it's finally time to celebrate this baby!

Last week was Gabrielle's baby shower!  My dear friends Rachel and Allison had been working to plan a celebration for Gabi throughout the end of summer and September seemed to be just the right time to have it.  We put it off in the distance in hopes that things would be more solidified with her adoption, and boy did they pick the right date or what??  4 days earlier, Gabrielle's birthmom signed her adoption consent.  It had been my heart's desire that I could sit at her baby shower fully relaxed and knowing that the adoption was coming.  God did just that.  That fact alone caused me to completely lose it right as the shower was starting.  As I looked around at all of these wonderful friends and family, I was overcome. 

I thought, "They are here for Gabi and they're here for our family, and I can't believe I'm standing here in this place with this baby who is my daughter." 

It was just too much for me!  I felt so free, thankful, and incredibly happy. 

Thank you also to another dear friend Anne-Renee who planned all the decor and made it look so fun and beautiful. 

Sarah shares beautifully from her heart and gathers us together to pray for Gabi's life, our family, and the events surrounding her adoption.  Thank you, Sarah. 

We pray.

Group photo!!!  (minus Lynda who is taking this one...)



Group photo #2.. (minus Rachel who took this one!)



Grandma Anita making Gabrielle so happy, while chit chatting with Mary.

So many lovely and thoughtful gifts for our sweetie!

Pam and Gabi...  she's showing off her new hat!

Rachel, me, and Allison

You guys are so special to me, thank you for making this such a meaningful and fun occasion for us.  You guys are SUCH good friends to me, and I'm thankful for your presence in my life. 

I also have friends who are quite creative and crafty... here are the handmade gifts Gabrielle received.

Thank you Kristy for the adorable appliqued shirt and bib!  And look at this tiny bracelet that Tasha made?  All my girls have them.  She's made one for each of them when they were babies.  Now Annie and Morgan have bigger sizes too. 

Carly made this super cute tag blankey for Gabi.  She LOVES it and plays with the ribbons for a long time!  It's amazing for something to keep her attention for that long... 

And the gorgeous hand knit wool hat from Shannon who has an etsy store called Baruch's Lullaby, and this amazing kuspuk from Rebecca!!!  Isn't it so cute and cool???  I can't wait for her to fit into it. 

I love this bib from Kristy...

Don't I have amazingly crafty friends?  I think so. 

Thank you everyone.  

Whew!  I'm in the process of labeling all of my posts and going back to 2006 when this blog launched.. that way you can read all posts on a certain topic if you'd like.  I like this on the blogs I come across, and thought you might like it here.  So far I'm done with 30 of the 428 posts... it might take a while! 

done for now... my brain is needing sleep!

bacon tidbits needs a new name... help me and win!

This blog is moving to a new address soon, and I need your help!

I need your suggestions for a new blog name that fits our family but doesn't include our last name or location.  This entire blog will be imported to a new address, so nothing will change except our name and address.  (hopefully...  ha ha)

It can be a portion of a Bible verse, a cute saying, or anything else that you think encapsulates US!

And if I choose your entry... you'll win this book and I'll happily send it to you.  I think the large majority of folks who visit here are Moms, and if you're not and you win... well then you can re-gift it to a Mom who would appreciate it, or save it for later use!

So please, get your thinking caps on and help me think of a new name!  We don't get a ton of readers,  most days it ranges from 50-100.. and sometimes as few as 16.  But we think it's wise to make ourselves more anonymous to the world.  So whadda ya think?  www.         .blogspot.com ???

I'll leave the contest open until Sunday night. (4 days from now) I'll then choose my favorite, announce it, and send off the book. But my disclaimer is that I'll pick the one I like most, but can't promise it'll be my new blog name.   Cuz who knows, I may only get one comment!!  I'm making no promises, but hope to find the right fit here.  Also, I posted this contest on facebook too... so I reserve the right to choose a winner from the comments there as well!  I'll transfer them over to the comments here in groups as they come. 

THANK YOU for commenting with your vote!

oh happy day!

Today is a very happy day in our household! 

This day marks the end of the 10-day period

that Gabrielle's birthmom

had to withdraw her consent

if she had a change of heart. 

She didn't. 

And now her decision is irrevocable.

We're rejoicing!

