Row that Boat, Santa Kitty!

A child's perspective can be so clear, so innocent, so true. Here is the version of "Row, Row, Row, Your Boat" that the girls sing.

Row, row row your boat,

Gently down the streaaaam!

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,

Life is ABOUT a dream!!!!

No, not "Life is BUT a dream..." But ABOUT a dream. And you know what? They're SO right. Life is about a dream. A dream to do and be the best person for God we can be. At least, that's the way I see it. So precious!

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Tonight, before the girls went to bed, I asked them what they wanted to be when they grow up.

Abby's answer: Santa Claus

My thoughts: Totally possible! Abby is the epitome of Santa. She has a heart that is so big. She is extremely giving, and will often put others needs before hers. And she loves children. Let's just pray she ditches the white beard!

Laney's answer: A kitty cat

My thoughts: She is already channeling the spirit of cats. She's extremely fickle. She loves to groom herself. (She recently said, "When you're done with my hair, will I be stylish?" And when she gets her way, she nearly purrs!

Just some three year old joys I wanted to share!

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OH--and yesterday, I took Cooper the Wonderpuppy to the vet (doggie doctor in twinoddler terms) for his second round of shots. (MUCH better this time-except for pooping in the waiting room...um, Cooper, not the girls) While we were there, I spotted the big pad scale they use to weigh the dogs. So, like any good Mama, I told the girls to hop on up there to see what they weighed. (Didn't get caught either!) heeh...the stats are below, if you were curious!

Cooper

Age: 4 months old

Weight: 7 pounds

Abby

Age: 3 years (turns 4 in Jan.)

Weight: 30 pounds

Laney

Age: 3 years (turns 4 in Jan.)

Weight: 29 pounds

Have a great week! Enjoy some fun pictures from our summer!
Our first "camp out" on our living room floor!

We are WAY too cool for this firetruck you posed us in front of!

Our cousin Jarrett is WAY fun. He comes up with silly games all the time!

Thankful Thursday...on Friday

Ok, so today's post is late. And it's unimportant in light of world hunger, the orphan crisis, adoption issues, and so on. But it's important to be thankful for all things, at all times, right?

After my hysto, I had a swelly belly. (My incision was about eight to nine inches, vertically) Now, I'm a big mama, so it might have just looked like I gained even MORE weight than I was already carrying. But, I wasn't...my belly has just been uuber swollen and tender. During these times, I have thanked God that I was able to afford to buy a few items that would accommodate the swollen belly and it's soreness.

But today, my friends, is a super special day. I am wearing jeans! NO elastic waist! Not a size bigger than usual. And the icing on the cake...THEY ARE BUTTONED!

I still have some tenderness, especially around my incision, but the swelly belly is GONE! Now, I just need to lose the existing belly that I have! But, alas, that conversation is for another time!

Celebrate with me by doing a belly dance!!! Um, with your clothes on and belly covered! :)

Have a great weekend, family!

PLEASE PRAY

Ok, so I visit many blogs and I am amazed at the adoption community. There are people fundraising to bring home sweet children, asking for prayers, donating items to be auctioned, or fundraising on behalf of others. People are so generous when it comes to saving a child. This time should be no different.

Our dear bloggy friend Linny, and her family, are amazing God-centered people. They have a blended family of both biological and adoptive children. They are currently SO close to bringing home their seven year old daughter, sweet Jubilee from Ch*na. They are doing this even though Satan has attacked them repeatedly. They have experienced a fire that destroyed their home, many serious illnesses, a death of a pet, and many other tragedies. This has not deterred them. It has only fueled the fire in their hearts. Obedience to God is key.

Today, however, they received information from Ch*na that their paperwork was being withdrawn because it has taken so long. This means that Ch*na has withdrawn their approval for Linny and her family to adopt Jubilee. As you can imagine, this is devastating!

PLEASE PLEASE pray and fast with us (fasting as a body of Christ tomorrow) for Ch*na to change their minds. I would say this is one gargantuan mountain for Ch*na to change their minds, but for the Saunders, it has happened before!!! They needed a HUGE mountain moved years ago for another adoption and God said "MOVE" and it did! Now they and we need God to speak it again!

GOD says pure religion is that in which one cares for the orphan and widow, and oh, baby...the Saunders do just that.

Please pray right now...and fast tomorrow (Thursday) that God would move this mountain. Otherwise, sweet Jubilee will have to endure waiting on her forever family even longer, if she is even given another chance. (And the Saunders and we will be heartbroken.)

Go and storm Heaven!

Two Years Ago Today

For some...it was a pregnancy test.
For some...it was an ultrasound.
For some...it was when they placed the baby on your chest.
For some...it was through a nursery window.
For us...it was a phone call and an email.

