfect or not, what you look like. There are over 143 million children in the world that need a home. What are you doing to follow God's command (he didn't give us an option it is a command) and take care of orphans? Take that leap of faith and give a child a home and you may just be the one that's blessed.

Goodsearch

Something I just learned about was http://www.goodsearch.com/ . Are any of you using this? Did you know if you use this site to search for things on the web that they will donate a penny for each search to the charity of your choice? A penny can really add up when people are searching the web.


You just go to the link and then it asks you what charity you want the money to go to. You can put whatever charity you want but I would love to suggest that you put Reece's Rainbow in for your charity. Every time you search for something you could be helping a child with down syndrome or with special needs to find a forever family.

By just searching the internet you can help little angels like this find their forever familes and bring smiles to their faces.
By the way I wish I could bring this beautiful little angel home. Oh my heart aches for these children. I'm putting this little beauty up on my side bar this week. Would you please take time to stop and pray for her that God would find a family for her and the other 143 + million children who need homes.

Paige Right After Her Dentist Appointment

This really was taken right after her appointment. She went in with better teeth than what she came out with.

OK, so everyone keeps asking how our yard sale went and if I met my goal for my girl puppy. The yard sale was Friday and Saturday last week. We did AWESOME on Friday but on Saturday we got rained out so I came short of our goal by just a little. We have been asked by 2 different people though if we want to go in on yard sales in the next few weeks so there is still hope for our little girl puppy.

Thankful Thursday

Today is a perfect day to do Thankful Thursday. Today is the 2 year anniversary of when God gave us our land. We know this isn't "our" land but God's land but we are so thankful that he is letting us use it. We are praying very, very hard now that God would sell our house so that we can start building on the land.

We both feel very strongly that God has a purpose for that land and we are ready to be there and to do whatever it is God wants us to on that land. If you didn't read the story of our land before you can click here.

One other thing I am thankful for today is that one year ago today I was finishing packing our bags. Dropping off our 2 precious children and saying the hardest goodbyes ever (I can't even begin to tell you how hard it is to leave your kids and go to the other side of the world unless you have done it). One year ago today was the last night we would be in our home only having two children. We would soon be on our way to our son. I can't believe a year has gone by even though it's hard to think it's just been a year since we have been in Ch*na.

PS We are having an Open House on Sunday. Would you pray with us that God would have the right people come to buy our house?

Thank you my friends!!!

Butt Prints In The Sand

One night I had a wondrous dream,
One set of footprints there was seen,
The footprints of my precious Lord,
But mine were not along the shore.
But then some strangers prints appeared,
And I asked the Lord,"What have we here?
"Those prints are large and round and neat,
"But Lord, they are too big for feet."
"My child," He said in somber tones,"
"For miles I carried you alone I challenged
you to walk in faith,But you refused and made me wait."
"You disobeyed, you would not grow.
The walk of faith, you would not know,
So I got tired, I got fed up,
And there I dropped you on your butt.'
"Because in life,there comes a time,
When one must fight and one must climb,
When one must rise and take a stand,
Or leave their butt prints in the sand,"
author unknown

One Crazy In Love Momma

OK, being in the adoption community I have seen a lot of people fundraise to come up with the ransom money to bring their children home. Adoption is not covered by insurance like pregnancy is and it is very costly.

I met this mom because she had used the same agency we used to bring home her son a year and a half ago. This family has been called by God to bring home those children that would normally be left behind. I will never forget when she traveled for her son because she wasn't even sure he would be able to make it home. Her son was blue as blue gets and had to have emergency heart surgery as soon as he got home.

Very shortly after coming home with her son God called them to bring home another precious child who has a lot of special needs. They have been working and fighting for this little one for a long time now but are getting very close to bringing her home. They need to raise $5,000 more to get this child home.

You have to go check out her blog here to see the wild and crazy fundraiser she has come up with to see the true love of a mother.

Jaime, Tony and Everyone Else

Jaime,
Yes, smiling at people with special needs is fine and a great thing to do. I love people that smiling at us. I really love people that come up and tell me how absolutely adorable he is.

Sometimes I look at people out with really severe special needs children and wonder if people ever tell them how beautiful their children are. Not that beauty is important but as parents we are used to people saying nice things about our kids. Can you imagine being a parent that people either stare or turn their heads from you all the time? So as a challenge to my readers next time you see someone with a child out with a severe special need try giving them a complement.

