Another Birthday in Chicago

I FINALLY have my computer back up and running after almost three weeks! Talk about feeling out of touch! Now I feel way behind on blogging, email & bookwork. Oh well, one thing at a time I guess.

Last week was spent in Chicago with my honey all to myself. Caedmon stayed with Grandma S. & Aunt Shanna. Kaiya stayed with Grandma B. Thank you to all of you for keeping things going and taking such good care of our family while we were gone. My mom took Caedmon back and forth to school and my nephew took care of the pets.

Shopping on Michigan Avenue

Who could ask for more? Uninterrupted time with my husband,

shopping,

elegant dinners,

picture with Northwestern CEO, Ed Zore and his wife

and sleeping in every morning in this fluffy king size bed.

Saturday was my 34th birthday...man that sounds old. We took an extra day coming home and stopped at the Michigan City Outlet mall. I almost hyperventilated....so many sales, so many stores...too little time. Old Navy, Children's Place, Maurices, and several other stores all had an extra 50 percent off their lowest clearance price. I got so much for so little...it was fun and a great way to spend my birthday doing one of very favorite things...bargain shopping!

Another stop I definitely wanted to make on my birthday was here:

So good...I was a very happy birthday girl. The waitress was so kind and when she found out it was my birthday, she brought us both out a free dessert.

Now back to wiping noses and cleaning up crumbs...I love my life!

Five Years with Caedmon

Caedmon's request for his birthday this year was to go to a hotel...something he asks about several times a month it seems. So we booked a studio room at a local hotel and were pleasantly surprised by it's roominess...it really was the perfect room for the occasion. We checked in around two in the afternoon on New Year's Eve. Soon the aroma of fresh baked cookies snuck in under our door....free cookies at the front desk. The kids would have been perfectly content to stay in the room the rest of the afternoon and evening, but we decided to go out to a movie and grab some dinner. Caedmon chose Arby's after the movie.Then back to the room for birthday cake and a present from mom and dad. I love how he has his arm around his sister in this one.
We had the pool to ourselves. Back to the room for popcorn and movies. We almost made it till midnight, but not quite. We were well rested the next morning and spent most of the day at the mall. The kids took a carousel ride, visited the build-a-bear and Disney stores and even got in a nap while mommy did some shopping. :)

The following Saturday, all the grandparents came to celebrate too. They even brought all the food! Kevin's mom brought homemade pizza and my mom brought this beautiful ice cream cake.
Do I really have a five year old? Wow, where did the last five years go?
Getting spoiled by Grandpas & Grandmas Kaiya got her fair share of spoiling from Grandma B. too who put on jammies and read books.

My son, you bring so much laughter and joy and at the same time you keep me on my toes with your strong personality and determination. You are growing up so quickly and I'm so proud of how well you have adjusted to going to school this year. You are learning to read, can write your name, the alphabet and the numbers up to 12 so far. You play so well by yourself and can play for hours creating and building play sets with Lego's. It's fun to play board games with you and you're really working hard at congratulating the winner when it's not you....sometimes with tears. :) You love to laugh and said your first joke today that made all of us laugh. Daddy called you a book-head because you have your head in a book a lot and you came right back instantly and said "well, you're a coffee-head". You've started helping me around the house with little chores. You were so proud to feed the kitties all by yourself the other day. I am so proud of you and love you so much! Happy Birthday Babe!

Your birthday celebration was so timely this year. It felt so good to have some happy moments to share as a family...such wonderful memories!

Life Without a Computer

I have been without a computer all week and it's driving me crazy! I can't stand missing out on what's going on in everyone's lives. So what does one do when one doesn't have a computer? Clean and organize like a mad woman!!! My label maker is still smokin'. :)

It's been good for me to keep my mind busy. Thank you all for your continued prayers, emails, phone calls, cards and hugs...it means so much! Our last conversation with our attorney was last Monday. Still no word from Jessica about her intentions other than what we learned the previous Wednesday (Dec. 31st)...that she hadn't had the baby yet, was researching ways to get funding if she would keep the baby and that her boyfriend and family still wanted her to do the adoption.

At this point, we are moving on with life and continuing to pray for Jessica and the baby. We only want what is God's plan for us and for her. There are still many questions we have for God...one of them being "Why bring us this close?". We may never know the answers, but we do know that over a hundred people have been praying for Jessica and this baby...maybe these are the only prayers that have ever been prayed for her.

The past couple of weeks have been difficult, but I have held my children longer, hugged my husband tighter and have grown so much closer to my Heavenly Father. I've also gained a few more friends....I AM TRULY BLESSED!

