Hitchin' a Ride!

 My two little rascals are just starting to really play together and with that comes fighting....laughing...pushing...not sharing....sharing....hugs....kisses....apologies....quiet moments that cause Mom to search the house for the naughty children who have surly found trouble.  These new found friends have also found creative ways to play too. Like this one...

Owen turns 1 in a few weeks! I can't believe it. I also can't believe that he can chow a whole bowl of easy mac by himself. I would never have imagined giving him easy mac but when he was screaming at his brothers bowl I clued in and decided to give it a shot.  Low and behold the boy loves him some Mac 'n Cheese. Can't blame the kid! Between walkers and bunny hops (Owens form of crawling) I am a busy woman. I am truly loving MOST moments with these adorable boys. Gavin starts soccer again soon and is now officially enrolled in Preschool!  I can't believe it!

The days are just flying or should I say driving or maybe hopping by in the James House! Choose any of those the days are just plain going by too fast!

The James Family

As Designed by God

We have been on a journey of adding to our little family.  In October God began to stir in our hearts that we weren't done with two kids.  This at first concerned my poor husband. It always takes him a while to warm up to a new idea. Adoption was on our minds and in our prayers.  I have always wanted to adopt so when Mike looked at me one day and said "I think we should adopt," I was off and running. Researching and looking into what that would mean for our family.  

November was a month of going back and forth on the idea.  November was questions month.  How? How long? When? Where? A girl? A boy? Which agency? How many agencies are there!? How do you choose an agency?  How would that affect our family? Can we afford it? You get the idea.  It is a huge decision and we didn't take it lightly.  

Our friend and Children and Families Pastor at our church was kind enough to meet with us and talk over the whole topic of adoption. Brad and Jamie (his wonderful wife) adopted a sweet girl named Lily who I had the privilege of having in a Sunday school class. Lily I would say has the ability to capture any ones heart.  At this point we were strongly considering a specific agency. Brad asked if we would want to join him and Jamie to meet with the International Director of Lifeline the agency they were going through. Thirsty for information we said "Of Course!"  

Early December we had applied to Lifeline to adopt through their Uganda program.  What a scary feeling that was!  Honestly it felt a lot like when we decided to try to get pregnant for Owen.  I felt very unsure. Unsure of my capability to love 3 kids and take care of 3 kids. Unsure of timing and unsure of the process.  However we jumped in with both feet and left the rest to God.  I was giddy when we got an email back from Lifeline with our next steps and the 100+ page manual. Then I printed the manual and thought "what have we gotten ourselves into now?" Which again was how I felt both times we found out we were pregnant. 

January started meetings with our precious and very encouraging social worker Melissa.  These meetings made us anxious and they made us think.  I appreciated Melissa's ability to encourage and enlighten all while making us feel comfortable with the process.  Did I mention the paperwork?  No...hmmm well there is a lot of paperwork.  Which I guess you figured by the 100+ page manual?  I am grateful for all my time spent working in administration because paperwork doesn't scare me. Unless of course it is pages and pages of a trans racial questionnaire. 

We are now finishing up the Home Study phase of our adoption. We still have paperwork to finish up. Surprise! We still have another meeting with Melissa and probably some things I am overlooking or just plain don't know about but I am excited and anxious for the next phase. 

This process is very similar and very different to being pregnant. Some days it shocks me how similar the feelings are. I often find comfort in realizing that I felt the same ways while pregnant for either one or both of my boys.  We are already in love with this child. We don't know if he even exists yet. What is different from a pregnancy is how you love your child.  

Right now how I love each of my children looks different. How I love Gavin is through hugs, kisses, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, special juice, reading books, finger paints, trips to the library and to the potty. Just to name a few. How I love Owen is through stolen kisses, games of peak-a-boo, nursing him when he cries, cleaning up countless spills of sweet potato or banana, dirty diaper changes and lullabies.  How I love who we call Baby Uganda is through hours of online training sessions, reading books and articles, filling our endless mountains of paperwork and of course what we do for all our kids pray.  

Please join us as we pray for Baby Uganda.  He is out there somewhere and he joins the over 147 million other orphans in this world who have no family to call their own. They all need our prayers. 

Please feel free to stop by this blog as we journey along to grow our family as God designed through adoption.

Let's play catch up

January was a fun month busy with lots of new things that I will tell you all about later...most of you probably know already. The end of the month we took a trip to Missoula so Mike could work and we could play in a fun kiddie pool.  Then hurried back home so I could hop on a plan and have a fun girls + Owen weekend in Seabrook, WA. I had such a great time but can't wait to go without my sweet baby boy who doesn't sleep and is a little persnickety about letting other people hold him or letting me out of his sight.

February was a month full of sickness.  It started with Gavin followed closely by Owen and then myself. The only one to escape is Mike.  The cold turned into infections for all three of us and now it appears we have caught another round of a cold.  I told Mike we can't catch a break but we sure can catch nasty virus'. I think I have been to the doctor and the pharmacy at least 4 times in one month. 

March...hmmmm what will march bring? I can't tell you yet but I will tell you that I want to be a better blogger. I had to laugh at myself when I was hearing about a professional blogger. Yes they have those. People who get to blog for a job. People who get paid to sit at home in their pajamas and write.  I was longing for this and then realized that my blog sat lonely and neglected.  That is just no way to treat a blog.  So while I probably don't have a future in blogging I do however plan on trying to show my blog a little more attention. How much? I can't promise you anything! 

 When Christmas hit our house...

 

It hit hard! Three days and a dozen boxes later we have a tree, garland, a wreath, candles, pillows and lights with more to come for the outside.  

 

There were smiles...giggles...and broken glass...

The tree stand leaked and caused slight problems with our new floors.  Moving the tree to a new stand took two people, power tools and involved saw dust, needles and a very wet mess...

The process took days...the final product well leaves one thinking "that took days?" 

Gingerbread houses and men were made...

Quote to remember: "I sorry Gingerbread man I almost ate your eyes." He quickly put the cookie down and didn't finish it.  Sweet boy!

To ground me and remind me what the season is really about I opted for this reminder in my entryway. 

This is my favorite time of year. 

I pray that God blesses you with a beautiful Christmas season!

Joing the Wordless Wednesday Fun!

Our Thanksgiving Weekend

I got a new toy. Christmas came early this year. My Mom, who is very nice, bought me a new camera. Not just any camera a Cannon Rebel XS. It was on sale.  It is way more camera than I know what to do with right now but I am excited to figure it all out. Maybe I will be a better blogger now...probably won't change that but I will be taking more pictures.  Here is a preview of some of the over 200 pictures I took since I got it on Friday.  I had fun...maybe too much fun! Hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I do!

Our Thankful Turkeys.

Hope your Thanksgiving was as special as ours!