Exactly two years ago today Tony and I received the best call in the world. We were told we were the parents of twin girls from China! And just a few short minutes later, we received the email that held valuable medical information, but more importantly, the first glimpses of our daughters.

It was a day ordained by God, for sure. Only He could have orchestrated the events of the day. Everything fell into place from Lauren (co-teacher) covering my class while I gushed and made calls, to Tony feeling under-the-weather enough to have scheduled a doctor's appointment. He was able to bring their file right to the doctor that day and get his blessing!

Telling family and friends (even if we jumped the gun a bit) was so much fun. The tears, the joy, the emotions were so strong that day. God not only blessed us with one, but two gorgeous children. He gave us two of His own to look after. Oh, the JOY!

Today's scripture on the blog to the left is SO fitting! "How great you are, O Sovereign LORD! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you." 2 Samuel 7:22 GOD IS GOOD!

Can you recall how/when you found out we were expecting twins? What was your first reaction? Thoughts? Prayers? Hopes? Leave a comment for the girls. What a treasured memory!

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Sweet Abby and Laney,

It was two years ago that we got the call that would change our lives forever. We had anticipated one beautiful soul to care for, but when God gave us two, we were DOUBLY blessed! We were excited to meet you, learn your personalities, and become Mama and Baba to you.


When we saw your precious faces for the first time, we were amazed. We looked into your little eyes and knew you were supposed to be our daughters. Over the next couple of months, we memorized every detail of your faces. Every expression. And tried to guess the thoughts running through your minds. We wanted to put smiles on those sad faces. We wanted to see joy creep into your eyes. Our arms literally ached to hold you. Abby, we longed to pick you up, as you were reaching up in one of your pictures. We wanted to hold you close so you would feel loved. And, Laney, we looked into your eyes, those eyes that could see straight into our souls. We knew you were a little more wary and we longed to prove to you that we were safe and could be trusted. We prayed our love for you was strong enough that it could bridge the oceans and you would feel it.




We could have never dreamed up a better life, girls. You were created for our family, and I hope you feel we were designed for you. We have loved every second of our lives with you, and we're looking forward to experiencing the future together.

We love you up to the starts and back again.

Love,

Mama and Baba


This was the updated picture we received right before we traveled to unite as a family. Our hearts broke. We wanted to scoop you up and love on you!

1st Day of Preschool

The summer flew by and it is back to school time.

The girls are attending preschool for the first time. They have been looking forward to this day for a long time. Abby has talked about it non-stop, especially since she has new N*kes that are for school (although she did not get to wear them the first day) and has been looking forward to wearing them.

The day went well. We got them up early. They got dressed and ate a very healthy breakfast, Fr*sted Flakes (They're Grrrrrreat!). After that they grabbed back packs (or pack packs as they girls call them) and we headed for the Jeep. We took a few pictures in the front yard (below) to document the trek to school.

Once we arrived at school, we took another photo, this one in the parking lot.

Once we arrived inside the school, we took a few more pictures. This photo was taken with the girls sitting on the "time out" bench. We hope they are not frequent visitors.

When I arrived to pick them up they were playing on the playground. The teacher came up to me and told me they were very good today. They painted pictures of Jesus and his sheep and had a good time. They both confirmed that the "potties" were small for little girls. That was something they were concerned about on the way to school. They wanted to know how they would get on the potties.

I think this photo sums up the day...

I am sure there will be many more posts to come. It's been a long day and we're off to bed. Gotta start over again in less than 8 hours...yuck!

Thanks for checking in with us. Have a good week!

All You Never Wanted to Know About Us....

Yay! I had my final doctor's visit today (except for check-ups) and everything looks good! My surgery was five weeks ago yesterday. I am cancer free and feeling great!! God is good!

Since it was a great day, I wanted to do a fun post. I stole this idea from Jaime and filled in my own answers. (Um, except, some of her answers are great, so I left them the same!)

I AM … blessed a thousand percent!

I WANT… every child to have a safe and loving family.

I HAVE … too much fat.

I KEEP … biting my nails! HELP!

I WISH I COULD … be a stay-at-home mommy.

I FEAR … not seeing some of my family in Heaven.

I HEAR … the girls practicing their letters with Tony.

I DON'T THINK … the healthcare plan is the best idea, matter of fact, I think it's horrible

I REGRET … some things, but if presented the opportunity to go back, i don't think i would change them since it would alter the course of life. AMEN Jaime!! Couldn't have said it better myself!

I LOVE … my family intensely.

I AM NOT … sure what God wants Tony and me to do when we grow up.

I DANCE … with the girls.

I SING …in the car with Tony. He usually rolls his eyes. Especially when I hold out a fake microphone for him to sing into.

I NEVER … want to look back and say, "I wish I would've/could've".

I CRY WHEN I WATCH … pretty much anything. HELLO people...I just had a hysterectomy!