After she signed, we breathed a sigh of relief. 

And now, we're practically jumping up and down.

Oh happy day indeed...  Thank you, Lord Jesus!

The Lord has done great things for us,

and we are filled with joy.

Psalm 126:3

a charming read

If a book sticks with you from childhood and still charms you as an adult, you know you've got a keeper on your hands.  The book The Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook by Joyce Lankester Brisley is one such book!  It was first published in 1928.

I can still picture this book sitting on my bookshelf in my room when I was a girl of 8 or 9 with the exact same cover pictured below.  The illustrations in the book are irresistable and the story is even better.  If you've never read it, head down to your local library's children's section and snatch it up!  Even if you don't have kids and you're a woman, you need to read this.  It oozes simplicity, lovliness, and a charm that is seldom captured in a story. 

Can you tell I love this book?

I bought a copy last year to read to my girls, and have picked it back up this fall to add to Morgan's homeschooling line-up.  If I could cover the walls of one of my rooms with it's illustrations, I would.  They are the cutest ever.  And then I'd paint the walls red and white striped, just like Millicent Margaret Amanda's "frock." 

The illustrations in the book are strewn throughout and fill a whole page. 

They all are so adorable, really, I can't get enough of them.  And these scans (thank you, Google) don't do them any justice.

I love the map of the village too, in the front of the book...

Do any books evoke this type of nostalgia for you??  Which ones? 

gasp

My hands have not touched knitting needles or a crochet hook since last May.  My projects tend to drop off in the summer months, but this year has been the worst!  I don't have time for it right now anyways, juggling my life... but I have a few projects up my sleeve for baby gifts and one project for a friend I just couldn't finish last spring when our baby girl was on the horizon and I was SO ill, so I'd better get going with my late-night-kids-are-in-bed craftiness. 

funny kids this week..

For my memory... 

Annika
(sorry in advance)
...as we flushed her potty down the toilet today... "Bye pee pee, I lub you!"

...as we flushed her sister's #2 down, "Bye-bye poo poo, see you tomorrow!"

...after I found LOTS of chocolate candy wrappers on her floor:
ME:  "Oh no, how many did you eat???"
ANNIE:  "Ummmmmm, two sow-sun?"  (two thousand)

She is so crazy-silly, this 2 year old of mine.  Here she is at 4 months old....  the same age as Gabrielle... but look at those cheeks!  I wanna kiss them. 

Gavin

The other day in school we were talking about homophones and the difference between we and wee.  Gavin piped in with, "And don't forget Wii, and what's a wee wee anyways, I've heard kids talk about it, I think it's Scottish!"

first week of cloth diapering

This post is dedicated to Natasha I. and my other friends

who are thinking about giving cloth diapering a try. 

We're on Day 6 of our cloth diapering experiment and we think they're

FANTASTIC!  There isn't one part of the whole process I don't like. 

Actually, I can't believe I used disposables for 10 years and never gave cloth diapering a second glance. 

The day we got them in the mail last weekend, I was home with just the little girls.  Annika was SOoooOOOoo excited about getting new "pretty diapers" in the mail.  She instantly started gathering them into a pile and hugging them saying, 

"I love my diapuhs, my pretty diapuhs.. Ohhhhhhhhhhh."

Seriously.  She was hooked.  I had no idea my 2 year old had it in her to care about diapers. 

Here she is hugging. 

Here she is rocking back and forth and telling her new "diapuhs" how much she loves them!  ha ha

I ordered 4 of these cute ones in 4 different colors.  I love them so much!  They snap instead of velcro closed, and they work for Gabrielle actually better than Annika.  I thought it would be the other way around. 

I have it snapped on the second to last smallest setting for the waist, and the largest in length just so you could see. 

All the diapers I ordered are by Kawaii Baby. 

They are considered One-Size, Pocket Diapers, with Micro-Fleece lining.

And did I mention they were CHEAP!  $7 for the velcro, $7.50 for the flower print each. 

I call that a GOOD deal... especially when you figure we'll be paid off and not be buying diapers anymore in just 2-3 short months! 

