First Family Vacation

Over the past four days we took our first family vacation/trip! We had not originally planned to take a trip right now (seeing as we'll be going to Africa later on this year as a family) but ended up needing to make the trip to see an eye specialist in Connecticut (for Garrett). So, we used this as an excuse to have a little family get away.

First of all, you must know that we have NEVER taken a REAL vacation as a family before. Kenny and I have used most of our vacations as recouping time from parenting and quite honestly, just from the small trips in the car to visit family and friends, we learned that our precious son just isn't a traveler. In the past he has been a real "routine keeper" and anything out of the ordinary would have rocked his boat. And caused sleepless nights. And tantrums. Lots and lots of tantrums. When Garrett was 20 months old I took him on his first plane ride with my dad and his wife to visit some extended family in Louisiana. Big mistake. It was awful. I was exhausted. And for the past two and one half years, have dreaded the day we'd HAVE to take another plane ride.

But, the eye doctor is in Connecticut and we're here. So, we went. Period.

And let me just say, I was PLEASANTLY surprised! Garrett did an amazing job of traveling! He was content to just go with the flow, miss his naps and even spare us any tantrums. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop because in reality, our traveling was asking a lot of a 3 1/2 year old.

Mommy and Garrett on the Plane

We had two connecting flights on our first day of travel. During the layover Garrett suckered his Daddy into this:

"Pongo Boy"

And, boy did Pongo Boy ever travel with us...he made appearances everywhere we did:

Pongo Boy & Garrett on the Plane (both buckled up, mind you)

Pongo Boy and Garrett in the "Borrowed" Car...Garrett had a hard time understanding why we couldn't just take this car home with us!

After a long day of travel and NO Dr. Pepper to be found, we putzed around Guilford, CT and were pleasantly surprised by it's quaintness. All of the homes were so unique and the town appeared idealistic. Kinda like Wisteria Lane. Or something. Anyway, we got a good night's sleep (SHOCKER!) and went sightseeing the next day:

A Connecticut rock - Garrett collects rocks here at home, so it was no surprise he had to find the perfect one from CT!

The Guilford Train Station - the first REAL one Garrett has seen! He wanted to know when Thomas would be coming down the tracks to ride on!

Boys at the Guilford train tracks...

Garrett at the shoreline...it was SO bright for our little light-sensitive man!

Garrett, Mommy and oh, yes, Pongo Boy at the shoreline...since there was no sand, we sat on HUGE rocks. No sooner than when we had sat down, we noticed hundreds of tiny ladybugs crawling everywhere!

Look! More Ladybugs!

Murphy's law found us...three days before our trip Garrett caught a virus. While the virus didn't effect his mood, we spent many moments like this one, wiping and blowing his nose!

My sweet boys taking a stroll in the town's green area - a beautiful, open green park area in the middle of the town.

The boys reading bedtime stories in the hotel room....it was a long day, complete with a great doctor's visit and report! Garrett will be sporting some new glasses in the next few weeks!

I'll end this post here....tomorrow I'll follow up with day three of our journey....New York City!

Because Every Good Chef Rolls Like That

The other night when I was cooking dinner, Garrett moseyed in to help out. Once he realized he came in just in time to help with the whole process, he ran to his playroom, snatched his apron from his pretend kitchen (and no, that is not feminine - all good mommas will train their boys to help in the kitchen - can I get an amen?) and proceeded to search for his chef hat. No luck. But have no fear; the little man has him some great problem solving skills! In effort to attain the tall effect a regular chef hat makes, he grabbed one of the gazillion Easter baskets he received (this one was a monkey) and propped it right up on his noggin'. Mission accomplished. He was ready to cook!

Mommy, Daddy and Who?

Tonight as Kenny was getting ready to put Garrett to bed, the two boys headed through the living room towards the master bedroom (where I was) so that we could exchange our nightly goodnight kisses and sweet dream wishes when Garrett saw this framed in our built-in's:


Garrett proclaimed, "It's Mommy, Daddy and Baby Jesus!" with a sweet little voice that had a mixture of "I'm serious, guys, it's really Baby Jesus" and "Aren't I cute and funny??". Of course it got a giggle out of me! I mean, really? Where on earth would Mr. Man pull that one from? It is OBVIOUSLY Garrett as a baby and it has been framed in our home for almost FOUR YEARS! Regardless, it was one of those quick moments I don't want to forget!

So much on my mind....

