Congratulations are in order!!

Congratulations are in order for some of our new(er), sweet friends that we meant through our adoption agency. Kenny and I met them at the initial orientation meeting back in December and at that time of starting the adoption process, both of our families thought we were going to be growing our families with infant(ish) girls. But man, oh man, God has something totally different in store for our friends!

Yesterday, they "officially" gained a son and will soon be travelling to meet him and bring him home. Head on over to their blog, read and see his handsome face and leave them a note of congratulations! We are certainly overjoyed alongside them....for the Lord has done GREAT things for this family!

We love you K family!! And can't wait to meet your son!!

-Kenny, Jill & Garrett

Toy Ideas

So, my little man will soon be turning 4. FOUR. I cannot believe it.

Last week I took him to the toy store to create a birthday wish list. And, while he came up with plenty, I am trying to decide what he REALLY wants (can't tell) and which items will be entertaining and stimulating in the long run.

Leave me a comment and tell me what items you'd recommend and/or what your kiddos have loved!

African Food

Yesterday Kenny, Garrett and I met up with some members of our extended family (Kenny's parents, brother and fiance & my dad and step-mom) at an authentic African restaurant to try out some authentic African food.



This restaurant is specific to the country we are adopting from , and I think just the environment and mostly seeing the people from this country did my soul good. I spent so much of my time staring at the beautiful people....everything about them, from the shape of their faces to the shade of their skin and more, was soothing to me. Probably because they are the closest resemblance I have to my future daughter right now. I found myself wondering "Will she have a sharp jaw line, will her face be heart shaped, will her skin be light or dark, will, will, will....". I even began to wonder how accustomed will our daughter be to smelling food like this (even though she probably won't be eating solids like these just yet)? Are these smells soothing to her? Will the aroma of our foods be bothersome to her initially when she comes home? So many questions whirring through my mind!

On to the food:

We ordered "family style" and got to sample a little bit of everything on the menu. While not too many of our party members taste buds enjoyed the food, I found it so much fun! I actually ate a lot. Come to think of it, myself and my father in law were the last ones still eating - that never happens to me! And, for those of you who know me well, you know I am not much of a risk taker when it comes to food. In fact, the two times I have been to Europe I survived on granola bars and toast. Seriously. So, this outing was a stretch for me! But I loved it!

This was one of the platters of food we got....it was full of veggies, chicken, and lamb. I can proudly say I tried it all (but still prefer the veggie route).

This was the bread used to dip the food up with - kind of a substitute for silver ware! It was like a spongy, sourdough-y tortilla...yummy!

At the end of dinner, some of us ordered tea and coffee. Again, those of you who know me well know I cannot stand hot drinks. BUT...I ordered and drank all of the hot tea! All in all, it was a great experience (for me anyway). I look forward to doing it again sometime soon! Any takers?

Garrett-isms

Here are a few cute things Garrett has said over the past week or so....

1. Mommy, do you know how to do jumping jacksons? You go, x and jump, x and jump!

2. Oh, Mommy I do not want to break the log! If I break the log, I would go to jail.

3. (while in the bathtub, using the washcloth to wipe off the shaving cream) Aren't you glad we have "Clorox Disinfect to Protect"? (TV commercials much??)

4. (while in a public restroom) Mommy, be careful. You can't see all the germs, but they're still lurking! (apparently thanks to another TV commercial -really, we RARELY watch TV - child has the memorization capacity of, um, I don't know who, but man!)

Putting Picasso to Shame

This morning the G-man got his paint on!

At the car wash....

The boys washed one of our cars tonight - it was too fun to watch! Be sure to enlarge at least one picture and check out Garrett's outfit of choice - right down to the shoes!!

SCC Concert

Friday night Kenny and I met up with our friends, Heather and Jordan, for the Steven Curtis Chapman concert! The very first time I saw his show was during our first year of marriage. We went with our same friends then (plus a few more) and I remember having to leave the concert because I was weeping so hard and so loudly. At the concert, SCC presented/spotlighted adoption - something that was near and dear to my heart even then. But it was that night in 2002 that I feel like God confirmed in my heart that adoption would be an avenue to parenting for me....I just didn't know when or how. Kenny thought I was crazy. I mean, I was bawling like a baby.

About 7-8 months later, when faced with our infertility diagnosis, I was laying down on the floor, weeping once again, and the words from a Steven Curtis Champan song kept scrolling through my mind....."God is God and I not. God is God and I am man." .... and for me that was enough of an answer that night (and many, many days and the next few years to come) to my questions of "Why?".

Then, fast forward a few more years, Heather and Jordan went to see SCC (this time w/o us) and felt the same calling on their lives as parents - and they have adopted their sweet Sammy from Korea!

