Get It

I was trying to get some cute clips of Isaac in the early stages of crawling. As I was taping I repeatedly said, "Get it" which Jack understood as his cue to get in the way. I'll try again in a day or two, but here's a few clips of the cute baby & jealous dog. (Pause music on the side if it's annoying to you)

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Good With Words

This is one of my favorite blogs. And Katie's life is real. I especially love today's post as she touches on her struggles and the reality of adoption. Her words are real & accurate & I because it's tough for me, I appreciate people who are good with words. I feel her heart.

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Meat or Veggies?

I've been testing out a lot of new meat & veggie recipes on my girls, and they've been fabulous sports. One common trend I notice with the girls is that while one prefers her meat the clearly other prefers her veggies. Ellie could easily adapt to vegetarianism while Saedi has always been a carnivore.
While this meal is not a good example of my cooking potential, here are some of our favorite kid-tested-mother-approved healthy recipes:
kale chips
breakfast pizza Fantastic & filling!
carrot scallion latkes
carrot banana muffins
roasted balsamic beets This was my first time making or eating beets. Ellie & I loved them!
Broccoli Cauliflower Casserole
Pumpkin Pie
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Paper Chain

The countdown is on. The girls made the long-awaited-paper chain last night (with a few extra links b/c we know that's just how it goes). It was decked out in duck tape, camping & fishing stickers & a few flowers because...they're girls!
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Lots of Spring!

Lots of Spring in the air and we're loving it! We've had warm, even hot, sunny days already. The flowers and trees are in full bloom, the windows are open, and we're spending lots of time outside. And the spring cleaning bug has arrived too. Last week while at Tara's she taught me how to make homemade laundry detergent and an all purpose cleaner. And she sent me home with the links to make homemade deodorant. All 3 recipes (laundry detergent, all-purpose cleaner, & deodorant) I tried and love. So, of course, I'm going to pass along because they're safe, inexpensive & they work fabulously!

All purpose cleaner :
1 C water
1 C distilled white vinegar
can add a little dish soap if you want
Put in spray bottle and clean! For soap scum sprinkle baking soda first then spray on top. Works way better then scrubbing bubbles & magic eraser...plus there are no toxins!

& laundry detergent:
1 C borax
1 C washing soda
1 bar of bath soap, grated ( I went with Tara's suggestion & used Dr Bronner's lavender soap from Target)
Grate the soap and then mix ingredients together in tupperware. Use 1-2 TBSP per load of laundry.

Deodorant:
1/4 C baking soda
1/4 C cornstarch
4-6 TBSP coconut oil (in soft solid form, not liquid)
Mix baking soda and cornstarch together. Using 1 Tbsp at a time mix in coconut oil until all ingredients are mixed well. I ended up using only 4 tbsp of coconut oil. I stuffed everything into an old deodorant dispenser and I store mine in the fridge since it's warm out and the coconut oil will get too soft sitting out.



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Isaac & Claire

My friend Tara & her daughter Claire came over for dinner last week. Tara's husband, Joe, & Riley work together so needless to say, we're two very eager wives! She and I were laughing at how similar Isaac and Claire look. Claire just turned one, but these two could easily pass for siblings, if not twins!

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Adoption Update

We accepted the referral I blogged about last week. Really, we were hooked on this baby boy immediately, but needed to meet with doctors as a formality and to make sure we had the big picture. He is called Edilu & he's a beautiful baby boy, about 6 months old & from the Southern part of the country. Aunt Carri and her boys asked to call him "Eddie" for the time being & Ellie really wants to call him "Jeremy" for some reason. So, what's next? As of now all of our documents are getting ready to be submitted to the Ethiopian courts. Basically, we wait (which as my SIL Carri said to me on the phone, "this is where the work begins"- b/c in the waiting we pray, intercede, & remain out of control. The Ethiopian government will assign us a court date (typically this would be 3-6 months from now, but with some recent changes it's hard to know what to expect) and at that time Riley and I will travel to Ethiopia to petition for this boy. We will meet him and be able to have some interaction with him. Ry and I will return back to the States and wait until we have "the go" to return to Ethiopia and bring him home! So, pray with us as we've got long battles before us.

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Atlanta

Last weekend the kids and I went on our first road trip...Atlanta here we come! We dropped Jack off at Ms Marian's late morning and then drove to see my younger brother, Steve-O & his wife, Jenn-AY (my phoenic spelling), cousin Hailey (3 weeks younger than Saedi) & my newest neice, baby Kaitlyn Beth who was just 2.5 weeks old!

Bye-Bye Jacker

The girls love to sit in the very back of the bus, I mean van, and they were digging the wireless headphones that Daddy bought for their new dvd player. Thanks to Mandi who donated a whole album of dvd's to occupy the girls during this 6 hour road trip!

Steve-O and Kaitlyn

It was rainy the entire weekend, but the kids didn't mind spending Saturday morning at the local indoor jumping park.

The 3 oldest at a local pizzeria (found by my restaurants.com deal...$25 gift card for $2)

Wresting rides with Uncle Steve-O

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More Pics By Kristen

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Good News

Our adoption case manager called yesterday to inform us that they have a referral for us! We received the medicals, pictures and limited background on the child via email last night. The child is a little boy that is approximately 6 months old. We are obviously very excited, but still trying to still our hearts to hear God's voice about the referral. Please pray for wisdom and discernment.



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Isaac 6 Month Pics

The kids & I had a photo shoot with Kristen this past Thursday and she took so many phenomenal pictures. I asked for a few 6 month pictures of Isaac, but in addition to that, she took some great pics of all the kids and I. I will cherish these pictures since I have very few of myself with the kids. I love how all the personalities have been captured! There are many more great pics of the girls that I'll post later, but these are my very favorites of Mr. Isaac. Thanks again, Kristen!









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Great Reader

No post to pics, but I wanted to give a special shout out to Ellie, who after 6 months of hard work, completed her reading book last week! I'm so extremely proud of her perseverance, and as a result, we have a very fine reader on our hands, Ladies & Gentlemen! I would recommend this book to any parent desiring to teach her children how to read. Doing these lessons with Ellie & watching her progression into an excellent 5-year old reader has been one of the most rewarding experiences of parenthood thus far! She enjoys several series of books: the Little Critter series by Mercer Mayor, the Berenstein Bears books, & Fancy Nancy.

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Just Like Daddy

Flannel & a ball cap...just like Daddy

I don't know why, but the girls and I get a kick out of dressing up Bubsy in hats. Here's a few shots of the happy little guy in the Ergo. Note the color of Isaac's eyes. I believe they're going to be hazel. When he wears blue they look blue. When he wears green they look green. When he's naked they almost look brown! The girls definitely sport Riley's baby blues, but I think this guy is nearing closer to mamma's brown eyes.

And it was a beautiful almost-Spring day! 55 and sunny. The first of the daffodils are coloring our yard yellow and we broke out the sand tables...woo hoo! And the girls know that flowers in the yard mean that "their beloved arrival" will be here soon! We're one more calendar month down & we're counting down the days!

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