beautiful girl

We are on Day 9 with our new baby girl, she is such a joy

 and fits so well into our family! 

I know a lot of you are dying to know her name, but we're just waiting on the paperwork end of things to get taken care of to share that with everyone!  Hopefully soon!  We're hoping that consents will be signed by both birthparents soon, and that she will be legally our daughter 10 days later!  Just having her here with us, makes all of the issues that can come with an non-agency adoption that much easier to handle.  We know that God has brought us all this far, and He has amazing things in store for everyone involved.  Keep praying for things to proceed swiftly and that God would strengthen our family and the others involved in this. 

We are just simply in awe of how God has moved.  It is impossible to leave God out of her story, it has been the most clear demonstration of His love for His children that we have ever experienced and know it will continue to be.

Here are some new pictures of our cutie pie from this weekend...

... evidence of many curls to come...

We love her smiles and intense eye contact with us.. she follows me around the room with her eyes, and we are so happy she is attaching to us so quickly!

birthday boy

Gavin's 8th birthday party was last night and it was rainy, so the park party we had planned was a no go... but we had a blast being at home with some friends, grandparents, and fun!

Gavin is the most enthusiastic gift opener I've ever laid eyes on.. he makes everyone smile with his whoops and hollers, and gives big hugs to the gift givers!

the party crowd...

`

Grandma and Grandpa Bacon

the party princess and her cake

two grandmas and a sweetie pie!! aren't they cute?

Happy Birthday GAVIN!  Everyday is a party with you!

8 is gReAt!!!

Gavin Nathaniel is 8 today!

Since his party is in a few days, we thought

we'd celebrate his special day with a stop at the donut shop with friends and the park! 

mama ducks and baby ducks abound at our favorite local park...

the last few times we've come, we've brought some saltines to make the duckies our kid's best friends.

Well, she enjoyed her day at the park too!  All snuggled up

and sleepy...  this was my first outing alone with all 5 kids, and

I'm happy to report it was awesome.  We even hit the grocery store after... but boy was I zooming around with that cart!

Birthday lunch on the lawn...  and for tonight's dinner, Gavin chose

cheeseburgers on the grill and french fries.
(like Carl's Jr.'s fries, he said)

Happy Birthday, buddy!  Can't believe you're 8... We all

laugh more because you're around, and love your sweet spirit too. 

lots of sweet snuggly time around here

All of the kids are just enthralled with their new baby sister.  She is very happy to see their faces crowded around hers.  Morgan got in some snuggles this morning just as the baby (sorry no full name yet..) was up for the day and waiting for her bottle to be made. 

Meeting her baby friend Lincoln for the first time!  There's a special story here - my good friend Allison and I now have 3 kids that are 3 weeks apart!  During Allison's pregnancy this last winter/spring, we were dreaming about what it would be like to have a 3rd set of kids that were 3 weeks apart!  Morgan & Megan, Nathan & Annika... and now these two!!!  When Lincoln was born in May, we both were bummed that our baby was nowhere to be found, and the possibility that our baby would be born so soon seemed impossible!  But... God already knew that our baby was the one who was already born - exactly 3 weeks earlier!  Can you believe that????  Such a sweet extra special touch from our loving God.

Is she cuteness or what??

Big brother Gavin happily feeding and burping. 

Annika loves "baby sissy" and she also loves all the equipment that comes with having her here!!  She sat in this swing for probably 45 minutes this morning.. happily swinging back and forth. 

Surprise!!

It is really surreal for me to be writing this post right now...  here we are at the end of Day 2 with the sweet new baby girl sleeping in the next room who we are in the process of adopting.  It has been a whirlwind these past 3 weeks, and we can't believe we actually have her in our arms and in our home in just 3 weeks after we heard she was being placed for adoption. 

Here's the quick version of the story and how it all came together:

(but follow closely... it gets confusing!)