We have 16 of this style.  They are SO great.  The one on the left is how I use it for Annika.  And the one of the right is set for Gabi.  This style of diaper can be used for babies from 8-36 pounds.  And truly, they work so well.  In disposables, my girls usually wake up with their jammies soaked from diaper leakage each morning, because they both sleep 12 hours or more a night.  The are incredible!  And they don't feel wet like our disposables did, I really can't tell if they are wet until I check the liner in the inside.

Here's where we store our diaper changing supplies in Gabrielle's new room.  It works best to have both girl's diapers all in one place, since Annie's new room is downstairs and we spend most of our day upstairs.  The stack on the lower right is Annika, then the rest are set for Gabrielle.  The bottom shelf  with the bag of wipes sitting on it is also full of the absorbent inserts that come with the diapers.  2 of each comes with each diaper I ordered.  The only time I use 2, is for Annika at nighttime and you just stick both in the pocket of the diaper together.  Gabi does fine with 1. 

And here's my fancy diaper pail.  It's a 5 gallon bucket, with a garbage bag, and a gamma lid screwed on top.  It works great.  And it was free since we already had several of these buckets to store rice/dry beans/flour.

The thing that has really saved me in all this is the flushable liner.  They look just like big dryer sheets and are biodegradable and fully disolve in the septic.  So no poo is handled in the changing of my girls.  They are worth it!!  (and cheap too)  I think around $5 - $6 for 100. 

Here are the absorbent inserts...

Here's the pocket you stick the insert.  Easy!  As you can see, the velcro

tabs are stuck down on the laundry tabs while the diaper is not in use, that way when you wash them

all the diapers don't get stuck together. 

This is Charlie's Soap.... a highly recommended detergent for cloth diapers.  It's great so far...  And you only have to use very little in each load.  First I do a hot rinse.  Then a full load on Heavy Duty cycle with the detergent.  Then dry in the dryer on med. heat.  Easy.  Really.

I have 21 diapers, and with both girls wearing them, I'm washing about every 2 days. 

I hope you give it a second glance if you're considering it at all!!!

I'm no expert, but if you have a question, write it in the comments.

And by no means is the way I'm trying it the best way or the most efficient... it's a learning experience for me and I'm taking the advice of seasoned cloth diapering mamas who've gone before me.

Look at this little cutie... I also think cloth diapers are just adorable!!!

38 year old Gabrielle...

I came across a picture of this beautiful actress Thandie Newton a couple months ago,

and I couldn't help but imagine that Gabrielle would look like her when she grows up!

(I can't tell you what movies she was in other than The Pursuit of Happyness with Will Smith.)

It kinda freaked me out the first time I saw her picture after bringing Gabi home,

her face shape is even similar... just a little random fun for today, do you think they have

a similar look?  I read (when I found this picture) that she is bi-racial too.  She was born in Zambia to a British father and a Zimbabwean mother, interesting, huh?  . 

not large enough.

This post has been brewing in my brain for quite some time.  I'm sure if you're a Mom and you've been out with your child(ren), you've heard these statements:

"Wow, you have your hands full!"
"Don't you know how those are made by now?"
"I don't know how you do it!"
"You're brave for bringing them all with you..."

You get the idea.  You give them a weak smile while thinking, that's all you could think of to say? 

If you've ever said anything like this to a harried Mom (or perfectly peaceful Mom), no worries... I'm just trying to get us to look deeper.  Why are children not valued?  Why do we choose to look at the seemingly negative side of a circumstance rather than the positives?  Can we see children as a joyful addition to life (and shopping trips)?  And by the way, a Mom always knows she has her hands full!  And I for one, LOVE taking all 5 kids to the store.  I really do.  It's a challenge and such fun all at the same time. 

I can think of plenty of positive things to say when I see a fellow Mom out and about with her kid(s).  How about:   (these are real things that people have said to me,  THANK YOU!)

"Cute kiddos."
"How old are they?"
You are incredibly blessed."
"You're doing a good job, Mom."
"Can I help you with anything?"
"You kids are so well behaved."
"How fun to be shopping with your Mom!"