Tony,
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! I was hoping you or Treva would chime in. I am still new at all this with it only being a year but you guys have dealt with this your whole life. You both are amazing people that let's nothing get in your way. You are both truly part of the reason raising a child with special needs did not scare us at all.

By the way Treva is the sane one by saying no to skydiving and I know if she was stupid enough to want to do it she would.


Children and adults with special needs were made PERFECT by the hands of God just like everyone else. They may look different, may act different, may not be able to see, hear or talk but they were made perfect just how God wanted them. It's time we quit feeling sorry for people with differences and celebrate the fact that we are not all the same. Some of the people that have affected my life the most were children that could not walk, talk and had a very short time on earth. God had a very important purpose for their life though as he does for everyone that is willing to follow him.

Psalm 139:13-16
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

How To Act When You See Someone With A Special Need

How do you react when you see someone with a special need? How do you respond to your children when they see someone with a special need?

I have to say I was a bit shocked this weekend at something someone said right in front of our precious child this weekend at a yard sale. Do people think that just because a child may look a little different that they are deaf too? How is it that even if you are thinking something that would hurt someone that it's OK to let it out of your mouth?

I know I'm not perfect by any means but come on people please think about what your saying before it comes out of your mouth. It's not OK to treat my son different because of how he looks. The only thing that is different than any other child is he has one less arm and he can do WAY more than any other child his age.

So a little advice to those that honestly don't know how to react to someone with a special need here are some tips:

Please don't make jokes about their special need unless they are OK with it.

If you honestly have a question about it ask. If your just being nosy then mind your own business (sorry to be so blunt).

If your child has a question about it please don't drag them away and hush them up. A lot of time children are scared of differences and they just want to make sure the child wasn't hurt or in pain. Ask the person or the parent. This may bother some parents I don't know but I would rather someone ask me.

Please, please don't allow your children to treat someone that is different badly. Take the time to educate your child about how God made everyone unique and special.

I'm sorry to be so blunt but this is something people need to know. I have a couple of friends that I know read this blog that have special needs and I would love it if you would comment on how you prefer people react to your special needs. If you read this and have a child with a special need can you also comment on how you prefer people react to your child?

Thankful Thursday

This week we have been to the zoo and to a circus. This Thankful Thursday I am thankful that we get to see the smiles and excitement on the faces of three precious kiddos when they do things like this.
Amaya and Paige got to take their first horse ride at the zoo and oh they were so excited.

Jaxson's favorite part of the zoo was the dolphins. The smile he had on his face when they were doing their show was priceless.

We live in a very, very, small country town. A circus came to our town this week. Because it was a small circus we were sitting very close and could see so much more than a big circus. I have never seen Amaya so excited in her life. I don't even think Amaya slept that whole night because she was up thinking about it.

Chris didn't get to go because he had to take some test for work. By the way he LOVES his new job and I am also thankful for that.

My dad was teaching Jaxson how to crack open peanuts by laying them on the bench and hitting it with his fist. The clown saw him and came up and started showing Jaxson he could do it with his head. It happened too fast for me to get a picture but it was so funny. I tried to get Jaxson and Paige to let me take a picture of them with the clown but Amaya was the only one that would do it.

I am also thankful that on days that are really hard with two 3 year olds and a 5 year old that I am crazy enough to want to bring more kiddos home someday.

3 Things About Me

A friend just forwarded a 3 Things About Me email. I was going to send it back to her but I thought it would be fun to do it on the blog and maybe some of my readers would leave me a comment with 3 Things About Them. So even all you lurkers out there can let me know a little about you.

3 Things About Me

The jobs I have had - Direct Care Assistant for severely handicapped children (my favorite job ever!), Chiropractic Assistant (I loved this job too until I went crazy on those stupid fertility drugs that didn't work for me anyway) and my first job was a noodle maker (my mom owns a noodle business).

Three places I have lived - Indiana, Ohio and another place in Indiana

Three shows I watch - Bones, CSI and So You Think You Can Dance (so excited this is getting ready to start again).