A few weeks ago, a friend of ours, told another friend of ours who didn't know we were adopting, that our family was looking to adopt and would be a good family for this sweet baby girl they knew about that may be being placed for adoption soon...  they asked us if we'd be interested in adopting this baby girl if that indeed happened.  Our friends told the baby's birthfamily about us, and the ball starting rolling from there...

Her birthfamily decided that we were the best placement for her, and here we sit with a sweet and beautiful 2 month old baby girl who is adored by our whole family.  She was born April 24th, weighing 6 lbs. 1oz.  and is still a tiny little bit weighing  9 and a half pounds.  She was given a beautiful name by her birthfamilies, which we will announce soon hopefully, after we have decided on what her full name will look like after we add a name of our own!

She is not legally "ours" yet, and we are hoping things go smoothly and that God will guide the steps of all involved these next couple weeks as we get everything signed and taken care of.  Please be praying, friends, for this along with us... thank you so much.    We have seen God move mountains these past couple weeks and move in obvious ways that have humbled and amazed the socks off of us.  We can't wait to see what He does next in the life of this little one. 

Here is the day we met her last Tuesday... it was LOVE at first sight. 

I held her tight the whole time and cried my eyes out to let her go. 

Her first nap at home yesterday... snooze away, sweet baby!

I was loving trying her on for size in the Moby wrap my buddy Sarah let me borrow... she thought it was pretty cozy ~ I can forsee her spending lots of time in this when Jeremy goes back to work... hands free is a great thing when we're wanting to keep her close, but also take care of 4 other children! 

The first time I fed her a bottle yesterday,  she's a great eater and gets really excited when that bottle comes near!  She is a great sleeper too ~ (insert Halleluia chorus) ~ our first night, last night, she slept a 6.5 hour stretch, then a 2.5 hour one before I had to wake her up to go to church this morning and show her off!  We held on tight to her today, and didn't pass her around at all... she slept through the whole thing and had no idea how loved and long-awaited she has been. 

Welcome home!  The moment we brought her home, I snapped this picture... 

She seemed happy to be here, don't you think?

Gotcha Day!  Yesterday, as you can see, Jeremy and I were just beaming as we got ready to load her up and bring her HOME!  Her birthfamily is just a dear family who are simply amazing people who have taken amazingly loving care of her, and we are excited to have them in our lives. 

Meeting her sisters for the first time. 

Any time she is out of our arms, there are usually 4 little faces peering in at her...  they love to be by her... Annika calls her "baby sissy" and the first thing out of her mouth this morning when I picked her up out of her crib was, "baby still here?"  Yes, sweet daughter, we're hoping she's here FOR GOOD. 

Getting ready for her first bath, while her adoring fans look on.

First bath in our home finished!  She loved it...  we heard she loved bathtime.

If you think you're shocked about how quickly God brought us together,

you're not alone.  We are still spinning! 

We look forward to giving you more updates, and hopefully downloading some video soon!

Thank you for all your love and support... we have dear friends and we are so thankful for each of you. 

almost recovered

Hi friends... sorry about the long break in blogging... I'm now on day 10 of the worst sickness I've ever experienced!  I somehow got Fifth Disease, and seriously suffered through it.  I had the fever/chills for 5 days and ZERO energy, then got a lovely hot, burning rash for a couple days along with zero energy, and now the joint pain has been my biggest issue these past 3 days, it has NOT been fun.  Today is the most I've spent out of bed in a week and a half, but I'm on pain medication to help with this awful joint pain that is the worst in my shoulders.   So my bed has been my life, not much else to blog about!  But I can see the end and am praying it settles in soon and this joint pain says goodbye forever! 

I've questioned so many times the timing of this for more reasons than one, but the one thing God has shown me is that HE KNOWS and He's got it covered.  He's got me covered.  So hopefully I'll be blogging again about life and kiddos soon!  Thanks for all of your prayer, practical help, and words of comfort during this awful past week,  I'm so thankful. 

lovin' this article..

This entire post was copied from this blog... I like the article so much I have to share it:


I came across this article yesterday and I just thought it was so well written. Although from a different religous viewpoint, I could not agree more....



