long overdue...

This post is long overdue... and maybe you're bored by now of seeing our new pictures, and maybe you haven't seen them at all! But I wanted to take the chance to post a few of our new pictures taken by Carrie Lambing this Fall! I will never bore of them, they are treasures to us! I started this post 3 weeks ago, and since the pics were having trouble downloading each time I started again, I gave up... but today I'm pushing through! I love these pictures for so many reasons, but mainly I wanted to capture Annika at this age, these are the first "official" family pics she has been in! Our last run at family pictures were two years ago, when I was enormously pregnant with her!


And we also wanted some new pictures to add to our adoption profile which is now in the hands of many great resources for us.. including friends, 5 clinics that deliver babies both in Alaska and outside, our lawyer's office for potential birth mothers to look at.. and the list goes on! Much of my time recently has been getting our family profile "out there" in the hopes of a birth mother choosing us for her child. Our homestudy has been rescheduled for next week, and our fingerprinting is done and is being turned in soon as well. Once those two things are completed along with the paperwork we're turning in at our homestudy, we'll be "done." Our fingerprints will take a couple months we think to clear in the federal realm, but state is pretty quick we hear. We just play the waiting game, and will continue to get our profile out! Next up? We plan to cover all of the clinics who deliver babies that will take our profile and is within southcentral AK and other referrals out of state that we've received. With all of that said... here are some of our favorites from our photo shoot with Carrie!

Blogging in itself has been a bit of a challenge for me lately. It's been hard to put into words what is going on with us/me! There are SO many things to say, where to start? Well, here's one place to start:

This adoption journey, even though we are just at the beginning, and are not "waiting" for our baby to be born, communicating with birth mom, or any of those other nerve-wracking details... is still consuming. The questions that are forever swirling around my brain are these:

• is this baby already conceived?
• will we have to travel to meet our birth mom and to be there for the birth of the baby?
• when will this happen?
• will this happen?
• can my messed up back and neck handle toting around our precious new babe?
• is our birth mom taking care of herself, and therefore taking care of her child growing within?
• will we have the money we need, when we need it?
• what if it happens next week and our homestudy is not done and our fingerprints have not cleared?
• what kind of relationship, if any, will we have with our baby's birth family after the adoption is finalized?
• will we have to face the heart ache of an adoption not going through if a birth mom changes her mind before the waiting period is up? (every state is different, our state has a great law in place)
  
  
  Now, hear this... some of those thoughts may make you think I'm worrying and not trusting God. Not so. I am completely excited about all of the above, no matter how daunting and unknown each of them are. And I know God has placed us on this journey, and we are confident in his loving care of us and our unborn child. But, it is hard not to think about those things... so right now, I'm going to take every thought captive, trust in His plan for us no matter how bumpy it may get, and enjoy the ride toward our newest family member. Bring it on!!!!

bummer!

Well, our much anticipated home study has been postponed! Our home study writer had to keep her sick son home from school yesterday, and thus couldn't make the drive out to see us. I'll admit, it was a tad hard for me to handle with us having spic and span'd our house like never before... but Jeremy was so good to remind me that there's a reason for the delay, and we're content to reschedule for a rerun soon. Our home study writer, who I'm sure has seen it "all" in her experiences, reminded us that our house doesn't have to be perfectly tidy... how did she know???? ha ha... because she said "adoptive parents like to clean before their home study"... wouldn't you?? :)

So next time, I think we'll just wipe down the table, counters, and bathrooms, and call it good!


But all was not lost... Jeremy and I enjoyed a great date night to dinner (Chinese) and a rented movie with our kiddos gone for the night, and the next day to brighten my disappointment, we went out for lunch and coffee too before picking the kids up! Maybe it was God's way of giving us some quality time together before adding a 5th CHILD sometime in the future.

So here's to my wonderful marriage

that got a major recharge this week!

And thank you to Carrie Lambing for

taking this beautiful picture of us!!!

A post about our family photos with Carrie is coming soon...

but if you want to see them before I get to it click here!

And be patient, it takes a minute or

two to load the slideshow, but it's worth it!!!

We love our pictures, tHaNk YoU Carrie! You Rock.

top to bottom clean house!

Well, since we've announced the start of our adoption journey, we've been plowing forward. Making lawyer appointments, fingerprinting, and setting up our home study were first on our To-Do list. And now all three are happening this week!

First up? Home study. Tomorrow morning we meet with our home study writer... we've been cleaning/organizing like crazy people and now are the proud owners of shampooed carpet. Ahhhh... so nice! We've heard from three separate families that it wasn't as intrusive as they expected and on some occasions, they didn't even look in the rooms they spent so long cleaning! We are really excited, actually to take this first step. It's just Jeremy and I at home for this visit, then the next one (whenever that takes place) will be with the whole zoo home... :) And the third visit will be after the baby has been placed with us for one month! So we'll be getting to know our case worker really well!