Perseverance, God's timing & Trust

Because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. -James 1:3-4

Today in the Daily Bread devotional:

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. —Ecclesiastes 3:1

In an effort to face the challenges of life, we often turn to Solomon’s words: “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven” (Eccl. 3:1). But we readily admit that we would rather laugh than weep, dance than mourn, and gain than lose (vv.4,6).

Yet we know that as we embrace the lessons and opportunities of every season that comes to us, we find that “God is our refuge and strength” (Ps. 46:1).

Whatever season we’re in, it’s always the season to trust in Him. — David C. McCasland

We're still here...still waiting...still trusting. Kevin emailed our attorney yesterday.

He is planning to make a phone call to her family today. We will most likely find out her intentions after that phone call and this will most likely be their last attempt at making contact with Jessica. Please pray specifically for God's divine timing for the phone call, for clear and honest answers to be communicated so that we can move on from here.

It has been comforting to get my thoughts out on the blog. Thanks for taking the time to read it.

Wow, are we ever blessed with so many who have shown so much love and support through this whole process of waiting!! So many emails, phone calls & hugs have come at just the right time. Thank you all! It has gotten us through the past couple of days and we thank you!

We've been staring at these bags sitting in our bedroom all week. These are the kids bags all ready to go. They keep adding this and that to their bags and according to them, we are going. It will break my heart if these bags don't have a place to go.

Last Friday night was spent at Kevin's parents for a half Christmas. We will have the other half later in Janurary. It was a bittersweet time. Kevin's brother and his wife will be flying out today, stopping in Florida for a few days then flying on to Costa Rica for a three year term in the mission field.

Christmas carols with Grandma and her harp

Caedmon with baby Jeremy

Kaiya and Karis

I will miss their family terribly!!! I love how our relationship has grown and blossomed these past couple of years. Krista is so much more than a sister-in-law to me...she's a very close friend! It's hard to let them go, but we are so excited to see what God has planned for them in Costa Rica.

Caedmon helped Uncle Lyndon tell the Christmas story and did a fabulous job!

The highlight of the evening was the wonderful prayertime we had as a family specifically for Lyndon & Krista and our baby situation....such a great memory.

In the meantime...someone very special in this house is turning 5 today! We're making some last minute birthday plans to make it a special day for him.

Happy New Year!!

The Waiting

"Time to let it go and just believe"

"The hardest part is waiting on You, when what I really want is just to see Your hand move"

"I want a peace beyond my understanding. I wanna feel it fall like rain, in the middle of my hurting."

"I wanna feel your arms as they surround me"

"And let me know that it's ok, to be here in this place....resting in the peace that only comes....in the waiting"

I heard this song on the radio yesterday. I haven't heard it for a long time. It was a song that meant a lot to me when we were waiting for our first child after going through so much heartache from infertility and a miscarriage. I felt like the Lord played it just for me yesterday.

We are still waiting and waiting. We were planning to leave for Florida yesterday or today. We're still here and still haven't heard anything from our birthmother. We will not leave until we hear something positive. It will take a miracle, but a miracle is what we are praying for!!

Thanks so much for all your support and prayers!!!! We can feel the peace that is a result of having many pray for us! Thank you.

Now today we will go to church and give praise and worship to our Lord!

The Wonder of Christmas

Part of the wonder of the first Christmas is that God had every detail of Jesus' birth planned long before it happened. Something else that fills us with wonder is that God had a special plan for our family, bringing each of our children into our family at just the right time...having it planned long before they were born. In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will. Ephesians 1:11

Please keep our family in your prayers as we continue to wait for our miracle adoption coming up. We have not gotten much information this week other than the fact that the birthmother has not made contact with our attorney. Pray for Jessica specifically as she gets closer to delivery. Pray for her safety, her decision and the health and safety of the baby. Pray for us as we continue to trust and make preparations to leave even though we're not sure of the timing of everything. God certainly knows what He's doing even though we are sometimes uncertain of His timing... we're trusting in Him to work out everything that He has already planned for us.

We had a wonderful time of celebration with my family on Christmas Eve then with our immediate family on Christmas morning. Mom's special touches always make the evening extra memorable. We each had a candle at our place setting and right before dinner we said something that we appreciated about the person sitting to our right and then lit their candle. Emmi Klair - six months old

Christmas Morning



My favorite gifts this year:

1. Watching the joy on my kids' faces

2. this poem written to me by my niece, Maci

3. my very first Vera Bradley - a gift from my sister


Merry Christmas!