I AM NOT ALWAYS … certain.

I HATE THAT … there are kids out there who have never had a mommy or daddy kiss a boo boo, tuck them in, or whisper that Jesus loves them.

I'M CONFUSED ABOUT … where Tony and I should be, and what we should be doing for God.

I NEED … to lose weight. Maybe that's what I should be doing for God!

I SHOULD … clean more often, be nicer to my husband, be nicer to people, be more approachable, be more involved, be more steadfast, be better…ME TOO Jaime! Except, add, laundry, read my Bible more, give love more freely, not be judgemental.



Ok, now I'm forcing Tony to do this. Let's see what he puts!



I AM … going to try to lose weight (and am going to complete this for my lovely wife)

I WANT… to lose weight

I HAVE … to finish sorting laundry and put it away at some point

I KEEP … pondering life...what should I do when I grow up

I WISH I COULD … make an impact

I FEAR … many things

I HEAR … Cooper (our new puppy) passing gas (WOW - how could something so small release such toxic odors????)

I DON'T THINK … I'm ready to go back to work tomorrow (I had two lovely days off)

I REGRET … stuff

I LOVE … my wife, kids and family

I AM NOT … pleased with the direction PBO is taking this country

I DANCE … (nope, I am a Wesleyan :) )

I SING … with the girls in the car - usually "5 little monkeys jumping on the bed" - their favorite.

I NEVER … have been to Europe and several other places...

I CRY WHEN I WATCH … coverage of the cash for clunkers...what a waste of perfectly good vehicles

I AM NOT ALWAYS … on time

I HATE THAT … life is not always fair

I'M CONFUSED ABOUT … what's next

I NEED … to do many things...exercise, eat better, read Bible more, etc...

I SHOULD … do everthing I just mentioned in the I NEED...

Thankful Thursday

SO thankful for them...

Ok, settle in, I'm thankful for a LOT!

*I'm thankful for doctors who are given their gifts from God.

*I'm SO thankful for a husband who took care of me and the girls like no other. I couldn't have asked for a better, more loving man.

*I'm thankful for both sets of parents who took days off to help, drive, feed, play, love, entertain, and care for us during and after the surgery.

*I'm thankful for family who checked in often and offered any help they could.

*I'm thankful for friends who cooked meals for us for two weeks. You will never know how valuable that was!

*I'm thankful for the flowers, cards, balloons, well wishes and prayers! They were needed and felt!

*I'm thankful for feeling more like myself now.

*I'm thankful for God's provisions so that we were able to have a vacation together as a family and make wonderful memories before the surgery.

*I'm thankful for the sunshine.

*I'm thankful for puppy kisses that make my girls squeal.

*I'm thankful that I have a job that I love, and I promise to give 100% effort in it. (at least most of the time...eheh, everyone has an off day!)

*I'm thankful I live in a place where I am free to worship God, the Creator.

*I'm thankful for nap times, that give me chances to recharge and blog! (Which it's almost over...I better go!)

What are YOU thankful for?????

Enjoy a few pics from our vacation!

Baba is so patient when he is teaching them!

I'm thankful for these two gorgous princesses who were taking a break from kingdom duties, by resting on our cabin swing.

The girls are thankful for new friends...this cute little statue bear in our cabin. Not sure if they'd like the real deal...RIGHT LINNY?

Just some pretty flowers outside our cabin.

MY man!

One view from our cabin...

...and another.

You can take my uterus, but you can't...

...stop me from having babies!!! HA! I use the term, "having" loosely. I mean, we have added to our family. We now have a new furbaby. We went into a store to buy dogfood, and came out with a dog.


Tony thought he was cute, so I asked to see him. He and the girls played and after some discussion (all of five minutes) we decided we'd make the leap.

When we were walking down the aisle, one of the salesladies came up and said, "Ohhh, are you going home?" (directing her conversation at the dog) And then she turned to us and said, "We call him our ADHD dog." Yeah. Well. Listen, lady, we hadn't paid for him yet!


We got him home and he has settled way down. It's like he just knew he was home. Make no mistake, he is Tony's dog. He follows Tony around like his shadow and cries when he can't be near him. He's Tony's dog clear down to his name...Cooper. As in, Mini-Cooper. He's mini (small) and Tony has always wanted a Mini-Cooper. So it just fit. Cooper. Yeah.

For those of you concerned about our other dog, Kyler, well, hmmm. She just barely tolerates him. He's like that little dog on Tom and Jerry, jumping all around and wanting to play with Spike. She does NOT care for his energy level at all. However, if she doesn't see us watching, we have spotted her playing with him and playing tag. At least we THINK she's playing with him! heehheh.

So, without further ado...here he is. Cooper.

Here, Kyler is like, "WHAT in the world have you done to me? I trusted you!"