This is just a springboard to get to the topic I want to address.  I have 5 children.  Honestly, I don't see that as a large family.  It's our family.  And I adore our family.  It's not a burden, it's an absolute joy.  I can understand why a family with more than 2-3 kids is considered "large" in our culture where reaching the "American Dream" is something to be strived for, and many view children as little beings that get in the way.  Well, I for one am living my dream.  No American Dream needed here, I have a God-given dream.  There is nothing that could entice me to live in a bigger house, have a nicer (and smaller) car, enjoy more throw around cash, have designer clothes, and a career that is taking off.  NOTHING.  I laugh at the thought.  I love my life.  Our children are a heritage.  They (and ourselves) are the only things that are lasting in this life in light of eternity.  So why should I invest in anything else? 

There are WAY, WAY, WAY too many children (try over 150 million) that need the love of a family for us to be selfish with our lives.  (I am in no way saying that all should adopt, or become foster parents, or that you yourself are being selfish... I'm talking about our family specifically.)  God has placed his heart for the fatherless and the lonely in ours, and we are never looking back.  Sometimes I lay in bed at night and ache at the thought of a child somewhere (right now) being abused, neglected, and with no hope.  Sometimes it is more than I can bear.  Sometimes I look at the photo galleries of waiting children here in the United States and other countries to see if any of them seem like they are ours.  I did that today.  I do it often. 

In the last 2 years, God has completely thrown open the doors of our hearts and let us look through his eyes at this ginormous need.  And we began to wonder, what can we ever do?  We already have a family with 4 children.  Well, God expanded our hearts to have more love to give and changed our way of thinking.  We don't need a larger house, ours will do just fine.  We do have more room.  Our children don't need their own space.  Sharing rooms builds respect for others and their property.  And it builds relationships like nothing else can.

So in our minds, our family isn't large or too large... I just have a feeling it's not large enough.  And with God, how can anything be "too" anything?  If it's his plan and his heart, how can anything not be just right?  There are so many thoughts swirling tonight that it's all coming out as one big ramble... I hope you're still with me, and I hope God stirs your heart too. 

To do something. 

If you are a believer in Christ, God has chosen us as the people who will come to orphans and widows in their distress.  We all know what a widow is, but what is an orphan exactly?  Is it just someone who has lost both parents to death?  I believe it is that, and also there is a figurative use of the word, which puts on the same level parentless children and people who are alone, solitary; abandoned, cast-off, forsaken, lost; disregarded, ignored, neglected, and slighted. I also have heard foster children called "temporary orphans."  And I believe this to be a proper use of the term, especially with all of the added definitions of an orphan.

Children need not only food and shelter.  They need love, security, and to belong somewhere.  Somewhere safe.  And though we aren't perfect people or parents, we are willing to be used by God in the life of our children and possibly future children with our faults and all.  And we pray he will use us for his glory on this earth and not ours. 

it happened!

We are now the proud owners of signed adoption consent forms from Gabrielle's birthmom!!!

We set up a meeting today after some good conversation with her yesterday, and it happened.  It's nothing short of a miracle straight from our Heavenly Father, we know that for sure...  Thank you for praying for us in this.  In 10 days, her signature will be irrevocable and our case will be filed with the courts.  Our court date will be in a couple months! 
Since she is the custodial parent, her signature is the most important to us...  the birthdad's will soon follow, as he has expressed to us he is ready to sign and intends for us to adopt her as well.

We are on cloud nine today...  YAHOOOOOOOO!

We're getting there...

Friends, if you get this is time, would you please pray for us tomorrow?  (Sunday) We have a meeting planned with Gabrielle's birthparents for the purpose of signing the adoption consent paperwork in the afternoon.  Both have stated that they are ready to sign. 

Let your will reign tomorrow, Lord...  We are trusting you every step of the way. 

fair time!

The state fair snuck up on us this year in the midst of adding a 5th child to our family this summer and the start of our homeschooling year.  But we made it on a weeknight and met my Dad there for the fun!  (We missed you greatly, MKay!) 

We had a fantastic time, it was short... probably the shortest time we've ever spent there... but there were no crowds, the rain only lasted 30 minutes or so... and there was good food.  What's there to complain about? 

Jeremy took the girls on the ferris wheel, it was their first time!

Thank you, Dad for treating us to a memory-filled evening. 

We treasure our time with you. 

Gabrielle was super trooper.  She slept during the rainstorm, and was a happy girl

the rest of the time.  She wore her first hat made by yours truly that day too! 

She makes a neapolitan sundae hat look SO good.