I've had so much on my mind lately! I must look like a zombie walking around when people see me because I am constantly circling through my to-do lists, people on my heart and so on. Here is a little glimpse of what's running through my mind:

1. My sweet friend Julie posted this the other day which really got me thinking. I've always thought "garbage in, garbage out" but when it comes right down to it, I filter so much for my son but don't do quite as good of job for myself. So, sadly, I am going to cut out several of my favorite t.v. shows because a) my time could be put to much better use and b) they ever so slightly fill my heart with things that don't align with my beliefs (you can see in her comment section what shows I am letting go of).

2. And on the another friend front, my dear, sweet friend, Ms. Neighbor is truly a great friend! When we moved to this neighborhood I really did pray that God would bless me with friends within our neighborhood and families we could have friendships with - and He did! Ms. Neighbor (aka: Kristie) is always there to lend a helping hand with an egg or a stick of butter or a glue stick. That girl is so prepared! But she also is one of the best listener's I've ever met. And, to top it all off, she's the kind of friend who will call you at 4 a.m. to make sure you heard the tornado sirens going off - yes, she really did! So, thanks, Ms. Neighbor for being such a great friend!

3. Kenny's grandpa is quite ill. It's so hard to see your family sick and it's honestly, for me, even harder to watch our parents care for their sick parents. I can almost see their hearts breaking. If you get a chance, pray for Kenny's sweet Daddaw.

4. Last week we had a the most incredible opportunity to go down to our adoption agency and meet with the couple who oversees our future child's orphanage/aka: baby home. It was the most surreal time I've had in a very long time. I walked into the room to meet this couple, and I immediately choked up with tears. Their faces are some of the most joyful I've ever seen. Their love for the Lord is more than rare. Their passion for caring for the people of their country is down right amazing - they care for not only the orphans in the home but care for people through churches, schools, clinics and so on. I sat in awe as I witnessed God's mighty hand working through two obedient and willing servants. I wept as I realized the magnitude of their work. I wept as they prayed over us and confirmed, in ways I really cannot express, that we, too, are doing exactly what God has called our family to do. This decision to adopt was not one taken lightly. Satan has set many stumbling blocks in our path. Even to this day I have doubts flood my mind through various avenues and yet, as this man prayed, he shot down each of those doubts, one by one. I am beyond honored to have met this couple and beyond grateful for the provision they are providing for our future child.

5. This dossier thing is kicking my rear end! The dossier is a group of documents that need to be gathered (in quite a particular way) and then notarized, certified by the secretary of state, Department of State and authenticated by the country Embassy/Consulate. While none of the work involves great thinking, it does involve precise actions (refer to us only by our full name, only legible signatures - try getting YOUR doctor to do that, sign only in blue, etc). We feel bad asking people to get things done for us when they are super busy to begin with, but to then add the burden of being so picky - ahh! But, it is all worth the time and hassle to bring home our next child! Thank you to those of you who are making this happen!

6. The sweet little darling already in our home is just getting sweeter and sweeter! As Garrett gets closer and closer to turning four, he is maturing and changing so much! He now says to me when going potty "Mommy, cwose the du-uh, I need pwi-va-see!" Really? Really?

I think that's all for now. I need to go put dinner in the crock pot. And rest a bit. This getting up at 4 a.m. for a tornado bit just isn't my cup of tea!

Pregnant - On Paper!

Well, this post is LONG over-due! We have been so busy doing paperwork and reading and educating ourselves that we have seldom paused to reflect - at least on this blog. So, here goes nothing:

We are adopting again! And we are adopting from a country in Africa. Sooner than later. Let me start from the beginning:

I have always wanted to adopt. I think I had the "adoption gene" As a little girl and in my teenage years I always envisioned getting married and adopting. I really never thought much about being pregnant. Not sure why. Just did. My mom even remembers me sharing these things. In college I did my big senior project on adoption (I was a child and family development major) - ate it up. Loved every minute. But I never thought about going into the adoption field as a professional. Just a parent. During my senior year I was engaged to my now hubby, Kenny. Before we were engaged and began discussing marriage, I told him my dream of adopting. And I told him I just knew, for some strange reason, that I wouldn't be able to become pregnant. I had never had any health problems but something in my heart knew. (Now I can see that was God preparing my heart for things to come.)

Once we were married and got to the stage of wanting to become parents, I begged Kenny once more to "adopt first, pregnancy second" because by this time I wanted to go through a pregnancy. For many good reasons, I agreed with my husband - we were young and should try to conceive first. After about 4-6 months of "trying" I had that unsettling feeling that something wasn't right. I begged my OB/GYN to do some tests and come to find out, both Kenny and I had some fertility issues. Within a 3 month window of time, we had seen the OB/GYN, 2 male specialists and a fertility specialist AND done 2 rounds of very simple treatments. It was evident. We'd have to proceed to the "big guns" of treatment.