A funny thing happened to me the other day when my wife and I had, thank God, another baby (a boy). Many of my friends didn't seem all that happy for me. Sure, they went through the motions of smiles and congratulations. But it was evident that many thought me insane. Why would a young man and his wife ruin their lives with eight children? Who could afford the Jewish day-school bills? Didn't we want to live life a little, and not just be burdened with kids?



It got downright surreal when a European film company, pressed me, while my wife was in labor, to finish shooting a segment that had an urgent deadline (I obviously told them they were insane). And the next day, I was mildly criticized by a Jewish organization which was supposed to be hosting me for a lecture for having to cancel on them because the lecture clashed with the baby's bris.


I don't mind that the world doesn't really love babies, just that it pretends to. It's time we got honest about our priorities. Most people get a new car every two or three years, but one or two babies through the life of their marriage is plenty. You can get drunk on an airplane, laugh hysterically with your mates, and still not really anger people. But if you dare bring a crying baby on board you will be given malicious looks as if the little thing is a package that ticks. If you walk your dog along the street, people will stop you to tell you how cute he is. If you walk down the street with a baby, you might find a woman or two who coos, but for the most part, you'll be utterly ignored.




Indeed, the contempt shown to parents of many children is the last acceptable prejudice in our society. As a father of a large family, I find myself apologizing wherever I go, as if I committed a crime. The frequent and loaded stares from scornful onlookers imply that the famine in Africa was caused by my selfish insistence on overpopulating the earth. Long ago my wife and I discovered that few hotels were prepared to accommodate so many children, even if we took three of four rooms, which is why we bought an RV for travel.


How strange to live in a world where loving children casts one in infamy. Having a family with many children implies a backwardness and primitivism that is deemed unbecoming in the developed countries of the West. Large families, it is thought, exist only among religious weirdoes or the teeming hovels of the Third World.


Rich countries, by contrast, prefer to increase their standard of living rather than the number of the living. Looking at Western birth rates for the year 2001, the United States averaged only 14.2 births for every thousand Americans, and the birthrate among white Americans is so low that the United States will soon lose its white majority. Indeed, one can go for days in a wealthy city like Manhattan without encountering a single pregnant woman. Riches and children have become inversely proportional such that the more of the former, the less of the latter.


Hence, the high birth rates of extremely poor African nations like Uganda – at 47.52 births per 1,000 – or Niger with 50.68 births per 1,000, are deemed to be prime causes and indicators of their penury. The abundant fertility and unconstrained sexuality of these countries confirms the unspoken Western mindset of these country's inhabitants as being just one step above savages. Contraception has become a synonym for civilization.


A Christian mother of six once wrote to me, "I find it troubling to worry about getting pregnant again ... because I don't want to face the criticism of friends and family. Why do people not see children as a blessing?" A fair question which deserves a fair response.


Why is it that even many synagogues today are not children friendly? Why are people impressed that Jay Leno owns 20 motorcycles, but disgusted that some religious families choose to have 10 children?


Let's not finesse the response. We all know why. A world that has lost its innocence has trouble appreciating beings who are innocent. A world that has become selfish has soured to the idea of leading a life of selflessness. A world that has become grossly materialistic is turned off to the idea of more dependents who consume resources. And a world that mistakenly believes that freedom means a lack of responsibility is opposed to the idea of needy creatures who "tie you down."


They can go fly a kite.


By just looking at my children, I become more innocent. By loving them, I become more noble. By spending my money on them rather than myself, I find transcendence. And by being a father and liberating all of the love in my heart, my spirit soars free. I work hard to support a large family and I give up no pleasures in doing so because my children are my foremost pleasure.


I am often asked by women dating men how to tell whether they are marriage material. I tell them, "See if he enjoys children." A man who loves children is playful. He will spend his life joking with his wife because he loves to see her laugh, and will flirt with her because he loves to see her smile.

 

There was a time when husbands and wives worked hard to ensure they could afford the blessings of a large family. Today, the higher your earning bracket the fewer children you have, but then we always knew that many turn money from a blessing into a curse.