Just in case you're wondering, or if you're interested in someday adopting yourself.... since we aren't attached to an agency, who has their own home study writer, we found ours through a list of referrals from our lawyer. And ours was the first that I called... because I liked her name. :) And she sounds great!

And tonight, we even get a date with the kiddos spending the night with their grandparents! Fingerprinting comes later in the week, and our first consult with our lawyer comes Thursday! We're excited to get him our full printed profile, so birth parents (should they come a lookin') will have us as an option for their baby.

So let the waiting game begin! But now at least, we'll be ready should a situation arise. That's the update on the adoption front.... Ready, Set, Pray/Wait!

DownEast

Okay, so I'm shamelessly blogging about a great clothing company called DownEast Basics! Thanks to Sarah N., through Stacy S.! So, there is a contest running and I may win a dress or a coat by blogging about this gReAt clothing company!!! I just went today and requested a catalog... you can do the same! If you dress anything like me, you'll love their clothes!!!!!

http://www.downeastbasics.com/

Plus, they have great pricing and are modest! Of course, I don't yet own any of their clothes, but there are a few (tons) of items that I love! Like.....

and...

also...

Thanks for putting up with my shameless contest entry! Enter for yourself by tomorrow here.

basketball boyz

This fall, the boys started basketball! Their first time playing in an organized group.

It's a class, and they love it! They even get uniforms to wear.

We've let them try a variety of activities/sports until they decide which ones they want to focus on.... Fun stuff! Go BOYS!

hAy RiDe!

Last week, we went on our first homeschool

field trip of the year! We traveled to a local farm for a fun,

long hay ride around the HUGE hay farm!

This awesome John Deere tractor pulled a long

flatbed full of hay bales, kids, and moms!

Then we enjoyed a tour through the cows,yaks,

buffalo, pigs, and goats! The weather was

wonderful... and the company was even better.

I love living here, such a beautiful place to be during the fall.

Rachel, Allison and I and our three cute new 5 year olds!

I love how there's no question which kiddo belongs to which mama.

Gavin lost his first front tooth the day before!
Love that toothless smile.

Annika even found the hayride to be relaxing enough to fall asleep on the way back... it is a rare thing to hold her asleep nowadays. It happens like... NEVER!

Drew was so happy to see some of his buddies there.


We loved the cows... this one was my favorite. I think it was called a Scottish Highlander.
MooOOoooooo


Morgan made a new doggie friend...



The homeschool field trip group we're in is SO great!
The trips are all optional of course, but they are always fun and unique. With an opportunity once or twice a month to take part! A different family plans each trip! SO thankful.

Listen in!

I caught this great broadcast earlier this week, Family Life was doing a series on Adoption... I listened to part 2 of 3, I'm sure the rest are great too.... but here's the link to listen to Dennis Rainey and author Russell Moore both adoptive fathers talk adoption.

http://www.familylife.com/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=dnJHKLNnFoG&b=3789887&ct=7496607

I'm getting it ready so Jeremy and I can listen in together. Great message for ALL to hear.

Mighty to Save

Ever since we started dreaming about adoption, there are so many things I've wanted to tell you. So many thoughts that run through my head, so many cool moments... I tell Jeremy, and have to be content to someday share these thoughts with others. Now that we've made our annoucement, I'll share something that struck me early on... It was a song. When my sister, Jen and brother-in-law, Kris flew to Korea and met Molly for the first time last October, they made a video of their first meeting with their beautiful daughter.

View it here: http://nighthowells.blogspot.com/2008/10/we-believe-in-love-1st-sight-no-words.html#links

The song playing in the background is Mighty to Save. (Click on the player below to listen.) Watching the video a year ago, the song struck me like it never had before...

mighty to save...

everyone needs compassion...

a love that's never failing...

he can move a mountain...

and yes, this song is talking about God's undending compassion, love, and mercy toward us... but it just fits as a song about reaching out to a child in need of a family. Ever since that day, nearly a year ago, that song causes the breath to catch in my throat, are Jeremy and I to have compassion on a little one by bringing a child who needs a Mommy and a Daddy into our family? On some occasions, it causes me to stand in the middle of my kitchen with my eyes closed heavenward, tears streaming and praise the God who loves me that way. On others, I'm driving with my kids and it comes on the radio and my heart and mind instantly take a break from whatever I was lost in thought about... and I savor the words and continue to wonder, should we really do this?

In the past week, since telling almost everyone we know... I've woken up with butterflies in my stomach... a sick, nervous feeling. It has subsided a bit, but it's still there... wondering if this will ever really happen, wondering if we can survive this process... let alone welcoming another child. I think most of my nerves come from the fact that we will someday be talking to the precious mother who will entrust us with her precious baby. And I can't wait. And I can't believe the enormity of it either.