We planned and planned and got VERY close twice to starting treatment. Each time God slammed the door shut. We KNEW that He was leading us back to adoption. And this time, it was evident to both of us. Both of our hearts were open. I was shocked and in awe as I had been praying for that for years!

Within a few more months we brought home our sweet little boy.....I am not going to share the details of his adoption here. That story is such a special one and I want him to be the one to share it when he is ready. Just know - it was a domestic, open adoption. And God has blessed us beyond measure with our son and the addition of extended family members through this adoption!

When Garrett turned one, I was ready again for another one! But I knew it was probably too soon and so we waited until right before he turned two to start the adoption process again. We went to many agency meetings to find the right one for us and even looked into various types of adoption (embryo, international and of course domestic). And really, Kenny and I mulled over this decision. We spent many days and nights tearful and confused because nothing made sense. I know that's hard to understand for some of you - just know it's complicated. So, we decided to put it all on hold for six months.

During that six months numerous life changes occurred that made us think having one child, at least for the next few years, would be ideal. I even went so far as to get rid of EVERYTHING baby - the crib, the bottles, EVERYTHING! Fast forward another 6-9 months and we decided, based on changes in life again, that we could handle and really wanted to parent more children. So, the dreaded journey of deciding "how" to adopt began again.

Finally, this past December our hearts were in agreement and we saw God opening doors for us to adopt from Africa. We attended our first meeting at our adoption agency, Buckner, and got to work on the application. By the end of January, our application had been submitted and by mid-February it was approved and we received an invitation to attend a two day educational seminar on international adoption. By mid-March our home study was completed and by the end of March it was approved. We are now working on our dossier (the last of the paperwork trail before we wait on the referral of a child).

It has taken us a full three months to tell all of our family and most of our friends our exciting news and hence didn't want to blare it here until then. But now, it's official! The three of us will be going to Africa (for legality reasons, we cannot disclose the exact country on the web) hopefully, God willing, by the end of 2008 or early 2009 to bring home our child!

I will post more in the days to come about why we chose Africa, what type of child will be a part of our family, how we are preparing, etc. I thought for now, this was enough to soak in! We are joyfully excited to be on this journey and can't wait to see how God will bless us with another child!

Wedding

Last week one of my very best friends of more than 10 years got married! DeAnn was such a beautiful bride and was married at a beautiful location - the Dallas Arboretum. Everything was gorgeous and appeared to go smoothly (I say appear because I was not aware of any problems). The above picture is of Kristen, me, DeAnn and Ashley. We all met during our high school years (even though we went to different schools) and have been with one another through graduations, weddings and babies. It's wonderful to have such amazing friends and to be a part of their lives. Thank you, DeAnn, for allowing me to be a part of your big day. I wish you and Matt many blessings and many years side-by-side.

Love you,

Jill

In Regards to Tornado '08

Yesterday afternoon Garrett would NOT take a nap and by that I mean he was in his bed but would NOT go to sleep. The child has some sort of mechanism in him that fights sleep and it usually prevails. Around 3:10 I finally got Garrett to go to sleep and around 3:45 the sirens started blaring. Not the sirens of our house alarm but the sirens at the fire station (I think that's where they come from) signalling a tornado watch/warning. I assumed that's what it was but thought I should refer to the resident expert of life, Ms. Neighbor. I called Ms. Neighbor and she indeed confirmed to take cover. I ran and woke the sleeping beauty up (which goes against every rule in our household book), grabbed my cell phone as directed by Ms. Neighbor and found the center room of our home that contained no windows - the small kids bath.

We snuggled up and G actually fell back asleep. Until while talking on the cell phone with Kenny I was prompted to get up, get pillows and heavy quilts for protection, a heavy duty flashlight, a house phone, water/juice & snacks and my cell phone charger. Insert sheer panic here. I mean, really? Really? I was envisioning the worst. Apprarently I'm a jewel of calmness in times of stress, strain and emergency.

And then Ms. Neighbor called back to give me updates (because she had the inside scoop - her sister was watching tv in Denton and could relay to us minute by minute weather forcasting). Apparently the weather man predicted the tornado would come right down the main street our neighborhood is off of and may or may not touch down....lovely. More panic. Garrett and I prayed out loud. I must say that I appeared calm for the sake of my child but deep inside I was really glad my new life insurance had just kicked in last week. Really. My mind went terrible places.

Any who, enough drama. Here's the cute part....when Kenny came home from work and we were having dinner together, Garrett proceeded to tell Kenny all about the tow-nado and how we got in the baff-tub and snuggled up. Kenny said, "Mommy sure did keep you safe, huh?" Garrett nodded and agreed but interjected with, "And JESUS! Jesus kept me safe."

Loved it. Teared up.