Needless to say, I was looking forward to this concert! Being only two months after the death of his little girl, Maria, I wasn't sure what to expect the tone of the concert to be. It was such a bittersweet time and quite honestly, a blessing. I heard his words and voice this time in the frame of mind as an "already parent" and was blessed and encouraged. I think my favorite song was this one for obvious reasons:

Part of Our Week in Water

Our week has been filled with fun pool play dates in the metroplex! Unfortunately, I didn't take our camera to any of the festivities. Luckily, at our first get together with some family (Jess and Jordyn) on Tuesday, Jess brought along her camera and sent me these fun pics. We had such a fun time at Hawaiian Falls; Kenny was able to take a day off work and join in the fun. I am not sure which boy had more fun - Kenny or Garrett! We will definetly be going back!

Kenny and Garrett in the Wave Pool

Garrett on His Way Down the Big Slide

Garrett Enjoying a Rock Water Fountain

All Smiles!

Jordyn was crackin' me up while eating, no licking, her breadsticks!

What does YOUR cardboard story say?

I'm sure MANY of you have seen this video. Watch it again. If you haven't seen it, take the time to watch it NOW. Our church did this same thing a few months ago and it was SO powerful to watch the "cardboard stories" of people we've grown to know/love.

I sat in tears as I watched this video, amazed that by Jesus' blood and grace, I get to, am free to, am honored to, am invited to and am welcomed to have my own "cardboard story"!

Leave me a comment if you feel comfortable, tell me what your cardboard story would say!

We're all starting to nest....

This past weekend we began nesting in preparation for our future daughter's homecoming. Because I do not have a big belly to always remind me that we will be having a new baby soon, I have tried really hard to find some way to attach myself to this adoption process. Sometimes, I emotionally check out because it seems that it is just too much to process, but in reality I know I need to stay connected. So, besides reading adoption books and attending workshops at our agency and reading up on other adoption blogs, I decided it would be good for me (I know, it is too hard for others) to start our little girl's room. And this weekend was the kick-off!

We've had the crib and changing table (still in the boxes) sitting in the guest room for about a month now but finally decided to open them up! Kenny got ready to put them together and surprisingly, Garrett wanted to help. Garrett followed Kenny around checking out each detail of the crib and changing table. He even went as far as to get out the baby doll we had gotten and pretended to be taking care of his new baby sister.

Needless to say, Kenny and I were both shocked. Shocked because Garrett has not really been a fan of babies or small children in the past. But boy-howdy! He loved on his baby sister, put her to bed, got her up from bed, changed her diaper and even requested a bottle and passy for her (because you know, she was hungry and fussy). It is so much fun to see G pretending and preparing his own little heart for a sibling! And, we know, we know, this act may not continue once she's here, but here's hoping!

And, as a side note, today while waiting in the drive through line at the dry cleaners, Garrett looked over to the do-it-yourself car wash across the street. He saw a daddy and his two boys washing their car. Immediately he said, "Mommy, they have BROWN skin. We have WHITE skin. Baby E will have brown skin like them. That will be SOOOO beautiful!".....I melted and teared up.

PS - Not everything you see stays....the brown walls are going and those cushions on the rocker, too!

Happy 4th, Ya'll!

Goodbye Alzowee

Last year in an effort to prompt (ah-hem, bribe) Garrett to potty train, I had promised him that if he would indeed potty, I would get him a fish like the ones he oo's and ah's over at doctor offices, etc. Well, two months after I offered that bribe, Garrett randomly and without prompting announced he was ready to go potty so he could get his fish. And so the fish was gotten. And named "Alzowee" by the little mister. We have no idea where he got this name.

Much to our surprise, Alzowee survived life in our home for almost ten months. Kenny noticed Alzowee died on Sunday night and texted me while I was grocery shopping with the breaking news. I did not have a game plan for this. So, we agreed we'd tell Garrett in the morning. But we both overslept and Kenny had to rush out the door to work.

So last night after dinner I explained to Garrett what had happened. If I remember correctly, he asked why and then ran to his little fish bowl to see what had happened. Kenny and I ran right after him. Garrett got VERY quiet and his little eyes became VERY wide....I was so worried he would become hysterically sad. But nope. Garrett just leaned in closer to the fish tank and said, "I'm sorry you died Alzowee. I will miss you."

And that was that. I had braced myself for the whole "where will he go now" and "where will we put him now" conversation but none was to be had. Kenny motioned for me to be quiet and not try to force any more conversation than he was ready for....strange to me but I went with it. Later Kenny whispered, "It'll come up again." because it ALWAYS comes up again with G-man.

To conclude the brief discussion of Alzowee's death, Garrett proclaimed that he wants to earn another fish. When we went into the kitchen to write that on his incentive chart, he changed his mind and decided he'd rather earn a big silver balloon.

Apparently life will go on without our dear, purple Alzowee fish.