Before he died, the Lubavitcher Rebbe launched a campaign asking parents to have one more child than they originally planned. It is a campaign that a dwindling Jewish community should revive as it continues to disappear.






Posted: March 02, 2006
1:00 am Eastern
By Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
© 2010 WorldNetDaily.com

Adoption Yard Sale!

We are now recovered from last weekend's yard sale to fundraise for our future adoption!

We have amazing friends and family (35 families to be exact) who donated all their "junk" for us to sell!  Well, apparently they have really good junk because we raked in nearly $3,000 in two days...  we are SO thankful to all of you who took the time to go through your things so we could have a really HUGE sale.   Adoption as a way for a child to enter a family is so different in our eyes than a child entering our family through pregnancy...meaning that the whole community can be involved in bring this child home, and we wouldn't have it any other way. Helping orphans (and widows) is not really a command from God, it's simply a description of something Christians do... adoption isn't always the way each person should help... but your involvement in our adoption story and those of others is definitely making a difference!!!

The kids had so much fun manning the bake shoppe stand ~ thank you to all of you who baked or brought goodies for them to sell!  Gavin's line he repeated all day long was, "Donate here at the bake shoppe, donate here!"  He'd say it over and over again.. I had to keep reminding him to only say it once to each customer! 

Thank you to all of you who came by to see us, some of you drove a long way to come visit.  We so appreciate you!  We had such fun talking with members of our community and hearing about their experiences with adoption.  We also loved educating folks about adoption and about what kind of adoption we're feeling pulled toward. 

It poured down rain during the whole set-up day... I wish you all could have seen Mary M. and I setting up that huge tarp tent for 2 hours in the pouring rain!  We did it, and were proud of it!  We had pretty great weather the 2 days of the sale, minus a bit of rain the first day.  Thank you to Sandra F. who so graciously hosted our family and all of our junk at her house for 3 LONG days last week.  Thank you also to my set-up crew and selling/organizing help:  Jenn H., Rachel K., Carly G., Sandra F., Tasha B., Jessica C., Mary M., Sarah N., and Kiana & Kaylyn.   There is no way we could have pulled this one off without all of you!  We are praising God with His provision and were so encouraged by the generosity of others both monetarily and with their time.  We want this money to be used to glorify His name through the adoption of the next little one to join our family. 

the music returns and more

I removed the music player a few weeks back because it cussed out a friend of mine!  Yikes, hope that hasn't happened to anyone else that I don't know about.  Ha ha.. 

I love the music player, it really is for me... but I hope you enjoy it too!  It's all of my favorite songs right now as we are getting closer (hopefully) to bringing our baby home.  My hope is in the Lord and His timing and I know it will be PERFECT when the time comes, no earlier - no later - than it is supposed to happen.  These songs bring me hope and help me to remember God's plan is SO much bigger than mine. 

I thought add on a couple pics onto this post, cuz I hate posts without pics!

This is the girls a few nights ago right outta the bath... aren't they sweet sisters?

And I'm sure most of you know about Gavin's accident 2 weeks ago...

but if you don't here's the short version:  He flew off the swingset after colliding with his sister, backflipped and landed on his stomach on a fallen tree like 5 feet behind the swingset.  He fractured his right kidney and it hemmoraged.  He's fine, taking it easy and feels perfect now.  We're so thankful for God's loving hand protecting our boy, it could have been a LOT worse.  The Dr.'s said that had he landed lower, it would have been a MUCH worse injury to the kidney.  I took this picture of us waiting after the CT scan, because he wanted to be sure that Drew and Morgan saw the contraption on his arm.  It was his IV port, or whatever it's called...  he was such a trooper that day. 

road trip

Yesterday, I was booked to do wedding hair for a large bridal party in the beautiful Girdwood!  The boys were spending the night at their grandparent's so Jeremy and I packed the girls up, and he spent the day bumming around Girdwood and the hotel for the day while I worked! 

There's nothing quite like the view along the arm on the way there... we watched for beluga whales, but none were seen that day! 