Three places I have been - China, Cancun, Canada

Three places I would rather be right now - Somewhere loving on some babies and children that are orphans, living out on our land, at a romantic cabin with my hubby (did you know I'm crazy about my hubby?).

Three Favorite Foods - Fajitas, Pizza and Steak with mushrooms and onions.

Things I am looking forward to this year - Hopefully selling our house, getting a girl puppy and hopefully meeting my friend Linny.

OK your turn, answer a couple or all by leaving me a comment. Please leave me a comment!

Safe Families For Children

A friend shared a incredible ministry with me yesterday called Safe Families for Children. I went and checked out the site and it is an awesome ministry. What a powerful thing it would be if churches across the country got involved in something like this.

It's too much for me to explain so just go check it out yourselves here and read about it.

Have a wonderful day!!!

Thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful and very excited my little friends are back. I wanted to get a real picture of our friends but it's rainy today so their not out yet.
We have a finch feeder right outside our living room window. We put our feeder up during the winter and didn't have it out yet but last week our little yellow friends came looking for it. We got it back out and we have a little boy and girl right now. By the end of summer we usually have about 14 out there all day long.

We love our little yellow friends and they are so much fun to watch! So this Thankful Thursday I thank God for these little beauties that make me smile everyday.

Want To Know The Secret???

Well it's not a baby and we didn't win the lottery but we have been blessed by God. Chris is starting a new job on Monday that he is very excited about and it means no more working on Saturday's!

As an auto technician he has always had to work a couple Saturday a month. It was getting very hard for the kids to see their daddy leave on Saturday's. This new job is working for someone that doesn't like working Saturday's himself so they just aren't open on Saturday's.

This job is also not a job he applied for but one that the guy called us saying he needed Chris.

I have to tell you after my post about not selling the house yet and asking for prayer we got a call about the house yesterday. Even if nothing comes from it we needed the encouragement of the phone call. So if you prayed yesterday for the sale of our house, THANK YOU and please keep praying.

I Can't Sleep

It is 1:49 AM and I can't sleep. Do you ever get something on your mind and then your just up thinking about it all night? Chris and I have a big change happening in our lives this next week that we can't talk about yet because it's a secret (no it's not a baby).

Anyway this change got us talking about the hobby farm we want to have someday. We can't wait to get out on our land and start playing farmers. Neither of us know anything about being a farmer at all so we figure surely we could figure out how to just be a hobby farmer and make ourselves think we are farmers.

Then it got me thinking about how I really wish we could sell our house. We have a nice house for our town, we live in a town of all old houses. Do you know how low interest rates are right now? Oh if we could just build at those interest rates. So if your reading this pray that our house sells soon.

Then I got thinking about getting another puppy. Yes, we are in puppy love and we want a girl now. We are having a HUGE yard sale next week and Chris gave me a certain dollar amount that if we make our goal I get a girl puppy. So then I was thinking about puppies that we could have next year since we would have a boy and a girl. I have dreamed of being a midwife and this is probably as close as I will get.

Not to mention wondering how God will grow our family someday.

OK, I know this is all totally random but this is why I can't sleep tonight.

Please Visit My Friends New Blog

Nothing puts a bigger smile on my face than to see a family step out in faith to try to find one of God's precious children (orphans) to be part of their family.

Many, many years ago my mom and I took a lady to the Mayo clinic. When we left we had no idea how long we would be gone. We ended up being there for a couple weeks and during that time became friends with the hotel managers. It was crazy but we even had dinner with them, they took us sightseeing and even let us clean rooms to make some extra money while we were there. This became a very long friendship.

Several years ago Melanie (one of the managers) lost her husband in a accident. Melanie later got married again and even traveled many, many miles to come see us with her husband. This is a wonderful, wonderful couple who dream of having a family.

They have started the adoption process for a domestic infant adoption. Sometimes this can be a long journey as any adoption can be. They have started a blog and pray that the right person will fall upon the blog that will help them bring their baby home.

Could you please check out their new blog by clicking here and if nothing else just say congratulations for starting this journey of faith? I am so excited for them!!!

PS It wouldn't hurt for you to say a little prayer for them too while your checking out their blog =) .

OK, I don't have time to write about this blog because Jaxson is very sick with the flu today but please go check out this miracle and see if you can help http://wwwourchinagirl.blogspot.com/ .

Thanks!