Thank you, Jen for presenting this song along with adoption and always being such a good example to me... even as an adult, big sister, you are going before me into great and amazing things.

an annoucement

Well, since we announced it every other way possible... why not here too?


Dear Friends,

We thought that a letter would be the best way to tell you about something we have been mulling over, researching, and most importantly praying about this past year. We are now in the beginning stages of the journey toward adoption!

Jeremy and I feel so, so thankful and blessed by the four healthy, beautiful children God has given to us by birth. I still think it’s crazy that we, Jeremy and Amanda have 4 kids! We‘d like to think we have a fun and loving family, and feel pressed more and more that we definitely have room in our hearts and in our home for another. I also know that we have been burdened and moved by the fact that we could do more and want to do more for a precious child God has chosen for our family through adoption. The beauty of adoption has come to the forefront of our minds and hearts as we have been moved twice by the presence of adoption right here in our own immediate family.

After much research, pondering, and asking God to give us direction, we have decided to adopt from within the United States independent of an agency. What does that mean? Well, we hope to make our own match with a pregnant young woman choosing adoption for her child either through family, friends, a friend of a friend, or our lawyer. This is where you come in! If you hear of a situation (in any of the 50 states) where an unplanned pregnancy is leading toward adoption, we would be honored for you to pass along our information as a prospective adoptive family.

For right now, we have an informational blog that we will be slowly adding more information to that introduces our family. Please pass on this address in the appropriate situation:

http://www.jeremyandamandaadopt.blogspot.com/

Birth parents can reach us with the contact information included on this blog. For now, we are keeping our last name and location private. For privacy reasons, we ask that all you pass along is the above web address. THANK YOU!!! Also, if it is appropriate for the situation, please let us know when you pass our information along! We’d love to know how to pray and for whom!

Email us: jeremyandamanda@rocketmail.com

We still use our old email address, so don’t go updating your address book quite yet! This address is specifically for adoption purposes.

The kids are excited… we’ve been talking about adopting a sibling with them since last winter. We are amazed you haven’t heard the news from them first! We’d ask that you join us in prayer as we get started down this road we are thrilled to be on.

The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Psalm 126:3

With much excitement,
Jeremy and Amanda

new projects

I don't know about you, but seeing a stacks of cute fabric like this makes me all warm and fuzzy!

I'll try to remember those happy thoughts as I'm sewing like a crazy lady to make it all into something! I am participating in a fundraiser for our local pregnancy center, and hope to be able to donate partial proceeds from the sales toward the purchase of ultrasound equipment for our local center. It's a great excuse to pull out the sewing machine and whip up something great! I'll post the finished products in about a month!

5 years old!

Morgan Felicity is five today!

Happy Birthday, sweet daughter!!!

We celebrated her big day on Sunday with family... Morgan wanted to go bouncin' around with her brothers and sister first, then go to Wendy's for dinner, presents, and cupcakes! So that's what we did. We had a super fun night for a super fun girl!

Cousin Dylan, taking in his first cousin birthday bash!

Annika was a wild woman after she got used to this strange, loud place!

We LOVE you!

Harvest Fun

A couple weeks ago, we invited some friends from church over for some fall fun! We all piled into our house for a potluck dinner, because it was rainy out and camp chairs on the lawn like we planned were not realistic that day. Then we headed outside for some apple picking and carrot pulling! It was so fun to see these kiddos digging into our carrot patch!!! Happy Fall!!!

sweet hats for sweet boys

This is a new pattern I came across a couple weeks ago! It's a super cute and small ear flap hat that is pretty quick to knit up... They are for two sweet newborn baby boys Alistair (top) and Dylan (bottom), Dylan already has his and Sarah, if you're reading this... there goes the surprise! Can't wait to see these two little ones with warm ears and heads this winter.

race day!

Saturday morning, we ventured out for our race day! First up was

the "balloon race", which was a blast for those that

are preschool-age and under. So Annika and Morgan ran

the short little run across a field to win a paper medal and a balloon!

Here, Annika and two of her one year old buddies line up at the starting line!

Are they cute or what?? A balloon at the finish line was just the incentive Annie needed to get

to the end! She LOVES balloons!

Here is our proud finisher! Next year, she has her sights set on the mile run!


I don't think, and now know that our boys had no idea what they were getting into with this race! They've NEVER run a full mile, but this mama is SO proud of them for running this first "real" race of theirs! This race was 1.2 miles and the boys loved it!

Here's Gavin crossing the finish line! I got tears in my eyes as they crossed the finish line. I was just so proud of them!

Drew making the finish line!

The boys: Drew, Gavin, Parker, and Lane showing off their medals!

What a fun morning!!! Plus, we went out for donuts after...

Thanks, Pam K. if you're reading this... for all the great action shots!!!