Megan, the beautiful bride and I!

what's shakin' bacon?

Okay, okay.. what's going on with us?  Yikes, my mind has been SO preoccupied with adoption that even blogging about normal life has been a challenge.. so how about I blog about adoption and not normal life! 

In the last month, I've been in communication with a number of expectant moms looking to place her baby (or babies) for adoption.  At the moment I'm talking with 3 of them.  It'll all online communication via instant message or facebook messages... I haven't talked to any of them on the phone, and as of a week ago, none of them had contacted Everlasting Adoptions about us.  I'm working at keeping things in perspective and knowing that there is a really big chance that none of these babies will be ours.  I'm imagining that the situation will sneak up on us... when we are clueless and unsuspecting!  But communicating with these women is really good practice for me, and it's encouraging that they want to talk to me.  They don't have to, so I know that in one way or another, our family is inviting to them! 

Two of the moms I'm talking with are due in August, and one is due in September.  It's an exciting time for us, to know that there are women who, after viewing our profile (4 kids already and all) are still interested in us.  There was a young woman who is due in October who told me a couple weeks ago, that she really liked us, and we talked for a week.. but the baby's father was concerned by how far away we lived from them and didn't want to pursue us any more.  Those kind of disappointments are not uncommon, and I'm really learning to thicken up my skin and KNOW that that baby just simply isn't who God planned for our family.  There is great comfort in letting God's plan unfold.  And we're doing just that. 

I'll keep you updated if anything looks like it's for REAL and we become officially matched... 

Kool-Aid Play Dough

Hey friends, just wanted to share our family's favorite play dough recipe with you!  If you've never made this, it's a must do project!! It takes less then 10 min. and is such fun. 

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup salt
3 T oil
1 T cream of tartar
2 packets kool-aid (any flavors.. you can do two different colors by splitting the batch in half)
add 2 cups boiling water

mix with spoon, then knead with hands when it's cool enough for you...  store in ziplocs when done! 
It smells so yummy and is edible in case your little ones sneak a bite. Also, we only had one kool-aid packet on hand, and it turned out great.  Yummy grape play dough!  :)  Enjoy!!!

how I love thee, Vitamin D

After nearly 4 months of vitamin D supplementation and thyroid hormone replacement, I had some blood work done in the last couple weeks to check my levels.  This week I learned that my thyroid levels are great and that my vitamin D levels jumped from the severely low 18 to 125!!!  I can really feel the difference too.  Vitamin D is amazing.  I'll never be off of it for as long as I live.  It is so misunderstood and SO important.  It's not just about getting a little from the sun...  Google "the miracle of vitamin D"  and see for yourself.  I'm a believer.  My severely low vit. D level along with my low thyroid wrecked havoc on my body and now I feel like a new me.  Yahoo! 

Summit VI conference

Each year, the Christian Alliance for Orphans holds

it's conference to accomplish the following:

• 
  
  help people start orphan care ministries in the local church 
• 
  
  encourage adoptive families and cover adoption issues
• 
  
  encourage foster families, social workers, etc.. and cover the issues involved
• 
  
  education about global orphan care including projects to be involved in and adoption
• 
  
  open our eyes and hearts to the need right in our backyards and around the globe
• 
  
  confirm God's calling in our lives to defend the fatherless

Here's a partial view of the exhibitors that took part in the Summit.

Adoption agencies, overseas child sponsorship programs, organizations

that exist to stop human trafficking, Family Life, Focus on the Family, programs to empty foster care systems through adoption, and many, many more!!  It was a fun and educational place to be in and browse thru.  I came home with a bag full of free books, brochures, business cards, and information. 

During many parts of the conference, my heart was very heavy.  The first day was mentally tough for me.  It was a long day (wonderful, though) and this area/ministry is all new to me... and I was hearing some things that tugged my heart and ripped it to pieces.  The first time I walked through the exhibits and talked with folks, it was hard for me to hold back the tears and the lump in my throat was throbbing.  The tears were held back, only by the grace of God, if you know me it's impossible for me to stop tears...  I didn't want to explain to these people how overwhelmed I was about our world and it's children.  But, I guess if anywhere is a safe place to just lose it, THIS WAS IT.  They get it. 

Here's our new buddy Natasha!  She and a bunch of other wonderful women came from Wisconsin, were staying at our hotel, and adopted Carly and I into their group.  Natasha drove us back and forth to the conference each day... after a little shuttle mix-up.. God provided new friends and a ride!  It was a huge encouragement to meet with others in the same mindset toward all things adoption/foster care/ministry.  Each had a completely different story to tell.  And I was intrigued by each. 

More of our "group."

Steven Curtis Chapman sharing and giving us an accoustic concert!

His music is so powerful.

Steven and Mary Beth Q & A!!! 

I love these two.  They have been so open in sharing the raw, honest truth

about their lives since the loss of their 5 year old daughter Maria 2 years ago. 

We REALLY enjoyed our night when them. 

Mary Beth was our keynote speaker the first night, and shared some fun

archived family photos too!!  Wow, is all I have to say about this one!!!

Here we are on the trip home in our matchy-matchy orange shirts... we got a lot of looks, but more importantly a lot of questions!!!!  educate, educate, educate... something I love to do...  there are approx. 147 million orphans worldwide.  And only about 30,000 are adopted into families each year... seems like a lot.. but is it??

Some of the things different speakers shared that have stuck with me and will continue to stick:

1. 
   
   If we are only motivated by the need, we will run out of gas.  (there will always be need!) God is the source, our motivation.
2. 
   
   Love for orphans TRANSFORMS!
3. 
   
   Open your eyes to what God did for you as an orphan... YOU were an orphan and He had compassion on you.  "In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will - to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves."  Ephesians 1:5
4. 
   
   Orphan care is not a new craze or fad for social ministry.
5. 
   
   With your life and voice, defend the fatherless!
6. 
   
    Adoption is not the only, nor always the best way to care for orphans.
7. 
   
   Just because a child is adopted or removed from an orphanage, doesn't mean they will lose their orphaned spirit... only Jesus can redeem them. 
8. 
   
   We work/love on behalf of orphans because of God, not because of empathy and sympathy.
9. 
   
   How can we shame pregnant women, then be surprised when they secretly abort?
10. 
    
    Some choose international adoption so they won't have to deal with a birthfamily.  No matter what, you will have to deal with a birthfamily and your walk may be harder because there will be no reunions. 
11. 
    
    Children don't just need food, clothing, and shelter... they need the love of a family.
12. 
    
    John Piper shared the rest of these statements:   You cannot be involved in adoption and orphan care without miracles happening in your life.
13. 
    
    do hardships = mistake??  NO! There is no guarantee of success and comfort. 
14. 
    
    God is totally, always on our side as a believer... it has nothing to do with our virtue. 
15. 
    
    Having faith is not the ultimate factor whether you suffer or prosper in the cause of the fatherless or any situation. 
16. 
    
    God himself in Jesus is better than any happy ending in this adoption story. 
17. 
    
    Those who love God more than life and suffer willingly in the cause of the fatherless are God's great gift to the world.  Heb. 11:37
18. 
    
    and my final favorite (not from John P.) James 1:27 (to care for orphans and widows in their distress...) is not a commandment, caring for orphans is a definition of what a Christian does. 

So I guess you can say, I have a LOT to chew on... and a lot to share with Jeremy.  Carly and I are chompin' at the bit and ready to gather our team and launch our church's ministry later this year.  As a hopeful adoptive family, this conference has given much confirmation of this being God's plan for us as a family... but I have to warn you... I'm not sure where it will stop! 

We are so thankful for this opportunity God has provided through our church, for them seeing this as a part of our church's future, and for "getting it" right along with us. 

That's all for now, my brain is filled to the brim.  I'm sure some future blog posts will be highjacked by this very topic as more thoughts flow out of my mind and through my fingers on the keyboard. 

Thank you for reading all the way through this!